Cleared on January 4th, 2024 (SEGA Genesis Challenge: 43/160)
When I saw that this game took 5 minutes to clear on Longplay, I was expecting a quick round... but then I remembered that this is a game from the 80s so I knew there was a catch, and whaddya know. I wasn't wrong. While I was able to see the game to the end without resorting to save states, it was not easy in the slightest.
The game has you rolling marbles across maze-like isometric race courses on a timer. The faster you get there, the more extra time you'll have for the next course which will especially be important at the final level because my god it is specifically engineered to troll you on so many levels.
The rest of the game is manageable, and it was easy enough to learn the controls and memorize how the levels operate which creates a satisfactory feeling of mastery although at times it can feel luck dependent, but can feel like a test of adaptability.
The final level, on the other hand, is ridiculously troll. You have far less time to clear it than you usually do, the game has tiles that hinder your control like ice floor that makes you slippery, metal floor that makes you stiff, and a tile that causes you to slide with no way of controlling. And even you can manage all of that, I hope you have enough time because there are these disappearing tiles that are there to ensure that you have stored just enough time, or you are guaranteed to lose and that aside, you have to time your rolling because they got a little bit of everything on these last tiles. Including ice physics at the very end that screwed me over and forced me to do the game all over again. The good news is that it won't take very long to get back into the final level, but the bad news is that it takes a lot of trial and error.
Oh, and the enemies are obnoxious. You have the bouncy things that will OHKO you if they land on you, but as long as you dash out of the way as they jump, you should be ok. The black balls are annoying and while you could get better at dodging them, they can really hinder you under bad circumstances. The slimes, though, especially the ones at the final level have cheap placements where they are and will OHKO you for touching them.
But you know what? I'm a sucker for rolling and ball games like this, so I'm not too mad at the difficulty. At least there is a sense of being able to get better... well, for the most part, anyway.
When I saw that this game took 5 minutes to clear on Longplay, I was expecting a quick round... but then I remembered that this is a game from the 80s so I knew there was a catch, and whaddya know. I wasn't wrong. While I was able to see the game to the end without resorting to save states, it was not easy in the slightest.
The game has you rolling marbles across maze-like isometric race courses on a timer. The faster you get there, the more extra time you'll have for the next course which will especially be important at the final level because my god it is specifically engineered to troll you on so many levels.
The rest of the game is manageable, and it was easy enough to learn the controls and memorize how the levels operate which creates a satisfactory feeling of mastery although at times it can feel luck dependent, but can feel like a test of adaptability.
The final level, on the other hand, is ridiculously troll. You have far less time to clear it than you usually do, the game has tiles that hinder your control like ice floor that makes you slippery, metal floor that makes you stiff, and a tile that causes you to slide with no way of controlling. And even you can manage all of that, I hope you have enough time because there are these disappearing tiles that are there to ensure that you have stored just enough time, or you are guaranteed to lose and that aside, you have to time your rolling because they got a little bit of everything on these last tiles. Including ice physics at the very end that screwed me over and forced me to do the game all over again. The good news is that it won't take very long to get back into the final level, but the bad news is that it takes a lot of trial and error.
Oh, and the enemies are obnoxious. You have the bouncy things that will OHKO you if they land on you, but as long as you dash out of the way as they jump, you should be ok. The black balls are annoying and while you could get better at dodging them, they can really hinder you under bad circumstances. The slimes, though, especially the ones at the final level have cheap placements where they are and will OHKO you for touching them.
But you know what? I'm a sucker for rolling and ball games like this, so I'm not too mad at the difficulty. At least there is a sense of being able to get better... well, for the most part, anyway.