The game starts out very rough with your only attack being the stomp which is annoyingly difficult to hit with and not be hit by an enemy. Plus you're immediately running into enemies that take 3 hits to kill. Additionally, the game lets you know the Forest Guardian is to the north east. It is actually not as straightforward as that, you need to venture south and make your way back up.
Once you have the slingshot the game is actually a lot more enjoyable. It's still challenging in ways, but not bad. I actually had a good time with Vultureville and its surrounding area. The addition of the scuba mask was neat. Krow's Keep wasn't a bad level either, although it is never explained in-game how to jump multiple tiles. Presumably that was in the manual, so not great, but understandable and I was honestly having a good time and rating at 6/10.
Then you hit the Mako Islands. First up was the coconut shooting game, which was pretty not great, but manageable. The hurdles became plain unfair though. I'm not sure if because I emulated it added time, but who in their right mind thought an alternating, vigorous, button mashing 36 second long minigame was a good idea? If you even slightly slow down, Honker pulls ahead of you. If you are slow to start, Honker is off the screen almost immediately and you've lost. I'm fine with a challenge, and even usually fine with a button masher, but if you aren't registering at full speed immediately, you lose. That's not a challenge, that's bullshit. I had to quit here because my hands couldn't handle the mashing any longer.
I apparently made the right choice because this was not the only race like this on Mako Islands and you cannot leave a level until you have all of its presents. This bumped the game down significantly for me. Button mashing being a requirement to progress through a game is just not good design in my opinion and I have no intention of returning to Pocket Tales now. I honestly can't believe that was a thing for a Game Boy Color game of all things as well.
Once you have the slingshot the game is actually a lot more enjoyable. It's still challenging in ways, but not bad. I actually had a good time with Vultureville and its surrounding area. The addition of the scuba mask was neat. Krow's Keep wasn't a bad level either, although it is never explained in-game how to jump multiple tiles. Presumably that was in the manual, so not great, but understandable and I was honestly having a good time and rating at 6/10.
Then you hit the Mako Islands. First up was the coconut shooting game, which was pretty not great, but manageable. The hurdles became plain unfair though. I'm not sure if because I emulated it added time, but who in their right mind thought an alternating, vigorous, button mashing 36 second long minigame was a good idea? If you even slightly slow down, Honker pulls ahead of you. If you are slow to start, Honker is off the screen almost immediately and you've lost. I'm fine with a challenge, and even usually fine with a button masher, but if you aren't registering at full speed immediately, you lose. That's not a challenge, that's bullshit. I had to quit here because my hands couldn't handle the mashing any longer.
I apparently made the right choice because this was not the only race like this on Mako Islands and you cannot leave a level until you have all of its presents. This bumped the game down significantly for me. Button mashing being a requirement to progress through a game is just not good design in my opinion and I have no intention of returning to Pocket Tales now. I honestly can't believe that was a thing for a Game Boy Color game of all things as well.