Sokoban is one of the simpler puzzle genres that feels like something that could be approached in a very serious manner, instead of the more casual feel it typically exudes. There's a lot you can do with it, as long as pushy blocky is going on, you can add other rules and abilities. The Adventures of Lolo, Tricky Kick, even this new Void Stranger game I haven't played yet. Does Chip's Challenge count? (I think it expands on the rules A LOT, but there are definitely a few Sokoban-esque levels in it.)

Isles of Sea and Sky has yet to be released but the demo is phenomenal, and I think I just now found its biggest influence. Even the hero looks kinda similar. The first world/level to this game feels extremely easy but I'm looking forward to it getting harder.

Maybe the biggest draw to Sokoban is that it's extremely simple, even coding one takes little effort, the real genius is in the design. Creating a truly intricate puzzle out of these simple rules can give players moments where they feel like geniuses for beating particular levels.

The genre is certainly so simple it seems a bit archaic, but I would love to see a modern high-budget Sokoban title, albeit I'm not an avid fan of the genre, much more casual, and one may already exist.

If you want a solid Sokoban experience, this one has a lot of charm and only adds a few more abilities to the typical rules. Worth checking out.

Never actually watched the Phantom cartoon this is based off of, but it clearly is inspired by Batman TAS. Nice full circle influence there, as Batman was inspired by the Phantom comic strip in the first place.

This game is pretty damn ambitious for the time. I feel like if it actually was a Batman game then it would have been remembered more fondly. You basically have a bunch of gadgets, which you collect by searching them out; starting out you can already cling to walls and climb up them, swing from ceilings, and you also have a gun, more akin to Metroid.

It's essentially a Metroidvania, except all the areas are split up on a selectable map screen and not interconnected, but it also has a branching narrative on top of it. Biggest flaw is figuring out what you need to do next, a guide might be a necessity; as a kid, aimless wandering didn't really get me anywhere at all.

Soundtrack is a bit odd with those SNES guitar midi sounds used a lot.

Solid graphics, most of the characters are pre-rendered and look pretty good besides the main character, Woody; he looks kinda crap. Possibly having too many animations meant his resolution had to be lowered for memory reasons, idk. There are the occasional actual 3D graphics in the background to give it a bit of an edge.

I like that there are objectives you have to complete to finish the level instead of just being the typical get from left of screen to right of screen platformer. Wish I could get a recap of those objectives in the pause menu as well, but it's a licensed SNES title, we can't get too crazy

Kinda cool game. The graphics arent great but the characters have some decent animations and there's things like reflections in water because why the hell not? Feels very Dragon Quest inspired maybe to the point of nearly being a clone. It feels more open like the first DQ, but there's more stuff to do than that game. You can hire mercenaries to fight in your place and there's also "idols" that can fight in your place (Pokemon/statue things that you find in chests). Kinda weird but the mercenaries and idols make a separate party each, you choose which party fights at the start of battle. Seems like you can always switch to one of them from your main party, but once you do it's basically auto-battle mode for the mercenary or idol party and you can't exit it. The mercenaries were fairly cheap so I got two of them and they make pretty quick work of regular enemies and bosses. I think my only complaint is that this might potentially make this game way too easy.

Make sure you search absolutely everything, there's lots of hidden items and money to collect.

The fan translation feels pretty good. I know people get autistic about translations not being true to the original, but sometimes being true also leaves things a bit lifeless, so whoever did this one, good job on that. IMO

(I can make fun of autists because I am in my own way about other things right?)

Seems like a game I might want to complete.

Imagine if they actually retained the world-building simulation sections tho, this had the potential to be one of the best SNES games if it did. Alas, the first game was maybe a bit too forward thinking for most people so they made a safer game, albeit they tightened up the action gameplay and made it look very pretty instead.

It's pretty solid otherwise. I think they put most of their resources into the graphics. The controls are decent, but all SNES controls are just a bit wonky. Not a fan of double jumping right into a glide, it's certainly something you have to get over, get used to and embrace as traversing a lot of the levels requires mastering it. Most of the levels have a boss and midboss and while I can't say every boss fight is super intuitive, they do usually look pretty cool.

I've now completed all the Quintet SNES titles (besides ActRaiser 2, but does that even count (yeah i guess it does))....

Anyway, the Japanese game was marketed as a comedy RPG, but what does comedy need? Timing. The English translation is balls so timing is out the window. Doesn't really manage to be funny in its bad translation either, just very detached. Marketing it as a sci fi RPG in the west was probably the best move all things considered. I always thought the space thing was just trying to tie in with Star Trek, but you really do go to space (eventually).

Customizing robots, synthesizing items, reading books to gain knowledge, using particular items to overcome obstacles... all things pretty forward thinking for the time. Even the battle system has some pretty unique elements; albeit I would probably say the bonus counter is the most interesting, essentially rewarding you for killing enemies quickly. Otherwise, it's not very fun and most battles play out the same, give or take the odd enemy. Just level up your bomb (missiles) and wipe everyone out, end of story. The bosses can be challenging however if you don't give your robots the right equipment. Ultimately, I really dislike only using one robot at a time. Would have been nice to have all three on the field. Although there is a noticeable FPS drop when there are a ton of enemies on screen so I think I know why they went with solo fighting.

I wouldn't play this for the story or battle system, play it for the patent Quintet quirkiness. Or give it a pass, it's definitely my least favorite of the Quintet SNES titles (besides ActRaiser 2)

The minimalist approach to practically everything in this game could easily be mistaken as a conscious design choice. There are a number of unique NPCs that I believe were likely originally additional party members but the feature eventually got nixed, which just proves to me that this game was originally more ambitious, at least in one regard.

There’s also something to say for how isolated this can feel at times. Not only because of the single party member but because of so many long narrow paths in dungeons that I guess enemies couldn’t fit into. Just some liminal creepiness whether intentional or not.

Edit: Finished. That was one of the longest 11 hour games I've ever played. Don't even necessarily mean that as an insult, it certainly felt like a "quest."

Part of me wants to try the "upgraded" Japanese version to see if it improves the overall feel. It's not like there's much story to follow anyway.

I’m glad I played this, regardless of whether I enjoyed the entirety of it, as it’s a truly incomparable experience.