After a pretty standard side-scrolling run-n-gun first level, Vectorman turns into a train and fights a boss while evading drones that fire at him from both sides in a challenging back-view 3D sequence that is a pure technical marvel.
It's also really annoying. See, the game throws you right into combat against the boss and the drones without giving you any time to get used to the new perspective, and the camera randomly pans left and right, which is technically impressive but makes getting your bearings needlessly confusing. This battle is kind of a microcosm of the whole game; whether it's too much graphical detail leading to confusing onscreen clutter or simply annoying graphical gimmick levels, the devs tried to show off Vectorman's incredible fancy graphics in ways that made the game irritating to actually play.
I also wish Vectorman did more to differentiate itself from other shooters gameplay-wise. The power-ups and transformations are a very underexplored design space - they look really cool, but seem almost tacked on as an afterthought. While some of the transformations can be used to unlock secrets, the weapon power-ups could be excised entirely and not much of the gameplay experience would change!
It's still a very solid if unspectacular run-n-gun, and its decent gameplay plus the smooth animations and cool graphics mean it would have been a great experience in 1995. I do think that if its strong visual personality had been married with an equally strong mechanical heart, it would still be a fantastic experience today!
It's also really annoying. See, the game throws you right into combat against the boss and the drones without giving you any time to get used to the new perspective, and the camera randomly pans left and right, which is technically impressive but makes getting your bearings needlessly confusing. This battle is kind of a microcosm of the whole game; whether it's too much graphical detail leading to confusing onscreen clutter or simply annoying graphical gimmick levels, the devs tried to show off Vectorman's incredible fancy graphics in ways that made the game irritating to actually play.
I also wish Vectorman did more to differentiate itself from other shooters gameplay-wise. The power-ups and transformations are a very underexplored design space - they look really cool, but seem almost tacked on as an afterthought. While some of the transformations can be used to unlock secrets, the weapon power-ups could be excised entirely and not much of the gameplay experience would change!
It's still a very solid if unspectacular run-n-gun, and its decent gameplay plus the smooth animations and cool graphics mean it would have been a great experience in 1995. I do think that if its strong visual personality had been married with an equally strong mechanical heart, it would still be a fantastic experience today!