On paper, I should really like Crumble. I like momentum based platforming. I'm a fan of using your grapple hook to fling your character forward with a rush of speed. Playing as a cute character that's reminiscent of Gooey from Dreamland 2 or a Dragon Quest Slime makes me smile ear to ear. But the game never quite lands for me.

It's design reminds me of a bit of a mix between Sonic and Marble It Up. High speeds with an emphasis on momentum. Unfortunately, like Sonic, the base movement of your character feels slightly sluggish, one of the main aspects of Sonic that I've greatly disliked. This may be a game that much like Sonic, is better on sequential play throughs, but for a first timer, it was rough to even want to finish. It reminded me of my time with Dreamland 2, ironically enough.

The fast paced momentum rolls found in Marble It Up are here as well, and they're serviceable sections and were my favorite parts of the game. The flow felt intact and much more tighter in with the level design, keeping with the flow of the player. The rest of the game felt like a restless struggle against itself.

In theory using your tongue to grapple hook platforms should be exhilarating to perform, but the result is usually a fight between reeling yourself back in, or fighting with the controls to direct your slimey splooshing body towards the next floating, potentially unstable platform. The game is designed with these types of platforms, often being used as a challenge, floating or suspended in the air to give the player a challenge. This would be fine, IF the player had a better way to control where the grapple tongue is placed. In a way, I'd call it too loose. This makes trying to navigate tougher challenges more of a struggle against the controls than it is a rewarding challenge against the game design.

The music is what I would call "midi ragtime", and I'm personally not a fan of it. Repetitive, sometimes borderline annoying compositions, sometimes poor audio mixing, and generally just a very forgettable selection of music. The music felt unfitting for a colorfully fun romp through strange new worlds. It never made me feel like I was driving forward, but instead meandering around, which is the exact opposite of the gameplay.

It's never fun to be overtly critical to a game. Crumble was a game I was looking forward to eventually buying and playing as it went on sale, (I received it for free). I believe this was the developer's first game, and for a first game, it's a well put together package. The developer did everything themselves, which is a commendable, herculean effort. Even if I'm critical of certain aspects, I think there's a spark of something that I can clearly see be refined and tweaked into becoming something that's more satisfying. If someone were to be in love with the aspects I found unsatisfying, I could understand where they're coming from, but I think there's a happy medium to be found within a sequel with more experience under their belt.