An Untitled Story (PC, 2006)
Graphics-5 Sound-6.5 Control-7 Challenge-8.5/7.5** Story-6.5
Level Design-7 Frustration-9/9.5*/8** Fun-6.5/7** Originality-6
Overall Score-7
*Going for 100%
*Easy
+
Metroid/SotN/Hop 'n Bop-style gameplay (interconnected world, some non-linearity, stat (health, defense, attack range) and movement upgrades and gates, hidden items, some shops and NPCs, jump to attack and bounce off of enemies and objects (can also shoot), etc.)
Can teleport between found save points (ability gained early on)
Good bosses overall (nice escalation and pattern variety, mostly short overall though there are exceptions, four phases for the final boss) and some mini-bosses
Good variety overall
Some good puzzles (zig-zag room platforming puzzle with invincible enemies near the third boss, bird statue, rising balloons, freezing enemies mid-jump to use as platforms and the particular ones to the west of the beginning for the jump upgrade) and some decent puzzles (sliding block puzzle mini-game challenges for optional health upgrades and money, some spatial reasoning ones such as the teleporting puzzle in the desert area, switch puzzle in northeastern white area, )
Pretty unusual music overall
Some interesting gimmicks (red mid-air energy points give you an extra jump but then disappear for a few seconds - similar to bouncing on enemies in SMB3/Sonic/Monster World 3), blue energy points temporarily turn into platforms when shot, heart gates - have to beat the current room or segment leading up to it without taking damage to get to the health upgrade, the blue ghost enemies)
Decent map system (shows basic layout, where you are and save points+boss rooms, named areas)
Completion numbers and stats screen (deaths, saves, damage taken or dealt) in the menu
Generally good challenges leading up to items
One interesting ability (stick to ceilings or the bottoms of platforms while jump is held+upgrade that lets you move left or right while stuck to them - similar to mouse man in WB3 or the viking helmet in Wario Land, )
Some environmental storytelling (cave paintings, signs - could've been notes though which are actually used later on)
Invincible flying enemy appearing on random screens after its first appearance (it kidnaps some NPCs you meet along the way) adds to the sense of vulnerability - similar to the ghost in Bubble Bobble
Difficulty options (easy-masterful/very hard, affects how many gold orbs are needed to enter the final area (10 on very hard))
Some mini-games (Rainbow catch - catch stars while falling and bounce on some objects+shoot to catch all of them, space invaders-like - decent, pseudo TP runner - ok)
Can see boss health (indicated by the candles)
+/-
Partially non-linear structure (can explore above the cannon segment near town before the third boss, various optional upgrades, can open a second yellow gate near the beginning as the first becomes accessible, can go to either the underwater area or the lava area at one point, can do the white wobbly area or the dark cave area after getting the ice shot in the underwater area and the ceiling walk ability near the beginning of the desert area, can do the rainy mountain area or the pink area after the lava cave boss+beginning of desert area, can do the wobbly white area before finishing the underwater area, can go to rainy mountain or the stone castle eye boss after all jump upgrades+yellow energy point ability)
Frequent save points overall (one slot per game) which also heal you - these become less frequent in the late game
Can farm for money from pots though it's kinda slow
Collectathon element (7 golden orbs to get into the last area)
Flip screen
First room's music sounds like a metroid item room pastiche
Can't talk to most NPCs until you hatch into a bird
Slow rate of fire and getting close to the object or enemy doesn't help - can't upgrade it
Borrows most abilities and some gimmicks from elsewhere (money/crystal magnet ability - Sonic 3?, bounce on or use frozen enemies as platforms - SMB3/Metroid, stomp move for smashing some blocks - Yoshi's Island? (can be canceled freely here though which leads to some interesting platforming challenges), double jump - dragon buster?, hold your breath for longer underwater - Hero of the Golden Talisman or The Castle?, spinning bounce pads - yoshi's island, bouncing on cannon projectiles to progress - SMB3)
Spikes don't do that much damage though it does increase over the course of the game and you sometimes can't get out of a spike pit without taking several hits
Minor money grinding (yellow gates, can find a blue orb that increases money drops - SotN?)
Can escape from some boss fights but not most of them
Two gambling mini-games (one hidden one which lets you win a money magnet and a health upgrade)
Don't gain flight (you hatch into a bird and there's a cave painting implying it)
Frozen enemies are destroyed instead of restored after the ice melts/breaks - enemies respawn when re-entering a screen
Some areas like stone castle are pretty small
Can't freeze the spinning arrow spring platforms
-
Gets to hard towards the end with fewer save points and too much trial & error where a couple of mistakes means you have to restart from the last save
Some control/interface issues (map doesn't mark room exits that you haven't used yet, map doesn't mark items or other points of interest, can't place map markers, money drops from pots spread out - breaks flow a bit and they can fall into spikes, kinda slow falling speed if not using the stomp move, unforgiving hit detection on the mid air energy points you use to jump again in the air at various points, annoying delay before you can start stomping after jumping, some delay before you can turn around while moving)
Trial & error (can't freeze the marching enemies in the NW area, getting to the required double jump height increase upgrade in the lava cave - need to shoot a nondescript part of the foreground which apparently is a switch that creates two red energy points in the previous room (there is a minor clue in the background but it's too vague (strangely there's another vague clue later on in the rainy mountain area but you can't see this without having gotten the upgrade already - this clue should've pointed you towards the other upgrade west of the beginning instead since you also need that to progress), it's also not obvious that you need this a few rooms later on as the upwards jump above lava is tight enough that it seems doable before getting it), pits suddenly do damage at one point (mountside - forces a death if you jump off the ledge to the left of the save point+trial & error jump near the end), various platforming segments and boss patterns, what to do after the second boss/third boss - gives the impression that you should reflect the big rock into it, heart gates aren't explained, some hidden items behind false walls have no clues - visual or otherwise, inconsistent spike damage - sometimes 6 times higher and 10 times higher from the spiked blue ball enemies, finding the green castle past a false wall - optional, parts of the dark cave area as you can barely see where you're going - there's also no torch item, undertomb path (optional), library path (optional), a few leaps of faith to platforms for optional items, )
Some movement upgrades are too minor (slightly improved jump height and slightly improved double jump height) or feel like you should've had them from the beginning (ducking)
Some annoying music and it+most of the sfx sounds like cheap Windows midi
Some tedious aspects (some hazardous pits that might as well kill you if you make a mistake since you can't bounce out of them, some dead space and backtracking (some from falling down and having to redo segments such as in the pink area and the rainy mountain/highlands one), some rooms don't flow that well, some one-way teleporters, red rectangle boss has overly long invincibility periods and the rocket one in the pink area does as well, unskippable cutscenes, non-respawning balloons in the pink area)
Kind of weak feedback from attacks and taking damage
First MS paint job-level visuals overall
Invisible walls to the west and the east as well as in the "the bottom" area+invisibile roof in the sky at mountside area and pink area
Hatching doesn't add to your moveset (just makes you move a bit faster)
Some difficulty spikes (at lava cave - no save point before the boss here meaning you also lose your heart gate progress right before it if you die, the invincible enemy spirit can appear in any room after you've encountered it once, rocket boss in pink area, rainy mountain area, dark area) and some dips (farfall's boss that splits into smaller clones, NW area's boss)
No sideways dash or run move to make traversal faster in the mid to late-game
No new abilities gained in the late game and the yellow energy point bounce one is really the same thing as the one for red energy points
Missing sfx for some actions
No meaningful dialogue choices outside of shops and some mini-games
Bugs:
-Some hit detection glitches near platform edges where you get stuck spinning in mid-air until you move the d-pad again
-Game temporarily exits full screen mode when you die
-Double jump isn't 100% reliable (it's kind of rare but it sometimes doesn't register - joytokey w/ PS4 controller)
Level Design-7 Frustration-9/9.5*/8** Fun-6.5/7** Originality-6
Overall Score-7
*Going for 100%
*Easy
+
Metroid/SotN/Hop 'n Bop-style gameplay (interconnected world, some non-linearity, stat (health, defense, attack range) and movement upgrades and gates, hidden items, some shops and NPCs, jump to attack and bounce off of enemies and objects (can also shoot), etc.)
Can teleport between found save points (ability gained early on)
Good bosses overall (nice escalation and pattern variety, mostly short overall though there are exceptions, four phases for the final boss) and some mini-bosses
Good variety overall
Some good puzzles (zig-zag room platforming puzzle with invincible enemies near the third boss, bird statue, rising balloons, freezing enemies mid-jump to use as platforms and the particular ones to the west of the beginning for the jump upgrade) and some decent puzzles (sliding block puzzle mini-game challenges for optional health upgrades and money, some spatial reasoning ones such as the teleporting puzzle in the desert area, switch puzzle in northeastern white area, )
Pretty unusual music overall
Some interesting gimmicks (red mid-air energy points give you an extra jump but then disappear for a few seconds - similar to bouncing on enemies in SMB3/Sonic/Monster World 3), blue energy points temporarily turn into platforms when shot, heart gates - have to beat the current room or segment leading up to it without taking damage to get to the health upgrade, the blue ghost enemies)
Decent map system (shows basic layout, where you are and save points+boss rooms, named areas)
Completion numbers and stats screen (deaths, saves, damage taken or dealt) in the menu
Generally good challenges leading up to items
One interesting ability (stick to ceilings or the bottoms of platforms while jump is held+upgrade that lets you move left or right while stuck to them - similar to mouse man in WB3 or the viking helmet in Wario Land, )
Some environmental storytelling (cave paintings, signs - could've been notes though which are actually used later on)
Invincible flying enemy appearing on random screens after its first appearance (it kidnaps some NPCs you meet along the way) adds to the sense of vulnerability - similar to the ghost in Bubble Bobble
Difficulty options (easy-masterful/very hard, affects how many gold orbs are needed to enter the final area (10 on very hard))
Some mini-games (Rainbow catch - catch stars while falling and bounce on some objects+shoot to catch all of them, space invaders-like - decent, pseudo TP runner - ok)
Can see boss health (indicated by the candles)
+/-
Partially non-linear structure (can explore above the cannon segment near town before the third boss, various optional upgrades, can open a second yellow gate near the beginning as the first becomes accessible, can go to either the underwater area or the lava area at one point, can do the white wobbly area or the dark cave area after getting the ice shot in the underwater area and the ceiling walk ability near the beginning of the desert area, can do the rainy mountain area or the pink area after the lava cave boss+beginning of desert area, can do the wobbly white area before finishing the underwater area, can go to rainy mountain or the stone castle eye boss after all jump upgrades+yellow energy point ability)
Frequent save points overall (one slot per game) which also heal you - these become less frequent in the late game
Can farm for money from pots though it's kinda slow
Collectathon element (7 golden orbs to get into the last area)
Flip screen
First room's music sounds like a metroid item room pastiche
Can't talk to most NPCs until you hatch into a bird
Slow rate of fire and getting close to the object or enemy doesn't help - can't upgrade it
Borrows most abilities and some gimmicks from elsewhere (money/crystal magnet ability - Sonic 3?, bounce on or use frozen enemies as platforms - SMB3/Metroid, stomp move for smashing some blocks - Yoshi's Island? (can be canceled freely here though which leads to some interesting platforming challenges), double jump - dragon buster?, hold your breath for longer underwater - Hero of the Golden Talisman or The Castle?, spinning bounce pads - yoshi's island, bouncing on cannon projectiles to progress - SMB3)
Spikes don't do that much damage though it does increase over the course of the game and you sometimes can't get out of a spike pit without taking several hits
Minor money grinding (yellow gates, can find a blue orb that increases money drops - SotN?)
Can escape from some boss fights but not most of them
Two gambling mini-games (one hidden one which lets you win a money magnet and a health upgrade)
Don't gain flight (you hatch into a bird and there's a cave painting implying it)
Frozen enemies are destroyed instead of restored after the ice melts/breaks - enemies respawn when re-entering a screen
Some areas like stone castle are pretty small
Can't freeze the spinning arrow spring platforms
-
Gets to hard towards the end with fewer save points and too much trial & error where a couple of mistakes means you have to restart from the last save
Some control/interface issues (map doesn't mark room exits that you haven't used yet, map doesn't mark items or other points of interest, can't place map markers, money drops from pots spread out - breaks flow a bit and they can fall into spikes, kinda slow falling speed if not using the stomp move, unforgiving hit detection on the mid air energy points you use to jump again in the air at various points, annoying delay before you can start stomping after jumping, some delay before you can turn around while moving)
Trial & error (can't freeze the marching enemies in the NW area, getting to the required double jump height increase upgrade in the lava cave - need to shoot a nondescript part of the foreground which apparently is a switch that creates two red energy points in the previous room (there is a minor clue in the background but it's too vague (strangely there's another vague clue later on in the rainy mountain area but you can't see this without having gotten the upgrade already - this clue should've pointed you towards the other upgrade west of the beginning instead since you also need that to progress), it's also not obvious that you need this a few rooms later on as the upwards jump above lava is tight enough that it seems doable before getting it), pits suddenly do damage at one point (mountside - forces a death if you jump off the ledge to the left of the save point+trial & error jump near the end), various platforming segments and boss patterns, what to do after the second boss/third boss - gives the impression that you should reflect the big rock into it, heart gates aren't explained, some hidden items behind false walls have no clues - visual or otherwise, inconsistent spike damage - sometimes 6 times higher and 10 times higher from the spiked blue ball enemies, finding the green castle past a false wall - optional, parts of the dark cave area as you can barely see where you're going - there's also no torch item, undertomb path (optional), library path (optional), a few leaps of faith to platforms for optional items, )
Some movement upgrades are too minor (slightly improved jump height and slightly improved double jump height) or feel like you should've had them from the beginning (ducking)
Some annoying music and it+most of the sfx sounds like cheap Windows midi
Some tedious aspects (some hazardous pits that might as well kill you if you make a mistake since you can't bounce out of them, some dead space and backtracking (some from falling down and having to redo segments such as in the pink area and the rainy mountain/highlands one), some rooms don't flow that well, some one-way teleporters, red rectangle boss has overly long invincibility periods and the rocket one in the pink area does as well, unskippable cutscenes, non-respawning balloons in the pink area)
Kind of weak feedback from attacks and taking damage
First MS paint job-level visuals overall
Invisible walls to the west and the east as well as in the "the bottom" area+invisibile roof in the sky at mountside area and pink area
Hatching doesn't add to your moveset (just makes you move a bit faster)
Some difficulty spikes (at lava cave - no save point before the boss here meaning you also lose your heart gate progress right before it if you die, the invincible enemy spirit can appear in any room after you've encountered it once, rocket boss in pink area, rainy mountain area, dark area) and some dips (farfall's boss that splits into smaller clones, NW area's boss)
No sideways dash or run move to make traversal faster in the mid to late-game
No new abilities gained in the late game and the yellow energy point bounce one is really the same thing as the one for red energy points
Missing sfx for some actions
No meaningful dialogue choices outside of shops and some mini-games
Bugs:
-Some hit detection glitches near platform edges where you get stuck spinning in mid-air until you move the d-pad again
-Game temporarily exits full screen mode when you die
-Double jump isn't 100% reliable (it's kind of rare but it sometimes doesn't register - joytokey w/ PS4 controller)