Lyle in Cube Sector (PC, 2006)
Graphics-6.5 Sound-7.5 Control-6.5 Challenge-7.5 Story-4
Level Design-6.5 Frustration-8.5 Fun-6.5 Originality-5.5
Overall Score-6.5
+
Can choose to save and quit anywhere to warp back to the previous save point with progress kept
Double jump via block (similar to Klonoa) - can jump up to 5 times (!) in a row in mid-air after you upgrade the phantom cube
Some decent puzzle platforming with throwable blocks - inspired by SMB2 and possibly the 8-bit Illusion games
3 Warp shortcuts (room with three warp pads near beginning, not quite enough though)
Some interesting enemy designs (enemies that can throw placed blocks at you and ones that can punch thrown blocks back at you, enemies with irregular jumping patterns, etc.)
Pretty nice amiga/mod-style music
Some neutral creatures (adds to immersion)
Decent basketball mini-game
Regenerating ammo/CP (slowly)
Pretty well interconnected world
A couple of false walls
Some good bosses
+/-
Decent map system overall (Super Metroid-style; doesn't show where found upgrade items are though and you can't mark points of interest)
Partially non-linear (can get kick from the third area before phantom cube from the second one, can explore area 4 (purple one with meateating plants) before area 3, can explore part of area 5 (grey) after the first boss, can explore part of the southeastern lava area before beating the second boss but need large block carrying to clear it and the sand area)
Phantom cube ability (create a block from thin air) kinda feels like it should've been the first one you find
Art style is very reminiscent of Metroid 1 overall and the second boss fight borrows from Breakout/Arkanoid, Borrows the homing meateater plant enemies and teleporting wizzrobe-like enemies from SMW2 and Zelda 3 respectively, OST includes a cover of Brother Louie by Modern Talking
Can avoid most combat
Collectathon aspect (CP orbs for a 2x damage upgrade to the phantom cube and for the triple jump upgrade to it)
No breakable walls
The block stacking puzzle aspect is abandoned pretty quickly
-
Only one save point (at your home in the beginning) - 3 warp points leading to near the beginning but you have to find them and after that it gets tough again+it leads to backtracking
Starts off too tough (no means to attack at first, lots of enemies, few health drops and low health, no checkpoints or save points)
Some control/interface issues (can't place map markers (blocks in narrow paths and room topography aren't drawn in), so-so control over throw length and arc - can't throw it very low and have it slide for a bit, thrown blocks bounce back and hurt the player (and they bounce back the same way even after landing and hitting an enemy on their slight bounce before stopping), unskippable game over/death animation and if you pause as you die you can't pick save & quit, blocks hurt even on their slight upward bounce after landing, have to re-enter a warp room after getting to the other side to reactivate the warp - makes it seem like they are one way only, can't simply save at your home? have to choose save & quit in the menu and then continue, a carried block will block health from falling into you - pointless, a kicked block can damage you if you run into it as it's falling down a ledge, the game is overly picky about positioning when grabbing a block from above)
Some tedious aspects (don't start with full health and ammo after reloading (only 4 HP and half ammo), drop rate from enemies is too low and you keep finding items you have a full stock of (health when at full health for example), can't carry blocks between rooms (no puzzle reason for it), several minor dead ends early on (can't go left after getting the ability to throw blocks, can't proceed into the second area after going further right, ), unnecessary for enemies and yellow blocks to drop CP since it regenerates (could've regenerated somewhat faster instead), some spongy enemies early on, getting the cow orb and the fact that you can fall down after the gauntlet-like segment due to a grey bee - have to backtrack for the egg orb if you do)
Non-persistent green blocks (the ones that don't break from throwing them around) even within the same room and some issues with non-respawning blocks in various rooms - makes you backtrack to be able to retry a segment, Life drops from enemies disappear if they move off screen
Some trial & error (the block mimics, blocks don't block shots - they do block falling blocks during the first boss fight, spike traps behind blocks, some life bar and CP bar extensions are placed kind of randomly in yellow blocks, some leaps of faith - can't look down/up)
Second boss fight is a bit slow
Some boring ability gates (large blocks, blocks in narrow paths) - basically used as key gates
The phantom cube gate into the sand area is pointless when you can get there from the other side
Difficulty spike at purple area with meateating plants
Gets repetitive towards the end (no new enemies in the final area)
A bit short (4-5h)
Bugs:
-No full screen on modern systems
Level Design-6.5 Frustration-8.5 Fun-6.5 Originality-5.5
Overall Score-6.5
+
Can choose to save and quit anywhere to warp back to the previous save point with progress kept
Double jump via block (similar to Klonoa) - can jump up to 5 times (!) in a row in mid-air after you upgrade the phantom cube
Some decent puzzle platforming with throwable blocks - inspired by SMB2 and possibly the 8-bit Illusion games
3 Warp shortcuts (room with three warp pads near beginning, not quite enough though)
Some interesting enemy designs (enemies that can throw placed blocks at you and ones that can punch thrown blocks back at you, enemies with irregular jumping patterns, etc.)
Pretty nice amiga/mod-style music
Some neutral creatures (adds to immersion)
Decent basketball mini-game
Regenerating ammo/CP (slowly)
Pretty well interconnected world
A couple of false walls
Some good bosses
+/-
Decent map system overall (Super Metroid-style; doesn't show where found upgrade items are though and you can't mark points of interest)
Partially non-linear (can get kick from the third area before phantom cube from the second one, can explore area 4 (purple one with meateating plants) before area 3, can explore part of area 5 (grey) after the first boss, can explore part of the southeastern lava area before beating the second boss but need large block carrying to clear it and the sand area)
Phantom cube ability (create a block from thin air) kinda feels like it should've been the first one you find
Art style is very reminiscent of Metroid 1 overall and the second boss fight borrows from Breakout/Arkanoid, Borrows the homing meateater plant enemies and teleporting wizzrobe-like enemies from SMW2 and Zelda 3 respectively, OST includes a cover of Brother Louie by Modern Talking
Can avoid most combat
Collectathon aspect (CP orbs for a 2x damage upgrade to the phantom cube and for the triple jump upgrade to it)
No breakable walls
The block stacking puzzle aspect is abandoned pretty quickly
-
Only one save point (at your home in the beginning) - 3 warp points leading to near the beginning but you have to find them and after that it gets tough again+it leads to backtracking
Starts off too tough (no means to attack at first, lots of enemies, few health drops and low health, no checkpoints or save points)
Some control/interface issues (can't place map markers (blocks in narrow paths and room topography aren't drawn in), so-so control over throw length and arc - can't throw it very low and have it slide for a bit, thrown blocks bounce back and hurt the player (and they bounce back the same way even after landing and hitting an enemy on their slight bounce before stopping), unskippable game over/death animation and if you pause as you die you can't pick save & quit, blocks hurt even on their slight upward bounce after landing, have to re-enter a warp room after getting to the other side to reactivate the warp - makes it seem like they are one way only, can't simply save at your home? have to choose save & quit in the menu and then continue, a carried block will block health from falling into you - pointless, a kicked block can damage you if you run into it as it's falling down a ledge, the game is overly picky about positioning when grabbing a block from above)
Some tedious aspects (don't start with full health and ammo after reloading (only 4 HP and half ammo), drop rate from enemies is too low and you keep finding items you have a full stock of (health when at full health for example), can't carry blocks between rooms (no puzzle reason for it), several minor dead ends early on (can't go left after getting the ability to throw blocks, can't proceed into the second area after going further right, ), unnecessary for enemies and yellow blocks to drop CP since it regenerates (could've regenerated somewhat faster instead), some spongy enemies early on, getting the cow orb and the fact that you can fall down after the gauntlet-like segment due to a grey bee - have to backtrack for the egg orb if you do)
Non-persistent green blocks (the ones that don't break from throwing them around) even within the same room and some issues with non-respawning blocks in various rooms - makes you backtrack to be able to retry a segment, Life drops from enemies disappear if they move off screen
Some trial & error (the block mimics, blocks don't block shots - they do block falling blocks during the first boss fight, spike traps behind blocks, some life bar and CP bar extensions are placed kind of randomly in yellow blocks, some leaps of faith - can't look down/up)
Second boss fight is a bit slow
Some boring ability gates (large blocks, blocks in narrow paths) - basically used as key gates
The phantom cube gate into the sand area is pointless when you can get there from the other side
Difficulty spike at purple area with meateating plants
Gets repetitive towards the end (no new enemies in the final area)
A bit short (4-5h)
Bugs:
-No full screen on modern systems