Marvelous (SNES, 1996)
Graphics-8.5 Sound-7.5 Control-7 Challenge-7 Story-7
Level Design-7 Frustration-7.5 Fun-7 Originality-6.5
Overall Score-7
+
Examine mode (pauses the game and lets you point at things to examine them - also lets you talk to people from afar, can be used for tips vs bosses - later used in Metroid Prime; similar to Ultima Underworld and P&C Adventure games)
Control a party of three kids via an assigned leader which can be switched on the fly (you can use a whistle to make them come to you and they'll stay in place where you left them if you didn't which is used for various puzzles - kinda similar to Zelda: Four Swords, Lost Vikings and Abe's Oddysee as well as an evolution of Where Time Stood Still (1988), different characters can use different items such as only Jack being able to use the jump boots and fishing rod)
Nice portrait view animations
Some good puzzles ("locker" switch puzzle, some later remote robot moving (after the first one you get to program their movement but need to input a set number of commands each time, final dungeon's spatial awareness puzzle), making a bridge of mice with the fishing rod) and some decent (spatial awareness, logic puzzles, using pits to bounce you around in the desert, time travel puzzles in chapter 2, sound recording puzzles in ch. 3, )
Pretty good hint system - buy hints from the bird at any point with collect money/rocks (sometimes useless though)
Great art direction and animation overall
Pretty nice "stretching" effect on close up faces that you can interact with in examine mode (gameplay-wise these segments aren't that interesting though)
Can haggle at one point (digging machine)
Some decent bosses (manager clone and main plant boss (three phases) in ch. 3; most have a puzzle element)
Good dialogue overall (some decent humour - silly, pop culture references, sometimes pervy or stereotypical, funny ending scene - breaks fourth wall)
Some memorable locations (ch. 2 and 3 villages)
+/-
Linear structure (chapter-based, optional mini-boss in chapter 2, mostly non-linear final dungeon (ch. 5))
Save anywhere (three slots, if you save during the escape segment it puts you at the beginning of it when loading), One checkpoint per chapter if you die
Few bosses and enemies overall (second half of ch. 3 is an exception)
Various minor mini-games throughout (meh: mashing the button to make the party lift a cauldron, pulling a mouse's nose at the right rhythm to make it give up, football penalty shots (and the later variations), gambling, tug of war mashing mini-game, on foot race; decent: fishing/luring, cannon siege, etc)
Re-uses the A Link to the Past engine (similar movement and visuals but with some added detail)
No alternate solutions to puzzles/quests (can't have a party member run below the shutter door while it's temporarily open, can't grab rocks/money with the fishing rod unless it's on the same level as you, can't stand on each others' heads to reach the rope when it looks like it should be possible, etc.)
Somewhat stiff jumping and throwing controls and you can't jump nor attack diagonally
Non-interactive dialogue (means you can't question random NPCs for clues - the bird helps but not always)
Can't beat one of the spider brothers without Jack - having to leave one guy behind while exploring in this chapter seems pointless however you can at least have the one left behind move around inside the castle and use the electric switch for example
Some tool/ability gating (jump boots, dash boots - work like in Zelda 3 except you can turn while running and run diagonally here (thankfully your party follows along), fishing rod (fishing is a bit simpler than in Link's Awakening however it's also used to trigger switches from afar and to lure an animal), diving goggles to be able to reach for items underwater - more like a key since there's no timing or aiming challenge involved, hammer (see Zelda 3, more like a key), dynamite however it's a temporary tool only used once)
Minor collectathon element (money/rock quotas for firing up the ship's engine - never an issue; get a basic ranking after the end based on your rock collection percentage)
No weapon/armor upgrades and no life bar upgrades
Escape segment before the ending
-
Some control/interface issues (so-so pathfinding for your party members when using the whistle to make them come to you - if on a different screen or beyond a wall but with a valid path to the player they could've teleported instead (also if you call them and move to a different room but they didn't get close enough yet they won't follow), sometimes party members also just stop following you for no apparent reason, no area maps like Zelda 3's dungeon maps (only a vague overworld map of the first island which you can only view at certain signs), can't use L to cycle through inventory items without going into the inventory menu first, some unskippable in-game cutscenes, if a question mark appears above a nearby NPC then you'll automatically engage with it instead of going into examine mode - happens with the fish for example, jumping makes your party members stop following you, the keys aren't in a shared inventory so you have to go into the examine mode>select item>select the right char>use the key to open something locked (this is repeated with some other interactions as well - a step back from Zelda 3), slow large object pushing, somewhat overly sensitive pointer in examine mode (better than too slow I guess), game pauses a bit every time you pick up money rocks, having to go into examine mode and select an item instead of equipping it and using it for some situations (such as showing the flower wreath to the crow), sometimes you stop running when moving between rooms/screens, no journal/message log feature (not that much to keep track of but can be annoying in ch. 4), )
Some tedious aspects (some dead space and pointless dead ends (canal near beginning), using the remote control on the robot in the cave N of the ship is kinda tedious since you have to go into a separate menu over and over and clearing a path through the boxes is basically just a guessing game, Can't carry healing items with you (sometimes leads to backtracking as enemies also don't drop healing items - the placed ones do respawn when exiting the room however), fixing up the old lady's room, slow and easy smoke signals puzzle, rock-paper-scissors and guess which hand mini-games vs the monkeys in ch. 3, tile sliding puzzles in the final dungeon)
Sometimes your party follows you (by teleporting if they're at a distance) between sub areas/rooms but sometimes not
Some trial & error (feigning in the football penalty shot mini-game works in an odd way, solving one puzzles requires knowledge of the fibonacci sequence, finding the right clock to let you time travel, the penguin mating mini-game (actually there are hints in how the sprites move but it's hard to tell without a clue) and finding the spots where the penguin marks well digging sites, have to stand to the side of the plant cocoon trapping Mr. Smith or nothing happens when spraying it with salt water, figuring out who to give the second lunch to in ch. 3 - no real clue from spraying the clone, timed maze at the end of ch. 3, figuring out that you're supposed to buy a dog house in the back in the shop in ch. 4, guiding the robot over invisible floor tiles in the final dungeon, overly tight timer during the escape segment)
Some arbitrary invisible walls
Overly easy boxing mini-game
Notes:
-Glitched out final dungeon map in SNES9x (used the recommended ROM)
Level Design-7 Frustration-7.5 Fun-7 Originality-6.5
Overall Score-7
+
Examine mode (pauses the game and lets you point at things to examine them - also lets you talk to people from afar, can be used for tips vs bosses - later used in Metroid Prime; similar to Ultima Underworld and P&C Adventure games)
Control a party of three kids via an assigned leader which can be switched on the fly (you can use a whistle to make them come to you and they'll stay in place where you left them if you didn't which is used for various puzzles - kinda similar to Zelda: Four Swords, Lost Vikings and Abe's Oddysee as well as an evolution of Where Time Stood Still (1988), different characters can use different items such as only Jack being able to use the jump boots and fishing rod)
Nice portrait view animations
Some good puzzles ("locker" switch puzzle, some later remote robot moving (after the first one you get to program their movement but need to input a set number of commands each time, final dungeon's spatial awareness puzzle), making a bridge of mice with the fishing rod) and some decent (spatial awareness, logic puzzles, using pits to bounce you around in the desert, time travel puzzles in chapter 2, sound recording puzzles in ch. 3, )
Pretty good hint system - buy hints from the bird at any point with collect money/rocks (sometimes useless though)
Great art direction and animation overall
Pretty nice "stretching" effect on close up faces that you can interact with in examine mode (gameplay-wise these segments aren't that interesting though)
Can haggle at one point (digging machine)
Some decent bosses (manager clone and main plant boss (three phases) in ch. 3; most have a puzzle element)
Good dialogue overall (some decent humour - silly, pop culture references, sometimes pervy or stereotypical, funny ending scene - breaks fourth wall)
Some memorable locations (ch. 2 and 3 villages)
+/-
Linear structure (chapter-based, optional mini-boss in chapter 2, mostly non-linear final dungeon (ch. 5))
Save anywhere (three slots, if you save during the escape segment it puts you at the beginning of it when loading), One checkpoint per chapter if you die
Few bosses and enemies overall (second half of ch. 3 is an exception)
Various minor mini-games throughout (meh: mashing the button to make the party lift a cauldron, pulling a mouse's nose at the right rhythm to make it give up, football penalty shots (and the later variations), gambling, tug of war mashing mini-game, on foot race; decent: fishing/luring, cannon siege, etc)
Re-uses the A Link to the Past engine (similar movement and visuals but with some added detail)
No alternate solutions to puzzles/quests (can't have a party member run below the shutter door while it's temporarily open, can't grab rocks/money with the fishing rod unless it's on the same level as you, can't stand on each others' heads to reach the rope when it looks like it should be possible, etc.)
Somewhat stiff jumping and throwing controls and you can't jump nor attack diagonally
Non-interactive dialogue (means you can't question random NPCs for clues - the bird helps but not always)
Can't beat one of the spider brothers without Jack - having to leave one guy behind while exploring in this chapter seems pointless however you can at least have the one left behind move around inside the castle and use the electric switch for example
Some tool/ability gating (jump boots, dash boots - work like in Zelda 3 except you can turn while running and run diagonally here (thankfully your party follows along), fishing rod (fishing is a bit simpler than in Link's Awakening however it's also used to trigger switches from afar and to lure an animal), diving goggles to be able to reach for items underwater - more like a key since there's no timing or aiming challenge involved, hammer (see Zelda 3, more like a key), dynamite however it's a temporary tool only used once)
Minor collectathon element (money/rock quotas for firing up the ship's engine - never an issue; get a basic ranking after the end based on your rock collection percentage)
No weapon/armor upgrades and no life bar upgrades
Escape segment before the ending
-
Some control/interface issues (so-so pathfinding for your party members when using the whistle to make them come to you - if on a different screen or beyond a wall but with a valid path to the player they could've teleported instead (also if you call them and move to a different room but they didn't get close enough yet they won't follow), sometimes party members also just stop following you for no apparent reason, no area maps like Zelda 3's dungeon maps (only a vague overworld map of the first island which you can only view at certain signs), can't use L to cycle through inventory items without going into the inventory menu first, some unskippable in-game cutscenes, if a question mark appears above a nearby NPC then you'll automatically engage with it instead of going into examine mode - happens with the fish for example, jumping makes your party members stop following you, the keys aren't in a shared inventory so you have to go into the examine mode>select item>select the right char>use the key to open something locked (this is repeated with some other interactions as well - a step back from Zelda 3), slow large object pushing, somewhat overly sensitive pointer in examine mode (better than too slow I guess), game pauses a bit every time you pick up money rocks, having to go into examine mode and select an item instead of equipping it and using it for some situations (such as showing the flower wreath to the crow), sometimes you stop running when moving between rooms/screens, no journal/message log feature (not that much to keep track of but can be annoying in ch. 4), )
Some tedious aspects (some dead space and pointless dead ends (canal near beginning), using the remote control on the robot in the cave N of the ship is kinda tedious since you have to go into a separate menu over and over and clearing a path through the boxes is basically just a guessing game, Can't carry healing items with you (sometimes leads to backtracking as enemies also don't drop healing items - the placed ones do respawn when exiting the room however), fixing up the old lady's room, slow and easy smoke signals puzzle, rock-paper-scissors and guess which hand mini-games vs the monkeys in ch. 3, tile sliding puzzles in the final dungeon)
Sometimes your party follows you (by teleporting if they're at a distance) between sub areas/rooms but sometimes not
Some trial & error (feigning in the football penalty shot mini-game works in an odd way, solving one puzzles requires knowledge of the fibonacci sequence, finding the right clock to let you time travel, the penguin mating mini-game (actually there are hints in how the sprites move but it's hard to tell without a clue) and finding the spots where the penguin marks well digging sites, have to stand to the side of the plant cocoon trapping Mr. Smith or nothing happens when spraying it with salt water, figuring out who to give the second lunch to in ch. 3 - no real clue from spraying the clone, timed maze at the end of ch. 3, figuring out that you're supposed to buy a dog house in the back in the shop in ch. 4, guiding the robot over invisible floor tiles in the final dungeon, overly tight timer during the escape segment)
Some arbitrary invisible walls
Overly easy boxing mini-game
Notes:
-Glitched out final dungeon map in SNES9x (used the recommended ROM)