Nankoku Shounen Papuwa-kun (SNES, 1994)
Graphics-7.5 Sound-7 Control-7 Challenge-6.5 Story-4.5
Level Design-6 Frustration-8 Fun-6.5 Originality-
Overall Score-6.5
+
Some good bosses, mini-bosses
Decent variation overall
Seems to tie in well with the license (features many characters from it that get to talk a little bit before helping you)
Pretty fast paced overall
Slides and diving kicks
Ride on animal helpers
Comical and quirky tone (jap strangeness, slapstick)
Basic level up system
Some hidden and hard to reach items
One combo
Special attacks (sort of like a smart bomb)
+/-
Can't move while crouching
Can only run by moving down slopes (affects jump length)
Short attack range (you end up using mostly slides)
L/R buttons control the slide/dive kick directions rather than the d-pad (left and right, respectively - takes some getting used to)
Can't jump down through platforms which can be jumped up through (no puzzles involved)
Beaten enemies don't respawn
Can't attack upwards (neither with your fists nor with a special weapon)
Fairly long between checkpoints
Can't use the special attack during invincibility time or while in mid-air making it hard to use efficiently later on
No life refills after mini-bosses
-
Somewhat loose scrolling
Uneven difficulty (safe spot at the fake drunkard boss, some bosses die in 1 hit or can be spammed to death such as the crab mini-boss)
Sometimes sloppy hit detection (boxes placed on top of each other create platforms you can stand on (looks like you're standing in mid air), you can sort of wiggle your way through narrow paths where you were supposed to slide, the main boss of the first stage (the one that dodges a lot and causes lightning))
Can't speed up dialogue
Somewhat confusing story (lots of different characters)
Some control issues (can't look up/down, you keep some jump momentum after releasing the d-pad if you jump again right after landing, some delay when turning around while walking and after using the slide)
Attack sfx don't align with the attack animations (emulation problem? you hear a sound with every button press but there's some delay on the actual attacks)
Can't pause?
Some trial & error (some shots from off screen, one mini-boss spawns right on top of you, some boss patterns, no indication of an invincibility timer on several bosses (can make you waste special attacks), figuring out what to do when turned into a frog (jump in the water))
Some slow parts (pushing the frog child around, riding the snail, getting turned into a frog, the underwater cave)
You don't gain any new attacks from leveling up?
Some slowdown
Weak sfx overall
Some unavoidable hits (squdman mini-boss)
Using a credit makes you lose all your levels?
Level Design-6 Frustration-8 Fun-6.5 Originality-
Overall Score-6.5
+
Some good bosses, mini-bosses
Decent variation overall
Seems to tie in well with the license (features many characters from it that get to talk a little bit before helping you)
Pretty fast paced overall
Slides and diving kicks
Ride on animal helpers
Comical and quirky tone (jap strangeness, slapstick)
Basic level up system
Some hidden and hard to reach items
One combo
Special attacks (sort of like a smart bomb)
+/-
Can't move while crouching
Can only run by moving down slopes (affects jump length)
Short attack range (you end up using mostly slides)
L/R buttons control the slide/dive kick directions rather than the d-pad (left and right, respectively - takes some getting used to)
Can't jump down through platforms which can be jumped up through (no puzzles involved)
Beaten enemies don't respawn
Can't attack upwards (neither with your fists nor with a special weapon)
Fairly long between checkpoints
Can't use the special attack during invincibility time or while in mid-air making it hard to use efficiently later on
No life refills after mini-bosses
-
Somewhat loose scrolling
Uneven difficulty (safe spot at the fake drunkard boss, some bosses die in 1 hit or can be spammed to death such as the crab mini-boss)
Sometimes sloppy hit detection (boxes placed on top of each other create platforms you can stand on (looks like you're standing in mid air), you can sort of wiggle your way through narrow paths where you were supposed to slide, the main boss of the first stage (the one that dodges a lot and causes lightning))
Can't speed up dialogue
Somewhat confusing story (lots of different characters)
Some control issues (can't look up/down, you keep some jump momentum after releasing the d-pad if you jump again right after landing, some delay when turning around while walking and after using the slide)
Attack sfx don't align with the attack animations (emulation problem? you hear a sound with every button press but there's some delay on the actual attacks)
Can't pause?
Some trial & error (some shots from off screen, one mini-boss spawns right on top of you, some boss patterns, no indication of an invincibility timer on several bosses (can make you waste special attacks), figuring out what to do when turned into a frog (jump in the water))
Some slow parts (pushing the frog child around, riding the snail, getting turned into a frog, the underwater cave)
You don't gain any new attacks from leveling up?
Some slowdown
Weak sfx overall
Some unavoidable hits (squdman mini-boss)
Using a credit makes you lose all your levels?