Pop'n TwinBee: Rainbow Bell Adventures (1994)
Graphics-8 Sound-7.5 Control-6.5 Challenge-6.5 Story-?
Level Design-6 Frustration-8 Fun-(6) Originality-5
Overall Score-
+ Three different characters (only difference is time it takes to charge boost/charge shot - 1 is balanced, 1 has faster charge shot/slower boost, 1 has faster boost/slower charge shot), control options, 2-player coop, decent art direction (similar to Fantasy Zone but more cutesy), replay beaten levels, hidden items (breakable walls, 8-directional punch/charged shot, stay in the air for as long as you like (easiest to do with the pink robot), borrows the rocket pack from RKA (doesn't work as good here), look u/d/l/r (u/d doesn't work when in mid-air unfortunately), level map (doesn't show where doors are), get to choose a different character after each life lost, unlimited continues?, timed invincibility power up
+/- Open ended and exploration based levels (similar to Jazz Jackrabbit or Commander Keen), power ups not explained in-game, you drop all bell power ups when hit (hard to catch them since they fall through the floor, easy to get new ones though), auto-acceleration like in Sonic but it's slower here (can be upgraded), rocket boost charge should've been mapped to a separate button so you could continue jumping and set it off when you needed to
- Control issues (poor jump height control, you can only hover in the air once (leads to leaps of faith), no control over rocket boost length or direction, can't move at all while charging a shot, laser can only be fire left/right), power ups from enemies fall off screen, the boost move makes a lot of the platforming redundant, low resolution makes it hard to react to hazards/walls, some cheap hits (boulder chase in area 2, area 2 boss), odd physics in slopes with running water (slow movement downwards?), no difficulty options, bells bounce upwards before falling down (need to stop and catch them breaking game flow, similar to WB3 but much slower)
Level Design-6 Frustration-8 Fun-(6) Originality-5
Overall Score-
+ Three different characters (only difference is time it takes to charge boost/charge shot - 1 is balanced, 1 has faster charge shot/slower boost, 1 has faster boost/slower charge shot), control options, 2-player coop, decent art direction (similar to Fantasy Zone but more cutesy), replay beaten levels, hidden items (breakable walls, 8-directional punch/charged shot, stay in the air for as long as you like (easiest to do with the pink robot), borrows the rocket pack from RKA (doesn't work as good here), look u/d/l/r (u/d doesn't work when in mid-air unfortunately), level map (doesn't show where doors are), get to choose a different character after each life lost, unlimited continues?, timed invincibility power up
+/- Open ended and exploration based levels (similar to Jazz Jackrabbit or Commander Keen), power ups not explained in-game, you drop all bell power ups when hit (hard to catch them since they fall through the floor, easy to get new ones though), auto-acceleration like in Sonic but it's slower here (can be upgraded), rocket boost charge should've been mapped to a separate button so you could continue jumping and set it off when you needed to
- Control issues (poor jump height control, you can only hover in the air once (leads to leaps of faith), no control over rocket boost length or direction, can't move at all while charging a shot, laser can only be fire left/right), power ups from enemies fall off screen, the boost move makes a lot of the platforming redundant, low resolution makes it hard to react to hazards/walls, some cheap hits (boulder chase in area 2, area 2 boss), odd physics in slopes with running water (slow movement downwards?), no difficulty options, bells bounce upwards before falling down (need to stop and catch them breaking game flow, similar to WB3 but much slower)