Son Son II (PCE, 1989)
Graphics-8 Sound-7 Control-7 Challenge-7.5
Level Design-7 Frustration-8 Fun-7 Originality-5
Overall Score-7
+
Wonder Boy (in Monster Land) and Black Tiger style gameplay (linear structure but with RPG elements like shops, hidden items, upgradeable HP and weapon, key searching)
Decent art direction with expressive sprites
Item trading sequence
Smart bombs (activate upon pick up though)
Good bosses overall
Breakable walls (no visual hints though)
Some good enemy AI
Ride clouds (only in boss fights and they're expensive and one use only)
Some attacks can be blocked
Sub weapon inventory (switch by pressing left/right while the game is paused)
Decent length (7 stages)
+/-
Need to buy continues
Fairly easy to farm for health
A strong enemy appears if you take too long in any one area (similar to Bubble Bobble though this one can be killed and drops a big heart)
Can't move while crouching
No save/password
Life and magic are only partly refilled after a stage is cleared
Some looping maze segments
Quickly disappearing enemy drops
Items that take money away (skulls - they also don't disappear like other dropped items)
Boss rush before the final one (divided into two parts)
-
Repetitive
Some leaps of faith (can't look up/down)
Some jump control issues (set jump height, Son Son keeps jumping if you hold down the button (can be a problem during some platforming segments), fall down if you touch a wall (see Black Tiger), minor hit detection problem near ledges at one point)
Some other control issues (can't attack up- or downwards (sub weapons help but are limited in use by a magic meter), need to crouch to hit item containers, sub weapon is mapped to 1+2 instead of its own button (means you'll often jump by mistake when using it and sometimes use it by mistake while jumping, hit detection problems with one of the clouds in stage 6)
Some tedious enemies (cave man/rhino humanoid guys take many hits to kill, egg-like enemies have annoying patterns, falling drops can't be hit until they touch the ground, etc.)
Weapon upgrades are hidden and the game quickly gets tedious if you miss them (need to buy a certain item in a shop for one of the upgrades to show up there? Also need to exit the current area for a shop to re-appear which is tedious)
No invincibility time after falling into lava/spikes etc. (means you can bounce around until death or into an enemy which damages you once again)
Sometimes lacking animation on larger sprites
No sfx for hitting enemies (they also just flash instead of animating like in Wonder Boy)
Annoying beep when low on health (doesn't stop until your health is increased or you die)
No options?
Trial & error (shots from off screen, boss patterns, cheap hit from the fake friend that turns into a clone of Son Son and at one point in stage 7 where you're surrounded by two enemies in a narrow space, some grinding (need to repurchase the item that lets you break walls over and over), maze without a clue in stage 6)
Level Design-7 Frustration-8 Fun-7 Originality-5
Overall Score-7
+
Wonder Boy (in Monster Land) and Black Tiger style gameplay (linear structure but with RPG elements like shops, hidden items, upgradeable HP and weapon, key searching)
Decent art direction with expressive sprites
Item trading sequence
Smart bombs (activate upon pick up though)
Good bosses overall
Breakable walls (no visual hints though)
Some good enemy AI
Ride clouds (only in boss fights and they're expensive and one use only)
Some attacks can be blocked
Sub weapon inventory (switch by pressing left/right while the game is paused)
Decent length (7 stages)
+/-
Need to buy continues
Fairly easy to farm for health
A strong enemy appears if you take too long in any one area (similar to Bubble Bobble though this one can be killed and drops a big heart)
Can't move while crouching
No save/password
Life and magic are only partly refilled after a stage is cleared
Some looping maze segments
Quickly disappearing enemy drops
Items that take money away (skulls - they also don't disappear like other dropped items)
Boss rush before the final one (divided into two parts)
-
Repetitive
Some leaps of faith (can't look up/down)
Some jump control issues (set jump height, Son Son keeps jumping if you hold down the button (can be a problem during some platforming segments), fall down if you touch a wall (see Black Tiger), minor hit detection problem near ledges at one point)
Some other control issues (can't attack up- or downwards (sub weapons help but are limited in use by a magic meter), need to crouch to hit item containers, sub weapon is mapped to 1+2 instead of its own button (means you'll often jump by mistake when using it and sometimes use it by mistake while jumping, hit detection problems with one of the clouds in stage 6)
Some tedious enemies (cave man/rhino humanoid guys take many hits to kill, egg-like enemies have annoying patterns, falling drops can't be hit until they touch the ground, etc.)
Weapon upgrades are hidden and the game quickly gets tedious if you miss them (need to buy a certain item in a shop for one of the upgrades to show up there? Also need to exit the current area for a shop to re-appear which is tedious)
No invincibility time after falling into lava/spikes etc. (means you can bounce around until death or into an enemy which damages you once again)
Sometimes lacking animation on larger sprites
No sfx for hitting enemies (they also just flash instead of animating like in Wonder Boy)
Annoying beep when low on health (doesn't stop until your health is increased or you die)
No options?
Trial & error (shots from off screen, boss patterns, cheap hit from the fake friend that turns into a clone of Son Son and at one point in stage 7 where you're surrounded by two enemies in a narrow space, some grinding (need to repurchase the item that lets you break walls over and over), maze without a clue in stage 6)