I should start out by saying that I never played the original game that this is technically a sequel to. So, I don't have that context and it seems that some people who were a fan of the first were disappointed by this follow up. With that said, I, having never played the original, found this game to be really charming. In this little game, you play a sort of Noir-Samurai who fights off criminals, ghosts, and monsters. Beyond that, I am really not sure what the story is. It is more of an excuse for the game. Which is fine, I have played plenty of game like that. Though, this one didn't really seem to try and cover that up at all and can come off nonsensical, but beyond that, fine.
It is a retro-styled-game in full force. It didn't simply take the aesthetic of older games (which it did perfectly), but instead designed the game to feel like something you might have gotten from the NES or SNES. Granted there is some hindsight, but had it come out back then, it would be considered a cult-classic. Buuuuuut, with that said, it didn't come out back then so there are definitely criticisms to be made. But, in my opinion, none of the criticisms I have really break the game, but are things to think about for the future.
Let me start off by saying that the controls are fine. Some people think they are bad and clunky but I didn't have trouble with them. I did find it silly that so many buttons where mapped to the same commands but that isn't really an issue. Once I found the set up that was most comfortable to me, I didn't think about it that much. Though I do enjoy the controls, there were points in certain levels that I found it hard to nail certain things as perfectly as I wanted to, but that could easily be on me more than the developers.
There are two gameplay mechanics in this game. Platforming and combat. Combat is the simplest, so I will start there. If I am to be honest, it leaves a little to be desired. I ended up accepting it as it was, especially considering the other side of the coin was a lot more interesting, but there was almost no real layers to it. You have one button to attack and you kind of just hit enemies until they fall down. This wouldn't be such a big step back if the enemies had a way to work this style of combat into something interesting, like dodging or better blocking. That would at least make you think and cause you to perhaps use some of the platforming mechnics to work around them. But they just approach you, trying to strike and most of the time they would only get a couple of hits in before they die. Now, I make it sound like this is a horrible part of the game but sometimes it can still be fun as there are points where you get ganked by a mass of enemies and you have to try and work out a way to get rid of them all before they over whelm you and there even some enemies that float and shoot projectiles which makes good use of the ability for your character to jump and hang in the air while attacking. Though, again, it is just approaching and attacking with no real challenge otherwise. I wouldn't consider myself disappointed though until I reached the bosses.
This is where the game goes from simple to just unsatisfying. Bosses are not good or interesting. They are just enemies which you need to hit more to be able to kill. There are no impressive attacks, interesting movement patterns, or anything to be afraid of to be honest. They are just not bosses. I don't know what else to say on that. If they had been more interesting, this game could have really elevated itself. Beyond that, the only other thing I have left to comment on is the fact that you have no visible health bar or counter which would have been nice since you can take an amount of hits but you have no idea where you stand. Sure You can figure it out through counting out how many times you can take a hit then remembering that but that isn't exactly fun. Having a symbol of somekind to see where you stand would have been nice but it didn't exactly kill the game for me.
Now, on to the interesting part. The very thing that the developers were obviously more focused on: The Platforming. And honestly, the platforming is a lot of fun in an oldschool type of way. The mechanics in the controls for platforming are a lot of fun. You jump a good distance and cling to walls which is super useful. Eventually at some point you find out you can dash (both on ground and in the air) which brings the game to another level in terms of layers. The game itself has an overworld which you can jump around in as you walk along the sidewalk. You can enter certain buildings; some being small on the inside where you more or less just talk to NPCs while others are where all the platforming really is. The levels themselves can range from entertainingly tricky to rage-quittingly specific. For the most-part, you will find yourself enjoying the levels where either you just have to get from one end to another or have to travel back and forth to either get a key or press a switch to open a door. This is can be addictive for the most part, but then there are some levels that become more of a chore and challenge your perception of whether it is challenging or just artificially difficult.
How? One word: Spikes. I am not saying it is unreasonably difficult to where it borders on tedious. But there are levels where I know exactly what I need to do but the timing has to be as such that it takes away the enjoyment of the mechanics themselves. It does so with spikes. Now, these spikes don't kill you instantly. Which is good because there is a comical amount of them in places like the mall and office buildings. Much like fighting, you can take some hits before dying which is great. The problem comes when you need to do something like jump, dash, and jump again to get under and around a pillar, but the pillar has spikes at the bottom. So, what happens is that you hit the spike and it will take away your ability to do the proper actions with any sort of effectiveness. I don't want to paint a bad picture like this is such a game breaking aspect. It really isn't. Because there are plenty of pillars with spikes on the bottom and I get passed it but then there will be a room where it is placed as such that it is in the perfect place for it to be just annoying. And honestly it wouldn't even be an issue if it wasn't for the fact that as soon as your toe touched the border of the screen with no platform, you instantly die. There isn't any slack which really is the enemy here and less so the spikes if I am to truly address what was bothering me. I personally would liked if at least your legs where allowed to sink through a little but maybe that is just me.
Also, there are some rooms where I am not even sure how you are supposed to get around the spikes so I just jumped into them with a hope of reaching a clear space before they killed me. I mean, it is nice that I can survive them but I don't like designs where you have to hurt yourself to proceed. At least not in a retro styled games based on an area where that kind of idea was unthinkable.
But, with that said, the platforming is still a lot of fun and it is nice the kind of back and forth movements it can create. A big cheat to winning over my heart in a game is making me feel like a ninja which there is a good deal of in this game. Especially after completing those more tedious levels.
The music itself is good. Not the most mind-blowing in this era where Soundtracks can elevate your game to legend status, but a lot more interesting than the older games that it is imitating and something that makes the game easier to get through.
Overall, I recommend the game. I got it free but I think it is fair to pay 99 cents for it. If you want something that will REALLY remind you of old school platforming than this is perfect. If you are looking for something particularly smooth, then it might be a little rough around the edge. I give it (considering price) 7/10
