Bubba 'n' Stix
A Boy and his Stick. Wait that doesn't sound right.Genre: action - platform
Publisher: Core Design Tengen
Year: 1994
System: Genesis
Gameplay Score: 2
Gameplay Notes:
The gimmick of this game is your sentient alien stick friend that doubles as a weapon and a tool for solving puzzles. The problem is that the puzzles are so unobvious that the game requires a walkthrough. Of course no one has ever played this game so there is no walk-through and I'm not about to make one. Movement is fine. Nothing special. You've got a short jump and the aforementioned stick. Unfortunately, the stick tends to change its behavior seemingly at random. So you expect to swing it like a sword to attack an enemy just in front of you. But instead he's thrown and then your defenseless until he returns. It's novel and inventive but not what I would call fun. Oh and all the other usual Western dev sins are present - minimal i-frames, no hitboxes, poor hit detection, enemies respawn off screen, etc.
Level Design Score: 0
Level Design Notes:
Like so many other Western developed games, this is where the quality suffers. The various capabilities of your stick friend are never explained and are completely unobvious. For example, at the start of the game, an enormous tree walks toward you from the left ushering you to the right side, which makes sense since most platformers have you going to the right. However, you'll eventually come to a dead end with no ability to proceed. What you're supposed to do is kill that tree and go left. However, the only way to do this is to jump while facing the tree, throw your stick and turn around to make the tree become open to taking damage. It's unbelievably counter intuitive! And that's the very first part of the first stage! The rest of the game is just as confusing.
Theme Score: 1
Theme Notes:
You're a hillbilly with a stick. Oh kay
Art Style Score: 3
Art Style Notes:
Like Boogerman this is a technically impressive looking game with some horrible character designs. It's definitely a step above the THQ games, but it's in that same family.
Audio Score: 2
Audio Notes:
The music's trying to ape Toe Jam and Earl...maybe? I don't know. Whatever it is, it's not a fun soundtrack to listen to. Don't get me wrong, it's not terrible, but yeah, it's an acquired taste.
Overall Score: 31
Review ID: 799
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