Popeye: Ijiwaru Majo Sea Hag no Maki
Well Blow Me Down!Genre: action - platform
Publisher: TechnÅs Japan
Year: 1994
System: SFC
Gameplay Score: 2
Gameplay Notes:
Slippery controls and spotty hit detection. You can throw an anchor which returns like it's a yo-yo, but there's such a delay that it's difficult to time your throw just right so it's generally best to avoid combat. You can also jump on enemies but the terrible hit detection makes this horribly unreliable. It might look like a Sunsoft or Capcom title, but it plays more like a THQ platformer.
Level Design Score: 2
Level Design Notes:
Bizarre , to say the least. The overworld looks like a standard SMB3 map but you have to roll a die to move between areas. You have to move exactly that number of spaces and while there are branching paths you generally one have two levels to pick from. And by levels, I mean either a 15 second platforming stage with a few enemies, a quick boss fight, or a shop. These encounters are strangely random and wholly unsatisfying - so much so that I completely checked out after the fifth or sixth stage. This structure took me completely out of the narrative which suggested that I'm trying to get to the end and fight a big baddie (the Sea Hag). There's no sense of progression so I didn't understand how anything was building toward an endgame.
Theme Score: 4
Theme Notes:
It was so fun to see Popeye in a video game! I'm not a superfan or anything, but the nostalgia bait caught me.
Art Style Score: 4
Art Style Notes:
Everything looks great. The pixel are is impressive, although it could do with a few more frames of animation. Enemies are consistently cute and colorful. It looks like something Capcom or Sunsoft would've made during this era.
Audio Score: 3
Audio Notes:
Nothing too special. Only a few music tracks.
Overall Score: 48
Review ID: 1796
No comments:
Post a Comment