If I were to describe the PS1 Dr. Slump game on paper, it would probably sound like the most unappealing game in the world. You walk around, talk to people, warp to other places that webbed together in a convoluted manner, and complete their desired quests until you end up going to an action stage. Overworlds are tiny, placed in a void and can only be accessed from other overworld by menu. There is little to no voice acting, hardly any unique animations, not much in the way of side content at all, not even any NPCs that aren't the central characters, even. Yet, we only live on this Earth for so long, and this is a game you should play before you leave.
Dramatic, I know, but to put it into perspective, it's certainly a cheap game, but cheap in very clever ways. By skimping on realistic graphics, it succeeds at being one of the best-looking games for the PS1, toe-to-toe with Mega Man Legends. Who cares if the soundtrack is MIDI, it sure as hell bops, even if the main overworld song is played much too often. Despite the lack of voice acting and cinematic cutscenes a la MML, the dialogue, which is localized very well in the fan-made English patch, is funny and charming. The story clearly rushes through some of the manga's greatest hits, but it's enjoyable all the same. You cannot move the camera, but it's almost always in the place you want it to be. You aren't playing this game for much more than good times with the Penguin Village crew, and that's all it needs to be.
As for Arale's controls... could be better. They get the job done, but your jump is quite heavy and your combat options don't feel too well-equipped for some annoying enemies. There's also way too many insta-kill pits strewn about the later action stages, geez.
I suppose I'm biased due to my history with Dr. Slump, but this genuinely a really nice budget game for what it is. The fact that this was translated is a joy to behold, and it's super-short to boot. If you have 6 hours to spare, give it a shot.
Dramatic, I know, but to put it into perspective, it's certainly a cheap game, but cheap in very clever ways. By skimping on realistic graphics, it succeeds at being one of the best-looking games for the PS1, toe-to-toe with Mega Man Legends. Who cares if the soundtrack is MIDI, it sure as hell bops, even if the main overworld song is played much too often. Despite the lack of voice acting and cinematic cutscenes a la MML, the dialogue, which is localized very well in the fan-made English patch, is funny and charming. The story clearly rushes through some of the manga's greatest hits, but it's enjoyable all the same. You cannot move the camera, but it's almost always in the place you want it to be. You aren't playing this game for much more than good times with the Penguin Village crew, and that's all it needs to be.
As for Arale's controls... could be better. They get the job done, but your jump is quite heavy and your combat options don't feel too well-equipped for some annoying enemies. There's also way too many insta-kill pits strewn about the later action stages, geez.
I suppose I'm biased due to my history with Dr. Slump, but this genuinely a really nice budget game for what it is. The fact that this was translated is a joy to behold, and it's super-short to boot. If you have 6 hours to spare, give it a shot.
cute little game :> i enjoyed it quite a bit
Teria dado um nota maior,se os ultimos mapas nao fossem uma chatice.
Sempre vi essa personagem no budokai teikachi e nunca entendia do pq ela era tao forte,agora q terminei o jogo eu entendi.
Arale é uma personagem bem engraçada,o jogo em si é divertido,arte do akira é muito boa nesse jogo.
Os controles envelheceram bem,alguns nem tanto.
A maioria dos mapas e dos bosses sao legais.
É um jogo curtinho,mas divertido.
Sempre vi essa personagem no budokai teikachi e nunca entendia do pq ela era tao forte,agora q terminei o jogo eu entendi.
Arale é uma personagem bem engraçada,o jogo em si é divertido,arte do akira é muito boa nesse jogo.
Os controles envelheceram bem,alguns nem tanto.
A maioria dos mapas e dos bosses sao legais.
É um jogo curtinho,mas divertido.
Very linear but it is cute. I think a child would really dig this if they tried it.
I really wish I liked this more than I did. It has a terrific Mega Man Legends-esque aesthetic that lends it a lot of visual charm, but once you start properly playing the game, you quickly realise that its charm can only get it so far.
Dr. Slump is essentially a series of vignettes, I assume taken directly from the manga. Lots of random shit happens. Very random. And it all feels very disconnected. Maybe that structure works better in manga form, but here, you get a very fragmented story that features a lot of humour that doesn't land. The adventure-type moments aren't too bad. Bland but inoffensive. You run around, talk to supporting characters, sometimes engage in minigames, etc. They're kinda bleh. But then you get to the more action-focused segments that are centered around platforming, and oof, let me tell you, those are a chore. Mechanically they're just no good. Like a far lesser Ape Escape. And they become more frequent the further you progress.
It's always a feel-good story when a translation team puts in the effort to make something like this, that was denied to the West for so long, available to a wider audience. Hilltop does fantastic work, there's no doubt about it. But because of that, it sucks when you play one of these formerly Japan-only releases and it becomes obvious why it was never localised in the first place. Dr. Slump is such a game.
Dr. Slump is essentially a series of vignettes, I assume taken directly from the manga. Lots of random shit happens. Very random. And it all feels very disconnected. Maybe that structure works better in manga form, but here, you get a very fragmented story that features a lot of humour that doesn't land. The adventure-type moments aren't too bad. Bland but inoffensive. You run around, talk to supporting characters, sometimes engage in minigames, etc. They're kinda bleh. But then you get to the more action-focused segments that are centered around platforming, and oof, let me tell you, those are a chore. Mechanically they're just no good. Like a far lesser Ape Escape. And they become more frequent the further you progress.
It's always a feel-good story when a translation team puts in the effort to make something like this, that was denied to the West for so long, available to a wider audience. Hilltop does fantastic work, there's no doubt about it. But because of that, it sucks when you play one of these formerly Japan-only releases and it becomes obvious why it was never localised in the first place. Dr. Slump is such a game.
this game is so cute and endearing and goofy and loveable in every way except for being a game you play and press buttons in once you get past making the cute animations happen but this barely hampers my enjoyment overall honestly even though it refused to give me any outfits
Dr. Slumps aesthetic matches the taste of a mix berry smoothie.
charming graphics, but not much more gameplay wise, it's more for the fans of the manga
who let this game be so pretty lmao
Fun, charming PS1 platformer. Astonishingly good for a licensed game of its era.
If you're a Dr Slump fan, you'll have a great time reliving the manga in video game form.
If you've never experienced Dr Slump before, get ready for a wild ride.
If you're a Dr Slump fan, you'll have a great time reliving the manga in video game form.
If you've never experienced Dr Slump before, get ready for a wild ride.
Tem um dos gráficos mais fofos do PS1 que pessoal busca recriar até hoje, que nem Megaman Legends. O jogo é uma simples aventura da Arale descobrindo o mundo ao seu redor e ajudando os outros nos seus afazeres, e aprendendo habilidades novas no caminho, copiando dos outros. Um dos inimigos carrega um soco e acerta na Arale, mas sem efeito, ela só acha mó legal e aprende a dar o soco igual também, vencendo do inimigo sem querer no processo kkkk
Jogue quando tiver a chance, tem traduzido na net
Jogue quando tiver a chance, tem traduzido na net
Eu só joguei esse jogo por conta dos gráficos, tirando isso o jogo é muito mediocre.
your enjoyment of this game will be entirely determined by how much you enjoy dr slump. seems like that should be obvious as this is an obscure dr slump game that only got an english hack in the past couple years, but well you know.
now, the real reason i say this is for fans of doctor slump is because this game is basically going through the events of the anime/manga with the dialogue and humor in the drivers seat and the actual gameplay chilling in the back. you'll spend most of this game reading the cutscenes, or running around doing oddjobs going from A to B and back to A. and while that seems like a negative thing, honestly i never got tired of it because i love re-experiencing dr slump like this. now, little actual gameplay isnt to say there's no gameplay. there are levels at the end or each day that give you these 3d platformer-ish sections, sometimes with certain tasks like collect x amount of y, until you get to a boss. these sections are fine, but i do have my gripes with them. see, even though i described them as 3d platformer-ish, theres a reason i included the -ish at the end. half of the levels are just mazes, and these are the worst parts about the game, especially in the racist level where every 2 feet theres some barricade you need to get past and it takes 3 hits to get past and its so annoying. the bosses can also be rather hit or miss. its usually this "wtf my attacks arent hurting him what do i-oh thats what i do" and then the boss dies when you repeat the method you just did a couple of times. that said, none of them are bad. i will say this, the controls have also aged very well for a playstation game, no tank controls (not that tank controls are inherently bad), you get a good amount of abilities throughout the game, all references to the manga that feel natural as gameplay mechanics and theyre all fun to use, even the ones you never really.... ever use like sneaking or rolling. idk why those are even there. if theres one thing i will majorly criticize this game for, its the unlockables. every once in a while, you'll fill up your pep gauge from collecting poop or helping people (think leveling up in any other game, if that had no purpose) and go back to senbei for a reward.... and most the rewards are just basic options or otherwise something intrusive to the hud that serves no purpose. also costumes, but you need so many rewards before getting costumes that most will likely never see them, and those that do will likely have already done literally everything else before, and with (i believe) no new game plus, you wont have much of a use for the costume. speaking of the end, theres no ending cutscene, just credits and then post-game where a baby talks to you and says "you beat the game"
overall though, none of that ruins the game for me. this game is a must for any dr slump fans
now, the real reason i say this is for fans of doctor slump is because this game is basically going through the events of the anime/manga with the dialogue and humor in the drivers seat and the actual gameplay chilling in the back. you'll spend most of this game reading the cutscenes, or running around doing oddjobs going from A to B and back to A. and while that seems like a negative thing, honestly i never got tired of it because i love re-experiencing dr slump like this. now, little actual gameplay isnt to say there's no gameplay. there are levels at the end or each day that give you these 3d platformer-ish sections, sometimes with certain tasks like collect x amount of y, until you get to a boss. these sections are fine, but i do have my gripes with them. see, even though i described them as 3d platformer-ish, theres a reason i included the -ish at the end. half of the levels are just mazes, and these are the worst parts about the game, especially in the racist level where every 2 feet theres some barricade you need to get past and it takes 3 hits to get past and its so annoying. the bosses can also be rather hit or miss. its usually this "wtf my attacks arent hurting him what do i-oh thats what i do" and then the boss dies when you repeat the method you just did a couple of times. that said, none of them are bad. i will say this, the controls have also aged very well for a playstation game, no tank controls (not that tank controls are inherently bad), you get a good amount of abilities throughout the game, all references to the manga that feel natural as gameplay mechanics and theyre all fun to use, even the ones you never really.... ever use like sneaking or rolling. idk why those are even there. if theres one thing i will majorly criticize this game for, its the unlockables. every once in a while, you'll fill up your pep gauge from collecting poop or helping people (think leveling up in any other game, if that had no purpose) and go back to senbei for a reward.... and most the rewards are just basic options or otherwise something intrusive to the hud that serves no purpose. also costumes, but you need so many rewards before getting costumes that most will likely never see them, and those that do will likely have already done literally everything else before, and with (i believe) no new game plus, you wont have much of a use for the costume. speaking of the end, theres no ending cutscene, just credits and then post-game where a baby talks to you and says "you beat the game"
overall though, none of that ruins the game for me. this game is a must for any dr slump fans
as a pretty big dr. slump fan, I thought this game was decent, even though the level design was kinda jank and the character designs were the mostly-inferior 1997 ones (though the hilltop fan translation does allow you to revert arale's outfit and hair colour to her original one)
the aesthetic is probably the game's biggest strength, lol
the aesthetic is probably the game's biggest strength, lol
In the 1990s, few game companies were as surefire as Natsume when it came to consistently producing good games, and similarly few managed to break the licensed game curse the way they did. Dr. Slump is no exception, serving as quite possibly the definitive Arale game for fans of the manga and anime.
Criminally left untranslated for 25 years, this is a combination of action platformer, minigames and light RPG, much in the way of the Megaman Legends games. As Arale we will speed around Penguin Village, talking to familiar faces, including fan favorites Suppaman and King Nicochan, and using a wealth of abilities to engage in hilarious shenanigans against the various demented villains that will get in our way in our quest for... well, poking poop, I guess. That always seemed to be Arale's whole motivation anyway.
The presentation steals the show, especially upscaled on modern emulators: thanks to clean, colorful visuals and fantastic facial animations, it really feels like playing the anime, barring the lack of voice acting, which is due to the fact this is a long game as well: easily 6 to 7 hours for something that could easily have been shipped with one hour worth of content. In fairness it is padded with fetch quests and other game stretching means, but the comedic payoffs usually make these activities worth your time.
The only real downsides are the fact the game is based on the 90s anime remake (inferior on many counts to the 80s original), which means bizarre redesigns for several characters, most notably Midori, gone from a Marilyn blonde to a far more generic look. The other, more substantial, issue is that the action stages aren't very good, in part due to the camera angles not cooperating sometimes, but also to an over reliance on instant death pits, which can force a few restarts too many. Minor annoyances, if you are a fan of the series and can get into the groove of the game.
One can only imagine what Natsume could have done with the Dragon Ball license, perhaps making a game like this based on the start of the manga. Sadly we will never know, but we do have this game, and if you have an even passing interest in Toriyama's early work, you should for no reason let this one pass you by.
Criminally left untranslated for 25 years, this is a combination of action platformer, minigames and light RPG, much in the way of the Megaman Legends games. As Arale we will speed around Penguin Village, talking to familiar faces, including fan favorites Suppaman and King Nicochan, and using a wealth of abilities to engage in hilarious shenanigans against the various demented villains that will get in our way in our quest for... well, poking poop, I guess. That always seemed to be Arale's whole motivation anyway.
The presentation steals the show, especially upscaled on modern emulators: thanks to clean, colorful visuals and fantastic facial animations, it really feels like playing the anime, barring the lack of voice acting, which is due to the fact this is a long game as well: easily 6 to 7 hours for something that could easily have been shipped with one hour worth of content. In fairness it is padded with fetch quests and other game stretching means, but the comedic payoffs usually make these activities worth your time.
The only real downsides are the fact the game is based on the 90s anime remake (inferior on many counts to the 80s original), which means bizarre redesigns for several characters, most notably Midori, gone from a Marilyn blonde to a far more generic look. The other, more substantial, issue is that the action stages aren't very good, in part due to the camera angles not cooperating sometimes, but also to an over reliance on instant death pits, which can force a few restarts too many. Minor annoyances, if you are a fan of the series and can get into the groove of the game.
One can only imagine what Natsume could have done with the Dragon Ball license, perhaps making a game like this based on the start of the manga. Sadly we will never know, but we do have this game, and if you have an even passing interest in Toriyama's early work, you should for no reason let this one pass you by.