I’m not even gonna give a long length paragraph here, the GBA version of this game is atrocious. I played the SNES version a couple of years ago and it was good even if it has some crappy levels but this port is just something. If you thought the port of the first EWJ is bad then you need to play this.
First off the controls are similar to the console versions. You can jump and shoot with the face buttons which is simple enough. Select switches weapons which is good because I think the MD version lacked swapping. The whip attack is on R and then there’s this shield that protects you from hits if you hold L, though it’s inconsistent. Was this in the SNES version? I’ve never seen it before but I forgot it was there anyway. I’m gonna make it clear that I will probably get some stuff wrong about comparisons. So let’s talk about the actual issues.
The controls are terrible. The jump just feels so fast and you move fast doing it too. The whip feels terrible too, you have to not only hold it but you lose any movement in the air doing it. I swear I don’t remember that being the case in the SNES version. The collision for things is also inconsistent and doesn’t feel matched up a lot of the time. In the 2nd level, the collision felt so buggy that I grabbed onto the soil and I went to the top of that section immediately. At least the gunplay is fine but that is the only playable feeling thing this has.
The levels aren’t fun either because of the issues. The Villi People level was surprisingly terrible in this version. The collision on the walls is just broken like they don’t even sometimes come close to matching what the graphics show. The bumpers also just have inconsistent physics to them. They don’t even play the game show music in this version. You will be sick of hearing Moonlight Sonata because every song in this version sounds really bad. If you thought Puppy Love was the worst part of the game before, well prepare to hate it here. The screen crunch actually screwed me over once and I swear it’s impossible to rescue them all. The Flyin’ King level is also so painful with the screen crunch and it’s so easy to screw up and the final part of this level pisses me off.
Then, tragedy struck. After beating The Flyin’ King, the well done screen showed up and after that…black screen. It just never loaded anything. Even after using rewind to try again, black screen. I’m sorry for doing this but that’s where it ends for me. I can’t tell you why it happened. Should I feel thankful I didn’t have to suffer more? I don’t know. There are passwords but I felt kind of demotivated by then and plus they’re buggy. One of the passwords on Gamefaqs takes you to level 2 but you instantly die because it starts you with 0% health. How does that even happen? In fact almost all of the passwords start you with like 1 or 2 percent health. I’ve read the passwords can also take you to a null level that instantly kills you but I couldn’t figure out how to see it. I don’t even know how you get passwords in general and that goes for any version.
I could go on about issues like the brightness of this port or how one of Jim’s voice samples is pitched down for no reason or even the wrong timing on some sound effects like the accordion in the opening scene. It’s all just terrible, how did this happen? I guess it’s still beatable unless it crashes for you too but I don’t know why anyone would want to play this outside of massive curiosity. It’s fascinating that it even got released or even approved. I’m not sure if it’s the worst port on the system but it is down there. Avoid this version like you probably have been doing to begin with. No one should have to deal with a game like this. The worst sin of them all though is the cow in the back of the level complete scene doesn't smile anymore, shame on you. Still wish I could have beaten it though…
First off the controls are similar to the console versions. You can jump and shoot with the face buttons which is simple enough. Select switches weapons which is good because I think the MD version lacked swapping. The whip attack is on R and then there’s this shield that protects you from hits if you hold L, though it’s inconsistent. Was this in the SNES version? I’ve never seen it before but I forgot it was there anyway. I’m gonna make it clear that I will probably get some stuff wrong about comparisons. So let’s talk about the actual issues.
The controls are terrible. The jump just feels so fast and you move fast doing it too. The whip feels terrible too, you have to not only hold it but you lose any movement in the air doing it. I swear I don’t remember that being the case in the SNES version. The collision for things is also inconsistent and doesn’t feel matched up a lot of the time. In the 2nd level, the collision felt so buggy that I grabbed onto the soil and I went to the top of that section immediately. At least the gunplay is fine but that is the only playable feeling thing this has.
The levels aren’t fun either because of the issues. The Villi People level was surprisingly terrible in this version. The collision on the walls is just broken like they don’t even sometimes come close to matching what the graphics show. The bumpers also just have inconsistent physics to them. They don’t even play the game show music in this version. You will be sick of hearing Moonlight Sonata because every song in this version sounds really bad. If you thought Puppy Love was the worst part of the game before, well prepare to hate it here. The screen crunch actually screwed me over once and I swear it’s impossible to rescue them all. The Flyin’ King level is also so painful with the screen crunch and it’s so easy to screw up and the final part of this level pisses me off.
Then, tragedy struck. After beating The Flyin’ King, the well done screen showed up and after that…black screen. It just never loaded anything. Even after using rewind to try again, black screen. I’m sorry for doing this but that’s where it ends for me. I can’t tell you why it happened. Should I feel thankful I didn’t have to suffer more? I don’t know. There are passwords but I felt kind of demotivated by then and plus they’re buggy. One of the passwords on Gamefaqs takes you to level 2 but you instantly die because it starts you with 0% health. How does that even happen? In fact almost all of the passwords start you with like 1 or 2 percent health. I’ve read the passwords can also take you to a null level that instantly kills you but I couldn’t figure out how to see it. I don’t even know how you get passwords in general and that goes for any version.
I could go on about issues like the brightness of this port or how one of Jim’s voice samples is pitched down for no reason or even the wrong timing on some sound effects like the accordion in the opening scene. It’s all just terrible, how did this happen? I guess it’s still beatable unless it crashes for you too but I don’t know why anyone would want to play this outside of massive curiosity. It’s fascinating that it even got released or even approved. I’m not sure if it’s the worst port on the system but it is down there. Avoid this version like you probably have been doing to begin with. No one should have to deal with a game like this. The worst sin of them all though is the cow in the back of the level complete scene doesn't smile anymore, shame on you. Still wish I could have beaten it though…