It's the first 3D WorldRunner game but with a more sickly presentation - compare this screenshot of the prior game to this one here - as well as a faster speed. This is supposedly the more difficult followup, yet I actually found myself having a much easier time due to there being way, way less "do or die" scenarios, even if they are still present here, and having its increasing amount of onscreen enemies feel more like a step up in challenge instead of throwing them on the screen to ostensibly form a sense of "difficulty". For instance, the sixth world in 3DWR has you making precise jumps to land exactly on pipes in order to get while having to deal with distance differences, which means getting to land on all of them consistently while maneuvering towards them tends to feel more like luck than skillful plays. The sixth world here, meanwhile, feels a lot more like a traditional auto-run platformer, having to balance around jumping over the enemies and gaps while minding the flame pillars and overhead bugs, all while never feeling overwhelming and giving way to tight moments. I've obtained far more lives here, powerups never felt too far apart, levels tended to feel shorter instead of overlong, and even the Space Harrier-esque boss encounters were far easier to handle due to seemingly having a lowered health pool. The only thing I can say the first game does better is having variety in obstacles, but when most of them, especially in the middle section, tended to drive me up a wall with how stupidly exact they are, I'd say it was for the better this is more straightforward and instead rehashes only a portion of them.

There's not much to say as a review for either title, since Cadensia gave a far better outline of the formula and history in a far more eloquent and concise manner than I would've shared. Only thing I could've added was an interview on Next Generation magazine were Hironobu Sakaguchi explained the game's sale figures and why it was created, and that this one right here was the last game Square made before Final Fantasy released onto the public.