I didn't review the first Chameleon Twist, but I did think it was an alright 3D Platformer. There were better 3D Platformers at the time, but it was unique and mostly fun. I was expecting this game to be more of the same, but I thought it was a much lesser experience for multiple reasons.
Let's start with the moveset. Everything from the first game returns. The jumping and running, tongue pull and twist, and the high jump. This game adds something new though, which is that you can now tongue grapple onto any surface. This is really fun to mess around with, and it's such an obvious idea I wonder why it wasn't in the first game.
So really, most of the issues are with the level design. The first was mostly very compact. Many levels took place indoors, which is pretty uncommon in the genre. It was a short and sweet game. By contrast, Chameleon Twist 2 is short and bitter. Every level takes place in some floating location in front of skyboxes that are pretty poor looking. Aside from that, the levels are a bit bigger in general. This is fine, but it means enemies are usually very easy to avoid. You can just walk past most of them, as you're rarely required to or rewarded for engaging with them. The more open levels may also attribute to an issue where the game would regularly place me at checkpoints to areas that I didn't actually reach yet. Multiple times I would barely miss a jump, but I'd be put ahead in the level when I respawn.
I'm also kind of impressed that despite how short and easy this game is, it seems to waste your time a lot. Levels often involve waiting on or for moving platforms. There's also a lot of trial-and-error sections for some reason. There's also powerups here, some of which are detrimental to you. It's completely random which one you get, and one of them makes you slower. Why?!?! Even when you're not waiting, the level design doesn't take advantage of the core mechanic nearly as well as the first game. It's fun enough, but most of it is pretty basic platforming made a little better by a pretty solid moveset.
I think the bosses are on par or even better than those of the first game. They're still pretty basic, but they can be alright.
Overall, this game sucks. It's worse than the original in nearly every way, and the one positive I had was done far better in Super Sami Roll. 4/10, closer to a 3.
Let's start with the moveset. Everything from the first game returns. The jumping and running, tongue pull and twist, and the high jump. This game adds something new though, which is that you can now tongue grapple onto any surface. This is really fun to mess around with, and it's such an obvious idea I wonder why it wasn't in the first game.
So really, most of the issues are with the level design. The first was mostly very compact. Many levels took place indoors, which is pretty uncommon in the genre. It was a short and sweet game. By contrast, Chameleon Twist 2 is short and bitter. Every level takes place in some floating location in front of skyboxes that are pretty poor looking. Aside from that, the levels are a bit bigger in general. This is fine, but it means enemies are usually very easy to avoid. You can just walk past most of them, as you're rarely required to or rewarded for engaging with them. The more open levels may also attribute to an issue where the game would regularly place me at checkpoints to areas that I didn't actually reach yet. Multiple times I would barely miss a jump, but I'd be put ahead in the level when I respawn.
I'm also kind of impressed that despite how short and easy this game is, it seems to waste your time a lot. Levels often involve waiting on or for moving platforms. There's also a lot of trial-and-error sections for some reason. There's also powerups here, some of which are detrimental to you. It's completely random which one you get, and one of them makes you slower. Why?!?! Even when you're not waiting, the level design doesn't take advantage of the core mechanic nearly as well as the first game. It's fun enough, but most of it is pretty basic platforming made a little better by a pretty solid moveset.
I think the bosses are on par or even better than those of the first game. They're still pretty basic, but they can be alright.
Overall, this game sucks. It's worse than the original in nearly every way, and the one positive I had was done far better in Super Sami Roll. 4/10, closer to a 3.