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For personal reference more than anything else.
No idea what number playthrough this is but I have played it a lot since I was a kid (not always finishing it or doing all of the levels though). Played through every level. Played with PS1 copy on the PS3.
This is one of those games that gets quite a hefty pass from me purely because I played it so much growing up. I mean, the controls are just awkward, the camera is awful and I really don't think that I could call any level in this game 'good'. The thing is though, its an incredibly charming game that feels like it had quite a bit of effort put into it or did things that weren't necessary but kind of cool. The pyramid in the golf level, the fact that there's a level which is just the Pickle's house but upside down with you on the ceiling and even just the fact that you can explore the Pickle's house in the hub world. While it repeats some level types (collect so many of one thing, get the babies to eat/drink whatever and pass whatever it is around so Angelica can't get to it) it really does try and have a variety, I don't think much if any work particularly well but its still impressive and worth admiring in my opinion.
Most levels are about the same level of quality but there are a couple that are noticeably worse, Circus Angelicus is just so awkward and if you fail at the last section (sometimes) you have to redo the entire level again, Mirrorland as cool as it is, is where the game gets the most tedious as by the end you've collected over 100 balloons, The Mysterious Mr Friend and the last part of Incident of Aisle 7 makes you use this game's crap combat system that just feels so bad. But the absolute worst one is 7 Voyages of Cynthia because Spike controls terribly, he's too big to not fall into the water half of the time and his jump is dreadful, yet the game expects you to do this platforming and avoid the water as it slowly drains his health (all this in a maze-like area where you have to figure out where to go), when I played it I just usually ended up in the water and bypassed the platforming sections as it was less annoying and the level is quite generous with the healing items.
I think my favourite levels were probably the outer space and shadow monster ones as they have a different combat system from the aforementioned levels which is a lot easier to do and just feels better (also that the outer space one is just really cool to me as its so different from everything else in the game and the shadow monster one is amusing to me as it genuinely scared me a lot when I was younger). Chuckie's Glasses is admittedly the level where the camera is at its worst but its the level I always think of when I think of this game, I just really like it. Also levels like Egg Hunt and Gold Rush as while Mirrorland is one of my least favourites despite being the same level type its only negative to me because of how long it is, Egg Hunt and Gold Rush are a much better length and are quite fun as I do like the concept.
Now even with all the problems I had, I was still having a really good time. Its one of the earliest games I played I think and its one I really enjoy coming back to every once in a while, there's just something about it. So even though its probably due to a very heavy bias, I really did enjoy coming back to this game and I know for a fact that I'll still continue to come back to it.
No idea what number playthrough this is but I have played it a lot since I was a kid (not always finishing it or doing all of the levels though). Played through every level. Played with PS1 copy on the PS3.
This is one of those games that gets quite a hefty pass from me purely because I played it so much growing up. I mean, the controls are just awkward, the camera is awful and I really don't think that I could call any level in this game 'good'. The thing is though, its an incredibly charming game that feels like it had quite a bit of effort put into it or did things that weren't necessary but kind of cool. The pyramid in the golf level, the fact that there's a level which is just the Pickle's house but upside down with you on the ceiling and even just the fact that you can explore the Pickle's house in the hub world. While it repeats some level types (collect so many of one thing, get the babies to eat/drink whatever and pass whatever it is around so Angelica can't get to it) it really does try and have a variety, I don't think much if any work particularly well but its still impressive and worth admiring in my opinion.
Most levels are about the same level of quality but there are a couple that are noticeably worse, Circus Angelicus is just so awkward and if you fail at the last section (sometimes) you have to redo the entire level again, Mirrorland as cool as it is, is where the game gets the most tedious as by the end you've collected over 100 balloons, The Mysterious Mr Friend and the last part of Incident of Aisle 7 makes you use this game's crap combat system that just feels so bad. But the absolute worst one is 7 Voyages of Cynthia because Spike controls terribly, he's too big to not fall into the water half of the time and his jump is dreadful, yet the game expects you to do this platforming and avoid the water as it slowly drains his health (all this in a maze-like area where you have to figure out where to go), when I played it I just usually ended up in the water and bypassed the platforming sections as it was less annoying and the level is quite generous with the healing items.
I think my favourite levels were probably the outer space and shadow monster ones as they have a different combat system from the aforementioned levels which is a lot easier to do and just feels better (also that the outer space one is just really cool to me as its so different from everything else in the game and the shadow monster one is amusing to me as it genuinely scared me a lot when I was younger). Chuckie's Glasses is admittedly the level where the camera is at its worst but its the level I always think of when I think of this game, I just really like it. Also levels like Egg Hunt and Gold Rush as while Mirrorland is one of my least favourites despite being the same level type its only negative to me because of how long it is, Egg Hunt and Gold Rush are a much better length and are quite fun as I do like the concept.
Now even with all the problems I had, I was still having a really good time. Its one of the earliest games I played I think and its one I really enjoy coming back to every once in a while, there's just something about it. So even though its probably due to a very heavy bias, I really did enjoy coming back to this game and I know for a fact that I'll still continue to come back to it.
This review contains spoilers
For personal reference more than anything else.
First time playing through this after playing the demo like twice. Played on normal mode.
Through playing a lot of games over the years I'd usually find stuff that felt like it was very much my thing and stuff that was very much not my thing. I think that this is the first instance where its both and it lead to a kind of confused experience even if I did end up enjoying the game. One of the biggest problems is that I don't think there's much about the game that I can say I only liked or only disliked, most things I think I had a more complex opinion on.
Combat in the game had things that I really liked, like the parry which was always satisfying to do and some power-ups feel good to use and helped make Samus feel like she was getting more and more powerful. But then on the other hand there was the aiming, something I think I've noticed since I got my Switch is that for certain things the sticks don't feel like they really work all that well. When I replayed Celeste I was a little confused as platforming felt harder to do than when I was playing on the PS4 and then I replayed Hollow Knight (which I also first played on the PS4) and just not being able to do the downward slash jump thing unless I used the directional buttons, it became apparent that it was a Switch thing. After these occasions I chalked it down to the sticks not protruding from the device enough (fuck, I hope this makes sense) and so I'd just use directional buttons when I could but when aiming in this game you have to use the stick and this game requires not only quite precise aiming at times but to do it quickly as well, so I pretty regularly had issues with this.
Another problem I had was how much of the latter half of this game felt like it depended on a really quick reaction time from the player, multiple bosses and enemies need you to be so on the ball that you can respond to something incredibly quickly and while I felt that I was usually ready, I still wasn't fast enough to react in the correct way most of the time.
Just before I get on to bosses I need to talk about power-ups. For a while I was having quite a good time getting them, I really like the music that played when you got one and while I do kind of wish that there was a bit more pizzazz or something when you get one, I did actually quite like how simplistic it was with just some words in a text box. Some of the power-ups are really fun to use or feel so good as they would help out with a problem that I had been having for a while. Also, it may be explained in an earlier game or something (at the time of writing this, Dread is the only game in this franchise that I have played for longer than 20 minutes) but I have no clue why Samus can turn into a ball and honestly I kind of love it even if it grosses me out a bit thinking about how she'd even physically be able to do that.
After a while though, the power-ups just started to get kind of old, there are so many and not all of them feel like they bring about the same level of excitement. I'd even forget about some eventually as I just didn't use them and then would get very confused a few hours later when I needed to use one to progress in an area. The biggest problem I had though was with the double jump and later upgraded infinity jump, rather than be a simple press once to jump and then press again to jump whilst already in the air kind of deal, instead when doing the second or subsequent jump(s) it has to be timed correctly. No matter how many times I tried it I could not get it to click and had about a 60-75% success rate trying to do one of these, but while that sounds high, the latter half of the game relies on it so much during platforming & bosses that I kept fucking up and failing to do it. This caused a lot of frustration for me.
But with that I can properly talk about bosses and generally I liked them, I really enjoyed the first couple and Experiment No Z-57 as they felt fun yet kind of difficult which made them an engaging experience. There were a couple that I wasn't quite as keen on due to issues I was having like, Drogyga because of the issues I was having with precise aiming and the Robot Chozo Soldier Twin battle after acquiring the storm missile as I just could not keep the missiles charging without getting hit or the charge cancelling. Raven Beak was both decent but also quite annoying as the fight does rely on being able to do the multi-jump a fair bit.
E.M.M.I were initially kind of cool but after a while they just became annoying as due to each new one being an upgrade in some way it made it a bit too hard to navigate the areas they were in without getting caught and also because there were a few of them they were getting kind of repetitive. The design of the E.M.M.I was pretty neat and looked like something out of Portal but then they just started using the same design but making them a different colour which felt kind of weird and at first reminded me of the multi-coloured Daleks in that one Doctor Who episode and then reminded me of the multi-coloured Krabby Patties in Patty Hype which didn't really help me feel all that threatened by them. I did enjoy the eye-brain thing fights though and never really got tired of them.
Locations in the game were something I feel mostly positive about though as they all looked really cool and distinctive, I loved how Artaria looks once its frozen over and despite it being kind of annoying to move around in for a while, I also really liked how Burenia looks as well which is helped by the music being really good in that area. Due to the way the map works and a fair few places that can first be normally moved around in but then later on are not anymore, overall the game felt a bit like the Infected Crossroads from Hollow Knight which I was not a fan of, but admittedly I didn't actually end up having too much of a problem with this game doing that so its not the biggest deal.
I did have to use a guide quite often though as I just had no idea what I was supposed to be doing and where I was supposed to be a lot of the time as the game (and ADAM) doesn't really explain it to you and as there are a lot of situations where you have to progress by destroying a block which is hidden in the terrain, I was just really confused. It did make me realise though just how linear this game is, maybe if I'd played more of one of the older ones I would have known going in but my best point of reference is Hollow Knight as they're kind of similar games and I thought it'd be more like that where there's usually multiple viable options for you to choose when deciding on what area to do next. I don't have an issue with it or anything and I really like the whole certain areas and sections being locked off until you get the correct power-up thing but the linearity just came as a surprise to me.
I wasn't really into the story admittedly and as someone who hasn't played the rest of the games it was a bit of a struggle trying to remember (lore-wise) which one is the X and which one is the Metroid. Samus is kind of boring as a character as she only has like one line in the game but I was enjoying her more towards the end when she started doing cool shit like draining an entire spaceship of its energy and her facial expressions got more and more expressive and angry. ADAM might go down as having the most annoying voice I have ever heard in a game as it sounds like someone speaking through some crap robotic filter or a cheap voice changer toy, after a few meetings with him I just muted the game before he started to talk and would read the text just so I didn't have to hear him.
The other characters I also didn't really care about and considering that Quiet Robe, gets introduced, turns off the E.M.M.I, expositions a lot to Samus, dies, has his corpse possessed so that the E.M.M.I can be turned back on and then for some reason comes back at the end of the game as a ghost X thing (?) so he can act as a Deus Ex Machina and Samus can get her ship working, I don't exactly think he was the best character going. Raven Beak was just boring in all honesty.
Singular scattered thought:
• The power-up music, Burenia music and main menu music were the only parts of the soundtrack that really stood out to me and I really liked. I did enjoy some of the other music in different areas but that was about it.
I did enjoy this game and I think if I had less issues with it, I would've really enjoyed it (no shit) but unfortunately the issues I did have were just annoying and at points made me wish that the game was over like 1 or 2 hours before it actually was and because of that I don't think I can really regard the whole thing any higher and I don't think I should ever come back to it. But I think despite this I will remember this game more fondly than negatively and I do think its a good game.
First time playing through this after playing the demo like twice. Played on normal mode.
Through playing a lot of games over the years I'd usually find stuff that felt like it was very much my thing and stuff that was very much not my thing. I think that this is the first instance where its both and it lead to a kind of confused experience even if I did end up enjoying the game. One of the biggest problems is that I don't think there's much about the game that I can say I only liked or only disliked, most things I think I had a more complex opinion on.
Combat in the game had things that I really liked, like the parry which was always satisfying to do and some power-ups feel good to use and helped make Samus feel like she was getting more and more powerful. But then on the other hand there was the aiming, something I think I've noticed since I got my Switch is that for certain things the sticks don't feel like they really work all that well. When I replayed Celeste I was a little confused as platforming felt harder to do than when I was playing on the PS4 and then I replayed Hollow Knight (which I also first played on the PS4) and just not being able to do the downward slash jump thing unless I used the directional buttons, it became apparent that it was a Switch thing. After these occasions I chalked it down to the sticks not protruding from the device enough (fuck, I hope this makes sense) and so I'd just use directional buttons when I could but when aiming in this game you have to use the stick and this game requires not only quite precise aiming at times but to do it quickly as well, so I pretty regularly had issues with this.
Another problem I had was how much of the latter half of this game felt like it depended on a really quick reaction time from the player, multiple bosses and enemies need you to be so on the ball that you can respond to something incredibly quickly and while I felt that I was usually ready, I still wasn't fast enough to react in the correct way most of the time.
Just before I get on to bosses I need to talk about power-ups. For a while I was having quite a good time getting them, I really like the music that played when you got one and while I do kind of wish that there was a bit more pizzazz or something when you get one, I did actually quite like how simplistic it was with just some words in a text box. Some of the power-ups are really fun to use or feel so good as they would help out with a problem that I had been having for a while. Also, it may be explained in an earlier game or something (at the time of writing this, Dread is the only game in this franchise that I have played for longer than 20 minutes) but I have no clue why Samus can turn into a ball and honestly I kind of love it even if it grosses me out a bit thinking about how she'd even physically be able to do that.
After a while though, the power-ups just started to get kind of old, there are so many and not all of them feel like they bring about the same level of excitement. I'd even forget about some eventually as I just didn't use them and then would get very confused a few hours later when I needed to use one to progress in an area. The biggest problem I had though was with the double jump and later upgraded infinity jump, rather than be a simple press once to jump and then press again to jump whilst already in the air kind of deal, instead when doing the second or subsequent jump(s) it has to be timed correctly. No matter how many times I tried it I could not get it to click and had about a 60-75% success rate trying to do one of these, but while that sounds high, the latter half of the game relies on it so much during platforming & bosses that I kept fucking up and failing to do it. This caused a lot of frustration for me.
But with that I can properly talk about bosses and generally I liked them, I really enjoyed the first couple and Experiment No Z-57 as they felt fun yet kind of difficult which made them an engaging experience. There were a couple that I wasn't quite as keen on due to issues I was having like, Drogyga because of the issues I was having with precise aiming and the Robot Chozo Soldier Twin battle after acquiring the storm missile as I just could not keep the missiles charging without getting hit or the charge cancelling. Raven Beak was both decent but also quite annoying as the fight does rely on being able to do the multi-jump a fair bit.
E.M.M.I were initially kind of cool but after a while they just became annoying as due to each new one being an upgrade in some way it made it a bit too hard to navigate the areas they were in without getting caught and also because there were a few of them they were getting kind of repetitive. The design of the E.M.M.I was pretty neat and looked like something out of Portal but then they just started using the same design but making them a different colour which felt kind of weird and at first reminded me of the multi-coloured Daleks in that one Doctor Who episode and then reminded me of the multi-coloured Krabby Patties in Patty Hype which didn't really help me feel all that threatened by them. I did enjoy the eye-brain thing fights though and never really got tired of them.
Locations in the game were something I feel mostly positive about though as they all looked really cool and distinctive, I loved how Artaria looks once its frozen over and despite it being kind of annoying to move around in for a while, I also really liked how Burenia looks as well which is helped by the music being really good in that area. Due to the way the map works and a fair few places that can first be normally moved around in but then later on are not anymore, overall the game felt a bit like the Infected Crossroads from Hollow Knight which I was not a fan of, but admittedly I didn't actually end up having too much of a problem with this game doing that so its not the biggest deal.
I did have to use a guide quite often though as I just had no idea what I was supposed to be doing and where I was supposed to be a lot of the time as the game (and ADAM) doesn't really explain it to you and as there are a lot of situations where you have to progress by destroying a block which is hidden in the terrain, I was just really confused. It did make me realise though just how linear this game is, maybe if I'd played more of one of the older ones I would have known going in but my best point of reference is Hollow Knight as they're kind of similar games and I thought it'd be more like that where there's usually multiple viable options for you to choose when deciding on what area to do next. I don't have an issue with it or anything and I really like the whole certain areas and sections being locked off until you get the correct power-up thing but the linearity just came as a surprise to me.
I wasn't really into the story admittedly and as someone who hasn't played the rest of the games it was a bit of a struggle trying to remember (lore-wise) which one is the X and which one is the Metroid. Samus is kind of boring as a character as she only has like one line in the game but I was enjoying her more towards the end when she started doing cool shit like draining an entire spaceship of its energy and her facial expressions got more and more expressive and angry. ADAM might go down as having the most annoying voice I have ever heard in a game as it sounds like someone speaking through some crap robotic filter or a cheap voice changer toy, after a few meetings with him I just muted the game before he started to talk and would read the text just so I didn't have to hear him.
The other characters I also didn't really care about and considering that Quiet Robe, gets introduced, turns off the E.M.M.I, expositions a lot to Samus, dies, has his corpse possessed so that the E.M.M.I can be turned back on and then for some reason comes back at the end of the game as a ghost X thing (?) so he can act as a Deus Ex Machina and Samus can get her ship working, I don't exactly think he was the best character going. Raven Beak was just boring in all honesty.
Singular scattered thought:
• The power-up music, Burenia music and main menu music were the only parts of the soundtrack that really stood out to me and I really liked. I did enjoy some of the other music in different areas but that was about it.
I did enjoy this game and I think if I had less issues with it, I would've really enjoyed it (no shit) but unfortunately the issues I did have were just annoying and at points made me wish that the game was over like 1 or 2 hours before it actually was and because of that I don't think I can really regard the whole thing any higher and I don't think I should ever come back to it. But I think despite this I will remember this game more fondly than negatively and I do think its a good game.
For personal reference more than anything else.
Played it for a little bit to compare with 2007 and to also write this. Have played it before a fair few years ago but not enough for me to really remember playing that much, came back to it a little in the last year.
I went in to this one today not really expecting much, when I've played it recently I didn't think much of it and its the next game after 2007 so I figured at best there'd be a couple of improvements with the only real noticeable change being the graphics as its going from a PS2 game to a PS3 one. I was wrong though as this really seemed to improve a lot from the last game and multiple issues I had with 2007 were now either gone or changed for the better.
Difficulty is the main thing as the game is easier now, the reversal system seems the same but it just felt like I was able to actually reverse moves more often here which stopped fights being incredibly one-sided. Tap any button repeatedly sections are still here, but from what I could tell it was only when my character was on the ground and the time spent on the ground before being able to get up felt a lot shorter compared to the last game, gradually as the match goes on and my character took more damage they would be on the ground for longer but that's how it should be I think. So basically, button mashing isn't necessary for long. This does mean that the submission minigame has changed and I don't think I particularly like it, its just move the right stick until you either can't or shouldn't any more and its just kind of weird and dull.
The difficulty options themselves are mostly better now as normal and hard are fun to play, although they are a bit too easy I think now. Easy is kind of boring but funny at the same time as most of the time the opponent will just look at you and not do anything which makes it feel more like a practice mode perhaps. Legend is actually what I was looking for though as it doesn't feel too easy but its not too difficult either, it feels like a good balance and led to matches I could get really invested in and enjoy playing, there was an initial problem with the opponent being able to reverse basically everything all the time but thankfully this can be adjusted in the options and after that it finally felt right.
Some scattered thoughts:
• Customisation was better in this game as there were more moves to choose from but still the same amount of slots in create a moveset. Create a superstar was also better as while it was mostly the same, it just felt like there were more options and due to the graphical upgrade the characters you can make just look a lot better than the ones in 2007.
• Saving was no longer annoying as shit as the game could auto-save, so even though the game saved just as much as 2007 did, it wasn't constantly asking if I wanted to save or not.
• There are some things where my opinion just hasn't changed, I still don't really care about the career mode and I like the roster although how character selection works leaves much to be desired.
• The soundtrack though is another story as the music seems to be the same kind that was in 2007 but because I haven't really spent time with it I have no interest in it at all.
• There was this strange sense of slowness and awkwardness when it came to movement but I was just able to roll with it and quickly got used to it.
When I first realised that this game was a lot better than 2007, I was admittedly kind of pissed off because it felt wrong to have a higher opinion on this game that I have no real attachment to, instead of 2007 where I have a much stronger attachment. Its kind of a stupid feeling I think but it does come from a place of genuine surprise due to how much of an improvement was made between games, it is wild to me just how much more enjoyable this game is. I may not have particularly strong emotions regarding this game but I really like it and its a perfectly acceptable choice for when I want to play a wrestling game.
Played it for a little bit to compare with 2007 and to also write this. Have played it before a fair few years ago but not enough for me to really remember playing that much, came back to it a little in the last year.
I went in to this one today not really expecting much, when I've played it recently I didn't think much of it and its the next game after 2007 so I figured at best there'd be a couple of improvements with the only real noticeable change being the graphics as its going from a PS2 game to a PS3 one. I was wrong though as this really seemed to improve a lot from the last game and multiple issues I had with 2007 were now either gone or changed for the better.
Difficulty is the main thing as the game is easier now, the reversal system seems the same but it just felt like I was able to actually reverse moves more often here which stopped fights being incredibly one-sided. Tap any button repeatedly sections are still here, but from what I could tell it was only when my character was on the ground and the time spent on the ground before being able to get up felt a lot shorter compared to the last game, gradually as the match goes on and my character took more damage they would be on the ground for longer but that's how it should be I think. So basically, button mashing isn't necessary for long. This does mean that the submission minigame has changed and I don't think I particularly like it, its just move the right stick until you either can't or shouldn't any more and its just kind of weird and dull.
The difficulty options themselves are mostly better now as normal and hard are fun to play, although they are a bit too easy I think now. Easy is kind of boring but funny at the same time as most of the time the opponent will just look at you and not do anything which makes it feel more like a practice mode perhaps. Legend is actually what I was looking for though as it doesn't feel too easy but its not too difficult either, it feels like a good balance and led to matches I could get really invested in and enjoy playing, there was an initial problem with the opponent being able to reverse basically everything all the time but thankfully this can be adjusted in the options and after that it finally felt right.
Some scattered thoughts:
• Customisation was better in this game as there were more moves to choose from but still the same amount of slots in create a moveset. Create a superstar was also better as while it was mostly the same, it just felt like there were more options and due to the graphical upgrade the characters you can make just look a lot better than the ones in 2007.
• Saving was no longer annoying as shit as the game could auto-save, so even though the game saved just as much as 2007 did, it wasn't constantly asking if I wanted to save or not.
• There are some things where my opinion just hasn't changed, I still don't really care about the career mode and I like the roster although how character selection works leaves much to be desired.
• The soundtrack though is another story as the music seems to be the same kind that was in 2007 but because I haven't really spent time with it I have no interest in it at all.
• There was this strange sense of slowness and awkwardness when it came to movement but I was just able to roll with it and quickly got used to it.
When I first realised that this game was a lot better than 2007, I was admittedly kind of pissed off because it felt wrong to have a higher opinion on this game that I have no real attachment to, instead of 2007 where I have a much stronger attachment. Its kind of a stupid feeling I think but it does come from a place of genuine surprise due to how much of an improvement was made between games, it is wild to me just how much more enjoyable this game is. I may not have particularly strong emotions regarding this game but I really like it and its a perfectly acceptable choice for when I want to play a wrestling game.