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.