The best of the three Donkey Kong Land games.

This game has the improved physics and controls of Donkey Kong Land II but still has more original content that sets it apart from the SNES game, like Donkey Kong Land I.

There isn't much more to say, and most people will find it not worth playing over Country III. But if you want more DKC then this is definitely worth the time.

Unlike the first Donkey Kong Land game, this game has way more in common with Country 2, for better and for worse.

At best, it plays and feels more or less like DKC2, albeit with the colour and screen-size limitations. But it also fails to offer anything new that someone who has already played DKC2 hasn't seen before.

The levels have different layouts, yes. But for the most part they play off the same gimmicks, same level themes and mostly the same music as well.

Worth playing if you're DESPERATE for more DKC2.

What might initially seem like a simple port of Donkey Kong Country turns out to be a whole new experience which, while borrowing heavily from the SNES game, still manages to validate it's own existence.

The best thing I can liken this game to is it's own soundtrack, which while being very reminiscent of Donkey Kong Country, has melodies often diverge slightly or entirely from their original versions.

The game looks good for a Gameboy game, and it sounds great too. But the platforming is unfortunately clunky and often results in some frustrating deaths that never entirely feel fair. The screen size can also add some artificial difficulty, though the levels are usually designed around the small screen.

Speaking of level design, I think the game definitely holds up in this regard, save for a few levels in particular. The last world even features a completely original (and very fresh) world theme.

I enjoyed collecting 'KONG' letters to save, I feel like it made them seem more valuable beyond secret-hunting. But there were definitely instances where I either couldn't find or reliably access a KONG letter and had to accept that I couldn't save after completing a given level.

In short, if you're looking for a fun little gameboy platformer, or are just desperate for more DKC, I think it's worth your time so long as you can overlook some funky controls and compromised visuals.

Bigger, more ambitious, but ultimately not better than it's predecessor.

In Sigil II's attempt to one-up the previous episode, it introduced more frustration with the excessive enemy counts, cyberdemon spam, and odd monster placement.

I can appreciate the added difficulty, but not when it often feels cheap and overly punishing.

This episode also pushed the roster of demons to it's limit. Never before have I so sorely missed the presence of DOOM II's new monsters.

But it's still DOOM. So it's still fucking awesome.

It's an FPS on the GBA...

But it's also pretty fun?

I appreciate that what could have been a watered-down port of Duke 3D was instead given a chance to be it's own thing with it's own unique level themes and even a brand-new enemy type to kill.

The controls took some getting used to, but I found them overall serviceable and even got a feel for them in a strange way. Strafing around corners and quickly re-adjusting my aim became comfortable in it's own way.

The plot is nonexistent, as it should be. But Duke still manages to get a few heavily-crunched voice clips in. And the brief transmissions with the army general give a few good excuses for Duke to make a one--liner or reference that vaguely fits.

The game doesn't overstay it's welcome either, which I appreciate. And I was more than happy with the brief time I spent with it.

After making it my mission to play through as many iconic FPS games as possible, I gave this game a go shortly after the release of the remaster and hated it, resolving to never play the damned thing again.

Fast forward a few months and I gave it another try, and I'm glad I did.

First of all, I love everything about how the game looks, feels and sounds. Digitized actors are a fetish of mine, and I adore the bizarre and often hellish liminal spaces the game makes you inhabit.

My first issue is the weapons. They look and feel good, generally. But the machinegun is so much more useful than anything else in the game that you'll only be switching off it if you have ammo to spare for one of your special weapons (almost all of which are explosives.)

This means that while it's cool to dual-wield pistols, you never feel the need to. And many of the more interesting special weapons are lost in the crowd amidst one another, reduced to serving the same purpose of nuking the stronger enemies on sight.

Then there's the level design which is labyrinthian, obsessed with hidden switches and invisible touchplates and obnoxious traps.

That being said, the game does several things I adore, particularly with the way it handles having multiple playable characters. And the powerups, while often annoying on purpose (shrooms and elasto come to mind) are a fun novelty.

There's also so much character to everything, for better or for worse. The game is ridiculous and doesn't take a single moment of itself seriously. And I never got tired of seeing a cultist get down on their knees and beg for mercy.

It also has an absolute banger of a soundtrack.

In summary, I find myself endeared to the game despite it's problems. And I just might play it again someday with another character or try out the new episode.