lowering my score for this. can't think of much I like about this new version. was a very big fan of the original and it feels like all they've done is added things the game didn't need and ramped up the monetization. the gameplay changes are the nail in the coffin though. it's hard to imagine this is the same team that made a game as fun as the previous version. they messed up the long-term life of the original and now have done this big performative rerelease to make you forget. in some timeline, multiversus is a masterpiece of the platform fighter genre, but it absolutely is not this one.

Didn't know this was multiplayer and realising that what I thought was an NPC was a flesh-and-blood human is a moment I will not forget easily. Was having a really incredible experience with the person I was matched with, and then fate decided my steam deck should crash. Ended up playing the rest with some lame rando as a result and never really got that initial magic back. It was still fun, but I think I would be singing much higher praises if technological shenanigans didn't impede on my... journey.

Astonishingly incredible. The idea of a puzzle-metroidvania is fucking genius. From the handful of experiences I’ve had with the genre, the combat has always been the worst part of the package. These games demonstrated engaging puzzles and encapsulating atmospheres, but dithered about with lacklustre combat; combat that is somehow presented as a third pillar of the game, as an equal to its atmospheric and puzzling counterparts. Neglecting this element to the extreme brings out the best part of metroidvanias (and is really, really fun to play).

Becoming intimate with this huge web of puzzles, slowly unravelling it yourself, and reaching the bottom of the rabbit hole. It’s an incredible concept, yet is so simple and so naturally delivered that it's hard to conceive how new this game feels. As both a publisher and developer debut, this is an explosive arrival to the scene, and hopefully a sign of great things to come for both.

A fun game in 1990 and a still fun game now. Have been in love with the sprite work in this game since I was like 12 and am glad to report it hasn’t aged a day. Possibly the console's prettiest game, and only potentially outdone by it's sequel. So many great levels in this one, albeit a few which are complete shit. Compared to the cohort of its time however, it has a shockingly good ratio of good stuff to makes me want to die stuff. Every platformer released after this inarguably stands upon Super Mario World's shoulders, but many of them have surpassed it thanks to the leg up.

Most NES games have aged like milk. This aged like milk but if you put a bunch of preservatives in it. If I played this in 1985 I would've cummed my little pants off. But I did not. I played it 39 years after the fact: when every single merit of this game has been triumphed tenfold. Thus, my pants remain firmly un-cummed in.

Ultimately, it was pretty fun to see where it all began. It was not fun to see how bullshit the hammer bros are, or how annoying the bloopers are, or how level 7-4 is the dumbest thing ever made by the hands of man.

There's a category at the Bafta Game Awards called "Game Beyond Entertainment". About an hour and half ago I would have ridiculed the idea that art and entertainment are such separate bodies. In 2021, Before Your Eyes received said award. When games like this and Assasins Creed exist with little differentiation, perhaps art like this should be raised above the pack, and placed on such a pedestal.

This joins a very very small list of games that made me cry, and an even smaller list of games with something to say.

Realises the original vision of Jet Set Radio incredibly. Delivering on everything I wanted that game to be and then some. The movement is so fun and responsive. It’s comparable to the 3D Mario games, where the game would still be pretty fun if you were just moving around in an empty space. Thankfully, you are not in said empty space. Every level boasts rich colours and broad variety. Each one is intricately designed to give the game's incredible movement the jungle gym it needs to reach its heights. Also the music officially goes insano mode (apart from the song that just says “ass” fifty times).

It is kinda pricey though, a £33.50 RRP is ridiculous. I paid 70% of that and it was perhaps still a bit much. Though, I don’t really think something like that should weigh into an assessment of a game’s quality; its just a note.

8 years after I first heard about Pepper Grinder it finally, finally releases. And thus, I can now report that the game is... fine.

Using the drill feels incredible. It's fluid and responsive and lends itself really well to great level design. Everything else however, is not up to this standard. There is way too much in this game that is not the fun drill-based platforming.

The combat in particular is pretty grim. Your shockingly small offensive range is coupled with overtly aggressive enemies that leverage questionable hitboxes against you. There is way too much of this, and it just isn’t fun. The enemies feel like padding to make the levels take longer, rather than actual substance in the levels. There are 2 90% combat levels that are completely miserable. If I made Pepper Grinder I would not have included them. The bosses are sick though they ruled.

There are also quite a few sections of platforming where the drill is not used at all, or is only used as an interface with another mechanic. Few of these are fun; most feel stiff and over-simplified, assumingly so that attention could be placed upon the parts of the game where you’re actually using the drill. This is a questionable decision considering how many of these segments there are. Especially in the last 40% of the game these segments are absolutely too frequent. Couple this with a frustratingly limited standard jump and you do not exactly have the recipe for greatness.

This game does inarguably have its highs, but they are not exceptional enough to counter it’s lows. Music is nice and has a really cohesive sound throughout the game, which is also nice. Every level has a decently unique mechanic that makes it different, which is inarguably impressive. But this means the quality of every level leans strongly upon how good this mechanic is, creating an almost binary system for each level. If the mechanic is fun or not fun, the same thing can be said of the entire level.

I did have some fun but my socks remained firmly not knocked-off for the entire game. I would wait for a sale on this one.