"This is Halloween! This is Halloween! Halloween! HALLOWEEN!". Basically if 'The Nightmare Before Christmas' was a PS2-era 3D platformer and Jack Skellington was a pumpkin scarecrow...thing. There's a tangible nostalgia to the way the linear levels are designed. No massive open-world designs, no hub worlds. Just level after level after level. It's simply a short, sweet and amusing platforming adventure - nothing more. But then again, it doesn't try to be anything else but that, and that's why it succeeds for the most part. Collectible crow skulls throughout each level to unlock cosmetics, and gramophones for music. Again, straight to the point. No upgrades or skill trees. Just jump, hit and run. Kinda refreshing when you think about it!
The combat however is downright tedious. Smack smack smack, occasionally dodge, smack smack smack. That's it. There's no variety despite six weapons being available. Literally a shotgun behaves the exact same way as a scythe, and when most of segments separating the platforming areas are combat heavy...ehhh, it's not twisting my pumpkins (if you catch my Halloweeny drift). The puzzle minigames, which are played through Jack's detached pumpkin head, are far too basic to be enjoyable as well.
Aside from that though, it's got that Halloweeny atmosphere that makes it super suitable for a quick and easy October adventure. The six levels (each taking roughly 30 minutes to complete) have plenty of variance, from their environment to the speedy sequences (minecarts, ghost horses, gargoyles etc.), and it genuinely has charm. Just, y'know, the pumpkin needed more carving. It's more of a treat than trick. It puts the "boo" in "boogeyman"...okay, I'm done.
The combat however is downright tedious. Smack smack smack, occasionally dodge, smack smack smack. That's it. There's no variety despite six weapons being available. Literally a shotgun behaves the exact same way as a scythe, and when most of segments separating the platforming areas are combat heavy...ehhh, it's not twisting my pumpkins (if you catch my Halloweeny drift). The puzzle minigames, which are played through Jack's detached pumpkin head, are far too basic to be enjoyable as well.
Aside from that though, it's got that Halloweeny atmosphere that makes it super suitable for a quick and easy October adventure. The six levels (each taking roughly 30 minutes to complete) have plenty of variance, from their environment to the speedy sequences (minecarts, ghost horses, gargoyles etc.), and it genuinely has charm. Just, y'know, the pumpkin needed more carving. It's more of a treat than trick. It puts the "boo" in "boogeyman"...okay, I'm done.