your enjoyment of this game will be entirely determined by how much you enjoy dr slump. seems like that should be obvious as this is an obscure dr slump game that only got an english hack in the past couple years, but well you know.
now, the real reason i say this is for fans of doctor slump is because this game is basically going through the events of the anime/manga with the dialogue and humor in the drivers seat and the actual gameplay chilling in the back. you'll spend most of this game reading the cutscenes, or running around doing oddjobs going from A to B and back to A. and while that seems like a negative thing, honestly i never got tired of it because i love re-experiencing dr slump like this. now, little actual gameplay isnt to say there's no gameplay. there are levels at the end or each day that give you these 3d platformer-ish sections, sometimes with certain tasks like collect x amount of y, until you get to a boss. these sections are fine, but i do have my gripes with them. see, even though i described them as 3d platformer-ish, theres a reason i included the -ish at the end. half of the levels are just mazes, and these are the worst parts about the game, especially in the racist level where every 2 feet theres some barricade you need to get past and it takes 3 hits to get past and its so annoying. the bosses can also be rather hit or miss. its usually this "wtf my attacks arent hurting him what do i-oh thats what i do" and then the boss dies when you repeat the method you just did a couple of times. that said, none of them are bad. i will say this, the controls have also aged very well for a playstation game, no tank controls (not that tank controls are inherently bad), you get a good amount of abilities throughout the game, all references to the manga that feel natural as gameplay mechanics and theyre all fun to use, even the ones you never really.... ever use like sneaking or rolling. idk why those are even there. if theres one thing i will majorly criticize this game for, its the unlockables. every once in a while, you'll fill up your pep gauge from collecting poop or helping people (think leveling up in any other game, if that had no purpose) and go back to senbei for a reward.... and most the rewards are just basic options or otherwise something intrusive to the hud that serves no purpose. also costumes, but you need so many rewards before getting costumes that most will likely never see them, and those that do will likely have already done literally everything else before, and with (i believe) no new game plus, you wont have much of a use for the costume. speaking of the end, theres no ending cutscene, just credits and then post-game where a baby talks to you and says "you beat the game"
overall though, none of that ruins the game for me. this game is a must for any dr slump fans

Reviewed on Jan 10, 2024


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