It's been a while since I played a Toree game, and based on my review of the first game, I can't remember exactly what things I have problems with here that were or were not present in the first one. I'd like to start by saying that, like the first game, the visual direction is just amazing, I love the colors and the character designs, the environments are just awesome. The music is great too, especially the more jungle inspired tracks.
However, in my opinion, the gameplay wasn't a whole lot better. My biggest problem from the first game was that the levels were comparatively large for such a small, slow-moving character, and the combination of a one hit death system with checkpoints that are really far spaced out means that you end up having to slowly walk through large, flat platforms to get back to where you died at. I know this one has a run button (which I'm not sure if there was one in the original) but for some reason, it didn't work? I held down shift-- both at the same time and each on their own-- and my character didn't move any faster. This game is speed-run friendly, and there are a lot of sections designed for fast movement, but at the same time, there's a lot of design choices that do not go well with fast movement. For example, the green warp portal things that shoot you through the air have very precise hitboxes, so if you're blazing down the path and happen to just barely jump over one at the end of the platform, you end up in the water, sending you back to the last checkpoint. Similarly, the checkpoints are always in the middle of the platform, and activate when you get close, but you can't run through them? If you run into one head on, it's as if you hit a wall, instead of just going over it. These issues sound minor, and they may as well be, but in my time playing, they really broke up the flow of the levels for me.
And I have a love/hate relationship with the decision to not respawn the stars you've collected if you die in a level (considering that the clock resets to the time it was at the last checkpoint when you die). On one hand, it makes dying a lot less frustrating, as you don't have to worry about grabbing them all again. At the same time, it makes retreading the level due to a KO a lot less fun, as the stars are one of the few things populating the platforms.
However, in my opinion, the gameplay wasn't a whole lot better. My biggest problem from the first game was that the levels were comparatively large for such a small, slow-moving character, and the combination of a one hit death system with checkpoints that are really far spaced out means that you end up having to slowly walk through large, flat platforms to get back to where you died at. I know this one has a run button (which I'm not sure if there was one in the original) but for some reason, it didn't work? I held down shift-- both at the same time and each on their own-- and my character didn't move any faster. This game is speed-run friendly, and there are a lot of sections designed for fast movement, but at the same time, there's a lot of design choices that do not go well with fast movement. For example, the green warp portal things that shoot you through the air have very precise hitboxes, so if you're blazing down the path and happen to just barely jump over one at the end of the platform, you end up in the water, sending you back to the last checkpoint. Similarly, the checkpoints are always in the middle of the platform, and activate when you get close, but you can't run through them? If you run into one head on, it's as if you hit a wall, instead of just going over it. These issues sound minor, and they may as well be, but in my time playing, they really broke up the flow of the levels for me.
And I have a love/hate relationship with the decision to not respawn the stars you've collected if you die in a level (considering that the clock resets to the time it was at the last checkpoint when you die). On one hand, it makes dying a lot less frustrating, as you don't have to worry about grabbing them all again. At the same time, it makes retreading the level due to a KO a lot less fun, as the stars are one of the few things populating the platforms.