I had heard bits about the game, and suda51 in a broader context as being genius, cult, dripping with style, mind blowing, etc. Etc. And for that, NMH is a bit underwhelming.
First off, i think the controls were implemented pretty well overall. In motion and standard controls, it feels more like a creative way to go about designing a control scheme rather than operating with the wii's unique constraints(assuming they're close to 1:1 with the switch version. Overall gameplay is a fun beat em up with a small bit of variety but a lot of times its clunkiness limits its potential. It's hard to know what's at your disposal when it all isn't laid out for you, and when mastery is overridden by other mechanics. It also makes things a bit more difficult than is fair when it doesn't appropriately telegraph to you what is going to happen with certain attacks but also then doesn't reveal your whole toolset.
In terms of progression, the variety of minigames were a great way to break up the core game, though you will be fighting very similar or copy paste fights repeatedly, even if you go out of your way to attempt challenges that are different you'll run into similar fights. The game's obsession with earlier 8 bit games is possibly intentionally shown in its difficulty: it's padded out to the teeth in fights designed to lengthen the game. Not a terrible thing with a good combat feeling, but not great when so many of the fights feel the same. The bosses largely are fun, but suffer from some of my earlier complaints.
I also expected a little bit more in terms of outlandishness in the bosses. It may just be the largely generic theming of their respective levels, but the design of them was largely uninspired, including the larger city of santa destroy. It undermines a lot of the flashy style i feel suda51 has rep for.
The plot was silly and barely there, the writing was repetitive and not very engaging or humorous(except for the occasional bit), but the game isn't a total write off as it is just off kilter enough to hold interest. It's weird that none of its parts excel except maybe in its creativity towards controls, but still was largely fun and engaging. But it definitely doesn't earn its reputation in the way i expected.
First off, i think the controls were implemented pretty well overall. In motion and standard controls, it feels more like a creative way to go about designing a control scheme rather than operating with the wii's unique constraints(assuming they're close to 1:1 with the switch version. Overall gameplay is a fun beat em up with a small bit of variety but a lot of times its clunkiness limits its potential. It's hard to know what's at your disposal when it all isn't laid out for you, and when mastery is overridden by other mechanics. It also makes things a bit more difficult than is fair when it doesn't appropriately telegraph to you what is going to happen with certain attacks but also then doesn't reveal your whole toolset.
In terms of progression, the variety of minigames were a great way to break up the core game, though you will be fighting very similar or copy paste fights repeatedly, even if you go out of your way to attempt challenges that are different you'll run into similar fights. The game's obsession with earlier 8 bit games is possibly intentionally shown in its difficulty: it's padded out to the teeth in fights designed to lengthen the game. Not a terrible thing with a good combat feeling, but not great when so many of the fights feel the same. The bosses largely are fun, but suffer from some of my earlier complaints.
I also expected a little bit more in terms of outlandishness in the bosses. It may just be the largely generic theming of their respective levels, but the design of them was largely uninspired, including the larger city of santa destroy. It undermines a lot of the flashy style i feel suda51 has rep for.
The plot was silly and barely there, the writing was repetitive and not very engaging or humorous(except for the occasional bit), but the game isn't a total write off as it is just off kilter enough to hold interest. It's weird that none of its parts excel except maybe in its creativity towards controls, but still was largely fun and engaging. But it definitely doesn't earn its reputation in the way i expected.