Game Statistics

• 5 Worlds.
• 60 Levels.
• Controller pak compatible.

Game Design
It's a 2D platformer, but not in the Mario sense of the word. Your main move is the Grab, after which you can Shake (to improve an item or steal a gem) or Throw. Unlike Mario, it's not a simple 'kill the enemies, walk right' matter; it involves warps, which are situated on Clancer. Work out how to get to one warp so that you can continue to the next, and get a gold gem (explained later) on the way. Oh, and you need to go as fast as possible to get a good rank - between A and D, and the perfect S.

Graphics
Completely bitmap based, most of is little better than SNES quality. The most impressive thing you'll see is the boss fight 'Migen Brawl', where a suspiciously Bowser-like brown monster and his father fight you. Whenever the 'camera angle' gets closer to you, you get blockier, and I'm not quite sure whether that was intentional or not, but it gets a little ugly. At least there's no fogging, eh? There is a little slowdown on some stages, however.

Sound
A few voice samples (repeated endlessly) sound quite clear and are easy to understand, but some of the enemy speech is a little garbled, to the point where you'll be wondering what they're in there for. Music is good, fairly soft in the normal stages, and while you don't really notice it, the game would seem strange without it, but when you get to a boss stage, the music is faster, louder, and quite a lot cooler.

Control
The controls are quite difficult to learn and downright annoying in some cases. The D-Pad is used for movement, and tapping twice will cause you to shake (down) or rocket (anything else). That's the annoying part. If you jump, and want to move only a little, so you tap the pad, you'll rocket off the edge of the platform. Aside from that, there's another problem. The D-Pad is incredibly uncomfortable. In the race section, where you have to tap right as fast as possible, your fingers get sore, and, in my case, you get a blister. Anyway, the C-buttons act like double taps on the D-Pad, only they aren't as powerful when running or shaking.

Satisfaction
Well, seeing as you don't get to watch the end in full until you've collected a gold gem in each stage, getting them all and getting an S grade would have to be the most satisfying things in the game. Neither of them are easy to do and some of them are near impossible.

Replay Value/Game Length
Well, there's always the S times to be earned, and I doubt many people have managed to get them all, but no one said you couldn't try!

Overall
It's a very good, nearing excellent game, that shouldn't be dismissed for its 2D style. It has some nice humour, a lot of great levels, and an innovative control system. Don't throw away your SNES yet, 'cause there's still life in 2D (even though this game is for the N64).

Game Design	7.5
Mechanics	7.5
Innovation	8.5
Originality	7.5
Extras	6.0
Depth	8.0
Graphics	6.3
Character/Animation	6.0
Environment	6.0
Framerate	7.0
Sound	7.3
Music	8.5
Sound FX/Voice	6.0
Control	9.0
During Play	9.5
Menus	8.5
Functionality	9.0
Satisfaction	9.3
Challenge	9.0
Fun-Factor	9.5
Replay Value/Game Length	9.5
FINAL SCORE	8.5

Review by Rago

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