![]() American PSN gamers were able to pre-order the game and get a digital copy of the original too. Only the most masochistic amongst you will want to re-attempt the stages in time trial form too.Īs a remake (although there’s a bit of unnecessary reimagining too), it’s hard to complain about the game lasting well under three hours, but it still feels like you’re not quite getting your money’s worth. But with such lengthy stages, they’re needles in a haystack. There are new outfits to unlock and the more magpie-like of you may obsess over collecting the remaining diamonds. If you do manage to finish the game, it’s unlikely the extras will keep you entertained. It’s just so long, the unresponsive jump inputs combined with the collision detection issues and an unskippable intro makes it an exercise in blinding frustration. The final boss encounter will smash your sanity to pieces though. Aside from a few nigh-on unavoidable spin attacks, the fights simply involve staying out of the way until the boss stagger themselves, letting you move in for a cheap shot. If Sega were going to reinvent them, they could have at least tried to inject some creativity, instead of the generic children’s game fodder we have here. Most of the new boss fights have been needlessly transformed into 3D too. It’s a handful in 2D, but when attempting them in 3D it could inspire rapid controller biting. In mid-air, the jumps are seriously over-sensitive, with the slightest movement of the analogue stick often causing unpredictable landings. More worrying is the decision to try and ‘innovate’ by adding 3D parts to the levels. This was a cool level back in the 90s and I’m really disappointed that that element has been lazily ignored. The stage still flips, but Mickey is always on the floor on the bottom of the screen. The old stage where you could flip the world upside down and walk on the ceiling hasn’t been shown as much love though. There are some cool lighting effects on display in the underground dungeons too where the path is lit only by the sparks from the knights’ maces hitting the ground.Ĭlearly, a lot of love has gone into updating the stages with rich backgrounds enhancing the detail like the 1990s version of you would never have believed possible. There are spider-infested woods, haunted castles, a sugary candy land complete with sticky jelly and red liquorice dragons along with all the other levels you may remember. The environments themselves are generally pleasing re-imaginings of the classic stages. Yes, the original title had limited lives, so you were facing a daunting Game Over screen, but at least it played fair technically. Checkpoints are miserably sparse too and losing a life will cause your jaw to drop when you realise how far back you’ve been sent. Sure, you can find health top-ups, but they’re usually dangerously placed, making the risk not worthwhile. You’ll die after taking three hits, so it’s not like you can just shrug off such inconsistencies. Sometimes, I even took damage without them touching me. For no reason, you’ll often take damage instead of bouncing off them. The collision detection when you’re trying to jump on enemies is also unpredictable. Mickey’s response time when you press the jump button is atrocious, which really breaks up the rhythm in a series of jumps and makes trickier sections an absolute nightmare. There’s some serious input-lag going on here. It’s a shame then that the jumping itself can be so problematic. It’s a neat method of combining attacks with exploring and brings something new to the table, for which Sega Australia should be applauded. ![]() Timing jumps on moving enemies can actually bounce you up into higher areas to find extra treasure. ![]() So expect to collect those sparkly diamonds, jump on enemies butt-first and throw apples at anything with a cute/naughty face on it. For the most part, the game faithfully plays in side-scrolling 2D, managing to tick numerous boxes for fans of the original along the way. What are you doing Sega Australia? Oh, I can’t shout at you, you don’t exist anymore as Sega closed the studio as soon as this game’s development wrapped up. Nice.ĭeep into my nostalgia trip, my rose-tinted glasses almost fell off my face not long into the game when the camera and action shifted from pleasing side-scrolling 2D into modern 3D. The original 16-Bit versions are also available if you’d like to switch over. ![]() The music for each level is an updated take on the original soundtrack, so chances are you may find yourself humming along. In fact, your ears are treated rather nicely throughout. Uncharted fans will be pleased to hear the tones of one Richard ‘Sully’ McGonagle narrating the story though.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |