Recent reviews by Pieniondz

I like 3D platformers, I like Sonic, and I especially like when games give unique experiences. So when I say Sonic Lost World, which is a 3D Sonic game unlike any other, is my least favourite mainline Sonic game ever (yes, including stuff like Shadow, 06 or Secret Rings), something must have went terribly wrong.

I literally cannot find anything I liked beyond the looks and music. The gravity cylinders, spheres and parkour are heavily underutilised. Control is wonky no matter if in 3D or 2D sections, mainly because they added a run button. The gimmicks are plenty and while some of them are eh, most are just infuriating. 100% completion is infuriating. The plot cannot decide whether it wants to take itself seriously or not, and the new bad guys are more one-note than Mario's Koopalings that somehow got lines of dialogue. The PC port is abysmal, with graphics setting that are a joke, lazy touchscreen conversion, game slowing down when your rig can't hit 60FPS and changing FPS cap via command literally breaks the game. This whole game just infuriates me. Yes, I got all Red Star Rings and am about to do all missions/achievements, but still.

If you want a modern 3D platformer that also takes a lot from gaming classics and spices it up with plenty gimmicks... dust off your Wii U or Switch and play Super Mario 3D World. This one is a very hard pass.

TLDR: Too many issues with all included versions and the publisher to justify spending 15€ on this.

As a disclaimer, I never played Glover before and in this release I only played 2 stages of the N64 port and 1 stage of PS1 emulation using an official Xbox One controller. While not long enough to properly review the game, long enough to judge the quality of porting and emulation. And let me tell ya, chief, it's not good.

The advertised port from N64 works. Nothing game breaking about it. But it's very obvious it was a barebones job. Game wasn't modified to allow for basic graphics configuration like resolution or framerate within the game (and you'd want to do that because the default FPS is 20, making the high-res game look really choppy). You *have* to dig into AppData to even be able to find an .ini file containing these options. Huge minus for that. In fact it was so hastily done you can see some N64 button prompts in the tutorials. smh. I've also noticed some odd audio oddities, mostly sound effects often being cut-off, but not sure it it's a feature of the port or the original game.

But you know what's worse? The not advertised emulation of PS1 version. The only nice things I can say about this is it's included and works full-speed. Classic controller is used, so no analog movement, only d-pad, sorry. And button binds are completely screwed up, from face buttons being assigned incorrectly to one of the shoulder buttons (used to change the ball form) being assigned to... pressing right stick. SERIOUSLY?! And there is no way of rebinding or reconfiguring anything. Double SERIOUSLY?! And the in-game save function doesn't work. TRIPLE SERIOUSLY?!

Oh and something something publisher supporting NFTs and actively working against video game preservation efforts. No, thank you.

No

An important step in Polish gamedev, one of the better games Made in Poland before The Witcher. It's not Rayman quality, but it's one of the better B-tier platformers, especially with such a low price.

-the budget and time constraints show themselves, especially at the latter half
-the last two worlds are not as fun and polished (ha) as previous ones
-finished it in 3 hours while collecting 90% of stuff
-minigames are not worth your time
-combat feels a bit eh
-the pelican in tropical world feels like a fluke
-no stages introduced in PSP port (anyone played it? Me neither)

+a cute, charming and comfortable collectathon ride (with some bumps)
+it's a mini-remaster. Works great with 1080p and gamepad (used Xbox One) and textures look like they're higher resolution? Not sure on that.
+controls feel pretty nice
+upgrades nabbed by collecting stars are worth the time
+the stages themselves are pretty fun, especially the first world
+the low, low price of 2 bucks
+Kao's expand necc

A fun game for fans of oldschool platformers. And by oldschool I mean SNES/Genesis, not PS1 despite its initial release platforms. Note: ignore short Steam play time, played it a lot on my PC many years ago.

- it's just an old 1997 PC port. Options available only on toolbar in windowed mode. Options themselves are very limited.
- glitchy audio during cutscenes
- no in-game explanations of more advanced moves, you have to read manual or help file
- combat's a bit clunky because of short delay between attacks
- getting a password requires collecting all 4 password vases within a single stage

? enemy difficulty ramps up starting from stage 3
? single full playthrough will last for around 1-2 hours (beginner difficulty lock you out of final two stages)

+ mix of 3D backgrounds and 2D sprites holds up to this day
+ music's a banger
+ controls are pretty smooth with the exception of combat
+ robust stages that reward you for exploration. Climb up trees, walk off the main path either to the side or the foreground/background planes for goodies that reward you with lives and continues
+ two extra gameplay styles don't overshadow the main one
+ cheap price

Kod otrzymałem dzięki wpłaceniu pieniędzy na kampanię w Indiegogo.

Pierwsze wrażenia - gra warta swojej ceny, ale ma klika bolączek i błędów, które przeszkadzają w rozgrywce, zwłaszcza jeśli nie planujesz grać w sieci.

+ Pikselowe lobby. Pokój czatowy z możliwością wezwania kogokolwiek do walki. Najbardziej wciągający tryb ze wszystkich obecnie dostępnych.
+ Kiedy wszystko działa dobrze, system walki sprawia ogromną satysfakcję.
+ Muzyka wpada w ucho, a grafika nie jest zła.

? Tylko 6 postaci. Niby łatwo znaleźć swojego maina i każda z nich ma swój własny styl gry, ale jeszcze co najmniej dwie postacie by się przydały. Tak, wiem, że potwierdzono jedną dodakową postać, ale oceniam to, co mam.

- Kod sieciowy. W ciągu 2 godzin grania po sieci aż trzy razy oberwałem okropnym lagiem, a to bijatyka, więc...
- Sztuczna inteligencja wymaga większego balansu, co było wadą już w czasach Fighting is Magic. Możliwość zmiany poziomu trudności jest niepotrzebnie zakopana w opcjach zamiast w menu trybu arcade.
- Pozostałe tryby są głównie albo niedokończone, albo niedostępne. Pomińmy już tryb historii - arcade cierpi przez AI i brak ekranów końcowych (mimo tego, że są w plikach gry), multiplayer oprócz pikselowych lobby istnieje tylko lokalnie, a trybom treningowym przydałoby się więcej opcji dla nowicjuszy.
- Brakuje parę klatek animacji, ale jest to mało zauważalne.

Ale za niewiele ponad 50 złotych? To całkiem tanio, a mam przeczucie, że będzie jeszcze lepiej. Tylko obawiam się czy po wprowadzeniu wszystkiego do gry nie będzie za późno...