Preliminary thoughts: I usually am not a fan of isometric games (tho I have always liked Q*Bert), but this one caught me for a few reasons: the music is absolutely phenomenal (see Sound section below for input from the programmer on how it was possible), and the concept kinda reminded me of the Humongous Entertainment side games (e.g., Pajama Sam Sock Works, Putt Putt and Pep Dog on a Stick, those games where it's solve a level's puzzle then go back to the beginning and move on through many levels... very arcade-like, and arcade games have grown on me after all). Oh, and I like the feel of collecting money rather than just "Score," if only there were a store you can sometimes spend the money on or upgrades to buy etc., heh, but that's for later years. I just hope the isometric aspect doesn't render it unplayable for me from the start.

Look: 7/10 Functional enough, usual isometric affair tho I do like the cutesy colors and realization of the construction concept (as abstract as it is heh).

I figured this screenshot would be best because it shows the UI which was well-done I like the "map" (which only appears on the levels you have to put the girders in specific spots, by the way), and it shows how screens connect (those girders that go off the screen to the right), as well as the cutesy character sprite (which is the only actually well-done graphic, the rest is just cutesy vaguely construction-themed heh tho I like it).

Sound: 8/10 Wow, I kept thinking how it reminded me of PS1 era sounds--wayyyyy ahead of its time. Catchy, varied, with actual beats to it, yet still classic and C64-y. In a YouTube comment, the game programmer had this to say:

Hi, this is the [g]ame programmer, JMJ.
It was an interesting game. Very different from other games at the time. DDT did a great job with the music. This had to fit on a 32kb cartridge. I gave David a whole Kb for sounds and he was pumped. Got several minutes of original music all in 1kb. Groundbreaking at the time. :)

You can definitely see that setting aside more space than usual for the sound really paid off! In many ways a game's sound can really make or break it (tho as a rule, I often allow myself not to include sound in these early games' ratings and sometimes have it muted--sound nonetheless is a huge part of a game and is integral to many of my all-time favorites being favorites... after all, FFX and KH aren't necessarily that unique for their gameplay specifically, but rather the whole package--the look the sound the feel the nostalgia, etc.), and it's nice that the designers for this game realized that maybe instead of 1000 screens like some of these early games, let's just do 100 and be able to fit in some high-quality music!

Play: 7/10 Some of the isometric navigation is frustrating, as isometric navigation is wont to do (not a fan of isometric games overall), but it is surprisingly smooth for this isometric hater. The gameplay is fast-paced, consistent, and valid. Not much to worry about with collision masks, tho some of the "you're not quite far enough to jump to that platform yet" type moments were tacky and frustrating, but not nearly as many as I expected for an isometric platformer. I'm usually not a big puzzle game guy but I actually really liked the puzzle aspect of it. It was straightforward and fun, tho I can't imagine 100 levels of it. Just too many. I preferred the levels where you got to decide where the girders go: hey, as long as I solve the puzzle and get them all locked yet able to go back to the beginning, what's the issue. But I understand why they had some levels be where you have to recreate the image below and have the girders in specific spots. Those were fun in their own way, but I preferred the ones where you can have the girders wherever you wish as long as you get back to the beginning. Allowed for some fun, made-up challenges and just petty playing around with potential solutions heh.

Feel: 8/10 The music of course, and the concept, are both great. I like the money idea instead of a score, and even tho 100 levels was just too much for my taste, I still like that there's a set goal to reach rather than infinite re-cycling. I figured 10 would be a good goal, since isometric platformers are not my favorite. The 100 levels does add that feel where could you always return to it--plus the many settings you can tweak for different gameplays and difficulties!

Attachment: 7/10 Well, with this 10 levels goal in mind, it was nice to have a set goal that wasn't as obnoxious as 100 (tho I'm still not fully sure it really has 100 unique level designs..). I still almost gave up at Level 5 but then I realized there's just a 2nd screen, which added an interesting additional element to the gameplay: you have to take into account getting back from the other screen too, requiring more memory heh. And on level 6 too, I almost gave up again heh. Gosh I'm bad at puzzles, maybe that's more cuz I tend to get time to game close to pre-sleep time/relaxing time so my mind just wants mindless platforming or action-adventure heh. If it weren't for the great music providing exciting changes and high quality, I probly would have stopped sooner, but having that set goal of 10 levels pushed me through. Starting in level 7, the levels started having 3 screens to them, great in terms of puzzle possibilities, taxing and repetitive feeling in reality tho. Like I said, thank goodness for that music! And the goal in sight. Welp, I reached my goal

Certainly a high-quality game, with a unique concept, with a lot of settings you can manipulate like multiple players, difficulty, timer, and whether you get money (basically Score). I chose to just do the straightforward gameplay, because puzzle games aren't my favorite. But this one did surprise me. The fact I didn't want to keep playing, or play it with different settings, says something against it, but it's still a game I wont forget, might return to, and yet could also see as a pick-up-and-play at get-togethers. Very peculiar mix of attachments!

Completion: Through Level 10 Playtime: ~1 hour