Pocky & Rocky 2 (1994)

Preliminary: I didn't love the first one as much as their arcade predecessors, despite the cute Look and strong controls. I'm hoping this one clicks more because, as incredibly simple as this tutorial is so far, it's oddly appealing and a nice way to ease in :-p It's concerning I've already dealt with some sprite slowdown tho.

Omg the sound you make when you throw Rocky is so much like the Tomba throw sound.

Dang that Stage 02 boss took a lot of hits. I'm liking this more than I expected so far tho.

Ah ok in Stage 03 is more what I remember, the usual cute em up problem of overloarding enemies and bullet hell'ing. So we end up with sprite slowdown and just pure bullet hell. I am grateful for the ability to hit away projectiles, but it's still just too much. I am keeping with it for now but doubt I will get much further than 04 or 05.

Ugh I think the shopkeeper gave a hint that I would need the Bomber partner to get through this boss. But I don't have that partner... Hm.

Yeahhh I've had enough of it with that boss. Not sure if this should be 2 or 3. Let's leave it to the voting

Look: 8/10

Sound: 7.5/10

Play: 6.5/10

Feel: 6.5/10 Just not my genre. Cute em ups are brutal

Attachment: 7/10

Overall: 7.1/10 Welp I guess an honorary 3 star

Beat on hard. Just as much fun as the first game, though I think the first has more charm. I had one game breaking bug where the ultimate partner attack kept on going infinitely, killed a boss and the post boss content failed to start. I liked how the fire attack was removed but did not like how the dodge was removed. This lack of dodge, combined with an armor based hp meter instead of actual health points made this game more difficult than the first. It was funny seeing the female lead lose clothing as she takes damage though, despite this obviously being a children's game.

I liked the new partners and preferred the ninja girl because of her accurate attacks and ultimate that did not block the screen as much as the racoon's. I think you find more partners as the game progresses but never bothered to check. I don't normally knock tutorials, but this one was excessive; do you really need to do so many repetitions for a tutorial? I never bothered to use the character swapping magic system (despite all the time I had to practice it in the tutorial!).