Look: 7/10 Welp, I came into this game super excited, based on its reputation and some gameplay videos I watched. I was playing the Bug-Byte original ZX Spectrum version. Pretty mediocre look tbh, but not much can be expected from early microcomputer games. Even as imaginative as the level themes and concepts were, the end result were just meh. Luckily the gameplay was striking enough that this doesn't really matter much heh. The Endorian Forest had a pretty great look to it tho

Wow, after all this hard work, glad to see that I love love love the look of the final level (see it below)

Sound: 7/10 Right off the bat, that absurd title screen song stood out ha, and the gameplay jingle--tho over used in games in general--has a nice absurd texture/timbre to it :-p Oh and I love love love the jump sound effect. Other than that, the jingle started getting old by the 3rd/4th level...

Play: 9/10 I was most worried about/hoping that I can use Kempston Joystick controls and--hallelujah--I can. Time to enjoy a fundamental platformer! Forget Donkey Kong, I see its obvious influence here, but this takes it to another level. Honestly Hard Hat Mack was great, but I just couldn't get into it. Let's see about this :-p Luckily, unlike almost every other microcomputer platformer I've played so far, this has a consistent jump mechanic and relatively good collision masks (we aren't talking an arcade platformer here heh..). As with many microcomputer platformers, it was frustrating to deal with indicating what direction you want to jump without having to do an initial movement that way--like say, when you're right next to one of those deadly plant things and you just want to jump past it. Of course, one just gets use to this qwerk and, for instance, go back a little and then the way you want. But for a timed game, you'd want something more precise and, well, arcade-like :-p Unfair expectations, I know heh. Argh, the death mechanic of "falling too far" is super ambiguous and frustrating (as I discovered in the Menagerie ha), but again, just something clunky/frustrating to get used to over time. Over time it got more and more frustrating like, say, after you get all the bars so you can end Eugene's Lair but then he's flashing and stands above the exit and (as far as I could tell) there was nothing I could do... Kinda tacky (unless I'm missing some trick, I googled a bit and saw nothing). So I had to start from the beginning again... I can't deny it felt great when I did complete Eugene's Lair, though... but dang was it starting to feel long/frustrating by then. Definitely time to sleep on it and take a break.

2nd Play Session: Welp, I love this game. Sure, it still has all the frustrations of early microcomputer platformers: slow clunky jumping that can't be manipulated mid-jump, silly collision masks, and general bugginess (I'm playing the very original version, mind you). Yet I couldn't stop playing it. Mind you, this got more fun once I started savestating at the start of each level. Hm, the ladder climbing mechanic was frustrating to figure out, thank goodness I had switched to savestating at the start of each level by then. Imagine starting back at the beginning to try to get back there to figure out the mechanic heh. Welp, it's time for The Wire, played another 2 hours today wow. Gonna have one last shorter play session tomorrow, I left off on Amoebatron's Revenge.

4th Play Session: As frustrating and difficult as the gameplay can be, I have to admit the level designs are ostensibly forgiving. Like, it isn't tacky enough to have it where you had to have every precise move perfect. Or, like, on the last level, you get 2 (oh, actually 3 ha) chances if you didn't have momentum going right for the right jump from the dissolving platform, which was probly more so to allow room for inter-personal competitions regarding score (since of course, to get the maximum possible score you'd have to get that jump perfect the very first time, as score is calculated from how much Oxygen you have left at the end of the level)

Feel: 9/10 Well, after that initial excitement, I just can't deny how clunky microcomputer platformers are. It's just a weird delay. I got through the initial cavern and was debating whether to continue. But now that I'm approaching the mid-80s, with games like the MSX Goonies coming up with its own form of clunkiness, I figure it's time I start to be more patient with these games. These aren't the 10kilobyte super early microcomputer games anymore :-p I'm not gonna lie, I was super proud of myself just for completing the first level. I read that it just re-cycles at the end, but the fact that there seemed to be a reasonable amount of levels as a goal for me to reach (based entirely on a 20 minute playthrough video... turns out it would take me much, much longer than that lol), which made me excited to start committing to finish most games like I said with Goonies etc. Ironically, the 2nd level was much easier, I completed it intuitively on my first try without dying once and without consulting the playthrough video. I guess I was getting used to the unique mechanics and, well, clunkiness. This is why I want to start pushing through frustrations--I'm entering the era where it seems to be worth it! Lol is that a toilet enemy? Not sure if this is true, but I read that the programmer was only 16? It's so imaginative, the names of the levels are great, and it's by far the best microcomputer platformer yet. (even as frustrating as it was heh). I liked reading comments on the YouTube videos where people say they never got past Eugene's Lair, etc., so I felt like I was a decent gamer for once... after trying again and again and again heh. Why is this so addictive tho???

It was a tremendous feeling finally reaching the end, exhausted but rewarded feeling. Here I am approaching the end lol (again only possible by savestating at beginning of levels, there's no way I would have beat this otherwise)

And the end... super disappointing tbh ha. It just restarts at the beginning smh. Expert players probly appreciate that tho, as they strive for insanely high scores.

Attachment: 9/10 Somehow my husband is sick again, he's almost never sick and has been sick like 4 times this season, especially after we had COVID. Ugh. And I feel it coming on. So I didn't plan to play too long on this. The fact I wanted to keep playing tonight, rather than the plan to Save Snapshot (finally figured out how to do that on the Spectrum emulator) and continue tomorrow, says a lot. Plus, the very fact I pushed through the clunkiness and frustration to get to Level 4, let alone plan on playing it tomorrow. If I do return to it tomorrow, that definitely means I'm getting into the mid-80s era that I've been so excited for and this game, whether warranted or not, serves as the harbinger for this era. Welp, I just couldn't stop playing it last night! Even tho I should have been reading early and getting lots of rest, gah. What an addictive game. On my 2nd session, I took BuckyBall's idea/advice and started savestating at the start of each level, so I could better enjoy the game. It was fun feeling like each time restarting I was much more capable to fly through the levels, memorize how to beat them, and get even more used to the mechanics. But anywhere past Level 6 or so, it didn't feel right having to start all the way over.

4th Play Session: Uff the Solar Power Generator almost made me give up, figured I had reached my difficulty cap. But I used the savestate-at-beginning technique and, frustrated, still pushed through. My relief, after 2 days of trying that level, spending at least 20 maybe even 40 minutes on just that one level, again using a savestate at the beginning (almost caved and used mid-level savestates, but it doesn't really matter with that one: it's not so much difficult in that savestating right before a tough jump matters; rather, it's the most intensely timed-feeling, so you wouldn't really know when to savestate anyway heh, plus it'd be wasting precious time/oxygen). But... I DID IT. Without caving. I'm so proud of myself, I can't explain it. It may have been frustrating as heck, but felt rewarding--and wow, that final level's look helped make it feel even more worth it.

Completion: Through all levels; 31,452 Score Playtime: 4hr 30m