Preliminary: The different possible gameplays based on the 9 difficulty levels that do more than just change enemy speed or health or something--instead, it changes whether you need certain items and, well, changes the overall adventure indeed. I'm gonna try at Level 3 since there seems to be the most info online about this Level if (when) I get stuck

Look: 8/10 The jump-kicks and the roll-jumps are so fun to awtch the animation for. Super impressive full body sprite animations for 85. (See a video for the animations and impressive overall look, from the UI to the colors

I lovvvvved the blue of the underground/dark type areas

Sound: -/- I didn't really notice it so can't really include it.

Play: 7/10 Even on Difficulty 3, which is Easy, gotta say I was grateful that the enemy still gets knocked out even when you both jump kick at the same time and you take damage too. Now, I probly would have been annoyed playing this blind, with such a huge map and important items hidden behind boxes, but with a forgiving health regeneration mechanic and a Level 3 map available, I kept pushing through. Also thank goodness the enemies stay knocked out ha, that would have been frustrating.

Feel: 9/10 As per usual my obligatory Abe's Odyssey reference, since that's such an important game to me. And the way you walk behind the boxes/stealth around definitely reminded me of it (not to mention the obvious Metal Gear connection). Oh shoot and indeed, the tram ride--specifically as rushing back after getting the Disk/setting the bomb--wow, Abe's Odyssey definitely owes something to this game. And of course, the disk, the bomb, the escape helicopter, the item retrieval in a stealth action-adventure in general--all reminded me of Resident Evils too.

Attachment: 8/10 The platforming bit near the end got a bit tedious--sort of like with Below the Root, when an action-adventure game really thrives in the adventure department, it often lacks in the platforming controls department ha. But overall this game had good controls, concept, and execution. I just always wonder why these early games loved to exploit their weaknesses. Like a lot of the games' level design will see a mechanic they couldn't master, or a collision mask that couldn't quite get perfect (e.g., pixel perfect jumps that aren't actually related to the sprites themselves but just the mechanics you learn over time in many early platformers), etc. In this case, like with Below the Root's weak navigation mechanics (tho an amazing game, mind you), the platforming mechanic was fun in combat and rushing around solving the action-adventure--not as the focus of a sequence! But like with these early games, not only did they have a part focusing on the mediocre platforming controls, but indeed they specifically exploited it at the end as the time's almost out! Ha. Despite the tediousness, it does make sense in the context of gaming culture at the time, and compared to most the early games that exploit the difficulty of their quirks and faults, this one was still doable and fun to tackle. And at last indeed I was at the escape helicopter.

Anyway, I didn't experience the game in a "raw" way, but I always enjoy when I can refer to a video walkthrough (as linked above) without getting too frustrated. The ending platforming segment got me close to giving up, but I'm glad I pushed through. To think there are several higher difficulty levels, with additional adventure elements (something about Buttons you have to press or something), so I know there would be a reason to replay. Still, with how clunky the platforming parts are, I don't know that I will definitely return to it! With 86 and the NES era coming up, with better smoother platforming adventure games right around the corner! I bumped up this score and the Feel score, though, because of the fact this is the first game in my chronology project so far that felt like a true precursor to the stealth and horror action-adventures I so loved as a kid (namely Abe's Odyssey and Resident Evil). From the Look to the possibility of just wandering over many playthroughs to get to know the layout and item locations on each difficulty level, this really does deserve to be remembered and possibly replayed in a more raw way when I have more time.

Completion: Completed On Difficulty Level 3 Playtime: ~1 hour