Look: 8/10, maybe even a 9 For the most part it was quite standard, till I got to the Prehistoric Stages finally and lovvvved the platforms, backgrounds, and enemies. And the Future Stage 2 had a great space background too

Well, indeed, all the Future Look was great!

Sound: 8/10 Oooo the music of the Future Stages is soooo good. That helped alleviate the getting-old factor of the other repeated songs. (Sadly this song also got old :-p especially the higher pitch part)

Play: 9/10 I loved that the power-ups seemed so noticable and worth getting, making the treasure chests fun to try to get (plus the time limits were mostly forgiving enough to allow you to try to find ways to get those hard to reach chests, tho I'm sure the secrets and later levels will prove me otherwise). For the most part, excellent mechanics and controls. Quick responsiveness allows for those last-minute arcade-style saves and kills, love that you can kill an enemy while landing and it counts as a kill rather than a hit. However, some of the collision masks were iffy (like the 3rd stage boss, quite lame it seems you can't jump over it? maybe there's a power-up that would solve that?) and never a fan of overdone momentum in run/movement.

Before I knew it I was on Stage 6, and it seems there are only 8 or 10? Moving fast and having fun, which is what matters after all. Oh me and platformers. I didn't wind up changing my preferred genres much at all did I... I'm liking most aspects of the game. Fresh off Rainbow Islands, I like the building-steps mechanic, tho it felt a bit clunky at times. I also liked the Metroid-esque break-away-the-level parts, tho I didn't exploit it to find secrets or anything which would be the sign of a truly beloved game--wandering just to wander, exploring to find secrets, and so on. (Well, wait, if there are only that many stages why does this image I seem to be creating have so few of the pieces? Def thinking there are more stages. Oh... it might be 16 stages lol. So either 8 10 or 16 smh) (Yea, def must be 16 stages, darn was thinking I would finish it tonight but only 20 more mins of gaming time, having a lot of fun tho! Just got to "Stage 1" after Stage 7.)

I'm grateful it's quite forgiving with the number of chests, with many helpful power-ups and health replenishment. More and more, I'm getting that Castlevania feel where I feel empowered by a well-crafted array of power-ups at the right time/for the right levels, with lots of proud moments when I clicked at just the right moment and kept running like a pro. Love when you really get to know an NES game's mechanics and timing.

Feel: 9/10 As much as I love the NES, the 4-sprites-at-a-time-or-else-we-lag aspect is really quite tacky. You would think game creators would take this into account but it seems like they loved to include a mass of sprites on the screen :-p This game included. I love the classic NES feel like with the Stage 5 boss, where you are rewarded for going in hot and just running right up to the boss and spamming attack as fast as you.

Welp I was having fun just doing the fast-paced action platformer vibe, but now that I know I have to warp and whatnot, here goes nothing. I couldn't find the Feudal Stage 3 warp, so wound up using a screenshot of Stage 4's to end up at Prehistoric Stage 1. Here goes nothing! Almost movie/bed time tho, but feeling confident to then get the proper warps to the Future Stages too to then finish the portrait/puzzle thing and access the Final Stage! (I'm loving the Look and gameplay of the Prehistoric levels nice! Love the platforms and the enemies!)

Very cool. Once you get the hang of the momentum and jump controls, it's like Super Mario Bros level of comfort/getting-used-to-the-controls where you're flying along, knowing you can just barely land on the edge of a platform then immediately jump thanks to the responsive and tight controls. And then Castlevania-style quickly kill an enemy in front of you cuz you know just how to time it, despite the enemy moving up and down flying at you. The collision masks weren't perfect, especially when jumping over things in a tight area, but you mostly got to know them over time. The bosses are mostly intuitive, and classic NES type bosses to boot, which added a nice pang of nostalgia to it. And best of all, it had its own unique touch where once you got used to it, creating a block below you as you are jumping along moving fast through levels makes you feel like a pro and like you're having fun! That's what matters!

Attachment: 9/10 Oh wait! I really am replaying Stage 1 again >.< Derp. So turns out you have to embrace the secrets/breaking away blocks to truly beat the game >.< Good things I've been enjoying it, and indeed been exploring breaking more blocks and trying to access seemingly impossible chests. I'm never a fan of secret type stuff/warps being required to beat a game, and indeed I'm a bit crabby cuz I thought I'd finish this tonight, but time to refer to the StrategyWiki to make sure I can beat this in a reasonable time while still enjoying the exploration and fast-paced fun of the game.

Wow such a variety of gameplays available. So many different bosses/ending-to-levels ideas. I can imagine playing this over and over as a kid and never knowing the warps or figuring out there were whole other worlds, like I felt when a kid showed me the Super Secret Area of SMW when I was at a hotel. No wonder so many comments talked about nostalgia for this game and searching for it. You have to truly devote some time to it, or refer to a guide, but it's expansive and varied while still retaining the core of a simple fun action platformer.

Left off back at Prehistoric Stage 1, ready to use a screenshot to get to the Future Stages and thus finish up the portrait/puzzle thing and finish the game! Excited for when I get time to game again! Long reviews like this almost always end up being favorites :-p because it's a journey to b

On my 2nd play session the next day, I quickly got to the Prehistoric Stage 1 portal to Future Stage 2, thanks to a screenshot, and was loving the Look and Sound of that Future stage. Time to just grind out some levels! Even tho I grew to like the secret/warp factor, my favorite parts of the game were when I could just focus on fun action platformer action, using my skills making a block below me mid-jump and running along!

Alright so it seems I've gotten everything except Feudal Stage 8, so I'll have to use a series of Warps to get there. Here goes nothing. I thought I'd start Zelda II tonight but this game is long! The secrets-being-necessary factor continues to bog it down a bit, but I do still love it. It's too bad cuz this was def going to be a new Favorite Favorite when it was just the straightforward platformer parts, and the final level being really sickening/dizzying (tho otherwise not any harder than the other levels... it just shakes, making the already mediocre collision masks worse and literally made me feel sick/dizzy after beating it... not the best feeling to finish off a game ha...) solidified that decision. Still, a great game overall!

Completion: Main Story Playtime: 1h40m