There are several reasons this game is among the greatest within it's genre. First off; it's enemies are in predetermined locations and rarelyThere are several reasons this game is among the greatest within it's genre. First off; it's enemies are in predetermined locations and rarely deviate from a designated pattern. What this does is allow players to develop a level of cognitive memory in the same vain as classics within the Ghosts'n Goblins and Contra franchises as well as the more recent Demon's/Dark Souls. Basically, you learn as you play and improve with each mistake. eventually you will develop the reflexes required to navigate the later challenges in the game.
Second. This games weapons are a sword and a spear. unlike the aforementioned Ghosts'n Goblins and Contra this game makes you use the same two weapons throughout. this works, in my opinion, better due to the games level design being built solely around these two weapons. The Spear is especially impressive due to it's many functions (and trick shots when you get the hang of it). It was also very smart for the developers to give the spear the same base strength as the sword so that it can be used as a primary weapon instead of a 'panic' or spamming weapon.
Third; this game maintains the 'stiff' double jump as seen in Super Ghouls'n Ghost [SNES]. The level design is perfectly catered to this jump standard and despite what you may think, it actually makes things easier when you get used to it as it locks you in almost grid like jumping patterns. This ultimately helps you gauge distances better based on the games design.
Fourth; The challenge. Although many critics and users will immediately dub this a "Hardcore retro game" it should be noted that it's actually easier than your standard early '90's 16-bit Platformer. Checkpoints can be found in the middle of each stage and before entering the next stage but, you have Infinite lives (unless you play the tougher "hard" difficulty levels). The levels aren't overly long and there is only 6 levels on the main route so with a bit of practice it's not bad at all. Enemies don't even act randomly (except the ghosts but they move very slow) so that is a huge help in the muscle memory department.The only thing I would consider "Hard" for newer players would be the fact that there is no checkpoint directly before to the bosses (like in Mega Man games). I can see this being trouble for some but the bosses have very simplistic patterns that can be learned with some dodging and observing before engaging.
Overall, being a huge fan of this kind of game, I can honestly say that Crazy Viking Studio's nailed it. I would even go so far as to say it's actually better than most classics found in the arcades or on the SNES.… Expand
