Dungeon Marathon is pretty neat. I wasn’t expecting much, but its simple “run, dodge, and collect” gameplay got me into a nice rhythm, with the expressive animation on the player characters combined with the smooth controls took me on a nice ride through these classic isometric dungeons. Also, while the characters are all one-dimensional, I love the premise of how all the characters are boneheads that stumbled into this obvious trap.
What really sold me on the game was the twist, [spoiler]that the apples you need to stay energized and perfect-rank the levels slowly poison you, and can lead to permadeath. I didn’t notice this at first, thinking that the death meter was rising due to character death. Though one would think it would be an unpleasant revelation, it came across as a thrilling surprise, and I think that’s the best way to experience it.[/spoiler] It enhances both the premise and the gameplay, and it really motivated me. Despite losing my first run, the short length of the game kept the stress levels low, encouraging me to try again, then go for the higher difficulty.
There are a few repeating levels, the purchasable items aren’t properly explained, and there was this weird thing where some levels skipped to the next one after completion instead of going back to the level select. Also, after I managed to beat normal mode, I didn’t find hard mode to be much of a challenge, as my experience made it, if anything, easier. After that, isn’t much in the way of replayability or completion, since beating the game wipes your save.
Nonetheless, a tight, enjoyable experience. Happy to recommend.
