Gunman Clive 2

Short passable side scrolling action game with a lot of mostly dull platforming but a nice unique art style that looks really good in its few on rail shooting segments. Loses the western theme fast to have you fighting ninja, on top of dinosaurs, on sinking ships, and in areas with shifting gravity. Good for the low price, but nothing really memorable mechanically or to keep you coming back.

A great example of the phrase short and sweet.

Tough as nails, but really fun. It is quite short so its ideal if you have a free week end and want to play something enjoyable.

you're a good man gunman clive

For anyone about to call me names, just know that I have beaten this game and gotten the no deaths achievement on two other consoles with far less issue; I've earned the right to complain. This version has no way to X out before the game counts your loss, meaning if you want the achievement for no deaths, you have to do a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ Iron Man run. Here's my stance on why that sucks: it isn't about making it through the game with no deaths, it's about making it through the game without a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ save system. ♥♥♥♥ that ♥♥♥♥. Stop counting my deaths against me and let me f**king save. I can't make it through the harder levels in the latter half unless I can trial & error my way through that. The fact you see fit to punish the necessary trial & error is what earns you my hatred. Stop forcing me to have to erase my file and start over and let me f**king save. It's a platformer, not a 9-5 job, it should not require the same stress reserved for brain surgery.

[review notes: I beat the game with all 4 characters on Hard Mode. Each individual playthrough is about 2 hrs long; I left the game idle a bit] Gunman Clive 2 is a worthy sequel to the first in basically every way. The first thing you'll notice is that the artstyle and color scheme are ratcheted up a notch; you can tell the developers were clearly emboldened by the response to the first game's style and were even more stylistic this time. Set pieces and environments are bolder and more creative: no longer just a Western, this game has you traversing the entire world and even outer space by the end. Gameplay is more varied too, with more stages this time as well as more non-platforming stages, which spice up the fun. The game hits a nice sweetspot in difficulty, though it might be a tad bit too easy. As this is a trial and error platformer, once you know what lies ahead, you'll do better and better. Boss battles are simple, standard video game bosses (except the final boss, which is far more inventive, albeit a bit too easy. Nearly impossible to die to that guy). Most of the platforming gives you extremely generous windows, and as with Gunman Clive 1, there's nothing particularly innovative here. The soundtrack is a bit bland I'd say; the art is the centerpiece. The story and vibes might as well not matter, but I still enjoyed the whimsy of it. Doing only one playthrough is so short that I recommend running the other characters to really get value out of the experience. Yes, it's nearly the same, but each character adds a nice wrinkle that makes them worth doing. The Duck / pacifist mode makes a return, which is really fun, but Chieftan Bob, a melee character, was actually my most fun playthrough I'd say. There are many situations which are easy with one of the gun-toting characters, but require entirely unique solutions for Bob. Pretty cool. Gunman Clive 2 is a tried and true platformer that's rock solid in the mechanics it borrows from other games. There's nothing new here, but it's just good solid fun. Worth playing for sure, and a very worthy sequel. I haven't played the rest of Horberg's other games, but I'll be honest ... just clicking on the Steam pages for them makes me feel like they're nowhere near this quality? Like, how are these all even made by the same guy? I'd love to be wrong but part of me wonders: why not just make a Gunman Clive 3? This series deserves to make a return; he really did something special here.