I remember when my parents got me my first - and as far as what's important in life goes, only - Sonic game, I was enamored not so much with the speed (which I couldn't build up fast enough anyway), but with the physics, the platforming, and the new, mind-affecting premise of a character turning into an enemy-damaging ball *just by jumping*. Later when I started to see other platformers, I noticed they didn't do this, but Sonic could, and it became even more wonderful to me.
Later on I figured how to move more quickly, but the physics and the premise of what could be done with that ball form have always interested me more.
Enter Polyroll, a game that wears influences on its sleeves, including Sonic, but trades away the blistering haste in favor of the platforming.
Before I lose my review again, I'll simply post here. Suffice to say that Polyroll succeeds. Bouncing becomes especially important for challenges to clear levels, both for familiar things like bouncing off of enemies, and for the new premise of bouncing off of walls to climb and round odd corners.
The presentation is superb. It reminds me - if not outright brings me back - to all those interesting screens I would see on my cousin's Supernintendo and feel horribly jealous of, and even after the jealousy cooled off, still was intrigued and curious about. This world seems to have dreamlike qualities fitting a game from the late 80's or anywhere in the 90's, yet still stands on its own in visual approach.
For me, personally, who or what we play as, and where, matter in and of themselves, and as far as real life animals go, I've wanted to play as a cartoonishly cut-ified bug for some time. Polyroll matches this, and a chance to play as one of those pillbugs I loved to watch as a kid while my parents chatted with my aunt back inside is welcome indeed, even - and in a way, especially - if he's a cartoon drawing here. More importantly than this, though, one thing that seems to be intact from his real worldcounterparts is his size. There are some environments that seem like they'd be roughly human-size-hero oriented, like the beginning hills and what looks like a factory, but then we found ourselves in sawmill parts and even inside a computer! This drives home that Polyroll is actually supposed to be tiny - and to be honest, I really love that. I want to play as more tiny heroes. More importantly, these levels take good advantage of their respective settings with area-appropriate gameplay gimmicks, like the rolling hills and an icy area having ramps that let you roll off into the air, casino areas seemingly set on top of a line gambling makshevs having playing cards and chips that make platforms and act as obstacles, along with bouncing balls that encourage you, in a sense, to *take your chances*; and various circuitry-oriented gimmicks in the levels set inside of computers.
My main criticism is that the reward for getting near, then completing, the ending is underwhelming. After you beat the game, you just get different color pallets for Polyroll - not even new stats or bonuses or penalties or anything, just pallet swaps - and in a chase scene right before the final boss, one of the biggest mistakes of the Sonic franchise - Rubberbanding AI - comes to call for a wall of spikes that's chasing you. Rubberbanding AI for situations like these was always a mistake that denied us players the reward we deserve for successfully getting faster and smarter on the run, and it's a downer here likewise.
