Ralf's Adventure: Aztec Mystery

(I got to dungeon 5) I wanted to give the game a try since it looked like it could have scratched that StarTropics itch but the art and price tag made me hesitate a bit. Unfortunately I ended up not enjoying the game at all. The gameplay borrows heavily from StarTropics II. Controlling not-Mike is a bit of a pain. The bat's quarter-circle arc sometimes making enemies directly in front of you impossible (especially when facing right) so you're forced to take on enemies diagonally in the one corner you can hit them. Every weapon I obtained had a recurring problem where not-Mike would lock up while the animation plays out meaning you really need to commit to your attacks. Projectiles are not much better. You'll need to wait until your first projectile despawns before you can throw another. In the case of the kunai (dagger?), the weapon will continue off-screen a ways meaning its a long wait until you can attack again. If you're into StarTropics for the quirky story, you'll find none of that here. There is no dialogue or NPCs. Not even an overworld. In a way its a lot like Metroid where you'll move between areas that are unfortunately all just palette swaps of the hub. Some of the colors get a bit garish and makes the game hard to look at at times. The music is the same for every dungeon I encountered. The simple melodies aren't bad per-say, but it gets very repetitive very quickly. Some other quirks: -The game defaults to a SNES button layout for some reason rather than the more common Xbox layout. -Every shadow is the same oval regardless of enemy size or distance from the ground. It looks jarring on some enemies where the shadow is enveloping enemies standing on the floor. (The starfish is a good example of this) -Bosses are extremely tanky and take a lot of hits. -Though you have three available face buttons, you can only use two weapons and the bat can't be swapped out. I prefered the kunai but had to keep switching between it and the rope for example. -No support for shoulder buttons to toggle through your weapons (or select, something the original StarTropics could do). -Once you have a new item, it boils down to "use X on Y prop". Puzzles that utilise items don't go beyond "choose the correct switch". Some things I like: -Water isn't an instant death -You can return to old dungeons for optional upgrades. -The kunai was my favorite, the bat was my least favorite. Overall, by the 5th dungeon I was just tired of how repetitive it got. I have no will to ever come back and I really don't think it was worth the $18CAD so I made the decision to get a refund.

Game scratched an itch I didn't know I had. Like Star Tropics 2 and original Zelda had a love child. Only complaint would be how short it is to complete. Would have loved for there to be more.