Super Hiking League DX

[h1]Multiplayer is solid but single player would benefit from significant revision[/h1] I found this game because of the designer's Super Pitfall hack, which is an excellent endeavor, and I purchased it both in appreciation of that achievement and because grappling is my favorite game mechanic. I really wanted to give this game a glowing review, but unfortunately it sabotages itself in unnecessary ways. The multiplayer works well because all players are equally hindered, but the single player turns into a rather joyless slog in later levels. Level 25 is perhaps the worst offender, because it adds puzzle solving that reduces the field to one path. This works against the game's whole conceit. I have beaten the game and I still have no idea how the grapple mechanic is intended to function. The tutorial provides no guidance and doesn't let the player interact or practice in any way (it only provides a few obtuse text windows). I have experimented with all three modes, and there seems to be no consistency among them regarding what the player is supposed to do. The game has three choices of grapple mechanic, multiple difficulty levels, and a beginner mode. Rather than offering variety, these options are here to cover for the fact that the mechanics aren't fully baked. It's not clear what the different difficulty settings actually do; the AI opponent is almost flawless in all of them. Mario Kart's dreadful rubber banding is literal here. Even when you're winning you're not "winning," because the computer will appear shortly, seemingly immune to your machete or even encouraged by it (since it makes the opponent briefly invincible). Meanwhile, when you are struck, you reel and drop like Mega Man on an ice level. Some fixes could be done readily: 1. It makes no sense in a grapple game for grapple points to become inactive and turn blue (another aspect that isn't explained). It undermines the game design. 2. For single player, there is no point to have multiple rounds. All this does is incentive the player to restart the first round if they don't win. It adds a layer of tedium without changing the stakes in the slightest. 3. Multiplayer should allow players to have randomly determined rounds rather than the same round twice. 2D grappling my favorite game mechanic, and the thing is, we know how to do it well. Bionic Commando on the NES is still the gold standard, but there have been innovations such as Umihara Kawase and Grapple Force Rena. It's really dispiriting for a grapple game to flounder. This should be a free-wheeling, springy romp. You should be able to launch yourself as if from a rubber band from point to point. But instead this all too often is a flat flop of conflicting design choices. Nail the mechanic and then build the game around it.