Played this again last night with the missus- this game is great-
figured I'd share my thoughts on it...
You could be a girl or a guy- the one player default is the girl though you can switch it to be the guy-
I'm not too sure about the story but they seem to be vampires- during the cutscenes it looks like they have fangs- and some evil dracula dude appears later so that would seem to confirm the vampire theme. They also have two little cutesy wootesy rodent friends- a pink one and a blue one.
Levels- I'm not sure how many "worlds" there are as I haven't cleared it yet- in truth I don't think I beat the fourth (or fifth?) world boss yet- my excuse is that I play this one with the girlfriend- so ummm- yeah. If she doesn't get too far I kill myself off so she can start again with me. If I'm at the boss though Im fighting 'em regardless. I know it sounds lame- but she got better at it- even faced off the last boss we fought once without me. Lol. Anyway- the worlds get bigger the more you progress- the first world is only a few screens before you fight the boss- a rabbit on a unicycle tossing spinning plates. The second stage (haunted mansion) is about twice the size or longer- when you continue you start up at the beginning (for the first level) or halfway through for longer levels.
Gameplay- gameplay is awesome. You each (unless playing solo) have sceptors- which you use to shoot enemies (both fixed and regenerated) with. Powerups extend the reach and power of your shots- but sadly there aren't that many power up levels to attain. After the enemies receive the maximum amount of blows they can stand- they become colored bubbles. The bubbles still have to be cleared in order to beat the stage before the timer runs out and some floating ninja comes out- you know the drill. There are two ways to clear the bubbles- either shoot them several times or throw them into bubbles of different colors- shooting them usually just turns up a measly piece of fruit- but throwing them into different colored bubbles yields powerups, fruits and magic points. Throwing the bubbles into bubbles of the same color (contrary to what I read on vgden) produces two red (quicker, pissier- similar to red enemies in Parasol Stars) enemies- not the best play. Enemies also turn red if left alone for too long. Also with throwing bubbles- you can set it up so that you can throw bubbles into several bubbles (as long as the one you're throwing is a different color) for a greater yield- and when a bubble is cleared you'll see the defeated enemy pop out of the bubble- if you grab him/her quickly you can keep tossing him/her around for even more goodies. The ONLY thing that I find silly about this game is that throwing bubbles into enemies does nothing. Go figure. Other things- If there are no partitions in your way- you can go through the side of the screen and come out the other side- same with top and bottom- just like Parasol Stars. Obviously this game is similar to Parasol Stars- there are even speed-up shoes and at times it approaches (maybe even surpasses) the zany frenzy of Parasol Stars. You can also jump on top of each other if you're playing two player- and if the platforms you're on allow it- you can jump down to the next lowest by pressing down and jump. Magic spells- as far as I can see there's only two- and you'll need enough magic points to make them work. You select which spell to use by pressing select and then use the spell by keeping your finger on up and attack and then releasing. One spell is some kind of bomb that spreads across the screen and then spins back- the other are the rodent pals which act as "options" giving you more shooting power- especially helpful for the bosses as they can be pretty tough. You start off with three lives and can gain more from points and such- there is no instant continue however- it's from checkpoints as I noted above.
Graphics- I love the graphics. Colorful and cute as hell- and the backgrounds go the extra mile by always being animated- there's some backgrounds in a later level I saw where it looks like you're in a castle elevator and there's multilayered vertical scrolling. Awesome for this type of game.
Music- I love the music as well- I am most reminded of the music in Bakusho Yoshimoto- I turned the game on hoping for real zany and zippy music- but this music definitely grew on me.
Cutscenes- plenty of cutscenes- one after each world. Not much for me to comment on here- I guess they're good- certainly fit this type of game.
Difficulty- you quickly get the hang of it. It can get rough if you play like I do with someone who can't really be called a gamer- but the missus loves this one and as I said has gotten better. The bosses are the most difficult part of the worlds- there was a boss that was two large lizards that seemed a pain in the ass- just have to learn the patterns and then they're easily beaten. I suspect we'll be beating this game soon- when the missus has some more spare time.
Replay value- Hell yes. Addictive. You can play this one for hours and not tire of it- Especially the two-player mode.
Recommended? Absolutely- especially if you like Parasol Stars and Don Doko Don- then it's a no-brainer. It's not an intense shooter or RPG- but it is one of my more enjoyable CD titles. Also for those of you who like to play Parasol Stars or Bonk III or Splash Lake or whatever the hell you play with your missus (or vice-versa- hey I'm not trying to be sexist here) who isn't a casual gamer- then this is a must.
Is it as great a game as Parasol Stars? No. Few games are. There are so many goddamn goodies in Parasol Stars, so many secrets and the speed and music are so infectious that it's hard really for anything to compete- but this is definitely a great time to be continuously had from the same department.
