Finally after almost 3 days of constant trials and errors accompanied by intense rage, I managed to beat the demo in a way I didn't expected actually and I will explain later as potential tip for those who will battle the boss. For a demo it was a very emotional, intense experience that for the most part didn't make me fully enjoy the game. I liked the tutorial that explained basic mechanics but after you lose lives and you have to restart from zero, it becomes a bit annoying that you get the tutorial screen again. I can choose to ignore at least, so that's a plus. Still an option to disable it after you tried it the first time would be nice.
One of strong points of the game is the combination of NES game era with a mix of Super Mario Bros and Kirby for the game mechanics, the pixel art and the chiptune are really adorable. The game mechanics are fast-paced but I've noticed some levels are a bit unbalanced in terms of the character's speed, notably level 1. When you reach the boat, you have to patiently wait for it to cross the river while paying attention to those pesky fishes. I also noticed that each level has a different learning curve to master its basic way to beat it and another more challenging curve in case you want to play those minigames and acquire extra-lives. I had no difficulties with second level, to me it was the easiest to learn, master and beat it. I would like to share a tip about how to solve it in a more efficient, fast and relatively safe way after you mastered controls:
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https://www.newgrounds.com/dump/item/eb534d2b5f79ee2f4365a65686e4368d
The numbers I wrote indicate the succession at which I suggest to do them, the red door has a very annoying saw that gets in your way in case you want to come back, so instead of choosing it among the first doors, I highly recommend to leave that as your last door. You can invert the order of the other doors, my order is based on my personal preferences aimed at optimize the strategy and keep as many lives as possible for the real pain in the ass: level 3 and 4.
Leave as last the door with the red square.
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Level three was the one I hated the most and the one I found the most difficult to master due to some elements that annoyed me a lot, the first one is this part:
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https://www.newgrounds.com/dump/item/995e092f227324831571af1e62269aa3
Again, I suggest to retain grip onto the wall, slowly slide down and then use the combination of C + X to first dash and then make a double jump to reach the next platform. I indicated how I did with red arrows.
Another very annoying part of the third level was this:
https://www.newgrounds.com/dump/item/47b8e08d3e78f63a435019e7638313e3
Those damn spikes screwed up my run many times until I finally found that what works best for me is jumping but without too much pressure otherwise the chance to hit the spikes is pretty high. I used red arrow to show the trajectory of the jump with the right pressure (light pressure) and the yellow arrows that indicate what happens if you jump too high or exert a higher pressure. Not to mention how far is the checkpoint compared to level 1 where it's relatively more balanced in terms of distance.
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If I hated third level, fourth level is the one I enjoyed the least because it's a fast-paced level and doesn't suit well my more slow-paced nature where I want to explore the level if I don't have time limits. The main culprit are those damn cannons. In order to cross the level a combination of dashes and double jumps helps a lot to overcome the trickiest parts. Gappy risks to die too easily if you slip with speed and controls. Controls are responsive, too much for my liking because many times I wanted to hit an enemy I miss it just because controls responds too much to my input.
A big flaw of this demo, in my humble opinion, is the death punishment; it's too high and combined with the system of lives it may make feel the player discouraged with experimenting more fancy moves to try harder challenges which can screw you up after gaining an extra life if you miss a jump, miscalculate distance or slip too fast. Plus I personally think that the system of lives shouldn't force a player to redo old levels (I hope it gets improved in the final product) because it become a waste of time, and I think a game shall always respect a player's time. Time is gold after all.
After I managed to reach the end of level four I saw the checkpoint and the cannon. The scene where Gappy gets sent to the pirate ship strongly reminded me of Kirby when he reaches the flying ship where Metaknight resides. It was a nice tribute/reference I liked. I've noticed that I got softlocked for a brief moment during level four, I hopefully managed to keep go on. The boss fight was relatively manageable and here I want to share a tip to end the fight pretty quick:
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The boss will launch you barrels, avoid them and butt slam from above to hit him. Among regular barrels you will see TNT barrels, those are dangerous but they can be a useful weapon against the boss himself. During second boss fight second stage, when the pirate is about to throw his TNT barrel, double jump on him and butt slam hard. This way the TNT barrel will explode hitting him and ending the fight instantly. It happened randomly and I even thought to have lost a life since it hit me too, but thankfully I could get my last achievement.
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I will be frank, I didn't enjoy the game that much because of the life system, constant redoing old levels after failing because of slow and difficult learning curves of some of them (level three even had different learning curves across itself, I found the second part of the level easier than the first one due to its tight parts that forces the player to pray in order for C + X combo works efficiently), hard challenges to get an extra life that you can lose even during these mini challenges thus nullifying your efforts, and slippery controls once the character reaches a good speed. Not to mention checkpoints positions; I appreciated their presence at least, but seeing them too far from the ideal median point of a level (notably level three) or basically at the end of the level (level four, but it's understandable since there will be a boss fight). I agree the choice of not putting a checkpoint in level 2. Another element I would like to point out, but this is more linked to the achievement per se, is the value of the second achievement; frankly for such level of frustration and annoyance some levels give, the difficulty to reach the end of World 1 (early levels should be easier, I don't want to image future levels) and constant redoing, 10 points are a bit too little. Maybe 25 points would have fit it more. I've seen way worse games in terms of graphics, game mechanics and controls, that balance this with a much more high rewarding achievements. I know 10 points for a demo might be right, but due to the efforts one has to put, and because at the time I'm writing this review only 19 people completed the demo, 25 points is more rewarding imho. I still don't believe I managed to finish the demo though.
I liked the variety of levels and different challenges, but because of the aforementioned elements that contributed to a great amount of frustration, I don't think I will add this game to my wishlist. I could beat the demo because I am a very persistent person who doesn't give up easily if I know I can reach a goal even by slim chances.
Despite my negative review, I can see the effort, the competence and ability, and because of this I wish this game all the best. Challenging, definitely challenging. Would I recommend it? Yes as way to test patience and finger coordination. It was an experience that shaped more my hand controls, so that's a positive point for this game. Keep it up.