PixlBit

Oh the platformers. I must've uttered every raw, adult, four-letter, explosive, pun-ridden, nasty word or phrase ever invented by sailors from a dozen different nations. After a dozen or so games -- each rage quit with a unique expletive -- to my surprise, I found myself settling in a bit,. I got several levels farther in games I never got out of the first level with before and eventually even started enjoying myself. . . Wait, maybe that's getting ahead of myself. Let's just say I started calming down. So here's the lot of them that I tried -- and largely failed with -- this week. 

Various Digital Retro on Xbox

Disney Afternoon Collection on Xbox:

DuckTales 1-2, Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers 1-2, TaleSpin, Darkwing Duck. I really like the pogo stick mechanics in DuckTales but I can't get very far in them. I was able to finish the remastered DuckTales a few months back though and enjoyed it. The Chip 'n Dale games have some fun environments to work through but I still can't get anywhere in these games. I probably liked TaleSpin the best because of the flying and flipping of your plane to attack in both directions, but even if this is a shmup for kids, it's still too hard for me. Darkwing Duck is a favorite character of mine but found the platforming too difficult in this.  

Sega Genesis Classics on Xbox: Wonder Boy III: Monster Lair, Wonder Boy in Monster World. I liked Monster Lair because it has continues because it is an arcade port, making it easier for me to get anywhere in it. Monster World just killed me every second, and I couldn't stay with it. 

Castlevania Anniversary Collection on Xbox: Castlevania Bloodlines. I picked the guy with the spear hoping it would help, but I just couldn't poke my way to victory. Man, are enemies positioned unfairly or what. 

Rocket Knight, the 2010 remake on Xbox - I still can't beat that first boss, darn it. I'd rather try the original game sometimes - well - I have tried it on Genesis years and years ago. I thought it was very cool, but I just couldn't get very far. Every platformer needs infinite continues or way to build up lives for dummies like me. 

Original Carts!

Genesis:

QuackShot, Taz-Mania, The Humans, TinHead, Taz: Escape from Mars, Toy Story: I love shooting plungers in QuackShot, tornado attacks in the Taz games, the futuristic graphics and Devo-like music of TinHead, the toy lassoing of Toy Story, and the turn-based puzzles of The Humans, but I can't get two levels through any of them. I spent a little more time with Taz: Escape from Mars becuase it pits Taz again Marvin the Martian from Duck Dodgers in the 24 1/2 Century which is my favorite Looney Toon. 

SNES:

Disney's Aladdin, Disney's Jungle Book, Daffy Duck: The Marvin Missions, Donkey Kong Country: Aladdin is a solid game. Is it the first time in games a character can grab an edge of a platform and pull himself up? I still can't beat it though. Jungle Book has animation I like but those bees and mosquitos are soooo annoying. Daffy Duck MM is a favorite of mine for the characters and setting but that soundtrack just seemed very trebly and grating to my ears right now. Maybe my Retron 3 doesn't do sound very well? I need to test it on a original SNES. But I still can't beat it. Marvin's creatures come right off the side of the screen to hit you before you can pull up your shield. I like buying new weapons and using the jetpack though. DKC is also a favorite and a gem compared to all the previous platformers I played. It is so much more accessible. It's perfect that you can build lives by collecting bananas and other collectibles. I got about a quarter through it before I ran out of lives this time. I love everything: the music, graphics, ridable animals, boss fights, mine carts, barrell blasting shortcuts, underwater levels, etc.

Modern Day

After all that I was kind of down on retro games beating me up all the time, so I started looking up current platformers and adding them to my wish list and looking for any on sale or at my library for rent. I found a bunch of demos on Xbox, a $3 game on PS4, and several Switch games I'll get from my library for next week. 

Xbox Demos:

Tales of Kenzera: ZAU, Pepper Grinder, Shadow of the Ninja Reborn, Crossy Road Castle, Dog Man: Mission Impawsible. Tales is a both a platformer and a hack 'n slash game and a very good one. I really enjoyed all of Act 1. Pepper Grinder gives you a drill which you can use to travel through platforms of underground sand, collecting gems and fighting crabs and beetles and whatnot. It's fast paced and really fun. I got a little stuck on a boss fight, but I know I can beat it with a little more time. Shadow NR is a remake of the 1990 NES game which looks great, plays great, but is too hard for my 50-something hands. I also don't like repeating levels - let me continue where I died please. Crossy Road Castle is a real favorite of mine. It has short levels of increasing difficulty, instant respawns, more lives to buy at intervals, go as far as you can until lives run out. It has a Minecraft, boxy look, but controls are tight. It has very creative levels that aren't always the same each replay. It ticks all the boxes I need to keep going with a platformer without sacrificing the challenge. Dogman has you switch from dog to cat to robot to navigate the environment of platforms. I thought it was pretty fun. 

PS4: Save Me Mr. Tako: Definitive Edition

This was $3 on PS Spring Sale this week. I bought it through my PS app for the first time. I can't wait for that feature to be added to the Xbox App like I heard it was going to be soon. Anyway, this is a game with graphics that recall a Game Boy game and music that almost seems to copy one of the Zelda NES games. I think it just used two notes of it but that was enough that I couldn't stop thinking of the Zelda tune. Otherwise very good. I'm past Act 1 and still going. Maybe it's considered too easy, but I felt challenged by it. You play as an octopus who has to reconcile a dispute between humans and octopus. You spit ink but can pick up or buy hats that give you different abilities. There are shortist platform levels set in a larger world with towns and a ship you can explore and collect things. You build lives by collecting feathers (I think it was the feathers) in the levels, and so I have no fear of a "game over" screen for the most part. Respawns are immediate at the beginning of a level, or at a checkpoint in longer levels, but I never felt overly frustrated by that. The story is charming. I'm digging it.  

Switch Rentals on the Way

Mario Vs. Donkey Kong, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, Sonic X Shadow Generations, Disney Epic Mickey Rebrushed, Nintendo World Championships - I'm already thinking I bit off more than I can chew. Ah well, I'll do what I can. What's with Epic Mickey Rebrushed? It's supposed to be on Xbox but I couldn't find it in the store. That's probably the one I'm most excited about. I'm also very curious about Nintnedo World Championships. 

Donkey Kong Country Returns and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants Unleashed are still on a wait list.