Archive: 6 posts

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"Which way is up?" is a challenge level created by Walter-Kovacs and is designed to take everything you know about perception and throw it in a fire. I didn't really know what to think of this level when I heard the description; a level that occasionally rotates via switch certainly caught my fancy but I couldn't help but feel like it would be overly gimmicky and riddled with bugs. Well, a pat on the back goes to Walter for somehow making a level that works perfectly well and aside from a couple small portions flows pretty naturally. The level starts by taunting you horribly, clearly showing you the exit and also making it very clear that you won't be able to reach it. So, you start by falling. You go through a series of jumps that happen to have springs going the wrong way, and are then treated to spinning fire wheels that slow down when you get closer to them. After 3 more easy jumps, you find the first rotational switch. After hitting it, the whole stage turns the other cheek on you and suddenly you are at the 90 degree mark. Startled isn't the right word, more like flabbergasted by this mechanical wonder. Suddenly I find myself staring at the pinnacle of innovation that this game has to offer, only to have any euphoria sucked away when trying to complete the next section and all it's bloody madness. The climbing descent of traps that await truly test your mettle as a player and tend to make you reach for the nearest stake so you may impale yourself. Precision jumping through floor spikes, that's fine. Precision jumping through floor spikes and ceiling-lowering spikes, also fine. Jumping through fire bullet emitters while the floor is made out of glass with the complete inability to properly control your character, starting to get frustrating. No, the part after that is the one that is horribly evil and maniacal, which is to say the Punching Glove cannon. With the punching glove cannon it's not really about being difficult but just being overly frustrating and terribly broken. It's not even designed to be doable, especially since the floor is not only made of glass but concave glass at that. I'm an experienced platformer and I take on all challenges with valor, but I still wouldn't wish this infernal torture on anyone. I'll tell you now, the only way to pass it is by getting a running start in mid-air and hopping more frantically than an Easter bunny with Tourette's Syndrome. Anyway, after you've spent the last 10-15 minutes going through that horror, you will finally reach the next rotational switch which bring you to the 180 degree mark. The point of the level now it would appear is to go through all the horrible traps all over again, only this time from a different angle. I should probably be mad about this.................so I will be, and the punching glove incident makes it so much easier, but luckily going back up is a lot easier than going down. All you have to do for the next section is go through 2 sets of disappearing blocks and you come across a giant spike wall with the word "jump" in the background. Per its instructions, I hopped up and was bombarded from below with black floaties. While they don't actually carry you up, you can jump wildly off of them to get up higher. I found the little contraption glorious, absolute fun and I'm actually surprised no one has tried it before (or at least to my knowledge). After a few more rooms you hit the next rotational switch, which puts you at the 270 mark and hopefully the last or rather second to last rotation. You go through one last set of traps with a jetpack, jump across those platforms at the beginning of the stage that you couldn't jump before, rotate again to go back to 360 or 0, and hit up the exit. Congratulations, go get yourself some pudding and calm down for a while. It's okay, the level is over. So, after all the narcissism I brought into this review, you would probably assume I'm going to say it's a terrible level. Well it is..........and it isn't. It IS a terrible level because while much of it is indeed challenging, there are many parts that just hit the level of frustrating and do make it harder to enjoy (although it clearly says in the description that the level is challenging) On the other hand, it most certainly ISN'T a terrible level because no matter what about the level bothers you, the fact remains that it is probably the most advanced and intuitive display of applied engineering shown in this game since LittleBigCalculator. Okay, maybe it's not very easy on the eyes, maybe there are way too many traps and bad spots (EDIT: Okay, maybe not as many as first thought), but as it is a challenge level its job is not to dazzle you but to test your nerves, and that's a job it manages to do fairly well. Final Score: 8.5 / 10 (RESCORED) Frustrating, annoying at times, and absolutely nerve-wracking, but it's also the coolest thing you will ever see in this game for a good long while. On a side note, this level managed to give me my "Share" Trophy, so I only need "Create" and I'm done (not that I'll ever get it with my frustrating level) Um, hearts please?

2008-12-20 19:25:00 Author: Shining Aquas Posts: 353

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Thanks for the review. I am glad you suffered through, and made it to the end. The boxing glove part is a lot easier than it seems, the trick is lots of really small quick jumps. As far as the difficulty over all, I was annoyed that the Story mode was easy, so this was my response.

2008-12-20 20:24:00 Author: Walter-Kovacs Posts: 542

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As far as the difficulty over all, I was annoyed that the Story mode was easy, so this was my response. Yeah, I hear ya. I made my level with the same thought process.

2008-12-20 20:59:00 Author: Shining Aquas Posts: 353

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I just finished... not nearly as hard as you make it sound IMO. I did it on one try, but I thoroughly enjoyed it for the idea behind it and the satisfaction of the challenge. It did force me to quickly adapt and revert back to my NES skillset, which was a nice change of pace.

2008-12-20 21:56:00 Author: Unknown User

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This level has been re-scored for reasons of me just having a really bad playthrough the first time. It's much better than the original score implies it so.

2009-01-21 16:19:00 Author: Shining Aquas Posts: 353

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This level has been re-scored for reasons of me just having a really bad playthrough the first time. It's much better than the original score implies it so. Thanks for the re-score, I am glad you liked it enough to play it again. There are a couple of sections that can seem really difficult if you are not going about it in the right way.

2009-01-21 21:35:00 Author: Walter-Kovacs Posts: 542

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