“Sand Land” was a random surprise release that had no hype surrounding it, at least that I was aware of. One day, I was completely oblivious to the game’s existence, the next I had watched the trailer on Steam and added it to my wish list based on the presence of customizable mechs in an open word game.
Had I done more research, however, ...
I have a feeling every single Sakura game I bought on that Humble Bundle sale is going to turn out exactly like this - which is why I have yet to play any of them (also, it will show up on my Steam activity... and I can't wash off the shame).
So let me get this straight. You played a game that's based on BUILDING and SHARING levels with others and you built a single level and didn't even access the sharing portion of the game to play other users levels.
Since you state this was your intent all along I have to say you should have never bought this game. The story mode to Mario Maker 2 is clearly secondary and if you're not going to build a ton of levels or get the Nintendo Online Subscription for sharing you have no business playing this game in the first place. I'd say this to anyone who owns a Switch.
I'm actually shocked you gave this thing a 3.5/5 considering how much of it you didn't do.
Sigh. So I guess your complaints under "presentation" represent ALL original Game Boy games? You do realize that this game came out in 1992 and the Super Game Boy came out in 1994 right? That means when this game was made there was no consideration whatsoever about a color palette. And then complaining about the sound not being able to produce what a SNES could is like saying all Switch games are inferior to PS4 games because it can't produce the same graphics. Wow talk about superficial complaints about a handheld game.
Sorry man, an original Game Boy game is NEVER going to have the same length, levels, sound and graphical standards as a SNES game. Comparing this game to Super Mario World as the basis of your review is flawed to say the least. Your bias against handheld gaming could not be more clear.
When was the last time a Mario game had a "good" story? What's so good about the Super Mario World story again? Oh right....
There can be legitimate complaints about this game but I'll be honest I have fond memories of playing this game on the actual Game Boy back in the day searching for the secret exits and all the levels much like Super Mario World. Is it as good as SMW? Absolutely not, but I had a fun time playing the game for many of same reasons I had fun playing SMW.
Do Game Boy games hold up well as more time passes since their release? No. But if you decide to play a Game Boy game in 2020 you should know that going in. Bashing the obvious limitations of a 30 year old handheld console for the majority of your review isn't just not necessary, it's a low blow to gaming in general.
The controls are solid. There's momentum, as you'd expect underwater (or in space), but it's not overdone and movement is very responsive.
I played Hollow Knight for a couple of hours, and found it to be over-hyped flavor-of-the-day bandwagon fodder, so I uninstalled it. I won't be reviewing it, but if you must know my least favorite of its many questionable mechanics and design choices, it would be the way knockback works. Instead of pushing enemies away as the hero hits them, the hero scoots backwards as he hits enemies.
And you said the secret word regarding Dead Cells, which guarantees that I will NEVER play or review it, but know it's trash already.
I often find myself frustrated by the controls of games that take place underwater and I've seen complaints elsewhere online saying that this game is like that. How did it play for you?
Also, I see that you said that Hollow Knight and Dead Cells are over-hyped. Have you played them? I don't see a review for either from you. I'm not sure you can compare Dead Cells to this, it's a rogue-like but I've only heard good things from Hollow Knight.
