Not bad, but could have been better
When I was a kid, these were always the kinds of games I was curious about but never had (aside from Mario RPG), so I can only critique from a modern perspective..It's a charming little isometric puzzle-platformer that, as Temko.841 said, it full of references. (Specifically, references to the 1980s)
For whatever reason, I didn't encounter any of the graphical or input glitches some of the other reviewers complained about. In fact, the Linux version worked flawlessly for me, aside from an oddity in the gamepad mapping UI where it called one of my buttons "Action 2" at first but then correctly gave the X-Box 360 controller button name when I asked to re-map it and pressed the button that was already the default.
With a gamepad, the controls are generally good and I really like the support for customizing how they map to the isometric axes... but the block-pushing+hopping puzzle in the ice area is a frustrating momentary difficulty spike. You should NOT have to do precision jumping on slippery ice blocks that will push and shatter if your attempt to overcorrect causes you to push them by mistake... and I find playing a little Getting Over It with Bennet Foddy every day to have a relaxing zen to it! (no joke) The fact that there's a delay before the "respawn block" button will work just adds insult to injury.
It does have some unskippable mini-games (eg. a minecart stage), but they're fairly easy and I'd have preferred if it didn't hide the total number of some of the collectables.
The most glaring wart, in my opinion, is how it starts you out by asking you to pick a gender and color, then requires you to spend a minute as an ultra-generic kid walking to the Tron-esque digitizer before the game starts. It's pointless, feels very tacked-on, and gives a poor first impression.
That said, pixel-art would have been better. Whatever it is that my childhood has left me wanting from these games is tied to the distinctive isometric look that I would sometimes glimpse.
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