Difference between revisions of "Suzy Love"

...Okay, lemme see if I've got the plot straight. We've just met a friendly Suzy hive-mind, who actively encourages us to talk to them throughout the level about various mundane things. Their dad is a Giant Suzy who doesn't like you for some reason, and has a bunch of unruly pet snakes. Considering the level's called "Suzy Love", my first instinct is that we have an Overprotective Dad on our hands, especially considering his hive mind of kids seems particularly eager for conversation? Maybe? I'm gonna be frank I have no idea what's actually going on here, I didn't expect to be saying any of these sentences and I'm very confused.

As for the actual level, while I like the concept of friendly Suzies (about time they start paying their dues), they don't really do a lot. Their interest level peaks with the first Token, after that it's pretty much just "ride the Suzy until you need to jump off". And if you miss? Well, better hope you have Jet and/or Magnet energy, maybe the occasional Bike. It's an all right idea, but it needs FAR more variety, and also to be a bit less awkwardly punishing.

As for the rest of the level's denizens? They're all just... there. I barely remember any of the enemy encounters that didn't relate to the weird plot, which isn't helped by the largely non-existent (and slightly broken) visuals. Overall, this is... a very bizarre nothing level.

I have many questions, none of which I'm sure have straight answers.

In all seriousness, this level is just...odd, to the point where I'm a little unsure on what to make of it. The whole idea of using Suzies as platforms is an interesting idea at first glance, but there's only so much you can do with what's essentially a small, fast platform that can only move from side to side (since the up and down variant would likely crush you more often than not). That said, they still probably could have worked with a few supporting gimmicks. The dust blocks in particular had the potential to make things more interesting, but they're only used once in the whole stage. Since the main gimmick is so bare bones on its own, most of the level essentially amounts to a series of basic platforming segments with some precision jumps/falls if you're going for the tokens. It feels like the core concept is there, but wasn't fleshed out fully, which is always a bit disheartening to see.

There's not even much more to the stage beyond that, aside from some strange aesthetic choices (such as water tiles being used as solid ground) and some glaring functionality issues to go with them. There's a spot near the last token where you can get above the ceiling of the next segment (along with phasing through what should be solid tiles in the process), which is very easy to stumble across even by accident. There's also the Suzy NPCs, whose positions get offset when you talk to them from the opposite direction. Then again, that's not the most confusing thing about them.

I usually don't account for flavor text and lore in reviews, so this is more of an idle observation than anything...but most of the Suzies' dialogue was straight up bizarre. It was almost a little unnerving in some aspects (such as that "hive mind" comment), to the point where I was wondering if the stage was going to take a dark turn later on.

Of course, there's no big twist or anything like that. This is just a rather strange, but ultimately basic level.

Ride on the Air of Love!

An odd premise, of building a level where you're given the ability to ride on the Suzies. The way the level uses this, it's somewhat awkward.

With how fast the Suzies move and how you are stuck with a one-tile platform throughout the ride, that doesn't really allow for a whole lot of complexity and variety. As a result, the challenge progression throughout the level feels bumpy and unnatural, when each time a Suzy-type manoeuvring is demanded, it's one quick fall to spiky doom if ya ain't careful.

Trying to slide through a one-tile gap on one of these things is tense, I'm glad it's only really required to do on one occasion.

The rest of the level is just random Suzy NPCs, I guess, which I really don't have a comment about. Doesn't really add to the design of the level, just strange.

The graphics aren't much to write home about, non-coherent theming of tilesets that seems to change every room, with bare minimum amount of background decoration. The music is definitely love-struck, but not exactly fitting for an action-filled platforming blue bomber game.

I don't even know where to start with this one. Maybe I had fun? I laughed a few times, enjoyed the creativity of a couple screens, and got swept up in the surreal experience of mistaking this 8-bit rendition of They Might Be Giants' "Sapphire Bullets of Pure Love" for a cover of Owl City's "Dental Care." Everybody wants a Rockman to wind a piece of floss around.

This level confuses me on every...uh...level.

Scatterbrained, that's the word. There's *almost* a unified theme, *almost* a coherent narrative, *almost* a sense of flow to the gameplay, but something always gets in the way. The end of the level is a good example: the last NPC tells a joke that doesn't offer any closure to the story and (to me) doesn't make any sense. Suzies have been friendly the whole time, but now we inexplicably need to fight one. The boss music is in a different style that doesn't fit with They Might Be Owl City.

Anything that isn't a Snakey or a Suzy never sticks around long enough to feel like a meaningful part of the level. NPCs break the fourth wall in a way that makes me wonder if it's the dialogue writer, not the characters, trying to communicate with me. Each area feels like it was constructed in isolation and then attached to the rest of the level wherever it would fit.

I like the miniboss fights. Any token challenge with Suzy platforms (which should really be indestructible) is actually pretty decent. By my standards, Sniper Joes are used correctly. Thinking that Dr. Wily created these Suzies, I got a good chuckle out of "Our dad doesn't like you"; in retrospect, maybe that was referring to the boss?

I was going to prolong this review by thinking of another song reference to shoehorn (the kind with teeth), but it's old and it's totally over now.

I think the level is best exemplified by the introduction of the main gimmick to the level, the titular Suzies. It is barely functional, somewhat confusing, feeling just plain wrong, with a smidge of random, instant death out of nowhere. The Suzies seem to get stuck on invisible blocks, warp around the room, and can inexplicably crush the player. In certain rooms they can permanently despawn, leaving the player stranded and forcing suicide.

Further hampering things is the unfinished nature of the graphics and tilework. This means that conveyance is non-existent, including moments where the player has multiple "paths", but does not know where to go. Due to the background being black at all times, there is no difference between a pit and the path you are meant to travel down.

There are virtually no enemies in the stage other than the two mid bosses, which are simply time wasters; and the room layouts with these enemies is poorly thought out, making avoiding damage very difficult. Outside of these two encounters, there is no challenge to the level. The boss certainly exists and is 100% expected. Kind of wish the Daddy Suzy at least had a sprite edit. Think of it, give papa a moustache!

If this review sounds negative, well, I didn't *dislike* playing this. I did like the idea you had going with the gimmick of the stage, but it was just poorly executed.

It does have charm in its own way - it's one of the few stages of this contest to manage to maintain its charm in spite of the large numbers of NPCs - mostly down to some not-cringeworthy writing. But charm doesn't carry too far when the stage it's a part of is merely just below average.