LogFAQs > #975701914

Game #3 Complete! Crankin's Time Travel Adventure

Final Thoughts: I feel like that Gordan Ramsey meme. "Finally some good fucking games." Outside of Casual Birder, there haven't been a lot of "highs" so far, but this definitely helped reinstall some optimism back into the system. I'm sure that will be killed next week again, but for now I'm running on a high.

I think this winds up being a very good but not quite great type of game. It uses the crank really well, and I definitely don't think this could be on another system. You really need that finesse that the crank offers because there are so many obstacles here where failure and success are really dependent on the smallest of fractions on that crank and without that ability to do quick, minute adjustments I don't think you can really play this game. Even more than Whitewater Wipeout, this is a game that really shows off how much the crank is needed

It also helps I quite like this. When I found out it was made by the guy who did Katamari Damacy I was like "oh ok that makes sense". Everything else, even Casual Birder which is solid, felt very amateurish. Big indie dev energy. This definitely feels like it was made by someone who actually knew what they were doing. I was shocked to check his resume and see he hadn't really done much since the first two Katamari games, which is a bit of a shame. This shows he still knows what he's doing. He has a wildly original concept here, makes full use out of the system, and just blew away my rock bottom expectations after Boogie Loops. It is unique and clever and fun and just a really impressive display of what can be done on the Playdate if people know what they're doing.

Still, it falls just one rung below great for me. There's a lot of "guess and test" type levels here and there's a lot of stuff I got back just by sort of memorizing what the pattern was. That might be the point, I guess, but there's some stuff that's kind of annoying. Usually you get something like a sound cue and a little visual warning sign to let you know danger is coming. That's great. But sometimes you'll go up the stairs and suddenly a hundred pigs will be flying at you 100mph and there's absolutely no hope of dodging them. That's less fun. That's the kind of stuff that feels sloppy, particularly when you're at the very end of a challenge two minute level and have to do the whole thing all over again.

Still, minor frustrations aside, this was a very good game. A lot of fun. First one I'd whole heartily recommend to everyone. I'm also a bit worried this is the pinnacle of Playdate gaming from what I've heard so far which is a bit disappointing. I kinda didn't want to hit that four games into a 90 game catalogue and I hope it isn't all downhill from here.

Should You Play It? Definitely. It is part of season 1 and likely the best game on the console. You'd be silly to miss it.

Final Score: I keep going back and forth between a high seven and a low eight. Think "very good but just short of great with only a few minor tweaks needed to get there" kinda score, so whatever that means to you.

Games Completed: 4/90

Game Rankings:
4) Boogie Loops
3) Whitewater Wipeout
2) Casual Birder
1) Crankin's Time Travel Adventure