by Ack Mon Feb 16, 2015 1:26 pm
1. Renegade Ops (PC)(Multidirectional Shooter)
2. Borderlands 2 (PC)(FPS/RPG)
3. Gunpoint (PC)(Puzzle Platformer)
4. Robotrek (SNES)(RPG)
5. The Tick (SNES)(Beat 'Em Up)
The Tick is possibly the longest beat 'em up I have ever beaten. It is 16 episodes long, and each episode has sub-levels which range in length and could occasionally constitute an entire beat 'em up level in and of themselves. Overall, I'd say there are probably about 40-45 levels.
But how is the game? Well, it's not good. There was a definite attempt to adopt The Tick into a video game, so there is a lot of the universe involved: enemies, allies, level designs, etc., are all greatly influenced by the comic and cartoon. At times the game manages to pull from the creativity and offer something truly inspired. Unfortunately those times are few and far between, with the highlight of the game being a fight with Chairface as you race to destroy his laser before he finishes carving his name into the moon.
So what is it like in the meantime? Well...boring. While there are several sets of enemies, they tend to have terrible AI and not be particularly interesting to fight. And the game developers apparently felt that quantity was more important than quality, so there are a lot of enemies. Tons. Hordes. And you will probably beat them over and over again using the same basic combos that you have used the entire game, because there is little reason to change tactics. Even when they change styles, enemies just aren't different enough to warrant a strategic analysis. So you end up with hundreds of bad guys, many of which are palette-swapped, all of which can be defeated relatively easily with a punch or kick combo.
To try and break up this monotony, there are places where the levels becomes interactive(for instance, Sewer Urchin occasionally pops up from under sewer lids, hurting whoever was standing on it), and there are items in the game which will occasionally summon an ally, such as American Maid or Paul the Samurai, enabling you to fight back to back against the hordes. But these become problematic occasionally because they can hinder you just as easily(specifically Die Fledermaus). There is also some variance in level designs as occasionally you will find the odd platforming or high wire level, where flying objects will come at you and knock the Tick out of the air. Again, there are some entertaining ideas(jumping between speed boats, or falling from skyscrapers and having to fight villains who happen to be in the alley below), but they still feel poorly implemented and designed. There are also a couple that suffer from slippery floors where if you fall, you'll respawn and immediately fall again, losing two lives in the process. And there is the occasional glitch, such as enemies getting stuck in the floor at the top or bottom of the level.
This game would have been considerably more successful in my opinion if the devs had instead decided to trim the fat and cut the game down to 1/3 of its length, but then used that to focus on building up its quality. I don't completely hate the game, because when it works out, it's amazing. But more does not always mean better, and this game is a shining example of that problem.