Edited 21 December 2017 - 09:52 PM
The game opens with funny story and dialogue cutscenes. The cutscenes return after each dungeon is completed, but only the first 2-3 are funny, the rest are just stereotypical uninteresting "save the world" stuff until you get to the final boss, which has a little more humor. Robotnik's good-natured pride is especially charming.
The game opens in a hub area (a forested path surrounding the castle). This forested path area is much too large because it literally surrounds the 7x4 screen castle area. You have to walk 9 screens just to walk past the south wall of the castle, and 6 screens to walk up to the north wall. Though pretty to look at, this is an empty area with no real purpose besides grinding for money.
___It would have worked so much better if this area was smaller and the entrance to the castle took you to another map entirely. That way the castle could remain the same size, yet the forested path area would be smaller. Similar to the way houses that take up a full screen when you enter, only take up a small part of the screen when you exit. However I must say that I do like the design and atmosphere of each area outside the hub.
The first 2/3rds of the game was very enjoyable. Many of those dungeons were fun and interesting, if you can overlook the annoying fact that you'll have to leave the dungeon once or twice and trek all the way across the overworld to restock your potions. This is because there are enemy-filled gauntlet rooms you have to tank your way through. It's very doable if you throw yourself headfirst into the fight and bring a potion, but the long trek to buy another potion is inexcusable. This could easily be remedied with a potion shop in each area, but no, there's one specific potion shop on the map you'll keep returning to.
Dungeon design, overall, works well, but dungeons 4 and 5 specifically have you progressing evenly all the way up to the end, only to get an item needed to unlock something way on the other end of the dungeon, to get a key to return all the way back to the other side. Why is that one last key way the heck on the other side of the dungeon? No real reason, just padding. It's tedious and not fun to make that long enemy-filled journey for nothing. It's a shame because you really feel a sense of progress and accomplishment clearing your way through that fun, enjoyable dungeon, until you're forced to do it again just for a little key. That's unnecessary padding, nothing wrong with keeping it short and sweet.
The other problem with these dungeons is that there's no halfway marker. If you die, you're going a LONG way back, and you're going to have to wade through tons of enemies, and repeat block puzzles all over again. Not so good.
Dungeons 6 and 7 were a return to a more enjoyable and interesting experience, but Dungeon 8 was a big problem. In typical Zelda games you'll have a central chamber that branches off in several directions. Dungeon 8 has you going a long ways, then there's a hub with several branches, then at the end of each branch is another hub with several branches... and so on.
___I cleared most of the branches, then I came to a place where I needed 3 keys. I found the last unexplored branch and got the keys, then I spent... a couple hours trying to re-find where on earth the locked doors were, going down each long branch only to find I'd chosen the wrong one and reached a dead end, and sometimes even trudged through one of those completed branches a third or a fourth time, with hordes of enemies to hack through the whole way. After a couple hours I finally relocated the locked doors and progressed but... ugh.
___Use less hubs, or use halfway markers, or make your hubs have very different graphics so they don't all look the same or use a simpler layout, just do something to make that experience less grueling. Dungeons that take this much time to complete are painful. Like I said before, these dungeons are mostly fun, interesting and enjoyable, but once you've hacked your way through the jungle, once you've cleared all those rooms, you don't want to have to do all that again, especially not when you get lost.
When I beat Level 8 I was ready to fight the last boss and enjoy the credits... that's when I entered the gigantic tower at the end of the game... *weeps*. I can't over-state how huge and enemy-packed this place is. I made it to the end, but it wasn't fun, it was a grueling, endless chore.
___At the top of this tower, there's a super-gauntlet of bosses, I managed to beat them all, but then I got stuck in a cutscene. There are two more boss showdowns after that, but the screen warps all needed repair-work done to them, so I just watched someone do that part on YouTube instead.
One last note on dungeon design: too much time is spent in doorways clearing a horde so that you can enter a room, but money and health drops are usually generous, so that's good. There are some unfortunate places where enemies appear right on top of you, and I'm not a fan of unavoidable trap damage to be honest.
I don't mean to sound so negative. I did have a really enjoyable time for maybe 5/8ths of the game. The early part of the game is especially fun, with dungeons having fun with environments from the Sonic games, such as HydroCity.
___If it wasn't for the long trek to get potions, and having to carve your way back through large sections of enemy-filled dungeon that you've already cleared I would gladly give this quest a 4 out of 5 star rating.
As it is, the text needs a solid background behind it so we can read it easily, the final boss section needs repair, the 8th dungeon has branching issues and the giant tower is just too giant. Which means I can only give it 3 out of 5 stars.
My recommendation for enjoying this quest is to stop playing at level 7 or 8 and call it good. The rest of the quest is skippable because it's just too much, and the stress isn't worth it. I want to re-emphasize that despite it's occasional problems, I did get a good chunk of enjoyment out of several portions of this quest, and with some design changes such as more potion shops, halfway dungeon warps, and visually distinct dungeon hub rooms this quest could be significantly more enjoyable and accessible.
EDIT: Oh, and don't use the same graphic for different kinds of triggers (gray crystals)
I need a bit ZC-free time after that devilish final level, but I am up for part 2.
