So I picked up
Retro Game Crunch in Humble's current sale. It's only 99 cents! Somehow, this one escaped my notice; I think perhaps I thought it was some game dev simulator. Nope, it's more of a
Retro Game Challenge collection of seven different games. I've only played one so far, and that's
Super Clew Land. Gotta admit, it's pretty slick. You've got a critter that eats stuff to evolve, and to evolve you have to match up the proteins (?) in his stomach using the face buttons in real time. That section of the game is pretty simple. Where it gets tougher is when you fully evolve, you can fly. Well, some of the flight segments are absolutely devious. It took me quite a few tries to get through one in particular.
Why would I do that, you ask? Well, the whole map is connected, and scattered across it are special gems that you actually need to beat the game. You'll find a sanctuary effectively beneath the map, where you can upgrade one final time, and it lets you break through to the final area at the top of the map. That last boss fight ends up quite tough; it took me about 15-20 tries to finally get it. Maybe more, don't know. But still, I got through it, and my final time was just shy of an hour, although real time was about 75 minutes according to Steam. I'm sure that's on account of all the deaths during that flight and against the final boss.
I liked it a lot, though. I feel like I got my money's worth just from that one game, and I'm looking forward to trying out the rest. I'd give this part a 7.5/10, with some possible curving upward because I really love NES-style stuff.
EDIT: Second game down from that set.
Gaia-ttack sees you controlling some critters in a sort of melding of
Ice Climber and a beat-'em-up. It controls a lot better than the former, though. While the combat might not be deep, properly juggling enemies can be quite effective, especially against the boss of each stage. When you climb the entire stage, you'll board an airship and beat up on a sky pirate captain. He gets new patterns every time, and that last one falls into the NES hard category again. Still, pretty fun overall, even if it felt like more of a trifle than
Super Clew Land. I'd give it a 6.5, and can't say I hated the 45 minutes it took me to finish. (Most of which was spent on the last stage and end boss, actually. There's a leaderboard, and the top time was a bit over 16 minutes to clear.)
EDIT 2: And a third down.
Wub-Wub Wescue sees you take control of a little pug trying to save his master from the clutches of some jungle-dwelling tribe that has kidnapped him. The game clearly takes its inspiration from
Donkey Kong. The pug can't drop very far without dying, climbing ladders feels very similar, and while your jumps are a
bit higher than Mario's, they still feel like those in
DK, very deliberate with no changing of direction in mid-air.
If it were just a
DK clone, well, I guess that'd be fine, but there's a pretty significant puzzle-solving aspect. See, the layouts are pretty complex, so not only do you have to do that, but you'll also find music players that will give your pug some temporary abilities. The first lets you slow time, another lets you put snakes to sleep, one lets you lull monkeys into a state where they'll throw you somewhere else, and one makes the bats ferry you to another platform. Usually, these are combined in various ways, and I found it pretty well done. The last area also throws balloons in, which will activate just before you hit the ground from a really long jump. You'll use this in puzzles, too, along with the final boss.
Overall, I liked it a lot, I'd say it's a 7/10. Oh, and of course, it's not a pause screen, it's a "paws" screen.
All the talk around this month's FPDC theme for TR gave me all the motivation I needed to finally give it a go, and I'm so glad I did! Grimrock 2 is everything about the first game cranked up a few notches. I played on normal difficulty with ironman saving (couldn't save other than at save points, so no quick save/quick load) and it took me around 23 hours. 
