Sometimes, just sometimes I just can't let something like this slip by without comment. Crazy John by Triniti Interactive had some of the best potential to become a truly classic twin-stick shooter, but instead it chose to be a Minigore clone and ended up losing its way.

The controls are standard for a twin-stick, with one stick used to move and the other to aim and shoot, while a small row of icons in the middle allow you to select your weapon of choice. Weapons vary in power and general effect, though it is more of a personal choice rather than something that affects the game in a significant way. Humans can be rescued in-between or during each mini-mission and for every five you rescue you'll be rewarded with a giant Mech to blast the zombie hordes to oblivion.

It isn't hard to be upset by Crazy John as the gameplay clearly struggles to be something unique and pits players against multiple short objectives before moving on to more challenging levels. This is ruined by the slow grinding progression only punctuated occasionally by a new weapon and perhaps a new area that isn't a minor edit with a palette swap. And on almost any other day I'd overlook the Minigore inspired visuals and would praise it's clever and clean pixel-art style, but the epic amount of talent behind the art has seemingly been squandered merely for marketing value.

Crazy John grabbed me and threatened to never let me go with its fun, action-packed style, but things quickly fell apart at the seams and left me feeling upset. As twin-stick shooters go it dukes it out with the best of the average pack, but it might leave a bitter taste for some like myself.