J-Werewolf: EP1 Review
PROS
- The effect of the grass as you move through it.
- A very Metroidvania feel.
- Trex grows on you as a companion.
CONS
- Stiff jumping and attacking.
- A map would have been very useful.
VERDICT
A side-scroller with labyrinth areas, upgrades earned off bosses, chip tune music, pixel art, and a talking dinosaur. Far from polished but its charm should delight a few.
- Full Review
- App Store Info
Female ninja Eileen is just minding her business jumping from rooftop to rooftop when a crowd gathers around a spaceship that has just descended. A enigmatic T-rex named Trex pops out and enlists Eileen to help him regain control of his flying saucer. From there it's a side scrolling trek through the ship, defeating enemies, exploring different zones, defeating bosses, and upgrading your abilities. Think a Metroid game with a more lighthearted feel.
Eileen is controlled by on-screen buttons to make her move, jump, and swing her sword. The controls are a little stiff (especially the sword with its short range), but nothing that will make your travel troublesome, and most enemies can be killed Mario style with a jump on the noggin. As you traverse your way through the maze like flying saucer you'll come across bosses that when defeated will give you abilities allowing you to access previously inaccessible areas. The first boss allows you to tap yellow blocks to destroy them, while the second boss allows you to double jump (every platformer needs its double jump).
The game has quite the retro presentation and this has both its pros and cons. The chip tune music for the most part is fantastically catchy, but some of the tracks are so short, that the constant looping becomes quite annoying (the intro music is such an example). The art while amusing in its low grade pixel form is honestly more than a little amateurish, and sometimes it can be difficult to work out what's part of the background and what can be jumped on
Nevertheless Mystery of the Japanese Werewolf has enough charm and inventiveness to be worth a look. The highlight is the banter between Eileen and Trex and the whole game has a nice sense of humor about it. Definitely a good first effort from this solo developer.
Screenshots
$1.99
