Macbat 64 - An adorable shout to the golden age of the N64! They accomplish the look and feel to the point where you'll think there's a cartridge stuck somewhere in your computer!
Ah, the glory days that were Nintendo 64. If you're anything like me, this was your bread and butter era--you took the bad with the good, but continued to be blown away with the likes of Ocarina of Time, Mario Kart 64, and Goldeneye. Of course speaking of terms of the bad, you had rubbish like Superman 64, and Daikatana. In a time of serious strides in video gaming technology--there were also it's major setbacks, often producing a game with a headlining title that would be barely playable, or so broken it would make it impossible to beat. If you owned a 64, then chances are you can relate to the pure rage that this console could sometimes produce.
Macbat 64, like a few recent titles, has ventured in to revisit a time in many of our childhoods. Whilst it's not a perfect game, I will say the potential for it is absolutely incredible. They've somehow captured the feel and look of those wonderful 3D platformers that gave us endless hours of fun. I think when making a game like this, it's difficult to walk the fine line between a classic such as Banjo Kazooie and something almost unplayable such as Castlevania 64--and Macbat has managed to stay on the right side of the fence.
The controls are brilliantly easy. It's certainly one of those games that anyone could just pick up and have a go at first time. This is especially appealing to someone with little ones--not only does it make it so you both can sit down and have fun, you're also being engaged with your kid-self, and them with good ole' fashioned interactive cartoons.
There are a few snags in the fabric, of course. The basics are certainly there with the game play, story and level design. The cut scenes were adorable, and I couldn't get enough of the play on the word 'Kiwi' (Macbat is the sequel to a free game named Kiwi 64). It wasn't a terribly big deal, but when one shot moved to the next it would often take a few seconds of awkward lingering before moving on...which made taking the dialog seriously (Not that it's a serious story at all) a bit on the hard side. I honestly couldn't tell if this was simply a mistake made when it was being paced out, or if it's an unfortunate bug.
The biggest problem with the overall game is how short it is. Even if you're stopping to smell the roses, the whole thing should take you around an hour to complete. I thoroughly enjoy the little cast of characters and how they're implemented in the level's main puzzle--but therein lies it's downfall. With only one puzzle per level, it's five or so tasks to get through, you don't feel like you're doing too much before it's over and on to the next one. This could have been buffed a bit with the addition of collectibles. Who doesn't like to run around and pick stuff up? The game I remember so perfectly executing this was Banjo Kazooie--the pause menu showing stats is something I always appreciated and will never forget. If collectibles were added, a spectrum of difficulty could be introduced--small children playing the main bits, and anyone willing to try their hand could have a go at getting the trophy hidden up high. Almost every level took around five minutes (if that) to complete...and with it being linear, it kills most of the replay.
That said, it still is a very cute game and there's much to enjoy about it. Macbat himself is an adorable little chap, equipped with a very dignified monocle...it's easy to look at the screen and utter "D'awww" straight away. I'm a huge fan of free roam flying in any game, and Mr. Macbat makes it a pleasure to do so with ease. The score is brilliant and extremely well done as well. It captures the nostalgia of 64-era games seamlessly. It's an upbeat, happy soundtrack that's honestly hard not to crack a smile at. (Minus the bonus levels!)
I feel a lot of these minor setbacks could have been worked out. Making a game such as this is extremely ambitious, even if it's masked by a simple retro look. I adore this title, but it would be a real shame to see it left where it is right now. If the dev put in a bit more with it content-wise, I could really see this one taking off. It's the difference between me not being able to justify the £5 to buy it now, and if beefed up more--happy to pay £15+. You have players frothing at the mouth for this kind of nostalgia--why not make them happy and also have something wonderful to show for it?