Review Information
Game Reviewed Waluigi World, by Hippoman
Review Author Vitiman
Created Feb 28 2017, 7:18 AM

General Commentary and Game Overview
In the world of overlooked classic fangames, none shine quite as bright as Waluigi World by Hippoman. An ambitious effort from pre-2003, it displays more character than a lot of fangames from even now!

That said, it's hampered by a few flaws, so let's dive into it to find out what is charming (and not so charming) about this hidden gem of an adventure
 
Pros VERY interesting concepts and mechanics, especially for the time
Unpolished and yet thought out design
Surprisingly playable, all things considered!
 
Cons Annoying engine quirks
Bizarre life/health mixture system
Graphic clash beyond taste and imagination
 
Impressions
Gameplay
4 / 10
Make no mistake: Waluigi World provides a very rough-around-the-edges experience, perhaps not as much "of its time" as you might think, but it's beyond a shadow of a doubt an old school default platform movement Clickteam fangame.

That said, the engine isn't nearly as sticky in this as it is... slippery. Which works to its benefit. Sure, having basically no traction whatsoever is annoying, but you adjust fairly easily (at least, I did) and it's a much preferable issue than having so much traction you can never keep your momentum.

Unfortunately, the engine still has some quirks that render the game unfun to play. Particularly, springs are employed fairly early on, and they basically killed my desire to keep going in what is clearly a lengthy adventure. They kept launching me and then taking away my ability to move, and then I'd land on unkillable bats even though I had some kind of weird spike ball powerup supposedly protecting me.

Speaking of weird powerups, this game was definitely made around the time Super Mario Sunshine came out (so about 2002), because not only does it have a ton of Sunshine MIDI songs, but it also has... Fludd! Yep, a surprisingly well made Fludd engine, not sure if it crops up in later levels, I gave up after the spring bat incident mentioned above, but it worked okay - apart from being unable to shoot water and jump at the same time, often canceling out my shooting water once I landed until I fiddled around on land for a second, which was rather annoying.

There's also a really weird life/health combo system going on, where you have one-hit kills but... they appear to be represented by a traditional heart HP meter? It's confusing, but I'd chalk it down to a basic lives system more than anything, but the visualization definitely doesn't help things.

Overall: playable, but it's held back by a decent amount of stuff.
 
Graphics
4 / 10
Not HORRIBLE, but the clash is definitely present. Also... what in the world is up with that Waluigi sprite? Who MADE that? It's so awful it's hilarious, I love it. It's like it's Waluigi's cousin, Warloegui. Brilliance by the power of incompetence, a concept I'll admit to finding amusing on more than one occasion.

Other than that, nothing too out there. An excessive use of WL4 graphics perhaps, but considering this most definitely came out when that game was brand new, I'll give it a pass. Besides, can't have too much WL4, can ya? What an unmistakably Japanese game, that was...
 
Sound
3 / 10
I would have given this a slightly higher rating (considering the music is just harmless MIDI renditions from various sources) but the dude went and had the death and victory sounds PLAYING OVER the music itself. Absurdly annoying, and to add insult to injury, it sounds awful! Can't excuse that. Ideally, turn off sound effects when playing, since they're not really crucial to the overall experience, although it does leave something to be desired if you're so inclined as to do so.
 
Replay
4 / 10
Meh. I'm kind of curious how the adventure pans out, the length of the game, etc.

...buuuut not enough to give it a second try. At least, not now. A lack of a save system in what is obviously meant to be a huge adventure is also a giant negative, here. Can't really replay something if it's difficult to beat it, can you?
 
Final Words
6 / 10
A forgotten fangame with a lot of charm but an equal amount of blemish. Give it a peak, but don't expect to be wowed by any sort of polish or cohesiveness. That said, you might just enjoy the uniqueness of it!

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