Review Information
Game Reviewed Psycho Waluigi, by Thunder Dragon
Review Author Dim_Yimma_H
Created Apr 22 2012, 12:02 PM

General Commentary and Game Overview
An awesome game that surpasses Nintendo's Mario games in clever level design! The only downside is that an analog gamepad stick is desired for good control.
 
Pros + Clever level design that surpasses Nintendo's.
+ Custom graphical mix that suits the Psycho theme well.
+ Perfect sound effects.
+ Over 30 different levels, around 5 hours of play time.
 
Cons - Controlling the Psycho Iris can be hard without an analog stick.
 
Impressions
Gameplay
8 / 10
The main game mechanic is the Psycho Iris, which floats in front of Waluigi to interact with enemies and environment. It is controlled with the up/down buttons. This control is a little bit cumbersome with keyboard, as it's hard to coordinate the 3 fingers needed to walk Waluigi and control Iris at the same time - The game becomes easier if using gamepad with an analog stick.

Waluigi's walk speed is constant. Jumps feel a bit floaty and gives time to steer through air. Jumping into blocks feels like the Super Mario All-Stars version of SMB where you fly up through blocks that are crushed. That doesn't matter though as Iris is always the main mechanic.

Powerups appear as "eggplants" that you touch physically. For beginners this can be confusing since other items are carried psychically by the Iris, I used to take the plants with the Iris and always threw them away by mistake!
- There is an exploit/feature though to touch items in the Iris by turning around so the Iris flies through Waluigi's body.

CLEVER LEVEL DESIGN:
Levels are called "kingdoms" in this game, and offer rich variety of challenges.
1. Already in the 2nd kingdom are ice blocks that shatter upon any touch, so they pose a challenge to use them as platforms, some of them help Waluigi jump further - while some of them hide enemies inside the ice.
2. My favorite moment is the bosstage in World 2 where Waluigi hijacks a wooden tank accompanied by music of a crazy merry-go-around musician from Zelda's Hyrule.
3. Or the gorgeously looking Soap Sud Kingdom (World 3) with transparent hills, soap, water and bathing everywhere. Not to mention the unique game mechanic that is introduced in just this stage.
4. Another unique game mechanic is introduced in Coral Forest Kingdom also (World 3), and this diversity of game mechanics takes Psycho Waluigi to the level of Super Mario Galaxy in quality design, with something fresh on every other stage.
5. These examples continue, Burning Leaf Kingdom (World 5) where Waluigi burns every other block to ashes.
6. Or Crumbling Kindom (World 5) where blocks are so fragile they're crushed to pieces of just coming in contact with them (interesting platforming!)

The game becomes tough fast, I died 2 times in World 1 even the 3rd time I played-through it, and that was with help of the analog stick. A boss at the end of each world pose a different challenge than platform jumping, often about avoiding its attacks, then using the Iris to counter-attack.

CONS:
- A couple of playthrough blockers; e.g. in Skyline Kingdom you use a golden cloud to fly up from a deep pit, but if you fall off the cloud you're trapped at the bottom of the pit.
- Control settings are reset to keyboard every time the game is restarted, so gamepad users need to tweak that in the menu each time.
 
Graphics
10 / 10
The gameplay graphics layer is tile based and has the detail level of Super Mario World - but with its own unique theme. Background graphics sometimes remind of Yoshi's Island. The mix is rich. There is even a fun pun made of more boring-looking fangames in the Warm Welcome Kingdom (World 5).
 
Sound
10 / 10
Many sound effects are incredibly rewarding; from the coin sound that that reminds of a waterdrop of "wealth" into a bucket (thats some clean coins =) ...to Waluigi's fall-into-water splash that make bathing sound compelling... or something like that, seriously!

The game is the kind where it's always music in the "background" - or rather its almost louder than the sound effects. The music doesn't feel much Mario-ish, but is often unique and feels fresh. Its melodies are often high-paced and hectic (not really as annoying as in Super Mario World) but imo. the nicest background sound of the game is in areas without melody though, like the Crystal Swamp Kingdom (World 1) with chirping frogs, birds, and insects.
 
Replay
8 / 10
First and foremost, the game is absolutely fun to replay a couple of times; let your mind awe at the intelligent levels, find jewels you never saw before, collect piles of coins and buy better powerups.

For an information allergic, it can be annoying with the long monologue of the Psycho Iris, who even ends the game intro with "blah blah" and "yadda yadda" ...luckily Waluigi counters with "lets go already" =)
 
Final Words
9 / 10
Dear diary, I bought eggplant for the first time in my life last weekend, thanks to this game. Now I know that eggplants taste peculiar and I can understand why they spice up Waluigi's powers. I also realized that this game impressed me more than Nintendo's Super Mario sequels (they have never inspired me to buy mushrooms nor flowers!)

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