Story: I’m not sure what this game is supposed to be about. Is it something about an AI being experimented on in an NES game? That’s what I get from it.

Gameplay: The controls are responsive but the character moves way too fast for you to do any precise movements. I don’t understand the controls for items. You pick up the knife or gun or whatever it is and you press B, and it disappears, making a beep noise like you did something wrong. Apparently you aren’t supposed to press any buttons and just walk into the fire. OK, fine. Then you go up to the sign and press B to read it, right? You press B again to exit the dialog box and the item goes away. What the hell? Why would you program it that way?

The horizontal sections are scrolled too far to the right so you can’t see what’s coming. Then you get to a section with spikes and coins. Okay, I’ll collect the coins…but the coins kill you. You’re supposed to walk through the spikes. Again, why? It’s a cheap death, preying on a player’s instincts to collect coins. If this game is supposed to be atmospheric and serious, why the trolls?

All of a sudden in one level a super fast-moving monster comes out of nowhere and zips back and forth across the screen. The fire-killing item is in a block, but it’s in the same room as the monster. You try to collect it, you die. You try to jump up and run, you die. The only way to escape the room is to jump up to the top of the ladder and wait for a window to jump to the next platform, but because of the high control sensitivity, you miss the ladder and hit the block. In the next room, it’s the same thing, but this time you can get the item. You get it and hit the monster with it…nothing happens. I tried to get to the ladder, but the room is too small and I died over and over again.

I do not understand this game.

Graphics: The graphic design is good. The game looks polished and well-made, contrary to how it actually plays.

Music/SFX: The music is decent. It isn’t memorable, and it isn’t that unique-sounding. The sound effects are like Atari noises, basically beeps and blocks of white noise.

Overall: Don’t waste your time. This game is not good. The only thing going for it is its graphics and maybe the story. 3/10