Semi-accurate depiction of cycling in NYC, if nothing else.
So, decided to torture myself, and made the poor decision to perhaps find and upload a good save file to this, but it seems that 1: the saves can be edited directly, they're open json files lmao; and 2: there's no conceivable way to actually upload/unlock gallery. There doesn't seem to be any section on the save data json,
and it's not tied to the game folder either. Whoopee. Anyways, my thoughts after wasting hours of my life:
THE GOOD LIST
- Surprisingly enough, a very simple, understandable game, with predictable progression. I normally would bash a game for being basic, but simple is good, sometimes better.
- Pretty okay pixel art. the CGs are decent, the animations are sufficient, could be better (see con 2)
- Second girl, Gods above, grant me more dark skinned lewd tomboy.
- Fully Voiced in both Japanese and Chinese! Not something common for pixel-based games, although a lot of other MangoParty published titles have this. Might be a MangoBux thing idr.
- Cars run red lights, you run red lights, traffic laws are optional.
And...
COMPLAINTS AND GREIVANCES:
- Okay, while the system makes sense, and simplicity is good, it gets old real quick. There's four girls, so four sets of stages, and twelve of them. So 48 in total, and I'm sure most people will turn braindead by their 8th cleared stage. 4th segment stages (10~12) run at about 3 minutes each, and they all play literally the same. By the time you get to that point, you're already out of it. Cue my metal music, thanks.
- Let's talk about the pixel animations. The CGs are alright. Can't really complain much about them other than the fact that they're basic, but that's what you get for a lot of these games. The animations though... C'mon, mate. You give X-ray and yet there's no goddamn insemination? Who the fuck does that? You also cannot zoom in, which some games I do accept can get away with that; this doesn't. The animations are also not as smooth as some of the other entries into pixeldom. Now, that's not to try to bash them, but a little more polish would be acceptable. I ain't asking for dieselmine level smooth, but something a bit more than what we got here.
- Difficulty. Now, I am using a save file that has max moni so take this with a pinch of salt; however, there's an argument to be made here. There's a star system, penalty for insurance, and penalty for getting the food screwed. But... there's no real penalty at all. If you finish the stage, and at max upgrades (which probably will be gotten rather quickly), you can hit every goddamn pedestrian on the way there and still somehow get 3*s. I've no idea how this works, and it seems that getting 3*s doesn't change anything, not as far as I can see that is. The 4th girl's stages quite literally is just an obstacle course, and by the time you hit those stages you should theoretically be maxed from the first 3 girls. The 3rd girl's stages also seems intimidating but it's a joke because it uses classic NYC bike lanes; the fucking curb and the sides of buildings.
- There's additional """minigames""" beyond just the cycling around of point A to B. God. A toddler could do these games, they're barely more than wasting time, and feel like chinese shareware. ...I get that MangoParty games at times do feel like that, but this is worse than usual. Also do not fucking get me started on the goddamn mixing minigame, I nearly had a fucking stroke when the grim reality of what I was looking at registered.
- The enemies cannot defy the laws of inertia (the bat you use to kill them with). You can defy the law of inertia (getting hit by an 18 wheeler doesn't kill you.) I expect to be flattened and told to not try to isekai myself into another game, thank you.
- The point that actually shatters part of the positive for VA: you cannot recall the dialogue scenes from the memory selection on the menu, only CGs. This is a peculiar reversal compared to RPGM ones that have only scene recollection, no CG, but in the case that all of these scenes are completely voiced, this is detrimental, and disappointing.
Well, I've played a lot of the games under MangoParty's banner, but it seems this one is going to be one that I regret playing. They apparently put out an update that lets you just zoom through everything invincible to all, but that's not the point, the point was after 15 minutes of the same A to B business, it got old, with only the fact that there's a
small bit of voice acting to get you by. The BGM/SFX aren't even good enough, and falling through the fucking manholes provides a Wilhelm Scream. There's no secrets on the maps, there's no easter eggs, none of the charm you'd find in many other games of the MP catalogue.
All-in-all, a disappointment. I don't even think I can suggest playing this with a save file, save your time and find another pixel game. I'll give two stars at least (ONLY BECAUSE HALF A STAR IS FOR DWEEEEEEEEEEEBS) because 2nd girl is cute, voice acting's a nice touch (other than stock moans), and there does seem to be an idea here. Sadly,
it's the little things in a game that make you like it, and this game doesn't have much.