Game Review: Gunman Clive 2 (3DS)

It has been a while since I first started Gunman Clive 2 on the Nintendo 3DS, so it looks like it was sometime between January 29th, 2015 when it was first released in Nintendo's eShop and September 3rd, 2015 when it was ported to Steam.  But it was not until July 2016 that I finally got around to beating the final boss, which was a bit of a convoluted pain in the chaps.

Due to the length of time it took for me to complete this game, I am going to keep this review fairly short, or at least much shorter than my previous review of Bases Loaded and Mega Man 4.  Being the second game in the Gunman Clive franchise, there were some changes to the formula that was established, as well as the inclusion of a new playable character (whom I have played less than 10 minutes and I will get to why in a moment), but the gameplay is pretty much the same as it was before.

In GC2, you take on the roll of either Gunman Clive, Ms. Johnson, Chieftain Bob, or the Duck (of whom I have not played as yet).  Gunman Clive, Ms. Johnson, and the Duck all play the same as they did in the first game while Chieftain Bob attacks with a spear in melee only attacks.  So now you can see why I hardly spent much time with Bob in a game where I normally try and stay as far away as possible from the bosses.

A few noticeable changes from the first game is the inclusion of mounts in a handful of levels, and these are not optional mounts either, but required if you want to last more than 1.47 seconds into the level.  The most memorable (and flippen adorable), was the stage where you get to ride a panda bear.  And if the level were not so infuriating as you try to figure out how to get that damned panda to climb/scurry up buildings faster, there would be a lot more time spent ogling the that adorably chubby ursine.  And then there are the levels where you get to ride a Triceratops, a Pteranodon, and of course horses.  I very  much enjoyed the inclusion of these various species, especially since for the terrestrial mounts, they were not reskins of the same type of mechanic, but each operated in their own unique fashion.

The level design borrowed a fair from more recent 2D platformers such as Super Meat Boy,  Donkey Kong Country, and VVVVVV.  There was even an homage to Tetris in one of the levels, which was not too difficult to figure out (but the later part of the stage frequently killed me so I was forced to do the Tetris area more than a few times), which left me enough brain power to appreciate how the area was designed.  I recall there being a fair amount of homage throwing around going on, but not so much that I felt that I was playing every other "classic" game on the market and not Gunman Clive 2.

As stated in the games trailer, Gunman Clive 2 uses color a lot more than the first game did, although the rough sketch presentation of the game and its characters is still present, something that I very much enjoyed.  The 3D effects in the game are a bit more polished than the first game, but here I tended to have the 3D effect on only about 75% of the time, and had it turned off during the boss fights (more often than not) so that I could focus on not dying (see the next paragraph).  And lastly, I wanted to talk about the music, once again composed by Arne Hörberg, who also wrote the music for Gunman Clive 2.  All of the music here is still very much in the same vein as the first Gunman Clive (and the soundtrack still being only $1 is a flipping steal), even during the levels and stages that play as homages to other games.

Thinking back on how I played Gunman Clive 2, I spent a total of 3 hours 34 minutes (just four more minutes than the first Gunman Clive) and I found that I played for an average of 15 minutes each time I played.  However, I think that that average was brought down by some of the boss fights (The Top Hat Dandy Man, the Flying Death Copter turned Ballerina Mech, and the final boss, the Shadow of the Mechlosses) where I would attempt to beat them and then give up after maybe five minutes, which translates into maybe 10 tries.

So if well made action platformers with a western/sci-fi theme are your thing, I would recommend picking this up either through the Nintendo eShop, or through Steam if you do not have a 3DS or WiiU (for the Gunman Clive HD Collection).



~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian
Instrumental