Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams

Gianna Sisters: TD is a game that I have mixed feelings about. It has a great asthetic to it in both visual and sound design. However it's also marred by slippery controls and an almost cruel difficulty level where it spikes from stage to stage. It is avaliable extremely cheap regularily and it's certainly not a bad game but there are too many issues regarding gameplay for me to give an enthusiastic recommendation. Overall it's competent and looks great but it'll frustrate you greatly.

I had never heard of this game or it's predecessor before. I decided to give it shot because I played a lot of sidescrolling platformers on the PC in the early to mid 1990s and I still enjoy old titles like; Biomenace, Jazz Jack Rabbit, and Commander Keen. Although I frown on sidescrolling platformers which are in 3D, I was stunned at the beauty of Giana Sisters. This game looks really good and is colored really well. Forget the modern shooters which only utilize colors on the grey and brown spectrum, this game is wonderfully colorful compared to many modern games. The music is also really catchy and well done. It switches between a metal-like version and a... for lack of better term "video game" version when you switch character forms. The gameplay itself feels eerily similiar to older platformers in a good way. The controls are rather jerky in that they are very responsive. This generally a good thing because you rarely feel like you have limited control the situation at hand. The Morphing mechanic which not only changes the character but the environment itself feels a little gimmicky but it is used frequently and well enough not to feel like it was tacked on at the last minute Overall, if you enjoy older PC sidescrolling platformers you will probably enjoy this game.

Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams is a platforming game where you play as a pair of characters that can switch on the fly, changing the environment, the enemies, and in a lot of parts the available collectible crystals. Crystal collecting and switching are at the core of this game, and not much else. Navigate levels by jumping and either spinning, which turns the character into a kind of cannon ball that can break walls or attack enemies; or twisting, which allows the character to descend slowly and with more control after a jump. The levels are long, boring, and not especially challenging, though a few will be tougher and longer. The switching mechanic adds to the challenge, but ultimately, like a lot of this game, can get tedious quickly. The ropey controls are part of the challenge. The controller support is good, I think that the problem is in the design. The directional pad or analogue sticks give the same responsiveness. The characters have a loose feeling to how they move, so things can feel a little imprecise. For a game that depends on tight controls it can become frustrating very fast. The camera tracking isn't great either, in spots showing little enough to navigate a jump or see an enemy you might unintentionally run into. Panning and tracking can be too iffy, and some of the deaths I encountered came from camera mischief. Dying in this game isn't strictly punished, though the scoring system is affected. The Scoring in this game is very strange, and in order to unlock further levels you will need to score stars. Stars are scored by finishing levels with a lot of crystals and few deaths. There are a LOT of crystals, and the more deaths you have the lower your stars will be by the end of the stage. This is where the game shows its greatest weakness. As a platformer it is mediocre, tedious, and the pace is grueling. Finishing a stage takes patience, not only with the camera and controls, but with the boredom.

Back when I had a C64 and a little later an Amiga, one of my all time favorites always was Giana Sisters. To this day, I really like the game and play it every now and then. That said, I was really afraid they would fail to create a true sequel - even the NDS game was, in my opinion, not quite as good. Still, I backed them when they tried to Kickstart their project and - holy cow - the game is amazing! Not only did they manage to capture the original's spirit, no, they managed to enhance and expand the original gameplay. Combine this with nice graphics (and awesome character switching effects) and a truly awesome soundtrack that nods more than a little bit to the original and, well, you'll get a game you shouldn't miss.

Great game with lots of details and a beautiful graphic!! Never played the original game form 1987 and still like this one a lot. But I also have to admit that the game is quite challenging and realy got me to my limits in some parts ;-) Still if you know that fact and even like that, it is an absolutly great game.