Marsupilami 2 - Salsa Palombia On Switch - Demo Play Thursday

This week's DEMO is the Switch version of Marsupilami 2 - Salsa Palombia, from developer Ocellus Studio and publisher Microids.

When i was young, i watched some of the Marsupilami cartoon and enjoyed it. When i saw this game on the eShop i was reminded of the cartoon and i was curious about what sort of game this was going to be.

Thankfully, this is a decent demo. we get 3 lengthy stages to play through. each focuses on the unique abilities of 1 of the main 3 characters, though you are able to toggle between two of them during each stage. the first one is the most tutorial heavy but it's a good tutorial. it shows you what button to press and puts you in a scenario where you can use the move. having not paid attention to Marsupilami since the cartoon, i didn't quite know what moves to expect. 

Each of the 3 levels in this demo felt well designed in such a way to show off each of the characters and how switching between them opens up further platforming opportunities. each stage has a secret level to find and beat and musical notes to collect. Marsupilami 2 - Salsa Palombia, in these 3 levels, didn't come across as a hard core platformer but i'd put it up there with #Rayman in terms of level complexity and how well each level is designed. i thought each of the levels i played were fun and enjoyed them. none of them had sections where i thought the platforming was poor or unfair. 

There are difficulty options to choose from. i kept it on normal but there is easy mode which removes damage from the game and makes it a pure platformer. this would make it a nice option for kids, especially those unfamiliar with platformers or who are younger. but even to me, i can see the appeal of playing it on easy. on platforms with trophies or achievements, it would be interesting to see if difficulty plays a factor in obtaining them.

Overall, as a demo it's good. i would've like screenshots or a trailer at the end. but it does have a link to the game's eShop page. i enjoyed playing it so i went and added Marsupilami 2 - Salsa Palombia to my wishlist!

Demo Play Thursday - Space Adventure Cobra - The Awakening On Switch

For this week's Demo Play Thursday i played the Nintendo Switch version of Space Adventure Cobra - The Awakening from Microids.

This isn't an anime or game series i was aware of. so for me, the appeal was the nostalgic look and feel of the animation. i've learned since i played this demo that the game itself covers the first 12 episodes of the 1982 anime.

Unfortunately, as much as i enjoyed the look of the game, as a demo this isn't great. it takes place from the third mission in the game, which means it's after any proper tutorial. so the developers appear to shoehorn in tutorial and it doesn't work. after the animated intro to the mission, we're shown how to move and then how to jump. but the character quips about the collectable at the same point the game tells us how to jump. but the platform is unstable and means we have to skip the collectable as we have no idea how to get it.

the character next quips about exploring the cemetery, so i do that. but then we're up against bats and have to work out the shooting. thankfully the game does tell us how to use the psycho gun, tho it doesn't call it that.

the tutorial aspect isn't great, but the rest of the demo was quite enjoyable. the mix of animation and gameplay worked well for me. it's not quite seamless switching between the two styles, but it's fine. it was surprising to get a mix of combat styles, there's a shotgun style weapon as well as hand to hand combat. by the end of the demo, i was starting to get into a flow with the gameplay.

What the demo was successful in showing was the varied types of gameplay. there's "traditional" platforming, there's puzzle platforming, there's underwater sections, and there are sections where we're avoiding in-coming enemy fire. it's a demo where playing it a second time would probably feel better. 

the demo does have a cool trailer at the end, after a "to be continued section." it shows off other characters, several other locations, and a few other gameplay platforming mechanics and situations. Whilst the demo is aimed at the original Anime, the nostalgic feel of the game, and therefore this demo, worked for me too and after playing this demo i would be interested in trying out the full game. so whilst it wasn't the best execution of a demo, i do think it's a successful demo.