Sydney Hunter and the Curse of the Mayan Reviews

Here I am with my very first opinion on Steam. I've waited for Sydney Hunter to be released for about 3 years and my expectations were higher than average. I've started to play it during the lockdown... Well, that's not totally right: let's say more I've got back to play videogames during the lockdown after almost 20 years of loss of interest in gaming due to big changes happened after the 16-32 bit era and choosed Sydney Hunter to get back in that world that made my childhood and teenage so magic. I've been playing the game in a very healthy way: since last March about 1h per week, playing at the same time to Sonic Mania first and Shovel Knight then and beaten it on the 5th of August. I'll be quick: the game is almost perfect for those like me (almost 40 years old guys stuck in the 8/16 bit gaming era) who are looking for a classic arcade-platforming experience with very essential plot and not too frustrating or punishing gameplay. In Sydney Hunter you die a lot, but most of the times it's your fault and not because of a bad game design. I've been playing this with my beloved 8bitdo SF30 Pro controller and found the response of controls very sweet. That was probably due also to the good controller but the controls design do a very good job as well. Yes, you feel again like turning on your SNES after doing your homework to play some great action platforms. Some levels are short and you get to the boss after few steps. And some levels are huge and you have to come back more times to obtain all the hidden items. I've succeed in getting EVERY item, skull and diamond in the game but still I've beaten only 82% of the game so, I guess, I have to look for something more in the temple. The bosses are hard but never impossible to beat... Except for the very last one - sorry for the light spoiler - that has been for me very difficult to beat. The dialogues have a very particular humor and many special tributes to more famous games. Not the mention some gameplay references in the last part of the adventure I'm not gonna spoil right now. In conclusion I can say with no doubt that Sydney Hunter is a real jewel that helped me a lot in getting me back into gaming. Despite the (I guess) minor budget compared to Sonic Mania and Shovel Knight, I've enjoyed Sydney Hunter much more and I've felt more motivated in getting a higher percentage of the game. Thank you for such an amazing experience!

Looks good. Not my category, but I guess old school platformer lovers would like this one :)

A bit on the fence with this game. I enjoyed the level design and the multiple directions levels allowed you to go in, encouraging some wanderlust. Bumping into dead ends, finding keys, covering gems in walls, plowing ahead with the classic CastleVania style jumping and whipping. You'll pick up some abilities through out the game but they're not true game changers like a double jump, you'll find things that seemingly annihilate mechanics altogether. You'll get a Oxygen Tank that removes your 15 second timer underwater (along with any drama) and a Master Key (which renders every key you've earn until that point worthless). A few puzzling choices but the slow pace, keeping your eyes peeled for traps and enemies that might spring a surprise on your keep you engaged. Though with that said the checkpoints in the latter half of the game can be far apart, so dying can be pretty brutal because as mentioned, the game plays out fairly slowly and getting back can take a while. Counterbalancing the largely great level design is the fact most of the boss fights are awful. Contact damage exists and many of the player sized bosses love running at you, then changing direction *just* as you jump over them or teleporting directly on top of you. The skull walls can one shot you with the massive floor waves of fire. You'll of course see them coming, but whether your jump will make it over them is another story. The lava boss is an exercise in tedium, simple waiting on a point between two platforms to see which will ascend and which will go into the lava then picking appropriately. All while waiting for the boss to go green so you can hit them once and wait for the cycle to play out again, but longer now. Then the game has a stunningly awful climax beginning with a forced retro side scroller that kills you for jumping onto a flat patch of grass(!!). This retro game gives you a key allowing you to enter the final level where you're chased by an incredibly slow sunbeam that causes barely any damage despite what the build-up lore preps you for. This beam can hit you during screen transitions and from out of the top of the frame. Fun. Follow that with a boss rush of 5 human-sized bosses which as already mentioned have an annoying tendency to deal most of their damage by walking into you. Funnily enough one of them maintains his *UNDERWATER PHASE* without any of the water or jellyfish involved this time, he now just simply....walks after you. Fortunately the boss rush is remembered by the checkpoint, but now the game ends with two consecutive bosses. The first, Kukulkan, is kind of a formality once you know where to stand, but he has the most annoying white flashing shield going off constantly in the centre of the screen. I'm not epileptic, it's just a very annoying occurrence throughout. The very final boss is very drawn out and padded. Throw spears forever, negate projectile with said spear, avoid falling flames *whilst the boss just stands in the right corner doing nothing* and repeat 7-8 times. At least they start throw boomerangs/spears towards the end. Could it be any worse? When you die you have to skip through the dialogues all over again (unlike any other boss re-attempt in the game) and watch the transformations play out in real time once again. This whole ending sequences of events is a very awful note to end on, but I did enjoy the levels, the hub, the explorations, the music, the pacing (surprisingly).

Overall, I enjoyed the game, and would recommend it on sale. The game casually takes about 6-7 hours to collect all the major items and enough skulls to enter the final dungeon. The game is a metroidvania light, since you get powerups that that may allow you to access other areas in previous levels (which is a requirement since you need to collect 100 skulls to enter the last dungeon) but each level is seperate and not interconnected. The graphics and music were pleasantly nostalgic, but unfortunately no memorable tunes stand out. Boss design was kind of repetitive at times, and patterns were either easy to figure out, or completely RNG. Some fights were a complete breeze, and others required multiple attempts till i understood the gimmick. Fortunately, there are save points before every boss. My biggest issue was the large number of instant death traps in the game. Since certain items are lost if you die before reaching the next check point, combined with instant death, some areas can have some frustrating sections. Like I said, overall, it's an enjoyable game and quick game. But know what you are paying for, since It's not super polished, but it's still was a fun experience.

While the days of the Commodore 64 were before my time, this throwback game was great and enjoyable for someone who never touched a C64 game. The controls are tight and exploration of the game's levels are rewarding. The difficulty is just right, where you're challenged to move forward but never hit a brick wall in progress. A greatly overlooked game.

This platformer rocks! It's very colorful and the music is fantastic. Controls are spot on and difficulty very fair. Setting and theme remind me of Rick Dangerous.

A great classic inspired game. It mentions the C64 Montezuma's Revenge in the description, but it also draws inspiration from other classic games of the 8-bit era, including Mega Man. There's even some elements of the (obviously 64-bit) Super Mario 64 with a hub world with doors to levels locked behind collecting enough things to open them. Of course, noods to Indiana Jones, Tomb Raider, and Uncharted as well as other pop culture references, including the failed 2012 end of the world, are sprinkled throughout. Beyond it's inspiration the game play is fun, if a bit slow. It is based on a C64 game, so single-screen rooms, and methodical platforming is what you are getting. I haven't played it long, yet, but I plan to keep plugging away at it in short bursts, as its generous save rooms makes possible. It seems almost tailor made for handheld play. Luckily, I have a GPD Win, so handheld PC play is possible. :D

Unbelievably bad/unfunny writing (participation trophy "joke" on cheevos, gluten free "joke" on the first npc, etc.)--can't just ignore NPCs outright as some are necessary for progression. Graphically doesn't obey its own pixel grid, some smaller-than-pixel-sized particles and weirdly scaled objects. Sounds plagiarized from Konami games. Bosses are Mega Man sprite edits and have fixed patterns that don't even make sense (first boss just walks into the wall for a couple seconds early in his pattern). "Retro" stuff just thrown in sort of thoughtlessly--Zelda 2 flashing pit effect for no good reason, Mega Man disappearing blocks used in an uninteresting way.

Kept an eye on this one since I saw it first on gamester81's channel. Its a platform game in 8-bit style that plays almost like a metroidvania game. You have to complete levels, get new power-ups and return to old levels to enter areas previously inaccessible, beating tricky bosses along the way. The game is very well crafted, plays decently and offers some variety. It's clear that a lot of effort went into this with attention to detail sprinkled in the graphics and puzzle areas, topped off with a great C64 sounding soundtrack. The only nitpick I have is I would have liked a map to track progress, but the developers are quite old school, they probably left it out on purpose. Congrats to CollectorVision, you have made a solid game that's packed with vintage goodness that I would recommend to any fan of retro games.

Great and really fun exploration platformer with tight controlls and nice soundtrack. I've stumbled upon this hidden gem on Youtube and checked if it's available on Steam. I can't believe it only has 17 reviews at the moment and that's why I've decided to write one. Very enjoyable and highly recommended.