Wendy: Every Witch Way
Game Boy Color
Nostalgia Factor:
This is a new one for me. I had never even heard of Wendy: Every Witch Way until just a few weeks ago. Someone posted a description of the game and a few screenshots in a retro video game group that I'm a part of on Facebook. I thought it looked interesting, so I made a point to check it out.
Let's see if it is any good or not.
Story:
I wouldn't be surprised if the game's story was more fleshed out in its manual. Not much is actually explained in the game. A cutscene shows Wendy open a box in her attic. Some green globes come out and go flying into a floating castle above Wendy's house. The castle drops on top of Wendy's house, and then the game begins with level 1-1.
You fight through a series of stages from 1-1 to 4-3, and face off against a giant mystical dragon at the end. The green globes go back in the box, and the castle comes up off Wendy's house and resumes floating again. The end.
I didn't know this until the game was over, but apparently Wendy the Witch is not an original character made for this game. She is a side character in Casper the Friendly Ghost, who has her own comic series. I guess this game was supposed to be a tie-in for an animated series that never came. The more you know.
Gameplay:
If you were to ask people to sum up this game in one word, I have a feeling most people would use the word "easy." Nothing about the game is challenging. The control scheme is as basic as it gets. You move, you shoot, and you jump. The big twist is that you can switch gravity at any time, meaning you flip from the floor being the floor to the floor being the ceiling.
You have to use this mechanic to advance through the game's stages, but luckily things are as easy as it gets. Normally I hate it in games when they flip the gravity on you, but in this game it is a fun and welcome gimmick. And aside from the last few stages, you control when the gravity flips, not the game.
Your character moves slowly, and there are not many enemies you fight throughout the course of each level. Just run forward and fire your weapon in front of you at all times. You'll barely get hit or lose a life. I only lost one life the entire time playing this game, and it was on level 4-2, the second to last level in the game. Things are very slow and deliberate, and you can always plan your next move well in advance. Closest gameplay comparison I can think of is Mega Man or Kid Dracula, but with all the challenge removed.
The game's hit bar is also its weapon gauge. You start off with a weak gun, but when you pick up a star it not only fills one heart on your life gauge, it increase the range and strength of your weapon as well. You can go up to five stars at a time. Your fully loaded weapon is very powerful and shoots off in three different directions. Unfortunately, the game is so easy, you never really need your big weapon to make it through a stage. When you get hit, you lose a star and your weapon drops a level.
The game is broken into four worlds, each comprised of three stages and one bonus stage. The three regular stages are typical side scrolling stages. The fourth one is a bonus stage where you fly through the air and collect stars. Yay.
I know I've already mentioned multiple times that the game is easy, but it really is worth mentioning again. It is easy. That's the theme here: easy easy. You will likely beat it on your first attempt, in less than an hour. What the game lacks in challenge it makes up for with its fun factor.
The game is very simple, but it still drew me in with its fun platforming mechanics and interesting gravity-flip mechanic. I like how collecting a star makes your weapon more powerful. It really made me want to fully explore each level and make sure I was collecting all of them. Normally I'd just breeze through a game like this, so I feel as if that tiny added mechanic added a lot to the game. I mean, I still breezed through it. But I didn't just make a beeline for the exit each stage.
Graphics:
Clearly the game is nothing too special to look at. Starting with the good, I am impressed how the characters have a very Saturday morning cartoony look to them. I guess it makes sense that there was going to be a tie-in to a TV show. While the character sprites look good, the backgrounds can be a bit drab and plain looking. A little more effort into giving the levels more personality would have been a big help.
Sound:
I almost like this game's music. It's got some catchy tunes, and I enjoyed the little in-between stage jingle. Why don't I like it, though? It's goes too overboard with its chip tuney-ness, to the point where it begins to feel like an earsore after a while.
It is very bleepy-bloopy sounding. It's one of those games that makes parents mad if their kid is playing it with the volume too high. "Can you turn that down?"
I have to give one sound effect a shout out - when you flip the gravity it makes a sound you'll instantly recognize if you have played the first Metroid. The sound when you turn into the Morph ball. It was a welcome surprise hearing the sweet, sweet sound all game long.
Overall:
I feel as if this game had no business being as good as it was. It is so simple in concept, but the gravity-flipping ability, and the added bonus of searching through each stage to collect all the stars really carry this game.
It's easy. You'll breeze through it. But you'll have fun the entire way through. Certainly worthy of an above average review score. But does this game break the mold in any way? No. Will I be coming back to play through it again in my life? I doubt it. It was fun while it lasted, but cheap, hollow fun. Like a "popcorn" movie that is enjoyable to watch in the moment, but overall forgotten in a matter of days.
THE GRADE:
C+
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