The unanticipated return Of Fancy Pants World Adventure takes the platformer genre by storm!!!
Concept: The third (final?) installment of the popular Fancy pants franchise makes a return with never before seen platforming and combat mechanics.
Asthetic: What makes fancy pants so visually iconic is its carefree style it's art its music and gameplay just gives off a "laid back"feel. This game is the definition of freedom.
Gameplay: The free running style is back and better then ever. The sense of exploration is just so much more evident here then in the previous installments, each level feels more unique based on certain platforming mechanics exclusive to certain environments throughout the game. Such as the beach and the disappearing "sand floats" or how the cave levels only provide true water exploration. Also the fact that doors no longer CONSISTENTLY represent the end of a level makes the levels themselves feel more together and complimentary giving that grand world feel established in the games title.
As equally fantastic as the level design is the game play . If you choose to just free run from start to finish there's hardly any break in momentum from the various acrobatics and well timed jumps you can pull off. The new combat system may slow down the pacing of the game, however it more then adds to the fun! The combat animations look inspired by Newgrounds Rumble which is a pretty cool throwback, and it's a great change of pace when you want a break from running fancy. You can even incorporate the addition of combat moves into your exploration and the aerial spin on enemies "Sonic The Hedgehog style".
The new enemies are a breath of fresh air cause I'm sure I'm not the only one tired of seeing spiders and rats with guns. Now we get crabs, pirates, birds, and ninjas! However even with this variety of enemies the difficulty is laughably easy. I never died once through out the entire game especially now that falling into an abyss no longer takes your life, let alone injure you. I just wish there was more of a challenge outside of being a completionist.However This doesn't hurt the game at all as I'd rather have balanced gameplay then facing cheap enemy placement, and pit falls throughout every square inch of a level. The only technical issue that I noticed is the game play is sluggish in detailed environments EVEN ON IT'S LOWEST QUALITY. But it doesn't hinder gameplay so it can be overlooked.
The only thing that was slightly disappointing was the ending I know I'm not exactly suppose to take the story seriously but the very brief animation of Fancy pants picking up his sister was pretty much the modern way of saying "game over, you win now get lost" was just kinda lacking in my opinion.
Personal likes:
The swimming exploration
The theme in Misplaced Cove (totally going to mp3 if I can)
The combat system was a great addition to kill any chance of repetitiveness
The easy yet humorous jokes
New enemies
OVERALL: NG's answer to Sonic The Hedgehog still gots da fancy! I can honestly say this is the best Platformer on NG since "Abobo's Big Adventure" and just as unique in its own right in gameplay, style and originality. I'll be replaying this game long after it's daily feature days are behind it and if this is the finale I'm glad to say it went out with a bang.