Clyde's Revenge

The Good
Clyde's Adventure was an underrated gem of a puzzle sidescroller. Unfortunately, the sequel is anything but that.

The best part about the game is the music. It's calming enough to fit the mood of the game. Unfortunately, as stated below, the mood is mostly one of boredom.

The Bad
What made Clyde's Adventure good was that its levels were small, so that any instant deaths didn't discourage you too much. Levels were mostly straightforward (once you figured out the tricks) and could be completed in under 3 minutes. It also had a humorous slant to it, with lots of funny hint scrolls within its levels.

Clyde's Revenge got rid of the instant death, removing much of the puzzle element. It also made the levels absolutely gargantuan. The levels are way too large. Clyde also moves much slower, and the stones to collect are too far spaced out. It can take upwards of 20+ minutes to clear a level if you get lost. By that time, you'll become uninterested in playing any further and you'll quit.

Another absolute no-no is the addition of keys and locks. Putting locked areas in a game is an invitation for lazy level design, and it completely shows in this game. Most levels involve backtracking once you get the keys in order to get at more stones.

One new mechanic absolutely irritates me. Many levels in Clyde's Revenge use a spring in order to launch Clyde to great heights. This is a terrible mechanic, as in many cases you'll just wait for Clyde to gain more momentum as he goes up and down. The later levels become spring-obsessive.

Lastly, the humor that was present in Clyde's Adventure is completely gone.

The Bottom Line
Avoid. It'll put you to sleep. Play the much more fast-paced and better-designed Clyde's Adventure instead, with its smaller, tighter, and better-designed levels.

I gave Moonlite Software my money for Clyde's Adventure; needless to say, Mike Voss didn't get my money for this game. It's sad that we'll never see a third game in the series, because I really liked the idea of a puzzle sidescroller series.