Cute Platformer With a Few Problems
Scary Girl reminds me of a Saturday morning cartoon. Spending my 6 1/2 hours playing through the game left me feeling nostalgic at the end. I thought the premise was simple enough but endearing because the visuals coupled with the presentation gave me enough reason to continue playing through the game. The game did have a few problems, chiefly the platforming sometimes was hit or miss and it did lead to a few moments of frustration in an experience that was overall fairly pleasant.
The visuals are the most impressive aspect of this game without a doubt. Gorgeous hand-drawn graphics mix very well with the sheer volume of diverse levels. From haunted forests to icy caves, swampy bogs to futuristic cities, the completely varied mixture of levels left me impressed and propelled me to continue through a sometimes frustrating portion of a certain level because I was very curious to see what was going to appear next. Like I said earlier, in keeping with it's Saturday morning cartoon feel, the levels were cartoonish and pleasant enough that you felt like they all offered something new and gave more life to the Scary Girl universe.
I have to mention the presentation in regards to the voice overs done by a charmingly British voice. The voice over in between levels is whimsical and fun and once more it lends to the overall theme of Scary Girl being a cartoon. The quality of the voice acting is superb and it sort of energized me to continue exploring.
The gameplay in Scary Girl is a 2D/3D platformer. For the most part is does a fairly fine job of doing just that. As Scary Girl you run through levels punching, bouncing, and swinging your way to the end. Along the way you'll collect gems which allow you to buy new combos to unleash on your foes. You'll also be able to use those gems to unlock a variety of hooks which help Scary Girl gain new abilities such as being able to swim faster underwater or glide longer through the air. I really like the additions of the combos and hooks because it makes exploring meaningful.
The difficulty became challenging about halfway through the game. The platforming became a little more intense during certain portions and unfortunately the wonky camera made traveling between 2D/3D space difficult at times. With the platforming difficulty ramping up I expected that moving through the levels wouldn't be any more difficult than it normally was. The problem is swinging became a game of hit or miss that was frustrating to be sure and sometimes Scary Girl's hitbox during jumping sections didn't quite connect with the object I was trying to land on.
I had a fun experience throughout my journey with Scary Girl. The small problems with the camera on occasion and the platforming not quite hitting the mark sometimes did not detract at all from the overall good time I had. I recommend everyone try Scary Girl out. It's a pleasant, charming, vibrant adventure that everyone should take the time to give a chance.
