21. donald duck no mahou no boushi (eng fan patch)
in this japan-exclusive super nintendo game that saw an english fan translation in the mid-2010s, you play as donald duck as he tries to get a hat for daisy's birthday by performing a series of odd jobs contextualized as minigames focused primarily on platforming, only to find that the hat was already bought, after which donald helps a wizard regain control of his castle in exchange for a hat to give to daisy. i have fought with many editors over my run-on sentences and i won't give them up here, on my own personal review of donald duck no mahou no boushi for the super nintendo, patched with an english fan translation from the mid-2010s.
so why would anyone care to patch this game? because it's really good!
unconcerned with small-minded ideas such as pacing or cohesion, this game opens by letting you choose 2 of the aforementioned minigames. already, starting off with minigames is a bizarre choice, but donald duck no mahou no boushi is too busy rocking, mega hard, to worry about that. once you complete your chosen minigames - a somewhat confusing paperboy-sort of game and then a challenging but much more straightforward window-wiping platform challenge, in my case - you take on a linear platforming level, followed by 4 more in an order of your choosing. these are all competent enough, but not much to write home about, except the grass one, which miraculously beat both mario galaxy and psychonauts to the punch with its intuitive and compelling gravity-bending puzzle platforming. each level ends with a boss fight, and once they're all completed you take on another set of levels, this time in a linear order, each with a boss fight at the end. this last set of levels, though nearly as long as the previous set, feel more climactic and end up similar in feel to the dr. wily levels at the end of a classic mega man game. finally, there's a 2 phase boss fight before the game ends sweetly on a scene where donald sings a song to daisy, who informs him that he actually got her birthday early by a week. a fun ending to a fun game.
this game is famous for its detailed pixel art, which is consistently vibrant and impressive in a way that rises past most of its contemporaries and does a lot to uplift the game's often good-but-not-great platforming. but for me, it's the game's structure that is most worthy of note. if it wasn't clear from the last paragraph, it's a weird ass game. opening on minigames, then a traditional level, then 4 more that you choose in any order (complete with a gorgeously drawn map acting as a level select screen, by the way), then another set of levels, this time in a linear order. the experimentation on display is charming and exciting, and managed to surprise me on multiple occasions.
this game seems to have slipped past most people's radars, but i'm glad i spent an afternoon playing through it. it's a delightful game, worthy of your attention.