Lykanthrocide on Nostr: Finished Stretch Panic! In the course of about 2-3 hours. I waited about 20 years to ...
Finished Stretch Panic!
In the course of about 2-3 hours. I waited about 20 years to play this game: I first saw it on a show on G4TV in the early 00s, forgot the name, rediscovered it about 10 years ago, then never got around to buying it. Finally got a copy and finished it today.
And I am pretty disappointed.
It isn't the same level of disappointment as, say, Mother 3, but the game has all the makings of something great - typical Treasure wackiness, strange but intuitive controls and mechanics, and a very bizarre sense of humor and aesthetic - with woefully little depth of use. While a game like Mischief Makers makes a full experience out of its core mechanics and beefs it up with the beat-'em-up and run-'n'-gun pedigree of Gunstar Heroes and Guardian Heroes, Stretch Panic is a much lower effort at fun game design with a game loop of 12 boss fights with a hub world and point-racking mini-game between them. The stretch, pinch, and torpedo mechanics could have made for an interesting and unique platforming experience, but there's hardly any platforming or exploration to be done. The boss fights themselves also have some interesting ideas and even hint at the possibility of themed worlds to explore and further characters to meet, but they remain mere 2-5 minute boss fights.
Overall 3/10. This is a mere curiosity for its platform and its developer, a toy akin to the likes of the extras in WarioWare, a $50-at-release demo of what Treasure tried to do in three full dimensions. It reminded me of other oddities of the time - Cubivore and Katamari Damashii - but both of those, simple as they are, do worlds more with their mechanics than Stretch Panic. Oh, well.
#GameComplete
#2025SoFar
#StretchPanic
#PS2
Cc: cool_boy_mew (nprofile…r70d) Tsuki 🌙 (nprofile…wxns) Pawlicker (nprofile…umne) Blouie (nprofile…4d6j) Dad (nprofile…88ve)
In the course of about 2-3 hours. I waited about 20 years to play this game: I first saw it on a show on G4TV in the early 00s, forgot the name, rediscovered it about 10 years ago, then never got around to buying it. Finally got a copy and finished it today.
And I am pretty disappointed.
It isn't the same level of disappointment as, say, Mother 3, but the game has all the makings of something great - typical Treasure wackiness, strange but intuitive controls and mechanics, and a very bizarre sense of humor and aesthetic - with woefully little depth of use. While a game like Mischief Makers makes a full experience out of its core mechanics and beefs it up with the beat-'em-up and run-'n'-gun pedigree of Gunstar Heroes and Guardian Heroes, Stretch Panic is a much lower effort at fun game design with a game loop of 12 boss fights with a hub world and point-racking mini-game between them. The stretch, pinch, and torpedo mechanics could have made for an interesting and unique platforming experience, but there's hardly any platforming or exploration to be done. The boss fights themselves also have some interesting ideas and even hint at the possibility of themed worlds to explore and further characters to meet, but they remain mere 2-5 minute boss fights.
Overall 3/10. This is a mere curiosity for its platform and its developer, a toy akin to the likes of the extras in WarioWare, a $50-at-release demo of what Treasure tried to do in three full dimensions. It reminded me of other oddities of the time - Cubivore and Katamari Damashii - but both of those, simple as they are, do worlds more with their mechanics than Stretch Panic. Oh, well.
#GameComplete
#2025SoFar
#StretchPanic
#PS2
Cc: cool_boy_mew (nprofile…r70d) Tsuki 🌙 (nprofile…wxns) Pawlicker (nprofile…umne) Blouie (nprofile…4d6j) Dad (nprofile…88ve)