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⬅️ Previous capture (2022-06-03)
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Crankin' Presents Time Travel Adventure by Keita Takahashi of Katamari fame was the game that made me want a Playdate when it was demoed years ago. I've been a big Keita Takahashi fan since the first Katamari, and an even bigger NobyNobyBoy fan. So this was a hotly anticipated game for me on the Playdate, it was the only one I had truly waited years for.
Crankin' (as I will call it to save time) is about a man named...well...Crankin', who wakes up late for a date. His date is at 3:00PM, which just happens to be when each level of the game starts. You use the crank to progress Crankin' forward and backwards (Time Travel, after all!) through the side scrolling level. Crankin' encounters various objects that he will animate around (like bending to sniff a flower), and enemies that will cause you to lose the level if you touch them. So, the gameplay loop consists of figuring out how to use the items in the level to avoid the enemies. For example, an early level has a butterfly flying slowly towards Crankin' that can be avoided by having him bend down to sniff a flower. Sometimes you will have to send Crankin' backwards through a level to reach an item that can be used to avoid enemies. Sometimes Crankin' must carefully traverse the level at the right speed to avoid an enemy.
The fun of Crankin' comes from figuring out the path you need to take to clear a level and be rewarded with Crankin's girlfriend suplexing him in anger over how late he is (after all, it's hard to be on time when the level starts with you late). Because of this, I wasn't a big fan of one level where the solution was to just crank like hell. But overall the levels have been fun and clever and I've thoroughly enjoyed my time with the game. I can always root for a game based around the "aha" moment of solving the puzzle.
Like Whitewater Wipeout in Week 1, I spent very little time with this title. All I can say about it is that it is a little music making tool. This kind of thing isn't my kind of thing, so I played with it for a few minutes and that was it. It seems cool, just not of interest to me personally.
(posted 05-18-22)