Having lived through every generation of video games, from the humble Pong on through today, I’ve seen a lot of different graphical and play styles… and unsurprisingly I have opinions. There’s absolutely no doubt that different eras have all aged very differently, with some faring better through a modern lens than others. While I loved playing my early Atari 2600 games into the ground, they’re absolutely a disaster to return to now, with very few exceptions, but when you’re the OG it isn’t a surprise that you’ll feel the most dated over time. Oddly enough, the generation I’d say has generally aged the worst, outside of that original batch, would probably be from the days of the N64 and original PlayStation. Yes, it was absolutely a revolutionary time, and some of my favorite games happened to come from that era. That said, whether it’s the overall chunky and clunky polygons, the primitive camera controls, or just the unevolved nature of play in many of those titles, they can be extremely difficult to return to. 

So when I loaded up Hop ‘n Marty, which generally looks like it could have been a contemporary of the likes of Mario 64 and the excellent Banjo-Kazooie, I had mixed feelings. Visually, I’d say that the game replicates the look of that era almost to a fault, with pretty empty environments, primitive shapes and textures everywhere, and even in how it handles things like dialogue boxes. It absolutely creates a feeling that teeters between nostalgia and perhaps a bit of reluctance to once again live in such a primitive space after seeing how far modern gaming has gone, especially reflecting on the likes of Donkey Kong Bananza for contrast. Regardless, if you have love for the look and feel of that era, the game does a fair job of capturing it. Quite a number of Easter Eggs, both direct and a bit more indirect, help to reward diligent players though, somewhat doubling down on the desire to make older gamers nostalgic for those days gone by.

Unfortunately, despite looking the part, and to some degree playing like the classic mascot platformers from that era, the overall stage design and execution here aren’t in that same league. While the camera from those days always tended to be troublesome, it feels a little strange to say that it’s not much better in a game from a few decades later. I suppose you could say it’s in the name of more authenticity, but this is a very fixable problem, and it feels sloppy. Another issue is that the flow of stages, and even the placement of various collectables everywhere, generally feels haphazard and thrown together more than carefully crafted. Granted, expecting an indie studio to take on the likes of Nintendo and Rare in their creative prime, showing the way for the industry to follow when it came to making 3D adventures, is a lot. But again, given the fact this is decades later, I expected better concepts and designs from top to bottom, especially since other indie 3D platformers have made a better showing than this in multiple cases. In the end, I’d like to have enjoyed Hop ‘n Marty a bit more, but it just didn’t leave a great overall impression in the end.