Giana Sisters DS for DS game reviews & Metacritic score: In more than 80 levels, players experience all the great features of the original home computer version-as well as new features-that are kept exclusive to the.
Switch Review - 'Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams - Owltimate Edition'
by Chris 'Atom' DeAngelus on Nov. 27, 2018 @ 12:15 a.m. PST
Buy Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams - Owltimate Edition
Developed in Germany for the Commodore 64, the original Great Giana Sisters is an interesting relic. The game bore a striking resemblance to the original Super Mario Bros., and that meant it stopped existing not too long after its release. The result was that it became a bit of a cult legend for its rarity and its soundtrack. It languished in obscurity for a few years before being rebooted. The most successful of these is probably Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams which, irony of irony, even came out for Nintendo systems. Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams - Owltimate Edition for the Switch is the full version of that game, including all updates and bonus levels, including a variety of holiday-themed levels.
Giana Sisters follows Giana on a quest to rescue her kidnapped sister from the forces of evil. In most ways, it's a fairly traditional platformer. You can hop around and bounce off enemies, and generally, the game shows a lot of its Super Mario roots. That's basically where the similarities begin and end, though. If anything, Giana Sisters reminds me more of old-school Sonic the Hedgehog games with an emphasis on collecting, speeding through levels, and find hidden items in the environment. It also helps that the core mechanics reward speedy play that uses natural abilities over collecting power-ups in the way that a Mario game does.
Giana has two forms. One is the 'nice' form, where she's a cheerful blonde character who can activate a spinning whirlwind jump that gives extra height and allows her to hover. The other is a 'naughty' punkish form who can bounce off walls and ram through enemies. You can swap between the two at will, either by pressing a dedicated swap button or pressing the button tied to that character's special move. You can even swap between the two while you're in the middle of a special move, which is necessary to unlock some of the game's secrets.
Swapping doesn't just change your abilities, though. Each of the two Giana forms exists in her own reality. One is bright and cheerful, and the other is dark and demonic. When you swap from one to the other, the environment changes to match the protagonist's current look. This isn't just a cosmetic change, nor is it instant. Gates may raise or lower as you swap, elevators may climb or drop, environmental hazards may activate or deactivate, and so on. Most platforming involves constantly swapping between the two forms to take advantage of their abilities while altering the environment around you.
It's a very simple gameplay mechanic that ends up being a lot of fun. It flows smoothly and seamlessly, and the game is clearly designed to be something that both casual players and speedrunners can enjoy. Finishing a stage on its own is enjoyable, but doing so in a smooth unbroken mix of hops, bounces and shifts makes you feel incredibly cool, even when it's not that challenging. The game offers time attack challenges, which emphasize how smoothly the game allows you to chain together abilities to finish stages quickly.
The stages are pretty detailed and lengthy — arguably too lengthy at times, with some levels wearing out their welcome long before the end. Part of this is because the game wants you to collect crystals, which are scattered throughout the levels. Some crystals can be collected by either form, while others require you to be in a specific Giana to get them. There are also hidden crystals that unlock concept art and other bonuses. This means there are a lot of hidden secrets and easily missed things through the game. None are really worth getting unless you enjoy the act of collecting, but as far as collect-a-thons go, it's pretty enjoyable.
On the one hand, this makes the stages feel meaty. Every stage has secrets, hidden objects, and out-of-the-way paths that encourage exploring and poking around. In that way, they feel like old-school Sonic the Hedgehog levels. On the other hand, it feels like a chore to replay the stages. If you miss crystals and are aiming to unlock everything in the game, it means replaying the stage and trying to puzzle out what you had missed. In one early example, I missed a hidden path that required bouncing into the top of an enclosed tunnel because I had accidentally bounced off the bottom. It was minor but still annoying.
Still, by and large, it's a fun platformer to play. It's accessible and simple and contains enough depth that it rarely overstays its welcome. There are enough stage-specific gimmicks, such as trampolines and elevators, that you'll regularly run into new and engaging things. The boss battles are a welcome treat because they strongly encourage players to think outside the box. The title doesn't reinvent the genre, but since it's enjoyable and exciting to play, it certainly carves out a nice little niche for itself.
Giana Sisters is a pretty lengthy game for its price tag. It's not going to last forever, but it has a fair number of stages and multiple difficult levels, including score attack and time attack options. One of the issues with the game is its difficulty levels. In theory, the game offers a bevy of difficulty levels to choose from, but in reality, it's basically the same difficulty level with more punishments upon death. That isn't necessarily a huge flaw, but the game clearly felt like it had intended it to be more of a selling point than it is. I'd rather have seen fewer difficulty levels but more significant differences between them. As it stands, there's no real difference between Hardcore and Uber Hardcore except time wasted, especially on a system without real achievements.
Giana Sisters is a nice-looking game. It isn't particularly eye-catching, but it has some excellent art design that lifts it above average. The way the levels shift between one another and the subtle changes to everything, from background environments to enemy designs, help make it feel distinct. Zenonia 1 psp rom. One area where Giana Sisters shines is in its soundtrack. The music is excellent, shifting seamlessly as you change between worlds, and there's top-notch music in both worlds. I found the soundtrack to be a standout, and it did a lot to make the game fun.
All in all, Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams - Owltimate Edition is a well-made and enjoyable platformer. It doesn't break the mold, but it does what it does very well. It's easy to pick up and a lot of fun to play. There are some minor flaws here and there, but nothing really drags down the game. If you're a fan of old-school platformers, then you'll likely enjoy Giana Sisters. It's not quite on par with some of the greats, but it's a comfortable and fun romp for players of all ages.
Score: 8.0/10
More articles about Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams
Submitted on 5/11/2017 Review title of OzaowadJust as great as the originalMost people say that its a mario, sonic, rayman, etc. But you have to know the full history to truly appreciate this gem.
The original game came on 1987 as basically a C64 version of mario, because not everyone had NES at the time. Unfortunately, Nintendo stupidly claimed copyright laws on the game and it was taken off shelves. But people made many hacks and bootlegs and amped up versions that kept the game alive.
So, just a few months before the games creator passed away in 2008, funny enought, Nintendo made its own game of Giana sisters for the DS, which became it's own game. Then came this game in 2012. It has great control, challenging difficulty rivaling to Donkey Kong Country, and some of the best music I've heard in any game. So, I'd highly recommended this game if you're looking for an instant classic platformer.
Submitted on 5/2/2017 Review title of ElsayerNot too bad!!I don't see why this was getting a lot bad reviews. Giana Sisters is a casual and relaxing platformer. There is no harm in dying since you'll just respawn instantly from last checkpoint and there are LOTS of checkpoints (even on hard).
I do admit however that if you are a completionist this can get a little aggravating at times when you are trying to collect as many gems as well as play through the story. You don't have to be super patient though. Overall ok, nothing special but not a bad time killer at all. Submitted on 5/2/2017 Review title of Mr Pillow PantsAwesome platformerAll around great platformer. I remember playing the very first giana sisters on the Commodore 64. Those low ratings for this game are from those who aren't from the platformer era and are so ungrateful for a free awesome game and are expecting either a COD style genre and can't appreciate a classic game for what it is, an awesome ressurection of an old retro series that is making its way to the new console era. Thank you Microsoft and developer for bringing back such an old classic and making it updated as well as a free with gold title!
Submitted on 5/2/2017 Review title of Nilin C WellsDon't listen to the trolls.I bought this game back when it first came out on 360 and never finished it because any adult gamer with a job and a personal life knows it's hard to find time to play games sometimes. Now that it's on Xbox One I hope to finish it. If you're not sure if you want to downloud it just look it up on youtube. All the videos online will show you everything you need to know about the game. Just ignore all the troll 'reviews.'