NOTE: If you want to play this game, set your monitor's refresh rate to 60hz. Otherwise, it won't work properly.
Who remembers Grand Dad?
Of course people do, it's the meme that just won't die. Keeps truckin' along, all thanks to one fateful day where a Swedish man forgot what bootleg Mario game he played. Since then, it's inspired an entire internet subculture hub of high quality rips, that's still going on to this day.
This game is not about that.
Released in 2017 by RED-FIRE, Grand Dad Reboot is a full-on indie platformer using the basic gameplay of the NES Flintstones across 8 levels of bootleg-bashing action. Unlike most other media to come out of the Grand Dad meme, though, this is a full-on tribute to bootleg games as a whole, with cameos from plenty of other 'classics' given a heavy sprucing up. References to Vinesauce Joel are also very limited, but you can feel the influence lurking in the background.
As a bootleg games enthusiast at one point, it was so cool seeing all these misspelled, demade losers get such loving treatment.
GAMEPLAY
The tutorial stage is modelled after Super Boy for the MSX, and gives me a great segue to talk about the gameplay.
The gameplay is relatively simple. You run, you jump, you whack things with your club. You'd think the piddly range of your club would be a hindrance, but you can get a good rhythm going for repeated smacks to take care of most enemies. And bosses have a way of pausing for just the right amount of time for you to rush in, get some hits, then dash away.
Of course, there are four subweapons to help you out in a pinch. Slingshots, axes, boomerangs... and an exploding egg that costs a lot but does a ton of damage. (They're useful in a pinch, but unlike Castlevania subweapons, they're more of an occasional help than a requirement.)
You can also carry two at once and swap between them, so it's a great way to experiment.
THE STORY
Surprisingly, there is a story in this game. It's appropriately wacky, with bootleg aliens taking over the world, and Grand Dad rebelling against their tyranny. What did surprise me, though, is how it doesn't feel like an afterthought. Most of the bosses have dialogue, and there's actually a couple twists and turns in there somewhere.
I love how in the opening cutscene, you can identify most of the bosses through silhouettes if you know your bootlegs well enough.
MUSIC:
The music is awesome through and through, an eclectic mix of chiptune covers from existing sources (albeit very obscure ones) and original tracks. Though, true to form, quite a few of the original tracks still have the Flintstones motif peppered in there somewhere.
Really, this entire soundtrack album feels like a high quality rip-fest worthy of anything Siivagunner could make, and it's perfectly fitting for the game's earnest yet quirky ethos. The composers REALLY cooked here.
The main boss theme especially, is REALLY good and catchy. It sounds like it's from a completely serious action platformer, which just makes the fact that it's in Grand Dad even better- this is a joke game that doesn't feel like it needs to insult itself to be funny and memorable.
Because, as we all know, the best shitposts are the ones that have extremely high effort put into them, so that they transcend their jokey origins and become legend.
That's enough rambling about the music, let's start the game!
LEVEL 1: JUNGLE
After a brief cutscene featuring silhouettes of most of the main bosses, the game proper begins with a bang.
As soon as the opening notes of that VRC6 cover of Atomic Runner Chelnov hit, you know this is gonna be a good one. This is a very chill opening stage, with simple enemies and barely any challenge to speak of. The Ninjis and Rexes are no threats to you, so you can really just bask in the music and ambience. It's simple, but the pouring rain and moody dark sky really pop.
Hanging on vines is the major thing introduced here. It takes a hot second to get used to, but it'll become very important later, so you'd better get good at it. At least you can still attack there, so you're not defenseless.
The midboss, Domkey Kong from the Tiny Toon Adventures hack of the same name, is absolutely pathetic, just jumping around over your head. Don't expect that to last, the later bosses can be quite tense. In the meantime, he's very fun to clown on!
Once you get to the room before the boss, the music changes to an ominous drone of tension. I do love little aesthetic touches like this pile of skulls, it adds just a little bit more to a fundamentally goofy game.
Who could the boss be but SIMBA from the NES Lion King (reskinned from The Jungle Book), in all his bootleg furry twerking glory?
As far as first bosses go, he's on the higher end of the difficulty scale. He'll walk around towards you, with his tall hitbox making jumping over him difficult. Jumping around and tossing a wavy projectile are his only other moves.
Once you get the pattern down, he's not too tough- if one just takes advantage of his frequent pauses to get smacks in, it's over quickly. Though, once he hits a certain amount of health, he does get faster and turn red- but still, he just doesn't have much health.
This is the kind of boss you can expect from the rest of the game, really. Bosses that are over quickly, but the challenge is figuring out their attack patterns and getting the best opening for continuous hits. It's the kind of boss a game with short-range melee attacks should have, and Grand Dad pulls it off with flying colors.
As far as first bosses go, he's on the higher end of the difficulty scale. He'll walk around towards you, with his tall hitbox making jumping over him difficult. Jumping around and tossing a wavy projectile are his only other moves.
Once you get the pattern down, he's not too tough- if one just takes advantage of his frequent pauses to get smacks in, it's over quickly. Though, once he hits a certain amount of health, he does get faster and turn red- but still, he just doesn't have much health.
This is the kind of boss you can expect from the rest of the game, really. Bosses that are over quickly, but the challenge is figuring out their attack patterns and getting the best opening for continuous hits. It's the kind of boss a game with short-range melee attacks should have, and Grand Dad pulls it off with flying colors.
Anyway, the Boss establishes his big bad credentials by immediately tossing Simba in the SPACE GULAG for trying to let Grand Dad go. (Pay attention to that name, people will keep mentioning it often... let that suspense BUILD.) Off to the next stage!
LEVEL 2: MOUNTAIN
LEVEL 2: MOUNTAIN
Mountain's a step up from the previous stage, with rolling boulders, and tougher enemies.
Including these octopi that flip up and down. I wish I could recognize these graphics, but I'm sure they're from somewhere.
The midboss, the Disc Thrower, is mostly memorable due to the odd trajectory of his projectiles...
And the completely inexplicable death scene, ripped from Bao Qing Tian for the Famicom. Your guess is as good as mine as to what it means. Just part of the bootleg charm!
The level continues with green flames that fall on you if you get close, and these sword enemies that rush you really fast. It seems all well and normal so far...
Until a trapdoor drops you into the temple from NES Kung Fu, complete with walking left. This may seem pedestrian, but it's only one of many surprises. At the end of it, is this burly-looking fellow from Conysoft's World Heroes 2... who dies in a single hit. Lol.
Ascending up the final tower, you will face KUNG FU MARI. Unlike Simba, he actually reacts to your moves- hit him, and he'll leap up to perform a flying kick, so you can't just combo him to death. That's not the only trick he has up his sleeve, either- hadokens and flying across the screen are also in his repertoire. He's not THAT hard, but still a step up from Simba.
Beating him, though, sends you to somewhere completely different...
LEVEL 3: GREEN HILL
OH GOD NO.
Beating him, though, sends you to somewhere completely different...
LEVEL 3: GREEN HILL
OH GOD NO.
Yeah, we're in Hummer Team Hell, complete with instant-kill spikes. Of course, the first half of this level is relatively short...
Until you get to the midboss, where everything goes to hell. Panda Prince distorts the background and music with every hit, but he's not that difficult overall (aside from him flinging birds at you constantly)...
But then you beat it... and the real stage begins. Turns out, that was a virtual reality simulation, that's bugged to hell. This is one of my favorite parts of the game, with the sheer creativity in visual mess that happens here.
Especially this part, with the video signal turned upside down and the controls reversed! The entire time, the Boss and the unknown person responsible for this are complaining about how the simulation is glitching out, and it's very amusing.
At the end of this mess, you'll reach the Core File... blow it up, and the simulation goes down with it. Then, you're confronted with the one behind it all (at least for this level,) SOMARI!
His boss fight is unique among the roster of baddies- it's a race. You gotta rush out of the base before it's blown to bits- thankfully your slow movement speed is beefed up for this encounter only. I love how if you get too far ahead, the game calls you a showoff.
LEVEL 4: NIGHT TRIP
LEVEL 4: NIGHT TRIP
Night Trip keeps up the trend of unique level gimmicks, with it being an autoscroller for the entire level. And as far as that type of stage goes, it's very friendly... so far. (Just you wait until the end!)
Gotta love the Super Mario Land 2 Space Zone music here.
Gotta love the Super Mario Land 2 Space Zone music here.
The midboss was SUPPOSED to be Tryclyde from SMB2, but a mysterious silhouette punches it out and gives you Squirtle- no, seriously- instead, complete with ominous unique boss music. It's not hard, but I do love the way it flashes a bunch of silhouettes as it teleports.
The second half of he level brings a new gimmick- the ghosts from Ghostbusters NES, flashing in and out of existence to get in your way...
And later, an evil witch scattering magical projectiles from above. Why do I keep hyping up this level as if it's super scary when all of this so far is more like a cheesy haunted house?
This is why. The last segment of the level is a happy-sounding and looking area, yet with a dark filter over it. I recognized this almost instantly from the Felix the Cat NES bootleg... and the dread set in quickly.
A fact proven right when the SECOND most infamous bootleg from Vinesauce Joel's streams, FELIX THE CAT appears! His attacks are hard to dodge, summoning lasers from the floor, blasting a barrage of bullets from his eyeballs, and sending shadowing silhouettes flying all over the screen.
His only weakness is, he's a huge target. But this battle has way more atmosphere than anything else so far. The imposing non-chiptune track, the distorted version of the Russian HET death pic silhouette, the blank empty stare of the giant Felix head... it's as spooky as this game gets, honestly.
A fact proven right when the SECOND most infamous bootleg from Vinesauce Joel's streams, FELIX THE CAT appears! His attacks are hard to dodge, summoning lasers from the floor, blasting a barrage of bullets from his eyeballs, and sending shadowing silhouettes flying all over the screen.
His only weakness is, he's a huge target. But this battle has way more atmosphere than anything else so far. The imposing non-chiptune track, the distorted version of the Russian HET death pic silhouette, the blank empty stare of the giant Felix head... it's as spooky as this game gets, honestly.
And at the end, Felix's ghost hovers above his gravestone, before fading away. Heck, even in the victory animation, Grand Dad isn't as smug as he usually is, as if this really got to him.
LEVEL 5: GADEM CITY
LEVEL 5: GADEM CITY
Gadem City is much more low-key than the last two levels, especially with the groovy original music track bopping along in the background. It feels like a breather before the endgame, and it's appreciated.
This stage doesn't have a midboss- instead, it's a quiz to test your bootleg game knowledge! Of course, you could just walk away... but where's the fun in that? Besides, winning the quiz gets you items.
(These questions are actually really hard, I had to look up most of them on BootlegGames Wiki.)
But the rest of the level still has some tricky traps to work your with through, especially with these moving spikes. In fact, most of the level is entirely devoid of enemies, focusing on pure platforming instead.
And it can get pretty tricky in places, like this room with the acid drips.
You'd think the boss would be Rocman X, given this stage is ripped from his own game, but nope! The World Heroes 2 Mario is back, named Lou, and he's not playing around. He's deceptively difficult, with him deliberately falling down from his jumps as soon as you get under him. But you can't just outrun him either- it's a game of chicken, to try and bait him down far enough into his jump so he doesn't crush you.
LEVEL 6: RUNAWAY TRAIN
Runaway Train is where the game kicks into high gear. It's fast-paced and intense, with the music only helping matters. Especially when the Flintstones motif kicks in... ooh, that's good.
Anyway, this level's full of quick-timed hazards, like the Contra runner enemies, or rocks that fall from the sky on top of your head. Despite your slow movement, it demands quick reflexes.
The midboss is a step up from the ones so far, with its sine-wave movement, smaller than you'd expect hurtbox, and the 3-way shot it fires. It even comes with a rocking remix of a Super Contra 7 song- great stuff.
After this, the level brings back the bombs from Somari's stage and Mets from Jungle, throwing even more nonsense to dodge around.
Let alone these fire jets when you get back on top of the train.
Or when you go INSIDE the train, the fire jets are constantly going off, and the level autoscrolls like Night Trip. This level's always tossing new stuff at you, and it's a great difficulty spike.
The boss of this level is JANIFER (Definitely not Sailor Mars) of AV Bishoujo Senshi Girl Fighting fame, another bootleg game by Hummer Team. And she's probably the toughest boss so far!
She's shockingly tall, and puts those legs to good use with crazy fast hurricane kicks across the entire screen! Some of which you have to duck, making this one of a few times the duck is useful in the game.
Once she tires out, she'll toss slightly homing energy balls that are tricky to dodge around, but surviving that leaves her open enough to chop off a quarter of her health. This boss is a great test of your reflexes, and an amazing climax to the level. Beating her even comes with the Round Clear jingle from her own game- a lovely little detail.
LEVEL 7: OMINOUS CAVERN
First off: I love the music in this level. It's climactic and has the perfect 'penultimate level' feeling, letting you know you're close to the end. The aesthetics are on point, too- the pulsating walls, the bizarre statues in the background, everything's mysterious and evil. Love it.
And the level itself is no slouch, either. The first half isn't too tough, though the Castlevania skeleton enemies that resurrect are slightly painful to deal with.
The yellow bones fall down REALLY fast if you stand on them, so don't dally. Especially in this room, with an entire bridge of them, AND homing Phantos that are ready to knock you to your doom!
And to follow that up... it's him. KIBBY!! (From Kibby's Star: Red Diamand). But despite his doofy look, he's quite a nuisance, with his erratic movement and constant tossing about of his smoke clouds.
Not content to let the tension be broken for too long though, the level kicks things up a notch with this spike wall that continually chases after you. If you touch it, you die. No ifs, ands, or buts. I also love how it gets LOUDER when it's on screen, just to let you know how close you are to death.
Which is especially difficult in this HUGE room, where you're likely to fall off if an enemy smacks you the wrong way!
This stage doesn't have a midboss- instead, it's a quiz to test your bootleg game knowledge! Of course, you could just walk away... but where's the fun in that? Besides, winning the quiz gets you items.
(These questions are actually really hard, I had to look up most of them on BootlegGames Wiki.)
But the rest of the level still has some tricky traps to work your with through, especially with these moving spikes. In fact, most of the level is entirely devoid of enemies, focusing on pure platforming instead.
You'd think the boss would be Rocman X, given this stage is ripped from his own game, but nope! The World Heroes 2 Mario is back, named Lou, and he's not playing around. He's deceptively difficult, with him deliberately falling down from his jumps as soon as you get under him. But you can't just outrun him either- it's a game of chicken, to try and bait him down far enough into his jump so he doesn't crush you.
LEVEL 6: RUNAWAY TRAIN
Runaway Train is where the game kicks into high gear. It's fast-paced and intense, with the music only helping matters. Especially when the Flintstones motif kicks in... ooh, that's good.
Anyway, this level's full of quick-timed hazards, like the Contra runner enemies, or rocks that fall from the sky on top of your head. Despite your slow movement, it demands quick reflexes.
The midboss is a step up from the ones so far, with its sine-wave movement, smaller than you'd expect hurtbox, and the 3-way shot it fires. It even comes with a rocking remix of a Super Contra 7 song- great stuff.
After this, the level brings back the bombs from Somari's stage and Mets from Jungle, throwing even more nonsense to dodge around.
Or when you go INSIDE the train, the fire jets are constantly going off, and the level autoscrolls like Night Trip. This level's always tossing new stuff at you, and it's a great difficulty spike.
The boss of this level is JANIFER (Definitely not Sailor Mars) of AV Bishoujo Senshi Girl Fighting fame, another bootleg game by Hummer Team. And she's probably the toughest boss so far!
She's shockingly tall, and puts those legs to good use with crazy fast hurricane kicks across the entire screen! Some of which you have to duck, making this one of a few times the duck is useful in the game.
Once she tires out, she'll toss slightly homing energy balls that are tricky to dodge around, but surviving that leaves her open enough to chop off a quarter of her health. This boss is a great test of your reflexes, and an amazing climax to the level. Beating her even comes with the Round Clear jingle from her own game- a lovely little detail.
LEVEL 7: OMINOUS CAVERN
And the level itself is no slouch, either. The first half isn't too tough, though the Castlevania skeleton enemies that resurrect are slightly painful to deal with.
And to follow that up... it's him. KIBBY!! (From Kibby's Star: Red Diamand). But despite his doofy look, he's quite a nuisance, with his erratic movement and constant tossing about of his smoke clouds.
Not content to let the tension be broken for too long though, the level kicks things up a notch with this spike wall that continually chases after you. If you touch it, you die. No ifs, ands, or buts. I also love how it gets LOUDER when it's on screen, just to let you know how close you are to death.
And it even gets FASTER in the last room. This might be the second hardest room in the game- the Phantos constantly homing in, the intense ascent of the spikes, the constant jumping between vines, it's really goddamn hectic. But it's SO satisfying, keeping one step away from doom the whole way.
And at the end of it all, you reach the ghost of Felix, who's got a secret weapon to defeat you!
Namely, JAFAR, from the hideous game over screen of Aladdin's NES bootleg, coming out of the shadows with a bitcrushed evil laugh!
It's no slouch in the least, with his constant horizontal movement, spewing fireballs and bullets everywhere, and summoning Carmilla's mask from Simon's Quest to jump up when you least expect it.
Through it all, another unique boss theme is playing, from Sunsoft's Freedom Force, just making everything more frantic. You don't have a second to breathe in this fight, with all the high-speed attacks Jafar is tossing out- so every attack counts.
Defeat him, and Felix is dead. For good!
This level has it all- the hardest platforming in the game, and brilliant finish with a tough-yet-fair endboss. This game couldn't have asked for a better penultimate stage.
LEVEL 8: ALIEN BASE
The final level of this game does not disappoint in the least. It may be less fast-paced than Ominous Cavern, but it makes up for it with great setpieces... and a whole lot of unique bosses.
The central gimmick of the platforming in this level is these rotating lasers- and you'll bet they're used in some diabolical formations, as you'll see later. As you progress, you'll find signs pointing the number of a lot of "Experiments", and a nickname.
For example, Experiment 11... Higgins...
Experiment 14, Niki... who is probably the most annoying one to deal with owing to his erratic movement pattern.
All the while, you're going through loving recreations of the bootleg games these Experiments belong to, complete with altered cameras or background tricks at times. Experiment Six, Buster's room just has these teletubby-looking bastards to deal with. Can't kill 'em, but just dodge under them instead.
I do love how Domkey Kong shows up pissed off at you, only for one of them to kill him.
The entire level alternates between increasingly insane dodging around these lasers, and the next Experiment to take down, both ratcheting up in difficulty the first you go. It's probably the greatest atmosphere the game has to offer, ESPECIALLY with the ominous music playing. It makes you wonder... what is the correlation between all these "experiments"?
WELL, They're all other bootleg mario games. The number is the title appended onto them, and the names are the main characters they REPLACED. Yes, it's a goofy plot twist, but it still floored me when i figured out what was happening.
Characters have been mentioning the Space Gulag the whole game, and when you finally get to see it, it more than lives up to its billing. Deadly hazards abound in this red-hued deathtrap of a screen. Spikes, fire jets, and more lasers than you can shake a Quick Man at! It's by far the hardest room in the game, and a great final test of your platforming skills.
The entire time, you can see all the previous bosses tied up and hanging around, really hammering in that the Boss, whoever he is, is the biggest evil bastard of them all. (Except Felix, since he's dead.)
I love how Experiment Sixteen (Mac)'s room even replicates the janky parallax scrolling of that particular bootleg, it's so good.
Finally, after all of that, you get to this. Experiment Seven... Fred. I actually gasped when I saw that sign, which is about the highest compliment I can pay the plot in a goofy-ass tribute to bootleg games like this.
And the boss behind that door does not disappoint. The MARIOBOMINATION, a fusion of every bootleg Mario ever made, pasted onto the final boss of Super C. Its projectiles are fast and hard to dodge, and it will probably kill you the first few times. But the music kept me going, a rockin' track that uses the Flintstones motif to propel you forward.
You might think you can just stand on it to continually smack the boss, but it'll blow you away if you do that. This boss is frantic, intense, and doesn't let you stand still for a minute. It's a fight worth of being the final boss... and it's not even the actual last boss!
Because once you beat it, you end up in, where else? Bedrock itself, complete with ominous remix of The Rescue of Dino and Hoppy's intro theme.
At the end of it all, the Boss awaits, and reveals his true form...
FORTRAN. The originator of the Grand Dad sprite, from Dian Shi Ma Li. One would say, one of the first and most iconic Mario bootlegs ever. (Not that we can be 100 percent sure of the release dates of these things, but still.)
It's oddly fitting that the final boss is, well, Grand Dad himself, but a dark mirror of him, a copy.
Fortran may not be as much of a test of your reflexes as the preceding fight, but he's by no means easy. He uses the slot machine in the back to summon all manner of bullet hell to rain down upon you, ranging from ? blocks, to watermelons, to yes, 7s.
And you can't hurt him until he's between attacks. And he has a LOT of health to whittle away.
The music, a VRC6 Remix of Nick Oleksiek's A Battle of Grand Proportions, just hammers in the finality of this. Especially with the bitcrushed Vinesauce Joel clip in it.
It's a real endurance marathon of a boss, but eventually the patterns click. You kill him, you win! And the horror drops.
Fortran was just another bootleg all along, and something else was pulling the strings! Who is it? What is it? We may never know...
(I hope we get a follow up to this plot hook at some point. I know it's goofy, but I was INVESTED by this point.)
After that, you get a cast roll, complete with listing the bootleg games each boss is from. It's cute (and helped me list where some of the more obscure bosses were from for this review.)
FINAL THOUGHTS
I was following this game's development ever since the beginning, and let me tell you, it was a joy to finally see it come out. It's fun, it's whacky, it's full of well-executed gimmicks and platforming. The levels are short, but they're just tough enough to pose a good obstacle. The music is full of bangers, both covers and original tracks. The graphics, mishmashed though they are, blend together very nicely.
I'm always a huge fan of taking existing (obscure) stuff and making something new and creative out of it, and this game succeeds in that with flying colors.
I highly recommend it if you're a fan of bootleg games or 2D platformers. It's a great tribute to the former, and a great example of the latter!
RED-FIRE/Smedis2, if you're reading this, I hope that this sequel hook gets followed up on at some point. Cause it's intriguing! And this game is excellent.
The entire level alternates between increasingly insane dodging around these lasers, and the next Experiment to take down, both ratcheting up in difficulty the first you go. It's probably the greatest atmosphere the game has to offer, ESPECIALLY with the ominous music playing. It makes you wonder... what is the correlation between all these "experiments"?
WELL, They're all other bootleg mario games. The number is the title appended onto them, and the names are the main characters they REPLACED. Yes, it's a goofy plot twist, but it still floored me when i figured out what was happening.
Characters have been mentioning the Space Gulag the whole game, and when you finally get to see it, it more than lives up to its billing. Deadly hazards abound in this red-hued deathtrap of a screen. Spikes, fire jets, and more lasers than you can shake a Quick Man at! It's by far the hardest room in the game, and a great final test of your platforming skills.
The entire time, you can see all the previous bosses tied up and hanging around, really hammering in that the Boss, whoever he is, is the biggest evil bastard of them all. (Except Felix, since he's dead.)
I love how Experiment Sixteen (Mac)'s room even replicates the janky parallax scrolling of that particular bootleg, it's so good.
Finally, after all of that, you get to this. Experiment Seven... Fred. I actually gasped when I saw that sign, which is about the highest compliment I can pay the plot in a goofy-ass tribute to bootleg games like this.
You might think you can just stand on it to continually smack the boss, but it'll blow you away if you do that. This boss is frantic, intense, and doesn't let you stand still for a minute. It's a fight worth of being the final boss... and it's not even the actual last boss!
Because once you beat it, you end up in, where else? Bedrock itself, complete with ominous remix of The Rescue of Dino and Hoppy's intro theme.
At the end of it all, the Boss awaits, and reveals his true form...
FORTRAN. The originator of the Grand Dad sprite, from Dian Shi Ma Li. One would say, one of the first and most iconic Mario bootlegs ever. (Not that we can be 100 percent sure of the release dates of these things, but still.)
It's oddly fitting that the final boss is, well, Grand Dad himself, but a dark mirror of him, a copy.
Fortran may not be as much of a test of your reflexes as the preceding fight, but he's by no means easy. He uses the slot machine in the back to summon all manner of bullet hell to rain down upon you, ranging from ? blocks, to watermelons, to yes, 7s.
And you can't hurt him until he's between attacks. And he has a LOT of health to whittle away.
The music, a VRC6 Remix of Nick Oleksiek's A Battle of Grand Proportions, just hammers in the finality of this. Especially with the bitcrushed Vinesauce Joel clip in it.
It's a real endurance marathon of a boss, but eventually the patterns click. You kill him, you win! And the horror drops.
Fortran was just another bootleg all along, and something else was pulling the strings! Who is it? What is it? We may never know...
(I hope we get a follow up to this plot hook at some point. I know it's goofy, but I was INVESTED by this point.)
I was following this game's development ever since the beginning, and let me tell you, it was a joy to finally see it come out. It's fun, it's whacky, it's full of well-executed gimmicks and platforming. The levels are short, but they're just tough enough to pose a good obstacle. The music is full of bangers, both covers and original tracks. The graphics, mishmashed though they are, blend together very nicely.
I'm always a huge fan of taking existing (obscure) stuff and making something new and creative out of it, and this game succeeds in that with flying colors.
I highly recommend it if you're a fan of bootleg games or 2D platformers. It's a great tribute to the former, and a great example of the latter!
RED-FIRE/Smedis2, if you're reading this, I hope that this sequel hook gets followed up on at some point. Cause it's intriguing! And this game is excellent.
(If you liked this, check out SCOOBY DOC 4: THE DESTROYER by the same dev, which I WILL be covering on this blog at some point.)
GAME LINK:
https://smedis2.itch.io/grand-dad
OST LINK:
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/3dwduuwjlb3knicabbp4u/GRAND-DAD-OST.zip?rlkey=p8ia5339i7ihqur67rrmwkm8q&e=1&dl=0
https://smedis2.itch.io/grand-dad
OST LINK:
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/3dwduuwjlb3knicabbp4u/GRAND-DAD-OST.zip?rlkey=p8ia5339i7ihqur67rrmwkm8q&e=1&dl=0