Difficulty:

Just Right

Time Spent:

10 to 20 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Old-school"

Half Minute Hero: Super Mega Neo Climax is a classic RPG satire that allows you to enjoy everything that you loved about the RPGs of the SNES years in roughly thirty seconds. You play as a hero of your naming and, with enough money to buy some help from the Goddess of Time, you embark on an epic journey to stop an Evil Lord by the name of Noire from destroying the entire world.

The game itself is simple: You collect items, level up and defeat the Evil Lord of each level before time runs out. The combat is fast and automatic and leveling is far from a grind. All you have to worry about it solving whatever puzzle needs to be solved to reach the Evil Lord from casting the spell of destruction before the world is gone. This could mean fixing a bridge, or finding a boat, or even finding monsters to level up when none are around. All while paying attention to the ticking clock.

The real strategy of the game comes from its dash function. You can dash through the world, which (of course) allows you to move more quickly, but also stops random enemy encounters. But, while dashing, your health is constantly draining away, so it must be used with caution. Knowing when to and not to dash could mean a millisecond difference between saving the world and leaving it to ruin, so use it wisely.

Each level isn't only a puzzle with a boss to defeat at the end, though. There's also weapons and armors to supply yourself with, characters to meet and team up with, and even branching paths that could lead you to alternate stages in other areas of the world. You'll find yourself coming back to stages time and time again to find and do all that's available to you, stretching this game out to a true RPG length. On top of this, there are other adventures that you unlock after completing the main quest and an online mode. The online mode, though fun, feels a little tacked on and doesn't boast a ton of replayability.

The only shortcoming of this game is in the controls. You can only move up, down, left and right in movements that are built for a classic D-pad. This makes movement finicky, which can become a frustration in levels that are clogged with obstacles when mere seconds are left between victory and absolute destruction.

For a game that prides itself on brevity, Half Minute Hero: Super Mega Neo Climax delivers a full RPG experience with more content than could be enjoyed in thirty hours let alone thirty seconds.