Bunny Must Die: Chelsea and the 7 Devils (PC, 2006/PS4/PSV, 2016 (Remaster))

• Mostly linear structure (areas are also pretty small and straightforward overall with minor detours for upgrades (one exception is the dark purple cave), can do area 6/dark cave before area 5/prison tower, NE area (prison tower) is basically a boss gauntlet tower)

• The first area is a hub of sorts that's located in the middle of the map and connects to 3 (4 if counting one-way shortcuts back to it) other areas. Other areas connect to two others except for the NE one which only connects to one other area

• Frequent save points and they also heal you (one slot per game). Enemies don't drop health but it refills from HP upgrades and beating bosses+there's the recovery ability (late game) - however this isn't really enough consider the amount of spike traps

• Some interesting traversal & movement abilities (time stop mechanic (freeze most enemies, hazards and moving platforms - similar to Scurge: Hive from the same year except your attacks are also frozen; energy/MP-based - can be upgraded once to last indefinitely and cost a fixed amount of MP per use), time reversal mechanic (upgraded time stop) - Sands of Time, hyper heels - bounce on torches to reach further+do 3x bop/bounce damage, dynamite body suit (can be toggled) - radar (hidden items, destructible blocks and invisible platforms)+double jump+break blocks you jump on but dashing and horizontal jumps are worse, booster (time spell upgrade) - time slow while dashing which works on all enemies and can be turned off at will after you stop dashing (slowly drains MP))

• SotN-style map system (shows the color of a locked door, layout, which room you're in, some points of interest but doesn't show room topography)

• Can block shots and even spike damage with an unexplained parry move - press any direction just as you're gonna get hit (has about 2/3 of a second's hidden cooldown) - similar to Street Fighter 3

• One alternate ending (find and pick up the Alternative ability - unlocks a second playable char (Chelsea - different moves, mostly new spells and somewhat different world layout with fewer save points+two new bosses while some other bosses won't be there))

• Can only hold one weapon at a time (unlike in CV it's your main weapon)

• Some decent puzzles (time stop and reversal related, alternating wall tiles switching - kinda similar to the parallel worlds mechanic in Guacamelee)

• Can destroy some enemy shots (makes the giant sword very good vs some bosses)

• Encourages aggressive play by refilling your MP through killing enemies and destroying torches - later used in Hollow Knight

• Recall ability - restart at beginning of the current room after death (costs a life doll - these are placed here and there in the world)

• Recover ability (up+time spell button) - trade MP for HP so basically a healing spell (need to stand still while using it and it takes a while - very similar to what was later used in Hollow Knight)

• Some sequence breaking possibilities (can bounce on some enemy shots to get to the second boss before the first however it makes the first boss a lot harder, parrying lets you skip most of the Jade Tower rooms while parrying spikes and lasers+get the time power up in Septentrion without dash boots or jump boots, some more with glitches)

• Some hidden shortcuts that let you skip timing puzzles

• Each playable char's adventure takes place at roughly the same time as the other's but they take a different path through the world (some bosses will be dead when you get to them as Chelsea and vice versa)

• Remaster: Two more combat abilities gained through the last two time spell upgrades

• Can jump on enemies to attack them (you'll keep bouncing slightly) but it's pretty risky as you'll take damage if you land a bit too far to either side and  you'll automatically move l/r if you didn't fall straight downwards

• Some one-way shortcuts

• Can just hold the button down to keep doing dash kick attacks one after the other - very useful in some rooms

Some notable cons:

• Pressing jump+attack+pause makes you quit the game and sometimes there's a glitch where it just does it automatically when trying to unpause a paused game!

• Can get permanently stuck between an MP dispenser and a roof in the dark king's lair/area 6

• Various control/interface issues (can't map directions to the d-pad on a PS3 controller - only the stick can be used, can't map dashing to its own button (have to press down+jump - awkward), no weapon inventory and the weapon you were carrying isn't dropped when picking up a new one (it is dropped in the remaster), automatically move forward a bit when walking off a ledge - makes finer movements annoyingly tricky, no jump height control when jumping forward - only when standing still and jumping upwards (you also automatically do a full lenght jump if you start shooting right after jumping), can't somersault or even jump horizontally while shooting+there's some delay after you let go before it works normally, can't turn around while shooting+some delay before you can do it after you stop shooting, double-tap forward to dash instead of mapped to a button (timing is also a bit iffy+you'll sometimes do it by accident) - fixed in remaster, etc)

• Revert to the default weapon after reloading a save - fixed in remaster

• Sometimes get locked inside part of an area until beating a boss (before the cat boss - bad if you didn't get all HP upgrades beforehand since you only have one save slot per game)

• Uneven difficulty curve (huge spike at third pumpkin boss due to the platforming segment you have to do before it to not enter the fight with the worst weapon and its final phase where you have to time a jump+bouncing on it very precisely or basically have to luck out jumping through it/its shots to end up above it after it starts shooting or you're dead, etc)

• Some trial & error (you're supposed to take the keys/orbs back out of the door locks to re-use them later on - leads to backtracking for the green orb if you entered the SW (third/lava) area via the S area and tried to get to the golem boss+for the purple orb when reaching the middle of the S area, some bosses, some false walls & spikes have no clues, etc)

• Various instant death hazards (spikes). Some bosses (dracula) have instant death attacks

• Weird how you get better control over time and can take more than one hit from spikes after the early game+heal yourself in the mid-late game - makes some parts easier than in the beginning

• Touching the ceiling when dash jumping makes you stop dashing+lose momentum

• Full screen doesn't work (Win10), Game stays active when not focused on- fixed in remaster?

• No life refill after beating a boss and sometimes there are enemies and/or spikes in the next room

• No teleporters or other fast travel

• The finite life dolls don't necessarily refill HP - they reset your status and movement to what it was when you entered the current room. This can lead to death loops

Playthrough - Video Review (Remaster) - Mini Review

Influenced by: Igavanias and Metroid series, possibly Mega Man X/Zero series, Bullet Hell-style Shoot 'em ups

Influenced: Probably Ribi Rabi, possibly Hollow Knight, Momodora series