izigame.me

I refunded this purely because I faced some technical issues using a Nintendo Switch Pro Controller and the PC port may or may not be a little unoptimized, I experienced two crashes one when the game's opening cutscene ended and another on a different occasion after clearing a stage.
That being said it did function significantly better when using a Dualsense so I don't know what really is the issue.
Onto the game I'm adoring it so far on PlayStation 5 where I re-bought it, I never really bothered with the original Snow Bros games for more than 5 or 10 minutes and I acknowledge I'm probably doing them a disservice or at least this game has convinced me I may have, I just felt like they were pretty much Bubble Bobble but with extra steps and I didn't stick around long, Snow Bros. Wonderland however instantly caught my eye as it's been a while since we've seen beloved arcade style games creatively re-interpreted for the third dimension, this pretty much stopped happening after the 5th and 6th console generations, and despite my takes on the previous two Snow Bros games I thought this looked neat.
Its mentioned in another review but yeah I got vibes of not just the original titles which I do feel are given their due respect here, but also the 3D Bomberman titles and Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg.
As a massive fan of Bomberman, Snow Bros. Wonder makes me envious, it makes just about all of Konami's recent efforts with the series (Super Bomberman R 1+2 and Bombergirl) both look creatively stagnant and it shows what you can do with maybe just some actual reverence or passion for the material. I don't need every Bomberman game to be 3D, but the recent examples either do not even grasp or expand the elements that made 2D formula work in the first place(Super Bomberman R) or just lean into a MOBA gacha influence that gives its utmost attention to the least common denominator over a longstanding fan. (Bombergirl) Anyways, as far as I understand all of the classic Snow Bros mechanics have found reinterpretation here, right down to the Grim Reaper showing up to attack you if you take too long in a stage, but new twists are added for additional perspective and 3D depth,, the way the game makes so much out of the fundamental mechanics is great, puzzles, platforming, etc. you're constantly asked to think about when and how exactly to utilize the fundamental snowball mechanic, and there are new layers to the level design and gimmicks unveiled in every world, so just when you think the game may have run out of ideas it never really does.
It's got respectable presentation, great music, charming unlockables and skills that encourage diverse options and replayability, it can even be played in co-op with 4 players, and while I did not really expect much of a story at all the one thats in it is pleasantly surprising, its fun enough to get you motivated to see what happens next, it does what it has to, doesn't overstay its welcome either, and it doesn't even try and downplay itself with desperate please laugh humor just because its a game about pushing snowballs to kill demons, sometimes I don't need a game constantly trying to remind me of its absurdity in universe.
Again I'm not even a Snow Bros fan per say but I'm really liking Wonderland, it's not perfect I wish you could zoom in and out and maybe had full camera rotation ala Bomberman's 3D efforts, but It's one of those rare games where it feels like a creative passion project and its hard to really be mad at it, its such a creative and fleshed out spin on such a simplistic arcade game.
If you like Pac-Man World, Ms. Pac-Man Maze Madness, the 3D Bomberman games, the 6th gen Frogger Games, the PS1 Blaster Master game, Billy Hatcher, or any of that weird stuff I did, then absolutely check this out, it's keeping the spirit of those burning hot despite being so frosty.