Mendel Palace

Price = About 3-5 bucks.

Players = 1-2 with co-op play

'The player's character must save his girlfriend, who was kidnapped by a young girl. The backstory differs slightly between the Japanese and American versions, although the in-game presentation is the same regardless. In the American version, the player's character is named Bon-Bon and the girl he must rescue is a Princess named Candy, who is trapped in her own dream. In the Japanese version, the main character is named Carton and the girl he must rescue is merely his own girlfriend, Jenny, who has been kidnapped by Carton's younger sister Quinty (the titular character in the Japanese version).' -taken from wikipedia

HOW DOES THE GAME LIVE UP TO IT'S EXPLANATION/BOX ART? (8/10)

At the first glance of the cover of this game I really wouldn't know what to think, so i'll turn it over and read the back. It's the normal storyline. Boy has to save girl blah blah blah. That was pretty much every single game ever released. So it has the normal style of game play. Let's take it home and play this weird looking game.

Well after pressing start and by passing the opening screen I'm tossed to an overview map to select my area in which to start. (Level select) Sweet, I like having a choice in where I get to start and get my ass kicked by the game. Well now I'm confused that this game is actually a puzzle style game where you flip the floor to kill the baddies. That explains the weird screen shots on the back. I'm digging this.

HOW IS THE GAME PLAY? (9/10)

The point of the game is to flip the tiles on the floor to knock the baddies into the walls causing them to explode in Mega Man death scene fashion. Underneath some of the cards/tiles are power ups that make an entire row flip over or a happy Sun that flips them all and you instantly win. It plays perfectly other than every so often the cards don't flip when you press the button. Which could be a player flaw and not a game flaw (insert text smiley winkyface). This game is honestly just as confusing as the box art and the enemies are indeed the characters on the box. Each one of them has their own strange fighting mechanism to knock you into the wall and kill you. Which if they hit you and you don't hit the wall you still die. (so you know)

HOW DOES THE GAME LIVE UP TO IT'S GENRE? (10/10)

I didn't know I was buying a puzzle game at the time. But, I was aware that Hudson* does release a lot of strange puzzle/platformer related games, so i wasn't surprised. If you enjoy puzzle games as much as I do, you will love this game. It's not your normal style puzzle game like Tetris, Dr. Mario, or Yoshi's Cookie, but is a lot of fun.

THE 'GAME OVER' ALL? (90%)

Mendel Palace sits on it's own throne for a strange puzzle release title. But, I had a blast playing this game. It's simple, straight forward, and the enemies are as japanese as all get out. If you like goofy games with puzzle style play definitely give this one a try.

arbitrary credit for gore and nudity = .02 bonus points

(for sumo tits and bald trannies in ballerina costumes)

-Felix "the Brett" Prescott