Blaster Master: Enemy Below

i felt a personal responsibility to review this one since it barely even has any ratings. if you ask google if this is a remake or a sequel, it says "this is basically a remake of Blaster Master [超惑星戦記メタファイト]" which is just plain untrue imho.
this is so much more fair than the original. i started off using save states because i absolutely had to on the original but i ended up not needing them because there is a password system and infinite continues. i did not consult any online guides (except for how to kill some later bosses) so i did end up having to make my own maps by hand, but that's right up my alley. i prefer map difficulty to enemy difficulty anyway. don't get me wrong though. this game is not easy.
i guess this is regarded as a remake because the look and sound of the game is basically the same as the original. but the map is completely different so it feels like a brand new experience.
after the first few levels i was ready to give this a perfect score. then i reached the ice level..... i was initially surprised how well the game handled considering the limitations of the gbc, but the ice physics are so bad you feel like you're slipping in the air. i was just crashing into everything and falling off high platforms. i guess i just need to git gud. lol. the water physics had some tweaks for the worse also but nothing game breaking.
i've never been a fan of the way gb games are zoomed in in comparison to their tv console counterparts but a lot of the map difficulty would be trivialized if this one were zoomed out as far as the original.
in the end, this game fixes a lot of the problems the first game had (mainly the difficulty and too many optional areas) while adding a few new problems (mostly the ice physics). if you enjoyed the first game or if you wanted to like the first game but gave up because of the difficulty, i would definitely urge you to play this one. unless you have a photographic memory, be prepared to draw some maps.