Sadly, I think it's just the nature of the beast that we aren't going to be as easily impressed by new hacks now that we've completed a few. Like it or not, there are only so many tricks in the kaizo bag and we're probably getting to the point where we've seen most of them. I'm not entirely sure why Akogare is so highly regarded by the community, it probably filled a niche that wasn't as well-served at the time it came out. I still might end up playing it eventually, just because it's tough to find intermediate-difficulty hacks, but for now it's on my rainy day list.
As for me, I made some more progress in Invictus and Hyperion over the weekend. The biggest thing was finishing the thwomp castle in Invictus, which must have taken me a solid three hours. It's a really impressive level that I enjoyed a lot, although I did find the main section to be a tad too long. The boss fight was really scary at first, but it went down relatively quickly once I realized how repetitive the pattern was. I started into Plumber's Nightmare and made some very good progress (got killed by the falling fish on my best run), but I didn't knock it out in 45 minutes the way Lincolnic did. I've gotta say, for as much of a grind as this game can be at times, I'm enjoying it for the most part. Something about the way Juz designs a level really flows well for me, and the better I get the more fun I have in almost every level. The main exit in Sewer Smashing was a bit of a drag, but I think that's the only part that's really gotten on my nerves so far.
I also spent a bit more time with Hyperion, and that game is still hit and miss for me. Case in point, yesterday I played through the radioactive sewer and power plant levels, one of which I found mostly annoying and the other quite fun. The sewer was an interesting idea, but the actual implementation of the radioactivity mechanic I found to be finicky and inconsistent. The meter kept ticking up even after I removed the radioactive sources, which lead to a bunch of deaths that didn't feel deserved*. The back half was more fun, since it was just focused on a quick climb through a vertical autoscroller without really using the level gimmick. But the power plant level I found to be really good, a tasty combination of item juggling and timed platforms (my favorite mechanic this side of rexes!). I think I'm 2/3 of the way through the game now, although my exit count is only 15 because I had another switch palace decide to not collapse after I finished it. Anybody know the rhyme or reason for this? The same thing happened to me in Invictus, the red switch palace is still standing and I'm not getting a proper count for the number of exits I've cleared. I need my exits, man!
*Also, as someone who has studied the various ways that radioactivity can kill you, can I just say that no videogame has ever come close to getting it right? Like, not even in the same time zone.
