NekoChan Hero Collection acts as an odd sort of compilation, due primarily to feeling like an assortment of odd ideas and experiments more so than several fully developed games. NekoChan Hero Ninja World 2 (and its just as poorly named predecessor) are the most straightforward entries, showcasing the familiar nostalgia driven obsession with reconstructing retro classics that seems to cause so many novice developers to create the sort of indistinguishable fluff that comprises most flash game sites.

Given its immense disposability and abundance of frustration, it’s disappointing that Ninja World 2 seems to be where Cosimo Menga has devoted most of its time. From a completely arbitrary standpoint it would appear to be the most finished of the four games in the collection, but it lacks so much in the way of inspiration or purpose that the energy spent creating its many increasingly tedious levels is wasted on me. Ninja World 2 (and to an even greater extent the original) is so unfocused and indistinct that it begs the question as to why I should be playing it as opposed to the literally thousands of nigh identical platformers available across the internet. If basic functionality was the basis by which games were judged Ninja World 2 might have a chance, but then again I couldn’t so much as exit the game without using ALT-F4 so even that would be a stretch.

Neko Land however is strangely alluring. Its design is that of a once button timing based obstacle course, which when paired with some appealing (though fairly bland) pixel art proved unexpectedly entertaining. Though it is nearly as simplistic as a game can become, I found myself becoming rather excited with each obstacle passed, allowing me to see a little more of the map and what I was up against next. Sadly this become rather obnoxious when I was forced to completely begin again after each failure, made worse by the finicky precision required to actually progress past many obstacles. Still, it’s the most original game in this collection, and the only one I would say I actually enjoyed up to a point.

Lastly we have Neko Land 3D, which is odd in every conceivable way. Though it plays somewhat similarly to Neko Land proper, the shift to 3D has brought with it one of the most poorly placed cameras I have seen in a very long time. The act of playing NL3D is even more unconventional, requiring you to jump and slide through obstacles, only you can only change directions when you hit certain points on the map. The problem here is that you’re afforded such a horrendous view of the map and given such little time to traverse it that it becomes nothing but trial and error (with the same aggressively strict limitations as its 2D counterpart). Part of me is impressed that this exists within this collection given how dramatic a contrast it presents to the other games, but it is far and away the least understandable and polished of the lot which makes it little more than an especially bizarre novelty.

I think that’s where the problem lies. That within the context of itself, the most interesting thing about NekoChan Hero Collection are the parts which don’t work quite right; the parts that try something weird and unique but are abandoned before they become anything more than unfinished tangents. But unless you have an obscure obsession with NekoChan’s development pipeline and overarching creative process there isn’t much point to any of this. I have a fondness for messy, atypical experimentation within familiar frameworks, but there is so little to latch on to here that it seems like any time devoted to it would be better spent elsewhere.

You can read more of my writing on Kritiqal[kritiqal.com].

I got through it, but it had some rather annoying bugs with the controllers that I had to remap everything to overcome. After that, it was a decent enough Mario clone with a couple small twists. It was pennies in a bundle, and quick to get 100% achievements on, so at say 50c or less I would say it is a yes (6.5/10), but dubious at $2.50 (3.5/10).

Typically, when a game is made in the spirit of a classic, it tends to not be as good. Speaking for myself here but I've played a lot of Metroidvanias on Steam. For the most part they've been good, even great games, but they're not on the level of Super Metroid and Symphony of the Night. The inspiration for NekoChan Hero is....Alex Kidd. Even if NekoChan was a better game than Alex Kidd, it'd still be pretty bad.

Look, I don't hate Alex Kidd, at least not anymore. I pity him. He had one memorable game, got shoehorned in a couple others, was dumped by a freakin' hedgehog, and in 2001 he worked as a retail clerk before disappearing. For a fictional videogame character, he's had a miserable life. One of his last notable apperances was in Sega Superstars Tennis and...okay I take that back, I still ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ hate Alex Kidd. Apparently he spent his decades of irrelevancy becoming a Tennis God. So when I play Nekochan Hero Ninja World 2, I think of Alex, repeatedly kicking me in the ♥♥♥♥ at Tennis.

So let's go back to Ninja World...aka the poor man's Miracle World. This game has all of Alex Kidd's trademark faults:

-Wonky hitbox
-Crappy vehicles
-Poor controls
-A very ineffective punch

On the bright side, at least there aren't any bosses that involve a rock, paper, scissors battle to the death. Ninja World 2 is a very short game. Most anyone should be able to get through it in less than an hour. It's not even that difficult, aside from some dumb moments involving the hitbox. Still, your tolerance for it will erode fairly quickly. When this game is at its best, it's just really unexciting. As much as I dislike titles like Miracle World and Enchanted Castle, at least they had some ambition, they had ideas. If it wasn't for the slippery controls and cheap deaths they'd be pretty good.

All I got when I played through Ninja World 2 was a trip down repressed memory lane.

Still, I have to respect the developer for using Miracle World as his inspiration for this game. No joke, I totally respect that. That was probably his favorite game growing up, and this is how he's paying tribute.

I feel utterly betrayed that a game about a cat hopping around eating donuts could be so not fun.

For simplicity's sake, I'll pretty much only review Neko Chan Hero 2; since it's seems to be considered as the main game in this trio of indie games.

While I'm at it, Alex Kidd called, and he wants everything people dislike about his games.

For starters, it's the story of a cat-man/girl (let's call him/her/whatever "Ninja dude", also for simplicity) who need to rescue his teacher.

Yeah. That's it. That's the whole plot. You need to beat 3 bosses, with no personalities or reasons for their actions. Ugh.

The game is divided in 15 levels. In each of them, there's a special coin you can collect for an achievement. They are usually plainly in sight, there was only one level which I had a bit more difficulty to find it. (yay for secret passages!)

There's like 5 of those levels with a special "vehicle" made only for the level. (Gimmicky vehicles like in Alex Kidd) they are no way resistant, a pain to control, cost 200 coins (you get 5/10 coins when you collect them in levels, it's not so pricey, but if you need to restart the level, it's a bit of a pain since you need to pay again)

At least, every levels are short and sometimes, really easy.

Now now, let's talk about lives. THEY ARE FRIGGING USELESS. You start the game with 3, and the only way to get them, it's to buy them for 500 in the different shops (not all of them) at the beggining of those "special" levels I talk before.
The thing is; you need way too frequently money to afford lives. (When I said "The only way to get them", there's actually one free hidden in the middle of the last level.)

You think you can get a game over to get more lives? Well... No. You die 2 times, and you're left with one life. Don't worry, if you die you get a game over, which put you back to the title screen, where you can select again your saved game with only one life. It's more fast to go back every time to the Game Over screen, then the title screen than to buy lives. They are kind of useless in the way the creator put them.

The total lack of explanation is a big minus to this game. How was I supposed to know you could run (and jump higher) when you keep the attack button pressed? It was actually "explained" in the first level, but it is no way obvious or anything. I beat 14 out of 15 levels without even running; which make me think the game was a "pixel-perfect platformer" while it's actually a "lots of place for innovations and fixes platformer".

The hitbox also needs to be a bit better; I don't know the number of times I tried to kill an ennemy, only to be killed a milli-second later because of a ♥♥♥♥♥♥ hitbox. Why are ennemies' hitbox smaller than their bodies, while the character's hitbox is the whole body?

The music is quite great, just a bit repetitive. There's like only two or three tracks you'll hear the whole game, so in the end you'll be dead tired of them. The title screen, level's track, and the boss 'track. They aren't /that amazing/ but they are worth listening a bit if you like video game music from the last era.

There's some typos here and there in the game's text, but there's like a total of 100 words in all the dialogs, which isn't quite a great ratio.

Being a fan of pixel-style game, I really enjoyed looking at everything; except the main character's hair. Totally white, no gradiant, or anything. Almost as bland as the whole game.

Cons:
-Game is a bit bland
-Repetitive
-Lives system will make you rage
-Bad explanations of the control
-Absence of a plot
-Bad hitbox
-Every levels are frigging shorts

Neutral:
=This game make you feel like a total weeabo when people see it in your game list.
=There's lots of place for improvements!
=Pretty much feel like a base for a better game

Pros:
+The game is short, so you only get bored after 3/4 of the game
+The music
+the graphics are really well done!

In any way, the creator only started making games, and there's lots of place for improvements. It's not really worth the price, but if it can encourage the author to do another, even better game, then it's totally worth it. There's talent in it, it only needs even more polishing.
Maybe getting rid of the platformer genre, or even "NekoChan" title for his next game (I would really love if it was the second one)

Using Japanese terms and style is usually a big turn-off for me, and a lot of people, so targeting a bigger audience wouldn't be so bad, since "NekoChan Hero" sounds like some really bad DeviantArt's anime's style drawing from a 8 years old.

Nekochan is a 2d platformer similar to Mario Land games..
.
There are 3 games in this pack so you can play many hours depending your level of dexterity.

The graphics are full of colours and animations are normal for a game of these characteristics. This is not Call of duty so it doesn't need motion capture.

You can change the keyboard settings or use your game pad to controll Neko through all levels of the game.

The response are good, arrows to move and one button to jump, another to hit and another to run.

I play some hours and I enjoy although i don't fight to any boss yet.

Thanks to developers and shade00 to give the oportunity to play and comment this game.

Game is trying to be a terrible clone of Mario 3 (US). It doesn't play bad but it has no fun factors within. Its slow pace, enemies don't face a challenge, and the music can get really repetitive very quickly. Oh and that first boss, what a joke lol.

Another example of "How the hell did this get though greenlight?"

Confusing Hitbox
Clunky Controls
Lack of Resolution Options
Uninteresting Characters

Take your pick.

Steam his home to innumerable much better cheap platformers out there (VVVVVV, ESJ Groove City, DLC Quest) that this game doesn't even hold a candle to. Only pick this game up if you literally have nothing else in the world to play.

it fun, different and just cute

Turn on the PC and... welcome to SNES.
I've played few hours and this game remember me the esence of super mario
But now Mario fits a disguise of ninja cat :)
Nice platform game

PD: Thanks to Shade00