This is one of my favorite puzzle game franchises of all time, it's also another entry in the under the radar video series. The game wasn't necessarily overlooked, it was a modest hit on the NES as it was good enough to have a trilogy but as time went on it became forgotten. Though the puzzle format and principles haven't as you probably might have played games similar in fashion to this like "Captain Toad's Adventures"(story for another time) and others, so despite the video game franchise slightly forgotten the puzzles weren't.
There isn't a whole lot I can really say about it as the plotline is just the typical cleche plot on saving your girlfriend from an evil overlord along with liberating the land at the same time by solving each of the stratagems in each section of the castle to get to the evil overlord. That's it in a nutshell, the plot and story really isn't important, like with a lot of puzzle games were all here for the puzzles and that's what this game excels at.
I really like the design of each of the sections as their like the dungeon crawling sections from "Zelda" only here the game is solely focused on the puzzle aspect. The game is on the medium difficulty, each of the puzzles aren't too hard but not too easy their all-sliding puzzles by their nature. To pass each section you must collect all the hearts, but of course, like in every puzzle it's not that easy as they're all scattered and there are obstacles in places that block you from doing just that.
The keys to solving the puzzles are based on finding the correct order to collect the hearts but also on adaptation in your thinking. As you advance you are assigned certain tools to help you or are in place and you must figure out where, when, and how to use each of them right. Like for example turning one of the monsters into an egg to move them out of the way or even as a blockade for the medusa head turrets that can take you out the instant, they spot you in the open.
The game can be a real brain twister but it's makes the game all the more rewarding because once you solve the puzzle, it really gives you a feeling of gratification as you know it was your own wits that did it. Even a sense of amazement as you also discover how strong and far your brainpower truly is.
If you're fan of the puzzle game genre and into vintage puzzle games, the adventures of Lolo series is an adventurous challenge worth taking.
Rating: 4 stars.
