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Once again, Jorio comes through with another Pangea port, and on a technical level it's great. You can grab it from the link in the "Game Info" box.

I've talked about Bugdom before, mentioned in the 2021 Games page (as of this writing there is no dedicated page for Bugdom). Bugdom's plot was simple but effective...save the kingdom (or Bugdom as it were) from being overrun with the red ants, invaders and fiends who have captured the fair maidens (ladybugs) to do who-knows-what with them, and Rollie's goal was to defeat every invasive insect on the premises.

Bugdom 2...Skip the grasshopper's backpack gets stolen (it's not even a backpack, it's a bag on a stick like in old cartoons) and you have to get it back. For a series that tries to anthropomorphize bugs Skip looks hideous. There's voice acting (Skip is still silent, thankfully) but no one comments on Skip's unfortunate appearance (perhaps they're being overly polite?). There's other issues too, kicking acorns (which replace walnuts) send the item flying off in a different direction and the controls aren't nearly as tight as they should be for this sort of thing.

Most of Bugdom 2's strength relies on QoL improvements that would've been nice to see in Bugdom: there's a minimap in your HUD and you can have several Buddy Bees at one time to help you win against foes (not just one). That's just about it, though. There's a level where you coast through a pipe with tons of obstacles--Pangea Software has claimed its one of the easiest levels but it was found by customers to be one of the hardest, and the controls aren't sensitive enough to get you through the narrow gaps, so by the time I got to the next level, no more extra lives, and extra health is surprisingly hard to come to by.

The final level has you forcing the bees out of the hive by building a fire...and then Skip walks in and retrieves his bags. That's it. Sequels are supposed to build on the original to try to either make it better and grander, or at least hit on the pleasure points of the original, but none of that exists. I can't even see what the design document might've been. I discussed Cro-Mag Rally, another Pangea title in the 2022 games page (it too, does not have a dedicated game page at this time) and while I can't say particularly good things about it, citing major physics problems, there's enough remnants to suggest the game was supposed to be much grander and bigger, but I can't say the same for this game. What were they thinking?

Pangea does have an online "strategy guide" here with some maps and other locations, but they clearly didn't understand how deceptively difficult the sewer and gutter levels really are. Perhaps more playtesting would've helped.

The bottom line: it's definitely not great. It's better than Otto Matic (Skip can swim AND fly!), necessitating its slightly higher review, but this one could still be 'Skip'ped.

FINAL RATING:   

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