Glover Review
Now,
I've played some pretty wacked-out games before, but none come in comparison to this underrated gem known as Glover. And when I say underrated, I mean REALLY underrated. This game got little to no popularity. Unlike many gems, this game never got a sequel. Originally, there was going to be a direct sequel, but it was entirely scrapped in 2000. But, if you're fortunate to pass this game up, I'll give you the idea of the game. Something interesting to note before we start is that reviews give the N64 version of Glover a much better rating than the PlayStation version. This game also had a Windows port shortly before the N64 release.

Gameplay:

At the start of the game, you're given a cutscene about a wizard who, I guess, lives in a tower in an abandoned amusement park, with themed worlds. (I don't think its really an amusement park, but that's just my guess.) Experimenting with a batch of bad potions, the wizard falls to his death, nope, scratch that, turns into stone. It wouldn't be a Nintendo game if it showed actual death. One of his magic hand/gloves fly out of the tower into the overworld, while the other hand flies into the vat in the wizard's cauldron, turning him into...Cross-Stitch! Then you start the game. Until you get at least a few balls back, You'll hear Cross Stitch's evil laugh each time you go into the overworld, which is pretty creepy. Underneath the tower is where you take the balls to, and where you must free the wizard from his stone prison. Glover can perform a variety of 'magic tricks' on foot and when you have a ball in your hand. Glover can also can change the ball into 4 types of balls, all with their own abilities. There's the normal bouncy ball, a bowling ball, that can shatter weak walls or knock down enemies or obstacles, but it isn't a very good bouncer. You can change it into a crystal ball that doubles your point multiplier, but watch out. If this thing is handled with brutal force the ball will shatter, causing you to lose a life. And you have a magnetic marble, which can be used for some puzzles.

This game mixes platforming and physics the likes of which one would never think to see. You have to bounce the ball, you have to keep your eye on the ball, you have to BE the ball. Everytime you brings one of the balls from a world back after completing it, you take it to the tower to open the next world. Though this is done in the manner of Donkey Kong 64 and Banjo Kazooie, each world only consists of 3 levels, a boss, and a bonus level if you got all the Garibs (Cards with stars on them) in the world's normal levels. The game's enemies
aren't really much of a threat as they just wander around and play with your ball. Killing enemies can be done by ground pounding them, or flicking your ball at them. Now, since you need to keep the ball safe, similar to the eggs you must find then hatch at the start of a new world in Billy Hatcher, one may question why not go through the level on foot and kill everything then come back for the ball? Well, you can’t. You need to keep the ball as you have certain times where you need the ball to get you to higher elevation and such. Though this game’s levels are cool, I didn't really know what to think of the bosses. Most of them can merely be killed by just hitting them with your ball flick, while some were really annoying. Either way, this game is good, but why did it get such little attention? Well, I guess people didn’t really know what to think from the cover. I mean, Glover is pretty strange compared to an Italian plumber that stomps on enemies and eats flowers to shoot fire. Although to be fair, this game was released around the time that Legend of Zelda - Ocarina of Time was about to be released, so people had gathered their crowd waiting for that, and paid Glover no mind.


Graphics: 8

The graphics aren't bad, but Glover looks kind of funny. He only has four fingers, but then why does Mickey have four fingers and always wear gloves?


Sound: 9

This game has some okay soundtracks, but I honestly didn't remember most of them.


Addictiveness: 6

Unfortunately once you've completely beaten the game, there's no real redeeming value in playing it again. This is one of those games, a game that you play one time around, and never come back to.


Story: 8

As I've mentioned, the wizard falls to his doom, while the hands fly out. The explosion from Cross Stitch's creation causes the spires to break. Glover quickly reacts and turns them into bouncy balls as they bounce into each world. The plot of this game was very original, and it had a very original character. But I do have a few questions: Why exactly do these balls need to be used to keep order in the world? Was it not there when they were built? You're provided no real backstory other than this cutscene.


Depth: 6

Although you can change your ball's form and ability, nothing really had much of a level of depth. Given, there is stuff to collect and bonus levels.


Difficulty: 6

This game isn't very difficult, but it is challenging sometimes, having you think about how you must proceed. The game's controls can be a bit hard to control at start, but once you figure it out, you'll have a more stable grip on the game.


OVERALL: 8.4

In case you're wondering what made the Playstation one get such bad revisions, you'll just have to find out yourself, as I won't spoil your surprise. I know this game didn't get much popularity for people to want a sequel, but I wonder what caused them to scrap Glover 2 in the first place. Oh well, until next time, I leave you with this review.


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  Graphics 8   Sound 9   Addictive 6   Depth 6   Story 8   Difficulty 6

A wizard is mixing up a batch of magic potions, when an explosion sends the gloves off his hands flying into the air. One lands safetly outside the castle, but the other lands in an evil potion mixture. It's this evil glove that decides to take over the castle. Meanwhile, 7 crystals, which used to sit on top of the castle and gave the surrounding lands its life force, also fly off in all directions. Thankfully, though, the good Glove changes the crystals into rubber balls, so that they would land safetly. You must control the good glove (name Glover) and find the 7 crystals, putting them back into the castle to restore the life back into the land. But be careful, the bad glove is out to stop you and take the kingdom, and the wizards power, for his own.

Overall 8.9    Graphics 7.3    Sound 8    Addictive 6.3    Story 6    Depth 6    Difficulty 6.8

Awesome   cplegogame25
Story: The story is about some wizard guy that mixes two potions wrong and everything goes haywire, ...
  Graphics 8   Sound 10   Addictive 6   Story 5   Depth 7   Difficulty 6
      Review Rating: 4.7/5     Submitted: 11-30-13     Review Replies: 0

Glover: Under-Rated Gem or Just Another Dud?   Opti101
Well let me tell you. I have played some really weird games in my time. But this is one of the down...
  Graphics 4   Sound 6   Addictive 10   Story 5   Depth 3   Difficulty 7
      Review Rating: 4.4/5     Submitted: 06-22-13     Review Replies: 2

Glover Review   M4g1cW4rr10r
Now, I've played some pretty wacked-out games before, but none come in comparison to this under...
  Graphics 8   Sound 9   Addictive 6   Story 8   Depth 6   Difficulty 6
      Review Rating: 4.3/5     Submitted: 01-11-13     Review Replies: 6

Glover: What went wrong?   Lagslayer
Ah, Glover. I remember being really excited about getting this game. It looked like another great pl...
  Graphics 9   Sound 7   Addictive 3   Depth 8   Difficulty 8
      Review Rating: 3/5     Submitted: 01-26-14     Review Replies: 3

Codes

Pause the game & press the following C buttons. (U=up/D=down/L=left/R=right)

D,D,D,D,D,D,D,D All Cheats Off
D,D,R,L,U,U,D,L All Checkpoints Open
L,R,L,R,U,D,R,R Ball Control
R,U,U,U,U,L,L,D Boomerang Ball
U,L,L,L,L,U,R,U Death Spell
L,D,U,R,L,L,D,D Enemy Ball
L,R,L,R,L,R,L,R Fish-Eye View
U,R,D,R,U,L,L,U Frog Spell
D,D,D,L,L,D,R,L Hercules Spell
D,D,U,D,D,L,R,D Huge Ball
R,R,D,R,R,R,U,L Infinite Energy
U,U,U,U,U,R,D,R Infinite Life
D,D,L,L,U,U,D,U Invisible Ball
U,U,U,L,L,R,L,R Level Select
L,U,R,D,L,U,L,L Locate Garibs
L,L,U,L,R,U,U,U Low Gravity
U,R,R,D,L,D,U,R Open Portals
U,D,U,D,U,D,L,U Power Ball
R,D,R,D,U,U,R,L Rotate Camera 45 Degrees CounterClockwise
D,U,R,R,D,L,R,R Secret Cheat
R,D,R,D,U,U,R,L Shift Camera Left
L,R,U,U,D,R,D,R Shift Camera Right
L,L,R,U,R,L,D,D Speed Up Spell
U,L,L,U,R,L,D,U Summon Ball

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