The post I'm referring to asked whether it's a masterpiece or garbage. I don't think it's either. Here's my personal take.
Downsides:
They limit you from running. I realize it's intentional per the level design, but knowing Milon can move much faster while frequently not being able makes the game feel a lot slower.
Compare that to a game like Mario where you CAN run basically the entire time and it just requires you reacting much more quickly. In Milon, it's reserved only for reaching certain heights.
There's also some frustrating development nuances. For example, every time you finish a bonus round they start you at the beginning of the level instead of back where the flutebox appeared. Shops don't seem to do that. You also have to jump over doors to avoid prematurely exiting a level so that can be frustrating (and I don't THINK that was meant to be an added difficulty). So those things are annoying, but I can look past them.
Why I would never call it a masterpiece is because there's absolutely no variety to it. You basically fight the same boss 10 different times with slightly different skins and difficulty. They move and shoot identically. Like actually identically. So there's really nothing to figure out. Most of the puzzle mechanics remain the same too. Some slight variation like the electric fields, but not really. Most mechanics are just re-skinned (ie: the flip doors eventually become ice, but function identically).
Consequently, most of the difficulty of the game just comes from them making frustrating jump ledges while enemies continuously hurl objects at you through walls (while endlessly respawning). This would be fine by itself, but that pretty much defines the only challenge to the game. There's not much of a strategy to anything. There's never really a skill that you get better at as you go on. So the whole game is really just a series of jumping over projectiles while shooting every block you see.
Upsides:
It's a little different. The bubble shooter and the items you acquire do add some spice. The fact that the game can be played semi-non-linearly is cool. Even a lot of the bosses don't have to be played in order. And the fact that you skip some of the items for added difficulty is also neat.
Some of the puzzles are fun and I do like that you're forced to find everything hidden in blocks. That mechanic really forces you to explore the entire world.
Conclusion:
Overall I think it's a good game. I remember playing it as kid when it first came out and really struggling with it. I don't think I ever beat it until emulators were finally a thing (late 90s?). I do think it's a game most people would enjoy playing, but I definitely wouldn't put it in my top 10 much less call it a masterpiece.
