Home Alone 2 - Lost in New York FI
1992

SNES A Day 89: Home Alone 2: Lost in New York

3 Comments

home_alone_2_lost_in_new_york_us_box_art

Approximate Release Date: October 1, 1992
Genre: Action
Developer: Imagineering
Publisher: THQ

Well, at least Home Alone 2: Lost in New York is a little better than its predecessor.

A little. It helps that Home Alone 2 is no longer a frustrating scavenger hunt and is instead a generic point-A-to-point-B side-scrolling action game. Usually, I’m a fan of games trying new things, but the first game was bad enough that scrapping the central conceit was a good move. I wish they changed more, though; the graphics, the controls, the powerups are all about the same. The developers needed to do more than the equivalent of scooping water out of a rowboat with a hole in the hull.

I don’t really understand why most of the enemies are inanimate objects. I know making fun of licensed games for being goofy is hacky, but it is strange that for every one security guard or maid in Home Alone 2 there are four or five suitcases or mops that also really have it out for Kevin. And why is the worker at the hotel registry throwing bombs in the hallway?

I could spend many more inches talking about things I don’t like about Home Alone 2 – you can’t heal at all, as far as I can tell, so get used to cheap deaths – but I did want to point out that the music isn’t bad. I’m not going to run out and buy the game’s soundtrack, but the crisp and clear take on Christmas-ey music is nice. If only more Super Nintendo games from this time sounded so complex!

Home Alone 2: Lost in New York is a step in the right direction, but it’s not improved enough to be entertaining.

Tomorrow: I don’t know what first comes to your mind when you hear The Irem Skins Game, but it’s not what you’re thinking. Unless you guessed golf for some reason.

Title screen
All of your favorite characters are back!!
Level 1
If you aren’t holding right when the level starts, you’re probably going to get hit by the bellhop.
Eight pizza slices combine into one extra life.
The jumping umbrella granny is the worst.
Why is this man throwing bombs in the hotel?
Either Kevin just lost a life or he’s doing his best impression of The Scream.
Kevin just straight-up kills a police officer with a necklace.
I don’t know why water makes carpet slippery in this hotel.
Occasionally money will erupt from the wall.
Sentient luggage attacks while you wait for the elevator.
The worker’s cart won’t hurt you for some reason.
Game over

3 thoughts on “SNES A Day 89: Home Alone 2: Lost in New York”

  2. I haven’t played either one of them, but from watching the videos, I think the first one actually looks like more fun. This is just repetition ad absurdum.

    Reply

    1. The first one requires you to hunt for hidden items in a house full of respawning enemies. I think in the video for Home Alone 1 I couldn’t find the last piece of invisible jewelry and just wandered around the house until I ran out of lives.

      At least I was making progress in the sequel!

      Reply

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