Played on NES (Emulated on Android)

The Adventures of Lolo series was pretty consistent across all three of its games. So, I’m just going to say right off the bat, that if you’re interested in trying out this series, just go to the first game. Or, if you’re still on the fence, you can always check out my reviews of the first two games. This review will focus specifically on how the third game compares to the first two games in the series, so read no further if you’re not familiar with the first two games.

I really liked the first Adventures of Lolo game a lot. I think it’s a unique, underrated puzzle game, and one that everyone should definitely try out. Adventures of Lolo 2 was a bit of a step down for me, but still good. My main issue is that it felt like little more than an expansion pack to the first game, feeling identical in every other possible way. While Adventures of Lolo 3 is a little bit different than the first two games, it’s still largely just a part 3 of the same game. Some people will be happy about this, though, if all they want is more of what they loved.

Normally in a game review I would go in-depth about all of its different gameplay elements, but I don’t feel the need to do that for Adventures of Lolo 3, since as I said, it’s basically the same game as the first two. I guarantee you that if I showed you a screenshot from the Adventures of Lolo series, you would not be able to tell me which of the three games it’s from, unless you’ve played all of them multiple times.

Adventures of Lolo 3 differs from its predecessors in a few distinct ways, though, so let’s talk about them. For starters, there’s kind of an “overworld” in the game. The overworld is pretty pointless, though, as there’s not really anything to do in it. It’s basically just walking to the next level, rather than taking you directly to it. The second difference is that you can play as Lala in this game. However, this really doesn’t add anything to the gameplay either, as Lala is basically just a pink version of Lolo. There aren’t any other differences in how she plays. There are some boss battles in Adventures of Lolo 3, though, which I consider to be the best addition to the game. They aren’t particularly amazing, but they do definitely add something that the previous games didn’t have.

The final thing that’s different about Adventures of Lolo 3 is its length. Without doing the exact math, I think Adventures of Lolo 3 is longer than the first two games combined. Some people will really like this, as it’ll feel like you’re getting more bang for your buck (although I doubt many people are spending money to play these games anymore, but I digress). However, I never felt like a game is as good as its length. Rather, a game’s length should always vary based on the type of game it is. I thought that the first two games were a perfect length, so I actually found Adventures of Lolo 3 to be way too long of a game. I especially felt this way since the game is largely the same as its predecessors. I was starting to feel like the series had gotten stale by this point, so I didn’t particularly want more of what it was offering.

In the end, I think that Adventures of Lolo 3 is about as good as the first two games, with my personal favorite still being the first game. This is mainly because I think the first game is a fun, unique experience, while the second and third games were more or less just carbon copies. And like I said, this will be a positive for some people, if all you’re looking for is more of the same. Personally, I felt fatigued with the series by the time I finished the third game here. However, on its own merits, I think Adventures of Lolo 3 is a great game that offers a good set of new puzzles for the series.

3.5/5