Fallen Leaf: Part 52: Stage 4-1: Uptown Roads (+ Belle & Chime Cameo)

After the grayer and gloomier intermission of World 3, the Forgotten Domain, things pick back up with World 4: New O'Maly City, the most populated and urban world in the game. The level is full of life, with a variety of NPCs and changing environments depending on where you are in the city, which impressed me with what the game can do. In this first urban stage, you’ll encounter more urban enemies, most of them called Goons. Some shoot at you on foot, others try to run you over with their cars, and a few are even Primians. The car Goons will run through crates to reach you, and you’ll need a stack of those crates to access a secret room that contains the level’s Peamen. That room also holds two other characters: retired acrobat Belle Tones and her little bell buddy Chime, who, like Decline’s Drops’ Globule before, come from the indie game Curse Crackers: From Whom the Belle Toils. While Fallen Leaf is NES‑driven, Curse Crackers leans toward Game Boy Color aesthetics. From what I’ve played so far, it looks like a big game on its own, just as Fallen Leaf is with its many action stages and NPC areas. I’ll probably cover this game later, maybe after I’m done with Fallen Leaf, if not sooner.