Just the thing I needed to pick me up in the soul-crushingly tedious day I was having. Enjoyed it a bit, was rather sad when it was over.

On the mechanical side of things, this game is a rather basic 2D platformer. Competently made, fun enough, but nothing surprising or ground breaking. The one big complaint I have about the gameplay is that it is insultingly easy, since Dassalo can't die unless he falls off the stage. Sure, if you get hit by enemies, you get stunned for a fraction of a second and get a lower rank at the end of the level, but I don't care about that stuff.

Anyway, what really makes this game stand out above the rest is the presentation and the story. I love the level themes, and the way they deviate from the tired old "grasslands, jungle, desert, ice world, fire world, boss" formula in favor of quirky and funny levels referencing different aspects of the life of a maladjusted adult with a dysfunctional lifestyle.

The icing on the cake are the dialogs between the dog Kewpie and the titular Dassalo at the starts and ends of every level, as well as the stand-up specials at the end of every little world. I like this feature, it makes the game feel less... "lonely" than many single-player platformers felt back in the 80s and 90s.

While the humor in the game can get rather crass sometimes, with way more rat penises than I'm comfortable seeing in a day, most of it is decently funny. The tits windows on the second world are my favorite for... reasons.

Also, despite the dog's rather impatient and angry demeanor for so much of the game, I find the idea of going on an adventure with your dog, and being able to talk to them one-on-one, very endearing. I like the thing that happens at the end, but I'm not gonna go into detail about it for obvious reasons. The game manages to tread the line between wholesome and gross with that final sequence, I'll tell ya that.

So yeah, overall, come for the competent platforming, stay for the quirky world design and story.