The trouble with the classics is sometimes going back to them doesn’t give you quite the same fond memories.

I remember Glover on the N64. In a world where 3D platformers were trying their best to compete with Mario 64, we saw all sorts of weird and wonderful concoctions. For every brilliant Banjo Kazooie there was a Rugrats in Paris. And to be fair to Glover, it ranked somewhere in the middle of all of it.

People had fond memories for its quirky, vibrant visuals and very unusual protagonist. Basically, a white gloved hand with a bouncy ball. At least the devs were going for something different.

And being completely honest, some of that charm is still intact in this 2025 remaster from QUByte. Even now, all these years later, the game has this warm, fuzzy glow about it as you dart out of the way of ravenous sharks and thump your fist down on spherical purple balls of doom.

But, oh man, are the controls feeling really rough. The biggest, most obvious problem Glover 2025 suffers from is camera. If you know, you know. These N64 platformers worked at the time by restricting field of view, not allowing for a full camera pan and essentially locking your view at certain points, which, in turn, often obstructed angles. As a result, you’ll often find yourself having to move the character into the unknown in order for the game to reset itself and see where you’re going.

In most cases, that can work out to your advantage, but when you’re controlling a rolling ball that can build momentum from slopes or has a tendency to roll a bit faster than you expect, it can really lend itself to frustration. Many a death came from just having to guess where I needed to go and hoping for the best.

In 1998, it kind of came with the territory to be honest. You knew the drill by then and you weren’t blessed with the slow camera pans and deep fields of view. But unfortunately, nowadays, these games just don’t age particularly well anymore. When Nintendo dropped Super Mario 3D All Stars and added Mario 64 in the mix, you can tell right away it was the weaker of the package, but the game’s smart design choices and creativity was able to carry it through.

I can’t say the same for poor old Glover, though. The core idea is basically using your gloved hand to bounce a ball around a maze like environment, moving through water, sand and reaching high platforms to get to the goal. All while collecting lots of spinning cards.

You’ll have to punch some switches with your hand, use your ball to push others, and even drink potions to gain super strength and push some things around the environment. The puzzle solving element of it works well at least, but the control and overall manouervability just really lends itself to frustration.

Level design wise, rolling the ball along really narrow ledges, bouncing just right to get to the next ledge but accidentally hitting the ball against a wall, sending it careering back to a hill quickly gets you in a frustraton loop. Throw in those infernal cameras angles, plus the controls just…aren’t particularly fun to get to grips with. I think you know where this is going…

Similarly to when I replayed Mario 64, some of Glover’s charm did remain intact and it definitely helped soften some of my frustration, the music and the visuals at least somewhat doing their part. It’s a cute game with a nice vibe and some of the level design is really cool with some nice puzzles.

But sometimes there’s an argument to be made about maintaining and preserving a game as is. Other times going for a full out remaster is probably the smarter choice and, I think, if everyone’s being a bit honest with themselves – this was one of those cases. Though for a niche game that was already divisive upon its original launch, that was always going to be an incredibly tall ask.

All that said, I really appreciate and respect its existence from a preservation perspective. We’ve lost so many games to time, it’s nice to be able to access a piece of history like this however/whenever we like. Even if it’s not one of the best parts.

Verdict

Glover is still a cute little game that really brings back that vintage N64 Platformer vibe with vibrancy and charming music and, at times, really showcases some clever level design and puzzle elements. But it has technical issues and a control scheme that just does not gel well with modern platforms. Couple with frustrating camera angles and some really tedious sections, this one soon becomes very tough to handle.