If you're charmed by the trailer
and no minigame hater
Then I think you should play
Later Alligator

(ominous mandolin strumming)

The basic gameplay of Later Alligator is essentially a stripped-down Professor Layton, with less focus on pure puzzling and a double serving of cutesy wholesome humour. You wander around the city, meeting Pat's friends & family, and extracting very basic information about "the event" from them by helping with a task (aka minigame). But make it quick, because time is ticking—the event starts at 8pm sharp, and you wouldn't want to be late...

The animation and music are spectacular. Having never lived in NYC, I can't vouch for "authenticity," but ANYC certainly feels like a city alive, always bustling and full of quirky characters. Those characters are chock-full of distinct personality, though everyone shares a propensity to inject a quip into every possible comment. I do think that at times the humour would be better served with a breath between beats, but the unending tsunami of silliness is undeniably part of the charm. The overall plot is also perfectly serviceable; mostly as window-dressing for the individual encounters, but with a few interesting twists thrown in.

Okay, but what of the minigames themselves? Unfortunately, these challenges are like wild meat: the gamey-er they are, the less appetizing.

The heart and soul of Later Alligator is the twee art and animation. Thus, the best minigames are unobtrusive, letting the visuals take centre stage. The absolute highlight of these is a "spot the differences" game—obviously there isn't any "depth" to the gameplay here, but there doesn't need to be, because drooling over an alligator-rethemed A Sunday for the Grande Jawed (because alligators have large jaws? ...don't blame SmallBu; this one's all me) is already hilarious and fun. Other standout examples include an entirely unexpected dating sim, a rather realistic round of hide-and-go-seek, and an exorcism via cell phone repair.

Conversely, the worst offenders squander those lovely illustrations on uninspired gameplay. Seriously, these are some lovely drawings! I want to absorb every single detail with my eye holes! But when I'm playing a Flappy Bird clone, it's a) not that interesting in the first place, and b) makes it hard to appreciate those little details. My least favourite example has you swatting flies so that a would-be guru can ascend to the astral plane uninterrupted. I found this one to be downright frustrating to begin with, and unlike other minigames, failure here is game over—no second chances. All things considered, this is a minor irk, but given how good the best minigames are, the ones at the other end of the spectrum feel like missed opportunities.

As an aside, I was surprised to recognize many of creators involved in Later Alligator. SmallBu Animation are the main creative drivers here, the two-person, husband-and-wife team that brought you Baman Piderman—but also YouTube darling Worthikids did some clean-up work on the animation? I hadn't previously heard of 2 Mello, who did a great job with the soundtrack, but Neil Cicierega (The Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny, Potter Puppet Pals) contributed in some capacity as well? Reading up on all the folks involved here sent me right back to my Albino Blacksheep days. I look forward to seeing what they have in store next.

One other small detail that I love—the GeoCities throwback is far from original at this point, but the fact that you can find the website both in-game and on the regular ol' internet adds some pleasing verisimilitude. (Also, dancing alligator baby is not to be missed.)

So, should you visit Alligator New York City for yourself? I think the easiest litmus test is just to watch the trailer: if the smooth animations, jazzy tunes, and rapid-fire one-liners elicit an "Oh, jeez!" from your cute snoot, you'll have a lovely trip. If, however, you demand more gameplay in your games or have an aversion to chuckling, there's no need to make the trek from Alligator New Jersey. My only real complaint here is a lament of what could have been: the visuals and music are top-notch, but the actual minigames are often lacking in creativity and end up feeling stapled on. If SmallBu and 2 Mello had a partner that brought equal insight to the game design aspect, and included that as a first class consideration—now that would be something special.

(mandolin outro)