Retro Replay Review

Gameplay

Sunday Funday: The Ride bundles three very different experiences into one unlicensed cartridge, giving players a surprising amount of variety for a budget title. Each mini-game introduces its own mechanics and challenges, ensuring that downtime between sessions of the main attraction never feels repetitive. While the quality varies from one segment to the next, the overall package keeps things lively.

In the primary mode, Sunday Funday (an adaptation of Menace Beach), you guide a skateboard-wielding boy on his way to Sunday school. The side-scrolling action revolves around deft jumps over crates, dodging hostile characters, and using limited weapons to clear obstacles. Controls are straightforward, but collision detection can feel unforgiving, turning routine sections into trial-and-error gauntlets.

Fishfall offers a whiplash change of pace: here you control a giant hand at the top of the screen, catching free-falling fish and tossing them back toward a moving basket. It’s a simple catch-and-throw loop, but the growing speed and erratic fish patterns quickly ramp up the difficulty. Timing and hand positioning become critical, making what appears to be a casual diversion surprisingly tense.

Finally, 4HIM: The Ride isn’t a conventional game at all but a sing-along track featuring Christian pop band 4Him. Lyrics scroll on screen in time with a MIDI rendition of one of their songs, turning the cartridge into a portable karaoke session. While there’s no challenge per se, it’s an oddball finale that underscores the compilation’s eclectic nature.

Graphics

Despite its unlicensed status, Sunday Funday: The Ride makes valiant efforts to polish the visuals inherited from its source material. The title screen and menus are brightly colored, though fonts are blocky and lack the refinement of officially licensed releases. Still, the overall aesthetic has a rough-around-the-edges charm.

In the Sunday Funday segment, sprite work is serviceable: your skateboarder and enemies are distinct enough to read at a glance, and background parallax adds a modest sense of depth. However, color clashes occasionally make hazards blend into the environment, forcing players to rely on muscle memory rather than visual cues.

Fishfall opts for minimalism. The giant hand graphic is simplistic but recognizable, and the fish are rendered with just enough detail to differentiate species by color and shape. The basket’s back-and-forth motion is smooth, but the barren backdrop can feel sterile after extended play sessions.

For 4HIM: The Ride, graphics are reduced to static backdrops and scrolling lyric text. There’s no real animation, but the designers include thematic imagery—such as stained-glass windows or musical notes—to complement the karaoke experience. It’s functional rather than flashy, fitting the purpose without overreach.

Story

Storytelling in bootleg compilations rarely reaches epic heights, and Sunday Funday: The Ride is no exception. Yet each segment attempts to weave a loose narrative or context around its gameplay, lending a thread of motivation that helps stitch the disparate pieces together.

In the renamed Sunday Funday, the boy’s quest shifts from rescuing his girlfriend (as in Menace Beach) to making it to Sunday school on time. This switch feels superficial but does give the game a slightly more wholesome veneer. Cutscenes are sparse—mostly title cards announcing level names—but they inject just enough personality to justify repeated attempts at tricky sections.

Fishfall dispenses with story entirely; there’s no backstory for the hand or why the fish are dropping from the sky. You’re simply rewarded with a tally at the end of each round. The lack of narrative is offset by tight, arcade-style progression, which can be thrilling in its own right.

With 4HIM: The Ride, the narrative is carried by the song lyrics themselves. Fans of the band may appreciate seeing the words synchronized on screen, but newcomers will find it little more than a repetitive karaoke loop. There’s no framing device beyond a static title screen and a single musical track.

Overall Experience

Sunday Funday: The Ride stands out as a curious footnote in the world of unlicensed gaming—a budget compilation that dares to mix action, arcade-style challenges, and karaoke into one cartridge. Its uneven production values are apparent, but the ambition to offer multiple modes of play is commendable.

Replay value varies greatly. The core skateboard action in Sunday Funday can become frustrating yet addictive as you learn enemy patterns and level layouts. Fishfall offers short, frantic runs that are ideal for quick bursts of play. The karaoke section, while novel, has limited replay appeal unless you’re a dedicated 4Him fan.

Graphical compromises and occasional control quirks may deter players seeking a polished experience. However, there’s a certain retro charm in its rough edges—a reminder of the creative lengths programmers went to when official licensing wasn’t an option.

For collectors of oddball or bootleg titles, Sunday Funday: The Ride is a must-have curiosity. Casual players may find the variety appealing for a few sessions, but the lack of cohesion and polish means it’s not likely to become anyone’s go-to game. Still, its blend of skateboarding mayhem, fish-catching frenzy, and impromptu karaoke makes for a memorable weekend diversion—rain or shine.

Retro Replay Score

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