This is the kind of game I reaaally want to love, but... OK, the feeling is quite pleasant to me. Strangely, on one hand, it feels like something you've seen a thousands times already, and on the other hand, it manages to have an unique atmosphere. Pixel art is simple but works well. What I call "working well" means, everything is easily distinguishable, like, enemies standout from the background, same as projectiles, etc. And all of this while maintaining a certain harmony of colors. This is something I need in pixel art games. The music is good, except... I heard only one track.😲 So it felt very repetitive in the end. I did pass many levels though, but it was always the same track... is it just me? Anyway, the only real problem comes from controls and the gameplay itself. Platformers in the early 90s actually had better controls than this. I feel like it's always "slippery", and not accurate enough. (some areas in which I had to avoid projectiles made me think about Quackshot on Megadrive... Except Quackshot was much better... despite being much slower too.) Because of this lack of accuracy, you'll DIE A LOT. And nope, it won't be your fault. It's just that some features like the sliding, or simply some enemies projectiles patterns, are too random. This is bad, especially for a game which seems made for speedrunning. (it could be a GREAT speedrunning game if it has tighter controls, and less annoying enemies) Speaking of the Megadrive, this game doesn't even come close to the responsiveness of classic platformers like Kid Chameleon... (Seriously, go try this game... You won't like modern platformers anymore...) Maybe it seems strange to compare this to 25 years old games, but... The "mechanics" of this game did feel like a very old game... Not necessarily a bad thing, but... We've seen so much better in the past. Edit : I found out why I couldn't enjoy this game, after trying further... It's the PACE (or the flow, whatever you call it.) Some people used to complain about Marble Zone in Sonic 1 cos you had to stop all the time... Well, so far, my experience is that this game is like this ALL the time. Right now I'm in a level in which an enemy blocks the path, then another one is behind it, etc. I can't kill the enemy right away cos it's just next to a pitfall, and I can't try to approach it either cos the walls are covered with spikes. Anyway... It takes a long time to kill it, and it broke the fast pace of the game... And there are maaaany areas like this, which make the whole experience frustrating and not fun at all. This is what kills the "speedrunning" experience, which I won't even try anyway. At first you think that the flow is going to be great, jumping from wall to wall, double-jumping over obstacles and stuff... But this fun stops right and the end of the tutorial. So yeah, I would say that the real problem is NOT controls then, but LEVEL DESIGN. Too many pitfalls... too many "stops"... too many cheap mechanics like enemies which are located in some way that you can't progress... etc. People who like hardcore platformers (it's not THAT hard, nothing like Super Meat Boy) and want a challenge will enjoy it for sure. Speaking of Super Meat Boy, I just read this on Steam : "I would call this a fun hybrid of Super Meat Boy, Shovel Knight, and Duck Game". Yeah, why not... Anyway, definitely not a bad game, but there are much better out there. (I feel like I always say this these days...) I'll try to progress just a bit further and see if I change my mind... Btw, I played with a gamepad. (Logitech F310, as usual)
OK, the feeling is quite pleasant to me.
Strangely, on one hand, it feels like something you've seen a thousands times already, and on the other hand, it manages to have an unique atmosphere.
Pixel art is simple but works well.
What I call "working well" means, everything is easily distinguishable, like, enemies standout from the background, same as projectiles, etc.
And all of this while maintaining a certain harmony of colors.
This is something I need in pixel art games.
The music is good, except... I heard only one track.😲 So it felt very repetitive in the end.
I did pass many levels though, but it was always the same track... is it just me?
Anyway, the only real problem comes from controls and the gameplay itself.
Platformers in the early 90s actually had better controls than this.
I feel like it's always "slippery", and not accurate enough.
(some areas in which I had to avoid projectiles made me think about Quackshot on Megadrive... Except Quackshot was much better... despite being much slower too.)
Because of this lack of accuracy, you'll DIE A LOT.
And nope, it won't be your fault. It's just that some features like the sliding, or simply some enemies projectiles patterns, are too random.
This is bad, especially for a game which seems made for speedrunning. (it could be a GREAT speedrunning game if it has tighter controls, and less annoying enemies)
Speaking of the Megadrive, this game doesn't even come close to the responsiveness of classic platformers like Kid Chameleon... (Seriously, go try this game... You won't like modern platformers anymore...)
Maybe it seems strange to compare this to 25 years old games, but...
The "mechanics" of this game did feel like a very old game... Not necessarily a bad thing, but... We've seen so much better in the past.
Edit :
I found out why I couldn't enjoy this game, after trying further...
It's the PACE (or the flow, whatever you call it.)
Some people used to complain about Marble Zone in Sonic 1 cos you had to stop all the time... Well, so far, my experience is that this game is like this ALL the time.
Right now I'm in a level in which an enemy blocks the path, then another one is behind it, etc. I can't kill the enemy right away cos it's just next to a pitfall, and I can't try to approach it either cos the walls are covered with spikes. Anyway...
It takes a long time to kill it, and it broke the fast pace of the game...
And there are maaaany areas like this, which make the whole experience frustrating and not fun at all.
This is what kills the "speedrunning" experience, which I won't even try anyway.
At first you think that the flow is going to be great, jumping from wall to wall, double-jumping over obstacles and stuff... But this fun stops right and the end of the tutorial.
So yeah, I would say that the real problem is NOT controls then, but LEVEL DESIGN.
Too many pitfalls... too many "stops"... too many cheap mechanics like enemies which are located in some way that you can't progress... etc.
People who like hardcore platformers (it's not THAT hard, nothing like Super
Meat Boy) and want a challenge will enjoy it for sure.
Speaking of Super Meat Boy, I just read this on Steam :
"I would call this a fun hybrid of Super Meat Boy, Shovel Knight, and Duck Game".
Yeah, why not...
Anyway, definitely not a bad game, but there are much better out there.
(I feel like I always say this these days...)
I'll try to progress just a bit further and see if I change my mind...
Btw, I played with a gamepad. (Logitech F310, as usual)