Ever wonder what happens when you mix Froggle, Astrobunny and Super Castlevania 4? Me either.
well, those last two broken games sapped a good amount of time from my day, meaning I'm going to have to be brief with this one. That's a shame because GEAR is genuinely one of the best designed games I've come across so far. I guess it's not too bad because there's not much in the way of constructive criticism I have for this game.
Let me be a bit more pointed in my praise. GEAR really excels in the area of level design. The game makes absolutely sure that the player knows how to play it. granted, it's not a very complex game, but still, you'd be surprised how easy it is to obscure simple commands like "run, jump and shoot a gear on a string thingy" with bad instructions and level design. Even the player who speeds through the textual instructions can easily pick up on what to do through the level design. "Oh look, there's a thingy that's colored differently from all the other thingies. I wonder what happens if I click it..." You get the idea
I'm struggling to think of more things to say. I betcha if I'd played through the whole game I would have found something that annoys me, but I just didn't have the time for that. For ostensibly completely delivering on the artistic vision with genuinely good programming and design, this game gets my seal of approval.
Links
Jump! https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=8716
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
GAmbit
No, that's not a typo. That's actually how they stylize the title. I kinda thought it was cool when AEscher did it, but now I can't just dismiss it as an attempt to be artsy because more than one work used it. Oh well...
aaaand it's a not real exe...
Links
https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=597
aaaand it's a not real exe...
Links
https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=597
Galaxy Express
I've said this before, but I love how every broken game on this list is broken in a unique and different way. For instance, in this game, I'm presented with as black screen and the only thing I can do is make the word "housing" appear if I mash the "esc" key. Games are fun, huh?
Links
https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=24676
Links
https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=24676
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Fuzure
reeeally short review today, guys. It's not like today's game is all too substantial, anyways.
In this game, you hold the left arrow key, mash "x" and "c" and you win. Simple as that.
Fuzure is your basic minimalistic hack 'em up. Great for spectacle and the game feel is damn amazing at certain parts. I'm going to guess the main goal of this game was to deliver a satisfying and empowering experience. In that respect, it succeeds. At least, it would succeed were it not for two annoying flaws.
First off, the game provides you a method of moving quickly through the levels (jumping speed is far higher than walking speed). Therefore, all gamer sensibility would lead you to jump merrily throughout the level, killing all who dare oppose you. The problem with that is that moving quickly makes it easy to completely skip over an enemy. This would be fine if the levels were glorified races to the finish. That way, the player would have the choice of trying to dodge enemies as they accumulate or plowing through them to clear a path, possibly soaking up damage along the way. Bam, one simple tweak delivers an experience twice as deep, if not moreso.
The second problem is that the enemies are kinda glitchy. The first time I played, I got through every enemy in the first level and was met with a brick wall. Unbeknownst to me, an enemy had lodged itself within the architecture of the level, making it impossible to kill. Thus, the game was broken.
Other than that, the game is very simplistic. I think those two tweaks would have made for a solid foundation for a very entertaining game, certainly one worthy of my seal of approval. Because of those flaws, however, it falls just short.
That's all I got for now. Until next time, stay frantic.
Links
happy killtimes: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=570
In this game, you hold the left arrow key, mash "x" and "c" and you win. Simple as that.
Fuzure is your basic minimalistic hack 'em up. Great for spectacle and the game feel is damn amazing at certain parts. I'm going to guess the main goal of this game was to deliver a satisfying and empowering experience. In that respect, it succeeds. At least, it would succeed were it not for two annoying flaws.
First off, the game provides you a method of moving quickly through the levels (jumping speed is far higher than walking speed). Therefore, all gamer sensibility would lead you to jump merrily throughout the level, killing all who dare oppose you. The problem with that is that moving quickly makes it easy to completely skip over an enemy. This would be fine if the levels were glorified races to the finish. That way, the player would have the choice of trying to dodge enemies as they accumulate or plowing through them to clear a path, possibly soaking up damage along the way. Bam, one simple tweak delivers an experience twice as deep, if not moreso.
The second problem is that the enemies are kinda glitchy. The first time I played, I got through every enemy in the first level and was met with a brick wall. Unbeknownst to me, an enemy had lodged itself within the architecture of the level, making it impossible to kill. Thus, the game was broken.
Other than that, the game is very simplistic. I think those two tweaks would have made for a solid foundation for a very entertaining game, certainly one worthy of my seal of approval. Because of those flaws, however, it falls just short.
That's all I got for now. Until next time, stay frantic.
Links
happy killtimes: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=570
Monday, April 8, 2013
Future Fort Defense
Welp, school's back. That means no more delightfully detailed posts, much to my dismay.
And speaking of dismay, the first game to be reviewed since the start of school features the words "fort," another word for tower, and "defense."
*long, drawn out sigh*
Well, on the bright side, the game sets quite a relaxing mood on startup. For better or for worse, this mood doesn't stay very long. This game tasks the player with quite a lot. Between resource mining, tower building, fighter guiding, and enemy shooting, all the while having to calculate the flow of asteroids to your advantage, this is perhaps the most complex game on the list so far.
Taking that into account, all the design choices compliment this. The music, the color scheme, everything is designed around giving the player brief moments of reprieve, allowing him or her to "recharge" before taking on the next threat. All things considered, the game design is praiseworthy. I feel like if I were a tower defense aficionado, I would be incredibly enthusiastic about this game.
Though I might not be a fan of the genre, Future Fort Defense really does everything right, and for that, it earns my seal of approval. Well, it almost does everything right. If you press "esc" at any point in-game, you get sent right back to the menu screen, losing all your progress in the level. This sucks, but it certainly isn't a dealbreaker, especially considering the stages are short, there's a stage select on the main menu, and the "esc" key is nowhere near the main buttons, so it's bound to be a mistake you only make once.
That's all I got for now. Until next time, stay relaxed
Links
Space Towers: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=26141
And speaking of dismay, the first game to be reviewed since the start of school features the words "fort," another word for tower, and "defense."
*long, drawn out sigh*
Well, on the bright side, the game sets quite a relaxing mood on startup. For better or for worse, this mood doesn't stay very long. This game tasks the player with quite a lot. Between resource mining, tower building, fighter guiding, and enemy shooting, all the while having to calculate the flow of asteroids to your advantage, this is perhaps the most complex game on the list so far.
Taking that into account, all the design choices compliment this. The music, the color scheme, everything is designed around giving the player brief moments of reprieve, allowing him or her to "recharge" before taking on the next threat. All things considered, the game design is praiseworthy. I feel like if I were a tower defense aficionado, I would be incredibly enthusiastic about this game.
Though I might not be a fan of the genre, Future Fort Defense really does everything right, and for that, it earns my seal of approval. Well, it almost does everything right. If you press "esc" at any point in-game, you get sent right back to the menu screen, losing all your progress in the level. This sucks, but it certainly isn't a dealbreaker, especially considering the stages are short, there's a stage select on the main menu, and the "esc" key is nowhere near the main buttons, so it's bound to be a mistake you only make once.
That's all I got for now. Until next time, stay relaxed
Links
Space Towers: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=26141
Sunday, April 7, 2013
Saturday, April 6, 2013
Froggle
The title of this game sent me into a delusional contemplation of some sort of hybrid between Frogger and Peggle, which seems about as appealing as the monkey frogs from Beerfest.
Luckily, I got no such thing.
The first thing I noticed about Froggle was just how charming the game is, aesthetically and otherwise. That really is the word for it. It has lots of charm. From attention to detail to button tutorial signs that are actually interwoven into the narrative to references to Frogger to just the cute aesthetic of a little frog dealing with the tedium of daily life...except he's a frog. It's flippin adorable!
I will say that for all its charm, the game isn't really exceptionally put together. Within the first minute of having control over my character, I managed to get stuck under a bench, unable to move. Thankfully, I was able to complete the task at hand nonetheless, but still, it's worth noting that it doesn't take a whole lot of effort to break this game, especially considering pressing "enter" can make the game crash, even though there are multiple times in which the game tells you to press enter! Like...what?
okay, I can shake that one off. Let me get focused here...okay. Let's talk about the mechanics...
Here's the best way to describe this game in my opinion: take Just Cause 2, strip it of every element except the grappling hook, design the entire game around the grappling hook, make the grappling hook about a million times more volatile, and make the game about frogs.
All things considered, the mechanics actually hold up extraordinarily well. The frog-tongue grappling hook makes moving around the (very well designed) overworld quite enjoyable. Yes, controlling the tongue can get a bit difficult at times, but it never got frustrating. I think this is mainly due to the fact that you can keep your tongue outstretched while still moving around to find a suitable surface while in midair. While not the most realistic design choice, it certainly keeps the game from getting frustrating. The main mechanic is simple and explored to the fullest without getting repetitive. That is the hallmark of a well designed game.
The narrative is the glue that holds it all together. It's a simple tale of frustration at the DMV...er...I mean DFL...from the accounts of both the employee and the victim...er...I mean, customer. Even though this story hits a bit close to home for a 17 year old who just failed his road test because the ignoramus in the passenger seat doesn't know that you have to be in the left lane before you make a left hand turn I mean seriously what is this world coming to whenwehaveapublicdepartmentwherethepeoplewhoworkthereHAVENOIDEAWHATTHEY'REDOINGAND
*cough*...sorry about that...
Nevertheless, the story is, at the risk of severely overusing this word, charming. Between it, the fun and intuitive mechanics and the pleasing visual style, this game seems to be in perfect shape to earn my seal of approval
...until...
Remember earlier in this review how I said the game crashes easily? Good. Now, remember a good long time ago when this blog was just getting started and I would constantly complain about games lacking save features?
Well, guess who's back!
Froggle isn't a very long game, and can be blown through in less than an hour, so I normally wouldn't mind that it doesn't have a save feature. The narrative length and style is somewhat similar, after all, to Starfox 64, one of my favorite games of all time. The difference is that Starfox 64 doesn't crash...ever. Froggle crashed within the first 15 minutes of my playthrough. That caused me to unjustly lose not quite enough progress to justify ragequitting, but just enough to make my experience tedious and frustrating. Fix your game so that it doesn't crash or put in a damn save feature, dammit!
*sigh* okay...I've gotten quite worked up this time around, haven't I? Well, before I sign off, I should talk about the bonus games. Froggle Soccer is a fun little variation of gameplay mechanics that would require you to think strategically about how to use them to your advantage if the game wasn't easily broken by standing in the goalpost and licking all the balls that come your way...don't think too much about what I just said.
Seedler Soccer, the other bonus game, is essentially a 2.5D version of Slime Soccer, which has brought me a good amount of amusement as well as boredom from being sent to detention for playing it during school hours...It's a solely 2-player experience, which is good because now I have another way to amuse both myself and a friend during debate tournaments when I have my computer on me but lack internet. The physics are a bit off in this bonus game, but I still had fun with it and it's not even part of the main game, so no harm done.
Alright, that's all for now. Until next time, stay swingin'
Links
Long tongue, long review: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=1502
Luckily, I got no such thing.
The first thing I noticed about Froggle was just how charming the game is, aesthetically and otherwise. That really is the word for it. It has lots of charm. From attention to detail to button tutorial signs that are actually interwoven into the narrative to references to Frogger to just the cute aesthetic of a little frog dealing with the tedium of daily life...except he's a frog. It's flippin adorable!
I will say that for all its charm, the game isn't really exceptionally put together. Within the first minute of having control over my character, I managed to get stuck under a bench, unable to move. Thankfully, I was able to complete the task at hand nonetheless, but still, it's worth noting that it doesn't take a whole lot of effort to break this game, especially considering pressing "enter" can make the game crash, even though there are multiple times in which the game tells you to press enter! Like...what?
okay, I can shake that one off. Let me get focused here...okay. Let's talk about the mechanics...
Here's the best way to describe this game in my opinion: take Just Cause 2, strip it of every element except the grappling hook, design the entire game around the grappling hook, make the grappling hook about a million times more volatile, and make the game about frogs.
All things considered, the mechanics actually hold up extraordinarily well. The frog-tongue grappling hook makes moving around the (very well designed) overworld quite enjoyable. Yes, controlling the tongue can get a bit difficult at times, but it never got frustrating. I think this is mainly due to the fact that you can keep your tongue outstretched while still moving around to find a suitable surface while in midair. While not the most realistic design choice, it certainly keeps the game from getting frustrating. The main mechanic is simple and explored to the fullest without getting repetitive. That is the hallmark of a well designed game.
The narrative is the glue that holds it all together. It's a simple tale of frustration at the DMV...er...I mean DFL...from the accounts of both the employee and the victim...er...I mean, customer. Even though this story hits a bit close to home for a 17 year old who just failed his road test because the ignoramus in the passenger seat doesn't know that you have to be in the left lane before you make a left hand turn I mean seriously what is this world coming to whenwehaveapublicdepartmentwherethepeoplewhoworkthereHAVENOIDEAWHATTHEY'REDOINGAND
*cough*...sorry about that...
Nevertheless, the story is, at the risk of severely overusing this word, charming. Between it, the fun and intuitive mechanics and the pleasing visual style, this game seems to be in perfect shape to earn my seal of approval
...until...
Remember earlier in this review how I said the game crashes easily? Good. Now, remember a good long time ago when this blog was just getting started and I would constantly complain about games lacking save features?
Well, guess who's back!
Froggle isn't a very long game, and can be blown through in less than an hour, so I normally wouldn't mind that it doesn't have a save feature. The narrative length and style is somewhat similar, after all, to Starfox 64, one of my favorite games of all time. The difference is that Starfox 64 doesn't crash...ever. Froggle crashed within the first 15 minutes of my playthrough. That caused me to unjustly lose not quite enough progress to justify ragequitting, but just enough to make my experience tedious and frustrating. Fix your game so that it doesn't crash or put in a damn save feature, dammit!
*sigh* okay...I've gotten quite worked up this time around, haven't I? Well, before I sign off, I should talk about the bonus games. Froggle Soccer is a fun little variation of gameplay mechanics that would require you to think strategically about how to use them to your advantage if the game wasn't easily broken by standing in the goalpost and licking all the balls that come your way...don't think too much about what I just said.
Seedler Soccer, the other bonus game, is essentially a 2.5D version of Slime Soccer, which has brought me a good amount of amusement as well as boredom from being sent to detention for playing it during school hours...It's a solely 2-player experience, which is good because now I have another way to amuse both myself and a friend during debate tournaments when I have my computer on me but lack internet. The physics are a bit off in this bonus game, but I still had fun with it and it's not even part of the main game, so no harm done.
Alright, that's all for now. Until next time, stay swingin'
Links
Long tongue, long review: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=1502
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