I beat this game, and got all the gems(including level 9)
This game has some really broken mechanics, specifically because they contradict each other, but also because they don't work.
Before we continue, I don't want you to feel as though this game is a horrible game. I don't want you to take this personally.
This game has issues, but we can learn from them. That's what critical reviews should be, telling the author of the game that there are issues, then finding where those issues are, where they come from, and how it might be fixed.
Alright, let the dissection commence
----
Let's start with running. I really liked running in this game, when you start running, it gives this satisfying pop sound effect, along with some graphical smoke, and it is so fun to run through the level without stopping!
If only ANYTHING in this game accommodated for this.
First of all, you can't control your jump.
When you are running, you need to be able to control your player's jump. By taking this away, you end up jumping, then jumping too high. You are then forced to stop moving to land on a platform, then continue moving. This sucks.
The level design forces the player to wait before they can keep moving. The worst offender of this would be level 4, with the moving spikes. The end of the level requires that you stop moving to progress safely!
There is basically no point in running in this game because of this.
----
The enemies are fine, except for one, but I'll get to that.
So the first enemy, I'll call it Spikey, is good.
It is very easy to understand, it moves toward the player.
The only issue with it is that it is a wall, you can stand on it. For this kind of enemy, that doesn't really work. But honestly, it doesn't really matter(until there are 4 of them on the screen at once)
The snake is fine, but it also suffers from the collision issue.
The shooter guy in level 8, should not jump. It makes it too difficult to read where it is going to go, and every time there is one on-screen, I can't figure out how to get through without taking damage.
Maybe it can jump, but not that high. I'll tell you why in a second.
Alright, worst enemy time.
The flying Spikey is horrible.
The issue with it is that it always comes from above, which happens to be the only direction you can't shoot at.
Because of this, none of the enemies should never, EVER come from above, which happens to be the most frustrating enemies(the flying spike, the shooter guy, and unfortunately the final boss)
----
Platforming in this game is such a chore.
I already said controlled jumping can help, but there is more.
This game was not meant for precision(landing on a one tile large platform, etc), yet the levels keep making you do that.
Every time the level tells me to do something even remotely tight, I just want to quit, here's why.
The player's hitbox is a capsule, which causes the player to slide off platforms, which is so bad! Never do this in a platformer.
The player's jumping is too inconsistent to make it fun.
Sometimes I jump, but I only jump halfway, causing me to fall into a death pit.
There are moving platforms, but when you jump off of it when it is moving down, you don't jump.
Even the disappearing platforms don't reappear!
And the worst one, the springs don't work.
Level 3 was so annoying, because of the section where you need to jump onto 2 springs.
You can jump on the first one, but sometimes, you only jump twice the height.
The second one doesn't even get you to the next platform, you need to super jump off the spring(which makes the platform go out of view, which is bad!)
----
Now for just little things...
Coins don't have any use.
In Mario, coins guide players to locations, and when you collect enough, you get a 1-up.
In Sonic, coins let you take a hit before you lose a life.
In this game, they do nothing.
Ammo feels like a waste of screen space.
There is no point of it except for maybe to prevent shoot spam?
Any enemy that shoots should have a "tell" that they are about to shoot. The cactus, for example, could squish a bit before it shoots.
----
Final notes:
The music sounded nice and worked really well with the area.
Thanks for the review! The only thing I can really say to that is that coins do actually have a purpose (300 total are required in order to unlock the secret final level), but other than that I will do my best to fix these issues in future platformers. I can think of a fix for most of these issues. I didn't really consider the dash mechanic's importance in levels, so I'm glad you brought that to light for me. Running through levels is fun! I should've realized that. xD Anyways, thanks!
nice! I think the game could have been a bit more creative, but it's still really enjoyable; this is my third run :) What's the website font name? I've been looking for an 8-bit font on itch for a while, and the pixel doesn't seem to work for me.
I forgot what the font was called. "Press Start" or something like that. And thank you! I'll try to do something a bit more unique with my next platformer.
Not too much to say, it is a 2d platformer. And... That's it.
Graphics are good, as for the style that this game is situated in.
Sounds are perfect for overall theme.
Random speed boost is a bit annoying.
Level design is definitely in your style. Good mechanic teaching, few mini distractions, a bit of annoying part, and a bit of emptyness in some places. Oh, and obviusly many interesting gimmicks. It isn't bad.
I think that on level select screen player should also be able to move by WASD, not only by arrows.
I think that difficulty progress is pretty nice, but these one brick jumps at the end of level 1, may discourage someone from going any further.
Ammo counter at start felt pretty annoying or useless, but later I realised that it gives this game strategy and planning aspect, so I understand it.
Overall game isn't bad I can say that it is good, for this basic indie indie level. But saddly it is just a retro platformer, like many, many others which are being made for game jams, or just for fun every now and then. But it doesn't mean that it is bad. Just it isn't too special, but do games need to be special?!
Wow, this turned out to be like some kind of essay, or extremely serious review. Ooops.
Edit: There is a bonus level :) I spent too much time on trying to get all hidden stuff, but well... I did it.
Thank you for the constructive criticism! I 100% agree with you. I didn't really try to do much special with this game as this was my first attempt at a 2D platformer using the Unity game engine. It was a learning experience for sure. In my next 2D game I'll definitely take all of your feedback into consideration and try to make it more unique. :P
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The physics are great and the game does not fail to bring out the best of games like Super Mario World and Mega Man. Great job!
Incredible
Excellent work Brad, keep it up! I really like the music and the concept of using a gun, reminded me of Mega Man.
Funny enough, that whole concept was inspired by Mega Man. :P Thanks!
level 6 is so hard!!!!!! @Stv66
I've never beaten the game before and it's still hard!
SAME its so hard!!!!
Alright, first of all
I beat this game, and got all the gems(including level 9)
This game has some really broken mechanics, specifically because they contradict each other, but also because they don't work.
Before we continue, I don't want you to feel as though this game is a horrible game. I don't want you to take this personally.
This game has issues, but we can learn from them. That's what critical reviews should be, telling the author of the game that there are issues, then finding where those issues are, where they come from, and how it might be fixed.
Alright, let the dissection commence
----
Let's start with running. I really liked running in this game, when you start running, it gives this satisfying pop sound effect, along with some graphical smoke, and it is so fun to run through the level without stopping!
If only ANYTHING in this game accommodated for this.
First of all, you can't control your jump.
When you are running, you need to be able to control your player's jump. By taking this away, you end up jumping, then jumping too high. You are then forced to stop moving to land on a platform, then continue moving. This sucks.
The level design forces the player to wait before they can keep moving. The worst offender of this would be level 4, with the moving spikes. The end of the level requires that you stop moving to progress safely!
There is basically no point in running in this game because of this.
----
The enemies are fine, except for one, but I'll get to that.
So the first enemy, I'll call it Spikey, is good.
It is very easy to understand, it moves toward the player.
The only issue with it is that it is a wall, you can stand on it. For this kind of enemy, that doesn't really work. But honestly, it doesn't really matter(until there are 4 of them on the screen at once)
The snake is fine, but it also suffers from the collision issue.
The shooter guy in level 8, should not jump. It makes it too difficult to read where it is going to go, and every time there is one on-screen, I can't figure out how to get through without taking damage.
Maybe it can jump, but not that high. I'll tell you why in a second.
Alright, worst enemy time.
The flying Spikey is horrible.
The issue with it is that it always comes from above, which happens to be the only direction you can't shoot at.
Because of this, none of the enemies should never, EVER come from above, which happens to be the most frustrating enemies(the flying spike, the shooter guy, and unfortunately the final boss)
----
Platforming in this game is such a chore.
I already said controlled jumping can help, but there is more.
This game was not meant for precision(landing on a one tile large platform, etc), yet the levels keep making you do that.
Every time the level tells me to do something even remotely tight, I just want to quit, here's why.
The player's hitbox is a capsule, which causes the player to slide off platforms, which is so bad! Never do this in a platformer.
The player's jumping is too inconsistent to make it fun.
Sometimes I jump, but I only jump halfway, causing me to fall into a death pit.
There are moving platforms, but when you jump off of it when it is moving down, you don't jump.
Even the disappearing platforms don't reappear!
And the worst one, the springs don't work.
Level 3 was so annoying, because of the section where you need to jump onto 2 springs.
You can jump on the first one, but sometimes, you only jump twice the height.
The second one doesn't even get you to the next platform, you need to super jump off the spring(which makes the platform go out of view, which is bad!)
----
Now for just little things...
Coins don't have any use.
In Mario, coins guide players to locations, and when you collect enough, you get a 1-up.
In Sonic, coins let you take a hit before you lose a life.
In this game, they do nothing.
Ammo feels like a waste of screen space.
There is no point of it except for maybe to prevent shoot spam?
Any enemy that shoots should have a "tell" that they are about to shoot. The cactus, for example, could squish a bit before it shoots.
----
Final notes:
The music sounded nice and worked really well with the area.
The desert theme imo was the best one.
Thanks for the review! The only thing I can really say to that is that coins do actually have a purpose (300 total are required in order to unlock the secret final level), but other than that I will do my best to fix these issues in future platformers. I can think of a fix for most of these issues. I didn't really consider the dash mechanic's importance in levels, so I'm glad you brought that to light for me. Running through levels is fun! I should've realized that. xD Anyways, thanks!
Well thank you for being so open to feedback!
nice! I think the game could have been a bit more creative, but it's still really enjoyable; this is my third run :) What's the website font name? I've been looking for an 8-bit font on itch for a while, and the pixel doesn't seem to work for me.
I forgot what the font was called. "Press Start" or something like that. And thank you! I'll try to do something a bit more unique with my next platformer.
oh yeah, that's the name. And I know you've got other things to do besides making games, so don't take the feedback harshly
Nah, I highly appreciate feedback, positive or negative, as it helps me filter out what was good and what was bad from my old games into my new games.
Not too much to say, it is a 2d platformer. And... That's it.
Graphics are good, as for the style that this game is situated in.
Sounds are perfect for overall theme.
Random speed boost is a bit annoying.
Level design is definitely in your style. Good mechanic teaching, few mini distractions, a bit of annoying part, and a bit of emptyness in some places. Oh, and obviusly many interesting gimmicks. It isn't bad.
I think that on level select screen player should also be able to move by WASD, not only by arrows.
I think that difficulty progress is pretty nice, but these one brick jumps at the end of level 1, may discourage someone from going any further.
Ammo counter at start felt pretty annoying or useless, but later I realised that it gives this game strategy and planning aspect, so I understand it.
Overall game isn't bad I can say that it is good, for this basic indie indie level. But saddly it is just a retro platformer, like many, many others which are being made for game jams, or just for fun every now and then. But it doesn't mean that it is bad. Just it isn't too special, but do games need to be special?!
Wow, this turned out to be like some kind of essay, or extremely serious review. Ooops.
Edit: There is a bonus level :) I spent too much time on trying to get all hidden stuff, but well... I did it.
Thank you for the constructive criticism! I 100% agree with you. I didn't really try to do much special with this game as this was my first attempt at a 2D platformer using the Unity game engine. It was a learning experience for sure. In my next 2D game I'll definitely take all of your feedback into consideration and try to make it more unique. :P
Ok
I have written a review, but it is very critical. Do you want to hear it?
Yes, any criticism is highly appreciated to help me with future games!