greeklover: Pony Island is one of those games that you either find brilliant or annoying. You are trapped inside an arcade game and you need to escape but you can't even start the game because someone sabotages you. The music reminds arcade games from the 80s, when you win it's fun, when you lose it gets on your nerves. To play this game you need skills. A significant part of the game involves mini platformer games where a pony jumps, uses wings and shoots stuff with laser. You need good coordination skills to get past these or else you get stuck and can't proceed with the game. You also need some minor programming skills. As you can see in the pics, there are these lines with code and you have to put things in order so that you get the last line needed to unlock something. And it's not as simple as putting arrows in the correct squares. Sometimes you have to do loops, and other times, as the program executes itself, you have to change the contents of the squares at the right moment. In the second phase of the game, these puzzles are replaced by butterflies that travel like the code loops but the logic is similar. The platformer also get more difficult because you have to shoot butterflies but avoid some other things. Apart from these, the game is straightforward, you can only do one thing to advance the action and even if you don't have any hints, you can use trial and error. But you need to be careful because the screen is dark and you might miss a point or portal at the edge. There is only one save because you don't have to save in case you make a mistake. You can quit the game and the next time you open it you can continue your previous game or delete save data and start a new one. During the game you can get info on who you are and how you ended there but that doesn't add much to the plot. An interesting part is the desktop where you click on files to execute them, I found the messenger funny. The game can be completed in 2-3 hours. There is a boss battle that reminds me of the final battle in Juju Densetsu (Toki), where the monkey fights a big demon or something.
There is also a secret ending in the game. There are tickets scaterred around in the game and you can collect them. To activate the secret ending, you have to get all 24 tickets. It's practically impossible to get them all by wild guessing, so you can use a guide/walkthrough. The secret ending is another boss battle with 3 phases. You need patience and excellent platformer arcade skills to win these battles, there are videos on youtube if you want to see what happens.
Pics
https://imgur.com/a/qFmwh Thanks for the great review greeklover ! I read it twice and enjoyed it. It made me watch a gameplay of Pony Island.
Indeed, the dekstop part where you click on files really does make the game interesting and unique. And the game definitely requires some skills and attention, as said in your review.
I must say I somewhat enjoyed the game, just by reading your review. You really put some time into the game and into reviewing it, including the provided screenshots, that can help, those who might be interested.
Your task is completed! I hope that you enjoy the other game too. And I hope to see some other content from you, even if its not related to this giveaway :)
Happy Holidays !
