This was a real surprise. It's a furiously addictive mash-up of your standard 'match the coloured blocks' (most like Capcom's Super Puzzle Fighter II), and an action platformer in the vein of Contra. You just jump about shooting the blocks, scoring combos and gambling by letting the blocks merge into one huge coloured ... THING! You're about to pop it.. and "hnnnggrrryyyaargh!" You didn't consider the fact that this coloured mass is the only thing standing between you and instant death courtesy of spikes that line the bottom of the screen! That's a beginner's error and planning is required. That's the beauty of this game: It seems ridiculously hard at first, yet you say "one more go" and before you know it, you're surviving for 15 minutes or more and getting good scores. You die, you try again, you improve, you die, you try again, you get worse and do the equivalent of a Mario death at first goomba, you use bad language and vow to come back later to seek revenge. You don't do that though, no. You immediately try again. You top the high score table... Controls are perfect, the presentation is very good, featuring appropriate (for once) '80's-style blocky graphics and some great chip tunes. There are multiple characters to choose from each featuring different attributes and different methods of busting blocks, such as a ninja who can double jump and throw shurikens, or a guy who can use twin pistols to shoot blocks at either side, or one side at a time. I like the standard default dude: a bloke who can jump fairly high and can glide using his cape. Can't go wrong with him, but the others are a nice bonus. Not much more to say other than you run and jump and shoot coloured blocks and it's a great time. If you've enjoyed a gem puzzler, a platformer, or a run & gun-style shooter, give this one a try. Be warned, it's very hard, but that's how a score-chasing game like this should be.
This game reminded me of a lot of the early 1990's games I used to play for the Amiga; both in style and gameplay. Not much to say other than it's a very well designed puzzle-platformer that involves collect all the gems in each of the stages to get a key - a certain number of which unlock a door leading to the next 'world'. Sounds pretty straightforward and 'played it all before'. To an extent yes, it's quite familiar, but in a comfy pair of slippers way :) Where this game excels is in the quality of it's puzzles, variety between levels and sheer amount of content (over 100 levels + a separate 36 level co-op mode and other bonus challenges if I remember). One level will have you using skill as much as brains to use a rope to swing about; in another you will be triggering switches only for an alarm to sound signalling a 'ghost' of you last few seconds will appear. Your present self must work with these multiple spawns of past selves to trigger all the switches. However (Timecop rule) don't bump into yourself! The difficulty is pretty much perfect for the most part; it starts off quite easy and steadily increases in difficulty and complexity in a smooth manner *until* it does seem to ramp up suddenly in the latter half. If you've got that far, you'll have what it takes though. The controls are simple and can be remapped, there is controller support and the game has a nice weighty feel. Shuggy has a pleasing amount of inertia, although in some of the more cramped levels it can feel a bit slippery and unresponsive (minor gripe). The Adventures of Shuggy is wrapped up in some nice spooky music (think Super Mario World's ghost stages) and the 2D graphics are presented in a nice clean, clear, uncluttered cartoony style - which is what you want in a game like this. Art design is cheap and cheerful, but appropriate and charming. The graphics are nothing fancy overall: They are there, they look nice - won't blow you away, but also don't distract from the puzzling.
Not much I can say about this one without spoiling its short story. I can say that in my opinion, it is not really a game in the traditional sense. Like To The Moon, a game by the same people, this is more of an interactive story. I sense it's creator is really a story teller who just happens to use the medium of computer game creation to tell his stories. Unlike To The Moon, there are no puzzles; there is no dialog. You just move with the arrow keys and interact with ENTER or SPACE. Your moving and interacting with it's world is simply a means of getting to the next part of the story whilst absorbing the charming gestures and animations that convey brilliantly the little boy's strengthening bond with his new bird buddy :) The graphics are gorgeous: a mix of top down retro-style 2D sprites and foreground graphics, merged with Studio Ghibli-esque painted backdrops. The music is wonderful and emotive and changes cinematically to match what's happening in the story at that point; familiar to anyone who's seen Raymond Brigg's 'The Snowman' or some Studio Ghibli films. The visuals and sound are as much a part of the experience as the interactive elements (I won't call them gameplay) - if not more so. Anyone familiar with To The Moon will know what to expect with A Bird Story; however, it's worth noting that this is a "SHORT STORY" - as billed - and I would advise playing through it in one sitting preferably :) On that note: I bought it in the sale; it was worth every penny. However, maaaybe the RRP is arguably a bit steep for what you get if you're the kind of person who equates value to gameplay, depth and longevity. Personally, I doubt I would have regretted this purchase had I paid full price, but that's just me. Game/Art/Interactive animation... whatever you want to call this.. Who cares? Who cares for labels anyway. Whatever, I enjoyed it for what it is and loved every moment of this short lived, but sweet experience. Charming game.. oops! I mean...
SiN is a fun, occasionally frustrating action FPS. Best enjoyed by fans of over-the-top '90s shooters like Duke3D, Shadow Warrior etc. You know, those games that have a trash-talking hero, are super violent and don't take themselves too seriously.You play John Blade - a sort of supercop who must save the world from.. Evil corperation... human experiments.. blah blah. The plot is nothing special and the voice-acting, weak. Gameplay is where it shines due in large part to body part hit-detection system.You have armour for your various body parts; if your chest plate is damaged, maybe best to avoid blowing the next enemy to bits with a shotgun. Instead, you could go for his legs or how about a nice headshot? - Then, when you loot his corpse, that armour you needed will be perfectly preserved to patch yourself up with. This adds a nice layer of strategy. Moreover, leg-shots slow them down, arm-shots can cause them to drop their weapon. Beware; same applies to you regarding arm-shots. Built on a modified Quake Engine, the environments, though generic (factory, warehouse, Dam etc.) look good for the time, with colourful lighting, and destructible scenery - this impresses even now and can even change the level layout. Characters look a bit pointy but their gory death animations are very entertaining! Pacing is good and the gunplay, very tight. The soundtrack grates a little after a while and the overall sound is a bit unbalanced, i.e, ambient machinery sound far too loud compared to the - not quite beefy enough - weapon sounds. The weapons themselves are great though, ranging from magnums, through shotguns to crawling spider mines, an awesome sniper rifle, a chaingun that doubles as a grenade launcher.. in the end unlocking some more exotic sci-fi weapons. All very satisfying to use! While the level design is mostly good, the uneven mission design and uneven difficulty often frustrate with some nasty ambushes and trial and error moments. Optional vehicles are weak. 8/10
Created using the famous 'Build Engine', Shadow Warrior is a true classic in the vain of Duke Nukem 3D. You play as Lo Wang (tee, hee) that name alone should suggest the tone of the humour; utterly puerile. Utterly hilarious! Lo is a sort of modern ninja (imagine an fps Shinobi with Duke-esque humour). As a Ninja, he has some 'ninja-ry' weapons such as shurikens, caltrops, and a sword for some fun up-close-and-personal slicing and dicing (literally). The staple of Lo's arsenal includes the likes of twin-uzis, triple-barrelled shotgun, grenade launcher, rockets, sticky bombs, gas grenades, smoke bombs, and some awesome surprises which I won't spoil. The pace is fantastic, the enemies - varied and many. Levels take you from city streets to caves, villages, dojo's and (?). There are vehicles such as tanks and boats to use, nice puzzles occasionally and plenty of fun secrets to locate. If you have ever enjoyed a Build game (Duke, Blood, Redneck Rampage) then know that this game pushes the engine farther than the rest. If you have never played a game like this before, give it a try. You don't know what you're missing. The most important part of an first-person-shooter is the shooting; the action, the pace. It has to feel good, and this.. This feels incredible. For pure gory-but-with-wit action, this has never been bettered! Enjoy :)
Duke Nukem 1 is a ton of fun. The level design is amazingly varied and clever, with some levels being sprawling Turrican-esque affairs, and some being short and more action focused. Locations are very varied considering the tech-restraints at the time of release. The gameplay, which is an equal blend of run and gun and platforming, is superb. With very precise controls and a great feel. Nice power ups, perfect difficulty. Spot-on: 9/10 Duke 2: Hmm. Not bad, but a step back imho. Though it adds more colours with (technically better) graphics, I find it looks too 'busy', with items and enemies blending into the background. Now has music, (whereas Duke 1 had none) and guns that sound more like guns, as opposed to 'farty-beeps':). Way more straightforward and linear than the first game, it's more focused on shooting this time. Controls are stodgier, enemy attacks; cheaper. Duke 1 somehow has better art design and more character than this too, mysteriously. Not as good as Duke 1, overall. 6/10. Still, the way I look at it, you get an awesome game and half-decent sequel thrown in for free. Fantastic value!
Hocus Pocus is like a strange shoot-em-up/platformer hybrid wherein you play an apprentice magician trying to prove himself by traversing various maze-like castles collecting treasure, keys, flipping switches and collecting the required orbs to finish the level. The game is colourful, challenging, has plenty of secrets and fun gameplay to keep you coming back in short bursts. Pace is good, levels aren't TOO busy or long - they're just right. It's maze-like key-hunting nature coupled with the way you shoot rapid bolts of lightning multi-directionally like a shoot-em-up, lends it a mysterious appeal. That leads to one of it's problems: Identity. it's Neither true platformer; it lacks weighty jumps, nor shooter. More like 'side-scrolling gauntlet' - not necessarily a bad thing tho'. Also, the game could be re-skinned with you as a space man with a laser gun. It feels very 'kit-built' like it could originally have been something else. Still contains Apogees' love of unavoidable spikes, too. Art style is uninspired, also. All that said, the rest is great. It's hard not to like, and simply has this unfathomable charm. It is fun, basically.
Generic, very "me too" - answering to games of the time (80s/90s). Similar to the likes of Castlevania;more so - arcade hack & slash titles of old eg. Ghouls n Ghosts, Rastan Saga... What this lacks in personality, it makes up for in gameplay; with visceral, weighty combat, some simple but perfectly fine platform sections here and there and it's central mechanic:You play as 2 characters 1 at a time, and can switch them out simply, on-the-fly; a bloke with a sword who is powerful but can dish-out and take more damage... and a woman who (you guessed it) is agile; she can jump higher and uses multi-directional fireballs instead of a sword. Again, not exactly earth-shatteringly original and yet... I don't know, this game is simply good, honest, solid fun. It feels spot-on! -Gameplay: Sharp controls and solid combat and weighty feel. Bit fiddly on keyboard, but workable. -Level Design/Graphics: Nicely drawn. Again, generic (forest world, dungeon, marsh world). Big sprites and mostly good colour choice. Plenty variety; some linear with tricky enemies; others more sprawling. -Sound: The music is utterly forgettable. Sounds like some sort of medieval porno.The bloody, squelchy sound effects are great, though! -As generic as this is, it's clearly made with love by people who are gamers and understand what is so great about some of the games that inspired this. Lacking the true artistry and character of the likes of Ghosts n Goblins, it packs a punch where it matters: The gameplay.
