Game Impressions This one is frustratingly close. Everything's in place: flawless controls, good physics, large levels and a pleasing retro graphical style... Everything's in place save for one thing: engaging, interesting gameplay. World one has you doing nothing except for practicing your jumps. It's part of the story, (you are gaining back your powers) and sets up the premise well enough - on paper - in practice there's just one thing wrong with it: it takes far too long. Had this been a five hour long adventure/platformer it's would be fine - it isn't: at the end of the first world I was shown that I had completed 24% of the game. Onto world two, and now in possession of a whip, you swiftly discover that the major portion of the gameplay is now made up of...still mainly jumping. Occasionally you need to whack something with your newly acquired "weapon." But most of the time it is not strictly necessary. It's slow and not particularly satisfying to use. The enemies provide you with little feedback or satisfaction when dispatched with, (and in fact, lack much in character when alive) so the impulse to simply get through the levels (by jumping, in case I hadn't mentioned) begins to gather momentum. I am about half way through world two at the moment. I intend to keep going to see what will unlock at the end and whether world three will offer anything more compelling, but I am no longer excited about the proposition by this stage. The jetpack interlude in level one was terrific. It was an odd segue, and came and went much too fast. Honestly, at the moment, I'd rather have a simple mini-game I could play indefinitely, based on that alone, than the relatively dull journey of exploration I find myself engaged in. It probably sounds like I hate the game, but in fact I would still recommend it. It's both accomplished and ambitious at least by iOS standards. In fact, so much so, I think the frustration mainly comes from knowing it could be a great game by any standard at all - if only its issues of pacing and lack of compelling, inspired gameplay could be resolved.
I have to agree 100%, with the exception of controls and physics. I find the position of the controls a little annoying (not game-breaking) and the physics wayyyyyyyyy too slow for me.
My problem with this post is that it, indirectly, falls into the "what I want this game to be" category as opposed to "what it is". As soon as you read the app description, you realize this game wears its heart on its sleeve. It's a run 'n' jump game. Nowhere in the app description does it say it's a Metroidvania, nor does it imply that the gameplay will change as you progress through the game. In fact, whether or not it was deliberate, it's astounding how direct and accurate the description is. You run and jump, you beat enemies with your whip, you can jump higher in time, you can fly a with a jetpack, collect items, hit checkpoints...need I go on? You don't hear people complaining about the gameplay in Super Mario Bros or Mikey Shorts, but it's okay to complain about it in Rico because of a false sense of progression? That's the thing...there is nothing false. The game is about running, jumping, collecting and exploring, and it does an exceptionally fine job at it.
Gabrien just has nothing really bad to say about the game which defeats his existence, so he's nitpicking the smallest details and making big issues outta them.
Can someone help me with this, done the first 7 levels.... Spoiler Done the first 7 levels, i'm not having a battle with the 'baddie', i now regret not picking up all the coins ! I've got '3 power' hes got 6 ! But wow do i defeat him ? I take it avoid his 'fireballs', then when they turn white i have to jump into it (to then turn it white/yellow) and somehow get it to hit him ? Its taking forever
Yeah my fault, i'll start again and this time wont do it too quick ! I thought something like this would happen but i didnt realise how tricky ! So yeah time to go back through the levels, must admit i'm really enjoying it though
Don't start over dude! If you play through the level select mode, all the coins you've collected will already be taken care of.
Thanks, great point. I'll do that. I do love the game, i do get 'slightly' what Gabrien is saying. It would be great to see a sequel with lots of non-linear levels. But still a bargain for the price (If they could just move the 'right' button to the left a bit !) but very happy, a great retro style game.
I am really enjoying the game. It balances most of what makes for a successful platformer for me. My only complaint are the size and placement of the controls. While the controls are very responsive, I would like to see the next build include the ability to resize and reposition them. I've lost many lives because of the tiny buttons' limited coverage area.
Hear hear, i'm surprised more people havent criticised the controls. The spacing is really poor as left/right should be closer to each other (and larger buttons). Thats my only moan, the games great, just hope the dev updates the controls
The touch areas for the buttons are actually quite big, my problem is the pause button area is too big therefore easy to hit by mistake
You should see what it's like on iPad. You can quite literally press in the center of the screen and still move. Not really sure where these control complaints are coming from.
Regarding control complaints, i play most of my games on my iphone/ipod touch so for me the controls are quite strange as the buttons are all equally spaced out - most platformers have the left/right quite close together Anyway i've emailed the dev to thankhim for a great game, suggest others do that, i'll leave an app store review now as i think great indie games like this really need good reviews
Good tip on the iPad scheme. I had no idea the real estate was that flexible. Just tried it out. However, I still prefer a more exact, user-defined placement of the buttons.
You really dont have to start your game all over again.Your talking about the level were your standing on a platform and the Evil brother hurls fireballs at you, right? All you have to do is dodge the fireballs but stand kind of close to them without getting hit (obviously). As the fireballs touch the platform they turn white ( remember your standing close without getting hit) move into the now white ball, turning its center blue.The now white&blue ball will bounce around the screen (if aimed right) they will kill the Evil brother. Took me a few tries to figure out. Moving forward collect all the coins.
Hey people! I'm the developer of this little game here. Thanks for all the feedback and the encouragement, it means a lot to me! About the button controls: I tried to design the buttons so that each one is about 2 centimeters (0.78 inch) in width. I did some research before and that was about the size a button "should" be to be comfortably clickable, according to what I've read, at least. Is that not the case for some of you? I'll also consider making the button width adjustable. I'm having a bit of a hard time making this work on all iOS devices. It's my first release on iOS and I only have one iPad that I only have access to every once in a while. That makes testing incredibly difficult. That said, I'm REALLY happy that it turned out to be working for most people! And a big thanks for the encouragment on NOT going the IAP route! I'm already stunned by the amount of sales I got in two days. Thanks you!
Hey Dude, I have just bought this simply because you went down the NON IAP route. for this reason alone i have applauded you and handed you my money!!! I will post again later to let you know what i think of the game, but if the video i watched is anything to go by it looks like an awesome addition to my iphone!
Welcome to TA, IMakeGames. Even though the game controls perfectly on a 4th gen iPad, if you're saying the buttons should be 2 cm in width, then something's definitely not gone as planned. I think half a centimeter is even pushing it. The actual visible buttons are tiny and so is pretty much all the text in the game. I'm guessing that wasn't intended...?
