That sounds like a great idea. People with the free version could just upgrade to the premium, like in App Store days of yore, dev makes money, gamers are happy. Instead Im trying to play a game and I'm closing pop-ups left and right. I didn't even get around to playing the game. EDIT: Hahaha, I just re-opened the game to actually get around to playing it after the onslaught of advertising. The second I open it from the multitask bar at the bottom, this happens: FOUR ads before I ever get to fire a shot. Until this is dealt with, I'm done with this game. What a waste.
The IAP vs grinding required to progress through this game, combined with ads, kills this game for me. I miss the days when you could pick up new weapons and power-ups in games as you run along. I'm more than happy to pay money for a game, but when I do so I should't be faced with grinding or IAP as my only options to move forward. Deleted.
Well, the difficulty is fine IMHO. Think about games of old, they didn't have any of these extra items to help out. So, anyone looking for a Contra-like challenge shouldn't be too upset by anything. My grind has been minimal due to what I've invested my gems in plus it doesn't bother me too much because I can perfect my runs and complete challenges. Old games used to be hard and you had less options. You figured out the path and did what you had to do to get 'er done. Think of a shmup: it would be just like this if it stayed the same but had a bunch of available upgrades. The game wouldn't be easy if it didn't have IAPs because it's not supposed to be. Notice I never said the grind was hard or it ever felt like I really needed gems to get things. What I said was I just don't like IAPs due to the principle. To me the grind in this game is fine. If anything the dev just needs tom lower the prices for the initial weapon buying, but everything else can stay the same. Games on iOS are typically much easier than other games I've played, even in the last few years. Ninja Gaiden, Devil may Cry 4, and FF 13 are quite hard IMO. There are some XBLA games that are premium and pretty hard too, but it's all about the skill.
Difficulty isn't the problem. Actually the game isn't very hard. Especially compared to Contra or even a lot of games in the appstore. I just don't think it's fun to run around with one gun forever. If you play the game straight through without grinding levels, then you won't even earn enough gems to unlock all of the weapons. So you can watch ads(waste of time), buy them(waste of money), or grind. If all of the guns were available to start with so you were just saving to upgrade them, then I wouldn't take issue with the gem rate, but it sucks to have weapon drops that you can't pick up because you haven't acquired enough gems yet.
Well, according to the dev, the reason he made the game like this is to appeal to more people on the AppStore. So, there's more of a grind instead of making the game ridiculously hard because then people would b*tch about that. However, the initial purpose for guns could be a bit decreased. Also, let me point out that I was able to fully upgrade my health and and buy the second gun after maybe grinding for about a half hour. At least they added challenges to help soften the grinding blow, even though I don't think it's that bad. TBH, it might be my RPG side that's preventing me from seeing it from some other people's perspectives. On Xbox, I could spend a whole day grinding if I really wanted to and I've done it before. I could've skipped the health and bought one more gun making three total. I haven't played in a while, but I just looked at my gem count and I have 6, which is three away from what could've been a fourth gun. Don't get me wrong as I do understand your frustration. Unfortunately, the devs have to make compromises for a casual audience (if they even buy this).
I just don't see how limiting the game in this way requiring you to grind is appealing to a casual audience. Besides I don't buy the argument that you can't make a challenging game that sells well in the appstore. League of Evil, and Super Crate Box seem to be doing ok. Plus, the people who just play Angry Birds and Tiny Wings don't seem like the target audience of a game that draws so much from Contra. But I'm not really asking for this game to be harder. I would like to see a hard mode added though, and I agree with Hodapp and crew that the game would be better if it was sped up a few notches.
I'm telling you what they said. I'm not a developer and I'm assuming you're not one either, so we can't really say what will help sell this game better. Also, some people have expressed that they thought the game was hard. Personally, I do agree with you and I noted that they might not buy this type of game in my last post. On the other hand, the grind doesn't bother me at all because I can grind for long periods on a game that's fun. However, my perspective might be blurred due to my gaming background, but I do see your point as I've stated and I said prices should be lower. Also, TBH, I don't really know what the casual audience likes because they seem to b*tch about everything thing in the AppStore, so... Also, LoE and SCB are way different IMO. SCB is just pure, simplistic fun that had a very strong backing from the get go. LoE is a speedrunner, a already semi-popular to popular genre on the AppStore. Plus, it's really not that hard at all IMHO. I think the problem is that the dev made somewhat of a niche game, but tried to appeal more people; people that probably don't want to play a game like this. However, being a niche title on the AppStore can be suicide because it's over saturated and people complain about pricing. Obviously, there's something to it or else Cave wouldn't be thinking about going freemium. Look at Dangerous, the dev already said the game was picking up any momentum despite it being a game changer IMO. I'll say it again, this is not a dedicated gaming platform. Or all devs are greedy bastards and we should just boycott.
I'm sorry, I might have liked this game back in the early 80's when I was nine, but it feels like total garbage now ... Rarely have I felt the waste of two bucks that I have with this title..Controls are sluggish, evironments are bland, there is absolutely nothing endearing about this... there is a reason things evolve, not always can you go back to the past and rekindle old magic...
OOOOooo here's another one to add to the "ads that totally fit in a game like Star Marine": TOP GIRL, customize your style! Go on romantic dates! Mingle at the clubs! Travel to L.A. and New York! After all, once I'm done in the fantasy world of detroying aliens and shooting faces into a pulp, I know I always have a henkering to mingle at the clubs and customize my style. Glitchsoft, I want a damn explanation for this. You have absolutely pissed all over my experience with this game, and I wanna know why.
This game is total garbage. First of all the play mechanics suck. Jumping is "floaty" and unreliable for a fast action platforming like a contra-style game. The firing controls seem to work well. The music and sounds are an afterthought. The in-game adds are an effin joke. We already paid for the game so CUT THIS SH%T OUT! Unless you spend MORE real life money, on top of the game's purchase, you get 1 life per level and gain new weapons at the speed of snail. I've played about 10+ games and unlocked 1 weapon? Avoid this trash like the plague!
I agree about the in game ads being sucky and IAP is meh, but sorry you suck at the game. I was able to easily get through the first three levels with the stat up equipment. After that I was able to buy the full health upgrade and a gun in under 30 minutes. This grind is far less than a lot of other games in the AppStore. You obviously understand nothing about the game and haven't bothered to look at anything. You would also know that the 8 way controls pay homage to classic games, which a lot of us here in this thread actually appreciate. The gameplay itself pays homage to classic games with the health setup in a way...you're lucky they gave whiners like you (oooh it's soooo hard) a way to add upgrades. It's people like you who don't know what you bought and instantly rage b*tch about. Then you wonder why the market goes downhill. Because you tell people to avoid a game that itself is very good and they do. Games used to be a hell of a lot harder than this.
Yeah the ADS are really a shame. I admit the novelty of this game wears off pretty quick after the ads, cluttered menus and repetitive lackluster levels/bosses. What a shame, had high hopes for this one.
SEE! This is an appropriate/mature response from someone who knows what they bought! I agree the ads in a paid app are pretty ridiculous. The sad thing is that the game is awesome in so many respects. Fortunately, the ads don't pop up as much for me so I've been enjoying it, but hopefully they get removed in the next update!
D-amn. Well Said. I agree with you 100%. I love LOVE Harder games. Can't Stand people whining about difficulty.
Yeah! I always see this type of sh*t in AppStore reviews. The thing about console is that it seems like gamers take more time to look into what they're buying coz it's $60. On iOS they drop $2 on a game that they don't understand and leave a crappy review on the AppStore. I saw this same crap last week with Streetbike. "OMG this is a arcade racer, I thought it was MotoGP iOS edition". MuthaFudger, it said in the description that it was a throwback to retro arcade racers, so shut the hell up. I'm pretty sure that was the first sentence! And the biggest OMG was that actual reviewers were reviewing it as the next MotoGP. It's a pretty sad day in gaming when reviewers don't know what they're reviewing. Developers are eventually going to get sick of this crap and leave this platform or just not give a crap about consumers at all. Hell, I bet hardcore Contra fans won't upgrade anything and just unlock all the guns. Remember the days when you only got 1 or 3 lives with no upgrades. You had to prefect sh*t.
Definitely! This game brings that euphoric nostalgic feeling ive been looking for, for a long a$$ time. Really Enjoying this title and its execution is perfect. IMO of course.
I know, right? Honestly, I find some of the tighter controls on iOS annoying in the first place. The floaty controls in this game actually help me a ton, especially the super float while shooting. I can kill a few enemies before I even touch the ground. And, tbh, the regular jump really isn't that floaty. I 100% agree with you! These controls have been done pretty much flawlessly.
Reading all this, I'm kind of in the middle. If a game really pissed me off because I feel like a dev completely screwed over buyers, I'm usually one to complain. I really like this game and for me the difficulty is about right (just because I never was that great at Contra). The ads are ashame. Usually if I pay for a game, I expect that there should be no ads. Period. I get even more mad when a dev adds ads or changes to freemium after early adopters bought it. So here we get a game with ads AND IAPs. I shouldn't be happy about it, but for some reason I like the game enough that I'm overlooking it. That said it does feel like a freemium game (which I hate that model to begin with) and the devs mixing it within a paid title. It rubs me the wrong way. But like Goofy, I don't mind the grinding since I enjoy the gameplay. Maybe if they made the gems a bit easier to get it and changed the menus so they didn't seem like they were pushing you towards the IAPs, maybe it wouldn't feel as out of place in a paid game. Still really good game and one I'll still be playing it.
