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Thursday 21 February, 2008
GAMELOG #2
GAMEPLAY:
Each world has a miniboss and a boss. They reside at the end of their respective levels, the miniboss being in the level halfway through a world, and the boss being at the end of the last level. They added a bit of a story by making all of the last levels the castle of its world, and the kings have been transformed into animals. The boss after each world holds the wand that turns the kings to their human form. The bosses themselves are just enemies with a bit faster and more varied movement, and are aggressive toward the player. They will move side to side and jump at you, and the major bosses will zap their wand at you as well. Instead of taking one hit to kill, they each take three. Although there are no other enemies to fight simultaneously or platforms to traverse, the fights are still all about placing jumps and landings, because stomping on enemies is the main form of combat.
On the overworld map, you can sometimes use your upgrades in different ways. I found out that one that lets you throw hammers, will also break rocks on the map, which gave me access to extra huts where I could acquire more lives and upgrades. This feature is in no way necessary, but I thought it was a very nice addition for those with a curious or explorative style.
DESIGN:
Everything is sized to fit on a grid, with most things being two by two. This being the case, I consider a two by two object the size of their normal tiles. This is very geometric, which I think is a good thing for a platformer because it is much easier to gauge whether or not you can make a jump versus having to find an alternate route.
There is a large variety of obstacles, allowing a lot to be done. There are platforms that move, spin, disappear, and can be moved by the player. There are enemies that shoot bullets, lob hammers, jump, and even drop more enemies on you. Half of the gameplay is trying to reach the appropriate platform, the other half is trying to conquer the monster blocking your path. All of this is accomplished by jumping with the correct timing and precision. It is a simple gameplay element used in a multitude of circumstances, and it's well done.
The colors are all bright, but the backgrounds and environment textures are kept simple, while the character, enemies, and critical objects have bold lines and are distinct. This keeps the focus on what is important, while still making the overall screen aesthetically pleasing. It also keeps it simple with regards to what will hurt and what won't. Generally speaking, if it is round, it's safe to hit, if it has spikes, it's not.
Hidden rooms and items are usually very satisfying to find. Their reward is commonly one of the good upgrades, or a few extra lives. As someone with a long background in playing Mario games, RPGs, and the like, seeking out hidden things and exploring is part of my play style. I really like to find as many side paths, extra content, and easter eggs as I can, so jumping into thin air and having an invisible block be triggered feels really good.
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