FoonLudum Dare ExplorerLD34 → 2 button metroidvania

2 button metroidvania

By jaj

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CategoryRankScoreCount
Innovation723.93
Theme764.24
Overall903.85
Graphics1403.87
Audio1633.42
Fun1673.62
Mood1813.46
Humor4762.37
Coolness211524

Comments

tijmentio 2015-12-14 15:11

Found the secret ending! This was really hard...

modoc73 2015-12-14 15:11

Absolutely great. Awesome implementation of two button controls. Sweet art work. Level design even made you think. Found the secret ending though. Well done man! And 8hrs, gosh blimey.

holyblackcat 2015-12-14 15:14

Very nice! Good graphics and interesting music.
I like how you put everything a medroidvania needs into a such simple game.
And I found the secret ending.

pixlwalkr 2015-12-14 15:17

Pretty good mechanics, nice pixel art also.

aamatniekss 2015-12-14 15:18

Nice, clever controls and pretty polished overall! Good job, I enjoyed it, even if it was very hard! :D

pete_h 2015-12-14 15:19

Awesome entry!! The controls are brilliant, great way to work with the 2 button theme. Audio and art are grea. I did sometimes struggle to work out how to do certain moves and did eventually get stuck, but if I didn't have a tonne of games I want to try I would continue to play and figure it out. Great entry!

kernel_panic 2015-12-14 15:22

Excellent Game! Really hits that two button theme!

silkworm_sweatshop 2015-12-14 15:38

Cool! I thought the controls would take longer to get used to but I got a hang of it pretty quickly. I like how you got so many move-sets just by using button combinations. I got the secret ending to :D.

tgrehawi 2015-12-14 16:10

I feel like an idiot because I can't get over the ledge after the pit you get wall jumping from... otherwise nice concept!

jaj 2015-12-14 16:14

Thanks everyone

@tgrehawi *SPOILER* You need to find a new skill first *SPOILER*

kimau 2015-12-14 17:59

Double tap controls were really difficult. Lovely graphics and nice concept.

eddy93 2015-12-14 20:56

Pretty difficult game. But it's nice once you get used to it. I only would have loved it better if the buttons weren't next to each other. Good job overall

johntherobot 2015-12-14 21:26

Great game! Love that you got more than two controls on the two buttons and made a pretty complete feeling game. Congratulations on the intuitive level design (mostly) where you showed where each control went as you taught the player.

phocker 2015-12-15 01:45

really great use of controls - i did get stuck in one part but will try again

bitdecaygames 2015-12-15 02:36

Nice gameboy look for sure and good use of 2 buttons for controls.

drtizzle 2015-12-15 04:03

Very nice graphics and music! The use of the controls are interesting but hard to learn. Very nice job!

themeorch 2015-12-15 04:45

I admire the way you started with an interesting design question/problem and found ways to make it work. I almost got stuck, but I'm glad I kept going and found the secret ending. Really impressive work. Great art and music too!

2015-12-15 06:47

This is So HARD!!!... GOD!!!... i spend 30 min trying to leave a area O-O... the music its fine, the Graphics are so nice, the Gameplay it´s Hard but it´s perfect to this game style, the two botton control is perfect to the theme, 4,5/5 :)

chuigum 2015-12-15 06:58

Awesome concept and great graphics, nice music too. Fun game, very cool. Well done!

goldplatedxplodingfist 2015-12-15 07:36

Wow, the way you used the theme was amazing managing to pack so much functionality into 2 buttons, The level design was really well done and the game was fun play and realy made me think about all the ways to use 2 buttons.
:D

justinooncx 2015-12-15 07:45

Holy shit, this is amazing. Wonderful graphics, nice music and sfx, interesting puzzles, all with two buttons! Also got the secret ending!

alvaromartin 2015-12-15 07:50

Great game, one of my favorites!

tanis 2015-12-15 08:00

It's a fun game! The controls are kind of hard to get used too, but it's a very creative use of the theme! Grats!

korvexx 2015-12-15 09:17

Freakin' amazing work for 8 hours. Nice pixel art, good audio. The control idea for this is interesting. It's hard and frustrating, but rewarding and fun when you can get it right. Great job!

nidzakornjaca 2015-12-15 09:47

Smart controls, wonderful graphics, great audio!
Great!

ambi 2015-12-15 10:16

Damn that was really tough but made it in the end. :)

ruka 2015-12-15 10:18

Superb theme combination! It's very challenging but we've found the bonus skill!

edriavw 2015-12-15 10:42

awesome concept, graphics and sound too, but too hard to climb up

hexagore 2015-12-15 13:33

This is very clever :) Pretty sure it woudl kill my hands playing a longer version of this so the length is just right too.

esayitch 2015-12-15 14:55

Wonderful execution of the 2 button theme: using two buttons to do a wide array of actions! Art was pretty cool, and sound was repetitive but not annoying, very suitable as well.

Overall very solid, and the fact you made this in 8 hours is all the more amazing. Good luck, very well done!

mistermortal 2015-12-15 15:34

Amazing. Really well done. I loved the moments when I was like 'Ok, what combos do what?!' Ace!

tipyx 2015-12-15 17:31

The "taptaptap" is a little annoying, but everything else is great : best use of the theme, intelligent level design, good gameplay :)

local306 2015-12-15 18:30

Good job with the two button themed. Very interesting use of progression / leveling up and still only using two buttons

goutye 2015-12-15 20:46

I really appreciate the game until I got stuck here https://i.gyazo.com/32446d86ecc8d4288eb08184cc28000c.png
I didn't understand how I had to push the button. I tried A then S, but not working. Can you explain? I will rate this entry when I will be able to retry with the solution x) Great use of the theme! Really!

jaj 2015-12-15 22:08

@Goutye: It's A and then S in mid-air, but you need to get a new skill first.

zkenshin 2015-12-16 01:32

Really solid entry. Great to see a neat implementation of the two button controls. Well done. :)

pjimmy 2015-12-16 01:47

cool game, clever concept, sometimes getting the right combination was frustrating. well done

nelskj 2015-12-16 02:07

Nice exploitation of the theme !

broknecho 2015-12-16 05:23

Definitely a really cool implementation. Works really well as a sort of puzzle metroidvania.

Well done.

anael 2015-12-16 10:43

Very very good controls

spyboy 2015-12-16 11:08

Secret ending yay! Hard to play but so much fun!

jd557 2015-12-16 13:39

Awesome game! I'm pretty sure this is the best compo entry I've seen.

Awesome graphics: Check!
Awesome soundtrack: Check!
Awesome gameplay: Check!

inbetweengames 2015-12-16 16:26

Amazing! Didn't expect this complexity with just two button controls. Great entry! Congrats!
Also found the secret ending.. :) (but was stuck for roughly 5 minutes trying to figure out how to double jump without having necessary skill unlocked..:/)

saintheiser 2015-12-16 17:06

Very interecting game mechanics which implemetned two themes if meas that player glowing while he is understanding game rules.On other side it's pretty weird to control character this way. Good try anyway!

mrshoestore 2015-12-17 00:14

I think this is quite impressive for the time you say you spent on it. I will say as the controls start getting more complicated with the learned skills, it starts to become a little too unyielding, and found myself stuck due to not knowing how to make a jump... so i didn't get a secret ending :( great job!

karlipoppins 2015-12-17 02:22

8 hours only? wow this is purely amazing! Great music, superb animations, wonderful gameboy feel, super challenging.. everything is there, I can't wait to see what you come up with when you have more time! Cheers

fullmontis 2015-12-18 13:11

A great little game! I think you were able to capture the limitation of the theme and make it into a game without feeling limited at all. I really enjoyed it.

rnlf 2015-12-18 16:40

Those controls though!

Quite infuriating, but eventually I found both endings. Oooof.

Looks very pretty and sound and visuals fit together very nicely.

I liked it! (My left wrist hurts now).

bitslap 2015-12-18 16:43

This was a nice and compact metroidvania!
The controls were a bit infuriating but after a while i could navigate with more ease. Though it never became intuitive.

The art did a good job supporting the minimal gameplay as well as the audio! Cool tune!

gfm 2015-12-18 20:27

Got to the secret ending! :)

I wasn't expecting to see a two-button metroidvania game... kudos for being able to do it!

I really liked the limited and bluish color palette! The audio was also really fitting for the game.

Great job! :)

younghorses 2015-12-18 21:54

I like the concept of limiting a platformer to two controls and then stretching the imagination to figure out how to fit otherwise simple actions inside of it. I was not able to get over the tall wall (just after learning wall jump) that requires some sort of wall jump/bullet turnaround combo move.

ointment 2015-12-19 08:10

Now this is quite an interesting experience, and a creative take on the theme(s). Goes to show there's a lot to do with two buttons. I mostly enjoyed playing to the end, and this is one of the more memorable entries altogether.

To help you work on this more, maybe, here's my two main gripes regarding the gameplay:

1) The reaction times required are occasionally a bit overwhelming. It sorta feels like playing a debug fast-forward mode that you got used to during development, and which you never slowed back down for the poor players who are just taking their first look.

2) The skills aren't really explored to their fullest extent. I guess this is one of those things that feel "off" to me about many modern Metroidvanias. You only get skills to reach the next area - as a new key to a lock - not as a new degree of freedom that allows your character to explore more. This can sort of be excused considering it's made in a weekend, but I'd like to see you play around with non-linearity more after the compo.

Also, the audio does get on your nerves after a bit. Actually it seems out-of-place right from the start, mood-wise. It's just there doing its thing but not really complementing the gameplay.

yinyin 2015-12-19 16:17

My thoughts on the ^^AS checkpoint: please kill me.

Both before and after finally reaching it.

My verdict: it does absolutely not work.

jaj 2015-12-19 18:33

YinYin: Did you actually manage to get up there without finding the required powerup? Wow...

yinyin 2015-12-19 19:08

There is a required power up ...?

I only used a wall jump and turning mid air.

And because it seemed like I had to somewhat time my descent into the enemy pits following, I had to double tap turn a lot afterwards. And whenever I once again died down there I re spawned but was still turning half of the time thus falling off to the left again ... (and seemingly no way to kill myself to quickly re spawn up top)

Now that I think about it I should have probably gone back with the wall jump, but at the time it felt like there was only going forward.

I may give this another try, but even till that point it wasn't very fun with a double tap turn. I'd much prefer button hold/release combinations, but maybe these are taken for upgrades further down the road.

Really with those button restrictions and auto movement it's more like a tangled up runner than a Metroidvania. Doesn't work for me.

yinyin 2015-12-19 19:53

Okay then, it does work much better once you have the jump shot as it suddenly opens up traversal by several magnitudes. Reached the "secret ending". It kind of ends there at a point where it's only starting to get a little fun.

By the way, is the rapid fire S+A intentional? I cannot remember getting an upgrade for that (without the jump shot I kind of thought I need this to get through the enemy crowded pits by using my amazing ability to "fall" in at the right moment).

pixel_3 2015-12-19 23:14

Nice little Metroidvania.

The level design wasn't horrible except for that second enemy pit after getting autofire. I died 4 times before I even killed a single enemy. It also needs better indication that you need to explore at the ^^AS mark. Maybe just removing the mark altogether would do.

The Secret ending was cool, though if you had more time I feel like this is where you would've put a more difficult challenge.

jaj 2015-12-20 00:17

S+A was intentional, I needed to find a way to shoot multiple shots without turning. You get the upgrade at the long part where it says S+A on the floor.

Personally, I'm not that happy with level design from the first checkpoint onwards at all. There are so many cool things I could have done, but that's where the lack of time became an issue. I don't hate what it is now (I really think it's just a demonstration of possibilities), but it could have been really good, I think.

On the turning. I'm aware it's not the most intuitive solution, but level design itself was never supposed to revolve around it much. It was always intended as a recovery mechanic when you mess up. The true "turning" mechanic was always supposed to be walljumps.

lekochen 2015-12-20 15:03

The controls are brilliant!

seconddimension 2015-12-20 18:02

Top marks for theme, very clever and a great entry. Some pretty great game design here!

yinyin 2015-12-21 11:09

Aha! Then you introduced wall jumps too late ;p

Truly it would've been a lot better if you spend more time on level design. For example I really thought the pit you learn falling in was too wide to use the wall jump - if it had some visual cues on the walls matching the pit you get the wall jump in that may have reminded me to back track with it instead of pushing onwards.

jdoughty 2015-12-23 17:00

8 Hours? Very nice work in that span! Very polished game play!

weeping-rupee 2015-12-23 17:12

This was damn hard but rewarding. The part you had to specify in the description-- where you need the bullet jump thing... I think the reason I got stuck there was that I did not realize that with my wall jump holding down A would extend the jump/let me wall jump further. I knew I had to get back up to the top part to get that power up I saw right at the top but it took me 5 minutes or so before I figured out how to use the wall jumps right.

drauthius 2015-12-23 23:23

That finish line was hard to reach. I can't really say I enjoyed playing the game with two buttons. Most of the time the wrong thing would happen, which I understand is my own fault, but it was quite annoying. Still, it was a worthy challenge and quite rewarding once I managed to get the hang of it a bit. The sound when the bullets hit the wall was a bit too sharp.

tuism 2015-12-24 13:38

The idea is good, the execution pretty great, but the actual outcome wasn't... fun. It's very tedious. I think this is one of those to file under cool idea but ultimately not the best thing to do with two buttons.

If you ever played King of Thieves, this has that kind of feel to it, except I can time KOT with one touch, and this is a sequence of button hits... When I fail I feel like I'm unlucky rather than unskillful.

Cool exercise though :)

adrian09_01 2015-12-25 13:52

Cool. Is there something to do after getting Endless Jumpshot?

adrian09_01 2015-12-25 13:58

Cool. Found the secret ending! Make it longer! Bosses maybe? I will buy it on Steam.

kaiseangames 2015-12-27 17:16

Cool. I liked the theme application. It's a bit hard for me, but very good nonetheless.

punkto 2015-12-29 15:39

Neat design and controls. Well done!

lereveur 2016-01-02 00:40

Hard, but the concept is really fun. And learn abilities one after the other is great too. Well done !

rzuf 2016-01-03 12:12

Secret ending, woohoo! Would like to see some story in the game, as it's already pretty good in the mood department. :3 I like the music, it reminds me of Land of Illusion on Sega.
And wow, 8 hours, a mighty good job for such amount of time!

diel-mormac 2016-01-03 14:13

I did all endings!

peekotus 2016-01-03 15:50

A very unique way of making a metroidvania!

christina-nordlander 2016-01-03 17:26

You've made a demo that's better than any of my full games. The graphics are lovely, though the main character sprite might need some work, and the shake effect gets a bit too much. I love the background music; reminds me of "La-Mulana"'s soundtrack. However, the sound effects are a bit too loud.

The world design is pretty great. Unfortunately, the controls made it too hard for me. Still, very good-looking game with a cool concept.

radmars 2016-01-04 05:30

Awesome! Really clever use of the theme here and quite fun too. The only issue I could find is that the amount of enemies in some of the areas is a bit excessive, but it's not too bad since they don't respawn. Nice job on the graphics & audio too!

haokarlos 2016-01-04 15:32

I enjoyed playing this game. The graphics and the music really cool. Good job!

rojo 2016-01-04 16:54

For awhile it was pretty tough to drill the button combos into my brain. Still, the game was pretty fun and I liked the aesthetic. Good job!

pixelpotions 2016-01-04 18:09

Impressive! Awesome work, liked it a lot!
Really hard to master the controls.

aflatminerstudios 2016-01-04 18:49

Love the way you used the two button limitation...and that's on top of excellent graphics and audio. Really fun!

flannelvindicate 2016-01-04 19:09

You were featured on Ludum Dare to Believe! Check it out! - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHct4hxdQmI

mach60kas 2016-01-04 20:29

Very interesting application of the theme! I love your use of the 4-colour palette throughout the game, and I think you've done a great job with the music. This is incredible for just 8 hours, I'm extremely impressed. Keep up the great work!

creative-sectors 2016-01-04 20:46

[Lazarus-omin from Creative Sectors]:
Jesus Christ, this is awesome! And it only took you about 8 hours to make?! That's just some mad science!

Controls are very slick, the worked exceptionally well with the given theme. The graphics and music just set the mood right, so if you plan to polish this further, a perfect base is given.

Finished the normal way, and found the secret ending too.

I'm speechless mate, nice job! Hope to see more of your magic!

P.s.: I haven't experienced lag, or any other anomalies.