FoonLudum Dare ExplorerLD40 → Rhythm Bandit

Rhythm Bandit

By fashionbatman

View on ldjam.com

CategoryRankScoreCount
Overall2743.4845
Fun3673.2045
Innovation2143.4345
Theme4023.3145
Graphics5062.8345
Audio273.9845
Humor4702.2041
Mood4312.9042

Comments

mikuzune 2017-12-04 01:21

I like the theme and idea behind this a lot and the music is really good.

However I have a couple of complaints about the game play.

Firstly, the changing floor tile colours. It's very confusing to have the tiles change colours constantly. When I first started playing, I thought I was moving without doing anything. I then thought that the map was moving beneath me/with the enemy, before coming to grips with what actually was happening.

Secondly, I think it's legitimately impossible to get some of the crystals if you've picked others up (I might just need to git gud though, so please correct me if I'm wrong with this). Which makes it seem like you can't complete the game with all the items collected.

Sorry to be so critical, I really like the retro theme of this game and the music is really really good. I just think that some parts hurt the game play experience as a whole.

If you'd like to come criticize my game here's the URL: https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/40/toy-hero You play as a robot hiding all the toys away from mum, who keeps cleaning them up.

2017-12-04 01:28

Along with Mikuzune's suggestions, I think it would be better to speed the guards up instead of slowing the player down after a certain point, traversing between rooms on quarter beat felt dull.

fashionbatman 2017-12-04 02:52

@mikuzune Thanks for playing and your feedback. Don't worry about being critical! I won't learn anything without criticism. When I made the changing floor colors I was thinking of making it like a dance floor type thing, but I can now see how it can be annoying.

It's definitely possible to collect all of the crystals, you just had to get them in the correct order. I wish I had more time to design a better level to show that properly.

fashionbatman 2017-12-04 02:55

@s9menine Thanks for playing! You're definitely right the game gets dull at that point(I guess I was kind of going for that). But your idea is super good, and I'm totally doing that in my post-comp build.

fashionbatman 2017-12-04 03:14

@mikuzune I ended up making a walk through

https://youtu.be/9HrIPA5nC2Q

adrien-dittrick 2017-12-04 14:02

oh wow this is very similar to my zombie game :)

adrien-dittrick 2017-12-04 14:04

The music kicks ass :) My eyes hurt coz of the necordancer tiles though X)

fashionbatman 2017-12-04 22:20

@adrien-dittrick Thanks! and yeah, sorry the tiles are definitely something i'm getting rid of in the future.

prostone 2017-12-04 22:24

Dig the retro theme and music, they mash really great. The moving tiles though, argh, yeah. Might have been better to keep the tiles non-moving and instead shine a cone like light on them and change the light color based on the rhythm (or just a transparent-ish circle sprite). That way it wouldn't be as distracting and might still look like a dance floor. Anyway, good job!

rob-white 2017-12-04 22:25

Nice soundtrack and a clever idea. The aesthetic overall was good but the tiles changing colours just resulted in my eyes bleeding.

jons-games 2017-12-04 22:30

I like the idea of moving with music timings, with a bit more time this could make a really fun game.

Id agree that in this version its hard to know what order to do things in. It took me a while to realise that I had to move to the next screen to first pickup an item.

ricksquanchez 2017-12-04 23:01

hey,fun game! I really like the music and the gameplay.The pattern of the tiles constantly moving confused me a little bit ,was just a lot of visual information.

grentacular 2017-12-05 01:48

This is a really clever idea! I feel like rhythm games in general are very versatile and you used the idea well! I liked the puzzle elements that evolved from slowing down each time you picked up an orb.

My biggest complaint (like a lot of commenters) is the alternating background tiles. I like the *idea* of the effect, but I think there's too much contrast between the colors and it just confuses the player. Still, overall a great game!

averagebrownie 2017-12-05 19:25

Pretty fun game! The changing tiles did give me a bit of a headache though. The music was nice and the innovation was good too! Good job!

leticinios 2017-12-05 19:26

I really likes the colors! The music is amazing :)

aycan 2017-12-05 19:28

Fantastic theme music. I added it to my chiptunes playlist :)

tim-eriksen 2017-12-05 19:29

Cool game! I really liked the music and sound effects :) The game did get a bit slow as I had to go back and forth in ever slowing speed to get the crystals in the right order, so I agree with what has been said here earlier about the gards moving faster instead of the player moving slower. All in all a job well done! You have made a really nice game :)

dumivid 2017-12-05 19:37

I agree with other, background hurts eyes and also cuz of it you dont feel the move right, some times its even hard to predict enemy speed rate. To improve a think you should use another color palette and zoom out the camera for at lest 50%. Overall good game, especialy audio, nice work.

logan 2017-12-05 19:46

What an awesome idea! The penalties for carrying things were pretty harsh, but it fits well in this setup. Each step slower became a new level of planning. Dodging those two guards in the hallway became some bizarre intricate dance on a half-note rhythm with all the treasures. The only thing this game is lacking would be a better presentation, maybe just toning down the contrasting floor tile colors. But I'm not going to hold that against it. Really neat concept!

mess110 2017-12-05 22:37

The visuals were crazy. Trippy. Maybe a bit over the top, but with some tweaking I bet you can make it work. The sound was awesome.

miguel-polvora 2017-12-05 23:34

Great great work I really, the music was awesome!

racso 2017-12-05 23:58

The idea behind this entry is seriously good! Congratulations on that!

At the same time, however, the idea of changing the floor tiles is terrible! I really think your game will improve a LOT with a static floor! (haha, a quick glance at the comments revealed me that I'm not the only one against the crazy floor :P)

magonx 2017-12-06 00:11

I love Rythm Games, and this one was no exception. The concept behind was really good, with a good use of the theme. The difficulty is incredible hard, and I could only get 2 coins. Amazing game, amazing job!!!

potatolain 2017-12-06 00:27

I really liked where this game was going, though I'll admit I didn't make it to the end. Not really much that hasn't been said - the sound is pretty awesome as others have mentioned. The floor tiles were a little distracting but I could work with it. Don't really tend to see rhythm games in LD, so that was cool. Thanks for sharing!

chaosinism 2017-12-06 01:17

Impressing music! The art is kind of abstract but I believe people can quickly understand what different sprites stand for.

triastase 2017-12-06 14:56

The idea fits the theme very well, and it is well executed. I found it a little frustrating to play, because i was not able to move when I wanted, but that's kind of the point here. SO maybe it's just a lack of skill on my side. I really like the music by the way! :)

pvtroswold 2017-12-07 03:41

Nice jamz!!1

frescogusto 2017-12-07 16:08

nice music!=1

junber 2017-12-09 19:11

Took me a while to understand I could go over the edge of the screen into the next room because at first I thought that the game autoscrolls because of the color-switching of the floor and the weird controls (which were't really that weird once I got used to them) But after that the game was pretty fun. The slowed down movement was a really good idea and well made. I also liked the music.

tom-panton 2017-12-21 22:41

Very cool game! Top marks for innovation; this was a very clever idea, and really well executed too. To nitpick a bit, I found the changing floor colours to be quite disorientating — perhaps the colours could have been a bit less contrasting.

johnbrynte 2017-12-23 00:50

Fun and innovative!

8-bit aesthetics in all glory, but I often feel a bit heart broken when the limited graphics affects the mechanics of the game negatively :broken_heart: For me rhythm is about *feeling* the beat and where it's going. In your game the music is a great basis for feeling that rhythm, but the graphics are completely static in between the beats meaning that I don't know where everything's moving. I think this *nice* game could be a **GREAT** game if the graphics would have the same flow as the music, with transitions and effects to show where everything is moving.