Foon → Ludum Dare Explorer → LD42 → The Legend of Cactus
By astericon
| Category | Rank | Score | Count | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 1265 | 2.43 | 24 | |
| Fun | 1182 | 2.47 | 24 | |
| Innovation | 1263 | 2.00 | 24 | |
| Theme | 1044 | 2.81 | 24 | |
| Graphics | 1166 | 2.11 | 24 | |
| Audio | 773 | 2.00 | 22 | |
| Humor | 769 | 2.23 | 21 | |
| Mood | 1087 | 2.26 | 21 |
I really liked that you used the arrow keys to throw the bombs, it did take me a little bit to realise that however as the instructions weren't clear. The audio doesn't always play and I only realised it had audio on the 2nd or 3rd level. I think it was a cool concept however.
I was wondering "what am I doing in this empty room, bombing the doors doesn't seem to do much". Then I walked through a door. The lingering bomb blasts (black squares) still damage you even after the red square goes away, which I didn't expect. Haha, anyway I enjoyed playing it (I like WSAD + arrow key games).
Nice concept!
A few things that would make this much more fun for me: 1) Making the enemies a bit more unpredictable. Currently they always follow you around in a pace that's just a tiny bit slower than yours, making the game be mostly about how patient you are to gain distance on them. You can make them follow more elaborate patterns or add some randomness. 2) I think the concept of the space getting smaller because you're bombing the floor was neat, but it didn't really come into play for me so much because the game stages were so big. I think this would have worked better in smaller stages or if your bombs made more of the floor collapse.
Anyway, cool game :)
I really liked the bomb throw mechanic, that felt like in the first legend of zelda game. But i got the feeling the controls where to slow,to get somewhere you sometimes had to wait a bit. but over all i liked it.
The idea is pretty cool, but really hard to understand. Maybe write a short tutorial here. It took me seveal tries and the comments above to figure out what to do.
The retro style is well done, but I think some background music could improve it. Anyway, well done.
The win condition was confusing, since the first time I played the game, I won after the first room, and the second time, I wandered through several rooms not finding anything. The mechanic is strong and the theme connection is clear. I really wished I could move faster and that there were more enemies: too often the correct strategy for a room was simply to run in a straight line throwing bombs backwards until all the enemies were dead. Still, there's a good idea there and I liked playing it.
@talon Sadly didn't have enough time to fully finish my game. Thanks for reviewing my game.
Nice concept! I'm intrigued by the cacti. What is their story? Why are they winged? The world may never know. The movement was smooth and pleasing, though it did take a few seconds to grasp the controls. Good work though, keep it up!
Hey there, good job with the game! I'm giving feedback considering that you're going to continue developing this game.
First of all, I've never saw the hold R to reload, it is really nice, because if you press it unintuitively you don't reset the game (I'll copy it to my games as well, haha)..
You for sure used BoI as inspiration, but be careful with it if taking it forward. Try to use another thematic instead.
Let's get to your criticism:
• The player is slow. Comparing the player and map sizes it feels really tedious to move player around. Improving the velocity would make it more hectic fun and easier to play.
• I like the way it the bomb blocks the map, using the actual level layout it turns out that you need to be a very strategic shooter.
• The enemies could change to display damage. I don't know if I can kill multiple enemies with a single bomb or not, so I don't know if that is a valid strategy. Players likes to feel that they are in control of what they are doing, try to make it as clear as possible
That's all from what've played. Good job finishing it. Are your levels infinite? I couldn't tell.
In case you continue to develop your game let me know! I'd like to see your progress, my info is on my LD profile.
Do you mind to give feedback to our game as well? (It’s a platformer, I don’t know if you like the genre but it is important for me to have feedback from player who like and dislike it). The link to it is on my profile, I won't post to avoid spam.
Oh, I forgot to say how much I've completed on your game. I've completed the max 4/5 rooms. Died 2 times.
(I think that can help you to have a sense of progress your players usually take).
@oort Thanks for playing and reviewing my game. It's better to keep their story a secret.
Enjoyed the mechanic of moving + direction of the bombs being separately controlled. Took a second to figure out, but overall an enjoyable experience! Well done!
Hey, that was a nice game, it was pretty hard when i started, the cactus all came at once and i could not go back, but once i got the comands it became easier, i guess i will never look at cactus the same way now hmm but i liked the idea of they being enemies with wings so they can pass through the holes you make with your bombs. Good job, i would be happy if you continue working on this game, it has potential ;)
A good game idea, the music should be improved. The graphics are good. Try our game too, maybe you'll like it)
I too liked how you can control the character and their attacks independently. The running is a bit of a slog. But the biggest thing that would make it immediately better and more clear is just some feedback that you're damaging the enemies. I thought for sure I wasn't doing anything until I stumbled on to killing them with multiple hits. Definitely some real touches of brilliance in there though, great job.
Neat game, and I like the movement and bomb placement mechanics! Flying cacti are awesome. Perhaps a dash action could be added so we can move faster at times :)
Pretty Cool Game! I love the flying cacti and the hand-drawn look. I will add however, that often times I would hit cacti but they wouldn't die. I realized eventually that it was because they were in the outer black square not the red one but you may want to clear that up. Nice Job!
Binding of Isaac meets Bomberman with a great thematically-appropriate twist. I liked that you encourage the player to be deliberate about their bombs by limiting the available space. I'll echo other feedback around cranking up the move speed. Had a lot of fun, and I dig the enemy designs.
Fun game!