FoonLudum Dare ExplorerLD49 → Stronkey Kong

Stronkey Kong

By 100th-coin

View on ldjam.com

CategoryRankScoreCount
Overall444.0174
Fun983.7974
Innovation983.8474
Theme4033.1674
Graphics754.0074
Audio294.0474
Humor523.8474
Mood663.8173

Comments

2021-10-04 16:18

I really liked the art <3

ugly-robot 2021-10-04 18:10

This game is such a joy - the wonderful intro cinematic, the adorable bunny theming supported by amazing pixel art, and the silly twist on a classic make it very visually engaging.

More than all that - the gameplay is amazing! I can't believe you were able to tackle structural building in a game jam! I loved swapping between the adrenaline pumping barrel dodge, then the puzzle-like crafting a structure. It is such a fun concept and is excecated beautifully. I only wish there were more frequent powerups / bonuses (perhaps at a lower point bonus) - as some of the most fun moments were frantically diving around while building to try to reach an umbrella lol

(unfortunately my run stopped when I climbed down a ladder below the map - but with so such complex mechanics, I certainly cant begrudge a few bugs)

Really amazing work, you must be an incredible and well-rounded programmer to tackle such a large project and execute it so beautifully

pbg 2021-10-04 20:08

Man, this game is such an excellent idea! Unfortunately, i found it pretty hard. i found money pretty hard to come by, and losing a big chunk of it was really aggravating, since the penalty is ultimately time in that you need to jump barrels to get more.

That being said, its an amazing jam game. the intro cracked me up, and its such an excellent concept. I think the penalty for getting hit needs to be significantly reduced, however. Well done! Audio and graphics are superb here.

crazyrems 2021-10-04 20:25

Nicely done, great homage to the original game and the soundtracks are fabulous!

The progression is built with care, I was earning money just by jumping over barrels but the game rewards you by building structures and killing enemies, which is without doubt way more funnier.

be3n2 2021-10-05 00:53

The starting and ending aminations are absolutely amazing, the way he clears out the level made me laugh. Fun game and I'm sure most people can beat my time of 14 minutes!

flywolfe 2021-10-05 05:02

Great job, man! This was really well polished and I loved the freak out Stronky Kong had when destroying the tiles, really added a lot of flavour to the game. The graphics were amazing and the music was on point :D

Only critique I have is on the -1000 points from getting hit by a barrel. It kind of incentivizes you to stop by the shop as often as possible instead of keeping you in the heat of the moment

But honestly, amazing game and fantastic job!

ludokultur 2021-10-05 06:29

Amazing, love the "build your own level while playing it simultaneously" concept. Great art and music too! It could be a little faster (not in terms of movement, but in terms of how quickly you get points to build more stuff), but overall easily one of my jam favorites! :)

heremeus 2021-10-05 08:40

Awesome entry, I had lots of fun playing it! I actually liked the -1000 points mechanic. When I first got hit I was afraid I had to restart. -1000 points was bad enough to hurt and not try to get hit but not devastating. Also great take on the theme. Stronky Kong really made it an unstable expierience :P

@be3n2 most people? Probably. Me? No - Speedrun time: 14:48 :D

elias-manzaneda 2021-10-05 08:48

Pleasantly surprise with this game. The sprites are really charming and the music is good too. The scafolding mechanic is very addictive. I would love to play a longer version of this! Very well done!

jonah-srg 2021-10-05 13:54

Just wanted to quickly pop in to say I am getting a crash when attempting to start up on my machine, with both the packaged versions on Itch and github. Not sure if the error report is worth anything, but let me know if you want to take a look, happy to send it over.

100th-coin 2021-10-05 13:59

@jonah-srg are you running this on a windows, or a different OS using something to emulate it? I can try and upload a version for Linux and Mac, I just don’t have any way to test and make sure they work.

bootak 2021-10-05 16:00

That's a great game right there! Firstly, the concept is unique to me, I've never seen a combination of Donkey Kong with shop & building mechanics. Second, it looks and sounds very very nice, I love the style of levels, character design and shop interface. And also, I love your attention to details. Where someone could just put a dollar sign and call it a day, You've made "The scaffolding company" how fun! It's impressive how you managed to do all this and this good just in 48 hrs! The game looks very polished, complete with some nice touches like proper intro (with even a fun twist to it)! That's a 5/5 entry!

jonah-srg 2021-10-05 16:11

@100th-coin Running on Windows 10, no dual boot or anything of the sort. I'll restart and give it another go. Feel free to reach out on Twitter or Discord if you want the error output.

johnlee-cooper 2021-10-05 16:55

super creative as always. Theres something very magical about a game that controls very similar to donkey kong but then you walk to the right and the screen scrolls and you enter a shop. Its a bit tedious to actually progress in, but conceptually its very clever, and it plays great too.

bootak 2021-10-05 17:57

UPD: Oh my god, you're the author of the "Ribbon" from LD47! That was my favorite game then! Well done!

100th-coin 2021-10-05 18:04

@bootak Ha! I'm glad to hear you liked my games!

becky-rayner 2021-10-05 18:35

Wow, amazing game! Really like the art theme, simple yet effective. Really cool mechanics and overall fun to play! The fact you created this solo and in such a short time is super impressive!

geist-191 2021-10-05 18:45

overall super nice game! I tried to build my way up as efficiently as possible and actually managed with only 3 ladders, no idea if that is good :D Had a fun time, great job!

daniel-giorlando 2021-10-05 20:06

This is cute as hell I love it 😭

melancholia 2021-10-05 20:31

It was such a nice game and the controls felt really nice! Some changes to the pacing and rewards would make it to the top of the jam! Nice work, keep it up!

sarah 2021-10-05 20:38

Overall, I love everything about this game \o/ It sounds really nice, the graphics are really adorable and everything is nicely polished. So well done on all that!!

I really like the idea of buying pieces to build with, so I went into the store, ready to construct a tower of my dreams. After looking at all the items, and not buying anything, I decided to go back outside to scope out the lands and decide what would be the most efficient piece to buy!

I stepped outside, and *immediately* got hit with a barrel, lost all my money, and DIDN'T EVEN GET TO GO SHOPPING. Then I died laughing haha, but nice game :3!!

cottonfloweryellow 2021-10-05 20:39

Nice graphics and music!

pickens-inc 2021-10-05 20:43

What a magnificent entry! I spent a lot longer playing this than I thought I would. Incredible polish for a compo game, and I loved how much it felt like Donkey Kong reimagined. The music especially was appreciated, how nearly everything was *just* different enough from the original, and the main theme was great, using that little five note motif repeatedly.

The controls were pretty clear once I read instructions and it was a nice clear indication of progress. I do have some constructive criticism. The main one I think has been echoed a little in that there were times, especially near the beginning, where it felt like a real grind trying to earn enough - especially for that ladder. Losing 1000 meant having to sit there grinding potentially ten barrels, and sometimes this didn't always feel fair - I wasn't sure how to deal with the flame enemies without the hammer, and they'd sit there rudely in the one place I need to build or surround me on both sides. Generally cutting down the -1000 punishment and making everything way cheaper (and maybe making powerups more frequent, only saw two in 20 minutes) would be a big improvement for a jam experience.

That said, it was still a remarkably fun and cute game with wonderfully authentic graphics and a tight controls. Well done!

stronkey.png

rzfmzn 2021-10-05 21:06

I usualy avoid the games that I have to download, lazyness. Some of the games, however, catch my attention, yours is one of them :D I am glad I found your game :P 30 minutes of joy in my afternoon :) Thank you sir for that :P Minor bug that sometimes, one of the barrels does not award me with the points. Would love to have a tutorial for construction patterns (took me a while to understand how things worked), but it is a jam, so you did an amazing job! The sounds reminded me of bob is going home (atari) and it was very nostalgic :) amazing work!

jose-bonilla 2021-10-05 21:21

Amazing game! Really fun to play, I "speed-run"'d it in 39', lol. I wish the character moved faster and the jump were less floaty, I also encountered a bug where all barrels bouncing on a corner of a girdle would be stuck there forever. Overall amazing.

albyk 2021-10-06 00:17

The opening intro was great, very unexpected and made me more immersed than usual. The gameplay was very immersive and enjoyable. The graphics and music was very nice, made it feel authentic

ljol3 2021-10-06 00:30

id almost prefer three lives to losing 1000 points, getting in a cycle where you just keep dying but dont care because you made no progress anyways was a little frustrating, but the game overall was immaculate!

almightyzentaco 2021-10-06 01:14

Excellent retro feel. Sound design was really well done overall. Great work.

myles-doupe 2021-10-06 05:00

Great arcade game. Has a very donkey kong feel, but with the added building mechanics it has a unique feel. I felt the points came a little too slow, but that is probably just because I am impatient. :P I really enjoyed it. Thank you for making it!

madjackmcmad 2021-10-06 05:56

I love when people throw down on arcade games for a ludum dare! This is great, you nailed everything about the presentation and the idea is really slick. I was slightly disheartened at first thinking I'd need to jump over a million barrels but when the point powerups started appearing I felt almost guilty for not assuming that the developer would have thought that through. You made something quite fun here, great work.

aeveis 2021-10-06 06:22

I beat it! I kept dying at first. The first time I played I died on a ladder and climbed beneath the level and had to restart. Another thing I took advantage of is a barrel would get stuck at the bottom of the ladder so I could keep jumping over it to get money. It took me a while to realize I had to have scaffolding go past a platform to build a new one and couldnt just extend one a platform was already using. Overall had fun, nice job!

immow 2021-10-06 12:30

Very well done, considering the time constrain it's baffling how well it's made! I needed a bit of time to figure out how the building worked but that was simple enough once you figured that out (I try to figure it out without reading any tips).

randomphantom 2021-10-06 15:59

Great throwback to classic game, controls are tight and well done, the buying and building mechanic is solid and the music is a nice reference. I do feel that the theme is probably not very on-point here though. Also had trouble figuring out the girder placement and its not very clear that you can't place girders on the platforms. Otherwise its a very cool jam game!

thegamerasd 2021-10-06 16:49

Nice game, I like the music and the building mechanic.

curleysam 2021-10-06 17:32

Wow! Amazing job on this game. Really good well rounded entry. The art was very cute, the sound design/music was great. And the game itself was very fun and polished! The point loss was a bit punishing but all round a great entry!

pixelydian 2021-10-06 17:54

Music - Spot on. Loved the spin off of a beloved classic and it held its own as an original creation. I had my 11 year old play it and she did struggle a bit to figure out what to do, so some clearer instructions in game would be helpful. This was a lot of fun, adorable, and it's a great idea. Awesome job!

bqq 2021-10-06 20:18

Great twist on a classic game, good job on making the DK aspects feel so authentic! Also nice idea with forcing the building to make sense so you can't just spam cheap floating girders and call it a day :D

ryusui 2021-10-06 20:23

This is really clever. Donkey Kong with a building element? I would actually buy something like this as a full game. I also like the bunny motif on all the characters (even the barrels and fires!)

What I don't like is how much time/effort it takes to grind enough points to do anything with, and the unnecessary-feeling added step of having to visit the shop to buy new parts (couldn't I just select the pieces I want with the mousewheel and put them down directly if I have enough points without the extra step?)

lesinvisible 2021-10-06 20:38

Wow, such a nostalgic thing, really brings back the NES vibes with the some day popular arcades. But there also building mechanics and beautiful animations.

pincushion 2021-10-06 20:48

I like it! It's nice and polished. The building was fun. It gave a nice sense of progression too. It took me a while to figure out when and where things could be placed, but it makes sense in hindsight.

foxtrot-roger 2021-10-06 20:50

I tough this would be a donkey kong clone but really nice twist! The only thing I would change is the amount of money lost when dying, it is quite long jumping over barrels to get it back... Otherwise the music is nice and the art style is really cute, well done!

pnikav 2021-10-07 01:37

Good implementation and concept! Not a bad atmosphere, I liked the graphics and music. Keep up the good work! Good job, guys

rock-gong 2021-10-07 07:24

unstable_ending.png

I cleared the game, but I still have no idea how to build a ladder. I like the parody to Donkey Kong. Good job! Very interesting game.

chillertyp 2021-10-07 07:51

Just don't let Nintendo see this. ^^

mchs-productions 2021-10-07 08:17

Very fun game, can definately see myself playing more of this.

nanolotl 2021-10-07 14:42

Extremely well done. Stand out of the games I have played so far.

erikkire 2021-10-07 18:54

Fun! But would like it a bit easier in the start. Felt like grinding to collect enough points to build something.

bougiebirdie 2021-10-07 23:16

I had a lot of fun here, what a neat twist on a classic.

I did run into an issue though where barrels would get stuck on top of ladders. I was playing the softlock fix version.

The game did get to be a bit tedious while waiting for to earn enough points to build, but otherwise I though it was good for a laugh!

rein 2021-10-08 05:55

This game was excellent. I loved that it was just the right amount of punishing and how you could never be sure where the barrels were going to be thrown. Getting revenge on the fire bunnies with the hammer was very cathartic!

trexxak 2021-10-09 01:50

The game asked a question, and the resounding answer is that the fusion of classic Jump 'n' Run and crafting games (in the sense of structure building) works! While outside of the scope of a Compo, I'm now curious as to how much more possibilities this concept holds!

Had a lot of fun planning my build, then getting hit by a barrel because I wasn't paying attention, then starting a secondary structure to get all the tasty power-ups, before finally committing to the endgame.

It goes without saying, but the art is super sweet and charming as always. I know, it gets tiring, but I have to thank you once more for creating a masterpiece! u_u

automatonvx 2021-10-09 12:31

Wow worst speed run ever, 37 min. Excellent entry, you had me at bunny donkey kong. The art was nicely done, music was also pretty great, keeping the 8 bit original feel but adding its own twist nicely done. as @trexxak the marriage of platforming and crafting works suprisingly well. Its a testament to the power of the crafting mechanic that in the early game I was thinking argh I'm going to have to grind so much to get the points to build its going to be annoying, but the more i built my own hideous structure the more i was invested and didn't mind the grinding. Couple of little bugs, barrels seemed to get stuck at the bottom of ladders sometimes and if you die on a ladder your animation gets stuck in the dead one until you move off it, nothing game breaking though. Overall best compo entry i played so far. Great work. Hats off to you sir/madam.

strega 2021-10-10 02:00

Awesome job! The art and sound were spot on for that retro throwback feel. I was able to complete the game in a little over 13 minutes. It took me a while to get started, but once I figured out how to get money and the rules for placing everything it really started to click for me.

jpatchz 2021-10-10 06:23

Very interest concept. It was really fun to play.

mateusboga 2021-10-10 14:03

Awesome game! Lovely take on Donkey Kong but with a twist. Here's the VOD: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1172843380

alexej 2021-10-10 17:50

Really loved it! funny idea, fits with the theme, great gameplay. just wished that I understood the rules of the scaffolding better, thought you build a platform first und go higher from there. now that I look at the picutres I get that you can only build vertical structures from the bottom straight through.

but maybe I forgot to read something.

stefan-jovanovic 2021-10-10 21:27

Great game! Loved the art and audio. Really polished! Well Done!

2021-10-11 17:00

Hi there ! :)

I made a little video about your entry : https://youtu.be/5TOkYgCG7a0

Congratulations, it was very fun to play !

vectrex28 2021-10-14 16:34

I quite liked this game! It's a really cool homage to the source material, and the characters have a lot of... well.. character which I really dig. My only gripe with it is that scoring is a little slow-paced. Also, I think I found a bug where the barrels would stop in place if you build scaffolding right under the broken ladder. Great submission!!!

chairshot-games 2021-10-16 05:32

Brilliant. Incredible concept and great execution. I have no idea how you completed this all in 48 hours. Gameplay is great, art is great, music is great, everything is great. Only suggestion would be that I found points to be given out too slowly. Overall really strong entry. Great job!

tomssuli 2021-10-17 08:28

Sweet game! I liked the classic donkey kong parody and mechanics. The bunny ears on everything was a cute touch! Gameplay was fun and the deaths didn't feel too punishing after I learned to think ahead and always spend points when I had accumulated some. Musics were good and fit greatly the whole retro package.

All in all, the game felt nicely polished and the only actual critique I can think of is that the theme was barely used.

kuro 2021-10-17 19:48

Hey man! So: I thought the game's mechanics were on the simple side, but I still had a real blast. 5\* for Fun from me! I suspect the good time I had was caused by the visuals and the music. Made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, reminded me a bit of Jazz Jackrabbit and Rayman soundtrack. So that's 5\* for Audio and Mood as well. Great job, thanks for this game :heart:

xpoho 2021-10-19 02:04

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Отличное развитие! Я не смог понять, что надо делать, пришлось лезть в инструкцию. Но потом понял и выиграл!

ryjcio 2021-10-21 13:36

Very sweet game! The general concept seems to work well! One thing I would suggest to work on is pricing of blocks. At the begining jumping over barrels on flat ground quickly becomes unexciting, so I wanted to start building as fast as possible!

Lovely art style!

alaah 2021-10-21 18:32

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You always deliver something truly magical. Thank you. I had a blast with Stronkey Kong.

Something to potentially improve: the barrel-jumping loop gets stale fast and physics are overall a bit wonky (the barrel can get stuck, wisps sometimes teleport through scaffolding, and falling seems almost linear).