This is a simple shoot 'em up I made for the GBJAM6.
The game had to use only 4 colors to mimic the Game Boy style.
It's really hard and I didn't have the time to implement a good way to restart.
Controls
-Arrow keys
-X, C
Bullet hell needs more than one life, possibly shields, and ability to block enemy fire.
The presentation is great but it's way too hard. I know this is from a game jam but I'd love to see how it plays with multiple hits/lives.
Same comments as the other - you have to choose your game style:
- single hp but fast/infinite respawn (a la Celeste,...)
- many hp/lives but limited respawn
Other than that, solid game setup.
Totally disagree with the above. This reminded me of 'Just One Boss' the second I played it. Not in it's presentation or style, but in the design philosophy upheld within the code.
It's funny, I'm not the typical person to enjoy ultra difficult or even unrealistically challenging "modern" games (I say modern loosely, because this game IS modern, but you know what I mean), but on the PICO-8 and on the NES and the Arcades, it just feels amazing to play, and I'll break down my reasons why I think that is.
Think about it like this: We have a very limited palette to work with, and of course, there are many ways a dev can go to work within that palette. One of those paths, and honestly my favorite one, is the type presented in "Monster of the Universe". By making the game nearly-ruthless - it serves to drive your sense of wonder. Don't you want to find out what's at the end of the cartridge? Even better, don't you want to look at the code inside to see what masochistic monoliths have been carved within?! It can light a true fire in you if you think about it in slightly different terms, which I know, isn't for everyone, but that's up to you in the end. Games like this provide such a deep contrast with games that have had millions pumped into them, which simply can not (in most cases, I'd say. There are exceptions.) fill me with this same kind of "retry, retry, retry" zeal.
This tiny little thing, no larger then a library card is just mopping the floor with you, and you can't help but smile at that, at least, I can't.
I really like this approach when it's done right. Difficulty for the sake of difficulty is not what I'm getting at either - because that's something totally different. This game is a blast, and has clearly been made with a lot of attention to detail and love, and I know that anyone that beats it will sleep well at the end of that night.
I have nothing against the dev if he or she decides to put more lives into the game. I'm not a purist preaching on his paltry pulpit, pounding and pestering the paying patrons of the Pico-8 palhood; I just really enjoy the state that it is currently in.
Simple.
One life.
One chance.
Kill the titan.
Lest you crumble into frozen, col(0).
The Pico-8 is a beautiful thing. It's limitations help me understand the difficulties of my past. And I really love your game just the way it is, fantastic job!
wooow - I am ok with the one life paradigm. My complaint is more in the game loop:
- play
- die (ok)
- got back to menu (slow)
- select start (slow)
- wait intro (slow)
If you look at something like Celeste, you can mix brutal games with the ability to rapidly be back in the game.
Yeah restarts are way too slow to keep me invested. Another problem is the fact that when I beat the first boss and die to the second one I get sent back to the first. This is bad game design. At least in "Just One Boss" you restarted at the same phase! Here it comes across as lazy.
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