NeonPlat 2

By: Derek Yu

On: August 1st, 2010

[This is a guest review by JimmySH. If you’d like to write a guest article for TIGSource, go here.]

White platforms need more neon, so in NeonPlat 2 Platdude takes his neon-painting pants to run and fill the platforms until his own doom. Soon, the screen overflows with baddies. Kinda like this:

It’s a fast, crazy game by Jayenkai.

In a basic level, platforms spawn in waves, and when all the white ones are painted, the next wave appears. Platdude can get several powerups: slow motion, wings, globes to throw on enemies, and more. The game plays like a combo of classic Mario Bros. (climb the platforms), City Connection (paint them, too), Space Invaders (they come in, from above). Combine that with crystal-clear audiovisuals, with simplistic art in salad-colors molten with laser precision.

CONTROLS ARE PRETTY PRECISE TOO:
So I wanna recommend checking out the high playability of this title. The arrow keys are responsive, with fast acceleration and consistent jump height. The feeling of flow, thanks to the silk-smooth motion, makes NeonPlat 2 a magnitude more enjoyable than its predecessor. If you felt it in Knytt Stories, you know how much it does for sense of control.

FEELING OF FLOW, BUT FOR HOW LONG?
It’s a small game, a “quick fix” and it is rather replayable. You play for highscore – it worked in Tetris, and yes, it works nicely here. Your learning curve is recorded on the start screen so you see improvement over time.

The multiplayer mode suits the game very well, and easily ends up in the playfulness of helping and nagging each other for highscores. The 8 game modes offer slight variations of the game flow (more baddies you can stomp on, boss-baddies, falling platforms, etc.). The “Classic” mode works very well, while the deadly “Spike-o-rama” is a bit unfair with its randomized platforms.

PROBLEMS, LET’S WRAP IT UP:
Despite the nice controls there’s a problem: a couple of platforms sometimes spawn too tight, so you cannot reach the lower of the two. Eventually the game-mechanics remedy this problem, by making the platforms move slowly over the screen, so sooner or later the tight gap opens up and Platdude can continue painting the platform.

That’s a tad bit tighter than the controls are.

Yeah, give this game a play! It’s fast, crazy, and genuinely glows of happiness.

TIGdb: Entry for NeonPlat 2