Posts from ‘Freeware’ Category
Super Smash Land
By: Derek Yu
On: September 15th, 2011
Super Smash Land is a cute Game Boy demake of the popular Super Smash Bros. series of games. It features six characters (Mario, Kirby, Link, Pikachu, and two unlockable characters), three game modes (Arcade, Endless, and Versus), and up to four human or CPU players. The control scheme has been simplified to one jump button and one action button.
HACK9 & HACKER9
By: ithamore
On: September 8th, 2011
HACK9 by wahiko is a relatively old Cave Story inspired platformer that is more difficult than it should be. I liked the basic gameplay and the variety of music, but grinding shouldn’t be a core requirement for getting through a Metroidvania. Additionally, there is so much Japanese dialogue in the game that it’s easy for players of other first languages to not know what to do next.
For months it sat ignored on my hard drive after I gave up on exploring the game’s world, since I couldn’t unlock any areas beyond the default availability. However, one dedicated player (nintendofan100) made a video walkthrough, with aid of some helpful comments on the Indiegames.com Blog post on HACK9, which has made the game much more accessible and has allowed me to appreciate the game more.
The video at the top, however, isn’t part of the walkthrough linked before but was chosen to present how confusing the game’s language and design barriers can be and because it contains the game’s audio (unlike the walkthrough).
Forget-Me-Not
By: Derek Yu
On: September 6th, 2011
Dropped into a randomly-generated maze reminiscent of the classic Pac-Man, players new to Forget-Me-Not will happily gobble “flowers” and shoot enemies for a few minutes before all manner of wacky creatures begin warping in – bombs, centipedes, replicating diamonds, etc. The enemies are not only harmful to the player, but also damage each other and the maze freely, adding to the chaotic feeling of the game. They can also rob you of the key, an important item that lets you unlock the level’s exit door and protects you from killing yourself with your own bullets as they pass from one side of the screen to the other (nothing’s worse than realizing you’re shooting yourself in the butt because some random beastie nabbed the key). Eventually, the screen goes black except for a small area around your character and a ghost chases you around until you get the heck out or die.
Maldita Castilla Demo
By: Derek Yu
On: September 1st, 2011
Spanish developer Locomalito has released a short demo for its upcoming platformer Maldita Castilla, a tribute to old arcade games like Capcom’s Ghosts ‘n Goblins.
TIGdb: Entry for Locomalito
Arvoesine Now Free
By: Derek Yu
On: August 9th, 2011
Alastair John Jack has released his platformer Arvoesine as freeware. The game originally cost $5.
TIGdb: Entry for Arvoesine
Playthrough: Ortoslon (version 1.2)
Station 37
By: Lorne Whiting
On: July 26th, 2011
Starting at the Toronto Game Jam, Station 37 was recently released after two months of further development. The game, developed by FrankieSmileShow and The Monster King, with music by Chef Boyardee, plays like a love-letter to Super Nintendo games complete with panning cutscenes and stage intros. You play a firefighter, and must go around burning buildings rescuing civilians and axing obstacles. While the later levels throw some interesting mechanics in to the mix, the introductory level sadly drags on a little too long without introducing anything new.
I would say it’s worth playing for the less formulaic late-game, and Frankie’s art is pretty striking, but it certainly requires a bit of patience.
Momodora II
By: Derek Yu
On: July 14th, 2011
Momodora II is a Cave Story-inspired Metroidvania by rdein. You play Momo, a shrine maiden that’s been sent to defeat the Underworld Queen using a leaf and playing cards. It’s a short but charming game.
The soundtrack, by Elektrobear, is available here. The original game can be downloaded here.
TIGdb: Entry for Momodora II
TIGForums: Thread for Momodora II
Kerbal Space Program 0.8.0
By: Derek Yu
On: July 11th, 2011
Kerbal Space Program is an in-development simulation game that lets you operate your own space shuttle program. In the current release, you can build a multi-stage rocket out of various parts (e.g. propusion systems, decouplers, and fins), launch it, and operate it as you try to take your adorable astronauts higher into the stratosphere… or blow them up as creatively as possible. There aren’t a ton of parts available right now, but the game is easily moddable, and fans are already developing their own on the game’s forums.
Eventually, creator Felipe Falanghe wants to let players hire and manage crew, take missions, and even build space stations on different worlds.
(Source: Something Awful Forums)
Pax Britannica ported to Android, Still Free
By: Alehkhs
On: July 1st, 2011
No Fun Games’ one-button RTS, Pax Britannica, has been ported to Android. This port supports 2-player battles on the same device, or against an AI player if you’re by yourself. Like it’s computer (Win/Mac/Linux) counterpart, Pax Britannica for Android sports beautiful pixel graphics and easy-to-learn gameplay, as well as a price tag of ‘free.’
Game’s Site
Android Marketplace
(Source: IndieGames.com)
KAG 70 and the End of Link-Dead
By: Derek Yu
On: June 27th, 2011
The development of the team-based multiplayer platformer King Arthur’s Gold continues at a fast clip, with builds 67 and 70 offering all kinds of new changes and features, like a capture-the-flag mode (now the default mode), an in-game map editor, and the addition of collapsible walls with improved physics (no more sky bridges!). What I only found out recently, however, is that the game rose quietly from the ashes of Link-Dead, Michał Marcinkowski’s dark and brutal sci-fi shooter. I had no idea!
Anyway, Michał goes into great depth explaining his reasons for dropping Link-Dead to work on King Arthur’s Gold, and as much as I enjoyed LD, it’s hard to argue against the success of KAG. The explanation is worth a read, if only for all of the insights into game design and development.
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