Posts from ‘Platformers’ Category

TowerFall

By: Derek Yu

On: June 25th, 2013

Towerfall, by Matt Thorson

Coinciding with the retail release of the OUYA today is the release of Matt Thorson’s TowerFall, a 4-player versus platformer that is being hailed as the console’s “killer app” on websites like Penny Arcade Report. In the game, each player controls an archer and the goal is to slay your opponents with arrows. Power-ups such as bomb arrows, shields, and wings add variety to the matches, which take place in one of 70 single-screen arenas. The focus is on local multiplayer, but TowerFall does include single-player challenges where you have to destroy dummy targets in a certain amount of time.

Currently, TowerFall is an OUYA exclusive, although Matt has expressed interest in a PC port somewhere down the road. The game’s graphics are by Studio Miniboss (Deep Dungeons of Doom) and the soundtrack is by Alec Holowka (Aquaria).

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The Swapper

By: Derek Yu

On: June 8th, 2013

The Swapper, by Facepalm Games

I have to admit, I’m not the biggest fan of puzzle platformers (or even puzzle games, to be honest), but when they’re good, they’re good. With The Swapper, Finnish studio Facepalm Games has not only uncovered a fun new mechanic but also crafted an extremely intriguing science fiction tale around it. Though the central themes may not be completely original to sci-fi, the way they come into focus as you solve puzzles and explore the beautiful claymation world is deftly executed. This is a great example of how to tell a story with a challenging game.

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Starseed Pilgrim

By: Derek Yu

On: April 16th, 2013

Starseed Pilgrim, by Droqen

IGF 2013 Excellence in Design nominee Starseed Pilgrim was released on Steam today (Steam releases were offered to all the nominees this year). This unassuming and enigmatic puzzle platformer has become a hit with a number of indie game developers, including Bennett Foddy (QWOP) and Braid creator Jonathan Blow, who called it his game of the year for 2012. Since so much of the enjoyment from Starseed comes from figuring out how the game works, it’s hard to describe even the basic goals without spoiling it. If that sounds fun to you in and of itself, you should probably give it a go.

Maldita Castilla

By: Derek Yu

On: December 13th, 2012

Maldita Castilla, by Locomalito

Like Hydorah before it, Locomalito’s Maldita Castilla stays very close to its inspirations, in this case the venerated platformer series Ghosts n’ Goblins. From the overall look to the invariable jump, you’ll feel very much like you’ve stepped into the greaves of Arthur’s Spanish cousin.

So how does it stack up to its forebears? I’ve played through the game once and I think that it’s a mixed bag, although one worth trying if you enjoyed the GnG games. Compared to the best of that series (Ghouls n’ Ghosts, Super Ghouls n’ Ghosts, and Ultimate Ghosts n’ Goblins), Maldita Castilla lacks variety and charm. The rather dreary mythological theme doesn’t quite compare to Capcom’s colorful fantasy world, and while many of the levels will have you cursing like you’re playing a Ghosts game, they’re also more one-dimensional.

None of this is to say that Maldita Castilla is a bad game, only that it sticks so closely to its source material and falls a bit short in comparison. As I said, it’s still worth your time… but perhaps more as a highly-polished fan game than something that stands alone. As reminiscent of Gradius as Hydorah was, it was still enough of a mélange as to feel unique (the branching stage design and limited save concept also helped separate it).

Iconoclasts 2012 Trailer

By: Derek Yu

On: October 22nd, 2012

Here’s a new trailer of Joakim Sandberg’s Iconoclasts to whet your appetite. Although nowhere near finished, it does look as though the game is progressing nicely.

Probability 0

By: Lorne Whiting

On: October 19th, 2012

Droqen‘s first commercial game, Probability 0, is out now for five dollars. Also available is a bundle offering three other games, including an extended version of Fishbane and Starseed Pilgrim, which was first announced on the TIGForums nearly 2 years ago.

Probability 0 is a platformer roguelike where you have to descend an infinitely long dungeon, with your score measured in the depth you’ve reached. You do have an incentive to murder things, however, in order to gather the orbs enemies drop for new skills and more ammunition. You’ll have a lot of opportunities to experiment as you die over and over, in true roguelike fashion.

The game is pretty damn addicting if you get in to it; I’ve easily gotten more than my money’s worth out of the game, so if the game interest you it’s well worth trying the demo. And punching and headbutting everything.

Steam Greenlight: Probability 0

Cortex Command 1.0

By: Derek Yu

On: September 28th, 2012

Cortex Command
Splash image by Cortex Command artist “Arne” Niklas Jansson.

I’ll be honest, part of me was expecting that we’d all be brains in jars before Cortex Command reached 1.0. But no! After almost a dozen years in development, Dan Tabar’s opus has hit that milestone and is now available on Steam. Players who have already purchased the game, either directly or through a Humble Indie Bundle can get a Steam key here. A Linux build is still in development, according to Dan’s announcement post.

The release marks the completion of the game’s campaign mode or “meta game”, which allows players and CPUs to engage in large-scale warfare, building bunkers and attacking one another across the face of a planet. To find out more about this new mode, check out Dan’s latest playtest video below. And if you’re new to Cortex Command, this is also a good way to see the game’s impressive physics and AI in action.

Congratulations to Dan and the rest of the team on the release!

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Preview: Incredipede

By: Derek Yu

On: September 3rd, 2012

This is a new trailer for Colin and Sarah Northway’s Incredipede, which features artwork by Thomas Shahan. Slated for a late October release, Incredipede is a physics-based platformer where you control Quozzle, a little creature that can be built and rebuilt using jointed limbs and muscles. According to the game’s website, it will come with 60 levels and a level editor.

Snapshot released for PC

By: Lorne Whiting

On: August 30th, 2012

Retro Affect’s puzzle-platformer Snapshot is now available for Windows on Steam at the modest price of $8.99.

Snapshot is based around storing objects in photographs which can then be placed in the world at will in order to solve puzzles, but a video is worth an indeterminately large amount of words so the trailer above shows the mechanics far better than I can describe them. The game was designed by Kyle Pulver, who began working on it all the way back in 2008 after finishing the excellent Bonesaw, and will be coming to several other platforms– Linux, Mac, Playstation 3, and PSVita –in the near future.

Comiket 82: Preview Video

By: Derek Yu

On: August 7th, 2012

This is a video that mashes up quite a few trailers for doujin games that will be available at this year’s Comiket (Comic Market), a Japanese self-published comic book festival (and the largest in the world, with half a million attendees last year). The video was put together by Edelweiss, a doujin game developer that created Ether Vapor and is attending Comiket 82 with a new shoot ’em up called Astebreed. The festival is taking place this weekend on August 10-12.

Links to each of the games featured in the video are available here on Edelweiss’s website.

(Source: Elixir)