Very good megaman vibes, I hated a bit how unreadable some platforms are and how unforgiving the game is when you fall from platforms when going up and have to restart from the bottom, like it is on purpose (very megaman like). It also wasn't clear when I was damaging enemies, I was expecting like a flickering effect and/or interrupt their actions or something positive and rewarding for the player. Anyways, the game looks awesome and the controls are great. Nice entry! (btw: I played the post jam version)
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The Rise of Leif's itch.io pageResults
Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
Soundtrack/SFX | #13 | 3.769 | 3.769 |
Graphics | #33 | 3.769 | 3.769 |
Gameboy Soul | #45 | 3.538 | 3.538 |
Overall | #54 | 3.215 | 3.215 |
Gameplay | #57 | 3.000 | 3.000 |
Interpretation of the secondary theme | #129 | 2.000 | 2.000 |
Ranked from 13 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Comments
Very good looking game, I love all of the little details in the backgrounds and the enemies designs.
The soundtrack is fire, extremely catchy. I think this is the main thing that kept me playing ahah.
The game has a lot of potential but it falls in a bunch of level design and game design pitfall... the platforming feels off because the inertia is weird (not very megaman-y), the level design is riddled with little things that made me scream, like the collisions right over the character's head before a long jump, the enemies spawning out of sight after a jump, etc.
I'm being a bit harsh here but it's mainly because there's a lot to love otherwise, it just requires some tightening of the mechanics and LD!
EDIT : I just played through the postjam version and finished the game.
Controls feel waaay more tight, this is really great.
I'm a bit conflicted because I enjoyed learning the game and the levels, and I'm happy I beat it.
I still feel like a lot of things in there are vestiges from the past better left untouched, like multiple minutes segments between checkpoints, free fall segments inbtween instant kill spikes, that Fireman boss with patterns that feel like they're beyond human reaction time...
In any case, the mood is great, the quantity of content in there is super impressive, and a lot of things feel very satisfying (sometimes after feeling frustrating for 15 minutes but still).
Just one thing : I have still no idea what this has to do with the Plant theme :D
thanks for the lengthy review! And yes, all the things you struggled with were 100% intentional, at least that remained in the latest build. You see, we as a team had actually just gone through all the NES mega mans together, and suffered through all the frustration, but to come out on the other end victorious is that much more satisfying as a result (isn't it?). Had it been simple, or even just less difficult, any given player could be at it within a few minutes, and likely never think of it again. The strategy with all these older games was to make them challenging thus keep the player playing a while. Haha
As to the plant theme, our protag Leif is a lil tree man, who's sole reason for existence is to protect his fellow plants, from the evil robots that are trying to destroy them! :)
For version 1.1. There are a lot of spoilers. Get to know the game before you read.
It took 3 hours to complete the game. A small but well-crafted challenging platformer. After losing the first ten times, I couldn't believe how honest those defeats were. A high-quality soundtrack, graphics and level design dissuaded me from turning off the game in the first half hour. The checkpoint after the pit with the vine feels like a gift from God. After 2 hours and 3 attempts at the fire boss, I found a charging attack, with which I defeated him. During the passage of the first level, I learned to control the character and take damage so as not to fly into the pits, so the second level seemed much easier and was passed on the first attempt, including the boss (with a fire axe, you can not even dodge, but simply charge at the enemy). The second level gives new obstacles in the form of flying opponents on screens with ladders, and jumping robots, but they do not really require the player to learn something new. The city after the forest feels more like a respite. Allows the player to feel their progress.
I really expected that after passing the game there would be fanfare, they would show me some comic about how I saved the world, as if I was playing a ready-made commercial product, and not a game created in 10 days for gbjam.
In general, I am happy that I passed this game. The first game on this gamejam that aroused such interest. I hope that in the future there will be new levels and the ability to save the game. Added to the collection.
Thank you so much for the elaborate review! Also, so glad you stuck with it through the end. And yes, we definitely wanted a more epic ending, but as always, saved that till the last minute, so this is all we had time to make. With your encouragement, and that of others, we will definitely make a full game using this character and feel! :)
I'm glad this supports controllers as the movement feels great to play
10/10 soundtrack, the visuals are great though it feels like NES size sprites on a gameboy resolution which can make it feel a tad claustrophobic. Overall a great entry though
Absolutely wonderfully crafted game, looks and plays great. Definitely feels like a classic title, though I had a bit trouble at the start of the game given the lack of an introduction to the controls.
I really enjoyed this! It definitely read more as an NES game to me, but it looked, felt, and sounded great! You should be really proud of this entry!
The art and music are absolutely insane ! I did have some trouble killing eenemies, maybe am I doing it wrong ? But still, very well done !
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