Play game
SparX's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Gameboy-ness | #18 | 4.103 | 4.103 |
| Fun | #29 | 3.483 | 3.483 |
| Overall | #37 | 3.405 | 3.405 |
| Graphics | #53 | 3.241 | 3.241 |
| Audio | #60 | 2.793 | 2.793 |
Ranked from 29 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Leave a comment
Log in with itch.io to leave a comment.
Comments
Really nice simple game. Can actually see it playing on a gameboy. Sometimes the bullets of the enemies are difficult to distinguish because of the background animation, but when you get hit for the first time you start to recognize them. I liked it.
Thanks
The window size option is a thing that is necessary in almost every single game in this jam, so kudos for adding such a nice feature! Although, the maximum re-scaling still isn't enough (at least for my screen, I don't know if screen size affects it).
It's a simple concept, similar to the classic Shoot Em' Ups, but it's fun and it works the way it's intended to :) It also feels like a Gameboy game due to the way it looks, plays and sounds.
Great job! :)
Thank you, very much! How big is your screen?
It's a 4K 3840 x 2160 screen!
Yeah that's really big. I should've anticipated something like this.
A very funny game! It would be great if your game had sub bosses :)
(I loved the background sound)
Here's a list of the enemies:
1 - The Pawn -> 1 hp, shoots 2 bullets type 0;
2 - The Guard - 2 hp, shoots 2 bullets type 1;
3 - The Patrol - Moves on X-Axis, 2 hp, shoots 2 bullets type 1;
4 - The Kamikaze - Moves on Y-Axis, 3 hp, every time it resets its position speeds up, doesn't shoot;
5 - The SparX's Son - 3 hp, shoots 2 bullets type 3.
6 - SparX is the Boss. After you defeat this guy, you win the game!
Notes; They are listed by order of appearance.
Here's a list of the bullets:
Type 0 - Normal speed;
Type 1 - 1.07% fasters than type 0;
Type 3 - 1.36% faster than type 0 and 1.27% faster than type 1.
With this you can win the game. You can consider, "The SparX's Son" a sub boss.
Thanks! I'm happy you liked it!
I love the color palettes, and I really like the sprites! They feel like a really neat in-between of galaxian and space invaders.
In terms of gameplay, I think the way you made the enemies shoot is very cool. Picking a random enemy to shoot every second or so is a neat way of increasing the difficulty as you clear a stage, as the last enemy you take out will be firing constantly.
In terms of criticism, I think the lowest row of enemies is a bit too low on the screen. Shots fired from that row go from being fired to killing the player in a matter of only a few frames, and it feels a bit cheap some times.
Additionally, I think it's missing a certain energy in the moment-to-moment gameplay. This is partially due to the fact that none of the enemy attacks are targeted towards the player. As such, the only time I'm in danger is when I put myself in danger, which means most players are going to go about clearing the level in a slow, methodical way. I think it would feel a lot more tense and satisfying if there were another constant threat to keep the player on their toes. This could even just be a time limit, so the player has to focus on clearing the enemies quickly in each level. It's a rule of thumb in game design that players will tend to interact with your game in the least interesting way possible (because that's usually the safest route to victory) so it's important to notice when that happens and force them to engage with the systems head on.
All in all, great job on your game! It's already pretty solid, and with a couple tweaks I think it'll be elevated to the next level.
Wow! This is one the best reviews, if not the best so far! You are totally right about the last row. On phases that has enemies shooting faster bullets, the strategy is to clear the last row first and then the rest. About the slow pace, yes you are also right. I don't think another threat would be the way to go, because some phases are hard as it is. The use of time is actually interesting,I don't know why I didn't think about that. Although to implement this system, I'll have to test every phase to calculate the average time I spend to finish it. I'm not gonna be able to implement it right now, at least not these week, but in the future sure! This review is very enriching not only from this game perspective, but from all gameplay in general. Thank you very much for this, I've learned something!
Great space invaders clone and really challenging!
Thanks!
Awesome game, reminds me of my submission last year. great work!
Thanks! I'm curious, gonna check it out later!
Good job! Being able to set your own scale is a really nice thing for the player, I'll definitely do something like that in the future!
Thanks!
Good times of Galaga!
I remembered Sunday afternoons killing galactic insects!
A very well made copy! Congratulations!
well, thanks!
There's a pretty vintage feeling to pretty much every aspect of this game that I can appreciate, it's certainly fun and I don't really see anything here that a real Game Boy couldn't really do, though the sound could have been a little more accurate... Good job anyway!
Thanks for playing and for the review. And yes, you are right about the sound. I'm trying to find a good & easy to use tool to make chiptune music, but so far I got nothing. Also my sound engine is bugged and I'm not sure why. Then again, thank you!
I use Deflemask, it's a multi-system tracker that supports the Game Boy, as well as many other systems like the Mega Drive, the PC engine (my favourite) the Commodore 64 and many others! And Game Boy music made in Deflemask will run in real hardware!
That said though, I realise not everyone likes the Tracker interface, and if that's the case for you I'd suggest using the Nintendo VST by Matt Montag in combination with the Chip32 VST in whatever DAW you like (provided it supports VSTs), you can get fairly accurate GB audio by using 2 square (pulse) channels, 1 wavetable channel (that's what Chip32 is for), and 1 noise channel, but that's only a close enough approximation of GB sound, if you want actual GB sound I don't think there's any options better than Deflemask... Well, some people think LSDJ is better, and it even runs on a real Game Boy, but I personally find it to be very clunky, like, composing music with a D-pad and 4 buttons is anything but ideal...
Thank you for take the time to give me such a complete suggestion. I think I'll try Deflemask. I really liked Chip32 too. I guess I'll study a bit music, because I'm pretty sure I'll need it in the future. Thank you for your help.
You're welcome!
Fun game! It was hard to follow the enemies pattern, but managed to reach stage 8. I'll try again later! Much gameboyish as well.
Nice! It seems that everybody on the stage you unlock the special movement. To use it press 'X'. Thanks for playing!
It's actually kinda charming in its simplicity ~ I feel there should be a short pause when the player dies before the next ship respawns, but other than that it's quite well put together and it plays rock solidly !
Hi! Thanks for the review! I'm glad you like it! I find the short pause not needed, because every time you get hit, the ship starts blinking and during that time, you can't be hit. What I could do on the other hand is increase the duration time. I suggest to destroy the lines closer to you first. If the phase you are in, has enemies that move on the Y-Axis, destroy them first, unless they don't touch enemies that shoot, in that case it's easier to destroy them.
Here's a list of the enemies:
1 - The Pawn -> 1 hp, shoots 2 bullets type 0;
2 - The Guard - 2 hp, shoots 2 bullets type 1;
3 - The Patrol - Moves on X-Axis, 2 hp, shoots 2 bullets type 1;
4 - The Kamikaze - Moves on Y-Axis, 3 hp, every time it resets its position speeds up, doesn't shoot;
5 - The SparX's Son - 3 hp, shoots 2 bullets type 3.
6 - SparX is the Boss. After you defeat this guy, you win the game!
Notes; They are listed by order of appearance.
Here's a list of the bullets:
Type 0 - Normal speed;
Type 1 - 1.07% fasters than type 0;
Type 3 - 1.36% faster than type 0 and 1.27% faster than type 1.
This game looks like something that would be released in the early years of the gameboy, due to it simpleness, I liked it.
Thanks for playing it! I'm glad you liked it!
Damn got myself to Phase05 i think ? Scr:0890. Addicting! Altough i would actually prefer some music, why not some calm music in the background for contrast :D I could easily create one for you if to continue with this simple shooter.
The reason is ... I know to code, pixel art (I have my days), but music, I don't know a good & simple tool to make chiptune. I'm not sure if I'm gonna continue with this one. What I might do, is tweak a few things and make a sequel with android port. Or just remake it, also with an android port. For the remake I would probably change art, make it a bit less gb like. I would totally accept you making music for my game, but I really don't have enough money to be paying anyone right now, therefore I can't accept it! But thanks, perhaps in the future we can team up and make something that reaches people!
I understand! Well let me know! I can make the music or free, no worries :)!
Sure, I will!
Simple and fun! It looks like it would actually run on a gameboy!
The controls were kinda stiff in my opinion. The players shots take a few milliseconds to fire after you press the button, and It makes it feel more like a real gameboy, but worse for overall gameplay.
I understand what you mean. But the idea is to create a GB themed game. In my mind, the as to be really close to the thing. A quick tweak on the code would fix it, but for now I'm gonna let it say this way. Thanks for the review and for playing!
The art style is simple and cute :)
But in my opinion the game mechanics are a bit too simplistic
As a matter of fact they are. I was trying to get the mechanics close to Galaga (NES/GB). Thank's for the review and for playing it!
That's awesome :) sure!
Please make sure you also play and rate my game :)
Sorry, I played a lot of games, but not all yet. Gonna play it rn!
Loved the simplistic design, even if i dont think it's gameboyish, it's more of a late 80's game, it resembles more to an old atari game with palette swapping. Also, keepin it classic as far as gameplay is concerned works great, especially with that minimalist sprite work of yours, in general, it's a fun, classical game, gud job ! Rated it ;)
Well, thanks!
PS: What I meant with my other comment, was not to force you to come here, I guess you misunderstood what I said, but that's ok!
Simple game with really good level design.
My high score, but I still want to unlock the special movement.
You actually, already unlocked the special movement, on that pic. I forgot to put a sound effect or a notification telling the player that the special is unlocked. Anyway, as you enter phase 08, the special unlocks and you can see the bar (above the score/high/lives) filling up.
Simple but quite fun and love the different palettes. Great work!
Thank you, very much!
Simple but quite fun and love the different palettes. Great work!