Really liked the character switching mechanic once I got down the rhythm of it. Not only were the patterns nice visually, but they were fairly varied/interesting and didn't feel too easy or too hard.
Play game
Lightning Blade VS Master Spark's itch.io pageResults
Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
Gameplay | #4 | 4.099 | 4.167 |
Challenge | #7 | 3.640 | 3.700 |
Audio | #14 | 3.410 | 3.467 |
Overall | #19 | 3.378 | 3.433 |
Visuals | #21 | 3.181 | 3.233 |
Concept | #22 | 3.410 | 3.467 |
Story / Writing | #23 | 2.558 | 2.600 |
Use of LGBT Themes | #25 | 2.099 | 2.133 |
Ranked from 30 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Team Members
CKenshin, Saishoo, Keikit
Streaming Permission
Comments
it took me a couple of rounds to get the hang of the mechanic but when I did I was like WHooooaoaa thas cool! cool danmaku game my favorite spellcard was the one with the petals.
boullets. lasers!
cool mechanic and a very pretty looking game. power of danmokou
it would have been nice if there was some way to see yuuka's magnetization lower on the screen or something because i did get slapped a few times just looking for the yellow
i forgot master spark was from yuuka for a seecond and got confused
The intro is so cool. Is this the power of Danmokou?
I think the game is solid. The slow-down powers make a lot of sense here, as do the magnetism. As a fellow Horned Owl and Bat fan, I can get behind the Tojiko/Sakuya team. However, I don't think the magnetism mechanic is that deep, and it was a missed opportunity to not let it carry over between boss attacks to add some strategy.
Pattern wise, the game isn't as inspired as "Yukari's wonderous Icy Patterns" (few games are - I really liked that one). It's pretty easy overall, the later non-spells are basically all dodged in the same way. The first spell forces you to move away from the zone where you can deal damage without magnetism, which is probably intended to force you to use the mechanism, but it still makes for slow spells and I don't find the attack interesting enough to warrant this. (At least during the spin cards you can relatively safely attack Yuuka from behind to stack up that sweet magnetism.)
Still, I'm glad we got another CKenshin shmup.
Thanks so much for playing. Hearing CKenshin styled shmup makes me feel pretty happy lol.
I think you did hit the nail on the head when it comes to the pattern design. The magnetism mechanic did limit me in some of the patterns that I could so that switching characters and keeping track of the meter could still be feasible mid pattern. The style of pattern I opted for left a lot of gaps for you to be able to keep track of what is going on more.
Very cool mechanic. It feels nice to finally be able to play Danmaku games and do well at them after years of playing and rating jam games.
Fun, solid shmup. Every shmup should have a time slowdown mechanic. And given that mechanic, I think you could have done more difficult patterns! I also liked the magnetize mechanic and the partner switching (in summary, the whole game). The reason these two had to partner together was funny. And it was a classic "shoot first, ask questions later" Touhou moment, heh. Extra points for arranging one of Yuuka’s PC-98 themes.
Magnetize is such a cool mechanic, and I loooved the time slow in place of bombs too (but i do wish it had some sort of death-bomb effect?). Fun patterns too! I think it may be a bit easy, but I struggled at first still, so was a nice challenge for me. The story and no new art were both a little lacking, but again, really fun game with creative mechanics!
Nice and short SHmUP game. I see it's pretty accessible.
I really like Sakuya and Tojiko's teamwork in here. Concept cool and well executed. You just need to make the magnet gauge easier to look at because it's attached to the boss, whereas the player's eyes will be on the player character (the lower half of the screen) most of the time. (yeah, having to look away from your character isn't practical).
I wonder if it's a bit too easy, I didn't even have to use Bullet Time. But I'm a regular shooter who am I to say that lol
Fun danmakugame. I really like the magnetize concept with the switching, and timeslow is a good replacement for bombs. The use of Faint Dream makes me very happy. Nice patterns as well, though they do feel a bit samey-- and it's a bit sad how small the lazers in the "master spark" spells are. The story is real short without much theme usage, and the lack of original art is a bit sad, but besides that this game's pretty cool.
Solid gameplay, I like the whole magnetize feature even though it, and the time stop, makes this very easy for a danmaku. I feel like there could've been a bit more done with the writing especially when it comes to using LGBTQ+ theming. Also have to knock it down a bit for lack of original drawings, especially in character portraits. Overall a good game that really had visuals and writing take a backseat.
The gameplay is solid; love the challenge of it. However, the story isn't all too present. The usage of LGBT themes could have been expanded upon. Visuals could have been expanded on, as the lack of original assets demerits it. Overall though, I'd say it's a nice game if you're looking for a challenge!
(I cannot comment on the music)
Leave a comment
Log in with itch.io to leave a comment.