itch.io

This is pretty fantastic. A very visually appealing and technically competent piece. Level design was well done and the overall theming is pretty good. A variety of good puzzles all topped with a great level of polish. You should be very proud of this!

But, no game is perfect. It is clearly evident that the game is intended for a younger audience. However your gameplay conflicts with this, for context these are your controls:

WASD - Move

E - Interact

Spacebar - Jump

CTRL - Crouch

F - Punch

Spacebar + F - Ground Pound

What is making me pause for thought is the sort of audience the themes and writing are intended for would struggle with some of these controls and your puzzles which at times can be a little unforgiving.  In addition, I think that the theming and narrative of this game could have been improved since you had a very interesting challenge and premise, which is the discussion of emotions to a child who may not fully understand them. For example, Envy was a good example that, with tweaking, could have been an excellent point of reflection for the user in regards to their own behaviour, but at times some of these explorations are either very surface level or entirely absent. Finally, in some of the levels it was possible to get a little stuck which for a child could be very frustrating.

But don't let this deter you. For a project you have realistically only worked on for ~14 weeks, some of which in a nationwide lockdown, this is incredibly impressive. Well done!

I went and sat down and played this. This is not too bad. I think that this is a decent attempt given the current circumstances.

There was a nice diverse range of complex puzzles which progressively got harder.  Attention has clearly been given to the difficulty curve which has made your game feel rewarding. Graphics are good, although some more attention to detail and visual clarity would go a long way with this.

It was hard at times to figure out what to even look at which resulted in mindlessly clicking across the screen to find that one area. For example, it took me a substantial amount of time to learn that you can click the bookshelf which should have been more apparent, perhaps a visual effect would help here or maybe even a cursor (a magnifying glass) for example.

In addition, I think that this game could benefit from a notepad of sorts. A pad which you can note things down on in-game as some people may wish to store information without having to memorise it. Especially due to the need for mathematical calculations.

On the whole, this feels like a competent attempt in Design, Programming, and Art. With more attention to Quality of Life changes, this can be a really good game. Well done.

An attempt has been made to submit something for the deadline, and does contain the core mechanics that make up a title like this. However, how much of this project was your own work? According to the readme within the 3D Beat-em-up assets folder, they were created for a youtube tutorials and they are not open source or licensed for commercial purposes which if you remember is one of the requirements Ted said was needed for you to use assets such as this. From what I could find, most of the 3D models and gameplay was created by the file creator. In addition, there wasn't an abundance of gameplay outside of continuously hitting one guy at a time and even if you die you can just get back up by attacking. It feels like there wasn't a lot of playtesting for this game which lead to a lot of bugs being missed. Finally, there is no listing for controls and so I had to figure them out by pressing every key on my keyboard which isn't really a good way to learn. I'm available on Monday before the Lecture if you want to talk about this project in more detail, but I can't really give much of a review based on what I've seen, I'm afraid.

A good submission with very strong visuals and control customisation allowed me to choose bindings which suited me which was a good quality of life feature. Differing characters with a range of attack options created a decent amount of depth to the controls that wasn't mindlessly spamming a single button. Definitely the foundations of a marketable piece here.

I do feel like there may have been some oversights here and there. For example, the military character can hold their special attack key for a rapid onslaught of rockets sending the other character flying across the map and whilst hilarious, perhaps it was unintentional. Another example was the fact that it was hard to tell who was winning in terms of rounds since the round wins boxes didn't seem to change even though it was counting them since I was able to win at some point. Finally, player feedback is definitely needed here, how can I tell if I have hit my target without moving my focus from the characters to the health?

All in all, this was a strong submission with some small issues that negatively impact gameplay, but not to a major degree. As previously mentioned, what you have here is a good foundation to build a marketable game with some further work and expansion. Good work.

A very impressive submission, with good visuals and audio complimented by tight and responsive gameplay. Very well polished with a lot of customizability, you even had the option to change your key bindings; extremely useful! I think with some more work on things like animation and balancing and this is a game that I could see placed on a marketplace.

There were a couple of bugs I encountered, particularly surrounding the end screen if both characters died simultaneously which perhaps could have been found through playtesting. Remember to test your game by attempting to break it in as many ways as possible. Another point of note was regarding balancing, as it felt like the faster character was significantly weaker than the other two because of the smaller health pool and the higher mobility doesn't come into play too much in close range combat, especially against the slower robot. 

Overall, this is strong submission with very few problems encountered and kept me fairly engaged for a while. It's clear that a lot of work went into this and ensuring that the game had a high level of polish and variety that paid off, and resulted in a great game. Well done!

A game with decent visuals and audio leading to a nice user experience; the addition of character selection is also a good addition contributing to prolonged engagement with the game in order to unlock the additional characters. Comfortably meets the requirements and contains the core aspects of the genre.

Gameplay is a little lacking, which is a key part of any game of course, devolving into rapid button mashing and an absence of player feedback outside of some text which at times can be a bit hard to see. Some form of health bars or animations on hit would go a long way to understanding whether or not hits are registering. Despite the visuals, there isn't much 'game' here unfortunately, and I feel like perhaps more could have been done in the time that was given. Having the same hurtbox size for both characters can make doing damage whilst avoiding it yourself incredibly difficult, there should be a consistent way to reduce or negate damage to provide some more complex depth. Finally, just adding more enemies is a poor way of increasing difficulty, just like increasing health and damage taken (looking at you Borderlands 2!). Are there better ways to make the game more difficult as you progress?

Overall, this is an entirely serviceable submission which unfortunately has fairly shallow gameplay. Building upon the foundations that you have established would result in a much stronger submission. Use what you have learned in this process to perhaps make stronger games in the future! Good effort, nonetheless.

A very impressive submission with a consistent artstyle and decently engaging gameplay. Lots of polish and quality of life features like character customisation. Attacks are telegraphed well with a range of different ways of hitting the enemy creating notable depth within the title. The 3D aspect is fairly unique and reminds me of game like Arms; there is something here that could be marketable with more work.

I think that some additional player feedback on connected hits would be a benefit outside of an audio clip, as sometimes it can be a bit difficult to see what attacks work best in a certain scenario. In addition, the AI is a bit awkward at times where they jump occasionally and freezing in place but considering the timescale this was made in it is entirely serviceable. Finally, I think that the character's attacks could be a bit more responsive as attacking can be fairly delayed which makes encounters a bit awkward.

Overall, I think that this is a very strong game with a lot of great things. You all did a good job with this project and with some more time and work on this I can see this on a marketplace. It is very clear that you put a lot of time and effort on this. Well done!

An interesting submission, both visually and through gameplay. I like the choice to make the whole thing being set on a stage, fairly unique premise to which to build off. Characters are decently animated and the change from left and right to forward and back is also a unique twist on the genre, well done.

Player feedback is very helpful and I feel like your game is lacking some parts here and there that could go a long way to improving experience. The small coloured circles work for the most part but perhaps there are better options that you could have used instead, perhaps a red flash on the character. Think of games like Minecraft when you hit enemies. In addition, being unable to dodge attacks whilst dealing your own can make the experience a little frustrating at times.

Overall, this is a twist on the beat-em-up genre and that with some polish, expansion, and a lick of paint, this would be something that I could confidently see on a marketplace of sorts. Good work.

A visually appealing submission that's let down  because of the unfortunate fact that you cannot get near one another at any point as movement controls both characters and not just one. You are able to completely walk off screen forever and jumping is a bit too high to ever be useful. Because I am unable to really 'play' your game, I can't really give you a proper review. But it seems that there is some understanding of the core Street Fighter mechanics with a variety of attacks. Playtest your game before you submit them, or if you did, give yourself more time to fix blatant issues such as what I've previously mentioned.

A good foundation of a 'Double Dragon' style game, with some decent character art and animations. Being able to walk on a 3rd Axis using a 2D perspective was something I wasn't aware of initially but was well implemented on the whole.

I don't believe a health system or 'lose condition' is within the game as I couldn't seem to die at times which did make the game incredibly simple. In addition, it did seem at times that the player attack happened the instant a button was pressed which is fine if the animation didn't make it seem like it would attack at once. Keep your visuals and in-game data consistent.

On the whole, this submission is entirely serviceable with some room for improvement, but is largely functional and visually appealing. Perhaps consider what you could have done with the time you were given and what went right and some improvements that could be made. Good effort.

A decent attempt at the genre, with some interesting "physics-like" fighting interactions with some visually appealing characters reminiscent of the Rayman series. 

The game can feel frustratingly repetitive with the same characters and with no goal in mind and once you understand you can alternate punch and kick rapidly it becomes incredibly easy to go for a considerable amount of time. In addition, you can just walk off the sides of the map which is quite an easy fix. Visually, the game's environments could use some improvements and polish. Regarding Audio, its commendable that you put it in, but consider your audio levels as it was fairly uncomfortable to listen to.

Overall, the core gameplay was entirely serviceable and even does a good job with hit registration, etc. but could definitely benefit from playtesting and polishing. Good work.

This is a visually impressive submission, with good animation and sprites which telegraph attacks/blocks pretty well. The characters have a range of attacks, giving the game some form of depth. I can see the foundations of a marketable game.

Some improvements would go a long way with this submission. The first being the control scheme which are quite awkward, for player 1 especially. Think about your bindings carefully, if you are going to have the binds surrounding  WASD for example, are they in a way that would minimise the amount your hand has to move or limits the actions a player can take? Secondly, why is jumping a thing? Because everytime that I had a character jump, most attacks from an opponent sends me flying and taking damage. Could you have done something like a quick dodge, or a Roll to negate damage instead?

All in all, this is a strong submission that I feel with some attention to detail and expansion could be marketable. Well done.

Please make sure your submission title has your team name in it, makes Ted's and my life easier! Definitely a surprising submission, wasn't expecting the 3D aspect of the game to be there. Visuals and graphics are very well made and polished, and lighting was very nice which gave the game a nice feeling of depth which was very useful. Player feedback is decent although I feel could be improved here and there.

I do feel like the enemies attacks, whilst telegraphed well, can feel a bit random at times. For example there would be times where I move away whilst they do the attack and I move back in whilst the attack animation is still showing. By all accounts, the attack should be over but I still get hit. Secondly, the strategy devolves into leading the enemies into a line and attacking them one by one which can feel a little repetitive at times. Finally, your environment and character art differ slightly with varying art styles. Consider how your artists come up with concepts and work with one another. You aren't just responsible for making the art, but making the art work with all of the different assets.

Overall, this is a strong submission and is fairly unique. A good effort has clearly been made and has resulting in a product that you should be proud of, with some additional work I can see this as a marketable piece of work. Well done!

Respect to you for submitting regardless of the unfinished state of your game. Some interesting systems were definitely planned, having a fairly complex fighting system and animations attached to them. It is evident that you had thought of something fairly unique and unfortunately it didn't go as planned.

I won't talk about what was actually submitted as I don't really have much to go on. But from what I can extrapolate based on what was there, I would feel like your designed game may have been a bit out of scope even if you had your whole team cooperating. One stage and simple visuals would have been sufficient for a game with the complexity you were planning. I plan to talk about groups and communication at the lecture on Monday, so definitely turn up (even though you should regardless ;)) 

A solid attempt at creating a side scrolling beat-em-up with some decent visuals and nice indication as to the goal of the game. Getting to the end of levels was challenging and a fairly engaging experience that required a couple of plays to complete.

A couple of points stand out, however, with the first being the character and enemy sprites which seem striking similar to Megaman NES which have a lot of sprite sheets available online. Using such assets as inspiration are fine, but definitely be careful when replicated copyrighted work as a lot of your sprite animations are quite similar. Secondly, I don't think there was much consideration with the difficulty of the game as there are parts of the first level that are incredibly difficult without extremely precise moments and timings. I don't feel like the turrets were a good choice and that having more complex fighting (blocking, etc.) and a variety of enemies would have been a stronger alternative, feel free to disagree with me on this. Finally, controls feel a bit repetitive since spamming 'K' over and over till the enemy dies whilst having to avoid the turret occasionally is more frustrating than engaging.

All in all, this was a good submission that has some room for improvement. Definitely has the core aspects of a good game, but is lacking in various parts which could have been addressed with significant playtesting. Good work nonetheless.

I'm not really going to review the "game" as there is little to review, I'm afraid. What I will do is give some discussion on how to avoid doing this in the future, and I will be touching upon this on Monday's Lecture so ensure that you all attend that.

Coding is a complicated progress that can be quite a lonesome task, and problems can feel impossible from your perspective. But working on it as a team within an environment where you are potentially surrounded by people who have programmed before means that when you do encounter problems there is more than one person whos working on solving the issue. I don't know if you had these problems late in the day as you tried to merge your work or whatever, but some source control would've been massively useful as you can trace back when things go wrong and figure out together what is causing issues. 

I would suggest working on creating a foundation of the game within the first couple days of development with moving left and right, collision, placeholder assets, etc. to build up off. So in worst case scenario you have the core to work from. Reflect on what happened, what mistakes were made, and what you are going to do to avoid making the same mistake twice.

A decent attempt at making a beat-em-up game with some nice visuals, both with character and environment art, and some audio work. A decent level of player feedback with the particle effects when you or the slime are hurt and being able to differentiate between the two. A good foundation from which to build a game that could be placed on a marketplace.

However, I do feel like there is a difficulty problem. Firstly enemies spawn way too quickly for the attack speed/damage that the character is able to do, and sharing similar hitbox size it is difficult to avoid getting hit whilst doing damage without some form of block or technical movement. Due to the lack of sprite flipping it is hard to tell whether you are attacking the slimes on the left at all which can make the game quite frustrating to play. In addition, making the game endless strips the game of any goal which makes justifying continued engagement difficult. Finally, you can just walk off screen in any direction and continue doing so making the game loop forever with nothing happening which doesn't necessarily scream "engaging gameplay".

On the whole, it is evident that significant effort was made with the game, particularly surrounding the visuals of the game, however there is room for improvement with the gameplay itself. I think that this is a good submission despite the issues. Good work.

Make sure that you list your team members as contributors as well as listing your team name in the title. Don't make us do detective work to find out who you are! This is a decent attempt at making a beat-em-up for the time you were given, with some good character art and some work on animations mainly on the player.

However, I don't think I can say that this is actually a beat-em-up, but rather a platformer which was the last game not this one! If you look at the gameplay provided on the Moodle, I think that you would agree with me that this is more like Mario than Double Dragon. That aside, the main character art looks like it was cut out of Photoshop or something like that, with some white cutouts surrounding the character. Also, why does it appear to have a gun when that isn't used at all, or am I missing something there? The environment and character art style is drastically different which takes away from the experience, consider ensuring that art remains consistent in the future.

Overall, I commend you for submitting and there is evidence that work was done on the project, albeit perhaps a bit rushed. I think that what you have here is entirely fine, and with some additional work there is the basics for a strong submission.

A decent attempt at the 'Double Dragon' style which some strong character work and animations. Hitboxes seemed responsive and controls were tight, slight acceleration and deceleration in movement made moving around feel really good and allowed some interesting maneuvers when playing.

That being said, there is room for improvement. Your character art and environment had some drastic differences in art style. On the whole it isn't particularly a problem, but in the future your artists should try to keep their art work consistent with one another. Player feedback is important within games in general, but games like this definitely need it and whilst you did have it with the enemy reeling back, it was hard to tell whether or not I would get hit by a players attack. Next, I would consider your collision boxes as it made it hard for both the enemy and I to navigate the environment when other characters are in play. I was able to get enemies to line up and do an attack and move back and forward to avoid damage, leading to fairly repetitive and simplistic gameplay. Finally, is there any difference between the two attacks because it was hard to tell what the difference was. Maybe it would have been better to have just one attack and maybe a parry or block instead?

On the whole, the game has the foundations of a side-scrolling beat-em-up but could use some work and improvements here and there. Given the timeframe you had, expecting a full game and extremely high amounts of quality and polish is definitely out of scope, but polish goes a long way into the feel of the game. Good effort.

This game takes me back to playing games on the GBA or even occasionally on the NES, very reminiscent of the past. The beauty of making games inspired by older games is that they are really simple to make with modern day engines. Your choice to do something like that, intentional or otherwise, definitely worked for you as this game is incredibly polished and everything plays really well. The graphics are really good, almost professional if this was a game on the GBA/NES. Audio add to the level of polish overall creating an enticing experience. Gameplay is fairly simple, but works in its favour, with two options leading to a 'Rock-Paper-Scissors'-esque scenario where you can outsmart your opponent. Despite the simple controls, complex decisions can be made. You even added a jump forward and back motion with double tap! This, with perhaps some tweaks here and there could be placed on a marketplace.

I feel like an ability to choose an arena from the menu would be a nice feature, as it took a couple of retries to get to see all of your arenas. The main improvement that I think should be made is the hitboxes as avoiding damage can be a little difficult at times, and a slightly smaller hitbox would help compliment the "Simple but Complex" system that you have designed. Finally, consider your controller bindings for local play. Whilst you can play both systems with 1 or 2 hands, it does feel like player 1 would have a smaller advantage since movement would typically be controlled by the left hand. Are there other keys that you could have used to mitigate this problem?

That being said, most of my critique can be considered nitpicks as this game is well polished and the issues encountered would have little effect on general play between two people. This is definitely a strong submission that you should all be quite proud of. Well done!

An interesting approach to the 1v1 brawler, with two different characters who have differing movement and attack options adding a layer of depth and strategy to the game meaning you don't mindlessly spam one key. Considerations have been made for balancing and how the game plays for each individual player. I played your game on my own, however I did a variety of test cases and scenarios so I feel like I have tried to cover as much of your game as one person can. The game reminds me of Duck Game for some reason, perhaps the different weapon options creating differing playstyles. A range of characters with different mobility and attack options could be quite a unique premise if done right.

That being said, the graphics and visuals are rather rudimentary and could definitely benefit from either more complex animations or graphical improvements. There are plenty of aesthetically pretty games with very basic visuals so perhaps something could have been done for this title. In addition, there's little player response to damage or any indication of what attack the player is going to do. In games like street fighter, there is some telegraphed visual effect or animation that lets you know in advance (even briefly) what attack the player is going to do. Player feedback to what is going on is key for fast paced games, especially fighting games.

Overall this is a decent submission that could use with a lick of paint and some improvements to gameplay, but on the whole is predominantly functional and fairly simple to understand. Work on balancing and what was previously mentioned and you have the foundation for quite a strong game here. Good effort. 

A very nice submission with visuals reminiscent of games like Double Dragon and Streets of Rage which is a cool touch. The animations were simple yet smooth and worked well for the game. The parallax on the background added to the strong visual aspect of the game. There is a visual style here that I could see on a public title with some additional cleanup and improvements, given more time.

However, I feel like the gameplay could use some improvements. Controls were fine given the timeframe, but could benefit from having a control splash page on the main menu so players don't have to figure out how to play the game for themselves. The main improvement that I feel should be addressed would be hitboxes, as that is a large contributor to the feel of the game. Having the same Hitboxes and Hurtboxes as the enemy means that it is really hard to avoid taking damage. In games like DD and SoR as previously mentioned there are ways to avoid getting hit which makes winning and losing more dependent on player ability and doesn't feel as random. Finally, player feedback (aka. enemy health bars, hurt animations or red flash on damage) goes a long way to improving the user experience and I think that would have been nice to see in game.

Overall, given the timeframe you had, whilst more may have been done it is a solid submission with a good aesthetic and serviceable gameplay that I think establishes the foundation for a strong beat-em-up game. Good work.

I perhaps shouldn't have given a fixed time as it is largely dependent on how you have implemented mechanics etc.. 10% of project time seems relatively appropriate but this will vary wildly depending on the title. I stated a "day", as with 4 people all playing the game repeatedly for that period of time, most core issues/bugs could be found and addressed relatively quickly. A nice rule of thumb is the bigger the project, the bigger proportion of your time you should spend on playtesting.

These are only project files, and so I cannot even play them. Did you not export them from the Eldon Lab machines?

Having software crashes is a shame and definitely would delay you. However, did you try to get any help from the technicians or your fellow peers, many of which are using the same software as you?

Use what you have learned during this process to improve yourselves going forward. What could you have done to ensure that you had a stronger submission and what could you as individuals do to improve.

A very impressive submission, visuals are very appealing and gameplay is engaging. Whenever the ghost appeared, the frantic feeling to get to a wardrobe was reminiscent of various horror games. The volumetric lighting of the torch was especially nice and really contributed to the atmosphere. Hiding in the wardrobe was a really nice feature that I think was handled really well. Not too much and not too little. Level design taught the player mechanics decently well and followed a logical difficulty progression.

Getting caught by the ghost seemed to make her never spawn again, so my first playthrough felt a bit empty. In addition, the sprint mechanic was a tad harsh, requiring very precise use of it to escape the ghost during your first encounter. Finally, using free assets is fine so long as they are under the correct licenses, but I would have liked to have seen a menu or somewhere in the game where they are credited.

Overall, I don't have much to complain about. This is incredibly polished outside of a few bugs here and there. With expansion and perhaps the addition of some form of narrative, I think that there is a game here that could potentially be sold. Well done!

First things first, ensure that your project files all work correctly before submission. Having to rename files isn't ideal. This is a decent attempt at a platformer, with some nice visuals.

This feels a bit basic, with only rudimentary mechanics and little attempt to make the game unique. Why should I play your game instead of the other submissions? Some of the environment assets could have been improved, flat colours against an otherwise colourful background doesn't look too good. In addition, the game feels too short with only two levels. Given your submission time, I feel that perhaps there was little to no playtesting and some parts of the game had to be rushed so you could submit on time. This game is in need of polish and expansion.

Overall, you have submitted something and it is clear that an attempt has been made. Consider what you could have done to make a better product and use that knowledge to improve yourself going forward into future projects.

This is your submission from the first week game, and its project files so still unplayable for people without gamemaker.

These are only project files, and so I cannot play them. You said that this was a Trial Version in which I am assuming you meant with Gamemaker. Perhaps it would have been a good idea to come into the Eldon Labs, which have full versions of the software and export it there?

A submission that satisfies the core criteria for what a platformer is, mechanically the game works, with an interesting punishment system. A lack of lives but the need to complete the level within a time frame punishes late-game mistakes, naturally increasing the skill requirement.

Gameplay and visual wise, this was fairly basic and I think could have been better with the given timeframe. Outside of the timelimit being constant, even if the character dies, there isn't anything terribly unique. Some of the platforms clashed with the background which made some of them hard to see. Jumping was a bit too fast and high, making it feel awkward to use at times. Some interesting level design would have mitigated this issue, but to be honest only a few values would have needed to be tweaked. Finally, you can infinitely jump and fly off-screen, bypassing the whole level which doesn't make for engaging gameplay. Most of these issues are indicative of a lack of playtesting, which is a crucial aspect of game development.

Overall, an attempt has been made to create a platformer, and for some of you this is your first experience working with others making a game. Use what you have learnt during this process to improve yourselves going forward.

A solid attempt to create a platformer game with a unique mechanic, visuals were appealing and serviceable. Whilst audio was a bit scuffed, what was there was good and complimented play well. Accessibility was easy and effortless, good work.

Have you properly credited and used external sources correctly? Have they got the correct licenses for you to use? In addition, the fact you can get stuck on terrain which you have addressed is perhaps the biggest issue with the game as I had to restart your game like 12 times in order to complete it, excluding times where I just died. This was probably due to how you did collisions, so additional playtesting and bugtesting was absolutely necessary here.

Apart from that, the game is entirely serviceable, and for many of you this was your first time making a game in a team. What have you learned? What knowledge have you obtained that you can use in your next project? Good effort.

I like the concept of a horror-platformer, with games like Limbo being a key favourite of mine. The animation and character design was very nice, by having a simple art style you were able to evoke a creepy feel and environment.

The enemies' hitboxes were very unforgiving and the level design was a bit rudimentary, devolving into just jumping on enemies and getting through the game. This game felt like something that would have a narrative or story attached to it. Whilst there was a background, it wasn't explored in any significant capacity. If you are going to have a story and a game with little gameplay, that is entirely fair and there are a ton of examples where this has been the case (again, Limbo is a great one). But you need to actually have a narrative to go along with, it's no use writing a beginning and then saying "oh he's forgiven himself" at the end.

I can see the sort of game you were going for, perhaps it was a bit out of scope of what you could do within your timeframe. It seems like an early prototype for a longer form narrative horror game, which is ok. Consider what you can get done in the time you are given and how best to get your idea across in a small-scale game. A good attempt, overall.

A submission that contains most of the key game mechanics for a platformer, interesting theme, and a relatively tight control scheme.

The double jumping's effectiveness is entirely dependant on when you press the jump key the second time, with late presses being almost useless. Enemies' pathway was dependant on objects which led to circumstances where enemies were levitating whilst gently falling to the ground. Hitboxes for the enemies were awkward and could have used some work. Overall, this game had everything there, but felt unpolished. A portion of your development time should have been focused on playtesting and ensuring that players get the experience that you intend. Finally, it was good that you referenced the 8-Bit Soviet Anthem video, but is that really open license. You really need to be careful with using other people's work, some people wouldn't allow you to use them without permission or without the correct license.

Overall, this submission meets the requirements and is perfectly acceptable for the timeframe it was made in, but dedicate time to polishing and bugtesting in the future. What have you learned about making games in a team that you could take onto future projects?

A extremely unique take on the genre, a very nice attempt at really standing out from the crowd. I think that there is a relatively unexplored niche with this sort of play, outside of games like Fez etc.

I won't critique your game as I normally have with the others, as the version I've seen isn't complete according to the comment from the Developer. But what I will stress is the importance of Source Control, using your case as an example. I've told others that for short term games, cloud backups are entirely viable since they will not be expansive and sizable projects. However, not having anything is a tremendously risky move. Everyone in the team needs to have various versions, and the whole team should take responsibility not just one person.

It is a shame that the work was lost, because this is a really interesting take on the genre. Hold on to this idea, cause there is something publishable here. If you want a more game design-y discussion of your game, come find me before or after the lecture on Monday.

A great submission, visually cute artstyle and intuitive use of powerups and abilities to create different types of puzzles. Controls and movement were tight and even made sense for the character being on wheels. Level design allowed smooth introduction of abilities without being intrusive or hand-holding. A unique game through and through.

The blue powerup, speed, was extremely weird and I think the execution of the power could have been better. When I picked up the item I would travel at an extremely fast pace and had no control over which direction apart from when I positioned myself properly. The level design on the 4th level was occasionally frustrating, especially when using the warp pipe which made you teleport directly in the turrets line of fire. Swinging also felt incredibly quick, but worked for the most part. 

Overall, this game is very impressive. Expansion and some work into the design and execution of a couple of levels and you have something that I think could be put on a marketplace. Well done!

I see. Thank you for the clarification. A key design skill is how you teach mechanics to players, as they need time to figuring out how such things work out and such. Throwing multiple items on the player at once can be potentially overwhelming, and so you should consider how and when to introduce additional items to the game.  Think of the Metroid series, they introduce an item and base a series of rooms around getting used to and mastering said item. Once that cycle is done, they repeat with a new item, eventually introducing rooms which requiring mastery of a range of items to complete. Something like that, but on a smaller scale would have drastically improved the experience. Clearly demonstrate how such items should be used. Great work nonetheless.

A very impressive submission, visually appealing with decent animations and tight controls. Whip took a little getting used to, but once understood you were able to move in very unique ways. Enemies felt challenging but not unfair. Teaching players crucial mechanics and not leaving it up to them to figure out how the game works was very nice.

The 'E' attack felt pretty much useless and almost inconsistent at times. It was far easier to just jump on their heads. The difficulty progression was a bit steep, as some of the enemies who can attack from any angle (even above them).  I think it was fine for the most part, but consider your level design and how you can get players to master a skill. 

Overally, this is a great game, given the timescale. Obviously it would have been nice to see more levels, but perhaps that would have been out of scope. I think with some expansion and focus on level design, you have something that could easily be put onto a marketplace. Well done! 

A submission that meets all of the requirements of a run-and-gun platformer, having a unique art style reminiscent of the Lovecraftian Horror style of Garfield that is very popular recently. Novel use of audio that contributes to user experience. I appreciate the permission received from the artist of both the cover and game over images.

You clearly noted your awareness of some of the bugs, but they are things that you probably needed to have addressed when implementing moving and jumping. Being unable to jump when walking into certain environmental objects requiring a restart on occasion is quite a significant issue. How much playtesting/bugtesting was done in the run-up to submission? When submitting any game project, you should give yourself a notable period of time solely to focus on playtesting. If you have a game that needs to be submitted in a week, it would be a good idea to allocate one day (~4-5 hours) to playing your game or getting others to play to find and fix any bugs. 

Overall, the game is mostly functional but could have definitely benefited from more attention to the polish of the game. Great attempt, nonetheless.

A solid submission that is functional, decent visuals with an accompanying soundtrack. I liked the visual style of the character and enemies and for the most part enjoyed the game.

I do think that this is relatively simplistic. It was evident that there was some sort of shooting mechanic intended because when I held LMB the character seemed to loop an attack animation, but nothing seemed to happen. The environment could have done with some polish as it felt different from your character style, ensure that your artstyle remains consistent throughout. Finally, the game felt a bit short and could have benefitted from either more levels or more complex gameplay.

All in all, this was a good attempt that I think definitely holds potential. For some of you, this may have been your first experience working with a team on making a game; what did you learn? What went right and what could be improved on? Nice effort.

A well made 'unfair' platformer, incorporating many elements of what makes such games frustrating but also rewarding once completed. The beginning aspect was thoroughly entertaining. Movement was tight and visuals were appealing and contributed well to the experience.

The beginning audio was entertaining, as stated prior, but I felt like an actual script was definitely needed. It was clearly obvious what you were aiming to do, and with some more focus on what was being said to delay the player for as long as possible would be a better use than just rambling off the mic. Secondly, the key part of unfair platformers is determining solutions and remembering sequences. In notable titles, most famously Kaizo Mario World, the game appears impossible but through trial and error with a decent memory you can even do the game deathless. Relying on 'leaps of faith' as you did especially on the last level don't engage the player as much. Think of unfair platformers as Puzzle Games, not traditional platformers.

Overall, this was a good submission and take on the task set. With some work on the level design and writing, I think that this has a lot of potential. Great effort.