It's cool that you did a Sega Master System game and I like the idea of being able to combine your three upgrades it's a cool way to expand the possibilities while technically working within the three upgrades limitation.
That being said I'm not sure if it's just still in early phases or if it's just not working properly for me cause I cant kill the enemies but cool project nonetheless.
Cool to see a Pico-8 game not really sure about Pico-8s capabilities and restrictions but it seems like you did a good job.
The gameplay is pretty basic and fun the base fire rate feels like it's pretty slow which forces me to be a little more considerate about my shots instead of just holding down the Z button. And being able to run into enemies gives me some cool options as well. Also it's super weird that you start the game with X but don't fire with X that threw me off.
I actually really like the upgrades here the shoot up one is just standard fire rate increase and the slow down one is helpful. Usually I am not a fan of the increased movement speed upgrade that a lot of people have in their SHMUPs but here I like it a lot more cause you can crash into enemies. I wish there was an indicator for what upgrade was dropping so you could plan around it a little more but I think it's implementation was mostly good.
The visuals that are here are good even though there's obviously stuff like no background and no death effects. The sounds here are all solid it's just missing music. Overall I liked the presentation something about Pico-8 and it's colors are so appealing.
It's a simple high score shooter but I enjoyed it so thanks for submitting!
Really polished and really fun game!
I think this game really showcases how much you can do with so little as long as it's all really polished. There's only three enemy types but they all function in such different ways that offer unique and fun challenges. The three upgrades are all fairly simple and straightforward but make you feel like your progressing. The difficulty curve is nice and the checkpoints are much appreciated. There's all kinds of feedback both visual and auditory. The only minor issue I have is I kind of wish the music was louder and the shooting sound effect was a little quieter but all around I had a really great time!
Thanks for submitting!
I'm kind of running out of ways to intro my comments but nice game!
I like the way the game controls there's some decent enemy variety and all around it's a short but sweet shoot em up experience. I like that the enemies have some different properties but I feel like none of them really force me to switch up my game plan in a super meaningful way. The upgrades feel not that impactful but I think that's just cause the game is fairly short and not all that difficult so having a faster fire rate just isn't super notable. The upgrades menu was also confusing and I wasn't sure why it wasn't working when I clicked the buttons. And on top of that the menu popping up in the middle of combat is scary. The two headed boss dragon is a bit underwhelming and the game ends very abruptly but I liked it alright.
The visuals are pretty solid there's plenty of particle effects and good visual feedback. I noticed this in somebody else's project too but the really big feedback stuff like screen shake and sfx feel somewhat misplaced in this project. Since I'm basically always shooting having a loud sound effect and the screen shaking isn't really necessary and those kind of effects should probably be saved for more impactful moments like an enemy dying or the boss appearing. I think that would improve the game feel a lot. Also the white outlines are like kind of weird, they do a good job outlining the important elements on screen but something about it just does not make my eyes happy.
Overall solid project. Thanks for making it!
I was confused by how the game worked at first but this game is actually so dope. It like combines SHMUP stuff with infinite runner stuff and the resource system almost reminds of like Ikaruga prototype mode and it is so much more fun than I would've expected.
The gameplay loop of having to dodge randomly generated enemies while having a finite number of ammo at your disposal just leads to so many fun quick little decisions where you have to decide how which path to take, how much ammo are you going to spend, are you going to try to sneak through the little gap between bees to save ammo or are you just gonna blow through them, can you make it to the other side of the screen to get that ammo pickup without using too many shots? There's just so many little things to consider that add a lot of depth too a super duper simple game. The bee hitboxes seem a bit bigger than I'd like them too bee there were plenty of times where I would try to swerve around a bee and end up barely hitting their stinger and dying but besides that I had a great time.
The three upgrades are here and they work as a really cool ammo system. However they just kind of increase the amount of ammo drops and total ammo as you progress, otherwise they all function the same it seems. If they had different effects like clearing out an entire row or something like that I think it could add even more depth to the gameplay since now you have to choose which ammo to use and save.
Aesthetically the game is pretty on point although the explosion sound and death animations can feel sluggish at times. There is some good feedback I think it could just be snappier and maybe just bigger more particle effects screen shake etc.
Pretty unique game that I think could just be built on more mechanically and polished further presentation wise and it'd be a really fun time. Thanks!
This is probably my favorite so far the setting and characters are so fun and it's crazy how a solid concept like that can just instantly increase how invested a player gets and how much fun they have.
The gameplay is really standard SHMUP stuff but it's done solidly and has a really non-standard coat of paint with all the fun and goofy characters. The camera angle is a little wonky so it made it kind of hard for me to judge if I was in the right place or not especially with the pizza guys since their bullets are bigger. Maybe if the hitboxes were a little more forgiving it would've been less bothersome but I found it a bit difficult in a not fun way.
The three special attacks are cool they have a sense of spectacle they incorporate the Dragon's family and they feel like they're really impactful. That being said although they increase in grandeur as the game progresses it still feels like they function mostly the same which is fine but I think more could've been done with them possibly.
Overall the visuals are really good the music is like so fitting for the game I really like it. There could certainly be some more feedback for beating enemies besides them just kind of collapsing and sliding away, a more impactful sound or visual effect. Also the money effect when the player gets hit felt weirdly delayed? I might just be imagining things but it seemed off. Overall really great presentation.
Lot's of personality in this cool little SHMUP just a couple weird things here or there that I think could've been polished or built on and really bring this game to the next level so to speak. Thanks for the game!
Hey there cool entry I really like the dragons vs demons things it's cool and pretty unusual for a SHMUP so kudos on that.
This game has a pretty interesting take on the SHMUP gameplay formula too where you cant actually die and your score is just based on how many guys you let past. Sadly it looks like the counters for dragons defeated/escaped aren't functional but I think it's a cool idea that could be built on a little more. In the game you have different enemies each with their own flight pattern which is a good start but beating them is all the same strategy, you just follow them and shoot. You might consider enemies that shoot at you but they don't kill you just stun you or something like that. That way you keep the game accessible and there's no losing but also have a little more variety in the challenges presented to the player. The shooting is kind of bothersome, I would suggest making it so the player can just hold down the spacebar instead of having to spam it to shoot.
As far as design and use of the limitations you only had one upgrade which wasn't the theme but I do like the upgrade. You level up as you beat more enemies and then turn into a big more powerful dragon. This is cool I would've had it so that you fill up your xp and then get to choose when you turn into the big dragon instead of it being automatic. That way the player has a little more agency and the upgrade doesn't get wasted when there are like no enemies or something like that.
The visuals are good I like the cute dragon sprite and his cool upgraded version and all the demons have intriguing designs. There's just like no feedback when things happen no particle effects or shake or anything. And then there's also just no sound so that's that.
Really unique project that has some interesting takes on previously established SHMUP mechanics it just feels incomplete in it's current state. Thanks for creating and sharing!
I really liked this one impressive project for only 72 hours!
The game feels fun the movement and the auto fire are nice and good the only thing that I was totally not feeling was the pacing of the thing. Having one enemy type is gonna get repetitive for obvious reasons but the game does a good job mixing it up with different formations and the one enemy there is has a challenging enough bullet spread for it to be fun for quite a while. However considering the small amount of content in game I feel like the final boss is kind of a long ways away into the level and the whole thing would've benefited from being shorter. This also might just be me not playing a lot of SHMUPs and being bad to be fair.
The design is great there are three upgrades and I think they're nice simple and balanced really well they add a fun choice that's made throughout the game and allow the player to experiment with different builds. I think the heart is probably the most lackluster upgrade since it doesn't change how the game is played quite like spread or damage but I'm not dreading it's inclusion or anything.
As far as visuals go the game looks good everything has this nice simple pixel style with a nice mostly green color palette which lets the red bullets really stand out. I like the jetpack guys little particle effect. I think a particle effect for the dragons getting hit or dying could add a lot to the games feel as well. The music is good and I think in a SHMUP it's generally a good thing to keep the music at the forefront of the mix so the game doesn't just sound like a bunch of explosions. However I think you could have added more sound effects and considered which sound effects are really important for the player. For example the main sound effect in your game is the sound of the gun shooting which is a fine sound effect to hear (albeit a bit grading on the ears after a while) but it's not really something the player needs a lot of feedback for since the gun is basically always shooting. I think it's much more important for sound effects like enemies getting hit and dying to be the loudest thing going on since those are more important moments. I hope I explained that well.
Overall really great entry especially for the short time period my main criticisms would just be pacing and more consideration for the nuances of sound design. Otherwise fun game!
First off good job actually completing a game with menus and a tutorial that's a major point that I overlooked when making my game.
The main issues that I think are holding back this games fun factor are the collision just being kind of buggy so I die when it looks like I'm not getting hit and stuff like that. The need to spam the space key is pretty bothersome. And the enemies seemingly all behaving exactly the same kind of gives the game a repetitive feel on top of the already buggy stuff. Also I wish dying didn't send you back to the start of the level and it was more like Ikaruga where you just hop right back in and keep progressing but that's more of a personal preference I suppose.
The limitation is used well there are 3 different upgrades and they all seem good in their own right so good job there. I think having them as random pickups instead of a scripted choice between the three isn't the best way to go about it cause then there's no decision to be made the best course of action is just pick up every upgrade. But besides that I think the overall game design is good.
I think the visuals and sound are pretty good on their own, the dragon is nice looking the pixel ships have a great look but it all kind of clashes together and isn't super cohesive. There's some nice death effects in the form of explosions which are good feedback but I think more could have been done in the sound department. Sound effects for ships exploding and such. I liked the music that played throughout the game so no complaints there.
Overall the core design is fine and has a solid idea the execution is just a little messy. Thanks so much for creating and sharing!
