itch.io

I'm still in awe with this game, going back to it and to the making of video basically every year. Back in the day Super Mario Bros. was considered to be a technological marvel, fitting so many levels and mechanics into a 40 kb game. But this game shows what was actually possible, and every decision is beautiful. For instance, all the devs on NES tried making characters bigger and bigger, while Micro Mages feature one 8x8 px sprite characters and showing that good artist can make characters look good even in 8x8 px. But what this gave is the ability to make much richer animations, and compared to Micro Mages, Mario's characters look like stagnant paper figurines. M.M.'s just feel so much more alive. Not only that, but making characters 4x smaller consequently makes the world 4x bigger! More things to see, explore and interact with. And also it allows the 4 players multiplayer mode to be a full-fledged game mode.

Then we have levels. They're packed with content both horizontally and vertically, and have lots of graphics in the backgrounds as opposed to just blank sheets. And the giant bosses at the end of each world provide much needed sense of scope, which again is multiplied in power by the small size of the player's character. They're well done and this spectacle rewards the  player for finishing yet another world, while in S.M.B. there's really only one boss. 

And if that's not enough, there's twice as much levels due to hard mode being the second half of the game! Which again features not only new challenges and harder enemies, but new graphical palettes as well, making it feel new (for instance 130 KB Ghosts'n'Goblins didn't feature new palettes in the second hard half of the game, and this 40 KB game does).

And the best part is that the game is not just a technical demo on a demo scene, but a finished super fun game! The challenges are fair, not too hard to feel obliged to quit but also not trivial. The controls and sounds give satisfaction from just playing the game. The levels are designed to be beatable wether the player has power ups like flying or lost them all. And of course they are designed to work in the hard half as well. So there's a lot of good game design there. 

This is no doubt one of my absolutely favourite NES games, it turned my phone into a much loved game console and gives me joy even when lying on a bed. And I just like going back to this marvel again and again, which gives me game development inspiration. Love your work, guys!

I like how in the end, when the UFO boss arrives, the player faces a dilemma that previous enemies were all killing them on touch, so what does he do with the boss? Typical way of doing it would be a tutorial UI: freeze frame, draw arrows and red circles, display "jump on top of the UFO" message and do other annoying stuff developers these days do to command their user as if they had intelligence of a toddler. 

But Ismael found different way of doing this. Simply don't spawn any new objects so that the only thing that's left to do is to jump on top of the enemy like in "Mario" and hope for the best. And it's so much more fun and rewarding, especially considering there's a satisfying animation and a high jump that follow. Design decisions like this is what makes games fun.

The only thing that this game needs is some lush/animated backgrounds instead of blackness, mainly because 90% black space preview looks a bit dull and I honestly clicked only because it was an Ismael's game. And it was very pleasant experience! Which I could have missed. So if there every a full version maybe this can be considered.

Anyway I'd rate the game but don't see the corresponding button anywhere.

Never expected a free game to be so enticing and rich! Many things are done just right, especially in writing: the pacing, the amount teasing before finally providing the desired event, characters feel genuine and lovable... Helps to find yourself lost in a story which, unlike life, can often end in really desirable ways. 

Another strong thing going for the game is humour and usage of memes. It's not overdone and spices things just right, often adding to the characters. 

Maybe I'm so excited because it's my first VN of this sorts, so kinda losing nerd's virginity in a way lol. But still the game is quite good. The only thing that I'd find to be an improvement would be a more down-to-earth story to feel more realistic, a believable experience would make it feel more real. But the story provided fits the overall style well because you could feel the person behind the story doing his thing and in a way it's all harmonious. 

Great game.

In my opinion, shooter games must have pixelated enemies like Doom 2 in order to give the most satisfaction from 8-bit gore!

What's funny is that this game mechanically reminded me of a 3d fantasy action game Pupencia I'm making - power ups are spawning at specific locations, enemies are rushing at you all the time and you have to defeat them. I even have the fireball power up too lol.

This game really made me want to finish it, especially considering it has no save game option lol. I like how it combines the early 8-bit graphics style of CGA/ZX-Spectrum, but also the smoothness of physics based controls. I wonder how you coded the swinging. Also the "fog of war" is implemented really classy, in the 8 bit noise style as well. Controls feels good, also thanks to mid-air control. And man these leaps of faith I had to take letting go of the pick axe lol.

I think a full version with online scores would do nicely. Or maybe even a coop mode to torture each other with a friend lol.

when full version