Made it to 35 on 1-Back. My brain... Not sure why that was so hard.
If you're interested in making it color-blind friendly, symbols that correspond with the color would help. That would veer from the basic visual design you've got.
As is, it's a very fun, simple, and stimulating game. Good job!
Demakes are so seldom well done. Especially when you're trying to capture FPS on older systems like this. This top-down is so so good! The pace is great. The artwork is great. The controls are great. The level design is great. The dialogue gives story without bogging down gameplay.
I'd pay for this game once you're done. For real! I know the legal stuff for a demake may make that tricky. But if you finish this and have fuel for more, you've definitely got the skills and drive to make high-quality games.
I see in other comments where you stated recently having had twins! Congratulations! Hope you're enjoying them
Just posting here because I was playing on my Gameboy and wanted to say how much I still love this game. If it had been available this would've been one of my childhood favorites. As it stands, it's one of my new favorites.
I enjoy playing it on my DMG, Color, and Advance. Just discovered the Super Gameboy border today!
Thanks for the consideration. I definitely see why you've got a limiter on shooting. Game would be way less fun if you could infinitely shoot into every room without consequence.
Keep it up! I'll be on the lookout for updates and such! Already quite fun.
I'm enjoying this. The punishment for missing a shot feels a little harsh though. Maybe instead of a chance for an instance loss some other incentive to encourage careful shooting might be more fun. Only having one arrow and having to move into the room you shot in to retrieve it before you can shoot again. Or maybe losing half your health or something. Or maybe only getting 3 arrows. Not sure.
Additionally, maybe the map revealing more as you go instead of showing all locations from the start. Might increase the intensity and reward the player a bit more for exploring. Give them the feeling of discovering things even if there's nothing in the room.
Maybe more than one potential map layout?
Maybe additional clues or tools or whatnot that you can find in a room? Something like, "Found a nest but it's cold. The Gwumpus must be 6 rooms from here or more."
Good, simple game though. I'd love to play this on real hardware once you're finished with it.
I totally get how difficult it can be to migrate to another platform. No pressure. But this game looks so beautiful. It would be so much fun to play on real hardware.
Whether you do or don’t, props on a game well done!
I completely agree! This is awesome! I'd love to be able to download a ROM file to play in an emulator or flash to a cartridge and play on an actual GBC! Can you add that to your post here?
Also, Amber! @taxicomics has an awesome Pico-8 demake too! You should check it out! You both did such a fantastic job capturing the look/feel of the original game for these two small-scale consoles!
This is a poster child for constructive criticism!
Great thoughts and incredibly thorough explanation! Thanks for playing the game. I'm so glad you enjoyed it. I will have to check out Gyrus. I've never played it.
Seriously thank you for the feedback. I personally liked the screen shake with low health, but I definitely see what you mean about making tracking more difficult, so I dialed it back quite a bit so it's hopefully not so distracting.
Also, I adopted (closely) your status bar recommendation and it actually opened up a lot of space to fix some things and add some features!
I hope you enjoy the changes. I also hope you don't mind my adding you to the credits under my list of play testers!
Wow! This game surprised me. Production value is amazing! Could not believe this much quality gameplay could be available for free. Definitely want to purchase the rest now! Thanks for making! Really enjoying!
I flippin loved this game. Probably played it way longer than it was intended to be played. And will very likely play it again before long. Took a little figuring and exploring before I realized how to make monsters more powerful. Which, once I stumbled across it, really loved that it’s not the standard XP system. Incredibly robust “mini”game!
This game is awesome. Loved the way you explained the controls. Haven’t finished but am really enjoying it. Everything about it feels like a good quality cartridge one could find back in the 90’s.
Loved this game. Loved the music. Especially loved the platformer overworld of the village itself.
Had some glitch issue with the final boss fight, but a reset brought me right back to where I left off and was able to finish without further problems.
I’ll agree about critiques regarding the UI. Takes a little bit of getting used to. But once you figure it out, it’s really straightforward. That being said, I’ve never played a more immersive game on any retro console in my life. Artwork is mind blowing, music and sound subtly adds to the experience without overwhelming it. Lot’s of lore to unlock and discover. It’s just good storytelling. I was very drawn in.
