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I have played Fix My Heart for 30 minutes. I purchased the Digital Edition from Incube8's website.
Synopsis from Incube8's website:
~~~
Fix My Heart is a precision platformer with minimalistic graphics and a strong emphasis on speedrunning, ranked 16th out of 134 entries in the Game Boy Competition 2021.
Run through a perilous cave as you try to fix your mechanical heart. The game offers challenging levels that will push your platforming abilities to the limit, leaving no room for errors. Are you up for the challenge?
With seven unique endings to unlock, you must decide your fate and confront the cave's deadly obstacles. For those seeking an even harder experience, the Remix mode introduces five new gameplay mechanics that will put your skills to the test.
~~~
I was interested in the full release of this game as I not only love platformers, I love speedrunning platformers that focus on precision movement. I was looking forward to a modernized platforming challenge for the Game Boy Color from developer Filipe Bianchin having played and enjoyed his GBCompo21 jam version of the same name.
There are two modes to choose from: a "Story Mode", where you sprint through a cave racing against time, seeking out several unique endings. And the additional "Remix Mode" that separates the full release from the jam version. The Remix mode challenges the player to complete a series of rooms, each with its own unique gimmick including a Mario Odyssey style throw your hat and use it as a trampoline or a flappy bird jet pack section, for example.
This is the first release from developer Filipe Bianchin and it shows considerable promise for future releases. He has a strong handle on game juice and making sure the Player Character feels responsive. The minimalist pixel art is very nice and effective as a stylistic choice and the game play itself is simple but effective. However, as this is a commercial release that I spent money on, there are some issues I think are important to raise.
STORY MODE
----------------------
I completed the Story Mode in 3 minutes. There is some replay value here as there are multiple endings. This is a similar experience to the jam version as there are multiple endings to find in that, too. But I found a bunch of them very quickly. Most of them completed within 15 minutes of game play. There are no enemies in this game, just you and precision jumping which I found to be pretty easy. So the game play is fun, but it is simplistic for a story mode that last 3 minutes and doesn't encourage replay over all. It's simply not complex enough.
The one ending I wanted to experience most of all is the deathless run as that is the most challenging of the runs and I felt the game could provide some challenge through reaching this goal. I spent 10 minutes attempting a deathless run of the Story Mode but retired for one big reason...There is no quick run reset. So if I died at any time during a deathless attempt, I couldn't pause the game and select a run reset option. I had to reset the actual Game Boy and sit there waiting through Logo screens, menues and a short version of the intro cutscene. In the end, I was watching logos and cutscenes for a longer period of time than attempting runs. It was enough for me to just stop trying. I do hope this feature is added into at least the digital edition of the game to help speedrunners looking to complete the deathless run in future. This is a platformer that strongly stresses speed running at the core of its design, after all.
~~~
REVIEW EDIT:
After releasing this review, the developer contacted me and mentioned you can restart to the Title Screen during a run by pressing START and SELECT at the same time. In the manual, under the controls section, it does say "RESTART" and points to the SELECT and START button.
So there is a quick game restart, at least.
I read the manual but missed this detail, unfortunately. This does raise an interesting point, though. Do modern players skim through a manual or not read it at all? Should developers insert important information into the game to ensure the player has an optimally designed experience? Or does the Developer leave it to chance, hoping that players will read through the manual? From my own feedback, I tend to think players won't read the instructions on itch or a manual, and just dive in like you would a modern game, expecting all the tutorials to be baked in to the game design. In this case, I think putting in a pause menu with the option to quick restart the run you are attempting from the "RUN" screen would be the best solution. Play testing is the key to solving this on a case by case basis, in any case.
So, yes, you can actually quick restart to title screen in Fix My Heart. It doesn't reset the run as quickly as I would like as you will need to re-select game modes in the menu and sit through a section of the intro sequence each time, but skipping the logo screens is enough to make me want to go back and attempt that deathless run again.
END OF REVIEW EDIT
~~~
There is also no DMG lockout screen and if you use a DMG and select one of the two pixel art modes, you end up with a white screen during game play. Playing on DMG also experiences severe slow down, making the game practically unplayable. If its a GBC exclusive game, then DMG lockout screens are there to prevent a player from playing the game in an unintended way. This is also an easy fix for a future update.
REMIX MODE
----------------------
There are some very neat ideas in Remix Mode when it comes to the gimmicks in each room. And they are executed well in a coding and game feel sense. I completed this mode in 5 minutes though, and once you complete it, there isn't much reason to go back and do it again. I felt like this mode was more of a tech demo of varying mechanics rather than a fleshed out experience that could be called a stand alone mode in a commercial game. Following through with these ideas and introducing enemies or obstacles beyond the platforms and spikes that seek to counter each new gimmick in an interesting way would have been fantastic to see.
The player is tasked with simply reaching the end of this mode, not under a time constraint. Some of the sections (especially the very last section) inflate the difficulty to near frame perfect precision by asking the player to become a machine. Each room acts as a checkpoint thankfully, which is needed because I feel most players will find this mode to be very frustrating for its frame perfect difficulty built into the design of the level layouts. Frame perfect execution is a slippery slope of a difficulty curve and can cause player drop off when not handle well.
CONCLUSION
----------------------
Reading this critique, you may think I would call Fix My Heart a "bad" game.
Not at all!
Platformers are an extremely challenging genre when it comes to design and Fix My Heart is an excellent first release from a young developer. In fact, I think its comparable or even better than my own first release 'In The Dark', which I would award 2.5 stars if I had to attempt to objectively critique my own game, for similar reasons - code is great, but the mechanics aren't deep enough and it lacks enough content for a commercial release. (In fact, Filipe's first release is even more impressive in that platformers are significantly harder to make well compared to puzzle games, in my view, at least. So it's doubly impressive to see such an excellent first attempt.) I was disappointed with the amount of content in this game given its a commercial release and it says there will be "a lot of new content (new game modes)" on the jam versions itch page. While on the simple side, the moment to moment game play is enjoyable and aspects such as game feel, SFX, player animations and movement are greatly improved over the jam version.
Filipe, you should be proud of this achievement, no doubt. But Fix My Heart could have used a lot more play testing before its release. Don't be discouraged Filipe, you are a fantastic developer and starting out on a successful game dev journey. Remember: Game Dev is not about making the best game ever, its about making a better game than your last one.
Here are some Pros and Cons that will help you improve your next platformer. Good luck!
PROS
---------
- Excellent understanding of game juice. Nice animations, SFX and great Player Character physics.
- GFX are stylish and provide excellent readability while twitch platforming.
- Some great player mechanic gimmick ideas that feel very fun to play with in the Remix Mode.
CONS
---------
- Not speedrunner friendly.
- Lacks a pause game feature.
- Lacks a DMG lock out screen for what is a GBC exclusive.
- Level Design difficulty artificially peaks using sometimes cheap and frustrating frame perfect level layouts.
- Obstacle mechanic design is simplistic, only offering platforms and spikes.
- Remix Mode could have been expanded on with enemies that counter each of the new movesets given to the Player Character to provide a richer and more varied platforming experience.
- Not much additional content over the free jam version.
Synopsis from Incube8's website:
~~~
Fix My Heart is a precision platformer with minimalistic graphics and a strong emphasis on speedrunning, ranked 16th out of 134 entries in the Game Boy Competition 2021.
Run through a perilous cave as you try to fix your mechanical heart. The game offers challenging levels that will push your platforming abilities to the limit, leaving no room for errors. Are you up for the challenge?
With seven unique endings to unlock, you must decide your fate and confront the cave's deadly obstacles. For those seeking an even harder experience, the Remix mode introduces five new gameplay mechanics that will put your skills to the test.
~~~
I was interested in the full release of this game as I not only love platformers, I love speedrunning platformers that focus on precision movement. I was looking forward to a modernized platforming challenge for the Game Boy Color from developer Filipe Bianchin having played and enjoyed his GBCompo21 jam version of the same name.
There are two modes to choose from: a "Story Mode", where you sprint through a cave racing against time, seeking out several unique endings. And the additional "Remix Mode" that separates the full release from the jam version. The Remix mode challenges the player to complete a series of rooms, each with its own unique gimmick including a Mario Odyssey style throw your hat and use it as a trampoline or a flappy bird jet pack section, for example.
This is the first release from developer Filipe Bianchin and it shows considerable promise for future releases. He has a strong handle on game juice and making sure the Player Character feels responsive. The minimalist pixel art is very nice and effective as a stylistic choice and the game play itself is simple but effective. However, as this is a commercial release that I spent money on, there are some issues I think are important to raise.
STORY MODE
----------------------
I completed the Story Mode in 3 minutes. There is some replay value here as there are multiple endings. This is a similar experience to the jam version as there are multiple endings to find in that, too. But I found a bunch of them very quickly. Most of them completed within 15 minutes of game play. There are no enemies in this game, just you and precision jumping which I found to be pretty easy. So the game play is fun, but it is simplistic for a story mode that last 3 minutes and doesn't encourage replay over all. It's simply not complex enough.
The one ending I wanted to experience most of all is the deathless run as that is the most challenging of the runs and I felt the game could provide some challenge through reaching this goal. I spent 10 minutes attempting a deathless run of the Story Mode but retired for one big reason...There is no quick run reset. So if I died at any time during a deathless attempt, I couldn't pause the game and select a run reset option. I had to reset the actual Game Boy and sit there waiting through Logo screens, menues and a short version of the intro cutscene. In the end, I was watching logos and cutscenes for a longer period of time than attempting runs. It was enough for me to just stop trying. I do hope this feature is added into at least the digital edition of the game to help speedrunners looking to complete the deathless run in future. This is a platformer that strongly stresses speed running at the core of its design, after all.
~~~
REVIEW EDIT:
After releasing this review, the developer contacted me and mentioned you can restart to the Title Screen during a run by pressing START and SELECT at the same time. In the manual, under the controls section, it does say "RESTART" and points to the SELECT and START button.
So there is a quick game restart, at least.
I read the manual but missed this detail, unfortunately. This does raise an interesting point, though. Do modern players skim through a manual or not read it at all? Should developers insert important information into the game to ensure the player has an optimally designed experience? Or does the Developer leave it to chance, hoping that players will read through the manual? From my own feedback, I tend to think players won't read the instructions on itch or a manual, and just dive in like you would a modern game, expecting all the tutorials to be baked in to the game design. In this case, I think putting in a pause menu with the option to quick restart the run you are attempting from the "RUN" screen would be the best solution. Play testing is the key to solving this on a case by case basis, in any case.
So, yes, you can actually quick restart to title screen in Fix My Heart. It doesn't reset the run as quickly as I would like as you will need to re-select game modes in the menu and sit through a section of the intro sequence each time, but skipping the logo screens is enough to make me want to go back and attempt that deathless run again.
END OF REVIEW EDIT
~~~
There is also no DMG lockout screen and if you use a DMG and select one of the two pixel art modes, you end up with a white screen during game play. Playing on DMG also experiences severe slow down, making the game practically unplayable. If its a GBC exclusive game, then DMG lockout screens are there to prevent a player from playing the game in an unintended way. This is also an easy fix for a future update.
REMIX MODE
----------------------
There are some very neat ideas in Remix Mode when it comes to the gimmicks in each room. And they are executed well in a coding and game feel sense. I completed this mode in 5 minutes though, and once you complete it, there isn't much reason to go back and do it again. I felt like this mode was more of a tech demo of varying mechanics rather than a fleshed out experience that could be called a stand alone mode in a commercial game. Following through with these ideas and introducing enemies or obstacles beyond the platforms and spikes that seek to counter each new gimmick in an interesting way would have been fantastic to see.
The player is tasked with simply reaching the end of this mode, not under a time constraint. Some of the sections (especially the very last section) inflate the difficulty to near frame perfect precision by asking the player to become a machine. Each room acts as a checkpoint thankfully, which is needed because I feel most players will find this mode to be very frustrating for its frame perfect difficulty built into the design of the level layouts. Frame perfect execution is a slippery slope of a difficulty curve and can cause player drop off when not handle well.
CONCLUSION
----------------------
Reading this critique, you may think I would call Fix My Heart a "bad" game.
Not at all!
Platformers are an extremely challenging genre when it comes to design and Fix My Heart is an excellent first release from a young developer. In fact, I think its comparable or even better than my own first release 'In The Dark', which I would award 2.5 stars if I had to attempt to objectively critique my own game, for similar reasons - code is great, but the mechanics aren't deep enough and it lacks enough content for a commercial release. (In fact, Filipe's first release is even more impressive in that platformers are significantly harder to make well compared to puzzle games, in my view, at least. So it's doubly impressive to see such an excellent first attempt.) I was disappointed with the amount of content in this game given its a commercial release and it says there will be "a lot of new content (new game modes)" on the jam versions itch page. While on the simple side, the moment to moment game play is enjoyable and aspects such as game feel, SFX, player animations and movement are greatly improved over the jam version.
Filipe, you should be proud of this achievement, no doubt. But Fix My Heart could have used a lot more play testing before its release. Don't be discouraged Filipe, you are a fantastic developer and starting out on a successful game dev journey. Remember: Game Dev is not about making the best game ever, its about making a better game than your last one.
Here are some Pros and Cons that will help you improve your next platformer. Good luck!
PROS
---------
- Excellent understanding of game juice. Nice animations, SFX and great Player Character physics.
- GFX are stylish and provide excellent readability while twitch platforming.
- Some great player mechanic gimmick ideas that feel very fun to play with in the Remix Mode.
CONS
---------
- Not speedrunner friendly.
- Lacks a pause game feature.
- Lacks a DMG lock out screen for what is a GBC exclusive.
- Level Design difficulty artificially peaks using sometimes cheap and frustrating frame perfect level layouts.
- Obstacle mechanic design is simplistic, only offering platforms and spikes.
- Remix Mode could have been expanded on with enemies that counter each of the new movesets given to the Player Character to provide a richer and more varied platforming experience.
- Not much additional content over the free jam version.