radstronomical
2012
I am pleased that there is a page for this game on here, even if it's a blank tombstone to a dead game likely never to be revived. The time Emmett Butler and I spent making this game is one of the most precious periods in my life, sitting on the couch of my first new york apartment, working on the game every weekend and playing smash when we needed a break, trying to figure out what it meant to sell a game, to code a game, to make a whole-ass game. In the end I think it was a solid mobile game with a mediocre loop, pretty funny concept and visuals and really great music. Maybe someday we could bring it back. Who knows.
This review contains spoilers
This was my group's game of the month for April this year. I got to what felt like the third major act, after a reptilian boss, and played another boss or two after that.
This game is fine! It's solidly built, has a couple of neat abiliities, and the mostly whatever visual design and eye-rolly boring story are quite polished. When i sat down to play it, I genuinely enjoyed it until I got tired and put it down. Once I stopped, I didn't really feel any pull to come back. The backgrounds were the best part aesthetically, and one ocean themed area in particular was really impressive.
The combat is both interesting and a little off - the soulsy parry/dodge stuff is fun, but not always super clear when you can do what, and I was never able to get a firm grasp on where any hitboxes are or predict where they might be on a new enemy. Bosses had a nice soulslike thing of "this is impossible" pretty quickly giving way to "I can see exactly how I'll beat this." Normal enemy encounters were pretty solid, though some really tediously avoid the player and you end up just kind of jumping around after them. Others you can just cheese a bit by juggling.
The platforming and ability stuff is where the game shines the most I think, though occasionally I felt similar issues with like, where are the hitboxes? Why was I safe for 99% of that dash but there's one invisible outcropping on a corner here? But that stuff was rare, and there are some later platforming areas where you really need to mix and match your abilities and plan your path really deliberately, and that stuff mostly feels really fun, if occasionally a little bit too frustrating.
Definitely worth playing if you're into metrodivania/platformers. You'll see a lot that you've already seen in hollow knight, celeste, dead cells, whatever - but it's put together in a really nicely crafted package gameplay wise. Just don't expect to care about the characters, there's no real story here, just the suggestion of a marvel movie plot.
This game is fine! It's solidly built, has a couple of neat abiliities, and the mostly whatever visual design and eye-rolly boring story are quite polished. When i sat down to play it, I genuinely enjoyed it until I got tired and put it down. Once I stopped, I didn't really feel any pull to come back. The backgrounds were the best part aesthetically, and one ocean themed area in particular was really impressive.
The combat is both interesting and a little off - the soulsy parry/dodge stuff is fun, but not always super clear when you can do what, and I was never able to get a firm grasp on where any hitboxes are or predict where they might be on a new enemy. Bosses had a nice soulslike thing of "this is impossible" pretty quickly giving way to "I can see exactly how I'll beat this." Normal enemy encounters were pretty solid, though some really tediously avoid the player and you end up just kind of jumping around after them. Others you can just cheese a bit by juggling.
The platforming and ability stuff is where the game shines the most I think, though occasionally I felt similar issues with like, where are the hitboxes? Why was I safe for 99% of that dash but there's one invisible outcropping on a corner here? But that stuff was rare, and there are some later platforming areas where you really need to mix and match your abilities and plan your path really deliberately, and that stuff mostly feels really fun, if occasionally a little bit too frustrating.
Definitely worth playing if you're into metrodivania/platformers. You'll see a lot that you've already seen in hollow knight, celeste, dead cells, whatever - but it's put together in a really nicely crafted package gameplay wise. Just don't expect to care about the characters, there's no real story here, just the suggestion of a marvel movie plot.
2003
This came highly recommended from a good friend. I think if I had played sitting on the floor with a couple of friends around and a buzz on this would have been an unbelievably good gaming experience, very funny, 10/10. But terrible games aren't as fun to play on your own, I find.
There are some nice moments in here, but I found the game to be too unstructured and largely frustrating.
Also, how can blowtorching the corn not make popcorn????
Also, how can blowtorching the corn not make popcorn????
2024
Played for game of the month club with my friends. I didn't think I would get into a poker themed game but I was hooked pretty immediately. What a ride.
My main nitpicks are it's just a little too random / hard to steer, and I think it's also a little too completionist gated - I hate that I need to beat each ante on each deck. I had done 4 or 5 on a deck that I don't find particularly interesting before realizing that was the case. Love the joker art and really like trying to put engines together, though.
My main nitpicks are it's just a little too random / hard to steer, and I think it's also a little too completionist gated - I hate that I need to beat each ante on each deck. I had done 4 or 5 on a deck that I don't find particularly interesting before realizing that was the case. Love the joker art and really like trying to put engines together, though.
This review contains spoilers
I worried that this game would be a little too memelike for me. But it ended up having some cool technical bits going on and using sound and light in really interesting ways. I was particularly moved by the cello scene, and I found myself imagining the dull disappointment that a similar scene in a AAA context would likely fill me with, while this game pulled it off with a golden zelda poké-whale. At the same time that I kept clicking and walking around wondering what to do next, I was really impressed by the way it maintained my attention over time and paced things out.
"Never let me go, Jack"
"Never let me go, Jack"
2022
Just like. very funny and hard. It's difficult to talk about the game because a lot of what makes it special are the little surprises that come out of each stage. I recommend sticking with it though, every time I get to a new boss I think "there's no way I'll ever be able to do this" and then after a dozen or so tries I can no-hit the first phase or whatever. I haven't dug into most of the characters beyond the first, and I've only just reached the 4th level, but it's a good game.
2023
Nice, short, pocket sized roguelike. Easily one of the best looking and sounding games on playdate. Between the meta-progression and the different dungeon types, the game becomes a lot about making choices about inventory priorities, and usually those are kind of fun questions.
Two nitpicks:
1: too many of the weapons and shields erase the need for previous ones. I wish there were more pros and cons to each of those choices. i also wish mana were a little more prevalent - but I think I was under-using it as a defense mechanism, not really recognizing that function until pretty late in the game.
2: I wish there were more a reason to push your luck after the exit spawns - like if you could only meta-preserve items if you handed them off to a little guy every 5 floors, or they were consumed when used and you had to carry them back out to keep them, so you'd want to fill up before leaving.
Really nice overall! Super cool art, amazing music, fun enemies. I want a little box pamphlet for this game.
Two nitpicks:
1: too many of the weapons and shields erase the need for previous ones. I wish there were more pros and cons to each of those choices. i also wish mana were a little more prevalent - but I think I was under-using it as a defense mechanism, not really recognizing that function until pretty late in the game.
2: I wish there were more a reason to push your luck after the exit spawns - like if you could only meta-preserve items if you handed them off to a little guy every 5 floors, or they were consumed when used and you had to carry them back out to keep them, so you'd want to fill up before leaving.
Really nice overall! Super cool art, amazing music, fun enemies. I want a little box pamphlet for this game.
2019
It took me a long time to play this game because the art is not really my style and put me off for a while. I am glad I finally played it. Each character feels meaningfully different, and each one also can feel vastly different run to run based on how you build your deck.
On the run where I finally ran the credits, I started out taking a random relic and getting one that meant I started the match confused. I groaned, sure I would regret that choice. In the end I made a really fun character optimized for drawing, discarding, and maximizing my energy and ended up taking very little damage on the boss. Super surprising and fun.
On the run where I finally ran the credits, I started out taking a random relic and getting one that meant I started the match confused. I groaned, sure I would regret that choice. In the end I made a really fun character optimized for drawing, discarding, and maximizing my energy and ended up taking very little damage on the boss. Super surprising and fun.
2023
I may play this some more later on, but I haven't felt the pull enough to pick it back up after clearing the first three major sections. I generally like the vibe, and I didn't realize how much I'd been wanting a myst or inca like ambient puzzler. I really like the way the game models broken language with the player's notes. I wish it committed to that a bit more - the meaing confirmation with the drawings is good to have, but also breaks some of the magic. I imagine cutting that would be a big accessibility issue.
I also find myself wondering if the game is outstaying it's welcome a bit as later areas feel like more of the same. The world is fun but not particularly deep, and I'm not sure it's enough to sustain the gameplay over time.
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EDIT - decided to finish this over the holiday break. I really enjoyed the communicator puzzles and watching how they affected the world as a whole. Still wish that were more impactful and there was a kind of mechanical benefit to the specific results of the action. But I was overall satisfied with the core of the game even if the fluff got in the way.
I also find myself wondering if the game is outstaying it's welcome a bit as later areas feel like more of the same. The world is fun but not particularly deep, and I'm not sure it's enough to sustain the gameplay over time.
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EDIT - decided to finish this over the holiday break. I really enjoyed the communicator puzzles and watching how they affected the world as a whole. Still wish that were more impactful and there was a kind of mechanical benefit to the specific results of the action. But I was overall satisfied with the core of the game even if the fluff got in the way.
2020
I helped make this game, so, you know, take this review with a grain of bias. But I am really happy with how it looks and feels to play, and even though it's really, brutally hard sometimes, I think it's pretty satisfying to work your way through. If you want to make it twice as hard, I highly recommend co-op mode. Ridiculous.
1998
I played the arcade version VS mode - Pretty fun puzzler, kind of a bust-a-move meets puzzle fighter, where you're building up large sections and choosing to clear.
2002
Somehow, this game came was like a 4 dollar add-on to the xbox I bought. I loved the first game, but I think simplifying the graffiti to keep the speed and the momentum was the right call. I spent probably 7 years coming back to this game to unlock all the characters, and I'm still annoyed about the one level that I cannot 100% due to a bug. But a beautiful game with a killer soundtrack. Had a pretty good time with the one multiplayer mode where you need to complete a lap with the ball too.
One of the very few mystery games that really lets you be a detective, rather than perform as one. I wish all mystery games trusted the player the way this one does.
1989
Perfected the formula. Level design is sick, score shreds, abilities are super fun, just a beaut.