Delicious Fruit
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by ElCochran90
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by FireBandicoot
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by ElCochran90
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by xElectricZz
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by Kiyoshi
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by FireBandicoot
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by ElCochran90
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by ElCochran90
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by star0z228
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by GaspacoZanis
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by ElCochran90
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by GaspacoZanis
90 Reviews:
FireBandicoot
Great, original platforming with amazing design and difficulty. The jumps are usually pretty original and the music is top notch. The boss is difficult and very memorable, and overall very well created and designed. A well polished classic game.
[3] Likes
Rating: 8.0 80
Difficulty: 80 80
Feb 9, 2015
PlutoTheThing
Classic game I'm not too big on. The needle is okay, nothing mind blowing but also it's an older game and in spite of that it manages to be pretty fun I think. The difficulty curve is ridiculous but that's on purpose so I won't hold it against the game. However, I think IA is a very very bad avoidance. Now again the game is old so it obviously has had a lot of time to age, but beyond just that the avoidance has major issues. To say the good, the audio and visuals are great, with attacks that sync to the song and some very pretty moments. The bad bits are the gameplay, specifically the difficulty balancing. There are far too many attacks which are just standing around waiting for the occasional bullet to come by, the worst offender being the bouncing attacks after the first chorus. These make the avoidance feel very slow, which would be fine if it weren't for the heart attack. At least for me, the heart took a lot of trial and error to understand the best way to dodge, which isn't bad but when the stuff before it is mind numbingly easy to get through it becomes such a chore to grind it out. The bits after the heart are the best part of the avoidance, more barrage style attacks and the sphere pattern at the end is awesome and iconic, but I think the first half makes it so hard to appreciate what comes after.
In conclusion, I don't really like this game that much but it absolutely has good elements and deserves the praise it gets.
[2] Likes
In conclusion, I don't really like this game that much but it absolutely has good elements and deserves the praise it gets.
Rating: 4.5 45
Difficulty: 65 65
Dec 7, 2022
Xplayerlol
Old, very well-known needle/avoidance combo. It consists of five (?) stages of platforming, followed by the avoidance that makes this game well-known.
The platforming is pretty generic, no way around it. The vast majority of its jumps are generic, and many of them are recycled a couple times. Furthermore, every now and then the difficulty of individual saves will focus on a single jump (Which might be one of the last). However, I still can't say I completely hated it. While the jumps may be generic, they are used in interesting ways every now and then, and the actually poorly designed sections aren't a major portion of the game. I ended up enjoying my time more than I thought I would.
The difficulty curve is pretty decent, too. From stage 1 to stage 5, every stage is miles of difficulty above the previous ones (Though harder saves from earlier stages may be harder than easier saves from later stages), but still within reach. I believe this is actually a pretty nice fangame choice for newer needle players that want to improve. It starts at a beginner-friendly difficulty, and with each difficulty boost it encourages to player to push forward just a little further, see how far might they be able to reach. Even if you can't reach the end right away, there's a good chance you'll be able to do it later on, after a long break and intensive needle training with other fangames. Plus, if you are a beginner, it shouldn't make a difference whether a jump is generic or not. You haven't seen that many corners, diagonals and gates (Urgh) in your life yet. The last save in the game is notorious for its difficulty and, although I personally never had trouble with it, I do agree that it's harder than the rest of the stage (Just not by a lot, which is good). I think it's a pretty good final challenge.
One amusing trivia: It's hard to tell for sure how many stages Sunspike has. It only has four transitions between stages (1-2, 2-3, 3-4 and 4-5), so it makes sense to say there are five stages. However, there are six sets of musics, and seven sets of visuals? But it gets weirder. After a couple screens, the visuals revert back to stage 5's, while the music remains the same. Weirdest of all, the readme says "one area", so one stage? And the music credits only reference three stages. It's pretty amusing.
Your reward for making your way through the platforming is the legendary IA avoidance. Back in 2013, production value in avoidances (Or needle. Or anywhere besides adventure) wasn't a thing (It existed, if you looked hard enough), so it's always impressive to see an avoidance this much ahead of its time. Even by nowadays standards, I'd say this avoidance holds its ground fairly well. The visuals are beautiful, and even if you rule the sphere out, the creativity is still visible.
Gameplay-wise, things are a little more tricky. The avoidance is a healthy mix between RNG and pattern attacks. I would like to say that the difficulty remains balanced through the fight, but the heart patterns in the second chorus and the wall-heavy RNG that accompanies them won't let me. Also, the slow part that precedes this chorus feels too slow and uneventful compared to the rest of the fight. Ignoring these sections, however, the avoidance is pretty fun.
Until the end of the fight, anyway. It's pretty easy to hate the last attack. It's a precise pattern attack that feels confusing and dreadfully difficult, forcing you to retry over and over again (Hi, heart patterns, can you let me through this time?) for a chance to understand it again. But after a few attempts, it feels rather natural to move around it (Also, it's a relatively short attack). It's not an attack leagues above the rest of the avoidance's difficulty, placed there just to farm deaths, and it doesn't feel that way. It's just an unique last attack that might be tricky to get used to, placed there to give the fight a gran finale, and it does feel that way. And as such, I really can't say I dislike it.
Sunspike does have its flaws. I don't believe it compares to some more recent fangames (In terms of needle, avoidance, or both), which may feel less ambitious, but also feel much better polished. My rating reflects that thought. However, there are many reasons for me to like this. It's good training, it's a good influence, it's beautiful and, most important of all, it's much more enjoyable to play than it might seem. Would recommend.
[2] Likes
The platforming is pretty generic, no way around it. The vast majority of its jumps are generic, and many of them are recycled a couple times. Furthermore, every now and then the difficulty of individual saves will focus on a single jump (Which might be one of the last). However, I still can't say I completely hated it. While the jumps may be generic, they are used in interesting ways every now and then, and the actually poorly designed sections aren't a major portion of the game. I ended up enjoying my time more than I thought I would.
The difficulty curve is pretty decent, too. From stage 1 to stage 5, every stage is miles of difficulty above the previous ones (Though harder saves from earlier stages may be harder than easier saves from later stages), but still within reach. I believe this is actually a pretty nice fangame choice for newer needle players that want to improve. It starts at a beginner-friendly difficulty, and with each difficulty boost it encourages to player to push forward just a little further, see how far might they be able to reach. Even if you can't reach the end right away, there's a good chance you'll be able to do it later on, after a long break and intensive needle training with other fangames. Plus, if you are a beginner, it shouldn't make a difference whether a jump is generic or not. You haven't seen that many corners, diagonals and gates (Urgh) in your life yet. The last save in the game is notorious for its difficulty and, although I personally never had trouble with it, I do agree that it's harder than the rest of the stage (Just not by a lot, which is good). I think it's a pretty good final challenge.
One amusing trivia: It's hard to tell for sure how many stages Sunspike has. It only has four transitions between stages (1-2, 2-3, 3-4 and 4-5), so it makes sense to say there are five stages. However, there are six sets of musics, and seven sets of visuals? But it gets weirder. After a couple screens, the visuals revert back to stage 5's, while the music remains the same. Weirdest of all, the readme says "one area", so one stage? And the music credits only reference three stages. It's pretty amusing.
Your reward for making your way through the platforming is the legendary IA avoidance. Back in 2013, production value in avoidances (Or needle. Or anywhere besides adventure) wasn't a thing (It existed, if you looked hard enough), so it's always impressive to see an avoidance this much ahead of its time. Even by nowadays standards, I'd say this avoidance holds its ground fairly well. The visuals are beautiful, and even if you rule the sphere out, the creativity is still visible.
Gameplay-wise, things are a little more tricky. The avoidance is a healthy mix between RNG and pattern attacks. I would like to say that the difficulty remains balanced through the fight, but the heart patterns in the second chorus and the wall-heavy RNG that accompanies them won't let me. Also, the slow part that precedes this chorus feels too slow and uneventful compared to the rest of the fight. Ignoring these sections, however, the avoidance is pretty fun.
Until the end of the fight, anyway. It's pretty easy to hate the last attack. It's a precise pattern attack that feels confusing and dreadfully difficult, forcing you to retry over and over again (Hi, heart patterns, can you let me through this time?) for a chance to understand it again. But after a few attempts, it feels rather natural to move around it (Also, it's a relatively short attack). It's not an attack leagues above the rest of the avoidance's difficulty, placed there just to farm deaths, and it doesn't feel that way. It's just an unique last attack that might be tricky to get used to, placed there to give the fight a gran finale, and it does feel that way. And as such, I really can't say I dislike it.
Sunspike does have its flaws. I don't believe it compares to some more recent fangames (In terms of needle, avoidance, or both), which may feel less ambitious, but also feel much better polished. My rating reflects that thought. However, there are many reasons for me to like this. It's good training, it's a good influence, it's beautiful and, most important of all, it's much more enjoyable to play than it might seem. Would recommend.
Rating: 7.3 73
Difficulty: 77 77
Sep 5, 2019