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by WrathofAnubis
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by Xplayerlol
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by Bob
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by Xplayerlol
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by Bob
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by WrathofAnubis
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by WrathofAnubis
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by P2shka
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by Bob
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by WrathofAnubis
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by Bob
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by WrathofAnubis
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by WrathofAnubis
108 Reviews:
Quof
Overall, a very solid game. I really enjoyed the needle in the first two stages and had a good enough time with next two as well, for a total of four stages I had fun with. As someone who just does not enjoy avoidances whatsoever, I truly appreciated being able to skip bosses and do hard needle in place of them. The button to show which align a jump needs and where to get it was also appreciated and is something I would like to see in more games just so I don't have to count columns and all that stuff. The save balance leans towards providing as many saves as possible, which I much prefer to games where saves are handed out stingily. There's so much good in this game that I feel really disappointed that the final stage of the game stumbles so hard.
Starting at the very beginning of stage 5 (or the boss needle of Stage 4, though since that's optional I don't want to focus on it), MELTDOWN's difficulty spikes up. Stage 3 was a step up from the first two stages, and Stage 4 was another step up from that. These steps up reflected a nice difficulty curve. Stage 5's jump in difficulty, however, was a brutal spike. I died 7,500 times getting to the end of Stage 4. By the time I reached the end of Stage 5, I had around 14,000 deaths. My death count nearly doubled from the final stage alone. On its own, the final stage being a difficulty spike wouldn't be so bad, but my problem is that the difficulty mostly arises from an over-reliance on tiny 2f-3f jumps. If you haven't mastered those, you will have a very very bad time, because the bulk of saves have their difficulty built around the fact that anything but a very tiny jump will send the Kid's head careening into a spike. It's pretty obnoxious and not very fun to play. The needle is still well designed in general, it's just spoiled by the hardest parts of each save without fail being 2f-3fs (or at least, extremely small jumps). It just ended up being more frustrating than fun to play, especially due to the difficulty being so much higher than the rest of the game.
At the very least, though, the stage ends on a high note. The final save is basically free of 2f-3f shenanigans and is generally well balanced over all. It's long, but fun to execute and satisfying to beat. The bobbing of the screen as the Kid jumped around made me feel physically ill, but I'm not really sure how you could do a vertical level like this without something like that happening, so I can't critique the game for that. If this save had been the end of the game, I would be more or less satisfied with it. But instead...
An avoidance final boss. As mentioned, you can skip bosses with extra-hard needle if you so wish for every boss in the game... except this one. Clearly the developer knows that a lot of needle players don't like avoidances. Clearly the developers knows that following up a stage of pure, hard needle with an out of context avoidance fight is not the best thing to do. He went out of his way to make optional needle screens and the select screen for each, after all. And yet... the final boss is a forced avoidance fight. It's as if the developer knew what he was doing was wrong, yet did it anyway. (As an aside, the developer's commercial game Phantom Jump suffers from a similar problem. The final boss in the game was ridiculously hard and had little to do with the platforming present beforehand). Naturally, I dropped the game immediately. My pet peeve is final bosses of games having little to do with the actual gameplay done beforehand, and the last thing I want to top off a grueling stage of 65-70 level needle is an avoidance. The elevator would have been a fine conclusion to the game, but instead, an avoidance - when every other avoidance in the game had been optional. Talk about ending on a sour note, when the final stage was already in a bad spot on its own.
In conclusion, MELTDOWN is a great game... until it isn't. The first four stages are fun and worth playing, but the difficulty spike near the end with (imo) largely unfun needle sours the experience, and the forced avoidance fight at the end is basically a slap to the face. I would say MELTDOWN is worth playing until the end of stage 4, and if the boss needle there or the beginning of stage 5 starts giving you a hard time, to just drop the game cold turkey. I don't believe it's worth pushing through.
[1] Like
Starting at the very beginning of stage 5 (or the boss needle of Stage 4, though since that's optional I don't want to focus on it), MELTDOWN's difficulty spikes up. Stage 3 was a step up from the first two stages, and Stage 4 was another step up from that. These steps up reflected a nice difficulty curve. Stage 5's jump in difficulty, however, was a brutal spike. I died 7,500 times getting to the end of Stage 4. By the time I reached the end of Stage 5, I had around 14,000 deaths. My death count nearly doubled from the final stage alone. On its own, the final stage being a difficulty spike wouldn't be so bad, but my problem is that the difficulty mostly arises from an over-reliance on tiny 2f-3f jumps. If you haven't mastered those, you will have a very very bad time, because the bulk of saves have their difficulty built around the fact that anything but a very tiny jump will send the Kid's head careening into a spike. It's pretty obnoxious and not very fun to play. The needle is still well designed in general, it's just spoiled by the hardest parts of each save without fail being 2f-3fs (or at least, extremely small jumps). It just ended up being more frustrating than fun to play, especially due to the difficulty being so much higher than the rest of the game.
At the very least, though, the stage ends on a high note. The final save is basically free of 2f-3f shenanigans and is generally well balanced over all. It's long, but fun to execute and satisfying to beat. The bobbing of the screen as the Kid jumped around made me feel physically ill, but I'm not really sure how you could do a vertical level like this without something like that happening, so I can't critique the game for that. If this save had been the end of the game, I would be more or less satisfied with it. But instead...
An avoidance final boss. As mentioned, you can skip bosses with extra-hard needle if you so wish for every boss in the game... except this one. Clearly the developer knows that a lot of needle players don't like avoidances. Clearly the developers knows that following up a stage of pure, hard needle with an out of context avoidance fight is not the best thing to do. He went out of his way to make optional needle screens and the select screen for each, after all. And yet... the final boss is a forced avoidance fight. It's as if the developer knew what he was doing was wrong, yet did it anyway. (As an aside, the developer's commercial game Phantom Jump suffers from a similar problem. The final boss in the game was ridiculously hard and had little to do with the platforming present beforehand). Naturally, I dropped the game immediately. My pet peeve is final bosses of games having little to do with the actual gameplay done beforehand, and the last thing I want to top off a grueling stage of 65-70 level needle is an avoidance. The elevator would have been a fine conclusion to the game, but instead, an avoidance - when every other avoidance in the game had been optional. Talk about ending on a sour note, when the final stage was already in a bad spot on its own.
In conclusion, MELTDOWN is a great game... until it isn't. The first four stages are fun and worth playing, but the difficulty spike near the end with (imo) largely unfun needle sours the experience, and the forced avoidance fight at the end is basically a slap to the face. I would say MELTDOWN is worth playing until the end of stage 4, and if the boss needle there or the beginning of stage 5 starts giving you a hard time, to just drop the game cold turkey. I don't believe it's worth pushing through.
Rating: 6.8 68
Difficulty: 70 70
Jun 2, 2018
Nearigami
EDIT December 3rd, 2023: Not reading the old review because my writing back then was fcuking dogshit but I still love Meltdown today almost as much as I did back then.
Wow. What a game. I Wanna Stop The Meltdown manages to be one of the few fangames out there that masterfully blends challenge, fun, atmosphere, and relaxation into an effectively perfect package. I cannot say anything bad about this game. The very cramped needle manages to do corridor type needle far better than any other Fangame I have ever seen. The game stays challenging throughout but it never felt like something I couldn't overcome. The cramped needle enchanted the atmosphere of the game and somehow makes it feel like an almost real adventure on the kid's quest to destroy the master computer. Another thing I can commend this game for is the amount of choice you get while playing this. There are several sections where you get the choice to either do needle or a boss, as well as both that I have never seen before in a Fangame. Both options are always equally as difficult and equally as fun. The avoidances never overstay their welcome with their length and the RNG is practically always fair. I can't recommend this game enough. Everyone needs to play this near masterpiece of a game.
[1] Like
Wow. What a game. I Wanna Stop The Meltdown manages to be one of the few fangames out there that masterfully blends challenge, fun, atmosphere, and relaxation into an effectively perfect package. I cannot say anything bad about this game. The very cramped needle manages to do corridor type needle far better than any other Fangame I have ever seen. The game stays challenging throughout but it never felt like something I couldn't overcome. The cramped needle enchanted the atmosphere of the game and somehow makes it feel like an almost real adventure on the kid's quest to destroy the master computer. Another thing I can commend this game for is the amount of choice you get while playing this. There are several sections where you get the choice to either do needle or a boss, as well as both that I have never seen before in a Fangame. Both options are always equally as difficult and equally as fun. The avoidances never overstay their welcome with their length and the RNG is practically always fair. I can't recommend this game enough. Everyone needs to play this near masterpiece of a game.
Rating: 9.0 90
Difficulty: 65 65
Aug 10, 2017
DestructorTheDestroyer
Rating is based on 100% clear.
Tagged as: Needle
[1] Like
Rating: 9.1 91
Difficulty: 65 65
Dec 6, 2016
captainpolarbear
An all around genius brilliant clever and so on and so on game!!!!!! Needle: see above. Avoidances: see above. Gimmicks: see above. I would have wrote this review earlier but I was busy replaying MELTDOWN again.
[1] Like
Rating: 10.0 100
Difficulty: 60 60
Nov 7, 2016
whalington
Rating for 100%
Phenomenal needle game with amazing avoidances, fantastic music, great visuals, tight jumps. There's so much production value to this game and there's honestly not a single part of the game I didn't like. A great part is how you don't have to do the avoidances for each stage apart from the last one unless you want to, and instead choose needle. Really good. Highly recommend to people who have the skills.
[1] Like
Phenomenal needle game with amazing avoidances, fantastic music, great visuals, tight jumps. There's so much production value to this game and there's honestly not a single part of the game I didn't like. A great part is how you don't have to do the avoidances for each stage apart from the last one unless you want to, and instead choose needle. Really good. Highly recommend to people who have the skills.
Rating: 9.9 99
Difficulty: 70 70
Nov 5, 2016