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For: I Wanna Defeat The Discord Makers NA Side
[0] Likes
For: I Wanna Defeat The Discord Makers NA Side
[0] Likes
Rating: 7.5 75
Difficulty: 75 75
Oct 8, 2019
Kiyoshi
For: VoVoVo
For: VoVoVo
Arzztt's best work so far, with some of the greatest pathing I've seen in a fangame. Since its an Arzztt game, expect to see a lot of VKid, and I mean A LOT. Every stage combines it with some other gimmick, both new and old, my favorite being probably the CN3 wall jump refreshers. Unlike normal kid, VKid doesn't have a double jump, so instead of getting it refreshed when you shoot a wall, Vkid instantly flips, which leads to some really fun movement. I also want to give shoutouts to the Teleporter stage, and the Final Maze, which both had me stumped for nearly 10 minutes at points . Game is just overall really great and I highly recommend it.
[3] Likes
Rating: 9.8 98
Difficulty: 60 60
Oct 8, 2019
iamambitious
For: I wanna PD ^～
For: I wanna PD ^～
Fuck the SZZK......Love the 2 invert!
[0] Likes
Rating: 5.0 50
Difficulty: 79 79
Oct 8, 2019
Artimax
For: I wanna stop the Simulation
For: I wanna stop the Simulation
This is one of the best games on the site hands-down, and I really think the team was at their element with this one.
Runnerman - this stage was honestly my least favourite one, but the least favourite for this game is still great. It kinda felt like the shell power up from NSMB (went a little too fast, tended to bonk off walls uncontrollably). The boss fight was pretty fun but I feel like if the levels were longer and able to get me more used to how the Runningman worked, I feel like I would've been able to react to the incoming obstacles in the fight easier instead of it being just trial and error, but that's probably just because I'm bad.
SMB. 2 - One of the best. I really like how this stage splits into three substages which helps you feel like you're progressing more. Some of the traps in this were just genius and the level design went well with picking up stuff. The boss definitely feels like a remastered version of the original IWBTG Mecha Birdo fight and navigating onto each platform while dodging all the lasers and stuff was really fun. One of the harder fights for me.
Baba - Pretty fun, I really liked how blocks (eg. Baba, is, etc.) that needed to be pushed could be stood on, and I feel like those puzzles were pretty fleshed out. The ghost boos had pretty interesting and fun attacks and I feel like the difficulty was spot on compared to the platforming.
Binding of Isaac - Going through this was the greatest feeling of euphoria for me for a long time. Throughout the whole game so far, I would die to every save multiple times and never get through it on my first try. This stage was a huge relief for me because that meant I could just speed through the whole stage without dying and it was definitely one of the best parts of the game imo. Besides the difficulty, I feel like the enemies and boss design was great, especially the shadows under some of the projectiles which were crucial for me to understand where they were.
Spelunky - Going back to standard platforming after such an easy stage did make this seem a little hard, but there were no difficulty spikes and everything was laid out so that if you died, it was your fault, unless it was one of the brilliant traps. Also, Mr. Ribbit was a cute and charming boss which was fun to learn.
Contra - When I started this, I kept telling myself that I would beat one more save and then do something else, but this stage kept pulling me back in when I thought I was out. I feel like the fangame systems and Contra work really well together which elevated this stage to something which at first glance wouldn't seem that great, but it was one of the most fun out of all the stages. The boss was great also and kinda felt like a Cuphead boss.
Castlevania IV - One of the trickiest stages (probably due to the zoomed-in camera and the different but fun weapon) that was really fun to figure out. The blue warp things were fun to master, and the boss was great at forcing the player to get good with the whip and learn to outsmart its many random and quick attacks.
Simulation - Alright stage which seemed only better than the first stage. Some of the enemy placements were kinda iffy (Kirby area) but every other part of this stage was great to revisit, now in a more polished style.
Final Boss - Oh my God this is the greatest boss I think I've ever fought in a fangame. I really liked the Windows idea and using code to change the player's physics. Aside from one crash (which ironically played the Windows XP error sound when it happened), I'd say that this boss is the closest thing to perfect I have ever seen. I loved the first phase which definitely seemed like the same level of difficulty as the rest of the game and the second phase was so charming and by far the hardest part of the game (that second attack is bs). All these brilliant ideas and excellent execution propelled this boss into one of the most memorable bosses in all of fangames.
Overall, this is definitely the best blind race game ever and the only major thing bad about this game is that it might be the last one.
[2] Likes
Runnerman - this stage was honestly my least favourite one, but the least favourite for this game is still great. It kinda felt like the shell power up from NSMB (went a little too fast, tended to bonk off walls uncontrollably). The boss fight was pretty fun but I feel like if the levels were longer and able to get me more used to how the Runningman worked, I feel like I would've been able to react to the incoming obstacles in the fight easier instead of it being just trial and error, but that's probably just because I'm bad.
SMB. 2 - One of the best. I really like how this stage splits into three substages which helps you feel like you're progressing more. Some of the traps in this were just genius and the level design went well with picking up stuff. The boss definitely feels like a remastered version of the original IWBTG Mecha Birdo fight and navigating onto each platform while dodging all the lasers and stuff was really fun. One of the harder fights for me.
Baba - Pretty fun, I really liked how blocks (eg. Baba, is, etc.) that needed to be pushed could be stood on, and I feel like those puzzles were pretty fleshed out. The ghost boos had pretty interesting and fun attacks and I feel like the difficulty was spot on compared to the platforming.
Binding of Isaac - Going through this was the greatest feeling of euphoria for me for a long time. Throughout the whole game so far, I would die to every save multiple times and never get through it on my first try. This stage was a huge relief for me because that meant I could just speed through the whole stage without dying and it was definitely one of the best parts of the game imo. Besides the difficulty, I feel like the enemies and boss design was great, especially the shadows under some of the projectiles which were crucial for me to understand where they were.
Spelunky - Going back to standard platforming after such an easy stage did make this seem a little hard, but there were no difficulty spikes and everything was laid out so that if you died, it was your fault, unless it was one of the brilliant traps. Also, Mr. Ribbit was a cute and charming boss which was fun to learn.
Contra - When I started this, I kept telling myself that I would beat one more save and then do something else, but this stage kept pulling me back in when I thought I was out. I feel like the fangame systems and Contra work really well together which elevated this stage to something which at first glance wouldn't seem that great, but it was one of the most fun out of all the stages. The boss was great also and kinda felt like a Cuphead boss.
Castlevania IV - One of the trickiest stages (probably due to the zoomed-in camera and the different but fun weapon) that was really fun to figure out. The blue warp things were fun to master, and the boss was great at forcing the player to get good with the whip and learn to outsmart its many random and quick attacks.
Simulation - Alright stage which seemed only better than the first stage. Some of the enemy placements were kinda iffy (Kirby area) but every other part of this stage was great to revisit, now in a more polished style.
Final Boss - Oh my God this is the greatest boss I think I've ever fought in a fangame. I really liked the Windows idea and using code to change the player's physics. Aside from one crash (which ironically played the Windows XP error sound when it happened), I'd say that this boss is the closest thing to perfect I have ever seen. I loved the first phase which definitely seemed like the same level of difficulty as the rest of the game and the second phase was so charming and by far the hardest part of the game (that second attack is bs). All these brilliant ideas and excellent execution propelled this boss into one of the most memorable bosses in all of fangames.
Overall, this is definitely the best blind race game ever and the only major thing bad about this game is that it might be the last one.
Rating: 9.8 98
Difficulty: 57 57
Oct 8, 2019
Pyure
For: i wanna be the (ヽ'A`)
For: i wanna be the (ヽ'A`)
Gates, diagonals, and corners.
[1] Like
Rating: 4.5 45
Difficulty: 38 38
Oct 8, 2019
moogy
For: I wanna stop the Simulation
For: I wanna stop the Simulation
Based on the initial version posted on DelFruit.
A respectable effort for a marathon game; while I found most of the first half boring, this year's game didn't wear out its welcome with a terribly drawn-out stage at the end like last year's.
Detailed comments in spoilers below.
The biggest issue I have is that the first half of the game is honestly just... boring. The Baba stage is all right (though honestly very simplistic puzzle-wise other than maybe one screen), but Runman, SMB2, and Isaac don't really accomplish much. Recreating such a broad range of games in GMS is commendable, but simply copying aesthetics and mechanics doesn't automatically equate to fun.
The Isaac stage is probably the best example of this - yes, it's impressive that you recreated Isaac in Game Maker like this, but it's just not interesting to play at all. It's pretty much the same as just opening Isaac yourself and playing the first two floors that get generated, except with a more limited pool of items and fixed bosses. None of the players during the actual marathon run died even once here, and neither did I - it doesn't necessarily need to be brutally difficult, but if it's not distinguishing itself from the original game via the mechanics then I at least expect some fangame bullshit to compensate.
To go through the rest of the stages:
The Runman stage simply has no kill objects or fail states until the boss, which is... an odd decision. Probably works better in a marathon/race context. SMB2 has some fun traps and explores SMB2 mechanics in ways the original game did not, but... I dunno, it just felt bland to me.
Baba stage is fine but I would have liked to see some more difficult puzzles. The boundaries of the screen killing you is also a very odd decision and led to a few IMO unwarranted deaths.
Spelunky has a bit more bite to it than previous levels, but I feel like making a level based on Spelunky without actually recreating the roguelike elements of the original was just a bad idea. You're left with a limited design space for interesting platforming if you just stick to Spelunky's mechanics and enemies. Using the shotgun's recoil to enhance your jump is kind of neat, but the implementation leaves a lot to be desired; figuring out how to get max height took me a while, but once I did, the jumps that required it were basically trivial.
After Spelunky, the game picked up a lot for me. The Contra stage is a nice take on the original, adding some I Wanna-esque platforming and traps to spice things up a bit, and SCIV, while not actually very similar to the original game, has snappy pacing and pulls off melee combat with the Kid surprisingly well.
I don't really have any complaints with the throwback stage save for the placement of some of the enemies in the Kirby part... I was also expecting the VVVVVV gravity flip to go faster but that's not really a big deal.
I liked pretty much all of the bosses; the Baba one felt a bit tacked on but otherwise they were all a fair challenge and helped keep me engaged with the game throughout the earlier parts. The final boss is a bit harder than the rest of what the game throws at you, IMO, but it's the final boss, so the difficulty spike is warranted. Only thing I would change in it is Bonzi Buddy's second attack, which felt very RNG-heavy in an unfun way.
Overall I'd say the game improved as it went on and I was left with a mostly positive impression by the end.
[2] Likes
A respectable effort for a marathon game; while I found most of the first half boring, this year's game didn't wear out its welcome with a terribly drawn-out stage at the end like last year's.
Detailed comments in spoilers below.
The biggest issue I have is that the first half of the game is honestly just... boring. The Baba stage is all right (though honestly very simplistic puzzle-wise other than maybe one screen), but Runman, SMB2, and Isaac don't really accomplish much. Recreating such a broad range of games in GMS is commendable, but simply copying aesthetics and mechanics doesn't automatically equate to fun.
The Isaac stage is probably the best example of this - yes, it's impressive that you recreated Isaac in Game Maker like this, but it's just not interesting to play at all. It's pretty much the same as just opening Isaac yourself and playing the first two floors that get generated, except with a more limited pool of items and fixed bosses. None of the players during the actual marathon run died even once here, and neither did I - it doesn't necessarily need to be brutally difficult, but if it's not distinguishing itself from the original game via the mechanics then I at least expect some fangame bullshit to compensate.
To go through the rest of the stages:
The Runman stage simply has no kill objects or fail states until the boss, which is... an odd decision. Probably works better in a marathon/race context. SMB2 has some fun traps and explores SMB2 mechanics in ways the original game did not, but... I dunno, it just felt bland to me.
Baba stage is fine but I would have liked to see some more difficult puzzles. The boundaries of the screen killing you is also a very odd decision and led to a few IMO unwarranted deaths.
Spelunky has a bit more bite to it than previous levels, but I feel like making a level based on Spelunky without actually recreating the roguelike elements of the original was just a bad idea. You're left with a limited design space for interesting platforming if you just stick to Spelunky's mechanics and enemies. Using the shotgun's recoil to enhance your jump is kind of neat, but the implementation leaves a lot to be desired; figuring out how to get max height took me a while, but once I did, the jumps that required it were basically trivial.
After Spelunky, the game picked up a lot for me. The Contra stage is a nice take on the original, adding some I Wanna-esque platforming and traps to spice things up a bit, and SCIV, while not actually very similar to the original game, has snappy pacing and pulls off melee combat with the Kid surprisingly well.
I don't really have any complaints with the throwback stage save for the placement of some of the enemies in the Kirby part... I was also expecting the VVVVVV gravity flip to go faster but that's not really a big deal.
I liked pretty much all of the bosses; the Baba one felt a bit tacked on but otherwise they were all a fair challenge and helped keep me engaged with the game throughout the earlier parts. The final boss is a bit harder than the rest of what the game throws at you, IMO, but it's the final boss, so the difficulty spike is warranted. Only thing I would change in it is Bonzi Buddy's second attack, which felt very RNG-heavy in an unfun way.
Overall I'd say the game improved as it went on and I was left with a mostly positive impression by the end.
Rating: 7.0 70
Difficulty: 50 50
Oct 8, 2019