by Simple GameReviews | May 3, 2019 | Indie, Nintendo Switch, PS4, Xbox
Daggerhood from Ratalaika Games S.L.
A Pixel art, side-scrolling, platformer. During the level you will be collecting treasures and fairies before they disappear, killing enemies and trying to complete the level under the levels par time. The faster you complete the level the higher chance you have to earn a 3 star rating.
You traverse the levels by jumping, double jumping, wall jumping, and by throwing a magic dagger to teleport to the location the dagger was thrown. During the later stages temporary power ups are required to complete the levels; from a hammer to break blocks to a feather that gives you a floating ability for a few seconds, shields to keep you from taking damage, and gravity reversing magic bean.
The game has little to no story outside of the intro cinematic.
The audio is simple and fits the art style but has issues where is cuts outs at times.
Daggerhood is fun to play and becomes challenging during the later stages due to adding more difficult traps, more enemies, and narrower areas to platform and maneuver between.
Each of the 5 worlds has a unique boss challenge. Replaying the levels trying to get all 5 treasures, the fairy, and earn 3 stars can become addicting.
by Simple GameReviews | Apr 26, 2019 | Indie, Nintendo Switch, PS4, Xbox
Super Weekend Mode from Pixelteriyaki
An interesting looking game with very simple and clean controls. Most of the game is played with just 2-3 buttons. Bumpers control left and right shiny shooty shuttle positions and another button fires both simultaneously. There is also and auto-fire option that I highly recommend.
Your goal is to destroy the boss before you get killed. You destroy the boss by shooting it with one of your two shiny shooty shuttles. While trying to shoot the boss you also need to dodge insta-death falling skulls, bump off the dust bunnies, and catch all the hearts. Missing a bunny or heart will shrink the field of battle and bring you closer to being crushed. Catching a bunny will cause insta-death like a skull.
The game nails the retro feel with the colorful pixel artstyle. The 8-bit soundtrack and effects all capture that old school feeling.
You can select which outfit your princess will wear. The outfit you pick determines which bonus you’re awarded after beating a boss. The bonuses could be more lives, more speed, or a barrier for your shiny shooty shuttles that lets you take one hit before insta-death. You can’t change your outfit mid game so choose wisely.
The game is fast paced, simple, fun, and easy to pick up and play.
by Simple GameReviews | Apr 25, 2019 | Indie, Nintendo Switch, PS4, Steam, Xbox
Crashbots from Sometimes You
An Auto-runner were you make your way through the levels as a robot collecting stars and coins, finding power to keep your robot alive, and picking up robot parts to build/unlock another robot.
As the robot you can jump, slide, and shoot. Each action consumes energy as does taking damage.
There are traps all over the levels to damage you. Some can trigger chain reactions causing you to get hit more than once. Once your power is depleted you die.
You need to collect the stars scattered on the levels to gain access to the other worlds.
You also collect coins by finding them during the race and by earning them by completing challenges during the levels. They are used to upgrade your robot to reduce the amount of energy consumed per movement or reduce energy drained by damage taken.
It has 2 modes; a World mode and an Endless mode. The endless mode allows you to keep playing and trying to increase your distance.
The controls need some work as they aren’t always responsive and can end up getting you damaged or dead and become very frustrating.
The artstyle is clean, simple, and colorful.
The audio could use some work as it seems to use the same music on every level.
I found the game to be good in short sessions but too frustrating to play for longer periods. If the controls were better it would’ve been more fun and less aggravating.
by Simple GameReviews | Apr 10, 2019 | Indie, Nintendo Switch, PS4, Xbox
Metagal from Retro Revolution
16-bit sidescrolling platformer with a Megaman feel. You make your way thru the levels as a female cyborg traversing platforms, hitting a sporadic check point or 2, defeating enemies, and end up in a boss battle. Once you defeat the boss you gain their powers/weapons and use them against the other enemies and bosses.
The controls and mechanics are simple and they work as intended, the soundtrack fits nicely and adds to the enjoyment of the game. The story/campaign is a little short but has level time and letter rank which adds replayability to the levels as you can compete with yourself to beat your best score. The levels have their own unique environments and are nicely designed.
by Simple GameReviews | Apr 4, 2019 | Nintendo Switch, PS4, Windows, Xbox
Hell Warders from Anti Gravity Game Studios
Classic Tower Defense game mixed with some RPG elements and a hint of dungeon crawler feel for aesthetics. You play as 1 of 3 Heroes to place your defenses, level up, and aide in fighting off the waves of enemies. Each of the Heroes plays a little differently; from the weapons they wield to the powers they have. Most maps start out pretty easy before the game ramps up along with periodic spikes in difficulty. The game provides a decent variety of defensive units that you unlock during the story/levels. It has boss battles and supports up to 4 player online co-op which you’ll need to take advantage of if you want to get 5 stars on the later levels.
by Simple GameReviews | Mar 19, 2019 | Nintendo Switch, PS4, Steam, Xbox
RICO from Ground Shatter
A Procedurally-generated FPS, where you play as a Police officer is a RICO task force taking down criminal gangs with many different weapons. You move around the levels breaching doors, killing bad guys, defusing bombs, collecting intel and money. It has a few different modes including a horde mode called Lockdown, daily challenges Local and Online Co-op campaign, leader boards which all adds to the replayability of the game.
