I really like the art style in this game, especially the color scheme. Really gets across the feeling of snow at twilight. I would have liked to see procedural trees and snowflakes so it's different every time, because at the moment there's not much variation to hold my interest beyond the first minute.
But still very nicely put together. The interface is very easy to read and use. The controls and mechanics are solid as well. I would like to see more sense of progression though, maybe by the sky getting darker over time, or maybe moving farther toward the trees in the background. Or if you wanted to keep it in one place, mentally, I think it still would be nice if we could see more of the sky when jumping up, so it feels more open and expansive.
Very accessible, and the interface is easy to understand and use. I don't particularly care for the artwork, but it doesn't actively bother me.
The rhythm created by several towers shooting at different periods got me thinking though. What about a tower defense game where you create your own song that is played by the towers as creeps flow through? That would be awesome! :D
Nice, kind of like doing sword or staff kata, or like playing Ragdoll Masters where you're bouncing between enemies and adeptly maneuvering your arms and legs to hit them in the soft parts while blocking their attacks. Except in this case, you have only one little attacking part, and your vulnerable body isn't attached to it. The bouncing off enemy circles makes it more enjoyable than the similar game Sproing! in that way.
Nice sound design as well. *kicks self for not coming up with this idea first*
Congrats on the front page. :p
A passable Knytt clone, but I would have liked to see more variation in sound and color in order to create different mood spaces. What makes Knytt compelling for me is the ability to experience places with interesting atmosphere and mood. I don't get that from this game.
Cut scenes were rather slow and annoying. Pressing a button to go to the next line rather than waiting would probably have been preferable.
Technohazard and blah3, thanks for the suggestions. I'm beginning to think that you're right about the flashing invinvibility - it might be better to have it only apply to one track and for it to still allow collection of good powerups. It was actually like that originally, but I changed it while balancing the tutorial stage. Fine tuning isn't easy. I'll try making that change and updating the file. If that doesn't work out there's always the sequel. ;)
There are some things I really like about this game, but many things which just don't reach up to their potential. I liked the way the highlight on the menu worked its way around the screen in time to the beat - a very nice touch, in terms of interface design.
In terms of the actual game, one suggestion I'd have for the run and jump section is that the screen not scroll up so easily. I couldn't see the obstacles in my way most of the time because they were below the viewing window. I also wish the platforms that came up were more closely tied to the music - I would have really liked to see the fast, high melody voices weaving some intricate platforms up above me, especially if I could get up to them and run on that level. Along those lines, more color coordination would have been nice as well.
Overall, nice concept, but not fleshed out well enough to my satisfaction.
To deal damage, pretend you're playing Sproing! or Hammerfall. Imagine that the feet are a spiky metal ball, connected to the head by a heavy chain. Swing it into the opponent's head. An easy way to do this is to rush towards them and then quickly back away so your legs swing around. With practice you'll be able to control your arms and legs pretty accurately.
meeblax, you can mute the music in the options menu. Press Esc, select 'options', mouse over 'music' and click on 'mute'.
Xelenai, I've just updated it with a new version that should fix the slowdown issues you were having. I've taken out the transparency and fixed a few bugs. If the game continues to run slowly, try going to the options menu and reducing the display quality. Also be aware that there is an intended slow-motion effect whenever a hit occurs.
Please let me know if you continue to have problems with the game.
Nice. It's about time someone makes a plant strategy game. The concept is great.
A simpler, more accessible interface, more open-ended possibilities, and a better tuned set of mechanics would make a very compelling game. At the moment it's a decent prototype.
Points for the cornandbeans. But I didn't think the game was really that good. The color switching might be a nice touch for a jaded DDR player. But for me, it seemed an unnecessary hobble to make up for bland gameplay.
I also felt like the graphics, which were clean and nice, admittedly, did not do justice to cornandbeans' visually rich songs. Especially for songs like The Ocean and Midnight, you could have done a lot to complement them visually.
In terms of gameplay, I liked how dying wasn't much of a setback - it was easy and painless to keep retrying, which made it fun. I liked the easy-to-grasp discrete nature of the mechanics, though I think the movement and combat could benefit from being refined and smoothed.
If this game could be fleshed out with more layers of gameplay, like more weapons, more complex enemy interactions, and longer or randomly generated levels, it would be really cool. If I ever get the time I'd like to take this concept and run with it, a la Blizzard. Let me know if you mind me stealing the idea.
And nice choice with the rain. :)
I thought this game was really fun! With more polishing, this concept could be a great one.
I had some issues with the art. For the most part it was nice – I liked the overall style. The character design was a sloppy mix of Japanese and Chinese cultural influences, which I considered to be a bad thing. If you're going to call it "Ninja" it better be Japanese. But I liked the silhouette style, and it was really cool the way you could go inside the lit up buildings.
How do you generate the statistics on how many people pass each level? Is there a way to do that with the Kongregate API? Or are those fake numbers you just made up?
Nice music, but the high speed of the dragon's cycling motion jars with the slow pace of the music and text transitioning. I'd recommend slowing the dragon's animation speed to at least half. Also, the dragon looks too Western - I'd expect something less green, and with more flowy bits like sails and tendrils.
As has been mentioned many times, the controls are annoying. I'd also like a much greater differentiation between dark and cleansed spirits, and a more significant alert when a spirit is cleansed by bouncing off your body. At first I was trying to eat them. It would also help to leave the dragon's mouth closed.
Funny. It's cute how the three animals each represent the three basic AI types learned by beginning programmers. I like the descriptions. :)
I'd increase the movement speed of the "nervous hamster" though. And multiply the score by ten. These changes should be extremely small fixes, so please consider updating the game.
Nice. But you should have waited to release this so you could enter it in the JIG Ball Physics contest! Or maybe this is just a prototype of the engine and you're going to enter a really fancy one for the contest?
I have a few suggestions. Make it more apparent when you get hurt, like make the background color fade red for a moment. Another thing you could play with is focusing a bit more on spinning motions rather than just springy dragging, sort of like the game Hammerfall. In fact, that gives me a good idea...
Also, the music is fine while playing, but the way it continues after you lose and go to the menu gets extremely monotonous. Either make the music stop when you lose, or find an additional, less obtrusive, song for the menu.
 "mr. MothBall 3: the snowy flakes"){kind=icon}
 "Bloons Tower Defense"){kind=icon}
 "Zwingo"){kind=icon}
 "Pieces"){kind=icon}
 "_dRive"){kind=icon}
 "Beef Bash"){kind=icon}
 "- Music in Motion -"){kind=icon}
 "Braids"){kind=icon}
 "The Plant"){kind=icon}
 "Rhythm Fireworks"){kind=icon}
 "Ninja Rinseout"){kind=icon}
 "- Shape Invasion -"){kind=icon}
 "Shen Long - The Spirit Dragon"){kind=icon}
 "Speed Squid"){kind=icon}
 "Squid evader"){kind=icon}
 "Sproing!"){kind=icon}