Curse of Mellon is a simple Metroidvania-type of game, with the catch being that you only have one minute to make your way to the fabled Crystal Skull. You can extend your time by picking up artifacts, but be aware that once you die or your time runs out you lose all the artifacts you have collected and get returned to the dungeon entrance!
The environment doesn't reset even if you get thrown back to the entrance, so use that to your advantage. Open up shortcuts and find a way to get the Crystal Skull!
Controls: Z - jump X - bomb Enter - pause / return to entrance Arrow key left / right - movement Arrow key up - activate switches
Please note that the all the options in the main menu simply start the game.
The game uses the Emulogic font.
NOTE: There are some reports of the game crashing. If you experience such behaviour, could you kindly report your OS and any error messages the game throws. Thanks!
Unfortunately the game bugged out and crashed when I tried to flip the switch. Seems like some kind of memory leak? Not sure. Liked the sound and graphics though!
@meek: Unfortunate! Thanks for giving it a shot still :-)
I've tried the game on three different PCs, and I can't reproduce the issue. If anyone else has the same problem, please leave a comment so I know to look into it.
First game I try in the rating phase! Let's see...
Maybe I'm the only one, but the atmosphere strongly touched me. Becaue the graphics is obviously retro-style, but if we watch is closer, even the gameplay, and the music has a perfect NES-game feeling. And the music is is the best in this aspect...I can't really explain...it brings back memories for me about those games I played back in the day on my Famicon.
Because of this, both Audio and Mood are insta-fives!
Graphics are nice: I couldn't see many of them, but those work perfectly! So yeah, this only deserves a five.
I didn't want to play through the whole game, but I love that it promises a lot of playing time. Also, I enjoyed the not-too-hard but still not too easy tasks, so Fun is a 4.
YOGO...life? Theme is still 4, anyway.
Well, even though I love these exploration-based, "explore every screens" style games, this is not so new, so Innovation is just a 3.
Overall it's still 5 for me, and I may be the only one with this rating, I still hope you'll be in top200, because you should as I feel.
@Katamori: Thank you for taking the time to write such a complete review! Really appreciate it :)
Regarding the theme, I my implementation is "You only got one (minute)" Although you can get more time by picking up the items, so it's no exactly true :D
@kyyrma: I experienced that both other people and myself love longer reviews, so I try to do that if I can.
Hm, one minute? After LD27 (10 seconds) it's not the best choice but IDC, because as I mentioned, the fact that even gameplay and music are retro-style, it saved the game. :D
Ow, this brings back memory's! Love the retro nes style! Only thing is that the gravity feels a little weird, but since it looks so retro I can live with it :). Didn't get any crashes by the way.
Ow, this brings back memory's! Love the retro nes style! Only thing is that the gravity feels a little weird, but since it looks so retro I can live with it :). Didn't get any crashes by the way.
This game gave me so nostalgia and feels ;_; Just because of this cool vintage style (just like on c64), and.. the whole gameplay and levels are pretty good and enjoyable. Big up!
The NES style gameplay, graphics, and sound really make me feel at home. Love your treatment of the Metroidvania-genre. The environment not resetting is a great feature and it really rewards exploration. The jumping felt kinda floaty, I think a bit more gravity could improve the feel.
A standard but very solid Metroidvania. The fact that doors stay open when you restart is a nice touch. (I thought it was odd that you still have to pick up items again, but since you get a time boost when you do, I'm not going to complain.)
The graphics felt a bit too basic for me, though that's a taste thing. The music is pleasant, if a bit repetitive.
A complaint: if I press Enter and get the "Return? yes/no" menu, I get sent back to the start of the game no matter what I pick. Apart from that, I didn't find any bugs.
I haven't finished it yet (couldn't figure out where to go after I got the Ring of Power), but it's a very nice little game, and very big and deep for 48 hours.
Comments27
I've tried the game on three different PCs, and I can't reproduce the issue. If anyone else has the same problem, please leave a comment so I know to look into it.
@Sam, @Meek: What OS are you running? Also, did the game throw any error message as it crashed?
Maybe I'm the only one, but the atmosphere strongly touched me. Becaue the graphics is obviously retro-style, but if we watch is closer, even the gameplay, and the music has a perfect NES-game feeling. And the music is is the best in this aspect...I can't really explain...it brings back memories for me about those games I played back in the day on my Famicon.
Because of this, both Audio and Mood are insta-fives!
Graphics are nice: I couldn't see many of them, but those work perfectly! So yeah, this only deserves a five.
I didn't want to play through the whole game, but I love that it promises a lot of playing time. Also, I enjoyed the not-too-hard but still not too easy tasks, so Fun is a 4.
YOGO...life? Theme is still 4, anyway.
Well, even though I love these exploration-based, "explore every screens" style games, this is not so new, so Innovation is just a 3.
Overall it's still 5 for me, and I may be the only one with this rating, I still hope you'll be in top200, because you should as I feel.
Regarding the theme, I my implementation is "You only got one (minute)" Although you can get more time by picking up the items, so it's no exactly true :D
Hm, one minute? After LD27 (10 seconds) it's not the best choice but IDC, because as I mentioned, the fact that even gameplay and music are retro-style, it saved the game. :D
Just because of this cool vintage style (just like on c64), and.. the whole gameplay and levels are pretty good and enjoyable. Big up!
The jumping felt kinda floaty, I think a bit more gravity could improve the feel.
Thumbs up, 4 stars!
Cheers, Marcus
The graphics felt a bit too basic for me, though that's a taste thing. The music is pleasant, if a bit repetitive.
A complaint: if I press Enter and get the "Return? yes/no" menu, I get sent back to the start of the game no matter what I pick. Apart from that, I didn't find any bugs.
I haven't finished it yet (couldn't figure out where to go after I got the Ring of Power), but it's a very nice little game, and very big and deep for 48 hours.