So I made a side-scrolling, randomly-generated shmup. Squeezed in a decent amount of content as well, considering the time I got to work on it.
You toggle between controlling two ships, each of them on a different world, and you need to collect as many "Links" as possible. When you collect a Link, however, you also activate its effect.
Most links cause something to happen on the OTHER world, when you kill something. There are 2 others that don't work that way, as well. So in essence, the worlds are connected by what you do, where you kill things, and the currently active Link :).
The game gets gradually harder, but the difficulty can be reset by initiating a boss fight. To initiate a boss fight you simply pick up a special drop. I had time to make only one boss, and he gains HP every time he returns, so always fighting bosses may not be the smartest idea in the long term.
Whatever your playstyle, I hope you enjoy the game, and good luck on your entries!
Instructions: Arrows - Move. X - Shoot. C - Toggle between ships/worlds.
Made with: Code - flixel. Graphics - paint.net. Sound effects - sfxr. Music - autotracker.py.
Solid shooter with a nice interpretation of the theme. A few visual clues would make it a bit more enjoyable though: - better distinguish the currently controlled ship - show if shots to the boss actually hit or not (or maybe I never hit it) A bit 'bland' visually: the colors almost look like CGA ;) (Yes I'm old enough to have known that). Good entry.
Your game is very difficult, but I really like the random effects caused by the links, it really spices things up. I was impressed by how many of them there were, too.
New link is up. swfcabin was messing up so I uploaded the file to itch.io. It loads faster too. I assume swfcabin failure is a temporary thing, so when it's back up it can be used to confirm that I didn't change anything :)
Nice entry, I liked the concept and execution. The gameplay was addictive and engaging, so good job. I also liked the loop and art style. Really great game!
I enjoyed the little pep talks at the game over screen, very amusing! The game plays well and is very challenging, it is a great idea to have the links randomly add gameplay mechanics on the fly. Very original take instead of just letting you switch and provide power ups. You can never know what to expect when picking up a link. Recommended!
The link worked this time, thankfully considering the name of your game. Amazing amazing amazing. Art, sound effects, music, gameplay mechanic, controls, cheesy backstory, everything is top-notch. A+
Excellent use of the theme. I found myself not wanting to pick up links when I found one that gave a good effect, but I know that's the goal. The gameplay was quite solid, but a bit difficult to multitask at 3 am.
You really nailed the theme with this one, simply a blast to play. The graphics remind me of old DOS games, which puts a bit of nostalgia as icing on the top :)
The concept is pretty interesting, at least for me it was very difficult. Maybe I'm not good at multitasking. The variety of enemies and links made the game feel polished. Nice take on the theme!
Challenging but I really liked the concept. I also liked the gameplay a lot as it was simple but constantly changing due to the different '?' abilities. Fun game!!
You took the common two screens/worlds kind of game and you brought it to another level in a very interesting implementation. Collect links to randomize rules of connection between the two screens is awesome. Even if it could be a negative rule, you HAVE to collect it in order to increase your score... It's really cruel! But it's also a very neat game design. Congratulations. 4/5 currently, 5/5 with a solid realization.
Wow, that's quite difficult - I really can't multi-task! Really nice concept though and everything feels 'right' about the game. Liking the little humorous touches.
I quite like this. There are a lot of interesting little mechanical experiments, like the difficulty management and the way that changing links is your score. Compatriate immunity is plainly the best, so I just wanted to use that...but then I wouldn't get any more points!
I'm also impressed with the production values. A clean design means that I've found keeping track of which world I'm managing is much easier than in many similar entries that I've played so far.
Just a perfect little game :) Great and original interpretation of the game. Just a few bosses and a bit more variation and this would have great replayability
Good graphics and sound. Loved that the collected links had a different effect but I was not really fond of giving up the current link effect to get a new -potentially less awesome- one (although there's equal chance of getting a better one).
That was a lot of fun, the mechanics were simple enough and the player-switching was easy to keep track of (which definitely wasn't the case with a lot of games). The boss fight was fun, and it was neat seeing what all of the different links did!
Hi there. Found it too tricky to play pretty quickly, but can see that it would keep an adrenaline junkie flying for a long time. Like the steady buildup of difficulty. Good pixelart and chiptunes. Would have preferred two keys for selecting which ship rather than toggle. Good job!
Difficult game. I have troubles switching between ships and handling things fast enough. I liked the idea though.
I guess I would have wanted it to be easier :D - auto-shooting would have made things easier - maybe no insta-death but rather take damage? - "repair" those damages...
I really liked this entry. I loved how the links changed up the gameplay, and also counted as the score. So if you wanted a good score you had to keep changing how the game is working. The art and sounds were pretty nice too.
Got a whopping total of nine links on my best try out of four or so tries. Too bad that last link was "Great minds" which made me steer into a bullet straight away.
Plenty hard, but not annoyingly so. Nice risk vs. reward thingy going on with those links!
Comments54
A few visual clues would make it a bit more enjoyable though:
- better distinguish the currently controlled ship
- show if shots to the boss actually hit or not (or maybe I never hit it)
A bit 'bland' visually: the colors almost look like CGA ;) (Yes I'm old enough to have known that).
Good entry.
The game plays well and is very challenging, it is a great
idea to have the links randomly add gameplay mechanics on
the fly. Very original take instead of just letting you
switch and provide power ups. You can never know what to expect when picking up a link.
Recommended!
Good job, it's a complete game.
I'm also impressed with the production values. A clean design means that I've found keeping track of which world I'm managing is much easier than in many similar entries that I've played so far.
It's a really solid and fun game!
+ cool game play idea
A few more random thoughts:
Love the autotracker-bu music, make me cry every time. Thank you based autotracker-bu.
Having a big wall of text in the first screen is a good way to make people not read something.
I guess I would have wanted it to be easier :D
- auto-shooting would have made things easier
- maybe no insta-death but rather take damage?
- "repair" those damages...
Nice retro feel in the art style & sounds.
Plenty hard, but not annoyingly so. Nice risk vs. reward thingy going on with those links!
Anssi@MooseflyGames