Orangepixel's latest game 'Meganoid' [Steam, itch.io] is a platformer with randomly generated levels. I tried it out and here's some thoughts.
When I followed the developers post on Meganoid and watching the videos on it, I was quite excited to see a game from Orangepixel that I might really enjoy. Sadly, it turns out it's a rather shallow game in terms of features, but it's still pretty fun.
First up, it claims it has roguelike elements, but I don't see that at all. It has some random level generation sure, but that doesn't really mean it has roguelike elements. Developers have ended up using that term to try to hook people in, which I don't really like.
There's no difficulty options and sadly only one character and I personally find the game to be on the easy side. The "hacking" mechanic is also really flat, as there's no hacking involved. It's a simple case of finding green key cards and then using them on different terminals of your choice, which can turn off certain things or give you small advantages. Still, it's a nice feature and it does make you hunt around for those often hard to reach keycards.
The graphics, as expected from Orangepixel are really great. Lovely crisp retro feel with their usual style I've come to really love. Still, the actual level design doesn't really give off the feeling of being in some sort of spaceship.
The actual platforming mechanics feel a little off too, you're supposed to be able to cling onto the side of surfaces, but half the time it just doesn't work. The random generation doesn't help, which is a difficult feature to actually get correct. I've seen enemies stuck on objects, enemies walking back and forth in tiny completely blocked areas and more, the random generation just isn't all that good here.
Still, I can't help but keep coming back to the game. The ability to blow up parts of the level with dynamite is always fun and the power-ups are pretty useful, like a portable moving platform to access another area. It would have been nice to have the random generation a bit better and to have some more features overall, but as a simple platformer with a little action it's not bad.
Note: If you buy it and try to launch it with the itch.io client, it won't launch. You can open the games folder and launch it directly until the itch developers release the next client update which fixes some of their detections. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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When I followed the developers post on Meganoid and watching the videos on it, I was quite excited to see a game from Orangepixel that I might really enjoy. Sadly, it turns out it's a rather shallow game in terms of features, but it's still pretty fun.
First up, it claims it has roguelike elements, but I don't see that at all. It has some random level generation sure, but that doesn't really mean it has roguelike elements. Developers have ended up using that term to try to hook people in, which I don't really like.
There's no difficulty options and sadly only one character and I personally find the game to be on the easy side. The "hacking" mechanic is also really flat, as there's no hacking involved. It's a simple case of finding green key cards and then using them on different terminals of your choice, which can turn off certain things or give you small advantages. Still, it's a nice feature and it does make you hunt around for those often hard to reach keycards.
The graphics, as expected from Orangepixel are really great. Lovely crisp retro feel with their usual style I've come to really love. Still, the actual level design doesn't really give off the feeling of being in some sort of spaceship.
The actual platforming mechanics feel a little off too, you're supposed to be able to cling onto the side of surfaces, but half the time it just doesn't work. The random generation doesn't help, which is a difficult feature to actually get correct. I've seen enemies stuck on objects, enemies walking back and forth in tiny completely blocked areas and more, the random generation just isn't all that good here.
Still, I can't help but keep coming back to the game. The ability to blow up parts of the level with dynamite is always fun and the power-ups are pretty useful, like a portable moving platform to access another area. It would have been nice to have the random generation a bit better and to have some more features overall, but as a simple platformer with a little action it's not bad.
Note: If you buy it and try to launch it with the itch.io client, it won't launch. You can open the games folder and launch it directly until the itch developers release the next client update which fixes some of their detections. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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