VVVVVV

Website: http://www.thelettervsixtim.es/
Developer: Terry Cavanagh
Platform: Windows / Mac

VVVVVV is a platform game played with only one key (guess which one). Well actually one key plus the arrow keys for movement. It's great to have simple controls because anybody can jump in and learn to play in all of five seconds and when you think back to the days of Pac-Man and Space Invaders, those games only use a joystick and maybe an additional button. And if you think simple means easy, you're tragically mistaken. VVVVVV is insanely difficult and it is as fun as it is challenging.

The story begins with a ship crashing in space and the captain finding himself separated from his crew members, in a strange alternate dimension. The player moves the character with the arrow keys and flips his gravity with the V, Z or Space key. It is the only gameplay mechanic throughout the game but the developer finds many clever ways to play with it, mainly through the level design. Very often, you will flip the character and nudge him midair carefully with the left and right keys. The levels are lined with spikes and moving enemies, and you have to be very precise with movement and timing to navigate your way through these dangerous obstacles. Unless, you're used to doing timed runs on Super Mario games, you'll find yourself dying. A lot.

Even so, it's not exactly frustrating as I attempted for the 20th time in one of the more challenging rooms. The character is promptly returned to a checkpoint when he dies, and there are checkpoints in almost every room. It's one of those games where you can feel yourself improving with each failure and it makes for a very fulfilling experience. I eventually learned that it's more about timing your keys right rather than concentrating too much on what's going on in the screen.

The game does a great job of bringing to life characters and a world rendered in very simple 8-bit style. The retro look brings a kind of unique style and charm with it. My teal-colored captain has a big smile plastered on his face, never mind that he suffered a hundred deaths on my hands. The enemies are really bizarre and fascinating at the same time. A few of the ones I remembered (and laughed at) are the Yes Men, Stop Signs and the red bus from the demo level. The humor in VVVVVV is very tongue-in-cheek which is evident from the title itself. The funny room titles make it more fun and interesting as you explore rooms that aesthetically, aren't very varied. The chiptune music I really love. It's funky and catchy, and goes along with the humor of the game.

The developer described the game, "In VVVVVV there are no locks, no powerups, no switches, nothing to stop you progressing except the challenges themselves." He chose to focus on the flipping mechanic and that is where the game really shines. It pushes at limitations with creativity instead of throwing a bunch of gimmicks at the player. I know I sound like a broken record player but I am honestly sick of how many games these days just copy an existing one and slap on a bunch of "features". If we want to see a new trend of fun and original games, maybe we should stop playing the crass titles big publishers push out and pay a low low price of 20 bucks for a shiny indie title like VVVVVV.

-- BBBBBBenjamin (See what I did there?)

2D.2.5D.3D

Harvest Moon,  Country Story or in fact many other farming and even RPG games, make use of the Parallel Landscape to create the illusion of 3 dimensional floorplan. Parallel Landscape on the other hand, is not even close to 3D but a completely flat 2D tiles which do not even make use of shadow or size to emphasis the idea of space.

It is very interesting to see how the human eyes can be 'tricked' through the placement of objects in creating a spatial landscape. Comparing to Tetris, the concept of creating the floor plan is very much similar. Tiles after tiles are placed on top of each other in an orderly manner. The only different is, the type of tiles. For example, in Harvest Moon, the soil will be brown colour while the grass will be green. Other than this, the same application is used. So what makes Tetris 2D and Harvest Moon 3D, or 2.5D, or maybe 2D but looks 3D.

I personally find this form of landscape is extremely clever. It is almost minimalist and effortless to create but pleasurable to the eyes. I guess, one of the reason is the mixing of the 2D and 3D sprites involved on the landscape.

For example, in Harvest Moon, although the map are flat, the plants, trees, characters, animals are somewhat 3D. They only have 4 directional images ( up, down, right and left ) but there is good use of shadow and size to emphasize the spatial relationship. The character for example is not purely flat with one colour filling in a specific body parts, but the cap for example, ranges from dark blue to blue to light blue. Even with this minor details, the idea of space is achieved in the simplistic 2D flat background.

Creating such landscape is easier comparing to Isometric Landscape such as Restaurant City and Theme Hospital. However, similar effect can be achieved, in fact a slightly more interesting effect is resulted. Parallel Landscape is not boring but giving players another layer of creativity in exploring the game as a whole. While on the other hand, Isometric Landscape provides the space for exploration thus limiting the self-creation in gamer's mind.

Kelvin

Continuity is a platform, puzzle game created using flash. It a very direct game, once you see it, you know what to do and it also has very simple control. In the game, there is only 4 element, a red door, a red key to the door, the character itself and the shift-able space. I felt this game is cleverly made because you have the solve the puzzle of shift-able space of platform in order to create a continuous platform for the character to move through.

Mechanism

The controls are the usual arrow keys and the space bar, the space bar is to zoom in and out to view all the movable space. The arrow keys can be used to shift the platform together and also to move the character in the game. Not all the spaces match, the shapes of the side must fit together and its not just a left-right way thing, character can also jump up a space or fall into one, which I felt the level design is really meticulous created.

Even thought the control is easy it still require you to have a certain level of coordination skill in jumping platform and pausing the fall while you change to another space. In case your jump isn't successful, you will be revive at the same platform, save the frustration of having to restart and you have infinity life. You can take your time to solve each level as there isn't a timer.

Game Play

Even though the game play is direct but it require the player to have a different way of seeing, you will know what I mean when you play the game. Every level seem solvable, you can feel the solution is close by, just a little more thinking will solve it, unknowing you will keep playing level by level, within a few hours, you can complete all 32 level, its almost an effortless play compare to other puzzle game.

Aesthetic

Its a simple black and white design, important clue are in red, simple and straight forward. The current design works, if its too colourful, likely will cause a headache when you stare at the screen for solution.

Sound

Through the game, there is 2 types of background music played, when u zoom out, there will be a slow pace music and when u zoom in to move the character, an action sound effect is played, personally I find the music quite distracting but lucky they provided the mute option. A game won't be complete without a music after all.

Conclusion

As the level increase, the numbers of movable space also increase, even though it gets harder, you will feel that its not much of a challenge, especially if you manage to complete the game but I have to kudos to the level design in this game, that lots of thinking :D

Play: http://www.continuitygame.com/

Machinarium is a point-and-click adventure game, based on flash. In the game, you play a lone robot thrown out of the city working his way through deserted machinery wasteland. Solve puzzles, find and combine items, and encounter loads of creative characters in your quest. The illustration is beautiful and the animating and personality of the robot is cute.

Everything is handled with a click of the mouse, you can explore the environment using the cursor, if the cursor turn into a pair of walking feet, mean you can walk to that direction, if the cursor turn into a pointing finger, mean you can interact with that object. You can only adjust the height of your robot in order to get to hard reach object. You also have an inventory, so you can collect and combine item within your inventory. There is also a quick hint to help you get out of the place, just mouse over to the top right corner. If you are still seriously stuck and couldn't think of any ways to move to the next level, there is a walk-through solution of that level, but before you are able to read the solution, you have to complete a mini game. When you click something that the robot can't do, he'll shake his head which is kinda cute. Sometimes when you idle, the robot will start to wonder about his girlfriend which often end with a cute giggling.

After solving the first 3 level of the game and you still haven't give up, you are hooked to it. Its a pity that the demo only has 3 level to play, I'm addicted to it after solving the 3rd level :(:(:( Pay $20 for the full download, anyone wants to share? haha

Some reasons that this game appeal to me is the storyline, artwork, animation, personality of the character and the cute sound he always make. The puzzle solving by exploring the environment and combining item is really engaging and makes you devote all your attention to it. I wonder what is the ending of the game.

You can play this game here : http://machinarium.net/demo/

Ping Ting

What??
A 1 player RPG game where u control a fighter aircraft with missions ranging from dogfights, ground assault, escorting fleets and defending your airbase.

Is iT good??
By far the best air combat game i ve ever land my hands on. The different levels of difficulty caters to all category of skill. The graphics are awesome with no latency whatsoever. U will have career advancements with the ability to purchase state of the art jets and go up the rank. As always, the levels get more challenging and better enemy planes will be in the midst. There are even stages whereby you will be guided through landing procedures which are tricky but very much exhilarating without crashing though.

Why??

The controls are easy enough to understand and use but you do need a getting to use to especially with the vertical controls where by pressing down manuoevers the aircraft to go up n vice versa. The controls will enable you to perform moves just like you would in a real plane.

Is it bad?

If ure not a fan of fighter planes this might seem a little too much for you to handle. But as for me, its the best games i ever played as it makes me feel close to what i dreamt to be which is a pilot. So it kinda takes me into a virtual escapade from what it could be if my dreams were to come true.

Ratings
10/10 ok im being biased here!

Hasbullah