Score: 4
"(See Below)"
date: August 16, 2009
First, and foremost, the idea for a Castle Crashers platfomer is top notch: the characters and concepts translate very well into this kind of game. This, as well as the good decision you made not to have a lives system. Flow is very important in games like this, and starting over from the beginning of the game heavily breaks it. However, there are a few things that could be done to improve.
1. The walking animation appears stiff, and unnatural.
(Suggestion) Work out a stick figure animation until it looks natural, then add details. There are tons of great tutorials on the Flash Tutorials page. This applies for the Barbarian enemies as well.
2. The attacks seem uncoordinated, and unrelated to what's going on.
(Suggestion) Have the left mouse button be used for sword attacks, and the right for magic, with magic getting its own, refilling bar. Also, have a sword-swinging, and a magic-casting animation. This will give the game a much more immersive feel to it. On a related note, a jumping animation would also add to the game.
3. The backgrounds had many issues. At times, it was impossible to tell what was part of the background, and what had to be jumped over. This was especially true in the level with all the purple crystals. As well as this, the game exists within a 2D plane, but occasionally looks like you should be able to move up and down.
(Suggestion 1) Draw in some fitting backgrounds. Even if they're not beautiful, your effort will show through and make the game look better.
(Suggestion 2) Color in that which is just background slightly darker. This will make the difference between your layers much more obvious.
(Suggestion 3) Think in old school platformers with your level design: everything was seen from the side, with a great deal of, well, platforms. Your game had relatively little traversing from platform to platform, and more exploring, which is fine, but it seems difficult sometimes to see which you were focused on. Again, think in old school platformers for your level design.
4. Your main menu looks lazy, and isn't visually appealing.
(Suggestion) Clean it up. Add some buttons, give it some order, allow for some options, all that jazz. You poured so much effort into this; show that effort throughout, not just in gameplay.
5. The one-hit, one kill was irritating, and so spontaneous it was hard to tell what was going on.
(Suggestion) Have a death animation. Have your character fall over, and blink a few times before reappearing at the beginning again. But before that point is reached, have a health bar. And also a money counter on the HUD. Maybe just have a HUD, period.
6. (Small complaint) Very few options.
(Suggestion) Although you picked the best Crasher, I know many who would prefer the others. Put in a few options for who to play as. All it takes is a color swap, and a new magic animation, if you want to keep things simple. Also, while I'm on this note, change the enemy for each level. It gives a greater sense of advancement to see the hordes of baddies you hack at to change with the environment.
7. Disappointing boss fights. When I think 'platformer boss' I think of dodging attacks, and finding vulnerabilities to swing at. I think large stages with many platforms to bounce around on, and an epic boss taking up some screen tossing colorful balls my way. Your boss fights weren't fights, they were clicks.
(Suggestions) Add some platforms, some attacks, and some health. That should do it.
This was really that could've been improved. To wrap it up, good job, nice effort, put in some more (and cleaner) animations, add some backgrounds and a few options.
And, I can't stress this enough, think like old school platforming. A side view with lots of fun little places for you to jump on.
