well done!
Simple game, fun, you added a "goal" thing that made the game quite interesting, fun musics and not so crappy sound effects. bravo!
Reviews for "Dodgeman 2!"
First, the bad news:
I know you made the collisions "unforgiving" on purpose... but I think it's a bad idea. A large part of what would make this game fun is the possibility of "close calls"-- seeng a couple objects coming at you, no room to run away, so you have to slip between them with careful timing. But instead, with this "single pixel" rule, the only way to survive is to stay miles away from any objects altogether. If you wanted to make it harder, you should have just added more objects. Frankly, even if you made a decision to do things this way, I think part of your motivation had to be laziness.
I made it to level seven, but there's no way I have the patience to play a whole level with those spinning things; at least with the game mechanics the way they are.
Okay, now that the complaints are out of the way: this was a pretty fun game. At first I laughed because such a big deal was being made out of such a simple game; one of hundreds of easy-to-code avoid games. But even though the gameplay was rudimentary, the humor and style of the game kept me going. Little touches like the moonwalk made this all worth the while... to a point. In any case, you definitely deserve a supportive rating.
Holmfry responds:
Thanks! :) I'm glad you enjoyed it, thanks for the high rating! I love getting feedback that is both positive and will help me with future projects.
I think your comments are fair and honest and I very much appreciate that. However, I do feel that I need to address the presumption of laziness. There was definitely none of that with this project! ;) This being my first flash game of this type, my artist friend and I worked very hard figuring it all out. The only motivation for me making it this way was simply that it was how I wanted to design it. This project was a revival of a very old game I made in Visual Basic over 10 years ago and I was trying to imitate how it worked.
I see what you're saying about the close calls, the truth is I have pulled this feat off many times - and knowing the collisions are so brutal, it's that much more satisfying. (it's tricky because he turns back and forth, you gotta watch where his hands are going to be) It's even possible to run under the spinning laser swords like a turnstile if you time it just right. That said, it seems that I'm in the minority being able to pull this off, which is why I've said a few times in my review comments that I will be changing the collisions for the next game.
After submitting on Newgrounds, I took many user suggestions for additions and changes, and put them into the game. For the collisions, I would have had to go back and recode the entire game, and I didn't want to do that - especially when the game was how I liked it :) I had other projects I wanted to move on to at that point, as well.
But! Fear not.. I hear the people and even though I'm leaving the collisions in this game the way I like them/designed them, I gotta pay attention to the players (the resounding opinion seems to be "Awesome game! WTF collisions!") so if and when there is a Dodgeman 3, you can bet this collision topic will be addressed.
Thanks again for the feedback and the awesome score! :)
music
In level 6(aliens) you should have put the Michael Jackson song because of the moonwalk.
Great Fun, Addicting Gameplay!
I've played this game over and over again, and must say that it is addicting. As another reviewer stated, it really is a homage to the games from the 90's. The visuals are fun and suit the style of the game to a T. While the 'story' as it were is pretty basic, the design and flow of the various levels gives a sense of progression and flow. I found myself playing the levels just to see what I would be presented with next.
The only complaint I would have with this game (and it seems to be a continuing theme) is that there is no margin for error with the getting hit. As the author has stated, this is because it is pixel by pixel detection, which can be daunting when you're used to have a safety buffer. However, once you're aware of this feature/limitation you will find that you become accustomed to it.
Despite a few faults, this game was both fun and entertaining, which is ultimately the goal of any game... 8/10. Keep up the good work!
Holmfry responds:
Thanks! I appreciate the review and the comments. I'm glad you enjoy the game! :)
The no-holds-barred pixel by pixel collision I've implemented does seem to keep coming up as a comment from a number of people and is something I will look at changing in any sequels.
Good game, liked the moonwalk touch
Was enjoyable, and controls were simple but effective. Sometimes it's impossible to dodge some waves, but there are enough lives coming down to add some balance to the cheap shots the player sometimes gets.
Collision detection is brutally picky, but lives and continues are there to keep things moving in case of bad luck.
Final level was nice, but it's hard to get motivated enough to replay the whole game just for another "chance" to get both endings, which may deprive the player that sense of "closure" or "end game reward" they seek in a typical session of gaming. A continue option right after the bad ending would be nice, even if the flashback stage is still just one life - which is actually a nice touch if it wasn't tied to an ending penalty so to speak.
Overall a fun game, with nice retro graphics and easy learning curve.
Allam
Holmfry responds:
Thanks for the awesome feedback! :)
Keep your eye on this game, I'm taking all comments into consideration and thinking about changing the way that last level is handled. Stay tuned!
In the meantime, a ton of replay value can be had from the game due to the online leaderboards (you can enter your score when you finish the game or hit "quit" after dying) and there may be a secret hidden somewhere in the game. *cough* mainmenu *cough* So you could poke around for a bit and see what you can find ;)