Fun puzzle platformer with a unique tool that makes for creative levels. The medals could be worth more considering their difficulty. Completion is an award in itself, though, and I made sure to finish it.
Reviews for "FISHBANE"
This is one of, if not *the* best puzzle platformer I have ever played.
First, the concept is a novel one. I can't think of any harpoon-based games, and yet it is executed as if the genre had already been solidly established. The use of moving projectiles as part of the level structure indicates a clever and keen sense of level design. Droqen does not insult the player's intelligence by putting the most basic of handholding tutorials in. Instead, he lets the player discover what the implications of her actions are as she plays and expects the player to think instead of just letting her eyes gloss over as if playing a run-of-the-mill uninspired platformer.
Second, the graphics are simplistic, yet convey everything the player needs to know. The pixelated graphics actually contribute to the design, since the bigger pixels allow better precision in movement (which is needed!). If there's one non-aesthetically-related thing that big pixels do, it's clarifying where the player can and can't go and what she can and can't do. Hand-drawn graphics may be argued to be more beautiful, but it's almost always unclear when and where a character will fall off a platform.
The controls are tight, the music is engaging, and the game offers extra challenges if the player wants them. Honestly, Fishbane is exemplary of practically everything I enjoy about gaming.
Great game. The genre of puzzle platform i love to play.
BTW, although i finish the game the medals i know i collect didn't show (2,3,4,6,7). Only the 1st and 5th medal unlocked. The rest i unlock remains locked!
This has been my absolute favorite game ever on Newgrounds. I've been playing it since it first came out and always come back to it. I even have a Fishbane character on 3D Dot Game Heroes and have always intended to create the rest of the cast. I beat it 100% way back when it first came out and I'm still haunted by the fact that it didn't give me the medal for Scary Places. I'm still hoping for a sequel or even a Fishbane for consoles, just as Closure did. Anyway, fabulous game and I will love and charish it forever. Thanks a billion.
Droqen responds:
<3
Your wish will be granted, by the way; I just don't know when. A sequel to Fishbane (with some pixel art that blew me away) is... secretly in progress. Not so secretly now, I guess.
It won't be done for a while, but it's one of the projects I know I must get done, eventually ;D
I conquer you.
This is the first game that's ever sent tears down my face. Once upon grasping the golden terror through the fires of scary places, and again when it taught me to fly. With slight modification, this game could be considered for use in forced information extraction.
I hated you, and made it clear, outloud, to no one, throughout each of these devious screens. But when suddenly it's done and fishbane becomes fishbaned, I can only be glad your parents decided to bone after all.
Thanks.