awesome game
Reviews for "Acid Bunny"
SeethingSwarm responds:
Thank you!!!
make a sequel. PLEASE.
IT'S SO GOOD. AND FUN.
SeethingSwarm responds:
I've already made a sequel and I'll upload it to newgrounds real soon! Glad you enjoyed the game and thanks for the 5 stars!
Don't know if you'll end up reading this review but thought I'd give an in-depth review.
I'll start with the theme & story.
I absolutely loved the theme and the general tone of the game. The mix of seriousness and sillyness (if that make sense) give the game a very peculiar feel that really makes it fascinating to play. I really hope that this will be the first game of the character's story and that you'll explore this theme more. The theme of Acid Bunny trying to live a normal life despite his origins and his mixed nature (not addicted but still intoxicated because of his origins leading to him being pulled into strange worlds by his mental demons) could make for some very interesting story twists and gameplay mechanics alike. For example, I could see Acid Bunny trying to find a way to end his flashbacks, frustrated by how he is harassed by mental demons that although he know aren't real, still get to him because of his incessent flashbacks.
Which lead to the problem's flaw, narratively: the intro is magnificient and the ending is rather heartwarming though with an interesting and suitably ominous sequel hook. The problem is that in-between the intro and ending, there is no actual plot ; there is no dialogue with NPCs and no history to be discovered about the stages. None of Acid Bunny's siblings have any actual importance and are mostly just nameless, storyless enemies. The flashbacks, outside of the intro and ending ones, serve only to lead to bonus stages.
Considering the theme, I think it would be interesting to flesh out Acid Bunny's life more and how he cope with his surroundings, his family, and how others react to him and either try to help him or hinder him.
Now, graphics. The graphics are extremely nice and fitting. The animations are very nice and amusing, with the grim but rather funny way you can dispatch enemies, with enemies having different death animations varying on how you kill them. However, I do wish that Acid Bunny himself could have more reactions to damage and different death animations than just the default one. If you plan to make a sequel, I'd enlarge his animation range (for example, I'd keep the 'head then body explode' animation for being killed by physical hazards but if killed by syringues, alcholic vomit, and other drug-themed hazards, Acid Bunny would instead vomit himself and then collapse, his face design becoming like his siblings' to indicate that his mind has been warped and his body addicted like theirs. Another suggestion would be to make the double jump animation different from the default one, also helping with the gameplay ; see below).
The audio is also quite top-notch ; some of the music is awfully familiar but as a whole, it's very frantic, lighthearted, and actually contribute to the strange, surreal feel of the game. The visceral sound effects help create a strong contrast and keep the atmopshere fittingly unreal... though I think that Acid Bunny could use a damage sound effect fitting to whatever hit him instead of just the blood splurt sfx every time.
The gameplay is unfortunately the weak point. Although it has hints of brillance, it is unfortunately a rather pedestrian platformer. It is very well-executed but ultimately, rather generic on that front. The major problem is that although the open-ended world could be interesting, there is no ability unlocking to really give it a real sense of progression. The drug theme with the bonus levels is really clever but in my opinion, is a limited use of the theme and mechanic. And of course, the game suffer from a rather short length (though given this is a flash game, this is not a significant flaw ; that the game feel too short is actually indicative of how attention-grabbing and attention-holding it is).
Mechanically, the idea of a Sonic-style acceleration system is actually a very good idea but in pratice, is unwieldy because the acceleration is only set to 'walk-run', with no actual acceleration. This makes running jumps needlessly difficult to execute. It is also not immediately obvious that Acid Bunny can only double jump while rising and at the peak of his jumps, not while falling. This, coupled with the fact that his double jump animation is identical make it hard to know whenever his double jump is regenerated after bouncing off objects, which can again create some frustration. Giving him an actual accleration curve while moving and giving him a different double jump animation might help in this regard.
Regarding the structure and general gameplay, I think it would be nice to expand on the drug theme, both narratively and gameplay-wise ; have the drugs around the place be collectables that actually change and affect the environment in ways other than just adding the secret doors. Like giving Acid Bunny abilities but at the cost of adding hazards. Or removing hazards in some rooms but causing nasty side-effects when Acid Bunny returns to normal afterward.
Likewise, this could be linked to the game structure ; whenever Acid Bunny collect or not the drugs and in which proportions could change the endings and how some events go. For example, collecting none will result in his flashbacks starting to become less serious and his mental demons, more aggressive and desesperate. More drugs means worse flashbacks (and even addiction by the ending, if enough are taken). Finding all the drugs may result in Acid Bunny's mind becoming warped and him being unable to get out of flashback mode at all.
Finally, to keep sequels from becoming stale, I think that extra tools on top of the carrot weapon may help make Acid Bunny distinctive as a video game character outside of the art style. I'd also suggest making them useful for navigating stages (to climb stuff, modify his jumping traits, interact with terrains). The vehicles and the surreal mini-games in the bonus stages are definitely a step in the right direction and I'd love to see them returning in future games as well as being expanded upon, if possible.
Anyway, all in all, Acid Bunny Episode 1 is a fairly basic platformer with a very interesting premise and art style that I hope you will expand upon.
I do not know if you will read this review but I hope it will help, should you do. Have a nice day!
SeethingSwarm responds:
Woah! Thanks so much for the in-depth review and all the helpful feedback! You have some very good ideas and insights about improving and expanding on Acid Bunny.
I agree with you that this game is a fairly basic platformer with a crazy backstory, and that was the goal. This was a game that my girlfriend and I made together just for fun and it turned out to be even more complicated than we expected even though it is still just a simple platformer. I can definitely see how the game can focus a lot more on Acid Bunny's struggles and how his decisions affects his life etc. I love all of your ideas, but unfortunately I've already made Acid Bunny 2. It will be on Newgrounds soon, but you can already play it on SoGood.com if you want. Hopefully it's not too much of a disappointment. We focused a lot more on adding new and different mini games to the overall experience and I'm pretty happy with it :)
Thanks again for all the comments, and even though I cannot use them for Acid Bunny 2, they apply to many games in general and I will keep your feedback in mind for future projects.
LOL, I love it! XD
SeethingSwarm responds:
Thank you!!!
i feel bad for acid bunny but anyway great game!
SeethingSwarm responds:
Thank you! Acid Bunny did have a very traumatizing childhood, but luckily he has found some friends who are helping him cope with his flashbacks :) Thanks for the 5 stars!