Topic: Bit Boy!! first impressions

I've put about 3 hours into Bit Boy!! so far and I think a 5 rating is about right. Some nice ideas, but poorly executed in many instances. At least make the mazes a bit more intricate so you can avoid attacks. I love the sound effects and music, but that was probably the high point of the game for me. I was so looking forward to playing this, but I think I hyped it up a bit too much. I'm going to play it some more this evening and see if it grows on me.

And congrats on the little bro Wiiloveit.

I downloaded the game and I love it, it is like you are reliving your childhood even though I am still in my childhood, but the game is awesome from going to 8-bit to 16-bit all the way to 128-bit.

I've had a chance to play it for a bit now and there's plenty there to enjoy, but so far I've really not cared too much for the 3D stages (I've gone up to 64-bit)--my favorite is 16-bit, which I replayed quite a few times trying to make it through all the stages without dying, which I've pretty well mastered now (although I certainly need all of my attacks to do it), so next I'll look to improving my high score. Next favorite is 8-bit, then 4-bit just for the visuals; I actually enjoy the look of 4-bit more than anything, if only it were bigger--the color scheme, however, is much more lively than anything on the higher bits, where the scenery just gets progressively more drab.

32-bit made me laugh while first waiting through that long loading screen... then on subsequent iterations, I began to feel absurd waiting at a loading screen before each stage that is certainly faked. The problem with 32 and 64 bit for me so far has simply been that I need to switch the camera to an overhead view in order to play well (which the instructions clearly noted as you enter the stage, Chicken!), and at that point it just looks uniformly worse than the 2D generations. I'll come back to these levels, though, and see if they grow on me.

Haven't tried the Warp Mode on anything yet.

Anyhow, concerning the gameplay, I'm not sure that the dead-ends are a problem. They're clearly intended to be a core part of the gameplay--after all, there are levels that have nearly every friend in a dead-end corridor--and I think these, as well as the slow-ish movement criticized by Chicken, just underscore that this game isn't one of reactions so much as a strange kind of strategic play. I basically have to plan my route in order to get the most friends I can immediately before the enemies start to spawn, then carefully maneuver to grab the rest while keeping an eye on potential dead-ends, and then--this part is crucial--use my attacks very carefully. It's not good to just dash around and then use your attack when you're cornered; you should target your attack to a cluster of enemies, since it has a nice proximity effect, and blow 3 or 4 away just as they gather together so that you can clear out an area and quickly dash into all those dead-ends to grab the friends before re-spawns arrive. Of course, you get so few attacks that you'll have to only use them for the most difficult areas. Anyhow, I enjoyed some things about the game, and I hope to warm up to the 3D levels, since they've bored me so far, and that's half the game unfortunately.

Yeah, I played the game with a friend tonight and realized the camera instructions were on-screen after all. That's my fault. In fairness, though, you don't expect a game to add camera features midway through its run, so you can't blame me for not looking out for them specifically...but whatever. You're right. They were there, and I DID overlook them.

I also take your point about the corridors and grid-movement lending itself to a different kind of game than most of us were expecting. Yet I do feel the enemy behavior is randomized far too much...so much so that it prevents any real strategy from being developed. Corridors are one thing, but if a monster gets into a more open area, he's far too likely to run in circles like a mad man. It just seems like instead of coding any AI into them whatsoever, they just let them run random and hoped for the best.

I think I might have been slightly harsh on it, but the fact is that no matter what the game was trying to achieve, it didn't quite achieve it. It has charm. I don't hate it. I WILL play it again to work on my scores...but beyond that...eh.

Did manage to try some two player action today, which was a LOT more fun than playing alone...but it also raised further issues. (For example, in a top-down game, why do both players wear the same color hat? It's almost impossible to tell who's who without running around wildly to figure it out. Why give them hats at all--which, I must add, obscure the color of the character which was difficult enough to differentiate in the first place--if not to help the player tell them apart? And why does one player sometimes spawn inside the monster's den? Why can you even GO inside the monster's den? What the heck is the point of that?)

Warp mode was fun, but plagued by its own pointlessness. We had some fun competition, but at the end, you both share one score. Yes, your diamonds are tracked separately, but nothing is really made of it when somebody wins. So you're given the tallies for diamond collection as kind of a "Oh, in case you were interested..." afterthought. Not very satisfying.

But...again...I wouldn't steer anyone away from it. I won't be singing its praises from the rooftops, but a bad game it ain't.

Chicken Brutus, what happened to your icon? It used to be something that fit you very well and looked cool, now it's a constipated painting of mega man.

Game improved since the last time I posted impressions so I'm quite happy about that. Warp Mode is also welcome addition for sure.

I have played the first 3 bit eras,and it is awesome! I died a lot of needless deaths though. I think I might review this game on my blog.

I changed it to something more game-related, but to be honest, I miss the old one. I'll probably bring it back. All this avatar does is make me hate Mega Man.

I was the same way Philip. I changed but eventually I heard Gregg calling me back.

I love it. I am on Super Bit boy

You should watch this.

@Adam

Haha, nice, I hadn't watched that one before. I had to zoom to the last part of the video after a bit in order to not be driven insane, but that was quite a clever (and assholish) trick at the end.

Maybe if I'm feeling like torturing myself one day, I'll load up this hack and try it... probably not though. I do play a lot of SMW hacks on a regular basis on my Wii, in one of the few legitimate uses for a homebrew SNES emulator (I still by VC games! I promise!). Some of the hacks are ingenious, without just being ridiculously difficult. If you're into it, go to SMW Central to browse and download tons of professional-level hacks. I'd recommend anything created by Anitiki for top notch platforming level design and plenty of nods back to SMB3, as well as Mario's Keytastrophe if you'd like to see SMW turned into a puzzle game.

Awesome, I've always wanted to play some actually good hacks, but I've only ever found awful ones and awfully hard ones, so I gave up on the idea.

If that video amuses you, it's on a playlist of someone playing through the whole game and its sequel. I'd much rather just watch and laugh than play myself. I did play the infamous 4-level "impossible Mario" hack of the original Super Mario Brothers, if you know what I'm talking about. Got all the way to the last jump to the flag pole in level 1 multiple times, but just couldn't make it.

The talk about hacks reminds me of Yahtzee describing a game's level design as that of "a ROM hack designed by Hitler" while showing a screenshot of the SMB Air hack.

Must've been someone who never played Dangerous Vaults.

I still like this game and played it a few days ago. The 3D levels are a waste of time, but the 2D ones are nice; I loved maze games in the 8-bit days. I do wish the 4-bit levels were bigger as they are the prettiest.

I beat the game last night, and I keep on playing the warp mode that mode is so much fun, it is so addictive

Yeah, I agree. Warp Mode definitely makes the game replayable.

I love you, in a way.

I'm still enjoying replaying the 2D levels, with Warp Mode spicing things up a bit as well, but so far I haven't made any progress towards enjoying the 3D half of the game. I'd gladly trade those generations for some expanded levels on the first three.

My thoughts exactly and I told Bernd that when he mailed me directly to thank me for supporting the game.

Bring on Vektor Tank says I!