Review:Pony Platforming Project

Pony Platforming Project

"One fine day, when Applejack was walking innocently through the hills...suddenly, OWLBEARS! Thousands of them!" So begins the Pony Platforming Project, a simple platformer starring Applejack. It's developer, Mark Sprague, is a member of Mane 6, the dev team behind My Little Pony:Fighting is Magic. He also runs the webcomic Dragon Mango, which you may have heard of or read before.

Does the Pony Platforming Project live up to it's creator's rather impressive résumé? Find out after the break!

The first thing that struck me upon loading this game was the graphics. They're...beautiful.  It's quite clear that Sprague has put a lot of work into this game, and it shows. The animation is incredibly smooth, far more so then I've ever seen in a released fangame. Although as I gaped in amazement at the work Mark Sprague put into this game an owlbear fell out of the sky and hit poor Applejack on the head. This was a rather strange design choice, but after giving the owlbear a good hard kick he flew off the screen and I moved on. It took me a while to get used to the odd controls, but I eventually got used to it, and discovered after my test session that I could adjust it to my liking.

The gameplay forumla is quite simple. It consists mainly of kicking/stomping on owlbears or chickens, and finding the hidden secrets hidden throughout the demo. It was fun at first, but after a while it grew rather repetitive, and I eventually got a feeling of déjà vu from the level design. The game would have benefited greatly if it had some parallax scrolling in the background, although with the creator busy with Mane 6 I don't really expect him to find the time to add it. The music was nice at first, but got fairly annoying after a couple minutes of playing the game, and I eventually muted the sound. I enjoyed finding all the secrets the demo had to offer, and trust me, there are a lot of them for a game this size. A couple of them were broken when I first played, although they have since been fixed...

Momma Owlbear doesn't look too happy with you..

The game also has a boss fight at the end with an "Understandably Upset Parent, Mrs Owlbear". The fight is fairly easy, as long as you are aware that you can buck in midar and perform a dash attack (which was undocumented, sadly), because otherwise, it becomes unbearably difficult. Despite it's simplicity I enjoyed the fight, and if the author continues to update the game I will look forward to more of them in the future.

There are many fangames out there, with varying degrees of quality. While most are mediocre at best, and unbearable at worst, the Pony Platforming Project manages to outshine most of it's (released) peers through it's high-quality animation and a bunch of hidden secrets and easter eggs. However, repetitive gameplay, music and a lack of documentation detract from the experience. Despite these flaws, it's still worth a play or two, although it may take more to find all the secrets the game has to offer.

8/10(image soon)

Oh, and by the way, I'm apparently Equestria Gaming's newest blog author, XTUX345.

Review: Megapony

MegaPony

 A strange trend noted by several people in the community is that whenever a pony fangame comes out and is at least partially based off of another game, it almost always ends up being more difficult than the original. Oddly enough, this usually seems to be entirely unintentional on the developer's part, and it is often debatable as to whether or not the increased difficulty is really a good thing. MegaPony is already an infamous example of this, sure, but is the game's quality negatively affected by this?

The answer, along with the rest of the review, can be found beneath the break.


 Your average gamer's first few hours with MegaPony will inevitably be filled with frustration and rage as they get used to the overly sensitive controls, the odd level designs and the titular protagonist's rather large hitbox. Most won't even manage to complete a single stage, but MegaPony is not for the faint of heart and for those that do press on, something magical happens. Levels that stumped them for hours on end will suddenly become a breeze as the player learns to master them, and with enough endurance one can overcome incredible odds. For a while it may seem somewhat repetitive, sure, but the exhilarating sensation one receives upon finally completing that one level and defeating that which earlier brought you to your knees makes it all worthwhile for those who persevere.

Contrary to popular belief, unicorns can climb ladders too.

 Despite its overall difficulty, MegaPony's gameplay is quite simple. The player runs around as a chubby robot and shoots stuff, all the while dodging bullets and jumping over bottomless pits. Upon completing a stage and beating its boss our hero is awarded a brand new weapon, which also happens to be the weakness for another boss. After defeating the brainwashed Mane Six, he unlocks the final stage along with itsboss, Discord. He can also access Zecora's shop to buy items and upgrades to improve his odds of victory, although purists might want to stay clear of the place (aside from a certain upgrade that adjusts the protagonist's hitbox to be closer to that of the blue bomber).

 Stages tend to have a surprising amount of variety, with little in terms of repetition when it comes to visuals and room layouts. Several of them also introduce new gameplay elements, such as the teleporters in MagicMare's lair and the fishing rod in GenerousMare's stage, the latter of which transforms the game into a weird autoscrolling shooter. Thankfully each level's gimmick is used in moderation, so for the most part they don't end up feeling overused or tiresome.

There's a distinct lack of flashback potions here.

 Aside from several areas (such as Applejack's stage), the game does quite well at staying within the NES' colour limits and still manages to look good in the process. Unfortunately the screen scaling options seem to be a bit off, as using them blurs the game's crisp pixel art, making it harder to fully appreciate the detail put into it. It also forced me to take screencaps with the default screen size and manually upscale them in Gimp, which kind of sucked. The music was pretty nice too: a fitting blend of Megaman themes and My Little Pony chiptune remixes, although to be honest the music gets old after being stuck on a stage for long periods of time.


 To be honest, I don't really have much to criticize MegaPony for. Sure, the main character vaguely resembles one of Clarence's hippopotamuses and there are still a few bugs/imperfections to be ironed out, but most of the possible changes would lower the game's difficulty and thus arguably reduce the game's main draw (aside from its containing ponies, of course). I wouldn't say this is anywhere near the best pony fangame yet, true, but those of you who are looking for a real challenge should ultimately find MegaPony to be quite rewarding.

 It remains to see how Megamare X will compare to this, although I doubt it'll even come close to this one's difficulty.

Review: Derpy's Story

Derpy's Story

Unlike many other fandoms My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic has a very large and dedicated game developer community centered around it, and they have poured out an absurd amount of fan games. One of the things that it has not seen much of in its relatively short existence are good, complete story-centered games. Video games as a storytelling medium are on the rise, although nowhere near the level of films and books, and certain games (such as Limbo and Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP) have  been called art by many individuals.

Today we have come across a recently completed fangame titled Derpy's Story, and it promises to be a short but sweet tale told through the form of a video game: a rare thing in this fandom. Does it live up to expectations? Find out in our review after the break.

In Derpy's Story the titular protagonist is lost within the depths of the Everfree Forest when she becomes aware some bubbles floating through the air and decides to follow them. The player controls the bubble cluster with their mouse and guides Derpy through the forest, helping her avoid dangerous obstacles and timber wolves along the way. The reason behind the bubble's behaviour is never explained in-game, although this is probably for the better as it adds to the game's mysterious atmosphere.

Amosphere is probably the most important aspect of Derpy's Story, and for that it succeeds immensely in feeling like a real forest after dark. Screenshots alone cannot convey how beautiful this game looks; it must be seen in motion for the game's gorgeous art direction to become apparent. The bubbles slowly orbit each other, casting a circle of comforting light and subtly illuminating the dark environment around it. Each area of the forest is lovingly crafted and has a hand-painted look that is highly unlike anything I have ever seen before in a Flash game. The cutscenes, while not quite up to the rest of the game, are still quite impressive and feel quite adorable. Not entirely necessary, but still a nice addition to the product.

Even with the game's visual beauty it is the audio that really makes it truly great. With the music off the forest feels almost lifeless and cold, but when it is turned on the game becomes alive. Owls hoot in the distance, the trickle of streams can be heard when you near them, and crickets chirp. The atmospheric soundtrack enhances the feeling of being lost within the depths of a forest after nightfall, but gives off a glimmer of hope that inspires you to keep moving and follow the light. I really cannot stress enough how important it is to the overall game, but it is highly recommended that you play this game with headphones to take full advantage of the game's wonderful soundtrack.

From what has been said so far it seems like this is a perfect game, right? Not so fast. Thankfully the game has been patched to remove many of the bugs in the initial release, although these fixes are exclusive to the version on our Arcade. Unfortunately there are still a couple issues that hold this game back, one of them being the game's damage system. Upon coming into contact with something nasty such as a timber wolf Derpy will panic and begin to fly around randomly in fright, ignoring the bubble's light for a brief period of time. This can cause Derpy to run into other dangerous obstacles while the player's control is taken away and cause even more lives to be lost then is really necessary. Upon loosing all lives the player is not taken back a level, but forces the player to start all over again, which is tedious and might convince some frustrated players to quit prematurely. The game itself is also quite short, and while for the sake of the story this is probably for the better it still feels like the game could have been much, much more if only a couple more levels were added to the final product.

As you could probably tell I liked Derpy's Story very much. The atmosphere was fantastic, the gameplay was fun, and the minimalistic story made this game into what I think is one of the best fangames that I have ever come across. Sadly it was held back by some frustrating control issues and its rather short length, so as much as I would love to give it a higher score I'll have to rate this game at 8/10.

Hope you enjoy the game!

Review: My Little Pony: Magic Shards

Download it Here!

Scheduled to be reviewed much earlier, My Little Pony: Magic Shards was delayed due to issues with Wine on Xtux's computer. The task fell to me, and now, at long last, here's the review! From Dark Era Studios comes an extensive pony platformer with all the bells and whistles. With 22 stages (not counting bonuses) over four worlds, this is certainly a game to take seriously. But does its potential for entertainment measure up to its length? 

Read on after the break. Go ahead, make my day.

The game begins with the story of an anonymous young colt, who, outcast from his peers, attempts to steal Celestia's magic. He fails, and magic shards are scattered across the land, requiring immediate retrieval by Fluttershy and her five slightly less awesome perpetual tag-alongs. Able to play as any of the mane 6, you  must venture from Canterlot through Ponyville and the Everfree Forest to the ominous metal compound of the magic thief himself. 

The game seems to have a touch of classic Mario, from the switch puzzles to the grab-100-apples-for-a-life mechanic to the 5 secret red coins you must find in several levels to unlock bonus stages. These extra stages range from trivia to mini-levels, and are a nice touch in moderation. 

In addition to apples, the player must collect bits to spend at an in-game shop, with a convenient location in every world. In it you can by health, lives, skins and even new characters to help you on your journey. You'll need these bonuses and power-ups as well as some platforming skill to defeat Nightmare Moon, Discord and the colt, now a magic-crazed alicorn. 

Fun fact: Octavia throws cello bows that return like boomerangs, a la Sir Kibble.

Aside from its length, My Little Pony: Magic Shards has several other features that set it apart. It's a rare pony platformer in that it boasts its own character sprites, rather than those from Desktop Ponies. Even better, it doesn't just have sprites for one pony - there are no less than fourteen playable characters, all with their own abilities (see Tips & Tricks). The game experience is rounded out by great background art, a variety of enemy types, and apt musical choices. Another bonus is the ability to save, which is a necessity in a game of this length and a useful tool right before a boss level. 

No game is perfect, but the problems here were spread thin over larger success. The first couple of bosses got a little tedious - they weren't too easy, but there was a lot of waiting for a single vulnerable point. \Nightmare Moon's magic pulse attack, when reflected back, only hurts her when she's waiting at a certain part of the screen. Unfortunately, Rainbow Dash couldn't jump on bosses two and four (the method required to defeat them) without falling through their sprites and taking damage. Compared to the rest of the game, the intro scene seemed rough and unpolished - using a black Times font on white made it look like someone was drafting a document in Word 2007.

However, these few shortfalls detracted little from my overall enjoyment of what I'd dub classic fan content. It's breadth and style gives it a legitimacy that's seriously worth your time spent downloading. The only fair grade is a coveted 8/10.

Tips & Tricks:

The game is much easier to beat if you match each pony to levels and bosses which suit their strength. Each character's abilities seemed to be balanced between jump height, stomping ability, and ranged attack ability. Ranged attacks that shoot faster (Rarity's and Applejack's, for instance) were weaker. Characters such as Rainbow Dash and Big Macintosh, with no ranged attack, had much stronger stomps. In particular, Rainbow Dash's triple jump ability made her a prime choice for most levels.

For the first part of the game, the best stage for health-farming is world 1-2 (The Canterlot Library Roof). With two hearts and a 1-up in a relatively short stage, you'll come out better off than you went in. Abandon this once you've reached the world three bonus stage, "Rainbow Dash's Fly:" unlike the other bonus games, you can play it multiple times for infinite health, lives, and cash. 

There's a stash of hearts hidden underneath the island on which you fight the second boss. Grab them before the fight gets going, otherwise you'll be swarmed by his ghosts when you emerge from the water.

In the shop, none of the characters you're able to buy are labeled, presumably to surprise you with each new character. To save you the agony of buying the wrong pony with your precious cash, I've speciously applied the properties of gluons to reveal which pony is for sale behind each space in the shop (minor spoiler alert.)

That's all... Arctic out.

P.S.: I'm still not sure what the second boss was supposed to be. Feel free to fill me in in the comments.

Review: Derpy & The Hunting of the Super Tasty Muffin (of Awesomeness)

Derpy & The Hunting of the Super Tasty Muffin (of Awesomeness)

Now if that title doesn't make you want to play this game, I don't know what will. Derpy & The Hunting of the Super Tasty Muffin (of Awesomeness) is a graphic text adventure made by PonyDreamStudios that will most likely entertain you with all its open possibilities and silly situations. The game is currently in Beta, but the main story is already completed.

The story of this game follows our main character, Derpy, as she discovers the recipe for the most delicious, most awesome muffin in existence and immediately sets off to collect the ingredients necessary to bake it, with the help of Twilight Sparkle and her friends.

The music is retro-styled and quite catchy, and the graphics are made to give you the feeling that you're playing in an old TV, which it succeeded in doing in my opinion. These settings can be turned off if you prefer, however.

The gameplay consists entirely of typing your actions, like most other games of this genre, and allows you a great deal of freedom when it comes to verbs and nouns, as well as implementing abbreviations of certain words, which is a big relief, especially when you have to write something like "Sweet Apple Acres" often (which can be replaced simply by "saa").

However, being an almost completely text-driven game, things that can normally be overlooked such as misspellings or grammar errors become a much bigger deal, and this game unfortunately had quite a few of those. You can still understand everything, but when you detect one it really takes you out of the immersion.

As for something a little more troublesome, during my playthrough of the game I encountered a bug that prevented me from advancing normally. Fortunately, the game includes cheat commands that the player can use, which allowed me to skip the one obstacle that was causing the crash without skipping more than a few lines of dialogue.

Also, if you get stuck or don't know what to do at any point in the game (which is very common in text adventure games), there is a full video walkthrough available. It only covers the main objective of the game, though. There are many easter eggs and secrets that you can find if you're creative.

Overall, the game is very entertaining and fun, although the problems mentioned before may hinder the experience slightly, but the good things far outweigh the bad.

By the way, hello everyone, I'm Strate and this was my first article on Equestria Gaming! I look forward to writing a lot more about the world of pony gaming. See you next time!

Story of the Blanks

Story of the Blanks

Story of the Blanks is an 8-bit styled creepy game. This was the winner of the Creepypasta Game Contest, and well known for it's creepy and slightly disturbing storyline. The game itself features music by CRTified Technician, Zero V2, and DarkNES.



The game starts out with you playing as Applebloom, and she's trying to find her Cutie Mark. She ends up following Twilight into the Everfree Forest, and after they get split up strange things start happening.

The game itself is Extremely well made, the graphics keep true to the 8-bit theme, and the controls run very smoothly. While playing, I couldn't find any bugs or problems with collisions, or anything else. The game was designed to feel 8-bit, and it did it's job very well.

Whooooo are you? Who, who? Who, who? (I really wanna know)

The puzzles in the game are relatively challenging, but the game focuses a lot more on the story than extensive gameplay, causing the game to be unfortunately short. The up side to this is a rich storyline, full of creepy surprises while keeping true with the pony's personalities.

While playing the game, I found myself very wrapped up in it all, and I really, REALLY enjoyed playing it. Honestly, I might even say this is the best Pony Game I've played so far, even better than my favorite Luna Game series. The game has become so popular, it already has a lot of fanart.

8/10 (image soon)

Review: Princess Civilization

Download Princess Civilization Here!
Mirror #1 (Czech site) Mirror #2 Mirror #3

Some reviews take little to no time out of my day. Others take forever, because I get hooked and spend more time than I care to admit beating the game in its entirety. Princess Civilization falls into the latter category.

Playing as Twilight Sparkle, it's up to you to send your scouts across Equestria, spreading peace and harmony as you go! The land is threatened with more than its share of grave danger, but the situation is salvageable with some old-fashioned 4X strategy.

Review below the break!


The game begins with an urgent message from Princess Celestia. Luna has gone missing, and Twilight Sparkle is left to control the expansion of harmony across the land of Equestria. Starting from Ponyville, the player must earn bits, collect elements, and sway local governments tile by tile.

Fortunately, the game contains a full tutorial and plenty of hints for those of you unfamiliar with Civilization or other 4X games. However, while Spike's assistance is helpful, but you'll probably want to mute your volume: the voice acting is more than a little grating.

The game hearkens back to developer Oracion's previous My Little Game Dev entry Everwinter, but unlike Everwinter, the game is fully functional and contains plenty of features to keep gameplay lively. Quests pop up every few turns, and the friendship levels of different towns must be regulated with constant gifts of elements from their more well-supplied neighbors. Internal building and foraging for elements in the wilderness also help to regulate element levels.

Every last tile! Equestria is mine!

Of course, as the exalted arbiter of friendship, you're required to settle disputes between ponies from time to time - answer correctly and you receive various rewards. Your power level as princess increases over time based on a combination of factors, gradually giving you access to prestige-related feats to improve Equestria's infrastructure.

Princess Civilization benefits from a clear, intuitive infrastructure and the addition of all the little things that keep a game running smoothly (for instance, notices keeping track of idle ponies, towns and build queues.) The game's shortcomings are mostly aesthetic: to be frank, it needs an experienced spriter or two to gussy up the landscape.

In addition to the spriting, if the cutscenes and dialogue were strengthened (polish on top of an already solid engine) Princess Civilization could be a very impressive game. In the turn-based strategy genre, however, function always trumps form. For this reason, Princess Civilization deserves an 8/10.

Review:Dash

Dash (EqG Arcade) 

(source)

As most of you probably know I have great disdain for the cloud-dodger genre. In general you play as Rainbow Dash and dodge clouds for eternity, or at least until you hit one. Sounds boring, eh? In most cases you'd be correct, but a game by the creator of Canterlot Defender has been uncovered, and despite it's rather overused genre it seemed rather promising.

Does Dash manage to transcend its comrades and become a great sidescroller, or is it just as mediocre as the others? Find out in our review after the break!

As with every other cloud dodger to date, you control Rainbow Dash and try to avoid hitting clouds. However, unlike those other games colliding with a cloud does not result in instant death (what were those clouds made of anyway, iron?), but merely slows you down (especially cotton candy clouds). That doesn't sound too bad, except for the fact that Dash is centered around building up enough speed for a sonic rainboom in as short a time as possible. Hitting as few clouds as possible is crucial to victory, and as your speed increases so does the game's difficulty.

Dash's greatest strength is it's exhilarating sense of speed. Rainbow Dash starts out flying at a moderately slow speed, and as she flies faster and faster a bowline begins to form in front of her. Clouds whip by in a blur that is almost distractingly beautiful, and if you pay close attention you will notice that the clouds in the background are also moving, which was a nice touch. The soundtrack (composed by General Mumble) also adds a lot to the overall feel of the game, and really makes you feel like the fastest thing in Equestria once you reach the higher speeds.

So in conclusion, what did we think of Dash? Despite my hatred of cloud dodgers in general, I cannot deny that Dash is great. As a matter of fact it's probably the best one I've ever played, and the sense of speed that it gave off was like nothing else I have ever seen in this fandom. It truly feels like you are Rainbow Dash, and not a lookalike that travels at relatively low speeds and can somehow be killed by crashing into a single cloud.

Author's note: We are now using somewhat of a different system for new reviews in which the main link goes to the EqG Arcade page, and the smaller "(source)" link to the side takes you to the game's original location.

Review: My Little Investigations - True Blue Scootaloo

My Little Investigations - True Blue Scootaloo

After a long time in development, with almost no word on progress from the team until recently, Equestrian Dreamers finally released the first case in their point-and-click adventure game, My Little Investigations, titled True Blue Scootaloo. While the game has received its fair share of attention and hype, does the first substantial fruit of the team's labor live up to expectations? Well, that's what this post is for. Check out some rambling opinions on the game across the break.

Note: This review contains spoilers for the case. Read on with caution if you want to experience the game blind.


The game opens up on a simple premise; Rarity's cat and prized jewel have gone missing, and it's up to Twilight Sparkle to find who's responsible before the unnamed bumbling investigation team from Canterlot arrives to take over the case. The first issue the game falls into is the classic whodunnit trap of giving away the culprit to players in the very intro; this takes away much of the entertainment value of finding out who did it, and turns the game into a simple matter of finding out what the player already knows. While it doesn't ruin the overall story, it does blow the opportunity for a wonderful plot twist that would have added so much more to the case.

I feel ya, Twilight.

In terms of character writing, the game does well; nobody acts particularly out-of-character, or does anything that wouldn't be expected out of them in a canon universe. Dynamics between characters are also well-explored, with characters reacting off of each other in ways that feel remarkably similar to an episode of the show. However, Pinkie Pie's integration as an obnoxious, fourth-wall-breaking tutorial does little except to annoy the player, and in my playthrough was quickly disabled after the first few appearances. The only OCs present also served absolutely no function except as some half-hearted attempt at world-building, and are safely ignored within the game. I appreciate making any interactions with them unnecessary, but it leads to them serving only as dead space to please a few contest winners.

The game has a few issues with ambiguous evidence leading to player confusion. One example was during Scootaloo's confrontation; when the player is expected to give a reason for her to crash through Rarity's window as she rides her scooter around it, my first inclination was to present the hair, which was clearly marked as "probably the cause of the rider's swerve". Instead, the solution was to parrot back the fact that she was practicing a trick, and let Twilight automatically connect the hair to the conversation. Giving the player evidence which has the sole purpose of being immediately thrown back into the conversation feels obtuse and arbitrary in a game that's supposed to be about the player putting the pieces together.

In other situations, the game has a bit of a hand holding problem. While some of that is to be expected in a first case, the game goes rather overboard with it; even after I disabled the tutorials (which seemed to go overboard in explaining things that really didn't need explanations), the writing has a bad habit of making the next step incredibly obvious. This becomes especially apparent once Rarity starts tagging along; the player is consistently directed to their next move from then until acquiring the search warrant.

When the game isn't suffering from those issues, though, the writing is superb. The whole Diamond Dog search scene through the end of the case stands out in particular as a fantastically put-together bit of gameplay, giving the player just enough guidance to keep them from being hopelessly lost without giving away the answer, having logical connections just ingenious enough to make the player feel clever for discovering them, and serving as a wonderful sendoff for the case. The game's story is well-executed overall; the few flaws present, however, hold it back from greatness.

As for the vehicle that drives the story - the gameplay - there are a few interface issues that detract from the experience. The lack of ability to skip through text the first time you see it, in particular, is an inconvenience for quick readers who don't want to sit through a slowly-ticking text box before continuing; I often found myself multitasking with other things while listening to a conversation, since the game was having trouble holding my interest at those times. Edit: The developers have added this functionality into the game through the 1.0.1 update. The lack of any method of keyboard control is also inconvenient; while the game was obviously designed for a mouse, and benefits from it, having an option for keyboard control would be very handy for those who prefer such a setup. At the very least, having keyboard shortcuts for the evidence screen and active partner abilities would be a huge convenience.

The game also seemed to have performance issues on my laptop. Even with the pre-loading present (which brings the game's RAM usage up to astronomical levels for a game of this complexity), the game would often stutter for a few seconds at a time loading a particular voice clip. There was also the occasional issue of the background for an area simply not loading, which happened to me once or twice during my playthrough, and some people I know have reported softlocks, though I never encountered any myself. These issues are fairly minor, and certainly don't detract from my overall enjoyment of the game, but they are issues that need to be fixed.

Whoops.

Graphically, the game is very inconsistent; show-modeled overworld and conversation sprites (that sometimes have a habit of going off-model) mix with cutscene graphics that have a rather unappealing style, at least to me. Overworld graphics are very well-animated, while the single animated pose present in conversations (Twilight's accusatory point) feels very stiff and unprofessional. The interface is also rather plain, with nothing to give it character aside from... black boxes. The graphics certainly do their job adequately, and they don't look bad by any means (the opening and title screen in particular have a very professional quality to them), but they could be so much better.

The audio is a mixed bag. The voices are generally okay impressions, but they vary in microphone quality a lot, even through the same character, and they start to grate after a while. Turning off voices does little to help, as the chirping noise that replaces them is rather grating after a short time. However, the music production is superb, with a number of wonderful tracks that do a great job of setting a mood and sounding pleasing to the ears overall. The music that goes with Rainbow Dash explaining how she gave Scootaloo her ribbon stood out to me as a particular highlight. (That might just be my affinity for the CMC theme from the show, though.)

Overall, the game will be highly entertaining to those who enjoy the type of gameplay it offers, and an interesting curiosity at the least to anyone else. Production values are shaky at times, and it's not a very long game, seeing as it's only a single case, but it uses the time well to create a fun experience.

The MLI engine has certainly shown a lot of potential with this game; it'll be interesting to see what happens if and when a case designer is released into the wild for others to make their own custom cases with.

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Review:Minuette vs Tardiness

Minuette vs Tardiness

 It's been awhile since veteran webcomic artist and fangame developer Mark Sprague has added to his well-received Pony Platforming Project series, and so far the results have always been worth the longish wait between installments. For April Fools day he decided to make a joke addition to the series, but it ended up being released a tad later and far more substantial than originally intended: in fact, I would say that it warrants a review of its own.

You can find the full review after the break, of course. If there was no page break it would take far too long to browse the site, and at least we're not splitting up articles into multiple pages, eh?

 Given that Minuette vs Tardiness was intended to be an April Fools game, the plot is understandably quite strange. It stars the receptionist at Colgate's dental clinic, Minuette, who appears to have an obsession with arriving on time and whose worst nightmare is being late. Enter the Nightmare King, a demonic monster who traps ponies within their nightmares and likes to utterly break them before devouring their souls as a late-night snack. Pretty much he's your typical demon, except for the fact that he resembles a deformed elephant who dresses like a moron and has an epic moustache. Instead of devouring her on the spot like a smart monster would he forces the poor gal to complete a series of levels, each with a time limit.

The game starts off in a fairly straightforward manner, but things quickly become rather hectic. 

 Those who have played the previous games in the series should feel right at home, although this entry changes several things: the most important of which is a timer. As the timer gets closer and closer to 0:00 it grows larger and flashes in a threatening manner, and when a level timer runs out your soul gets devoured by Nightmareface. This along with Minuette's panicky animations have the effect of gradually giving the player the same dread of being tardy as the protagonist herself, and after a while it truly begins to feel like a nightmare. Certain levels also feature switches that rotate the level on its sides, wraparound edges and disappearing platforms to increase difficulty and make things even more hectic. Reaching the end of each level is an immense relief, and the game makes you work hard to get there.

 As with most of Sprague's games, visuals are a fairly strong point. The levels themselves do the job well enough but are nothing special, while the character animations and cutscenes are superb. Minuette in particular is quite well-done: subtle additions such as looking nervously around while standing still and crying while running help establish her character and convey a sense of urgency that would otherwise be lacking. As for the backgrounds...for the most part they are fairly simple and don't get in the way, but later on they can become rather impressive.

Poor gal. You'd be running scared too if somebody invaded your dreams and tried eating your soul.

 Given that the game is mainly centered around speed it is understandable that the controls would reflect this, and sometimes the delay in coming to a complete stop can result in the player falling down one of many bottomless pits. The player is also required to stand still before they can pick up blocks or trigger switches, and while this quirk might take some getting used to I wouldn't really say that it is a flaw as it adds extra challenge.  This is especially useful to know upon encountering the first switch in the game, as running into it may cause Minuette to disappear due to a glitch and leave the player utterly helpless until time runs out. Thankfully this only occurs once; the game is of a decent length and contains many switches. If it were any longer the lack of a save feature would be a problem...ah well, the game was only made in a day so I guess I can't expect that much from it.

 In my review of the first game (which also happened to be my first post on the site and was quite amateurish) I expressed annoyance at the overly repetitive background music, and I am happy to say that Minuette vs Tardiness does not suffer from the same problem. Even if a good portion of the music isn't original it is still quite fitting for the most part, thankfully. The voice acting is also pretty good, but as funny as it may be the first time hearing "I'm arriving early to the afterlife!" five times in a row can get on your nerves. Ah well, more incentive not to die, I guess. And is it just me or does the Nightmare King sound sound vaguely Canadian? Must be his way of pronouncing "eh?"...

The cutscenes look pretty good, although this shouldn't be a surprise given that the creator is a webcomic artist.

 One thing that I really missed from the other three Pony Platforming Project games was the easter eggs. Many hidden secrets and whatnot were scattered across the games, but I was unable to find any in here other than a delicious cup of Tim Hortons coffee at the end (nice break from that abomination you Americans call Starbucks, and it even has delicious donuts to go along with your coffee!). Trixie's shop is also strangely absent from the game: then again, I guess Minuette has more important things to do than buy bottles of milk and magic horseshoes. Running for her life, for example.


 Does Minuette vs Tardiness live up to the first three entries of  the Pony Platforming Project? That is hard to say, given that it is not really the same type of game. It's quite fun, sure, but unfortunately I don't think I can warrant giving it any more than an 8/10. At least we still have Minty Fresh Adventure II to look forward to, eh? I'm really looking forward to that game: from what I've seen it appears to be shaping up to be the best My Little Pony platformer yet. Shame it probably won't include any of this game's time-limited levels...a couple of those could really spice it up.

Next up for review: Donitz (the man behind Story of the Blanks and Twilight vs Walking) brings us another creepypasta. I shan't say that much about it, other than that it involves a certain wall-eyed pegasus and a certain well-dressed faceless abomination. Cheerio!

Review: BFS

BFS

 As his previous efforts have shown us, Vanni is determined to redefine the way we see RPGs, and to accomplish his vision he has even gone so far as to program it from scratch in C instead of going about the usual route of whipping up crap in RPG Maker like a mere commoner. This may prove he's no scrub, sure, but even the best of developers can slip up sometimes, so is this an example of such?

Pony fans will definitely want to check this one out, so read on below the break for my thoughts on it.

 Reality ensues upon starting BFS' executable: this is a game, and thus it must load stuff. This may seem rather unpleasant, but upon the fourth or fifth playthrough the average player will get used to it and maybe even come to enjoy the loading, as it gives one time to prepare oneself for the incredible experience ahead. It also helps that it has the decency to show you exactly what it happens to be loading at the time, giving one a truly visible indication of its progress.

 I'd consider BFS to be an example of modern art, really. Gameplay is deceptively simplistic, with its smooth The Matrix-esque scrolling effects having a rather soothing effect on one's mind, but there's an odd sort of beauty to it that one is hard-pressed to find in any other game of recent memory. One could compare it to NetHack or Dwarf Fortress in a certain sense due to various aesthetic similarities, or even the majority of Lego Island 2 if one is so inclined. It's definitely a great way to wind down and blow off steam after a long day of hard work.

 Learning the plot isn't exactly essential to this game, although from what I've been informed it involves the marriage of Queen Chrysalis to King Sombra, and their ensuing invasion on the Crystal Empire. It doesn't appear to have much relevance to the actual gameplay, though, as the story is unveiled through subtle environmental cues that casual observers will easily miss upon a first playthrough. Some might complain about this, but I honestly don't mind all that much. It's nice to have a game every once in a while that respects the player's intelligence and expects them to figure things out on their own for once.

 B

 S for us Linux users though, since the game somehow doesn't have a Linux build even though it's written in C and uses multiplatform libraries. Ah well, at least it should run well enough in Wine and can thus provide an interestingly introspective experience for users of all operating systems. Be sure to thank Vanni for his wonderful creation, and maybe check out his groundbreaking Fnagame while you're at it.

Review: Daring Do Demo

Play on the Equestria Gaming Arcade

Or Download from Source

Why review an older game that never reached completion? Bear with me for five minutes.

Don't get put off by the "demo" label - although it may not update again, Alexmakovsky's Daring Do: the Flash Game already has some serious meat to it. Daring Do's the perfect candidate for an adventure platformer, but for some reason she doesn't star in many games - making this one that much more unique. But can the game live up to it's promise? Find out after the break.

After being knocked out of the air by a legion of griffons, famed adventurer Daring Do plummets to the jungle floor in the vicinity of a mysterious temple. Due to her damaged wings (a cliched but serviceable plot device) the player will have to navigate without flying. Unfortunately, the jungle's infested with dart-shooting monkeys and Ahuizotl's cats.

The most quickly apparent feature of Daring Do: the Flash Game is its brilliant art and custom character animation. From the start menu, throughout the cutscenes, jungle floor and temple mazes, the game is visually dazzling. Although the scenery made less of an impression as the game became harder and I began to focus on survival, it remained consistently high-quality, attaining a standard that very few pony games can match.

Rather than exploring the temple level by level, the entire game is situated in a single open world. When the player gets a certain artifact or defeats a particular monster, a door on the other side of the map will open up. While this approach makes progressing in the game feel like an actual temple exploration, sometimes you're left having no idea where to go next. Several times, I thought I might have reached the end of the game, only to discover a new labyrinth off of a previously missed tunnel.

The artsy, open-world style of this game, and the discovery of several other ponies deep in the temple reminded me a little of Stroll, the meditative art game from a few months back. Like Stroll, the game is filled with secret passageways, most of which lead to treasure. However, Daring Do: the Flash Game also has a variety of enemy and puzzle types, some of which require a decent amount of skill to get past. The game never becomes too nerve-wracking (after death, Daring Do respawns close by) but a couple of rooms require good timing to survive.

Fun fact: Daring Do's pushing power is roughly equal to that of a parasprite. 

Also, those stone blocks must weigh next to nothing.

The interior of the temple includes the whole roster of classic traps: passageways are crammed with spikes, rotating blades, disappearing floors, massive spike-covered steel balls, giant spiders, chains, vines, and ominously encroaching thorns. Glyphs and inscriptions on the walls complete the experience. I hesitate to call Daring Do: the Flash Game an art game, but it's crafted ambiance gives a similar experience.

Overall, any demo which I can sink two hours into without completely finishing needs to be called something else. Perhaps "super-demo", or just "game". I'd certainly welcome an achievement list, a walkthrough, or another way to keep track of my progress in game and make the world a little less overwhelming, but that's one of my few qualms. Daring Do: the Flash Game easily deserves a Spitfire Grade.

Review/Walkthrough: Moonstuck the Game Part 1

Play Moonstuck the Game

I'm sure many of you have read or encountered Egophiliac's Moonstuck, the sprawling epic about a pony princess on the moon loosely based on Andrew Hussy's Homestuck. A few months ago, the story came to an end, and it appeared that Woona's adventures were over.

Until now! Sylrepony has just released the first episode of many covering Woona's time on the moon in an isometric adventure format. Can this ambitious project live up to the offbeat humor of the comic? The answer, (and a bonus walkthrough,) below the break!

After starting a new game (which you may find yourself doing several times) the player is greeted by a blaring Super Mario theme and a monochrome landscape that roughly resembles the world of the comic. Movement is grid-based and a little unorthodox: The isometric world is skewed far to the left, so that pressing the up arrow key moves Woona in a northwesterly direction. 

After a minute or so, though, the controls of the game become more or less intuitive. Mouse-over instruction flags dispense hints (although they're not always helpful.)

Beyond the controls, the game doesn't provide much information on how to progress from area to area. This can be frustrating, especially when several events must be triggered before your way is clear. Moonstuck: the Game is as vindictive as the first few pages of the comic: it's not uncommon to die unexpectedly. (For ways to avoid death and bypass the less intuitive challenges, see the walkthrough below.) 

The "dress up Woona" feature may earn this game a 10 all by itself.

However, the confusing aspects of the game can be as rewarding as they are frustrating, often coming with the satisfaction of an old-fashioned, point-and-click Escape the Room games. The game follows the comic's storyline admirably well, and your progress through it can be traced through the panels.

Moonstuck part 1 contains several minigames, but most of the entertainment value stems from the bizarre sort of problem-solving necessary to the story and the humor inherent in the comic. The many panels from the comic scattered throughout the game are a nice touch, and serve their purpose as cutscenes well. Overall, I'm very satisfied.

 If you're a fan of Moonstuck, this game is a must. Failing that, it makes a great casual, quirky adventure for anyone. Final grade: a subjective 8/10.

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Walkthrough

So, you've gotten through the first few rooms, accidentally zapped yourself to pieces a couple of times, and now you're totally stuck. There are several places in Moonstuck where this is possible, and failing to recognize a certain trick can stop you in your tracks. Every challenge can be solved by the the "try everything until it works" method, but for the impatient among you, I've put together a guide for the trickier spots. [WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD (obviously)]

 After starting the game, make your way southwest, entering the portal at the end of the long corridor. Do the same for the second room. The Apple, found at the end of the second room, can be picked up but is unnecessary.

Pressing space (or clicking on Woona) opens the command menu. Don't jump or use your attack magic on the space which you're standing, as both will kill you and make you restart the game.

To advance from the third room, play the Stargaze minigame in the east corner of the room until the message "Good job stargazing!" appears in the message box at the top right corner of the screen. Special triggers, like the one to start this minigame, are available based on where you're standing - Stargaze can be played from the command menu when adjacent to the sign in the room's east corner. Then, approach the sign in the room's south corner and 'Raise Moon' until it reaches the top of the screen. Now, with your princessly duties complete, head north and pick up the Dapper Topper that has appeared. Equip it from your backpack and enter the portal which appears to the southeast after the cutscene.

Pictured: Dapper Topper in action.

Venture forth through the fourth, fifth, and sixth room. The entryway to a dark cavern is hidden in the center of the seventh room.

Mazes are located in the game's eighth and tenth rooms. While the first is straightforward, the second is much larger and blocked by boulders at several points. Locate the Key in the center of the room, then use it when standing next to the gate to the southwest to clear your path.

In the eleventh room, stand in the enclosure to the southeast of the room's entrance to reveal the entrance to the room's other side.

When you enter the pitch-black twelfth room, light it up from the command menu before proceeding. The key to escape the thirteenth room is hidden inside a rock (just walk through it) on one of the light-colored tiles. On one of my journeys through these two rooms, I acquired the superfluous (but highly radical) Stetson. I haven't been able to replicate this, but if you know how to find it, give a shout in the comments!

A secret entrance in the fourteenth room (pictured below) leads to a room containing the HM Rock Smash. Although unnecessary, you can smash rocks!

The entrance is located one space to the northeast of where Woona is standing.

Room fifteen has two exits: One, down a flight of steps to the southwest, leads to an action-packed chamber we'll call room 16. The other, in the room's east corner, leads to a room which appears at first glance to be empty. Not so! Step off the map at the east side of it's lowest level to discover an invisible ledge. Walk around the corner to snag The Power of Cute.

I admit I never would have found this one without DeviantArt comments.

Return to room 16 and use The Power of Cute to unlock the chest. Transfer the Monocle, Mysterious Scroll, Widdle Shoes, and Socks to your inventory. Trying them on is mandatory at this point. Use the Mysterious Scroll and turn it into the Cartographer's Cap. Again, this should be worn immediately.

Now, examine the machine a little ways to the east. After naming it "Jeffry", open its side panel and flick the switch marked "Moon's Gravity" until it breaks. There is a mannequin in the room's west corner, which, when examined, will drop Toast.

When you return to room fifteen, a new route leading to the zombie room will appear. After entering, stand on the light-colored block and start the Zombie Game minigame. Switch to Attack mode and zap the zombies until you earn 9,000 points (mash the mouse button when the largest one appears.)

Finally, climb the tower in the next room and enter the Observatory. Here, you can pick up the Cupcake, Warpstone (a handy item for getting around the map), and Zap Apple. When you're done with the first installment, rest on the cushion to end the game.

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Well, that's all for the Part 1! Got a secret that I missed in the walkthrough? Drop it in the comments!