Hyper Bounce Blast - Kinda like Geometry Wars X Super Mario

[DirtyOstrich]

Hi everyone!

Here's some pic and videos of my new game, Hyper Bounce Blast, it's still super early but getting somewhere now

I released Horizon Shift on steam last May and it was received WAY better than I ever expected, so I started on another game in a similar style.
So far I think Hyper Bounce Blast is a good improvement.

The gameplay is part twin stick shooter and part platformer, kinda like a Geometry Wars/ Mario cross over
There are three types of enemy - Bouncers(Blue), Shooters(Red) and Bonus star enemies (Green)

The blue enemies can only be killed by bouncing on them, the red can only be killed by shooting them and the green can be killed either way. The higher up the screen you bounce the higher your multiplier.

Also when you're bouncing you are invulnerable and are encouraged to actually collect the bullets which add to your score and hyper bar.

So the only real danger is when you miss a jump and are stranded on the floor, then it starts to get scary

It sounds a lot more confusing than it is I promise

Here's some rough footage of how the game plays:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAnwDIE ... kxTzs76qUf

And here's some pics:







Thanks everyone

[Lord Satori]

I'm not seeing any of the Mario influence. Where is this exactly?

[DirtyOstrich]

I'm not seeing any of the Mario influence. Where is this exactly?

Basically all in the bouncing and platforming
The 'bounce' mechanic was inspired by how much fun head jumping in Mario is, especially the feeling of linking from head jump to head jump.

[Jeneki]

Actually now that you mention Mario, I do see some Donkey Kong 3 vibe.

[BulletMagnet]

Interesting...planning on putting out a demo/beta test at some point? I'm curious to feel how it plays...

[Doctor Butler]

Wow...

That looks like a rhythm game more than a shooter, lol
You definitely gotta give us a demo, because it's impossible to discern how it would play from screens alone.

[Lord Satori]

Just watched the videos. I gotta say, this definitely looks unique. I'm not sure I've ever seen a game like the before, and I'll look forward to seeing it progress.

[DirtyOstrich]

Interesting...planning on putting out a demo/beta test at some point? I'm curious to feel how it plays...

Yeah, I'm planning on doing a closed beta thing a bit closer to release.
I'm hoping to release around the start of April, so hoping to do start the closed beta mid to late March.

Will be more than happy to drop some beta codes to you guys

[DirtyOstrich]

Wow...

That looks like a rhythm game more than a shooter, lol
You definitely gotta give us a demo, because it's impossible to discern how it would play from screens alone.

Yeah, the pics don't really give much away do they
The vid's should make it easier to see what's going on.

Hopefully will be running a closed beta at the end of March.

[Doctor Butler]

Just watched the video.

That's really interesting. Definitley interested in trying a demo now.
What platform are you shooting for?

[DirtyOstrich]

Just watched the video.

That's really interesting. Definitley interested in trying a demo now.
What platform are you shooting for?

Thank you.

At the moment Steam is the only confirmed platform, there's a decent chance of a Wii U release and a very outside chance of an Xbox one release.
Don't think I'll bother bringing it to mobile as I can't see the controls translating well.

[AxelMill]

Just watched the videos and oh my God, this game is the best thing ever. Can't wait for it to come out!

[DirtyOstrich]

Just watched the videos and oh my God, this game is the best thing ever. Can't wait for it to come out!

Oh wow! Thanks man! That's amazing to hear

[DirtyOstrich]

Hi again,

Here's a little more footage from the game.
This is an example vid of what a perfect run looks like.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5r47xTL ... e=youtu.be

Sorry for the rough footage again.

[DirtyOstrich]

Shiny new enemy added and a new bullet type

[DirtyOstrich]

Starting to heat up

[DirtyOstrich]

Just started Boss Number 3

[DirtyOstrich]

Hey everyone!

Managed to finally finish boss number 3.
Here's a clip of it in action, think it may still need a tweak here and there.

https://youtu.be/95rfyQP8uBU

[gray117]

It is an excellent idea.

I think you need to work on pacing sections. Balancing some more frenetic shooting and dodging in with the challenge of the platforming opportunities - it just seems a bit too regularly paced at the moment - a bit too slow and steady.

Maybe some kind of espagulda 2 slow down resource would help raise the general pace while allowing a mechanic to take advantage of various patterns/situations.

Bosses could definitely do with a multi critical point setup - perhaps where they're only revealed/exposed in once another portion is destroyed or circumvented - could allow you to mix up techniques required to destroy critical points.

[DirtyOstrich]

It is an excellent idea.

I think you need to work on pacing sections. Balancing some more frenetic shooting and dodging in with the challenge of the platforming opportunities - it just seems a bit too regularly paced at the moment - a bit too slow and steady.

Maybe some kind of espagulda 2 slow down resource would help raise the general pace while allowing a mechanic to take advantage of various patterns/situations.

Bosses could definitely do with a multi critical point setup - perhaps where they're only revealed/exposed in once another portion is destroyed or circumvented - could allow you to mix up techniques required to destroy critical points.

Hey man,

Thank you for checking out the game and giving feedback, most welcome
I think the problem with the footage is that I've only shown levels being played with near perfect runs, the frantic shooting happens when you miss a jump and have to wait for another platform to come along and find a gap between the bullets. It's like a platformer when you're bouncing and a SHMUP when you're on thee floor

I think you're right about the bosses, I will try something like that on boss number 4.

Thanks again

[DirtyOstrich]

The laser trap section.

[MommysBestGames]

This is looking neat! I like the head-bouncing mechanic, at least from the video. As with others, I'm excited to try it out. I'm sure you'll get some good feedback from a demo.

[AxelMill]

Something like changing the blue lines' color or the background after, say, a boss battle, would greatly decrease the sense of repetitiveness.
It would also ease wave memorization, which might be a plus or a minus, depending on what you'd like to make.

I'm no game maker, yet, just my two cents.

[DirtyOstrich]

This is looking neat! I like the head-bouncing mechanic, at least from the video. As with others, I'm excited to try it out. I'm sure you'll get some good feedback from a demo.

Thanks so much man, means a lot coming from you. Big fan of your work. Serious XXL is one of my favourite indie games ever.
Been playing your games since I started developing on XBLIG.

PS are we ever going to see an explosionade sequel? I friggin loved that game on Xblig!

[DirtyOstrich]

Something like changing the blue lines' color or the background after, say, a boss battle, would greatly decrease the sense of repetitiveness.
It would also ease wave memorization, which might be a plus or a minus, depending on what you'd like to make.

I'm no game maker, yet, just my two cents.

Hmmm, I really like the idea of changing the colour of the lines. Not sure why I didn't think of that one, so simple.
As for the background, it changes colour and style after each phase (5 levels+boss battle) so hopefully that will help bring in a feeling of variety.

Thanks a lot for your feedback, I'll change the colour of the border and lines after each phase

[DirtyOstrich]

Finally finished making the bonus round

[DirtyOstrich]

Just finished adding the Hyper mode

[DirtyOstrich]

Loading screens finished

[DirtyOstrich]

Just finishing up on BOSS number 4.

[DirtyOstrich]

Section 2 on boss 4 done