Blade Dash ios - arcade action game - NOW FREE

[Skykid]

Hey all,

BLADE DASH IS NOW FREE FOR A LIMITED PERIOD!

TRAILER:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emWPcuWvvew

Random gamer run:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DR_WYIeXpp0

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/BladeDash

[JDE]

I spoke with Andrew (one of the devs) at length about his game design philosophy when he visited London's Casino Arcade last month, and it quickly became clear that he really understands what it is that makes the best arcade style games so good. Definitely looking forward to trying this out!

Sadly I have no iThings to play it on at the moment though - are there any videos of the game in action to get a better idea of what it's like?

[Skykid]

I spoke with Andrew (one of the devs) at length about his game design philosophy when he visited London's Casino Arcade last month, and it quickly became clear that he really understands what it is that makes the best arcade style games so good. Definitely looking forward to trying this out!

Sadly I have no iThings to play it on at the moment though - are there any videos of the game in action to get a better idea of what it's like?

Videos are coming soon he promises me! I know he can push the score toward 400 and I've seen him playing it when it's getting ludicrously fast, so those vids will be pretty special to watch.

I managed 197 last night. Is there a guy here called "Justice Fish" on Game Center? He's hot on my heels at the mo (and Rupert H is catching up too.)

[Rupert H]

Agreed. I can't really recommend this highly enough. Tight controls, challenging (but fair) twitch gameplay and Cheetahmen.

I've got a handful of friends hooked on it and at 69p it's a steal.

[Skykid]

CHI is now on the boards too, and I'm pretty sure Stealthlurker has made an appearance. I'm hoping Icarus turns up too as soon as he's finished playing Kitchen Mama.

I'm now at 344 points and 429 on X-Mode

X-Mode is crazy fun, but you need to get 200 to unlock it. To enable it tap the start message 7 times and it will switch over.

[Skykid]

Cheetahmen.

Can't believe I only just got the in-joke. I must have slain a thousand of these guys by now and didn't get it. :palm:

'Bout time they made it into a good game lol.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2oZJ_0YkQw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWXOQD-V ... re=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jjhw5XHB ... re=related

[brentsg]

thumbs up

[Skykid]

thumbs up

Did you pick it up mate? Who are you on the scoreboards (can you PM me if you don't want to make public?)

I honestly don't think I can push my scores any more, at least not until I've got a target to beat. I'm having the most fun with X-Mode now (445 points), it's like the normal game but all fiery and starts at full speed.

There's a small error to be corrected on the forthcoming update: on the Achievements list it has some random info about X-Mode on the 200 kills achievement, which should be ignored. The Achievement for unlocking X-Mode is right at the bottom of the list, and requires 250 points to obtain.

[brentsg]

thumbs up

Did you pick it up mate? Who are you on the scoreboards (can you PM me if you don't want to make public?)

I honestly don't think I can push my scores any more, at least not until I've got a target to beat. I'm having the most fun with X-Mode now (445 points), it's like the normal game but all fiery and starts at full speed.

There's a small error to be corrected on the forthcoming update: on the Achievements list it has some random info about X-Mode on the 200 kills achievement, which should be ignored. The Achievement for unlocking X-Mode is right at the bottom of the list, and requires 250 points to obtain.

I'll PM it. I haven't had a chance to sit down and play so nothing serious yet. It's very neat though.

Thus far it's just been a few tries while trying to fall asleep. (not the best game for that)

[Skykid]

I'll PM it. I haven't had a chance to sit down and play so nothing serious yet. It's very neat though.

Thus far it's just been a few tries while trying to fall asleep. (not the best game for that)

Ha ha, definitely not, although I did get my best score at 6:30 am

It definitely gets the adrenaline going, glad you're enjoying it. Any guys here who have picked it up, if you could leave a quick review on on the app store I'm sure it would be really appreciated.

[MR_Soren]

I just spent a dollar on this.

Clever control scheme. Reminds me a bit of Moon Patrol. I like how there is no fluff. Everything has a purpose. Each different type of enemy is there for a functional reason.

I played it perhaps a dozen or so times, only managed a 47 as my best score. I need to sleep now, but I'll try to put up a review after I've had more time with it.

[Skykid]

I just spent a dollar on this.

Clever control scheme. Reminds me a bit of Moon Patrol. I like how there is no fluff. Everything has a purpose. Each different type of enemy is there for a functional reason.

I played it perhaps a dozen or so times, only managed a 47 as my best score. I need to sleep now, but I'll try to put up a review after I've had more time with it.

Many thanks for the comments! I know the dev is watching this thread now, so I'm sure they'll be glad to hear you picked up on the exact points they worked so carefully to implement.

[spadgy]

As my lovely generous boss got me and the team iPad2's for Christmas, I'm all over iOS games like a rash again. Downloading this now as it sounds ace!

And Skykid - what's your Game Center handle?

[Skykid]

As my lovely generous boss got me and the team iPad2's for Christmas, I'm all over iOS games like a rash again. Downloading this now as it sounds ace!

And Skykid - what's your Game Center handle?

Daioujou.

I just made an X-Mode score that I don't see any mofo beating for a while. I just need a Wifi hotspot and it shall appear.

[JDE]

Got a second-hand iPad 2 earlier today with some help from the generous Rupert H, and Blade Dash was the first app I downloaded. The controls really are amazingly tight as promised and I'm having a blast! Currently #22 on the leaderboard with 104 points, will try to unlock X-Mode as soon as possible!

Also, does anyone know what the Cocos say when they appear on screen? I can't quite make it out.

[Skykid]

Got a second-hand iPad 2 earlier today with some help from the generous Rupert H, and Blade Dash was the first app I downloaded. The controls really are amazingly tight as promised and I'm having a blast! Currently #22 on the leaderboard with 104 points, will try to unlock X-Mode as soon as possible!

Also, does anyone know what the Cocos say when they appear on screen? I can't quite make it out.

It's a developer in-joke. The character was given with permission from these guys who write a game development cookbook for ios:

http://www.cocos2d-iphone.org/

I think he says "Cocos *something* Release" - I can't make out the middle bit either.

[Skykid]

Some runs for this now appearing on youtube, added to the first post. Frame rate is a bit crappy on this recording, it's smoother than this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DR_WYIeXpp0

[damakable]

I'm having a lot of fun with this, it'll keep me occupied during my commute this week. The leaderboards and achievement screens are showing "Unable to Load" messages for me right now, though, so I'll have to try again later.

[Skykid]

I'm having a lot of fun with this, it'll keep me occupied during my commute this week. The leaderboards and achievement screens are showing "Unable to Load" messages for me right now, though, so I'll have to try again later.

I had that for all my ios games last night, I think Game Center was being screwy. Thanks for joining in!

[Skykid]

Official trailer now up, can I get some feedback on this please

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMUYAqqtiIc

[ryu]

hilariously racist. ("accent")

[Skykid]

hilariously racist. (accent)

Ha ha, no shit.

[Drachenherz]

Grats skykid, you actually managed to wet my appetite, gonna give this a spin...

Btw, my tag is Drachenherz I, feel free to add me.

[Skykid]

Grats skykid, you actually managed to wet my appetite, gonna give this a spin...

Btw, my tag is Drachenherz I, feel free to add me.

Doing it now dewd, I'll look forward to seeing you unlock X-Mode.

[Drachenherz]

Skykid, I do officially hate you now... This game is addictive as hell, how am I supposed to get better at the bazzilion STGs when I am distracted by this little and always available game????



Translation: loving it so far. It's exactly one of those little gems that I can play for hours, just for this famous "one more try".

[Skykid]

^All good man, glad you like it! I think you'll find its USP is the fact you forget you're playing it on a shitty touchscreen. It's super addictive when you have a score to beat, so you can go for mine

In honour of so many folks having taken it up, here's a small guide on this to help anyone on the forum get up to speed. It may not be obvious at first, but the game has tactics.

People on the forum already on the board (that I know of:)

Spadgy
brentsg
JDE
CHI
Icarus
MX7
RupertH
Skykid
Mr_Soren
damakable
Stealthlurker
Drachenherz
FrancoB (AO)

Moveset:

- Slash
- Jumping Slash
- Double Jump
- Dropkick

Things to know:

- Dropkicks are your friend. They're invincible all the way down.
- Range is much larger than you might think. Try slashing a wolf very early to test this.
- If you accidentally kill the girl being chased by the bear, you lose 5 points (but gain one back if you kill the bear).
- You can slash multiple times in the air before you hit the ground. Useful for the Sky Snake as it takes four hits as it descends.

Extra lives:

An extra life is given on levels 5, 9, 13, 17 and then on every fourth stage thereafter. You need to slash it to get it added to your inventory. You can hold a max of 6.

Enemies:

Witches: You can get 2 points from every witch by killing the witch and her cat. Easiest way to do it is to double jump and slash the witch fairly early (you have a lot of range) and then immediately hold the drop kick. You'll then drop kick the cat as she drops it on the way down.

Hogson: Takes 2 hits

Cheethamen: Walk at different speeds. Can be really slow, but the fastest ones are the quickest enemy in the game.

Centurions: You need to bust their shield with a dropkick, then slash. You can try to wear their shield down, but it takes nine hits, by which point you'll probably have something else to deal with.

Sky Snake: Takes four hits to kill. Go early (ignore the wolf.) I do this in two double jumps, double slashing each time, although it is possible to multiple slash and even dropkick to kill it faster. Depends on how confident your timing is. If you let it reach the bottom of the screen you're going to get pwned.

Double Block: Requires a double jump to clear

Shadow: You'll hear him before you see him. When you hear him, start slashing rapidly to make sure you catch him.

Bear and Girl: So you can do this a couple of ways. Most intuitive is to hop-jump over the girl and either slash or dropkick the bear. For expert tactics, the girl won't hit you, so you can actually let her run past you and then slash the bear - but that get's hard to time right at high speeds. In any case, the girls scream comes just before she appears, so you have time to be ready.

Everything else: straightforward one hit kill.

Tactics:

- When you reach over 200 on normal mode, precision hitting is out the window. Just keep your slash going to make sure you catch any Cheethamen or Shadow enemies, as they're fast at this point.

- At full speed you should always clear blocks and double blocks quite late, and always come down with a drop kick. This way you can catch enemies coming up underneath (like ghosts) before you even hit the floor.

- Ultimate tactic: The game is programmed so you can pre-hold your next move. This is incredibly useful. For example, when the screen freezes momentarily when you level up, if you can see you need to jump to hit the next enemy, you don't need to wait until the freeze ends to try and quickly tap jump, you can just hold jump down and as soon as the game resumes, the jump will engage. This goes for any move, so if you double jump and slash and instantly hold drop kick, it will automatically engage when the slash ends (which is how you tag the witch and cat for 2 points.) It's the most useful technique in the game imo.

Unlockables: X-Mode - Requires 250 points!

Updates:

I understand the update is being approved by Apple. Could take 2 weeks. It will introduce lots of new modes and enemies and other stuff I'm not allowed to know. ADM said they'll never charge for DLC, once you buy the game any new content is always going to be free, because they hate the concept of additional charging.
There you go.

[brentsg]

I'm not going to play again until this is as robust as the Battle Garegga strat post.

[Ed Oscuro]

I spoke with Andrew (one of the devs) at length about his game design philosophy when he visited London's Casino Arcade last month, and it quickly became clear that he really understands what it is that makes the best arcade style games so good.

Can I trust a person with a Scott Pilgrim avatar?

Interesting trailer...hate to say it but it's pretty damn authentic (or at least so it appears to little lives-in-the-Midwest me). Not a lot of gameplay on show, but I think I have an idea based on what's there. If I had something newer than a 2006 Razrphone, I'D BUY THAT FOR A DOLLAR!

[Skykid]

Blade Dash is now free in the App store for a limited time folks, grab it and get gaming. You have scores to beat!

New Trailer Here. Volume Up For Justice!