What [not shmup] game are you playing now?

[MOSQUITO FIGHTER]

Really obsessed with Tecmo Super Bowl on nes. I didn't own this as a kid or know anyone else who had it. Think I rented the original and didn't like it and never tried the series again. Still think the original is lame but Tecmo Super Bowl is sooo good. Lots of depth trying to figure out the teams strengths and tricks to get blocks and so on. Good times. Would like to try playing online some once I get a little more better at it.

[m.sniffles.esq]

Tempest for 3DO!

So it's Tempest 2000--uh--ported to 3D0??

[null1024]

Still at Panikuru Panekuru. I was dying on stage 8-9 before, but I'm now making it to stage 11 in the 2nd course fairly consistently [so, nearly done]. I've been screwing up due to going too slowly with combos and unforced issues with boxing myself in.
Being more aggressive with trying to make sure the edges of the playfield don't have white stones in them has helped a lot [especially the corners], although it's a tricky thing since it makes it easy to get boxed in.

[ryu]

Grim Guardians. The mixed resolution visuals and weird modernized castlevania controls made me feel uneasy at first, but the game is fun now that I've warmed up to it. Reminds me a little of the Rondo of Blood remake on PSP with its hidden collectibles and replayablity.

[BurlyHeart]

Double Dragon Advance on Switch, fuck yeah! Launched at a VERY reasonable price stand-alone, a little less than an AA title.

How is it? Heard some mixed reviews.

[BryanM]

Genshin Impact had to have one of the most blessed release windows in the history of video games. A $100 million game about wandering around outside and picking flowers, released during the Covid pandemic. It's like they were blessed by the heavens.

I've been playing it some, since the weather is starting to get cold. The three year break really helped my enthusiasm, as is coming back to a game that's more than twice as long than it was, now.

Picked up the new character - she's a summoner and kind of nuts powerwise. Due to my extreme laziness, automation is one of my favorite themes in games. I can pick flowers and look at sunsets, and her swarm of water monster constructs can do the tiresome chore of fighting.

Really obsessed with Tecmo Super Bowl on nes.

I think it's really cool the community keeps it up to date with annual hacks to update the rosters.

Kind of similar to the Final Fantasy Tactics PvP scene. Such a dedicated niche to an old game.

[Marc]

Double Dragon Advance on Switch, fuck yeah! Launched at a VERY reasonable price stand-alone, a little less than an AA title.

How is it? Heard some mixed reviews.

It's fucking brilliant. I've dabbled over the years, but never realised how large the move list is, and how much depth it actually has. It's bone-crunchingly visceral, and looks better than any other version/port.

As a port It's decent. Several scaling and scanline options, one for higher-quality audio (been playing in the pub, but from the wording I'm presuming it's tidied up, rather than new audio), save states, remappable controls.

This is definitely a top three belt scroller for me personally.

As ever, BiL will be able yo explain mechanics far more concisely than myself.

[BIL]

Ohshi I'd no idea it was getting standalone release! It's on PSN too, at least JP.

Yeah Burly, for Neo-Technos brawling, DDA (not sure if you were asking about the port or the game) is rivaled only by Crime Fighters 2, imo. Both smartly poach Final Fight's cleaned-up interface and smoother player/crowd balance, without losing an iota of mid-80s grit. The ground remains No Refuge. DDA also has some exceptionally well-balanced juggles, ala The Ninja Warriors Once Again; no wafty 999hit jabfests, just artfully bone-crushing hackysacks. This Survival Mode run gives a good idea of the moveset and engine.

I see director Muneki Ebinuma's earlier Return of DD is up, too. That one being native SFC, unlike the frustratingly portable-confined DDA, I wasn't as bothered - but then I noticed it seems to have an overclock option. The only game more in need of that is Metal Slug 2. Or maybe SFC Gradius III.

(Ebinuma has called DDA his official apology for Return While DDA is undeniably superior, I think RoDD's uniquely choreographic take has aged well - that glacial speed aside. And while the earlier SNES rev does feel unfinished, RoDD's more than complete enough. I don't care about missing cutscenes or whatever, I can headcanon just fine. Frankly, early 90s Technos had a really bad habit of lengthy unskippables)

Fascinating... I'll have to give 'em both a going-over when I'm home next week. I hope they turned out well. Maybe those demo GIFs I made of RoDD's polarising guard/counter system might finally reflect reality (they're slightly sped up, the real cart is unfortunately not as fluid).

Bad choreography! Let the man get to his mark, you Steven Seagull shitbird!

DOING IT PROPER ;3 ;3 ;3

[Lander]

Cor, looks like DDA might sneak onto my playlist sooner rather than later!

Missed out on that particular post-Technos joint at the time, but their legacy was some of the finest to grace my GBA slot after lucking out and snagging loose River City Ransom EX and Super Dodgeball Advance carts as holiday swag from a market somewhere in south asia. I still remember the glass case

It's fucking brilliant. I've dabbled over the years, but never realised how large the move list is, and how much depth it actually has.

Ooh, encouraging! Technos remakes were punching way above their weight on the GBA; one of the things I liked best about RCR was the ridiculous amount of moves it tried to cram into two facebuttons. It's like they wanted to make it for a six-button arcade panel and stubbornly refused to compromise.

Does the port have anything in the way of region options? I'm seeing some stuff about the JP release coming a few months after the NA one, and getting some tweaks and bugfixes into the bargain.

[BurlyHeart]

Double Dragon Advance on Switch, fuck yeah! Launched at a VERY reasonable price stand-alone, a little less than an AA title.

It's fucking brilliant. I've dabbled over the years, but never realised how large the move list is, and how much depth it actually has. It's bone-crunchingly visceral, and looks better than any other version/port.

As a port It's decent. Several scaling and scanline options, one for higher-quality audio (been playing in the pub, but from the wording I'm presuming it's tidied up, rather than new audio), save states, remappable controls.

This is definitely a top three belt scroller for me personally.

Cheers! I must have a look into it.

DDA also has some exceptionally well-balanced juggles, ala The Ninja Warriors Once Again; no wafty 999hit jabfests, just artfully bone-crushing hackysacks.

I love this sentence

[null1024]

Still inches from the clear in Panikuru Panekuru's second course. Made it to the last stage once, but died halfway through.
I'm thiiiiis close to the end.

I did have one run with a gigantic combo that ended up with literally twice the score of my others, but trying to replicate it has just gotten me killed, so I'll continue focusing on finishing before doing anything with scoring. It seems like scoring would be pretty weighted towards what you do early on, unless there's some multiplier for the current level involved since it's easier to make huge combos with fewer colors. Quite glad this game saves scores, since I still haven't actually looked into how to do score saving in MAME for games that don't.

I'm getting killed badly by poor movement, either walking into my death without anything on-hand to save myself [often because I didn't notice that my exit strategy was now blocked], or not being fast enough to place a piece to continue my combo and getting boxed in for it.
Getting stuck with tiles of the same color and then a color that isn't on the field/anywhere nearby has been brutal too, I've been in spots where if I had any other tile combination than what I got, I'd have lived. Thrived, even.

[edit]
There we go!
Got the clear, 102240 pts. Definitely a low score, I have one where I died on level 11 with 194525 pts.
Probably can't clear the game consistently yet, I was super lucky at the end and hoped I had the right colors. Moments from death at the very end.

[Marc]

Cor, looks like DDA might sneak onto my playlist sooner rather than later!

Missed out on that particular post-Technos joint at the time, but their legacy was some of the finest to grace my GBA slot after lucking out and snagging loose River City Ransom EX and Super Dodgeball Advance carts as holiday swag from a market somewhere in south asia. I still remember the glass case

It's fucking brilliant. I've dabbled over the years, but never realised how large the move list is, and how much depth it actually has.

Ooh, encouraging! Technos remakes were punching way above their weight on the GBA; one of the things I liked best about RCR was the ridiculous amount of moves it tried to cram into two facebuttons. It's like they wanted to make it for a six-button arcade panel and stubbornly refused to compromise.

Does the port have anything in the way of region options? I'm seeing some stuff about the JP release coming a few months after the NA one, and getting some tweaks and bugfixes into the bargain.

Yep, contains both versions.

[Lander]

Had a crack at DDA, and I'm enjoying it a lot.

Attract Mode makes quite the first impression:

Whoa dude - the Double Dragon you know and love, now with more RADs!

Really nice moveset; first beat 'em up I've encountered with this particular shallow-yet-wide approach to combo, where all your juggle tools are meaty single hits. Jab Jab Upper Duck Hyper Knee is my go-to striking sequence so far; the extended pause after the upper makes it feel really satisfying to nail, though subbing in headbutt is easier and safer versus groups.

It feels very distinct next to Final Fight and Streets; no easy access to throw iframes, no baddie lifebar for optimizing your punch calculus down to minimal standard form, merciless no-backsies curbstomps if you let yourself get mobbed. All-in on core, spacing, and vertical movement. Tough stuff in a world of beltscroll standardization, but a faithful encoding of its one man army source material.

Letting the title screen sit reveals a second attract mode, which may as well be a statement of intent to that effect:

We, the developers of this game, do hereby solemly swear to channel 70s Kung Fu Action to the fullest extent of the jam WAHTAA!

And seeing the moves themselves takes me back; many an hour was spent playing the NES titles in co-op, mashing out Hyper Knee and Tornado Kick all day in hopes of getting through unscathed. In that sense, the spirit of it hasn't changed too much jumpkicks all round! Still trying to find utility for the low kick, elbow, and running kick since they all seem wildly unsafe, but it feels good to mix up the tools as situational knowledge increases.

If I had to gripe, it would be about the agents and death pits. A nice death pit is belt scroller tradition - adds a double-edged tension to proceedings, but letting the player walk straight in from above and below is really mean. Especially when the suits like to hang out one pixel from the edge!

And well, the agents are just a skill issue. I know, I know, just gotta space out the ultra-high-priority flurry, walk around, and...


NEVER STRAIGHTEN A TIE YOU HAVEN'T TESTED IN BATTLE! (`皿´＃)

[BIL]

I know the Sharp Dressed Men are technically an original DDA enemy - but I prefer to think that's just perennial third wheel Jeff, spending his first Shadow Gangsta paycheque on a snazzy new look, attracting his own school of hardcore killers / menswear enthusiasts.

Everybody gangsta until the headswap dude gets his own Men's Wearhouse franchise on the corner of Geiger AVE and Fat Man BLVD

They're an interesting Glass Railgun... trivial to sidestep, until support units or especially Truck-kun roll up to ensure they aren't.

[Lander]

Gah, the truck. Up there with the meanest of St3 Cave midbosses for mid-game credit drain! Makes a man appreciate that the forehead is the hardest part of the human body, as well its fastest-starting launcher.

The post-disembark ronin dudes are a cool design; slow and plodding, but with enough damage to strip that lifebar right quick, and a preloaded iai strike to kill off any complacency that might develop. Reminds me of a certain Sengoku legend striding around modern day Tokyo

On the whole I'm still a bit um-ah about the death pits; trivializing strong foes by sinking them is classic material for both the series and source genre, but I feel like a fraud passing up all the good brawling tech to give the Abobo Family a full-contact bath. Made it to the final room last night, but only through judicious abuse of the spike traps littered around Evil Dude Dojo.

Nice touch that the dojo is the endpoint too - I figured it would just be there for survival mode, as a little callback to the first room from one of the older games. Feels good to come full-circle, even if it was to die by THAT NINJA!

[null1024]

Got to have more arcade fun.
Rail Chase 2 is a fun ride, but boy, it is absolutely a screwy game. I'm not entirely convinced you can 1CC it, even with two players. I'm definitely not great at the game, but I'm increasingly convinced that you take enough unavoidable damage [or at least, not humanly avoidable damage] over the course of a run to outright need to insert another credit.
Also, trying to walk after sitting on that bouncing bench feels entirely wrong.

I wish there was another Maimai cab nearby. There is one cab in the Miami megacity area, and then nothing for nearly 200 miles. It's not surprising, but having pretty much all of south FL congregate on one Maimai cab is some bullshit, and the cab is almost always occupied if you aren't there super early. Round1 has Chrono Circle, but that game sucks. Maimai is great. Genuinely too much fun.
I'm also constantly bothered that if a single player starts a credit, the other side of the machine is just dead weight until the credit is over.
The timing does feel a bit odd too, I'm pretty sure I'm hitting notes early a lot.

I've also been playing more Beatmania IIDX. My girlfriend likes IIDX despite being relatively new to it, but she also plays P1 side so I'm stuck on P2 when playing with her.
I really need to convince her of the need to increase her note speed, she lowers it a bunch. Can't blame her too much though, when I started playing a few months ago, I definitely had to take it slow to remember where the keys were. She's at the point where she knows them though, so as we do harder songs, she's now just getting mixed up with how much is on her side of the screen at once.
At home, we played 5-key Beatmania in MAME on my desktop, but my control setup at home is hilariously jank and I ended up using an arcade stick for my controls, she got the "proper" controller. I really wish there were more IIDX cabs around, but like, eh. It's life.

I also need to get a nice setup for Groove Coaster at home.
In the arcade, each of the GC cabs I've played on has had some issue or another with the buttons, bleh. At home, the PC version sucks due to major timing issues and the mobile version is hyper-strict, way less forgiving of misinputs despite using a vastly less precise input device.
Switch version is alright, but I'm playing on pad.
Real shame since it's honestly really fun.

[vol.2]

Might and Magic Book 1:

Boy is this game an unholy pain in the ass. It's super nostalgic and fun, right up until it's incredibly unfair. In the first town of the game, there is a random chance to be pummeled by a band of high level creatures. If you then manage to defeat them and they drop anything cool, there is 100% chance the game will then throw an even higher level encounter at you on the way back to the inn.

Also there is a random chance your whole party will instantly die while you are attempting to detect traps on a chest, even at the lowest levels. This happens like once out of every ~20 chests or so. Imagine going through a whole dungeon and barely scraping through it, and then getting taken out and starting over 3 hours in because of a chest containing a club. That's this game

I'm still going to finish it because I want to import characters, but it's frustrating as hell, and the game isn't interesting or fun enough in and of itself to warrant the torture. I would have been more into it in the Apple II days for sure, but that's because there wasn't much better in 1986

[BareKnuckleRoo]

I've never played any of that series... but it certainly sounds cruel. The main games I'm familiar with in terms of traps are the Wizardry games, which tend to scale the traps to the dungeon level so the nasty stuff is lower down, and don't allow the detection spells to set off traps. Same goes for the fanmade Wandroid games based on them. Spending spells to do trap detection that can still potentially set off the trap is cruel. I'd just ignore the chests.

There's also the NES version of The Bard's Tale which is a bit more rude and will place exploding box traps even in the earliest chests enemies can drop which do enough damage to instantly kill an entire low level party, but the damage is fixed it seems and is a non-issue later on. There's no trap detection spells or disarming spells, so you're reliant on taking a Rogue along or having a team that can take the hit and heal any damage if a chest is booby-trapped. Better yet, simply ignore chests for the first couple of dungeons until your levels are higher. The shop has a decent selection of equipment so you're not too reliant on chests until you get to the Castle or so.

[vol.2]

This is my first attempt at MM, but I did play some of the other New World Computing games back in the day, notably King Bounty, which I remember being a fairly addictive medieval strategy game.

From what I gather, MM2 is a waaaay better game than MM1 in every way imaginable, and they even removed cursed objects from the game because it's such an unbalanced mechanic in MM1. So I'm looking forward to MM2, but I'm really just phoning it in for the first game with a walkthrough and maps.

Even still, it's a bear of a game to get through. I recently discovered that you can also be attacked inside the town buildings including the Inn where you save your progress. There are no safe spaces

[null1024]

Dialed in my delay settings for Groove Coaster on Switch. Ended up turning off keysounds because it was throwing me off. I'm doing songs on Master, but my scores still suck, and I 100% know I couldn't clear these on cab since I have to cheese some parts to survive.
You can totally just repeatedly press left and right at the same time and beat a part that goes "left, button, right, both buttons, repeat". There are a lot of sections where in the arcade, I'd really need to focus on what I'm hitting, while at home, I just repeat one input and not have to think.

Also, I am deeply tempted to build a controller with two arcade sticks for it [among other games -- it would mean I would have a truly proper setup for Libble Rabble, and a half-assed setup that would work for Virtual On if I added some extra buttons]. Probably next month, since I did order some more Pi Picos for various projects and throwing GP2040 on would make this super easy, but I've already spent this month's paycheck due to cutbacks at work and Thanksgiving and other random little things, so I don't want to spend too frivolously.

[Herr Schatten]

There's no trap detection spells or disarming spells, so you're reliant on taking a Rogue along or having a team that can take the hit and heal any damage if a chest is booby-trapped.

Interesting. This means that whoever did the NES version of the Bard's Tale actually put some thought into balancing the game. In the original homecomputer versions, you were supposed to take along a rogue for disarming taps, but you really needn’t to, because the TRZP spell did it much more reliably and cost next to nothing in magic points.

However, if you actually played all the way through the original BT trilogy without a thief in your party, you’d be in for a nasty surprise when facing the final boss, as it’s literally impossible to kill Tarjan without the thief's backstabbing ability at your disposal.

[Sumez]

Is the nes version of BT actually worth playing? Or would you still recommend PC if playing only one of them.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

Interesting. This means that whoever did the NES version of the Bard's Tale actually put some thought into balancing the game. In the original homecomputer versions, you were supposed to take along a rogue for disarming taps, but you really needn’t to, because the TRZP spell did it much more reliably and cost next to nothing in magic points.

Sorry, I realized after that I'd misremembered. Wizards actually do learn Trap Zap as a tier 3 spell, but Trap Zap Bombs deal like a solid 60 to 80 damage to an entire team when you set them off, meaning it can be instantly fatal to your spellcasters until halfway through the game (or if you end a fight at low HP). The damage doesn't seem to scale to the dungeons, so it is possible in the last two dungeons or so to Trap Zap all chests and cast Flesh Anew to heal any explosive damage that comes your way, but it's a terrible idea for a large portion of the game to do so.

it’s literally impossible to kill Tarjan without the thief's backstabbing ability at your disposal.

That's a bit of a nasty puzzle! Haha, I'd heard the PC versions are significantly more daunting, certainly seems to be true.

Is the nes version of BT actually worth playing? Or would you still recommend PC if playing only one of them.

I had fun with it. Think of it a bite-sized dungeon crawler with simplified JRPG style class balancing. It's a very linear game, but the exploration's fun, and the combat is more interesting and balanced than the early Wizardry games where you're either instantly nuking everything or everything's magic immune/can instant kill you and you have to spend levels on Haman to safely survive.

I once deliberately did a no Bard run of BT NES which was fun, Wizard's self buff that gives 'em a magical blade makes them hit for absurd damage compared to actual melee classes, and not having the Bard's ability to warp back to town whenever you please makes exploration more daunting (especially if you've forgotten the maps like me, lol).

[blazinglazers69]

I've sort of been supplementing my shmupping with comfy adventure games. I beat the original Legend of Zelda for the first time this year and had a blast--used no guides and drew my own map of the final dungeon in order to keep track of all the staircases.

Also beat Tears of the Kingdom this year...just kind of arbitrarily finished the main quest after like 140 hours.

Other than Zelda, I experienced Beyond Oasis for the first time which was super solid. There was ONE part I got stuck on that I had to look up near the end...some blue blob gives you a water power up you need to progress and I just completely didn't realize that enemy would give me the needed power up.

Currently I'm enjoying Neutopia. It's my first non-shmup Turbografx game and I'm enjoying it quite a bit. It's definitely not up to par with Zelda, but it's very charming and relaxing for what it is. Definitely makes me wanna explore the Turbografx library more. I was playing The Legendary Axe but it's just too frustrating after stage 3 for me.

If anyone has any good non-shmup recs for TG16 let me know. I'd love to try some of the RPGs if I can find some good translations. I've heard it's a good system for those.

[To Far Away Times]

In the last week I wrapped up the last of the achievements for Slay the Spire and played through the Mario RPG remake.

Still lots to do in the Spire though, I can see my self playing this one for a long time.

[blazinglazers69]

In the last week I wrapped up the last of the achievements for Slay the Spire and played through the Mario RPG remake.

Still lots to do in the Spire though, I can see my self playing this one for a long time.

How did you like the remake? I know people are saying it’s too easy but like the original one was very easy so idk. It’s a comfy game not really one I play for challenge.

[To Far Away Times]

How did you like the remake? I know people are saying it’s too easy but like the original one was very easy so idk. It’s a comfy game not really one I play for challenge.

I like the SNES original a lot - it was the very first game I bought when I started collecting retro games.

It is a very faithful remake with some some small changes here and there. Events in the remake play out exactly the same. If you played the original you'll know when things will appear, etc.

Just like the original if you fight most of the enemies as you progress through the game you'll end up way over leveled. You stop learning new abilities around level 18 or so and my characters were all leveled into the upper 20's without any grinding for levels. It's on the easier side of things, but it's gaming comfort food for the 12-15 hours that it lasts.

[XoPachi]

Gonna get flamed for this. But I've been hooked to this new BR from Singapore called FarLight.
I was curious because steam pushed it to my recs. It ticks every box of being a garbage game but I saw it sitting at very positive and I was shocked.

Mobile in origin (though I play on Steam).
Dumb, zoomer, e-girl cosplay bait character designs.
FortNite knockoff.
Outrageous microtransactions for cosmetics (skins go up to $30 and are basically impossible to get without paying).

But it's like....good. It just plays well and feels great.

It cuts a LOT of fat I typically hate in this genre. You aren't constantly managing inventory since everything auto loots.
No fucking bullet drop and hip fire is more reliable than it's peers.
It came out of the gate with numerous game modes.
It has wacky vehicles. Some fly, some transform into mechs, some go stealth mode, some rain hell fire on an area, etc
Everyone is equipped with jetpacks that give airdashes and let you run up walls.
You can actually CHOOSE between the maps in the main mode. Every BR I've played rotates them each season.
Only 8 gigabytes.

It's also a hero shooter but none of the characters ever feel oppressive even though obviously there's a meta.

I dunno. I'm having a lot of fun. Devs listen to feedback heavily too. First major update on Steam was purely addressing as many complaints as possible.

[null1024]

Namco's Metro-Cross is pretty fun, where you run through a futuristic city while dodging obstacles. Kinda has an off-beat vibe to it, like something is deeply wrong with the entire situation.
Not getting terribly far yet, most runs end on the 5th course or so.

Namco's Motos is fun too, where you push enemies into the abyss without getting pushed yourself.
Some stages are painful if you don't use/have the right amount of powerups, since you don't have enough strength to bully the enemies around.

In addition, more Panikuru Panekuru. I've been playing a lot of Namco games latlely.
Got a score of 221220 on the second course, but died on stage 11. I then proceeded to miserably fail to replicate that massive score by virtue of being too slow or not seeing placements until it was too late. Shame. Out of everything, I've been playing this game the most. It's very addicting.

Also was playing some 5-key Beatmania once more at home because I don't have a second controller with 7 keys laid out in a useful order. Played on an arcade stick that I rotated 180 degrees, while my girlfriend played on my 7-key controller [also rotated].
We had a good laugh at how bad some of the songs were, and had quite a lot of fun with the ones that were genuinely good.
It's also several days late, but happy 20,november. I did play that song that day too.

also I still don't have Armored Core 6 and I really should fix that, bleh

[Sima Tuna]

Bought a bunch of games on black friday sales.

Loop Hero

A idle game roguelike. Kind of relaxing, but you can't really engage in too much direct control over anything. You set up the board, but the pieces move as they will. The most "clever" strategy I employed was equipping my dude with a second set of gear when the boss showed up. Woo hoo, amazing tactics. Most reliable way to kill the first boss seems to be stacking evade % and praying for RNGesus' favor. This game reminds me a little bit of the Badman games, the third of which was called No Heroes Allowed! Like that game, the pieces you place/uncover in the environment can have unexpected interaction which produce either a strong positive or negative result. An interesting idea, but Loop Hero does not seem as deep as the Badman games.

Gunbrella

Fun so far. I bought this solely because I heard somebody call it "search action" and you know I like that genre. I can't honestly say if it is or not yet. I'm going to have to wait and see how much backtracking the game forces upon me. The gunbrella is fun to play with, although not being able to shoot while jumping/dashing is obnoxious.

Rain World: Downpour

I bought the DLC and then realized I can't play any of it because I suck at Rain World too hard. The Wall is absolutely kicking my ass. But I refuse to go through Shaded Citadel! I hate spiders dammit! The part where the game forces you to go through a hive mind lizard nest to progress upwards is exceptionally mean-spirited.

Wizard of Legend

Heard it was character-action-game-adjacent.

Wild Guns: Reloaded

I don't think I've ever played a cabal-like. Seen them in the arcades yes, and I'm familiar with the glorious traceovers of 'Nam 1975. But I don't believe I've actually played one. I can tell from one credit that it's going to take time to get used to this. The visuals are a work of art, as expected from Tengo Project.

Freedom Planet

So far, better than I thought it would be. Similar to Sonic but not a direct copy. Movement feels quite a bit more forgiving with regard to speed barriers, hills and ramps. Bounce pads are less aggressive than their sonic counterparts. Enemies have no collision damage, which is nice for a game where you run fast. Not sure if it's TOO nice though. Then again, your dragon OC donotsteal can't roll into a ball. The visuals and music are beyond reproach.