I uploaded Dark Legacy to itch.io, posted a user testing survey, and got some results telling me that 66.7% of the players think the game is mostly unfair. Yet one person said the game was just a challenge.
Dark Legacy was rated as Difficult by 66.7% of the players and Rage Inducing by 33.3% of the players for the difficulty rating.
Dark Legacy is about a cuboid named Dark Boxy who must collect the 30 Jade Coins to prevent his world from dying. However, there are those who would dare stand in his way, known as the Sidewinders.
THE OBSTACLES:
2. Sidewinder – Attacks by running towards the player. Cannot be killed and insta-kills the player on contact.
3. Demon Brick – Attacks using the spikes on each of its angled sides. Cannot be killed. If the player touches the spikes, the player is insta-killed. If the player touches any other part of the enemy, they are unharmed.
THE REWARDS:
2. Sapphire Shard – These items are scattered all over each stage.
3. Candy Apple – This item grants the player an extra life if collected.
Q1. What are the goals, obstacles, and rewards of the game?
A1. The goal is to get to the end of each level by jumping over the flagpole (because this is literally just Super Mario Bros 1, but unfair). The obstacles are the enemies that roam around the screen and the untrustworthy scenery/level design that messes with your expectations. The reward of the game is the sigh of relief you have after completing this trainwreck of a game.
Q2. How does the game play with expectations of the platformer video game genre?
A2. It makes the floor fall down in places where it looks like it shouldn’t, makes enemies randomly appear in places they weren’t before, and has things that look like background obstacles actually kill you. In other words, nothing is trustworthy, just like in some of the WORST retro games (i.e. stuff by LJN, etc.)
Q3. What genre would you apply to this game?
A3. I would apply the 2D platformer genre.
Q4. What comment is the game making on video games in general? Is it making a comment or is it just a joke?
A4. I think maybe the comment this game is trying to make is that games are unfair. But honestly, this game is clearly just a parody made to get on people’s nerves because of how unfair it is.
The Screenshots:
I’m SURE there are MANY more examples, but I couldn’t even beat Level 1, nor do I have the patience to.
The game I chose is the PS1 game Spyro 2: Ripto’s Rage. It’s the 2nd game released in the Spyro series, developed by Insomniac Games and published by Universal Interactive Studios and Sony Computer Entertainment America, and was released on November 2, 1999. The PAL version was released on November 5, 1999 by Universal Interactive Studios and Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, and was given the name Spyro 2: Gateway To Glimmer. On November 13, 2018, a remake was released for PS4 and Xbox One and on PC and Switch about a year later called Spyro ReIgnited Trilogy that contained remakes of the first 3 Spyro games (Spyro The Dragon, Spyro 2: Ripto’s Rage/Gateway To Glimmer, and Spyro: Year of the Dragon) that was developed by Toys For Bob and published by Activision.
NTSC Box Art:
PAL Box Art:
ReIgnited Trilogy Box Art:
Narrative: A dinosaur wizard named Ripto alongside his 2 Riptoc (Riptocs are dinosaur-esque creatures that serve Ripto that usually have a horn or horns that protrude out their nose or forehead) minions Crush and Gulp have invaded the Realm of Avalar, causing the realm to spiral into chaos and it’s up to Spyro to save Avalar from Ripto and to restore balance to the world.
Gulp is the green, quadruped Riptoc that Ripto is standing on and Crush is the blue, Bipedal Riptoc to the left (our right from this angle) of Ripto.
Puzzle: To collect one of the main collectibles known as Orbs required to challenge Ripto, the Final Boss, (40 minimum are needed to do this), and to 100% the game (which requires getting all 14 Talismans, 64 Orbs, and 10,000 Gems), Spyro must complete different challenge missions such as riding a trolley to collect 50 Gears, playing Ice Hockey, herding Cowleks (creatures that are a hybrid of Cows and Elephants), feeding an Idol 10 fish, etc.
Trolley Mission:
Ice Hockey Mission:
Cowlek Herding Mission:
This is what a Cowlek looks like:
Idol Feeding Mission: (I had to use a pic from the remake in Spyro ReIgnited Trilogy because I couldn’t find a picture from the OG version that worked.)
Exploration: The exploration in Spyro 2 Ripto’s Rage is that you must collect the Gems that are scattered across all of the different lands of Avalar, Glide, Hover, Swim, Climb, Flame, Charge, and Headbash across or against the obstacles (the environment and enemies) that stand in your way. You must also collect all the Orbs from exploring the surrounding environment or complete the different minigames, and collect the Talismans by helping the people of each land deal with the troubles that are plaguing them.
The character I came up with is called Dark Boxy. (Not the best name or design ever, but this was my first try at something like this.) His design is very early Arcade/Atari 2600-esque.
Dark Boxy went through 3 forms before I decided to settle on his cube-like appearance (as well as his name). One of them was a purple blob guy, the next was a tree guy, and the last one was the design I went with, As you can plainly see, none of my designs are realistic in the slightest.
The Animations
Idle Animation
Walking Animation
Sonic Robo Blast 2 is a Sonic fangame on PC that has been worked on since 1998 and had its current version posted in December 7th, 2019, and its most recent update of that version posted in late 2020.
The main goal of the game is to run into or past the Robotnik/Eggman signposts to complete each of the main levels.
The main obstacles of the game are the different badniks that try to kill your character by either ramming into him or her or shooting him/her with a projectile(s) and getting through the decently large levels.
The reward for beating the game is destroying Dr. Robotnik’s/Eggman’s orbital base/space cannon and unlocking the 3 challenge levels, Haunted Heights Zone, Aerial Garden Zone, and Azure Temple Zone.
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