Neo Blaster X
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Last modified 2011-09-23 11:13:56
Neo Blaster X is a pretty good Megazeux platformer! It's a contender as one of my favorite Megazeux games, but unfortunately it has some bad flaws.
First, I have to say the game is FUN. The enemies are well-designed, threatening but easily destroyed if you're quick enough about it.
Instead of lives, you get a supply of health that goes up to 1000 units. It doesn't start that high, and there isn't a large amount of health powerups in the game.
You have limited ammo, but if you conserve what you have early on there's little risk of running out. You get powerups which change your bullets' appearance and increase the damage you deal. You also get bombs that you can either lay or throw as grenades.
In addition, you get a jetpack that allows you to fly around the levels. One thing I don't like about the jetpack is that the fuel stations only give you one unit of fuel per cycle, and you can hold up to 100. Best thing to do is stand on a fuel canister and set Megazeux's speed to 1 until it's full.
The game doesn't tell you this, but you can learn the controls if you press the "H" key. It's a good idea, because they're not entirely intuitive. Not uncomfortable to use, but not intuitive.
The challenge level in this long game is high, and you can only save at save points. If you exhaust all of the powerup items in an area, you might be better off starting over again than saving. You only get so much health in this game.
Unfortunately, here's where the problems come in: you end up taking a LOT of unavoidable damage. Some enemies throw seekers and you don't have enough room to run from them for long. If you stand on fire, you take steady damage several times a second. This game would have benefited greatly from having an invincibility period. That way the player's maximum health could be reduced to something less excessive.
The level design in this game is really good. It's a massive hub, like Metroid. Mostly, you're searching for keys to open up new parts of the map. Level design and enemy placement were carefully planned out, and these levels look good! It's impressive, almost on the level of Ryan Thunder.
However, there are a few parts where you have to make precision jumps on disappearing platforms, which is horrible in a game where the jumping engine is slightly flawed. The precision jumps will probably kill you more than anything else in the game.
Bosses are also pretty well-designed, and are pattern based. EXCEPT there's points where they drop keys, which in one case might not appear.. Meaning you can get stuck forever in this game because of a bug. That's really sad. The boss that happened to me on was the one in the ruins area.
I really like the graphics in this one. There are few palette edits, but the graphics are nice. The crystal area (screenshot 2) is particularly impressive. Seventh Shade has some good aesthetic sense.
I recommend this game, but only AFTER you've played Ryan Thunder, which is similar to Neo Blaster X but designed much more carefully. Neo Blaster X does a few things wrong and is much more difficult. Also there's the risk that you might not get one of the keys and get trapped forever, so keep a few separate save files.
Still, it's a really fun game. Other than the key problem the game is beatable from start to finish. I managed to pull it off! It's a game where you really have to learn the mechanics to do well. 3 stars, though I wish the game were free of bugs and had less flaws, so I could give it a 4!
First, I have to say the game is FUN. The enemies are well-designed, threatening but easily destroyed if you're quick enough about it.
Instead of lives, you get a supply of health that goes up to 1000 units. It doesn't start that high, and there isn't a large amount of health powerups in the game.
You have limited ammo, but if you conserve what you have early on there's little risk of running out. You get powerups which change your bullets' appearance and increase the damage you deal. You also get bombs that you can either lay or throw as grenades.
In addition, you get a jetpack that allows you to fly around the levels. One thing I don't like about the jetpack is that the fuel stations only give you one unit of fuel per cycle, and you can hold up to 100. Best thing to do is stand on a fuel canister and set Megazeux's speed to 1 until it's full.
The game doesn't tell you this, but you can learn the controls if you press the "H" key. It's a good idea, because they're not entirely intuitive. Not uncomfortable to use, but not intuitive.
The challenge level in this long game is high, and you can only save at save points. If you exhaust all of the powerup items in an area, you might be better off starting over again than saving. You only get so much health in this game.
Unfortunately, here's where the problems come in: you end up taking a LOT of unavoidable damage. Some enemies throw seekers and you don't have enough room to run from them for long. If you stand on fire, you take steady damage several times a second. This game would have benefited greatly from having an invincibility period. That way the player's maximum health could be reduced to something less excessive.
The level design in this game is really good. It's a massive hub, like Metroid. Mostly, you're searching for keys to open up new parts of the map. Level design and enemy placement were carefully planned out, and these levels look good! It's impressive, almost on the level of Ryan Thunder.
However, there are a few parts where you have to make precision jumps on disappearing platforms, which is horrible in a game where the jumping engine is slightly flawed. The precision jumps will probably kill you more than anything else in the game.
Bosses are also pretty well-designed, and are pattern based. EXCEPT there's points where they drop keys, which in one case might not appear.. Meaning you can get stuck forever in this game because of a bug. That's really sad. The boss that happened to me on was the one in the ruins area.
I really like the graphics in this one. There are few palette edits, but the graphics are nice. The crystal area (screenshot 2) is particularly impressive. Seventh Shade has some good aesthetic sense.
I recommend this game, but only AFTER you've played Ryan Thunder, which is similar to Neo Blaster X but designed much more carefully. Neo Blaster X does a few things wrong and is much more difficult. Also there's the risk that you might not get one of the keys and get trapped forever, so keep a few separate save files.
Still, it's a really fun game. Other than the key problem the game is beatable from start to finish. I managed to pull it off! It's a game where you really have to learn the mechanics to do well. 3 stars, though I wish the game were free of bugs and had less flaws, so I could give it a 4!