Game Review
-Neowyld
Super Blue Boy Planet
Taking a break from our coverage of extremely popular and AAA games, it is time to look at one game which is out of the ordinary. Super Blue Boy Planet is a two dimensional, platformer, indie game which features a basic storyline, levels, boss fights, and enemies. The retro graphics and simple controls help this free Steam game get the player to focus more on the game itself.
The story consists of Super Blue Boy and his girlfriend together at one point in time. Then, a pixelated alien character abducts her, and he is determined to rescue his maiden from the grasps of the green being. In doing so, the player controls Blue Boy through twenty-one levels in order to get her back and reunite the colorful duo. On his way, he must fight numerous enemies by jumping on them, avoid environmental obstacles, and defeat bosses which attempt to stop him.
The controls are incredibly simple. All the controls are bound to the arrow keys. The right arrow key moves Blue Boy forward, while the left one moves him backwards. The top arrow key makes the player jump, and different heights can be reached depending on how long the player holds the jump button. By double tapping and holding the key, Blue Boy will use his propeller-like head in order to gradually float to the ground. This can be used strategically in certain situations to get past enemies or obstacles.
Gameplay is a mixture of frustration and fun. Sometimes, one can find him or herself breezing by and tricking the AI into letting the player pass, but other times, like the final boss, the game is just keyboard-slamming annoying. Trying to fit such a largely pixelated character in between a narrow strip of spikes can be quite difficult. Also, the hitbox on Super Blue Boy is much larger than the animated pixels on the screen, so the player can end up misjudging jumps on enemies or spikes.
The story consists of Super Blue Boy and his girlfriend together at one point in time. Then, a pixelated alien character abducts her, and he is determined to rescue his maiden from the grasps of the green being. In doing so, the player controls Blue Boy through twenty-one levels in order to get her back and reunite the colorful duo. On his way, he must fight numerous enemies by jumping on them, avoid environmental obstacles, and defeat bosses which attempt to stop him.
The controls are incredibly simple. All the controls are bound to the arrow keys. The right arrow key moves Blue Boy forward, while the left one moves him backwards. The top arrow key makes the player jump, and different heights can be reached depending on how long the player holds the jump button. By double tapping and holding the key, Blue Boy will use his propeller-like head in order to gradually float to the ground. This can be used strategically in certain situations to get past enemies or obstacles.
Gameplay is a mixture of frustration and fun. Sometimes, one can find him or herself breezing by and tricking the AI into letting the player pass, but other times, like the final boss, the game is just keyboard-slamming annoying. Trying to fit such a largely pixelated character in between a narrow strip of spikes can be quite difficult. Also, the hitbox on Super Blue Boy is much larger than the animated pixels on the screen, so the player can end up misjudging jumps on enemies or spikes.
Even for a free game, the content is incredibly low. According to Steam, most people spend about an hour or less on the game. Some items could be added including a timer and a leaderboard to promote speed-running capabilities, which in turn could increase the competition of the game and bring more people to download it. Of course, it is not incredibly popular at the moment, but if more people invested in it, perhaps some customization, more levels, and some micro transactions could be implemented to make the game more fun and long-lasting.
In total, this simple platformer shows some decent potential for an indie game. It is not terribly made, the game play is smooth, and there is a level of fun which is recognizable. Improvements can be made, but that all can come with time and experience for the developers and the community as a whole.
In total, this simple platformer shows some decent potential for an indie game. It is not terribly made, the game play is smooth, and there is a level of fun which is recognizable. Improvements can be made, but that all can come with time and experience for the developers and the community as a whole.
For more information on the developer and their games please visit http://nannings.nz/