2008 Competition Results: (4:A Game For Helen)

3rd Place – Ropor – Total: 293

Ian:

Like people, aliens and any other characters in computer games, robots always have a hard time. Why should life for the hard of hearted be any easier?

Playing as a robot, the aim of this original game is to swing around grey points in space using a tether line and collect treasure, while avoiding red barriers and falling out of the level into space, all against a pretty tight time limit. Once enough treasure has been collected a warp tunnel appears to whisk you off to the next level.

While the concept of this one-switch game is simple, as you can imagine, it’s never going to be as easy to play as it sounds. Inertia and momentum is required to enable you to rotate your robot around the levels and quick double presses allow you to move from one point to another.

Momentum of your robot can only be increased while on the downward swing and can be tricky to get the hang of at first. Even trickier though is letting go of your tether, by double pressing, to try to attach to another point. Quite often you’ll continue on your original swing and miss your desired position, or worse fly off early or late and end up going in another direction entirely.

Even though the game is designed to be a one touch/key game, this doesn’t make it any easier for less abled gamers. Reaction times, even on easy levels are incredibly tight meaning that the game probably wouldn’t suit those with slower responses. On harder levels, the game is even less forgiving. Thankfully, however, the author has done much to aid progress for people of all abilities, with numerous options to make the game easier, including changing the game speed, turning on/off the time limit and altering the screen brightness level and even optional direction indicators. Yay!

The graphics are bright and simple, but suffer from a glow effect, which can be turned off but reduces the vibrancy of the imagery. Sound however is limited to simple spot-effects.

This really is an excellent little game that would have benefited from a gentler difficulty curve, music and more sound effects. The graphics are also rather simple and caring for a robot as charmless as this one is difficult.

70%

Geekay:

For anyone who has played DK King of the Swing on the Gameboy and found it fiddly, think again.  The king of frustration has been made for the competition and I’ve been swearing at it for the last hour.

For all intents and purposes it looks and plays like something I have on MAME somewhere. It oozes something really retro that really did exist.  I just don’t think it would have been something I’d put my paper round money into.  Maybe it’s because I’m not very good at it, but it is hard to not lose my head at it.

It certainly has an addictive quality about it as I have been playing it for some time, but the double tapping to letting go and re-latching is clumsy. I can manage the horizontal swing posts fine, but anything above just makes me seethe with diatribes when I miss.

This game is not good for my health and that’s a shame really as the concept is a nice offering to the GFH category and there are a number of nice options such as timer off, aim on and a variety of skill levels.  The latter offers some nice additions to the levels if you bravely attempt anything above easy.  There are fire pits and other hazards that will get in your robots way.

The retro look works well with the game, but in saying that, I’d like to see this with something sharp and newer looking.  If that were the case and the meddlesome swing action was tweaked, then I’d think we’d be onto a winner.  Right now, it is no money for old Ropor.

I’m off to a swingers club to see if they have any tips

60%

Spray:

Ah! An all original Game For Helen no less! – We like Games for Helen, we like original games too, looks like a winning combination!

This is, I must admit, unlike any other game I’ve played, which, in this instance at least, is a good thing. Using ropes to slingshot your way around a level designed to hinder your progress as much as it can is a superb idea.

I’m glad I made myself play this a few times through. The controls take a hell of a lot of getting used to and I’d almost given it up as a bad idea before cracking the one-switch system used to both swing your robot and release it from it’s mooring on it’s swing point.

This category seems to get more difficult to judge with every game I play – I’m really not happy about it, no-one said I needed to put effort into this!

71%

Oogy:

A robot trapped in a maze of walls, even gravity seems to conspire against him. And armed with just a rope and heavy thoughts, he sets out to collect enough items to open up the portal to reach the exit. Well, that’s my interpretation at least, I admit I’m not really that good of a writer.

This game is actualy very very good. It feels extremely arcade-like, from the titlescreen to the menus and including the actual gameplay. Graphics are kept simple but are very effective, as are the in game sound effects. The only niggle I have is that there’s no music at all, which is a bit of a dissapointment. And sometimes it’s a bit hard to see if the maze continues downwards or not (I’ve lost a few lives thinking there was more to the level).

The controls are extremely well balanced. Keeping the switch pressed makes the robot think “heavy thoughts” and causes him to swing downwards faster, increasing its velocity around the point he is swinging from. Tapping the switch releases him and lets gravity take over his momentum. Along the way, if he is able to attach his rope to another swing-point, it will signal this clearly and a single press of the switch will do so.

It might not sound like it, but it works extremely well for this game, and I’ve had a lot of fun playing this one. Probably more than any other game I’ve reviewed so far. So two thumbs up from me! Way up!

92%

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