Here is a nice little gem of a game for the iiRcade. As a free game in the store, you can easily add this to your collection of games. I feel the more you play this, the more you will get addicted to finding all the secrets.
The game starts off by telling you about the creator of the game. “A First Game”, Made by Joshua “CoolJosh3k” James. This game brings you challenging mazes filled with countless secrets. You’ll need true skill whilst fighting various obstacles each with their own unique moves..the more you play, the more you find secrets to unlock new possibilities while you search for more.
You are a bouncing “ball” that needs to get passed multiple obstacles in your way. holding the A button will make you jump to the next spot or just use the controller to roll your way passed enemies. The longer you hold down the jump button. the higher you jump. Sometimes there are ledges higher than others where you can sneak passed the enemies. Once you get the “pipe” that leads you to the next room, you can decide if it is the correct choice or not. Sometimes your direction can lead you to a dead end.
The tricky part of this game is there is no real explanation for what is happening or what you need to do. Its sort of just go wherever and find stuff. There is not any point system but a clock to tell you how many minutes you have played. I have not got deep into the game yet, but maybe there is more of a goal to the game. I did find an extra secret that makes my little circle thing shoot bombs so I can kill enemies and dig holes in the ground to move below the surface, plus explode walls in my way. I am interested in knowing more about the challenge but you can’t really save it and you must keep going or start all over.
For a free game on the iiRcade it is worth a try, but make sure you are patient and go into the game with expectations of what it is.
For more information on the game store and iiRcade , go to https://www.iircade.com/
Todd Friedman is heavily involved in the retro gaming community and has co-promoted the Video Game Summit in Chicago, IL for the past 16 years. He also has published 2 books and written for various different gaming magazines including Old School Gamer.
Hi there,
Thanks Mr. Friedman for taking the time to review my game, Thibalryn!
Indeed, there is no guide, outside of the maps that you can find on the iiRcade game page. Inspired by Metroid on the NES/Famicom, there is virtually no hand-holding; with self discovery being one of the mechanics used to bring excitement and interest in exploring the game further. It is very much a just pick up and play kind of game.
As a great example of self discovery is that of the radar system at the very top of the screen. It is entirely possible the player will not need it, but eventually realises how to use it, making things more sensical. Another example of this would be discovering how to pass by giant skull blocks, for which beyond often lies the means of making progression, deeper into the labyrinth, easier.
I am sorry to hear you had some problems with the save system. I have since had the QA team at iiRcade look into it and no problems could be identified.
The game will automatically update the player’s save file on significant events, such as obtaining a new pickup, entering a new stage or when a player death occurs.
Due to a lack of any save indicator, it could certainly be confusing as to if and when the game would have progress saved for the player. As such, in a rather recent (as of this comment) major update I have added an obvious indicator for when progress is saved.
If hope that those who decide to check out my game, freely available on several platforms, will enjoy their time with it.
Yours,
CoolJosh3k