Review Information
Game Reviewed Piranha Plant, by Friendly Dictator
Review Author Kiddiecat
Created Mar 19 2012, 7:01 AM

General Commentary and Game Overview
This was a fun little game. Here's a quick overview of what could be improved:
*Give it a title screen.
*Give it instructions. (accessible from the title)
*Make it remember my custom controls.

I enjoyed playing as a Piranha Plant with a movable pipe. The concept is fun. I would like to hear more details about the movable pipe though. Also, I had no idea what mushrooms do until I played it again and found the help menu, then read through it.
 
Pros It's fun, it's simple, it's easy to get going quickly. I was able to figure it out quickly. It's a short mini game, so there's not much more to say. There -are- a few minor improvements it could have, but more importantly, it -is- what it's supposed to be.
 
Cons *No title screen -- While I do want the game to be as easy to get into as pressing enter or clicking a button in the center, I don't want to jump right into the game. I want to be able to tell it when to begin. I want to be able to set custom controls BEFORE the game begins, I want to be able to set full screen BEFORE the game begins.

*Give it instructions. While having the menu at F2 is nice, I have no way of knowing that from the game package itself. Only your description before the download mentions it. I wasn't even totally clear as to what the default controls were (left, right and shift, apparently). I had no idea mushrooms do for me other than make the plant feel good until I looked at the help (which should be listed as instructions, accessible from a title screen). A short instruction manual, only 5 or 6 lines long, or maybe 2 screens in game, describing the controls and what the objects do, would be nice, and would really help improve it. The help manual that you have now pulls up vertical scroll bars. That is unpleasant; I don't want to have to keep going left and right.

*Make it remember my custom controls. I don't like left/right/shift. I prefer left/right/up. It just makes more sense to me that if I'm already working with the control pad, I'll keep working with it. Left to go left, right to go right, and up for when the plant goes up and "attacks". The issue is that after the game is over and restarts immediately, I have to reset the custom controls again.
 
Impressions
Gameplay
6 / 10
Simple and intuitive. It was fun and creative. However, I don't want to have to reset the custom controls every time I replay it. Being a mini-game, that will happen often, so therefore, it should just remember them. Not having a title screen would be less of an issue if it remembered my custom controls. The instructions, or "help manual", could be improved though.
 
Graphics
8 / 10
The graphics were alright. I understand going with the classic look. Although, since we don't travel the overworld and stay relatively in the same location the whole game, I'd like to see something in the invironment change a little, aside from just the things that bounce at you, like maybe the clouds could move a little bit.
 
Sound
7 / 10
Since it's a minigame, it doesn't need a lot of music. The only thing that bothers me is that the music is so much louder compared to the sound effects. That should be changed a little bit so that I can turn up the volume without making the music too loud, but still be able to hear the sound effects well. Maybe at a volume control for the music/sound effects.
 
Replay
9 / 10
Being a mini-game, this is all about replay. The score board really helps. I think mainly if you improved other little things, like added a title screen and made it remember custom controls, it would help improve the replay. Otherwise, the replay is good.
 
Final Words
7 / 10
The idea was very creative, and the game works as it is. It should have a title screen and remember custom controls to be complete, but it at least works as it is. Piranha Plant is a fun game worth trying. It doesn't take much time.

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