MFGG - Mario Fan Games Galaxy

Review Information

Game Reviewed	Luigi's Island, by skisbit
Review Author	soopakoopa
Created	Jun 28 2014, 6:20 PM

General Commentary and Game Overview

I've recently downloaded this
game off of the forums, and seeing
how there are no reviews so far, I
thought I ought to write one. It's
not a terrible game or anything, but
it's one of those games that doesn't
really seem to go above and beyond your average Newgrounds flash-based fangames.

Pros	+ Good presentation. + Decent, if somewhat generic, gameplay. + Nice use of special effects
Cons	- Repetitive level design - Lack of imagination - Did I mention "generic?" - Glitchy. VERY, very glitch.

Impressions

Gameplay 4 / 10	The gameplay is...while I hate to use this word yet again...generic. You play as Luigi, but he doesn't really control like Luigi at all. You know how Luigi is famous for his slippery handling and high, floaty jumps? Well in this game, Luigi accelerates and stops nearly instantaneously, jumps low and drops like a rock. Controls are a MAJOR part of making a game feel enjoyable; Yoshi's Island had butter-smooth controls. The controls in this game are so clunky that they actually make the game harder than it should be, especially considering the game is less about exploration and more about precision platforming. The levels, once again unlike Yoshi's Island, are very straightforward and undecorated. They all seem to follow a set pattern: Straight chunk of ground, a few high inclines and a bunch of narrow platforms over pits that you certainly don't want to fall into. But hey, that's not TERRIBLE, it's just a different style of design. The levels are still fairly fun, even if they're kinda repetitive at times. But you know what's bad? REALLY bad? Glitches! I know that this is a very early beta, but this game is a glitchfest on the level of Sonic 06. You are a very lucky man if you don't encounter at least one glaringly obvious glitch per level, and everything more complicated than a spinning ball on a stick has its own glitch. Luigi has a bit of a tendency to, on hitting a block from bellow, get temporarily stuck and then slide out the top. This doesn't break the game or even cause any major issues, but when the 4th block you hit in the game sucks you up and spits you out, you know you're in for a glitchout. Jumping on top of enemies sometimes hurts the player, if though the enemy is also defeated by the stomp. This is a major problem. This should be THE first glitch skisbit fixes. Goombas are ok, although they sorta pop up for a moment after hitting a wall. The Koopas, on the other hand, are physics-defying wizards. They slide straight up any obstacle in their path and can sometimes float straight over narrow gaps. Not run over. START falling and then float back up. The first few times you encounter a Koopa, it's probably going to catch you off your guard with one of its tricks. The Marching Milde boss is more or less the same as in Yoshi's island, but lacks all of the fancy stuff; instead of popping into smaller Mildes, she just sort of spawns them in where she previously was. Once again, this has very little impact on how the game is played but is another one of those things which shows a lack of effort.
Graphics 7 / 10	The graphics in this game are actually quite nice. Aside from the obvious Yoshi's island sprites, which still look good to this day and aren't overused, you've got your parallax scrolling, animated backgrounds, and a sensible use of particle effects like dust when Luigi runs. Luigi is, in fact, the main problem; his sprites aren't in Yoshi's Island style! But hey, that might be changed.
Sound 5 / 10	2 words; Yoshi's. Island. The music and sound effects are pretty much all taken from the SNES version of Yoshi's Island. They all sound good, but there's nothing surprising here, no "OMG I can't believe he used <song> from <game>! That's so clever, and it fits so well!" moments, and once again it feels like another case of a certain lack of imagination. Even a few songs from the other Yoshi games would have been a welcome surprise.
Replay 3 / 10	Secrets and collectibles are often among the last things to be added into a game, but the game's general feeling of lack of effort and imagination makes me feel as though there probably isn't going to be a ton of unlockable secrets. If you are planning on implementing a Yoshi's island-style "collect-the-items" system, take my advice: START EARLY. This kind of stuff can be hell to program and the last thing you'll want is to finish the mian game and then remember that you now have to tie everything together with a twisted web of variables. The levels in their own rights, as mentioned before, just aren't unique, complex or exciting enough to play over and over again in their own respect.

Final Words

Final words? Put in more effort, and do the complex-as-heck stuff first. Don't go back and work in secrets and bugfixes later. You'll hate yourself in the end if you do. Building a game is like building a house; build solid before you build up.

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