| Game Reviewed | Toad and the Ancient Keys, by DustinVG |
| Review Author | RaymanFan1995 |
| Created | Apr 22 2016, 9:45 AM |
| Pros | +Nice graphics and music, though for a quick and simple game like this, it's pretty hard to mess those up. +A well-designed map with many branching pathways featuring hidden powerups you must find and obtain to overcome obstacles you can't pass naturally. |
| Cons | -Slightly wonky controls (which thankfully don't break the game or make the game impossible to complete, hence the word "slightly"). These controls will be explained below. |
Gameplay 9 / 10 |
As stated in the "Commentary and Overiview" section, the game is in the style of a Metroidvania platform game, and it almost feels like a Battle Kid game (though thankfully it's not as ridiculously difficult). You need to find three hidden keys (red, green, and blue) to escape the dungeon you've been trapped in, and three hidden powerups (the Super Jump, the Spin Jump, and the Sword) to reach these keys. There are many branching pathways, but some will lead to obstacles you can't overcome without a certain powerup. Thankfully, there are many save points in the game (I think there are around five) that will save the keys and powerups you've collected, and if you die, you'll respawn at the last save point you touched (for example, if you touch save point A, collect any key(s) or powerup(s), touch save point B, and then die, you'll respawn at save point B with whatever key(s) or powerup(s) you collected beforehand). In the "Pros and Cons" section, I mentioned that the game had "slightly wonky controls". For the most part, I'm referring to the jumping; when you jump in a direction and let go of an arrow key, Toad will lose all momentum and fall directly downward, which is perfectly fine. However, changing direction in mid-air is a bit delayed by about half a second. Like I said, the game is still very well-polished and possible to complete, so this isn't anything major. |
Graphics 10 / 10 |
A majority of the graphics used in this game were ripped straight from SMB2, SMB3, and (I think) Zelda II. Everything else was edited from those games. The Goombas look a bit odd, though; their eyes are much smaller and are lacking pupils. They pretty much act exactly like normal Goombas; are they a different species of Goomba? |
Sound 10 / 10 |
I'm not really sure if the music is original or covered using 8-bit instruments, but it's definitely great music and it fits the level nicely. Crisp and clear quality, too. Same with the sound effects, which are taken straight from various NES games. |
Replay 6 / 10 |
Because of the game's short length, this is something you play once and put away for a while. It only takes about half an hour (a full hour, max) to beat the game, and it's only one level. Because of this, I'll have to take a few points away. |
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It's a short Metroidvania platform game that's easy to play, easy to beat, and easy to understand. Unfortunately, because of the game's short length, it's the kind of game you play once and put away for a while, and it's hard to write a thorough review of something like this due to the fact that there's not really much to work with. But overall, a cool game that's worth a download. |
| Comments |
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DustinVG Apr 23 2016, 12:57 AM |
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Thanks for the review.
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TheTwelfthRocket Apr 23 2016, 2:31 AM |
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this review is a lot better than your older reviews. your older reviews were either 'ehh' to 'incredibly terse' (no offence), thank god this is a lot better than those older reviews of yours.
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RaymanFan1995 Apr 26 2016, 2:50 AM |
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Quote (TheTwelfthRocket on Apr 22 2016, 9:31 PM) this review is a lot better than your older reviews. your older reviews were either 'ehh' to 'incredibly terse' (no offence), thank god this is a lot better than those older reviews of yours. Thank you very much. Like many things, good review writing requires a lot of prior experience and practice, as well as good writing skills and the ability to explain why something is good or bad, and being constructive in the process. And seeing as I didn't really have any experience writing reviews when I wrote my first MFGG game review back in May of 2012, I didn't know this back then as well as I do now. |
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