ShangXian's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[Uncontrollable]

This was a great game to experience because of its twisted way to control the square. Graphics are very simple but I don't care for games like these whose aim is to make the player user their brain and skills to pass levels. The music is very relaxing and I am still running the game despite beating it three times in a row (I wanted to figure out why last two medals didn't unlock and I will explain that later), because it has the charm of those tracks perfect for a long, tiring day. It's a balm for the mind.

I wrote down all keys for almost all levels, except level 20 which I used the cheatsheet because I couldn't figure out the correct input for "left" and "right". The real level I found truly hellish at the beginning was level 19, the hardest due to the initial slow learning curve for the concept of "toggling" controls. Medals are pretty straightforward to get but two of them might not unlock ("Mastered" only unlocks after unlocking other medals, but one in particular might be tricky to unlock if you don't pay attention to the game).

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The medal I am referring to is "Best eyes in business" which says to collect all hidden collectibles. Easy peasy since they can be collected with relative ease when completing levels, they are found in accessible areas of the levels, BUT there is one single collectible that can easily be forgotten if one is impatient to start playing. That's the one at the beginning of the game where you see the writing "Uncontrollable", the collectible is in the second "O" of the word. You can see it here in this screenshot I took, the location of the collectible is shown with the blue arrow:

https://www.newgrounds.com/dump/item/6d9e0c27ed3b31a94edc1bc18afc4ad3

I liked this funny element because it tricked me XD

Originally I thought the last two medals didn't unlock because of the different simulator (in some games I got medals with Ruffle but not NG Player and viceversa), but I was proven wrong until I noticed the collectible in the "O". Unlocking it, allowed me to unlock the last medal as consequence.

Some tips for level 19:

level 19 is the hardest level because of the learning curve of toggle concept. To pass this level you have to toggle arrow key controls, but initially it's easy to get lost because you can be confused by movements and sudden stops if you click a second time. To master this I suggest to experiment a little with the first platform. If you click the left arrow, the square will move to the left but if you click a second time the left arrow, the square will stop moving. If you click up arrow to jump, the square will jump and if you click a second time the up arrow, it will stop jumping. Same with right arrow, and the same basic concept extends to movement combination.

This means that if you move to the right and jump at the same time, the square will move to the right AND jump at the same time until you click a second time right arrow and up arrow to stop it (it doesn't matter the order, you can click up first and right arrow then). This is the trickiest part to master this level, so my suggestion is to make baby steps. What do I mean? I mean move first (first click) then stop (second click), jump first (first click) then stop (second click). Gradually with lots of trials and errors you will master the timing and the space to jump over the spikes. The more you try, the more clear this suggestion of mine will be and the easier level 19 will become. In fact it has become my favourite level after figuring out toggle. If you have to do a movement combination such as movement + jump to cross a spike, my advice is move and jump (after finding the right spot and time to do it), then after jumping over the spike click immediately the movement key (left or right depending where you are in the level) a second time to stop the movement and then click a second time up arrow to stop the jump. This way you will be able to take your time in order to find the right spot and timing for the next movement + jump combo. Prioritize always the left/right key when stopping first because you will hit the spike as the square is toggled to keep moving until you stop the command.

I don't know if this is clear, but I hope it will help those who still struggle with level 19.

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Well, nice job with this game, I truly liked it and I will replay it again because I had fun. Keep it up and have a great day!

[Back and Forth]

The concept of the game is interesting, the graphics are nice and overall mechanics easy to grasp (use SPACEBAR or UP arrow to jump), levels increase in difficulty and I understand this but here it comes my criticism and honest opinion:

1) speed
The ball is too slow for my liking and I am a person who enjoys slow-paced games compared with those more anxiety-inducing fast games (hard mode of Blue Chasm is a prime example of what I mean, you can find it here on NG), because they allow me to study the level and make a strategy that works best for the level itself. But here I see a ball that is rolling too slowly and in a way the game looks laggy, making the whole experience not fun at all, sorry. I like discovering the perfect timing and spacing but not with a game that seems to run too slowly and make the experience frustrating almost immediate after a few tries.

2) level design
Sadly I am stuck at level 4 and for now I can't go past through it due to that extremely annoying narrow space, and re-doing the level over and over with such laggy background, doesn't make me want to continue the game for now. I will try in future, but not now as I didn't experience much fun because of this level. And I am more than happy to collect all coins and redo levels over and over if this means I can progress no matter the trials and errors, but again the lag or lag-like feel the game has removes all the fun of keep trying.

3) jump timing
It seems jump timing has a too small window, making very hard in some areas which is not necessarily a bad thing if it weren't for the too slow rhythm of the game. Making it larger without making the game too easy would be nice, but honestly removing this slow pace/lag would be great to make me want to try the game again because it has a lot of potential to be a fun, challenging, hard game that tests your skills.

The pixel art of the levels makes the game adorable to look at, maybe adding some sound effects when the ball jump or when it gets destroyed after hitting an obstacle would have made the game more realistic in term of sensorial experience (chiptune is perfect for games like this).

I can see the effort and I am glad for the frontpage, congrats for it, but at the same time working on lag/speed, and jump timing would make this game even more enjoyable. In future I will try it again. I would like to complete the other 16 remaining levels.

[i saw her too, with laser]

This is a lovely game with an engaging story with its puzzles that make you think. I remember this series because I've played previous chapters. It's challenging in a way that once you solved the puzzle, it makes you feel satisfied, and I like how some levels require precise timing to solve it and avoid burning or making fall these zombies. The music is very catchy and relaxing. I would run the game just to listen to the track. BUT there is a thing I want to point out and I don't know if this happens only to me (others should test what I'm about to explain): I can't get past level 9 of Act 2.

In this thread I explained what happened after Olskoo managed to fix the problem with medals (thank you because I managed to get the first medal): https://www.newgrounds.com/bbs/topic/1198797/45#bbspost28080404_post_text

Basically once I reach Act 2, level 10/fig. 10 the game stops working: in NG player the game stops working all together and lags, the image of the puzzle takes time to load, in Ruffle I see the same. The level loads very slowly, the music lags and overall actions are performed in a very slow and laggy manner, making impossible, with the current state of the game, to get other achievements and progress the story itself. Too bad because I was enjoying this game a lot and I enjoyed the previous one I played some time ago. Despite this flaw/bug, and I hope it gets fixed soon so others can enjoy this game, I still leave 5 stars due to my previous experience with the series and how interesting the game is.

If the game gets fixed in a way or in another, I will edit this review. Have a good day!

[Blue Vortex]

My current best is 00:01:52.73 but besides this, I enjoyed this game a lot despite its difficulty. I remember I first encountered this game last year but at that time I haven't developed any skill for these types of games, so I pretty much abandoned it to re-discover it yesterday evening with a different mindset. It was an intense experience that made me discover your other games which are challenging but highly satisfying once you understand how to beat it (this is a trait of other games of yours). I can see a potential inspiration from Accelerator but it also has its own charm.

It's an addictive and immersive gaming experience that tests your reflexes and eye ability to adapt to relatively high speed. I feel to give some tips to best optimize the experience:

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First use a mouse rather than the touchpad. Movements are a lot easier to manage and control, and it gives a higher sense of control which is always a nice element in hard games tbh (it may help to keep frustration at check).

Second study the types of obstacles: I've noticed there are the big ones with circular holes that move a different speed, the rotating big cross, and the asterisk. I love the asterisk the most because they have large areas to cross and allow you to see easily the next obstacles, giving you enough time to prepare a strategy.

The rotating cross can be a pain in the ass if you don't make small circular movement with the mouse to enter the empty area and avoid being hit by the cross arm. I personally go past the lower parts of the cross (usually from the left) because it gives me control of movement and prepares me to the next obstacle.

The big ones are relatively easier to manage as long as you just enter the hole the very moment you see it.

First times you will lose a lot because the eye and hand must adapt to the speed and these neon-colours which can be distracting sometimes if you are too focused. Worry not though, the learning curve is pretty fast once you make almost 20 tries. You will notice this once you see the resistance time increasing slowly but steadily.

pro-tip: maximize the advantage you have the first time you start the game because only during this moment, obstacles are away from each other, giving many empty spaces that allow the player to gain time and study better obstacles themselves. If you lose the following games start immediately with more obstacles, making more difficult to reach one minute. So if this happens, just reload the page and you will get this advantage with few obstacles at the beginning of the path not in close-range one from another.

I was already mastering most of the game but once I've noticed this nice exploit, I took advantage and allowed me to get the medal.

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Really cool experience with nice and simple graphic, challenging but easy to manage difficulty and overall satisfying medal. Thanks for making it.

Mantis1 responds:

Thanks for your review and gameplay tips!!

[Claret]

I applaud this game, it was one of the few games that gave me "heart palpitations" due to its strong fast pace combined with the need for near perfect timing to get through certain levels. This game is the opposite of who I am in video games; I love taking my time to study a level, I'm even willing to do very slow and repetitive actions if these then give me a strong advantage towards the end. I love grinding. This game was a step out of my gaming comfort zone. It was an intense, strong experience that managed to combine a good level of raging, skill, timing and satisfying achievements. When I started the first levels I didn't know that I could jump on walls and with wall jumps move to the next platform to complete the level, and I was very disoriented at first XD
Then when I discovered the wall jumps some levels were very easy to overcome others much less so.

Jigsaw, Gungun and Alley were the levels I hated the most due to the many attempts I had to do to complete them, while Obelisk was my favourite because it forced me to think outside the box with that perfect spacing that allowed me to take a huge jump to reach the end. Ultimatum was annoying af but I managed to finish it and it was extremely satisfying seeing last achievement unlocking. This game combined good rewards, that kept the player engaged to continue playing, and challenging levels. The difficulty wasn't always linear though, some levels were easier than others, for example Bowser was easier than previous levels I had to deal with.

I also really liked the twist of the blood killing you if you stay in it too long. The game would have been difficult without the blood, but with the addition of this detail the difficulty level increased significantly which is not bad for games of this type. For someone like me, a game like this was a great challenge that left me with something in terms of video game skills. Obviously I will always be a casual gamer, but this game made me grow in terms of reflexes and eye-finger coordination. Congratulations, it's one of my favorite games among the difficult games made here on Newgrounds and that make you ragequit a lot.

10/10!

larrynachos responds:

Claret enjoyer in 2025?! Let's friggin gooo

[Cherry Against The Sewers [1.2.1]]

This was an interesting game to experience. I liked how challenging is since the character doesn't have any defense against those pesky rats. The pixel art is adorable, the chiptune sounds when you eliminate rats, and the music is fantastic. Each level has a fitting music, even the ending music rocks! I love the tracks, but the Sunset Factory track is my favourite one, it rocks, fits very well the atmosphere and the fact it's the last level and has a lively, aggressive tune. Mastering each level is not easy but once you know how to take advantage and use the rat flow, the levels are not only manageable but also very entertaining to do. It's rare a game with such premises (no defense, instant death in case you are touched, mastering controls and take advantage of your environment, etc.) entertains me a lot, but this game managed to do so.

It's curious that, after I beat the game three times in a row (even getting all coins), I still find the first level of first world one of the trickiest because you don't have wooden surfaces to land on and wait patiently for the rats to come and stun them. A trick that may help is immediately going to the areas you want to cover before too many rats begin to occupy the zone. After mastering the speed, jumps and timing, the game becomes easy to handle. In level third one must be careful not to fall down since there are no platforms in some narrow areas. I liked that because it forces the player to focus globally on the level, stay alert of rats and time jumps. I admit I chuckled when I saw Cherry breaking the fourth wall in the idle animation XD (she looks directly at you).

There is a bug/glitch I've found with rats: some of them seem to be softlocked/stuck inside the tubes they come out and others even remain stuck in the hit animation as if they are about to turn upside down but remain blocked in the animation. It's funny but also dangerous because if you try to jump on them or touch them you get instantly killed because of the partial regular animation along with the stun animation.

I've noticed the game takes a bit to load the first time you play it.

The only medal I'm trying to get is the secret medal, I wonder what I have to do to get it. I thought that collecting all coins would have helped but nothing happened. It mentions Duster Cube but I don't know what it means. Besides this I enjoyed the game, but there is only one thing I feel to criticize because it can be annoying when you try to progress a level but you get stuck because you first need to master it; life system. It's a bit frustrating when you have to redo from the first level after you almost reached the end (the extra lives you can get in the mini games are a nice balance though) but you get killed by one of the rats or miscalculated the jump. Nothing too seriously frustrating unlike other games I could try, because the learning curve is pretty linear and after you can take advantage of the rats and their movement flow, you can reach last level even with one single life (I won fir the first time with one life).

Really nice experience I discovered thanks to DrSaturn2's profile when checking her profile. Keep it up!

YoshehLvl4Artist responds:

wow, I didn't expect one day to read such a detailed review of something I've done, really thank you so much for your comments! I didn't think that someone would really be interested in “mastering” the levels, especially considering that the movement of cherry and the rats is almost completely “fixed” (like, they jump and fall at the same speed, walk always at the same speed, etc...I'll see how to give it more variety).

Regarding the bug of the rats staying softlocked I have it clear and I'm trying to see how to fix it for the next update, the code of the rats is a bloody mess XD

I also want to see how to improve the lives system, I was thinking that every certain amount of points you get a life, but I don't know exactly how many points it should be...

(now that I think about it, the secret medal is a bit unfair...but it involves banging your head against a wall, I'll just say that it's in the third level of some world...)

well, again, many thanks for you criticism dude! hope you have a really nice day :)

[Gappy's Adventure : Coinkeeper's Cantrip (DEMO)]

Finally after almost 3 days of constant trials and errors accompanied by intense rage, I managed to beat the demo in a way I didn't expected actually and I will explain later as potential tip for those who will battle the boss. For a demo it was a very emotional, intense experience that for the most part didn't make me fully enjoy the game. I liked the tutorial that explained basic mechanics but after you lose lives and you have to restart from zero, it becomes a bit annoying that you get the tutorial screen again. I can choose to ignore at least, so that's a plus. Still an option to disable it after you tried it the first time would be nice.

One of strong points of the game is the combination of NES game era with a mix of Super Mario Bros and Kirby for the game mechanics, the pixel art and the chiptune are really adorable. The game mechanics are fast-paced but I've noticed some levels are a bit unbalanced in terms of the character's speed, notably level 1. When you reach the boat, you have to patiently wait for it to cross the river while paying attention to those pesky fishes. I also noticed that each level has a different learning curve to master its basic way to beat it and another more challenging curve in case you want to play those minigames and acquire extra-lives. I had no difficulties with second level, to me it was the easiest to learn, master and beat it. I would like to share a tip about how to solve it in a more efficient, fast and relatively safe way after you mastered controls:

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https://www.newgrounds.com/dump/item/eb534d2b5f79ee2f4365a65686e4368d

The numbers I wrote indicate the succession at which I suggest to do them, the red door has a very annoying saw that gets in your way in case you want to come back, so instead of choosing it among the first doors, I highly recommend to leave that as your last door. You can invert the order of the other doors, my order is based on my personal preferences aimed at optimize the strategy and keep as many lives as possible for the real pain in the ass: level 3 and 4.
Leave as last the door with the red square.

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Level three was the one I hated the most and the one I found the most difficult to master due to some elements that annoyed me a lot, the first one is this part:

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https://www.newgrounds.com/dump/item/995e092f227324831571af1e62269aa3

Again, I suggest to retain grip onto the wall, slowly slide down and then use the combination of C + X to first dash and then make a double jump to reach the next platform. I indicated how I did with red arrows.

Another very annoying part of the third level was this:

https://www.newgrounds.com/dump/item/47b8e08d3e78f63a435019e7638313e3

Those damn spikes screwed up my run many times until I finally found that what works best for me is jumping but without too much pressure otherwise the chance to hit the spikes is pretty high. I used red arrow to show the trajectory of the jump with the right pressure (light pressure) and the yellow arrows that indicate what happens if you jump too high or exert a higher pressure. Not to mention how far is the checkpoint compared to level 1 where it's relatively more balanced in terms of distance.

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If I hated third level, fourth level is the one I enjoyed the least because it's a fast-paced level and doesn't suit well my more slow-paced nature where I want to explore the level if I don't have time limits. The main culprit are those damn cannons. In order to cross the level a combination of dashes and double jumps helps a lot to overcome the trickiest parts. Gappy risks to die too easily if you slip with speed and controls. Controls are responsive, too much for my liking because many times I wanted to hit an enemy I miss it just because controls responds too much to my input.

A big flaw of this demo, in my humble opinion, is the death punishment; it's too high and combined with the system of lives it may make feel the player discouraged with experimenting more fancy moves to try harder challenges which can screw you up after gaining an extra life if you miss a jump, miscalculate distance or slip too fast. Plus I personally think that the system of lives shouldn't force a player to redo old levels (I hope it gets improved in the final product) because it become a waste of time, and I think a game shall always respect a player's time. Time is gold after all.

After I managed to reach the end of level four I saw the checkpoint and the cannon. The scene where Gappy gets sent to the pirate ship strongly reminded me of Kirby when he reaches the flying ship where Metaknight resides. It was a nice tribute/reference I liked. I've noticed that I got softlocked for a brief moment during level four, I hopefully managed to keep go on. The boss fight was relatively manageable and here I want to share a tip to end the fight pretty quick:

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The boss will launch you barrels, avoid them and butt slam from above to hit him. Among regular barrels you will see TNT barrels, those are dangerous but they can be a useful weapon against the boss himself. During second boss fight second stage, when the pirate is about to throw his TNT barrel, double jump on him and butt slam hard. This way the TNT barrel will explode hitting him and ending the fight instantly. It happened randomly and I even thought to have lost a life since it hit me too, but thankfully I could get my last achievement.

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I will be frank, I didn't enjoy the game that much because of the life system, constant redoing old levels after failing because of slow and difficult learning curves of some of them (level three even had different learning curves across itself, I found the second part of the level easier than the first one due to its tight parts that forces the player to pray in order for C + X combo works efficiently), hard challenges to get an extra life that you can lose even during these mini challenges thus nullifying your efforts, and slippery controls once the character reaches a good speed. Not to mention checkpoints positions; I appreciated their presence at least, but seeing them too far from the ideal median point of a level (notably level three) or basically at the end of the level (level four, but it's understandable since there will be a boss fight). I agree the choice of not putting a checkpoint in level 2. Another element I would like to point out, but this is more linked to the achievement per se, is the value of the second achievement; frankly for such level of frustration and annoyance some levels give, the difficulty to reach the end of World 1 (early levels should be easier, I don't want to image future levels) and constant redoing, 10 points are a bit too little. Maybe 25 points would have fit it more. I've seen way worse games in terms of graphics, game mechanics and controls, that balance this with a much more high rewarding achievements. I know 10 points for a demo might be right, but due to the efforts one has to put, and because at the time I'm writing this review only 19 people completed the demo, 25 points is more rewarding imho. I still don't believe I managed to finish the demo though.

I liked the variety of levels and different challenges, but because of the aforementioned elements that contributed to a great amount of frustration, I don't think I will add this game to my wishlist. I could beat the demo because I am a very persistent person who doesn't give up easily if I know I can reach a goal even by slim chances.

Despite my negative review, I can see the effort, the competence and ability, and because of this I wish this game all the best. Challenging, definitely challenging. Would I recommend it? Yes as way to test patience and finger coordination. It was an experience that shaped more my hand controls, so that's a positive point for this game. Keep it up.

[K.O.L.M.]

*clapping sounds*

Bravo, bravo, bravo! This game has officially entered in my personal list of my top 5 most favourite games I ever played here on NG. I wish I had discovered it ages ago, but finally I discovered it today and I played until end. It was an intense experience that blended very well with my nature: exploring slowly an environment, studying it, and completing collectibles 100% if I can, and even in case I can't, I will do it again. I loved the procedural-like mechanics of the gameplay where you gradually build yourself. In a way it reminded me a pregnancy and a birth because the character started off as blind or at least with a very blurry sight, typical of altricial species (species who need parental care since the beginning in which the young are underdeveloped at the time of birth, but with the aid of their parents mature after birth). Our movements were very slow at the beginning because we didn't even had legs and we were defenseless against even the most common enemies, just like a baby that starts his/her first steps in the world. I immediately noticed there were something very off in the mother, her words felt very cold and toxic, almost narcissistic. I say this because narcissistic parents, when they have children, tend to use the golden child syndrome as way to validate their narcissistic behaviours and set of values by favouring a child and scapegoating another in case they have more than one child. I've sensed that when the protagonist mentioned his brothers, I could sense his need to be validated, to please people. Even his brothers were used by this mother as they all ended up falling down one by one. So sad...

The graphic of the game fits perfectly the metroid-like games and the sense of emptiness with this limited colour palette besides the blue, green and red as main background colours of these three big levels. And speaking of levels, I adored exploring them all. The game truly managed to keep me engaged for almost 90 minutes (yes, I've taken my time to explore and simply observe the map. I liked how each of them, and even each sub-section, made you think and try to find solutions while seeing part of the map you have yet to explore. The slow-paced rhythm of the game at attaining upgrades made it very enjoyable to explore and even completing 100% with the letters. I liked getting them all after finishing main story. Hahahahah, the run part gave me anxiety due to the time XD but I enjoyed it nonetheless because with all my upgrades I can go through everything.

Another strong point of this game, and many games should take inspiration from your, is the sense of accomplishment after getting upgrades, and yet the mother was never satisfied. She always wanted more, because she wants control. That's typical of narcissistic parents and people in general (how I hate them with a burning passion due to all the hurt they generate to others, even destroying mirro neurons in their victims that only therapy can re-build from scratch). The game also managed to play with the player's emotions because it created a sense of attachment to K.O.L.M. and seeing it being about to be destroyed hurts even more after everything you did to please that mother.

I've found a funny glitch that happened to me after I tried to get another plate piece for the sentence at the beginning of the game, I show it here:

https://www.newgrounds.com/dump/item/0c9abd470e4d0177db020c5b69e6e1e9

When I tried to slide through the narrow area, I slipped outside the map and I saw the map changing angle and the camera began to take a look at the direction where the robot fell down XD basically zooming out the map.
I've seen the ball enemy floating outside the map, it was funny because I could go through the area without worrying about it. Nothing wrong actually, I found it creepy and funny at the same time. I simply restarted the game and I was happy, after clicking "continue", that I was in the same area to get the metal piece with the letter.

The music was another fantastic element that added a further layer to the game with its melancholic musical signature, in one of them "Counting down the hours", made me cry while playing it and I had to stop briefly to recover myself. It's a deep, touching game that has all traits I love and want in a game:

-touching music whether it's sad, melancholic, happy or epic, I don't care as long as it suits the mood of the plot and levels.
-engaging gameplay with a strong sense of accomplishment after getting a power-up regardless of its difficulty (I've played some badly-drawn games that satisfied me in terms of accomplishment and I still remember them with affection).
-clear controls (I liked how you were guided, like a child actually, in using the different keys to progress in the game).
-story (it's not mandatory for me that a game should always have a story, but in the case it has one, it should be coherent and add a sense of a developing plot that unveil through the game, even with small hints).

This game had everything I want in a game, this is why I gave it 5 stars but in my heart it was 10 stars, it's truly beautiful and I will play it again because I genuinely love it and I grew attached to the lore. I know there is a second game. I will play it after I will recover from this one. Congratulations for the FP and other trophies, truly deserved and yes "it's kinda like metroid" ;)

The-EXP responds:

Wow, what a lovely in depth review! I'm really glad you enjoyed it! Yeah theres a bunch of errors from the original game and a few more from modern ways to play it but nothing hugely breaking. Maybe one day I'll revisit it and fix it up a little. Thanks so much for taking so much time to write this, very much appreciated :)

[Skele Magic]

For a game made in 48 hours this came out nicely. I will be quick: I loved and enjoyed a lot this game. The music is enchanting and game mechanics are really well done with a relatively linear learning curve. I said relatively because in some levels the curve was a bit awkward as previous levels (mid levels) tended to be a bit more challenging than later levels, even though I found level 19 easy to solve while level 12 gave me more problems.

Aesthetically speaking, I liked the use of limited colour palette, the use of black, white and purple add that feel of focus while solving the game. I liked the orange when activating the magic because it creates a nice chromatic contrast. The simple background gives a sense of mystery and arcane reality. I don't know if the choice for purple was intentional or not, but I like its symbolism in the context of the game. Purple is the color most often associated with the artificial and the unconventional. It is the major color that occurs the least frequently in nature, and was the first color to be synthesized. Why did I mention this? Because the protagonist is a magician trapped in a magical reality and magic is about unconventional realities, artificiality etc. think about alchemic procedures or medieval grimoires whose goal was to chain forces of Nature to become a little God able to create, trasmutate and destroy worlds.

In European alchemy during this time, "the 'precious purple tincture'" was a term for various substances alchemists hoped to create. The term and goal of the alchemists evoked kingliness, since the divine right of kings was also thought to aid the alchemists' future. And keep in mind that in Europe purple is linked to royalty. Curiously even in China it's linked to the emperor. The Chinese word for purple, zi, is connected with the North Star, Polaris, or zi Wei in Chinese. In Chinese astrology, the North Star was the home of the Celestial Emperor, the ruler of the heavens. The area around the North Star is called the Purple Forbidden Enclosure in Chinese astronomy. For that reason the Forbidden City in Beijing was also known as the Purple Forbidden City (zi Jin cheng).

So the overall colour choice well convey this atmosphere of magic and mystery. I also liked the pixel art, very simple and I don't complain about the lack of details and shading. I like the way it is, because what matters is solving the puzzles. And speaking of puzzles I would have enjoyed this game even without medals because it manages to reach a goal I highly consider when playing a game: entertainment/fun value that leads to relaxation. Everything is well balanced to never make the player get frustrated with the solution of a level. No punishment in case of failing and falling (aka re-do from the start each level). The only element that I feel to point out is the lack of R button to restart even if the game tells you what to do in case you want to start from a specific level. It's just a small thing, but overall it's a great, short game. I enjoyed it so much that I replayed it several times now.

I liked that you allow to use arrow keys and WASD controls, I hate WASD I have difficulties at mastering them even if I can tolerate them and try to adapt to them if controls are not wonky like I noticed in other games. But here thankfully both arrows and WASD work fine. I ofc chose arrows, but still I tried a few levels with WASD and it felt pretty natural (I mean movements and jumps).

Really cool game, I loved it. Keep it up!

[Portal Panic]

It's really fantastic being able to finish the game and collect all medals after many months I abandoned it due to the huge lag that beings to happen after a while you enter the portals to free other characters. But I've noticed this happens only with Ruffle, if you play with Newgrounds Player the lag doesn't occur, making the whole experience really enjoyable and fun! The game has a lot of Metroidvania-like vibe with its run and gun nature in which each character takes advantage of their unique traits to pass through levels. I admit I spent more time at finding all CDs, bowls, spoons, masks and photos than completing each level because I wanted those medals and I tend to explore a game in every small part. I want to take my time, but because the first time I played it in Ruffle I couldn't go beyond Pico's stage due to lag, I pretty much abandoned every hope since I didn't know I could edit in my account setting how I want a game to be displayed (Ruffle or NG Player).

So to all people who experiment lag with Ruffle, play the game with Newgrounds Player by going to your account settings and unchecking boxes about Ruffle as tool to visualize movies and games. This way the lag problem disappears. I've noticed some curious things/bugs when playing it; one of them is a grey square on the top left corner of Dad 'n Me stage that can be visible if you use Bitey and jump high. I've noticed these grey boxes in other levels such the last stage where all characters work together to get the last key before the battle. In P-Bot boss fight when you start as Dad you first need to break the blocks. Usually they disappear when he smashes them, but only here they don't disappear.

The only thing that I feel to criticize is the lack of damage indicator during boss fight. I initially didn't know how to battle him or what to do. I had to fight him a second time to understand how to beat him. So I may give some tips to those who want to fight him.

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You start to fight with Dad, so one of the best solutions to counterattack P-Bot is staying in the middle and avoiding P-Bot's drill attack. With Captain the strategy is the same as he doesn't have a wide attack range unlike Pico. With Pico you must stay away as much as possible and fire like crazy. Bitey can be a bit tricky sometimes because you have to control his position when he attacks with kicks, but a way to attack P-Bot is a combination of kick and dash; kick to attack and dash to avoid attacks. Salad Finger initially confused me the most because he seemed not to have an attack, only showing the finger puppets but then I discovered he can deflect attack to P-Bot. So deflect rockets back at him by using your finger puppets. When I discovered it, I was surprised to know Salad Finger is one of the strongest in this battle despite being the weakest in terms of physical strength. Don't get too close, you can stun him by throwing your hands at him or simply jump to get away from him. I preferred the latter.

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The game is fantastic, it has become one of my favourite here, voice acting is spot on, animation is cool, style rocks and graphics pretty enjoyable along with a very simple and entertaining gameplay, not to mention the constant innuendos to the male urogenital organ XD. Even if I comment years after this game, I can say it well deserves its "Best of the Month" feature! Fantastic job everyone, I replay it again!