Shorties Review Volume 1 (Neon Beats, 1365, 2048, Siberia, Speer)

 Forward

Goo Morning, Folks! Video games are incredible. Whether they be the incredible Triple A games that we all know, love and have sunk hundreds of hours into or the shorty boi Indie games that don't take more than twenty minutes to beat, video games remain as my favorite media to consume. While I could easily write five thousand words on any hundred hour RPG, this post is to give some love to a few of the tiny indie games that I have done Let's Plays on (shameless plug: https://www.youtube.com/user/MrBuradori). 

If you have been reading my Ed, Edd N Eddy reviews, then you are familar with my rating system. For those of you who are not familiar with it (Why aren't you? Don't you love me? Read all of my posts.) here's a quick breakdown:

An out of 10 number system will be used. The final score will be based on the totals of the four most important aspects to a video game (debatable - tell me I'm wrong in the comments); the story, the gameplay, the visuals and the audio. The rating system is as follows: 

10. Big Boi Lovings: Any issues are minor enough that they do not affect the score.

9. P. Awesome: Nearly flawless with one or two shortcomings. 

8. P. Great: The media is great. Not perfect but better than most.

7. P. Good: Above average with some rough issues.

6. Hard Enjoy: I want to be a huge fan of it, but it's rough.

5. Aight: Average, just okay.

4. Inoffensive: I didn't enjoy it, but I certainly don't hate it.

3. Bad: Has enough issues to make angry or regret consuming it.

2. Poopie Bad Stuff: Terrible. No enjoyment, but it didn't cause me to rant.

1. Dupid: I hate it. Enough to get angry any time I think about it.

So with that in mind, allow us to start this review gauntlet. 

Neon Beats

Neon Beats is a 2D platforming game that uses the rhythm of the level music in it's puzzles. Simple in design, you control a block through a series of hazards to get from starting goal to end point. 

The Story

Non-existent. Not necessarily a negative for this particular game, since it doesn't need some epic tale. The game is meant to be a simple platformer and doesn't waste any time attempting to tell some grand tale. Neon Beats doesn't need a story and doesn't lose anything by omitting it. Therefore it gets a rating of

??/10

Inconsequential

Threw a curveball at ya by adding ?? to the rating system. I would give it a simple 0/10 but since it doesn't affect the ultimate enjoyment of the game, I'd prefer just to give it a non-rating. 

The Gameplay

Tight controls and easy to understand. Neon Beats behaves like any other game in it's genre. The hazards are easily identifiable and it's easy to instantly know how to navigate them. There are also occasional boosts and springs that help propel you. The puzzles and challenges are intuitive and nothing frustrated or stumped me. There is also no penalty for dying, so as soon as you fail a jump or die from a hazard you are able to instantly try again. There were also several hype and intense moments during my play through. As the description states, the electronic beats match the gameplay. Puzzles will appear or disappear depending on the beat or the beat will drop after falling down a long corridor. A few clutch moments also occurred whenever a spiked wall would quickly chase you through the level. Overall, I'd say the gameplay is a:

8/10

P. Great

The Graphics

As I stated in the gameplay section, everything in the game is instantly recognizable. You can clearly identify all stage hazards, boosts and springs. The design was simplistic, using mostly geometric shapes to make up its level design. An easy to look at and enjoy 2D platformer. One criticism I can come up with is that I think the game would have benefitted from a bit more color. Other than the boosts, springs and occasionally the few platformers - the game is just neon white on top of black backgrounds. Not a huge negative, but I'd wager a few explosion of colors would benefit the game greatly. That being said, I'd still give the graphics a

8/10

P. Great

The Music

Perhaps the most important category, for this game at least. Once again, the game totes itself as being a rhythm based platformer, requiring you to be somewhat on beat to navigate the hazards correctly. That being said, the music is phenomenal. Not only does the music match the gameplay with platforms appearing and disappearing in time with the beat, but there are also some very hype beat drops that occur. I compared this game to The Impossible Game (Let's Play eventually? Maybe?) and just as that game had an incredible soundtrack, so does Neon Beats. If nothing else - I highly recommend you give the songs a listen to. It should be clear by now but I give the music a

 

10/10

Big Boi Lovings

The Final Tally

Neon Beats was an enjoyable platformer that I absolutely recommend. The game looks nice, it plays nice, and it sounds nice. Neon Beats is also currently free to play from Steam, so there is literally no reason for you to skip out on it. I give Neon Beats a final score of: 

9/10

P. Awesome

1365

1365, much like Neon Beats, is a 2D platforming game that has you control a high school student going through his school life while dealing with a plethora of mental illnesses.

The Story

It is very easy for a game like this to get it wrong. Mental illness is a serious subject that has a lot of stereotypes that make it very easy to incorrectly depict it. This game, however, does it in all the right ways. As someone who has suffered from both depression and anxiety and probably a multitude of other undiagnosed things, I felt the game did a wonderful job of showing what it is like to walk through the halls of a social gathering like school while dealing with the constant whispers in your head telling you some of the worst things. The game introduces you to the main character's anxiety immediately. This serves as the main story telling tool for the game and is accurate to how anxiety can present itself - as a dark voice in your head constantly reminding you about how worthless you are. As you progress, you find hearts that are labelled after certain virtues - such as courage and hope. For correctly depicting mental illness and doing so in such a creative platform, I confidently give this category a: 

10/10

Big Boi Lovings

The Gameplay

You control your unnamed protagonist through the school hallways while avoiding hazards. Standard platforming fair, but the hazards are creative amalgamations of varying mental illnesses. You get some simple ones, such as dysphoria, appearing in the shape of butterflies. You get large, gaping mouths that depict high expectations and shadow blobs representing depression. The main gameplay has you trying to jump over and around the mental illness monsters or over pits. You move forward through the levels and use the lockers in the background to get around most enemies. The level design is pretty simplistic and doesn't vary too much throughout the course of the game. The game switches it up once or twice by messing with the expected perspective but for the most part, it's pretty basic. The game controls while enough, with a moment or two of frustration when certain jumps did not behave as well as I wanted. That being said, I rate the gameplay a: 

8/10

P. Great

The Graphics

The pixel art we are treated to is lovely, but also a bit samey. All hazards are easily identifiable, even if how you navigate them is not. The game is also as colorful as it can be, since a school can only be so pretty to look at. My biggest complaint as far as the looks would go is that the backgrounds do tend to look the same throughout the game. Granted, we are in a school, so of course the hallways are gonna look very similar to each other. I would've like a tiny bit more variation however. The monsters are designed welled enough as well, though you can't always figure out what each one is supposed to be. They are monsters, after all, so it is certainly not a bad thing that they look unique. With that in mind, I give this category a: 

8/10

P. Great

The Music

The music is... serviceable. This is a short game, so the music never becomes annoying but it is the one track played on a loop. That being said, it is a good track. There is a soft, eerie bell that rings as you navigate through the hallways. I would've liked a little more variation in the sound design, but it's also not a huge set back for 1365. Not much that I am able to address here, other than giving it my rating of: 

5/10

Aight

The Final Tally

1365 was an enjoyable game that accurately depicts what it is like having a mental illness during high school. The fact that a platformer was able to do this is a huge bragging point for the dev. Controls were well done, the graphics were nice and the music was decent. Overall, I give 1365 a 

8/10

P. Great

2048

How do I write a description for this game? 2048 is simply a matching game. Match the like numbers to double them so that you are eventually able to add them up to 2048. Every time you make a move, a new block will spawn in a random location. Make too many wrong moves and the grid will fill up, preventing more blocks from spawning and forcing a game over. 

The Story

No story. How you would be able to put a story into this game, I'm unsure of. Would a story make the game better? Probably not. 

??/10

Inconsequential

The Gameplay

As I described in the description, the game play of 2048 is fairly simplistic. You are presented with a grid, with different size options. Your goal is combine like blocks to double their value, 2 combines with 2, 4 with 4, 8 with 8 and so on, to eventually get a block valued at 2048. As you swipe and combine blocks, a random block with a value of 2 or 4 will randomly spawn on the board, requiring you exercise some sort of strategy. Randomly combine blocks and you'll eventually run out of spots for new ones to spawn, forcing a game over. Easy, simple, and requiring a bit of thought to win. There isn't much to the gameplay, but I'm unsure of what more they could do with the concept of doubling blocks to get to 2048. Maybe different boards? Boards that change as you combine blocks? The concept is not too dissimilar to Tetris, so I'm sure there could be a creative solution. 

5/10

Aight

The Music

There isn't any. There aren't even any sound effects for the game. Would music or sound effects add a whole lot to the game? Perhaps. When I uploaded my Let's Play, I put music in the background and it certainly made the video more watchable - so I can only surmise that music would be beneficial. Since there isn't any, I can't exactly judge too harshly. Therefore, I rate this category a

0/10

No Rating

The Graphics

The game looks fine. The blocks change in color as you combine them. The green is light, brownish beige color that is easy on the eyes. The blocks slide and combine smoothly? There isn't too much to talk about as far as the graphics go for 2048. They work but don't do anything exciting. While I can't complain about them, I also can't rate them very high. 

5/10

Aight

The Final Tally

2048 is a fun time waster. If you need something mindless to do that has a slightly addicting gameplay style, then 2048 is great. It is a free to play phone app, so there isn't much you can ask for. A fun app that almost doesn't constitute as a game. I give it a final rating of

3/10

Bad

While it feels wrong to call the game bad, a 3/10 rating seems fair. There isn't a lot to the game, and a bit more would've rated it higher. 

Siberia

Siberia is a neat choose your own adventure game that puts the player into a dangerous survival situation. 

The Story

You play as an unnamed character who survives a plane crash over the frozen tundra of Siberia. The options you choose determines how the story progresses. Where you find shelter and supplies is purely determine on what you choose. The game is basically The Oregon Trail Lite. There aren't any characters or motivations or development, so the story is very bare bones. It is ultimately just serviceable and that lands it a score of: 

5/10

Aight

The Gameplay

As the previous section suggests, this game offers a select number of choices you can make. These actions progress the story in certain ways, creating a somewhat unique experience for each first time player. Now, the choices and the changes are not terribly severe. Really the choices only determine if you experience a game over or not. As such, it's easy to trail and error your way through the game. The choices don't change upon each playthrough, so it only takes a few moments to get every ending. Your choices also affect certain stats - such as hunger and warmth. The game, however, is too short to really take advantage of any of them. There are about ten or so choices that you need to make before you win the game. Ultimately, there isn't any wrong with the gameplay. I give it a score of: 

5/10

Aight

The Music

The music in Siberia consists of a single track that plays on a loop. It is intense and certainly fits the dire nature of the game however, I can't feel like something is left to be desire. While it certainly is not bad, I also can't give it many high marks. You won't be trying to play the game on mute, but you probably won't revisit the song either. I give this category a rating of: 

4/10

Inoffensive

The Graphics

The game is presented to you on an old monitor that is reminiscent of cold war era tech. You see ASCII art and are able to select a few different options. The game looks fine. There is nothing terribly noteworthy or horrible with the graphics. Other than the occasional bit of ASCII art, the only other thing is the text on screen. Simple, clean and doesn't need to be anything more. But it also could have benefitted from a touch more. 

5/10

Aight

The Final Tally

Siberia was a neat little survival game. There really isn't much more to it than that and it certainly doesn't try to present more than what it is. Certainly not a bad game, but also nothing too mind blowing. It ultimately gets a score of: 

4/10

Inoffensive

Speer

Speer is another simple platforming game. Certainly the longest out of the five games that I've reviewed in the post. It is the usual get form the start goal to the end goal while dodging various hazards. 

The Story

As is common for the genre, there is no story. One also wouldn't be necessary for this kind of game. A creative story could benefit but not having one also doesn't hurt it. Like I stated for Neon Beats, I'll omit this category. 

??/10

Inconsequential

The Gameplay

The highlight of Speer. The controls and puzzles are great and intuitive. You control a spear throwing protagonist who navigates through the different levels. You are able to throw an infinite amount of spears, but only one can be on the stage at any given time. The spear can stick into various surfaces, giving you a temporary platform that you may use to get over obstacles. The premise itself is a bit of a unique one, and the game utilizes it to the fullest. There are walls your spear cannot stick into with a certain power up, there are power ups that make your spear act as a spring - the levels take use of each power up and additional items well. You may find a sponge that works like a spring or a barrel that works as a bomb. You'll jump over spike pits, rush under falling spikes, navigate around lasers and so on. The game puts enough into the gameplay that there is a learning curve that feels natural as you progress through the game. The gameplay deserves  nothing less than a

8/10

P. Great

The Graphics

The game looks great as well. The 2D pixel art works well and the levels are varied and colorful. Each power up and hazard is easily identifiable and wonderful to look at. Now, while there are some nice looks colors and level design, it is pretty standard. The game for sure doesn't do anything too risky or new or terribly exciting. I gave this category a: 

7/10

P. Good

The Music

The music and the sound effects are wonderful in this game. There are four levels, each having a different track that accompanies it. The sound effects are also logical and accompany each action perfectly. Each song is varied enough and each one is bangerdocious. Is... is that what kids say? Either way, Speer sports a great soundtrack that deserves revisiting from time to time. 

8/10

P. Great

The Final Tally

Speer is a wonderful platform filled with challenging obstacles, intuitive mechanics, and wonderful backing track. Overall, I give Speer a final rating of

8/10

P. Great

The Backward

And there it is folks, Volume 1 of Shorties Review. Some games may be tiny, but size doesn't necessarily guarantee greatness. I'll release another volume about every five short games that I play. But for the time being, I'd love to hear what you folks thought about the games I played. Have you any experience with them? I'd love to know about it in the comments or through our mailing list. You can join by sending an email to ragdollgamers.business@gmail.com or using the form on the homepage side bar. Thanks for consuming my content and as always - Happy Reading!