Full disclosure: I’m acquainted with the developer of this game. Or at least I was, years ago. I’ve been playing it a lot since its release last week. It’s in one of my favorite genres, games with a tiny player-controlled character in big rooms full of ladders and things (such as the aforementioned Lode Runner, Blaster Master, or Love).
I’ve been making my way through a few boardslevels stages at a time, typically quitting when one seems particularly difficult. But like a snack that you put away to save the rest for later only to retrieve after a few minutes, I sometimes find myself loading the game back up several times a day. The stage that impelled me to quit last time, thinking the the game might be getting a little too difficult for me, I got through just now with a perfect rating. (There is an Easy setting if I truly get stuck, but I’m hoping not to resort to that.)
Which brings me to another reason I wanted to post about this game. I think it would be fun to compare “scores” if anyone else decides to try it. I’d even gift it to one or two people who might be curious but not 5 USD curious, since it’s a game I’m happy to support. (PM me if you’d like to take me up on that.)
If yet another retro-style indie platformer isn’t something that will get enough traction to warrant its own topic, I might also mention some other games that this reminds me of.
The Pit for Commodore 64, for example, a one-screen game that has a lot going on in that one screen. You have to collect the diamonds and escape before the tank shoots through the mountain and destroys your ship.
Some might remember the Japanese freeware game Journey to the Center of the Earth from when we talked about it in the old “Indie Games Depository” thread back in 2009. It’s one that I still think about sometimes.
This is a Flash game, but it’s a standalone executable.
Digging up these old games makes me want to create a page featuring a few highlights from my vast archive of freeware indie games, so they are not lost in obscurity.
Edit: Star Guard is still available after all. Here’s where to get it:
I like this genre too but rarely play it. I will check out Destructivator and Star Guard this evening though.
These kinds of games remind me of the old PC/DOS/Apogee platformers like the original Duke Nukem, Bio Menace (I think this is free on GOG right now?) and Commander Keen. But those games had a more zoomed in view so they could have more detailed sprites and as a result the games are less about large scale action and more about exploring a maze.
Last night I was trying to think of an ideal way to combine both types into one game. At first I though why not just have a few levels of zoomed in/out views so you can switch on the fly between seeing the whole level and just smaller local areas. But then I realized they’re two really different kinds of game based on how close the view is because in the zoomed in view you can no longer track what’s happening at the larger scale.
So I think a hybrid game would work best where it’s primarily of one type but occasionally switches to the other. Like it’s mainly a zoomed in exploration game with a few spots where the scale zooms out or a large scale action game that zooms in whenever you enter a building to look for power ups or whatever.
Also trying to think of other examples of this type of game where you play as a tiny sprite in a big environment and so far can only think of ones where you’re a tiny sprite in a small environment like Hero Core or Xeodrifter but those are more Metroid likes. 1001 Spikes is puzzle-ish but not action-y and not very tiny either. It’s an interesting niche.
I have a recollection of an older freeware pc game where the entire gameworld was on a single screen but was all blacked out, and you filled it in by wandering around it. I think when it was finished (took maybe a half hour tops) it was circle shaped?
Anyways, if I didn’t dream that it probably counts.
I five starred the first stage in Destructivator 2. I spent way too long my first try figuring out you have to walk into the laser beam to open the room with all the flying drone enemies. Really like the music and the intro scene that plays on start up.
I had another moment in Destructivator 2 where I thought it might be getting too hard for me. But then I got through that stage and the next few were surprisingly tame. So now I’m in the fifth mission.
With a few exceptions, I think the key to getting through the more challenging stages is patience. 1-4 is one exception. It’s quite a difficulty spike, and I still probably could not get through without dying at least once. Fortunately, it’s an anomaly and things calm down again after it.
I REMEMBER STAR GUARD!!!
I was like 13 years old and I played the shit out of it. It was very tough and very fun. These kinds of minimalist action games really inspired me as a kid.
Honestly, my taste and preference for simple arcade games was influenced mostly by these kinds of indie games, more than arcade games themselves
I realize that everyone who cares probably already got this in the huge bundle, but it’s heavily discounted from its already-low price on Steam right now.
Even though it didn’t help the developers financially, it’s nice to see the attention that the bundle seems to be have brought to some homebrew games. (I was going to say “indie games” but that term includes things with actual funding these days. I guess it’s become a spectrum.)
I now own this (thank you!!) and I will do it…I will chase the high scores.
I really love tiny character action games and I wish there were more of them. I also wish I could make one myself. Maybe I’ll spend the weekend tracing Super Mario Land sprites and toss them into Game Maker or something.
I played through the first mission of this earlier today (first 8 stages and boss) and it seems rather neat! It doesn’t seem too hard so far but A) I’m playing on normal (it says hard is recommended but normal seems to be the default difficulty) and B) I’m not particularly concerned with my star rating at this point.
I got 178 total stars (I believe it was broken down 31, 31, 28, 28, 30, 30 per mission) which feels okayish.
Game is pretty well put together with the main weak point being the occasional flying stages which I for the most part wasn’t that impressed with. It’s very fun to run around these relatively giant stages shooting everything that moves, and I thought it managed more variety in stage layouts and set pieces than I anticipated beforehand.
