Raindrop by Shuhei Miyazawa
Free download: Raindrop by Shuhei Miyazawa
Play in browser: raindrop [html5] by Shuhei Miyazawa
Thanks @Dracko for mentioning it. : )
Raindrop came out on itch from 2020 to 2021. In 2023, it came to Switch (Japan only?), not for free, under the name “Raindrop Sprinters”–with an illustration of a white cat. And they say they “are currently preparing an English version and Steam version as well.” (Will THOSE cost money too? Well just download the free itch one now in case. ; )
(It looks like the Switch “Raindrop Sprinters” has a couple additional modes; Google Translate of Raindrop Sprinters’ Switch store page https://store--jp-nintendo-com.translate.goog/list/software/70010000061230.html?_x_tr_sl=ja&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp says
"The game offers 4 game modes.
・“Standard” where you simply dodge the rain
・“Customize” where you can freely choose items and obstacles
・“Onrush” where you can use a lot of slow motion
・“Maverick” where you keep catching rain")
The free itch version only has kind of two modes: the standard thing and then “Cats and dogs mode” (hold up on title screen) which is kind of just instant super-hard mode.
There’s a lot to think about with the gameplay. Some things:
- You get a bonus each time you cross the “aisle”
- Raindrops increase constantly; one hit = game over
- There’s a max number of stars you can get per crossing, these multiply bonus
- Your score goes up for each raindrop that lands while you’re in the rain
- There are a limited number of crossings to make before the game ends (29 or 34 or something around there, I think)
If you go fast to minimize how thick the rain is getting, it’s hard to dodge raindrops–as it is if you give the rain time to thicken up by slowing down to maximize points.
And there are seven “badges” to earn by reaching various goals during play; each badge gives a performance boost of some sort. For instance, crossing the aisle four times without stopping during a game–consecutive or not–earns the “SPEED RUN” badge, doubling your speed while using the limited “ESP” slow-motion gauge.
The raindrop sounds are slightly shrill, while the other sounds of getting points in various ways are quite charming in their low-bit-ish way.
It’s a 7:9 vertical ratio screen–the two other games I know of that I’ve played at that ratio are the itch games Lady Pac and RandomPac.
I love the sort of old arcade-style graphics–down to some of the fonts and colors and symbols, except not horrible like a lot of old arcade games.
Very “one more go.”
Controls from the itch page:
“[arrow keys] : move [z] : Use ESP [ESC] : Quit game On the title screen, press and hold [q] to reset the rankings. press and hold [up] to cats and dogs mode. [a] or [s] to change sound volume. You can also play with a gamepad.”
The itch download version didn’t seem to recognize my arcade stick so I just used Joy2Key. Seemed to find it easier to keep head’s up on raindrops while controlling with the stick vs the keyboard.
