Super Obstacle Boy is a retro-style platformer for iPhone & iPad from indie developer, Matthias Falk. You’ll play as (spoiler alert: Super Obstacle Boy) as you run and jump, and then run and jump some more through 125+ levels of pixely, 8-bit glory to save your girlfriend who’s been kidnapped by the evil Dr. Negative. If it sounds like Super Meat Boy, that’s because it does (they’re not related, but they did meet at a party once). SOB will feature Game Center integration, achievements, and online leaderboards so you can compete with friends, family, and random people who totally hacked the game, because we all know there’s no way they scored 999,999,999. I mean, come on. My score is only 11,349. Don’t they have anything better to do?

A release date hasn’t been announced yet, but Falk is hoping to have the game available in the App Store later this month. For now, enjoy the trailer below, complete with chiptune soundtrack!

© 2014, The Indie Mine. All rights reserved.

We receive a lot of review requests at The Indie Mine. While I would love to be able to support every indie dev out there with coverage of their game, that’s simply not possible. This also means that occasionally a gem or two will slip through the cracks. Thankfully, every so often one of them turns up again. In the case of Rise of the Ravager, I finally had a chance to play it at a recent indie expo after not being able to squeeze it into my schedule when the game launched earlier this year. How’d it turn out? It’s an impressive blend of many classic game design conventions within one addictive package. To get a sense of what Rise of the Ravager is like, imagine if Missile Command, Ikaruga, and Zuma had a digital baby.

An ancient god is awakening in the cosmos and raining its minions down from the skies.  It’s up to the player to use a cannon and sharp reflexes to destroy the underlings before they can reach the planet’s surface. The twist is that combat is based on a color-matching system. Red enemies can only be destroyed by red cannonfire, blue by blue, and so on. The game was originally designed, in part, for the Xbox 360, so naturally enemies can appear in each of the four face-button colors. Swapping between the artillery is instantaneous and accomplished by pressing one of those buttons or the keyboard should the player opt for that on the PC version. Thankfully the PC version also offers gamepad support.

You and up to 3 friends can challenge the gods themselves.

Not that the challenge ever lets up, but the player is given a helping hand with an upgrade system. Boosts to attributes like firing speed or new abilities like a screen-clearing bomb can be slotted using skill points earned during each stage. Simply surviving will net a few points, but extras are rewarded for taking no damage or destroying the occasional spy machine. After each round, points can be unslotted to be placed elsewhere. This certainly helped when I found out I went for the big boosts too early, or when I needed to refocus on damage for a boss level. Not all of the abilities are exactly clear on how they function or why they should continue to have extra points dropped into them, so the ability to undo mistakes is almost a necessary feature. It also brings just the slightest bit of an RPG element to the table and can help diversify the gameplay depending on the player’s choices.

The upgrade systems allows you to spend – and later undo – points on powerful abilities.

If there’s an area where the game especially shines, it’s that the developers have done a fine job of pacing the difficulty. Enemies of increasing varieties of color are slowly introduced over the first half a dozen stages, giving the player a chance to mentally adjust to the increasing complexity. Eventually the opposition also brings new tricks like firing their own projectiles or releasing smaller minions, all of which also have to be destroyed. RotR nails that feeling of “just barely made it” that is the hallmark of a good shoot-em-up. Rarely did I ever feel overpowered because of the upgrades, and even though I failed a handful of times, I never felt cheated. That was even the case when playing through the game plus mode which is unlocked by beating the campaign.

The thematic presentation of the game takes a lot of its inspiration from ancient Central American influences. The colorful sprites and backdrops reminded me a lot of Zuma, another game that relies heavily on a quick-paced color matching system. The developers have also incorporated a remarkably deep mythology to the world of RotR. Between each stage, the history of the titular Ravager is revealed through brief, almost scripture-like story fragments. Although the core of the game is simple and arcade-like, it feels like a more fleshed-out game by placing it in within this framework.

For those who don’t want to play alone, Rise of the Ravager does include a multiplayer component. Up to three buddies can join in on the campaign at the start of any stage, and having them there adds a lot of fun and strategy to the experience. Boss fights tend to be trials that involve alternating between going on the offensive and the defensive, but having one or more friends means that responsibilities can be divvied up. It’s not all about being a good teammate. Even though it’s a cooperative experience, bragging rights are at stake because the game totals each individual player’s score on every stage. The winner gets to determine how to spend the hard-earned upgrade points. Although the Xbox version is a perfect fit for a living room gaming session with friends, it would’ve been nice if the PC version included an online multiplayer component rather than just the single-screen view.

Rise of the Ravager is simple done right. The developers have taken the best elements of shmups and retro arcade titles and created a polished game of their own. While an extra mode or some unlockables would help to keep players coming back, there’s enough there in the game plus campaign and multiplayer to keep gamers coming back for at least a little while.

Overall Rating: ★★★★☆ 

What does this score mean?

This game was reviewed using a PC copy provided by the developer for that purpose. Version 1.0.2 was used in this review. Rise of the Ravager is available on PC, Linux, and Xbox, and information on all versions can be found on the game’s official website. 

© 2013, The Indie Mine. All rights reserved.

Team Disaster have released a demo for their game, Captain Disaster In: Death Has A Million Stomping Boots. The game is reminiscent of the point-and-click adventure games of the 80s and early 90s. Captain Disaster has a retro feel to it in both gameplay and design. With 320 x 200 resolution graphics, players take a trip back to a time when adventure games ruled the PC gaming market and the console mascot rivalry was fought between a hedgehog and a plumber.

Captain Disaster was created by Dave Seaman as the protagonist for his ebook sci-fi adventure series, which is full of high antics and slapstick humour. From the demo, one can expect the game to utilize both these themes in abundance. I was particularly fond of the satirical humour that referenced other overused science fiction tropes. The Flash Gordon and Star Wars text crawl intro scene made me laugh, as did the name of the ship from The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy, which Team Disaster unapologetically admits to using. And I couldn’t help feeling that the dense protagonist was a clear homage to Roger Wilco of the classic point-and-click adventure series Space Quest.

I won’t spoil the details of the demo here, due to the fact that I believe players should get their hands on it themselves. If you’re up for a sci-fi adventure to satisfy your inner nerd, or even just a promising adventure game, then I would urge you to try the demo for Captain Disaster In: Death Has A Million Stomping Boots.

© 2012 – 2013, The Indie Mine. All rights reserved.

Chicago-based developers Ragtag Studio have launched their latest title, Unstoppable Fist, for iOS.  The 16-bit graphical style and chiptunes soundtrack – the latter free to download through Bandcamp – set the tone for this “infinite attack game”.

Featuring wave after wave of demonic enemies, Unstoppable Fist challenges players to correctly tap HI, MID, and LOW touch zones to pummel the hordes of possessed wildlife that attempt to overwhelm our mulleted hero. The game obviously has a sense of humor, and the Loafers of Light and Unstoppable Fists you wield help further that tone.

Harness the power of the golden mullet

The game is advertised as easy to pick and play for a few minutes on the go, but it also offers a few extras for the more committed, hardcore players out there. A robust achievement system will challenge the best players to bring their skill level up to the next level. Game Center leaderboards will also give friends bragging rights over one another.

Check out the trailer below, then head on over to iTunes to pick up the game today. For additional news from Ragtag Studio, you can Follow them on Twitter and Like them on Facebook.

© 2012 – 2013, The Indie Mine. All rights reserved.