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Month: June 2019

Recommended Game – PrizefightersPrizefigthers

Recommended Game – Prizefighters

Published by Sean L. Akins on 17th June 2019

If you’re like me and have been playing video games for the better part of the past 25 years, mobile games are a hard sell. Which is why a game like Prizefighters is so good. Released by Koality Games, Prizefighters is a game heavily inspired by the arcade and console series, Punch Out! from Nintendo.  It is a boxing title where you make your way through an arcade, career and online mode to be the best fighter in the world.  And as you win fights, you get prize money to spend on upgrades for your character’s stats, making tougher and tougher opponents easier to defeat.

Graphics

Prizefigthers graphics

Prizefighters looks like a Sega Master System game from the later part of its lifespan; it looks like an 8-bit game with a modern color palette. Fighters are large and easy to make out even in landscape mode, which this game does support, and all the text in the menus are easy to read.

Sound

Prizefighters has a chiptune aesthetic, with all the music and most of the sound effects having a very 16-bit sound to them, save for the punches; those sound like something you’d hear in a boxing movie.  It’s very appealing sound design for the visual aesthetic they went for, and I couldn’t imagine it sounding any different. The only downside is that the music that plays while you’re fighting isn’t as its inspiration, but it’s hard to beat Punch Out!’s music, so I don’t hold it against Prizefighter.

Gameplay

Prizefighters plays like a simplified version of Punch-Out!  It starts you out with a tutorial which teaches you the touchscreen version of the controls, though I would advise you swap to the virtual controller immediately; the touch screen lacks the precision that the virtual controller grants you, and precision is required to win the harder fights.  However, even though this game offers Bluetooth controller support, it’s not necessary; you don’t need to be able to rock the d-pad or have pressure sensitive buttons in order to get the game to do what you want it to do.

Ads and in-game purchases

Prizefighters shop

Prizefighters offers plenty of microtransactions, but none of them are necessary to do well. You can buy coins to help speed up the upgrade of your fighter, though you earn coins from every victory, and can boost your character for harder career and online fights by fighting a few arcade mode fights.  The cost of upgrades does increase as you buff your stats, but none of it requires you to buy any of the in-game currency. 

As for ads, you can view an ad for an extra 150 coins every five minutes, and you get an occasional ad after winning a fight in career or arcade mode. 

Prizefigthers – Final Analysis

Prizefighter takes much from its inspiration, but not enough to call it an outright clone.  Unlike Punch-Out!, fighters aren’t a puzzle to solve; you just need to be quick on the draw to be able to beat the harder opponents.  And that is why I recommend Prizefighter; it takes a lot from Punch-Out!, but makes them their own in this fast-paced mobile game. You don’t want to miss out on Prizefighter.

Check out my twitter for personal updates, and my blog for the full review.

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Recommended Game – Pac Man 256pac-man 256

Recommended Game – Pac Man 256

Published by Sean L. Akins on 5th June 2019

If you’re like me and have been playing video games for the better part of the past 25 years, mobile games are a hard sell. Which is why a game like Pac Man 256 is so good.  Released by Bandai Namco Entertainment, it is based around the 256 glitch in the original Pac Man arcade game; a glitch where, if you reach level 256, a bug corrupts the entire right half of the maze with seemingly random symbols and tiles, overwriting the values of edible dots, which makes it impossible to eat enough dots to beat the level.  The bug is caused by the calculation of the number of fruit to draw rolling over to zero. The code attempts to draw 256 fruit–236 more than it was designed for–resulting in the maze being corrupted.

And that is what the concept that Pac Man 256 is built around; the glitch is corrupting the maze behind you, and run endlessly away from it.  If the glitch catches you, you die, but you’re also dealing with all the normal gameplay elements of Pac Man; all the ghosts, all the fruits, all the power pellets.  However, you also have extra power ups to assist you along the way.

Graphics

Graphically, Pac Man 256 has a faux retro style; it looks like the old Pac Man arcade game, but is built around a 3D engine.  The characters are voxel based, giving it a very pixelated style of graphics, but there are also different themes that allow you to change the graphics; you can go with different themes such as Pac Mania, Pac Man classic and Pac Man CEDX.  On top of that, all the menus and text are large and easy to read.

Sound

Pac Man 256 is built around a faux retro sound design; it sounds like an updated version of the Pac Man arcade game’s sound. They sound like a high definition version of the song and sound effects of the original arcade game, which sound perfect on a mobile device speaker.  Nothing seems out of place in the Pac Man 256 sound design.

Gameplay

Pac Man 256 has you playing Pac Man in an endless runner style of game; you swipe left, swipe right, swipe up and down to move, collecting dots and power pellets, running from the glitch wall and avoiding the ghosts, or outright destroying them if you’ve got the right power-ups.

Ads and in game purchases

Pac Man 256 is very much ad light, though there are tons of microtransactions available, none of which are required to do well in the game; everything you can buy with real money can be bought with in game currency, which you earn from coins you find in the maze, which are created by the glitches as you run through the maze.  However, if you do decide to view ads, you can get those coins faster.

Final Analysis

Pac Man 256 is an enjoyable way to kill time when you’ve got nothing else to do. You run through the game, chasing the high score while dealing with the threat of the glitch wall chasing you.  And the best part is that it’s free on the Google Play store, and probably the Apple store too. Download it, and you won’t regret it.

Check out my full review of Pac Man 256 and look for me on Twitter.

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Recommended Game – Star ValorStar valor

Recommended Game – Star Valor

Published by Daniel Rosales on 4th June 2019

I loved Star Valor and wanted to recommend it. The game is a classic space trading simulator, I’ve always loved the combination of exploration and trade. It has the usual goal of upgrading your spaceship. You’ll have many different options to earn the credits or parts you’ll need. The best part is that you can really feel the changes. The ship stats are well balanced and escalate quite appropriately.

Besides the usual questing, hunting, and trading this title will also allow you to mine asteroids, scavenge components, and even craft your own weapons.

Star Valor is still in early access, some elements are still under development. Regardless, the game is already pretty fun. It’s easy to get lost on those space explorations, although, I will admit some biased considering the theme. I will be writing about my experience after playing the Steam early access.

Price: 10.99
Size: 600mb
Genre: Action RPG
Developed by: Rafael Burgos
Reviewed on PC.
Download link: Steam.

Story

Star Valor is a bit lacking in terms of story, it focuses on action and RPG features. There’s a short tutorial story that will guide you through the basics. You and a buddy are doing some gigs when you run into a very sought after piece of tech. After barely making it to safety, your buddy presents you with a few options.

You can go independent, get a factionless ship and some cash; Go with the traders for a trading vessel and good reputation with the Syndicate; Or give it to the miners, in for a mining ship and good reputation with them. After that, your buddy will escort while you get up to speed. Then, it’s your call.

Gameplay

One of the best parts in any space RPG is the customization of your ship. In Star Valor you’ll have a wide range of options, you can choose your weapons, equipment and even buy different ships. Bigger ships will mean more space for equipment and weapons. At first, controls might seem sluggish. I recommend adding a gyroscope to your ship as soon as possible, especially if your hunting pirates.

There is a vast galaxy for you to explore, You can navigate it using Jumpgates or a warp drive. You’ll find space stations belonging to different factions, keep an eye on your reputation, they might become hostile. In my opinion, the quests can get a little repetitive. Hopefully, this will change by the full release. That hardly means you’ll find yourself without stuff to do, especially once your ship is strong enough to start taking on Bosses.

Graphics

Even though Star Valor uses 2D top-down gameplay it’s 3D graphics and complex lightning really complement the futuristic feeling of the game. My favorite part is the detailed space stations.

Another great thing about Star Valor graphics is the weapon effects. Everything from the lasers to the explosions of the missiles is pretty cool to watch. Even the energy shields are carefully designed.

Star Valor Summary

Star Valor is a highly addictive space trader game. Get ready for a ton of exploration, scavenging, and combat. You’ll have a high level of ship customization, chose the best weapons and equipment to become the best captain in the galaxy. Definitively recommended!

I’ve loved games since a very early age. With them, I found an escape from a confusing reality. Even though the world became a calmer place with time. My passion for gaming never subsided. Now, I share my explorations of the Gaming Universe hoping to help players and independent games find each other.

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