Buggle Stars is what could be called the perfect Christmas casual game. Some crucial elements such as a nice presentation, clever design and perfect gameplay are combined to built an easy to play, just challenging enough, very rewarding game.Design
Game design is amazing, even though nothing is particularly original, every detail is carefully crafted.
The game starts with a quick tutorial, and provides 20 levels that can be accessed from the startup screen once unlocked. You can see a thumbnail of each level before playing it, as well as your best score if you would like to replay one. The only option is the mandatory sound control button which can be accessed at any time.
Each level is a single screen on which you will have to collect all the stars. The genius touch is that stars will appear one after the other, forcing you to navigate through the level in unconventional ways. The only hint is a, not so easy to spot, transparent icon of the next star location, which can become critical for optimal navigation.
The game starts with a quick tutorial, and provides 20 levels that can be accessed from the startup screen once unlocked. You can see a thumbnail of each level before playing it, as well as your best score if you would like to replay one. The only option is the mandatory sound control button which can be accessed at any time.
Each level is a single screen on which you will have to collect all the stars. The genius touch is that stars will appear one after the other, forcing you to navigate through the level in unconventional ways. The only hint is a, not so easy to spot, transparent icon of the next star location, which can become critical for optimal navigation.
The game even provide a set of unlockable minigames which could match the quality of most average flash games.
GameplayThe challenge for any platform game is a right jumping and running controls scheme, and Buggle Stars gets it just perfectly. The gameplay is also quite varied with levels involving buttons, moving platforms, water, trampoline jump, and even rocket launchers. Interesting variations are that you can air jump if you fall off a platform, and you can also perform a super jump by pressing down before jumping and thus loosing a bit of time.
If the first levels are trivial, the game is more and more challenging, and even really tough at the end. But the gameplay and level design is so well balanced that you will not easily give it up.
Two different game modes are available depending on each level. The most common gives you more points if you collect a star quickly and you will need to collect enough points to unlock the next level. The second is much less forgiving as you will have a limited time to collect each star and will have to start over if you cannot get one in time.
Two different game modes are available depending on each level. The most common gives you more points if you collect a star quickly and you will need to collect enough points to unlock the next level. The second is much less forgiving as you will have a limited time to collect each star and will have to start over if you cannot get one in time.
Presentation
The presentation is clean and simple, graphic design is not extremely elaborated but with nice little additions here and there. Background music is quite nice, a bit repetitive but too annoying. Sound effects are fine, there is even a brief disappointment sound when you nearly get a star but missed it.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment