Daily Flash: Experimental Shooter

It's like WarioWare rules, all in the style of a top down shooter. Each level has it's own unique rules. From putting a timer on your clearing time, to forcing you to hit two targets per shot, the only rules that remain the same is that all targets must be destroyed to continue. Does the game make sense, or is it too scatterbrained to be fun?

Presentation:
Very minimalistic designs, the only things on the screen are your targets and yourself. It's pretty effective, and it's easy to figure out what's going on. Since half of the game is trying to learn how to beat the level, that's pretty important.
3.5/5

Gameplay:
For veterans of any shooter, the rules for each level shouldn't be too difficult to deduce. And, if you ever needed a hint, the name of the level pretty much spells out what you have to do. But, while trying out new rules every level is fun and refreshing, some of the games had rules that just made it frustrating to finish. For example, I had several stages reset because I missed the final shot because I had to shoot from across the stage.
3.5/5

Overall:
While levels can be frustrating, the good news is that they're never around so long that you stop playing. As soon as you get tired of one level, it's over and it's time to go onto the next. Experimental Shooter is a mix of ideas that are genuinely fun, and others that are just new and different. As the title says, it's an experiment, and one that I kinda liked taking part in.
3.5/5

Play Experimental Shooter Here!

Daily Flash: Top Defense

I love me some defense games. Top Defense brings you in as the commander of a space station, but who cares? This game is about the tedious destruction of thousands of enemies who will mindlessly follow the arbitrarily indirect paths towards your base. Is this game enough fun to play to the end?

Presentation:
Everything from the explosions to the enemies look pretty good in Top Defense. The intro has some wonderful images that suit a sci-fi universe, and you actually see several diverse environments as you progress through the game. No matter how busy the screen gets, all the weapons have distinct effects, and although things can get frantic when the tough enemies come out, everything is clear and the game never slows down.
4/5

Gameplay:
Once again, this is a game that would benefit from a Start Next Wave button. There were plenty of times where I just wanted more things to kill. I like that the different weapons clearly have their pros and cons against different enemy types. Your main cannon can hit hard if you upgrade it, but it can be a hassle to destroy the smaller, quicker units. Your several area attacks can decimate small units, but have a long time between uses.
3/5

Overall:
There are small improvements that could have been made to the game play, and many of the levels just felt drawn out. The earlier levels suffer from easy enemies that are quickly destroyed by anything I threw at them, but there were moments later on that genuinely had me scrambling. If you like defense games, this is an okay way to waste your time. Otherwise, maybe try to find something with a little more action.
3.5/5

Play Top Defense Here!

Daily Flash: Diamond Hollow

Another example that exposition isn't everything, and fun, tight gameplay can really make a game, Diamond Hollow is a scrolling platformer where the only goal is to survive as long as you can. Your only story is a quick Zelda reference, "Its dangerous to go alone..." and you're on your way. And the best part is, the game was created in 48 hours for Ludum Dare 20.

Presentation:
16 bit graphics at its finest. There's nothing about this game that couldn't have been made 15 years ago. But that's not a bad thing. The simple aesthetics make the world colorful and fun. There are too many games out there today trying to be realistic and gritty, but playing the game will remind you that there's nothing wrong with lime green grass with purple and blue monsters.
4.5/5

Gameplay:
Jump! Shoot! True to its roots in classic gaming, you're not playing to beat the game, but to beat your own high score. While the game is technically endless, getting diamonds allows you to level up in a sense, gaining better abilities as you go along. Most of the upgrades feel great, except for the dash that can be difficult to use at times. You won't live for too long, but going higher and higher feels like you're accomplishing with your hard work.
4.5/5

Overall:
Oh boy did I have fun with this one. Expect to finish all your upgrades before you hit 1000 meters, but you'll have fun the entire way. My only complaint? There are a few cheap deaths here and there if you're rushing it too close to the top of the screen, but as long as you take your time and don't get careless, you've got your 30 minutes of fun right here.
4.5/5

Play Diamond Hollow Here!

Daily Flash: Dude and Zombies

Welcome, to the mindless zombie killing that is Dude and Zombies. You are a dude, all by yourself in the twisted woods of nowhere, and zombies are attacking! There's no story, there's no plot, but who cares? This is action zombie survival at it's finest.

Presentation:
The game has a very distinct art style. Pixilated backgrounds, enemies, weapons, it all works together perfectly to create an amusing and fresh aesthetic. The game UI is simple, and very easy to pick up, any veteran to games will quickly understand everything without any explanation.
5/5

Gameplay:
Guns that felt great, tight controls, an excellent difficulty curve even if it's a bit easier than I'd like, the game just feels... great! There is a leveling system, and you can buy new guns as you go along, and as long as you are smart with your skills and money, you'll do fine. I shot zombies, birds, and rabbits, and I loved it. My only complaint is that there's no "Skip to next wave" button. Yes, the chain gun is over powered, and makes the game a simple mowing down of zombies, but after I put in the hard work to get it, that's all I want from it.
4.5/5

Overall:
The game is very similar to another older flash game, Balloon in a Wasteland. Maybe I'll do a review on it later, but if you play both games there's one thing that Dude and Zombies wins out in spades, and that's simplicity and style. In the 15 minutes it took me to play this game to completion, I loved almost every moment of it. The later waves took longer to spawn than it took for me to kill, but the guns and killing felt so good I didn't care. And you know what? That's what's important. I cannot stress how important it is for games to feel good, and Dude and Zombies does this perfectly.
4.8/5

Play Dude and Zombies Here!

Daily Flash: Mechanical Commando 2

Today's flash game is Mechanical Commando 2! It was the featured game for Kongregate today, so why not let it be the first flash game for our daily quick review?

Mechanical Commando is your run of the mill top-down shooter who puts you as some regular guy, who happens to come upon an abandoned Mech laying in a warehouse. Why it has the keys to the ignition in there, who knows. The story doesn't really draw you in or ask you to connect with the hero, lets be honest here, we came to play a shooter and I don't remember the last time I stopped before playing Contra and actually asked what was going on. The story is just there to put you in a war zone, and give you a reason for slaughtering the thousands of people you are going to be killing. And killing we shall.

Presentation:
The game looks good, but lacks any distinct art style that sets it apart from other giant mech games. At times, the camera feels too zoomed in, and you can only see far enough to care about the 4-5 guys on the screen at a time. Bodies, footprints, and explosions stay on the map forever, which is a nice touch, but if you have an older PC be prepared to turn the quality to low to keep up with all the giblets being left on the floor. The aesthetics work, but they never pop.
3.5/5

Gameplay:
There's plenty of people to kill in this game, and I mean plenty of things to kill. Unfortunately, you don't get much variation in a top-down shooter when you basically have: infantry, stationary turret, flyer, robot, and large robot. The boss fights play just like any other enemy, but with a larger health pool and more bullets all over the place. The levels are longer than necessary, and incredibly repetitive. The game is tough, I couldn't make it through the second main story line level without going to do a side stage to get enough exp to make it through. It's not a hard game to play, but the health packs are few and far apart, and when you have several thousand bullets to dodge, they eventually whittle you down. It also doesn't help that if you die, you don't gain any exp for your hard work, and must start the level all over again from scratch.
2.5/5

Overall:
The game is boring and slow. You get new weapons, but all the ones I experienced played exactly the same, but with variations in speed in power. The game was fun for the first fifteen minutes, but the repetitiveness of the enemies and boring level design just couldn't keep me interested. Play the game to see what it's like, but don't expect it to keep you hooked til the end.
3/5

Play Mechanical Commando 2 Here!