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Floats Like A Fairy And Stings Like A Truck

  • Addit
  • 03/08/2013 12:15 PM
  • 1930 views


A Game Made By: Ratty524
Created Using: RPG Maker XP
It's A: ACTION PUZZLE Game
That Roughly Takes Around: 30 - 45 Minutes To Complete
And It's A... COMPLETED GAME!!!


'Bout time that Ratty524 got some much needed love around here! With all the amount of projects – and time – that this man has invested into this site, I was wondering when one of his games would see the spotlight eventually (why u no liek goood gamz, RMN?)... And why not!? Tina Of The Stars is definitely one of his bestest creations and an underrated gem to some. I remember playing the demo of this game a few years back during my free time and quite enjoyed it. And hell, I don't even like or play a lot of RMXP games - so this one definitely goes on the “exclusive” pile list. And now that the full version has been completed for quite some time and has been featured on the site, I had to give it the ol' collage try to see that if the final product can deliver the goods! Is it worth your free time to give this game a spin? Let's find out!!!

The Story


"My style is impetuous, my defense is impregnable, and I'm just ferocious. I want your heart! I want to eat your children!"


The game opens up with a quick, but very nicely done overview of the story with pretty pictures: The planet Pix is in trouble! After a menacing dark cloud looms over the planet and all its inhabitants, a strange force of monsters begin to descend upon the planet and capture all the fairy folk that dwell within it. Powerless to stop him and his army, Lord Grimm, the game's main antagonist, begins his full takeover of the planet, just as a young green haired maiden hurries to deliver a plea of help to the stars for assistance in battling this great evil just before she is captured. Her prayers are soon answered by a young space traveler by the name of Tina, who just so happened to be in the vicinity of the area at the time. As she gazes upon the distress call that's coming from Planet Pix, she soon sets a landing course, and begins to lace up her boxing gloves for a battle against the forces of darkness as she attempts to free the weak and helpless fairy folk from the forces of the evil Lord Grimm and his minions.

Although the story for this type of game really isn't that important to the overall experience (I mean, does anybody remember the story for the original Pacman), I'm still glad Ratty524 decided to put something in there and give us something of a plot. It's nice to see him going the extra little mile to give the world and characters some more of a presence and create a goal for the player to rescue all of Tina's fairy friends and see to it that they are safe. I personally like the cutesy characters and the story as it has a very Super Adventure Island / Kirby sort of feel to the game's surroundings. After beating the game, it left me wanting to learn more about these cute and cuddly little creatures and hope that one day Ratty524 may decide to continue the story somewhere down the road...

The Gameplay


God damn Boneheads - LEAVE ME ALONE!!!


Tina Of The Stars combines the concept of collecting shiny thing-of-a-jigs, like in Pacman, to give Tina enough strength and energy to go all Mike Tyson and pound her enemies into oblivion in order to complete the level and move on to the next. Simple enough! At the end of each level, you will be given bonus points depending on how much time was remaining at the of a level and how many coins you manage to collect from the fallen enemies after you destroyed them. If you collide with an enemy, Tina will lose a life and you'll have to start back at the beginning of the level.

While the gameplay is simple enough - and fun, while we're at it - I can't help thinking that this game REALLY could have benefited with some additional power-up's to help keep the game a little bit more balanced. While it really didn't seem necessary during the first few levels to add something like that, I really wished that there were some much later towards the end of the game, where more power-up's seemed kind of essential to progress through. For example, you could have a Clock Power-Up to give the player a little bit more time to complete the level; an Invisibility Power-Up to give Tina some additional protection for a brief amount of time; or a Heart Power-up that gives Tina the ability to take an extra hit, or something else like that. These items would have been helpful to making the game balance out a little bit more and keep it more fresh. But to be fair to Ratty524, he did add a few items to help the player out during the game (such as Extra Lives), but I can't help but feel that this game would have been so much more awesome with the addition of a few more items to find and use... Oh well. On the subject of the gameplay, there are occasional Bonus Stages that give you a chance of earning extra lives; and a Checkpoint system to save your progress every two completed levels, which is a nice touch. There is also a Boss Fight at the end of the game (which can be quite difficult at first until you figure out its attack pattern), but it does break up the staleness of the game. Regardless of a lack of power-up's, the gameplay is very simple to learn and very challenging to boot (especially on Levels 5 and 6).

The Soundtrack


I-I was trying to make a dreidel...


Catchy, bouncy, and definitely fitting for the mood, the tunes used for this game definitely fits the score and the setting for a game such as this. A lot of songs came mostly from Bomberman and some of the other Hudsonsoft based games - but that's not to say that's a bad thing! I actually quite enjoyed the soundtrack for this game. I would have liked to have heard something more..."original" seeing that the author mostly used original sprites and art for his game, but I guess that can't be helped; you gotta do what you can do. My favorite track has to be the Space Factory levels at the end because I died so many times there that, that tune just got stuck in my head for so damn long. The sound effects are your typical fare, with nothing too much that stands out. But, nonetheless, this was a good soundtrack that probably could have benefited more with a little bit of originality it in its approach. This probably would have been a good idea to incorporate some freeware songs from various indie artists to give this game more of an identity than just leeching on to Bomberman & Hudson tunes - so it can stand out more. But I'm getting ahead of myself here. Nice job with the OST.

The Aesthetics


I. HATE. THIS. LEVEL. HATE IT!!!


Visually, the game looks STUNNING! All the custom sprites, enemies, and even the tilesets look fantastic and definitely have a cartoonish charm to them that makes this game pleasing on the eyes. The HUD and menu departments, themselves also look great and stand out enough not to be too distracting or get in the way. Easily enough, this is one of the better looking RPG Maker XP projects I have ever seen or played. Very nicely done! Hell, even the animations on the enemies when you're about to clobber them look hilarious and cute. Excellent job, my friend. Excellent job.

The End Result


No, I am not Kirby's GF. Quit asking.


I'm going to admit something here; I was little disappointed at the end of the game and how unbelievably short it was. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoyed the game immensely (and the many, many wonderful times I died on Level 5 and 6 combined! URGHHHHHH!!!) but I felt a bit of emptiness when I finished the game towards the end. Perhaps it was the fact that a part of me believed that this game could have been so much greater if more things were added to the overall package, like more Levels, Power-Up's, Bosses, and the such. And I understand that Ratty524 has worked on a TON of stuff since he started making this game many, many years ago, but that's still no excuse!!! If this game had a lot more to it, this could have been one of the greatest games on RMN that wasn't an RPG! But, alas, I guess the overall result was a pretty good game afterall. I enjoyed my experience with this one. But I can't help but feel that it could have been so much greater...

(Oh, and BTW, Ratty524...)


PUT MY NAME UP IN LIGHTS!!!


OVERALL GRADE:
3.5 / 5 - C+ ~ A Few Quips, But Otherwise A Great Game.

Posts

Pages: 1
Ratty524
The 524 is for 524 Stone Crabs
12986
05/15/2013 12:14 AM
Thanks for the review! It was amusing. xD

I kind of had a "dead" period when it came to game-making, especially with RPG maker. The game would have been done a lot faster, and more people would have been interested in it, had I worked on it a bit more consistently. It took at least 3 years to complete a game you can win in under 30 minutes, something I regret a little.

I'm really glad you were impressed by it, though. I'm definitely considering a sequel in the near future, and your advice on power-ups is something I'll definitely keep in mind.

By the way, your score has been up there since your reply in the comments section. :P
Addit
6394
05/15/2013 10:03 PM
Yeah, I know. I did this review a few months ago but it wasn't accepted until now...

Still, remembering back to this game, I still do quite enjoy it. And I'm glad that you're considering doing a sequel in the future. (Hmmm...is this why lately you need to find some...SNES music for something in particular? Can it be...!?!?!?)

...And Level's 5 & 6 can still bite me.
Ratty524
The 524 is for 524 Stone Crabs
12986
05/16/2013 12:08 AM
author=Addit
Yeah, I know. I did this review a few months ago but it wasn't accepted until now...

Still, remembering back to this game, I still do enjoy it; and I'm glad you're considering doing a sequel in the future (hmmm...is this why, as of late, you need to find some...SNES music for something? Is it possible!?!?!?)

...And Level 5 & 6 can still bite me.

5 and 6 were too hard. :P

I'm actually making an 16-bit style of game right now and I want SNES music to go with it. It's not related to Tina of the Stars, however.
Addit
6394
05/21/2013 09:53 AM
author=Ratty524
I'm actually making an 16-bit style of game right now.

:O

author=Ratty524
It's not related to Tina of the Stars, however.

:(
Pages: 1