I'm Lavan' It

Burning Tide is a game created by ijam

This game has a central mechanic that involves lava. With that said, I now ask that you look back up at the title. Commence giggling.........cease giggling. Alright, now that I have given you fair chance to enjoy my pun, I welcome you to my 10th review. I hope you enjoy the show, please hold on to your loose items, hats, sunglasses, and other accessories. Keep hands and feet inside at all times and do not divert your attention with other media. So now off we go!

What I have in store for you today is a review on Burning Tide. Burning Tide is a PPG platformer game created by ijam, a user who has been on the site for a while, created a whole lot of games, but has never taken off in popularity. So let's jump into his game library and see what he has to offer with this simplistic platforming game!

Burning Tide revolves around one basic concept and never strays too far away from said concept. In every level, you are tasked with obtaining 3 coins. These coins sit nearby on easy to access platforms, but you sit atop a tide of lava that is constantly rising and falling due to the many moons orbiting the planet you have unfortunately been pulled into, and thus the coins are covered by lava every couple of seconds. Because of these adverse conditions, you can only safely move under the highest points of the level for brief periods of time before returning to high ground for safety from the raging tide of lava. It sounds like a jolly good time. And it is. Sort of.

This game's fundamental problem is its lack of variety. Sure its graphics are the most basic graphics possible, but just because extra work was not put into the graphics doesn't mean it didn't have the potential to be a great game. But it failed to be a great game. Instead, it falls flat on its face due to a lack of creative ideas. The only things added to the game are very basic baddies, and platforms that move with the lava. ijam was on the right track for one level, in which there was no light, and you had to use both trial and error, and moving spotlights in order to make out the platforms in the stage and safely retrieve the coins. This level was the highlight of the game, as it finally spiced things up a little bit.

I would've loved to see more time put into crafting interesting levels for this game. The mechanic itself is nothing special, pretty simple, and easy to execute. But this basic mechanic could have been so much more. There could've been moving enemies, platforms that move independently of the lava, switches to trigger lava motion, a stage where lava is coming from the sides, there could've been so much more here. It just feels like a sort of tech demo to me though, a lazily put together game that is polished, but just missing a lot.

The Wrap-Up

Burning Tide is a fun game the first time you play it, but it just doesn't have enough creativity in it to stand out at all. It is polished, and does what it does do well. But it just doesn't do much, and feels like an empty experience. It has a minor challenge, but the challenge is far too repetitive.

Rating: 28.745/100

I use a super-secret and amazing formula in order to rate games, check it out!

http://forums.sploder.com/index.php/topic,371010.msg4449809.html#msg4449809

Worth Playing: Yes, it is mildly enjoyable the first time through, and is an okay platforming experience for someone itching for a new, decent platformer to try out.

Feature Worthy: No, it is too short, not original enough, and not fun enough.

Did you like this game? Check this one out!

http://www.sploder.com/games/members/ijam/play/freezing-tide/

This is the sequel to Burning Tide, in which you are in danger of freezing to death. I haven't played the whole thing, but if you enjoyed Burning Tide at all, then definitely take a look at this because it is the same basic concept.