[MR] Fun With Lawn Mowers. (My First MR Review.)

Enigma is a game created by moolatycoon

This is Miracle Reviews, where we might just see a Miracle Game!

Game: Enigma

Maker: Molatycoon

Type: Adventure/Puzzle

Prethoughts

Moolatycoon is a very good friend of mine, and makes the most amazing games. His Most recent on, Enigma, Really caught my eye. It was kinda labeled with a sticker that said, "Ohai, my name is Enigma. Review me." And I thought, Hmm? Who else would be better to review it? And since Moola had helped me through most of the game anyways, I knew quite a bit about it. On top of all of this, Moola has been pestering me for a while now to review it anyways. So, I cut my losses and went back to the old grindstone. This game is a one leveled plat, eight-bit style to cut the lag. The thumbnail shows the beginning block, (#119)

and a commonly used crusher puzzle in which you have to figure out some way to get out of the room before the crusher kills you. There is a very exposed life that should be easy to get, and a simple jumping over lava bit in which you can choose what way you would like to go. Sounds simple, right? Now look at the thumbnail. It's like when a lawn mower runs over a Barbie. It sounds like something that would end badly, but it's actually usually a nice clean cut and has no damage to the lawn mower at all.

...Okay, admittedly that was a bad comparison, but what I mean to say is it sounds bad on paper, but ends up being really good anyways. Come with me as I venture through this game and run over toys with lawn mowers... It's going to be a wild ride.

Gameplay

This game was spectacular. Everything was well planned out and often served another purpose later. For example, at one part near the beginning, you must push a crate out of the way to get to a(couple)switch(es). However, Later in the game, you can push it over to an area made of hot blocks (So you can't wall jump) that has a wall

to high to jump over, so that you can get over the wall and get a key. There are several instances like this where the same item or area is used multiple times during the game. There was one single but deadly flaw in the game though. It pretty much ruined the path you where meant to follow, and allowed you to do things out of order. This is kind of comparable to taking a piece of road and then move it 40 miles away, and then trying to drive a golf cart through this are. That goes over about as well as a lawn mower over a brick. (Yes, when a lawn mower runs over a brick, that is bad.) It's a horrible flaw. Remember the hotblock area I was telling you about? Yes, the part where you must jump over a high wall using a crate. Well, you can clear it just

by jumping. JUST BY JUMPING. This completely throws off the rhythm of the game. If the path is broken like this, you can't walk it. There is another instance like this one in which you must jump up a upright corridor to get to a (seemingly) unreachable group of stairs. Once you get the whip powerup, you can hurdle it easily. However, with the use of an already provided powerup, (coughswordcough) you can get up with ease and hit the switch at the top. These divots missing from the road have caused even the greatest of players to stumble. I could only pass using the creator's help. The decoration was pretty simple and consisted of a few main elements. Like I said before, he used the starter block. He also used colored tiles (Pink) for the Bust tiles, which made stood out to me positively as much as lawn mower running over colored tissue paper. (Yes, high velocity pieces of colored paper amuse me. Got a problem with that?) It's an interesting idea I haven't ever seen before. The form of decoration I found most interesting was all of the NPCs. NPCs are the things that talk to you but don't do anything else. Usually, they are used to inform, intimidate, tell a story, or some other purpose. The thing about this that shocked me more than a lawn mower running over a car battery was... These served absolutely no purpose. They were just lighthearted beings endeavoring on, mainly, being stupid and talk1ng in th3r n00b labguag just li3kthes. It made a funny atmosphere, a comedic one. (Although after playing the game for a while, I felt they were mocking me...) I dare you to find a single feature worthy that incorporates comedy. You will fail. Now is when I would go over enemy placement, but I don't really remember many. To be honest, I only remember a single ninja placed near a crusher. It was enclosed in a little area where it can release its anger management issues by throwing ninja stars into your stubby legs. Other than that, I remember nothing. However, the game was hard enough with the absence because of the severity of the puzzles. There was one in which you had to cross a lake of lava, trying to figure out how to get around several persistent obstacles. Another when you must break weak blocks on the ceiling. Yet another where you have to maneuver a crate through a series of pits and walls made of switches, turning them on and off to get the crate to the end, only to realize you must push it back. The diversity and simplicity of these puzzles impressed me. Another thing that impressed me is the kind of game this is. There are some games that are only for "True Gamers" (too hard for your average Joe) and games for "MS Noobs" (Although our MS friends love them for their artistic details, they aren't sophisticated enough for the "True Gamers") Shooting the middle is about as rare as running over a piece of cheese with a lawn mower and having it come out in a single piece. (For you dolts that don't like my lawn mower analogies, "Once in a blue moon). Now I've played some of these games, this one included, and they are usually addictive because you die for trivial reasons, and you say to yourself you can avoid that next time, and you try again. (And repeat. Several times.) Some may describe this as "addictive", but for now we can use the scientific form (Makes you want play it moar). Now, for the summaries.

Pros: Simple Decoration, Good placement in all categories, charming NPCs, good puzzles, standard traps, fabulous design, great path to follow despite considerable vanished road chunks, great design and execution.

Cons: Lack of enemies, Hotblock walls meant to be unjumpable but are as penetrable as a

Balsa wood door after you run it over with a pawn mower.

Conclusion

Block placement/Decoration

Enemy Placement:

Puzzles/Traps:

Fun:

Final Score: 18/20

This game is definitely feature worthy and has earned a place in my heart as one of my favorite games, right next t...

-Lawn Mower runs over Stanley-