Arcade Potential At Its Finest.

The Battle For Moaria is a game created by thatfrenchyguy

Introduction

Hey, this is Demonxz95 back doing another review. I feel like I've been doing reviews all the time but I really wanted to review this game as soon as I completed it yesterday. That being, said, we're (or should I say "I'm") doing a review of The Battle For Moaria, which is yet another Retro Arcade game but I simply love this creator and it deserves more attention in my opinion. This game is by one of my best friends on Sploder, thatfrenchyguy, also known as bluecat2012. I must say that he is quite talented with this creator. This was first feature and hopefully his most recently published game, Darude Sandstorm will be his second. Another good reason to make a review is because a sequel is in progress.

Review

Where do I begin with this review, there is so much to talk about. Let's start with the thumbnail. One thing some Arcades lack is a really eye-catching thumbnail. This game manages to make that. It's full of scenery, a nice background, fair share of enemies and coins which give the thumbnail even more scenic value. In all honesty, this is possibly the best thumbnail I've seen so far in an Arcade game.

Lots of people criticize Arcade games because all of them have the exact same story and gameplay. This isn't true to be honest. I do see where people are coming from when they say that but let's look at the storyline for this game. The story explains that the character is a theft working in a prison camp when him and his prison mates hear that someone is threatening the land of Mauria (Moaria is misspelled a few times in this game, but that's fine by me) and you were able to escape your prison camp and are set on an adventure. Sounds cliche but have you ever seen or played an Arcade game about a theft working at prison. I haven't so this game gets points for that too.

The stages in my opinion are very well made. At first, the stages are very good in scenic department but it drops a bit in the Island of Deceit, but after that, it quickly picks up again. Speaking of scenery, thatfrenchyguy makes the custom textures very well and they fit the area perfectly. The game has a good balance of challenging combat and challenging platforming. The game also has fantastic and challenging boss battles which really test your Arcade skills. This game is also filled to the brim with secrets. You'll find a lot of invisible switches to reveal a prize (i.e a treasure chest). Speaking of secrets, there are also 6 secret treasures in this game (7 if you count a certain reward very late in the game), 1 in each world. They're also placed in really tricky spots too. As a lot of Arcade games do, each world has its own style and its own cool gimmicks. The Submerged Hellhole stages are probably my favorite ones because they take place entirely underwater, in which I have only seen that one other time and it is made really well here.

That was a LONG paragraph. Let's try not to do that again. Should we now move on to placement. Placement of enemies are usually pretty well but sometimes, thatfrenchyguy is pretty cruel with the placements. I personally don't have a big problem with that but I know that lots of people do.

This game has a lot of cool sections. One notable one in Island of Deceit 2 which involves jumping on top of flashing barriers. This isn't the first time barriers are used as platforms but they're very rarely used like that. It is a very cruel section (and I think it may be impossible without the double jump). Probably my favorite sections in this game is the start of Submerged Hellhole 2, in which you have to swim and hit switches on top of 2-way platforms in a specific appearing order to destroy a wall of blocks allowing you to pass. Speaking of section in the Submerged Hellhole stages, Submerged Hellhole 1 has a section that I've seen before, using wall shooters in the water to create a timing element. I thought it was so cool, I used it in a stage of One Hit Kevin.

Ratings

It's pretty obvious that this game is awesome and is one that you definitely should try yourselves. While you're at that, try Darude Sandstorm too. I think both games are very well made and deserve attention.

Pros and Cons

Pros

Extremely creative

Addictive

Brilliant thumbnail (especially for an Arcade game)

Exhilarating gameplay

Very scenic

Good mix of platforming and combat

Uses new (or very rarely used) elements of gameplay

Cons

Scenery was sometimes lacking

A few cruel placements (not a big problem for me though)

Conclusion

Overall, this is a very good and enjoyable game you should try out. I think even one who isn't a big fan of this creator will enjoy this game. Thatfrenchyguy is a very talented Arcade creator and his Arcades are definitely worth trying. Thank you for reading my review, Demonxz95 has left the building (for a while until I write my next review).