A Collection Of Arcadelike Minigames

Review by nitrogendioxide on Saturday, January 16th 2016

Right off the bat; in the intro, the buttons on the controller are misaligned and the font is frankly absurd. But, it admittedly doesn't look bad; so, I'm optimistic.

This, unfortunately, may have been the wrong impression.

Firstly, I'd like to recommend using the 'help' section of your game to give some form of instruction if the controls and mechanics aren't very obvious.

In the majority of Minigame Madness, the controls are unclear; something that is so easily avoided, but instead all but one of the levels have no explanation aside from the default Sploder graphics showing which buttons are functional, of which in most cases is not sufficient.

I'm not against having a bit of writing to lead the player through a game, and, in this case, to provide some light-heartedness; no, that's quite nice, and I think Minigame Madness' little comments aren't awful, but it can't hurt to explain things as well. Please make your games' controls very clear. Now, moving on.

The gameplay is very poor.

You'd think that if someone were to recycle numerous unoriginal concepts, that they'd at least execute them well. This is not the case with this title, and specific levels can provide testament to this.

For example, level 5/the space invaders level. It's brain-dead easy; it offers no challenge whatsoever. You are given the option to repeatedly fire projectiles that will essentially create a column of death for the space invaders, of which are given zero chance to pass through it and end up dying until you last through the stage timer. That's it. There is absolutely no variety in the enemies, the stage, nor the character; what you'll be facing in the first couple of seconds is what you'll be facing for the entire level.

This is extremely dull, and this isn't even the worst.

Before I go on, I'd like to mention the aesthetic of the game. It's simple; pretty decent honestly. There were a few inconsistencies and questionable textures, but the only real issue I have with it (aside from those just mentioned) is the warm colour scheme that's repeated a couple of times. Otherwise, the game looks ok.

Unfortunately, it's back to negatives. Briefly skimming through the levels, there are a few things I'd like to comment on;

Level 2 (matching characters' colours with blocks) | Actually, I thought this was one of the stronger ones. I feel like it has potential to be a game on its own with more mechanics and variation. I could see a restriction on moves and a more turn-based approach being quite strategical and enjoyable. It's at least nice that Kidney/Kai started off his game decently.

Level 3 (simultaneous dual character obstacles) | Lacks an explanation, and could use one, albeit it's not too complex. Not awful, but bland.

Level 4 (blocking waves of projectiles) | I absolutely hated this level. It's essentially trial and error and makes for a frustrating experience. It's lazy and also lacks explanation.

Level 5 (space invaders) | I've already mentioned how I dislike this space invaders-like stage. Incredibly uniform and boringly easy.

Level 6 (reflex jumping) | The timing was nice and successfully catching the coins is really quite satisfying. But, again, as is the trend, 'Coin Catcher' is very stale and has very little to offer.

Level 7 (simultaneous dual character obstacles) | Not too shabby. Like level 2, I see how this could evolve. Thankfully, this level has both an explanation and a comment, unlike the others.

Level 8 (labyrinth with death walls) | Unfortunately, this level was frankly an agonising waste of time, especially after a couple of deaths. It was infuriating. The controls are simply not tight enough, and because the level requires some sort of precision, this is a huge downside.

Closing image | Even in this there's a purple strip to the right of a dark purple strip, of which is clearly unintentional considering a rainbow pattern is supposed to be formed from left to right. You can't be serious.

Sadly, I think this last scene somewhat represents the game as a whole - it goes for simple concepts, but unfortunately still struggles to pull them off. I do like the idea of a compilation of minigames, but this one was simply not executed well in being incredibly bland, unpolished and unoriginal. The only praise I can give it is that the levels are short, so that at least there's some excitement and fun to be had in quickly experiencing a variety of minigames, albeit stale ones.

I assume this game was featured to show off the concept of a game consisting of many little ones. I do think there is a lot of potential there.

Nevertheless, games such as Minigame Madness need to have less dullness and more polish. Preferably consistent originality as well.

--

An at best mediocre game by Kidney/Kai. Nice overall idea, poor execution.

Edit: spacing modifications