Wednesday 31 August 2011

Those In the Know: Super Drill Panic

There's an old adage that you should stick to what you're good at. That's why when a good game comes out reviewers will often look at the developers pedigree.
There is nothing worse than some fly by night programmer wannabe that has no love nor understanding for videogames clogging up the market with his soulless products.
It's not often that Gametrender will deviate from it's usual informed and educated perspective to absolutely say how Earth shatteringly brilliant a single game is. Well ladies and gentlemen this is one of those occasions!
Orange Pixel is the developer in question and their love of gaming and sense of fun exudes from every pore of their new game " Super Drill Panic  ". Taking the simple template of the vertical runner genre, you know the type, where an object/character drops onto different platforms and is steered left and right while the screen slowly descends, if the screen catches up it's game over.
Well this is where Orange Pixels' game stands out. Firstly there is a story behind it, with an adventurer crashing in the jungle and blundering through hidden temples in pursuit of treasure. The gameplay is also spot on, with no glitches and also some great retro inspired graphics.
The point where the game starts to become better then it's peers is when you realise that there is more than one level and even a shop to buy upgrades such as run faster boots. Then to make it even better there are great unlockable extras like arcade mode and even a whole new character and story!
But what really shone out for me was the games personality which shows how the developers actually care intimately about games. The little touch of the character dropping references to classic past titles like Paperboy and Rick Dangerous it's not only hilarious but also filled me with nostalgia and made me realise what a great heritage games have.
Orange Pixel, games by gamers for gamers, and that makes all the difference! 

2 comments:

Like us? Then say So!