Hi zRev!
I had fun with this.
I won't comment on the collision issues, since you seem to be aware.
Before I get to gameplay, I will make one graphics-related comment: I would like the "speed up" and "slow down" options to have more fitting/obvious icons. I had no idea that "lightning bolt" meant "speed up" or "brown hand" meant "slow down" until I tried them. What if, for example, "speed up" became a rocket icon? When you activate it, the little astronaut guy gets a rocket (jetpack) on his back and he lunges forward. In this case, the action (activating the rocket item) clearly corresponds to the feedback (player literally gets a rocket and increases speed).
Anyway, this is a nice mechanic, and I think you can do a lot with it. Being able to place items well in advance allows the player to build up a strategy and watch it play out moments later. The existing items complement the obstacles and add to the difficulty: the green teleportation device can get you over some obstacles but you have to time them properly to dodge spike obstacles; the ladder is a bit safer to use to get over some obstacles, but you pay for that safety in a loss in speed. Adding more obstacles and corresponding items can make this game very interesting.
One idea I had while playing: what if you added pitfall obstacles? If the player falls through one, they will fall into the track below them. In that case, you will have to control two characters or more characters on the same track. If they fall through the bottom track, they would die (obviously). To combat this, you could use your green teleportation device to hop over the pitfall or you can add a bridge item. Just an idea.
One thing you might want to be careful with is pacing. When I first started the game I was a bit overwhelmed. Managing three tracks at once at the current scrolling speed while trying to figure out the items is a bit much. Instead, maybe you could start the player out with one just one track at a slightly slower speed, and as they progress you can add more tracks/items/obstacles/speed. Later in the game you could even have tracks that move at different speeds or tracks with entirely different visuals to really screw up the player.
Anyway, I hope that feedback helps in some way. Good work!
Thank you so much for the feedback! It really means a lot to me that you took the time to write this up!
The graphics are something I certainly need to improve on, but I like the idea of a rocket/jetpack/booster, it's something I will have to look into drawing.
I was planning on adding pitfalls where if you fell you die, but I like your idea 5000x better! I will definitely add this into the game
As for pacing, this was designed to incorporate a lot of concepts so it's quite a bit harder than what I imagine the starting levels will be. I'm thinking about starting with 1 player and adding more as the levels progress (obviously making the level designs harder as you progress as well).
Once again, thank you very much for your feedback it is greatly appreciated!!
Developer
