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[LiamBarden]

Hey guys. This is my first ever fully completed game (made with Game Maker 8 ) and I'm pretty proud of it.

Its a hybrid 'rhythm-action platformer' that really is easier to show people than to explain, so the game link is here:

http://www.yoyogames.com/games/121764-ninjammin-beat-jitsu
(if you have the Instantplay plugin you can play this in your browser)

Or watch a youtube trailer here:



The Story: In a dystopian, government ruled future a dude known only as 808 is visited by his late great-great-grandfather, Roland - whom besttows upon him awesome powers over the ancient martial art Beat-jitsu
But before 808 had a chance to understand what was going on, the elite govt robot task force was sent after him.

The game has done pretty well on yoyogames.com - i won second place in their recent competition - so I figured i should try and spread the word a little.

Game by Liam Barden
Music by Jono Oliver
Voices by Jack Lloyd

[Dim_Yimma_H]

It seems very promising, you must be good with graphics, seeing from the screenshots. Gonna download. Wow, exciting.

Edit:
People should play this, spectacular stuff, really. The audiovisual presentation is brilliant. Rap - that was an unexpected one, cool.

The timing of key presses is not very forgiving, but I like playing it. I dunno if it could be less forgiving and still fun, it depends on the player.

By the way, what are we slicing, statues? Cool slicing by the way.

How long did you work on this? Sources of inspiration?

[LiamBarden]

Slicing? Well the things you fight are some kind of funky robot but the game moves so fast its often hard to tell
It took me exactly 3 months to make, from when the competition was announced to the deadline. That rap was actually a last minute addition when we discovered we had a day or 2 to spare - i think it paid off pretty well
As for inspiration, the idea was to make a PSP game so it was games like Patapon and LocoRoco that inspired me visually. Im not really sure where the gameplay idea came from though, probably an obscure dream i've long forgotten

[Dim_Yimma_H]

After playing through the story, I can say that the colors of the arrows start to help, making my attempts more fluid as they appear from the screen edges. I must admit my first playthrough was pretty dodgy. But wow this is so cool! I'm currently trying to find secrets in the first levels - they are pretty well hidden.

I was also thinking the game resembles of No More Heroes somewheres but I haven't really played that one though so I'm basically guessing from what I heard.

[fraxcell]

Sweet. The presentation is really kickass. I found it pretty hard, and I think the main difficulty of the gameplay comes from not being able to see upcoming arrows before you get to them. Like when you're playing DDR or Guitar Hero, you can see the notes scrolling in from the bottom or top of the screen, but here you have a very limited view.
Perhaps an easier (more forgiving) difficulty might help some people?

Anyway, I can't wait to see what you make next.

[Skofo]

Lovin' the style.

[UltimateWalrus]

This game is pretty rad!  It's a cool idea and the style is amazing.  Very well-executed.

[LiamBarden]

Thanks guys, im glad you all liked it 

@ninjutsu63
I'm actually currently working on a (hopefully, much improved) sequel. Im trying to give the player more control over the character to make the game less like a series of quick-time events, but also make it more syncronised with the beat at the same time. I have a basic prototype working and things are looking good so far.

[SunnyKatt]

This game is awesome, even though I'm so terrible I couldn't hardly make it past the first level.

(Yeah, I bumped it just to say that)

[reetva]

Roland and 808, eh? 

Seriously, though, this is good stuff.  I anticipate the sequel. 

[cactus]

Cool presentation! Well done, man. I'm impressed

[shockedfrog]

This is quite a (genuine) coincidence - I had a somewhat similar idea (though I saw it more as platformer meets Road Avenger) by the name of Action 808, where 808 was the spy codename of Bob, my placeholder art stickman turned hero. Anyway, this is infitely more fun and stylish than it would ever have been. I just noticed this topic's from a couple of months ago, I'm amazed this hasn't got more attention.

[Dim_Yimma_H]

It has a good amount of downloads, but it can probably reach even more players with its nice style.

Im trying to give the player more control over the character to make the game less like a series of quick-time events, but also make it more syncronised with the beat at the same time.

I tend to look alot at the visual indicators of when to press, I think I ran into some arrows I missed where it felt like the detection was slightly time-based, maybe the visuals can help more too.