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[SnoutUp]

Good day, everyone!

Play latest version here: http://snoutup.itch.io/shurican

Been an user for a while, never got enough courage to post anything and now I'm going to try it with a pretty risky project. The risk comes from the fact that I'm working on a base of well known and hated game mechanics, which is mid-air jumping.

So, it's called Shurican and it's a single button/tap controlled side-scrolling game with a variety of dynamic obstacles and some emphasis on fighting. Mobile oriented, but I'm having a free & full Windows version too.

Still experimenting with controls and possible abilities my character can use, but in the current version there are:

* upwards slash added to the jump
* downwards slash (tap, hold until upwards slash animation ends, release), which adds a knock back useful fighting melee enemies
* shuriken throw (double tap)
* character strikes can block melee enemy weapons

Latest gameplay GIF showing unlockable character, weapon and a bit more slaughter:


Gameplay trailer (outdated):



Browser & Windows: http://gamejolt.com/games/arcade/shurican/29177/

Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.snoutup.shurican
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/shurican/id895045580?ls=1&mt=8 (will be updated soon)

This project started in FuckThisJam gamejam, where the theme was to make a game of genre you don't like. Since the result was better than expected, I decided to keep working on it.

Any feedback & critique would be great! If I should add anything more to my post - let me know.

[Quicksand-S]

Well, I got bored/annoyed after about a minute and a half but that's because I'm not a big fan of this sort of game. I really thought I'd enjoy it when I saw the GIFs, though.

I think my main issue is that the game starts out like a Flappy Meat Boy game and doesn't add enemies for a few screens. By then, I was already disappointed that there was so little combat, since the moves you mention in your post weren't even being used.

Strangely, I also didn't feel any excitement. Super Meat Boy wasn't my type of game either, but I at least felt tense. Maybe the character should speed up as they move through the level? I'm not sure.

Personally, I also wish there were checkpoints in the normal mode. For endless, it makes perfect sense to see how far you can get before dying. In the normal mode, though, I found the first level much longer than my "Do I really want to play through all that again?" limit.

The controls work really well. I think the shuriken could be made to show up a bit more, and the fire shouldn't cover up the Music button, but overall I think the game is artistically and technically quite well made. I'm interested to see what fans of flappy games or meat-boy-like games will think of it.

[SnoutUp]

Sorry, it took me so long to respond - I was "offline" for a week.

So, thank you for great feedback! While, of course, it might be "not your thing", all points you made are very valid and I'll take them in to consideration while making new level.

Since a couple of problems arise from challenge level, I should note that it was a level made during the gamejam, so it is quite a long one on purpose & has no enemy types, which were added later. I left it unchanged as a nod to early players. I'm also a fan of presenting new challenges gradually, so that new player won't be bombarded by various obstacles, yet, I get that this way the presentation of the "fighting" side of the game is lacking.

My next step will be making a set of shorter level set with hand-positioned obstacles, so that should solve the need of checkpoints and I will be able to make it more tense, since there will be less need to give player a break in between trap-clusters. I'll try to work on enemy AI/boss fights to add more to the "fighting" part of the game, too.

Well, I got bored/annoyed after about a minute and a half but that's because I'm not a big fan of this sort of game. I really thought I'd enjoy it when I saw the GIFs, though.

I think my main issue is that the game starts out like a Flappy Meat Boy game and doesn't add enemies for a few screens. By then, I was already disappointed that there was so little combat, since the moves you mention in your post weren't even being used.

Strangely, I also didn't feel any excitement. Super Meat Boy wasn't my type of game either, but I at least felt tense. Maybe the character should speed up as they move through the level? I'm not sure.

Personally, I also wish there were checkpoints in the normal mode. For endless, it makes perfect sense to see how far you can get before dying. In the normal mode, though, I found the first level much longer than my "Do I really want to play through all that again?" limit.

The controls work really well. I think the shuriken could be made to show up a bit more, and the fire shouldn't cover up the Music button, but overall I think the game is artistically and technically quite well made. I'm interested to see what fans of flappy games or meat-boy-like games will think of it.

[SnoutUp]

I would like to bump this post, since Shurican got quite a bit of updates recently. Most importantly, 8 new mini-levels were added, which have a couple of new obstacles (volcanoes & fire circles) as well as some old obstacles behaving differently (speed, angle changes).

It also got a boss level! And was released to iTunes (currently only 5 levels are there, others are waiting for approval).

[porousnapkin]

Fun game! I love the boss level. It's where the game seems to sing the most. I'd enjoy playing more levels like that. I like the challenge of using one input for multiple things (deflecting, blocking, throwing shurikens, hitting, and attacking). The general Flappy Bird style action of the game is pretty simple and easy, but it's made more interesting having to deal with other components of the game simultaneously.

It feels a bit like a Shmup. As such, I think it'd do great with an over-the-top aesthetic. For one, I think if you scrolled the fire on the bottom and the top it would look much better. You could also put a second copy of the fire offset a bit overlayed on the current fire and scroll it at a different speed. That would make it seem like the flames are animating more and are more lively (for a pretty minimal amount of effort). Pickups and boosts of various sorts would also help sell over-the-topness of the aesthetic. If enemies dropped points you had to pick up, it could add more cool visual clutter to the screen. If pickups gave you temporary boosts, you could build levels around them (something common in shmups). For instance, a powerup where every jump shoots a shurkien could be followed by a hail of fireballs.

I think the game would look cooler if you did shmup style level layouts as well. In those games, enemies and obstacles often appear in sort of dance / ballet type movement pattern that adds visual splendor to the game. The rotating choppers, in comparison, just feel a little tame and unexciting. Enemies moving on a sine wave would give a similar sort of difficulty, but I think might look and feel cooler.

It's neat to see this mechanic in a more level structured setup. Most games like this use randomized levels. I agree with Quicksand that it feels punitive. To compare it again to shmups, it's common in those games to have 3 lives, and the ability to gain more if you're doing really well. This makes longer levels feel less punitive because you feel like you could pull it off if you're amazing. Also, a greater emphasis on points might allow you to make surviving the levels easier while mastering them more difficult. It gives a good play area for players at all skill levels.

[debugchicken]

Wow I really like this game. I mean, for a free, quick play game. Gave 4 on gamejolt.

But I guess the animations could use some work. For example, the fireball is just a sprite, it should be an animation.
The top and bottom... "fire" are static as well.
I don't really like this drawing style, looks too much cheap, flash-ish.
FPS display is also unnecessary.
And I would tottaly name it: Black ninja fights the devil!

[SnoutUp]

After a long break I got back to working on this game and following new things are now available:

* more new levels
* unlockable characters
* unlockable weapons
* level with environmental enemy kills
* nicer feeling fighting mechanics
* background objects to make levels look better
* more sounds
* changed flames a little bit

It would be great to hear what you think about it now and what else could I add to improve it further.