Minigame Prototypes

I guess I'll write down my experience with each game. For context, I'm in my 20s and have never played an Atari 2600 game in-person, but I do respect old-school games and have enjoyed plenty of Namco arcade and G&W games.

Troid: Good opener, easy to understand and play, but seems a bit too easy to avoid the junk, with no variation in junk size or speed.

Kartrak: I love top-down driving games, so this was fun. I agree that gear shifting should be more noticeable, and sometimes it felt like the car would hit the walls when it looked like it would have avoided them just fine. But I like the controls overall.

Plonk: I tried adjusting the ball's launch direction by moving up/down on impact, but it looks like the hit trajectory is fairly static (I know there's an issue with getting the ball rolling or something, so hopefully this is improved). It was cool hitting the ball as it progressively got faster and started moving at sharper angles. Of course, it's better to control this game with a paddle controller, but the key controls are still good.

272 Pickup: I like having more control with the ball's trajectory by using the sloped sides of the paddle to hit it, but I wish I could move a little faster, especially once the ball starts speeding up.

Overtake 74: The speed-up mechanic feels overpowered; even if I crash into something every second, I'd still earn more points maxing out the speed, which makes the slower speeds feel pointless. A good concept, but the single viable strategy oversimplifies this one.

Barracuda Bite: I like games with a constant threat, so the concept's rad. In execution, I like it but have issues with the barracuda's movements, specifically how it can go off-screen for a second. Simple, but fun for a playthrough.

Smasheroo: The rapid speed of the ball felt more annoying here since I couldn't reach the ball fast enough once it got really fast. Adjustments to either player or ball speed are needed.

Hit 'N Run: The control text didn't load in completely for me, but using the controls of Kartrak made things easy to learn. I like the goblins' ability to change their movement angle, but it happens too frequently for me, making catching them annoying at times. I also hate how the goblins move faster when moving diagonally. Still a nice time. It's cool that goblin tombstones can stop both the player and goblins. But, I wish the player could go through the goblin when first running them over to maintain a quick pace.

Balloonatic: I like the indication of how many balloons you have, and the varying speed of the birds makes things more interesting. However, some birds move way too fast to even consider catching, which makes them feel pointless beyond occasionally getting lucky from hitting a spawning bird. I definitely wish the balloons rose faster, or that maybe the balloons could be inflated more before being released to speed up their ascension.

Periscope Depth: Having the mines respawn after what felt like every other reload was annoying, but I had fun trying to judge the right launch times to hit the ships. Moving the cursor and firing was simple and fun.

Creeper: Not much can beat a classic game of snake, but the speed-up mechanic makes things even more fun. My favorite game for sure, although at some point the speed goes way too fast after picking up another item. I barely registered where I was heading before I rammed into the wall. Besides that, a great time.

Keepie Uppie: Like with Smasheroo, after enough bouncing the ball moves too fast to catch, which makes getting a super high score feel impossible. The timer also seems unnecessary, since the score is reset whenever the ball falls. Good idea, but needs more balancing.

Four Score: Reminds me of Crash Bash Ballistix minigames. Despite issues with ball speed, including times where the ball would start moving really slow before being bounced, I still had fun trying to stay alive. Was the most excited game of the bunch. Although, I am sad that I didn't get a victory screen after winning :(

Pistolero: The sudden respawning of obstacles again vexes me, and the invisible barrier in the center confused me, but this game caught my attention with how unique it was. Using l and p is not ideal, but I'm not great with comfortable keyboard control schemes so I'm unsure how to make that feel better without just using a controller.

Minoan: Nice gameplay at the start, but running into walls with any speed and stopping completely because of that annoyed me. I also agree that the minotaur is way too fast after going through enough mazes, further worsened by wall collisions when trying to move as fast as possible.

Grundy Goblins: At some point my goblin's gravity was reversed and it started falling towards the ceiling and never reached the trampoline again. Ignoring that, the concept is funny but the trampoline aspect could be expanded slightly more, since right now it feels like breakout but now with a wait time before it reaches the blocks above.

Overall, I like these again, but I'm only tempted to replay like 1-2 in the future. They still feel mostly good to play, and as supplements to a visual novel, they can add a lot of emotional appeal and engagement depending on the story and tone. Also, I know visuals aren't a worry right now, but I wanted to say that all these games greatly replicate the era they're inspired by, so I don't see a need to overhaul the visuals if the goal's to mimic Atari 2600 games.

Nice work, I'm excited to see the visual novels aspects.