Delicious FruitElCochran90's Profile
Send a PMJoined on: Aug 25, 2018
Bio:
About time I updated this bio.
Name: Edgar Cochran
Country: Mexico
Currently living in: Mexico City
-God's servant and one of his blessed sons (John 1:12; John 3:16).
-Lover of the entire animal and plant creation.
-Film lover and reviewer for Letterboxd.com (https://letterboxd.com/elcochran90).
-Adjunct professor and personal tutor of Statistical Inference, Business Forecasting, Marketing Research and Portfolio Theory.
Fangaming experience began in August 2018, so only modest achievements here. However, I'll describe some relevant FAQs here made to me during my stay here since 2018:
Q: Are videogames art?
A: Yes
Q: Are fangames videogames?
A: Yes
Q: Why are your reviews long and unconventional?
A: I am a film reviewer; in a way, I sort of unconsciously dragged my style of film reviewing to the world of fangames. I often involve personal experiences in my writing. Expect that structure; I'm not planning to change it.
Q: How are you rating games? Do you compare fangames as normal games that your ratings are lower than all other people ratings or are you just a critical person?
A: My ratings are not lower than people's ratings all of the time regarding fangames, but they are most of the time. However, this is not my intention. I am rating them as normal games, as in, I don't have a different spectrum for rating "normal", "official" games than fangames. They are in the same scale, because they are all videogames. I don't like to think myself as a critical person; ratings are just subjective numbers. However, I have realized that I rate games more harshly than I rate films/short films, which I do more often.
Q: What are your favorite fangames?
A: I have not played enough fangames to make a comprehensive and representative list, but this can be answered by going to my Favorites list. Anything getting 6.7 or higher will be considered immediately as a favorite.
I've submitted:
381 Ratings!
381 Reviews!
792 Screenshots!
Twitch Stream
Youtube Channel
TwitterReport this user
381 Games
381 Reviews
ElCochran90
For: I Wanna Be the Picture
For: I Wanna Be the Picture
I'll be honest about everything.
There seems to be something special between old Carnival fangames and myself. It's the perfect mixture between mythology, and the three founding fathers of fangaming in different aspects: I Wanna Be the Guy (the original that started it all), I Wanna Be the Fangame! (the classic of classics that retained the spirit of the original and exploited even more possibilites) and I Wanna Be the LoveTrap (close to stopping being a Humanly Impossible game for the true final boss, the Japanese adventure-trap answer to the previous two, the theoretical father of Miku avoidances and its blocks layout: 5 at the left, four at the center, sprite on the right). I think they are the old-school of the good kind. Heaventrap 1 is actually good, and the sequel is not bad at all (favored by many, but I prefer the first adventure).
This one starts in that splendid fashion: you jump into a book, graphics change to something more cartoonish (which is a good thing since it gives you the feeling of being in a child's tale world), you must explore four different worlds to acquire items that actually become useful for other worlds to progress (boring backtrack warning, although it is mostly "healthy"), and gimmicks to explore. It's a fun concept, it's a fun idea, everything seems to be nicey. You can almost forgive (well, not really) the awful traps and the overtly simplistic bosses (Kracko in particular is so lazily made). There's this funny and annoying dark blue section where you have red lasers/lines(?) going left and right which you have to time correctly to get across by jumping into the square of space that keeps oscilating.
Everything is 50 of difficulty tops, until you stumple upon the first avoidance. Well, ok, grindy stuff with unfair RNG at times, but it is a nice final challenge.
Then, beyond your imagination, this game becomes the "no wait, there's more!" nightmare.
LENGTH SPOILERS FROM HERE ON, IF YOU DON'T MIND. I WON'T TAG THEM. NO BOSSES/PLOT SPOILERS.
This is not the final challenge, and I would have been very fine with this being the ending. No. You have to backtrack through the final area and the red laser/line/thingies, and now you have to go through buffed versions of the original worlds! Here, things get annoying, but difficulty wise, expect no more than 60 in difficulty, that is, if you decide to do the buffed avoidance with its eye-piercing yellow tones (image available above) for last. That avoidance is sickeningly difficult and will take you more than half of your playthrough time because of trash walls and roofs that instagib your butt. Final attack in particular is an RNG party so be prepared!
75 in difficulty thanks to this challenge alone. Sorry.
And so, the game comes to an e.... no wait there's more!
Now explore four other repetitive worlds with absolutely nothing special compared to the original ones. Well, nothing except it has underwater diagonals, half diamonds and downward planes... and secrets! This one now has secrets (and this is going to be the source of my BIGGEST complaint, yes, even bigger than the avoidance). The secrets ARE SUPPOSED TO unlock a secret boss after you beat the final boss.
Anyway, before clearing the 4th extra world and doing an unnecessary corner jump I wanted to do anyways, I suddenly realize I can actually go through the wall! Oh, it's a secret! I collect it, clear the 4th extra world and see a pencil icon above the teleporter indicating that I obtained it. Hence, I begin my quest to look for the other items. I find them (one was very tricky to figure out, but finding them is quite obvious). We're done. Let's go with the final(?) boss and clear the extra boss afterwards.
Final boss: it is much, much fairer than the avoidance because it is position based, and once you learn that the first attack (which is repeated twice, sigh) has that logic, you won't have much problem clearing the boss even if, as expected from Heaventrap 1 and 2, has an EX phase, which is actually easier than the first one lol. Cool song, generic fight but kinda epic, so it's a plus sign for the rating.
CREDITS!!!
OMG we have already finished the game.
Press F2.
Select your save.
Go to the spike that has disappeared with the secret items to go to the extra bo.... Why is the spike there???
Why is the freaking spike still there??
-I went through your BS avoidance
-I collected all secret items
-I beat the final boss
What the hell? Was I supposed to play in Hard Mode? (A theory of mine because all videos on YT I desperately sought are played in Hard Mode by Japanese folks). Was I supposed to collect the secret items after the final boss? Or was I supposed to go to the secret area immediately after the secret items because going to the final boss triggers the spike back again?
Anyways, if any of the previous answers apply, then screw this game to hell because I deserve my final extra boss which I have, by now, seen a playthrough in YT with envy without experiencing it with my eyes for the first time to have a notion of what I lost. It looks lovely. I wanna play that And I can't access it. And I did everything.
SCREW YOU, GAME!! I WANNA BE THE PICTURE!
[2] Likes
There seems to be something special between old Carnival fangames and myself. It's the perfect mixture between mythology, and the three founding fathers of fangaming in different aspects: I Wanna Be the Guy (the original that started it all), I Wanna Be the Fangame! (the classic of classics that retained the spirit of the original and exploited even more possibilites) and I Wanna Be the LoveTrap (close to stopping being a Humanly Impossible game for the true final boss, the Japanese adventure-trap answer to the previous two, the theoretical father of Miku avoidances and its blocks layout: 5 at the left, four at the center, sprite on the right). I think they are the old-school of the good kind. Heaventrap 1 is actually good, and the sequel is not bad at all (favored by many, but I prefer the first adventure).
This one starts in that splendid fashion: you jump into a book, graphics change to something more cartoonish (which is a good thing since it gives you the feeling of being in a child's tale world), you must explore four different worlds to acquire items that actually become useful for other worlds to progress (boring backtrack warning, although it is mostly "healthy"), and gimmicks to explore. It's a fun concept, it's a fun idea, everything seems to be nicey. You can almost forgive (well, not really) the awful traps and the overtly simplistic bosses (Kracko in particular is so lazily made). There's this funny and annoying dark blue section where you have red lasers/lines(?) going left and right which you have to time correctly to get across by jumping into the square of space that keeps oscilating.
Everything is 50 of difficulty tops, until you stumple upon the first avoidance. Well, ok, grindy stuff with unfair RNG at times, but it is a nice final challenge.
Then, beyond your imagination, this game becomes the "no wait, there's more!" nightmare.
LENGTH SPOILERS FROM HERE ON, IF YOU DON'T MIND. I WON'T TAG THEM. NO BOSSES/PLOT SPOILERS.
This is not the final challenge, and I would have been very fine with this being the ending. No. You have to backtrack through the final area and the red laser/line/thingies, and now you have to go through buffed versions of the original worlds! Here, things get annoying, but difficulty wise, expect no more than 60 in difficulty, that is, if you decide to do the buffed avoidance with its eye-piercing yellow tones (image available above) for last. That avoidance is sickeningly difficult and will take you more than half of your playthrough time because of trash walls and roofs that instagib your butt. Final attack in particular is an RNG party so be prepared!
75 in difficulty thanks to this challenge alone. Sorry.
And so, the game comes to an e.... no wait there's more!
Now explore four other repetitive worlds with absolutely nothing special compared to the original ones. Well, nothing except it has underwater diagonals, half diamonds and downward planes... and secrets! This one now has secrets (and this is going to be the source of my BIGGEST complaint, yes, even bigger than the avoidance). The secrets ARE SUPPOSED TO unlock a secret boss after you beat the final boss.
Anyway, before clearing the 4th extra world and doing an unnecessary corner jump I wanted to do anyways, I suddenly realize I can actually go through the wall! Oh, it's a secret! I collect it, clear the 4th extra world and see a pencil icon above the teleporter indicating that I obtained it. Hence, I begin my quest to look for the other items. I find them (one was very tricky to figure out, but finding them is quite obvious). We're done. Let's go with the final(?) boss and clear the extra boss afterwards.
Final boss: it is much, much fairer than the avoidance because it is position based, and once you learn that the first attack (which is repeated twice, sigh) has that logic, you won't have much problem clearing the boss even if, as expected from Heaventrap 1 and 2, has an EX phase, which is actually easier than the first one lol. Cool song, generic fight but kinda epic, so it's a plus sign for the rating.
CREDITS!!!
OMG we have already finished the game.
Press F2.
Select your save.
Go to the spike that has disappeared with the secret items to go to the extra bo.... Why is the spike there???
Why is the freaking spike still there??
-I went through your BS avoidance
-I collected all secret items
-I beat the final boss
What the hell? Was I supposed to play in Hard Mode? (A theory of mine because all videos on YT I desperately sought are played in Hard Mode by Japanese folks). Was I supposed to collect the secret items after the final boss? Or was I supposed to go to the secret area immediately after the secret items because going to the final boss triggers the spike back again?
Anyways, if any of the previous answers apply, then screw this game to hell because I deserve my final extra boss which I have, by now, seen a playthrough in YT with envy without experiencing it with my eyes for the first time to have a notion of what I lost. It looks lovely. I wanna play that And I can't access it. And I did everything.
SCREW YOU, GAME!! I WANNA BE THE PICTURE!
Rating: 2.4 24
Difficulty: 75 75
Jul 25, 2020
ElCochran90
For: I wanna be the Math Major
For: I wanna be the Math Major
Sorry, I am totally biased, so don't take this review seriously at all: this was literally a walk through the park for me. As an Inferential Statistics and Portfolio Theory professor at my University, my deaths were literally due to instructions unclear that I had to try some questions again many times.
I'll spare you those deaths without giving the exam away. Missing instructions are:
-Use the least amount of parentheses as possible, following the operational order
-Use four decimals to round your probabities. Round properly. If the fourth decimal is a 0, use THREE decimals.
-If the result is an exact fraction, use the fraction instead (but sometimes; this is uneven, so you'll have to try both anyways at some questions).
-For integrals, use a CAPITAL C for the constant term (this was cheap)
-This might be common sense when using a PC, but this time DO NOT use the * sign for multiplication. Express everything as you would in a normal exam.
I'm proud to be a huge nerd.
P.S. When I arrived at question 26 and the game began to have impressive production value, I just lol'd.
I'll spare you those deaths without giving the exam away. Missing instructions are:
-Use the least amount of parentheses as possible, following the operational order
-Use four decimals to round your probabities. Round properly. If the fourth decimal is a 0, use THREE decimals.
-If the result is an exact fraction, use the fraction instead (but sometimes; this is uneven, so you'll have to try both anyways at some questions).
-For integrals, use a CAPITAL C for the constant term (this was cheap)
-This might be common sense when using a PC, but this time DO NOT use the * sign for multiplication. Express everything as you would in a normal exam.
I'm proud to be a huge nerd.
P.S. When I arrived at question 26 and the game began to have impressive production value, I just lol'd.
Tagged as: Math
[3] Likes
Rating: 1.3 13
Difficulty: 15 15
Jul 25, 2020
ElCochran90
For: I wanna make a Sandwich
For: I wanna make a Sandwich
Piece's completed IWKTG. No review or rating previously published simply because I was waiting for this game to be finished, just like IWKTG.
Ok, I have to interrupt this review with something: You can create a final boss for a bud's unfinished fangame but cannot add a second boss to your own unfinished fangame? WHY! The irony and paradox breaks my head and heart.
Anyway, the plot is totally 2015's Piece, but the development is certainly so 2019. Platforming, production value and variety is quite good at many parts. You can tell what is new and what isn't, like two people of differing level-creation skills and different visual styles. Compare the opening world with the golden castle, or the section turning from B&W to Purple & White with the Super Metroid stage. The list goes on. Although this came as uneven for me, I won't deny that it added to the element of surprise regarding "what the hell does the next world will look like?". That's the fun part of it: the uncertaintiy, more than the final outcome.
After Sephalos, Piece ranks #2 in my list of fangame makers that can recreate classic original videogame universes and adapting them to the standard engine so that The Kid becomes a part of said world, incorporating traps, needle, gimmicks, jokes, memes and/or bosses. The FGM blind games, all 4 of them, are collabs to me, but you can sort of see a director behind, the mastermind behind the project. This work proves that. The adventure spirit is exactly the same, the variety is right there in your face to surprise you, and song choices are always the best.
Sorry to be the party pooper, but this is also a trap game. Some are creative and are worth witnessing what happens; many of them are trash, and when placed at the end of a save, it just kills my mood. I appreciate the humor behind every Game Over text, like Geezer did with his original UNFINISHED game; I also appreciate every trap being different for a wonderful comedic showcase (I Wanna Bigger P****); I don't appreciate my effort being thrown to the trash with a flying spike or with a Thwomp making a "UGH!" sound because that got old a long time ago.
Anyway, there is a surreal segment at the middle of the game which experiments with audio and visuals, and it was a nice moment of experimentation. I will always be cherishing those moments. Also, the fact that the game becomes informative about sandwich ingredients is pure gold; sometimes the smallest ideas do the greatest things. There were two instances where I laughed out loud and that's a good thing, because I am a sad (not literally) and boring (maybe true) guy finding difficulty in laughing. A particular 60-second avoidance segment features a meme song which kept me smiling like an idiot for a full minute. Since it was a first-try, I died intentionally to rock back and forth my head while the song was playing and avoiding again. The song is available, as always, in the Music folder. (Note: I just decided to go there and listen to said song, peanutbonus, while I finish my review). Piece is a meme-maker; you can't stop that.
A fun adventure and varied fangame with traps that amuse you, others that frustrate you and bore you, many styles that are uneven and, finally, a final boss that aims at reaching MattinJ's proportions (nice one there Geezer, truly), this comes with my humble personal recommendation. It's the game we expected and kind of deserved after so many years.
P.S. I ate a sandwich during the final boss. Nice night.
[4] Likes
Ok, I have to interrupt this review with something: You can create a final boss for a bud's unfinished fangame but cannot add a second boss to your own unfinished fangame? WHY! The irony and paradox breaks my head and heart.
Anyway, the plot is totally 2015's Piece, but the development is certainly so 2019. Platforming, production value and variety is quite good at many parts. You can tell what is new and what isn't, like two people of differing level-creation skills and different visual styles. Compare the opening world with the golden castle, or the section turning from B&W to Purple & White with the Super Metroid stage. The list goes on. Although this came as uneven for me, I won't deny that it added to the element of surprise regarding "what the hell does the next world will look like?". That's the fun part of it: the uncertaintiy, more than the final outcome.
After Sephalos, Piece ranks #2 in my list of fangame makers that can recreate classic original videogame universes and adapting them to the standard engine so that The Kid becomes a part of said world, incorporating traps, needle, gimmicks, jokes, memes and/or bosses. The FGM blind games, all 4 of them, are collabs to me, but you can sort of see a director behind, the mastermind behind the project. This work proves that. The adventure spirit is exactly the same, the variety is right there in your face to surprise you, and song choices are always the best.
Sorry to be the party pooper, but this is also a trap game. Some are creative and are worth witnessing what happens; many of them are trash, and when placed at the end of a save, it just kills my mood. I appreciate the humor behind every Game Over text, like Geezer did with his original UNFINISHED game; I also appreciate every trap being different for a wonderful comedic showcase (I Wanna Bigger P****); I don't appreciate my effort being thrown to the trash with a flying spike or with a Thwomp making a "UGH!" sound because that got old a long time ago.
Anyway, there is a surreal segment at the middle of the game which experiments with audio and visuals, and it was a nice moment of experimentation. I will always be cherishing those moments. Also, the fact that the game becomes informative about sandwich ingredients is pure gold; sometimes the smallest ideas do the greatest things. There were two instances where I laughed out loud and that's a good thing, because I am a sad (not literally) and boring (maybe true) guy finding difficulty in laughing. A particular 60-second avoidance segment features a meme song which kept me smiling like an idiot for a full minute. Since it was a first-try, I died intentionally to rock back and forth my head while the song was playing and avoiding again. The song is available, as always, in the Music folder. (Note: I just decided to go there and listen to said song, peanutbonus, while I finish my review). Piece is a meme-maker; you can't stop that.
A fun adventure and varied fangame with traps that amuse you, others that frustrate you and bore you, many styles that are uneven and, finally, a final boss that aims at reaching MattinJ's proportions (nice one there Geezer, truly), this comes with my humble personal recommendation. It's the game we expected and kind of deserved after so many years.
P.S. I ate a sandwich during the final boss. Nice night.
Rating: 6.1 61
Difficulty: 50 50
Jun 11, 2020
ElCochran90
For: I wanna find my Destiny
For: I wanna find my Destiny
A defining case for adventure fangame standards, on par with the original I Wanna Be The Guy and a frog's hair away from Boshy. Zebrago's fangame is greatly balanced in the platforming area and astonishing in the bosses department. None of them are flawless. There are very, very few traps just to make you smile (and ruin an entire save) and Stage 9 has some pretty bad, prolonged segments where you must guess a correct path through trial and error which is not exciting. Vines work differently (and not quite optimally) and the "ladder" branches do not allow you to jump out of them. As for the bosses, they are intentionally grindy, trial and error exercises for mastering the correct movesets and finally conquering them.
Aside from that, the visual variety is exceptional with decent music choices, sky-high production value for its time and iconic and very fun bosses once you know precisely what to do. The challenge curve is pretty flat, meaning that, besides the turorial, you will face the same difficulty throughout. This leaves room for experimentation, implementing gimmicks, puzzle screens, needle and overall platforming of all sorts of the same difficulty. This is important because you are prepared properly for the game since the very beginning and, once you're hooked, it is impossible to let go and pospone your gameplay. It is sensational.
Consider a considerable spike of difficulty for the final boss, which has three phases, having a save after the first two. The challenge is considerably hard, but the sense of accomplishment after obtaining victory is irreplaceable. What seems like the definitive victory ends up with an additional avoidance challenge which is one of the most epic things you will ever play in a fangame, and the ending moments are nothing short of spectacular and jaw-dropping.
This is a textbook reason of why not only I consider videogames as art, but fangames as videogames (and if A = B and B = C, then...); a 7.7 (basically 8/10) is a very powerful rating for the likes of these grand proportions. Of course, everything is inspired, but the art of fangaming is creating your own world with existing resources and create something new. Stealing? I call it inspiration.
Phenomenal adventure game.
[2] Likes
Aside from that, the visual variety is exceptional with decent music choices, sky-high production value for its time and iconic and very fun bosses once you know precisely what to do. The challenge curve is pretty flat, meaning that, besides the turorial, you will face the same difficulty throughout. This leaves room for experimentation, implementing gimmicks, puzzle screens, needle and overall platforming of all sorts of the same difficulty. This is important because you are prepared properly for the game since the very beginning and, once you're hooked, it is impossible to let go and pospone your gameplay. It is sensational.
Consider a considerable spike of difficulty for the final boss, which has three phases, having a save after the first two. The challenge is considerably hard, but the sense of accomplishment after obtaining victory is irreplaceable. What seems like the definitive victory ends up with an additional avoidance challenge which is one of the most epic things you will ever play in a fangame, and the ending moments are nothing short of spectacular and jaw-dropping.
This is a textbook reason of why not only I consider videogames as art, but fangames as videogames (and if A = B and B = C, then...); a 7.7 (basically 8/10) is a very powerful rating for the likes of these grand proportions. Of course, everything is inspired, but the art of fangaming is creating your own world with existing resources and create something new. Stealing? I call it inspiration.
Phenomenal adventure game.
Rating: 7.7 77
Difficulty: 60 60
Jun 8, 2020
ElCochran90
For: I wanna stop the Simulation
For: I wanna stop the Simulation
WARNING: As this is the end of the journey, this review will contain unmarked spoilers regarding all FM Blind Races: Run The Marathon, Warp The Worlds and Find A Cure, including Stop The Simulation.
The journey has come to an end. The blind races are over(?) and the story comes full circle, as it all turned out to be a computer simulation, duh. That's the concept from which the final boss derives, but so does the whole adventure.
There is an interesting debate here and it is that, with every new FM Blind Race entry, the game "stops being less of a fangame and more a copy-paste of original games". I find this of relevance because it would seem that our preconception of a fangame is unconsciously attached to the usual The Kid stuck in his engine and a 21 X 11 pixels hitbox. Not only with each entry, but also with every new event, the Fangame Marathon has welcomed even other roms and hacks, such as Hyper Metroid. It also started to give publicity to new indie games, such as Binding of Isaac: Rebirth, Bit.Trip Runner, The End Is Nigh, Baba Is You, Celeste, Cuphead, Spelunky, among others, all of them with varying popularity. The immortal trilogy that became tradition in the fangame community is VVVVVV, Undertale and Super Meat Boy. However, there is not necessarily a positive correlation between a new indie game being represented in every FM Blind Race and a copy-paste engine. Isaac does copy-paste, but Celeste doesn't. Neither does Baba Is You. However, Contra does, whereas Super Castlevania II doesn't. There is no rule. The Doom segment of Warp The Worlds revolutionized the capabilities of a 3D quality fangame and blew everyone's minds. It is one of the best moments in fangaming history.
To what extent is the essence of fangames being lost? I say it isn't. That would be an exaggeration, and you see it with the stages that retain the original engine, such The End Is Nigh, Super Mario Bros., etc., and even with the nods, such as Guy Rock (er, Guilty Gear Isuka's Home Sweet Grave for the 9000th time) or a Miku cameo during the final boss of Warp The Worlds. It's been a long time since over 9000 (heh) variations of an original game became a universe of their own, featuring all types of genres, and I think new ones are being born. That's called evolution. I welcome it. Experimentation is for the bold ones.
So, is a fangame good because it retains the original engine and mechanics, or because it experiments? In my humble opinion, I say both as long as they are done well, but the latter is necessary for exploring possibilities and expanding horizons. I encourage makers to keep doing it despite the negative opinions.
What is holding this back as a personal favorite from my super-elitist and demanding list in my exaggerated rating system mocked even by The Wannabes during their streams, then? The little wrong decisions. Those that harm gameplay. Decisions such as not having a save before each boss in Isaac, having the freaking Up key as a jump key besides Shift in Super Castlevania IV (which wouldn't matter if you didn't use the Up key for aiming your damn whip!), making all of the first Runner2 screens trivial as you cannot die, and having a very disappointing and ugly final boss (even if the idea is cool and retro). The ones that hurt Find A Cure, such as the first phase of the final boss being harder than the second one, having Super Metroid too long and cryptic to decipher at points (still my favorite stage of Find A Cure though, because wow), and having repetitive and frustrating level design in Celeste and The End Is Nigh. Well, what can you expect from experimentation? Trial and error.
I repeat: I ENCOURAGE IT.
The whole Konami section was miraculous and it was awesome to see the concept of The Kid being reinvented at every section while reminiscing of our childhoods. Contra contains one of the best traps seen in fangame history if you use the Konami code, obviously replacing B and A with their respective input equivalents, and the final boss is long and fun, which is something rare to accomplish, since it contains react-able action and a fair challenge. It also had me laughing with its traps. Were there traps in Contra?? Well, maybe it had soldiers hiding in bushes, but not a P switch lol! Super Castlevania IV is something I particularly thank, because it was the dream of many finally come true. It does make some mistakes (Up key damn it!), but graphics and level design is great. The boss of the area is nothing amazing but, again, there is a nod to the original I Wanna Be The Guy.
Production design leaves nothing else to be desired, so expect the highest quality everywhere. Baba Is You was particularly well implemented to the engine we know, with smart puzzles and a chill atmosphere. Isaac replicates the game to astonishing levels thanks to Erik's usual commitment, and the secret orange boss was a brilliant troll (which also scared the Bejesus out of me); the nightmare for ending Stage 1 was hilarious). It shines at many instances.
What does 2020 store for us? I wish I knew, but if blind races are over, please just say to me that a new game will be released to commemorate the new decade.
This whole odyssey gave me two good games and two new favorites to my clear list. The final boss, when read between the lines (er, the names of the folders), has jokes commemorating what characterize us: MIKU, private fangames, roms, hacks, clear lists, bookmarks... Good stuff. I like the makers reminding us we belong to something worth being noted.
I do believe that fangames are art as well; that is why I rate them as normal games. I make no distinction. Otherwise, I would have rated I Wanna Be The Overlord with 12.4/10 I guess.
Thanks for listening.
[4] Likes
The journey has come to an end. The blind races are over(?) and the story comes full circle, as it all turned out to be a computer simulation, duh. That's the concept from which the final boss derives, but so does the whole adventure.
There is an interesting debate here and it is that, with every new FM Blind Race entry, the game "stops being less of a fangame and more a copy-paste of original games". I find this of relevance because it would seem that our preconception of a fangame is unconsciously attached to the usual The Kid stuck in his engine and a 21 X 11 pixels hitbox. Not only with each entry, but also with every new event, the Fangame Marathon has welcomed even other roms and hacks, such as Hyper Metroid. It also started to give publicity to new indie games, such as Binding of Isaac: Rebirth, Bit.Trip Runner, The End Is Nigh, Baba Is You, Celeste, Cuphead, Spelunky, among others, all of them with varying popularity. The immortal trilogy that became tradition in the fangame community is VVVVVV, Undertale and Super Meat Boy. However, there is not necessarily a positive correlation between a new indie game being represented in every FM Blind Race and a copy-paste engine. Isaac does copy-paste, but Celeste doesn't. Neither does Baba Is You. However, Contra does, whereas Super Castlevania II doesn't. There is no rule. The Doom segment of Warp The Worlds revolutionized the capabilities of a 3D quality fangame and blew everyone's minds. It is one of the best moments in fangaming history.
To what extent is the essence of fangames being lost? I say it isn't. That would be an exaggeration, and you see it with the stages that retain the original engine, such The End Is Nigh, Super Mario Bros., etc., and even with the nods, such as Guy Rock (er, Guilty Gear Isuka's Home Sweet Grave for the 9000th time) or a Miku cameo during the final boss of Warp The Worlds. It's been a long time since over 9000 (heh) variations of an original game became a universe of their own, featuring all types of genres, and I think new ones are being born. That's called evolution. I welcome it. Experimentation is for the bold ones.
So, is a fangame good because it retains the original engine and mechanics, or because it experiments? In my humble opinion, I say both as long as they are done well, but the latter is necessary for exploring possibilities and expanding horizons. I encourage makers to keep doing it despite the negative opinions.
What is holding this back as a personal favorite from my super-elitist and demanding list in my exaggerated rating system mocked even by The Wannabes during their streams, then? The little wrong decisions. Those that harm gameplay. Decisions such as not having a save before each boss in Isaac, having the freaking Up key as a jump key besides Shift in Super Castlevania IV (which wouldn't matter if you didn't use the Up key for aiming your damn whip!), making all of the first Runner2 screens trivial as you cannot die, and having a very disappointing and ugly final boss (even if the idea is cool and retro). The ones that hurt Find A Cure, such as the first phase of the final boss being harder than the second one, having Super Metroid too long and cryptic to decipher at points (still my favorite stage of Find A Cure though, because wow), and having repetitive and frustrating level design in Celeste and The End Is Nigh. Well, what can you expect from experimentation? Trial and error.
I repeat: I ENCOURAGE IT.
The whole Konami section was miraculous and it was awesome to see the concept of The Kid being reinvented at every section while reminiscing of our childhoods. Contra contains one of the best traps seen in fangame history if you use the Konami code, obviously replacing B and A with their respective input equivalents, and the final boss is long and fun, which is something rare to accomplish, since it contains react-able action and a fair challenge. It also had me laughing with its traps. Were there traps in Contra?? Well, maybe it had soldiers hiding in bushes, but not a P switch lol! Super Castlevania IV is something I particularly thank, because it was the dream of many finally come true. It does make some mistakes (Up key damn it!), but graphics and level design is great. The boss of the area is nothing amazing but, again, there is a nod to the original I Wanna Be The Guy.
Production design leaves nothing else to be desired, so expect the highest quality everywhere. Baba Is You was particularly well implemented to the engine we know, with smart puzzles and a chill atmosphere. Isaac replicates the game to astonishing levels thanks to Erik's usual commitment, and the secret orange boss was a brilliant troll (which also scared the Bejesus out of me); the nightmare for ending Stage 1 was hilarious). It shines at many instances.
What does 2020 store for us? I wish I knew, but if blind races are over, please just say to me that a new game will be released to commemorate the new decade.
This whole odyssey gave me two good games and two new favorites to my clear list. The final boss, when read between the lines (er, the names of the folders), has jokes commemorating what characterize us: MIKU, private fangames, roms, hacks, clear lists, bookmarks... Good stuff. I like the makers reminding us we belong to something worth being noted.
I do believe that fangames are art as well; that is why I rate them as normal games. I make no distinction. Otherwise, I would have rated I Wanna Be The Overlord with 12.4/10 I guess.
Thanks for listening.
Rating: 6.6 66
Difficulty: 50 50
May 31, 2020
User's games list is empty!
34 Favorite Games
371 Cleared Games