Reviews - MrNinjaSquirrel

An interesting new idea, Polarium has a lot of potential going forward. Melding the color switching gameplay of Ikaruga with the block puzzles of EDGE, it's a neat combination that although simple on paper, becomes challenging once you start incountering blocks that only appear in one polarium, rogue blocks that attempt to destroy you, and different paths that require quick changes to stay alive.

Unfortunately in it's current state, Polarium feels more like a proof of concept than an actual game. You are only given a brief look at how the idea could pan out before it's ten levels are over. As it's free, I can't really knock it for a lack of content, but I do sincerelly hope that development continues onto a full game that expands upon what is already here with more levels and features. Right now, it's worth a look, but nothing to really write home about.

RADical Roach is, to put it frankly, a very bad game. What seems like a funny concept quickly falls apart do to repetitive design, innacurate controls (does not support gamepad either), and the poor choice of not including any sort of story system for the main story.

This causes the game to quickly start to feel pointless, and it became a grind almost as soon as I started. The environments don't do anything to help in this regard, repeating the same 10 second loop over the course of the games levels. Animations are jerky and could have used a lot more polish, and feel very weird mixed with in with the main character, who actually manages to look halfway decent despite being very simply drawn. Enemies are cut and paste, with little to no pattern to learn or interesting weapons or moves, which has long been on of the things schmups rely on most to keep things fresh and interesting.

It is all just very very dull, and I have a hard time finding anything good to say about it. The cartoony artstyle is the only thing that could pass as almost decent, but it's nowhere near enough to counter all the horrible designs choices that RADical Roach makes. I couldn't make myself finish it, and feel thankful that it was only free extra in an indie bundle. Even for free I wouldn't recommend it to anyone, and at a whopping $10 I feel sorry for anyone who might have purchased this game. I hate to say so many bad things about a game, but RADical Roach is easily one of the worst games I've played in years.

Incredibly challenging, but oh so rewarding, Love+ is a great minimalistic platformer. The graphics are simple, but suit the gameplay very well. I didn't have any problems with the controls, once I switched to a gamepad. Platformers never seem to work well on keyboards, and this is no exception, so it's worth noting for those interested. The game is not very long, and can be beaten in under an hour, provided you can handle the high level of difficulty. The music is top notch, and varies enough that I never got annoyed or tired of it. For the extrememly fair price of $2, I think Love+ is completely worth it. It might not have the greatest amount of depth or content, but what's here is a very well crafted platformer that will put your jumping skills to the test!