Recent reviews by MastaCody

Full review pending....but as it currently is....game is broken on level 14. Do not buy as game is unbeatable at this time. Will update with full review when game is fixed.

I personally purchased this game. I reviewed it for my 99 Cent Gaming series.

FBI Mania is a prime example of a game that looked like it had promise from how it looked on the store page, but in execution it just didn't really deliver on them.

I went into this game knowing what was including with my purchase: 6 levels, 3 weapons, a boss battle, some neat tunes, and cool graphics. My expectations were: 6 varieties of levels with different enemies, 3 different weapons with their own style of firing, a boss battle that was epic, a variety of music, and cool graphics. While technically they delivered on what the store page promised....that's the basic points of the entire game.

Each stage (that I managed to play before losing patience) has a count down timer that starts at 60 and ends it at 0. And this timer takes FOREVER to count down. While recording footage for review, I only managed to make it through the tutorial level and two other levels before the video clocked in at 14 minutes. This becomes a huge issue when combined with the actual gameplay.

Enemies, while all looking different (calls to some pop culture) all pop up and get destroyed the same, with one shot. The only variety in the enemies come from whether the are stationary or they move. You have your own health but it only depletes if you allow an enemy to disappear before shooting it. This will very likely NEVER HAPPEN. Enemies stay up for ages and even when more than one pop up or they move, there was no difficulty in gunning them down. The only difficult thing about the game was waiting out the 60 second(?) timer.

There are three different weapons in FBI Mania. Make that three different looking weapons, as that's all that changes. The shots do not change. One shot at a time, no ammo to keep track of, and even with the sniper rifle you still fire from the same perspective. Having different weapons does nothing for the long term game play.

I did not make it to the boss level due to losing patience with waiting for the timer to count down, but I feel as though even if I managed to endure all of the levels my mind would still be made up for the verdict. That said, there was a password system that I am hoping the developer put in to change up the gameplay or create challenges, otherwise what you see is what you get, and it's a slow gallery shooter with little to no variety.

I have more to say in my video below, but was FBI Mania worth the 99 cents I paid for it: NO. Maybe if the game was sped up (which could bring the issue of very little gameplay if players could speed through it), the different weapons actually did different things, or there were some actual challenge it could be a fun cheap distraction. Right now, it's just a slow game with the only challenge coming from testing your patience.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHHJgE4-xpk

I personally purchased this game. I reviewed it for my 99 Cent Gaming series.

I was beginning to like this game but ran into a game breaking bug that did not allow me to progress past a certain level. I loved the concept even though it has no English in the game (which is noted on the store page). I do not know how long the game is outside of what I played, but due to the bug I will not be able to give a full review.

As it stands right now, this was not worth the money I paid for it, but if the developer can fix my issue I will be happy to revisit the game and make a more informed verdict. Watch the video for my first impressions and where I get stuck. I hope to be able to update this review in the future.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBqb3CbK3TA

I personally purchased this game. I reviewed it for my 99 Cent Gaming series.

A game so short deserves a very short review. It literally lasts a couple of minutes. Has cards. No acheivements. Is it worth the 99 cents I spent on it: ABSOLUTELY NOT. Watch the video for the entire game.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjmU9i8FrpM

I personally purchased this game. I reviewed it for my 99 Cent Gaming series.

(Just to note real quick, the original video was recorded on release day so I made a quick update video to reflect the fixes made by the developer. Thank you for caring about your game!}

What I love about doing my reviews of 99 cent games are the many different genres that can come out of the category. While there aren't many gems that come out of the low-budget spectrum, there are games that do a pretty decent job of giving people who love a certain style of games to have more to sink their teeth into. That sums of Alpacapaca Dash for me.

This is the first endless runner I've played since I on Steam (that I can remember) but I've played COUNTLESS of them on mobile devices, and while most of them were F2P they had a certain "one more run" aura about them that made you want to keep playing for better upgrades, great unlocks, and ultimately bragging rights on being the longest distance runner of them all. Alpacapaca Dash isn't F2P but manages to touch on a few of those points for me, but what about those still looking for an entry point to the genre?

Alpacapaca Dash is an endless runner that sports both platforming challenges and enemies to avoid and destroy. Platforming is self explainitory, but you get LASERS to fend off bats, blobs, and snakes. Along the way you can rack up coins to unlock costumes while working your way up through the leaderboards. Let me break it down.

First, here's what I've enjoyed about the game. It definitely hits on those "one more run" addictive traits due to the game keeping track of your furthest distance and putting them on a global leader board for bragging rights. A lot of low-budget games that require quick thinking don't have that option which cuts down replayability, so I'm happy to see it here. Another addition that helps with the desire to keep playing is getting coins that unlock different characters to play as during your runs. Now I haven't unlocked everything in the game, but from what I've seen they are purely cosmetic...and very very cute.

Secondly. here is where I'd like to see improvements. As a personal preference I would have loved to see controller support due to the control scheme being very confusing for me...at first. The developer has since updated the game to allow key rebinding which is a godsend, but controller support would still be pretty neat. Another thing I would like to see is allowing the coins you get to be used on upgrading your powerups. Let me use the Jumper save more than once if I upgrade it. Let the laser be homing for a short period of time if I upgrade the Power Up. Finally, I'd love to see a mode where you don't have to kill enemies at all, instead just allowing the player to enjoy some relaxing platforming.

I have no doubt the developer cares about this game due to fixes that were made post release, and my hopes are that they continue to work on this and fine tune it so when players decide to get their endless runner fix, Alpacapaca Dash is on top of that list.

I have more to say in the videos below, but is Alpacapaca Dash worth the .99 I paid for it: YES. While I don't believe it'll convert those on the fence when it comes to games of this genre, gamers who fancy a distraction that only these type of games can provide will find a lot to love about it. Besides, it's great to support a developer who continues to support their game and I'm all for encouraging that type of behavior.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDuSzkJixfA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3uPre_Zi64

I personally purchased this game. I reviewed it for my 99 Cent Gaming series.

I love match 3 games. Premium, freemium, low budget...show me a match 3 game and I'll show you someone willing to give it a go. As with my excitement of getting a chance to play my first SHMUP due to my love for it, I found myself not only disappointed with Fruit Arranger but outright upset over my experience.

Fruit Arranger has the player put down pieces of fruit on the board one at a time where the goal is to match 3 vertically or horizontally, resulting in a new fruit emerging from where the last of the 3 was placed. While this is just a reskin of other games of this type, that mechanics aren't in itself bad. It's when the other issues are put on top of such uninspired game play that make the overall package something to avoid (with an exception I'll get to at the end).

Now while the graphics aren't the greatest, it's still nothing that causes the game to be completely terrible. The issues are the music being just a loop, the game being in a permanent smart phone portrait mode layout, and of course...the complete lack of content outside of the main match-3 puzzle mode.

This game has way less content (and by extension less replayability) than an almost similar game called 2048, and that game is free! There's really no incentive outside of trying to raise your score in game, and there's no incentive to do so because leader boards are absent. There are no additional modes that could task players with trying to get high scores in different ways. The only incentive to play an extended period of time comes with Fruit Arranger's main selling point "OVER 100 ACHIEVEMENTS to gain" (how it's worded and typed in the store). So for you achievement hunters out there, this could actually be the only legit reason to spend time here.

Finally what put the final nail in my impressions coffin was getting a literal headache from playing this in full screen. Every so often the game would flash on my monitor causing me to not play very long. I managed to make it through two sessions before I had to call it quits and will not return to the game at all if it remains that way. Thankfully I believe this is something that can be easily fixed once the developer is made aware of the issue. (PLEASE FIX IT)

I have more (but not much more) to say in my video below. That said, is Fruit Arranger worth the .99 I paid for it: ABSOLUTELY NOT. The "made for portrait mode smart phone" layout, the repetitive music, the lack of content, and ultimately the headache inducing flashes are all reasons to avoid this right now. For achievement hunters, if you can brave all of that there are 101 achievements for you to nab. Everyone else...sink some time into a F2P match-3 until more updates come to the game. If the developer updates this with some fixes, I'd love to revisit because in the end I am a sucker for match 3 and want to see it succeed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CduQ8HdzGEE

I personally purchased this game. I reviewed it for my 99 Cent Gaming series.

My expectations for low-budget SHMUPs took a nose dive (ha...plane humor) as I started review games for my series due to the tendency to put in the minimal amount of content. Thankfully, Coldwild Games avoids this with some pretty fun progression systems, multiple unlocks, and different modes.

Coming into this game with low expectations allowed me to breath a sigh of relief just from the character select screen and mode select screen alone. Frequent Flyer has 10 different ships with their own stats that can be unlocked throughout the course of the game, and 4 different modes which include Mission, Infinite, Organized (waves of a single ship attack you, one type at a time), and Time Attack. All these modes feature the roster of 10 enemies who themselves have different stats, tons of pick ups ranging from ammo refills, health, upgrades and MISSILES! As I said, it avoids having a lack of content.

Ships are locked behind a STAR collection wall which you earn from beating missions and picking them up during game play. There's also tasks you can complete that lets you earn them, which for me was the icing on the cake for Frequent Flyer. They stuff a lot of different activities for players to do that it's hard not to keep playing trying to unlock everything, earn all of the achievements, and start brushing up your skills for the leader board.

There were a few issues I had however. First was the inclusion of tweeting out your score to earn more stars. I felt that this was not necessary for a game that already had a lot of ways to do so. It gave me a mobile free2play feeling that just didn't sit well with me. That said it's not forced upon the player and you can choose to ignore it. I get wanted to tweet out something both for bragging rights and to show support, but this way is just not for me.

Secondly was using tank controls. Now this is less of a game issue and more of my personal preference, but having controller support left me wanting more of a dual-stick control scheme. I don't know if this can be added by the devs but I personally would love it.

Outside of those two things, and some aesthetic overlaps, I didn't find anything wrong with what I played and was overjoyed to see a developer attempt to stack their game with some fun options at such a low price. I have more to say in my video below, but was Frequent Flyer worth the 99 cents I paid for it: ABSOLUTELY. They even mentioned that even though the game is complete, they are open to feedback and suggestions. Give this game a go to support this type of game, and let the developer know what you'd like to see in this fun little SHMUP.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkiJ7LsFbrY

I personally purchased this game. I reviewed it for my 99 Cent Gaming series.

Going into this game I didn't expect a whole lot from it. It didn't look like a lot went into Magic Box and it would be a very short video. I was both pleasantly and sadly surprised from my experience and here's how:

From the start of the game I felt that everything was too simple. The premise is to make sure the V box gets knocked off the screen while making sure the ! box stays on the platform. Magic Box doesn't do anything new with the concept that games before it have done. However once I started getting further into the game I lost myself in figuring out the puzzles and having fun with winning stage after stage.

This type of game, I've found, is a guilty pleasure of mine. Even though it's nothing new and very simplistic I can see people who enjoy this type of escape enjoying it very much. Magic Box is a fun game in the same vein that Angry Birds was fun...watching and praying that the physics engine within would randomly be in your favor.

So why was I sadly surprised by Magic Box? It ended so quickly. Even though I understood from the start that there wouldn't be much to it, once my guilty pleasure kicked in I was addicted to it. And just like that...12 minutes later it was over. I wanted there to be more. More levels, more stats (ranking how many actions it took to beat the level), just more content that would give me a reason to play it again.

I have more to say in my video below, but is Magic Box worth the 99 cents it sells for: NO. There is nothing wrong with the game but seeing how it does nothing new, only lasts about 10-15 minutes depending on your skill, and there's no replayability whatsoever I cannot recommend spending your dollar on it. If the developer adds more modes, more levels, or makes another game like this with all the above I would love to indulge my guilty pleasure once again.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvEh3pyz4oU

I personally purchased this game. I reviewed it for my 99 Cent Gaming series.

Riot of the Numbers is a game that has me divided (pun intended) on whether I think it's worth the purchase or not. Let me get into the nitty gritty to tell you why.

This game is a platformer where your enemies are numbers, your heroes are numbers, and your weapons are math signs. The goal of each of the Riot of the Numbers' levels (save two boss levels) is to knock down the number from the top center of the screen from whatever it is to 0 which unlucks the door to progress. You start off with a subtraction projectile, an addition stomp, and in some levels you gain the division projectile.

What has me conflicted about this game is just how little there is to do here. I enjoyed the theme surrounding your goals, getting stumped on a few levels trying to figure out who to shoot, who to stomp, and who to spare. I enjoyed having to control two characters at the same time because of the need to focus on who to move and when. Overall, I like what the game brought me.

The issues I have aren't with the gameplay, the controls (although I hope the dev adds controller support at some point), or anything like that. I just wish there was more to it. The game was over before I felt it truly begun. Mechanics like having to divide or controller multiple characters came and went. There were only two boss battles and the last one felt very dissapointing compared to the first, and even more so because it was the final battle. I believe the game could have been something very fun if only there were more. I wanted more chances to rack my brain with the division sign. I wanted to see how multiplication could have thrown things into insanity. What the game had in a good concept was brought down by the lack of content surrounding it.

I have more to say in my video below, and you'll be able to see (and hopefully have read) why it's so hard to say yes or no to this title. I want to say yes because there's nothing inherently wrong with Riot of the Numbers, and I want to say no because I felt like there wasn't enough here for me to really sink my teeth into. That said....if you enjoy what you see on the store page, like a little math challenge to go along with your platforming, and want to have a good 20-30 minute distraction for just under a dollar...is it worth it: yes. For everyone else, it's probably okay to watch someone play it unless the developer decideds to add more, or even do a sequel that adds a lot more to the concept. If either of those things happen, I would love to revisit this game.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AcQGGx3BqM

I personally purchased this game. I reviewed it for my 99 Cent Gaming series.

Please do not buy this game. I need to say that first before diving in.

Looking at the screen shots, watching the video, and reading the description of Bold New World should have tipped me off that I should have either waited or looked through my own personal back log for a much better 99 cent game to review. Even bad games I've done had a few redeeming qualities or shown the attempt at an effort of making a game they THOUGHT would be worth the purchase. This game shows nothing but laziness and false advertisement.

I'll let you watch the video below for my extended thoughts, but I wanted to point out that this game has AWARDS on the store page, making me aware that Steam does not screen a developer's game store page for false advertisement or misleading accolades. At least this lets me know that developers are willing to stoop so low to make a quick buck. All I can say is THANK GOD for the refund policy that has been put in place.

It should go without saying, but is this game worth the 99 cents it sells for: NO NO NO NO. This game is a borderline scam on its own, and having fake awards on the page pushes over to outright ripoff. Stay away!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtZBHWbW6cI&feature=youtu.be