Dark Woods for the iPad is here! Classic Platforming inspired by Castle of Illusion!

I think the game is very cute and not too difficult. It really reminds me of the disney platformer of hen I was little. Nice one.

I would maybe just fine tune the controls a little bit when trees are around, but for the rest my child will love playing this one!!!

Thanks for the promo code. Just played it for around 10 levels or so. I loved the look of the game from the screenshots but when the GameSalad logo popped up, I must admit I was a bit disheartened. Thankfully this game falls into the upper end of GS-made games. The graphics are very nice and polished and I especially like that occasionally objects and trees will pass by in the foreground as you walk. Little touches like that go a long way. The music track also sets the mood nicely, although it couldn't hurt to have more than one. The controls are responsive and easy to pick up.

Now onto improvement suggestions:

- The jumping feels a tad floaty. Granted jumping was a little floaty in the old Disney games you are using as inspiration but there feel a little too light here.

- There is a nice variety of enemy sprites, but so far there is no difference in their actions. They each move at the same pace back and forth and take only one shot to kill. Perhaps have some enemy types be a bit more aggressive in following you or take a few hits to kill rather than a single shot.

- When I started the game up, I was taken directly into the action. It wasn't until I quit and checked the options menu that I noticed there was a story to it at all. I would put the story cutscene right at the beginning before jumping into the gameplay, but add a SKIP button so that repeat players don't have to go through it again. Also, the font on the story can be a little hard to read.

- How many levels are there? As there seems to be no continue option, it would be nice to have some indication as to how far along I have progressed.

- Is there a pause button anywhere? I've tried double tapping/swiping but I can't seem to find one. Might be a nice addition in a future update.

Overall, it's an excellent start that, with a few tweaks here and there, can evolve into a great game.

Thanks for the feedback guys!

@FPE: Thanks again, and I agree, the controls do need a bit more fine tuning, and will plan to add that into future updates, especially updates to the jumping.

@Koolking: Yes it is made with GS, but I am one of the top developers, and I really strive to polish my games up as much as possible. I really didn't want the splash screen, but had no choice, and I don't think anyone would have noticed the game without it.

I agree on the jumping, we will try to tweak it in future updates, I did want that "floaty" feeling like in Castle of Illusion: Starring Mickey. It gives the kids an easier time at jumping, and making it through some of the difficult terrain.

I agree on the storyline too, and will definitely add that in the beginning. I didn't want people to have to see it every time the game started, but I will figure out a way to implement it.

There are 21 levels total, with 5 Worlds, and one boss battle in the end.

I wanted to keep it old school again, and I had thought about a level select map, but I really wanted to retain the "old school" feel, and if the player wishes to advance, they can continue with the game.

Pause isn't available yet unfortunately, but as soon as it is, it will be implemented.

Thanks again for the feedback!

Here is my review so far:

The Good:

Animation is top notch when it comes to character actions and I would say so far the frog is one of the best. The shading stands out in a good way and all together I grew excited anticipating what characters I would run into next.

Music is very well done in such a way that combined with ambient effects of weather (another plus that I will get to) works to the advantage of the game. Whoever produced the music, I would love to hear even more in this game.

Background art is one of the strongest facets in the game. Vector based illustration backed with shadow effects in background and overlapping in the foreground. Owl Forrest is one of the best of the bunch.

Color combination is well chosen and highlights the great composure of the hero versus the elements.

Level design is great in the sense that while you may play through one "background" for a few levels. The levels feature many different elements that bring up the overall value of this game.

Floating definitely reminds me of older games and for me the biggest plus to that would be that my kids would easily be able to use the application and not be frustrated by skilled jumps that have to be pinpoint accuracy.

Problems I ran into:

The hit radius of the creatures at times can be off. As the character jumps, often a hit will be registered when the character is a distance away. This took some adjustment but never lead to outright frustration. I would suggest possibly taking a look at the radius and seeing if it is possibly too far in front.

At one point in the game there is a tunnel that you go through and you have to jump onto the cliff above. At this point I am still attempting to jump over the cliff but instead am met with a "wall" that even when my jump is higher, the movement does not go forward. I also had at one level (I wish I had an exact number) there was an invisible cliff that a jump from cliff A -----to cliff B. If you fell in between A and B there was for a moment a platform there that was invisible. While my kids would love that considering it would help that large jump be easier, I am not sure if you guys had meant that on purpose.

Overall: I loved the game and feel while there are some tweaks that could be made, your team has created a game that dabbles in the dark but with no truly frightening characters and instead a light hearted journey that kids would get sucked up into. You have a very strong animation team, enough so that your future games are highly anticipated. You created a kid friendly iPad game that does not fall into the quagmire that is kid friendly equals too easy foray. Thank you for letting me review this and I hope that my descriptions and tweak ideas helped.

@Bitsandpixeltester:

Thanks for your review! I appreciate your honesty, and positive and constructive feedback!

I agree that the graphics are superb I had primarily 1 graphics artist do the work, and the purple owl scene that you speak of is the best background and scene, I agree

Some other elements are from another graphics artist, and some miscellaneous items are from stock websites

There was however, only one programmer, myself, and I had been working on this since January of 2010 tweaking the controls, and actually, redesigned, and polished up a lot of the graphics.

The Witch had completely changed, as well as some of the characters, enemies, and platforms.

Overall, it is a game geared towards the "Casual" retro gamer audience, or otherwise, kids. It's an easy game to play through, and the boss battle is even predictable once you learn her moves.

I appreciate your feedback, and will continue to tweak the controls according to reviews.

I thank you for pointing out the platform issue, and I'll have to take a look at that, and see where the issue lies. More than likely it was not purposeful, and I'll need to look into it.

Thank you again everyone for the constructive feedback, and this was one of the most challenging, yet, most wonderful games to program. I love games like this, and have always wanted to create something like Castle of Illusion, one of the most underrated, yet, best platformers ever.

For anyone interested in the graphics artist for this game, here is the website:

Ian does a wonderful job on graphics and at very reasonable rates! He did a majority of the art seen in the game including the Purple owl scene, scary trees, platforms, backgrounds, and the main character, and all elements, and menu items.

http://www.koocachoo.co.uk/#animated/1

Also, here is Dan, the artist that did a few of the characters in game like the mushrooms, green trees (small) and frog:

http://www.dcproductions25.deviantart.com/

---

Last edited by butterbean21; 12-03-2010 at 08:34 PM.

I just watched my wife play this game for a while and it looks really nice! Some improvements that could be made have already been mentioned, but I think it's a great game to just relax and play without getting stressed because of high difficulty. One thing that could be fun is if enemies squish a bit when you jump on them before dying or some sort of death animation even if only 1 frame. I think subtle animations add a lot to a game and I like the nice animations you have so far. Keep up the good work!

My Review on Itunes :

Disney Magic *****

The developer of this game has done a fantastic job with the artwork, sounds and gameplay.

The levels start out easy and get more challenging as you progress. The controls are done to perfection.

I can tell the developer has put a lot of time in to this game and didn't release it until it was done right.
----------------------------------------------------------------

I do disagree with the comments on the floaty controls. I think they are perfect for the intended audience.

I would suggest that it takes two magic shots to take out some of the bigger characters.

Love the game thanks ButterBean !

@Rad: Thanks for the awesome review, and I'll definitely take all comments into consideration!

Thanks again, and glad you enjoyed it!

Thanks everyone for all your reviews, and taking the time to do so!