Here it is, my long-awaited write-up on the winnners of SHMUP-DEV's development contests from 2006 to 2008! In each segment, I will review one of the top three entries in each of the four past contests. Please note that not all entries work on my computer, so I will use the judges' reviews for them.
Without further ado, here are ProtoType and Funky Space from the first contest: Horizontal Scroller with Boss!
It turns out that ProtoType doesn't work on my computer. Bummer. It was the winning entry. In place of my review, here is Matt McFarland's:
"Score: 10.00
Prototype starts you off at an attacked mars colony. You see a lot of debris and the whole feeling puts you in the mood for a lot of chaos! You are able to tell where the powerups are at because only certain enemy types present them when destroyed. They are these harmless bots that appear, walk around, or maybe just fly around a bit, and then leave the screen. Once you see one you're just inclined to destroy it right away. There are lots of different powerups. You can get cluster bombs, missiles, and two balls (one on top, one below) that shoot along with you. The greatest feature is the special powerup you get, which comes in different colors. It's a probe of some sort that is chained to your ship. If you hold down the second button (in game pad, which I highly recommend, and what is completely configurable) you can move the probe around and aim in in any direction. It can protect you as well, but the powerups you get are very interesting. The game takes a lot from R-Type, from the enemy types, to the feel of the level, and the probe reminds me of the probe thing that you could use in R-Type, although it is different. Although it does have some aspects of R-type (even the force thing too, forgot to mention that) it really shines! The game's polish is to the maximum, in fact, it's right up there above and beyond many shareware games out there!!! The entire level is filled with a lot of detail, from different enemy types, from different level areas, destroyable and animated structures and so on and so fourth. When playing this game I forget it's even a freeware game, and feel like I'm playing something that's been made and sells!! I really love this game, and even though I find it more challenging then I usually like, I just can't get enough of it! After I play it I just want to play it again, and again, and again. I haven't enjoyed a game like this in years, and I really hope to see this game completed! I would like to suggest to the author to allow flipping the probe from 8 different directions by double tapping the probe-control button. That would make controlling the probe a bit easier, but still it's fine the way it is!"
And here is my review of the second-place entry, Funky Space:
Funky Space would probably be a lot more fun if my computer was fast enough to run it. I blame the generous useage of particle effects - the player ship has particle effects in its engine exhaust, particle effects in its bullets, and particle effects in its missiles; the enemy ships all have huge clouds around them when spawning(which is often), when killed(also often) and when doing pretty much anything else. The cross-dissolving between levels might also have something to do with it. Anyway, it's still a fun game, playing a bit like a cross between Uridium and Zynaps, minus obstacles. As in Uridium, the player ship can freely move backwards and forwards - the difference is that it can move backwards while shooting, which makes it a lot more fun. The powerup scheme, however, is like that used in Zynaps. As in that game, enemies drop capsules when killed, which increases your weapon's firepower(and decreases game speed) - the difference here being that there's no tiresome powerup activation. It combines the best of both into one great game.
The graphics are also superb. All of the ships are well-done and -designed 3D models(pre-rendered, of course), and, as mentioned before, the game is replete with particle graphics. The background transitions are nice, too.
The sound, however, is a bit of a letdown after the graphics. The background music is simple and droney, and the sound effects aren't very imaginative. Still, everything sounds coherent and fits the theme.
Not that the theme is anything besides ships in space, of course. The ships themselves, however, have nice, unified designs, and the space backgrounds are brighter and more colorful than anything that can actually be seen in the night sky. It's hackneyed, but it's better than any previous incarnation that I've seen.
Overall, I give Funky Space a score of seven and a half out of ten(eight for gameplay, nine for graphics, six for sound, and seven for theme). If your computer is fast enough to play it, it's well worth the download.
Here are the game download links:
