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A Few Good Moments That Define A Game (5 hour contest)

  • kumada
  • 06/13/2012 02:36 PM
  • 1829 views
I'll admit it. I think I like this game more than I ought to. The combination of tongue-in-cheek humor, upbeat music, and the ability to throw metal chairs at porcupines from across the map salves away the frustrations of its very simple, very grindy battle system.

The plot of WWF vs. WWF is literally only a few lines long, but in those handful of screens, it says everything it needs to. The sovereignty of the WWF (the one with wrestlers) has been challenged by the WWF (the one with animals), and the former decides to retaliate by sending its elite wrestling commandos to lay the smackdown on a wildlife preserve.

That's literally all there is, but in a way it's quite satisfying. WWF vs. WWF does not mess around with surplus exposition and wasted words. It gets right to the meat of gameplay within a minute of starting a new game. Unfortunately, this gameplay is nothing special. The entire game plays out on a single square grid with some topography (forests, bridges, walls,) and swarms of fairly passive enemies. Attacks consist of a regular swipe and some distance magic (which can permanently run out,) and don't require an awful lot of finesse. In fact, the player's stats on every character are so high, that there is no risk at all of losing the game. As such, the strategy element of this strategy game kind of goes out the window.

The spriting in WWF vs. WWF is generally good. Every character looks like what it ought to be, and several of the attack animations made me crack a smile. If there's one thing I'm definitely going to take with me from this game, it's the crisp mental image of Razor Ramon flopping awkwardly onto bears.

There are a few bugs and quirks, including one which makes the game unfinishable if you haven't stockpiled your MP for the final section of the map (for whatever reason, you cannot enter the last building, and as such have to stand outside and throw chairs in through windows until you clear it out.) Other questionable design decisions (probably brought on by the time constraints of development) include representing dodge as 0 damage and not explaining the controls anywhere in the game (right click is cancel. It took a while for me to figure this out.)

In spite of all of this, the place where WWF vs. WWF truly shines is that it's fun. Conceptually, it's a blast. Visually, you get to see pro-wrestlers from yester-year giving (marginally) endangered animals what-for. Even mechanically, it's not hugely flawed. A little bit of polish could turn its battle system from a chore into a treat, and at the end of the day it's still not a huge time investment for the player. WWF vs. WWF may not be the most high-concept game I've seen this year, but I did enjoy playing it, and that's ultimately what counts.

Posts

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lawl.
I never expected this of all projects to get a review. Thanks!
I've been contemplating expanding it for NaGaDeMo. If you were willing to take the time to give this unfinished pile a review, I should at least respond with a crack team of pro wrestlers an improved version with more wrestlers, levels, and enemies.
A crack team of pro wrestlers is always an appropriate response.

That said, I'd be just as excited for a working demo for Valor Emblem.
Valor Emblem's beginning is missing too much stuff to release a demo, or else I'd have done so months ago. And the way I see it, by the time it's palatable, I might as well release the full game x)

Finishing this up won't take long (or so I think). Besides, I only have 15 or so days left to do so.
purplex
WHERE'S MY SUBMISSION?
158
I like how people think their opinions matter.
Opinions matter if they're acted on. So I don't really know what you're trying to say here.
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