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Cheetahman 52 oh yeah play game 100%

Cheetahmen 52: Part Aries is a platformer made in Stencyl by volke_locke, created over the course of the month for the Non-RPG Maker Event. You play as a standing cheetah with sunglasses on, as he attempts to dodge fireballs that oscillate vertically, as well as approaching the left. You start in a level called "The Pit", where you must scale the walls in order to reach the end point. The game enters you into the game with no indication of the controls. Arrow keys do nothing, and, assuming the player does not read the gamepage, it's up to them to arbitrarily decide that A and D are left and right, as well as S being crouch. However, W is not jump, which I would have thought was a trope of gaming, that is, to use WASD as a replacement for the arrow keys if you wanted the player to be able to use their left hand to control the character avatar. In fact, for some unexplainable reason, the jump key is J, which would make sense if for each action the player wants to take, the keybinding is the letter that the action starts with, but not in any real sense of ease of use or playability.

The first stage, "The Pit", is empty on ground floor for the entire stretch, until you realize that you need to scale the left wall in order to jump onto some hard-to-reach platforms. Jumping from platform to platform is kind of awkward, but at least it makes for some test of skill in the form of jumping between platforms as you dodge these inexplicable red dots.

It seems as though many of the elements of this game are intentionally badly done or played for camp humour, judging by the title's reference to the Action 52 series of games. The irony of this is that the game is actually surprisingly fun for a short while, perhaps being a bit on the difficult side from the game's start. I wished that the game would have taken pains to use some sort of conventional level design and graduate me through a series of levels that slowly become more challenging, but since I believe the creator wasn't taking themselves that seriously when they were creating this, we end up with a game that seems like it was intentionally meant to frustrate. And that's OK, in a certain sense. In a way, I admire that the creator completed a game in an engine that they are not used to.

Initially, I encountered a bug which caused my player to run off the screen and die, instead going to the next level. Fortunately, the creator provided me with a link to a fixed version, and I'm glad they did, because the levels after the first one are much better than it. A portion of the game requires you to run and duck under a small block. It's adrenaline-fueled and it made me feel like Indiana Jones. Just remember that "K" is run, and you can double jump in mid air, and things should become a lot easier.

The controls are rather finnicky, and the wall jump mechanic isn't always reliable, but in essence, this game is a difficult but occasionally fun platformer. It will certainly challenge you (at least for a short while), it may bore you, but it will definitely be frustrating in turns also. The hurt of falling several levels will make you bitter beyond belief!

Its relatively conventional platformer gameplay, bland background graphics and general lack of polish bring it down, but other than that, the game, whilst being very short, was still rather addictive, and its difficulty lent a good amount of challenge. Even still, it's very frustrating, and falls from a great height can be incredibly demoralizing. Added to that, the fireballs that travel from one side of the screen to the other do not respawn, so simply waiting for all of the objects to wander off screen will allow the level to become much easier.

In short, the game is rather silly and perhaps even worth a short play to encourage developers that they can try and have fun with other engines. But as a game by itself, there's not much to recommend other than to have a quick ironic playthrough and to move on. Some actual conveyance of game controls in-game, such as a tutorial on how to use running and wall jumping, may have helped.

I give Cheetahmen 52: Part Aries: a 2.5/5. I doubt the creator will take that as an insult, though. I would like to see someone do a Let's Play of this from start to finish with voice commentary, stat. It will make me feel better about myself.

Posts

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Hmm... Well, that actually sounds like a glitch. Did you play through all 9 levels? It sounds like, to me, that for whatever reason, that the game didn't recognize you completing a level. Do you mind giving more detail as to how the game ended for you so that I might find the problem?

Otherwise, nice review! Thank you. My goal was to troll the player in a lighthearted way.
CashmereCat
Self-proclaimed Puzzle Snob
11638


I went through this doorway, fell off the right hand side of the screen and then respawned at the bottom of the pit. Thanks for thanking me.
Yeah, that is definitely a fatal glitch... You only beat level 1.
I managed to replicate the glitch, but it's like a 1/20 chance of happening. I'm not sure why, it's like the engine sometimes just fails to register things.

I've altered the levels to make it so you can't run off the edge and it gives it time to figure out that it needs to change the scene. I've updated the download.

But, on the plus side, you've got another 8 levels of deliberately unfair crap if you want to put yourself through that!
CashmereCat
Self-proclaimed Puzzle Snob
11638
author=volke_locke
I managed to replicate the glitch, but it's like a 1/20 chance of happening. I'm not sure why, it's like the engine sometimes just fails to register things.


That's funny, because both times I completed the level it rejected me. I'll download the new version and play it just because I'm interested.
CashmereCat
Self-proclaimed Puzzle Snob
11638
I edited my review! You gained a whole 1.5 stars!

Edit: Also, I'll admit. I didn't finish this game, but I think I played it for long enough until I was frustrated enough to throw my monitor from someplace really really high onto the concrete. I tried to jump a small gap very many times, going round and round in circles until I fell about 4 stories and just ragequit. Since this game has no save function, I reverted back to The Pit upon restart. I hope you don't mind.
author=CashmereCat
I edited my review! You gained a whole 1.5 stars!

Edit: Also, I'll admit. I didn't finish this game, but I think I played it for long enough until I was frustrated enough to throw my monitor from someplace really really high onto the concrete. I tried to jump a small gap very many times, going round and round in circles until I fell about 4 stories and just ragequit. Since this game has no save function, I reverted back to The Pit upon restart. I hope you don't mind.


Nah, I don't mind. This game was made to frustrate! I've only managed to beat the final level twice, so I rage quit my own game - and I know exactly what I am doing!
How far did you get? It sounds like you got to level 3 - The Tower, which is my second-to-least favorite personally. I think you'd like the next 2 or three levels. They rely on more of that Indiana Jones feeling, but also have a new background.

I did update the controls, so you can use a variety of layouts. When I set the keys, I was only thinking about what I normally use and I didn't think of what other people would use. I haven't updated the game page, but you can now use X,Z, and the arrows. I think I also made the number pad usable.
I also released a download for a flash version, which I think runs better.
But, I'll share with you a little secret.

You can use your mouse to click on the orbs and they'll disappear. Thank you Nintendo Power! This is technically cheating.


I'll probably be releasing a video walk-through soon enough.
Thanks!
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