Ahead of its PC/Mac release this Thursday, I was able to get my hands on a copy of Nifflas’ roly poly puzzle platformer NightSky.

The game has you rolling around as a mysterious orb through ten twilight-filled worlds, solving different physics-based challenges and uncovering secrets along the way. So how does the latest title from Nicalis stack up?

After watching the beautiful intro, I felt right at home from the get go with the game and how it played. Similar to other puzzle platformers, NightSky offers individual one-screen challenges (occasionally more than one) combined together by variations of the title’s core gameplay mechanic to form the playable worlds. Each new level seemingly brings in another layer to this relatively simple mechanic, refreshing the player with new methods of completing puzzles.

The controls are solid and you really get a feel for controlling the sphere right away. Advancing through, the sphere obtains new powers that you’ll have to implement to progress to the next screen such as picking up more speed, becoming much heavier or even defying gravity — in some cases using these powers were actually enforced, which brought about its own set of challenges.

The game offers a normal mode for more casual players that includes a tutorial and hints and an alternative mode with more complicated puzzles and no hints for those looking for a tougher challenge. Running through both I can say that I’m glad I made the normal run first as suggested. There’s a certain ambiance that’s lost in the alt mode behind my shouts and curses (the good “oh, you tricky bastard” kind.) Though if you do find yourself getting bored with normal mode, I’d suggest making the switch. It’s really a matter of preference, and a nice touch that the option was provided.

I may just be a victim of being to into the title’s genre, but I did notice a familiarity with almost every aspect of the game; that is, I feel like I’ve been through it all before. The game does an excellent job measuring up with any of the better puzzle platformers out there, but I never felt it presented me with anything mind-blowingly new when drawing comparisons to them. That said, the puzzles are still wildly creative in places and plenty of fun, it just never struck that “woah this is different” chord with me.

As far as style, the game makes a conscious effort to soothe the player with both sights and sounds. The artwork is a treat for the eyes, using backgrounds with calmer, cooler colors and silhouetting the foreground including the surrounding wildlife and the sphere itself.

It’s also not hard to understand why the game received an honorable mention for Excellence in Audio in this year’s IGF as the diverse soundtrack, by composer Chris Shlarb, is quite excellent. At times the music is treated as a kind of reward upon completion of an area or by activating a puzzle’s solution, with the absence of music filled by the ambient sounds of ocean waves crashing against a shore. The result is an extremely harmonious buffet for your ears and really adds a tremendous amount to the overall experience of playing through the game.

You won’t get an argument from me against NightSky being a good game. The physics-based gameplay is tight, the songs are splendid and the art is simple yet gorgeous. If you’re a fan of platformers with a little more thought involved like Braid, VVVVVV and LIMBO, they’ll be plenty for you to like here.

NightSky arrives January 6 for PC/Mac and is pinned for WiiWare sometime down the road.

[NightSky]

Nifflas has announced via .png file that its upcoming 2D platformer NightSky will arrive for PC and Mac on January 6. Mere days away from this very moment.

The game was originally scheduled to hit WiiWare first (stop me if you’ve heard this before) and while it’s still on schedule for the service and potentially other consoles, Nicalis twerps that the dev “can’t keep fans waiting. So PC/Mac first followed by everything else.”

They hope to see the Mac version on the new OSX App Store (set to debut the same day), while no digital retailers have been named for the PC version as of yet. No pricing details either, but we’ll find that out no later than Thursday.

Here’s a short trailer showing off the title’s physics-based gameplay, looks like some fun and familiar mechanics with great artwork – specifically the silhouette in front of ambient background look.

[Nifflas]

Nifflas, the developer behind the great Knytt and Knytt Stories games, as well as the recently release Saira, is currently working on a new game called The Great Work, a game that look to borrow from Nifflas’ other games in gameplay.

Now, this is where the story behind the game takes an unusual twist. You see the game is being based on a documentary that’s actually in production right now. A documentary which is following a young IT-saleman as he leaves his job to pursue a career in alchemy. Don’t ask me how the game was spawned out of that, cause I have no idea.

Anyway, The Great Work looks amazing (almost Braid-ish) and should be released in a matter of weeks as a free download. For now, enjoy the delicious trailer below.

[The Great Work]

Trailer

Everybody’s favorite Metroidvania-ish platformer Knytt Stories has been a smash indie hit over the last few years going as far as being considered one of the “indie greats” along with Cave Story and La Mulana. Still, it’s unfortunate that the game actually had to come to an end. Or does it?

As many of you know, Knytt Stories came with a great little level editor. Through that people have been able to craft and create their own levels and worlds. While not all of them are gems, our friends over at TIGSource.com have come up with a nice list of 6 alternative Knytt Stories-based games that do the original justice.

• Shipwrecked
• The Valley
• My Super Secret Basement
• Realms of the Pharaoh
• Key’s Curse
• Pixeled

So if you’re looking for a fun, free afternoon of platforming, I’d check out those Knytt worlds. Enjoy!

[TIGSource]

Indie Links present themselves, one-by-one to make the day better. Whether it be through gaining new knowledge, a different perspective, or just a break from the trudges. Whatever button you push on the soda machine, there’s something here for everyone’s taste–and we’re not even sold out of root beer. Nope. No orange light of disappointment today.

Where Are The Road Games? (Rock, Paper, Shotgun)
“And I don’t mean games of The Road – that’s an entirely different kettle of misplaced licensing. I mean this: the road movie is a fruitful, interesting genre for film, and even TV, but what is it’s equivalent in gaming? Could it have one? Or are all linear games basically just that classic story-as-journey? Are shooters our road movies? Maybe, but perhaps there’s something in the nature of travel in videogames that makes it difficult to execute something authentically “road”.”

The Rise of Indie (gamesdammit!)
“It used to be most indie games ended up on PC. But now with PSN, iPhone, and mainly XBLA and Xbox LIVE’s Indie section, you can find the indie community’s “noise” on most platforms. Developers such as Behemoth, Ska Studios, and PLAYDEAD are making quality affordable games; affordable being the keyword. There’s a new economy in the video game industry, whether it be $1 games on the iPhone, 10 bucks for something on XBLA, or even free flash games, there’s a market for indie studios to prosper.”

Two More Gaming Documentaries: Infinite Lives, Video Craze (GameSetWatch)
“It seems like video game-themed documentaries are popping up everywhere recently, like Pixel Kombat, Indie Game: The Movie, and Pixels: A Pixel Art Documentary, just to name a few. And here are two more to keep an eye out for!”

Interviews: Nifflas, Playdead, Copenhagen Game Collective (IndieGames)
“Here’s a couple of interviews from the Nordic Game 2010 event in Sweden last month, starting with Nicklas Nygren talking about FiNCK, Saira, and the upcoming WiiWare release NightSky. Interviews with Mads Wibroe of Playdead (Limbo), Cockroach Inc. (The Dream Machine) and The Copenhagen Game Collective are all in the extended.”

Great Expectations: Hegemony Interview (Rock, Paper, Shotgun)
“After giving some first impressions of Hegemony: Phillip Of Macedon I started interviewing Longbow Games’ Rob McConnell. Now, with the game just appearing on Impulse and being available for a tenner over this weekend’s bank-holiday sale, I suspect it’s time to present the results. In the form of an interview. Like so…”

COLUMN: Battle Klaxon: Plain Sight, the Deadliest Dance Party (GameSetWatch)
“Battle Klaxon’ is a monthly GameSetWatch-exclusive column where traveling games journalist Quintin Smith fights to win a bit of glory for the beautiful, brave but overlooked games that people are missing in their lives. This month: robot ballet in PC indie multiplayer game Plain Sight.”

The Origins Of Canabalt: Typing Tutor (GameSetWatch)
“A few weeks ago, Adam “Atomic” Saltsman revealed a Typing Tutor edition of his popular Flash/iPhone game Canabalt, adapting its one-button controls so that a random letter is assigned as the jump button after one or two hops. He didn’t give much explanation for the release, so I assumed it was produced for a local school interested in an educational version of the title. It turns out that the educational game came at the request of Charles Watson who runs a computer project dedicated to providing computers with low power consumption parts to schools in developing counties.”

The Joystiq Indie Pitch: Run, J-Stache Run (Joystiq)
“Being a giant, beloved video game blog has its downsides. For example, we sometimes neglect to give independent developers our coverage love (or loverage, if you will) as we get caught up in AAA, AAAA or the rare quintuple-A titles. To remedy that, we’re giving indies the chance to create their own loverage and sell you, the fans, on their studios and products. This week we talk with Tavit Geudelekian of Primary Wave Games about the studio’s first release, Run, J-Stache Run for iPhone. Tavit previously served as a producer at Atari (N+, Ghostbusters) and worked in pre-production on Mizuguchi’s unreleased QJ for Wii.”

The Joystiq Indie Pitch: Super Shock Football (Joystiq)
“This week we talk with Adam Meyer of Steamroller Studios to learn how his passion for art lead him to the digital gridiron of Super Shock Football.”

Review: Beat Hazard (BigDownload)
“Music games, specifically ones that generate their gameplay based on dynamic music interpretation, have been growing vastly in popularity. Games like Audiosurf or Raycatcher, which act as visualizers as well as games with virtually infinite replayability. After all, with new levels for every track, your entire music collection becomes the game. Beat Hazard is the latest entry into this expanding sub-genre, and like other games of its ilk, it’s an arcade game. However, this is not a bad thing, and Beat Hazard brings a refreshing new look to the music genre while building upon the work of earlier games such as Geometry Wars.”

As of yesterday, Within a Deep Forest and Knytt designer Nifflas has unleashed his briefly-awaited, user-supported, toss-’em-up FiNCK. As reported earlier, the game’s abrupt announcement and release are due to an impulsive yet inspired development cycle, brought on by affection for the odd man out of the NES Marios.

FiNCK (“Fire Nuclear Crocodile Killer”; yes, it’s nonsense) has the same grab-and-toss mechanics as Super Mario Bros. 2 and a few other gems like Rescue Rangers, and Pastel’s much longer-coming Life+. Perhaps understandably enough, considering the free level editor and Nifflas’ existing fanbase, the game only comes with five (in effect) demonstration levels.

Of course if you want to play your custom levels, that’s four bucks; if you want a copy of the soundtrack, that’s another three. Again, with the development scene around Nifflas’ earlier Knytt Stories, which one might compare to a modern-day ZZT, you can see the reasoning here. I guess time will show how that pricing model works out.

The game is as elegant and simplistic as all of Nifflas’ work, if maybe a bit more rudimentary than usual — deliberately so. The mechanics feel a bit floatier and less refined than in, say, Knytt. The visuals are pared down and a little rougher than they need to be. And again, the levels are barely there, and seem mostly to exist to demonstrate the mechanics for future level editors. And yet the enhancements and additions to the basic Doki Doki ruleset are seamless, and you can tell he’s been thinking about a game like this for years.

Oh, the music is as atmospheric and nifty as ever. Thus the extra soundtrack option.

All in all, FiNCK comes off like a neat little experiment that Nifflas whipped up and then tossed to the community, to see what happens. (The controls are even set up like an NES emulator.) Given the tools and motivation, maybe they can make him the SMB2 sequel he’s always wanted to play.

You can download FiNCK here.

The best thing about game announcements appearing out of the blue is when they’ll be available for release within a few short weeks.

While some may have known about it already, Nifflas, the mind behind Knytt, Knytt Stories, Within a Deep Forest and the more recent Saira, is dropping his new game FiNCK on May 12th already.

FiNCK stands for Fire Nuclear Crocodile Killer. What does that mean? “FiNCK was developed quickly, contains no story, even its title makes no sense.”

Nifflas states that the game is “inspired by a certain Nintendo 8-bit game [he] used to love as a child.” From the trailer you’ll very quickly realize it has mechanics similar to Super Mario Bros. 2. Say what you will, I loved Super Mario Bros. 2 and now can’t wait for this new title.

Check out the trailer right here:

On the YouTube page, Nifflas states:

“In FiNCK I didn’t actually pay much attention to art or atmosphere. I basically needed to work on a non-serious project after Saira since that was so ambitious, just as a break. In my previous titles, I worked really hard on e.g. sound and music too, and each game contains hundreds of sound effects. This game have far less sounds, all created with sfxr’s randomizer. Don’t get me wrong though, FiNCK was incredibly fun to create and contains some of the best gameplay in a Nifflas game.”

We’ll keep you posted as we hear more.

Spring Cleaning Contest!

Did you know we are running a kickass forum contest where you could win a copy of Machinarium, Shattered Horizon, or Aaaaa! A Reckless Disregard for Gravity?

Check it out!

There’s a lot to be said for an indie game such as Cave Story on WiiWare. On one hand, it’s a game thats so good that it’s almost impossible to find any faults with it, on the other hand, however, it’s hard to justify buying a game for $15 when it’s just as easily downloaded for free — legally — on the PC. Still though, Cave Story on the Wii is an interesting idea, to say the least, given that it’s one of the most beloved indie games to have ever been released.

But we’ll tackle some of that stuff later in the actual review. Right now, I want to revisit the game itself, and what it’s about. As I’m sure there are many of you who will read this who’ve played Cave Story before, there will also be those of you who have never heard of Cave Story before, perhaps average gamers who just haven’t been involved in the indie world enough to really know what Cave Story is.

Cave Story is a unique game. I’d liken it to many Metroidvania’s out there (yes, I understand there are those that disagree with that statement) in that the game is not entirely linear and you’re relatively left to your own devices to figure out where to go next.

Anyway, the game starts out with you, an amnesiac boy, waking up in a cave. From there you get entangled in the lives of the strife-ridden Mimigas who find themselves at the cruel hands of an, almost, omnipotent “Doctor” who threatens their very lives. In attempting to find away to get back home — or even discover who you are — you begin helping the Mimigas in a struggle against the Doctor and his minions.

Finally, I’d be remised if I didn’t say this before hand, Cave Story is really fun. It’s a damn good game that everybody should play. The only question with regards to the review is: is it worth $15 on the WiiWare or are you better off served playing the free PC version? Let’s find out.

Gameplay

As stated above Cave Story is a very exploration-based game. Maybe not as much as, say, Metroid, but it’s not linear in the least bit. You’re basically thrown into a game with a loose set of goals based on who you talk to. As the game goes on this focuses a bit here and there, but, overwhelmingly, you’ll be left to your own devices to find your way. This, in my opinion, is a brilliant device for a game simply titled Cave Story.

Additionally, the game relies on a weapon/level combination system for determining how strong your character is. The game has approx. 6 different weapons (can’t remember the exact number off the top of my head, but it makes no difference either way) and each weapon has a total of three levels. You gain a weapons level by collecting little triangle chips — I call em mini-triforces — that fall out of enemies when you kill them. Depending on which weapon you have equipped will determine what weapon receives a level up. For each level weapon will grow bigger, stronger, and more advanced (for example the fireball weapon will grow from a small fireball that can be shot twice to an advanced blue fireball that can be shot four times in a row with a longer range that does more damage). It’s a really good system of leveling and character progression.

Of course, the bad side of this is that if you get hurt, depending on what weapon your carrying, you’ll lose levels on that weapon. It can make things especially challenging if you are fighting a boss and all of your weapons get neutered down to level 1 where you’ll be at a serious disadvantage. Still though, it provides an interesting perspective and requires the player to more carefully think about his actions and what weapon he is going to use before heading off into a fight.

Beyond weapon leveling your character can also find and pick up various health canisters which will, permanently, increase the player’s health. It’s sort of a similar system to that of Metroid’s health packs or Zelda’s hearts. You find em and your health increases. As such you can sustain more damage. Really, it’s just more character progression, but it works well enough for the game.

Now I know what you’re thinking, so all this stuff  is great, but what about the monsters/bosses/challenges? Well, for those who haven’t played Cave Story I’d say you’re in for a relative treat. While the game’s baddies are relatively average, generally just changing colors or small variations to make a new one (i.e. blue slime, green slime, dark grey slime) they’re still fairly challenging and the game makes no qualms about throwing a bunch at you at the same time.

Likewise, the game’s bosses are varied enough to always make the game feel fresh. Although, that said, to kill each boss is only a matter of learning a fairly simple pattern. If you understand what the boss is gonna do and when he is gonna do it you’ll have no problem with almost any boss in the game. From my experience with both the PC and WiiWare versions there is almost no deviating from the pattern.

Aside from the primary story, the WiiWare graces gamer’s with a few extras not found in the PC version. First, you have the Sanctuary time trial. This is basically a level where you get a few weapons and health and must procede to complete a very hard level in you’re fastest time. It’s fairly straight forward and to the point. The next mode is a similar time trial, only this time it’s to beat all of the game’s bosses. If you die even once you’ll have to start over from the beginning. The last WiiWare exclusive is to play the game entirely as Curly, a character that you’ll meet in the main game. Nothing changes, from what I played, aside from the fact that you are Curly. All are nice extras but…

The one problem I had with the Sanctuary time trial was that each and  every time you restarted the game you had to “gear” up. While this may sound like a lame complaint, I assure you that after the fourth or fifth time attempting this you’ll be considerably bored of the first part of the level where you just need to collect your weapons and health. I honestly don’t know why the game didn’t just automatically include them all, or at least allow you to streamline the process a bit more.

Finally, and this is only a small point, but it needs to be said regardless, playing on your couch with a Wii Classic Controller, on the big screen is a nice improvement over the PC controls. For those of us without HTPCs or PC game controllers, the WiiWare version is absolutely the most comfortable way to experience Cave Story, even if you’re a die hard PC fan.

Style

Now this is a big point of contention for the WiiWare version of Cave Story of the freebie PC version. This is, arguably, the primary selling point for this version. I am, of course, talking about the game’s updated graphics. Unfortunately, for those who are dying to know if they are spectacular or not, I’m gonna have to say the latter. All in all, the game’s updated graphics are little improvement over the original and, ultimately, fell short of my own expectations. The WiiWare version really just smooths out the pixelation of the PC version, nothing more.

The music, on the other hand, is more indicative what I was expecting. It sounds far better than the original PC version. On top of that even, the music is just damn catchy. It’s immediate from the the first song in the game’s menu system. Cave Story’s music is truly a great set piece for the game and one that only enhances the game’s appeal.

Story

Needless to say, Cave Story has a unique storyline attached to it. It’s starts off generic enough — another amnesiac story? Really? — but it quickly gets off to a faster pace as you’re thrust into a world with unique creatures and a unique cast of enemies. While the story may not be the most unique, it certainly doesn’t feel bland or stale in the slightest. Newcomers to the game should be pleasantly surprised.

Everything Else

There’s really not much else to Cave Story. There’s no multiplayer component (local or online) and there’s nothing that really expands the game beyond the original in terms of main story gameplay.

So this leads me back to my original question. Is Cave Story worth the$15 price or are you better off served getting the free PC version? Well, in all honesty, I think that really depends on you. If you’re somebody who absolutely loved the original version and only want to expand on what you’ve already experienced then, yeah, you’ll probably enjoy the new version. If you’re a newcomer to the series who may just want to experience the game, or “try” before you buy, I’d suggest checking out the PC version first. In my personal opinion, I’d say that a game such as Cave Story is more than worth the $15. If there wasn’t already a free PC version then there’d be no question as to whether you should buy it or not.

Because I’m slightly obsessed with anything Cave Story, I was reading an interview in JoyStiq with Tyrone Rodriguez of Nicalis, the developer porting Cave Story to the Wii. There wasn’t anything interesting about Cave Story in the interview, but he did mention something that cheered my heart. He said that Nicklas ‘Nifflas’ Nygren is considering porting the freeware Knytt Stories to the Sony’s PSP or Nintendo’s DSi. That’s good news, but a little far off since it’s barely past the thought stage.

But then Rodriquez said there’s a homebrew prototype of Knytt Stories for the DS, one that Nifflas knows about and, thankfully, hasn’t shut down. Which means that it probably won’t sit alongside the abandoned Cave Story DS port, the only other “game” sitting on my dusty flash cart. The first working prototype came out in 2008, but the first beta release was released in January, and it preserves most of the original game’s functionality.

So I went through my miscellaneous box searching for my flash cart, installed Knytt Stories DS and, sure enough, I was playing. The game is still in beta and there are still some things to work out (climbing walls isn’t very smooth), but it’s clearly Knytt Stories. It even works with custom stories, though you have to convert any .ogg music files to a format the DS can handle.

If you have a DS that can play homebrew games, Knytt Stories DS is fun to mess around with, though it’ll be a lot more fun when it’s finished.

[via JoyStiq]

Nicklas Nygren, perhaps better known as Nifflas, turned 27 yesterday. To celebrate, he’s knocking $5 off the price of the recently released Saira.

Nifflas is the developer of the not-too-violent exploratory platformers that make up the Knytt series and Within a Deep Forrest. Saira, a story about a photographer stranded in an unpopulated area of space, is his first commercial title.

It’s normally $17 and then another $2 for a license for a friend or loved one, but the lower price is available until Jan. 20. So you have time to read the DIY Gamer review of Saira or grab the demo available at Nifflas’ Games.

Anyway, happy birthday Nifflas. Sorry it came a bit late.

[via Nicklas Nygren]