The B-Game Competition Mega mini Review Part III

Part I - Part II - Part III

Well, dear unimpressed and not particularly numerous readers, it had to come to this: the third and sadly final part of the B-Game Competition mini reviewing marathon, sporting another bunch of 10 weird and lovely freeware games. Hopefully you still remember that you can download all 29 of them compo games right here and that, should you be nice enough, can still visit TIG Source and thank them for organizing the whole thing. Now, without further ado, let's just get on with it.

Toadzilla

The B-Game equivalent of Godzilla and Rampage's spiritual spawn, this is a tough yet fun city destroying little game. Scale buildings, try to bring them down, avoid a variety of missiles, panic, hit random buttons and eat a marine or two, in a game that brings back those cherished arcade memories. Not a visual masterpiece by any means, mind you, though we obviously don't care and collectively admire the central sprite. Right? Right. Oh, yes, And Toadzilla Are You!

Speed Bear

Speed Bear is a deceptively simple game, with simple highly stylized graphics, that starts by being nothing more than a leisurely stroll through a Pac-Man-esque labyrinth, where all you have to do is shoot some obstacles (along with a few not very menacing beasties), collect treasures and head for the exit. Then, quite suddenly I must admit, it just turns into a frenzied race for escape that requires sharp reflexes and swift tactical decisions. Apparently the game also features bears in boats. Go figure.

Rap Attack: 2pacalypse Now

It's time for me to be unfair. Rap Attack, you see, is an imaginative mix of Metal Slug and Street Fighter 2 gameplay, with excellent pixel art and some lovely rap lyrics/music/story, that I will never be able to appreciate or praise. Unfortunately I'm desperately shit at it and simply can't enjoy the thing... Tsk, tsk.

Space Barnacle

Not that Metroid isn't b-movie-ish enough, but Space Barnacle is the only true platform action exploration B-Game ever created, and it comes complete with a minimal yet cheesy story appropriately set in space. Happily it's a brilliant game too. The retro styled graphics are excellent, the music is varied, its style impeccable and the controls spot-on. As for the exploration and power-up discovering bits they are easily comparable to Metroid's. Yes, it's that good; not that huge, but really good. The second best game of the compo really.

Hickbilly Bride

Making fun of rednecks, are we? Apparently, yes, or that's what Hickbilly Bride is all about. Now, despite not being comfortable with stereotypes of any sort, I must admit I appreciated the game's humor and more importantly truly enjoyed Hickbilly Bride in all its 4 fps, Atari 2600 styled graphics and country music glory. The game uses only three buttons (left, right, fire) but shockingly is not another action thingy. It's a smart and immensely enjoyable puzzler, thus an essential download.

Rover Race

The rover has made it to Mars and now you, oh bravest of players, have to guide it to safety and STOP signs, while avoiding fires, ghosts and a variety of lethal and/or non-lethal obstacles. Problem (good thing?) is you are positioned on Earth and this means that there will be a delay between the time you press a button and the time you will see the already unresponsive Rover's reaction! Sounds hopeless, I know, but after a few tries this infuriatingly difficult game starts being beatable and the levels (well, the first few at least) seem manageable. Fun even! Perfect learning curve, addictive gameplay and an absolute must try.

Tecnojam Dance 34k

After all these years of enjoying the demoscene and I'm still impressed by 34k games. Silly me... Anyway, this one in particular looks fine, comes with excellent and lovably silly music and in a humble 12 MB archive. Lovely, and even though I am not dexterous or hardcore enough to master it, I'm sure it's a fine finger dancing rhythm game.

Save the President

Simple as that, really. Shoot ninjas, bears, zombies and unidentifiable stuff in order to save the president and avoid having him killed. Uhm, yes. Also a pretty decent action movie parody with interesting visuals and good controls. It's extremely short and easy too.

Funny Cat

Despite the far too obvious Garfield references and the overly simplistic game mechanics, Funny Cat is a brilliant time sink sporting smart graphics and hardcore music. All you have to do is concentrate and press either Right Shift (food) or Q (not food). See how many points you can score in 2 minutes and remember what high-scores were all about.

Brain Drain

Judging from Mother Brain and Brain from The Pinky & The Brain Show, brains can be dangerous nasty little things, and more so when they are of the flying, bent on conquering the world sort. In Brain Drain the player unsurprisingly controls one such brain and tries to grab more human brains, control them (or the pink little clouds that represent them, actually) and avoid a variety of anti-brain projectiles by using an enjoyably fiddly mouse/keyboard control method and looking at some not particularly inspired graphics. Not exactly my kind of game, but definitely worth a try.

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