Strange Free Games Archives - Page 3 of 6

Strange Free Games: Mega Mash: 7-in-1 Game Cart

Posted on March 16, 2012 by Taro Omiya

Do you guys remember ROM CHECK FAIL? Had fun with it? Then you’re definitely going to enjoy this quirky flash game: Mega Mash: 7-in-1 Game Cart (shortened to Mega Mash)!

Mega Mash can be played on your browser at Nitrome’s website

Like ROM CHECK FAIL, Mega Mash starts with the poor player attempting to play the game, but the cart ends up all glitchy. As a consequence, you’ll play as a bipedal-rabbit hopping for carrots, then shift to a spaceship firing aliens, then into a treasure hunter dropping bombs, and so forth. Unlike ROM CHECK FAIL, the game plays it safe: all the game references are covered by the developer’s own artwork, instead of using the old-school graphics.

Mega Mash combines the gameplay of different games via “zones.” That is, when a character jumps into the space zone, it turns into a spaceship. Likewise, if you jump into a Tetris zone, you’ll start playing Tetris within that limited area. As such, Mega Mash plays like a 2D platforming puzzle game. Different gameplay to assist your puzzle solving includes: Super Mario Bros., Gradius, Bomberman, Tetris, Bionic Commando, Balloon Fight, and Breakout.
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Strange Free Games: Cave Story

Posted on March 10, 2012 by Taro Omiya

Ah, yes. Here’s the game that inspired me to create this entire blog series. It’s a game that inspired countless independent game developers. It’s an epic, a mystery, and a tragedy. And it was made by one man, in Japan. Here’s Cave Story, a cute Megaman-inspired platform-shooter, with an excellent but bleak story.

Cave Story has been translated and ported to Windows, Mac, and Linux.

It’s hard to tell the story of Cave Story without spoiling much. As an example, the protagonist’s name is a spoiler in and of it itself. The game drops you completely confused: you witness a scientist retrieving what looks like a crown surrounded by two bubbles containing statues. Then, you witness an online conversation between what looks like a scientist and another girl named Suzie. After that…you wake up in a cave. No memories, no idea where you are, no nothing. Yet, that starting point becomes the strength of the game: as the details pour in, the first two scenes start to make sense. You learn who you are (and that itself will surprise you), what Suzie is, why a guy was trying to chat with her in the first place, and what that crown was about.

For its bizarre story, Cave Story has a simple and straight-forward gameplay. Much like old-school shoot’em-up, the protagonist can jump from platform to platform, and shoot his gun (which has limited range) up, down, left or right. Defeating enemies either gives you health or XP: experience points upgrades your weapon with more power and longer range, while being hit by an enemy reduces your experience points. The joy, of course, of discovering new guns is finding out what they do at their highest levels, level 3. One gun grants you the power to fly, while another acts as your shield. Learning to use which one, in what situation is one of the charm in this game.
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Strange Free Games: Unmanned

Posted on March 2, 2012 by Taro Omiya

Taking the words right out of Metal Gear Solid 4, “War has changed.” Here’s another game from La Molleindustria that brings this topic to light. It’sUnmanned, and as its title implies, is a short flash game about unmanned aerial vehicles used for war.

Unmanned can be played right on your browser, or downloaded on Windows or Mac at La Molleindustria’s website.

Unmanned is an eery, disconnecting visual novel that employs split-screen to convey dialog. You guide Chris, an unmanned aerial vehicle pilot set to spy on a suspect at a middle-eastern desert. His life is probably the most accurate depiction of a soldier’s life in combat: it’s boring. Even when you accomplish your mission, it’s unceremonious.

Yet, the game makes you think. It contrasts from the first-person shooters, making it clear war isn’t glorified or fun at all. It makes you go through the typical documented procedures, then makes you consider whether that procedure is too loose or not. Perhaps most scariest of all, it questions Chris’ sanity as a pilot, with the excellent intro depicting his xenophobic tendencies.
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Strange Free Games: Super Press Space to Win Adventure RPG 2009

Posted on February 24, 2012 by Taro Omiya

About to watch the video? Stop. Play the game. Now. It’s short, don’t worry. I guarantee you’ll like it. Super Press Space to Win Adventure RPG 2009 is the best Flash-based RPG ever created. Play it on NewGrounds

I’ll let the game explain itself. It’s surprisingly well-thought-out.
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Strange Free Games: Iji

Posted on February 17, 2012 by Taro Omiya

Here’s a game that’s not too hard to describe. Imagine Gears of War as a 2D platform shooter, but with the “your enemies are human, too” theme much more heavily emphasized. Imagine, instead of burly men trash talking, you lead a lost super-soldier girl who’s only option is taking orders. And imagine a game, made by one guy, in GameMaker, that’s actually good. Imagine the impossible, and you get Iji.

Iji is downloadable on Daniel Remar’s website.

Iji‘s story starts simple. Iji and her family happened to venture Iji’s brother, Dan’s, science laboratory, when suddenly, the aliens invades earth. Knocked unconscious, Iji wakes up years later as a super-soldier created by Dan. Infused with the invader’s technology, and thus, being able to understand the alien language, Iji attempts to negotiate with the invaders for peace by Dan’s orders. Things become complicated, however, when you start deciphering the many alien accounts in regards to your possibly violent actions.

As mentioned earlier, Iji plays like Gears of War in 2D. Iji can duck under cover to avoid enemy fire, while shooting, jumping, kicking and even hacking enemies to submission. Unlike Gears of War, Iji also contains a lot of RPG elements, where you can upgrade your character’s various traits. The game even contains a healthy number of guns that you can fuse together to make a more powerful beast. Finally, Iji has multiple endings, encouraging a lot of replay.
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Strange Free Games: Every Day the Same Dream

Posted on February 10, 2012 by Taro Omiya

The theme for this year’s Global Game Jam was an image of an Ouroboros — a snake eating it’s own tail. It’s supposed to be representative of how things in life are commonly cyclic, and as such, many games revolved around this theme. Of course, one short flash game has already beaten them to it: Every Day the Same Dream.

Every Day the Same Dream is playable on Molleindustria’s website.

Every Day the Same Dream is a mostly black & white game themed around the 80’s lifestyle. You play as a faceless, every-day businessman who repeats the same chore every day: wake up, go to work, deal with the traffic, and sit in your cubicle, clicking through things. It’s quite an extraordinary existential game, where everything is made to look bleak and terrible.

But wait! There’s hope! The point of the game, as the Let’s Play video above demonstrates, is to break this cycle. The gameplay is so bleak, it demands that you push the boundaries, and break the rules of the game.
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