I really like to listen to tales in regards to the Golden Age of Arcades from my readers. You know, once I began Indie Gamer Chick, I assumed I used to be going to be enjoying quite a lot of bizarre and experimental video games. Well, now that I’ve performed a LOT of retro video games, I do know it didn’t get any extra bizarre and experimental than an 80s arcade. I’m jealous, actually. I believe I’d have actually beloved it. Especially in the course of the early-to-mid 80s, when so many novel and distinctive ideas appeared to hit one after one other, with no rhyme or motive to them. A gorilla throws barrels at a carpenter (no, not Jesus, although strive telling that to his followers) who should additionally keep away from sentient hearth as he tries to rescue his girlfriend. Sounds like a hoot! A yellow circle runs by a maze consuming dots whereas being pursued by ghosts. Sure, why not? A spelunker should exterminate torsoless goggle folks and dragons by impaling them with a hose after which pumping them with air till they burst. Actually, that sounds fairly deranged and sadistic and I actually assume you must search assist, buddy. Nothing needed to make sense and all that mattered was that you just had enjoyable, whether or not it was from blowing up rocks with a spaceship or taking pictures at big area bugs or serving to a mama kangaroo rescue its Joey. It looks like it could have been proper up my alley.

Really the reply to “is it like..” is “yes” earlier than you even say what recreation it’s. “Madden?” Oh ha, ha, you good ass. (ponders) Well really.. come to consider it, a little bit bit, yea.

Well, because of Donut Dodo, I believe I’ve a good suggestion what sort of thrill that will need to have been for individuals who got here earlier than me. Because, holy crap, this is likely one of the greatest indie video games ever made! You play the function of a pastry chef who had his donuts stolen by a strabismus-eyed dodo. You know, that’s precisely what drove folks to hunt them to extinction. True story, donuts and all the things. As the chef, it’s important to zig-zag round 5 single-screen ranges to get them again. Donut Dodo is solely an avoider-type platformer, as there’s no strategies of assault and your solely possibility is to not contact the baddies. So, what’s it like? Well, it’s type of like Donkey Kong, as you will have a large animal attempting to kill you not directly, and varied minions that get in the best way. And it’s type of like every amassing recreation like, say, Pac-Man, the place the extent is crammed with donuts and the item is to gather all of them. And it’s type of like Bomb Jack, as you get a bonus for grabbing the donuts in a particular order. And it’s type of like Donkey Kong Jr. the place typically you’re climbing ropes/vines utilizing the identical methodology utilized in that recreation. And it’s type of just like the 1982 Popeye, as there’s a bathroom seat that stalks you just like how Bluto does in that recreation. And it’s type of like.. you recognize what? Screw it. Name any recreation of this style from the Golden Age and there’s most likely some nod to it in Donut Dodo. If that makes it sound like one thing that couldn’t presumably stand by itself, assume once more. It’s this bizarre recreation that each someway appears like each different single-screen platform recreation and in addition like nothing you’ve ever performed earlier than.

I searched Donut Dodo excessive and low for SOME imperfection, and the very best I might provide you with is that there’s nothing that signifies you possibly can really contact the 2 oil barrels on the high of the second degree. They’re massive burning issues with seen hearth (aka a common “do not touch” of gaming) that spit out the extent’s fireball enemies. BUT, so long as the fireballs aren’t popping out at that second, you possibly can harmlessly stroll proper previous them. In reality, you have to. I knew my leap wasn’t excessive sufficient to clear them and spent far an excessive amount of time attempting to determine the right way to circumvent them earlier than Angela stated “are you SURE they’ll kill you?” I replied “of course they will! Look, it’s fire! The ouchie-form of oxygen!” Five seconds later she was rubbing it in that she figured it out earlier than I did. I didn’t recognize that, Pixel Games!

It’s like somebody took all the very best Golden Age video games that adopted in Donkey Kong’s wake, put them in a blender and hit the puree button whereas cackling like a mad scientist. I used to do this with meals once I was a child, and I by no means acquired in bother for the mess I made doing so. My dad and mom at all times took pity on me as a result of the ensuing unholy concoction often left me traumatized the second it hit my tongue. That might have so simply occurred with Donut Dodo, however as a substitute, the tip consequence ended up being the very best of its breed ever made. Go determine. Part of why that works is that all the things the sport took inspiration from is simply achieved higher right here. It begins with absolutely the precision controls. I at all times discovered the ladders in Donkey Kong annoying, however right here, they’re simply automated. You can’t camp on them. When you hit up or down, you simply zoom up and down the ladder. That works shockingly superior and in addition helps with the many close-calls you’ll inevitably have with enemies. While I personally skilled a slight studying curve to the leaping physics remember the fact that I actually sucked at this recreation. Like severely, the dodo could be extinct however the species acquired revenge on humanity by kicking my ass the previous few days at this. No, this can be a truthful recreation with razor-sharp controls and I couldn’t keep alive as a result of I by no means discovered to thoughts my environment. Had I been Ra’s Al-Ghul’s scholar, I’d have died like 5 minutes into coaching. Plus I used to be so comically unhealthy at timing issues that at one level I apprehensive I may need cracked a rib laughing at myself. Maybe my most hilarious fail ever.

What a snooty wanting chicken. God, I’m glad all of them died.The dodo tends to maneuver itself and it’s often not distant from the enormous donut, which it’s important to seize to clear the extent. Another masterful design resolution.

Not that it’s impossibly exhausting. In reality, all the things about Donut Dodo is fine-tuned to perfection. This options among the most genuinely wonderful degree design I’ve ever seen. Layouts are maximized for heart-pounding close-calls with the relentless, however in the end predictable, enemies. If it’s not the enemies that get you, it’s the extent itself. Oh, and the dodo spits hearth. Did they do this? AND THEY STILL WENT EXTINCT? Was a Song of Ice & Fire’s dragons based mostly on dodos? Well, whatever the actual chicken’s destiny, the fictional chicken’s recreation by no means lets up on the depth, even on the best issue. BUT, it’s by no means unfair. It’s at all times on you while you die. That’s much more uncommon than you assume. Like the very best arcade video games of the period it aspires to slot-in alongside of, Donut Dodo is a recreation about determining patterns and creating your personal methods for amassing the objects. After beating the 5 levels, they recycle as soon as with extra enemies added. A presumably problematic alternative someway remained pretty designed. Plus, Donut Dodo throws twists into the system. Like, positive, you possibly can simply accumulate all of the donuts in any order, willy-nilly if you’d like. That’s how I began out enjoying Donut Dodo and I had a adequate time with it. I’ve by no means actually about factors anyway. There’s no on-line leaderboards, which could really be the one turd on this recreation’s punch bowl. Without them, what incentive do it’s important to go for factors? Glory? Pssh, glory is folks with braveness, and I piss myself a little bit each time one in every of my very own goddamn hairs touches my pores and skin simply barely sufficient to set off my “OH MY GOD THERE’S A SPIDER ON ME!” alarm.

It additionally didn’t make it clear that, within the bonus stage, you management the pumpkin, not the chef. It has two arrows level on the pumpkin, however like, I assumed it was saying “land on this.” Arrows with “HEY DUMMY, YOU ARE THIS” would have labored higher, no less than for me.

Then, I noticed I suck at this and will use further lives. You get a free life each 15,000 factors. Well, fudge, I stated. So, I performed alongside and began going for the flashing donuts, and instantly this was the most effective video games I’ve ever performed and roughly as addictive as all of the medication on this planet and playing on this planet and even all of the playing on medication on this planet COMBINED. You can accumulate any donut to start out, however then one donut will start to flash at random. Collect that one with out amassing every other donuts and also you rating 150 factors as a substitute of the conventional 25. Another donut begins to flash, and now there’s a multiplier in impact. As lengthy as you retain the chain going, you possibly can rating huge factors. Going for combos forces you to zig-zag backwards and forwards, thus crossing paths with the assorted monsters and traps way more continuously. What had been a comparatively fast-paced recreation was now a comparatively methodical one. BUT, it nonetheless by no means manages to really feel like a slog. It’s additionally, merely put, one of the vital elegant scoring programs I’ve ever seen. One that nets you typically multiple life per degree. It’s a fully genius design that additional provides to your skill to create your personal methods. Not solely that, but it surely forces you to improvise, since you possibly can’t merely memorize particular point-A to point-B routes like in, say, a Pac-Man recreation. You by no means know what would be the subsequent goal donut. And this, thoughts you, is the non-obligatory option to play it. I typically discuss how video games profit from being versatile sufficient to permit gamers to provide you with their very own play kinds. This can be my go-to recreation for that to any extent further. It’s that good. I’m not kidding: this must be proven and taught in recreation design colleges. And has any indie EVER been a greater match for an Arcade1Up cupboard?

Some folks would possibly say that solely having 5 ranges (plus a bonus stage) is a knock on the sport, however not me. If the levels have been simply alright, I may need wished extra. But, Pixel Games made 5 ranges that have been mainly excellent. Like, severely, all of them really feel completely totally different from one another, require totally different methods, and are among the many most intelligent online game levels for a recreation of this sort ever made. Props to them for that AND for strolling away a winner. It simply takes one stinker to bitter the entire expertise, and why threat it when 5 ranges was sufficient to make this an immediate indie masterpiece? I’m not kidding in regards to the Arcade1Up factor. Seriously Pixel Games: try to be pitching this to them.

So right here I sit, saying to myself “I can’t fucking believe the developers of Sigi: A Fart for Melusina made one of the ten best indie games I’ve ever played.” Not that it wasn’t apparent they have been very gifted. In reality, Sigi got here so near profitable my Seal of Approval and arising quick that, if I included EVERY indie I reviewed and separated the video games I favored versus the video games I didn’t, the sport on the high of the unhealthy listing would most likely be Sigi. It was like 49.9 YES to 50.1 NO on it, and it simply barely missed for me. But, I knew Pixel Games was a studio to regulate. And now, they’ve turned in what’s, frankly, the most important shock recreation of my eleven years of writing recreation opinions. Hell, Donut Dodo could be the very best recreation of its style ever. And I don’t simply imply “for indies” thoughts you. I’m attempting to determine any single-screen platformer, from any period or platform, that I favored extra, and I can’t. I imply, I’ve been on a reasonably large arcade/retro kick these days, in order that’s actually saying one thing. I favored this recreation a lot and the potential it exhibits for what I name New Arcade Games as a style that I’m going to play an indie recreation like this as soon as every week to any extent further.

Pixel Games’ Sigi had actually unhealthy screenshake, to the purpose of distraction. That’s in Dodo, BUT, it’s non-obligatory! You can flip it off. Awesome! You also can flip off flashing, although they may wish to test the bonus stage for that one final time.

Ultimately, I play video video games to have enjoyable. I couldn’t put Donut Dodo down. Even because it kicked the crap out of me, I saved enjoying and having time. Which is why Donut Dodo saved climbing my leaderboard. Without exaggeration, my expertise enjoying Donut Dodo began with me getting my first recreation over in about thirty seconds and grumbling “yep, it’s a lot like an arcade game from 1983 alright.” But, Donut Dodo was simply getting began. Over the subsequent few days, I went from “this is pretty good. Kind of hard, but good!” to “I could see this being my go-to game with ten minutes to kill!” to “this is one of the best indie games I’ve ever played” and eventually “I need to delete this fucking thing from my Switch or I’m not going to be able to get anything else done for a while, including the review of it!” That ought to depend for one thing, and in my case, it counts for lots. It’s why I began Indie Gamer Chick.

Dodo Donut is Chick-Approved
Leaderboard Ranking: #6 of 306 Indie Gamer Chick-Approved Indie Games*
Top 99.1 Percentile of All 640 IGC-Reviewed Indie Games
Top 98.0 Percentile of All 306 IGC-Approved Indie Games
*Rankings based mostly on time of publication. Check the Leaderboard for up to date standings.

Donut Dodo was developed by Pixel Games (Published by Flynn’s Arcade)
Point of Sale: Nintendo Switch, Steam
$3.99 (usually $4.99) had fingers that refused to kind “Dodo” and as a substitute saved typing “Dojo” within the making of this overview. Hey, there’s a sequel thought, Pixel Games!

A overview copy for Switch was supplied. A duplicate was bought by me on Steam afterwards, and somebody in my home can be going to purchase it on Switch. A outdated man who made an excessive amount of enjoyable of me for not paying consideration whereas I performed the sport. LET’S SEE YOU DO BETTER oh shit wait he really did do higher.