Funkitron, a small, independent game development company in the Boston area has just released their newest game, Funkiball Adventure: Lost Legends. Funkitron's focus has always been on the casual games market, releasing such successful titles as Scrabble Blast!, Boggle Supreme, and Slingo Deluxe.
With their newest game, though, Funkitron is branching out into some more traditional (old-school) games and hoping for a cross-over hit with Funkiball Adventure. What starts off safely nested in the tradition of Breakout-style games turns into a wild and notably unique adventure across the world, with a few pleasant surprises along the way. Here are a few of my first impressions...
The two things that stand out the most about Funkiball are it's strong aim towards the casual gamers market and its strong sense of adventure and narrative. The story isn't deep, and it isn't meant to be -- it's just meant to guide you along the levels, give the game a sense of style, and explain your objectives to you without being too obtuse about it. From what I've seen, it definitely achieves these goals.
I'm impressed by the graphics in this game for a few reasons. First of all, they aren't meant to be hyper-realistic. The game has its own unique style and you won't find yourself forgetting which Breakout-style game you're playing while enjoying this one. Secondly, the background and character art work well to help carry the feeling of a background -- and in some ways living -- storyline to the game. The graphical experience is also supplemented by a few little flourishes that are quite nice to have. For example, when you collect a piece of (all-important) loot, the paddle glows or emits a little beam of light corresponding to the type of loot. Very nice.
The games sounds are, in my opinion, a bit of a mixed bag. Some sounds are a bit on the light side and lack the "oomph" that can really add to a destruction-oriented game like this. On the other hand, many of the other sounds are right on. Many of the most important ones -- like those for loot (non-powerup collectibles that plan an important part in this game) -- sound good, and the sound effect for the gold coins, in particular, are very satisfying.
I've read that the game supposedly does some neat and innovative things with its music, but I've only been playing for a little while now and haven't yet spotted the effect(s). Maybe that's part of the idea -- that they are subtle in how they add to experience. For now, though, I can't comment.
Okay, so how about gameplay? What does the game feel like and how do the levels flow? One of the things I like most about the game so far is that the various levels have different feels to them -- this isn't just the same three levels over and over again.
At its core, Funkiball clearly follows the tradition of Breakout games -- all of the core mechanics are here, including powerups, different types of bricks, and floating "enemies" to mix things up.
However, the game does well to emphasize its Indiana Jones-esq adventure theme and the levels almost feel as though they have a purpose beyond just "busting stuff up." (I also imagine this effect will be even more pronounced for more casual gamers.) The game sports a fun little "travel the map" device to lay out its levels and has a very well thought-out five-star rating system. Five criteria will earn you one star each if you can achieve them in a level. This provides a good reason to go back and replay levels. There's some more depth to this feature that I've yet to explore, though, so I'll leave it there for now.
The aim towards casual gamers is quite apparent in Funkiball, and I for one thinks its a genuine strength of the new title. Helpful text appears at the bottom to alert you of a new power-up, power-down, or piece of loot you've collected and to suggest new techniques to help you accomplish your goals.
In most Breakout games, pausing the game (something casual gamers probably do much more often than others) was a sure way to lose a ball, as it's difficult to get your bearings back in time to save the ball when you unpause. Funkitron has obviated this pitfall of the genre by putting a (clearly visible) three-second delay before balls will start moving again after the game is unpaused. As much as this feature could, in theory, help people to "cheat" the game by adding a helpful pause whenever they need it, I think this will end up being a very good thing for many players.
Finally, I'd like to make a few comments about the Breakout genre related design decisions apparent in Funkiball Adventure. First of all, you are allowed to whip your paddle across the screen as fast as you can with your mouse. No artificial limitations are imposed here ala Break Quest's physics-modeled velocity system. I personally think this is great, and in fact it's vital that you learn to whip the paddle at Mach III if you want to get the 100% Loot Star in many levels!
Additionally, Funkiball also introduces the long-awaited (for me, at least) ability to "charge" the paddle up and really WHACK the ball with added force (and before the ball is five pixels from the dead zone). This both serves to speed up the ball (which is good if you want to earn the Speed Star or make a shot with tricky timing) and make it more powerful so that it will break through more bricks. This mechanic works VERY well and adds a lot to the game. It may even be fair to say that this feature alone is the deal-maker that single-handedly makes this game stand out from its peers.
So there you have my first impressions of Funkiball Adventure. I'm hoping to do a full review in the near future, and if I do I'll be sure to note it here in my blog.
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