Welcome to 8 Bit Horse

8 Bit Horse is a website dedicated exclusively to 2D video games for all systems, old and new.

Lessons in 2D Game Design

We delve into the design lessons learned from classic 2D video games.

Picks of the Decade

Our picks of the most memorable games from the previous decade.

A Celebration of 2D

Our list of notable 2D video games.

Showing posts with label Reverb. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Reverb. Show all posts

Fenix Rage / Fenix Furia

A game by Green Lava Studios for PC, PS4, and Xbox One, originally released in 2014.
Fenix Rage, a.k.a. Fenix Furia, is a precision platformer that falls into the narrow range of titles considered “rage” platformers, such as Super Meat Boy. Games in this subgenre tend to offer the player fast and responsive controls that must be used with pinpoint timing in order to survive an onslaught of enemies and obstacles with very little room for error. In these kinds of games, players die quickly and frequently, leading to frustration as players repeatedly fail to complete a set of challenges for which they have the requisite tools.


Increasing frustration levels are core to a rage game’s design, as they can lead players to make more mistakes and actually perform worse on future attempts, potentially leading them to “rage quit” and leave the game (often returning later to breeze through a tough challenge with a clear head). This rage-based design is supported by short levels, infinite lives, and instant respawns. Players are free to play and die as often as needed with no additional penalty, and no “game stuff” stands in the way of the experience, like wading through menus or sitting through loading screens before making another attempt.


Beatbuddy: Tale of the Guardians

A game by Threaks for PC, Mac, Linux, Wii U, Xbox One, iOS, and Android, originally released in 2013.
In Beatbuddy: Tale of the Guardians, you play the part of an ethereal being known as Beatbuddy as he journeys through the land of Symphonia. Symphonia is a place that is built upon music, with a beat behind everything, affecting the flow of the world and the movement of its inhabitants. Beatbuddy must save his homeland from Prince Maestro’s army and prevent him from taking control of its music.

Beatbuddy has just a few moves at his disposal. A dash move sends him forward in quick bursts, while holding the button allows him to swim quickly and outrun dangers like falling rocks. A punch allows him to impact some enemies, although exploration and puzzle solving are more often the focus than direct combat. Punching puffballs will release health restoratives, which are placed liberally, as are checkpoints.

Much of the gameplay is built around music, or at least enhanced by it. For instance, crab-like enemies peer up from their homes, rocking out to the background beat. Nearby, numerous spiked enemies pulse and throb to the music as well. Punching the crab will cause the nearby enemies to retract their spikes and the music will lose a layer of complexity. But when the spikes pop back out, a percussive fill will enter the arrangement. Even Beatbuddy himself will jam out to the beat if you leave him standing still for a moment, and taking damage causes the music to become muffled.

As Beatbuddy swims through the environment, he encounters enemies and obstacles whose behaviors are driven by the ever-present beat. Bubbles stream upward from bulbous emitters, alternating between clear and yellow on every other beat, indicating when Beatbuddy can dash through them. Dashing through clear bubbles will allow him to pass safely, where the yellow ones will block his path. Later, you will encounter bubbles that turn red as well, and these will take away some of your health if you swim through them during this time. Timing your dashes to the beat will see you safely through.