Horizontal Shooter with BOSS Competition RESULTS are IN!!!!

[Leper]

I am pleased to announce that the Horizontal Shooter with BOSS Competition results are in!! A carefully designed competition site has been created which features all the games with screenshots, reviews, and downloads, as every game has been rated, reviewed, and organized from greatest to worst! The competition was 3 months long, there are a lot of great games, but only one is the best!

If you go to http://www.shmup-dev.com/hcontest you’ll be able to view every game, along with reviews from three different judges which ultimately lead to a score. There are lots of great game themes from fantasy, to space, to cartoon, and more!!

[svero]

Well.. I tried a few. A couple didn't run for me. I got 3 of the top 4 to run for me. The bee one, which looked most interesting didnt :-(

Im not sure how I feel about the winner though. Im not sure how it was all scored, but I think we already knew from past sales success that R-Type was a good design, and the winning game, while not an exact copy is much too close to rtype to be considered completely a new invetion. The attacks patterns, graphics, shooting abilities types of enemies etc... are all straight from the classic game. Yes fun.. but is it a new game?

[Nexic]

Yes fun.. but is it a new game?

Nope it's not really, but it does add some cool new features not found in any of the R-Type games (directional force, completely different special firing modes). I scored it a 10 because within the context of the competition it blew everything else out of the water. It's not perfect but it's damn close, literally one of the best shooters I've ever encountered.

[svero]

Nope it's not really, but it does add some cool new features not found in any of the R-Type games (directional force, completely different special firing modes). I scored it a 10 because within the context of the competition it blew everything else out of the water. It's not perfect but it's damn close, literally one of the best shooters I've ever encountered.

Yeah, I liked the alternate special firing modes. It's a very good game for me, but then I expect any fan of r-type (which I am .. a big one) would probably like it. So in that sense it just seems a little unfair to the other contestants somehow.

[Nexic]

But looking at that game, R-Type clone or not, you can see how much time and effort must have gone into it. I would guess that more work went into this than any other entry.

[svero]

But looking at that game, R-Type clone or not, you can see how much time and effort must have gone into it. I would guess that more work went into this than any other entry.

True.. I'm not disputing that it's well made. Really I'm quite impressed with it on many levels. I do wish it had been less .. shall we say.. inspired. It takes a large difficult part of the equation out of the contest. And perhaps it tilts things in your favor in some way, in the sense that, you don't have to spend as much time tweaking and perfecting the style of play, and so you can spend the time elsewhere, designing graphics, polishing etc... Really though the problem isn't so much with the game, as with the contest rules. Personally I'd discourage this sort of entry to level the playing field amongst the contestants. I guess the next entry is supposed to have a theme of some sort. That may help.

[Anthony Flack]

It's not perfect but it's damn close, literally one of the best shooters I've ever encountered.

Is it better than R-Type Final? Even R-Type Final hasn't managed to capture my attention yet; mostly because Gradius V won't let me go...

[Leper]

Well, we instituted the judges, you could easily have read the review svero (just click on the bar underneath it) and you'll read why and how it was scored. I'm not defending why I picked it as my favorite, all I know is, I give games high scores that I really enjoy playing!!! At any rate, you're more than welcome to becoming a judge in the next competition

PS: If I tried to clone anything like R-Type it wouldnt be THIS good... C'mon now.. I think its perfectly fair.. The game design polish (aside from graphics!) is by far superior to the other games.

[Nexic]

Is it better than R-Type Final? Even R-Type Final hasn't managed to capture my attention yet; mostly because Gradius V won't let me go...

R-Type Final is terrible, played it twice and got bored with it. Just found it really slow paced and long, the first boss seems to take a milenia to beat.

Gradius V is so much better. And yes I'd say prototype beats R-Type Final hands down.

[Sean Doherty]

The top three games are really good and have a lot of potential to sell once they have been extended into full games. Also, I think it is important to note that "Velocity the Bee" was of the same caliber as the top three games. However, someone had to come it fourth. After, playing all 23 games it is obvious that some people really put of a lot of work into their entries.

I'm pretty sure everyone has learned a lot from this competition.

[svero]

Well, we instituted the judges, you could easily have read the review svero (just click on the bar underneath it) and you'll read why and how it was scored. I'm not defending why I picked it as my favorite, all I know is, I give games high scores that I really enjoy playing!!! At any rate, you're more than welcome to becoming a judge in the next competition

PS: If I tried to clone anything like R-Type it wouldnt be THIS good... C'mon now.. I think its perfectly fair.. The game design polish (aside from graphics!) is by far superior to the other games.

Well sure, I guess it's fair if the rules are to make any shooter, and the best shooter wins. But I still sort of feel the rules should somehow force people entering a contest like this to play on an equal field.

If you take an established mechanic and then pit that against a new more original game created for the same contest, the established design will have a bit of a leg up by using fun elements from the other game.

I agree the winning game, is superior game to the other entries I tried and Im not sure that this guy wouldn't have easily won making another kind of game by virtue of his obvious talent, but it still leaves me feeling a little weird about the result.

And yeah I'd co-judge the next one if I had time when it happens... Just let me know.

[Grey Alien]

GRadius V is great, RType Final is OK, but a bit annoying. Ikaraga is very good mind you.

[Anthony Flack]

R-Type Final is terrible, played it twice and got bored with it. Just found it really slow paced and long, the first boss seems to take a milenia to beat.

Funny, I thought the exact same thing. But then I discovered that after the boring first level, it starts to get quite interesting. However, I doubt I'll explore it fully until Gradius V releases me.

I never really went for Ikaruga in a big way, although I love Radiant Silvergun. Maybe my time with Silvergun (I played Ikaruga first) will make me look more fondly on it next time I get my Dreamcast out.

Because I've been playing these shooters recently, it makes me realise just how tough a scene it is for the indie developer to compete in, as you are in direct competition with the likes of Cave and Treasure (who are, actually, also indie developers).

[mooktown]

all I'm getting is a blank page from the link matt
judging by the early shots of prototype, the most blatant clone won, good for him

[Leper]

No I dont think it was a "blatant" clone but to each his own.. Not sure why you're getting a blank page.. I'm not!! It takes what was good, and it makes it a whole lot better, and I find it innovative and highly polished. MUCH unlike the "blatant" clones indies are making today.. But whatever.. I dont want to get into cloning..

[Grey Alien]

Imho it is a clone AND it's good :-) The two do NOT have to be mutually exclusive.

[kimkallstrom1]

all I'm getting is a blank page from the link matt

matt, try not to use frames next time. it screws up some people's browsers.

it's great to know that some contest organizers are serious about judging competitions. usually results are only published weeks or months after a contest has ended.

[Leper]

doh!! I really will not use frames next time then!!! Thanks!!

[mooktown]

since when was cloning an old game as closely as you can for a freeware project a bad thing? joseph christ! I meant he had done a good job!

So, I played some of the top10 by using Intarnet Explorar, and I definately think you made the right choice for the winner, what a fantastic game, only downside being no fullscreen option! It may take a few things from Rtype but it isnt that much of a straight clone, it turns alot of things on their heads. In particular having the extra guns chained to your ship rather than having them float off into the distance is a great addition. Little extra touches such as the scenery graphics warping around your laser buildup I found really nice, the amount of times I died while marvelling at it was quite shocking!

good game, I hope it is continued.

biggest letdown: velocity the bee, the sounds were irritating and it wasnt challenging, pitty as from the screenshots it looked promising as a casual shooter, perhaps with mouse control it still could be?

[mooktown]

It takes what was good, and it makes it a whole lot better, and I find it innovative and highly polished.

much like firefox

[Gilzu]

It takes what was good, and it makes it a whole lot better, and I find it innovative and highly polished.

much like firefox

who said cloning is bad? clones can be innovative

(sorry, i just had to...)

[Nexic]

judging by the early shots of prototype, the most blatant clone won, good for him

It may take a few things from Rtype but it isnt that much of a straight clone

Told ya so

[Leper]

Bandwidth near 2gb a day now. I'm thinking I'm going to have to upgrade my account again :S - Hey guys? You think a press release would do me any good with this? I was thinking about purchashing a small press release marketing package for this competition...