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30 Dec, 2005 |
reviewed by Neal
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Hot Airby Nitrome
(visit the game site)
Overview
This game involves navigating a small hot air balloon from the starting green platform to the end red platform, while avoiding all the spikes, traps, and monsters! Collect any keys in a level to unlock the blocking barriers! Make sure to collect all the stars in each of the 20 levels, so you can unlock the other 5 secret levels! Left click your mouse to operate the fan, and change the mouse position to change the wind direction. Pretty cool, eh?
Every level is different, unique and colorful! Enjoy the beautiful scenery, challenging gameplay, and wonderful soundfx while facing the challenge of navigating the balloon using a miniature blue fan! The fan is your only way to get the balloon to move, and you can't use your ordinary keyboard functions! You can also use the fan to blow enemies, and other obstacles in your way! The fan can be somewhat hard to use at first, but it takes practice, and skill! Just know this: If you use it close to the balloon, the balloon will go far! If you use it farther from the balloon, the balloon won't go too far. It's good to notice the pattern of the balloon movement after using the fan to guide it. You will then become an expert at this game in seconds! Also, be careful when getting the stars and keys, because they can be in hard-to-reach places!
 The enemies in this game is the coolest part! When you progress through the game, you will be able to witness new ones every time! The foes are all different, and they can be bigger or smaller in each level, and tougher or easier to pass in each level! Everyone has a different taste of which enemies are tough or easy and which ones are bigger or smaller! Well, let's take a look at some real interesting ones, shall we? From Level 4:
 From Level 8:  From Level 13:  From Level 20: 
Analysis
The pixelart graphics, and the environmental scenery really brings out the attractiveness of this game! The flowers and plants on the ground, the smooth, pink clouds on the sky, the different colour of the background in each level, and the brown, rounded-top mountains! The numerous enemies in this game are really sharp, and the hot air balloon and the fan look very clear and move very swiftly in the game screen!
The concept of the game of collecting stars, and going through all the levels brings interest to many gamers! For those gamers, it gives them a challenge to complete the game completely by collecting every star in every level, pass through all obstacles, and to beat the bonus levels! But for some, it reminds them of an old-school Mario game. Stars and keys can be common in most Mario games, and the enemies in this game are somewhat similar to those in old Mario games as well. This can be boring to the average gamer after a while.
The gameplay is somewhat challenging for the regular, casual gamers out there. For example, using the fan can trick their mind very easily, and it can be too difficult for them to use. Also, the enemies can really bug some gamers like crazy! It can be hard to move your balloon after a while when there are too many enemies around, and that can really affect the lastability. But for the real-deal gamers, they'll do whatever it takes to beat it, even the bonus levels, even when there are too many enemies around! Using the fan won't matter to them, because they will figure out the balloon movement when using the fan around it, as well as the secrets in using it to pass certain levels!
The lastability is affected due to the tough gameplay, as well as the soundfx. The background music loop is long and a bit varied in the menu, as well as in the levels. But the background music will begin to overlap itself in the menu and levels, making the music a bit unbearable to listen to after a while.
But overall, it's charming, eye-dropping, and challenging! :)
Neal
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