Spoiler Alert Review by Uzzbuzz

Spoiler Alert [Review by Uzzbuzz]

Spoiler Alert is essentially a platformer in reverse. To compare it to a game such as Braid would be a travesty, but to make the visualization a bit easier, it is comparable to an extremely dumbed down version of Braid. You play as a masked chili pepper creature and your task is essentially to play a simple platformer game backwards. Imagine you’re playing world 1-1 in the original Mario Bros: In Spoiler Alert you’d be following the exact same path the player took, except in reverse, passing over obtained coins to put them back, un-killing enemies by doing the reverse of what it took to kill them in the first place, and so on. Now I know in theory, this sounds like a great idea. I agree, but this game is lacking in detail: Spoiler Alert is extremely short; gamers of any calibre could probably get all the achievements and 100% the game in less than an hour! The music is bland and repetitive, with the most basic of SFX, and the game is never very challenging. Maybe worth it to the achievement hunter for an easy and fast completion, but I probably wouldn’t spend more than a dollar on this one. I finished the game hours before I got all the trading cards for it, and that really should never be the case.

Mechanics/Gameplay - Oh dear. This game is simple beyond belief, Everything about the mechanics are so simple that you can figure them out right away. Other than jumping, there’s a few costumes that you have for certain level ranges that give you different abilities to do in reverse, such as sucking up a fireball that you would have shot at an enemy perhaps if you were playing the game forward. The gameplay was a bit awkward since it plays like a platformer on rails: there is absolutely no variety in how you choose to complete the level … you just have to do what it is telling you to do. Although the controls are awkward and slow, the game is relatively bug free: free of technical issues. Don’t get me wrong, this game will probably bug you.

Overall the mechanics are super simple, and aside from the few boss fights, there is not much thought needed to make it through in a very short amount of time. The mechanics are never expanded upon much, as the last few levels feel like they’re just as straightforward and simple as the first levels which you probably only played 30 minutes prior anyways. Not only are the mechanics simple, but they are also commonplace. The only thing that could kind of be unique is that it’s backwards, but even that has been done many times, and usually to a higher quality. I get it that the game is a satire, but it would be nice to have some feeling of accomplishment as well. And, to be honest, the game was not that humorous either. 2/10

Fun Factor - Ehhhhh, I don’t think so. As I said above, the game is fairly bland, you’ll probably never want to hear sound effects in reverse again, and you’ll be done within an hour almost guaranteed unless you fall asleep which isn’t unlikely. Right off the bat, the game was not very enjoyable. Mediocre controls coupled with extremely boring and simple design in all areas makes for a snorefest. The only part of any fraction of a challenge came from boss levels and even then those were more frustrating and boring than difficult. I have trouble justifying buying this other than for achievements, and I got it for less than a dollar, so take that for what it’s worth, and what it’s worth is less than a dollar. 1.5/10


Graphics/Animation - This sadly might be the one redeeming quality of the game. Sure, the graphics are simple and look like they were done in the Flash Engine, but it fits the simplistic comedic theme they were going for. Not only that, but the game teems with consistency as the worlds seem to flow into each other, the animations are smooth for what they are, and all the characters have a certain goofiness to them. I’d feel bad if I reviewed a game poor in all qualities so I’m definitely giving some merit here. The artistic vision of simplicity is captured in its essence. Plus, the graphics don’t burn my eyes off, so that’s nice. Unfortunately, I cannot give this game a very high rating in this category, as it wouldn’t be fair to the games with more polish on them. Something I found out when writing the review is that all the graphics are hand-drawn, and if that is true, it is rather impressive. I’ve done a little classical animation in the past and know that struggle, so kudos. While I appreciate the hard work that would have gone into doing this, it sadly cannot hold up to many other games, but I am giving it a +2 than what I would have here. 6.5/10

Music/Sound - Well it sure is fitting. Music fit for a chili pepper running in reverse, if I do say so myself. Though there isn’t much variety, I’ll have to attribute the not getting tired of the music due to only playing the game for about 30 minutes to beat it, not due to the music being a masterpiece. It is apparent that the music is a short loop, but I wouldn’t really expect much more from such a short game. The sound effects, if reviewed by themselves would get a 1 or 0, as they are the most cliche sound effects you could find when searching for platformer game sound effects. Perhaps that’s what they were going for, but regardless, it’s not great. Not only are the SFX stale, but most of them play in reverse. This isn’t even the good reversing sound of rewinding a VCR tape (I’m dating myself now, aren’t I?~). 4/10


Replayability - There is almost no replayability in this game. Period. Each level will take you anywhere from a few seconds to what I believe is 12 seconds being the longest non-boss level. So yes, although there are 100 levels, you will, and I repeat, you will get this done in less than an hour. There is one or two achievements that might have you go back to a level or so, but I wouldn’t really call it replayability if it only really takes a few seconds to get through any given level. There’s a ‘speedrun mode’ but I think it’s a joke. I enjoy speedrunning games and this...I don’t know what to say to this. There isn’t really much to speedrun as you’re running at a consistent pace, so getting a frame perfect run on a level is likely to even happen on your first try.

Now, there also is a workshop available to create your own user levels, so if you’re really struggling to get your value out of this game, this is where you will find it. These levels can get a lot more complex than the game levels, but there’s still a limit with what you can do, and that limit is not very high. It is something though. 1.5/10



Level Design - I’ve played many platformers and I have to say that the level design is mediocre at best. Sure, there isn’t much to work with when you’re forced running backwards and the levels are a few seconds long, but it did not have to be that way. The AI is non-existent as you’re just stuck in the preset way of the chili pepper.There is still a little bit of creativity in the abilities and path design, but the game is lacking as there can’t be much level design without much level. It all seems to boil down to the shortness of the game. The fact that the game has essentially no challenge is also something to bring down the score here. The devs had to be careful though, because the way this game was made, it seems like if they made it really hard then it wouldn’t really be hard, but frustrating instead. Definitely difficult to find a balance between difficulty and fun, but sadly I found this game to be lacking both. 2.5/10


Achievements - We are finally at my favorite part of the review~ These achievements are dead easy. If you cannot get all of these, then I don’t really know what to suggest, as it’s hard to think of an easier platformer. For how much content the game has, the achievements cover it perfectly. I don’t really see any other arrangement that could be more suited. They’re simple, straightforward, and cover every aspect of the game. There are achievements for unlocking the last (“first”) world, and for getting gold medals on every level, which just entails beating the level usually. There’s also a harder level set called the mariachi world with slightly more invigorating music but only 10 levels there. When I say harder, I still do not mean they are difficult.

Another achievement tasks you with finding a couple secret items, with one being in each world. Not too out of sight to find, and you can go back to any level you’ve played rather quickly, and even if you have to search them all, they’re short enough. Finally there’s one for a miscellaneous task on a certain level which isn’t too difficult as expected, and then one for watching the credits, and another couple that you should get just by playing through for a few minutes.

Overall the achievements are easy and there isn’t really much else to say besides enjoy your easily completable game. 1.5/10

Pros:
+ Easy, quick achievements
+ Hand Drawn graphics/animation
+ Few bugs
+ Unique execution

Cons:
- TOO SHORT!
- No challenge
- Somewhat bland satire game
- No replay value



Overall Score: 2.8/10