Alistair Maunder, of varStudios, sends word that his sequel to Neon has just been released, and that is both good and bad news.
The good news is that Neon 2 makes an appeal to Mac users, a segment of the casual games audience the first game did not support even though it was created in Flash. The bad news is this version is every bit as addictive as the original, and that is sure to mean lost productivity everywhere.
As before, use the mouse for control; press the mouse button to fire. What has changed in this version is the addition of the [ctrl] key, which will stop your ship in its tracks. Doing so allows you to pivot around to make easy targets of those pesky enemies that come crawling up your tail. Also added is a smart bomb, triggered by pressing the [shift] key when the smart bomb meter is full. Smart bombs blast away all enemies currently on screen.
Whereas the original Neon had waves of enemies that were announced prior to their arrival, Neon 2 simply sends wave after unrelenting wave of enemies upon you. Sure you can press the [P]ause key to give yourself a break, but otherwise the action in this game is non-stop.
Analysis: Featuring a couple of new and more difficult enemies, and controls that allow for more variation in gameplay, Neon 2 succeeds in taking this very enjoyable idea to the next level. Ali has done a fine job at updating an already excellent shooter and making it not only better than the original, but also into a somewhat different experience. Sure it looks similar, and yet it feels different. Neon 2 augments, not supplants, the fun and excitement of the original. Take your pick. This Neon series of games is classic arcade fun.
wow, a full hour of wasted time... at least it was for a good cause ;D
this one is just as fun as the first one :)
The game is not working here. It freezes until you shoot. If you shoot it will go one frame forward. If you don't, it looks like the game pauses.
So, if you have enough time on your hands you can get the high score without a problem.
This is much better than the first one =)
The multiple guns, snake like things, larger playground... This game rocks! I only hope that I would have more spare time :(
I guess I'm the only one, but I find that the control scheme makes the game practically unplayable. The enemies chase you at full speed (the same speed at the player's ship), so it becomes essentially impossible for me to turn around (to shoot them) without running into them.
Marc - when one of the enemies is chasing you, press the [ctrl] key and then use the mouse to do a quick 180-degree turn around and zap it. Without using this method it is more difficult to do, though not impossible.
I agree with Marc. I don't like the controls either. It's clearly aping Grid (Geometry) Wars and that's a huge pain to play with a mouse too.
Grid Wars and Geometry Wars were both designed to make use of a double analog stick controller, "aping" the controls of Robotron in which one analog stick controlled movement while the other controlled shooting direction.
Neon was designed to use the mouse for both movement and shooting direction, which is a completely different control scheme. The keyboard modifier simply stops the ship in its tracks and allows for a full 360 degree pivot.
I actually found it harder to use the anchor key at first because I got so used to whipping the mouse around to do a 180 in the first Neon. I still prefer the mouse whip at this point.
My initial reaction to the larger playing field is that I don't like it. I don't like not being able to see everything at once.
The new enemies are cool. I still haven't played the game long enough to see if the old spore cheat has been fixed.
I do agree with the review that Neon 2 is a separate entity from the original, rather than a replacement. There are certain aspects of the original that I appreciate more. Then again, this might be just a function of familiarity. Perhaps Neon 2 needs more time. Alas, most of my "casual gaming" time these days is occupied by that blasted Dragon Fable.
This game is awesome, i like it much better than the original!
My only problem was that it got a bit repetative after the destroyers had been introduced, as there was nothing else to look forward to... perhaps if there was a boss every so often or there was a set end point or something, i dont really know, it was a very good game.
69170 high score, pretty good for not being able to use the ctrl or alt keys i thought!! (on a mac)
I can't get enough of this game.
Not one of my favorite games. The controls just don't do it for me. I like the design and enemy variety, but with stuff like Echoes and Rainbow Wars out there, this just doesn't do it. A good effort, just not my thing.
Still not really working on the Mac side, where Ctrl-click has a special meaning! Come on, people, make your controls configurable!
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