Redstar Fall Pro
It's time to revisit the history of communism, browser game style! Redstar Fall is back, with 20 more levels of physics puzzle mayhem. The new levels are tough and finicky as a dried-up alley cat, so if you haven't played the first game, go do that first.
If you must soldier ahead with no experience, then here is the low-down. On each level of Redstar Fall Pro, a red star lives on the top of a teetering tower of bricks and explosives. Your job is to bring the star safely to rest on solid ground. Or as is often the case, ground that is floating mysteriously in mid-air. The red star stands on deceptively solid ground, you might say. Just like communism!
You perform this task by clicking on the support bricks one at a time, thus blowing them up or vaporizing them. There's about a one-second delay between clicks, so strategy takes precedence over reflexes.
Again, these are the "Pro" levels (though you won't get one red cent for completing them), so if the solution seems impossible, you're probably just not triggering the right obscure domino reaction. Play around! Relax! Watch the fuzzy clouds float by. Ponder the modern-day ramifications of the 20th-century Cold War. Whatev.
Thanks for sending this one in, Patrick!
All I can say is... be VERY glad that Zedarus changed level 16 to what it is now. The level used to be just platforms and the small bombs popping up, and the exit platform was all the way at the bottom in the middle. it required 4 perfectly timed explosions, and luck, in a row. The current level 16 is far, far easier.
If you want to see what the level 16 was like initially, check out my video.
Here's the thing about this game. The pause after destroying an object drives me CRAZY. Enough that I quit playing the first one after a couple of levels and did the same here. I'm not at all sure that it serves a valid gameplay purpose - but even if it does, it makes the game too irritating for me to play.
I had no problem with anything except for level 17, and mostly because I got tired of restarting it.
I think — and this is just the way I am — these kinds of games would be better if they didn't have the "you must beat level N to play level N+1" setup. That way, if one level is frustrating you can skip it and come back to it later. The only other option is to stop playing (or replay levels you already beat), which inevitably means I just stop playing, period.
Other than that minor quibble (which affects nearly all puzzle games with levels), Red Star Pro was just as fun as RS1.
Mr. Mo Mo:
The delay is there so you have to plan things through a bit instead of dropping the star with a rapid click-fest. Take for example the ubiquitous two-legged "Stonehenge" construction. If there wasn't the delay, a quick person could click both legs and drop the top bar straight down. With the delay, you have to plan for the tilt of the top bar when you're taking out the legs.
That's the most obvious situation, but there are other situations where rapid clicking can mask a lack of planning. By having the delay, you have to think ahead a little more. It makes for a more challenging (and hence more frustrating) game.
I'm communism!
I agree that the linear level structure is no good. What I would like to see in a puzzle game is a branching level path, like in Super Mario World, with different areas that concentrate on different themes or skills. I've seen that in exactly one puzzle game: the downloadable Obulis, and it works great. You get that overall sense of exploration and progression, with bite-size puzzles and short breaks between rewards. More effort required to make an intelligent map screen, of course, but seriously worth it.
@Mr. Mo Mo: The pause after removing a piece is there because this game shamelessly cloned the mechanics of the much more charming Tumbledrop. I do like the new arcade-styled identity Redstar Fall is finding with the explosion mechanics, but with the opaque scoring system and frustrating timing puzzles, it's hard to recommend.
Branching level path is a good feature, and I'm already added it as a ToDo for Redstar Fall, but I'm thinking is it a good way to unlock all levels for the very beginning? Because if so, player can play more challenging levels first, and then he may lose interest to easy ones.
Such a great game, i can't stop playing!
Amazing. I pretty much breezed through the original, and I can't even get past level 1 on this one. I must have tried it several dozen times. Grr.
Figures. As soon as I post that I get past the level. *sigh*
I'm stuck on lvl 1 too.
zedarus: If I get stuck on a challenging level, I like having an easy level to play for a while, so my brain can take a break without quitting the game.
Major peeve: When using passwords, the password for level n unlocks only level n, not levels 2 through n-1. This sort of unlocking scheme makes it impossible to go back and replay levels you've already completed.
Weird... I get a security warning in Firefox about running analytics6 and it not having a trusted digital signature. Anyone else get that?
Works fine in Chrome though.
Yeah, I'm getting that persistent digital signature warning too. (Also Firefox.) Wasn't getting it last night...
wow...I enjoyed that...but am now stuck on the last level...lv20!
Branching level design would be fantastic and as long as the easy levels are at the beginning I can't see any difficulty implementing. (Gemcraft Zero has a great branching map with secrets that open up as you complete other challenges.)
Oh yeah and if anyone could post a spoiler for lv 20 it would be greatly appreciated!
lvl 2 pass code:
fall
3 and 4
yahoo and shootagain
lvl 8
tricky
lvl 15
domino
Wow this game is so awesome! And I love your page, too. Timewaster deluxxxe
code for level 5:
shootagain
Update