Time to invent a new word! Or, phrase, rather. Ready? "Platform Adventure Paloozathonvania"! You like? Hope so. It took hours of intense research to come up with that particular combination of letters, not to mention the trademark hoops we had to jump through to print it. But now it's there, and it describes the bulk of this week's downloadable games quite accurately.
The Island of a God (Windows, 52MB, free) - Metroidvania, anyone? This freeware exploration adventure drops you on an (almost) uninhabited island populated by a fuzzy-bearded guy who claims to be a god. Your crash on his slab of rock broke his elemental machine, and in order to control the elements, he needs you to fix it. Head out on a quest to gather the gem shards, exploring a series of small levels from head to toe. You also get a few power-ups that help you along the way, like fireballs that can burn things or take care of enemies in your path. There are five unique areas to explore, holding a total of 25 pieces of the elemental rocks. Find everything so you can get off this island and go back home!
YoYo (Windows, 8MB, free) - Platform adventures never get old, and this cleanly-drawn entry from Bagdaddy Games proves just that. You play a young boy with a yo-yo who can hop around and smack thugs with the toy. You discover a furry little critter who is believed to possess magical powers, and in order to keep it safe, you travel with it chasing after the bad guys who want to kidnap it. Fortunately, the little guy has powers of his own, and you can take control of him to squeeze through small spaces to retrieve keys and the like. A little bit of puzzle with your platformer goes down well, and this one hits a good balance between challenge and raw fun-type fun!
Sprint - King of the Jungle (Windows, 2MB, free) - The most adorable lion in the world is out to collect red spheres, and you're the lucky gamer that gets to help! Run through each level as quickly as you can, keeping an eye on the timer if you want to go for the "special surprise" at the end of the game. When you eat enough fruit, you'll activate Sprint's roar power which allows you to create/destroy certain blocks, frighten animals, and a few other things. It's a little bit of a puzzle to work your way through some parts of the stage, and the added (but optional) pressure of moving fast creates a welcome challenge. Cute, entertaining, easy to pick up and play, and with plenty of content to keep you busy for a while!
Greenhead (Windows, 8MB, free) - A simple type of avoidance game you usually only see on mobile phones, Greenhead is all about one thing: not getting hit. You have four spaces at the bottom to maneuver upon. Dart back and forth with the [arrow] keys, avoiding blocks that crash from the sky. Bouncing barrels, shattering ice blocks, and other more creative dangers arrive later in the game, but a few power-ups drop in from time to time to give you a hand. Go for the high score, see how many people you can best on the online leaderboards!
Note: All games have been confirmed to run under Windows 7 and are virus-free. Mac users should try Boot Camp, Parallels, or CrossOver Games to play Windows titles, Linux users can use Wine. If you know of a great game we should feature, use the Submit link above to send it in!
O-• This is the best batch of platformer adventure games, I'll come here everyday!
Greenhead site is full of popups!!
Somehow the YoYo games don't work for me!? I installed the plugin on one of them but it doesn't work?!
@Rage, if you're using Firefox, the browser claims the plug-in is harmful and won't let you run it. As far as I know, Chrome and the others do let you run the plug-in.
I'm using chrome, it say download the plugin and click "launch the game" but when I click it no matter how many times it's useless, sorry for not specifying.
I have the same problem in Chrome. It may just be the website today. Sorry I can't be more helpful.
The Island of a God would have been veeeeery nice but for the last couple of insta-death gems in the volcano area, where you basically can't miss one jump without getting fried and sent back to the beginning of the level.
I would have dealt with a couple of screens, but so many punitive gauntlets... no, thanks. I like my games *fun*.
Island of the God is great game.
Some advice:
You can't finish every land the first time,
you will need a power up from another land to get all the pie-thingys.
especially the super-duper power jump that is located on the last land.(not double jump)
This SDjump allows you to get the final pie-thingy on the first land in the third frame where there is an odd floating rock hidden under your life power meter.
Final advice:
(don't look at this one unless you are really are stumped for the final land where god lives)
You just have to kill yourself, and float up to heaven.
Awwww the big ghosts in The Island were so cute until they became angry little ones! Really fun game, not sure if they were supposed to be making tributes to some other games in there. Start of volcano land was very similar to Crazy Sue, which is an awesome platformer. The final level where there were 4 squares in the middle shooting out fire was a lot like bomberman too. Not sure if these were just coincidental or not, either way really good game, glad all these games come for free :) and glad JiG helps provide the sources
OK, on YoYo, what doe the yellow apples do? ...STUCK!
I object to the term "Metroidvania". Metroid was the first, so why does Castlevania get any credit for that style of gameplay when it was just copying Metroid? The term should simply be "Metroid-like".
Spirit is cute as a button, but the controls are awful. Too bad.
On Island of a God, I'm stuck on
the hydroelectric dam.
I can't get the last gem.
The ones I have got are:
1. The one to the right of where you get the superjump, where you superjump up and then fall down the other side to the platform above a load of spikes.
2. The one where you jump off the platform at the beginning instead of climbing up and swim through some tunnels, disengage the fan by blowing up the computer, and then go up.
3. The one where you open the bridge, fall all the way down or climb down the chain rather than going left, then swim through the tunnel and up.
4. The one where you do go left after falling through the bridge, get through the blue and red laser walls, and navigate down.
I swear I've looked everywhere, but obviously not. Any help would be much appreciated :)
E,
Try looking on the screen near the beginning with the two moving pylons...
So I was forced to watch a video of a plane crash in Island of a God, told I'd be transported home in some God Mobile, but then when I finished the game I was never taken home. Don't trust God.
Island of a God was kinda disappointing. I mean, in terms of gameplay and all that, it was passable. Better than most as far as physics and all that. (Not perfect though), and the music was nice and upbeat.
But the ending? Man. Let down. Confetti and a 'you win' screen. No twist, nothing special.
Hyudra,
There is more ending after the confetti screen.
I liked Island of a God! And it works great in Wine.
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