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+4 Spoonweaver by Spoon Weaver
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Blow Up (48 hour) vs. Shadowiii
Blow Up (48 hour) Look kids, its Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing EXTREME! Or...maybe not.
Squall
Download: 695 KB
V.S.
Shadowiii
Play Time: 0 hours and 1.5-30 minutes
Review # 18 for Shadowiii Look kids, its Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing EXTREME! Or...maybe not.
Them's Fightin' Words
    Let's face it: 48 hours isn't a long time to make a game. Many have tried, many have failed. Most 48 hour games tend to follow two trends: they either offer something unique to the engine and then make a short game out of it (Blow Up) or keep the basics down and make a really long game out of it (&And). Blow Up (which won the 48 hour contest if I recall), is an extrememly original game, which borrows some fundimentals from other games (DDR comes to mind). While short, this game offers something other 48 hour games rarely do: a fast paced environment, and an addicting game.

Blow Up is a game of lightning keypresses. Basically stuff will flash on your screen and they you must press keys to continue. Oh yeah, did I mention there is a timer racing down in the corner? The game's timer is (according to Squall) only a minute and 15 seconds in length, but it's gonna take you WAY longer then that to complete this game.
Graphics
    The entire game consists of flashing imported screens at you and you do what the screens say. For example, it might say "Press A" or "Press Y" and you...press those keys. A nice touch that I liked was the DDR part of the game where you pressed arrow keys while the box advanced as you correctly pressed the arrows.

Graphics are basic, and unimportant for this game. They are there simply as guidelines for you finger as they go FLYING across the keyboard.
 
Storyline
    N/A
 
Gameplay
    Ah, the core of this mind-bending insane piece of an OHR game. Blow Up follows a simple system: when something pops up on the screen, do what it says. Before the timer runs out. Puzzles range from pressing different letters on your keyboard (thank you Mavis Beacon for teaching me how to type 100 words a minute...thank you o so very much), to pressing arrow keys (DDR style), and pressing two letters over and over (man I hated that one), and so forth. Basically it is testing your speed at the keyboard, something all OHR geeks should be well experienced in. The game itself is addicting, simply because it is so fast paced you don't feel bad by starting over. If this game were three minutes long, and I lost at the two minute mark, I probably wouldn't start over. But the game is a measly one minute fifteen seconds (but a grueling one minute fifteen seconds I can tell you that), so losing isn't all that bad. Plus, the more you do it, the better experienced you are, so you can haul over the easy ones and work on the harder parts. Overall, the game was unbelieveably addicting, even for a stupid little "quick draw" type game.

There are a few flaws though that come to mind. First, the OHR engine isn't made for rapid keystrokes. I found myself having to pace my inputs or else the engine would overload and not accept my keystroke. Also, there is a lag time between when I press the key, when GAME.EXE takes in my key, when it tells the game to move on, and when the box moves to the next one on my screen. This lag is many times fatal...that is, you could easily lose because of lag. This puts a damper on the game a bit...now you have to pace yourself to meet the OHR's requirements. But in all honesty, this lag isn't all that bad. First, it seems Squall has taken it somewhat into consideration, almost all the "courses" can be beaten not to difficultly with the lag gong on (some are a major challenge). Also, having to pace yourself actually adds that element into the gameplay...now the game is harder and you have to think more, not just mash what is on the screen. The OHR lag, though annoying, does contribute somewhat, though that lag was my overall deminse many a time.
 
  Battle
    N/A
 
  Map Design
    N/A
 
  Balance
    N/A
 
Music
    The music is one song: that "Escape!" song from Final Fantasy 8. Tjord, it was upbeat, fast paced, and didn't sound too bad in BAM. It set the theme decently, and was a good tempo. It would have been REALLY hard if there had been no music, or (heaven forbid) something slow like Anxious Heart (that would have made the game REALLY interesting. :P)

But yeah, the music was a good choice for the game.
 
Enjoyment
    Oh man...is this game ADDICTING! I first downloaded it and thought I was pretty macho...I would beat the game on the first or second try. Twenty minutes later I was still chugging at the thing, and I finally beat it after almost getting Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.

But overall, the game was certainly enjoyable, though pointless. It was fastpaced, which is something few games, OHR or Commercial, have to offer these days. Plus it was HARD, which was another good thing, even if my ego took a crash and burn after I failed a few hundred times.
 
Final Blows
    A fun 48 hour game. I think it won the 2003 48 Hour Contest, and it is clear why. It is a zany game, fast paced, exciting, and certainly worth the download. An ingenious idea, hampered slightly by the horrendious OHR lag times, but still the game manages to pull through to the end. Plus it is fun to have in your library to try again a few months after you beat it and see if you are still the ULTIMATE COMPUTER GEEK WARRIOR!!

Erm, yeah. Blow Up is a fun game. Get it, and prove your spiffyness!
The King seems to have a head full of hot air...or something.

The King seems to have a head full of hot air...or something.
Final Scores
Graphics: 5/10.0
Some are black and white letters. Others are arrows with a little red box. Others are Elvis with the head of someone disturbing. Overall, they do the job, which is what they are supossed to do. Kupo nuts for not making them RPG beautiful, which would have maimed the game considerably. :P The graphics don't really matter, so this score shouldn't really matter either.
Storyline: 5/10.0
N/A (Disregard Score)
Gameplay: 9/10.0
Oh man is it addicting. OH MAN. I though Avalanche was my favorite "think fast or else" OHR game, but this one sure takes the cake. It is insane, no doubt about it. Though it is put down by the OHR's lag times, it still is a really fun game. Just don't play it when DOS is set on "Turbo" mode...egads!
Music: 7.5/10.0
One song. One fast paced, upbeat, insane song. From Final Fantasy 8. It would have been really cool if the song was original, but who's complaining?! The song works wonders, and fits the game perfectly.
Enjoyment: 8/10.0
It is a fun game. You will have fun playing it. Oh, and when you hands start going numb, that means you are REALLY having a good time! I'm not kidding! So keep playing it until you win! Or until your hands stop responding, one of the two!
Overall Grade: C+
Final Thoughts
    They should call this game "Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Inducer" if you ask me.  


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