Bumper Harvest v1.1 Review

Bumper Harvest is Kagato's entry into the NeoFlash Spring Coding Competition. Think of Bumper Harvest as a game of bumper pool but your "cue ball" is always shot from the same starting point. The primary object of the game is to bounce the ball off of the red bumpers to remove them from the playing field and advance to the next level. Bounce the ball off of the blue bumpers to increase your score; green bumpers to gain targeting guides; and yellow bumpers to gain extra balls (with enough points). There are also larger "red star" active bumpers and grey fixed bumpers which can help or hinder your progress. After you have gained the targeting guides, pressing the right shoulder button will give you a line along which the ball will travel. The ball will bounce its way to the bottom. If you are good (or just lucky) the ball will be caught by a moving grey object and saved, otherwise it will explode into flames and you have one less ball.

Over the past several days I have played this game more than any other. Controls are simple and intuitive. The ball bounces and moves the way you would expect. Game play is addictive and fun. Trying to get extra balls and targeting guides is a challenge but entertaining. The graphics are clean and nice. Sound effects go along with the game well and don't seem to get annoying. I do have a couple of problems with Bumper Harvest. The ball moves way too slow. After you shoot the ball, it seems to take a long time for the session to complete. I really hope that Kagato speeds things up in the next version. A second issue I have with the game is the graphic for the targeting guide. The green line which shows your trajectory isn't as clean as the rest of the visuals. It seems out of place since everything else looks polished.

Definitely give this game a try. It may be a little slow but it is fun. Well done, Kagato.