Nikwi Deluxe Review

Nikwi Deluxe is a platformer game in which you are a boy collecting candy. You jump around grabbing candy avoiding the enemies. The enemies vary but for the most part don't let the birds poop on you.

This may be the first game that Deniska has ported that I don't like. Deniska entered this port into the NeoFlash Competition. The controls aren't very good. I would press the directional pad left or right and often the boy wouldn't move. This is a problem in later levels when there are numerous birds dropping poop on your head (what is that about?). The audio and graphics aren't bad but nothing special.

Basically the game isn't that much fun. I wish Deniska had found a solution to the memory problem in Metal Blob Solid. That game would have easily won the contest, imho.

Metal Blob Solid v1.04 Review (Port by Deniska)

Metal Blob Solid (Blob Wars: Episode 1) is a new port from Deniska. This game puts you in charge of Bob. Think of Bob as the Rambo of smilies. Metal blob is a platformer where you kill a lot, and I mean A LOT of other blobs. These enemy blobs are aliens out for world domination. Will you help save blob-kind?

MBS has many types of weapons to choose from: grenades, laser cannons, machine guns, etc. These weapons are dropped by the enemies you kill, along with cherries (health power-ups) and small red and yellow orbs which give you points. There are many kinds of terrains as well: land, water,ice, lava, green toxic waste, etc. which you will have to navigate to save the MIAs and collect keys and cards which unlock different areas. Be careful while around lava and the green toxic waste because one slip and it is instant death. The water is also dangerous because you have a limited supply of air which is displayed at the top of the screen between your health and current weapon.

MBS is an excellent and very deep game. There are over 25 missions. The levels are quite large and have many areas and objectives. The high number of MIAs and optional objectives means that you may want to replay each level to save/achieve each and every one. The graphics are quite good, as is the music, and sound effects. The particle effects for blood splatter and explosions are excellent. This game may look cute until you see the first spray of blood. The controls work well and the physics feel right. The only time the physics defy belief is when you are crawling across the ceiling or climbing walls; yes, Bob can do these things.

As always Deniska has done an expert job of porting this game over to the PSP. There is one problem that must be mentioned though: Deniska warns of an "Out of Memory" error in his release post. He tells me that this flaw is due to a memory leak in the PSP-SDL implementation and will take some time to sort out. I have gotten the OoM error many times. I had to replay the third level four times to get past it due to this error. Deniska is a pro and I have faith that he will resolve this issue. I have found no other problems with this port and continue to play it. I only play one level at a time and then let it auto-save and exit the game. I then restart the game to clear the memory for the next level.

If you enjoy platformers then this is the game for you. Just be aware that it is not completely bug free and you may have to play a level more than once due to errors. Can't wait for the next version.

Here is an online manual for the game and here is the wiki.

Here are a bunch of screen shots:

World Map:


Level Map:


Mission Cleared:


Blood and guts:


MIAs:


MIA escape:


More blood and guts:


Under water:


Lava and explosions:


Green toxic waste:

Hex-A-Hop Review

Deniska has recently released another port for the PSP: Hex-A-Hop. In this puzzle game you play as a girl who must jump from stone to stone without getting trapped, stranded, or wet. When you jump onto a stone it cracks and after jumping off the stone, it falls into the water. The graphics and music are good and gameplay is addictive and fun. One problem I hope Deniska can fix in the next version is the controls. The directional pad is useless if you need to go diagonal. This leaves you the analog stick which is only slightly better. I spent a lot of time trying to get the girl to go where I wanted. She either goes the wrong way or goes nowhere. It feels as though the stick has to be in exactly the right spot to move correctly. If Deniska can fix this problem then this will satisfy any puzzle hungry gamer. Nice port Deniska. There is even a gameplay video: