Lil Tanks Reviews

Great shmup'n! Kudos to Lead Money Games for this creation♥️

Old-school style fun! Whenever I'm at the local arcade I gravitate towards classic style games like this so this is a fun throw back for me in the form of a new game - not to mention it's highly addictive. It would be great if the option to re-configure the keyboard keys differently were provided in future updates but this is not a complaint so much as a suggestion for the future. They are fine as is, personal preference just wishes I was using the directional arrows instead of the alpha keys. Looking forward to seeing future updates and/or developments from these guys.

I dont know why its even called lil tanks. One of the tanks is obviously not little. The other one is quite small which is cool because I really like lil tanks. Very challanging.

This game is alright. Gameplay: Lil Tanks is, more or less, a scrolling shooter, but with tanks, making for slightly less maneuvering, slightly bigger player hitbox, and slightly more player projectiles on screen. There are 7 campaign levels, 4 playable tanks, and an arcade/endless mode. There's an XP/level system that makes either of your tanks a bit stronger as you keep accumulating levels. Graphics: Pretty adequate pixel art, no real complaints here. Audio: Sound effects are fine. Soundtrack has what I can only describe as "sudden dubstep syndrome" - you have some jazzy track going on and then suddenly there's a drop. It's not tied to level getting around to the boss section or anything. It's just there. Coop: The second player gets to control your tiny companion tank. They can't be killed or anything. Based on player tank this ranges from "I guess [shrug]" to being pretty overpowered from just standing in the right spot and shooting non-stop: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1802124928 Endless mode: Kind of underwhelming really. So you start at level 1 and the game slowly starts adding more enemies, but there are no bosses and also (at least on my system) the game starts to struggle with framerate before anything interesting starts happening. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1802177799 Annoyances: - Dialogue font is strangely interpolated and it is upsetting. You can also see that tank "beeps" in dialogue stack over each other until reaching max opacity. - Neither the game or the manual explain some elements - for example, whether the player can recover health (as consequence, if you take damage twice in quick succession, you lose your regenerating shield and are basically done for), and what do "S" discs do anyway (aside of making some mystery drones spin around your tank). - Related to above, it is easy enough to take 3 damage within one second and die instantly. - Player projectiles draw over enemy projectiles, which makes it harder to see what you are supposed to dodge. - Boss battles have the general property of there being way too much going on. This especially goes for those tiny homing missiles that the last few bosses use. - At first I was wondering why does this game even have a fire button if you want to be firing non-stop, but, wait - you are expected to button-mash to shoot faster when you need to. If you have a turbo button / external app that can simulate >20 presses/second, you can demolish enemies and bosses before they even get to do a single attack. So, overall, it's not really a bad game, but I couldn't call it particularly good either. It's OK for those few hours of gameplay that it offers.

It is a fun little game and WAY harder than it looks. WARNING: X-BOX controller recommended!

A hidden gem of not only 2017, but for Shoot 'em Up fans everywhere in my opinion! 4 out of 5 PROS: A well balanced, yet challenging shmup. Banging music. Great arcade-y and charming look. A small, yet diverse enough array of pick-ups to combine and use at your disposal that offer some imaginative use. Specials that can get you out of a sticky situation. Unlockable characters (tanks) with different playstyles. Boss Training Room (a mode I find necessary for Shmups), and difficulty mods to increase the challenge this game has to offer. Also, it has a rewarding level up system where you get permanent upgrades to your tank(s). Such as triple shot, a spread shot pattern, and depending on what tank you are using, specific artillery adhering to the characters play style. CONS (but mainly personal gripes [which may sound more like nitpicking due to the fact that is nothing seriously wrong with the game]: If, and WHEN you die the music repeats (of course), yet it feels (or more accurately: sounds) as if it is looping. It gets irritating real quick. But, hey! Don't die and no problem whatsoever lol. Some hit boxes need to be adjusted immediately, though. The biggest one, and the most glaring is the radioactive goo/slime/acid/whatever you call the green substance on the floor! You could be a decent pace away from riding onto the green goo yet still take damage as if you stepped your little tank feet onto the goop. It is a run ruiner that also is a big issue that needs to be addressed especially since this is also a side scroller where perspective and perception mean life and death! Another issue is that when there is too much of ANYTHING on the screen you just cannot see hits coming. Which, I know is the norm in shmups, BUT, when you are firing nonstop wiht lasers and flamethrowers AND the enemies have the same colors/palettes as their projectiles and/or background/level, well things just feel unfair and feel like complete bullshit because you cannot bloody see! In moments like this in the game, where they are apparent, it feels like you need to use the specials you acquire just to be in the safe side of the temporary fray, to avoid unwarranted damage. And speaking of specials. They are a mixed bag, or just too situational to depend upon. You have three specials to toy around with. Which are the Flame Thrower. An attack where a huge fire-y hitbox covers the right side of the screen doing acceptable damage to all enemies inside the parameter. The second being a Tesla Lighting Shocker (of sorts). Which goes out a into a large "V" shape arc doing respectable damage to foes caught in the sight of it. Finally, the third is a Homing Missle Barrage that barrages onto enemies that it locks on too. Now, the specials are all fine and dandy, but due to the fact that they take way too long to charge, and picking up more special ammo tends to rotate to the latest pick-up means that you will hardly use them when they are needed most. The ammo for the specials are abundant, yet their situational behaviors and long cooldown kind of hold them back from being more of an aid in the mix of things. This could have been treated more fairly, if not, just been designed better off if you could rotate between ready-to-use specials manually. Giving more choice when planning a repeated run. But, regardless the specials due not make or break the core gameplay since you can defeat the game without using specials. THE MAIN ISSUE is the green goop of bullshit hitbox detection, and the times when it seems as if you can dodge a projectile only for the games perspective and/or perception of invisible walls (edges of the screen) fuck you over, and you end up getting hit regardless. Plus, the final boss is too much of a bullet sponge. Who, on its first phase relies heavily on the damn fucking hazards, its size that covers the whole right side of the screen, and has random starting attack patterns that sometimes come out seemingly on the first frame when in the middle of exchanging projectile. It's second phase is alright. Still could end up being tough for you, but it is handled fine. ALL IN ALL. These "cons" are more like personal gripes and are minor fixes that can improve the game, yet as Lil' Tanks is right now, it's balanced, fair, and fun! To be honest, these minor problems can fixed by minor changes. Such as adding an extra THIRD heart (hit point) to even things out more fairly. Or, adding a separate shield for each of the two hearts. Giving more of a reward to those players who are more evasive and better reflexed. P.S. I found a potential GAME BREAKING BUG/EXPLOIT that makes the final boss, if not, the entire game so much more easier and trivial. Instead of pressing and holding down on the attack button like you normally do in shmups, you can repeatedly mash in a quick rhythm which spouts out your attacks at such a fast(er) rate that it ends up dealing what seems to be (at least) double the damage at twice, if not, thrice the normal rate of just holding down the attack button! It's super fun. And it works best with your tank fully upgraded while using the Flame Thrower as your primary fire. BUT, it works with all weapon pick ups, so you can choose how you want to use the exploit/bug. :)