FIREWORK Reviews

This game's just awesome! The level design is pretty nice, bosses are impressing, and the story is amazing. Trust me ;)

I'll make this short since it's the first review I've made. I'm giving this game 10/10 points. I would love to give it 11, but there is a flaw. It's the fact that I can only give 10 points. Gameplay is fun, even after playing it for 100+ hours. The graphics are very aesthetic, they remind me of those old retro games and you can definitely tell that the creator put effort into them. One may have a problem with the 1:1 screen, but I didn't mind it at all. Soundtrack is really really good, could listen to it for hours. Story is very interesting. Average completion time is 3 hours, which is okay, wish it was a little longer. Bosses are easy once you know how they work, however it can be really hard if you're playing for the first time and don't have the majority of the upgrades, which applied to me. Other than that, I really enjoyed it. Overall great game, I definitely recommend it to anyone who likes platformers. I didn't expect anything else from Ivan. Keep up the great work!

I really loved this game, the gameplay and controls are really tight and well done, it seems to be inspired by Megaman X but it goes beyond that adding more unique moves to the character and the level design goes really well along it, the story was interesting and keep me going to find out more and more about it (I got the true ending too), the music is also really good and the game also has a lot of enemy variety and cool boss fights. If you're a fan of 2D fast paced platformers like Megaman X, you'll totally love this and I recommend it throughfully!

[h1]An Underrated Indie Gem[/h1] Firework is a Megaman-inspired action platformer that feels polished and responsive. It has a few interesting ideas (particularly the way the weapon functions, some of the boss designs, the fire effects and shard system) and uses a lot of established mechanics fans of the genre will be immediately familiar with, such as gaining abilities from bosses. The gameplay is on the short side at around 2-3 hours but is a bargain for the very low price. Areas where it could improve include the writing (there's some awkward phrasing and a few spelling mistakes) and the controls (wall climbing could use a little work, as could the direction of dashing when using an analogue stick) but these feel like relatively minor points in what is otherwise a very strong game. Overall, Firework has a lot of heart and really feels like it was made with passion. I'm hopeful that more people take the time to experience it as it deserves way more attention.

wow i cannot believe how banging the music and the story are for this game. gameplay is solid as well. hope to see a sequel or spiritual sequel down the road, good job!

Very fun game and interesting take on the mega man formula. Having to put out fires so they don't spread felt truly tense at points and some moments are superbly crafted. My biggest complaint was that there wasn't a level select and there are a couple small errors in the game but other than that you should give it a shot.

That was a really good surprise! :D It plays like megaman a good bit, the story was surprisingly interesting and have some interesting idea, same for the gameplay, with a good flow of upgrade as you progress, and the firefighter theme is applied in fun ways. The game looks simple but clearly have hearts behind and it shows, good boss battles, interesting level design, good pace, good challenge level. It's not the longest game but it use it's time well. Highly recommended!

Firework's a great little narrative platformer. The movement system is sharp and gives you plenty of mobility to handle the masocore-inspired (but never cruel) later stages. Boss fights are the most challenging parts, old-school pattern-based affairs that took me a few tries to learn. A day after I beat it I started a new game to get 100%, which I highly recommend doing; the 100% route has some of the game's high points. The story starts as a fun mystery and ends as a sweet allegory. Overall, Firework is aptly named: short-lived but a blast.

[h1]Video (gameplay + commentary):[/h1] Part 1: https://youtu.be/kRB2XzkWz_o [h1]Summary:[/h1] We're digging this game. Crunchy pixels combined with enjoyable chiptunes and some Mega Man X-inspired platforming. This game's dash and hover mechanics are a neat spin on the formula and can feel quite graceful when executed well. The scope of this game is also well defined with the story quickly conveying to you that you'll be spending your time symbolically and literally putting out fires to save a bunch of living "sphere" creatures that you are (we think) sworn to protect. The spheres have minds of their own, possess child-like wonder, and have a way of getting out of their chambers and wandering around, so part of your job is to retrieve them and keep them safe. Similar to Mega Man, there are bosses you fight and from what we've seen at least some of them grant you new powers when defeated. You also level up as you go which increases your all around abilities such as movement speed and projectile firing range. Unlike Mega Man though you don't choose a boss and go fight them but rather run into them as you progress in the story. As a side note, the game is intentionally not widescreen but instead is closer to an old school 4:3 ratio with some neat vignetting around the edges to really push the idea that it's like an old style TV, or perhaps being viewed through a camera. It's a neat effect that we like and don't really see it as a loss of screen real estate, but some people may be bothered by black pillars to the left and right of the game. Definitely worth checking out if you like platformers and a chiptune soundtrack.

I beat the game in about 3 hours, got the bad ending, and did not obtain any of the 13 achievements - mission accomplished. [i] Firework [/i] is one of those "retro" games that does not come with a fullscreen; maybe some people like that black border format, but I would rather have a stretched version, even if the game loses some quality in the process. I guess it kinda reminds me of Mega Man, not like a clone though, just the aesthetic part. It's more of a story-driven platformer and I think the game does a decent job in that regard. It has many cutscenes that establish some narrative, not something that I would expect in a NES hard platformer. This game gets pretty hard toward the end, but it has relatively friendly checkpoints which is why I beat it so quickly, despite constantly dying. There is this "firefighting" aspect of this game that I do not fully understand; I think you have to put out most of the fire in order to get the good ending. Obviously, this game has multiple endings, so I would recommend taking your time with the levels if you not planning on multiple playthroughs. It seems like each level has a hidden area, you have to save characters in order to gain passive upgrades, such as movement speed or bullet range. It also has a couple of active abilities which tend to drop as a reward for beating bosses (4 in total, I think). Unfortunately, I missed most of the upgrades so I had a hard time with the boss fights, but you can definitely beat them with good reflexes. I found the controls to be very responsive, while the later stages got pretty frustrating, it's manageable if you play patiently. [h1] Pros: [/h1] + decent platforming elements + can remap controller (played on F310) + interesting story / multiple endings + some of the boss fights were good + can gain active and passive upgrades + achievements (not that I got any) [h1] Cons: [/h1] - black borders - can get frustrating on the darkness level - some weird soundtrack choices (I liked a few songs though) [b] Overall Thoughts: 7/10 [/b] While I have mixed feelings about this game, I do not feel like I wasted my money. I liked it enough to finish, although I think the game is a bit niche. It's really nice that it has more than one ending, but keep in mind that it has a challenging difficulty. [code]Review By: http://store.steampowered.com/curator/31294838-Hidden-Gem-Discovery/ [/code]