i see an old nintendo in the background

this really nice !, i'm impressed that you made this for NES rom, honestly the game itself freeze on me when i reach the door, but of course because this made for NES rom everything is authentic, the music, graphics etc feels authentic old NES, send this to AVGN :smile:

That game over screen got dark really fast! But I liked the game, gave me a lot of nostalgia for the old games. Certainly impessed by the NES rom and how genuine it looks! Good game!

Really impressive! trying to take time to talk to the other characters as you race around is challenging and fun

Thanks for the feedback thus far! (Also, that NES isn't in the background, exactly... it's running the game :wink:)

I'd really like more information about the door crash - I've never experienced that and it sounds really bad. It might be an issue with the underlying engine, and I really want to fix that if so!

@ghen If you get a chance, could you let me know any of these details you remember?
1. was this the first door you saw? If not do you remember what level it was on?
2. Were you able to move the character?
3. Did the darkness eventually catch up and reset the level?
4. Did the music keep playing?
5. Is there anything else you can remember?

No hard feelings if you don't get to it, but I'd be really curious if you can share any of those details. If anyone else hits that, please let me know.

Thanks for playing, to everyone who has!

Wow, a NES game! This had really cute art and the levels got pretty intense near the end. Nice game!

Hi Chris !

I just finished it, how many parts are to be found ? I Had 11 and it seemed the bad ending.

I noticed a few bugs, some exits are misplaced, because in the next screen you are stuck in a block (at least 2 of them). And there is one level in which you have to quickly take a key and then go right, I wasn't quick enough and died, and when I respawned, the key didn't ! So I couldn't enter the door to the right and had a forced game over.

I will make a video review of your game, as I did with Dizzy Sheep Disaster and Fluffy Space Escape ;).

Hello!

I super look forward to your video; it's always great to see someone play through.

There are actually 13 parts, but only 12 are required for the "good" ending. There are a couple that you could miss if you're a bit slow at some points, and there's one that requires exploring a branched path (look for an arrow on the ground).

They key thing could definitely happen if the darkness gets to a key (or a vacuum part!) before you do, which is pretty game-breaking. (I actually bet that's why you couldn't get all of them) I hadn't realized the flaw in my logic until now. That seems like the kind of fix that is allowed post-release, so I will try to get something out to remedy that. [rules, for anyone curious](https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/rules) -- see the additional notes section.

Thanks for pointing this out; it may also explain an earlier comment.

Also for the map bit, I tried to catch all the places but I guess I'm not shocked that I still missed a few. Hopefully none were game breaking.

**Update**: Fixing this was very simple, so I've already released it as build #22 - the web version is up to date, and the changelog section has links to both the original and updated roms. Thanks again for pointing this out; I think I would have taken a long time to realize the problem if you hadn't!

This game is super neat. I love the dedication to making an actual NES game! I really like how this game captures this weird, almost creepy pasta esque vibe, with its authentic NES look and steadily deforming music. The game itself is fairly simple and perhaps longer than it really needs to be, but it is fun for what it is. Overall, this is a really interesting game I'm glad I got a chance to play. Great work!

Glad to help :) You have been very quick to fix it ! I'll let you know on twitter when the video is released ;)

This is great man, very impressed!

Cute game! I included it in my compilation video series of the Ludum Dare 42 compilation video series, if you’d like to take a look. :) https://youtu.be/x7vAI59f_1I

Wow, just the fact you were able to make a nes game in such a short period of time is very impressive! Well done! I really enjoyed the game despite its simplicity, it was pretty dark considering how cutesy the graphics and music were. Overall it is an excellent entry, well done.

Thanks again for all the kind comments! (And of course the lovely video!)

Also, wow, I never thought I'd hear that a LD game I made might be too long, haha... that's not a bad point though. People have a limited attention span for these games considering the number they have to play, and I probably could have cut a few levels and ended up with a more appealing game. Honestly, I got excited at the extra time I had using the new engine, and got a little carried away with level designing. Thanks for the honest feedback! :)

How adorable! The music is so authentic! I love this in so many ways, please continue with this and do a game like Undertale meets Pokemon

Awesome game, great :)

Close calls in a few places but I made it with 12 pieces. Thanks for having the good ending with not 100% items :)

The NES angle is nice. The art and sound really sell that as well. Impressive that its a ROM. Online emulator wise I got a few minor graphical glitches but nothing that really impacted my playing experience.

As always, thanks for the great feedback all!

I think my main issue with the online emulator is input and sound both lag a bit. It's thoroughly playable; it's just way better in a non-web-based emulator. (Also hi I'm running around rating all kinds of things on the site so I saw this almost immediately)

Loved the old school NES feel. I feel like a kid again. Game is great, shocking you made it so fast! I see you doing well in this comp. If i REALLY had to look for a complaint, it would be that I sometimes get stuck on walls or characters. But its still an amazing game

Wow, impressive entry considering the chosen platform, haha. Quite a fun little game and very cohesively executed.

Impressed to see a NES game and of good quality. Love the old school nature, good graphics, and great audio. Only problem was a few areas it was easy to get stuck. As well some spots enemies would hit you before the transition between sections.

Thanks for the feedback! I'm not shocked people ran into enemy collision and stuck-in-wall problems. It's something my engine just doesn't protect well against. I really need to figure out if there's a way I can make my map converter warn about that, or something similar.

It's definitely been something that's on my mind, so thanks for bringing it up!

funny and cute game :D :thumbsup:

Really nice game, I love the old school style. The level design and the level of difficulty is really well thought and let the player really enjoyed the game! Great work

One of the games I spent more time playing. Nice entry.

Very fun !
I like the old school style.

Oh man! This is awesome, a real NES game.
You nailed it, super fun to play and with dialogs that IMO always make the game better.

Congrats on the entry!

It's so cool that this runs on a NES. I played the web version with that in mind, and really enjoyed the style. I got caught on (world 3?) another character. I was under them, trying to move down and it was preventing me. I had to slide to the side to resume movement. The fonts, and coloring really sends you back. It feels like a game built for a different time period!

Nice game, Love how everything is balanced!
Good luck, Don't forget to take a look at ours if you don't mind and see what it's like when we just focused on graphics in this game jam!
Game Link: https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/42/spacelab-42a

You made an actual NES game for LD? Fantastic! I've been thinking about trying to make a NES game myself, and in fact it was your post on nesdev that lead me here rather than the ldjam website. I'll have to take a look at your starter kit sometime.

As for the game itself, it was enjoyable. The dialogue enhances the mood, and just having it puts the game a cut above many others, in my opinion. Like others have said, it's easy to get caught on other characters. I'd like it more if Barney's and enemies' collision boxes were actually a little smaller than their sprites, to make fitting through narrow corridors (and slipping past enemies) easier. But there are a lot of jam entries that don't bother to knock back or give the player temporary invincibility, so I really appreciate that in this game.

There are also a couple of places where it is possible to walk off the edge of the screen, but once scrolled onto the next screen there is no more ground (or lilypads, as the case may be) to walk on, so Barney is stuck until the darkness reaches him.

Hey - thanks for all the feedback! I've played around with hitboxes quite a bit I'm still not quite happy with them myself... will definitely keep iterating.

For collisions, did you play the for-the-deadline version, or the newer one? I know I caught a couple spots where you could walk off the edge and released a new version soon after. I wouldn't be shocked if there are more, but I haven't found them. Hope you were able to get through ok!

Thanks for playing :)

Woah, an actual NES homebrew, awesome! maybe next time I'll make a PSP game instead :) Well done!

One more thanks for all the feedback. (though I promise I'll keep coming back and looking at this sometimes if people have more!)

Even more thanks to all the reviewers who scored this so highly! I'm absolutely ecstatic to see this break the top 50 overall. Almost makes me want to carry this forward, though I'm not sure where that would mean.

Thanks everyone!