Christmas SAGE 2023 Super Freaks 1 Ultimate Edition 2.0

Super Freaks I'd say is a pretty good experience overall. I've not beaten the other campaign but got a general idea of what it's about. And have not completed the other mode nor gotten 100% but am looking forward to playing more. Compared to some other projects I've seen, this has been the most amount of content with polish I've seen in a good while. A lot of good challenges that ask a lot from the player but never felt super unfair. Despite some small amount of polish that it could use which I won't go over since it's a lot of small parts or really specific instances that happened in my playthrough.

But I'll make some suggestions and general problems that could get worked out for a sequel or a super ultimate ultra deluxe addition (I joke, also this is from a single-player experience):

1. I kind of wish there was more physics and some speed involved. Like I see all these slants and wish there was a slide move to kill enemies without jumping on every single one. In addition to building speed to maintain for time attack or maybe use that extra speed to slide on flat ground to kill tougher enemies in on hit.

2. speaking of speeding up, I kind of also wish there was a sprint. Maybe by double-tapping, you'll start running a bit faster. It's not that necessary but it's nice for smaller parts where nothing is going on or backtracking. (Plus combined with the slide idea you could add more combat options and keep things moving)

3. Another thing about physics, it be very cool if jump off of moving platforms (Mainly ones that are moving up) you would be affected but speed and move further than usual when jumping off of them at the right time.

4. Lastly about movement in general I think jumps could be a bit higher as some platforms can feel a bit tight to get on, not a bit deal bit I would make some sections more natural and I guess easier.

5. I think each brother had their own special attribute it could be some nice variety. Some ideas I had that wouldn't maybe won't affect multiplayer that much could be: Scruffy could tank a once-free hit before losing health that recharges at a checkpoint, Quincy could take less knockback, Gambi could have higher traction and acceleration on the ground, Tikiman could suck in pickups in a short range and the rest could have one of those previous abilities, or maybe something new? .o. (There could be more stuff ideas but something small can help out a bit. Also if they do have small peaks I didn't notice, my bad. :< )

6. It is not great that you lose all your hearts after death. Not a fan since it makes me not want to bother getting a bunch of heaters if I could just lose them in an instant. (I'll say if it happens only in hard mode I'd be fine with that.)

7. Sometimes it can be hard to tell if a platform is jumped through or you'll get crushed by it, as well as some enemies can be hard to figure out their pattern, how to deal with them, or even if you can kill them. (Now I did play on hard mode most of the time so this might just be because of that but still figured I'd bring that up.)

8. Explosions make me sad% (Seriously the after-math lasts a bit too long and can get some cheap shots off of me.)

9. Very small but it be pretty nice if pressing down while wall sliding made you slide down faster. :)

Like I said already I really enjoyed my time with this game and hope to see more from the team. Fantastic work B)

#SUPERFREAKSSWEEP

Super Peaks 1 Ultimate Edition

this game is full of charm and really addicting, once you pick it up you won't be able to put it down, really good overall keep it up freakdev # SUPERFREAKSSWEEP

This game saved my life.

This game is one of the PEAKS. #SUPERFREAKSSWEEP

In all of seriousness, the levels are very creative, the graphics while have this somewhat oldschool-ish game maker feel to it (but significantly more polished and profressional looking in comparison) is really charming, the music is great and I love the characters. Can't wait for the next update!

As my full disclosure, I was part of the playtesting process for this game for a few months and helped brainstorm ideas for a few levels. But even removed from that, I feel like I would say the same things I will here; This game is incredibly fun in gameplay and presentation.

Everything is meant to have a specific "idealized retraux" feeling, but not in the sense of an NES or PS1 game. Instead, it's aiming to capture the vibe of those old game maker projects you'd play and make as a kid, in part because it's a ground-up remake of one such project to add many, many new features, quality of life changes, and visual updates. In that sense, everything is simply designed but refined to add astounding amounts of character to even the most basic of enemies.

The writing is similarly not at all concerned with trying to be serious, with most cutscenes being more like intermissions between each world to maintain a comedic atmosphere and sometimes, maybe even explain what you're doing there.

The music, while initially MIDI renditions of carefully-selected music tracks, has been completely revamped to songs composed with a specific set of MIDI instruments in mind, as credited in the description. Each one does an excellent job of hitting a sweet spot between "Donkey Kong Country ambience" and "90s infomercial score" that blends well with each level and boss encounter.

And finally, the gameplay itself. While it's a very barebones game in controls, that's to the benefit of how the player interacts with the environment. Everything is finely-tuned to feel snappy and responsive, enemies & obstacles are placed in different and inventive ways that took me by surprise when I played it fresh, and there are many forms of unlockables to try for between finishing levels and getting all the collectible trophies in them. However, the biggest thing I need to stress about the gameplay's fun-factor is the co-operative gameplay. Up to four players can play at once, and not once has the game ever slowed down or felt overwhelming. And on top of that, there's the co-op exclusive "Elastiband", a mechanic inspired by Knuckles Chaotix, in order to add an element of physics interactions and general chaos between having two interchangeable band frequencies available across four players, and the option to simply not use it.

You know the drill.

It's Super Freaks. It swept. He won our hearts last year with his memes, and won the event this year with a complete product that's absolutely packed with content, playstyle options, and solid precision platforming. There aren't many games out there as simply but tightly designed as Super Freaks, and due to all the feedback he procured last year, it's more polished than ever.

I said it before and I'll say it again; it's ultra basic gameplay, fine tuned to an atom-wide point.

So full disclaimer, I've been friends with this developer for years, I've watched the game's development from start to finish, and I've been a regular playtester for it the whole way.

SF1UE might not look like it from the retro Game Maker inspired art style, but it's honestly one of the most tight platformers I've played in a while. It won't impress you if you're expecting crazy movement tech, but it more than makes up for that with how polished the level design is. It honestly feels like a Nintendo game sometimes in each level introduces new ideas and then incrementally builds atop them. This game does a LOT with such a simple moveset.

Difficulty-wise the game has a somewhat easy start, but it can get downright fiendish once you reach the second half of the game. Thankfully It never feels too brutal, and there's a variety of options from level layout difficulty to HP settings, to self-imposed challenges like game overs, fast forward, and the ability to lower how many hearts you can hold max. There's also a nice amount of speedrun challenge modes too, more games like this need randomizers, tbh.

Worth mentioning too is the co-op experience. I know most people won't get to try it, but if your network or computer can handle Parsec, you absolutely owe it to yourself to try it with a friend or two. The rubberband mechanics are chaotic in a way that really lends itself well to playing with a friend, but can thankfully be turned off if you just want to focus on pure platforming.

The general vibe of the game is also wonderful. It has a goofy tongue-in-cheek cartoon attitude that doesn't take itself too seriously, but also doesn't overstay its welcome. The characters and enemies are fun, the cutscenes are silly, and the music is a vibe. For real, philRaco's soundtrack may honestly be one of the most vibing OSTs I've heard in a game. Many of the mid-late game tracks have a similar energy to the Donkey Kong Country games where you don't expect them to go nearly as hard as they do. By the time you finish the game 100%, you feel like you've been on a journey.

This game is also a technical feat, too?? It supports multiple aspect ratios, 120hz monitors, TONS of controller types, is ridiculously well optimized under the hood, and has all sorts of platforming gimmicks like rotating platforms, time stopping, level hazards synced with the music, etc. that you don't see too often in a lot of indie games of this scope.

Anyway, the #SUPERFREAKSSWEEP is real

THIS GAME IS BETTER THAN SEX

This is one of the games of all time.
I love everything about this game. The characters are super charming, the level design is nearly flawless, the gameplay is super fun (especially with co-op), and it was an honor being able to contribute to this game's greatness.
Let the sweep continue!

Absolutely amazing. I wanted to keep playing but decided to give more games a shot. This is definitely one of my top 5 favorite traditional platformers, very focused level design and instantly lovable characters. I felt so smart making tricky jumps and getting the timer-based collectibles, also any game where you collect green stars is a win in my book. The sweep is well-deserved.

super freaking schweet lois

Don't be freaked out by the jokes, this is actually a top tier platformer.
It may have basic run and jump gameplay, but it has some of THE tightest level design out there.
The graphics are extremely charming, and so is the story!
It also has the most unexpected soundtrack for this kidna game out there (or maybe it's expected if you know the era well)

It's geniuenly a SAGE must play!

IT IS SO FREAK
THE SWEEP NEVER ENDS

Unironically a really solid platformer on par with the NSMB series; probably even more fun with friends!

i am so glad to have watched this developed almost from start to finish, super freaks are so real