Flying Doughman Review

Written by: David Laprad Published: December 28, 2004 Once in a while, a game comes along that takes familiar ingredients, tosses them into a boiling cauldron of creativity and produces something original. Case in point: Flying Doughman from developer Absolutist. Flying Doughman takes the jump-and-shoot mechanics of side-scrolling platform games and stirs in an assortment of puzzle game elements to produce a tasty mixture of the two genres. Here's a look at Absolutist's recipe for fun: Standard ingredients One protagonist: In many ways, Flying Doughman is a typical platform-hopping hero. The up key makes him jump and pressing Ctrl along with either the right or left arrow key fires a spell. More on his unique abilities later. One medieval castle: Flying Doughman takes place within the Magic Tower, a palace filled with devious death traps. From razor-sharp blades that lash out from walls to spike-ringed platforms, F.D. is always a few ill-timed jumps away from impalement. One heroic quest: Like countless heroes who have gone before him, F.D. must climb the Magic Tower in order to save his girlfriend. A dash of combat: In addition to steering clear of traps, F.D. must battle the occasional rogue. Venom-spewing arachnids, giant skulls and sword-wielding knights are among the enemies our hero faces. Most of the time, he can fight them head on, but occasionally, he must lure them away from their perch. A pinch of magic: Aiding F.D. in combat are spell books that allow him to cast a limited number of attacks. From explosive fireballs to shards of purple light that bounce off platforms, our hero is never without an effective means of bloodletting. A spoonful of traditional level progression: Flying Doughman currently offers 16 levels, although Absolutist is working on a version that contains 24 levels and a boss battle. Each level consists of a series of rooms, each of which is a self-contained puzzle that takes up the entire screen. For F.D. to progress from one room to the next, he must remove the magic barrier between the two areas. To do this , he has to collect all of the gems, scrolls and other goodies in the room and open any closed gates. To unlock a gate, F.D. must rotate a nearby lantern until the color facing you matches the color of the gate. (Some rooms involve the use of multiple lanterns and gates.) The layouts get more inventive as the game progresses, with many levels taking F.D. back through rooms he's already solved. Special ingredients A sprinkle of unique character control: The difference between F.D. and other brave warriors is he can't run, just jump. This means bouncing through each room while avoiding the obstacles a ne're-do-well has placed in his path. After he jumps, he continues to soar upward until he hits an obstacle or you press either the right or left arrow key. (Once F.D. begins descending, you can no longer move him right or left.) Pressing the down key stops our hero from rising should there be spikes jutting out from the bottom of an elevated platform. A heaping portion of ingenious puzzle game elements: Herein is the heart of what makes Flying Doughman worth playing. In addition to traps, monsters and locked gates, each room contains a unique arrangement of baffles. Baffles are platforms with special qualities. For example, one baffle collapses after F.D. has jumped on it; another disappears if he stops jumping. The different baffles Absolutist has devised and the manner in they interact are nothing short of brilliant. I could list them all, but that would deprive you of the pleasure of discovering them for yourself. Other puzzle elements include walls, doors and platforms with unique functions. For example, there are one-way doors and platforms, walls that allow F.D. to pass through them once before they become impassable, magnets to which he can stick and more. Cooking instructions I'm going to describe the layout of one of the simple rooms to give you an idea of how all of these elements work together to create challenging, satisfying and enjoyable gameplay. Level four begins with F.D. in the lower right. When he leaps to the left, our hero grabs his first goodie. Jumping up and to the right nets F.D. a gem and lands him on a baffle that automatically bounces him onto a retracting platform to his left. If our hero doesn't get off the platform quickly, he's dropped onto spikes. Fortunately, a hop to the left lands him on another retractable platform. When it draws into the castle wall, F.D. falls to the surface, where he must hit a lantern three times to change it to green - the color of a gate blocking the exit. Our hero then jumps up and to the left and lands on an ice baffle; pressing the down key keeps him from sliding off. After retrieving two more goodies near the top of the room, F.D. returns to the ice baffle ready for his journey to the exit. His timing must be perfect, as he has to hit a series of baffles that bounce him over a spiked platform, through the open gate and onto another retractable platform adjacent to the way out. If F.D. misses the retractable platform, he's dropped onto another series of baffles that spring him toward the spikes located near the start of the level. The meat of the review Whew. As you can deduce from the above account, Flying Doughman involves thorough observation of how the elements of a room work together and good timing when carrying out the necessary moves. The good news is, the controls are responsive and the difficulty ramps up slowly, allowing you to become skilled at guiding F.D. through his paces and solving puzzles before the levels get taxing. While you have a limited number of lives at your disposal, you can save your progress in any room. This lets you try different things without worrying about losing ground. Pressing F8 restarts a room if you get stuck, although you lose one life. The graphics and artwork are just as delightful as the gameplay. Even though Flying Doughman utilizes a side-scrolling perspective, the graphics are three-dimensional. F.D. looks a 3D Pac-Man with big eyes, a goofy grin and detached hands and feet. As he jumps, F.D. spins every which way but loose, and when he dies, he grows angel wings and plays a harp, giving the animation a lighthearted feel. To impart a magical touch to the visuals, the goodies erupt in a shower of stars when F.D. grabs one. Dynamic and colored lightning come into play when our hero casts a spell. The only blemishes on an otherwise good-looking game are the castle walls, which are uniformly dull grey. The audio does a good job of cluing you in. Each baffle makes a unique sound and suitable effects play as platforms draw into the walls, gates open or spikes grind out of their hiding place. Unfortunately, none of the characters speak, growl or grunt, so there's room for improvement. Absolutist also needs to squash a few bugs and fine-tune the level design. For example, when you load a game you saved while F.D. was partway through a room or accidentally press F8 after dying, you might get sent back to the previous room. Also odd are how only some of the goodies F.D. has collected reappear when he dies and the manner in which rooms our hero has already completed reset if he loses a life in a latter room. This can create confusion when backtracking but doesn't hinder the gameplay. One thing that is problematic is how F.D. soars straight up after the first room of a new level loads. Each level ends with our hero jumping to the next stage of the tower; when the first room of the new level loads, he continues moving upward. Some levels (such as seven and ten) have spiked platforms directly above the point at which F.D. starts, so unless you press down as the level loads, you'll lose a life. None of these minor quibbles should discourage you from trying Flying Doughman. It's fun, challenging, well-designed and nice-looking. What's more, there's a good chance you've never played anything like it before. Our hats are off to Absolutist on a job well done.