PwnageMage

*cough*

I don't think you're getting the point. If you want to actually make money off of your apps or just trying to get popular with your apps, you'll need to upload to the app store and the point of this topic is to warn people of the potential problems they may encounter when trying to do so.

So, after reading the back and forth arguments here, I've decided to enter as an unbiased party. After getting through the first few levels and beating the first boss, I've formed an opinion.

First, the gameplay. I found it really annoying to be honest. I felt my actions were severely limited. Only being able to shoot in one direction, and only while standing made me feel a lot weaker than I could have been if I had more control. Let's look at Contra, one of the greatest platform shooters ever. You're able to shoot while jumping, crouching, and in 8 directions. And the game is still one of the hardest games I've played. When I died in Iji, it was because I could only shoot while standing. If I had more control, I could probably increase my chance of survival. If I die, it should be because the game is legitimately difficult, not because I'm limited in my basic movement.

Next, the story. I like a good story and found the intro cutscenes to be really cool. However, I think it goes a bit overboard at times. There are too many of those "log files" laying around the levels. I think it would have been better for those to just be collectibles, and have the option to read them somewhere other than in game. I wanted to read them, but I wanted to keep the flow going so I just found myself skipping them because it was too tedious to read them all.

The graphics. The character sprites look really bad in my opinion. The tiles, cutscene art, and portraits were all pretty good though.

The music. I though the music was pretty kick ass, though not really memorable. I guess I didn't play far enough to hear all of it, but the songs weren't something that I can remember.

So, that's the gist of what I think of the game thus far. It's a decent game, but I think it gets a bit overpraised. There are just some flaws that prevent it from being a lot better.

It was pretty fun. It was cool to see how much progress you're making on the leaderboards as you play the game. More varieties of enemies and more powerups would definitely help bring more challenge to the game.

Signing your post is like cornbread.

I don't get it...

I also don't play games on small computer speakers, and I don't want to appeal only to that group, either. If the same people who buy high-def TVs and nice gaming systems are playing my game, I want them to be able to enjoy it on those setups, as well. Also, "sound effects and music enhance the play but that's not the focal point" the same can be said with, again, graphics as my example. Or even, like my other example, camera control. Also as I said before, it depends purely on the game. All of the games I listed, music is more than just background music, which was one argument.

Graphics are actually really important because I need to be able to distinguish one object from another. Is something helpful, is it an enemy, a trap? Graphics help us to identify what's happening. And the camera is also just as important. What's the point in playing the game if I can't even see the action?

The music is great for setting an atmosphere, but it isn't what makes the game. I'm not saying you shouldn't put great music into your game, but like others of said, the music isn't the focal point.