Ghost Castle: Bounty Hunter

[Spydarefox]

Found a simple fan made sidescroller filled with distress. Everytime the character gets hit, they get restrained for several seconds.

Source:
https://nidichka.itch.io/ghost-castle-bounty-hunter

YT video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZN8Cz7h0o_U&t=59s

[Zorro]

That's certainly an interesting mechanic. Some great 2D sprite hopping!

[SeanRulez54]

Love it!

[Daikinbakuju]

I tried playing it before and for a side-scrolling shooter game, it's poorly made. One of the worse parts is the shooting, where it's slow and has a short range. After years of Contra and Mega Man, it's hard to find this kind of controls enjoyable.

[GothicSimmer]

I agree with Daikinbakuju. I read comments from Daikinbakuju and basstabsV1-1 about the game and they pointed out the issues which I also pointed out in a past comment. Specifically:

• The shooting is slow and limited. You can only shoot forwards, not diagonally, and you can't shoot while jumping. It may not seem like a big deal but it'll be apparent in issue 3.
• As basstabs stated, I feel the bondage state is too long to get out of and there's no way to shorten it. It's especially an issue on boss fights (Level 1 and 2) where a drone will tie you up and by the time you get free, another drone will appear and tie you up again.
• The biggest issue is the flying enemies. Most of them tend to fly above and under the player with no way to reach them (see issue 1) other than running far back and shooting them when they get in range. They also tend to respawn as seen in Level 2, and they can also appear behind the scenery meaning you can suddenly get tied up. Also they can damage you while you're tied up.
• I believe both Daikinbakuju and basstabsV1-1 pointed out that it's difficult to determine if you're taking damage and the player doesn't have mercy invincibility which some games provide. I think this been an issue since the first Ghost Castle game.

On the plus side, Bounty Hunter seem different from being a side scroller rather than a top down perspective. I don't know if the assets in Bounty Hunter (aside from the characters) are original though previous Ghost Castle games seem to rip non-original assets. Return to Ghost Castle and BLUE SHIFT seem to use graphics which I think are from RPG Maker MV and there are songs taken from different games (BLUE SHIFT has some music from Nameless: The Hackers and Daikinbakuju recognized some music in Bounty Hunter as copyrighted).

Personally I'd rather go with original music or use free to use music (like the BGM included in RPG Maker). Most projects may go with the latter though they may be replaced later in development. For example, Didnapper 2 replaced the title theme (Peaceful from Aaron Krogh) and battle music (which was Deadly Sins from Wingless Seraph) with different music.

[Jazzypants]

I agree with Daikinbakuju. I read comments from Daikinbakuju and basstabsV1-1 about the game and they pointed out the issues which I also pointed out in a past comment. Specifically:

• The shooting is slow and limited. You can only shoot forwards, not diagonally, and you can't shoot while jumping. It may not seem like a big deal but it'll be apparent in issue 3.
• As basstabs stated, I feel the bondage state is too long to get out of and there's no way to shorten it. It's especially an issue on boss fights (Level 1 and 2) where a drone will tie you up and by the time you get free, another drone will appear and tie you up again.
• The biggest issue is the flying enemies. Most of them tend to fly above and under the player with no way to reach them (see issue 1) other than running far back and shooting them when they get in range. They also tend to respawn as seen in Level 2, and they can also appear behind the scenery meaning you can suddenly get tied up. Also they can damage you while you're tied up.
• I believe both Daikinbakuju and basstabsV1-1 pointed out that it's difficult to determine if you're taking damage and the player doesn't have mercy invincibility which some games provide. I think this been an issue since the first Ghost Castle game.

On the plus side, Bounty Hunter seem different from being a side scroller rather than a top down perspective. I don't know if the assets in Bounty Hunter (aside from the characters) are original though previous Ghost Castle games seem to rip non-original assets. Return to Ghost Castle and BLUE SHIFT seem to use graphics which I think are from RPG Maker MV and there are songs taken from different games (BLUE SHIFT has some music from Nameless: The Hackers and Daikinbakuju recognized some music in Bounty Hunter as copyrighted).

Personally I'd rather go with original music or use free to use music (like the BGM included in RPG Maker). Most projects may go with the latter though they may be replaced later in development. For example, Didnapper 2 replaced the title theme (Peaceful from Aaron Krogh) and battle music (which was Deadly Sins from Wingless Seraph) with different music.

I can safely say the music is NOT original; I can identify the second level's music as a remix of the first level theme from Batman: Return of the Joker (NES/SNES/Genesis)