Indie Highlight - HELP! NO BRAKE :(

info

Developer: Edgar Mendoza
URL: HELP! NO BRAKE by Edgar Mendoza (itch.io)
Engine: Godot (with art created in Aseprite)
Platform(s): Web, Windows, Linux
Release Date: Oct 22, 2022
Player(s): 1
Genre: Platformer, Action, Racing

Description: Hey umm, your car won't brake anymore. So better clear all the levels to get it fixed I guess.

what’s good

✅ Outstanding Art and Graphics

The game's hand-drawn pixel art adds a unique touch to the vehicles and in-game obstacles like the saws. Screen shakes from boosts or collisions create a tactile connection, making you feel every jolt and jerk that the car experiences. Little particle effects from boosting or colliding with walls add to the immersive gaming experience.

✅ Great soundtrack and sound design.

Not much to say here, I just think it sounds great and it fits the visual aesthetic of the game.

✅ Gameplay is easy to understand yet tough to master

Echoing the charm of first-generation arcade games, "HELP! NO BRAKE" offers a core gameplay concept that's easy to grasp but difficult to master. Its high difficulty level enhances replayability as players strive to improve their score (time). Plus, the inclusion of skid marks and death marks from previous runs offer strategic insights for improving future performance.

✅ I like the introduction of the gameplay mechanics

The first couple levels do a good job at introducing the mechanics (boost, drifting, and jumping) without having to say much. The difficulty comes when you’re forced to combine what you’ve learned to complete the next levels. This is unlike some other games that give you walls of text or tutorial levels with massive guardrails that force the player into doing exactly what the developer wants in order to complete the level.

what needs work

🛑 easy mode plz

Just kidding, I think the difficulty is what makes the game fun and replayable.

🛑 Some way of showing progress

Only comment would maybe be having a screen where players can see how many levels there are / their progression through the levels. Almost like an overview screen that would show all the levels along with the players stats on each level. Maybe the level selector menu could do that?

future ideas

• Death tracker! I think this would be a fun stat to show and to compare with friends.
• Maybe a system like Super Meat Boy where you can replay the run, once you complete it, with all the previous attempts overlayed on top of each other.
• Leaderboard. This would be a little more complex to implement as you would need some sort of backend. I see that you have a Speedrun.com page setup for the game but it would be nice to have a leaderboard built-in to the game.
• Farfetched: some sort of level editor would be sweet.

overall

"HELP! NO BRAKE" combines engaging gameplay with a real challenge that can leave you pulling out your hair - in a good way, of course. Much like the beloved "Super Meat Boy," this game presents easily understandable mechanics, leaving the execution up to the player I think a leaderboard system would be neat so that people can compare scores and would further develop the competitive aspect of the game.