Deep Dungeons of Doom

Also known as:  N/A

Developer: Bossa Studios

Deep Dungeons of Doom is an okay little RPG, but it’s not overly great by any means. If Curtis Iaukea was screaming play-by-play of the game at my while I played, I would probably think this was the greatest game of all-time…But unfortunately, there’s no King Curtis in this Dungeon of Doom. Anyway, back to the game - you start off controlling a Crusader and make your way through a dungeon, battling one opponent after another in 1-on-1, turn-based combat. It almost feels like a rhythm game, as you have to wait for the time gauge to fill for the attack and defense icons in order to use them. So, if you time it right, like in a rhythm game, you’ll have more opportunities to attack and/or defend, in theory. But anyway, as you enter more dungeons, you can acquire more folks for your party, but the battles still remain a solo activity regardless of how many party members you aquire. I found myself really enjoying this game at first…then the more I played, the more bored I got. Yes, enemies provide different tactics and patterns later, but it still essentially remains the same thing dungeon after dungeon. I still enjoy this game, and I may go back and play it a little bit every now and then, but after 30 minutes of play, I’ll probably be ready to move onto something else again.

Review added: 07/04/2021

Don't Eat Soap!

Also known as:  N/A

Developer: Hamster Republic Productions

Don't Eat Soap! is a Bubble Bobble clone. That was initially fine by me – I love Bubble Bobble. It was one of my favorite games as a child. Unfortunately, this is a poorly-made Bubble Bobble clone. Like in Bubble Bobble, your goal is to spit bubbles at your enemies, which then imprison your enemies into the bubbles that you spit out...Unlike Bubble Bobble, how you pop the bubbles seems to be totally random. I can jump into a bubble repeatedly and it won't pop. I jump at the next one and it pops without a problem. It's quite annoying and leads to plenty of cheap deaths when the enemies burst out of their bubble prisons as you're struggling to pop them. I like the intro to the game, explaining why Bob the Hamster can spit bubbles out of his mouth, but a good intro can't save a poor game...and unfortunately, Don't Eat Soap! is a pretty poor game.

Review added: 07/04/2021

Don't Look Back

Also known as:  N/A

Developer: Terry Cavanagh

This game really surprised me. The design of Don’t Look Back is simple and so is the gameplay, and it’s a very, very short game, but everything as a whole is amazing. The two boss fights are very nicely done, and all of the platforming in between is difficult, but not so difficult that you won't be able to overcome it after a few attempts. This game is very short, as I mentioned – you can probably beat it in 5-10 minutes on your first try, but it's so good that it left me wanting more. I still like to go back to this game and play through it from time to time…since it’s so short, it’s a nice distraction if I need to kill a few minutes before friends come over. Don’t Look Back is a must-get game if you own a Ouya, but it’s also available on multiple other platforms if you want to play it as well and don’t have an Ouya handy. I highly recommend it.

Review added: 07/04/2021

DubWars

Also known as:  N/A

Developer: Helium Interactive

DubWars was the game that made me want an Ouya. A friend of mine got one at launch and mentioned this game and I instantly loved the concept. Basically, dub step music plays in the background. The beats of the song are when you shoot. You have no control over your firepower (aside from the direction that you fire), it's all dependent on the song...If you've got a span of time with no beats, then you've got no ammo and you've gotta dodge all incoming enemies. It's really quite a neat concept. However, after playing it, I like it a lot, but the awkward-feeling controls hold it back a tad. For a twin-stick shooter, and one that I'm using two analog sticks to play with, the on-screen movements sure aren't very smooth. Sometimes it feels like when you rotate the analog sticks, you’re moving in squares instead of circles. But despite the awkward controls, DubWars is still fun and interesting and well worth checking out if the mixture of music and shooter sound interesting to you.

Review added: 07/04/2021