Review Information
Game Reviewed Birdo vs. Macintosh NCFC 2016 Demo, by Vitiman
Review Author RandomClam
Created Mar 6 2017, 11:27 PM

General Commentary and Game Overview
Birdo v. Macintosh is a fangame similar to the Megaman series. Apparently, Birdo has taken it upon herself to fight Steve Jobs and his smear campaign against Bill Gates and ensure that Windows 98 is released without any sort of negative publicity.

The game consists of one short demo of one level, which can be completed in around five minutes.

This game also had a booth at the most recent Nintendo Community Fangame Convention, which you can see here: http://clubsaturn.byethost7.com/birdo-vs-macintosh.htm?i=1
 
Pros + Great presentation
+ Controls well
+ Original Soundtrack
 
Cons - Low difficulty
- Short demo
 
Impressions
Gameplay
7 / 10
The gameplay of this title can mostly be compared to the classic Megaman series, known for its jumping and shooting gameplay. Here, Birdo can also jump and shoot enemies, although she has the edge over Megaman since she can shoot diagonally.

Birdo controls very smoothly, although for this kind of game I would've preferred the more restricted movement of the Megaman games. I say this because that would've added some much needed difficulty to the game. It's pretty simple in this demo to avoid many of the enemies. Birdo also has a pretty large amount of health as well. Although, if this level is intended to be the first level, then naturally it would be simpler and the difficulty could be forgiven.

In addition to completing a level you must also defeat all of the enemies in the level, which is represented in the corner of the screen. The level in the demo has enough variety to be interesting all the way through, although the level itself is pretty short. Upon reaching the end of the level you can opt to return to the start of the level. You also return to the start upon death, as there are no checkpoints. This isn't an issue to me personally as long as the levels will be a reasonable length.

Overall the core gameplay is smooth and fine for this genre. There is certainly potential here, especially once some bosses and storyline/cutscenes are added.
 
Graphics
7 / 10
The game is presented pretty well. The opening and splash screen are very good quality. The level itself that you play in is apparently a late 90's Macintosh desktop (I wouldn't know, as I am a Windows user). The sprites used are a combination of the Macintosh graphics mixed with some Megaman enemies and, of course, Birdo's sprites from Super Mario Advance.

Although the grayness of the level is pretty dull, there was a certain goal in mind with the look of this level. The overall graphics do not clash with the sprites in a noticeable way. Future levels will definitely need to have some variety though.
 
Sound
8 / 10
The music in the game is apparently original. The soundtrack is chiptunes based and Vitiman overall did a great job creating music that was serviceable for this game, as it's far too easy to have chiptune music that is grating to the ears.

The sound effects are again 8-bit. You'll probably recognize the sound effects from the Megaman NES games.

Although the level theme may start to get old for you, the sounds in the game are overall pleasing to me.
 
Replay
1 / 10
As this is a demo, replay won't affect the final score in this review.

Your time spent in this level is dependent on if you get all of the enemies on your first playthrough or you have to go back to the start of the level.

I can see the "defeat all enemies" mechanic being annoying, but I can also see it encouraging some open-ended level design or some clever puzzles involving the enemies. Time will tell how this mechanic is used.
 
Final Words
7 / 10
There is a solid foundation of a game her and if the game is taken in the right direction and builds upon this, then this will turn out to be an amazing fangame.

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