Ray Ardent: Science Ninja
Bill Nye the Science Guy was certainly an impressive science superhero. So were Mr. Wizard and Beakman. However, there's a new science hero in town, and Ray Ardent: Science Ninja isn't about to be upstaged in this new platform adventure by Ninja Robot Dinosaur Entertainment. Well...unless another team of Science Ninja hear about his escapades, at least...
Move Ray with the [WASD] or the [arrow] keys, jump with the [spacebar] and activate your special ability with [X]. Ray's various ninja powers and abilities all cost Element X6, so grab tokens to restore it. The goal of each stage is to head toward an Element X6 portal as quickly as possible while avoiding dinosaurs, leaping over bottomless pits and racing the clock.
There are 15 levels available in Ray Ardent: Science Ninja. Many will reward you with upgrades such as double jumping and dashing. You've got a limited number of slots to equip upgrades, but some levels will award you with more slots. Many upgrades work automatically when equipped, but others are more powerful require you to press [X] to activate them.
Ray Ardent uses pixel art to depict its courageous scientific hero, the terrifying dinosaurs he battles and the badlands his adventures take place in. It's fairly minimalist but effective. There's never any problem with seeing what's going on or discerning collectibles from enemies. There's also an amusing storyline that loosely ties the levels together, though the objective is always to go from right to left as quickly as possible.
Analysis: Ray Ardent: Science Ninja uses its hilarious concept to full effect which helps makes it a memorable game. Ray's got a variety of scientific voice clips that he shouts out at every opportunity, for example. Expect to die a few times at first because you can't stop laughing at his antics.
It's difficult to die otherwise, though, since this is a fairly easy game devoted to finishing levels quickly rather than challenging you with impossible situations and hordes of monsters. Replaying levels to find a quicker and more effective way through can be rewarding once you've found new upgrades.
All in all, Ray Ardent: Science Ninja is a solid platformer with a nice coat of polish that sets it apart from the rest. Platform fans should certainly give it a shot. Just remember: always respect the awe-inspiring power...of SCIENCE!
What the...? What kind of game is this? It's a nerd game, that's what. It even sells nerd clothes!!
I have been wanting to play this game since I saw the trailer
What? No obscure Thomas Dolby references?
Darned kids.
At long last! I can't wait to play this!!
@JustMe:
Good Heavens, Miss Sakamoto, you're beautiful!
Am I the only one who sees a merchandise store that uses real money? It appeared while loading and it's on the menu.
Oh, thank you. Now I don't feel quite so much like the senior citizen in the room.
I don't know guys. I always pretty much trust your judgment, but this game has some pretty major flaws- one hit kills for example, and pretty variable reaction times.
Also, you have to be spot on accurate not to get killed by the dinosaurs if you're diving, and the whole momentum thing makes it difficult when it just suddenly springs on you a tiny platform with an enemy on it, because you're already on it when you notice it's there.
Not only that, but the enemies are too small and are almost all the same colour as the background, which is a pain. However, I wouldn't complain at all if it had checkpoints or something, or maybe a life counter.
Another thing that annoys me about in game tutorials (in general a great feature) is when there's no other reference to abilities/commands.
As an example, I was merrily sliding and jumping away on the second level, when I saw a pop-up saying something about diving. Unfortunately, I couldn't read it before my momentum took me past the point that triggered the pop-up - the message disappeared, and there's no way to get it back. Nothing in the help either.
So, I'm sure this is a fun game, if only I could discover how to play it - not proceeding past level 2.
Pretty fun... until I lost the ability to slide! That just happened for no reason (except for accidentally pressing v and opening a new window... or not since I also tried on my laptop and the same problem is there). All he does when I press down, after running for quite a stretch, is this weird crouching thing.
@kenshiro:
Sounds like you ran out of X6. If you jump around too much, you'll use it all up and will need to pick up some more tokens.
Watch the bar on your bottom left.
Most of the "powers" use X6. If you run out of it (the little bar on the bottom left becomes empty), then you can't use those powers until you pick some up. (At least on one level, I got to the end, but didn't have the X6 necessary to touch the goal - it required a double-jump.)
@JIGuest: It lists the controls for each "power" on the power-choosing screen before each level. Just hover over the icon, and the (admittedly tiny) text will tell you what it does and how to use it (and its X6 cost). (By the way, "dive" is used by pressing down in mid-air; you'll come down faster at an angle, so it's useful for landing on tiny ledges.)
In general, it's a fast-paced enough game that dying doesn't matter too much - and his quotes are always entertaining. Yeah, the enemies are tiny, and one hit will kill you (unless you jump on them, like in Mario), but once you get a power or two, killing them is even easier. I enjoyed it.
This game was really sience-tastic, but the only thing that bothered me was the background. Why all the levels are on a desert? it is a bit boring.
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