SAGE 2022 - Demo Super Freaks 1 Ultimate Edition

UPDATE 2:
This demo is now outdated. I'm leaving the SAGE booth untouched, but if you'd like to play a more up to date build of the game, check out the below links:

SFGHQ topic: Game - Super Freaks 1 Ultimate Edition | Sonic Fan Games HQ
itch.io page: Super Freaks 1 Ultimate Edition by SuperFreaksDev (itch.io)
Official Super Freaks site: Super Freaks Stadium (neocities.org)
My YouTube channel, with frequent devlogs and other fun things: SuperFreaksDev - YouTube

UPDATE:
What's up gamers, SuperFreaksDev here. I wanna give a huge thanks to everyone who played this game. It's gotten some great reviews and is starting to get good word of mouth too. I've mentioned this in a few places, but I was actually taken aback by how well the game was received.

AlmyriganHero (creator of Frebbventure, which you need to drop everything immediately and go play right now) has made an in-depth video review of the game as well, going into great detail about the high points and flaws. Spoilers, it got a great score. I’ve adjusted a few things since the review in a currently WIP build.




Many years ago, when I was a dorky 12 year old in 6th grade, I made Super Freaks 1. It was awful in every way, but I loved it like a son.

Over the past several years, Super Freaks 1 wound up undergoing so many updates and overhauls that it's become a Ship of Theseus, and arguably isn't even the same game anymore (this is why it looks kind of ugly, by the way). It's now a surprisingly modern platformer, with actual level design, weirdly advanced graphical features (including the ability to play the game at any framerate), and most importantly, a robust co-op feature. Two players can tackle this silly game together, armed with drop-in/drop-out multiplayer, a NSMB style bubble, and an optional Knuckles Chaotix style rubber band tether.
By collecting hidden trophies as you progress through the game, you can unlock several challenge modes, several of which are available in this demo.

This is Demo 3, which includes 13 levels (7 normal levels, 3 secret, 3 bosses) out of a planned 30; this is half of the main story mode! The demo also includes several of the challenge modes, which will be unlocked as you progress and collect trophies. Please let me know how it is. I consider this game a prototype for much more exciting projects I'd like to do in the future, and I'd like to "get it right" the first time around.

By the way, if you want to do multiplayer (and you should), I recommend Parsec.



STORY:
Alright, let’s see what kind of shoe-string premise this dumb game has:

In the United States of Craziness, everything is chill thanks to Unlimit Energy, a magic energy source that lets anyone who has it warp reality. One fateful day, however, everything went wrong in the happy-go-lucky galaxy when all of the Unlimit Energy was stolen! Kranion, ever prideful, grew sick of being clowned on in Fast Cars Underground 2. Rather than admit he sucks at the game, he rounded up his army of Kranibots that he has for some reason and went on a galaxy wide looting spree!

Yet, there is hope. In a stadium on the floating Mystic Island live the Super Freaks, four half-brothers who always beat Kranion and other villains by using Unlimit Energy and Unlimit Powers. Unfortunately, no Unlimit Energy means the Super Freaks are denied their greatest weapon! The Super Freaks aren’t chumps though—they have several techniques they’ve honed over the years thanks to training with their Uncle Swordsman. Can they beat Kranion and take back the Unlimit Energy before he plunges the galaxy into mediocrity? …obviously yes! But they’re gonna need your platforming skills and dexterity to do it. Maybe bring a buddy along with you too.



GAMEPLAY:
Super Freaks 1 Ultimate Edition is a 2D platformer. You'll need to go to the right (usually), bop some enemies, get to the end, etc. Compared to other platformers, the Super Freaks have a few extra tricks up their hypothetical sleeves, so let’s go over those:

• Jump Ball
  • In an attempt to emulate Uncle Swordsman’s blade, the Super Freaks pioneered a spinning jump attack. Jumping at all will curl the player into a ball, which spins so fast that it’s surrounded by an energy field. This will let the player attack enemies at any angle. If an enemy is big enough, the player will bounce off of it.
• Bubble
  • In cooperative play, joining the game mid-level or pressing the bubble button will place you inside a bubble. When in a bubble, you’ll bounce around the screen, but you can press the jump button to move towards the other player. The other player will need to pop your bubble to free you. This move is useful if there’s a difficult section you know you can’t do but the other player can! It’s also useful for saving yourself from a bottomless pit at the last minute. Just don’t both of you bubble at the same time!
• Elastiband
  • Pressing the Elastiband button will turn on/off your Elastiband. If both players have them active, you’ll be connected to each other by what is basically a big rubber band, like an actually controllable Knuckles Chaotix. You can both yank each other around with the Elastiband, which is good if one of you is falling behind in any way. If one of you is dangling in the air below your buddy, you can also hold the down button to lower yourself. Letting go will slingshot you straight up in the air so you can join your friend. Be careful not to dangle too low, or you’ll fall off the bottom of the screen!

DEFAULT CONTROLS:

• Left
  • Left Arrow
    ,
    Left
• Right
  • Right Arrow
    ,
    Right
• Up
  • Up Arrow
    ,
    Up
• Down
  • Down Arrow
    ,
    Down
• Jump/Confirm
  • Z
    ,
    A
• Deny
  • X
    ,
    B
• Bubble (co-op)
  • C
    ,
    Y
• Elastiband (co-op)
  • D
    ,
    X
• Drop Out (co-op)
  • LT
• Start
  • Enter
    ,
    Start

You can remap your controls in the options menu, and even bind multiple buttons to one action.



PROGRESS:

- Levels
- Side Content
- Gameplay

Made by:
SuperFreaksDev aka Joe Mama (yes really)
Kingnormal (about half of the characters)

Made with:
Game Maker Studio 2

Beta Testers
Heather Flaherty
Kevin Doherty
EngineerKappa
Metalefactor

Music
vgmusic.com

Sound Effects
Hanna-Barbara
Warner Bros.
Cartoon Trax