Good game! Played though all of the levels... I think. It doesn't end, it seemed to loop back to the first level after the graveyard, which felt extremely unrewarding. Even a nice congratulations screen would've felt a thousand times better than looping back to level 1.
The attention to detail was nice, as wildex999 said above, as were the stage's layouts.
I did notice the annoying bug, also mentioned by wildex999 above, with Link stopping and getting stuck on the walls. However, for me, it made the game so much easier, as I could stop Link anytime I wanted (instead of waiting for him to snap to the grid) and wait for the statues to go down another path.
The levels, as I stated earlier, were pretty detailed, but they all felt the same. Yes, yes, I know. Pac-Man, but it still felt like I was doing the same thing over and over, albeit on a different field, and to a different beat. The game play (again, yes I know, "PAC-MAN") and difficulty never really changed. Maybe change up the game plan a bit. Add some other traps or something, add other bonuses to get, and maybe add a real life system?
I don't know if there were lives, I died three times on one stage and the only consequence I found was having to make my way from the starting position back to the dots I didn't finish collecting. So perhaps a life system, or something that punishes the player for running into the ghost, like restarting the stage (completely, dots and all), and or reducing the score. Which brings me to the next point.
The score is hidden away in the Window Caption bar, and after a while, it disappears off to the right where you can't even see it. I didn't know what my score was for half the game, and after a while, didn't care. I said I'd see it at the end (which wasn't the case either!).
Add an on-screen score, so peeps will want to go for those golden keys.
I didn't mean to rant, but I think it's a
good game that can be a
great game. So in short, what I'd suggest is:
- Congratulations screen, so the player will feel reward when they complete the game. Also, a highscores table.
- Punish the player, if they do something wrong let them know. Deduct a life, or their points; Restart the room and make them collect those dots again! >:O
- Vary the stages a bit. Stray away from Pac-Man (a little bit) and add new challenges and other things to keep the player alert, and the game fresh. Also, more bonuses, or maybe even anti-bonuses!
- Show the score on screen! Also, if you do lives, show those too. Let the player know how they're doing.
