Hayfever

[table][th] Review by [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/34633003-Gaming-Masterpieces/] Gaming Masterpieces [/url] - The greatest games of all time on Steam. [/th][/table] Is this game a masterpiece? No, but it is a polished rage platformer with rather short (but numerous) levels and frequent checkpoints. Dash by sneezing and collect the letters lying around everywhere. Only played through the first 9 levels but I like what I saw so far. Cute, apart from the deadly spikes. And the mising cloud saves.

Jump refreshers have always been a mechanic I've enjoyed in games, and Hayfever really takes it to the next level. You can sneeze (dash) in 8 directions and these refreshers will both recharge your sneeze and make it more powerful depending on how many you pick up before executing it. On top of that, Hayfever introduces new mechanics that keep the gameplay fresh with each chapter. There are secrets and collectibles aplenty to be found within the game's numerous stages. The collectibles are relatively obvious, but usually require a bit more precision than simply clearing the level demands. Secrets are very well hidden and will force the player to explore a little bit and really pay attention. The difficulty curve is fairly smooth throughout the game, but it does get quite hard by the end. Players who aren't familiar with the genre might have some trouble in the later portions of the game. Thankfully, death isn't punished harshly and there are numerous checkpoints across each stage which allow for as many attempts as needed. All in all, Hayfever is a unique precision platformer that is unlike other games I've played on Steam and definitely worth a look if you're interested in the genre.

Holy cow, this game is a hidden gem if there ever was one. It's all the best parts of games like Celeste and Super Meat Boy and then some. The core mechanic is a sneeze which functions like Madeline's dash, except it gets stronger and refreshes every time you collect pollen. There's very clever things done with this. It's the right amount of difficult too without feeling frustrating, you don't have to do an incredibly large amount of inputs but when you get it right, it feels so good. The subsequent worlds also add on some new mechanics, from becoming a balloon to a peanut allergy which makes you stick to walls. And while these levels did not expand on the existing mechanics as well, they mixed them up in a genius way. Sometimes you'll be zooming along, other times carefully planning your next sneeze. It just all feels so right. I should mention also that there are bosses, but they're not frustrating and more platform focused, some of them are long winded but once you find a pattern you start to chug away at it bit by bit.

Although I enjoyed most of the time I spent on the game, it's very lackluster given the price tag. Lots of the levels feel samey which becomes especially apparent after unlocking the Hard World, where the stages mostly require the player to beat their regular equivalents, but with a ton more spikes and enemies, without any creative spins whatsoever. The platforming itself is solid, but rough around the edges, I encountered a few bugs, one softlock and throughout the 8 hours I've played I couldn't fully get used to the delay that sometimes happens when trying to dash (therefore requiring to hold the button down for like a dozen frames instead of quickly tapping it). The bosses felt unnecessary and poorly designed, and only one of them was relevant to the story (very bland and simple, mind you). Music was all right, cheerful and didn't get annoying after a while, same with the graphics. The biggest problems lie in the mechanics themselves as explained above. Overall, I could recommend the game if it cost like 3-4 dollars, but anything more than that seems like asking for too much given how unpolished it is.

Disclaimer: My scores/reviews are almost always based on having bought the game at close to the "lowest historical price" on steam at time of purchase. Quick score: 5/5 Notes: Some of the level design and mechanics can feel slightly clunky at times, but overall great platformer with a ton of content. Game starts off deceptively easy but gets fairly challenging pretty quickly past the 1st world. Music and visuals are great as well, but that should be apparent from the trailer. One of the most underrated platformers on steam.

Really fun precision platformer. The main ability is being able to dash by sneezing, and this dash has varying levels of power depending on how much dust you hit before using it. The level design is really well done, and the gameplay is super satisfying. There are 4 worlds + a hard mode world, each of which introducing new mechanics to the game, keeping it fresh throughout. It often goes on sale 75% off, and at that price, it's an absolute steal! Recommended even at full price, especially if you're a platformer fan. It does get fairly difficult in the later levels, but with most levels having multiple checkpoints, it's something anyone can get through with enough practice.

I like this game a lot. I'm not usually into platformers but something about this grabbed me. I think that generally I tend to get frustrated with this sort of game and quickly lose interest. That's mainly down to having to redo sections over and over again till you get that perfect series of inputs and pass it. With this game I didn't really get stuck at any point, so far at least, and it usually only takes a couple of tries to progress. I find that the checkpoints are well placed so you don't get stuck having to redo an easy section in order to get another attempt on the hard part. I think the levels are designed in such a way that they can be completed on the first try if you are really observant and quick to react. My only problem really is the red pusher clouds that shoot you in the direction of your input as of entering the cloud. Sometimes you get a series of these and unless you are really quick to react and on your toes you tend to just die until you've learned the pattern. The wide range of vision works in this games favour, You can usually see far ahead and plan out your moves before entering into a section. The artstyle is kinda cute but I'm not really into the pixelated style. As far as pixelart goes though it's pretty nice. The whole allergy gimmick is kinda refreshing, feels like a smart enough way to enable this type of gameplay while still gelling with the world. If you're into platformers like meatboy and celeste you should probably try this out, worth the asking price imo.

I guess since I was forced to buy my own game I get the right to review my own game.. wtf

Good Dustforce/Celeste inspired platformer. (+) Good level of challenge without being frustrating (for the most part). (+) Good learning and difficulty curve. (+) Last world is a great challenge. (+) Interesting use of the dash reset mechanic. The player will use the dash reset to do many of the plataforming challenges, it is interesting how they recontextualize the dash reset to be a environmental hazard in certain sections. (-) The presentention can a be a bit gross sometimes, but nothing extreme like the binding of isaac. (-) There are some technical issues around one mechanic in the game that may cause some deaths and frustration, but its not that frequent and wasnt a big detriment in my experience. If you liked the dash reset mechanic and challenge of games like Celeste or Dustforce, this is a good pick. However, during boss fights, this game is less generous with the checkpoints than Celeste, so it requires some level of patience from the player in the later and more challenging parts.

A polished and well though out game. Definetively recommends buying :)