Proto Raider

I almost recommend this game. Almost! I like the graphics, it's ASCII-Art imitation of a text-based display, but with smooth movement outside the grid (which means it's clearly not a text-based display, but also means smoother visuals). The gameplay is one button: start moving, and then jump. Your character (or, dare I say, 3x3 grid of characters!) moves automatically to the right, and can climb stairs if you jump onto them, and switches direction (lef/right) upon hitting the arrows. Thus, the levels are half puzzle (figure out how to traverse the level with such limited controls) and half reaction (I must press jump at the right time). These restrictions make the gameplay quite interesting. However, the game falls apart at later levels, where you either need perfect reactions or a lot of luck. Let me give some examples (minor spoilers): - 26: [spoiler]Random deadly objects fall from the sky, but thankfully random clouds move horizontally to protect you. However, you move too fast, you will out run those clouds, and die. And die. And die.[/spoiler] [spoiler]Until you realize that you can change the movement speed in the options screen. (WTF!)[/spoiler] - 31: [spoiler]You have to jump perfectly in a tight space to leave enough holes to let some debris fall through, while leaving enough floor for you to jump on. Then you have to hope the random-ish nature of the physics simulation will not leave any debris in the path. Then you have to execute perfect jumps.[/spoiler] Well, that's what I believe is the solution, and I watched a video of someone playing this level many times trying to perfect the movement. The person had more patience and more luck than me: I gave up. It's a shame, I mostly liked the game, but some terrible levels ruined my enjoyment.