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Aban Hawkins and 1,000 Spikes (by 8BitsFanatics) didn't get a fair shake. The game is better than 99% of the stuff on the Xbox Live Arcade marketplace, but sadly, that's not where it even ended up.
Instead, it launched on XBLA's funny looking little brother, the often-overlooked Xbox Live Indie Games service. Combine that with the game's NES-style graphics, Japanese-style gameplay, and tough-as-nails difficulty, and you have a new IP that had a tough time commanding the attention of the Xbox 360 install base.
Thankfully, Cave Story publisher Nicalis has scooped up poor, underloved Aban and given him a second chance on the 3DS and the Wii U. With added levels, all new multiplayer modes, new characters, and more, Aban Hawkins and the 1,001 Spikes is a revamp that just might make Aban a star.
The first thing you'll notice about controlling Aban Hawkins and the 1,001 Spikes is that the game has two different jump buttons: one for high-but-short vertical vaults and one for long, shallow horizontal leaps. It's a simple yet invigorating way to shake up the 2D platformer. I'm still puzzling over why more developers haven't taken advantage of the idea.
There are so many 2D action games that give you multiple attack buttons to experiment with using in combination, but so few that do the same for jumping. Training your brain to use the right jump for the right problem (be it an environmental hazard or a hostile combatant) -- and on higher levels of play, to rapidly switch between jumps to take on a volley of obstacles -- feels fresh and scary. That feeling goes along perfectly with the overall theme of Aban Hawkins: exploring a hostile world and pulling off crazy stunts you never thought possible.
At its heart, Aban Hawkins is a maze game. After taking a quick scan of a given room, it's up to you to mentally map out the best path to grab the stage's key and then get it to the door. What makes things interesting is that these mazes have a mind of their own. The multiple types of traps, obstacles, and enemies provided by the game's designers feel endless. They are one part troll post, one part magic.
No matter how straightforward and simple a stage may seem on the surface, chances are that you're going to have to make some very drastic and sudden changes to your initial plan if you're going to survive. It's clear that the games developers took great delight in suffering heaping loads of mischief onto their players. It's the experience of sharing in, and eventually overcoming, that mischief that makes games like Aban Hawkins (as well as its cousins La-Mulana and Spelunky) so special.
I had the opportunity to play the game in the 3DS, and like with VVVVVV and the soon-to-be-released Cave Story eShop, the 3D effect does a lot to make the game feel real. The advantage of using simple graphics like those in Aban Hawkins in a precision-based 2D plaformer is that it's easy to measure out distances in pixels. It's also nice to have easily identifiable, iconic characters that just about anyone can relate with. The disadvantage to using that low level of detail is that characters are bound to look flat. The 3D effect cancels out that disadvantage, giving off the visual pop normally reserved for higher-budget titles, but without the need for more expensive graphics.
Sadly, I didn't get the chance to try out the game's competitive multiplayer mode, but it's easy to imagine how the traversing a hostile environment in the midst of a four-man knife fight could make for an accessible (yet deep) arena-based, four-player fighter. Games like Nidhogg and Samurai Gunn have proven that "fighting" games with simple controls and a small number of attacks don't necessarily limit the amount of variables that can make their way into a match. Throwing in a variety of enemies, traps, and other surprises is sure to keep things interesting.
Add in the promise of multiple characters (including the possible inclusion of characters from Tempura of the Dead, as well as stars of other small developer titles like Commander Video from the Bit.Trip series), and there is plenty of reason to believe that Aban Hawkins and the 1,001 Spikes could be a new local multiplayer favorite.
Like the trailer says, Aban Hawkins looks to bring back a sense of "dreadful" Indiana Jones-inspired adventure that was relatively commonplace in the days of Pitfall Harry, Rick Dangerous, and Spelunker.
The whole game feels like the moment in Raiders of the Lost Ark where Indy grabs the idol and makes a run for it, except that in this case, the idol happens to be a key, and the next key and next death defying escape is always just within reach. That concept leads to a very rich feeling of excitement, despite how flat the game may appear on the surface. Throw on some new modes, story elements, characters, original and redrawn artwork, and additional challenges, and you have a game that's an essential purchase for all fans of fun and trouble.
Glad to see that Aban Hawkins and Tempura of the Dead are getting some additional love. Tempura was one of my favorite games of last year, to be honest. Those who went to OhioNARP 2011 can vouch for it, I spent hours playing that game!
@Jonathan Holmes
"The game is better than 99% of the stuff on the Xbox Live Arcade marketplace, but sadly, that's not where it even ended up."
That's clearly hyperbole. That would imply that only 1% of XBLA titles are worth a purchase. Yet, you make it out as if the game was destined to pull in XBLA sales numbers. The game's sales were decent for an XBLIG title (sold better than 70% of the other xblig releases). Not all XBLIGs have to pull in Castle Miner Z numbers.
"Combine that with the game's NES-style graphics, Japanese-style gameplay, and tough-as-nails difficulty, and you have a new IP that had a tough time commanding the attention of the Xbox 360 install base."
So now we're stereotyping the 360 userbase now? I could name over a dozen games on XBLIG with Japanese NES-style graphics and challenging difficulty which are better (and sold better) than Aban Hawkins. Protect Me Knight, Zombie Estate and Dead Pixels are just to name a few.
It's disheartening seeing gaming journalist posting remarks with the I.Q. equivalent to that of your typical gamefaqs troll.
I'd love to see Tempura get a revamp. Dear god that game was awesome. So many damn awesome games in the xblig section that deserved more love. Glad to see this is.
@4eyes: Dude you're tripping and taking that all sorts of wrong and being a bitch about it. How many Indies were overlooked and then went to steam and saw huge jumps in sales. Hell not even just Indies.
Masocore some call it? or w/e fuck these games, theres challenge and then theres this ocd level of "skill" which is really just "skill" from repeatedly trial and erroring millisecond movements, no thanks.
So stuff like Mark of the.Ninja, Joe Danger the Movie, Toy Soldiers, Dust, Spelunky, ShadowComplex, Fez, Trials and Trials.Evo, Skullgirls, Sine Mora amongst others are crap compared to Aban Hawkins?
Glad its just your opinion.
I own both Aban Hawkins and Tempura Of The Dead on 360 based solely on the buzz of other Dtoiders. I really like Tempura's style and Aban is quite a ball buster.
@ Gene Eric- Those are a few of the 1% of games on XBLA that are as good as Aban.
It's not that XBLA games are bad. It's that Aban is great.
@4eyes- XBLIG sell like crap. It's a sad truth. Why else would that be if not the fact that XBox 360 owners ignore the marketplace and it's style of games? Sames goes for Wii oweners and WiiWare.
And when did I say that 1% of XBLA games aren't worth the purchase? like I said to Eric, it's not about 99% of XBLA games being BAD. It's about Aban being GOOD. Really good. It's up there with Fez, Spelunky, and Super Meat Boy among the best games available on the 360.
Sheesh! Why so snippy?
@ph00p Sounds like you have a low frustration tolerance.
They really need to make a new trailer... I mean... Really? That was some of the most poorly-translated mush I've ever seen in a trailer. It was so bad and so constant I almost thought it was a joke at first. Then it continued, and it kept interrupting and going in front of the gameplay, which I desperately wanted to see.
>Awesome XBLIG fails on Xbox.
Right, right, that's normal...
>Being released on other platform.
Yes, good...
>3DS and Wii U
Yeah, because THOSE are going to have a big install base for indie game fans. Time to wait for the 100% inevitable PC port they are going to do when those fail.
@ Jacob Philosoraptor Rubin- VVVVVV did great on the eShop, and World of Goo sold buckets on WiiWare before people randomly decided to stop buying WiiWare games.
So anything's possible!
@ Josh Shepard- I do see what you did there! You held onto an offhand comment I made about a videogame two weeks ago, presumably because you found it personally insulting.
I guess I should be flattered that you're so deeply effected by my opinions?
Geez, why is everyone so angry? Calm down, it's only an article, it can't hurt you.
On another note, I bought Aban last week, but haven't had much time to play it. Thankfully, I have a day off tomorrow in which I intend to play my glut of games and cook some badass soup. There will be much masochism with Aban and Diehard Dungeon and a full belly of soup, Woot!
What? WHAT? WHAAAAT!? WHAAAAAAAAAAAT!?
Suck it down! That's what I'm talkin' 'bout! Hell yeah!
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