CarneyVale: Showtime

This is the most polished game yet to hit the Xbox Indies. It looks and plays better than many games out there for XBLA. Gamplay looks limited in the beginning, but adds a lot of depth as you get further. You must download this!

Indie Game (IG) under Review: CarneyVale Showtime
Developed by: gambitsg (MIT Gambit Game Lab)
System: Xbox 360
Genre: Platformer
Version: ?
Cost: 400 Microsoft Points ($5.00)
Download Style: Full Game/Trial Game
Download Size: 62.70 MB
Learning Curve: 10-45 Minutes (hours to master)
Overall Rating: 9/10
Main Features:
- Players 1
- HDTV 720p
Other Features:
- 20 built-in acts (levels)
- Unlock 12 Trophies
- Unlock Concept Art
- Unlock Ranks by getting more stars in each performance
- Unlock new abilities as player progresses through acts
- Voice work (done very well)
- Map Editor (create and play)
Puzzling:
- Maps cannot be shared online
- Only eight custom maps can be created
- Maneuvering character (in any way) can sometimes be awkward
Rating:
Violence - 1/3
Sex - 0/3
Mature Content - 0/3

INDIE GAMES INTRO:

Please Note: Unless otherwise specified, I have bought and played all aspects of the games I review.

Downloading Indie Games:
1. Turn on Xbox 360 and sign into XBOX Live.
2. Navigate to: Game Marketplace=>Explore Game Content=>Indie Games
3. Look around and download games!

Important Indie Game Reminders:
1. They are NOT rated by Microsoft or the ESRB.
2. They can only be played while connected to Xbox Live.
3. They can only be played for four or eight minutes before the trial ends (depending on when released).
4. Some features may be locked in the trial mode.

REVIEW INTRO:

CarneyVale Showtime is a platform game that stars the circus acrobat Slinky. In this vertical ragdoll game, the player tries to rise up the ranks by performing a variety of death-defying stunts. As his fame increases, Slinky must perform in increasingly complex arenas.

GRAPHICS: 10/10

CarneyVale Showtime has some of the most impressive indie graphics on the Xbox Live Indie Game Marketplace. From the character animations and physics, to the particles and flames, the game does not disappoint in this department. With my time playing the game I have never encountered a graphical hiccup or file failing to load (or lagging). The colorful art scheme just screams circus style down to the very lighting effects in the buildings. Every building, menu, and screen has been created with the circus theme in mind, as have the levels. CarneyVale Showtime offers twenty well-designed levels which offer branching paths within the levels. As Slinky rises to fame, the level backgrounds change and become more extravagant to show he is getting more recognition.

MUSIC: 10/10

The music is outstanding and the voice acting is superb. The circus music is really high-quality and fits the theme of the game perfectly. The announcer will announce what tricks Slinky performs, and even hearing the same lines being repeated doesn’t get old.

STORY: 8/10

“This is a story of a very special circus known as CarneyVale.” This line still sticks out in my mind because of the excellent voice work. CarneyVale Showtime follows Slinky (an inhuman circus acrobat) and his rise to fame. What gives life to Slinky? He is animated by the raw magic from the CarneyVale circus. Slinky is unlike the other non-human objects because he has dreams and aspirations. He dreams of becoming the most famous acrobat in the world and so the game follows his rise to fame. As Slinky rises to fame, he moves from the Lowntown circus area to the Casino to the Restaurant to demonstrate his increasing fame. The story is good in setting the backdrop for the game, but does not build on it as much as it could.

GAMEPLAY & FEATURES: 8/10

CarneyVale Showtime is a vertical platform game with a lot to offer. From the twenty built-in levels to the map editor, there is little that disappoints. Let’s start this section with the game play.

CarneyVale Showtime tasks the player with getting from Point A to Point B while performing stunts, collecting balloons, trying not to die, and finding the hidden star. A level begins with Slinky condensed inside a little cannon and ready to spring. The player is able to move the cannon’s firing angle in order to get the best shot. Once fired, Slinky sails through the air at wherever the player has fired him towards. Hopefully it is a grabber. Grabbers reach out a certain distance and can pull Slinky in. From there, a grabber can be spun around or stopped at a certain angle. Letting go of the grabber button will send Slinky flying again. Slinky must make his way all the way to the top of a level where he must enter the “Ring of Fire” which signifies the end of a level. Once Slinky passes through, the level is completed and the stats for that level are tallied. Slinky is judged in 5 areas (1-5 stars):

1. Getting through the Ring of Fire (finishing the level)
2. Collecting all balloons (hundreds of them sometimes – vary by level)
3. Never lose a life
4. Finishing the level under a specific time limit
5. Finding the hidden star

Finishing the level and finishing it under a time limit is a common theme in games, while the others are not. Collecting balloons adds another fun game dynamic that offers replay value. Another replay value item involves finding the hidden star within a level. Doing this usually means sacrificing other judging areas, (e.g. never lose a life) because hidden stars are hidden out of the way and behind elaborate traps. Finishing the level without losing a life is easy early on, but gets really difficult as the levels progress.

Levels are made up of grabbers and many other objects that help give each new level a unique feel. Because new abilities for Slinky are introduced as he progresses through the levels, (which can be used on earlier levels once unlocked) and because new objects are always being added, the game succeeds in giving the player a new experience throughout. Example objects include:

1. Grabber
2. Lives
3. Balloons
4. Rotating flames
5. Electrical barriers
6. Much more!!!

Moving past game play we come to the little things that add to the game. Besides the twenty in-game levels, the game comes with twelve trophies to unlock, concept art to unlock, higher ranks to unlock, and a map editor.

Let’s start with the unlockables. The trophies task the player with completing a certain feat before they are unlocked. One example trophy wants the player to gain a number of fans. How does Slinky gain fans? Gaining more stars and performing high-end stunts will gain Slinky more fans. Concept Art is unlocked as Slinky ranks up. Slinky ranks up by gaining more stars in the levels. What happens when Slinky reaches the top? We won’t spoil this for you, but it is a nice little treat. Here is the rank tree (best at top):

1. Legendary
2. Magnificent
3. Awesome
4. Great
5. Acrobat
6. Newbie
7. Unknown

Another little addition occurs at the end of levels and has newspaper style quotes based on how many stars Slinky received which I thought was neat. The only problem with the quotes is that they lack variance and repeat after a few levels of getting the same number of stars. Now let’s move on to everybody’s favorite (or at least my own), the ability to create custom maps and play them. Maps have the ability to be customized by:

• Map name
• Theme (Lowtown, Casino, Restaurant)
• Level Height/Width

After that initial set up, a cursor (controlled via Analog Stick) is used as the placer. Objects are created and placed using an intuitive menu. As Slinky progresses through the game, more objects are unlocked and ready to be placed. Objects can be rotated and scaled, and placed wherever. The game offers the player the chance to create their own eight level circus using the map editor (just play them in order). Eight maps is high, but why the limit? If we are drawing off of the Xbox 360’s memory, why can’t we have a much higher limit, or no limit? Besides that the map editor allows trophies to be unlocked. This is not good or bad, but if someone really wants a trophy badly, they now have a chance to create a “glitch” level to get it. Why would someone do that though? Not only does it ruin the fun, but who’s going to see the trophies anyway?

My main complaint with the map editor is that maps cannot be shared online. I know this is because Microsoft won’t allow servers to be created to host files, but Easy Golf Course Architect (Barkers Crest Studio) and Zoomaroom (Four Bros Studio) managed to pull it off. Maybe Gambit could have created a gamertag to host people (in the friends list) who own the game so that they could find each other and share maps.

Moving past that complaint I come to my last one. Sometimes controlling Slinky can be awkward and clumsy. This mainly happens after he loses a life. The game advertises that Slinky is still controllable, but he gets pushed away by the life-taking object (usually into another one). The game tried to do this so that Slinky would get out of the area and not lose another life, but it fails and frustrates when it just pushes Slinky into another life-taking object. Another example of the awkward control involves the use of the special ability (has to be unlocked) that jumps Slinky. While in the air, Slinky can push himself in a direction indicated by the player. This is used a lot. Where does the problem come in? The Analog Stick is used to do this so the slightest error and Slinky flies in the wrong direction. Very frustrating at times.

Other than that, this game is well worth the occasional frustration.

OVERALL: 9/10

CarneyVale Showtime is 400 Microsoft Points ($5.00) of fun. With all that it offers there is no reason to pass it up. Sure, it could use a little more polish, but it is still a must-buy.

Other Games by gambitsg (MIT Gambit Game Lab) (as of 6/15/09):

- Unknown


For more full reviews, visit the ExL Studios Website .

For quick reviews, visit the ExL Studios Blog .

This game is the best XNA game at the moment. It has an incredible amount of polish that the other games don't have and it's a fun and original concept.

CarneyVale is truly the poster-child of Xbox Live Indie Games. No other title on the service has the polish that CarneyVale Showtime does. It is a shame that more XNA developers haven't aspired to anywhere near this level of quality.

The gameplay is a great compbination of pinball and platforming, and the game mechanic works well. Combine this with the beautiful art style that is perfectly consistent throughout and you have a true gem at only $5.

My only complaint is brevity. I emailed the GAMBIT team a few months ago and they said they were working on implementing a better level sharing system for the level editor. I don't know how that project is going, but being able to download levels easier will make up for the shortness of the game.

This game is fun, pretty original and beautiful. Probably the most beautiful XNA game to date. I'm not impressed by all the glowy vector stuff that so often appears in XNA games. I like artwork, and this game has plenty of it with a consistant style and quality.

Deservedly hailed as one of the top XNA titles this game competes on a quality level on even footing with the majority of XBLA games.

Perhaps the gameplay can get a little repetative and perhaps the art isn't varied enough but for the price you are paying for this title there will be few people who can say it isn't worth the points.

Really nicely put together package.

This seems like one of the better XNA games to me. Interesting game idea. I would recommend it!

CarneyVale: Showtime is the best Community Game I've tried. From the moment the introduction started I was drawn to the wonderful world of an acrobat.

Everything exudes high quality from the art style to the music and even the simple yet addicting gameplay. It's a great mixture of ragdoll hurling and pinball that gets more challenging and rewarding as you progress through the game. A+

This is the game that XNA was meant for. It rivals the best XBLA titles and I hope that the developer makes many more games of this quality.

A simple idea perfectly made. Presentation and graphics are great.

Fun!

I wanted to like this game more then i did. The gameplay is very good and the graphics are nice. One of the problems I had is that they did not develope the lead charactor enough, a short prelude to every level does nothing to make you want to go further! There is decent replay value, beating your time and getting every last baloon! Also when i was flinging the clown around it just did not feel right, i ended up missing the spot i was aiming for more then i should have, though as you get used to it that happens less. A solid title, download the demo as you may find a gem!!

Here's a game that takes one solid gameplay mechanic (which is to swing a ragdoll character throughout a level), and runs with it to create an enjoyable game.

CarneyVale: ShowTime has you guiding Slinky, a puppet circus performer, through levels by grabbing him with swinging devices. These devices move in a circular motion, so when you grab Slinky, you swing him around and cause him to gain speed. You then let go of him to fling him through the air. You're constantly grabbing him with these devices throughout the level and you throw him around the level to the end goal.

Along the way are balloons that earn you points (try getting all balloons in one level, it takes some skill), other devices (a rocket you can guide, for one), and obstacles/traps.

The core gameplay is easy to get into, but because of the skill required, feels very satisfying to perform. The harder levels take every ounce of skill you have to beat them, but again, it feels very rewarding when you do finish them.

By adding obstacles, other helpful gadgets, and a points system that involves how many "fans" you've earned at each show, there is a lot of depth and "meat" to the game.

To add even more replayability, there is an easy to use level editor included. You can make the hardest level ever, or just fool around so that your character flies around the level at a hundred miles per hour. Unfortunately at this point there isn't any way to share these levels with your friends, but it is a feature that is fun to fool around with in and of itself.

The visuals are excellent, employing a hand-drawn art style that's of consistently high quality. The animations and presentation are equally impressive and the music suits the game well. The level of polish here is of retail or digital download titles available on PSN or XBLA.

Though very different from 99% of platformers out there, platforming fans will feel very satisfied.

I played it during peer review and its a very polished and enjoyable game. Try it out.

First of all, if you haven't downloaded the demo yet go here: http://marketplace.xbox.com/en-US/games/media/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d8025855014d/ and download it. The previous reviewer was correct in saying that this is the best community game so far. There was a lot of crap when we were first introduced to community games, but this should be the poster boy. Similar to geometry wars was with xbla, this is a five dollar game that should be an instant purchase (This game is nothing like geo wars btw, but it was the first insta-buy game for the xbla service).

What's so great about CarneyVale? First of all, this game is polished. It looks as good as a xbla game. The menu, the music, and the art design are all smooth. For your five dollars, you get a fun rag-doll physics game of collect the balloons and make it through the map. You also get a very competent level editor that allows for creation of your own maze of fun.

The demo will give you eight minutes, but it will not be enough.

CarneyVale is an awesome platform game. You're playing a ragdoll circus artist and you have to go through the levels by interacting with the environment.
Level design and concept are very unique. The game is very polished, graphics and music are amazing.

This is only 400 points, so you should have a look at the trial.