Firebat – Revolution – PixelKrajcár

Since the itch io release in the background we were working on the release of the game on the Nintendo Switch. For that, Tuan had to register at Nintendo as a developer and we worked closely with József Punk, as he is the one person we know have a developer kit for checking the version. And the day finally come, when Firebat – Revolution has been released on the Nintendo eShop at September 27th (2024). We are still promoting the game, an update is on its way (with a minor fix, and a bigger design change regarding the hidden levels), but I also saw and got some reviews and feedbacks. I am very happy that the feedbacks are mostly positive, ranging from “I don’t understand what’s happening, but I keep trying” to “I played it through, I love it, gonna try in hard mode now”. I sent promotion codes to some people: former colleagues, friends and to youtubers I follow and I know they cover retro and indie games, or just I know they have a Nintendo Switch. I came across youtube videos showing the game (no commentary, they just played) and two Hungarian youtuber / streamer I contacted was super kind and showed the game on their channels (see above, Vakvarjú and Nintendolgok).
When the game was in an earlier stage and had only 2 islands, Allegra (my darling girlfriend) asked if I would show the game to her cousin, as he like videogames, participate in some game jams, so he could give some feedbacks. So I sent him a version and later I got some nice feedback, some ideas (there is a reason that this person’s name is in the special thanks) and he said that the game is going to be really good, it has cool ideas. I also sent him a full version, after the release and after some updates. Today I got a hearth warming letter, praising the game. With the permission of the author, I copy here what he wrote and I only insert some lines from me, commenting on some thoughts.

Firebat – Revolution (review by Tibor Hriazik)

When we tried out the test version with my brother (about a year ago) we already saw how creative and atmospheric the game was. But the game I played through now, is an indie masterpiece. The ideas that was in it was multiplied by 6 with the six islands. I like how creatively the levels are connected to the themes of the islands, how interactive they are. I mean, if there was some idea for the level, it also behaves and moves like that. It’s brilliant!

Besides that, the other strength of Firebat – Revolution is that it has enough challenge, but at the same time it can be easy going, relaxing and enjoyable (I do recommend this game for soulslike fans to play during coffee breaks).

The soundtrack is funky and metal (edit: the music was composed by Zoltán “Bruce” Végh), even my friends bobbed their heads to the rhythm of the music when they watched me playing. My jaw dropped from the boss levels. I really like the upgrade screen. From the background I immediately associated to Black Hole Sun from Soundgarden, should that be an homage (edit: well, no, but now that you mention it, it’s no wonder). I liked the different phases of certain levels and how interactive they are. The bigger, longer levels made me sweat sometimes, just as the timer levels did. But even if I failed and at the end I was close to victory, I felt the urge to try again. Also, if I didn’t had enough upgrades for a level I even realized it, or the game give a description, embedding it in the story.

I liked the levels a lot, but I still had my favorites:
On the first island False Sky and Broken Monument.
On the second Column of Eternity and Phoenix, Rise!.
On the third The Black Cat and False Moon. On this island honorably mention goes to One Eyed Troll, Yarn Ball, Witchtree, Witching Hourglass and the lair of the witch (edit: he means the six levels connected to the witch’s level that you have to complete to summon the witch, it’s not an actual lair), I cannot just leave them out.
On the fourth It’s a Drill and the Collider Experiment. The Sawblade level made me sweat. And the assembling of the computer (TIM-13-42) also: magnifico.
On the fifth island False Black Hole, Chaos and Colosseum (WAAAAAGH!!).
On the Morningstar level I was so focused on the game, when the boss made a punching move, I instinctively dodged with my head.
On the sixth Ferry of the Dead and the Sisyphus levels.

It was a nice break after completing the game, to read the Tips and Knowledge in the menu for some background information and lore. I liked Charon’s story and that Morningstar came from the crystal deep.

After I finished the story, I still fall short with three levels that I should… I want to finish. I don’t want that two Fire Pearl missing! I want to complete the Achievements as I collected 13 out of 28. I also plan to play on hard mode, we’ll see how far I get with that.

Last but not least I want to congratulate you for the release, I will promote this game. I see the possibility in this game for a coop or VS game, maybe in a direct sequel.

Thank you for this experience, you guys made a really good game!

Tibor Hriazik

We also thank you for playing our game and for the kind words. With reviews like this we feel that the time and effort that went into this game was well worth it. 🙂

See original post of this project here:

You may, or may not wonder what happened to me since I last posted anything here on my homepage. After Gameloft Budapest closed its doors I started to look for a new job and I contacted an old friend of mine who’s working in a book publishing company called Tuan. As it turned out, they were talking about creating a division within their company that publishes, or even make retro style games for different new and retro platforms. As one of my ideas was to go indie, after some talk I decided to go with them, as in the long run this could be beneficial for everyone.

I suggested starting with something simple, so I recommended one of my old game jam title Firebat. With new ideas, new levels this could be a nice brick breaker title. So I started to work on it (and this consumed a lot of my time). The game is now considered finished and besides the downloadable demo (with 23 levels), the full version can be purchased from the itch page. The game gets updates, if anything changes (improvements or bugfixes) besides a Switch and a possible Steam version.

I do have to say, I may have overdid myself with the ideas I put into this project – hopefully in a good sense. The Firebat game had 30 linearly connected levels, and one screen brick formations (still can be downloaded for free just like the demo, this also can give an idea of the core gameplay). In the finished Revolution there are 94 levels, the player can traverse on a map, choose the order of the levels to play (or even skip some). Many levels are restricted to one screen, but there are some that are at least 4-8 screen big, with moving, or collapsing bricks. There is an upgrade system for the Sphera (as I call the ball that bounces around) that can modify the different aspects of the ball, making it more powerful. Also, there is a little story to follow about the nation of the Firebats living in the Underworld, trying to free themselves from servitude.

In the game there are many different brick formations, ranging from simple rectangle shapes to fully formed creatures. In some cases, like the bosses and entities, I drew big sprites behind the bricks the player can reveal. There are two bosses that has eyes as weak-points (The Evil Witch and Morningstar), but besides that the game is about good old fashioned brick breaking. I made some enemies in the game, though they cannot really interact with the pad (or Machina as I call it), they are reacting to the ball and projectiles.

There are a bunch of power-ups in the game, that can modify the the behavior of the pad, the ball, can kill enemies or level up or down the Sphera. These power-ups are tools and not something the player has to collect by any means. Choose the ones you need in the situation, avoid the ones that would more likely hinder than help. For example, the Level Down power-up can be easily seen as a negative without any benefits and you’re right when you most probably first see it. But the upgrades can give special events that triggers when the Sphera reaches a certain level. This means, that leveling down triggers that level’s special, and leveling up again the next one and so on.

The game has 4 add-ons for the Machina, tools that can help even further to finish levels. The Sextant shows the trajectory of the balls, the Projectile Enhancer doubles the speed of projectiles, and the Black Hole allows the spawning of the Black Hole powerup (to get that the player has to complete a couple of levels). The hardest to use is the Steering, that allows the player to control the ball’s trajectory. After getting this add-on, on any level, when 10 seconds pass without the pad touching the ball, the steering connection appears. Pressing and holding the fire button establishes the steering, and using the move buttons can curve the ball. This is quite hard to use, but it’s not there to use all the time. It’s there so player can have control over the ball if they stuck behind a bunch of blocks.

This game, hopefully the first in a line of retro games by me and us at Inked Pixel / Tuan Publishing was a sort of learning project. Rough around the edges, as any indie game could be, but still a full experience and we wish you, the player good luck in the world of Firebat. 🙂

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