PEGBRJE: Super Dunkman and Cope Island: Adrift
One that reveals all, and one that needs revealing
Super Dunkman is a chaotic sports title made by andrfw, solo indie dev out of the United States who also does comics and music as well. For this title, players are a glorious dunk master, and have a singular goal: score as many dunks as possible. Shooting properly is prohibited.
Gameplay is intentionally simplistic. Players enter a simple court, either against friends or computers, and attempt to score via the flashy act of dunking. To do this, players can jump up to three times off of the ground, getting some sweet air in the process. If the enemy acquires the ball first, it’s up to the player to stop them at all costs by running into them to dislodge the ball and make it go free. This can be done from any angle, but attacking them from the top is the way to go; when players hit another from the air, the amount of jumps they have is reset back to zero for the other player is considered the ‘ground’. This allows for some extremely crazy shenanigans to unfold as players suddenly jump through the roof with their resets. Now, if players have the ball and jump on another player, the ball still breaks free as there is no ‘who is attacking who’ scenario, so be careful to avoid players at any cost. Finally there is the best move in the game, the ground pound: while aerial, players can press the down button and fling themselves back towards the ground at a rapid pace, allowing for dunks to go faster or to catch a player before they run past.
Super Dunkman is a chaotic mess and I wouldn’t have it any other way; the game is made to be picked up by friends and played immediately, with little to no worries about what some buttons do or don’t do. There can only ever be two teams, so the more players added the more players get crammed into the court on teams as they attempt to help each other dunk to victory. I don’t have much else to say, but if you’re ever able to find a few friends that want to just dunk on some people in a local multiplayer setting, this might be the game to grab.
Cope Island: Adrift is a mysterious roguelite fusion title made by zDS, hobby dev and musician in the USA. Those that venture into this title will find themselves on Cope Island, a bizarre location that little know its purpose; even those that reside on the island know little. The only truth is that those looking to better themselves always end up on Cope Island to face that which is holding them back: their demon.
It’s a bit tricky to explain Cope Island: Adrift, but at its core players explore a relatively linear land in search of three talismans in order to fight their demon. To get to each, paths are blocked by glowing indicators representing enemies, which then transitions into a JRPG combat simulation. Players can attack, utilize any weapons they’ve found from chests, use special attacks that accompany the weapons, standby to heal or just run away. Standard attacks are unique as they can heal the player when used, allowing for some sustain even if the attacks do negligible damage. Weapons also have types which can be strong or weak against certain enemies, so testing out attacks on multiple types of enemies is a good idea to ensure that the player doesn’t die. Granted, death is somewhat inevitable; I died twice on my first run alone due to some mismanagement on my part (the standby feature heals, but heals less after every use and I got caught spamming it). There are three chances thankfully, but best to not waste them for fear of having to start at the run all over again.
See, the roguelite part of Cope Island: Adrift isn’t necessarily obvious at first, similar to how many people I’ve seen were uncertain of the plot itself. Both, however, are very intertwined with each other. If one cares for spoilers, just be sure to skip to the end.
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Upon completing the initial run of Cope Island, the player is given a soft and melancholic farewell with ideas of betterment and the inconsistency of life. The islanders had reinforced much of this through their conversations of philosophy and existentialism, something that confused me to no end — what exactly was the point of the island? Where were we going?
Turns out, I wasn’t the only one, for the player is revealed to be a member of a group that is keeping tabs on Cope Island. Upon completion, the player enters into this hub location to which anything they have found is recorded — any secrets, weapons, or power ups are all documented and put on display. Putting on the robe to look just like the player originally did allows for starting another attempt at Cope Island with the previous knowledge of any secrets, and opens the way for new paths to be discovered. The goal? To find out what exactly the island is hiding besides the demon that reflects the player. No matter how many attempts it takes, regardless of the weapon combinations that are discovered; we must find out what Cope Island truly is.
There’s more that I don’t know, that’s for certain. The game is more vast and bottomless than it first appears, with every secret reveal still leaving questions unanswered. What will we find at the bottom? Why are there two scores, and who are these mysterious figures that are documenting the island?
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Cope Island: Adrift is a vast title masking itself as a small RPG roguelite. There’s more within this title than many will give it credit for, and its replayability is deeply interwoven with just how little information you’ll feel you have as you attempt over and over to find out the secrets of this philosophically quizzical island. If you like being confused, but only just enough to drive you forward to finding out the truth, then this might be the title to try out.
