Lovely Planet Arcade

as lovely planet as been my favourite game for many years, i have to give this one a bad review.
i like the arcade spin off from lovely planet and the design. the things i dislikes tho were: invisible enemies, teleport into existence enemies, enemies that turns your screen black, friendly enemies instant kill you when in line of sight.
if youve never played this game before, those would of sounded like bugs, but theyre not, theyre game features, just really annoying ones.
but i did enjoy everything else. fun game. but some really bad game mechanics

I wanted to rip my hair out playing this. The gimmick of being lovely planet but boomer shooter style is alright and kinda fun for the first 2 acts but around act 3 is when it gets cancerous and loses its fun, and there's a lot more game after act 3.

not worth the $0.50 or however much extra I paid for the bundle to get this

start with the og Lovely Planet. if you like that, this is more of the same but different. controls are only along x axis so it's like og DOOM where you don't aim up or down. some of the challenges are super hard in this one, but figuring out the route to proceed through each level is half the fun. lovely indeed.

Hate to see the negative reviews comparing to Original games. This is supposed to be an easier experience, as someone who found original games too hard for my skill level, this is absolutely perfect for me since I loved the concept. Solid recommend for controller players, people with bad aim, or who wants to play with a podcast or audiobook on.

Lovely planet arcade is the 2nd chronological installment to the lovely planet series and i think despite taking a different direction into the series, is much better than the first installment.

The gameplay is similar to doom but has the same gimmicks as the first game, shooting bombs before they touch the floor, shoot enemies before they shoot you with some extra new stuff thrown into there, it starts slow but picks up the pace nicely and starts getting puzzle oriented which personally i loved a lot, the 3 star times are challenging to get but thankfully no requirement to 100% accuracy every level makes it much much better to handle, also the lack of Y axis aiming helps making precise shots much better too, It does get a little annoying with the invisible enemies and fog gimmicks in act 3 but still decently fun to do, mirror mode felt a tad redundant but the speed mode was excellent to do, so plenty of content to enjoy!

The graphics are yet again top notch, enemies are very clear to read by symbols on their chest alongside the sound effects which ill get into next, but graphically everything has that simplistic charm which i'd recognise as lovely planet anytime, it always is simple and pleasing to the eyes and still something i adore about the series.

The music and sound design is much better in this game, the audio peaking issues are non existent, enemies make different sounds so you can often tell what caused a death or what's about to happen with bombs shooting, gun enemies becoming alert, etc, however the music didn't have too much flair to it, and honestly i was hoping for another song which stood out but everything felt kinda worse but not terrible, just not as good as lovely forest :p

Overall a solid improvement to the franchise, it took a lot of what i hated in LP1 and made it a lil bit better, a game worth playing to dip ya toes into the lovely planet series and maybe a better introduction than LP1 imo.

Horizontal only shooter that seems to place emphasis on playing levels over and over again and memorizing the layouts to get better times. It's a departure from the original lovely planet but it still has that same gameplay premise of shooting baddies and repetitively playing levels to improve on times or accuracy. Of course the later levels increase in difficulty but it still feels fair enough. You can expect to lose a few hours just getting through the levels and you can spend a decent chunk of time trying to perfect each level or trying to find secrets. I thoroughly enjoyed it and would still recommend it to anyone who like the first lovely planet even though the gameplay isn't the same.

Honestly good little game but nowhere near what the first lovely planet was.
It's got interesting gimmicks but having to do all 106 levels three times is really boring.

But I really recommend at least unlocking fast mode. It's very fun and feels like that's how the game was meant to be played

Overall it's cheap and stuff a fun game, do recommend, 6.5/10 maybe

I don't really know why this game appealed to me, but i'm glad it did. It is a very simple game with basic graphics, but the gameplay becomes complex with the very few mechanics actually implemented. Not only are you dodging and shooting, you are preventing bombs from exploding, teleporting, collecting coins, slowing down time and quite a bit more. It does a great job utilizing what it has to challenge the player in many unique and exciting ways.

cool ost, it's a very fun and dynamic doom-like, and as the name emplies it's very lovely. Got it for 1$ or so, for its price it's loads of fun, but much simpler than Lovely planet so your hands won't hurt as much

Lovely Planet Arcade is fun for the short while until you hit world 3. At that point, they up the difficulty artificially by tossing really annoying enemies and patterns at you, and unfortunately the music gets surprisingly repetitive to boot. In world 3, there will be enemies that are completely invisible and use hitscan weapons that will force trial and error. Then they'll introduce enemies that blind you until you perform a certain action like picking up coins. This leads to level designs being unclear as you can't even see the level for portions. It's a shame because it's so easy to see the potential of a fun arcadey lovely planet classic FPS inspired shooter, and you can see successfully creative designs in plenty of the levels, but the mechanics introduced in zones 3 and 4 are just that terrible.

All this said, I highly recommend checking out Lovely Planet or Lovely Planet 2 if you haven't already. Excellent games. (Haven't tried Super Lovely Planet yet myself, will do)

More downplayed and puzzle-oriented version of it's predecessor. While the original 'Lovely Planet' has 'Quake' vibes, this game can be compared to 'Doom' instead. Your vertical view is locked and the platforming elements are (almost) absent. And although you probably will still have some fun, i say buy the original instead.

Reading the other reviews here, you would get the sense that this is overall a disappointing sequel to Lovely Planet(a game that you should definitely play).

But that really isnt the case here, because this is a spiritual sequel, and not a direct one.
You see, Lovely Planet was a game about jumping momentum and preciseness, and it gave alot of freedom to the player to figure out the fastest route to the goal, being a favourite among speedrunners.
Lovely Planet Arcade isnt that game.

Where Lovely Planet takes inspiration from arena shooters like Quake 3 and Unreal Tournament, Lovely Planet Arcade gets its inspiration from Doom and arcade on-rail shooters.
Like Doom, you cannot move on the y-axis, making it so you can only move your gun left and right. This completely changes the way the game is meant to be played versus Lovely Planet.

And I can see why people would be mad about this change, since they will not find the player freedom they had in Lovely Planet. But that's really their own fauly, since this isnt being sold a sequel at all.

Like those old arcade on rail shooters, the fun of the game is figuring out where every enemy will pop up, knowing where to point right away, because otherwise you will get shot and have to start the level again.
Levels are very short, A la Super Meat Boy, so the trial and error nature of the game is completely acceptable.

If you enjoy mastering and acing games, shaving off mili seconds of your high score, and twitch shooters where you cant miss a single shot, then this game is for you.
If that isnt your cup of tea, then you shoul try something else. This game has no pretenses about what it is. There is no story or main goal, outside of completing the sequence of levels with all of the stars which you get by completing in the fastest time possible, and it contains a deceptively charming artstyle and soundtrack that masks a very punishing and challenging game.

But dont let that dissuade you from playing it, it never gets frustrating to the point of giving up.
Levels are almost like puzzles, where you need to figure out your sequence of movements, and once you figure that out the level turns into a cake walk.

Once you finish all of the levels you unlock two new modes: a mirror mode, which just mirrors the levels to give you a sense that you are playing new stuff, and the fast mode, which makes the game twice and fast and its a really fun experience to try the first few levels with.

As for downsides, if you arent very interested in 100% the game, the game is over very fast, lasting about 3 hours top.
Also, the last act of the game presents a new mechanic where certain enemies makes the screen go black until you hit another enemy. This can get very frustrating, because it makes you guess where stuff is while blind, and thats never fun.

Overall, I'd say buy it. It really depends on what kind of player you are, but I think there is enough here for everyone.

To address some of the other reviews.
No, it's not the same as the previous Lovely Planet. The "Arcade" in the title imples that it's something different. And that's not a bad thing. The original Lovely Planet was great! Fantastic! This Lovely Planet is just a little different, but still great.

There's no vertical aim, meaning you only control which horizontal direction you're aiming in. That's one of the biggest changes and it's something that takes a few minutes to get used to.

There's less emphasis on exploration and mapping out your own path through the level to try and be just a little bit faster. There is of course a fastest path through the course, but there's less freedom to make up your own. The speed-running in this installment is more based on skill rather than ingenuity, although it does take some ingenuity to find the quickest, most efficient path though the level. But once you find that, your speed is mostly dependent on how skillfully you can navigate the level and shoot the baddies. I think more so than the original, this game has more puzzle elements to the level design, but don't get me wrong, it's still balls-to-the-wall difficult to execute in the harder levels.

A few cons.
There is currently no level editor. It really seems like a game that would lend itself well to that, so it's a shame that it's not there. The built-in levels are great and all, but replaying the same levels to try and set a new PB can get repetitive.

There are no leaderboards. This one really bugs me. I'd love to see how my times are compared to other people's instead of just trying to beat my own all the time. While the original Lovely Planet had leaderboards, I'm pretty sure the top times were broken or full of people glitching the game is various ways, so that might be why there are no leaderboards this time around. Because he couldn't differentiate cheaters. Who knows. It's just a guess.


TL;DR It's a great game. No vertical aim takes some getting used to. More puzzle-based in the level design but still very mechanically difficult to pull off in the fastest way possible. If you don't care too much about beating your own times, then you might only get a few hours of entertainment of it, but it's not an expensive game. Sadly no leaderboards or level editor :(

Lovely Planet was a game that took me by complete surprise, because it seemed like it was just any old indie game and I mainly bought it for the cute art style. It ended up being one of the hardest FPSs I've played, and over the dozen or so hours it took me to get all the stars in it my shooter skills as a whole improved a lot in terms of accuracy and reaction time. It's the kind of game where even when it's so hard you think you'll never finish a level, you can't drop it because it's so happy and cute and there's just something about how energetic the game is with how fast you move and how high you jump that goes really well with the extremely good soundtrack.

Lovely Planet Arcade is the sequel, and it tries things a bit differently. It goes oldschool with the aiming, removing the Y axis so you can only look left and right. The player moves much slower, and can only jump about half a foot into the air, making it useless except for specific parts where you need to jump. The levels are designed to accomodate this, and instead of having any complex platforming or extreme air jumps the levels are generally small flat planes with fences or houses used to break them up. You also have a new gun, a shotgun that fires in a straight line ahead of you, so you're no longer challenged with the task of guessing where your shots would land from the previously angled wand thing from Lovely Planet. Because of all this, the game is a lot less punishing in terms of mouse skill, but also less fun in my opinion. The accuracy star has been removed, and now the only thing that matters for getting 3 stars is your completion time. Most of the challenge now comes from replaying the levels over and over until you learn the placement of the enemies, which now have special qualities like some that teleport you to them and some that freeze time for a moment, making the levels more like puzzles than shooting galleries. And there's nothing wrong with that, it's still a fun game and if the original game didn't exist I'd probably be giving this one a more positive review, but when you make a game as overall great as Lovely Planet it's hard not to compare the sequel to it, and frankly this game is worse in every way I can think of. Which again isn't to say that it's bad, but if you're debating between this or Lovely Planet I'd say go with the first game for sure. If you're returning and just really want some more of this style of game, this isn't a terrible purchase for its price, but just know what you're getting.

Lovely Planet Arcade is the formula youve known to love with the series, with a twist. There is no Y-axis making quick movements and peaking around corners just as nessasary as it was in the original Lovely Planet. Levels start out easy and become harder over time. The same enemy types from the last game are not used, but instead a whole new array of baddies must be mastered. The worlds are more flat and have less scenery, but this makes additional room for the puzzle aspects of Lovely Planet. Joyful music is to be expected, but in my opinion, is a slight downgrade to the quality of music found in the first lovely planet.
the cons-
-music is more repetitive, worse quality
-no longer has a feeling of joy and freedom
-since reloading takes time, you have to think about when you shoot and not just where
-there is almost no aspect of speedrunning, since each level can be finished in a easy line from start to finish. no more jumping onto scenery for a quicker time here.
If youre new to the Lovely Planet series, start out with the original, then move to Arcade for more challenges.

The first game was fun, it was mostly skill based and not very memory based. In this, Act 2 and later are fully based on memorisation. There are even invisible enemies that you have to redo the level over and over to figure out where they all are. It just isn't fun, and I don't see why I should be forced to retry multiple times for reasons that aren't based on my skill.

I'm really liking Lovely Planet Arcade. If the first game controlled more like Quake, this one is more like old school DOOM or Wolfenstein 3D. They simplified a lot, but they turned up the puzzle factor a ton. Some enemies will slow down time, others will teleport you to their location, and some will require you to jump to get over their armor. You have to kill enemies in the right order, the right way, and quickly. The trailer doesn't really do it justice. I was really worried about the removal of the y-axis and the limited jump, but I feel this game stands on its own. It's definitely worth the $5 if you're into arcade titles like this. For some reason, they left out the leaderboard. I hope they plan on patching it in, because I loved comparing my scores with my friends.

Don't buy it if you need a storyline and lots of cutscenes.

Do buy if you're a cool person with some patience. It's fun.

I played the original Lovely Planet for over 100 hours, and this game feels inferior in every way. First note that this game, like the original does not have a crosshair. Additionally, this game has no y-axis aiming.

The game is split into about 100 levels in 4 acts. The goal of each level is generally to kill all enemies, collect any coins and reach the goal pillar. The game feels very limited in terms of movement and aiming, compared to the original, which let you traverse long, uneven levels and shoot high up enemies at a distance. Instead you're left repetitively shooting enemies on your level, only so far away from you. You can no longer shoot without lag, as your gun now has a reload animation, which slows the game down significantly. The fun, unobtrusive soundtrack of Lovely Planet is hard to live up to, and this soundtrack does not. The music is average, and I found act 3's song so repetitive and annoying that I had to turn off music audio.

But enough comparing the games. I think that even by itself, Lovely Planet Arcade is a bad game. Removing y-axis aiming might not bother some, but every level in the game is a flat, square space. The only things differentiating levels are the enemy and wall placements. The walls and rocks which act as obstacles are plain, and the single environment is uninteresting. Jumping exists in the game, but it only serves as a mechanic to kill certain kinds of enemies and avoid spikes on the ground. You cannot jump over other obstacles to find different routes. There isno depth to the movement whatsoever.

You'll come across several enemy types. Some are bland, like the enemies with shields, which can only be killed while jumping. Others slow/stop time and teleport you to their location. These make for some interesting strats, but quickly get repetitive, and slow the game down. Then there are the invisible enemies, which kill you instantly - the only way to beat these levels is by trial and error, until you figure out where they are. There are even enemies which blind you when you kill them, until you kill another enemy or pick up a coin. The effect is a jarring grey screen, which usually results in a clumsy level completion. Levels are linear in design, from movement down to shot order. There's not a lot of freedom to differ from the intended strategy.

The game does come with some modifiers to the levels; mirror mode will let you play mirrored versions of every level and fast mode will make the game feel a lot less sluggish. You can also earn stars based on how quickly you complete levels, so there's some replay value there.

Honestly this game feels more like a puzzle game to me. A puzzle game where you don't see the whole puzzle. You'll have to play levels multiple times to figure out the linear solution.

As a huge fan of the original Lovely Planet, it's with a heavy heart that I have to write a negative review for its succesor. I've played Lovely Planet for 250+ hours, and I held WR runs in many categories, so I feel that I'm obligated to do this.

This game is not for speedrunners. That's all there is to it. No chance of sequence breaks, no vertical aim, no glitches to shoot through walls. Honestly, there's nearly no freedom of movement. The ability to choose how to route your levels was what made the original so great. Jumping in this game is next to useless as far as routing goes. The levels railroad you to take the intended route.

As a casual game, I'm sure this is jolly good fun, but as someone who was expecting a true sequel, I'm left with a bitter taste in my mouth. I'm sorry, but I just can't enjoy this game.

Lovely Planet has always had a special place in my heart and this game captures the same emotions for me.
It's still fun and fast, with the same great art style, music, and sound effects. Mechanics of each act are interesting and their implementation evolves from level to level.
Lovely Planet Arcade feels quite different from the original, but it still delivers the same fun experience. Can't wait for the next iteration of the series!

Totally don't understand the negative reviews. Fans of the original Lovely Planet ought to enjoy this game. It plays like doom with no vertical aim, you don't go flying like you did in the original but it still manages to keep the pace fast. The style and music is pretty much the same, basically feels like you're playing Katamari but you're wasting everyone with a shotgun. 8/10 will be playing a lot of this game.

Lovely Planet with a shotgun. That's all you need to know! If you've played the original Lovely Planet and enjoyed it there is no doubt in my mind this game will rekindle those sweet, sweet feelings. Whilst its a different movement system we're all familiar with from the original, this game stands on its own for enjoyment and the difficulty from the get-go.
Buy it. Buy it now.
10/10 - This is a biased review, I've waited so long for this moment ;_;