It really is perfectly executed, and captures an awesome blend of exploration and action.

If it's not THE best (since I know you guys don't enjoy direct comparisons of your work    ), it's currently firmly in the top 3 or 5, for NES.

 

Top three or five for sure! Depends on the mood, many days it is number one. Definitely one of those games too that will always be on my must play NES list. Zelda, Metroid, The Mad Wizard, Mega Man III, Legacy of the Wizard...

What they said ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ I'll always cherish a memory of singing along with the main melody of the game while I had to care for my parents' cat who had to stay in the same office I have my games. She smells bad, and I needed my wife to bring me a candle to get the smell out so I sang this along with the music of TMW: "She, smells, really-bad. I would like my can-dle please. She, smells, really-bad. I would like my can-dle please." LOL. I got so close to beating the game, was not able to beat the final boss. One of these days!

Indeed. Absolute rankings about something your can't quantify (the "bestness" of a video game) always have a relative value.

Also, it depends on many subjective factors, like for instance liking such kind of experience or not. The game blends elements from adventure games, Prince of Persia like platformers, and a bit of RPG; it is innovative, and well made. Could SUCH game be made any better? I suppose not. It was a brillant idea, nicely and coherently put togheter, and it's the best you can get. Can a different homebrew be an experience as good as this one? Of course yes. The Legend of Owlia is great for different reasons, and ranks at the top as well, for instance.

You do have a very solid point about direct comparisons: you can talk about Street Fighter II and Zelda III, and about both you could claim "the best possible experience on a SNES!", without feeling guilty about telling lies! And like SGP said, what game is more appreciable to play, also depends on which kind of game your mood is for at that moment.
 

Good job, man!  
Finally, I can download full version of this game.
I hope you enjoyed my hack demo of the game?  
P. S. would like to note that I can't understand why you canceled the game "Get 'Em Gary"... After all, this is an excellent port of Fix-It Felix for the NES! And "Bombs Array" is very similar to an unlicensed NES game called "Crystal Blast" (which I used to be corrected).
"Rise of Amondus" I do not mastered - is too hard for me.  

http://nintendoage.com/forum/mess...

Get 'Em Gary is alive and well.

I'll just put this on this topic:
[quote]Get 'Em Gary

UNRELEASED - FALL 2016 This is actually not a Sly Dog Studios game. However, I did program it for my friend Adam at Second Dimension. This was his brain-child, and he had a gentleman named Brian Manzelmann do the graphics before asking me to program it. It turned out to be a really fun game! You play the role of Gary, and you have to fix all the windows that get broken in buildings by the antagonist, Rusty. I will not be able to ever release the ROM or the source, but I will be able to release an NSF of it after the game's release. So, stay tuned for that![/quote]

He can't release the ROM, because it's not his property to release. It's for sale, so it's definitely not canceled.

Good to hear!  I've been wondering if that was still going to be released.

hehe I did find the area you had hidden on the left-hand side of the demo map. I didn't get too far though because there were screens that had places you could get stuck, if I remember correctly. Like falling to the next screen, but you had water there, so you would get stuck in a loop of falling into the water and restarting the room haha

Rise of Amondus is a challenge, for sure, but I feel it's one of the more unique games on the NES : D

As others have stated, Get 'em Gary will see a physical release from Second Dimension. I just can't give out the ROM or anything. So, if you'd like to support my future endeavors, let 'em know you like my work by purchasing a copy from them when they become available. I get no cut of the profits, as I've already been paid, but it kinda helps let them know that you like how it turned out, which in turn makes them go, "hm, maybe we'll work with the Roth dude again in the future, because people think that boy is SEX-AY!"

Mad Wizard was nice in concept. The hover thing was kinda neat but I found it hard to control and avoid enemies and just wasn't passionate about the gameplay so I sold it. Then I passed on Rise of Amondus when I heard it was a sequel to the first.

I'm not suggesting either was not a good game, just not for me. Plenty of of homebrew experiences to love for everyone though.

 

So you never got to experience the pure joy when the levitation speed is upgraded and you fly around at super speeds.

One of the best NES experiences of my life.

 

I'm not sure exactly why. I just couldn't get into it. Maybe I should have spent more than 15-20 minutes playing it before I sold it. But a good game should engage the player early on. Also not everyone likes every game. I've enjoyed a number of games that others thought were terrible, and there's some great games out there that I just can't get into.

Yeah, you need to play it longer.

If I still owned it, I would.  
 

Eh, like you said, not every game is for everyone. But I'd just like to mention that The Rise of Amondus is a 100% completely different kind of game from The Mad Wizard. It is more of a shooter-style than anything. They are both free on my website now if you ever get an itch to try them longer, though!
 

Okay I'll give them a shot.  

 

No, you're a bit confused. The gap in the tree on the left side of the map - it's so intended.  
As for water - it doesn't work in the demo as a full game, so... it's working. You can check this: Mad_Wizard_-_A_Candelabra_Chronicle_(9_Screens.rar Video for FCE Ultra included.  
... I was not able to make a hack ... because of the heap of bugs.  
As for the game "Get 'em Gary" - too bad. Few homebrew awarded to the general public due to their limited prevalence...
<quote>So, if you'd like to support my future endeavors, let 'em know you like my work by purchasing a copy from them when they become available.</quote>
All that I can - to publish the news of the games that could be played by other in them. This is not piracy, just a desire to prove to people that our old NES is alive, and games for it continue makes by craftsmen. Many people from other countries are not even aware that these games exist. The reason I have indicated above.^

I'm wondering if you went into it with the wrong mindset.

Had you played and beaten the demo, so that you really understood what genre the game fits into?


It's most akin to something like Dizzy or Super Robin Hood (I think that's the Quattro release's name).
(or something like Castlequest, but without the ability to make irreversible errors)

That is, it's a puzzle/exploration game made to LOOK like a platformer/sidescroller.

If you try to play it like a platformer, you're going to do badly, since the controls will seem too slow and deliberate.

If you understand the genre, and play it like a puzzle game, then the pace and the control speed is just right.



EDIT: in terms of engagement, i found the game engaging pretty much instantly.

The sense of exploration.  The sense of scale.
The knowledge that you'll acquire all sorts of powers to overcome obstacles that right now seem insurmountable.

It's a great game.  Really one of the best homebrew made, and one that would have ranked quite well as an official release back-in-the-day.

The homebrew scene's unknown horizontal shooter  . One of the best two player co-op experiences on the system as well, right up there with Chip and Dale and TMNT II/III. Definitely give it a try, though not every game is for every person.

Kosmic StarDust: Just imagine the wizard going OOOOAHHHH!!! every time he rises into the air.

Thanks. I am a shooter fan so I might pick this up! Also hopefully have a Solaris on the way with my AVS, one of the most awesome homebrew shooters I've played if Xmas 2013 was any indication...  
  I'll try out the demos for now. If I like it I can always rebuy the original, not like it's rare or discontinued. If I do, it won't be the first time I've repurchased a game that I sold off...  

Also I'm on a budget so I can't afford to buy every homebrew release...  

Bumping this because the game is freaking amazing and more people need to try it!

Agreed.

This kind of adventure game is a really underappreciated genre, IMO.

 

Under appreciated!? Who doesn't like Metroidvanias? (and yes, I already know you're going to launch into a giant thing about that word   )