Technical Information
Developer: Imaginary Monsters
Publisher: Poppy Works
Release Date: October 21, 2018
Something strange is happening in the pumpkin patch. Investigate what’s behind it by controlling a pumpkin-headed man who spits candy corn and defeat sinister creatures that only Halloween can bring.
Halloween Forever is an 8 bit-style 2D platformer.
Final Thoughts – Analyzing the Game as a Whole
Graphics and UI
The art and animations are very simple but quite charming. Everything is inspired by the 8-bit era, with a very limited color palette.
Each world has its own visual theme, but they are quite similar to one another and end up creating a sense of repetition.
Because it is a very simple game, there isn’t much UI information.
The HUD only displays the character’s HP and number of lives. Very straightforward and functional!
Soundtrack and Sound Effects
The music has a mysterious atmosphere and really evokes the Halloween season.
The sound effects are neutral and don’t clash at all with the game’s overall vibe.
Gameplay
The pumpkin-headed man has only three actions: walk, jump, and spit candy.
The gameplay is very easy, which is exactly what you’d expect from a game inspired by the 8-bit era.
Within the stages, there are alternative and hidden paths that will lead you to runes (collect them all to unlock a different ending), extra lives, and skins.
Each skin has a different ability. The skeleton’s attack, for example, fires several small bones, slightly increasing the range to damage enemies.
The game includes an option to enable 99 lives, but activating it disables achievements.
I used this mode to explore all the stage paths and memorize the bosses’ attack patterns, and after learning everything I needed, I finished the game with trophies enabled (not to brag, but this strategy worked really well hahaha Highly recommended!).
It’s a very short game and can easily be beaten in a single sitting.
The sad part is that the PS Vita version has some bugs… when you finish the game, the ending text doesn’t appear (only the images do), which makes the conclusion feel a bit lacking in context. And during the final scenes, the game crashes! 🙁
On the character selection screen, the description of each character’s ability appears behind the “Start Game” button, making it very hard to read.
I reported this to the developer, but honestly, I don’t have high hopes that it will be fixed.
Replayability and Game Retention
Even though the game is short, unlocking skins gives you another reason to play through it again. And of course, if you’re into trophies, you’ll also find challenges to earn them all.
After unlocking everything, I don’t think Halloween Forever offers enough excitement or motivation for players to keep coming back regularly.
Still, because of the fun and simplicity it offers, I believe it’s worth replaying once your memory starts to fade and this adventure can feel unique all over again.
