Overview
Johnny PlatformJohnny Platform's Biscuit Romp is a side-scrolling platformer released on the Xbox Live Marketplace on December 26, 2008 for 80 Microsoft Points, or $1.00. Originally a homebrew Nintendo DS game, Johnny Platform's Biscuit Romp was developed by Ishisoft, headed by Craig Forrester. Thoe Xbox Live Indie Game version is almost entirely the same game as the homebrew DS version, although the Xbox Live version contains five new levels and has some minor reorganization of the levels.
Only taking around three weeks to develop, Johnny Platform's Biscuit Romp was created by Craig Forrester. He was the lead designer on the game as well, with only a few other people assisting in the few weeks of development. Tom Chambers (who did the voice of Johnny Platform) and James O'Hare (who helped with sprite design and voiced the robots) were the only other people involved in development.
Gameplay
The goal of the game is to kill all enemies and get to the exit.The goal of each level in Johnny Platform's Biscuit Romp (of which there are 55) is to destroy all of the enemies and reach the exit. Enemies can be killed by jumping on them, but as levels progress their actions become more complex and threatening to Johnny Platform. Some later levels include enemies who can shoot projectiles at Johnny Platform, requiring jumping and ducking to traverse these levels.
Taking advantage of the environment is also key to finishing levels in Johnny Platform's Biscuit Romp. There are a variety of platforms (some of which disappear after being jumped on), and occasionally blocks that can be pushed or rolled to create another platform for jumping on. While there isn't initially much complexity in this mechanic, as the game progresses it become increasingly difficult to manipulate these objects correctly.
Later levels become increasingly complex.Johnny Platform's equivalent to Mario's coins or Sonic's rings is coffee. There are several cups of coffee in each level, and collection of a set amount grants Johnny Platform another life (as well as an "OH YEAH" from Johnny Platform). While collecting coffee is not a necessity, it's just another mechanic of Johnny Platform to solidify its position as a "classic platformer," as per the description.
By the end of the game, stage design becomes more and more complex and includes new concepts such as screen wrapping. In later levels, jumping into the right side of the screen will cause Johnny Platform to come out of the left side of the screen, and vice versa.
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