Tank Man | a Review
originally published on 14/12/2024;
Hello everyone, I am the tank-driving man of the tank, G.E.M.Simov, a tankster who knows tank man from long ago, here to tell you about the little flash game “Tank Man”.
Simple review details - I rank games on an out of 10 basis, granting up to 3 points in 3 categories, as well as a last, single point from my own self, depending on my experience with it.
Gameplay
“Tank Man” is a game that is alarmingly similar to the old mega-man games. In it, the Player controls either Tank Man or Mega Man, having the ability to go left and right via the Arrow Keys, jump via the S key and shoot via the A key. Additionally, if situated upon a ladder, the Player can press the Up Arrow to go up said ladder, as well as the Down Arrow to go down said ladder.
The oddity here presents itself almost immediately - and that is the key mapping. Pressing the A key to shoot is understandable, however relegating jumping to the S key instead of, for instance, the SpaceBar, which was and still is the standard… Is odd. Alternatively, the Up Arrow - but the Player cannot jump with the Up Arrow, even if there is no ladder anywhere near their Character. So either it fails to be context sensitive, or the single developer of this game could not find the time to fit it in. Regardless, it negatively impacts the experience.
With that said, the task ahead of Tank Man is to traverse a level with multiple platforms, pits and spikes, remaining alive by avoiding and shooting enemies, avoiding falls into pits and onto spikes, and making it to the next section of the level, ultimately reaching the boss at the end of it all.
First things first, this is a short little game, with well laid out levels that present a decent challenge, especially in regards to platforming. However, exactly in regards to the platforming, there appears another issue, or maybe oddity - and it is either visual or mechanical in nature. Either the sprite for Tank Man (and Mega Man) is only slightly larger than the collision box that is in place, or there is something fishy relating to the input reception relating to jumping, because there are many situations in which the Player is required to make particularly precise jumps, accompanied by running starts, only to find out that the Character is not jumping when the appropriate key is pressed, instead falling down (most often to their death).
One of the bothersome things here is that the way to fix this is either by giving the model a bit more berth, or making the input detection more sensitive, or slightly altering the height of the Player Character’s jump, because there are many instances of jumps being nearly, if not entirely, impossible to achieve with the jump height provided.
Other little tidbits that are bothersome present themselves in the fact that this game is not for beginners and is a tad difficult. Sure, the “Easy” mode is easy, but even on “normal” there is a measure of challenge that feels arbitrary, or, rather, artificial in an unpleasant manner. For starters, very few enemies actually can be damaged by shooting at them while standing at the same elevating as them, requiring either jumping and precise timing (all within a relatively narrow timeframe, as the enemy is either barrelling towards the Player Character [PC] or about to become invulnerable to damage in just a moment) or repositioning and/or complete avoidance, which are a bit annoying.
There seems to be no ‘ordinary’ enemy, no little goomba equivalent that can be killed with absolutely no thought, but can wind up sneaking up on the Player. With the absence of said enemy type, something seems to be missing.
Even so, the game is very competently made. Not only that, but the boss fight at the end is very neat, very understandable and works wonders for what it is. There are a few oddballs here and there, which I have not mentioned, but they do not truly detract from the experience. Ultimately, this is Mega Man, but with Tank Man… And a few little issues (such as password locking the new gun even after the game has been beaten; can’t we just have a little check somewhere?) 2/3
Presentation
As stated in the Gameplay part of this review, Tank Man is Mega Man. It looks like Mega Man - as in it has a very tiny resolution, everything is made up of easily discernible squares. Everything is minimalistic, but it still manages to convey what it needs to convey.
The tutorial is very lackluster, as it does not exist. The main menu features all the information required, and has a slightly cluttered appearance, but it gets the job done. There is one bit of information that the game fails to convey to the Player in any way whatsoever, and that is the number of lives available. There is a hidden counter for how many times the Player has died, and if the counter goes over a certain value, the Player gets a Game Over screen. There are pick ups that increase the Player’s lives, thus staving off a Game Over - and, on top of that, getting a Game Over is not very easy to do - but it is still a relatively major oversight.
While looking satisfactory, and having decent sound effects, the game has another issue - and that is its music. It has a few tracks, but they are short, somewhat repetitive, relatively loud and brash, and become very grating if the Player spends more than six, seven minutes with them, which is really problematic for one’s enjoyment of the experience. 2/3
Story
There is no story, although there are some references to a load of neat things, some related to Newgrounds, others - to Mega Man. Aside from that, though, there is nothing. 0/3
Legendary Point
Does this game get the Legendary point, so craved and wanted by all and none at the same time? While I am happy to see a game about Tank Man, who is an (the?) icon of Newgrounds, this particular entry… Is not that impressive. So NO, Tank Man does not get the Legendary Point. 0/1
Conclusion
4/10. Tank Man is a decent little romp through a level that leads to fighting a boss, but is, ultimately, nothing special. I would say that fans of Mega Man are more than welcome to give it a try, but for most other game players out there it is something that might be better off getting skipped. Still, it is a flash game, and as such it has merit.
In the bag of mediocrity it goes. Not much to say on the matter.