Bowser's Recruitment
| Bowser's Recruitment | |
|---|---|
| |
| Developer(s) | Hello |
| Announce Date | Unknown |
| Release Date | October 13, 2008 |
| Genre | Minigame/Platform |
| Players | 1 |
| Input | Standard keyboard |
| Medium | Game Maker |
| Platform | Windows |
| Status | Finished |
Bowser's Recruitment is a game made by Hello for Minigame Competition #40. The player controls Bowser in order to recruit new minions for his army. Bowser "recruits" new minions by touching them at their side, earning points. If he stomps them, however, he "kills" them and loses points. The game ends if Bowser stomps a Spiny or falls off the bottom of the screen. At the end of the game, "kills" are subtracted from "recruits" to tally the final score.
Story
One day, Bowser left his castle for a little while, and Mario came and killed all of Bowser's minions. Bowser wasn't happy about this, and stated that Mario would pay for this. However, before he could do that, he needed to recruit more minions. So he set out to do just that!
Gameplay
Bowser is controlled with the arrow keys, and either Z or Ctrl to start running, and X or Shift to jump. If he collides with a minion's side, they disappear and are recruited. If he jumps on them, they die, unless they are a Spiny, in which case, Bowser dies.
The minions are:
- Goomba
- Green Koopa
- Red Koopa
- Spiny
- Piranha Plant
All minions behave like they would in Super Mario Bros. 3. If a minion is recruited, the "Recruits" counter goes up, and you gain 100 points. If they are killed, the "Kills" counter goes up, and you lose 200 points.
When you finally die, Bowser will either state the "Recruits" counter and the Kills counter, or he will say, "Nooooooo! I did such a bad job. This is not good. I need recruits. I should try again!"
The goal of each "level" is not so much to get as many recruits as possible, but to reach the end of it. When you reach the end of a room, the game will scroll you into the next one.
Reception
Bowser's Recruitment opened to mixed reviews. Many players liked the fact that the starring character was Bowser for a change. Some players didn't like the relatively short playing environment and the lack of a lives or health system. While the theme of this Minigame Competition was loneliness, several reviewers noted that Bowser doesn't seem to have much of a problem with getting new troops. The music is somber in places, however.
