How Roto Force Reimagines Familiar 'Dash and Fire' Gameplay

gamerant.com:

Roto Force developer Anton Klinger has now been making small-scale games for ten years, but one of them, Pixel Soldier, unexpectedly turned into a years-long project. The game was developed for a Game Boy jam in 2016. The aim was to build a game in ten days, but that was just the start for what later became Roto Force.

Programmer turned Accidently Awesome's solo developer, Anton Klinger, built the game with a specific movement schematic. The inspiration he drew forRoto Force initially came mostly from the 90s run-and-gun, Alien Soldier. However, after years of development, it turned into a completely different beast. Game Rant spoke to Klinger about Roto Force's development and 'dash and fire' gameplay mechanics in particular.

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Klinger loved how Alien Soldier played, and the way it incorporated dashing. Alien Soldier tied aspects of traditional platformer Mega Man, much of the pedigree of run-and-gun classic Contra, and even the aesthetics of arcade shooter series R-Type together. However, it was a few very specific gimmicks that Klinger was drawn towards. Alien Soldier offered an interesting multipurpose dash mechanic that made it faster-paced. In addition, he liked the way the character could walk on walls and ceilings, depending on the stage.

While Klinger didn't design Roto Force to be an arcade game, he wanted to include those aspects in his game. GBJAM 5 rules didn't regulate controls, only that the game would be Game Boy-themed and have appropriate color restrictions. Nevertheless, Klinger wanted to push himself more with the control scheme.

So dashing is pretty defensive, and to win bosses fast, you'll have to dash as little as possible because time spent dashing is time spent not