Defunct

Defunct offers an experience similar to a mobile app like Dune! With some vertical sequences to mix up the gameplay and a few more features to keep it quirky and replayable.
The game is set in a post-apocalyptic earth for the majority where a robot with a busted wheel is dumped by mistake from his home ship, your goal is to get back to the ship before it leaves the planet. The story is basic and isn't really what keeps the game interesting. Apart from very little interactions between the robots there isn't much character development either. You play the game for the speed and a little exploration, you aren't timed in the story mode but you are in the time trial modes. The game is VERY short and will not take long to complete the story. The gameplay features the manual use of gravity forcing you down slopes and magnets to cling to objects and ceilings. You can build up speed with nitrous and speed boosts and avoid chasms and water hazards. There may also be some collectables to pick up which give character skins and small tricks you can do in the air. There are just over 25 achievements with some being as easy as pressing k on your keyboard (i'm not joking) and others involve scoring very fast times on time trials; the latter of which took most of my 15 hours of playtime. As fun as these were I feel they used a soft steering correction like in mario kart which messed up a few attempts at fast times. I could be wrong but it sucked when it happened.
SUMMARY: Fun short game with a few things to keep the game replayable but perhaps a little lacking for the price. With some updates and new content this game could be a lot more engaging but for what it is, it's a fun WALL-E like racer.

gave me some real PS2 vibes

I found Defunct an enjoyable little game with an unusual but skill-rewarding movement scheme. While you can move under your own power, your speed this way is limited. Instead, you need to use a combination of gravity and limited boosters to accelerate. At first, this can be difficult to maintain for long, which can make the initial experience a bit frustrating. However, with practice it becomes a surprisingly rewarding system.
The game's levels are a decent size with multiple routes to explore. I appreciated the art design, which makes the fairly basic and functional graphics look their best.
While it's true that the story campaign is quite short, I got plenty of playtime out of Defunct by beating all the time trial challenges. In particular, it was only by doing this that I truly learnt the essence of the game's control scheme. Still, if you're not the person to attempt these optional challenges, you might feel the overall experience a bit lacking.
The biggest weakness I found with the game was probably the music. While not unpleasant, I don't think it has enough energy to match the gameplay. I also found the jump control sometimes unresponsive, and the story and world are pretty thin.
Overall, I recommend Defunct with the caveat above about length.

If you look at Defunct as just a game to complete once by playing the campaign, you're going to be disappointed. It is very short, especially for the $10CAD price tag, with me beating the game in around 50 minutes the first time I played.
However, I soon discovered the real game begins with the Time Trials. My first impressions of the game were positive, especially with the $0.99CAD deal I bought it for, But with the Time Trials, which takes sections from the campaign and chops them into their own levels, I soon realized that these were true appeal of the game.
The problem I had with the campaign mode was that, sure, it was fun to go fast and do jumps and tricks, I felt no incentives to experiment with the environment, and so I ended up taking the easiest paths rather than the more interesting and faster paths to reach the next area. That weakness, the fact there is no reason to go forward or restart other than for the sake of going forward or trying again made the game less effective at rewarding the player for skillfully maneuvering the levels.
That criticism completely leaves once you begin the time trials mode, where there is finally a concrete objective: Get to the end as fast as possible, with a timer counting up your seconds as you reach the green wall. This is where the game is at its best, achieving the platinum badge for each level (except junkyard lol) and feeling yourself become one with the controls, and blasting through the levels to finally make that 0:50 time limit. That is where I think the true appeal of this game lies.
I recommend this game to those that enjoy the likes of Marble it Up or Marble Blast, but want a fast-paced twist on the formula. On the last note, I do think this game should be more around the $7CAD price range, just for the fact that the campaign is so short, and that most people are unlikely to consider doing the time trials.
This game is great because of time trials, rather than campaign (because it is short).
Play if you like marble games, because this game is basically a marble game with a robot shaped marble.

Got this game because it reminds me of Wall-E.. But what i get is more than what I expected.
This game has both beautiful music and scenery to enjoy along your way... It's unlike any speed rush parkour game i've seen. The whole world is one huge open map free for exploring. There are different paths you can take on your journey to reach your next destination. There's even secret areas to explore. You can play it slow or fast the way you like it, enjoy sight seeing and stops by beautiful places taking pictures... or just speed rush it like a Sonic game.
The game play is like a race car control with jumps... very similar to Sonic. While there are side tracks and short cuts you can find along the way, depending on your skill and choice, your path to reach the destination may differs. But the game took care of everyone whether they are good in parkour or not they get to continue the journey and reach the end. So the challenge is yours to decide.
There isn't much a story to tell other than your engine broke down at the start of the game, and on your way to the repair shop you fall into a rubbish dump and gotten yourself thrown out of the cargo ship you were living.. the rest of the game is you exploring the world while trying to catch up with the ship.. WITH a broken engine. The protagonist comes with gravity control unit on him that you can use it to your advantages to speed up and stick to walls or ceiling while continuing your journey. Yes, you can even reach sonic speed with that broken engine if you know how to speed up correctly. And it feels really great! :3
For players who are not used to Racing game with power ups or Sonic type speed challenge, they might not be able to understand the true color of this game because the devs allow players with no skill to continue the journey in other not so exciting paths, you can even go from start to end sticking on the ground without using the gravity system. Those who said the game needs one hour to complete probably didn't try to speed up at all. If you really did play it on full speed, the game is actually less than that.. :3
But for the slower players, the whole game should be like a car ride field trip with nice background music and great scenery along the way.
And since there are different paths to take, secrets areas to visit, unlockable tricks and skins... a few replay is needed for a completionist to check on all that the game has to offer.
In short, I really enjoy this game! For an indie game that started off as a school project, this game is far better than most so called professional work! Great job!
p/s: the soundtracks are worth buying too! really nice music! :3

ha ha robot go vroom

This game is fun i beat in one sitting. However it is reeks of waisted potential the game mainly consists of open world sandboxes that you can play around in with lots of opportunities to go fast however the game is a incredibly slow when moveing in between those opportunities to go fast. I feel like this could have been fixed with a unlimited boost gauge or at least a much expanded one or even just make the boost refill over time insted of haveing to find more and if the devs wanted levels without the boost just say it was broke or something. My other main complaint is there is no workshop support now im not a dev and i dont know how hard it would be to implement workshop support but i feel this game would benefit massively from it that way we could get the linear coureses were the objective is to go make it through as fast as possible that i think most people bought this game for it just feels like a massive waisted opportunity. Other than that this game was a fun little distraction for awhile. I got a coupon for this game from a badge craft and if you get something similer or the game just goes on sale i highly recommend you pick it up.