External Links


Hummingbird.zblorb
Newer release.
Requires a Z-Code interpreter. Visit IFWiki for download links.
Hummingbird.zblorb
Original competition release (1).
Requires a Z-Code interpreter. Visit IFWiki for download links.

Have you played this game?

You can rate this game, record that you've played it, or put it on your wish list after you log in.

Playlists and Wishlists

RSS Feeds

New member reviews
Updates to external links
All updates to this page

Flight of the Hummingbird

by Michael Martin profile

2010

(based on 29 ratings)
3 reviews

About the Story

Dr. Sinister is at it again! The Concordance of Powered Response isn't entirely clear on what it is he's planning, but it's big. This is clearly a task for one of the world's mightiest champions!


Game Details


Awards

8th Place - 16th Annual Interactive Fiction Competition (2010)

Tags

- View the most common tags (What's a tag?)

(Log in to add your own tags)
Tags you added are shown below with checkmarks. To remove one of your tags, simply un-check it.

Enter new tags here (use commas to separate tags):

Member Reviews

5 star:
(1)
4 star:
(9)
3 star:
(16)
2 star:
(3)
1 star:
(0)
Average Rating:
Number of Reviews: 3
Write a review


5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
Flight Isn't Freedom, November 25, 2012
by Sam Kabo Ashwell (Seattle)
Related reviews: puzzles, platformer, superhero, flight, movement

Flight of the Hummingbird is a sort of attempt to blend platformer-style puzzles in an IF format. All of its puzzles are to do with difficult or unusual ways of getting around. Most involve alternative ways of handling space than the standard IF rooms-and-compass method. While some of these experiments seem potentially interesting, none are developed much beyond the point at which the player can grasp their use.

The fictional content is pretty standard fare: you play a third-string superhero with a kind of feeble theme and an unimpressive power (you can fly, but have to chug sugary sports drinks every few turns). You're tasked with dealing with a third-string supervillain with a campy villainous plan of some kind that requires a space rocket; everybody expects you to screw up. This is a pretty well-established comedy premise, so it needs to be really funny to work: ideally, it would have played on the careenings of the navigation puzzles to produce something wildly slapstick. Flight's writing, however, is more workmanlike than anything, and the comedy falls flat. What remains is a My Pathetic Life narrative, which turns out to be no more appealing with superheroes than in My Apartment.

So the ultimate effect of Flight is of something that was designed as a succession of themed puzzles with a narrative skin, rather than something that marries puzzle and narrative together. It may appeal as a quick puzzlebox, if that's your bag: it's not really mine.

Was this review helpful to you?   Yes   No   Remove vote  
More Options

 | Add a comment 

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
Hummingbird: Finally A Reason for Massive Pecs, October 20, 2010
by Danielle (The Wild West)
Related reviews: ifcomp 2010, superhero

HUMMINGBIRD is fun superhero adventure that does a good job of taking a visually cool superpower, translating that power to text, and still making you feel cool while using it.

The author purposely designed some moments to reward you for mastery of the superpower, and those moments really pay off.

I felt like the second part of the game needed a more direction. I had a hard time figuring out what I had to do, and one idea I thought was a fun and valid solution to a problem wasn't even in the ballpark of what the author had in mind--(Spoiler - click to show)I really wanted to drop those curtains on the goons!!
As a result, I played most of the endgame with the Hint guide out.

Afterwards I wanted to replay the FRENETIC FIVE series, so I'd say if you're a fan of superheroes, and also superhero parodies, you'll enjoy your own flight with the Hummingbird.

Was this review helpful to you?   Yes   No   Remove vote  
More Options

 | Add a comment 

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
A superhero game based on unusual navigation , February 4, 2016

This game was started out of leftover, difficult to code puzzles from another game and grew into something more. You play a flight-capable superhero who must stop an evil villains plot.

You can fly to a variety of altitudes, and many of the puzzles depend on this. The very first puzzle through me for a real loop, as there is a trick to flight that you are supposed to discover on your own, with some hints when you fail.

The storyline is a bit thin, with most of the exciting parts passed over. It really seems like more of a technical exercise that grew a story rather than a story with deep implementation. This is not necessarily a bad thing.

Overall, recommended for superhero fans.

Was this review helpful to you?   Yes   No   Remove vote  
More Options

 | Add a comment 

If you enjoyed Flight of the Hummingbird...

Related Games

Other members recommend this game for people who like Flight of the Hummingbird:

The Frenetic Five vs. Mr. Redundancy Man, by Neil deMause
Average member rating: (8 ratings)
In this game about under-powered superheroes, you play as Improv, leader of the Frenetic Five. You use common objects in surprisingly useful ways. While queueing for stamps at the Post Office, you receive your new mission: stop Mr....

Suggest a game

Recommended Lists

Flight of the Hummingbird appears in the following Recommended Lists:

This Is Actually For a Class... by shorton2008
Me attempting to fulfill requirements for a course I am taking.

Best superhero games by MathBrush
These are games featuring superheros, with my thoughts on them. I haven't tried the Frenetic Five games yet.

Polls

The following polls include votes for Flight of the Hummingbird:

Vertical Games by Anya Johanna DeNiro
Looking for games that really explore verticality, which go up (way up) in their setting. Human-made structures in particular: towers, skyscrapers, radio antennae. Games that figuratively can make you feel dizzy, particularly after a...




This is version 3 of this page, edited by JTN on 2 February 2024 at 1:07am. - View Update History - Edit This Page - Add a News Item - Delete This Page