Forums → Games → Balance and Flash Games

I've played quite a few flash games since (and before) joining Armor Games and I wonder; "How do games that run on a good engine, have no bugs, and are all round well put together, have such balance issues?" "Are some balance issues left on purpose to make games last longer?" "Is it just difficult to balance flash games?"
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Lets take Sonny and Sonny 2 for example. Both quality games, nothing "broken" about the programing, and the (for lack of better terms) engine it runs on is solid. But the balance is way off.

-In the first Sonny I just grinded the first boss to level 12. It was way faster and easier than using the training stages in any of the other zones. Unfortunanetly I found that I gained barely any experience in the rest of the zones. I think I beat the game at level 14. Everything was a piece of cake except for the final boss, which was extrememly hard. So, why make such a quality game and then allow some balance issues to negate half the fun?

-In Sonny 2 the problems were a little different. The leving system was improved but not enough. The trainging fights have characters that level with you so more experinece is gained at first you level very quickly. But they slowly, thorughout the game, give less and less experinece, and become extrememly difficult to beat. The battles then become overly long as people you fight have 80,000 health (Secret Police Boss that shows up in training, I think) and then they often heal and then little experince is gained. Another issue The boss in stage 2 or 3 (Baron) was extremely diffcult compared to almost all of the rest of the bosses. I know it's supposed to be more diffcult to level at higher levels (like in many other RPGs) but why make it so boring. I would have rather gained less experience at the higher levels in exchange for less lengthy battles.