Skaijo's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[TBA++]

Bacon

For as long as I've known you, there's always been a definite standard that you meet with each game you make. There's always a professional quality to everything you make and your games always serve to push the innovation boundary that was set by the sources of what first inspired you to create your flash programs.

+It was very simplistic gameplay, akin to fLow or any other leisure game

+The mix between actual images and drawn symbols worked pretty well and didn't clash as they tend to do when people mix both type of images in their games or movies.

-/+ With only one button to hit, I didn't feel like I was in much control, so repeatedly hitting the space bar to go from blue port to blue port/cup was a bit tedious. To be constructive, I can offer that you make a way of charging the ball inside the blue ports so that the longer you hold down the space bar, the further the ball flies. Then it will become a matter of aiming the ball into the next blue cup--or increasing the speed to where the ball can reach a more active/user-controlled cup.

+ This game is very portable! Short levels and simplistic layout make it great for carting around one a PSP or a properly homebrewed DS.

-/+ Not every game needs a story behind it, but perhaps this flash deserves a better sense of purpose aside from the brief intro. With some thought, it will only increase the style of this work

Nice flash, pleasant and relaxing game play. It could be optimized to shave off parts that make the game play tedious, but overall its quality all over.

[Paint Wars]

More Fresh Air

I love seeing a great programmers utilize their skills to make great art--both in design and in gameplay. You really took it to a new level though as levels end up being a charming Polk inspired kind of art/warfare. Really really brilliant. This had good all over it.

[Choices: a poem]

Woot!

I'm really glad to see the final version--I rember when you told me about this a few months back. I'm totally ecstatic that you buckled down, learned what you had to learn, asked questions, and became a better artist in order to create something that wanted to make. You're an inspiration.

So what can I say about the animation?

Hm...

+You're a great poet--with bent sort of humor that isn't as much a chaucer like quality--but more of a continuation of the work he founded.
+Nice scripting, and the number of options is almost overwhelming. I hadn't been lead into any dead ends, and each poem ends in a rewarding way.

-Visusals, although overrated on some cases, could really be utilize to improve these kinds of animations. I don't think the pictures alone are enough.
-Reading on the perma-white background started to burn my eyes after a while...

There's a lot of substance behind both the concept and execution in this animation. The only adjustments needed now are superficial and show hopdfully be your next step at improving your art. :D

Vert responds:

Well, first of thanks for the help when I sent you the poem, as you can see I took some of your sugestions quite literally (and thanks for the complements!). But you make some two valid critisms of my movie that I really need to deal with for next time. The first, the lack of more visual action and overall austere look of the movie was something I was quite aware of being a problem, but is also one that I really can't handle myself. But the other, the white background, is something I really, really should have thought of before I started. It's quite obvious that white backgrounds = tired eyes, but I somehow let that slip through... Oh well, maybe next time. But I am quite proud of the action script behind the movie.
Oh, but please don't compare me to Geoffrey Chaucer, he's in a completly diferent league from me... X_X
I'm not worthy of the comparison. =]
Thanks for the support and the review!

[the Musical Evenizer]

This is a great game!

I love this game to put it simply.

Great programming, addictive game play, and fun challenging levels that make you think and plan in an entirely different way.

-It would be nice if the little man had more frames of animation. I thought he looked pretty stiff.
-It would also be nice if the game cleared itself of all the blocks automatically between songs so users can't seed themselves with better scores. Iuno, I felt like I was cheating a bit at times.

+Great songs!
+Smooth controls, and I love the instant updates on the scores! I'm glad I graced a few for however long that glory will last. xD

Screw scores dude, I hope many, many more people get the chance to play this game in the near future!

[Luminara]

Where do you find the time?

The graphics instantly caught my eye; the simple polygons were vibrant, easily depicted throughout the craziness of the game, and saved my computer from saving a conniption. I liked the fact that you took full advantage of the simple graphics and fitted as much stuff onto the screen as humanly possible.

I was at the end of my towe until the very end--this is a fun game all over, as expected.

[Knights of Rock]

I love all your games, but this is personal fav.

What a terribly fun game!

+I liked the fact that the game's steps were always in time with the music and actually matched what was going on during the animation.

-It was kind of hard to keep up with the animation while playing the game. Every time I tried to focus on the fight, I missed steps--and when I played as a tech-fiend, I lost what was going on in the animation. I suggest that you try to extend the plot or action scenes during during small breaks in the steps. That way, I won't feel like I'm missing out on anything.

+ Smooth animation--especially as the steps entered the scene and then faded away into stars. Very nice detail.

+/- It would be nice if the score, missteps, or amount of health in the lifebar effected what happened in the animation--rather than just progression of the game.

I really would have loved a longer game with more levels and more music. Still, this game is a rock-solid tidbit of entertainment, something to come home and play after a busy night of work. But I still feel that it ended too soon.

[DS Halloween Quiz]

Hmmm... Quizzes

I was really impressed with the intro. Nice quality graphics wise and a decent level of detail. It would be nice if you could skip it as you have to sit through it each time during replay.

+ The quiz is certainly educational.

+The inbetween-levels animation was also rewarding. Though, It would be nice if there was more of a reward to get to the next page. Perhaps you could make a basic counter system to grade accuracy or even longest chain of correct answers. This would really help connecting the questions as a single solid game.

+The buttons worked properly, were made well, and had a nice theme. It would be nice if the zone behind the text was also part of the button.

+The pictures were also used appropriately and didn't take away from the animation as a whole, which is hard to do with linear fills. I suggest you also try adding something more to the background during the test than just the linear fills as they came off as a bit drab.

This is still a respectable quiz. Really nice work on the intro--if you made that into a preloader--it'd make this animation spectacular.

IceDragon64 responds:

1. I will do the skip intro button next time I review it (I review all my work periodically)
2. I'm glad you liked the transition animations, I will do them in all quizzes now.
3. Bezman has persuaded me I must add a counter system to my quizzes. I will consult Spirit Codester.
4. DS Xmas Quiz has hit area behind text and the rest will be added.
5. You are not alone in asking for bgd pics- I took that step in Xmas Quiz, successfully. i will think about it
6. I don't know about changing it into the preloader- maybe I will consult the Dragons & Spirits.
Most kind of you to review me in such detail. I love making these- each one has new ideas. I need to fix sound glitches in all my work though- its holding me back.
More to come later this year. Best Wishes,
Ice

[Flip It!]

Simple, addicting, and fun

The 3-hit-combo to gaming goodness!

[Type 'em up]

On the contrary...

I found this game to excel where other typing games faulter--in other words, the fun factor. This game was more than entertaining. And I actually appreciated the letter/number bursts over words and phrases. Most typing games don't even incorporate numbers (let alone a kick ass 90-ish soundtrack :D).

What I really liked was the spacebar / enter piloting system. At first I was just pressing space over and over again but I eventually found out that specific timing of the space bar presses were needed to really out-manuever enemy fire.

Great game!

[Dieflash]

Great flash but...

Was there only supposed to be four villians in the game?