II2none's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[Santa Quest]

Potential left hidden

Concept: Create a shooter with christmas wallpaper.

Aesthetic: Although the art presentation in the title screen could use some work it did its job. Nice use of christmas colors and a neat little snow effect adding to the christmas feel. The music for title screen was pretty neat, it was like typical club music but retained a nice unique christmas jingle. I picture Santa in his workshop celebrating after a long days work on the 25TH.

The in-game music wasn't as upbeat as the titles, in fact it had a weird mix of peace and sadness to it somewhat contradictory to the "spirit of Christmas". However I enjoyed listening to it while holding off deadly candy canes and missiles. The sound effects were a nice touch and made sense for the action going on in the game.

Gameplay:

The controls aren't a problem it was fairly easy to move and dodge incoming enemy projectiles. The aiming will took some hand eye coordination skill for those who actually want to try for a high score but, as with the movement controls it's fairly easy to get the hang of.

The game play is pretty basic and not that engaging just shoot as much enemies as you can to get a pointless high-score. No power ups, no levels, no bosses, no upgrades. I never had a problem with the game design aside from ONE instance of glitch. (I was moving then suddenly I teleported downward a little and all the enemies pursuing me re-spawned at their original locations. Also Enemies going through walls during my second time playing)

So although mostly everything works like it's suppose to and probably did well in your contest, you should've polished it further before submitting it here.

OVERALL: The game itself is pretty forgettable with the music being the exception.Although Playable and easy, the lack of content will make this game repetitive within 10-15 minutes. Feel free to give this game a shot but expect to fantasize how this game could've been more like *insert favorite multi-directional shooter here*.

2/5

*Review Request Club*

shrimpchris responds:

First off, thanks for the review.

I intended for this to be a bigger game, but, as I mentioned, I didn't have time. I actually had ideas for more powerups and levels before submitting, but didn't have time. I even already have music for other levels on my computer.

About needing to polish it more, I technically submitted it late, so there wasn't much I could do there. As I said, I'm not done with this. I'm not sure if I want to update this one gradually or if I should make this a full game and submit it as such.

Anyways, Thanks for the review.

[Super Brick Duel]

Shot yourself in the foot

Concept: Combining pong and break the blocks to get super, mega, ultra, happy fun time Brick Duel!!! ( Sorry the voice actor makes a convincing asian accent)

Aesthetic: Not much going for it. While the saturation of black wallpaper and 8 bit music gives an appropriate retro feel. There's not much else worth mentioning. I which there were sound effects that represented the action going on in a game as well as a more inspiring presentation of a power up such as when your ball becomes a fireball it actually LOOKS like a fireball.

Animation: Well of course there's not much to expect givin what the game is based on. The speed of the ball is appropriate and the paddles also move at an acceptable speed. But as I stated earlier you could've put more effort into the special effects besides a temporary color swap so there's something that actually stands out from all the black backgrounds and stationary bland white bricks.

Gameplay: (Go ahead and grab a cup of coffee I'll wait.....)

Okay, your single player is really stale, For starters the game isn't very engaging. You can beat the AI on any difficulty without the power ups, it almost feels like they're just shunned in. The only time it beats me is when it gets a fireball, and even then it only wins because there's no break period between starting a new round leaving the player feeling cheated.

But what really gets me is you missed out on the bread and butter, FOURPLAY. I played it (even though no one else was available to join in) and let me tell you it was more satisfying and engaging than playing against the so called "hard" AI in classic mode. It seems like this is the mode that was suppose to rack in the 7-10's stars, but damn it all, you decided to get lazy. Do you realize how much better off this game would've been if you went that extra mile into your game design? The gameplay would be faster, more chaotic and more enjoyable than that bland classic mode ever could. Were all human but hell I'd prefer to at least see the PROOF in the pudding that you have the potential to make a better game overall, rather than FEEL you have the potential but put it off because "you got lazy or some shit like that..."

Not to scold or put you down but it's just a shame that you decided to miss out on a golden opportunity to create what could've the savior of this game as well as the possible inspiration of a new stand alone game on its own. "4 way Super Brick Duel" From the title alone who wouldn't want to at least consider playing this?At least you were honest.

Overall: Inexperience is an inconvenience, laziness is the culprit . What could've have possibly been a mediocre game with a huge highlight unfortunately is just an uninspired fusion of two classics that had potential but lacked the drive.

2/5

"Review Request Club"

JPB responds:

Fourplay was supposed to be the star of the show, it was, I originally made brick duel, which was just classic, training was a result of bored evenings, fourplay is the whole reason a sequel was made, I played it with four and its fun as hell, the problem is that by the time I was working on this, I'd already decided flash isnt my thing like all noobs imagine when they come to newgrounds, all I wanted then was to do something fun for myself and friends, so why didnt I finish fourplay? I really dont know, one day I was in this huge time demanding collab, and when I finished it, i gave myself a break which became a whole year, then two days ago I was bored and said to myself I would submit this, so I did it, I expected a better score, but the reviews from you guys showed me that this really deserves a 2. I don't know why I submitted it, I'll probably take another year to submit again something just as simple, but where I know I did what I wanted to do from the beggining.

You probably didnt understand anything of what I just said, it doesnt really matter though.
Just opened flash, I havent written a line of code for a year -- This is why I love review request club
I'm happy with this score, just mad at myself for making something so boring.

[Lab of the Dead]

For achievement hunters only

Concept: Conditioning zombies and achieving desired reactions through appropriate experimentation. Original and unique.

Aesthetic: The art is pretty much straight out of Road of The Dead I assume it's SickDeathFiend's style. the voice acting is just as tolerable as it was in Road of The Dead, the male voice actors can use some work. The music was okay and somewhat eerie enough to give a sense of tension although your never in any real danger.

Game-play: Unfortunately this game looked better on the drawing board. You point and click tons of options to test on your zombie but this falls short from the tediousness it takes to get something interesting to occur. It feels repetitive after the first 30 minutes of play gradually going from interesting.

Overall: This was not the follow up game I expected from the makers of the action packed Road of The Dead. In an attempt in trying something original this game has sprung poor results. Repetitive game-play with medals as it's only incentive to keep going.(And even that may not be enough) At first glance the game seems like it was on to something but execution was off by having to much of a waiting period between research and overall unsatisfactory presentation of results.

Evil-Dog responds:

I think a lot of people would like to make games that only look good on the drawing board and is #2 best of all time....

[Symphonic Tower Defense]

Music and gameplay harmonizing epic results

Gameplay: The controls are are easy to learn and thanks to the easy to understand tutorial vid theres no excuse for not knowing how to play. But DO NOT underestimate this game it may seem easy at first but lack strategy and you won't be gettin anywhere.The "enemies" (Notes) come in variations and the harder the song the stronger the notes. The game does a great job at balancing everything you will never feel overpowered until after you complete all stages and even then redoing some on normal is still somewhat challenging.

Asthetic: Everything about this game is lively, almost like a game you'd expect on the Wii or XBA (if only) very kid friendly and anyone can enjoy it. Colors are vibrant and even the title screen interesting to look at.

Sound: It should go without saying that this is the key element in the games design. I was absolutely blown away with the EXcellent taste of the Author. It be a shame if anyone who's played this game didn't enjoy the instrumentals that are definately Itunes worthy. Even through times of getting my ass handed to me I wouldn't mind cause cause the music is worth getting beaten by.

And that electric piano for "Throwing Fire" is kickass, NG community is very unique (especially in musical taste) but if that song doesn't make you wanna get up off your feet then your obviously to old to be on NG.

Possible Turn offs...(I guess):

The music probably wouldn't appeal to those who are strictly one genre or hit radio listeners.

I'LL WARN YOU NOW don't expect any justin beiber or lil wayne. (most of there songs wouldn't be fun to play anyway,let alone having to listen to it...particularly bieber.)

To some maybe notes and lightshows goin on isn't visually interesting but the game does do its job and isn't a just a interactive animation. Besides you should know what to expect from the title alone.

The game is pretty fast paced but no one is asking you to be Sonic The Hedgehog.

For newcomers difficulty WILL be challenging no matter which level of difficulty you choose. If a simple tutorial didn't help you then you know not to play this game.

Summary:
Symphonic Tower Defense is a techno music lovers and stategy gamer's wet dream. The gameplay mechanics are PERFECT in everyway. The difficulty should provide a moderate challenge to casuals and can even make the hardcore sweat. (wonder how long it took one user to get 2million points?!) I challenge anyone to prove this isn't THE BEST MUSIC GAME EVER MADE!

FrozenFire responds:

*thumbs up* Matt Ackerman likes this!

[Dino Run:Marathon Of Doom]

For the hardcore, plenty. For FREE nothin much...

Eh, I mean I'm glad to see the franchise taking off, but thees "get the high score games" are never addicting to me (unless the game itself is just that good) if the variety was kept from the original (upgrading your dino, buying skins,etc) then this marathon game would be more enjoyable.

In short: it's the same game except with score comparisons, lacking all the interesting goodies, and an advertisement for an improved version THAT I WANT TO PLAY.

Would i be willing to pay $3.00 for more content? Sure no biggie if I had a MAC ,lol. But for anyone else who does, I personally think the extra content is worth $3.00 so thank you Pixeljamgames for improving an already excellent game and not succumbing to greed...yet.

2/5 picos

pixeljamgames responds:

You dont need a mac for the extra content... maybe you didn't mean that though. We'll do our best not to succumb to greed. To be perfectly frank, we are definitely fnot getting rich off this, we are just tyring to keep the company going so we can work on more games.. but thanks for the honest, thoughtful review.

[Zombies - The Beginning]

Good start off to a new game.

Not bad for a 13 yr old although what do i know i cant even use photoshop, anyway I hope this gets better as u continue this story your on to something don't dissapoint in in the next game.

MichaelJ responds:

I don't know how to use photoshop either.... I use flash. Photoshop is more for "single images," but with flash you are actually creating animation.

[iPod Touch-ish]

Achuckle or 2

This was a little humorous but nothing to laugh my a$$ off about still at least this game has a unipue feel to it that many others don't have and I praise your creativity , but the comedy wasn't excellent but it didn't suck either so you get the following score to the right ------>

Matty2-and-a-half responds:

My best comedy is long jokes with a punchline at the end like:

One day a man had sent a letter of compliment to a food manufacturer as he enjoyed one of the products they had made. The next day, when he came back from work, there was a huge box in the middle of the room filled with free trial of food and sweets from the suppiler. His wife said, "Well? What do you think?" and he said, "Next time i'm writing to Ford!"