Bezman's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[Z Ball - Phase4]

a lot further

Played for a while. Got a combo of '6' at one point, though I never used the spirit sword. It was only after selecting that, geting '5' again and noticing it appear then vanish that I realised we need to use it in that instant.

Didn't get very good at it.

Played once with normal ball, once with heavy. Didn't really notice the difference.

Played with light. Got a 26 combo. Tested out the first couple of special moves.

+++ The basic idea of the game seems cool and somewhat original.

-- I found it annoying that if I wanted to play without the bot or wanted to change the ball weight, I had to go back to the menu. I think there should maybe be a button at the top (where we're unlikely to click) to change ball weight and one to disable the bot again.

!! - When we press 'q' from the first move, it goes to the 'special 10' one instead of the '30'.

--- Too little to do just now. It'll be a lot more fun with enemies, I'm sure.

-- The text is necessary, but it's kinda annoying how it's presented. It'd be cool if there was some sort of extended tutorial and we had to pass a series of minor challenges. E.g. - first we just kick the ball, then keep a combo of 2+ with ourselves, then kick it against targets within time, then we need to perform the special moves... and as we're doing so, text would come up between 'levels', explaining the next move. And selecting the ball weight wouldbe part of it to help us appreciate the difference.

++ Fairly fluid gfx.

++ Cool sfx.

-- Though what I think are grunts from the enemy seem really wierd as it's a robot.

+++ Great bgm - blends really well!

==
Looks like it's gonna be great, but there's a lot further to go.

KynetiK-27 responds:

TY =D
Your issues;
There are enemies, just not for this version, last version has less moves but has a working Arcade Mode, might as well give it a bash.
The special attacks rely on your current cobo score, not your max combo, Specials act like finishers, intended to be used on your enemy. As i have closed off arcade mode in this version to overhaul it, this tactic isnt really presented. Veteran Zballers get the idea though, and this was a mixed presentation to the experienced and unaquainted. Remember, the games about domination - if you keep the ball charged and dont get hurt, you wont lose your combo score.
Remember the options are universal, putting BallWeight in Practice aswell is pointless. Youll notice the heavy ball needs more oomph to get it moving, and if i had arcade mode open, youd notice it does double-damage. You will appreciate it more against an enemy, but the change in the balls gravity is fairly obvious i think.
The bot is activated on contact with the ball. The bot is deactivated whenever you tag the ball, or the ball simply has no energy. so simply dont hit it - think of it as target hitting/dodging training.
There are no grunts, or sounds for that matter, coming from the training bot...its -you- making heeyaa noises when you do high power attacks.
When we press 'q' from the first move, it goes to the 'special 10' one instead of the '30' - shit didnt notice that, i thought i told it -not- to 'scroll left' from the 1st move, anyways ill easily fix it.
I would do a tutorial that way, but it takes so much time and with the way my fla is structured atm its just not practical. Theres plenty of info to figure it all out, and its not like you cant go back to the tutorial. Im not designing a challenging game for idiots, so its not gonna be my focus making it 99% idiot proof.
TY very much on the gfx and bgm =D makes all the time spent drawing and composing worth it

[Armor Blackjack]

for a blackjack

+++ Nice, subtle sfx.

++++ Aurally pleasing bgm.

++ GOod selection.

----- But too short. I feel you really should've chosen loops.

+++ Really clean gfx. Table pattern was lovely and all the card shapes nicely drawn.

---- Game of pretty much pure chance - very few strategies indeed.

--- You say 'we cannot double or have blackjack'. Why then is there an option for the former? When you say there's 'no blackjack', I assume you mean that the payout remains the same? You should make that more clear.

--- No explanation of high score submission.
This really annoyed me. I actually found the box (whilst checking up a rule) but I see no reason for that system of score submission. Why not just have a box to submit the score at any time?

-- No bgm title in-game. Why?

--- Confusing buttons. When I first started, I couldn't work out how to play again - tried the 'next' symbol first, then the 'M'. Only after a couple of games did I realise that I was meant to click the text box (which doesn't transform the cursor into a hand, as most buttons do).

-- 'repeate'? (typo)

==
Lots of nice features, but a few niggles let it down a bit. Nice for a blackjack game, but nowhere near the standard of NG hold-em.

fs-studio responds:

Thnx a lot for your comments!

- Nice, subtle sfx.
+ Thnx:)

- Aurally pleasing bgm
+ Thnx :) Gwave is a genius...

- Game of pretty much pure chance - very few strategies indeed
+ I'm sure there are many who won't agree with you but I think you'r right. But anyway, aren't nearly all of casino games about chance? And aren't nearly all of casino games popular - even in virtual, highscore only, form?

- No explanation of high score submission.
+ Sorry for badexplanation. Including a highscore was actually quitedifficult. You are asked for submission after 5min of play cause if you would have the option to submit anytime you want it would be more profitable to play longer, and so unfair to those who don't want to play too long.

- No bgm title in-game. Why?
+ There is a bgm in-game. Are you sure you didn't clik the mute button?

[DD3 7Stars a Pedo:TheGame]

smile for a moment

------ laggy front-end. (during Kitty Krew intro)

--- tired gameplay concept.

---- No challenge. A stupidly high number of lives, and since missing porn loses us no lives, there's no reason to lose any of those lives.

-- BGM is badly looped

++ Kinda amusing concept

++ Kinda funny walk

==
Made me smile for a moment, but really not worth the lagginess at the start to see that. The 'game' is terrible.

[Trouble in Mimbelton 2]

rework the major

read instructions. Played the 3 points mode games. Then played layer cake a few more times until I'd managed to get out the starting point, to get to the top layer.
Then read the instructions again in case I'd missed something.

++ Colourful enemies.

++ Workable walking anim.

++ Shooting code works.

-- Story mode - 'not implemented yet'? Why even put that button in?

---- Ammo boxes don't work. (don't add ammo)

----- They sometimes land in unreachable places

------ When we start, getting into a position away from the enemies can be near-impossible. Once we're away, there is no challenge. Specially in layer cake once we're on the top.

--- Being killed from an enemy as it comes out of a portal can feel really unfair. Maybe have the portal turn a certain colour, or have the enemies be benign for just the first second of their life?

-- Music should start automatically when the game has begun.

++ '3,2,1' is kinda cool.

==
I think you just need to rework the major issues with the challenge. Make it feel fairer. Make it all more balanced. With more time and care, it could shine.

It's good that you've managed to get the shooting engine done so nicely - something I've not done yet. But as game, it's no fun.

[The Ambridge Mansion-Day2]

the 2nd one

I almost feel like a dick for reviewing this after not spending the requisite time to see it through. I just came back though, and as you've got 3 reviews, I thought I'd give you my thoughts.

What I did: I started the game, looking round all the rooms. Tried clicking on everything, no response... after a few rooms, I got really frustrated and started using the 'tab' key to work out what was clickable.

Carried on, room to room, kinda getting lost... eventually, just as I was thinking of closing it, I found the book that sent me to the 'real' game. I collected maybe 5 items, then was killed after clicking on a spooky-looking thing.

Closed window. Restarted. This time, was killed in the lab/greenhouse.

Decided I probably wouldn't play it again.

++++ The effect with the monsters shifting in/out of the shadows is fairly effective.

+++ Slightly disturbing sfx.

-- There's a few doors that I just wouldn't have seen had I not used the tab.

------ I just hate the way that I died that 2nd time. I feel that there was nothing to suggest I shouldn't have done that - the whole game seems to be based around clicking around to pick things up. So to kill us after opening one door seems unfair. It's something I couldn't have really known before the fact. I had no clues to suggest I shouldn't have opened that cupboard door. So it just seems like an annoying random killing, which we only get past by prior knowledge.

---- Text at start is a terrible colour. Dark red on a dark background? It needs more contrast!

+++ Some cool design of monsters.

==
It seems like a lot of work's gone into this. I love the noises and could have maybe gotten lost in the atmosphere. But the lack of interaction at the start and the randomness of the deaths (particularly the 2nd one) just made me feel that the game wasn't really trying to let me have fun.

I felt as if it was boiling down to too much play-by-rote and trial-and-error.

jimgray responds:

Why did you have to close the window to restart? The game should take you to a continue screen and you restart with no penalties. As for the picking things up and dying thing that's part of the genre. You're supposed to beat the game by clicking on things and trial-and-error. However, I know a lot of people don't like the genre, unfortunately.

[Naruto Fullversion]

I can't help

++ Cool music

+++ Nice use of spot samples.

----- The basic gameplay is just clicking and making these choices... some of the time (like with the girls), the choice is pretty obvious. But during the fights, it kinda seems like we're not really given any clues as to what to do - it's just trial and error. Boring.

++ Thewhole kooky plot entertained and kept me amused for a wee while somehow. (I played it properly until I got to the ending having beaten the dude who says 'you're too slow' when you lose. Then I cheated to see the other ending.)

==
Though it kept me intrigued, I can't help feeling that I kinda wasted my time here.

I think I essentially don't like the format of the game.

Still, keep flashing and I hope your GF likes this.

[Newgrounds Quiz!]

it seems pretty

+++ Nice tune

++ kinda cool comments after each q.

++ appropriate pics.

-------- Some answers are wrong. I honestly think it's basically the responsibility of anyone making a quiz to pick questions that have answers that won't change - or at least not for a long while.

Asking who made Tankmen or who Tom's bro is is good in this regard. Asking about stats, which fluctuate, positions... bad.

---- Incorrect info after the question regarding Pimp, you say that he has the highest allowed amount. In fact, experience points can get infinitely high.

-- Could be prettier.

--- I'd have much preferred it had you kept track of how many I got right first time for me.

==
Nice idea, but it seems pretty pointless now that answers have changed.

Billy-Bean responds:

Yes.. I agree completely with you, this quiz was a bad idea. If I could I would remove it from Newgrounds, but I don't have the option to. And I can't update the questions anymore, considering I had my computer reformatted and lost all of my work. I guess we'll just have to live with it.

[Teddy Bear Game]

Set me in

Madelief...

I started by playing about with the various options and then just spent a while checking them all out. Used 'draw' multiple times until I'd seen the 3 things.

++++ Beautiful music.

+++ Cool lines/gfx.

+++ Some nice touches of personality. I like the reaction when you tickle him and also the bit where he glows when standing up - you can almost feel him straining!

++++ Drawing - cool concept.

---- I think you should've made it so we see all the 'pictures' an equal amount.

--- I think he could react a tad more to the balloon/fish.

--- Limited nature.

==
Great little thing. Set me in a good mood and there's a lovely feel-good facter. I'm just kinda disappointed there isn't more to it.

[Crazy Squash]

around half-way through

Started game. Got stuck. Read your comments. Started again, pressed space, carried on, a bit after the reversal power-up was introduced, I started getting bored but slogged on through. Finished.

+++ Kinda cool ball movement.

---- Suffers from that age-old annoyance of not feeling fully able to guide the ball when a few blocks are left. When the 'r' came along, it made a massive difference - I felt I was actually in control enough to guide the ball in through the slots (which seem a bit too small normally).

--- Not enough variation between levels to really sustain enjoyment.

-- No bgm/sfx.

++ Cool secret.

+++ Nice clean gfx.

==
Seems kinda cool, but I started to get bored around half-way through.

Maybe moving blocks, moving obstacles and more power-ups could be introduced?

Maybe enemy balls, which fire at the right and we must avoid?

Maybe allow us to influence the ball in some other way constantly?

trig1 responds:

you have a lot of good ideas... im now thinking about making a sequel to it now. i think the reason why it hasent got very good reviews or score is because i submitted it before it was properly finished (no idea why i did that).

[Missing Link]

ed for a sho

+++ Amusing Concept. Pictures made me smile.

+++ Cool design of layout etc.

+++ Shreiking during shuffling made me chuckle.

---- When we turned over a 2nd card, it went away, often before we could read it. Maybe leave them both on until we click a 3rd time?

--- Many longer bits of text are almost impossible to read, with the font, text size etc. you have.

+++ Easter egg made me chuckle slightly. Love that kooky photo-cut-out animation.

==
Cool game. Kept me entertained for a short while, but nothing outstanding and nothing I'll return to.