Bezman's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[Mouse Pipeline]

Gets fast too slowly.

how I played this
==================

Started, went outside line out of curiousity. Played 2nd time, got to 15??, then decided to click and see what would happen. Played 3rd/4th time, experimenting with right-click to test your game.

Played again, got 2344. (first 'real' attempt)

some selected aspects
===================

--- Unoriginal gameplay. (I've seen the exact same game multiple times before).

+++ I like the way you use these partial-opacity shapes, to show us when the direction is changing, rather than have curving walls, as some folk do.

++ Music goes reasonably well.

-- If I was to play much longer, it would probably get annoying.

---- No record of personal best.

----- Speed doesn't increase fast enough. Takes too long to get 'interesting'.

++ I like the colours

overall
========

It's a reasonably well-coded game, but the few seconds we enjoy at a speed which challenges us isn't worth the amount of time spent getting to that speed.

Maybe various options or selectable starting points could help alleviate that problem?

Anyhow, it's got a bunch of nice aspects. Just wasn't fun for me.

[Adventures of Buttlock]

Enjoyable throughout though L3 was maybe a low.

how I played this
==================

Started level 1, played for a few seconds, thought I might be missing something, checked controls in author's comments whilst I was killed, started again, played through game, dying once (in ninja level).

some selected aspects
===================

+++++ The game does have tremendous diversity, with different objectives in each. I like the way that levels 1 and 3 are the 2 platform-based levels, broken up by those bosses.

+++ I liked the boss of level 1.

+++++ I like the fact that the game (for the most part) is really fast paced, with this paced helped somewhat by the great diversity.

++ Ending made me smile

+++ I like the design of the monster in the intro and l2.

---- The climbing/jumping off walls in l3 didn't 'feel' exactly right. Sometimes pressing up brought me over an edge, sometimes it didn't, sometimes I could jump back onto the same wall but higher, sometimes I jumped off with too much velocity from pressing the same button... I wasn't always sure how the ninja was going to react to my button presses. This specially annoyed as with the guns, it was essential to know where you would go if you were to avoid taking a hit.

--- When defeating the shield/whip dudes, it seemed like I was waiting too long for them to make their move.

-- Graphics in the ending aren't that great, when compared to the intro (which was fantastic).

overall
========

I know it's kinda prejudiced of me, but when I started this, I thought it was gonna be some long-winded generic slash-em-up or RPG thing. I didn't think the name boded well.

I was pleasantly surprised to find such a fast-paced adventure through a few different styles of gameplay, moving fast enough to ensure I never got bored or tired.

The movement of the ninja was a slight mar and the game is generally a little light-weight. But with a difficulty geared at letting folk rush along this rollercoaster (rather than blocking progress), it's a ride I enjoyed from start to finish.

[Mouse Obstacle Game]

Diverse but flawed.

how I played this
==================

Played from start to finish. Repeated, to gather thoughts.

some selected aspects (rated from ----- to +++++)
(note: I'm not rating everything or trying to break the flash up into constituent parts. Just indicating how much each thing I mention adds to/detracts from my enjoyment of this.)
===============================

--- I really don't like the jerky 'rotation' of the thing with 4 prongs.

--- I think the faded obstacles are too faded. You're practically asking us to strain our eyes.

---- The movement of most of your obstacles seems a bit 'jerky'. Specially annoying on 'double trouble', where we need to go between them. Maybe use easing or something (I'm gonna assume it's tweened and not coded in).

--- It seems kinda buggy - on level 2 I could click, then drag over to the exit, to complete the level. In another level I did something inadvertently and was sent to the next one. (Might have been clicking. Wasn't sure.)

--: When we click in level one, the music starts up again, without the previous instance stopping. This can make for a cacaphony.

-: Your font in the menu is a bit hard to read.

++++: A fair bit of diversity here.

++: Nice sense of progression.

++: Nice introductory messages. Useful and descriptive.

overall
=========
A few flaws as mentioned above make this a mediocre game in an overcrowded genre.

The diversity of levels saves this.

[The Maze Game]

Some parts were enjoyable.

how I played this
==================
Read instructions, played game, dying a few times but enjoying it, got to a level (2 from end, I think), just full of spinny blocks. Couldn't be arsed doing that, so cheated (I have a tablet), then played last level and last boss level normally.

some selected aspects (rated from ----- to +++++)
(note: I'm not rating everything or trying to break the flash up into constituent parts. Just indicating how much each thing I mention adds to/detracts from my enjoyment of this.)
===============================

+++: A bit of variation, brought upon by lava, switches, different patterns...

+++: I specially liked the idea in the level where the blue switch turns a block 360 degrees.

---: Not as much variation as there could be - in the last two levels, I felt it was a retread of previous ideas, with nothing changed - just the same thing lengthened.

-: It would've been nice to have some messages when you lose.

++: I like the way one level segues into the next.

overall
=========

A decent mousegame with some fun levels, but by the end it seems to have run out of ideas.

[ARENA - Battle of Cubes]

Enjoyed it for a short while. But too luck-based.

how I played this
==================

Read 'help' as you advised, played, realised how the animations relate to the actions, died on 3rd battle, played again, died in 1st battle, played again, died in 3rd battle.

Then I played again and won.

some selected aspects (rated from ----- to +++++)
(note: I'm not rating everything or trying to break the flash up into constituent parts. Just indicating how much each thing I mention adds to/detracts from my enjoyment of this.)
===============================

+++: I like the little animations showing the movments. The way they morph to dodge/block is quite interesting.

---: You don't show damage taken until the end of each 'round'. Firstly, you should make damage from a blow affect the lifebar immediately - not change the lifebar when the round is done. Secondly, it'd be nice if you had some graphic, maybe a 50% alpha colour-coded (to indicate you or your enemy) circle, to retain abstract feel?

---: When we lose, there's no screen commiserating, or showing us the final energy levels. We're just plonked uncermoniously back to the title screen.

++: funky title screen effect.

-: When we win, we don't get to know the end energy levels. It should maybe pause and say 'click to continue' .

--: I think we should be able to roll-over to tell what each card does in-game.

+: It was interesting trying to work out to see if there was a pattern to the enemies...

+++ some strategy in choosing cards. We can see which card is best, by exploring the net result of possible outcomes, ignoring the possibility that the computer may do nothing.

A: 0, +5, 0, -20
B: -5, 0, 0, -25
D: 0, 0, 0, 0
2A: +20, +25, 0, 0

So we can see the cards (in order of greatness) are 2A, D, A, B.

----: But the whole game seemed to be largely luck-based. I think there's the illusion of more strategy than there actually is. Beyond realising what card to pick over others, there's nothing to this game.

overall
=========

It's a cool concept, but the necessity of luck seemed to take away any possible long-term appeal.

I enjoyed it a little while working out what strategy there was though.

Stay funky,
- Bez

I enjoyed the abstract animations

[Ball OF Madness]

I think being forced to replay levels is wrong.

how I played this
==================
I played it a while ago. I think I failed level 3, irked by the controls. This time I completed the game, dying quite a few times.

selected aspects (rated from ----- to +++++)
(note: I'm not rating everything or trying to break the flash up into constituent parts. Just indicating how much each adds to/detracts from my enjoyment of this.)
===============================

-------: For Fuck's sake, why do folk insist on having music start up automatically? Surely it isn't only me who likes to have the option of loading things in the background and having them sit there quietly until I want to play/watch them?

+++: Movement - acceleration and such - is reasonable.

+++: Physics of going down a slope seems to work very nicely.

--: It irritated me that whilst the levels were isometric, my controls controlled the actual x/y axis. I think you should have at least an option to rotate the controls 45% either way, so they match the playing field better.

----: I'm just not too keen on the idea of having to re-play every level when I die. I think for folk like myself, you should have a 'tourist mode' where there's a time limit for each individual life, and each time we die we could lose a set amount of points. But we'd have infinite lives, essentially. This specially counts for the longer version of the game - I'm interested to see the further levels, but I just don't find the idea of repeatedly playing the same section over and over appealing at all.

---: Only 3 levels on NG.

overall
=========
Not a bad game by any stretch of the imagination. It amused me to a small degree.

[Rock Grid Rumble]

Dull.

how I played this
==================

Read instruction, played a game, was winning so tried to learn how different angles behave (trying to arc everything in), played a 2nd time, got a bit bored, restarted again to see if map would change again, played a little of that then quit.

When writing the review, I felt I hadn't given it enough of a chance, so I played 2 games. lost 1st and beat 2nd, now familiar with angles to use to get things in slots near end.

I make no attempt to review the 2p game.

selected aspects (rated from ----- to +++++)
(note: I'm not rating everything or trying to break the flash up into constituent parts. Just giving you an idea of how good/bad I consider the points I mention.)
===============================

+++: the special blocks add some strategy to the game - don't let your opponent get special blocks, get them yourself...

-: the emphasis seemed to be firmly on the shooting and getting the correct angles. A matter of choice perhaps, but I was hoping for more strategy and more of a puzzle-based game.

---: after winning in the 1p game, you just repeat the same thing. There's no sense of progression. No advancement.

-: not even a token win/lost counter.

++: graphics are nice

--: The game seems a bit slow.

-: I encountered a bug - in one instance, my rock settled on a '!'. Presumable because the * below it+to right was vacant, it jumped over there. But it didn't turn the one adjacent pink to yellow.

-: text for * should read 'turns adjacent ENEMY blocks your colour'.

-: I felt I should be able to alter power, the way the game currently is.

overall
=========

It's an interesting idea and the physics seem somewhat impressive.

However, the game was just dull to play - the tactics were too basic and it simply rested upon learning what angles to use - a tiresome task.

Personally, I'd have enjoyed it far more had you simplified the whole aiming thing (maybe made it kinda like bust-a-move - fires in straight lines, attaches to first touched), improved the ai and put the focus on the strategy of where to fire rather than learning to be able to fire where you want.

If you then had different enemies and pre-set level layouts, I think I'd enjoy that.

[A Newgrounds Voting Guide]

I was disappointed.

selected aspects (rated from ----- to +++++)
(note: I'm not rating everything or trying to break the flash up into constituent parts. Just giving you an idea of how good/bad I consider the points I mention.)
===============================

+++: I like the premise and was really looking forward to watching this.

-----: You're encouraging folk to blam things without really watching them.

--: No mention of tricks used to appear better for viewers to watch out for - e.g. brilliant pre-loaders, great intros followed by shite or nothing.

--: Much of what you say is subjective.

--: The rest of what you say is common sense and much of that is badly written. Specially for a text-based flash.

overall
=========

Look, it's good that you're trying to help clean up crap, but this really seems like something you should have posted in the bbs. Maybe you could have gotten some others to help you write your 'guide', then when it had been available for a wee while, you could have put it into the portal.

In any case, remember that blamming good stuff harms NG more than saving shite. Folk deciding without watching harm NG more than folk who make judgements different to the norm after watching.

If you wanted to avoid being hypocritical, you could have tried making this a bit more substantial. Off the top of my head (not great example), maybe it could have a quiz at the end, with some example .swfs and asking us what we'd rate them, then you say what your opinion was.

You say you "have grown irritated with people who have protected crappy flash entries." I hope you realise the irony.

[Endless War 2]

I could onlybeat 1 level...

how I played this
==================

Selected mission 1. Failed a few times. Had a look at other levels, turned difficulty to easiest, tried the 2 easy missions, failed, tried 'blood' 1, succeeded, failed on blood 2 a few times.

selected aspects (rated from ----- to +++++)
(note: I'm not rating everything or trying to break the flash up into constituent parts. Just giving you an idea of how good/bad I consider the points I mention.)
===============================

++: graphics were fairly nice

++: There seems to be a lot of work put into the enemies, movement and all.

+++: I like the way you have so many missions for us to work through and have alternate modes. Blood mode seemed a change.

-----: I just never had an idea how I was meant to be playing, what tactics I was meant to be using. I never had a clue how I was meant to kill without being shot and it all seemed down to luck.

---: Dying can come as a surprise. Have the screen flash or something when we're hit by bullets.

--: I'd have liked it if you'd started us off on some really easy missions, with maybe the choice of playing through one of those styles, but each level could open up the next. As it is, there's no sense of progression.

overall
=========

I really wanted to like this. A fair bit of effort has gone into various aspects, but ultimately, it just wasn't fun for me.

I wasn't sure if I was meant to be running to dodge the bullets, or if I was meant to just turn and shoot as fast as I could, or if it was largely down to luck... the game wasn't very welcoming.

A tutorial might have helped me get into it. As it is, it seems a bit impenetrable.

BlackFox-of-ITMO responds:

Yes, this game may seem to be too hard, if you're rushing forward and shooting to all sides. Use hand grenades, your opponents guns with grenade launchers - the can hit in a radius and even through the walls. Sometimes turning option "Old bullets" on can really help.

P.S.: Nice idea with screen flash!

[Mario Scene Director 2]

Like a dress-up without humanoids

aspects (rated from ----- to +++++)
=====================================

++: the ggraphics are fairly nice

-----: There's just nothing to do othe than stick the sprites on a bG. I thought it'd have more to it.

overall
=========

Just seems like a little utility that lack interesting features. I guess some other people might get something out of the idea, but I just didn't see the point.