PoisonHeart's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[Go Farm IV]

addicting in its way. however, i only feel like this series has become more about internal updates than new gameplay or features. the art is cute, and the option to pick characters is neat. i understand the dynamics of only being able to upgrade something once, if not the semantics.

however, this offers little departure from an already established formula. few will notice the tightened screws here or there, and re-balancing of progression.

out of 10....

gfx - 8.5 (clean, simple, friendly)
sfx - 6 (music is fun at first, but grows ridiculous...no mute button)
design - 5 (compared to other "Go Farm" games it's better, but nothing new)
gameplay - 6 (the game breaks down quickly)

overall, this is an alluring game. however, it offers little departure from its previous versions. diversity is the spice of life, so they say, and this has little in spite of itself.

rhys510 responds:

Hey thanks, theres a mute button in the options at the top right of the screen and thanks for commenting! :P

[Save]

Well, the game is pretty interesting. Must say that most of it consists of bumping into walls, if you want to solve levels quickly. I like the simple characters, and the haunted theme. The fact that it is an invisible maze, combined with the interesting and simple characters, kept me playing long enough.

I will say that I think the lack of a good background blands this one up some, but the sound effects produce a rather startling effect when combined with the minimalistic nature of the game. A more enthusiastic BGM could have been selected, but the atmosphere here is pretty neat.

I did find the lack of in-game plot somewhat boring, as well as the lack of letting you know which level you were on and how many remained. The challenge is....somewhat futile, as there is no way of telling when/if you can expect to beat the game.

out of 10...

gfx - 7.5 (great characters, but somewhat weak environment)
sfx - 7 (sfx set great atmosphere, but bgm is lacking)
design - 6 (no UI menus or stats)
gameplay - 7.5 (very fun, contrary to initial reaction)

overall, this is a game that is tough to review because it is a Jam project. Many things are lacking in critical areas, but what this game DOES do...it does it fairly well, and is interesting enough to play every now and again.

[Samurai Autumn]

haha "run, jump, cut beats"

seriously, this is a really impressive game in many ways. the biggest draw that kept me engaged was the awesome graphics that ran smoothly on a lower-end system. I really like the level progression system, too, and the inclusion of upgrades.
I think my biggest gripe, after only beating the first boss, is that the levels seem a little long. Boss can be a little obnoxious too. also, not being able to turn around threw me off but really does make sense after that first boss battle.
I also was a little thrown off by the idea that I had to quit the game to purchase upgrades? kinda felt it threw off the pacing, but it's really quite a minor issue....

out of 10...

gfx - 10 (absolutely awesome)
sfx - 8 (good song/sfx, but maybe repetitive/lo-quality)
design - 8 (levels seems a bit long)
gameplay - 9.5 (cool combo system, tight controls)

overall, I think this is a great game that players may return to over and over. The lush graphics are the strongest feature, and really help hold everything together. I would have liked to see more utilization of the combo feature, which is a lot fun but doesn't have much functionality...then again, I rarely cared about hi-scores in games.

[Psychic Arrow]

definitely some fresh air for "launcher" genre. this one doesn't take long to beat and can entertain without overextending itself. There are flaws, of course, but these matter little as the games pacing holds interest well enough.
It also rewards skill more than others of the genre, as you can collect "souls" very quickly if you buy the right upgrades and concentrate on each launch.

Ragdoll physics really give this one some good life as well...

out of 10...
gfx - 8 (cute, clean, but simple)
sfx - N/A (i have no soundcard)
design - 9 (good sense of timing)
gameplay - 8 (slightly loose controls)

overall, this was very entertaining. Perhaps towards the end it wore a bit thin, but this is alright, as I beat it on the launch after getting all upgrades. A hi-score table might have been cool addition, but with everything else that went into such a short and sweet game it is not important.

[Stick Dress-Up]

nice use of onPress & startDrag properties.

NOT!

i hate dress-up games. what i hate more than that is lazy programming. what i hate more than that is lazy drawing. it is nice that you are learning, good luck! but this is terrible, dude.

think about it: white background = boring, painful. use of only 2 VERY BASIC AS methods = boring, bland. drawings that look like they were made in 1992 under MS-PAINT = boring, painful.

keep working at this and you'll get it.

out of 10....

gfx - 1.5 (you didn't even use the "smoothing" property for your brush!)
sfx - 0 (no tunes, no sfx...weak!)
design - 2 (poorly planned, terrible to look at)
gameplay - 1 (drag 'n drop, sorting files would be more fun)

overall, this hardly constitutes a game...the level of interactivity is extremely low. often i see this same game uploaded with the defense of "oh, it's my first game, be gentle". NO! up that framerate, use smoothing, magnetize the clothes, practice your drawing, add sound fx, add a background, don't draw stick people, DON'T MAKE A SEQUEL! instead, update this to sterling quality...at this point, making a "sequel" entails more than likely more of the same.

and very most importantly, good luck and don't let pompous douche-bags like me drag you down!

eastereggy responds:

Ok
Thanks for a review
BTW I use Flash MX 2004

[Planet Defender]

well, many aspects are very solid. you probably know that the game is not as advertised, even tho it DOES have some kick-ass cover art. Reminds me of old NES/Atari games where the cover would be like Conan riding a dragon with a half-naked babe while slaying a horde of monsters...then ya play it and of course it's just some blobs scooting around and bumping into each other, haha.

that being said, i really like this one. some parts were not so great, with MINOR aesthetic flaws (blurry game-over text). The worst part of this game is the insane difficulty. Can definitely see why you attached a medal to this one!
must say that it seems like it's possible to go the entire game without landing, as the jetpak recharges just as quickly as it drains.
some very cool pixel effects, here, also.

out of 10...

gfx - 8 (throwback to old-school industry practices)
sfx - N/A (i have no soundcard)
design - 6.5 (aesthetic flaws, limited functionality)
gameplay - 7 (fun, but no upgrades and insanely tough)

overall, this is a game that earns its charm subjectively. most people will probably go "wtf" and navigate away when they see the graphics. however, like all good games, there is an almost divine challenge in beating this one. looking forward to giving that a serious go.

[Madness: Project Nexus (Classic)]

i love madness

[Demons vs Fairyland]

thank you for abandoning newgrounds in favor of $$$, making sure that your game only arrived here after everyone has already played it on Kong a month or two back.

poor showmanship, no review.

StormAlligator responds:

The game was released on Kongregate today (the same day as on Newgrounds).

[Fat Boy Dress UP Mega]

the lack of effort put into the "programming" is almost shameful. "derrr, i can makes a movieclip drag, derrrrr"
You didn't even magnetize it. Then again, this "programming" comees from a fella with a butt-face for an icon, so too much can't be expected.

Who gives two craps about "fat boy". Would be really surprised if the version before this "update" was any different. The nazi symbolism is tasteless, and I could whip up better costumes in my sleep. There is almost no content here, and to be honest this game isn't worth the 2 stars it currently has.

Considering that %99 of this games size is the cruddy "ambient" music, I'm really not in the mood.

out of 10...
gfx - 4 (ugly lines, uninspired costuming)
sfx - 2 (irritating song you can't mute)
design - 3 (makes Clock Crew look like gods)
gameplay - 0.3 ("derrrr, i can copy-paste code from tuts")

overall, a very poor first effort. I wish you luck, and hope you are able to take criticism without being crushed or going agro in a review-response. You both have talent, and potential, but this sucks.

GPEPICNESS responds:

We are both new at this. Drawing in flash is kinda hard. Since we are in high school i understand our lack of knowledge. In our country we go in high schools to learn something specific like programming or something else. Since i was not able to go to an Art school since it is in another city i went in another school to learn programming. I respect your review. If you want you can check out my deviant art:http://gpepicness.deviantart.com/ . We will try better next time. I promise.

[Purple Suit Man Jump]

sorry to see that in spite of good controls and decent collision detection, this game has 2.30 stars. Yeah, the graphics could have had more effort, but the rotating head on his idle cycle is really a nice touch.

A good sense of height and danger is also established, because you know you'll fall either back to the beginning or death. X_X

One thing that was sort of tacky was the painted "thanks for playing" at the end of the stage. Would have preferred a different screen altogether. Also, his jumping is a bit...jumpy, not sure what you need to fix there.
Also, a consistent interface goes a long way, even on the simple stuff like not having to click start, but rather using the keyboard...since that's what controls the rest of the game.

out of 10...

gfx - 6 (decent, but more effort could have been used)
sfx - 7 (good song choice, sfx would have been nice tho)
design - 7.5 (thoughtful planning, but perhaps poor interface)
gameplay - 8 (quite fun, despite the length)

overall, this is a decent effort and I am glad to have played it. Good luck on future submissions!

MidgetSlap responds:

Thanks for the feedback! I do agree that this was more of a half-finished test, and to be honest I had no idea that it would get over 1K plays at all. I will take to mind the tips that you gave me, along with the rest of the feedback here in future projects.
Thanks again.