PoisonHeart's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[Ballsy Bird Flap]

pretty fun Flappy Bird clone, in fact I like it better. more original, less gimmicky, and still fun. yes, it's a direct copy, right down to the menu interface. But the graphics are better.

out of 10...

GFX - 8 (good fx, clean art)
SFX - N/A (no soundcard here)
DESIGN - 7 (direct copy, but still slick)
GAMEPLAY - 8 (never played flappy bird)

overall, i have no mercy for flappy bird. it was a game that when i saw it, i had to copy it immediately to see what was so fun. took about half an hour to cobble together a clone, these "one hit wonders" are a lot of fun to dissect.

the only thing this game is missing is official hi-score tables.

[Crystal Story II]

i really like the 'instant action' approach and much of the art, but by the end i find myself left with deja vu. there's a fair amount of depth, and a ton of people were in on this. so that's really cool to see, as well as so many medals.

out of 10....

GFX - 7 (bright, but major grain in battles and missing animations, chopppy transitions)
SFX - N/A (no soundcard here)
DESIGN - 7 (very clear, well-thought, but little innovation)
GAMEPLAY - 5.5 (tired mechanics, i've played this game before)

overall, this is indeed a finely polished title. It has everything someone perhaps less burnt-out by RPG's would love. I don't have the time or energy to invest into it, and with no idea of how long this game is in total (minutes? hours? days?), i'm not prepared to re-play what i have long felt is virtually the same design we have seen since FFIV, and that was nearly-perfected in Chrono Trigger 15 years ago...

But again, here is a polished and in-depth title with a lot to offer and real quality behind it. it'll get featured if it hasn't already.

[Fist Puncher: SoO]

this demo represents someone's dream. but it's definitely SHAREWARE being passed off as a "mini-game". the premise and formula are the same, but i'll let the Author argue that point in a response if they like.

not sure if it's "inappropriate" to distribute and promote this on NG in this way, not sure if that's actually codeman38's font going uncredited in a commercial project (don't think he cares) or a great reproduction of classic bitmap fonts. it certainly locks in the vintage feeling that most fuex-bit games would lose most of their slick atmosphere without.

i have no comment regarding the quality of this demo. i mean, i DID, but way too belligerent as it is.

shareware...that greedy little thing from the 90's when my computer used to go "CRACKLEFIZZLECRACKLE, ZZZZT' and that's how you knew it was working real good.

HEY! WAIT! LISTEN! I just realized that my favorite NG game of all time was sort of a 'preview' in its way. Alien Hominid was never fleshed out into a full-on Flash title. it was made into a PS2 game. but dammit, i still believe that the value is there for that. it was physical. it came with an instruction manual and display case. this doesn't. also, Alien Hominid didn't START as a demo.

i hate to say it, but for things like this, I tend to feel like i'm just backsliding. really? i bought a game from feux '88, and it doesn't even come with a box or have the nintendo seal of quality? can i take it back to the video store....? without speaking on the quality of the content, this mode of production feels very empty. it seems petty, complex, and cheap. like a boss that won't buy a new mop cause you can mop with the old one "just fine".

in conclusion, new personal rule: no rating and review process for demo titles or shareware.
not trying to be insulting, but i really can only review the delivery pipeline and not the content out of fear that I would be overstepping too many boundaries at that point.

PestoForce responds:

I guess you could over-think it to that point. But I think you're missing the fact that the Steam game is some normal guys' attempt to make something they love and this mini-game is my attempt to help a friend out. I think it's worth the price (FREE) as a fun SMALL beatemup with a semi-interesting boss. I'll be the first to admit it's not groundbreaking or my best work, but it's not bad, all things considered, and helping out fellow indie developers is never a bad thing. I appreciate your review though, I just think it's a bit extreme :-)

[Cosmic Clicks]

well, i thought cookie clicker was a great exercise in psychology. if you've got a propensity for addiction, and had never seen the mechanics of cookie clicker before, then you'd probably be up all night. if you have enough time to wonder why you're wasting it playing cookie clicker, you'll probably be joining Peace Corp tomorrow.

i hope the author does continue to make games, and i'm sure the development was a ton of fun. after reading ridiculous comments that compare the games characters to "Mickey & Goofy" or "Bugs and Daffy", I have to say that those characters were funny because i was interested in them.

these characters here, while they come close to being a shot in arm for something i was bored with as soon as i realized was it was, don't cut it. the banter doesn't run consistently, is excessive for something so....mundane, and while it ends up being the most original and interesting part of the game....definitely does NOT make up for less than zero ingenuity or improvement to a formula i'd describe as total pipe-dream waffling.

I had released me own game, Square Millionaire, in....October(?), without realizing cookie clicker existed. seeing that game only made me want to try harder, burn hotter, and kick more ass than fifty cookie-clicker clones strapped together like snow-hounds.

eh......ahem....anyway, in conclusion this game is EXACTLY cookie clicker, but instead of constant reinforcement of how amazingly useless you are as a member of society (heads up, Andromeda's still coming straight at us and many people still have AIDS), we have an NES-version of Abbot and Costello in space.

as usual, not TRYING to be a major buzz-kill, but the author should divert attention towards putting this to shame. A definite backslide from Boss 101.

final thoughts? it's not much of a genre, but i guess in a world where cancer cures itself and we've got no shortage of free time to spend not helping anyone, i'd rather people sit indoors and do this than touch my microscopes...

DarkTimmy responds:

Hey man, I am glad you have the faith something bigger and better is inside me. On that I think we completely agree! HAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!

In all seriousness, I'd love to say in my game making life every step I've taken is the correct one and I've miraculously avoided all the landmines of bad choice. Alas, I have not and I still sometimes venture down a path only to gain nothing except the experience.

Cosmic Clicks was as you noted, a blast to make and for that it paid for itself. I am still learning, still making mistakes and I can't even promise I won't make more as I go. I will. That said - as long as people like yourself CARE enough to write and tell me what they like and what they want to see more of I think things will work out OK.

I love making games, it's completely fulfilling and with your generosity and support I can make this work. Thanks for the reply and the comment! Totally appreciate you taking a moment to write! Best, -Tim

[The Abandoned City]

it's....impressive! it really reminds me more than anything of Star Tropics 2: Zoda's Revenge for NES! it's really different than that game though.

one thing i've heard recently is that since many users are not using standard american keyboards, being from other countries, they require key rebindings. think of all the japanese players you could have! but seriously, it does toss out a lot of players. *shrug*

[Run Alien, Run!]

really sluggish....nothing new, recycled/plain graphics, pointless motivation for players, badly-clashing UI's....it's really hard to provide reasonable feedback for something like this. that is because what am i to say that doesn't sound like a bash?

"nice use of two colors" or "i really enjoy how choppy the game is". there is a point at which credit for effort and driver on the authors part doesn't cover it.

Art by Kenney (not "Kenny"), sfx by kenney and freesound.org, design by generic-land, programming courtesy google.

this was probably a great learning experience, and i definitely see the enthusiasm.

the final point for me is that i'm really anti-HTML5. Flash is just a tighter package. also, sorry but every other review seems too candy-coated so i thought i'd be a little mean.

LongArmInteractive responds:

No hard feelings, mate. All feedback it accepted. And yes this game was a learning experience. 90% of the art was from a resource pack. However, the programming was not Google-ed, coded from scratch.

[Blasteroids]

I think the drawings are great, but my biggest problem is same as Wegra. Using the ol' 1-2 was great, but it became kind of clunky trying to use the same hand for both movement and attack. the reach on the (awesome) blasteroid dude was too short, i didn't feel like i had a fair shot at reaching the math problems.

the "true knowledge"(?) E=MC² were hard to get because i was sliding all over the place and made it too frustrating to want to work for the upgrades.

still, the art is great, i would definitely play something else in this style, i like the paper fold-out at the beginning also. a rad effect!

peace!

[Master the Guitar]

i really like the variety of content, i think that some of it is awesome. this tool is really cool, i think it fits well for the out-of-touch musician like me. makes me go "oh, what the hell, let's learn a few of those 100 rock n roll riffs today".

it's a lot of fun to poke around with, but what i don't get is am i supposed to plug my guitar into this?

regardless, it's really neat how far the Author has taken sound manipulation in Flash. that is maybe the most interesting thing here for me. love it.

[Space Odyssey - vol 3]

really cool concept, but the constant animation really throws me off. i wish there was a way to pause that. this could be boiled down and refit into a really snazzy, shiny thing. as is, it comes off as dated.....kind of corny...

more indication of moves made would be great.

i'm not really into this type of game, let alone puzzle, but i think this one does an okay job. still, the worst part is that the constant animations are almost painful. some kind of "powerup" to stop them for a while mite be interesting.

[Mad racing]

puke! i don't even know how this got a rating of 2.5 stars, the game is as tragically broken as it is bizarre and ugly.