PoisonHeart's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[Just A Cell]

Pretty rad game! i had some difficulties with the controls, the flashing lights may have been too much, and I did have a little trouble with determining sizes, but I think this game is worth a complete playthrough by anyone.
Grafix were really well-done, not that they were excellent drawings (pretty good, tho) or were animated really great, but they FIT TOGETHER excellently. Let's go back to the flashing lights: I think the issue here for me was framerate. A little sluggish, and operating under 512mb RAM that could have partly been my fault. However, being able to emulate N64 games, I don't think this is a conclusive answer. The creatures seem to move pretty fluid, so I would guess that this is anywhere between 24-32 and not something dumb like 16/18 or 64. Maybe I am wrong, but you may consider more careful and efficient coding methods or maybe even a smaller Library...because the flashing lights annoyed me for how SLOWLY they flashed, rather than that they did at all. C'mon, I played Robotron.

I thoroughly enjoyed the variety of creatures, and the manic pacing that's typical of older games that this is styled after, particularly the last level. Also, I like that there is also a "time attack" mode, but to be honest it could have easily been a "themed clock" for how descriptive it was and that the "credits screen" (heheh) was lumped into the same list. I think that the credits should have been listed elsewhere, like in the far corner, or perhaps a more exacting grafik for Time-Attack could have been chosen. However, even though I've never been a fan of time-attacks (makes me anxious), I think it's cool that one is included here.
I also like that when you die in this game it remembers where you were, loading the appropriate level, without making you restart the game (AKA seeing what else is on Newgrounds). This, combined with easy-going short levels, means that (for me, at least) losing is okay and I don't feel like a total loser for having died...as is common in games these days.

My problems with the controls were that they were sort of sticky and locked up sometimes. I found that I couldn't reliably press more than one button at a time without having funny issues like moving in one direction while facing another, inability to move at all, or jerky movements. This error resulted in FREQUENT DEATH....which was 'somewhat' lucrative and amusing as I've been drinking.

out of 10...

gfx - 8 (smooth blends, clear objects)
sfx - N/A (I have no soundcard)
design - 8 (good, varied levels)
gameplay - 8.5 (in spite of weak controls, game is very fun)

overall, this is a fantastic way to kill 5-10 minutes. From the evolutions to the poems, this is one very charming game that has a certain way of hooking the player into beating it. Perhaps disappointed by lack of level-select or weak controls, but nonetheless a very cheery and rewarding experience.

LazyBoyGames responds:

Wow thanks for the review. This is the most helpful one I have had so far. The lag is caused by certain libraries that Stencyl uses. It shouldn't be an issue in future games. The flashing was a bad call on my part. I have heard that it is annoying for many people even when running at the appropriate speed, so I don't think it's your fault =)

The inclusion of a level select seemed unneeded to me. Since the game takes around 10 minutes to beat one would usually be done in one sitting.

Anyway glad you liked the game, and thanks again for the extremely thorough review.

[Rebel Sky Demo]

Really great game that reminds me of Metal Warriors for SNES if it had the character progression of Metroid. I admit, I think the sfx can be sort of grating at times, because they seem to be low quality. Just not smooth enough, you know? Also, you are wanting feedback on system performance? I'm running a laptop with 0.5gigs of RAM and the game works great, had to zoom out my Firefox window a couple times to get the whole game to fit but it's alright.
Really like the weapons, albeit the controls seem sort of confusing sometimes...cramped really, I guess. Many people don't have number-pads to ease this, either, like me on my laptop.
I also think there could be more flashing lights and dynamic text-effects.
Really enjoyed the little profile of the pilot in the upper-left.

Stopped playing after I dropped down the deactivated lift shaft, got killed by those tanks at the bottom, and had to start the game over.

out of 10...
gfx - 8.5 (nice retro style)
sfx - 6.5 (somewhat fuzzy)
design - 8 (simple levels,good systems)
gameplay - 7 (poor reset, cramped controls)

I think it's really tough to tack down what exactly this demo does well, and what it doesn't. One thing is for sure, and that's that it LOOKS great so far. Perhaps some of the graphics need to be more dynamic, but I like them still. I really hope that you come back to this project, because it performs well and is a lot of fun so far.

Hyptosis responds:

Thanks!

[Blind Man's Simon]

I get it, but I also don't like it. I think that the concept is of course pretty great, very innovative in its way. However, I just found it too confusing and unwieldy. In a game without graphics, you should have put a lot more into the audio. Very easily could have scripted out the lines and posted in the NG BBS asking for a voice talent...they're all over NG, could use the exposure, are %99 highly-talented volunteers, and would have made this a much more enjoyable experience.

The Microsoft SAM voice sucks, I could barely understand it, and didn't want to keep trying to get into the game as a result. Again, great concept, poorly executed (in my opinion).

out of 10...

gfx - N/A
sfx - 2 (irritating voice, low-quality sfx)
design - 5 (fantastic concept, poor execution)
gameplay - 6 (difficulting, frustrating, but different)

overall, this was a really great idea that I wish you could have waited for an actual voice talent to submit...because if you do that now, the exposure of being at the top of the portal under judgement will have worn off, and a very slim % of your audience will ever even notice, ergo making this a waste of your time.
I don't know if this needs an update, or if we should just look forward to the next rad thing you do!

Kwing responds:

I don't really do this for fame, so if I submit this with an awful voice, then change it and nobody sees it, I don't mind. Thanks for the kind words, though.

[Close Combat 1.0]

Terrible. Your cursor is UNDER the enemies for one thing, and also I found myself unable to kill more than 2 thugs before I died. Unsure what you are teaching here, but I like the attempt. I hate reviewing "works in progress" because that always felt like a cop-out to me. it suggests that I shouldn't be too critical because this isn't done yet. If that were the case, I wouldn't upload %5 of a game and expect people to not hurt my feelings.

Again, I like your ideas, I just don't like this game. Would have been more helpful as a tutorial if it broke down the features and explained their code while you were playing.

vSmashv responds:

I always appriciate your opinion!

[Epic Jump Mayhem]

More detailed instructions would have been great. i get the controls, very simple. However, you may want to include more instructions when you add extra characters.
The concept is here, sort of. Right now it's a run-of-the-mill hopper where you avoid everything and try not to die. There is only one level, and whatever you have planned we haven't seen.
One thing I disliked was the cramped level itself. No room to hop, it is basically just slightly annoying. Also, there appears to be something wrong with the anti-aliasing you applied. People go for pixel games probably due in part to their smooth graphics, this doesn't have that. Sort of blurry, actually.

out of 10...
gfx - 6 (cute, but blurry)
sfx - N/A (I have no soundcard)
design - 3 (nothing here, really)
gameplay - 5 (boring and difficult)

overall, there's pretty much nothing here to this game right now. I'm sure the next version will be really great, but I am unsure as to what kind of feedback you can honestly expect to get that will help you improve the ideas you already have. To be honest, it seems like you may be fishing for them in the reviews. I have nothing for you that doesn't regard structure. Good luck.

TheeCoffee responds:

I needed testers that played it. I needed to see bug reports and stuff to improve it :) thanks for your review

[Ten Seconds]

Insufficient instructions, choppy FPS, and the lack of an ability to "replay" or even something to let me know I lost, makes for a very dull game. I really couldn't figure out which tiles I was able to swap and which ones I wasn't. The timer runs down and then what? Nothing, so to replay I have to refresh my page? Very lazy of me, I know, but also lazy of you to not even type "gotoAndStop(1)" or create another keyframe with an ending screen...and there also aren't highscore tables.

out of 10...
gfx - 5 (very plain colors, disinteresting theme)
sfx - N/A (I have no soundcard)
design - 3 (laggy, poor instructions)
gameplay - 5 (very bland, no reward)

overall, this is an unsatisfying game to me both as a player and a developer. I think there could have been more time spent on this, because as it is I am met with an unrewarding and somewhat confusing game that doesn't even care if I win or lose.

Finnegan2100 responds:

Fair enough on some points, but how did you not see the ending screen?? When the timer runs out it says, "GAME OVER" and there's a replay button. Also, please try the game out with sound when you get a chance. The sound is very important! Very true that I could've spent more time on this -- and I'll definitely be working on a version 2.0 sometime soon -- but it's a complete, albeit short game as is!

You're right about the laggy parts, though. I got a little carried away with drop shadows, bevels and blurs. These have definitely made it perform at a subpar level.

But I appreciate the fact that you took the time to write a thorough review. Please play it again when you have sound!

[super smash pruebas]

No explaination of controls, no english instructions, terrible blob-people, no backgrounds, too many controls for no instructions, no english instructions...your email address constantly scrolling at the bottom is very annoying...no sound....

I mean, c'mon dude! What are we supposed to do with this as it is.

luz100ful responds:

hey I wanted to do a good job I also disliked the controls but not wise to encourage them in action script 2.0 so the only were those that encourage wise forgive but it was my best work is following the other games that I hope the fights that have been tested blame before

[Learn Actionscript 3 2012]

Hey, thank you for broadening the spectrum of resources available to people starting out with Flash, but one great feature of AS3 is it's extremely fluid OOP structuring and this really reads more like an AS2 tutorial compilation.
Everything is very clumped together here, with little explanation as to what any of this code actually means, encouraging people to copy and paste. Wait, they can't because you wrote this all in static text fields so people just have to PRAY they got the code right, because they can neither understand the structure or copy-paste to ensure accuracy.
I am unclear as to your logic in this respect, because I think it is more likely that someone who DOES copy-paste your code would study it as opposed to trying to just plug it in everywhere it seems fit. And even if they do, then at least they've got the first sparks of wanting to learn.

The way you've arranged this may not only corrupt peoples level of self-confidence after finding they neither understand what they've copied or finding that it just plain doesn't work because they missed a bracket they didn't know they needed or for what.

I'm not trying to tear you a new one, or rag on you, but I think that this may prove to do more harm than good in it's current state.

So...to summarize, I think you should convert all "static" texts to "dynamic", go into greater detail (by which I mean actually explain your code, even via //comments), and give people a real foundation on which to build. Reduce the number of topics covered, or just expand on them, because frankly this looks like a really lazy tutorial.

vSmashv responds:

All the code is input text, but you are very right, it was more of a design choice and my laziness that it turned out the way it did, I had grand plans but the 1 frame per topic really limited me in explaining the processes of what is actually going on, thats one reason i included the link to video tutorials for further explaination, however those arent that great either i must admit. When it comes down to it, i did it to inspire people rather than to teach them EVERYTHING, I realize there was important things I missed but I hope people see enough that they want to grab other resources to really learn. Anyway, thanks for the review

[Kingdom Of Zombies]

Pretty cool...but it basically feels a lot like Warcraft Lite. There isn't a whole lot to set this game aside from others like it. RTS games really need dynamic mechanics and great story to drive them forward. Without these things, I think they can come off as very bland. Not to say this is, no...it's pretty solid as an RTS. It just lacks something to make it really unique.
To be honest, this looked interesting because I thought I would command a zombie army, not fight one. The former would have been more interesting, IMO.

out of 10...
sfx - 9 (catchy, funky tune and sfx)
gfx - 6 (not bad, could use improvement)
design - 7 (good design, just not unique enough)
gameplay - 6 (left feeling very stale)

overall, this is a good game for anyone who's looking to just have some fun and not worry about redundant history or anything. it also has zombies, which makes it more fun!

kor6k responds:

Thanks for the feedback! If the game works, I will make a seqel where you will command zombie army ;)

[IsoBlocks]

I think that the programming here is very solid, but the controls make me cringe and are somewhat disorienting. That may put off a lot of players. Great song choice, though. Good use of colors and convincing design of 3-D space.

out of 10...
gfx - 8 (yes, it's basic but easy on the eyes)
sfx - 10 (perfect song choice)
design - 8 (killer programming, good 3D space)
gameplay - 5 (confusing controls for casual gamers)

overall, I think that your programming shows a lot of promise but the controls are too unwieldy for me and after 5 minutes of playing I gave up.

Obi2Kenoby responds:

Thanks for the feedback.
About the programming, it took me waaay more hours of coding than I originally intended to do :)