Zir0's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[60second Space Amazon]

Hey.

I think it's quite a bit of intricacies jam-packed into 60 seconds, with the two characters, and the different weapons. It's fairly easy, except for the red guy - he's kinda hard to beat.

So you've added your voice. Probably want to have each voice play once when you're going through the menus, and maybe turn down the volume on them a bit. You added every voice except a "time's up!", haha!

Regarding the moves: In your full brawler games, I tend to mix them up a lot more, but in 60 seconds, I'm pretty much just mashing whatever I press to attack, and not worrying to much about key combinations (prolly why I'm having trouble wit the red guys. (: ).

I also like how the characters turned out, and the animations. (:

________________________
- Ziro out.

AcetheSuperVillain responds:

Thanks.

I'm surprised you find the red Boxer Robos to be the hard ones. I definitely find them to be the easiest since they don't shoot.

Yeah, I did mean to add "time's up" but I forgot. Like I said, tired.

Regarding the moves: I think it's not just the 60 second limit. These characters aren't as well planned as usual, and since I've been mostly struggling with image sizes and timer codes, they haven't received their due post-planning attention either.

[Galactico: Save the Earth]

Hey.

========================
Game design:
========================
- The first thing I noticed is that game elements can obstruct the HUD. I highly recommend keeping the game view out of the HUD at the bottom; it shouldn't get blocked by in-game entities.
- The explosion sound is way to dramatic. Select a smaller, softer, explosion sound.
- I do like how you can mute the audio. however, I'd rather be able to mute just the music while keeping the sound effects.
- The music is a bit annoying and doesn't fit the game.
- The icons used for mute and pause don't fit the theme of the game. The font, however, looks really cool. (:
- Focus on a solid game mechanic before tackling something like an upgrade system. The enemies should be challenging. Also, try introducing a new enemy every other level or so.

========================
Controls
========================
- Since you can use the mouse to aim, please add the ability to shoot your primary weapon using the mouse button. This is much easier than trying to press the spacebar key to shoot (keep the spacebar though; some may prefer it). You may also want to include the arrow keys as movement keys also, for left-handed people (I'm right-handed, but that may be easier for lefties).
- There is some inconsistency with where the mouse lines up with the crosshairs as you move the mouse around. The center of the crosshairs should line up with the mouse pointer. Furthermore, it lines at at different points.

========================
Graphics
========================
- The explosion used for the enemy ships is too faint.
- The player's ship looks too bland. I would recommend looking up Lost Garden, and trying to fit some of the graphics there into your game.

Quite rough around the edges, but it's a start for your first game.

__________________________
- Ziro out.

nitokov responds:

this will be my list for next update, thanks you save my time... and Earth :D extremly helpful!

[Sea cleaning beta (dutch)]

Hey.

Nice, simple shooter.

The graphics look good also. The main drawback is no sound effects. You could add sounds for firing bubbles and hitting targets, but make sure that each type of target (cans, ate up apples, etc.) have different sound effects. If you really wanted to go farther, you could even add sounds for missing, and when the subtle foot steps for the crab walking around.

Also, on your intro screen, consider changing the text field that says "Click here", so that you can't select it with the mouse (the mouse cursor changes to the I-beam). You may want to consider just removing this screen altogether; perhaps it was a requirement for the project?

Is the difficulty increasing over time, as you hit more targets? Could just be me, but there seems to be a subtle increase. If this is true, then that's great. (:

Maybe consider adding a "special" target that makes rare appearances. Something that is really small and/or moves fast (basically, hard to hit). If you hit this target, you could give the player more points for it, or maybe it gives back two shots instead of one.

Of course, these suggestions may not be applicable if this is just for a project, and you may not want to work on it anymore. (:

Other than that, it's fine. Seems like it could target little kids well.

_______________________
- Ziro out.

Nikey007 responds:

Well I can make some adjustments it's only due tomorrow~~

[Super Cyborg demo]

Hey.

Nice shooter game.

Game design, mechanics, and polish:
- While I get that it's inspired by Contra, I think it's a bit _too_ much like Contra, and would have liked to see some new concepts in terms of mechanics. Basically, it lacks some originality here. In addition to the classic weapons we've all come to like, I would have also liked to see some new weapons. Maybe there's more in the full game? (:
- The sound effect used for the explosion of henchmen could have been a better selection, however.
- The controls were solid, and I like the ability to remap the keys. I would have liked the ability to remap the controls during play, perhaps as an extra menu on the pause menu.
- Your presentation of the various UI was also good.
- I don't agree with all the statistics being monitored and shown at the end of the level, especially the regarding to shooting. This being a shooting game, you're going to be shooting a lot. Also, I don't agree with rating someone's time, especially when you are forced to wait at certain parts, like for the boss to expose itself so you can shoot it. The player has no control over that. I feel like I'm being punished for playing this genre the way I feel it's supposed to be played.

Graphics and sounds:
- The graphics and music are awesome, as were the sound effects. I do sincerely hope that none of the graphics or sounds were obtained from ripped sources, or modified versions of anything ripped.

Performance:
- No bugs or FPS drops encountered. Performance was good. Using Flash Debug Player, 11.1, Chrome.

_______________________
- Ziro out.

Leftiy responds:

Thank you for detailed review!
There will be laser gun in next levels. It's much improved comparing to Contra laser, so it can be considered as a new weapon:)
This game takes inspiration from the Contra series, but all levels and enemies will be different as well as the bosses and enemies. But at the same time it pays tribute to the Contra series by using some gameplay elements to make some kind of flashbacks to the player. It's hard for me to explain in english, but you will see for yourself, when the game will be released.
About game statistics: so now i see that some players likes monitoring their statistics, and others don't. I think only way to solve this is to make 2 game modes: play with statistics or without it, just like on NES.
Graphics and animations was drawn by me and I worked really hard to make it look good. And using 8-bit NES color palette makes it much more difficult. And sound effects were made in Famitracker. So as those are 8 bit sounds , you may find them similar to sounds from NES games, because Famitracker simulates NES chip sound.

[Destrocity]

Hey.

Nice game. Reminds me of Rampage, although I wish you could eat people to regain health and/or energy. I find myself quickly running out of power, and then just running around, saving up just enough for one more power slam, I feels it's just too limiting in the beginning of the game.

The controls are solid, and I having multiple controls for the same actions. The graphics and sounds are also done well, even throwing in a few subtle sounds for some extra polish.

Along with running out of power so quickly, my biggest issue is the collision detection between the military's bullets and your character. The will still hit you, even if you're not lined up horizontally with them. You probably don't need the 3,2,1, intro at the beginning the game, either. Meteor mode is a nice add-on, but it gets boring too quickly.

________________________
- Ziro out.

FlashTavern responds:

Eating people was something I had planned on putting in the game but later didn't end up doing. I'm reconsidering adding this feature, though. Or something to help keep your stamina up.

I'll look into the bullet collision detection! Thanks for playing and reviewing!

--- edit ---

I have just added in the ability to eat people! Simply walk up to a person, press the E key and let the feast begin. Thanks for the suggestion!

[College-Ruled Universe]

Hey.

Nice game.

It looks like a good start. The graphics were done very well, and I think that's the game's best asset (no pun intended).

This could definitely turn in to a good hardcore shooter game. Also, you can even find an in-game use for the platformer aspect of the game, maybe some side quest or maybe you land "inside" and enemy base or something, and take the core out on foot, then hurry and get back to your ship and escape before the place goes up, or something.

Should you continue the game, I'm sure you'll add more power-ups, enemies, sound effects, and all the extra polish. Please consider adding a pause ability, and the ability to mute music or sounds.

I hope you find yourself a good AS3.0 programmer.
Good skill on your game, soldier.

____________________
- Ziro out.

LordDF responds:

Hey Ziro, thanks for the great review. Yea, there's a lot of polish left out of this demo since I did it in such a hurry. That's a good idea about landing inside an enemy!

[Little Bass Survival]

Hey.

Interesting game. Very simple gameplay and mechanics. The fish graphics look really nice, but they do cause a slight lag when there are lots of them on screen. I set the quality to low, and that helped. For such a simple game, I'm surprised that there are separate settings for music and sound effects, and even a pause, not that I'm complaining. (:

Looks like larger worms restore keep hunger away more than smaller fish, which makes sense.

One thing I really liked about this, is that you don't have to avoid the entire fish's body, just it's mouth area.

I find myself trying to "psyche" out the other fish by making him come at me to get him out of the way. Why can't those fish ever get hooked, or maybe you can make a fish coming at you run into the hook, then the fisherman hooks that fish, so you get rid of him and the hook at the same time? >:)

Turning the fish upside down when it dies looks kinda funny. (:
Encountered one little glitch that my fish can still eat worms after it dies.

Not a single piece of poop from this fish eating all these worms. Fish poop like craze, ya know. (: Maybe if your fish pooped next to the catfish, they'd be concerned with cleaning that up than going after your fish.

___________________________
- Ziro out.

AcetheSuperVillain responds:

Thanks for the Zir0 report, glad you liked it.

Once you make Music, Sound and Pause for one game, it's an easy thing to copy and paste it into a little game like this.

The reason other fish don't get hooked is because (technical time) they are added to the stage and not to an array or container and just compare their positions to the bass and remove themselves when they're done in their own enter_frame events (come to think of it, garbage collect might be part of why it lags). Besides, when have you ever known me to go that extra mile?

[Hell Yeah Copter]

Cool Game

Hey.

The simplicity of it all was done well. Only one problem was the light green terrain on the 2-x levels. It was a little too bright. (: Your ability to mute music and sounds separately is fantastic. I also like the controls of the copter. I like how the bombs can go along the trails and destroy cannons. You should consider adding shot sounds to the cannons and other firing enemies, just something subtle, so it doesn't get annoying.

But, if you're gonna call it "Hell Yeah Copter" in your title, you need a badass copter to go with that name. This copter looks more like a Little Bird, not that the Little Bird isn't a good copter. You need something like an AH-64 Apache or AH-1 Super Cobra; something that looks more ominous. (:

Otherwise, nice cross between skill - collect and avoid.

________________________
- Ziro out.

Accession responds:

Thanks for the review! :D There were actually 5 other helicopters drawn up for the game that you were supposed to switch between at certain points, but we had to scale it back for production time. We'll probably see them in the sequel!

[Revenge of the Laser Gang]

Alright Game

Hey.

The graphics look fine. I can't help but notice they tiles ripped from an NES game. If they're not, then you're a good 8-bit pixel artist, assuming you made the art yourself, that is. (:

The music was extremely annoying. You have a mute option, but I'd like to mute the music and keep the sound effects, instead of muting everything.

Movement is too slow. You have a run, which introduces another key to use, being Shift, which is awkward. I know I'm not the only one having difficulty holding this key while trying to move with WASD keys. If I use the right-shift key, then I have to take my hand off the mouse, so I can't aim. Drop the Shift to run altogether, and consider replacing it by allowing your player to double-tap a movement key to run. Or you could just include both ways of running. It's just another key that gets in the way.

To add insult to injury, there's a stamina for running. _On top of that_, I can't run if it's recharging, even if I have stamina left.

The battle system isn't too bad, but the game tends to run a bit slow. I'm not sure if it's a performance aspect or this is by design. I think your genre is a bit misleading. You have "Action - Shooter - Multidirectional", but it's way too slow to be an action game. This is more like an RPG.

_______________________
- Ziro out.

malec2b responds:

Thanks for the feedback. Also, I made the art myself, so thanks.

Also, I switched the genre to Adventure-Other. I really wish there was an Action-Adventure category...

[Midtown Beatdown]

Cool Game

Hey.

Gameplay and Design
- Finished all four levels. It gets monotonous quickly. There needs to be multiple enemy types, each with its own set of moves, as well as more moves for the player,
- Game's a bit easy, even on the hardest setting.
- I like all the names you gave the enemies. (:
- Consider adding an option to mute music but keeps the sound effects, in addition to muting both.
- I found that you can press P to pause. Unless I missed it, you should probably indicate that somewhere for the uninitiated.
- It looks weird having the character do a somersault from a non-moving jump.
- Don't make the visual impact effect take so long. It should be a quick flash of some sort.
- As far as I can tell, the player can't get knocked down, no matter how may times he gets hit.
- When the player passes the level, don't suddenly end it, showing a bunch of numbers. Provide some kind of fanfare.

Graphics and Sounds
- Nice old-school bitmap graphics. A few frames in the walking animations are missing from all the characters.
- When characters get up, they should have better looking animation. It looks like you just rotated some stances to get them back upright. (:

Controls
- Your control scheme was fine for me, but you may want to consider a setup for players who are better the other way around (movement keys on the right, and attacks on the left). Key configuration is always a good idea.

Notes
- There is a glitch with jumping. When you land, you are at a lower spot then when you started. If you stand still and just keep jumping, you will eventually get stuck at the bottom of the screen.

- There is a "z-order" issue with objects. For example, take the cones; in some areas, they are drawn in front of your character, even when it is clear that your character is closer to the "camera".

- Characters are still moving, even when it's paused.

- If you are running in one direction, press and release the key for the opposite direction (while holding down your original movement key), your character will "run backwards", haha! I thought I was on to somethin' here, but it looks like it's a little glitch. (:

Hope everything made sense. If not, let me know, and I'll send you a screenshot of what you need.

Otherwise nice game, soldier.

__________________________
- Ziro out.

robscherer123 responds:

Thanks man! Nice review!