johnfn's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[Cloud's Arena Game]

Hummm

I wish there was actual user interaction, but there was none. Worse is that only the Easy battles work. The sound was rather dull, and all this game consisted of was watching your guy beat up 1 monster over and over again. One time, I saw his HP in the negatives. Thats a bug you might want to fix, or maybe you should just scrap this (no offense, but it's hard to make something like this fun at all) and make something with more interaction. Additionally, make the sound less repetitive. Add some background music perhaps.

TheLyron responds:

the medium and hard buttons didn't work for you because you need to have the money to bet (medium=50 gold and hard=200 gold), you idiot. The was no interation because it's a CASINO\RPG BATTLE game and I wanted to do it this way.

[Blowup A Terrorist]

That was utterly useless.

The graphics were alright, but for that small of a thing, you couldn't even spell "bolw" right. Along with that, the interactivity for this "game" was terrible. At least make it a little fun to play, because all I had to do was click.

[Nimian Hunter]

Impressive graphics, just one problem

The graphics were obviously very nice, everyone seems to love using that trick to make 2d objects come at you to seem 3D. The position of the 'camera' as below the horse wasn't that great of an idea in my opinion, because I kept on wishing it was higher. The horse also looked wonderfully rendered, and the minimap was well done as well. The sound of the horses clopping got really repetitive after a while, though. This seems to me to be a little underrated since everyone on NG seems to grade on graphics only (>_>) and this had better graphics then a 3.96, at least in my opinion.

The 'one problem' that I mentioned earlier was that I had no idea what to do. I figured out after I closed out and read your comments more carefully, but there should be an 'instruction' section in the actual game someplace.

[The Basics (Tutorial)]

This has been voted down far too low

Me and my friend were watching your tutorial before it came out of judgement. We took a guess at what the score was going to be, I guessed 4.0 and he guessed 4.1. We both think that this was horribly underrated, possibly as a result from the lack of a fully working preloader, as it is an excellent tutorial all around. It covers the material well and it's even a little funny. If this doesn't get any more recognition I will be very upset.

DingoEatingFuzz responds:

I agree with you. I spent a lot of time working on this, designing the layout to be functional and attractive. Making the pop up videos, designing and programming the music player. It's very upseting to see it score so low. It's very enlightening though to hear other people think the same :) thank you.

[Ultimate Easter Egg Hunt!]

Not bad

It was somewhat enjoyable. It definitely shows promise. I think for the time trial mode instead of eggs just falling randomly which doesn't have much strategy, certain eggs should give powerup bonuses like an upgraded speed, and there should be some eggs that give more points then other eggs.

In the regular game, you shouldn't be able to fall off a cliff; instead your progress should be impeded some other way before you start falling.

Still, not a bad job. With improvements you could have a pretty good platformer here.

[How Fast Are you? Ver2]

Needs more

It was, in the simplest way to put it, boring. It needs more interaction and more ways to keep me interested, since this was too plain and simple for me. Additionally, the music was totally useless and unrelated.

[Skears DX]

More enjoyable then it seemed.

Alright, you told me to review this a while back, but I feel like doing it right now (because I am lazy). So lets begin!

Play Experience:

Right away I see a gigantic screen. Does it really need to be that big? After that, the first thing I notice is that the background looks a lot like a rather bad looking wallpapered BMP. While it isn't wallpapered at least (as I noticed when I tried to pretend it was one of those 3D image stereo grams), you could have done your background more justice with a subtle gradient. The font on the other hand looks good.

I get to the first level and am kind of dissatisfied to see that the skears are still generic purple boxes. The color is rather nice but they look plain and uninteresting. Subtle gradients would probably look more interesting, or you could have an artist do some cooler drawings for you. However, I'll put my graphics remarks aside for now.

The learning curve seems to be pretty well done. I would think that people who aren't as proficient with the mouse as I (I beta tested my mouse game hundreds of times) might have a little trouble trying to adapt, and this could put off a few beginners. I can't really speak from experience here, however.

I also notice that I can right click and see the full menu of items... although really I remember you can't fix that so you're okay.

With the red skears, the color difference between red and purple is such that you might be able to confuse the two if you took a really quick glance. I think that maybe the colors should be opposites (yellow and blue or black and white) to save people a little bit of frustration.

Also, sound could help this game out a lot. Just something minimal to set an atmosphere would be great.

Okay, started dying on level 3 - or was it 4? A level counter would be helpful. The death messages on the other hand were a nice touch.

Level 5 was innovative. I was also glad that it wasn't so long, since I kept dying.

Level 6 seemed like it was easier then level 5- but that could have been my own fault. It was a little annoying, but thankfully you didn't keep up the purple skears coming at all directions for too long.

Level 7's design was pretty ingenious as well. I think with proper eye candy effects and better looking visuals this one could be a lot of fun. Still, it was captivating and made me focus on the game a little harder and appreciate it a bit more.

Level 8: Beat it in one try. The back and forth motion of the mouse gets a little annoying after a bit.

9: Good use of the word penultimate! ;) Still, I beat this one in 2 tries.. . It seemed a little out of place as what should be the second to hardest level.

10: Oh man. That one was just plain annoying. I decided to grit it out and beat it, since I'm guessing you went through about the same with 3:3 on my game ;) At first those random spiraling purples made me really hate it, because they seemed so random. But then I realized that they weren't random at all and there was a certain pattern that I could do every time to get them all... I'm not sure if you did that intentionally, but it was very clever. All in all a well designed level here, but it was a little too long for me to properly enjoy it; however it was a fitting end.

All in all, great job here. Your game made me feel a full range of emotions from satisfaction to pure rage (at one point) It was certainly satisfying to complete, although I don't think it merits a replay to get a perfect score - although I usually wouldn't do that any ways. Once is enough... ;)

I have to also compliment you on keeping each of your levels interesting throughout the 30 or so seconds that it takes to complete. Not once did I get bored halfway through a level: the complexity kept me interested, even through multiple replays (point in case: level 10)

As a closing comment, this game was excellent, much better then it's outward appearance betrays it to be. With a few graphical and musical changes - because NGers are like that - it could easily be 4.1-4.2 material.

AcidDimensions responds:

Firstly, thanks so much for bothering to write this awesome review. It made for really interesting reading and

You know, as with when reviewing film sequels or flash as part of a series, a decision must be made - do I review this, taking prior installments into consideration?

With reviews, the answer is obvious. You made your points. You know I read them. The brilliant ideas regarding particle effects and whatnot still apply (though I still have no real clue if or how I'd do such things...).

This time, I'll break up your review into categories.

constructive criticism/suggestions
=============
You make a few complaints regarding presentation (graphics, sound, screen size, right-clicking...).

I'd like to have known your reasoning for disliking the 'gigantic screen' though. Also, I don't really understand WHAT it is about the background you don't like. It's good to know you disapprove though. (It's bad that you disapprove, but good to know.)
Your level-by-level review let me know that you found 6 and 8 rather annoying (though I have to make my own assumptions as to why they annoyed).
9/10

exposition of experience:
You let me know how you got on with each level. (I don't know how many lives you lost with the last level and a few others... but here we come to the question - is giving a breakdown such as this and interrupting the playing to review helping you get a false impression of the game, broken into segments as it would be?)
You also let me know how you responded emotionally to the various parts of the game.
10/10

praise/encouragement:
You know, simply by virtue of recieving a review with this amount of detail and thought put in, I get encouraged.
You do make a real point of ending on a high note, with a few paragraphs full of compliments, which seem to be straight from the heart.
Also, I liked hearing that you favoured level 7.
10/10

clarity of expression:
No big problems.
However, I'm not sure what you meant by 'wallpapered'. It took me a while to realise you were referring to the fact that it repeats. (It is actually tiled, despite what you 'noticed'.)
9/10

elaboration & being specific:
Well, you give some suggestions, like when you point out colour confusion.
I'd kinda like to know some of your reasoning though. Like with the tiled graphics - what exactly don't you like about them? Again - what's the problem with a big screen? And why were thos levels annoying? Was it just because you died regularly? Was it the somewhat repetitive nature of those parts?
It's the level design I'm actually proud of, so I always hope for as much feedback in that area as possible.
Still, far more detail in some places than I have any right to expect.
8/10

coverage (how much):
Every level (bar the first 3) are commented upon. Every aspect I can think of, and some I wouldn't have (right-click menu).
10/10

overall: 9/10

Quite possibly the best review I've ever gotten for a game.
I'd have liked some more feedback with regards to the level design though - your comments leave me unsure as to what I could improve upon. (I have my own ideas of course, but I'm disregarding that for the moment.)

I'm guessing that the linearity you mentioned for Skears 2(v0.36) maybe still irked you, but I'm unsure.

Really though, this review, coupled with the other one, helps me realise how much the graphics matter. It makes me kinda want to theme my levels, Breakquest style.

It makes me wanna submit more. Give me food for thought.

Practically flawless review.

Thank you so much.

[Evolve!!!]

Enjoyable

I didn't get too far into the game, but this is definitely an enjoyable game. I loved your use of the flashcam. The graphics were actually pretty good and minimalistic, although they could have been a little bigger so that I could see details more clearly. The game itself was a relatively new concept and it was pretty clever. My only wish was for it to have more things happening. Maybe tighter controls too. You seem like you know what you're doing with AS so good luck with your future projects!

jdubwatson responds:

thank you. this was my first game that had a larger play area than viewing window, so it took me a loooooong time to get the scrolling view to work correctly.

[God's Hand]

Surprisingly addictive

It was a lot better then it seemed at first impression. It still needs a lot of things to actually make it an enjoyable game. The music actually fit in pretty well which was surprising since it had words and usually vocal music doesn't work well with flash games at all. It could have used better animations, death animations, more chances to get powerups (since after level 9 it was practically impossible, and I really needed help...), a lightening bolt animation and sound effect, and probably a few other small touches that I can't think of right now >_>.

Oh yeah, it could have used more strategy. Point and click gets a little boring after a while (although you did try to keep it interesting, and you did it pretty well). Maybe you could build walls that they'd have to naviate around/ ram down? That would be fun and strategic. Maybe you could build em with gold that you got from killing the monsters...

This is pretty good, but you might want to show it to people on the BBS (or just me ^^) to see what they think first, because a lot of little touches on this could have really helped this one out.

BadFurDay responds:

Thanks a lot!

Chuck Norris is watching you with a positive eye from Mount Olympus!

[Skears 2 (v0.36)]

Lacking something

[First off let me just mention I find it great you're reviewing reviews. I WILL GET THE 10/10! You just wait.]

Anyways, on to the review. Like I mentioned previously, your game seems to be missing something. I'll give you that it is a solid game, and nothing really seems to be wrong with it, but its lacking a certain element to actually make it fun and addictive. I would highly reccommend adding sound to the game to set the mood, ect. I think this could help it out.

Second and probably the most important is your graphics. I mean, they were just blocks. It would be nice if you added, oh, I don't know, some particle effects to the blocks moving around perhaps?

Third. The game was too linear in my opinion. Get that purple one, get the other purple one, okay, done. I love the games where it's more like, okay, gotta get that one, wait, before I do that I have to hit that switch over there, okay, now go get it, then I have to go trip an alarm system... anyways, your game seemed like you were just doing stuff, and it felt more like work then actually playing a game.

Fourth, some levels would last a long time, and then reset to the beginning when you messed this up. This bothers me because you can't speed it up; you have to take it the same speed every time. This just makes the game tedious.

Fifth and finally, the learning curve at the beginning was way too slow. I was probably one of the people who could have just skipped to level 7; I reccommend saying something like 'if you've played other mouse games before, just skip to this level'

Other notes: 'Click here' looks kind of sloppy. The font was kind of dull as well...

In closing, don't mind my harshness because really I was just focusing on the less attractive aspects. It really isn't that bad of a game over all. It just needs a few modifications :)

AcidDimensions responds:

review of your review:

+++++ Basically, you make a bunch of great points. I would be content with just one piece of constructive criticism. You give me 6!

+++++ Everything seems well thought out. Points are valid and well explained.

+++++ After making your criticisms, you elaborate (to the level required) and go on to make a bunch of great suggestions.

++++ You organise your paragraphs well and the whole review's really easy to read and follow. Some other long reviews can become a muddle to read when referring back.

-- I honestly would have appreciated a quick summary of your play experience. I am led to believe you died at least once. Did you get to the end? Did you die a lot? I have to make as/presumptions there. A couple of lines detailing how you played would have been nice. Something like: 'Clicked to begin level 1, played through to end, dying 3-6 times on later levels. First death on level 12. That was probably the hardest for me.' would have been ideal.

-/3 Some typos. 'ect' in para 1. Another one exists, though I forgot where it was. I'm only mentioning typos because your review's so good I need to nit-pick. ;p

'Click here' looks kind of sloppy. The font was kind of dull as well...

-/2 Those notes could perhaps be elaborated upon a bit more. Not really necessary, but would have been nice. Maybe.

- My only other negative comment is that I'd have liked maybe one SPECIFIC bit of praise. Your closing comment helps me realise that you liked it, but it would have been nice to know what exactly you liked. As it is, I'm not sure if it's just because you like the genre, or if you felt my game actually did anything particularly well.

overall
=======

The constructive crit. you give is of an incredible quality and a great quantity.

This review made me smile in appreciation. Definitely the best review I've gotten since I started reviewing reviews.

I feel almost overly greedy not giving you a 10. But I'll try and base my review scores on Edge's quality threshold. (Computer games magazine. Been around since Snes/MD. Given 10/10 to 4 games ever - Mario 64, LoZ:OoT,
Gran Turismo, Halo.) Although maybe /slightly/ less strict.

I delayed reviewing this review because it was so close to a 10.

9/10

Now... any chance of you reviewing my 'Skears DX' game? I'm curious to know how you feel that compares as I made it after this. Also curious to know if you find the last level too long.

If you feel like reviewing anything else of mine, have a look at 'Asteroids' and maybe 'Spot the Difference'. The others I don't care about feedback to the same extent (though I always appreciate it. ;))

Man, that sounds cheeky/greedy. Just that you've given brilliant feedback. I appreciate it massively and if you reviewed any of those other things in the same way, I'd appreciate that too.

Thanks for one of the best reviews ever.