Pocru's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[Pixel Hop - Ring of Magic]

You had some of the right stuff.

The game's core was okay. The gameplay was simple, at best, and I imagine that's what you were aiming for anyway, so its okay. The graphics, because they were intentionally this way, were good for pixil art. However, there were a number of small issues that added up.

First, there was no opining menu or anything like that, the game just STARTS. while the menu is hardly a necessity, its a nice feature to have and makes the game seem more professional.

Secondly, you needed some kind of death animation. When you died and just showed up at the beginning, it was confusing, especally sense a lot of the times you don't know what killed you. Monsters would move suddenly and so quickly that you were jumping over a ridge and suddenly you were at the begining again. Also, I would recommend you make the traps and such easier to see. I died five times before I even noticed the spikes I was constantly jumping in.

Thirdly, the gameplay itself was simple and not very interesting. Whats the motivation? Nowadays you need more than just the feeling of accomplishment in order to try to win a game. The gameplay was too boring and dull to waste much time trying to finish. You moved slowly, there was no music, and sometimes you had no idea what was going on till you died five times.

At its core, this is a platforming game with little to nothing new to offer its audiance, except some frustrating moments and ultimatly easy, if not confusing, gameplay.

=3 Keep trying. You'll do better next time.

thanks!

[Artillery Tower]

Great Gameplay: One terribly broken flaw.

The gameplay is awesome. fun. It had my attention dispute the fact I've played a million of these kinda games before. It could of been a gem.

...but there is one issue that cannot be overlooked, and cost you four stars.

The pause feature. Yes, it cause the screen to go back and put up the pause screen. BUT, if there are enemies in attacking distance of your tower, then the pause menu does not stop the attacks: your tower keeps taking damage.

I died at level ten because I paused the game, only to find when I upaused it that the enimes at the base of my tower had knocked all the life out of it: life it had BEFORE I paused the game.

This had great potental, but the faulty pause menu really ruined it for me. I honestly suggest you fix that as soon as you can.

thanks

[-Stick War-]

Awsome game!

78m and 7s on normal mode.

Geeze, this game was GREAT! The game play, which is normally repetitive, you added a whole new demention to it by allowing, and ENCOURAGING, individual unit control, which was really what separated this game from all the other games of this genre. The units were very unique and interesting, though the spartan units were very overpowered: upgrade them and they could really dominate the battlefield. heck, one of my Spartans took out two gaints all by himself: which was COOL, but bad balancing.

The music was fittingly epic and helped build the greatness of the story. Very awe-inspiring, in fact, which really helped set the mood. The ending could of stood to be more... climatic. After a climatic build up at the begining, something akin to that at the end would of been appreciated.

Regardless, the only real flaw with this game is uneven balancing, and I myself would of liked it to be a bit longer. Other than that, it was superb, and you should feel accomplished.

Thanks!

[Paws]

A artistic, skillfully made game.

While I agree that this game reminds me of Okami, I wont say its a rip off because this is its own art style. The art of the game is simply fantastic, from the old-time effect on the screen to the NPC's to the backround, its a treat for the eyes, and each level had me excited about what new art I'd be seeing.

Gameplay is fantastic: its a very original concept for combat, focusing entirely on mid-air, and each combo had me longing to find the other's. The idea of discovering combo's is hardly new, but the way ou executed it was very well done, and unlike other such combo games where you see a slight change in animation and a little more power, this one gave each combo a very unique and powerful ability that's really worth memorizing.

Music was very well picked/made, as it suited the art and story perfectly. What I look for in good music is that it fits the mood, isn't repetitive, and dosn't distract you. This one got all those criteria.

The platforming sections of the game were a bit of a hassle, I'll admit. I had some issues with the wall jump, because every time I leapt off a wall I couldn't turn the fox in the direction of that wall again, causing me to fall many times, and was frustrating: while it certanly didn't make the game impossible, it was a little irksome thing that could of probably been fixed fairly easily.

The story is interesting, at least interesting enough to help motivate the player to keep playing. I wont say much more than that, though I did enjoy the progression. You certainly knew how to spread things out evenly.

All in all, this is a excellent game worth the front page, and then some. I'll be keeping my eye out for you on the top fifty flash game/movie list.

thanks!

[DG Little Red Riding Hood]

A fun, interesting game.

The art is great, I really enjoyed that, which is good because the art is the only thing that really drives the player. =3 you want to find out whats next, even though we all know the story. Music is good, its in the backround and it dosn't bother you. The challange level seemed to flux qiute a bit, though, at least for me: sometimes it was really easy and sometimes It was rip-out-my hair hard, which was why Im glad you offered hints (which I never took advantage of, I was too proud) but in any case, this was a great game, and thanks for makin' it!

DifferenceGames responds:

There is a lot of variance on the difficulty because each time you play different differences are shown. The hint system is there to help at thoe 'hair pull out moments' and there isn't any penalty to using it, although if you wait for the bar to refill you are going to get less of a time bonus on the scene.

[Chromium]

Could stand a few improvements.

graphically, your game is excellent. The enemy design was enjoyable, and was frankly the only real drive i had to go as far as i did.

the game, otherwise... was rather... dull. I say this in the nicest way possible. ^_^; I mean, at its core, it was a good game, but thats all it was: the core of a good game. I mean, leveling up is rather pointless (you get stronger, but the enemies get stronger, so... what changed?) and the few upgrades only added a few nice sprinkles to the gameplay.

this kind of game has been done before, but with much more customization, enemies, and level variation. I think you tried to seperate yourself from the pack with the art, but it takes more than that to make a fun game: sure, its nice to look at, but that wont distract you from the same repeitiitve gamplay.

My advice is to make leveling up more meaningful, more than just a new enemy to shoot. Also, some variation in music would of been nice: its a cool song but it can grate on the nerves after a while. Additonally, customization options would be cool... and maybe a mini-game, or something, to break the repeptiveness?

All around, I'd say this is a solid game, but lacking in the origonality and in the gameplay: rocks are solid too, but you dont have a lot of fun just looking at em. X3

Thanks!

[GOBTRON]

Glad you added a save feature.

The game was fun, really fun, but repetivie, and can wear down on you over time. The ww2-esk levels were really long, and the only reason I didn't quit was because I was so close, I thought I might as well finish.

The save feature let me take a much-needed break, though, so I was glad you added it. Overall, a good game, but could of used something a little more to help it break away from the repeitiveness that it was. The little things were nice, but they were just that: little. Not enough to make it really FRESH, just added a new dimension.

still though, I commend you for your work.

thanks!

[FlyOrDie]

A plesant surprise.

The gameplay was fairly average, well performed, if not graphically impressive. A solid, secure game.

HOWEVER, I must state my genuine satisfaction with your addition of the ability to prevent turning. I've played games like this before, and none of them had that feature: it was a real treat, as odd as that sounds, and I salute you for it.

A flash game worthy of Newgrounds... not a frontpager, but certanly should have a place in the games section.

[Monster Traffic]

Its a good game...

ITs good, but I dont really think its newgrounds-worthy QUITE yet.

Work on it, add new levels, better spawning, new enemies, and frankly, the honking of the horns every time I use fire to hit a car is VERY annoying.

Improve it, Im sure you can, and I'll keep my eye out for it so I can see how you've improved. =D

thanks!

egdcltd responds:

My sound effects are always annoying for some reason. Perhaps I just can't pick decent ones. That is why I always include a mute button these days (I also play most Flash games with my speakers off).

[Dynamic Systems]

Very good game, one huge annoying problem.

The physics are great, the gameplay is addictive, and the music is great. But the scoring system is horrible. You only get a sizeable amount of points if you do each puzzle EXACTLY the way you say it should be done in the Solutions page. I think that you should get more points based of creativity and how many pieces you use instead of how accurately one can copy how you say it should be solved. That really annoyed me.

otherwise, its a great game.

thanks!