Troisnyx's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[Red Bird]

Oh boy, here we go again, another Helicopter-esque game...

Right. This game isn't as endless as I would like it to be because the hitbox for the cats is JUST TOO BIG. I DIE WITHOUT EVEN TOUCHING THE CATS. Seriously. No kidding. This makes the game just too annoying and boring for me by the time I try like a third time. Not to mention how some feathers are just too close to enemies; because of the enemies' big hitbox, you can't really collect them. The bird's movement is alright, but considering how fast the cats are moving, I find it a bit slow and sluggish.

The art isn't bad, but I kinda feel a little more effort could have been put into it. It doesn't look stellar; it just looks..... bland. And the music... it grates my ears.

1/5.

[Minumatch]

There's no save function for the game EVEN when you have cache enabled and even when you're logged into the same session on a browser. I'm running Chrome on Windows 8, and don't try and tell me it's a problem with the OS, because someone else reported this problem before me.

The game is very much like Swapples (a game from the site which used to be called omgpop), in that there is a bit of variety on power-ups. I like that. Graphics are quite smooth, and transitions are quite smooth. Understanding the requirements of each level took me a while to figure out, because once you click by mistake, it could all go away, and it's not the most intuitive thing to look at a picture on the *top* of the screen -- I prefer text on top of the screen, because it serves as a far better, far more obvious warning alert.

I'm not sure what to think about the music, it's kinda meh. I preferred playing it on mute.

Otherwise, it's very luck-based. One minute, you can get three stars out of three; the next moment, you get nothing at all because you failed the blooming level. I would have liked this to be based on skill, and not on luck, because players don't like to be annoyed when playing a game like this. If I'm playing a match-3, I PLAY IT FOR FUN, NOT TO GET ANNOYED!

2/5.

[Ario Old]

There's something about this game that makes me all sad, reminiscent and misty-eyed. Not too long ago my fiancé and I were talking about how video game characters don't age, and he then proceeded to say, "Peach looks hot for a 50-year-old" -- but what if, just what if, the time came for them to become frail and wheelchair-bound...

Now, I have at least played Level 1 in this game and am aiming to play this game proper, without a lagging PC. But the amount of lag is not a basis for scoring here. My thoughts are on these:

First, graphics. It looks very Super Mario World-like, with some obvious differences so as to not fall foul of intellectual property law (for instance, the UI, the way coins and power-ups appear). That's perfectly understandable. The first world select and first level, at least, look very blue -- something that strikes me as reminiscent.

Gameplay is alright, I suppose -- the controls respond fine. My only qualm with it is that when jumping, Ario looks awfully unnatural. It's too unfittingly comical -- and my perception is that he's got to have superhuman strength at his age to jump that high in a wheelchair... and is the original protagonist (from whom this is based) superhumanly strong? I doubt it...

Music... well, that's the one place where I have to gash points a lot.

The Level 1 music is a 3-second loop, with lots of high synths. It is ANNOYING and it GRATES THE EARS. >_< It strikes me as too dour for the original franchise, but too overly cheerful for this particular game. I haven't come across the other level themes yet, but this first one doesn't give me much promise.

Overall good work, but the game still has its kinks.

3.5/5.

ArioOld responds:

We are glad that you liked the main idea and we understand all the negative points that you mentioned. We had been worked for two months on this game, the graphic is other and the songs are others too. Unfortunately we had problems with the copyright and we had to do the project all over again in just one day in order to participate in the contest, as it was the last day to post it.
Those bugs do not exist in the official version. If you liked this I'm sure that you are going to enjoy the original version.

To play the original version enter in our official web site, the link is at the description
http://www.facebook.com/superarioold

About the "Super Jump": you're right, we are going to improve the idea.

[Stop The FCC]

Let me make it clear that I support keeping the internet free from things like SOPA, PIPA and the FCC. And whether I like it or not, the internet is a resilient little thing, going through growing pains to get freer and freer, the way Sir Tim Berners-Lee intends it to be. Or rather, should I say, there are many internet users around the world who are resilient against this type of law enforcement.

Now, on to the interaction of this short game proper.

Music was well chosen, I suppose. It's bleak, and a desperate picture of what the internet could look like.

Graphics were boxy and simplistic, but it does make me wonder what this whole fascination of blank hitboxes is. Anti-SOPA games had this, and now this game has it too. Is this game trying to tell me that FCC would also prevent original content?

The atmosphere was brilliant, for the most part -- but why are the graphics resembling that of Web 1.0 websites? The internet adopted a whole new aesthetic years ago. Game-wise, I doubt there are any bugs, and I suppose there are only a few things that can be interacted with, in keeping with how bleak the situation is.

The dialogues and writing aren't. Are you trying to tell me that reading books is an inferior way of spending time to the internet, for example? It's shallow thinking at best. The only "beneficiary" from the FCC is the big guy in a suit -- but little effort is actually made to show WHO ELSE would benefit, and WHO ELSE would suffer, and WHAT ELSE they would say. I would have appreciated if the whole writing was a lot more thought-provoking than this. And this, I'm afraid, is where I have to gash away points. This kind of game is meant to raise awareness by putting us deep in thought, but it just doesn't, and comes across as yet another corny protest "game".

2.5/5.

[Tuper Tario Tros.]

As an original SMB1 fan, I've got some scathing remarks to dish out... with your name on it!

GRAPHICS
Great job using the SMB1 sprites; I liked the old-school feel. The main thing which gashed it for me is that the resolution is just too high. I guess it had to be done for the Tetris blocks to be dropped, but the res could still have been reduced by at least a third. More of this to come under Mechanics.

SOUND
Overworld theme, castle theme and standard Tetris theme. Alright, good choice. I wasn't sure about the castle theme being used for the bit where you had to build your castle from scratch -- I kinda felt it overdramatised the whole thing.

MECHANICS
This, I'm afraid, is where I have the most complaints.

The autoscrolling makes it very reminiscent of a SMB Lost Levels stage, but I don't know if it helped with exploration at all. You may as well have put in a time limit -- it would have served the same purpose.

That you didn't have a time limit, and that you put in so many blocks and areas to explore, means that I as the player ought to have been given the *freedom* to explore this! Autoscrolling really took it away from me.

Also, only World 1-1 was playable here.... but it was too darn long. I spent most of my time standing still and moving Tetris blocks. SMB and SMB Lost Levels, by contrast, are slightly more fast-paced. I feel like I've been severely handicapped, playing a slow and drawn-out level.

Now, moving on to coins, power-ups and power blocks.

1) You would normally expect, in an SMB level, to have coins strewn all about the place, not necessarily in coin blocks. There were absolutely none in this game.

2) The only possible power-up was the Super Mushroom. No Fire Flower? No Invincibility Star?

3) A lot of the ? Blocks were found in Tetris pieces, and were impossible to access. It doesn't feel like World 1-1 when you can only get 7 coins in the entire stage.

tl;dr: I liked the whole crossover idea, but it could have used a lot more thought. Resolution was too high, mechanics were not thought out, and it felt slow and drawn-out.

3/5.

[Rocket Fish]

The title graphics, UI and transition animations are great. Not sure what I can say about the actual gameplay itself -- it's a real pity you get knocked DOWN by the bird, rather than have the option of bouncing off some for distance bonus à la Toss the Turtle. That gashes points for gameplay, but you've got added points for UI.

What really annoys me is that there has to be an ad EVERY TIME you finish one round, rather than have it done and dusted at the beginning. Look, we know you're looking to earn with this game. But you ain't gonna get far if 1) it's the same ad every time, 2) the gameplay has to be interrupted by it all the time. We gamers get frustrated... and I am certainly frustrated at this. How are we even going to go through the process of unlocking more items if we have to be interrupted each time?

3/5.

PixelKick responds:

Thanks for your comments, they are helpful to me! You shouldn't be seeing an ad after every round, so i'm investigating that and will have it resolved. Thanks again! (UPDATE. FIXED THOSE ADS)

[Hard Point]

I quite like the trouble you took to make the puzzle elements -- they are reasonably easy, and sometimes reasonably challenging. And checkpoints all over the stage! The graphics look quite well done; there's a robotic aesthetic all round.

My ONLY complaint, one which gashes the playability by a fair bit, is that there is no Pause button! I tried hitting P (as is good practice) when I was given my meal and we were about to say grace -- and the game just did not pause... And of course, that affects score. I really, really DON'T like how you NEVER considered occasions like these, or occasions where you have to drop the game halfway because of a call, or go to the bathroom, and you happen to not be in a checkpoint...

3/5.

[Newgrounds Holiday Worm]

Let me just say right off the bat: I had uncertainty writing that music track, but I'm glad many have enjoyed it. Looking really good. Kudos to everyone.

Also, 3 out of 4 medals for the time being -- I'll break the Flash later. :P

TurkeyOnAStick responds:

:) Merry Christmas!