ChromeShark's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[Sixty]

Unbelievable

One of my favourite games on Newgrounds and probably one of the greatest Flash games ever made.

Everything about this is a masterpiece. The artwork that forms as you play looks incredible and is never the same twice. I expect it took a while to code the bitmap effects but the finished result looks like something that took as long as any great work that comes to mind.

The music...wow the music. Usually the music in a game is fitting, sometimes I go straight for the 'off' button, but its very rare that the music in a game excels it far beyond what it would be without. Even the satisfying 'boom' when the intensity goes up gives me chills every time I hear it.

The game itself is so simple but just works perfectly. This is exactly what a Flash minigame should be - no need for complex instructions or tutorials, just a simple concept that ridiculously fun to play and will keep people coming back again and again.

Even though its only a 60 second game I've played this so many times that its given me much more life than most long games. I can't help but wonder how epic this would be if you made a full game out of it though - different levels, bosses etc. I wont go too deep into suggestions because you have some 250 already and surely some ideas of your own, but if you're in two minds over doing a sequel, just DO IT, it could be the biggest and most successful Flash game of all time.

I love all your work but for me this is the only one that really, really amazes me. Put a lot of time and effort into a sequel and you'll have your Magnum Opus.

I admit some jealousy as I tried a game like this recently and mine falls flat in comparison. This has inspired me to go back and give it another go though, without doubt this is a 10/10.

[Tombscape]

Great but Varied

I enjoyed this a lot, the huge variation of puzzles made it interesting and must've taken a long time time to code. But in a way I also found this to be the games downfall.

My favorite element of the game was the point and click puzzles. Lighting the torches for example, or using the crowbar to remove the boards. I liked the added depth, there were lots of things to collect in each stage and the hidden rooms were a nice touch.

I didn't like the action parts much. I found the blades at the start frustrating and, not knowing that the game would get better, almost gave up right away at this.

I eventually gave up when I reached the join-the-dots. I'm playing on laptop touchpad and found this impossible by the third one. You really should allow for all users, I was disappointed that I couldn't continue after this.

The linear progression was also a let down, often I wanted to go back and have another look in an area. If players could choice which rooms to explore first they could do the ones they like best which would reduce the chance of giving up when they get to one the dislike.

The graphics were really brilliant, every stage looked fantastic. Even small things such as each individual artifacts looking unique were impressive.

This was close to being brilliant, but for me it just fell short on some problems with the structure of the game. The graphics and coding are very impressive though, well done.

Psionic3D responds:

Many thanks for the in-depth review, I will certainly keep your comments in mind for my future games!!

[Fusbi]

A good start

Great engine, but the game itself felt like it lacked something. I was shooting enemies for quite a while (and enjoying it too) but it didn't take long before I was wondering what the point was - other than the numbers at the bottom increasing nothing seemed to be progressing. Maybe I'm missing something - if so then more clear instructions would be needed.

But the combat engine is pretty smooth. The range of attacks was impressive, I was surprised when my Fusbi started flying Rayman-style. With only two enemies though the range of attacks felt a bit unnecessary as the standard A attack would usually suffice.

The style of the Fusbi and enemies was great and gave the game a nice character. The background was plain though and could be improved.

As you call this 'the first Fusbi game' I take it you have a sequel in the works. With enough work it could build on this basic engine to make a great game. Good luck : )

One more thing - when I was playing this I could also picture it as a fantastic online multiplayer game like Platform Racers. Maybe that's something else you could look into.

[Space Aggressor]

Nice take on a classic concept

At heart it was a standard space shooter, but it was a well made game with a few nice touches that made it stand out.

Great graphics all round, clearly time had been spent creating all the different enemies and items. The background was impressive, I liked how it was bright and colorful without distracting from the gameplay.

The controls took a while ot get used to, I think the decellaeration could have been a bit faster, I often found myself gliding into enemies unexpectedly.

A problem I found with the shooting is that by having guns on each side, the bullets could quite easily go to either side of an enemy when perfectly lines up with it. A central gun with side guns as upgrades would have been prefereable.

Good sound all round in the game, nice chpice of music and approproate SFX.

The cutscenes gave the game some characater and were well animated, if a little static at times. The voice acting was decent but let down by terrible sound quality, without the subtitles they'd have been difficult to understand at all. I think this had quite a big effect on the games overall quality.

The difficulty was good, challenging but accomplishable after some practice. Liked how I could restart from unlocked levels, would have got boring redoing the same ones. SharedData saving was a bonus too.

There's clearly some great coding behind this, maybe just try something a bit more original and you'll get more credit for it.

['Geom 3D]

Great 3D Game

That was awesome. 3D Flash games usually impress me and this was no exception, I'd like to try some real 3D in Flash myself one day (I've had a play with pseudo 3D) but wouldn't really know where to start.

I found the first level of this game to be a weak start, the movement of the enemies was far too erratic which made it difficult to avoid them. You had some great ideas here but it didn't really come together.

The game got better when it went to the more track racing style, I still found it pretty tricky to judge jumps but it was generally good fun. The tracks were well designed and must've taken a while to do.

Graphically it was simple, but given that it was 3D I'd still say it looked fantastic. I liked the use of bright colours and strong geometric shapes.

Music was good, a fitting choice. Lack of SFX though, these would've helped the game a lot I reckon.

Really liked your menus and things, this was a well presented game. Especially liked that whoosh effect when you die, felt like something straight from a console game (well maybe DS, not exactly a PS3 level of advancement).

This was pretty much my favorite thing I've found on Newgrounds today, I don't often leave reviews so that must go to show how cool I thought this was. Keep up the good work and I'll look out for your stuff!

Disarray-yarrasiD responds:

Thank you very much :D
I'll try to keep this stuff in mind.

[Cyborg.]

An excellent shooter

This is probably the best game I've played on Newgrounds this month. I particularly enjoyed it as it has similarities to one of my own games, but the gameplay and effects were truly outstanding.

I'll start by saying I played up to the level with the lightsaber-type weapon, so my judgment is based only on the levels up until then (when I have a while to spare I'll no doubt come back and play some more).

Other than the ad, the game looks impressive before the user even reaches the game. Loved the menu, nothing too flashy but the effect on the background was unique and set the game's feel right away. Changeable clothes and hair was a nice touch, from my experience such a feature can limit the capabilities of animating the character, but I didn't notice any such problems.

The character's movement was fluid, the rocket pack feature was a nice touch that gave the game some originality. To where I played I didn't find it absolutely necessary though and I'll be interested to see if the later levels make better use of the feature. Same goes for the boost-running.

A roll feature would have added to the gameplay, when left or right is pressed whilst crouching. I think there'd be something satisfying about rolling towards an enemy to dodge its fire before slashing it in half with the lightsaber thing.

The sound effects were brilliant, there always seemed to be an assortment of sounds going on at once which made the gameplay feel enjoyably hectic. The music I can't credit so much, fitting perhaps, but there may have been better choices.

My very favorite thing about the game was the laser effects. This surely must have been AS3 coded, because I'd be amazed if you could get so many laser blasts going at once without lag in AS2. Loved the way laser rebounded slightly on contact with a wall.

By the third level I could see the game getting repetitive, but you skillfully managed to keep it constantly varied. It's very hard to stop playing a game when you're always being given a new weapon to play with or a new type of challenge.

There's a lot I liked about this game that I haven't even mentioned - the cutscene at the start, the slick status display, the great enemy design, high quality artwork throughout. There's more than enough here to make the game deserved of a 10/10, it's as good as Flash shooting games get.

[Santa Sniper]

Very good idea, just a bit buggy

I'll start by saying that the is very well presented, great menus etc. The graphics are very good on Santa, the background is decent but a little bare in places.

The concept of Santa sniping Scrooges is very original, and for the most part it was well conceived. I like the way it zooms in, really cool effect, and the shakiness is nice too.

There's just some serious cases of it not doing what you'd expect. For ages I couldn't work out why I couldn't hold my breath - it was because I was holding CTRL. But when I started just pressing it to enter zoom mode, the crosshair didn't seem to line up right.

A 'back to menu' button would also be a good idea because, probably like most people, I dived right into the game and missed the instructions, so I had to start over.

The sound is ok, but didn't fit very well. Something Christmassy would've made it a lot better. SFX were fine though.

Overall it was a well made game, but feels like it needs a lot of refinement. Can't help but think you rushed it a little to get it out in time for Christmas. Based on the coding, concept and art (and a little bit of personal bias) I'll give this an 8, nice try.

[Vector Runner]

Fast, stylish and fun

3D games in Flash, they don't come along often so I'm always excited to find a new one, especially one as good as this. My attention span doesn't keep me hooked on games long, but I could've played this forsome time if I didn't have better things to do (will add to my favourites and no doubt come back to it later though!).

I'd be very interested to know if this is AS2 or AS3. The sheer speed of it is amazing, when I played it I figured it was AS3 but after seeing your comment about Flash struggling with it I'm not so sure. Either way, the coding is very good to get it playing this well.

I'm in two minds about the graphics. It has a nice style to it, and does look pretty cool when all those red things are flying past at speed. But on the other hand the obstacles look too similar to each other and the ship is a bit boring as just a box. I like the look you've tried for, but I think it could be better.

Can't say anything bad about the sound, fitting music and FX, liked that whoosh when you get close to an obstacle. Always good to see off buttons though, especially as you had separate ones for music and sound, wish everyone would do that.

This is usually where I'd give suggestions for improvements, and although I can think of a lot of ideas for this, in a way they'd all draw away from the games simplicity which is largely what I liked about it. In this sense the game is perfect for what it is, so I'm giving it a 10. I'd love to see what you'd come up with if you did make a sequel though. Great work and hope you get front page.

DigYourOwnGrave responds:

Thanks for the great review! To answer your question, yes, it was done with AS2. I should really port it over to AS3 and see what sort of difference it makes. Part of the optimizing process was simplifying the geometry in the game, which is what gives it the very simple look.

I definitely have plans for a sequel or two. Thanks again.

[- Desert Rally -]

Best Line Avoider I've Played

Line avoiding games have become one of my least favourite types of games on Newgrounds, I've seen people try and make the concept more interesting but it generally still results in frustration and repetitiveness. I'm not sure if you'd even class this as a line avoider, but the basic concept is still there, you've just done an excellent job of making it more varied and entertaining.

Graphics were great, room for improvement, but generally very crisp and colourful. Especially liked the car selection with it's nice array of characters. Shame you couldn't make these out too well whilst driving.

Music was fine, and the inclusion of an off button is always welcome. Sound effects were mostly ok, I had one unpleasant sound that seemed to get stuck in loop on occasion, not sure if that was a bug or intentional.

The gameplay was generally very fun, loved the open track with a choice of routes, and the occasional rotation was unique and helped vary the gameplay. The powerups were well conceived too, nothing too original, but the ones used enhanced the gameplay without distracting from the general concept.

I found it became quite difficult to see where I was going later on, I expect this was intentional to make things harder, but maybe this could have been achieved through other challenges like moving obstacles (presuming there were none of these after the point at which I died).

With only one track there wasn't much replay value, definitely scope here for multiple courses. How about an ice track with reduced friction in icy areas, or a space track with anti-gravity areas. I understand that designing mutiple tracks would take a lot more time so I'm not discrediting this one for not having them, but it's something to consider if you were to make a sequel.

The mouse-click button had no function in this game, which is something else you could add for a future version. The most basic option would be a jump feature to avoid gaps in the track or jump over opponents. Alternatively you could add weapons and use the click to fire them, I think it's awesome to collect missiles and launch them at opponents.

There's no single reason why I'm giving this a 9 instead of a 10, I think there's just too much scope for improvement to suggest that it's perfect. I really liked the game though and I'd love to see a sequel one day. Great work, well done.

[Fat Turkey]

Phat Turkey

Pretty fun for a collect-and-avoid game, the graphics were well drawn and made it more enjoyable. Liked the blood spat when you hit a hunter, little odd how the hunters vanish though. The background was ok but maybe some surroundings would have made it seem less flat, even just something simple like a fence or trees around the edge.

The game difficulty was well adjusted, it sped up quick enough to keep a player interested. Could have used some more variation after a while, maybe a different type of enemy, such as hunters that can shoot.

Powerups would've definitely helped here, things like speed-up, temporary invincibility, one-hit shields. With a bit of thought to keep them in with the Turkey theme they could work well.

The sound was cool, had a retro feel to it that suited the gameplay. But an 'off' button is really a necessity in a game, not everyone will want to listen to the music and effects. Also, a 'return to menu' button is always a good idea.

The menus were one of the best things about this game, and showed how good presentation can greatly elevate a simple game. Very well drawn graphics on the title screen, and I loved the sliding effect between menus. Will probably steal this idea for my games!

Seasonal games always have added interest, even though we don't have Thanksgiving here in the UK I can see how it would get people in the seasonal mood. How about more of these; Fat Easter Bunny, Fat Jack O Lantern, Fat Guy Fawkes, Fat Cupid, Fat Leprechaun. But not Fat Santa cause that'd be lame ; )

This probably won't get daily awards or front page, but should definitely get put in the Thanksgiving collection. Time to go try get on the high score board, keep up the good work ^^