Kwing's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[Symphonic Tower Defense]

Poor Execution

For a game that's abbreviated as STD, I wanted to like this game. I also love tower defense games and DDR, which were both heavy influences for this game (the swirl selector and pentagraph are obviously taken from it), so I was really frustrated when I found that this just didn't appeal to me. Although the graphics are very nicely done and look natural, and the YouTube video streamed from this is high quality and transitions nice within the Flash canvas, AND you made a pretty decent music selection, I can't honestly say I enjoyed it. Why? Because the game isn't involved enough!

For one, it seems that which notes in a song you decided to turn into actual notes on the staff were chosen at random. Plenty notes were in the songs and much fewer were shown as enemies. Perhaps you could have made the game a little more accurate by giving the levels more notes with fewer health. Also, it doesn't even seem as if the notes go with the music! Perhaps a tile-based system would have made the layout appear more segmented, but as it is I don't even see how it's that different from most tower defenses. Last, I hate how you unlock things at such a slow pace! It gives the player less options, makes it more frustrating, and in general detracts from the gameplay.

Also the fact that you TELL players which towers to use makes it much less appealing as well. The special attacks and other doodads didn't seem to impact the gameplay much and were trivial, tacked on features.

It was definitely a good idea, but right now it still looks pretty sketchy and not fun at all.

[NSG014: ASFree]

Damn Impressive

I was referenced here by someone who reviewed my fully ActionScripted movie, Jamrock's Lucky Day (ToR). I was told that this was a game made with absolutely no ActionScript, and I must say it's pretty impressive. The thing about it that frustrated me was that there was no in-depth explanation of how it worked, and since you were allowed to use shapes instead of ActionScript, you could have put in a (timed) screen giving a more in-depth explanation of how it worked, or even an animation demonstrating how it was done. From what I can tell it seems like a mouse maze, but you don't have to follow the path...? I got the You Win screen once but still didn't understand it much better afterward.

I shall 5 this to bump the score up, but this could have and should have had much better graphics and a streamed song. You, unlike me, were allowed to draw whatever you wanted and create as many library items as you wished. Take advantage of it!!

[Stealing the Diamond]

Very Good

I wasn't sure what to think when I saw this on the number one spot for game/interactive in the Top 50. The previous two had been good, but not this kind of quality. After playing it I can see why it's reached this spot, though. The graphics are much better this time around, with the sticks being the only thing that's really bland looking. The animation is extremely smooth, and there's also a ton of things to do in this game! The ideas and humor are decent, although none of them got me to laugh out loud. The music is well chosen. All in all it's pretty darn good. It does, however, still feel as if it's missing something. I also wish the menus were a little more comprehensive, as they look rather rough and artistic to a fault.

PuffballsUnited responds:

I will keep the menu thing in mind for the next one. I dunno what it could be missing, but I'll keep trying to add new things.

[GetMetal RPG]

Painful

The graphics are nice and simple, but need more color and a bit better animation. The biggest problem of course is the fact that half of the game is in a foreign language (Russian?) and the English is riddled with spelling errors! To make things worse, the text is extremely small and almost completely unreadable. I did bypass this by zooming in, but still...

Also the music is extremely repetitive. Despite the fact that I absolutely love the music from Final Fantasy Tactics, looping it over and over on a very short loop gets very annoying. Also, the tabs and everything are not explained well AT ALL, and while everything looks very polished, one would still get the impression it was written in another language if it wasn't. Too many tabs!

The gameplay didn't work for me, seeing as my character refused to attack at all. And since I couldn't understand whatever language the game was in, I was unable to learn anything else about the game. The concept looks great and I can imagine it being really fun, but sadly there were too many things in the way for me to enjoy it properly, especially since the game really shows its age.

[Pothead Zombies]

Not Very Compelling

The graphics are standard, nothing great, nothing bad. The music is good but gets kind of old quickly, and could use a jukebox or a mixup of tracks. The gameplay is extremely recycled; just shoot. I also didn't like how the cars later on made it so that sniper rifles just weren't worth it. I lost because of it and had to continue onward with rapid fire weapons only. Frankly it's just bland.

When I saw the title I was hoping for lots of scenes with voice acting and a great satirical storyline, but I got neither. This is a pretty big letdown.

[Madness Party SC]

Poor

Just a bunch of click and drag stuff, and you can't even rotate or flip it. That's the first thing I'd like to see with this. After that, add more weapons and sprites to load, and also use linkage to make players able to spawn things at will.

[Armor Games Pinball]

Ick

I like the depth and the graphics are nice, but the physics are so off the game is almost unplayable and there's such a poor, unrealistic sense of timing in it. The ball bounces so much and never rolls!

[Original Hardcore Pinball]

Boo

The art style is tacky, the flippers only work some of the time, sometimes the pinball gets launched right into the lane on the left and you don't get a chance to do anything, and there's barely anything on the field to hit. Also everything moves way too fast.

[20 Seconds to DIE]

Neat!

Great effects and layout! I also thought the animations were very well done. Very smooth, and well shot. Certain effects, such as the lightning, were superb. The only one I really didn't like was EvilTie's, whose made no sense and was somewhat poorer quality than the rest. Other than that, though, I really enjoyed it! Very smooth!

[The Abusive Review Quiz]

Needs Improvement

The graphics are nice, but I don't like how the reviews are laid out, nor how the buttons kind of move up and down. Setting them up such that the button is in the same place every time would have been nice, and I would have also liked having the number question I was on displayed. I had no idea how long the quiz was, so I didn't know when I would get my score or medals or anything!

The sound was also kind of obnoxious and repetitive, and the grading system is oftentimes a matter of opinion, as review mods have mentioned that they interpret the rules differently. For instance, I currently have a Deity whistle, yet I only was awarded a Silver whistle upon completing this quiz. Coop is a mod... Refer to his review for more info.