Bcadren's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[Elementalist: 0]

Christ man. I mean cool mechanics, but it could use some hammering and as someone that's finished genocide on Undertale and cleared the Rapture in Super Meat Boy; this game is exhausting; just something about so long of a marathon with no healing; I've yet to see the boss, the upgrades seem to have minimal effect and I'm just tired. The button-spammy controls don't help either. Probably should be harder but shorter levels with healing in between instead of kill 350 things over around 15 minutes marathon.

Franuka responds:

Thanks for the feedback, it's appreciated. I'm planning on improving the pacing for the next release, making it feel much less grindy.

[Cactus Chyps]

You fell into the same hole I usually do for Ludum Dare. I've only finished one myself (look for Toy Soldiers on my profile). You tried to make something that was complicated from a programming standpoint and therefore barely got it done; with substantial glitches and oversight and had little to no time to make tutorials or good level designs within the time-limit; ultimately creating something that is very confusing to the point of impossible for the average player (a lot of controls; no in game tutorial to ease the player into how to properly use them; instead just being dropped into a level and having to read a text box to figure it out).

At this point; it's not really enough of a prototype for me to say much. Spend a couple more days on it to get a tutorial to the point that a player could understand it more easily and I might have more to say.

Jamesgudge responds:

Hey! Thanks for the response :) I know what you're saying, I'd originally left two hours for audio and polish, but evidently it wasn't near enough for what it required :P That said, thanks for playing and enjoying it, I'll be updating it in the future :)

[Symmetry]

I'm killing the videos for a bit, since I can't record audio very well right now. BUT; here goes:

Minor issue:
Probably should have arrows as well as WASD, at least. Lot of people prefer all keys be rebindable, but a full menu for that might be above your ability right now. (minor)

Art:
The odd fluidity of your character style has an endearing quality to it; but I still think you should learn a bit of traditional sprite art. Look around PixelJoint a bit and learn the techniques. For some reason the abstract 'dude' in this reminds me of lemmings in how exaggerated and fluid his moves are...though there's obviously more pixels to him than a lemming. The fact the box literally says 'box' on it was amusing at first.

Magenta and Yellow are complimentary colors; which makes the palette very strong. :)

Mechanics/Design:

Your core mechanics have been done before; but the level designs that teach the player what your mechanics are and how to access them are very strong. The only major issue is the last level, which in no way makes it clear that we've suddenly switched to a level that takes up multiple screens after the rest of the game used single screen levels.

Overall:
3.5/5. Doing good; need to work on art and polish. And maybe come up with something more unique mechanically next time. Seeing some good growth from your first game though.

Benasaurous responds:

Hey man, thanks for the feedback. This is Jlorp, I'm using Ben's acount. The last level's mechanic could've definitely used a bit more conveyance (I originally wanted to put the word "Jump" floating over the pit, I guess we just never got around to putting it in), and Ben could probably go back in and add the arrow keys as controls relatively quickly.

I'll definitely do some research on pixel art techniques. Putting "box" on the box sprite was not the original idea, I just eventually broke down in the frustration of trying to make a sweet box sprite decided "screw it, I'll just write box on the side."

I've never really worked with pixel art before, aside from doing the sprites for mach speed. Which by the way, Mach speed's sprites were originally designed for a completely different game with a much tighter camera. Ben just reused them in his game after we scrapped the game they originated from.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the game & good luck with your video channel.

-Jonny (Jlorp)

[Mach Speed]

I'm starting to do video reviews...this was the first game I did one for.

Full review here: http://youtu.be/nkOLKjdf0SE

Though I say it there; solid first effort, hope to see more of you in the future.

Benasaurous responds:

Wow! That's awesome! Thanks for the review and the feedback, glad you liked it!

[Hockey Dad]

It's cute and not really a GOOD game (hell it's so non-challenging it's debatable as to if it's a game). It's a cute reference for those that get it though.

4 as a joke/reference; 1 as a game...average to 2.5.

Aprime responds:

Thing is... even if people don't get the reference... it's fine, because as Gooch pointed out (one of the person who reviewed this game) "It's funny how this illustrates such an ongoing problem in youth sports". So I guess there's that.

Also, this clearly is a game if Super PSTW Action RPG is one ;D (Check that out, seriously)

[Danger Time]

This is a well-polished turd. Seriously; that's what it felt like to me.

1.) For starters; the intro is ~WAY~ too long. As a rule of thumb; either develop backstory over time or show it; a bunch of blocks of text in the early game are not something ~ANY~ player wants to see. It's a barrier to playing the game. People come to your game to play it, not read a novella explaining the backstory.

2.) The animation on the main character is smooth. But none of the other sprites are at anywhere near the same quality level and even on him, you could stand to half the resolution. (Going smaller makes for more exact pixel art and a retro feel; atm, you have an MSPAINT feel). Some of the enemies plain look like you took sprites from other things and kind of frankensteined them together.

3.) Is there any indication of when the 'suicider' is going to jump? ...like at all?

Overall it seems like you spent a lot of time on backstory and on (attempting) art; without managing good art. While mechanics and level design fell quite flat. I tried to start to pick at a few things, but it's like picking at the middle scab on a gaping wound.

HenerzH responds:

Well some the art is made in paint and temporary, it's not highly polished, it was made in a few weeks by one guy. The intro can be skipped. I didn't want you to know when she would jump because i thought that wouldn't make any sense.

I didn't spend loads of time on back story. I thought it would amuse some people, it can be easily skipped. There is only lots of text in 1 level for those who want to read it, or you can just run past it, which is why i did it like that.

Complaining about an entirely skippable intro is ridiculous.

It's just a simple prototype.
I like the main characters look, others do to, i don't want to half his resolution, it's obviously not meant to look like a small 8 bit character

If you don't like it, fine. Critiscm is useful. But you don't need to be a jerk about it.

[Blake Strongflank Escapes]

Very solid level design. Unique, but minimalist controls and no art. Thanks for reminding me that sometimes simple works. As someone that recently DNF'd a gameJam because I spent too long on art and was the only programmer; this is something I'd do well to remember. That said. I played most of it, but got stuck and had to give up on 5 09; which I'm sure is near the end, but I just...can't.

almostnot responds:

Thanks man!

I've had a similar past history with projects and I really wanted to make this one happen as an end to end product. 509 is a killer level but one of the guys in the reviews gave and awesome explanation of how to do it.

You can do it!

Thanks for playing :D

[Snowbrawl in HELL]

Good art. Controls are solid.

But, feels a little slow paced; reminds me of pitfall. I'd do away with the limited lives, it gives an arcade feel, but no one really likes that anymore; just restart screen is enough. And I'd make it a little more face-paced and a little more mid-air control. Also, yea, nothing feels that unique as well.

farfromsleep responds:

The slow pacing is deliberate, like I mentioned in the description it's a tribute to Hunchback, which was itself derivative of Pitfall. Even though it seems a little slow it's actually been sped up massively from the original (I remember it playing slow, but couldn't believe how slow it actually was when I revisited it). The simple layouts, specific timings and fixed jumping are all references to it. It's probably not for everyone, but it was designed with those elements in mind, for better or worse.

I wouldn't normally go with limited lives, but for a short game with a handful of screens I felt it gave it a bit more challenge. The whole thing was built from scratch in a few days, so there's certainly things I'd change given a little more time, but for what it was I think it turned out okay, if not to everyone's taste.

Thanks for the feedback, appreciate it!