ChaoticBrain's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[Relive Your Life]

For those of you smacking your head against pavement,
Trying to collect every last achievement,
HereâEUTMs some advice: Be mindful. Be wary.
Not every decision is purely binary.
For within some forks lies a third option, hidden.
Feel free to experiment; itâEUTMs not forbidden.
Now if you still struggle to find their hiding places
IâEUTMll give you another tip that may help you save faces.
Three lie in the mutantâEUTMs path, three lie in the boyâEUTMs.
The girlâEUTMs path, sadly, contains no such choice.
Does the location of these third choices still leave you vexed?
Where applicable, thereâEUTMs one right after learning your sex.
Know also, the difference between failing and not trying
Is the difference between success and prematurely dying.
ThatâEUTMs all the help IâEUTMll give. Make good use of my clue.
You may be surprised what fateâEUTMs in store for you.

FrozenFire responds:

Beautiful!
Those apostrophes really ruined it though :(

[Get it dark]

This game brings nothing new to the table. I found that when you reset the puzzle, it does not reset the number of clicks you made. Also, it always says that you did it in "only (x) clicks", no matter how poorly you did.

ciupiknu responds:

Well if it would reset the number when you pressed reset, the click count would not be correct anymore because you`d just keep resetting it to get the lowest click count and that would be a sort of cheat. and the "only (x) clicks" part is just being nice to the user:).
Thank you for the feedback anyway !

[Fern - Eirian no Kógeki]

Too difficult, too boring.

The game literally boils down to "click enemy sprite enough times before time runs out." And then the enemy moves so fast that, even with a predictable pattern, you will miss if you are just a frame too early or late. This is most certainly not helped by the enemy jumping out of the screen and becoming momentarily invincible. And even all this would be forgivable if you had some way to block attacks; that way, even when your clicks miss most of the time (and they will), you could at least survive long enough to actually win.

VioletVulpine responds:

I think it's easy. Only a retard cannot beat the simple bosses

[Leptron]

I really dislike this control scheme.

Why didn't you implement an Asteroids-like control scheme? You know, left and right to turn, up to move forward, down to brake, and space to shoot? That would have been a far superior choice to... this.

theta4 responds:

This game is largely (and I mean LARGELY) based off the Namco arcade classic Bosconian. The control scheme is essentially the same. The only difference is you don't start off with a rifle that shoots both forward and backward, which makes things harder the first few levels.

This is the most responsive, maneuverable set of controls, and once you get used to them, it's absolutely amazing. I tried several control schemes, and this was the one I decided on. Besides, asteroids-style controls would completely get in the way of the main point of the game, presenting a new challenge entirely.

[Scaterix]

Okay game, horrible name.

It seems like a fun and simple concept, but there are a couple problems. The jumping feels a little too weak, and on more than one occasion, I had a ground and air obstacle at the same time, making it impossible to jump past.

Also, Scaterix?? Scat-erix??? That sounds like the name of a bad porn game. What was wrong with calling it Skaterix?

nacholopez responds:

I'm from Spain. I named this game because of Skater --> Skaterix --> Scaterix.

I like it!

[TANK MAN]

Itsa me, Mario!

Excellent game. Top notch programming, nostalgic-as-hell graphics, and the "Normal" difficulty is just challenging enough. I was planning to curse you out at first for making the Normal level boss' firing pattern practically unavoidable... until I happened to accidentally stumble into the solution (stand real close to him before he jumps, and he'll miss you every time).

My main complaint: most of the powerups are either only usable in niche situations (especially the C.Cane) or completely useless (S.Spread), making the basic weapon the weapon of choice over 95% of the time. I get that the special powers are supposed to be that - special, but I almost never get to use them. It almost seems pointless to have ammo rechargers at all, since a round of each is probably all you'll ever need, even if you die.

I still cannot fathom how to get at that life at the beginning. No doubt you placed it there with the intent that it could be gotten by a persistent player, but fuck me if I can't figure out how to get at it.

But given that these are the only things I have to gripe about, I'd say you did a top-notch job. I'd give it a 10 if there were more levels. (Hint hint)

Lambtaco responds:

There are two effective ways to dodge it. That one's the easier way.

I'll admit C. Cane was pretty useless other than climbing walls, but S. Spread is really good at killing enemies above you or below you, or shooting over the shields of the bulldozers, not to mention the REALLY obvious one.

You don't know what C. Cane is for, lol. Check the gameplay video on the main page of my site. You'll be smacking yourself.

I don't know. An 11% increase in score for a 1200% increase in work. I think I'll stick with a short game. At least for now.

[Eclipse.]

Scoring glitch.

For some odd reason, the score that shows up on the level select is sometimes different from the one shown at the end of the level. It's happened twice to me so far: In level 7, the results said "A", but the level select showed "A+". Not a big deal, I figured, but in level 9, it said I got a "B" (even though I had 10, exactly par for that level, which usually gives me an "A"), and when I went to the level select, it said "A+". So apparently, if there's an error, it automatically defaults to "A+". It's nice that it does that, but I fear people can just glitch their way to total victory.

On the game itself, I thought it was fairly interesting, but when not going for the par score, there's not much of a challenge at all. Once you blacken tiles, they stay that way, which is a bit odd, since I thought I was casting shadows on the planet, not sucking the light out of it.

I really enjoy the concept behind the game, though. I would like to see future games from you incorporate terrestrial manipulation in the theme.

pepperpunk responds:

I had a look, and the error appears to be on the "results" screen at the end of the level on levels 6-9, the grades on the level select scores are the accurate ones.

So when you got 10 for your score, and the par was 10, you earned that A+, it was just the B on the end screen that was wrong. :)

[Rosie Likes Popsicles]

Pretty fun.

My only suggestion would be to introduce some sort of health system, instead of ending the game at one hit. I think a good system would be to make every piece of garbage slow down the speed at which Rosie follows the cursor, making it harder to dodge other garbage, but also wearing off after a set amount of time, probably 15-30 seconds. Getting weighed down by three pieces of garbage would end the game.

Also, I found a glitch. On the main menu, if you click on "About", and then go back to the main screen, the "Play" and "About" buttons don't work.

K-Guare responds:

Thanks for the suggestion,
and the about button problem only occurs on Newgrounds,
I'm not sure why. I'm currently looking for a solution.

[Story Tutorial]

Your information is very, very wrong.

First, that is a terrible and inflexible template for writing stories. Not only is it the perfect way to design a flat protagonist with no personality, it assumes that the story will not take place within the timeframe of greater than a year, and is hung up on easily changeable details like clothing and employment status.

The example of story you give is also horrendous. The plot is so flimsy that it breaks instantly, with the protagonist calling 911 and ending the entire scheme instantly. At that point, the protagonist doesn't need to exist at all.

Finally, you do not teach about other important elements of the story, namely the rising action which slowly builds up to the climax, and the falling action, which quickly resolves the aftermath.

Most importantly, the CLIMAX should not come in the MIDDLE of the story. The climax is where the main conflict, which the story has built up to, must be resolved. If you resolve the climax in the middle of the story, the second half of the story is nothing but filler.

And for chrissakes, use a spellchecker.

up-a-notch responds:

sorry dude :(

[Super Switcher]

Well that was certainly an experience.

The last few levels were really exhausting, but I pulled through. I'm really not much of an action gamer, so for making it through every level, I'm feeling quite proud of myself right now. Enjoyable, great music, and all-around solid game.

Now then, on to complaints, because no game is immune to my pessimism:

* Gate-switching could get really confusing at times. If it were at all possible, I would appreciate having an option to rotate the field 90 degrees counterclockwise, so that the number keys match up with the gates, left to right.

* Freezing power-downs are more of a nuisance than they're meant to be in the last few levels, because more than likely, before the gate thaws, another will fall on you and reset the duration, with no way to stop it from happening. Lucky for me that I had a ton of lives and a devastating laser, or things would have gone south quickly. Also, I fear that it's entirely possible to be caught in an indefinitely long freezing barrage, with no hope to escape. Unless there was a hidden variable protecting me, I would implement a fail-safe to prevent that sort of thing.

* I was let down by the fact that my only reward for beating Level 12 was a loopback. I would have preferred a celebratory victory screen followed by a return to the main menu, to let my accomplishment sink in. Or at least, separate the game into a 12-level mode and an Endless mode.

Anyway, I think you've gotten enough criticism. Again, really, really great game. Tons of fun. Can't wait to see what you come up with next.

Zoete responds:

Thanks for your review! I'm glad that you liked my game. I'm glad that you gave some good criticism. It's nice to get good reviews like this. If you wonder what i am coming up next with, here is the link to a preview of the next game i am working on. I guess it will take a while until it is finished, but it looks pretty neat. Just visit www.zoete.com/teirtest.htm

Zoete