NegativeONE's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[Halloween Sprash]

Nice original twist on a classic puzzle concept

I was gonna ask if Armor had gotten back to you yet. I see it's been reskinned as a halloween game. At any rate, there's not much I can say that I didn't say in person, so congrats on a fun game and your first sponsorship.
-Aaron

bvela responds:

Thank you once again for showing me the light. :)

[Four Second Frenzy]

S'alright

It wasn't bad. Kept my interest for a few rounds. There were a number of quips though. Above all, there wasn't nearly enough variety in the gameplay. It felt like it was largely made up of either left-right-left-right or avoidance games. For ideas on how to switch things up, perhaps look to WarioWare, which is pretty obviously where the idea came from anyway.
Also, as much as limiting creativity sucks, there should maybe have been some style guidelines passed on to each of the artists so that it at least had some sort of continuity. Of course there is a happy medium and you don't want every game to look the same.
I popped into the BBS thread every now and then during my usual rounds, so I can say from eyewitness that there probably should have been a little more communication. I know it's hard with a team in the tens, but it would have helped to keep the game more consistent and to avoid people making the same sort of microgame.
At any rate, I don't like to write reviews that aren't wholely positive, but you've borrowed a popular idea here, and I feel like someone should present the other side of things amidst a wave of masturbatory reviews that don't really help you in the end. Plus from the sounds of the author's comments, you're damn nearly ready to deify yourselves, so don't forget there's room for improvement :P

[3d logic]

A decent clone, but still just a clone.

This doesn't seem to expand at all upon the game from which it was cloned. I can't remember the name, but it's been out for quite some time now. It's too bad this is going to get so many props for originality from people who have never played the original.
Well programmed and sufficient graphics, but still just a rip and nothing new.

[CuberXtreme]

Neat game, glad to see you producing

Hey Seed. Not sure if you remember me from the early days of TAO. I'm glad to see you're still working away in the Flash world. This game is very attractive. Borrows from common puzzle concepts but reinvents in enough ways to avoid being a clone. Sound is sufficient. Style is not that much of a presence, but it's not really important to this game anyway.
Again, glad to see another game from you. I look forward to more. I'll probably be addicted to this one for an hour or so.

[Max Mesiria Chp1 RPG]

Good start!

Well-programmed and attractive, albeit unfortunately short, which is why I call it a "good start". The battle and walkabout systems are both handled well. They don't really innovate on traditional RPG choices, but they're nonetheless well above what I'm used to seeing in Flash RPGs. The animations were also very well done. I wish I could have seen more enemies. Also, what medium/media was used to make the backgrounds? They're quite nice.
A few of the design choices made in this game are similar to ones I had in mind for an RPG I hope to make in the not-so-distant future. Of course each will offer their own unique content and creativity. Looking forward to more episodes.

[Endless War 2]

Pretty addictive! I see potential.

A fairly original Flash game overall, so I found myself playing it an awful lot. Most of the time when I die a whole bunch in Flash games, I just move along, but this one had hooked me to keep getting better. Each level has a learning curve, and I like that.
Of course, there are some areas to improve. The level design was one place. Which enemies were able to see you at each time could have been more clear cut and obvious. Also would have been nice to see enemies walk around instead of just standing in place and looking left and right. Some better AI would make the game feel much more realistic, too. They were always just getting stuck on walls. Also a number of clipping sorta errors. Bullets, dropped guns, blood splatters going through walls and the like.
Now don't take that big list as meaning that I think the game was damagingly flawed. I wouldn't waste my time writing a big review if I didn't think the author had the potential to take something from it and better his game-making skills. I just think that this is a great idea that could be really fun with some improvements to mechanics and graphics. A forced sequential series of missions following the same story would be neat too. Hope you make a sequel.

BlackFox-of-ITMO responds:

Very fair review. I'll notice your mind.

[Grenata]

Pretty good, but has its rough points.

Above all, I think the clumsy control does serious damage to this game's fun factor. Jumping was so cumbersome that I could never find it to be effective in the heat of battle. The charging-your-jump idea would work very well in a lot of games, but I don't feel that it fit in this one. The animation and art were quite good - but as it has been mentioned on the board - disturbingly similar to other styles already well-established, particularly Synj's. The game has an element of progression, and I like that. Still, collectable weapons or something would have really helped that cause, because eventually you just get more ammo than you know what to do with, and monotony sets in.
Nevertheless, a pretty good game, showing of some potential in the authors.

[Serious Santa]

Very addictive and well programmed

The deformable terrain is an instant plus, and has never been effectively applied and executed in Flash, to my knowledge. The game has just the right amount of difficulty. You never win the first time, but you get a little farther after every try. Sound, graphics, violence and humour were all present and more than sufficient. Overall a great game. Glad to see you're still pumping out Flashes.

[Brink Of Alienation III]

Pretty good series

I haven't minded this series so far and this addition is a certain improvement. It feels a lot less linear and montonous than the last ones, where something would just pop up, you'd shoot it, then repeat. The boss battles and terrain are more elaborate in this, which I like. Those little critters look a little too much like head crabs, but what can ya do. Decent graphics, gameplay, sound. Overall, pretty good game. I look forward to more.

[Jingle Ballistics]

Pretty cool game in the works

In my opinion this isn't so much a "good game" as "the start of a great game". It seems incomplete and underdeveloped. Given how few sprites were needed for each character, it seems like there should have been more. Also, the scripting could have used a little more touching up. At one point the character jumped over me, and I couldn't seem to turn around to face him again no matter what I pressed. So he continually beat me in the back, initiating one of the gayer moments in fighting game history. Still, it's a very likeable game with a very untouched theme for its genre. I'm interested to see more.