EagleRock's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[Bingo Career]

I'll admit that I was first going to dismiss this game because I thought it was either a bad joke for you to never earn a bingo or that the game was broken, but I eventually learned how the game was supposed to work. I think a lot of the criticism would be addressed with a simple instructions change, making it clearer that you are not expecting to win for a while, and that's all part of the game. Also, I originally thought I could only earn skill points from making bingos, and that the star points were different, but I eventually realized that the stars _are_ the skill points.

The big draw to this game for me was originally that I just wanted to get "one damn point" and eventually "just one damn bingo." But, of course, as games like this always go, eventually I had to push to win. So, if you can get by the original confusion, the game becomes really addicting, really fast.

One thing I dislike about the game is how certain minigames are much harder or take much longer to earn points than others. I realize that could just be based on what I am good at, but for a completionist like me, it would be nice to get at least 200 points in all the games to earn all the medals. :-)

One last thing I would change about the game is the music. While I like the songs you picked, and I enjoy Kevin MacLeod's music (it's hard not to when he is so diverse...), the two songs you picked get old fast. The option to mute would be welcomed.

Keep in mind all of these criticisms are constructive, and I did in fact enjoy the game a lot. Like I said, with a few minor adjustments, you can address 90% of the below criticisms, and overall the game is good. Graphics are simplistic but good-looking, and the game mechanic is compelling and awarding. I'll have to play it through at least one more time to try to get the rest of the badges :-) Thanks for the game, and I hope to see more from you!

[The Impossible Maze Game]

Definitely a good try for a first maze game, but it could be better. The look isn't particularly polished, but it is definitely passable, and most definitely better than the majority I've seen on Newgrounds. The "maze game" mechanic is kind of old, but you did it well enough for me to enjoy it.

One hint for the future is to disable right-clicking, as it is very easy to cheat by using the right-click context menu to allow you to skip the level. Besides that, the game is sound. I'm a fan of ParagonX9 as well, so definitely thumbs up on the music.

Hope to see more from you in the future! I'd like to see another game, perhaps a bit longer, and without the ability to cheat. I'm sure it will be a great success!

JMac96 responds:

thanks for the advice. it was just a short little thing to help people to pass the time with but i agree, it could of been a bit longer. however i dont really know how to disable the right click context menu but thanks for including that as that will be something ill find out how to do in future games. thanks for taking the time to suggest things that could of been better it helps alot :D

[Ice Beak]

Great game!

I like the 8-bit styling and the "ice vs fire" theme. Retro gaming done right is always good.

The gameplay itself is fun and interesting. Having a super-powerful but limited weapon makes for using your brain to converse ammunition. The plentiful recharge stations allow for the occasional pew-pew fest as well, and keeps the game fun, yet challenging.

I was unable to complete the game, as I think I came across a bug. On Level 5 (I believe), if you shoot a red enemy down to the moving platform jet below it, the game freezes, and I was unable to continue. I was trying to do the "two birds with one stone" tactic, but it appears this doesn't work well in this case.

Besides this one bug (which admittedly stopped me from continuing), this game is awesome. I'm giving you a rating of 4/5, docking you a point for the bug. Besides that, I have plenty of fun playing the game, and hope you can tweak the game if it passes judgment and improve the game. I'd love to play more!

Thanks again for the fun game!

[BitBoy - Greenfields]

Excellent game! At first I was a bit confused by the lack of jumping, but the gameplay was intuitive after a minute or so.

Graphics - Nice retro 8-bit look. Plays well. Has a bit of a "Minecraft" look to it, but is definitely a nice look for the game.

Audio - The song is nice, and the sound effects, while simple, are good. Only con here is that the music loop is rather short and should have the option to be turned off.

Gameplay - The gameplay itself is rather good. The wraparound mechanics and the no jumping make for a nice form of gameplay that somewhat deviates from the norm. Definitely good here. The simplicity of the enemies doesn't detract from the gameplay, either. It makes the game focused on timing and approach, rather than just reaction time and jumping around.

Overall - 9/10 - I gave a small ding to your score based on the lack of audio control. Besides that small complaint, the game itself is great and I would like to see more. Great work!

ZeroTolerance64x responds:

Thanks for the review i will improve the Main screen and add audio configurations.

[Brick Smasher]

Great classic gameplay with a new twist

I have to say, the Arkanoid/Breakout-style game has been done a lot, but you really did a good job at making it new and fresh!

What makes this game is the persistent level and the powerups. Arkanoid was always made of separate levels and often the levels dragged on once you had 2 or 3 blocks left to get that were in harder sections to get the ball into. This game absolutely wipes out that one bad aspect of this game.

Also, the powerups really make the game tons of fun. They persist, meaning you get "pumped up" like in the classic shooting sidescroller games. Once you get Armor, Large Paddle, and Super Ball, you're a block-bashing points machine. Losing a life obviously humbles you back to standard gameplay, but that's was always the challenge to those shooting sidescrollers, and that's the challenge for this game.

This is a perfect game for attempting to hit that high score during a lunch break, and it even has a decent music loop to go with it. While the music can get annoying over time, that's what the mute button is for.

Only suggestions I could give would be a high score list and the ability to mute the sounds and the music (separately would be ideal, for those that want game sounds but not the music loop). Also, more music loops and maybe different game modes would propel this game to higher levels.

Thanks for the great game! Another great timewaster to add to my arsenal!

[Are You Dumb? Christmas]

Another great Jimmy Chiu appearance!

As always, I'm a huge fan of all things Jimmy Chiu, and it seems our favorite social-commentator/quiz-master hasn't disappointed us on Christmas Day! It's great to finally see more "Are you Dumb?" Flash out there, as the first one was such a huge hit.

There isn't much to say about the graphics, as they are pretty much well established already. The animation, as always, is very polished and clean, and is, as always, pleasing to the eye. Therefore, the weight of this Flash relies on the content.

Like I said in my review of the original Are You Dumb, there aren't that many questions here, and the replayability is small, since you'll know the answers after you take the quiz. But, Jimmy's abrasive (and sometimes pretentious) personality comes through again to make this little Christmas quiz greater than the sum of its parts.

Lastly, I also loved the twist at the end. I totally forgot your last quiz had a trick question, so I was had when this one came up. I can see, if you're going to be doing this as a series, that this will be an ongoing trend.

I certainly hope we see more of the Are You Dumb Flashes, as they are great fun when they come around. Also, I do enjoy a great groan-worthy trick question at the end (as well as the occasional pun). Great work as usual! Keep it up!

[Santa Fu!]

An excellent Christmas classic!

I loved this game so much that I absolutely had to review it! Mix the classic, 8-bit gaming style with some kung-fu style action and a pissed-off, drunken Santa? Instant win!

The best thing about this game has to be its simplicity. Simple, quick-to-learn controls and a good, solid gameplay give more to that retro feel and bring back memories blowing cartridges on the old NES. Also, as an added treat, adding the Gyromite music was a definite plus. Lastly, the gameplay was hard enough to keep people engrossed and not feel like you're just mashing buttons, especially past level 1.

This was a great submission, one that I'd say tops the Christmas '09 charts. Thanks so much for the great game! I really enjoyed it!

[Did He Die?]

<3 Jimmy Chiu

Glad to see you back in action, SIGNE! Jimmy Chiu is always a favorite of mine, and I love to see him back on Newgrounds for your latest submission! Here's some quick comments:

- The Flash itself was relatively simple, but it wasn't meant to be anything more than a simple 5-question quiz. The quiz by itself would be quite bland, but when you lay Jimmy Chiu on top of it with his wry humor, it makes for a great Flash.

- The animation, as usual, is excellent. Your graphics skills in Flash are outstanding, and the effort you put into it is shown.

- The "Did He Die" segment is not a bad idea. If you were wondering if it would be offensive or anything, I'd say not. You're not insulting any of the actors (at least the ones that passed), and any jokes you make about them (like Bill Cosby in Ghost Dad) are in good taste. So, I'd say go for it.

Thanks again for the great submit, and I hope to see more of Jimmy Chiu in the future!

SIGNE responds:

Thanks so much for the great feedback, it addressed every concern I had!

[MEGA CAR!]

Solid 8-bit game

This game was quite a bit of fun, I must admit! I found myself playing it more than sanity would probably depict after a period of time. Therefore, I'm strongly compelled to review it.

Graphics - In a word, awesome. Simplicity at its finest. After all, 8-bit cars flying around shooting space invaders while pooping rainbows...you can't get simpler than that. :-) Seriously, though, the 8-bit genre can get old, but not when properly done like you guys have

Animation - The framerate wasn't as smooth as I'd like it to be, but it seems to add to the gameplay. We didn't exactly have 60fps games back in 8-bit time. So, dead on there as well.

Music - To be honest, the music just plain simply made the flash. Without 8-bit Weezer kicking the drumbeats while your car beats up space invaders, the gamewould be a lackluster version of itself. Fits the genre perfectly, fits the game perfectly. Perfect pick.

Gameplay - Gameplay itself is simple and uncluttered, with the simplest of all mechanics. Hold down the space bar and scroll up and down to beat up people. Fits well for the genre, and for the game as a whole. I love it. It's addicting.

Programming - Well, here's where the game falls a little lackluster. The lack of scoring is a bit disappointing, as this would be the perfect game for jockeying for high-scores between your friends (like the penguin and helicopter games). Also, the lack of a replay button is a bit annoying, but a minor issue at worst. I have to say, though, your text going in place of the replay/high score gives a good laugh and almost makes up for the lack of an actual high score and replay button... :-)

Overall - Overall, the game gets a 7/10, not to imply it's inferior, but it really just feels incomplete. As you can see, I've favorited the game, so I'm all for it, and I'd love to see those few little punctuations get added. Other things I can suggest would be power-ups, health regens, screen bombs, and maybe a high-score system. A bit of work and an updated submission could easily project your flash into blue-score and award territory. And I'm sure you and your fans will be flying as high as your mega car... :-) Thanks for the great submit! I'm looking forward to seeing more from you guys!

tomdeaap responds:

Thanks for this awesome review. Well honestly the reason why we didn't made a replay button/ highscore, because there where some difficulties and we didn't want to put too much effort in this game/ we wanted to submit it really quick :). I know it's a pretty bad way of working, but hey :) a 7/10 isn't too bad is it.

Also, be sure to look out for or next game ;)

[Funny Socks]

Fun game!

I had to write a quick review about this one, because I couldn't stop playing the game till I finished all 5 levels!

As other reviews already stated, this is a game style that isn't exactly fresh and original, but I think the game was very well done and deserves some credit for its excellent execution.

Graphics - VERY polished. Looks professional. The setting for the game is very nicely done, and everything you see is of excellent quality. Not much advice I can give here.

Animation - Doesn't really apply too much to this game, but the framerate was high and everything felt smooth. Well done.

Sound - Sound effects were good quality and are up to par with the flash, and the music was nice. Granted, the music does get old and repetitive after a while, but you've handily placed a mute button separately for both sound effects and music, which make up for it.

Gameplay - Like I said before, it's a simple concept that has been done before, but this rendition of it was very well done. The controls were intuitive and felt natural. A good game for just "jumping in" to play.

Replayability - The one thing this game lacks is the ultimately the replayability. While the scoreboard and the urge to beat your best time are good catalysts for playing again, it's not the kind of game to urge people to play incessantly. Having only five levels also makes the single run a bit short, which will mean most people will beat the game in one sitting. (That's probably for the best though, because anyone that has more than 100 pairs of socks laying around that need to be sorted need some kind of mental help...)

Overall - I gave you an 8/10 for an overall excellent game. Flash like this prove what good, decent scripting, graphics, and gameplay can do to take a simple concept to the next level. You've made for yourself a nice casual game perfect for someone bored on their lunch hour. Excellent work! I hope to see more flash from you soon, as you seem to have quite the knack for it!