EagleRock's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[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

[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.

[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!

[YOUR FACE (full)]

Excellent Job

As someone who enjoyed the original version of "Your Face," I greatly enjoyed this expansion to the original game. I didn't really think that the "light version" (as it is now called) could be expanded on, but the author certainly found a way to make the game 10 times better than it was!

First off, the original game was great, in that it was a fun, gadget-like game that allowed you to make a quick picture of some guy, print it out, send it to a friend, etc. The game was simple, but cleanly made, and had tons of replay value. It was definitely something I didn't want to forget. Now, the additions of the game make an originally great game greater. I'll cover each new feature on its own below:

E-mail: The "print" feature was great, as I was able to print out the face I made and tape it to a co-worker's monitor whenever I wanted. Now, I can bombard their inboxes, too!

Webcam feature: This feature is GREAT. It adds so much more opportunity to the game and the ability to screw around with people's faces. I don't really need to explain how much potential this has (if you've played with Photo Booth in Mac OS X, you certainly know). It is a disappointment that you cannot e-mail in webcam mode, but I am sure there is some limitation that prevents this. At least you can still print, though!

Challenge mode: Who would've thought you could turn something like this into a game? The challenge mode is a great lunchtime diversion and a great mini-game for those quick breaks in your day (similar to The Timewaster). I didn't have much time to play it myself, but the "match the face" game mechanic is extremely easy to understand, and ultimately comes down to quick reflexes and knowing the "rotation" of the different facial objects. I can see someone getting addicted to this on their lunch hour easily.

One other thing that I should mention is how good the artwork of this game is. While this is not different from the previous "light" version of the game, it adds a lot to it. The black-and-white theme is actually a boost to the game style (color would take away the simplicity of it all), and the hand-drawn style of the game is very pleasing to the eye.

Overall, the original was very clean, well programmed, very nicely drawn and animated, and a good gadget. However, now, "Your Face" is definitely grown into something bigger that will keep people playing it again and again.

finefin responds:

thank you very much for this detailed review, man!

As for the webcam-email-disappointment: you're right, theres no comfortable way to mail the picture that was shot by webcam (if anyone out there knows a way that can be made with ActionScript 2.0, please tell me!) - the easiest way is to take a screenshot. wait... if you take a screenshot, please let me see it!

[The Timewaster]

Completely Awesome...Need more!

I can't believe I didn't write a review for this sooner! I've had this game in my top 5 since you submitted it last year, because I keep coming back to it! Everything you did, especially your unique style (thanks to everything being hand-drawn), makes this game a winner:

Gameplay - The gameplay is ridiculously simple, but hey...it's supposed to be. The game does exactly what it is supposed to do, which is waste your time. Nothing too engrossing, nothing too elaborate, but enough to get your attention and placate you for about 30 minutes to an hour.

Graphics - The graphics are top-notch, to say the least. This flash pretty much proves that anyone that wants to seriously be involved with flash needs a tablet.

Animations - Your animations are EXTREMELY smooth and pleasing to the eye. A good example is the "Test Completed" sign that comes up after winning a test. It's not that the animations themselves are anything extremely spectacular, but they are definitely up to par for a top-notch flash.

Sound - I definitely like your choice of music, and even after looping the music for 10 minutes, it doesn't really get too old. After an hour, I'd probably kill myself, but then again, if you have that much time to waste, you should not be playing this game to span the entire period of it...

Humor - Your humor wasn't the world's greatest, but you certainly have your moments. Suffice it to say that after spending all the time it takes to get to the final test, I wasn't disappointed and got a good chuckle.

As you can see, overall, the game is a slam-dunk. In fact, there is only one thing bad about this game:

Replayability - Let's face it...the game isn't replayable unless you go away and forget it for at least 2 months. Even then, it's pushing it. However, I do find myself coming back to the game again and again, so while replayability in the short-run is nonexistent, it'll stick around as a good one-timer play when you need something to waste your time.

So, after playing this game 3-4 times since you submitted it, I am still extremely pleased, but still wanting more. That being said, let's get a sequel going, huh?? :-)

Thanks again for the great submission, as your timewaster will always be there for the slackers out there. :-)

RatherRandomReality responds:

A review like that is always a pleasure to read, especially when it comes from a hardcore newgrounder like you. All I can say is thank you for the kind words. I am actually working on a sequel, but it will probably not be finished soon. I have ideas that cannot express yet, due to my not so great actionscripting abilities. But I'm working on it. "The Timewaster Ultra" will appear on newgrounds one day! Thanks for your time again.

[SANTA TOWN]

Wonderful Game

Let's see...

- Great Graphics - Very clean look, excellent use of Flash drawing tools
- Great Animations - Super-smooth, the way a flash should be
- Great Music - Good NG Audio Portal selection!
- Wonderful Gameplay - A nice twist on the traditional "Missile Command" style game, with a flair similar to the "keep up the ball" flashes. It's quite addicting to get your guns back to 15 on all stats.

My only critique - it seems that, especially once you are fully pumpted up, a hit with your blast only moves the snowballs, it doesn't actually destroy them. It takes many hits to do so. I am not sure if this was intended or not. If so, it's all good. :-)

This flash deserves at LEAST a high score. If you don't get at least one award, I will be quite surprised. Great game! Please keep up your flash world and contribute more to NG!

FlashBurgerHelper responds:

the balls just get so powerful by the end by the time they die they've been pushed out of the screen lol.

this entry wont get an award since its score is so low. ohwell thats the breaks lol

thanks for the review

[Paper Asteroids]

Excellent Game

I really enjoyed this!

Note that this is your basic cookie-cutter drop-down shooter, but you did many things right that made me love it:

- The graphics were really awesome. I love the whole "on paper" theme as well as the sketchy, "Rejected"-like animation of the different objects. It actually made me think of the doodles I used to make in class!

- The gameplay is simplistic, but it's really good. The power and health bars looked really nice visually, but I also like the way they regenerate and the fact that this is your simple "stay alive as long as possible" game. Perfect for a lunch-hour timekiller.

I really like this game a lot. I'd recommend you take more simple games (maybe Space Invaders or other simple arcade games) and remake them in this way. I'd sure as hell play them!

Also, if you're looking for a challenge, one other thing you could do to this flash is to make the score in the same fashion you did everything else. Granted, that'd be very hard to do with AS, but hey...it's a though if you're looking for a way to better this game. There's really no other way to do so.

Thanks for your great submit! I hope to see more "paper" games from you!

Smith responds:

thanks for the review. if i get some more good feedback like this i might just make another "paper" game

[Wade Defender]

This is hilarious

What a well-done game! I must say, there are very few games that can captivate me quite as well as you have done. The whole Wade theme really makes it a Newgrounds classic.

The only thing I wish it had was the ability to turn off the music. I often play music of my own, and would like to have that ability. Otherwise, it is a finished game which I cannot possibly hope to criticize, even constructively.

Thanks for the game!

Casualty responds:

No, Thank YOU for the review!