rubikks's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[FLIPTRIS]

neat idea, flawed execution.
I like the concept, but feel there are a few things that could have used tweaking. The first and most significant is that you cannot hold a directional button to continue sliding a piece. In most recent Tetris iterations, this is a key feature that makes movement fast, simple, and easy, which allows the more strategic nature of the game to come to the forefront.
Secondly, I regularly feel cut off when turning corners. This is hard to explain verbally, but I regularly feel that once I go over a corner, I have far less room than I though I would to move down. This may not be an issue that needs to be solved with an actual tweak to core gameplay, as it's likely a challenge that can be overcome with skill, but a square outlining the orbit of your Tetrominoe would be quite helpful.
Lastly, I feel that clearing rectangles leaves behind a bit too much debris. If I form a 4x4 that happens to have an awkward extrusion, that extrusion sticks around and makes a big problem. It feels a bit like a penalty for doing exactly what I'm supposed to, which isn't great.

Other than that, I quite liked Fliptris, and I'm glad I checked it out.

Zanzlanz responds:

Thanks for your review!!
I agree with everything you said. Holding a directional key should definitely move the piece, as others mentioned. It shall be added soon. Debris annoys me a little too, at times, when I have trouble looking for a specific block. I could attempt to fix or help this issue by adding transparency to particles and text, or even giving an option to reduce eye-candy.
Turning corners can be hard to predict. I'm not sure how to properly show the rotation of the block. I can't do it by showing another ghost, unfortunately, due to extra calculations and underlining visual issues... this might be a feature I can't get around at this time :(
Thanks again for your review!

Edit: I updated the sliding and debris issues, for the most part. Thanks for your feedback; you made a difference in the game :)

[simian.interface]

brief, but brilliant. Just how a good puzzle game should be. One simple concept twisted and turned on it's head so the player must prove full understanding of every possible in and out, all with a killer soundtrack, minimalistic stylized aesthetic, and a charming, lighthearted theme. Well done, sir. Well done.

[Folds -- Origami Game]

Breathtaking. Simple, clever, and genuinely entertaining. I'd absolutely LOVE to see a game like this on mobile platforms.

BryceSummer responds:

Coming soon, stay tuned :).

[Frantic 3]

Let me start by saying this: Pacing makes a BIG difference. Let me follow that statement by saying that this game is quite poorly paced, and is not very enjoyable as a result.
The first level that the player jumps into consists of a few waves of regular enemies which grows in difficulty until eventually the level reaches it's climax at ... well, nothing. There's no boss fight, and the "congrats" screen comes abruptly after working through an unchallenging wave.
Level 2 pits the player against a brief series of waves, followed by what felt like a midboss. The midboss was tough and enjoyable, was followed by a wave of normal enemies who quickly evolved into a much more challenging ... well, nothing. The game, once again, abruptly congratulates you for completing a level that only felt half-done.
Level 3 was admittedly a bit better than the last two, but not by much. Yes, the level does have an appropriately difficult and intimidating boss, but the epic lead-up to that boss that should make me feel like I'm about to go and fight a massive threat is ... well, nothing. All that stands between the player and their first big challenge is a few basic waves of drones following odd paths.
Simply put, the first three levels of the game are utterly disappointing. After completing them, the player's only reason to continue with the game is ... well, nothing. It's a huge shame, too, because the previous Frantic games were fantastic, and the graphics, music, and polish from those games carried over wonderfully. But without proper, enjoyable gameplay to back it up, Frantic 3 just isn't worth most people's time.

[Alaska]

well, you know the drill. It's painfully easy to break the game, and the game is occasionally impossible when not broken. Although not super often, patterns of bullets and drones appear that literally CANNOT be dodged without using the frequently mentioned glitch. The ending is also lacking, and came at a surprising point (The enemy still seemed to have a third of his health bar left."
In short, Bullet hell shmups were something beautiful, and I feel you've destroyed it.

[Qoosh]

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. The inspiration from portal is dripping out of this game from head to toe. The sterile test chambers, the narrator, the dark humor, the "science" it's a formula that's had it's fair share of iterations, but you've done a wonderful job with it.
Qoosh pleases not only with its quirky charm but also with its brilliant mechanics and level design. Much like portal, you have a single, simple, easily understandable tweak that allows for a massive amount of clever puzzle platforming, spread across plenty of well crafted levels.
Additionally, I appreciate the fact that you didn't baby the player with controls and whatnot. I'm reminded of Egoraptor's analysis of Megaman X in which the player was responsible to figure out the basics for themselves, instead of having them spoonfed. That sort of thing works wonders for the pacing and enjoyable difficulty curve of your game.
In short, well done, sir. Well done.

AethosGames responds:

Egoraptors Megaman X video is brilliant. I definitely tried to do my best to teach players through the design.

[Legacy of a Thousand Suns]

immediate loss of faith in this game.
The mafia wars model has been around for FAR too long, and has long since lost it's appeal. There is very little fun or satisfaction to be found from clicking a "do mission" button repeatedly just to wait for an energy bar to refill after a bit of time in real life. It's a shame, because I can tell that a great deal of polish and effort went into making this a clean, well-presented package, but that is far from enough to give anyone a reason to play such a bland, uninteresting game. In summary, gameplay should be the primary focus of any game, and gameplay is just something that this piece lacks.

[Kitty Punch]

0_o odd.....
I really have no significant complaints with this game. It's simple to pick up, doesn't even begin to take itself seriously and has a very fun, zany Japanese cartoon vibe about it. The only thing I might've changed is to make scoring more evident. When the screen is so full of random crap going on, it can be tough to see the "+1s" popping up and it can then become a challenge to determine how succesful you are being.

[ir/rational Redux]

something very special here. You've taken a vaguely point and click game, a genre I typically find dull, used one of it's most cliched tropes of being locked in a room clueless, and made it into a truly superb experience. The logic puzzles are really quite interesting and ramp up in difficulty quite well, and the music in the background is perfect. It's a fun track to listen to and fits this odd little puzzler flawlessly. Keep up the good work.

[Salem Demo]

wonderful demo, liked it quite alot. The lantern mechanic works quite well and I'm hopeful to see it provide the groundwork for plenty of unique enemies as well as maybe some puzzle solving. My only significant complaint is that the end of the boss fight felt somewhat...anticlimactic. Dealing the final blow felt no different than striking any other demon, and it was sort of disappointing. I would have hoped for a battle cry from Anselm followed by the demon crumbling slowly, but hey! It's just a demo, right? There's a ton of promise here, and I wish your team the best of luck on this project.