rubikks's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[Ultimate Arena Extreme]

if you were going for a smash bros. style of game, you missed your mark. Each game in that series was about controlling parts of the map using your special attacks. You have to be strategic and lay down moves that have a large effect on the field of play and either trick or force your enemy into that attack. It's not as much about bashing knuckles as you might believe. Anything that would allow characters to play with a strategy that wasn't "charge forward and punch a lot" would have made this game a ton better. What's really sad is that there are plenty of ways to include something like this, ranging from simple item drops to what could become a fairly robust character editor with randomly generated enemies.
Graphically, Musically, and Aesthetically, this game is quite polished. The gameplay is bug free and the UI is fitting, but there's ultimately not much depth to this game, and that disappoints me greatly, and I'm certain I speak for many gamers

[i saw her standing there]

has potential, but the ending bothered me. Everything about this game felt like it was intended as a sort of art game, a bit like a more simple "Braid." I was honestly starting to think about a deeper meaning behind it all and then had any intention of seeing this as a deep and mature game shattered by it's silly ending. That's not to say it was a bad game, not by any stretch of the imagination, but it just felt a bit misleading, and that really dissapointed me.

[College-Ruled Universe]

brilliant - gameplay, art and music are all phenomenal, but I was disappointed in the game's progression, or rather, it's lack thereof. This game was great fun at first, but moving through waves of the same enemies and navigating a seemingly endless asteroid field got fairly repetitive VERY quickly. Had there been more variation in the level design, I could have gladly given this game a better score, but for now, it's stuck at a 4 with high potential.

LordDF responds:

Thanks man, good review! I'm bringing much more dynamic gameplay into the final.

[Cycle: The Beginning]

clever concept, but pporly executed.

you could have done so much with the idea of chasing and fighting yourself, but the gimmick adds very little to the whole experience. Your clone moves far too slow, and has already stopped plenty of times along the way, meaning that there is no challenge at all to fight him. Honestly, this game would have been no different without the clone gimmick.

[Super SOPA Bros.]

bad game

I'm sorry to say it, but this game is just awful. The hit detection is buggy, the mechanics aren't in compliance with an actual Mario game, and there's nothing more here than a crummy platformer.
Oh, but what's that you say? It makes fun of SOPA? I'm aware of this, but just putting "censored" over everything does NOT make this an enjoyable or funny game. There are plenty of SOPA games on the frontpage right now, and yours is nothing more than a grain of sand in the entire beach of SOPA jokes.

[shoot the ball robot]

i COULD be an ass here...

...and point out that this is a clone of Angry Birds, but then Angry Birds is just a clone of Crush The Castle, which might have even cloned some other obscure flash game. The bottom line is that having a clone isn't really all that bad, but you've got to bring something new to the table. Sure, you've got a nice physics engine, but the pros kind of stop there.
Your graphics are a bit unappealing and bland, especially the ball object which feels far too abstract in an otherwise defined game. My other large complaint is that the game lacks a mechanic to show you the arc of your previous shot, which has really become a bit of a standard for this type of physics game. In addition, there's nothing at all here that hasn't already been done, and therefore no flavor in this very vanilla game(if you'll allow the analogy). I certainly think this could've done well, but it would've required a ton more work and some unique new gameplay twist to make it more enjoyable.

jomarcenter responds:

we still designing new system...
like different gravity system, ball design and power, teleport and a lot of stuff...
this is a test demo of the game... but we can put you to beta test...

[Symphony]

well made...

...but less than original. You've said yourself that this was inspired by auditorium, but it feels more like an unimaginative clone than a well-thought tribute. That aside, it's a well made game with a solid engine, pleasing graphics, and suiting music, but nothing at all new. What I'm trying to say is that although Symphony IS well made, there's no real reason for me to play this instead of auditorium.

[FvF]

so much potential...

...crushed by a steep learning curve. I can defenitley feel that this game COULD be incredible, but overall, it feels a little too harsh for novices. I've picked up on what seem to be mechanics based loosely on MVC, but having never played the game very intensely, I feel awkward with FVF. Regardless, mashing away at the F button certainly provided a flashy show of appealing graphics, effects, sounds and music. Had this game featured a more extensive tutorial, I could've easily given it a 9, maybe even 10. Sadly, it just falls flat in the area of informative-ness.

[FIVE/5]

marvelous

The first thing that needs to be said is that the in-game music was gorgeous, and I could listen to it for ages.
As far as gameplay goes, the mechanics work smoothly and, although poorly explained, are easy to use once you get the hang of things.
This is sooooo close to being a perfect game, but my issues do exist - firstly, the gameplay WAS poorly explained and if I wasn't already familiar with continuity, I'd be totally lost here. My other complaint lies within the grayscale of the game - while it DOES add a nice effect to things and adds to the film-noir atmoshphere, it also makes the player a bit tough to see at times, and flat out invisible when zooming out, which makes puzzle solving more of a challenge than it should be.
I WANT to be able to give this game a 10, but it's not perfect, and therefore does not earn a 10, sorry.

[Strollin']

I was really enjoying myself until.....

...Something broke and I lost the ability to jump. Shortly after using nyan cat at the beginning of the level(and dying while it was in use) I was faced with an inability to make my character jump, rendering the game unplayable.
Before that gamebreaking glitch, however, Strollin' was actually a really fun title, and I didn't mind a bit that it fell into the "upgrades/ infinite runner" category, which I usually abhor for their repetitive nature. Something about Strollin's sense of humor, though, just kept me coming back for more. :D