squidly's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[Ario Old]

Dammit, I wish you could've kept the old graphics - they were fantastic.

I like how Ario moved, and it was a lot less glitchy.

Well, that's life.

ArioOld responds:

Hello squidly

It was really too bad the original game have not been approved, we were very sad about it, but as you said, "that's life."

Thanks for playing!

[It Came From Outer Space]

What possibly possessed you to use such an awful control scheme?

Anyhow, work on your logo too, that look play listen thing was annoying as all hell. If you want to brand, well, you've already got your users bothered.

As for the game itself, well, when I could play it, it was awfully underwhelming. With bullet shooters you want to be quick, tense, this was just... slow and not all that interesting.

Really well done sprite work, though.

RaveRadbury responds:

We agonized over the control scheme for a while, and we thought this one would work best. Apparently not.

It's not a logo, we're not a brand. It was just something we did for fun and atmosphere. The audio was going for an Earthbound quirky feel. Sorry to hear that you found it annoying.

In response to the awful control scheme we've added a menu option to change the layout to whatever you want.

I don't know what to say in regards to the pacing. It sounds like your browser may have been having some trouble, you may want to try playing it in a different one. Aside from that, if you're attacking the boss, you should eventually finding the game's environment getting faster and more intense.

I hope that you can give it another try and have a much better time than you did the first time.

Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts and provide us with feedback.

[Hipster Kickball]

Eh.

I like the aesthetic, but really, the game just ain't all that fun.

You really need to make everything just an inch faster, there's too much 'downtime' where the ball is just really slow, passing back, etc.

Also, the AI seems to field really well, to the point that just kicking the ball across the floor is the easiest way to get someone there. For the most part, even at full charge, kicks just didn't go anywhere.

I like the effort, but it's just not all that fun.

[PKMN WoC: Stadium]

For such a great game, why did you skimp on the details?

The UI looks... geeze, that Tournament Chart. It honestly looks like you had too much fun with MSPaint, white background, squares moving around... And the crowd?

See, the problem is that the actual battle system is fantastic - definitely one of the prettier Pokemon Games out there, and recalls Stadium.

If only, IF ONLY, you put more effort into making the REST of the game more acceptable.

teejay-number13 responds:

As I said in the description, some parts of the game were a bit unpolished because I didn't want to spend all summer on it. And what's wrong with the competitors portraits moving around to show the progression through the tournament? As far as the audience, I really did try to find a good image to use, but that was the best I could find.

The rest of the game IS acceptable, but it may not be perfect.

[The Valley Rule]

Welp. Not terribly original, HOWEVER, it was a metroidvania and I am impressed by how fancy you did all this in a few hours. I wish you had went ahead and actually finished the overworld like you wanted to, as the ending was... anticlimactic. In fact, there wasn't an ending at all.

I loved the music, I loved the art, and the programming, though a little glitchy, wasn't half bad.

Here are some tips for the next time around:

Block shoving needs to be faster UNLESS it's an element of a puzzle. Which it never was.

You seemed to like shoving water where it was not needed, do you really have to put water in the puzzle with the four blocks?

The stair part was just frustrating. Put a platform or two eventually so you don't have to start all the way over, ya know? That was like a 1/3 of my game right there.

Maps. If you're gonna do a metroidvania, you gotta have a map. Give a general sense of where you've been, you don't have to go metroid style and say where the doors are.

After you get the climb and jump, I love how you let people roam completely free. Do that more often. However, it helps to have three real 'layers.'

No power layer, some power layer, then the 'last power' layer. Maybe have it more lush.

Now the glitch zone was... uncessary. What the heck was that anyways? At least it was a change of pace I spose, if you were TRYING to build a story with the weird blackhole spots and the glitch zone, in blew right past me. I know you had no time, but if you want to put in some backstory you might wanna put some ruins or something, maybe even incorporate them into the puzzle. Remember, this is IF and ONLY IF you want that to be a thing.

[Hanoka]

That was not exactly soothing, getting more shakrams for... murdering centipede fish demon things.

Here's the thing: Once you get the three arrows, things get really easy. And you can totally grind for it too.

Anyhow, creative idea, great art style, a bit flawed of an execution. Was a breath of fresh air in the shooter genre.

Guy-Unger responds:

It's a bit of a mix of differentEastern philosophies, but the theory behind the game makes sense. If you read the intro, you are told that those spirits are materialzition of your emotitons. You meight think just ignoring them takes care of it, but it piles up. in this game it leads to giving you nightmares, making the ground unfertile. In the acctual phylosophy you have to overcome your fears and other emotions instead of letting them stay and pile up in your body in order to open up your chakras. which can make you more "powerfull". thats what you do here but in a bit different form.

[Control X/V]

You clearly have an original idea here. However, here's the problem: Execution.

You need to make some cleaner levels, here. There seems to be a mess of sprites wherever you go, and your tiny man doesn't seem to have any... character. Look up Red Rogue for a fantastic way to do minimalist art, that's what you need - if, for example, you textured everything to look like a legal document that would be incredibly interesting. For example, having the ground be words (wrapped by a box for visibility's sake) and literally cut the words in half and put them somewhere else.

In other words, keep a small pallet.

Also, stick to your guns. The first level should pretty much introduce cutting and pasting. Not jab it right in your stomach, but you NEED to distinguish yourself here.

Anyways, good idea, sub-par execution. An alright package.

MiscEtc responds:

Thank you for the feedback, squidly! I realize I have plenty of room for improvement, and feedback like this is very helpful. I'll keep what you said in mind in the future.

[FatKidFallingDownStairs]

Well, you know, I'm not quite sure what to say here.

My only major complaint is that losing brings you back to square one. Also, the first few levels are FAR too slow. The last level gets a little ridiculous pretty fast, but hey, it's not that hard.

You really should just drop the life system all together.

Consider using Box2D next time, it'd be cool if this was more free-form physics.

This game... It could only exist on Newgrounds. Nice job.

[Velocity Wings]

You know, this is one of those fantastic games that should definitely go mobile - I'd buy it.

This is also why it pays to code in AS3, if you haven't done so.

Fantastic rendition of an originally terrible game, and you don't actually feel like utter crap this time!

bumblebirds responds:

It's made with Haxe and OpenFl actually :)

[Shybot]

You know what I don't like?

Long wait times between blocks going up and down/sideways.

I also don't like unnecessary difficulty spikes and lows.

I don't have infinite time here, nobody does anymore.

Nice art, though.