ChronoNomad's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[Castle Crashing the Beard HD]

Being allowed to incur the wrath of the mighty Bearded Fulp once again has, quite frankly, made my week! Any fan of the OG beard-smashing event would be remiss in their duty if they failed to take up arms once again to thwart Tom's maniacal, disembodied head.

All in all, it's a pretty fantastic upgrade, while maintaining all of the charm and cheap juggle-y death goodness of its predecessor. Not that I'm complaining, mind you! I am well aware of the fact that learning the patterns and how to survive each type of attack is a classic video gaming staple. To anyone complaining about being skewered like a shish kebab by the wee bony lads: quit yer churlish whinin'! Or, in modern day parlance: GiT GuD. :P

That said, it's incredibly kind of you to nerf the skellies since they've obviously been causing a lot of grief. Wimps, indeed. But still...good on you. I played the game furiously when it was first released, and somehow even managed to be one of the first to beat Tom without dying. It's the small victories that validate one's existence, I must admit.

One day soon I plan to return and earn the remaining medals, though admittedly making it through the ordeal completely unscathed seems like a particularly high hurdle. Now, if only there were some kind of invincibility star...or possibly an amphibian? :3

Five very well-earned stars from me! The game is fun, looks and sounds amazing, playing with the gamepad (my personal preference when given the option) feels nice and responsive, and it really hits nostalgia factor 10 with that Doki Doki Pani--er, I mean Super Mario Bros. 2-style end credits roll. Checks a lot of boxes for me. Well played.

BoMToons responds:

Competing for best use of vocabulary in a review category... ;-) <3

[Arisen [beta]]

Not a bad game, though very simplistic in its design. The graphics really leave something to be desired, and the sound effects aren't anything special, but the background music is solid. Did you compose it yourself?

The mixture of keyboard and mouse controls doesn't feel particularly intuitive, though it does start feeling a bit more natural over time. It's an interesting idea, but shooting wind just to flip switches seems a bit of a waste. Might as well just make us click on those, too. Food for thought.

The main reason I decided to write this review is because something very strange just happened in my game. I was flying up towards the next 10 floors, nothing blocking my way and not a single bat in sight, when--SPLAT! Suddenly and inexplicably dead. I'm not really sure what happened, but I certainly know a game-breaking flaw when I see one, so you should definitely look into it. Is it possible for your assets to be invisible? That's about the only thing that makes sense unless there's some random loss condition thrown in that was never explained in the tutorial...

Beyond that, there's just one more thing I really wanted to mention regarding the gameplay. You know those main menu and mute buttons that are in the upper right-hand corner? Those are right where some of the bats appear, so clicking on them by mistake is not only a possibility, it's almost a certainty. Very frustrating, that. Moving those buttons to one of the bottom corners or some other out-of-the-way location should work like a charm. Toggling the sound isn't so bad, but accidentally clicking the level select button is not something that the player should have to be worry about.

All in all, the game is a fairly middle-of-the-road experience. Without those nasty issues I could see my way clear to giving it a solid 3 stars, but the whole thing could use a fair amount of polish. A little extra time and effort can go a long way. Having medals is a nice addition, and that's typically a nice way to draw more players. They've been working just fine for me and I'm looking forward to earning a few more.

Not bad for a first game, but I believe you can do even better! :)

AndrewSP responds:

I fixed the bug
check it out !

Thanks for the review .

[The Hardest Pokémon Quiz Ever]

I have a difficult time giving a quiz - even an extremely arbitrary yet challenging one, such as this - a very high score...unless it completely blows me away in the innovation department or something. One problem here is that the subject itself is so incredibly specific, making the premise altogether inaccessible to those who know nothing whatsoever about Pokémon. Worst of all, it can severely limit your target audience, which ultimately leads to a lot of missed opportunities.

No one gets to see which answers they get right or wrong, so there's no opportunity to actually learn anything. This is kind of a shame, though I can understand the methodology there...even if seeing the correct answers were an option. A couple of effective ways to solve this problem without making the quiz too easy (i.e. playing multiple times to memorize all the answers) would be to have the questions appear in random order, as well as having more questions in total so that one could play several times without seeing all the questions. It would also cut down on repeat questions across subsequent attempts.

All that aside, having medals makes things slightly more intriguing, maybe even for someone who hasn't actually played a single Pokémon game. But the problem with the medals is that, when one of the medals for answering a certain number of questions correctly is earned, the previous amount(s) are not gotten at the same time. For instance, earning the Perfect medal should also net someone the 25+, 20+, 15+, and 10+ medals...all at once. Those should at least be a package deal, rather than having to play the game over and over and over again in order to earn each one.

I personally played through twice, and that was simply so I could earn another medal for having a different score, as well as the other secret medal. Then I decided that writing this review was more important than playing for a third time. Feel free to draw your own conclusions. What you have here is not a bad game. I give bad games one or fewer stars, but like so many other offerings here on Newgrounds, it could most assuredly be improved upon in a variety of ways.

9X74 responds:

Thanks for the in-depth revew ChronoNomad! You made me look at my own game through a whole new lens. If I ever decide to make another game like this I'll be sure to use your constructive critisism and make it alot more interesting and appealing toward a greater audience.

[Climber Guy]

Okay, so this is a really simple premise, though it could ultimately use a lot of improvement. There are only ten levels, which would generally be a bit short for most games, but here it works. The main reason for this is that the game itself is little more than a button-mashing extravaganza. The idea itself isn't bad, though I find that mashing Z and X over and over (and over and over) feels both tedious and uninspired. The climbing mechanic could certainly be better, but again that's where having only ten levels works in the game's favour.

The graphics and animation look really hastily done and super simplistic, but that's actually kind of charming in its own special way. Some really obvious game design essentials have been left out, though. For one thing, there is no explanation about what the individual stats do. You can't mouse over the icons for descriptions or anything, so that's definitely a minus--even if it all seems self-explanatory to the designer. The average person won't have that same inside track to the design mindset, so it's always wise to keep that in mind. Through simple trial and error, I learned that the Strength and Health stats are ultimately the most important to actually succeeding in each level's objective. Speed really isn't all that important since all it helps you do is move left and right quicker. The only real reason to max out all the stats is to earn the medals, and - to that end - it might even be better to lower the upgrade costs on those a bit so that they remain relevant to the actual gameplay.

The only music is a really short loop, and while I didn't find it to be terribly annoying straight away, by the time I was a few levels in it was really beginning to grate. Sound effects are sparse, but what little there is works well enough. It might have been nice to add a few more for mousing over menu selections.

All in all, I felt like the game was simply mediocre. The medals are a nice incentive, though maxing out all the stats is neither necessary for completion of the game, nor is it particularly fun. I would personally suggest giving this a bit of extra polish if you hope to earn higher ratings.

blit-blat responds:

Yeah, thinking about it leaving out instructions for the upgrades was a bit silly; we've spent so much time playing this game it seemed obvious to us! :P I've updated the game description explaining the upgrades. Thanks for the review :)

[Frogocado]

Didn't get to experience too much of the game due to game-breaking glitches. The worst of the lot is how incredibly easy it is to simply Dash right off screen. This happened several times as I played, and when I had finally managed to get through the first batch of levels and travel through time, the very first level I encountered ended abruptly when I Dashed off the left-hand side of the screen, never to reappear again.

I might give it another go later, but for this kind of tetchy gameplay I can't really see offering up a better score. I suggest more play testing in the future in order to work out issues like this before release, though I also understand that there may not have been adequate beta tests in order to get this out there in time for Pixel Day.

Interestingly enough, the real standout performance goes to the background music. I quite enjoyed the tracks and found them to be a bit reminiscent of classic Squaresoft titles like Seiken Densetsu and Chrono Trigger. Then again, when the music steals the show away from the game itself, that's a whole other problem in itself.

eyedust responds:

Fixed a couple of those game-breaking glitches, but thank you for the feedback!

[Gleam]

I don't really see much in the way of interaction between you and the reviewers here, but I'm going to take a stab at getting through. First off, not bad for a 12-hour project. That said, there is one extremely simple improvement that could make this exponentially better:

Increased recruitment variables.

Seriously, you could even split the existing Recruit button four ways, then simply add a x1, x10, x100, and x1000 multiplier to each section. It would require slightly more accurate mouse clicks from the player, but hey--that's not a bad feature for an idle/clicker game. And it would ultimately make the game 1000x playable in the process. Quite literally.

So, if you've been looking at your reviews, stop reading at them and do something about it. Another few minutes to tweak your game will not only not kill you, but it will make for a better game. Win~Win

If you're aspiring to be a game designer, it's your responsibility to listen to your audience. I know quite a few of successful people in the business, and - like me - this would bother them on a truly fundamental level. And hey, as an added incentive for you to put in a bit more effort, I will even add you to my Faves if you do. The potential is already there, so the rest is up to you.

genevrarose responds:

I added the buttons for more recruits. I feel bad for letting you down and making you think this is what I make on a regular basis. I implore you to check out my GOOD games such as:
http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/648430
and a game I'm currently making:
garrettreeves.com/concussion

[The Visit]

I do believe I spent more time in that jail cell than I did actually playing the rest of the game. I think that's stupendous. Short and sweet gameplay + fun and random medals = Success! Well played, sir. Well played, indeed.

Killing the judge? Simply shocking! There's no apologizing that away.

molkman responds:

Yes, jail isn't supposed to be fun and takes its time.

[Niwit Slide]

I found this game to be pretty interesting and generally enjoyable, however that last level takes the skill needed in previous levels and adds a rather unappealing luck factor. The game isn't meant to be easy, but when you have to replay a certain level or checkpoint over and over again ad nauseum, the overall level of frustration starts to soar. Long story short, the wind effect - while being an interesting idea in theory - is way too cheap and monstrous when you have to rely on near perfect timing to get past obstacles.

That being said, I'm happy to report that I pushed on through to the end, and I'm glad I did. I was able to snag some in-game achievements, max out the upgrades, and earn some nifty Newgrounds medals in the process. While I may have found some of the obstacles to be somewhat over the top vicious, I found the gameplay itself to be fun, in a particularly frenetic sort of way. I even soldiered through one of the challenge levels with the fourth character to earn yet one more achievement before calling it quits.

Playing most of the levels from start to finish without having to restart a checkpoint requires an incredibly amount of luck, but fortunately there's still a chance to claim the silver (or even gold) medal even if you get bounced back once or twice. Except for the final level that is, where I can't really imagine anyone being lucky enough to walk away with a medal of any kind. The addition of four different player characters is a nice touch, but I honestly didn't end up using that many character abilities to get through the levels. The upgrades are a nice touch, but many of them are all but vital for later stages, so that would have seemed kind of unfair if it weren't ridiculously easy to accumulate coins.

Well, in conclusion I have to say good work overall. You've made a game that looks nice, and it plays like it's supposed to--even if it's a bit of a frustration fest at times. Nicely done.

OONi responds:

Thanks you for taking the time to review! People like you will help us make better games in the future :)

[Johnny Upgrade]

The game itself is pretty short, but who doesn't love a quick upgrade game? That very first death came as something of a surprise (as I'm sure it does to most folks), but that's all the time it takes to catch on. Just upgrade, upgrade, upgrade! Then find a weapon and upgrade that, too. The graphics and animations work well in this cartoon style, which all felt very appropriate for the title. The music was pretty cool, too. My one and only issue is that I played through the entire game, start to finish, and never earned a single medal. Ah, well...so it goes. You might want to check that out for future players.

Also, to anyone who thinks that this game is nigh unbeatable, think again. After learning the pattern of the end boss, it's not actually that difficult to avoid every single shot. Then again, maybe that's easier for someone who's played a lot of Bullet Hell shooters. Anyway, I completely disagree that the upgrades are insufficient for beating the boss. There's a really easy way to shave a lot of time off the clock, for one thing. And by using the jump and shoot technique when the boss tries to crush you, it should be quite possible to take him out in three waves.

whileworking responds:

All medals are working now, have another try ;)

I actually like the fact that you can play this game in different ways!

[Cuboy: Cubeture 2]

This is the ultimate game starring the ultimate hero...Cuboy! It's fun to play, the plot is appropriately bizarre and witty, and it both looks and sounds amazing. Obviously a lot of work went into this, and it shows. The silliness factor is basically off the charts, and I love the spoken dialogue! David Firth as Hades was simply an inspired choice, and huge kudos to everyone involved for creating such an entertaining and polished point 'n click.

I have played the game through twice, and I have experienced issues with the medals like most other users are reporting here. The first time through I only got two (Ram Buster & Ram God) before I somehow stopped earning them. This time I earned several more, but once I got the Nymphy Blessing secret medal I was again unable to earn the ones beyond that point. I played the game all in one sitting and never left it idling, so I don't know if that helps or not, but...good luck fixing the medal issues! Regardless of that, the game easily earns top marks. I'll be looking forward to the third chapter. :]

EdibleCastle responds:

Thanks so much for your kind words!

And thank you for the bug detail. I played the game on my personal account and also found some medals didn't appear in the end. I'll keep passing on info to Tom and hope you're not too disappointed about not having those medals!

Thanks for playing.