matt-likes-swords's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[William and Sly 2]

Amazing

Most people have probably already said this, but the graphics were amazing; probably the best I've seen in a flash game. That and the music make a really mysterious and relaxing atmosphere.

In terms of gameplay there's a lot of improvements over the original; the last few items are easier to find thanks to the power ups, and there's no tedious boss fight. Still it does feel more like a remake than a sequel, the basic goals and mechanics of the game are the same. That's not really a bad thing though.

Can't really think of much improvements, but there were a few minor things;
I'd like to have a small version of the map on-screen at all times in the corner, because it's a bit annoying when it blocks the screen. Also having to press Escape to remove text is a bit awkward, could it not have been Enter instead?

Kajenx responds:

Hey dood, thanks for the review! I didn't realize we'd be submission rivals or I probably would have wanted to wait, haha. Hope your game does well! :3

[Particle Wars Extreme]

Sparkly

Extreme difficulty should be the normal difficulty.
Easy and hard difficulties were really boring to play through, and felt pretty grindy. At the very least beating levels on a harder difficulty should get you the achievements for the lower difficulties, beating the game 3 times is a bit much...

Anyway! The scoring system is fun and keeping your combo seems to be the main challenge, and that works well. The music is amazing and the whole visual style has a lot of energy.

The animations at the end of levels and at the start of frenzy mode are a bit long and boring to watch after you see them a few times, it'd be nice if they were skippable.

Overall; nice game but it goes on for too long. Levels should be shorter but harder in my opinion.

Also I can't seem to find how to get the LIKE ON FACEBOOK medal. I'm probably missing a really obvious button somewhere, but somehow I've not noticed it... help plz.

ZEGMAN responds:

Thanks!
I agree with the difficulty and unlocking the previous medals when you're on higher difficulty! Noted and used to improve my next game :D
Thanks for the feedback, the like on fb button is on the screen where you get game over, click the facebook icon.

Thanks for the 10 and review man

[Gap Monsters]

nice

Don't usually have the patience for puzzle games, but I found this one pretty easy to get into. The levels aren't too hard but are still rewarding to beat.

Haven't finished it yet but I'll try and do that without the walkthrough, and after that I'll have to spend quite a bit of time trying out user made levels.

Watching the monsters die is also very satisfying.

Nutcasenightmare responds:

Thanks, I was hoping I'd find that sweet spot where the game's easy to get into, but still maintains a challenge.

And yes, watching Monsters die is satisfying...
But watching them suffer fates worse than multiple deaths?
Awesome enough for me to make a game about it.

[SHMUP]

Nice graphics and music, annoying gameplay

The difficulty is really cheap...

Your hit box is waaay too big.
The bullets are so small you can barely see them sometimes, and later on they move so fast you can't dodge them, unless you're not in their way to begin with.
Enemies pop out from the bottom of the screen without warning, and sometimes at lightning speeds.
Often my ship simply isn't fast enough to dodge some wide attacks.
After getting hit, your invulnerability should last longer. Foes shouldn't be able to hit combos on you.
The upgrade system was pretty cool, but maybe you should have left speed out of it.

I know you probably expect players to memorize the levels in order to dodge stuff, but flash gamers aren't serious enough for that.

More people would enjoy a game that looks harder than it is (tiny hit box, tons of bullets), than a game that's harder than it looks (this).

Anyway, good job on the graphics again, especially liked the backgrounds.

Afro-Ninja responds:

I'll definitely agree that I leaned toward pattern memorization, but it's hard for me to judge their difficulty since I designed them, and I didn't really have complaints in that department from early testers. Aside from the later levels, but I figured that was to be expected.

thanks for the feedback

[Bearboy and the Cursor]

bees

Pretty fun game, though the mouse mechanic did get annoying at times, along with the cheap difficulty in some levels.

Final battle was a bit boring, but at least it wasn't too hard.

HeadFizz responds:

I'll trying making more exciting battles in the next game. I'll try and involve the mouse more.

[bloXplatter]

fun but has a few problems...

Do I really have to start from the beginning when I lose?
Kinda stressful for people without much free time.

Is there no way to change the quality settings?
I'd rather not play in low quality...

And plz don't make medals for beating the game perfectly.
You're better off making the medals too easy than too hard.

Otherwise fun game, and has some interesting stuff going on with the blocks.

ThinXIII responds:

Wow thanks matt! :D

I'll be sure to improve and fix the things I've done wrong or not too well. Really helpful.

A review from you really made my day! Thanks again.

[Paranormal Shark Activity]

sharks are getting popular

Fun little game. Really liked the graphics and sound effects. Gave me a few frights, especially when finding one of the secret medals.

Controls could use a bit of work though. Jumping out of the water was annoying, yellow blocks are too hard to get past, the platforms appear near the right edge - instead of coming from off screen, when the jetpack ends i end up wasting bombs if I'm holding up etc etc.

Stuff like that made the game a bit unfair.

Also, I eventually managed to glitch it somehow; the shark was about to pop back on screen, but then he didn't, and he never came back. The exclamation mark stayed there forever too.

Could also use a bit more motivation to keep playing, besides the medals. Maybe different backgrounds or upgrades or something.

Overall it was still pretty fun.

ThinXIII responds:

Wow!, thanks for the review man. All points taken. :D

[Pyroscape 2]

fiyah

Probably the first Point and Click adventure I completed without a walkthrough!
Was pretty funny.

Ima have to go back and find the secret medals though.

Fro responds:

Only one is hard to find. :)

[Escaping the Prison]

drills

lulz at some of the endings, secret medal was a bit too secret though.

PuffballsUnited responds:

Hmm, yeah I'm beginning to think so too. Maybe I should've left it un-secret. You think more people would have found it if they could see the picture? Except it's not as WTF-ish if you sorta know what's coming.

[Particles Extreme]

cool

Shiny graphics!
Did you do all the backgrounds yourself?
They were pretty neat.

Music was catchy as well, and the game was reasonably challenging on wave mode, though the final boss defeated me, just barely.

My only complaint is the lack of a score counter.
Doesn't that defeat the replay value?!

Also, mute buttons are always good, though I personally wouldn't need one here.

I guess it's pretty hard to make a traditional shooter that appeals to a lot of people, so good luck if ya plan on making more similar games.

ZEGMAN responds:

Thanks a ton man! :D