Syncopated's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[Bumper Boat Battle]

Nice work, but needs work

I really do like this game; it's probably the best of its kind I've ever played. It has compelling challenges, interesting customization options, and some satisfying moments. Yet I can't feel like there's too much missing to call this a great game.

Really, all of my complaints lie in the 'challenge' system. Challenges should, by nature, be challenging, not completely impossible. EARN $10,000,000?? KILL 5000 HENCHLINGS?? I've been playing for a fair amount of time and I'm nowhere even NEAR those numbers. And the rewards aren't even that good for such insane accomplishments (using the word loosely) either. Even the sniper badge is probably harder than it should be in my opinion. And why do I need to do something as difficult as go through the first five waves without a hit to unlock something as integral as the selection screen? The way it should work (not that I want to tell you how to do your job...obviously you're a better programmer than I am) but the way it should work is that different achievements unlock different characters. Not having all of them grouped into one, unnecessarily difficult achievement.

Also, none of the challenges extend past level 5! Once I hit this level, I was really not compelled to go on anymore. IF you put challenges in a game, you have to expect that people are going to measure their success off of the awards they've received. After hitting wave 5, part of me feels like I'm done. This feeling intensified once I go the diamond boat. Why keep going on after this? And why get rid of the upgrade screen? I need a brake every once in a while even after I'm fully upgraded. Why don't you allow the player to buy health between levels at this point? Or extra characters? Or new mine types? You need more cash sinks.

Sorry to rant, but I feel like there's so much potential in this game and yet I barely want to continue playing it. I feel like you can do better, and will do better. In my opinion, this project is worth continuing to a sequel. Maybe new arenas, enemies, weapons, statistics, characters, character storylines, powerups...all of these things could make a really awesome game. I hope some of these suggestions are helpful.

urbaniac responds:

You're right about the challenges. They were designed for the users on our site, who play these games over and over every day to earn Urbos. I should have adjusted the challenge numbers for casual gameplay sites like this.

[The irRegularGame of Life]

Haha nice work

This is really pretty perfectly executed. I just started up java programming and read about the game of life, so it's cool to see it taken to the next level. I really think that you made the concept as enjoyable as it can be. I'd love to give it a ten, except the levels aren't as much riotously entertaining as they are interesting...but of course that is because of the choice of material, not because of you. I can definitely tell that there was a lot of thought in this and you must have had a pretty good background in the game to make this, so good job! geeks everywhere rejoice at your work.

squidsquid responds:

Hey thanks, its great to get such a well-reasoned and positive review :) Because in the game of life it is hard to predict the outcome from only small changes in initial conditions it made designing the levels challenging. In fact I went over my initial levels twice and altered and reordered them etc to make it more playable. I'm pretty pleased with the result and also pleasantly surprised by the game's reception so far :)

[Bubble Adventure]

I believe there's potential...

I have noticed you responding to these initial reviews at least, and I appreciate when authors do this so I will leave what I hope to be some constructive feedback. You have produced what is certainly an ok game. sweet, albeit very safe, music selection and everything is executed in a passable fashion. I played through the first two levels but unfortunately lost interest very quickly due to the drudgery required to collect every single coin. It's just no fun initially at least. I would recommend making it necessary to only collect only a certain percentage of coins in each level, maybe somewhere in the neighborhood of 75-80%. This will allow less interested users to access more content in the game before stopping, and will also leave room for perfectionists (such as myself) to explore every corner of each level to find all the coins. Perhaps achievements could be rewarded for finding every coin on a level.

Although I did give up on the game relatively early. given what you said in the instructions, it seems like things get interesting when you have to judge the stability of platforms based on bubble responses. However, I would put this feature in the game earlier on. Also, this sort of puzzle element seems like it would lend itself well to a game full of secret platforms which yield unlockables. Or, perhaps they could lead to other areas with troves of coins that would help reach the necessary percentage I recommended before. If you chose the unlockables route, it seems like there could be a certain synergism with the achievements aspect that could also yield unlockables. Perhaps I'm too focused on this unlockable thing, but its a feature i love to see in games and one that worked VERY well in amorphous so maybe it could work here too. Like perhaps an extra jump or parachute or speed boosts or costumes or the like.

So all in all, its a pretty plain game but the bubbles things seems like it could be cool. I'd be happy to hear what you think of my suggestions and I wish you good luck in the future!

51lver responds:

thankyou for the very full review =]

i admit the amount of coins you need to collect on some levels seems a bit daunting at first..and perhaps in another update i will make it so you only have to collect 75% of them, also with the unlocking part, i tried to keep this as simple as possible, without making things too complicated for myself

and as you didn't play too far into the game ;] then you didn't notice any of the invisible or fake platforms that were hidden there

once again thankyou for the full review

[Amorphous+]

As awesome as it is addicting

I usually wait until I'm entirely done with a game to comment on it, but seeing as how youre still replying to some of the comments (a trait in an author that I'm always glad to see) I'll post my thoughts now on the off chance I get a response.

I really couldn't see how this style of game (i.e. simple enemy slashing fun) could have been executed much better. All of the Glooples are interesting in their own, unique way and they are always exciting to discover. And the achievements are really incredible. I consider myself an exceptionally achievement-driven person, so I was particularly drawn in by this feature. So many of the descriptions are very funny, and often appropriately humiliating. I might have been proud of my first three hit combo but your comments put me back in my place. Some of the achievements are downright awesome, like the absentee one which i found i had won after pausing to go to mcdonald's. The different styles of play are also a nice touch...even though they're nearly identical they are able to add enough variety to keep me going (currently I'm up to the Addiction time award if that's any indication of how entertained I am). I also really love the reward system...they're all a mystery and I really want to find out as many as I can! The last one is particularly attractive, clearly, although I've yet to unlock it. I've gotten *spoiler* sprint (#1), saw drone (#6), repulsor (#8), and teleporter (#10) at this point and I usually take the repulsor as it's good in a number of different situations (particularly when mobbed by inkies). (to anyone else reading this review, maybe post your favorite rewards you've unlocked?)

Now, although I clearly love this game there are a few points where I could see it improved. I personally find the nests a tad difficult; i took the small one out after a few shots but the big + huge have given me a lot of difficulty...i feel like maybe big should be a little more doable for the "medium" level? Just one man's opinion really, though. I also have two game play suggestions that I couldn't help keep thinking about while playing, but I apologize if they're already been mentioned by others. In order to keep up the whole theme of simplicity, would it make sense to map the power up key to the right click button? this could be a nice addition that would keep game play exclusive to one hand which could be sort of fun. also, i know that a lot of people have been crying for extra attacks and one that i feel could fit in here is a charge attack. if i could hold my mouse button down for a couple of seconds after a swing to unleash a 360 degree swing, that could add a nice element of strategy to the game. of course, the awards would probably have to be altered a little but it could be nice in any case. speaking of things that other people want...i think the idea of changing movement to wasd keys is a poor idea and i support your decision of mouse movement.

On the whole: really really nice work. I enjoyed this game a lot and hope it makes front page. I look forward to more!

innocuousGames responds:

I feel like it's only fair that I show a little gratitude to the people who take the time to share their opinions with me about my work, and it gives me a chance to talk, which if you've played the game it should be pretty clear that I love to do. :)

I really think that (other than pause and save, of course) the thing that the old game really needed was a sense of accomplishment or progress. Since the game follows a very loose structure, I couldn't really introduce stages (I mean... I guess I could have, but it would have fundamentally changed the way the game played... to me at least, part of it's charm is it's sheer unpredictability). So, my next thought was to do an achievement system. And then, to give THOSE more purpose, I decided to add the Rewards on top of that ( some sort of set of Power Ups or Equipment was easily the third most requested addition for the old game). I really agree that it adds something vital the old game needed. And man were they fun to make.

The Award descriptions did sort of absorb some of my natural snarky-ness. Glad you think it works!

The larger nests are a bit difficult, no doubt (Huge is completely rediculous, I am not ashamed to admit) but the addition of Rewards I think makes them a bit more reasonable. A lot of people complain about the time it takes, and there's no doubt they can take a while, but that just makes victory that much sweeter. As you say, that's really just my opinion, but I do like a challenge.

Mapping the reward key to the right button is actually a damn good idea. I have to admit I'm not exactly sure how to do that in flash without it popping up a menu, but I've no doubt it can be done and it's something I should learn for future projects.

Also your charge-attack idea I think is quite good. I like it.

As far as movement goes, as I've said it's not that I don't see the value in WASD movement, but to me that's mostly just that it frees up the mouse cursor to do other things. Like aim, in games where that applies. I'm sure for people who aren't used to the mouse movement control, it can seem a bit strange for a while (or if, say, you're forced to play on a freaking TOUCHPAD... bleh). But in the longrun I'd never change it for this game. I agree with you agreeing with me. :P

Anyway, Thanks for your review (I love the long ones) and I hope you waste many hours enjoying my strange little blob killing game!

[MetalHead]

Not as bad as others make it out to be...

Parts of this game were actually pretty nice. Mostly the Van part of the game...the monsters were all pretty well done. I particularly liked the demon who stood on his wings, it reminded me of a creature in the nightmare before christmas. other parts really should have been expanded on or made more clear (especially the drummer's part).

switchedagain responds:

your right about everything seriously !
first i begin with ches which is painted graet second one i made zohan i didn't like it cuz i didn't have an idea of what to do !
3rd ven when i made it game it was graet nice idea nice game and nice painting i liked everything about it .
and the last one was vix .. i didn't have time i wanted 2 finish the game as fast as i can cuz i must send it 2 the teacher .

thx for wt u say ..and sorry for the bad english

[Circus Fantastico]

Ehh

This is an alright game...but needs a lot of work. i know you said it's an 'update game' but ng doesn't really like that; you should have a fully playable game before it's released. and this is really borderline playable. first of all, there NEEDS to be an option to fast forward to the show because i can spend all of my money in about 10 seconds. i cannot emphasize that enough. also, the help section is really pathetic. email you with questions? yeah right, more likely its just find another game instead. also things cost waaaaaay to much. even a few days in, the numbers seem really unmanageable. at least include some cheaper purchases for earlier players maybe. and even with the performers, is there a benefit to the more expensive ones? there should be more specifics on the pros of each. also there should be limits on the game. i mean it seems like i can just buy as many acrobats as i want at the beginning of each level and i would eventually get enough money to meet all the goals. is there a time limit (in terms of days)? there are just a lot of areas that need work here and you could maybe have an engaging game. hope to see improvements in the future.

World-Amazing-Games responds:

as i said and also u did this is a upgading game. the "long time show" is a bug that im dealing with. your right with the help thing but i cant come up with how i shall right so much text in that place + that u get borred reading everything. u get 20 % profit on every show = if u buy performers for 1000 $ u get 1200 + tip after show.so u get ur profit in % so yes its a benefit to buy expencive once . and i think u can get that much money u need for the expensive things for 40000$ in lesser then 20 shows. and 20 shows is much but when u can save the game u play a bit then u stop, then contiue tomorrow/ if u like the game. but its maybea bit expensive. time limit not set yet but i will soon ....

thx for reviewing and ur advise

[LRU 3: Darkness Reborn]

Just wow

So I just finished my entire first run through of this game. It must have taken me at least 5 hours to get through all of the content. I did everything and I loved it. I'm tempted to play again as Lethal to see how the story changes and to see how my powers and weapons progress. That is a lot of time input, though, and I just don't know if it's worth it. I guess I'll give a run down of all of the pros and cons (mostly pros) that I found in this awesome game.

I'll start off with a couple of complaints. First of all, some of the animations were a little sloppy. Like when the captains died in a pool of really linear and unrealistic blood I felt like the graphics just didn't match up to the rest of the programming in the game. There were also a couple of glitches I found. I can't go back down from the top right room of the second city...it seems like the arrows are too far in the wall. Also, when I hit level 19 my mana went up to something like 15,000 for some reason and then went back down to normal when I re-leveled. There were also a few annoying parts of the game. First of all, the trees are completely solid, which doesn't make any sense. You should be able to walk through the top parts of them because clearly they aren't on the ground and create too big of an obstacle. Also, the mission to take back all of the colonies from the Abyss...really? That legitimately took me an hour of no-fun grinding. It should have been split up. There was really not much incentive to do it before the mission so I ended up having to do it all at once. Also, the enemies' heal spells were pitifully bad. Looking at another successful RPG like Sonny, when an enemy heals its a big deal. Here, it's like "Oh thank God, I just got a free turn". Not that I'm saying you should try to replicate Sonny exactly (I finished this one but not Sonny) it just seemed like this part of the game was a little silly. Also the spell descriptions were confusing. The assault spells said "One Use" so I thought I could only use them once in the game. This should probably be changed. Finally, the progression of difficulty seemed a little off. Once I got all the spells and such there was really no challenge to the game. I died a reasonable amount in the beginning but I think after I hit the second half I didn't die once. Even Fatal didn't prove too much of a problem (still a fun and engaging battle though).

Ok ok, now for the good parts of the game which really overshadow the bad parts even if the paragraph ends up a little shorter. I loved the customization of the character, as others have mentioned...it made me explore the entire map on new areas and added some nice spice to the game. Also, the parts where you destroy the generators was fun and a good change-up in activity. And I loved the side quests...they were all very compelling and resulted in a nice feeling of accomplishment. And the weapons looked really sweet when you upgraded them, so nice job there. The selection of classes is also compelling...I am still interested to find out more about the staff (it might be one of the reasons I go again as Lethal). I did look through the beginning of the game as Lethal and it was cool to see people interact differently with him. It was almost unexpected that so much work would be put into a part that so few people will see, but I always appreciate it when programmers do just that. Also, even though I may have knocked the graphics of the game you have mastered the art of cleavage. Truthfully, I kept almost expecting a dating sim aspect to the game. Maybe that wouldn't have really fit in here, but maybe some ability to chose one of the three commanders at the end would have been cool (I vote the Paradiso chick personally). I also loved the Fable-like part of the game where you choose between killing or saving the guard. I didn't think to save him before it was too late though, and now I'm very curious at what's in the other chest. I'm sure it's more kick-ass armor, but do you think I could have any hints?

All in all incredible work! I'm looking forward to more!

Benspyda responds:

I see you have thoroughly played through the game. Thanks for the full review. Yeah that magic glitch is quite funny. I should probably fix it though.

Its good when people notice how much hard work goes into these games.

[Pushies]

Heh nice work

At first I was like...alright stupid game you can just push past the squares. but then i realized how they ganged up on you and the game actually ended up getting difficult quickly. the curve was appropriate though. On my first try I got 2900 or something and it said I beat your highscore...could this be true?

kario responds:

Sadly that's true - my high score's only around 2400 :|

[Squares and Blades]

Worth playing

I actually thought that this was a pretty well made game. The combat was fun and I liked the different attacks. Not that I tried any other characters, but the spy seems clearly superior to me (although I'm not sure what the lethality bonus is) simply because of her extra move as the other stats can be increased and shield easily supplied through monks anyway. Also, I noticed a rather large bug which was this: if you don't stop to heal, lose, and restart the battle, everyone is at full health again, making healing useless. I would have maybe liked to see units with multiple spells (maybe a heal on the monks?), but overall nice work.

Thunder-Hawk responds:

Yes, the spy is probably slightly stronger than others. She has lower skills, but does 50% additional damage.
When you restart the battle, you lose one day!

[Mardek Rpg: Chapter 2]

Very very nice work

I played the first Mardek when it originally came out and I had been waiting for this ever since. I was not disappointed. I really thoroughly enjoyed this game and can say without a doubt that it gave me more play time than anything else I've ever played on Newgrounds or anywhere else (and that's a good deal of content). Where else can I play 9 hours worth of material for free? I couldn't tell you.

This game's length makes it difficult to review fully. First of all, I found everything fairly glitch free once I updated my flash player, except signs repeated themselves fairly regularly when reading them, as I believe others have pointed out. Seeing a rat level up in the sewers was funny, but also a logical addition. Many choices in your game were logical, along with snippets of speech which make fun of traditional rpg's (like the random battles on the ship). A true satire. Also, I'd say the difficulty was really very good. I had to replay a bunch of fights, but not to the point where it was annoying and most of the time there was something I was doing wrong/missing. Like for the shaman boss I didn't have barrier breaker which is an absolute necessity. The reaction system worked very well and I really liked the variations in attacks and status effects etc. The items worked well too; I liked getting new skills from gear and side quests. Every time I found a new item in a chest or lying around I felt like it was something special and it gave me a little sense of pride which is always good to have in a game. I really liked the continuity from the first game; it managed to fit together nicely if you had played the first one, while also being an engaging storyline to those who hadn't.

I have a few minor complaints, not that they really detracted from the overall experience which was incredible. As others have said, the catacombs got to be very tedious. All of my characters ran out of mana completely (except Deugan of course) and I just had to flee from all the battles. Fleeing was a fairly consistent problem; the game had no mechanism to discourage it. Assuming that you are powerful enough already, the fights are fairly pointless. Maybe a percent chance to fail, or a chance of them reappearing without the flee option could work. I'm sure you've thought this through though and you are the designer so I support your decision. Also, I personally found the difficulty to be a little unevenly distributed, with the beginning being more difficult than the end (much of this may be due to my unsuccessful fights against the shaman, though). Also, the characters were really unevenly skilled. The caster (I'm kicking myself for not remembering her name) was really infinitely better because of element variation than other characters, most notably Deugan. Of course he's good for barrier breaking, but beyond that...eh. More monster drops could have been nice as well, as the only thing they really drop that you can't buy is the mace from the skeletons, which was a nice touch. My biggest complaint (though not really a PROBLEM) is Deugan. NOOOO!!! *Spoiler* But I really feel like I could have saved him in 10 minutes. That was the most emotional moment of any game I've played in a long, long time. Another emotional highlight (not a problem at all it just came to mind) was when the books in the Goznor shop talked about dominance in relationships. I became jealous when I found out that dominant elements won women, implying (maybe?) that the girl (sorry I don't know her name *embarrased*) would love Deugan over me because of his elemental dominance. I don't want Mardek to lose her!

Once again, really really nice work. I must say I'm baffled as to why this piece did not receive front page status. It deserves it more than I can possibly express in words, and I'm really sorry that so many people will not find out about this game! On another note, I like to see that you're still responding to comments almost 200 in and I would love to hear anything back. I also love your artwork; some of it is amazing. I just ran out of characters for the first time!!!

Pseudolonewolf responds:

Thank you for the detailed review; it's very appreciated!
I haven't got anything much to SAY in response to it though, since you didn't really mention any specific bugs or anything...
Except, uh... She's called Emela. Yes. (Very few people were actually able to remember ANYONE'S name with any accuracy... hm.)
And I might consider making Deugan more powerful or useful...
There was also originally a chance of failure when fleeing, but it was buggy and had to be removed at the last minute. I'll consider fixing that and adding it back in.
I'll also add a Healing Crystal in the Catacombs; a lot of people would like that, I'm sure.

Anyway, it's good when people express their appreciation of my efforts!