MadMath's Reviews

[For Everyone To See]

He he he...

Excellent, as all the stuff you submit here.
The same black humour, the same wonderful drawings, kind of insane and definitely unique, immediately recognizable. You've got a constancy that never falls into boredom or repetition. Congratulations for that.

This small animation is really original, and I must confess I had no idea about the ending, even if I was expecting something crual. And I wasn't disapointed. Short and powerful, nightmareful, funny and original, this flash is another demonstration of your huge talent. I also really love your animation that is fantastic. Kind of violent moves (that you often accompany with this windy noise), i like the way you animate what needs to be, without doing too much. For an example making a movement only in the feet at the end, contributes to the peculiar, absurd, and really funny situation.

Good job, you make us dive into this horrible/wonderful atmosphere in a few seconds and don't want to quit it. ever.
Awesome original flash.

[Alight]

Sumptuous animation.

Indeed. Very fluid and righteous.

No kidding, those small characters are absolutely beautiful. And the beginning is very poetic. Everything is well done, and it appears to be a very nice illustration of the classic impossible love story due to the characters differences. Those small characters are definitely very cute, and they are very expressive, just with their eyes and corporal expressions. In that, it's amazingly thought and concretized. The way the water girl discovers her body is made with a rare poetry, and she's fantastically feminine, while this fire boy, on the contrary very curious and excited is touching too cause he's kind of human on a way.

I'm though a bit disapointed that we just graze them. As soon as they are introduced, they almost vanish, and they don't come back. I think it's really damage to lose them that soon, before they can become really interesting. We can just have an awesome preview, finally. And unfortunately we can't dig deeper in them and can't give them the attachment they diserve, cause you don't allow us to, by ripping them off from the watcher.

The story is still (quite) coherent despite its abstract and symbolic sides, but I really think you lose something evincing your heroes in the middle of the video. Cause even if they float on a latent way on the whole video, they disappear in the shape we want to see them.

Anyway, overall it's an excellent job. Every part, every aspect of this work is done with an excellent taste and it shows an incredible sense of observation. Showing us details of such quality is impressive. From the last breath of the water girl, to the smoke, the movements of the characters, everything is brilliant. The fast movements are perfectly realized too, and I appreciate the great variation of cinema shots (i hope it's the right english word) and the use of the quake. In a very strange a desertic landscape, I must confess you used perfectly the space and we are never lost.

So for me it's a very good, coherent, and greatly realized work, well articulated around a nice and poetic story. The music suits well.
9/10 and 5/5.

[You Roast My Beef]

Ha ha !

Great !
That was a good idea and you realised it very well. The animations are really cool and fluids, and the drawing rocks. And even if it's a graphic effort more than everything, i must confess that the sounds are really bringing something powerful in this small movie. Those horrible screams are totally awesome.
The overall was really enjoyable and very funny, and the shortness of the vid makes it have something burlesque. The mix between real video and animation is one of the best i saw since roger rabbit.
Very good job.

molkman responds:

Cool, thanks for the review. :>

[Keep An Eye]

Waow. It's been a while I didn't review a game. But as there was a true effort in this one, and it was so enjoyable to play, I'll do it ! Hope I remember how to do so...

The first thing that striked me were the menus, which look really smooth, and epured, which is a great thing, next to the cool illustrations and the music (that couldn't loop a bit better, but which is pretty nice). This very first impression gave me a feeling of control and humility, which had been totally checked the more I played the game.
That's what I enjoyed, particularly in a game you're "supposed" to die a lot, that it doesn't lose time making unnecessary animations or cinematics. Here, you click start, you have a pseudo-story (which seems to be here, let's be honnest, only to justify the presence of the eye and to say that you've got a story, ha ha), and a very short tutorial. That's perfectly well dosed. You die, or you hit R, you respawn immediately. There are no ending animation that wouldn't be needed, etc. That, to me, is a sign of someone who knows, how a game works, and what players expect. So props for that.

About the game itself, I found it very enjoyable. It seemed pretty hard at first, because of the balance of the eye, but once you completed the game a first time, you realize that it's very fluid, and not that hard to handle and master. And that's because of the programming. DimmedLight, you definitely did an amazing job here. The mecanics, are truely perfect. The speed of the game is wonderfully dosed, and the difficulty, as it increase very reasonnably along the game, suits me very well. Not too hard, but enough to make the last medal a real challenge.

I also wanted to congrat you about the exploitation you made of all the different little helping dudes, and their different powers. Combining them inside the same level was obviously good, but consecrating some levels to one kind of power exclusively was very smart. This way, I didn't got bored at all. On the contrary, I got a lot of pleasure to finish this little flash game several times.

The star system (with the first hit not punished) and the achievements bring a very appreciated replay value to it, so once again, you did a great job, showing you know gamers and giving them what they want (at least what I want, he he).

If I had some negative points to give, I could say that the story was very light (but who cares ?) and could have been propped up by some drawings. The artist made nice stuff here, so you could have exploited him a bit more ;)
Also, I would suggest you to allow the X key at the very beginning, even if introducing on level 8. Because, when you finish the game a first time, it's destabilizing not to have access to it on the first 7 levels when you got used to it.

To sum up... I want to adress to the team a big and sincere BRAVO. In my humble and personal opinion, this game was really really great. Good job, and I hope to see more from you guys in the future !

ArcadeHero responds:

Wow! What a great review :)
Thank you so much from our team!
We glad that you enjoy "Keep an Eye".
Hope you like our upcoming game :)
And I hope you enjoy a sequel little bit later :D
-ArcadeHero

[OONi Battle Protoversion2]

Cool game overall in my opinion, very polished and professional on an esthetic point of view. Great menu, cool interface, original graphisms. The music is well wedged on the different scenes or events, and the game is smooth, fluid and without bugs. Plastically, it's undeniably a great job, and I like finding back the "old" characters I saw in your other games.

It's more on the essence of the game that I'm less convinced. First of all, I didn't see a big difference between this new game and Ooni Battle. Just adding checkpoints and a wheel of fortune (which I'm not denigrating, of course, they are good inovations :) ) is a bit too light to pretend to a sequel, when you're using the same characters, finding back the same fighting actions, the same items, etc. Actually, I liked the simplicity of the fighting and its super easy handling, but I must confess that after a while, it was even too epured and it kind of lost its interest for me.

As there are only a few options (enhance defense, attack, gain life or money), the upgrades that could motivate the player to keep playing an addictive game are insufficient here (still in my opinion). Actually, after having pick up +5, +10 or +15 attack the most I could, I just beat all my opponents in one strike (even bosses). That kind of killed the suspense. Each time, I just clicked once to attack, another to inflict heavy damages, and some other to catch up coins :) I never used items as they got pretty useless because of that...
I think it's the huge difficulty in this kind of game : to keep an addicting game addictive, and prevent the player to fell into boredom. As far as I'm concerned, I was a bit too close to the cliff...

To counter that, you included achievments (medals) and you were right ! Giving objectives is a good way to maintain addiction ;) But I'm sure you could have include some more, on streaks, on critical hits, or on the different tribes.

Though, I liked how the different tribes have their own stats, which is more enjoyable as you go through the game, and particularly their special moves. The "upgrade" button was also a good idea.

Here it is, I just gave you MY opinion on your work. I find it a good game, but I would have appreciate to see this kind of stuff in it. I hope this review helps, if you find in it some elements you agree with.

Good work, and good luck for your future games !

OONi responds:

Thank you for this thorough review! Indeed, we are aware that we need to add depth and replay value to the game, and that is what we are trying to accomplish with the "official" version, among many other new things (some of which you also mention).

Thanks again!

[Confound]

Awesome game you present here, sir.

The concept is very good. I already saw it before, but never that well realized.
Here, even when it's difficult, it's always possible to find a way to avoid the embushes. It just needs concentration, patience, and everything in your body focused on coordination and reactivity.
I liked how you arranged safe places, and the fact that the levels are more a succession of well distincted difficulties than a path you must chain without stopping. And I guess it's more standable like that, avoiding too much frustration from the player.

I also liked a lot how you go straight to the essential : no long story, no misplaced tutorial, no death or rebirth cinematic, etc. Just some boards you're free to take time to read or not, and immediate respawns. In a game where it's very easy to die, and on which repetition and chaining are essentials, I find it brilliant.

Good job also on the structure of levels and the evolution of difficulty, which is, in my opinion, very well thought. I found the last levels very difficult, particularly the last one, in its own genre, as you incorporated the arrow keys :P
About the pause level, I also found that a great idea and it was very well made as it didn't break the succession, because, even for an easier level, it has its difficult side.

Here is what striked me in your little game, and what gave me the envy to write another review (didn't do it for months !) and to play it till the end. For a first real project, I strongly wanted to salute your clairvoyance and your good taste on these practical and mechanical aspects of your submission.

I neglected a bit the external side of it, because it seemed a bit secondary for me, and not really peculiar. Graphism are classic, retro and purged, I'm ok with it, even if they don't look particularly original. They suit well to the game. The control screen was clear to read. And the musics were well chosen.

Finally, that's a really good game in my opinion. Rather original, and most of all, perfectly realized. For a first one, it's a true success. I checked your page but didn't see any other submission. I hope you'll show us something else, I'll welcome your future works with pleasure :)
Good luck ;)

cupnoodles responds:

Thanks a lot. For a game developer, it's positive feedback like this that keeps me going. Thanks for taking the time to write this review, I appreciate it very much, and I will definitely keep making games!
About the graphics, they are quite simple indeed, because I actually made them all by myself, and I'm no real artist. (Still trying to find one to help me out).
I'm going to start on a new project soon, so stay tuned, because in a month or two it should be ready. If you enjoyed this one as much as you seemed to have done, you'll probably like it too.
:D

[Activate All Sleepers]

I enjoyed a lot, thank you :)

This song is fucking insane. I'm loosing my words.
Huge atmosphere, which goes from something mystic and frightening to some wonderful john carpenterish moment of epicness. 1:22 is the key moment here for me and you bring it with such taste. Seriously I'm stunned by what you did. I love your use of cut off and low-fi for your drums, which contrast with your long mystic synth notes which sound a bit like human voices.
And that's a super polished song, with lots of nuances on dark /light, strong/soft, low-fi/high fi, great use on the pano but I still feel totally overwhelmed and evolving inside your world while listening to this.
Your rythmes and drums are magical. The superposition of syncops and metronomic beats and the "stressfull" successions of the same note serve your atmospheres so well...
Pheew, I cannot stop listening.

Amazing song my friend. Thanks for sharing this.
5/ fav / and my true love and respect for that

AliceMako responds:

I had this synth workstation on trial http://www.robpapen.com/images/RobPapen_Vecto.png it's what i made everything apart from the kick with, very luxurious device now if only it was a bit cheaper xD

This was quite a bit of work so i'm glad you like it, as allways thank you kindly for listening.

[StarDrive]

Hey man, nice song, I think you've finally created your own style in Drum'n'bass.
Starting with the introduction which is a neat success (which could have been a bit longer in my opinion as much it's a great one, and because of the length of the song ; I'm sure you could make us wait a bit more, enough to get impatient to hear the heart of the track ;)).

I perceive a lot of similarities with Horizon, which is definitely your best song of all times in my opinion, talking about the structure of the track, drums, mood, the superimposition of a "false lead" (I create this term for you, man :D), which gets out of the traditionnal way to create catchy melodies that start from a point to reach another (to me, it's more like you design a melody that needs to be repeated just like an accompanment), and a long ethereal and ambient table. That finally leads to an impression of perfect combination and a awesome space occupation with a real density.

Your variations are well dosed, and even if I realized that that they're pretty outnumbered (at the exception of the very subtle calm at 2:42), but absolutely sufficient to keep the listener entertained till the end. It's typically the kind of song that could not end but not bore me. In a way, you use the trance-music (which I don't really like, unless it's psychedelic trance :P) codes that you adapt to your own creation. And that definitely lead to an amazing result.

What could be enhanced (in my very little humble opinion), is the snare. It's too much "in your face", but weirdly in the same time too stiffled. I think you would gain to use a little cut-off on it, and reduce its velocity, because, in this whole density and space occupation, I guess that some elements would take advantage of emerging out of the mass, but whithout assaulting the listener ;)

Finally, I really like the song, it's a very good job in my opinion, with a great ensemble coherence. You know how to be effective while promoting your own style, and it's a pleasure to hear your songs, that are always interesting to hear, and if not always gold nuggets, never disapointing.

Cheers ;)

Geoplex responds:

Awesome review man, it's always fantastic to read such an extensive analysis :P

It seems I got a fair few comments on the snare, and that's unfortunate really because I really like it :/ I'm always hearing DnB or Dubstep or Drumstep and thinking to myself "man, that snare really isn't loud enough" and so I pump mine up to the max. I also have a habit of avoiding snare brightness because I don't like how it sounds sometimes.

That said, you're probably right - and my goal is to appeal to as many people as I can, so it's definitely worth changing what I do if the consensus is that it'd be a good decision

Thanks again for the awesome review, it's certainly appreciated :D

[City of Secrets]

Ha ha, well done Chrono !
Nice ambient funky-jazzy loop !

The marimba in the very first measures made me laugh as it really sounds like a lift music, or a crash bandicoot level. Very nice mix of instruments you have here. I definitely love what you made with your drums, particularly with its apparition after an acceleration of the bass, which is so well done (0:12 and 1:11). And in a way only the bass itself would make this song a success. But you really bring wealth to the overall with the succession of instruments, solos, and emotions.

As I said, in my opinion, not only the construction of the bass and the drums is amazing, but their sounds suit the song to the perfection. I'm a bit less convinced by the violin that sounds sometimes very cheap, such as the trumpet despite the play with its straight mute, which is very interesting and constituting a plus. I'm also a bit frustrated by the shortness of the crash cymbal at 1:01, which would gain, to me, to be escorted with a little reverb ;)

Anyway, the composition and the structure of your track is amazing in my humble opinion, and I'm impressed at my little personal level :P
You managed to create a very homogeneous loop despite the diversity of feelings, instruments, the play on the panoramics, and the use of syncops (very nice, ha ha, I love using them myself !).
Good work my friend ! Original, interesting and made with talent !

Cheers !

Math

ChronoNomad responds:

Many thanks to you, MadMath! I honestly wasn't expecting such an in-depth review and am very pleasantly surprised by it. Suffice to say, you have totally made my day.

Although I've never played any Crash Bandicoot games, I know what you mean when you say lift music. It does kind of sound like that, now that you mention it. But hey, everyone loves elevator music, right? ;) Thankfully it doesn't sound like that throughout the entire piece, though it still fits with the style in a weird way.

The bass really does carry this piece the most and everything else pretty much fell into place after it, which is a pretty rare direction for me to go. Some folks come up with bass or percussion first, then fill in the melodies. That's just not how my mind works...most of the time. ;) As for the drums, I'm quite fond of how that all turned out. All that fun syncopation really fits the overall style, I think. I'm also really glad that the trumpet works so well since it's a very interesting sample and adds a really film noir-esque touch.

I personally like this violin, and it's probably the best one I currently have, but trying to get it to sound natural is basically impossible no matter how hard I try. Then again, nothing else really seemed to fill the void quite as well, at least to my ears, and believe me--I tried quite a few different instrumental options. Ah, well. You also raise an excellent point about the crash cymbal, and I think I just may do something about that. A bit of additional reverb certainly couldn't hurt!

Thanks once again for all the great compliments and feedback. Your input is ever and always appreciated, and I look forward to repaying your kindness in the not-so-distant future. ^__^

Excelsior!