MadMath's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[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

[Dino Shift]

Nice little game, kind of old school, totally in the spirit of flash games.
The mix between platforming and reflexion is well thought and realized, and the overall makes something quite original.
The levels could be more varied, but intercaling stone-chase ones was funny and appreciated :)

I don't have a lot to say on your work, but for me it's a nice job. Cool colors and art, the cartoonish drawings contributes to the overall softness of the game. Music suits perfectly, nothing negative about coding, the movements are smooth and answer well.
That all makes a nice atmosphere, not ridiculous, childish or simpleminded. Just cute and relaxing.

I also appreciated the fact that the difficulty was not high (it's quite an easy game), but that also participate to the coherence of the flash and that just made me pass a good moment. I liked it :)

Good job (-0,5 for the variety of levels)

FuzzyMint responds:

Glad you enjoyed it :]

[Shrinkit 2]

That's a very nice little game you submitted, the idea is really good (even if it's a sequel, but as you also made the first one, i can say the idea is STILL very good :) ).
I really liked the perfectly dosed increase of difficulty. Starting with very simple puzzles, to strongly challenging ones ; and making us discover the growing move in the middle was a very good idea. Everything allows the game to have a good length of life.

I also liked the possibility of using several ways to win, (I guess I sometimes used some non academic logic to win, particularly on the 28th level "the lift" :D) that prevent the player for getting mad with an incomprehension of what to do, and gets him more interested in it, finding the better way to reach the star.

I'm not totally seduced by the plastical aspect of the different shapes which I find not really pretty or making an homogeneous ensemble (the star is too different than the squares, some shapes are shining while some other don't, colors don't really match each other, textures don't fancy me, etc.), but it doesn't prevent me from playing and I evoke that just to talk about bad points (which are furthermore a matter of tastes).

So finally, it's a very nice game, addicting, intelligent, and well realized. Good job ! 4 and 4 !

(Raa, and this secret medal is hard to find !)

NPGames responds:

Great review! I try to make games like a child playing with blocks instead of a car on a racetrack. Glad the graphics didn't get in the way of your fun, its the biggest point holding me back these days. pm me if you need a hint for the medal :)

[Power Devour!]

Absolutely awesome.

I'm really impressed by the quality of this game you presented. I didn't see every other realisation of the game jam 4, but i guess i already know which one will be my favorite.

Aboslutely no mistake, no false step, from the idea, to the music, passing by animation and graphism, everything is perfect. You transformed the handicap in an advantage, giving this game its originality. I really loved the "confident step" of the little dudes, and the character looks almost sympathic but certainly atypical. Everything is well dosed, maybe i could have said something on the cadence of the walkers, cause they arrive each time on a regular timing, and no one is running faster than the other (even the fat guys hold out, he he !), but finally it become so hard on level 6 there is no need of another challenge. It's the kind of game in which if you just panic one second, it's over.
One of the first time i enjoyed living a nightmare (the level 6.)

Excellent job, long live to your team.

thinking-man responds:

Thanks man! What a great review!

[bloXplatter]

Good job !

It's a good surprise to see that a new game of Sorrow is out !
It usually means fun and originality ahead (and medals :) ).
You didn't fail this time either, this game is really nice. Ok, here, we can't say it's super original with a big S, but you managed to make a good remake of the initial wallbreaker. The curving moves are really what brought this flash its peculiar aspect and that distinguish it from the other wallbreakers.
Very nice physical aspect too, quite purified and soft with those round corners. It reminded me the platforms of shark activity.
I just think you should have left the power ups. Cause, even if the apparition of new blocks stretch out the life expectancy of the game (btw, the gold ones are fucking strong...), the lack of bonus is flagrant, and we could fall into boredom and frustration.
Anyway, overall, good job, good effort and good realisation.

ThinXIII responds:

Wow thanks so much and yeah I should have added powerups. If I ever were to do a breakout game I would include powerups. In this one I just had given all the focus on the different types of blocks.

By the way your reviews are really helpful, thank you once again. :)

[ChessGame]

A few issues.

That's a quite good looking chessgame.
But, there are some problems in it. First, you confused the king and the queen. Those pictograms don't represent what they should.
The king is supposed to be the one with the little cross above...
Though, they are still well placed on the chessboard.
Another thing is that on my first game, i checked (is that the correct word ?) his king, and the game said "Pat" and stopped. Though, there were possibilites for him to move. And obviously, there can't be any pat when someone is being checked. If you want i made a screenshot, i can send it to you. Just ask me.
The problem is I can't reasonably play if your game doesn't know the rules itself ;)

Nevertheless, i told you it was good looking, and fast enough. The history was very well done and clear. So you just need to correct those little things and it'll be perfect.

uzuriel responds:

Will try to fix it during weekend thanks for review

[Monkey See Monkey Saw]

Super awesome

Strange but excellent theme, excellent programming (even if the game's aim is quite basic), very fluid, very very nice graphisms. Those pixels certainly bring something nice to the overall and suit well to this kind of games, and the drawings were funny.The music is perfect too. I had the feeling to be transported in an old anime (which story was a little weird, though, i must confess). The animations of the donkeys, little ghosts and all other things dying was well done, kind of cartoonish.
Everything made a coherent and homogenous game, visually and musically.

Personnaly i didn't get bored a second, and i didn't found that repeteative. The ennemis are changing, and it starts to be really challenging in the end with the disappearing ghosts and crossing waves of monsters (i still beat the game on the second time ;) ). The boss was fun.

Just a few complaints : sometimes ennemies are very very high (we just see their feet) and it's hard to kill them cause when you move your mouse above the window, the monkey doesn't follow. Maybe deleting those ennemies would be better. And the other is the fact that the boss is really too easy (even if you did it on purpose). Maybe you could make it really challenging and put a continue ? Even if i didn't die at the boss, i guess there is no continue if you die. It's just a suggestion.
Anyway, bravo, i really enjoyed playing it. I'll do it again to validate the medals.
Particularly in 3 days. 10/10 despite the few complaints.

eyedust responds:

might be a sequel in the future, and thanks! (:

[Numballs]

Very good concept !

Indeed !
Pretty addicting, of course, just like the shark activity !
You managed to make this little game quite varied, and the difficulty levels are well distinct from the others. The idea of combining the (num)balls brought some challenge, more than the (still good) one (idea) of just avoiding the other ones. Putting them in order was an excellent idea (holy shit, i don't find any synonyms in english for "idea") too, and that allows you not to be too passive, and obligates you to still stay focused on what you are doing.
Though, i would have like to see an "extreme pack" or something like that, something REALLY challenging ! Like, combining many balls without hitting both the other balls and the walls and in a specific order, with holes moving, etc. (it's just an idea ;) )
Anyway, overall it was well thought and well done, a good realisation, a good choice of colors, of music.
Very good job for a very simple but effective concept.

PS : just one thing about the scores, i noticed, that you don't need to place the balls well. Just do it the faster you can and you'll get all the points. Is that fair ? The speed is more important than the cleanliness ? (personnally i've got no problem with that :) )

ThinXIII responds:

And yeah after testing a lot, the speed factor seemed more challenging and important for getting them highscores. Although you get just a little more when you place the balls more accurately.

Thanks for the awesome review. :D