Exedor's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[Tetris]

Why would you push UP to drop something???

In the original NES version, I enjoyed (and counted on) being able to rotate left and rotate right. In the newer 'internet' versions, they replaced the separate rotation ability with "press up to rotate right," which was disappointing, but easy to handle on the arrow keys.

Keep the separate rotation ability, but be sure the control keys are comfortable on the player's hands. Or make them customizable, so players can choose and adjust as necessary. But also use UP to rotate right, as many people are used to that as being a standard control.

Left arrow should be left, right arrow should be right, and DOWN should be drop.

Other than that, the graphics were stylised, but not overly bad, at least, not in gameplay, which is what counts. The font, however, was cheap and nasty. Don't draw your letters, use a font. The music was good.

Ricvail responds:

Thanks for the advice! I'll work on the controls, if I don't get some kind of magical inspiration for a new game, in which case I'm going to leave this project to its destiny... you know, I did it mostly to learn the language (and for my friend), it wasn't meant to be the game of the century.
Which is also the reason I didn't hire a grapher. I am fully aware of the lack of quality, but since it is my first project it could not hope to compete with the many other tetris clones out there anyways.

[Crosshair]

The most important aspect of any game is: "is it enjoyable to play?" Unfortunately, this game is not enjoyable at all.

Always put in-game instructions, not just in your author comments, as they are often hidden off-screen when the screen comes up. Also, be clear in your instructions, which is easier to do in-game, as you can have examples. Am I safe if a red ball hits my red ball? Or is it that any enemy ball kills me? These are things to think about for the next game, but this one was not fun at all. Count it as a learning experience and start another great project. :)

TheSkythe responds:

This is the kind of review I needed. Thank you.

[Moon Truck Challenge]

You FAILED the flipover test yet again!

Press back. Flip over. Fail. Easy enough.

[Run Tiger Run Demo]

The most important question to keep in mind when creating a game is: "is it fun to play?"

This one is not really fun to play. I found it difficult to get up to the top unless the spinners were directly in a line, in which case, I just flew straight up.

There are many good ideas for games. But making sure they are enjoyable is the hard part. Sometimes it's control issues, sometimes it's graphics, sometimes it's bad music or whatever, but however small, the wrong detail can make a game not fun, and who wants to play a game that isn't fun?

I like the tiger, but the spinning platforms were annoying. Keep building on this. Keep the tiger, but change the platforms. Add a story and music. If I can think of some cool elements to add, I'll pass them along. For now, this is missing the most important part.

[Zombie Dress Up Zombie]

This style is getting old real quick.

[Jumpy]

This is a Stencyl tutorial. Please do not submit anything that comes from a Stencyl tutorial.

[Bubblings]

You need to have it shuffle when there are no more moves left. I hate having my game end because it didn't send me what I needed to continue. It also needs a way to bust up areas that locked up due to no available matches.

[The Journey of Ronny Kyle]

I'm sorry, but this game is barely playable.

First, the whole thing is too small. Set your size to 800x450 (16:9), or even 800xbetween 500 to 600 for more vertical space.

Second. The text needs help. It's too small, and sometimes goes too fast, sometimes too slow. If you change the screen size, you might not have to change the text size. Add space bar capability to forward the text so players aren't waiting, but aren't missing story bits either. Also, make it in the same place. At first the text was top & bottom and was close to the characters, which makes sense. But then it was at the sides (at the barracks). Try to keep the text the same format throughout the game. Adding names by the text helps too:
[King] Who the hell are you?
[Knight] Shall I kill him, Sire?
[King] Yes!
[Character] Wait! It's not what you think! I know that seeing a man dressed in a bikini and covered in guacamole is odd, but I can explain!

See? You know exactly who's talking, so it's easy to follow.

Third. Watch when and where your enemies show up. When I entered the forest, the enemies were on me before I could react, and it usually killed me. Either set up a blank room in the forest and have the enemies show up in the second room, or put them way across the room. This is a problem when inputs change from mouse to keyboard. You have to click on "Enter the Forest" but then have to quickly jump to the keyboard to control the situation. If J is attack, and most people use the right hand for J and for the mouse, then this creates frustration. I stopped at the forest.

As always, watch your spelling and grammar. No matter how good the game is, if it's full of spelling errors and funky sentences, people will think the creator is some little kid amateur, and it'll be hard to gain respect as a legitimate artist that way.

Examples:
Rank: Wonderer - I wonder if you meant wanderer.
Armory: "...defense of attack power." Should be "or"
Capt. Bradshaw: "Looks like somebody wants to play withO the big boys. Do you know what you're messingwith son?" withO and messingwith need to be corrected.
There were some others, so check over all the text to be sure nothing gets missed.

I hope these suggestions are helpful.

[Kastle]

I like it, but start him in the middle. He starts way too close to the edge, so if he gets hit, he's dead. Also, have him run to the center faster. If I get hit on the edge of a pillar, he'll drop onto the flat top of it, but he then has NO momentum and just stands there for the spike wall to get. I enjoyed this once I got going, but getting going caused a lot of deaths and a lot of rage.

[Blobgame Demo]

Don't use Shift! It's a system key. Use regular keys: WASD, SPACE, and arrow keys.