pirateplatypus's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[Brain Waves by the Robs]

It's a very cool concept. But the custom cursor moves so bloody slowly that it's a pain in the ass. If you either sped up the cursor or (preferably) disabled it, this would have been great.

[Zombie Cure]

It's an interesting take on Flipline's Papa series. Though it seems to lack a lot of the polish that Flipline puts into their games.

The reason I rated it so low is that it really just feels like it's ripping the Papa Louie series off. If this was actually made by Flipline, you really should have credited them as being the devs, it would make it feel less like a blatant ripoff. Either way, it should have had a little more work put into the polish and maybe some changes so it feels like it's its own game.

[Gyossait]

With a few minor-ish tweaks, not only would this be a game that would make me eat my unkind words about Stencyl, it'd be an instant classic. I hope this review doesn't come across as harsh. I'm just offering up my opinions on what I would change in your position.

The graphics are great. They're very reminiscent of old school video games and do a great job of setting the mood.

The sound/music is among the best I've ever witnessed in a flash game. It's creepy as hell and really does a lot to pull you into the game.

The overall story and concept are very original and fun.

Overall this is a very well made game. However, there are a few issues that made it impossible to really get immersed in the game like I wanted to. I'd just like to note, I feel I did everything I could to enhance the experience. I played it in the pop-up window so that I wouldn't have any distractions. I turned off the lights and closed the curtains so it was pitch-black. I put on good headphones and cranked the volume.

If Stencyl even allows it, a full screen option would be amazing. I understand that this may not be possible using a tool kit like Stencyl, so it really didn't have any bearing on how I rated this game. It's more just a suggestion.

The big problem was the controls.

Being a lefty, I found it impossible to even begin to have much of an experience with this game being forced to use the right handed controls. I have to actually think about what my right hand is doing whereas my left hand functions without any thought, leaving more of my attention to the actual game.

I don't know about Stencyl, but in AS3 it's so simple to implement WASD or any other alternative controls that there really isn't an excuse not to. As good as this game is, I decided to remap the keys on my keyboard so that I could see how it would stack up had lefty controls been implemented. It was much much better with WASD.

Sometimes left/right didn't respond when I needed to turn around on the ground. It's not a huge deal, it would just be nice to have a bit better response.

The other problem I had was with jumping. It was very annoying to have the player continually move right/left during the jump. I would suggest changing it so that he only moves horizontally while you're holding the direction down as it would make it less easy to over jump small gaps. The other problem with jumping was that you go too high. I ended up figuring out that you can just tap up to jump with less height, though I would have preferred to have had a shorter jump with the option of double jumping.

I know that it may be said that having the extra height and having to fiddle with direction to prevent jumping over small platforms is a form of difficulty. If that's the case, it would come across as poorly planned difficulty. I would much rather the game's difficulty come from cleverness as opposed to counter-intuitive controls.

All in all, this game is pretty damned good. If you fixed the controls, it would be an amazing game. If you implemented fullscreen, it would be worthy of paying for an offline version.

[TU Unleashed]

As with the last game in this series, there really needs to be a better way to set your acceleration to stay in one spot. Having to tap the up/down keys until you get it right is annoying. '

The controls are atrocious (as has been the case with all the games in this series). I don't see any reason why they shouldn't be positioned so that you can reach all of the left hand keys without moving your hand around. It really detracts from the experience of the game to have to constantly re-adjust your hands. I'd also really like to see lefty-friendly controls. Or better still, just let the user pick their own controls.

This game would be a solid 4.5 if the controls weren't so counter-intuitive. If the throttle was a little better it'd be a 5. That being said, I'm still looking forward to the next TU game, maybe the controls will be useable then.

[Brickmaster]

You did a great job on the level design. The game could use some overall polish.

[NoNoSparks: The Ark]

It has the same problem as your last game. The custom cursor moves too slowly for my liking. If you made an option to disable the custom cursor, so that I can move my mouse at the speed that I want it to move at, this would be a 4-5 easily.

BeardshakerGames responds:

Thanks for your feedback. You are right I will work on that. For a fast solution I'll put this option in the flash player's right click menu, ok?

[Cargo Bridge 2]

I don't really care for the general feel of this one. Compared to previous Cargo Bridge games it just feels like the game play is slow and clunky.

[Slimevolution]

Good god this is challenging. It's very well done. You Lundum participants blow me away with what you come up with.

[UnPerfect]

It's a really nice game. There are a few minor annoyances, but there's one huge problem for me.

Having to use the arrow keys is not pleasant. Since the moues is also used, it requires using the arrow keys with left hand, which is quite uncomfortable. Had WASD been an option I would have rated this as a 4-5. I know it sounds harsh to rate so low due to controls being unnatural, but that's how the user interacts with the game so when controls are unnatural and/or uncomfortable, it really detracts from the game play.

The only other problem is that blocks seem to get stuck when you're pushing them off a ledge and you have to ram them. It's not a huge problem, just something that could be improved.

[Zombokill]

It's not a bad game. I'd really like some indication as to how much of the current day I've completed.

The low rating is primarily due to the placement of the sponsor's logo. Whoever thought it was a good idea to place a clickable link in the play area needs to rethink that idea. It leads to accidental visits to the sponsor's site. After having my game play interrupted by an unwelcome pop-up, not only do I feel less compelled to keep playing, I also walk away with a lower opinion of the sponsor.