Ran-Cossack's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[Madotsuki's Dream Dock]

Interesting, how'd you get in there?

To be quite honest, and this may sound strange to some, but this flash animation frankly feels like what goes on inside of my brain on a daily basis. It's always churning out something different, my thoughts are never the same, and when I'm sitting somewhere doing nothing for an extended period of time, I suddenly start having extremely strange images and scenarios start floating through the front of my mind, while I pretty much just daze out.

Personally, I didn't find the flash scary, per say, but then I'm fairly jaded toward most "frightening" things, so maybe it's just me. I quite frankly loved the music, though. Like I mentioned earlier, it feels like the kind of tune that would start floating through my head as I sit around, staring at nothing, and imagining something abstractly weird and out of left field. The music feels very calming and relaxing, and I'd say fits all the images that you had pop up in the background.

All in all, I liked this flash alot. I plan on leaving it running while I use my comp, so I can daze out a bit while I enjoy my day, at home for once, instead of while waiting at a bus stop...

-Cossack.

PS: As for the "interactivity", having the little girl change into different things by clicking on her was a neat touch. Not a ton to say about it, but it was neat. Nice work on it, keep it up.

[The Scale of the Universe]

Were not even a grain of rice, in the universe.

I'd never really stopped to think about what us "Earthlings" scaled out to, when it came right down to it.. But, this really makes the information rattle around in your head, when you go from the largest thing in existence(The universe.), to the smallest.(Reality?)

Sure, this may not of been a normal "game".. But it's truly unique, and deserving of great praise. The time and effort, research and study, that you must of put into getting all these facts and pieces of information, is quite frankly staggering, to say the absolute least, in my eyes. it was a very educational experience, that much I can say with all honesty, and an enjoyable one at that.

The only "negative" I can even think to mention, is the inability to shift the camera around a bit, so you can read things easier, while you zoom in.(I'm not saying that took away from the experience, but I try not to give nothing but praise in my reviews, so I had to think of SOMETHING to mention.)

One way or another, fantastic work on this. I was truly amazed at this grand scale of... Well, reality as we know it. Keep up the good work my friend.

-RanCossack.

[vel.blast()]

A good game, but a few steps short of perfection.

I truly enjoyed the game, it was a good challenge, and fairly exciting to be quite honest, when massive swarms of bullets are flying at you, while you've got low energy. The game takes a fair amount of reflexes, and alot of quick glances at where the closest bullets are heading towards. However, it wasn't perfect, despite it's very good gameplay, in my eyes. There are a couple things I'd suggest, if you make a sequel, that would make it much more fun.

1. Some form of defense, beyond your shield. The absorb/counterattack theme was very fun, but when you reach level 17+, you tend to run out of energy too quickly, from shield sapping shots, and just an overflow of bullets. I'd suggest maybe adding an upgrade that perhaps gives you a pair of auto-firing turrets, once you've aquired a specific amount of upgrades. Nothing TOO powerful, but something that can at least give you at least a little less stress when it comes to how many enemies are swarming after you. Having them pick off a few for you, would help there.

2. Alternate shield modes. This might go against the simplicity of the absorb/counter theme, but perhaps once you've worked through enough upgrades, you could gain a new style of shield? Maybe one that just bounces enemy bullets off you, instead of absorbing like the standard shield. Perhaps make it cost a bit more energy per bullet, but it would be a nice change of pace, from the standard charge, fire, charge, fire, shield. Or maybe a shield that creates spinning orbs around you, as you absorb more, that could damage enemies they touch? I'm certain there is a variety of other shields that could make this game even better, if you brought them in.

3. Some sort of super-charge weapon. To put it simply, maybe something that charges slowly over time, as you absorb and fire back bullets, that you can pull out as a trump card, in case you're being overwhelmed by enemy fire. Could be something as simple as a bomb that destroys all nearby enemies, or maybe even some temporary homing missle launcher, that blasts near by enemies for a short duration. You could even make it a multi-level super weapon, that gets stronger the longer you charge it, or possibly could be upgraded for a nice chunk of Tech points. It would spice things up, in my eyes.

Those suggestions aside, I really did have fun playing your game. It had me sitting here for well over an hour and a half, blasting back bullets, and watching myself get destroyed once the screen was full of enemies, yet I enjoyed every moment of it, even when I did die. Add a couple more features to your next game, if you make a sequel, and I'm certain it will be a hit my friend. Best of luck in the future!

-Cossack.

lucidrine responds:

Thank you for your ideas and feedback! We'll consider that if we make the sequel later :D

[Armored Ashura]

A good game, with a terrible choice made..

First off, I really enjoyed the game. It was very fun, and interesting to play, but you did one thing you really shouldn't..

You posted only a partial version, and made the FULL version cost REAL money.

I'm sorry, but that is just wrong. I can understand posting only a partial version on Newgrounds, so people have to visit your main "host", to play a full version.. But then making the "full" version cost MONEY to play? I'm sorry my friend, you made a good game, but you didn't make a game worth PAYING for.

I can't in all honesty give this game more then a 4/10, because of this. The graphics are good, the gameplay is good, the background music is.. Alright, albeit repetitive after playing for a while, but the fact that you are trying to make people pay money, to play a complete version of a flash game, that you have only posted the partial version on, to force people to pay your main host real money for? That took a big chunk of your score. (I mean no offense, and I know people have to make money to survive, but I can't agree with trying to charge people for this one.)

Keep up the good work, possibly take the time to consider what I've said.. But in the end, well done on the game.

-RanCossack.

[MinfigZombieTowerDefence]

A good try... But poorly executed.

Well, I have to admit, this game had me sitting here for the good part of an hour and a half, at least, and playing, playing, playing... However, despite how good it is, it is heavily flawed. Most of the towers have extremely variable usefulness, which makes it a tad annoying to play, when you need to put more of a certain type down, but it's range is not good enough to reach the enemy and gain EXP...

SM Missle: necessarily worthless.
This tower is the bane of my existance... It has ok range, and ok damage, for the price... However, it is simply worthless compared to anything else. I'd take a Slow tower over one of these any day... Though they do no damage. Even when they actually "hit" the enemy, more often then not, it deals NO damage! Why, oh why, would you put such a function into this game..? If thats some kind of "miss" feature, then it terribly needs to be removed. Increase the "damage" of these towers, and their accuracy, I beg of you.(I had to replay level 2 about 15 times to finally beat it, because of these dang things..

Ranger: Sniper-esque worthlessness.
These towers are almost a complete waste of time and space... They have insane range, yes, but they can't hit 70% of the time because their shots have to actually contact the enemy to have, A CHANCE, to hit. Just like the SM Missle tower, it is basically worthless. A remaking of this tower is in order, really..

Rapidfire: Multi Targetting Failure.
As with the SM Missle, and Ranger, this tower is also neigh worthless... It shoots at lots of enemies, with as much strength as the SM Missle, and EVEN LESS accuracy, if that is possible.(Hurt my brain so much trying to make them work...) Either make these faster firing with a guarantee to hit the enemy when they fire, or get rid of them. They are basically a waste of 500 bucks...

SM Tesla: Shockingly short range.
This tower had such potential... And got wasted. The attack is nice, it's fast, it's strong, it's effective... But TOO SHORT RANGE TO FUNCTION! I understand it is meant to be short range, but it is so short it cannot gain enough EXP to level, nearly ever! Increase the range, that is all it needs..

Other then that, I have no issues with the towers.. Slow and Drain are fine, but the rest are a waste of time and money. And speaking of money, I hnestly would have to say, please, PLEASE make a cash-upgrade system... EXP is fine and dandy, but late in the game, when you need more defense, and you want to stick some more towers in... You most likely can't put them close enough to the enemy to allow them to GAIN that EXP they need to level... Please, add some sort of cash-fueled upgrade system, so that towers can be upgraded manually, instead of being forced to wait for them to level on their own. I know it is part of the challenge, but it gets a tad ridiculous very, very quickly at times..

Also, concerning your "regenerator" zombies... GET. RID. OF. THEM. I'm aware they are meant to be powerful, difficult to destroy enemies, but 85% of the time, even if you have an entire squad of max level Drain towers blasting them, with Slow beams holding them down, they STILL manage to run on through, and take a bite out of your health. Please, don't weaken them, don't attempt to "balance" them, just remove them... They just bring headaches... They are not needed.

The last thing I would say needs adjusting is the monster running routes, more often then not, they tend to swarm a single side, and only trickle through the other, making it nearly impossible to determine which side you should reinforce before the round begins.. Maybe shrink the lanes a bit, so they have less room to run right out of tower attack range so very often, as they do currently. That would make the game much more enjoyableto play..

Other then those things, you did a very good job on this game, and I enjoyed it quite a bit. I wish you the best of luck on your future work, and hope you take a bit of my criticism to heart for this game.

Booyaka, Legoman.

-Cossack.

terrypaton1 responds:

Hi ya, thanks for the very detailed review. I'm now adjusting the things based on your feedback, increasing towers range and power slightly with what hopefully will be better accuracy (a little tricky at times), removed the regenerate from big enemies. Tower experience upgrading will have to remain the same for the moment (not enough time before work), and the path finding will also have to remain the same, but hopefully the changes I've made will make enough difference to make the game slightly more enjoyable. Cheers and thanks again.

[UberTube]

Flying through the intertubes.

The game is simple, and a tad addictive. It's hard to really phrase what I think about it.. Though overall, I think it is quite an interesting little game. I'd suggest next time adding some kind of boost system, to make you able to float higher in case you are about to fall and die.(Kind of like the speed booster, but instead of simply moving forward faster, it lets you rise yourself up, as a last resort save.)

The music was nice, and the animation was smooth. Keep up the good work.

[Space Wing]

Fair game, good challenge... Missing checkpoints.

The game was good, that cannot be denied, but honestly... It needs either, extra lives, checkpoints that you can continue from, a save system, or something along these lines.

Other then that big flaw, the game was quite fun, I found the vulcan very quickly became obsolite, and the beam attack seems to be more of a priority, along with missles... But, you don't gain enough levels to fire them off at a powerful level, without having to wait forever for your MP to recharge, and that is only if you remember to buy the auto-recovery upgrade.

Also, I suggest, if you make a new version, to add some kind of attraction upgrade, to let your ship pull in those bonus EXP point squares, since it becomes very difficult later on to go for them, when you are attempting to fight off dozens of enemies, while dodging hundreds of balls of plasma flying at your face.

Overall, a good effort, but needs some fine tuning.. Keep up the good work, though.

[Damn Birds]

Flawed, but a good shot.

I would have to say, I did indeed enjoy this game, but there was one major flaw.. You get crapped to death much, too fast. You can't earn enough money soon enough to purchase good enough weapons, and by the time you are able to purchase a decent weapon, your enemies have already become too powerful for that weapon too. And the cost of cleaning painfully rips into your pocket, and leaves you praying for more. Honestly, I would say cut the cleaning cost down a chunk, add a save feature, and make the income a bit better.

Also, I think adding a mid-round cleaning ability would make the game much more possible to play.. Perhaps make it cost 25-50% more then cleaning at the end of rounds? That way you have a better chance of surviving the shit hitting the fan, so to speak.(Or hitting the statue, in this case.)

Overall, a fairly good game, but needs work in certain areas to make it more enjoyable, and playable.

[Noidzor]

Fun, challengeing, styleish... But...

To be honest, it needs a save system... After all, theres nothing more infuriating then when you get good and far, and then suddenly get ripped to shreds by a swarm of blue orbs/angels, and don't have an extra life left, and then have to start ALL OVER AGAIN.

It was truely a good game, but please, for the sake of everyones continued sanity, ADD A SAVING SYSTEM!! Other then that, keep up the good work!

-Cossack

[The-Stick-Cannon-ball]

A boring, badly made stick launcher.

I have to say, this game was honestly very boring in my opinion.. The only reason I even gave it a 1 point vote is because of the music.. Other then that, I found it to be very, very crummy, and badly made.

But better luck next time, eh?

-Cossack.