CrankyRabbit's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[I Can't Escape]

I desperately want to like this game. It reminds me of happier days spent playing a public domain game called Labyrinth on my Commodore 64... but far more frustrating and unfair.

My first gripe is that when I find a ladder, almost always a) there's a hole in front of it, or b) no hole but I fall down anyway. This seems remarkably unfair, especially b). Whether this is an artifact of your maze generator, or deliberate, I cannot say.

The second is that you seem to have wandering monsters that drag you down if they touch you - but you never see or hear them coming. I suspect this is related to my "falling through solid floor" issue. Far more excitement could be had in the sequel by adding cues to indicate a monster's proximity and where.

Thirdly: Gates. Some open. Some don't. There is no visual cue as to whether one will open or not; no visual cue as to how many keys you have to open said gates. From comments I gather that you have to collect these and then find an X to reach the exit for the secret ending.

Finally... I am convinced that your maze generator modifies the levels during the game! In my last game, I walked around the cell holding an exit ladder, started again and found a gate and hidden doorway that wasn't there before. I don't know about you, but I rather like maps that stay relatively static. Who needs monsters when the maze itself seems to be the monster?

If you make a sequel, I suggest:
1) 'freezing' the generator during gameplay;
2) adding indication of monsters in vicinity (forcing the player to run away);
3) making the keys more important - say, by placing them on lower levels and forcing players to drop down to collect them, then struggle to conserve same on the way up;

Actually, with relation to 1), another option might be to, at regular and distressing intervals, have the maze move things around - holes, gates and so on - in other words, play up the angle of 'the maze IS the monster'. In other words, go down to get up - preferably without falling too far and being eaten.

So technically, a good concept, but unpleasantly hard in the wrong way as executed.

[Survive The Night]

While a decent entry into the 'physics obstacle course' genre, the game relies almost totally on the frankly frustrating physics for challenge. The monster bits, to be honest, have an extraordinary ability to stop your truck from moving, especially when stuck on a steep slope and trying to gain traction, and the 'suspension' is so spongy that it quickly becomes a chore trying to get said traction and moving again.

Not helping is the overwrought orchestral music, which obnoxiously tries to take centre stage; for main menu music, it might be all right, but after the ninth level I was fed up to the back teeth with it.

Simply put: a one-off time waster; if the physics don't make you ragequit, the music will.

[Fishhead: Chapter 1]

A decent port of a very old platformer into Flash. Controls feel a little skittish though, and I can't see any sign of a health bar. Just getting past the first level is proving difficult...

[Mundane Game]

It looks like the guy's legit, but he's forgotten to unlock the project, AND also to provide a link to it on his site. I'm sending him an email about this.

rustinhaler responds:

I'm having real problems making a version of this game that works on newgrounds. Are there any stencyl users who can tell me the EXACT phrase I have to type into the "site lock" box so it works on yogyog.org and newgrounds.com? I've tried "http://yogyog.org, http://www.newgrounds.com" and "yogyog.org, newgrounds.com" and even "newgrounds.com" but it's still not working! I don't want to releace this game unlocked.

SORTED!! Turns out newgrounds stores games on ungrounded.net .

[Ace Pilot]

Having played in story mode, I'd just like to say that the character of Ace Pilot has succeeded in evoking desire in me. Admittedly the desire is to punch him in the face for egoism above and beyond the call of duty but never mind.

As many others have observed, the movie was fine but the interactive parts weren't up to snuff, in part due to half-explained controls and lack of intuitive feedback. That you use the mouse to steer (if the damn Flash doesn't lose focus) wasn't adequately explained at the start. Indeed, at first I thought I was being prepared for a vertically scrolling shooter. And during the shooting sessions, instead of an immediately comprehensible damage bar, I was serenaded by thoroughly opaque warning hooters on losing maneuverability.

In related inquiry, is it even possible to die in story mode? As far as I can tell, losing all HP merely meant a frustrating wait for repairs, instead of being informed that with your demoralising death in action, the celebrations of husbands galaxy-wide were cut short by the arrival of Krill invasion fleets or something like that.

For the sequel's action sequences, may I suggest looking at one of the 3D engine APIs, e.g. Sophie, Sandy3D or Away3D, and a control system similar to that of Elite? Space battles that take place not just above, but *around* great space frigates... bears thinking about, and might please more of the crowd more of the time.

Whatever you choose, the main gripe seems to be that the space battles felt perfunctory instead of important. Making these parts feel like whatever you do actually has an impact on the story unfolding (or is even vital for the story's survival) needs to be carefully considered when designing the sequels.

Which, by the way, I'll be looking forward to.

[Binding of Isaac DEMO]

A delightful and dark game stew

Take the rooms of Zelda-esque dungeons, add controls a la Robotron, randomise level designs as per Roguelikes, and season heavily with the strange black ichor that squirms from Ed McMillen's pen.

Welcome to a short but hideously sweet taste of the miserable life and many, many deaths of poor Isaac.

[The Day (Gregory Weir)]

Goals of Innocence and Experience

This game is truly unsettling; you can either stay 'innocent', playing your little war games, or lose your innocence by discovering the shattering truth about your home.

Actually, there's two questions: Are they refugees from a devastating war, or some other disaster? And, the destroyed laser drone outside the base - attacker or defender?

Another point is docked due to the fact the annoying ad box merely gets shunted to the back of the stage and doesn't go away - I can still see it when roaming inside the bunker and when reading the developer notes.

Otherwise another splendid brain-poker from Mr Weir.

GregoryWeir responds:

That's what I get for changing something last-minute and not testing enough. The ad should be fixed as soon as the new version gets approved.

[jue - junior]

The controls are too complicated to be fun.

Seriously, why do you need three buttons to punch, three buttons to kick, three buttons to use "skill attacks" and another button to rage?

End result: I find myself leaping around desperately mashing buttons as the computer rips me a new one. I AM FIGHTING THE GAME, AS OPPOSED TO FIGHTING IN GAME.

Next time, consider coding for combo moves (e.g. back+punch-punch-kick = Flying Buttcheeks of Death.) That would make more sense than simply allocating what feels like four billion buttons for a simple beat-em-up.

[Pixel-copter]

Horrible controls, frustrating play

This would be an interesting mashup of Icy Tower and Hedgehog Launcher gameplay, except for the controls. Most players will not be octopi.

I'm trying to figure out why you have to mash the space bar to gain altitude, while *click-dragging* to steer. It's awfully like trying to pat your head and rub your tummy at the same time. Why not mash the left mouse button and have the helicopter follow the mouse?

Also, the relatively short distance the helicopter flies is unrewarding. Instead, it feels like you have no control over the game; you're going to rise a pathetically short distance before falling into the drink, *without losing sight of your start point.*

Basically I can't rate this game high, because, damn it, you've got me *fighting the game* instead of playing it.

The upgrade menus are also annoying, since they scroll around with the mouse movement (again, why not the chopper?) and lack bounding boxes for mouse click detection. Given the size of the icons, precision clicking is fiddly and... again... frustrating.

Ending on a high note, the graphics are crisp.

[Neck Twist]

Clever mechanic

But there is a problem with the enemies wandering off the playfield or staying on the edges, making it impossible to circle around them and thus complete the levels.