CrankyRabbit's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[Gravity Puzzle (v1)]

Interesting concept, but...

Two problems: it isn't immediately obvious you have to double-click to open things in the menu, and the control of the pieces isn't very good. I think a lot of frustration comes from fighting the pieces to get them in the orientation you want.

Perhaps in later versions, joined pieces could have more inertia and friction, so that as you joined pieces together they became easier to handle but slower to move; that seems intuitive and may also increase the challenge as well.

Apart from that, an interesting twist on the jigsaw game.

[Epic Space Battle]

Not ready for publishing

The Flash dropped me into the game with no splash screen, no instructions, no warning. That was bad.

My green blob, when CTRL was pressed, emitted a line of red dots that failed to do anything to the TIE-fighter-shaped blobs that advanced past the red-brown landscape blob. Pressing forward showed a very large gap in the scrolling background, and the music was, frankly, inappropriate.

Worse still, I was able to move off the left, top and bottom of the playfield! The only detection that was working seemed to be when my ship touched an enemy ship. Apart from that, no edge detection, no bullet collision detection, nothing!

Let's see... poor graphics, poor choice of music, no apparent sound effects, buggy or incomplete collision handling.

Space battle? Yes. Epic? No.

[Orbular]

Good ideas, but everything looks the same

The idea of making a Breakout game with both a) a circular paddle, and all the challenge that adds in controlling the ball, and b) physics - you have to occasionally lift your paddle to add force to your ball - makes for an ingenious and challenging take on the genre.

My only concern is that the blocks and the paddle are a little indistinct, which doesn't help when choosing between bouncing blocks and hitting the ball again. Everything seems to be white circles with a white ring around them. Perhaps if the blocks didn't have that ring?

[Mini-Putt 3]

A nice top-down mini-golf game

Sometimes you just want to putt a golf ball around, and I have to say I'd prefer this version over previous ones.

Sound is pleasingly minimal, and the graphics do a better job of indicating slopes and obstacles, far better than the original mini-putt.

The camera moving as you "power-up" your shot might be off-putting to some, but I found it much better than having to submit to what the game window made available - something that I didn't like in previous versions, since I couldn't get the power for that one shot I needed.

It looks like PsychoGoldfish in making this one stuck to the core gameplay (which admittedly is more of a "cue-ball" interface than "golf-swing") without OD'ing on fancy. If I ever get to making games, I'll have to remember that.

At the same time, it feels a little bland. Some wallpaper background music, maybe environmental effects, could have made the game feel more alive.

As a mini-putt game? It does just that, and no more. It just needs some audio seasonings to spice it up a bit.

[Space Station Jason]

Good concept, look forward to a sequel

I'm a sucker for this kind of "2-and-a-half-D" style - I got thrown out of a shop years ago for hogging Bug on the Sega Saturn - and this game not only uses the 3D concept well, but introduces it in a way that really was both a logical progression and a surprise. I had no idea at first about the secret life at the start of level 5... :)

Like most other people, I feel that in-level checkpoints would have been welcome.

The graphics are very clear and well done, and the music reminds me of that used in the original radio and TV versions of Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy, very nice.

Why only six stars? Simply put, I became frustrated attempting to side-jump AND rotate my view at the same time on level 7 without dying - that requires pressing THREE keys at once (eh, maybe I'm just uncoordinated.) Maybe a more "secure" environment to learn this new skill, and maybe a sign alerting you of this new learning experience, would have helped.

Also, the levels seem somewhat static; but I don't know if there are moving platforms or doors or anything like that in later levels.

If there is a sequel, I hope the humour stays intact, and that checkpoints are included. And maybe more interesting/dynamic level designs, even something as simple as texturing the blocks.

And as for "gravity in space"... maybe next time Jason could be exploring in the atmosphere of a gas giant?