Flame-The-Great's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[Alien Hominid Xtreme]

Until the speed of the game is increased or at least made more challenging other than wasting my time, I can only go by 3/5. If the cost of upgrades were dropped or there was more controls to make things more interesting, then maybe we'd have a game, but otherwise after 3 rounds, I'm out.

[Bullet Bill 3]

Epic Sound Track + Epic Game + Epic Insides = EPIC

This game has EVERYTHING! You have an epic sound track, an epic concept, and more inside goodies for players to go after! It takes seconds to learn and hours to master, and that is really what makes this game pop.

The music is fantastic and follows the game's speed and beat, complimenting each other. You should seriously consider talking to Wolfgun to releasing a soundtrack for this. The music is just fantastic and makes playing the game an entire blast!

15 months well spent!

-Flame

[Concerned Joe]

PLEASE optimize!

The game's concept is great! The voice acting really adds to the game's value and adds a unique humor and motivation to continue.

Here's what doesn't motivate anyone: the game's mechanics.

The game takes up TOO much processing power for a simple flash game and to really add insult to injury, this sometimes makes timing jumps impossible, which is a key deal to have working in any platformer. This, combined with a unique timer based on movement, can really make the game not worth playing. As soon as you reach #10, the value drops big time due to the timing issue on jumping.

Would I redo this review after the programming is optimized to help make the game playable? Of course! Would I love to see this as an Xbox Live Arcade game with the optimized programming? You bet!

So your todo list:
1) Optimize Code.
2) Remake for XBox Live (it'll survive easily)
3) ...
4) Realize you haven't been moving yourself and should start running.

[Binding of Isaac DEMO]

Best $5 ever spent!

I got the game on release day with OST later on. The demo is only just a taste of what is in the full game, and for $5, you cannot complain. In the demo though, I think they should put the options in there, because under controls, there was a setting for AZERTY (which I have NO idea where that came from but okay...). The controls do control window size, so I can see some reasons why it was left out initially, but some small reprogramming would be needed to prevent that.

Ultimately, just buy this game! Period.

[Monster Arena]

No Autumn cup but two summers?

There seems to be no Autumn Championship which blows on my ability to get 100% completion. Once you have your monster at level 18, you are basically set (assuming you've been training every week and doing every championship without repeating). Overall, pretty good, but can I PLEASE do the Autumn Cup now?

[Scuba]

Great concept, just needs a few touches.

While this game is no less than a marvel at how well a flash game can operate on a complex scale, it has a few flaws in it that hurt the feeling of the goal. The inspiration from Minecraft and Terraria are strong, but in my opinion, I feel there was a misunderstanding in how the two work.
The game's amazing ability to generate the random levels is, in its own feat, a spectacular feature and that is where this game shines. The map generations don't feel heavily artificial and followed by clever use of bordering for some tiles, the game truly comes to life and gives players a unique feeling each time they play.
With this beautiful work of art, there are going to be a few flaws. The first flaw is the crafting. While sharing properties to that of Minecraft (the 3x3 grid), the game slowly begins to feel like a list of chores you need to do. For instance, to get your first air tank upgrade, you need to construct 2 level 1 tanks. This doesn't sound bad initially, but when you need 2 level 2 tanks for a level 3, this means you need to have constructed at least 4 level 1 air tanks! Some people have a strong feeling for this style of game play, but from my perspective, it's not my cup of tea.
The second flaw are the buildings. While later on it is a definite need to build an air cabinet, the fact they are instantly used pulls away from the game's core. I am not stating it should take 30 seconds for a player's air to refill, but a small moment where you cannot move or even perhaps a simple animation on the air gauge would suffice in healing this tiny flaw. The same could be said for the flash light.
This comes up to the third flaw. The flashlight's importance doesn't become very strong until much later on, which is understandable since to calculate additional lighting would be pushing this great engine too much. Lighting that is placed by a player should have a more significant meaning behind it (keeps enemies away would be an example). The flashlight should also have a bit more importance, such that advancing without it becomes too dangerous due to increase enemy spawning. I just feel the flashlight should have more importance in the game.
The final flaw is ultimately the music. The two tracks are great, but when repeated over and over, their value begins to drop. If there were more tracks involved, then perhaps this would not be an issue, or even a small moment of silence with just ambient sounds of the waters you are under.
These four flaws that are listed are only very minor, and barely would hurt this great game's reputation. The smooth movements, clever use of crafting, and the creation of a set goal makes this game the shiny, golden creation that truly fulfills the ranks of any game with inspiration from Minecraft and Terraria. Upon submission of this game, one could only imagine a tear coming from Notch and Redigit of true epicness from seeing this work of art.

Oh, did I say golden? This game is a shiny DIAMOND! Cheers!

[Penguin Overlords]

Good concept, but needs more execution.

Overall, the concept is very nice and a unique use of the tutorial in using a loss to prove a point in the game's basic mechanics. The gameplay is somewhat smooth but...
1. The AI - At times, I lost purely because of corners and the penguin's lack of determining how to get around the inside of a corner, basically being a free target for the turtles. The turtles themselves do not need the AI, but in a game where the protagonists control themselves, they need to better understand how to navigate maps.
2. Grinding - Do not get me wrong, grinding isn't too bad, but because of #1, that was how I felt while playing the game: I'm just grinding away and hoping the penguins can get rid of the turtles. While I can drop bombs (who's radius appears a bit off for the explosion animation), heal them, speed them up, and release another penguin AT MY OWN LOCATION, there isn't a lot for the player to decide and is left repeating the same levels over and over.
3. Abilities - There are 4 unique abilities, and the 4 do add to a lot of strategy, since bombs are almost insta-kill, healing buys more time (or less if you are trying to just save one penguin), speeding them up can help at the beginning or end, and the extra penguin is where I lay my attention to. With him (or her), I can decide where to deploy, basically allowing me to get a good spot early on where I WOULD LIKE THEM TO GO. Overall, I feel the extra penguin ability is perhaps the best one overall because of the above 2 problems.
4. Money Collecting - It pains me when I see this. I am already busy running around dropping bombs, moving my mouse to the menu to heal and speed up and to get ready to deploy yet another bomb. The last thing on my mind is to collect money, but I need the money to get the upgrades! There really isn't any balance here, and this may be the reason I feel I am grinding a lot.
5. Music - I love this track, but not when it's played non stop!

Here's some ideas on how to possibly fix the above listed (I try not to comment too much unless I can state a valid solution or idea).
1. Path finding & no target sharing - In a nutshell, everything is laid out in a grid. The target will obviously be on a part of this grid somehow, so you ultimately need to have it find the quickest way to the target. What could be done to help speed up the process is to use the usual AI, but if a collision with an unpassable grid is met, then use the path finding AI. At the same time, there should be an option for the penguins to share targets or to always seek a different target than what one is already targetting, unless the penguin count is higher than the turtle count. Paths should also be recalculated if the enemy no longer exists (bomb blast).
2. Interaction - Ultimately, the user needs to be more involved with the game. Since you seem to be approaching a game style where the user lets the penguins do the work, one idea is to allow the player to decide which side to deploy the penguins on. This would at the very least give more interaction and possibly save work on #1.
3. More for the buck - Bombs should have a sub upgrade for blast radius (that or the radius should go up with the upgrade) while the extra penguin ability should be left unmodified or should allow that penguin to be available for manual control (if you've played Multiwania, this is would be much like the soldier ability). Ultimately, the abilities need to be more worth while.
4. HOT KEYS - This would allow the player to focus on mouse targeting and using the keyboard to deploy abilities and bombs. If you want to keep the mouse as the only input, then the buttons for the abilities should be placed on top and made to be bigger (there are only 4 of them, so each button should use 1/4 of the screen width wise). The idea is the abilities need easier access so mouse movements are less hectic.
5. Area Music - Use more tracks! Try making each campaign area a new track.

Ultimately, as a final summery, the game idea is well done and a joy to play, but still feels incomplete with the problems listed above.
-Flame

[RPG Shooter: Starwish]

Console worthy

This is a type of game that deserves to be ported to console. You took a concept no other person could think about, and made it work completely. The story is a complete and emotional drawing that is not found in a lot of current games. The gameplay for a flash game is golden, and the advantages on a console would stir it up higher. With the use of multible paths to take, this is indeed an RPG, a shooter, and an amazing game that is more than worthy to belong on a console. Keep on going!

[Spike - A Love Story]

Great but I need a new keyboard now...

I like the whole one button deal, but the ONE issue that I have is having to CONSTANTLY go through the introduction again....and again....and again.......

Seriously, can we have a "SKIP TO BLOODY FIRST DEATH PLZ?"

[EVILBOTS: christmas madns]

Very cool!

This was actually very nice! It could use some music, but at the same time, it gives it the old DOS feeling (with a hint of JetPack Man...) without the music. I also like how the controls are very simple and make a lot of sense. I don't even know if an introduction is needed because the game's goal is simple enough. Keep it up!