Score: 7

"Cool"

submission: Morplar the Alien

date: October 10, 2009

This is a pretty sweet piece of work, and it is seen that you've got some talent, and if you'd like, I'll go ahead and offer some criticism now. ;)

First off, the comedic (and you may or may have not intended for it to be funny) timing is brilliant. This is a major part of general movie making a lot of people miss out on, and I can tell you played around with your scenes before presenting. The idea is that you keep a scene lively and don't overwhelm the viewer with too many damn images to process in a short amount of time, and the way you do this is with cuts. Very amiable. Don't lose that.

But that brings me to one of my gripes with the animation: the cuts! Why do you you need to cut? Well, to be honest, the animation is stiff and tweeny. I did notice you sampled some good old fashioned FBF a couple of times, but I would dearly like to see more of it. That is the other big part of comedic timing, it's not just cuts to stimulate the brain repeatedly with different images; remember that some of the greatest animations have little to no cuts. It sounds like a daunting task to put so much attention to minute things, but if you can motivate yourself you'll have a well-rounded, complete package.

Now what is the best way to improve your animations overall, dis-regarding everything I've just said? Well, practice, practice, practice! Work on your art, FBF, and everything. If your serious about this stuff, get yourself a Wacom drawing tablet. It's especially useful if you can draw IRL.

Now I liked a lot of the perspective you had going on with geometric objects, and that was cool, but some of the background art and hand-drawn stuff seemed lifeless. Think that space scene with the ship at the beginning. You should work on developing things like that a little more.

Perhaps we've gone a little far by over-examining Moplar the Alien, but I sure hope this helps. :D

---GRAPHICS
Cool, sometimes polished, but in general a little bland.

---SOUND
You used some really great sounds here, but I noticed they had a very high-pitched static sound that played along with them. That happens a lot, and it's really just Flash being a bitch. Try playing around with the audio quality setting under Publish Settings and re-export the animation.

---PLOT
I talked about comedic timing. The animation's too short to really go into detail here.

---OVERALL
Real nice! I look forward to seeing more from you. You have a TON of potential, and don't forget it. :)

Score: 9

"Very nice!"

submission: Toss the Turtle

date: August 17, 2009

Well, let's see... Your game is not original, but you guys bring a lot to the table. Sure we've had toss games before, but never with as much expandability, medal, as many Newgrounds references, and flipping awesome art! I can tell that this was a heartfelt, thought out production.

---GRAPHICS
Gonzo's art style is beautiful and funny; the details are amazing, and they made me wish you guys hadn't disables the regular right click menu (I wanted to zoom in!).
The turtle get getting hurt with each landing made me lul; it was a nice touch. I also love the multiple backgrounds.The art is what really sold the game (that isn't to say that the code was bad :D).

---Sound
For games, one can't really go wrong with maestro rage! Nice selection.

---PLOT
No plot here, so I can't talk about it.

---OVERALL
An incredible game. The art, the music, and code, the everything was nicely wrapped up in a fun, sporadic package. Nice job gaiz!

THINGS THAT MADE ME ANGRY FAIC >:(

-The medals did not register properly on the first load
-The GOLD STAR medal showed up every time I clicked during gameplay on the first load
-Sometimes I got killed by the ground spikes even though I landed in front of them

Score: 10

"Surprisingly astounding!"

submission: Leaving

date: August 13, 2009

That was one the most meaningful animations I have seen in a while. The presentation really did have the effect that I can only assume you wanted, and the medium by which you conveyed your tale was priceless.The interaction was really a plus, and I'd like to see more stories told like this.

---GRAPHICS
Pure and simple. I like this. Excellent use of colors.

---SOUND
A beautiful piece that I felt really completed the animation. It's what kept me from clicking away and going to watch something else; it made me touch my finger to the arrow key.

---PLOT
You really conveyed your message sweetly, and I can't help but feel there is a deeper message behind this.

---OVERALL
Really great, and I look forward to seeing more from you!

Score: 6

"It's getting there"

submission: Kees' Adventure 2

date: August 9, 2009

Well, I'm very endeared by DIY pixel-sprite flash games; always have been, especially when people pull it off well. Your game was short, and lacking in depth, but I can tell you are capable of making a great game! I'm going to go on to gripe about what I found wrong, and how you can improve, so here we go. :)

Many of the things in this game seemed static (ei the non-changing backgrounds and lifeless characters). While you had variable conversations with other characters availible, these were few. There weren't many items to collect, and the method of collection was linear; in other words: you pick up and item, give it to someone, get an item in return, repeat. The story was also didn't really leave a meaningful impact on the actual gameplay, in other words, because the story lacked meaning, one would not even need it to get through the game.

But all that is okay because you are still practicing.

To solve the graphics issues, I suggest you study regular drawing and other, already established pixel games considered good (pokemon, most stuff on the gameboy, and a lot of stuff on NG). Sprites are hard to make well, and I understand that. Also, try to be a little more consistent with the size of your pixels. Uniform pixels can have a profound impact on the professional feel of your games. Also, always try to be consistent with the coloring, too (for pixel games, mellow, mild colors work best).

Like I said, the characters were mostly invariable; always standing doing nothing. If you could stick the effort and make some animations for them (could be just a little thing that they do, like kicking some dust or fiddling with their hands), it would be sweet. The same goes for the backgrounds and item collection: be creative! :D

Now, the story... Well, the game was so short that the dialogue had no time to leave any impression at all. It felt to me more like a waste of time (I mean that in the nicest possible of ways). I don't know your writing process, but you should sit down, brainstorm quick ideas, jot them down, pick the ones that work, and then finalize them... All to ensure quality. ;-)

I think I covered everything(?)...

As an aside, I'll just point out some things that bugged me.

-Pick a different font for dialogue, and give the text more contrast against the background. I'd suggest a pixel font that you can find on the net

-Use whatever variable that holds the position that the main character is facing, and make it to that you can only talk to someone it you are facing him/her

-Better walk cycle plz? Contact me if you want help with that, I can't provide the links to good tutorials here.

-I noticed that transitioning between rooms is laggy. Look at the transitions a couple times, and you'll know what I mean. Characters float for a split second.

---GRAPHICS
They're good, but need work. See above.

---PLOT
Also needs work. See above.

---SOUND
The music was alright, but I think the game itself could do with some sound effects.

---OVERALL
This was a good game, but the series has a long way to go. I'm confident it'll get there!

Peace.

Score: 9

"Way Cool"

submission: Runaway Cake

date: August 7, 2009

This a really great animation. You really did pull off the timing well, and it didn't feel like the characters were rushing to catch up with the pace of the music. I can tell you had a lot of fun with it. :D

From an artistic standpoint, it is not very impressive, but it's not really about the art, but about what one does with it, and here a lot is done. The characters are bouncing all over the place, and it makes them feel lively (to the extent that cartoons can, anyways).

To sum that I all up simply: I really enjoyed watching your animation.

---GRAPHICS
Not terribly detailed, but lively; obviously well thought out. Definitely a plus. The only fault I found with then were the colors (a bit bright for me :p). Doesn't the yellow guy look like Mr. Coo?

---PLOT
Fairly well thought. I liked it, and in typical cartoon fashion, it is greatly exaggerated. Your movie makes me feel nostalgic for the days when I would watch old cartoons on TV.

---SOUND
I won't say anything aside from the fact that the song definitely helped you achieve your goal of bringing out character movement and timing. Well I guess, the track was pretty cool, too.

---OVERALL
This is some really great animation! Good work. I really looking forward to seeing more.

You seem to understand how this animatory stuff works, friend, and that's cool.

And, again, I highly suggest milder colors next time (not dull, just more mild). :D

Score: 6

"A solid game"

submission: nanoTank

date: August 6, 2009

This is not a concept that is new. Roll around as something small shooting stuff and solving puzzles. It's a challenge and an overall decent game. Were I find that it falls short is the amount of space there is to expand upon the main idea. Not that I could do any better, but I just found the game a wee bit repetitive after a while.

But I did enjoy the physics, which is what you guys brought to the table to make the game more unique. I really would have liked to see better use of the physics that were already in place (seriously you guys could have gone wild with that!).

---GRAPHICS
The graphics were cool and obviously stylized. Though this is a matter of personal preference, I generally like the animated hand drawn style better, but I won't take any points off for that. :)

---PLOT
No real plot, though I would have really been impressed if you managed to make one. ;)

---SOUND
The music was the kind of music I like to refer to as "zoning out music" and that's good for games.

---OVERALL
Like I said, the game is solid overall and compact, but it gets monotonous.

Games these days seem to getting less and less planned out to be huge and more and embeddable. I'd like to see that change. Still, I should say you guys did a good job, keep it up! :D

Score: 10

"A very good game!"

submission: Das PÜzzelspielen

date: August 5, 2009

I love puzzle games, and this one hit the sweet spot between difficulty and and learning curve. It's simplistic visually, but that's good because we don't need a bunch of crap flying at our faces when were trying to solve a damn puzzle. I found it great how you wrote out the rules step by step instead of giving all to us at once, which turned this game, which could have otherwise been a pain in the neck to figure out, into an easy to learn, easy to play spectacularathon! Hoovay!

The only suggestion I have would be a turning the music off feature.

---GRAPHICS
Not many (lol). That is good, though. Simplicity is nice, especially in a puzzle game.

---PLOT
Not really an adventure game, but I really enjoyed the German instructions :3

---SOUND
The music choice was good, but I'd rather play without sound, which could be remedied by turning off my speakers, but there should be an in game option.

---OVERALL
Did I forget to mention this game was fun? I really enjoyed it, and I'm looking forward to more puzzles from you!

Score: 5

"Could use some work..."

submission: Xbox Vs Ps3 Thre3

date: August 1, 2009

Let me start off and say that I don't mean to be demeaning in any way, to you or your movies.

In general, your Ps3-XBox-Wii movies tend to lack creativity, and this may be intentional, but in general, it seems, it is because you are not making a big effort. Your movies are composed of the three consoles, which look well enough, but the viewer is treated to nothing more than a couple minutes of them bouncing around. There is not much else to look at because there aren't any backdrops either. I understand that this and your other movies are not about the impressive visuals, but more centered around the interactions of the consoles, but the dialogue can be a bit trite.

I really think that if you spent more time on plot and animation (don't limit your self to just a few symbols to tween around, see if you can draw more positions states for the consoles) you could turn them in to something more substantial.

When thinking in terms of plot, try to get your self out of the typical, random mind-frame. I don't know what your thought processes are when you write these movies, but they come off to me as "random". Your characters can be what you want them to be, but the age of sporadic, hysterically observant and quick minded character has mostly run dry.

But keep at it! You have potential.

---GRAPHICS
Good, but you don't do much with them.

---PLOT
I can't really rate it because it seems plot devices aren't really an object.

---SOUND
The voices are okay, but they all sound like they are coming from the same person.

---OVERALL
Not very impressive, but it'll get there with work.

Score: 10

"Well done"

submission: Flies On A Wall

date: July 29, 2009

This is really a great animation, it has great sound, good graphics, and it's funny. I was really impressed; good job!

I want to see more. Keep it up!

Score: 10

"Really Great"

submission: S13 - I Want It! Syndrome

date: July 27, 2009

You've really improved since you first started out, and that's saying a lot, because your first animation was incredible! I love the Russian; don't ever lose that! You have a knack for this animatory type business, keep at it.

The only thing I'd like to see a bit more of is FBF. Don't get me wrong, and there's nothing bad about using tweens, especially if one can wield them as masterfully as you, but you're such a great artist, and I think some more artsy love would be cool.

Can't wait to see more!