A Good Idea

This wasn't bad at all. I think the title is pretty clever, and the music definitely makes it what it is.

The 3D elements looks a little rough around the edges but that didn't really bug me too much. I would have liked to have seen a little more detail and care gone into the 2D characters and such, but there wasn't anything that was painfully obvious and screaming to be fixed, so all in all, I think you've done a pretty good job with this.

Like I said, the choice of song was superb and really helped to put the emotion into the animation.

Good job, keep it up!

*Review Request Club*

I Lol'd So Fucking Hard

I seriously didn't see this coming, but oh what a wonderful thing it is!

I'm sitting here thinking to myself "must write constructive review" but honestly, I don't know if I can, this animation has just managed to tickle me in exactly the right way.

The sound and concept is just great, and I definitely should commend you on the choice of music. I think the only thing I thought was off was how smooth it ran. I played with the quality and refreshed my browser a few times, but just every now and again I noticed it got just a little choppy. It really was barely noticeable though.

Great job man, you've made my day!

Fav'd, 5/5, all that good stuff.

*Review Request Club*

Unique Little Beat-Em-Up!

So, here we have "Fear Is Vigilance."
It's a snappy little beat-em-up style game, adding a comical, and somewhat sinister twist to public safety! With simple controls, a humorous plot and flixel style graphics, you can be sure to get a good time from this game!

Presentation/Graphics: 7/10

With no prior knowledge about this game, I had no idea what to expect when I loaded it up. The title screen allows you to jump straight into the game, so I wasted no time in getting started. You're shown a short little scene of the two main characters Justine and Marcy arriving in their van, and are then presented with your first task: handing out personal alarms to the public. It's explained that you only have 5 days to work, and the on-screen instructions are very clear and easy to understand.
After, you're taking to your first night scene, where your goal is to assault a certain number of people, so more people will be persuaded to accept your free alarms the next day. The game generally follows this pattern, and everything is explained along the way. Short cut-scenes help to deliver the story, and on-screen instructions give you controls, so it couldn't be more simple.
The graphics are okay, but nothing special. you've seen graphics like this a good few times before, so you cant expect too much, but that being said, I think this style of art has a certain charm about it, and I've always been a fan.

Gameplay/Control: 7/10

The controls in this game are about as simple as can be; arrow keys to move, X and Z to interact. it's perfectly responsive and there are no faults to speak of. If you cant get the hang of controls like these, you probably shouldn't be playing computer games. They basically are sufficient enough for the game in every way, so there's no complaints there.
You'll find that the levels in this game don't really change much. You're either handing out alarms, or beating people up, but apart from one or two little changes to give a very slight increase in difficulty, you wont find this very challenging or diverse. When assaulting people, you'll find it's best to get them while they're alone, otherwise, passers-by will come to your victim's aid. Once you've got a gang of enemies around you, it's time to run. You'll quickly be overpowered and defeated, so be careful. Your best option is to hid in the bushes until they lose interest.
As previously mentioned, there are one or two little changes as the game progresses; people start to use the alarms you've been handing out, and street lamps make hiding more difficult, but these changes only increase the difficulty very slightly.
The only real problem I've found is that the game is too short, and a little repetitive. The novelty is enough to keep you entertained for its duration, but you wont find any real challenge or diversity, and for that reason, I can only award it so many points. There's an arcade option once you complete the main story, but that only does so much to switch things up a bit. It's done a great job for what it is, but it's nothing major.

Sound: 6/10

The sound in this game is average. The music is simple and the sound effects are sufficient, but there's nothing about it that puts it a cut above the rest. It's basically what you'd expect from a flixel game. It's very fitting, and appropriate for the game, but if you wanted something special or a little out of the ordinary, you're looking in the wrong place.
The sound quality is good, but then you would expect that from a game like this, so there's not really much to be said there.

Number Of Glitches: 0

As of this moment, I haven't found any glitches, so that's always a plus!

All in all, this is a fun game, but a little brief and a little repetitive, however, it's got a slight comical twist which helps to give it a little charm, so definitely give it a go!

Great Example Of A Well-Done RPG

There are scores of games that claim to be RPG brilliance, but few live up to it. Crystal Story brings together all the elements needed for a good RPG and blends them together seamlessly, to bring us a great game which you can happily lose a few hours hacking out. With great characters, an easy to use combat system and nice difficulty curve, what more could you want?

Presentation/Graphics: 7/10

Once the game is loaded up, you're presented with a clear cut menu screen. Always a winner; there's nothing worse than a game with a cluster-fuck of options before you even get started. Once you create your new game, you're instantly presented with a cut-scene that sets the stage for the adventure you're about to embark on. It doesn't drag out too long, and after, you're introduced to the main characters, and given some direction as to what your goal is. Unfortunately, there is no voice acting involved, so you have to click to scroll through dialogue. Not a major drawback, but some voices would have been nice, and some people find scrolling through dialogue a bit monotonous.
From there, you're ready to begin and start tackling the Evil Cave. A simple help feature is available if you need it, but you'll find the game is easy enough to understand without it, provided you've played a few RPGs before, which I'm sure most of you have.
All the menu screens work great, and are easy to navigate, along with the game-world itself. The graphics are stylish and colourful, and you'll easily recognize all the various monsters you'll be tackling throughout the game. Everything has its own individual details, making characters and environments memorable.
That being said, I personally feel some more detail could have gone into the backgrounds in the dungeons. They don't look bad by any means, but a few little touch-ups here and there would have really helped to bring them to life.

Gameplay/Control: 8/10

The entire game is simply point and click. Whether you're moving characters or making choices, your mouse is all you'll need. This simplistic control system is a joy to use, and is very responsive. Some people may say that they would have liked to have seen hot-keys included, or have been given the option to use wasd or the arrow keys to navigate, but I really don't see much need for them.
You'll have no problem adjusting to the battle system. It cycles through everyone's turns, and presents you with clear options as to what you would like each character to do, and gives you the choice of which enemy to attack. Engaging in battle is as simple as walking into the enemy you wish to fight, but be careful, when you touch one enemy, you battle all the enemies on the screen!
After fights, you are awarded xp, and can use it to level up, and assign new powers to your players.
If you get tired of the main quest, there's mini-games and side quests to unlock and complete, so you're never going to get too bored focusing on the same objectives.
The games difficulty has a nice slope also, so you wont suddenly find the game has gotten too hard, or that you are ill-equipped to deal with its challenges.

Sound: 8/10

The sound quality in the game is great, with no quality issues. The music is quirky and appropriate throughout, and there's separate themes to let you know when you're facing a boss, although that should be apparent anyway. It really helps to immerse you in the games atmosphere, and doesn't become boring and repetitive.
The sound effects are nothing amazing, but work perfectly fine. Different attacks make different noises, and give killing enemies a satisfying twist. Even the noise it makes when you click a button is pleasant to the ear, and makes everything feel smooth.

Glitches: 1

I found that if there's a chest in the room when you enter, it disappears after you battle an enemy.

All in all, this is a fantastic RPG that keeps you interested, and simple works extremely well. You'll find yourself amused by the characters, and keep to level up and expand your arsenal. Better get started!

Night-time mayhem. Can you keep your cool?

Toys Vs Nightmares captures all our bedtime fears from when we were young, and gives us an imaginative and strategic way to battle the creatures that go bump in the night! That being said, lets see just how this experience has been pulled together.

Presentation/Graphics: 7/10

Immediately when the game loads up, you're presented with an eye-pleasing title screen, prompting you to dive straight into the action. The colours are bright, and everything is drawn with a cartoon flair. You wont find yourself being blown away by the graphics, but they are somewhat unique to the author, and have a certain charm about them.
Special effects are unfortunately rather understated. Some toys may crumble apart, or enemies will disappear in puffs of smoke, but its nothing amazing.
All in all, its got a charm about it and is pleasing to the eye, but this clearly isn't a piece of artistic brilliance.
The story behind the game isn't spectacular; you're a kid in bed at night with various monsters advancing on you. You set up base and fend them off using various toys and such. It's by no means the most inspired concept in the world, but it passes with flying colours, simply because we can all relate to it, and it invokes a sense of nostalgia for many.

Gameplay/Control: 8/10

Lets start with the control. It's all simply point and click, which is appropriate, and you'll find you're not often zipping your mouse franticly around the screen, when trying to make your selections under pressure; everything is grouped sufficiently. One thing that you might wish you had is hotkeys. Granted, you aren't constantly in a frenzy trying to make your selections, but I just think it's always nice to be able to jump straight to the item you want at the press of a button.
The game gradually increases its difficulty, by introducing new nightmares with varied skills and attributes. At the same time, you're given new toys to fend them off with, again, each with their own special abilities and stats. I found constantly clicking the storybooks to generate energy for new toys quite tedious, and would have much preferred that you earned your energy from killing the nightmares, however it still isn't a bad way to execute this kind of game; I guess that's just more of a personal preference, but I'm sure some of you will feel the same.
Sometimes I felt that the difficulty made a sudden jump between levels, but it soon evens out after, so it's nothing to worry about, and actually keeps the feeling of challenge alive and present throughout the game.

Sound: 6/10

The music in this game is uninspired. It's typical of its genre, and it's repetitive, so instead of helping to immerse the gamer in the games atmosphere, it becomes more of a drone in the background. Now it's not exactly crucial in this kind of game, but it can be annoying, or disappointing to gamers expecting something more. The sound effects are also minimal, and unimpressive. It doesn't add any satisfaction for taking down a particularly touch nightmare.
That being said, the sound isn't exactly bad either. It's not choppy, or of poor quality, but it isn't going to be giving the audiophiles any orgasms.

Number Of Glitches: 1

I tested all the buttons and features, and as far as I could tell, there was only one glitch: when you bring up the settings screen on the toy select menu between rounds, clicking different settings will also select or buy toys from the menu. Not a huge gaming flaw, but sometimes annoying, especially when you accidentally buy a toy you didn't want yet.

On the whole, it's a fun game that has been delivered in style, with minor drawbacks. Dive under the blankets and load it up!

Definitely A Favourite Of Mine

I'm glad that you went on to finish this track and touch everything up, because what you've produced is one of the best songs I've heard in the portal.

You ironed out all the issues with the synth levels, giving everything it's own place in the mix, the frequencies are all a lot cleaner and pretty much spot on.
I really don't have much to say in terms of constructive criticism, because there's very little left that would need to be improved. You've addressed pretty much everything I touched upon in my review of the unfinished version, and the ending fits extremely well.

I'd have still liked the kick to be slightly more prominent, but that's only really a minor edit.

All things considered, this is a great piece.

As promised, I've given 5/5, fav'd it, and downloaded it.

Great work!

*Review Request Club*

Different, And Generally Pretty Good

This song isn't what I expected.
When I saw that it was ambient, the drums really threw me off, but it still works, and doesn't really suffer for it at all.
I saw that this is intended for a flash game, and I can easily see this being used in one, so you're on the right track.

The drums have a unique sound to them, and it works well, however, they need to be a little louder; especially the kick. Not too much, but sometimes I was struggling to hear it.
Also, the same goes for the bass synth. It works well, but it's just a little too quiet in places. just bring the lever up slightly and you'll be good to go.

The song changes up nicely and is varied enough that it doesn't get boring to listen to. Often you'll find ambient songs tend to just drone on, but you've managed to avoid that, so nice work.

The addition of string is a nice touch, and the melody works well throughout, so I really cant fault it there.

Nice work!

*Review Request Club*

Very Nice Work

Firstly, lemme just say the idea of using an answering machine recording is genius.

Listening to this I found that all the sounds and synths you've used sound great. Everything's got a high standard of quality about it, and fits the genre like a shoe.
There's certain expectations about how things should sound in dubstep, and you've met them, so good job!

It's all arranged nicely, and progresses well. You don't repeat anything too much, or nothing really unexpected or out of place occurs. This is definitely a big plus, because I hate it when songs just go off on a tangent and jump all over the place, or just become too repetitive.

The mix is okay, but it clipped in places, and the sounds seem to clash too much and distort a little around the drop, so you may want to go back and have a go at tweaking that a little.

Otherwise, this is a good song, and you should be proud.

*Review Request Club*

Very Interesting!

Everything about this picture looks unique.

I love how you've given all the characters their own style, straight out of a different era for each, and although I cant name them all, I'd say the drum kit looks like something the Beatles would use.

The colour in this pops out wonderfully and all the shading and shadows looks great. I really cant fault it there, I can tell you've put a lot of time and effort into it.

Everything has a good level of detail to it, whether its the floor and walls, or the clothes that the characters are wearing, and the background also looks similar to the skyline in the Newgrounds logo.

I'm not great at art reviews so there's not really much more I can say, but I really do like this and hope your future work is of this quality!

*Review Request Club*

Well, It's Certainly Grey...And Slightly Brown...

What more can I say?

The 3D effect is nothing special. There's no texture on the walls, floor, ceiling or door. The quality is poor. It's plain and boring.

you need to think about adding other elements to the room itself. Windows, furniture, anything would be better than just having a plain grey room.
Also, think about putting some more detail into, well, everything. There could be cracks in the walls or floor, stains here and there, more definition on the door itself. Even a leaky pipe running from the ceiling would help to make it somewhat more interesting.

You've got to try harder next time.

*Review Request Club*

Again, This Needs More Effort And Detail...

I'm really not trying to be mean just to be a douche here, but you've got to up your game.

It looks like Ross is leaning on some random black object, but the explosion covers the bottom corner of it. So does that mean it's further back than the explosion and Ross is actually just posed awkwardly, or, is it just a mistake with perspective?

The explosion doesn't actually look like an explosion either. There's no definition to it, and if you hadn't crudely written "Boom" in the top, or specified that it was an explosion in the title, there's no telling what it could be.

Another thing; the background once again is lacking. You need to add some kind of detail to it, or at least keep it one colour. Because it fades from blue to black, it appears as if there should be more light on the left, but the explosion seems to be the source of light due to the shading on Ross' face, so why is the right side of the background in darkness?

All these little details add up, and I hope you really pay attention to them in your next submissions.

*Review Request Club*