VelvetDarkRocks's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[Final Ninja]

An interesting game!

I really like the concept- very simple but very effective. Ninja revenge stories are always good fun, and what was strange about this one was that it was half platformer, half stealth, and perhaps just a little bit puzzle-based. The bonuses were interesting but extremely time-consuming (not to mention life-consuming). Thoroughly satisfying to use the ninja-rope with proficiency, swinging across an open level without so much as touching a wall. Interesting was the choice of having shuriken as the only weapon- I would have expected a sword to be the default weapon with limited projectiles picked up along the way as bonuses (perhaps instead of money?).

A very lengthy game which, for me, was too expansive and not rewarding enough to see to completion. However, enjoyable and challenging, but not much replay value. Except, perhaps, to soar through the skies like a ninja-bird.

~VelvetDarkRocks~

[Starmageddon]

A simple and enjoyable game!

Quite a standard shooter for the most part, but the ridiculous amount of powerups and humungous numbers of enemies makes the game really enjoyable. Decent graphics and soundtrack, simplistic (but comfortable) controls, not too long to be disinteresting, not too challenging to be offputting. A very well balanced and enjoyable game.

~VelvetDarkRocks~

[Hippolyta]

Simple yet refined,

Great story, and highly addictive, though I think the breasts were probably unnecessary if unduly popular. Shamefully, they do add a surprising amount of enjoyment to playing though.

I like the Sands of Time narrative. The music and accented narrator worked beautifully, though I think the accent may not have been authentically Greek! It did add a remarkable level of charm and compulsion to the game, though.

A really great game, to my surprise. Although the concept was simple, the depth took me off guard. Although simple, it had so many elements in the form of possible obstacles the game was always quite fresh. And the difficulty was compelling enough to cause a fair few failures, but easy enough to make you want to try again. That momentary wrong decision so easily rectified, if only you'd responded a second earlier... A nice balance.

Two things I would recommend changing are making the obstacles more prominent so that stones and branches don't seem part of the environment and are easy to overlook when one has been straining the eyes for minutes on end to try and pass a level. The other change I would consider making is a basic tutorial to learn how to circumnavigate the different obstacles- when to jump, when to throw a javelin, when to shield etc. That would probably take a lot of the error out of trial and error for trickier obstacles.

All up, surprisingly enjoyable. Certainly worth a play.

~VelvetDarkRocks~

[Tax Time!]

What the crud?

..?

It's great I got some medals, but I leave confused and bewildered...

~VelvetDarkRocks~

[Theia]

Like many others, I am discontent...

Although an excellent puzzle game in the sense that there are certain paths to take to pass a level, some of these paths are ridiculously difficult to take, requiring split-second timing, exploiting glitches or sheer dumb luck. Often finding the right combination of the above would require death after death, minute after minute, of trying to get it *just* right. While a good idea, it was not particularly satisfying. If a sequel is to come, I hope that there are fewer invisible walls (above and underground, requiring precise positioning to walk past) and fewer timing-based puzzles. Pure logic will be satisfying enough for me, I think.

~VelvetDarkRocks~

[Chibi Knight]

Cute, but...

I'm afraid Zelda II infuriated me. It was just ridiculously long to grind, hours upon hours before you could gain a level and save the game to stop playing. It came to anger me, as much as I love the Zelda series. Playing this (while a worthy and adorable tribute in true Zeldan style) just brought back unpleasant associations. Regretably, I did not enjoy it, brilliant as it is.

~VelvetDarkRocks~

[The Budget Invasion]

A delightful game.

You know what got me to play this? The button said "Invade" instead of start. Moments later, the cheesiness of the storyline mocking itself got me to play a level, and then I couldn't stop. A simple game with an amusing storyline and some welcomed ragtime piano. Creative use of specials, but the game would have been leaps and bounds more entertaining if combos could be set up bejewelled style- the elimination of one group might lead to the elimination of further groups if the colours aligned. All up though, quite a solid and entertaining game.

~VelvetDarkRocks~

[Infinity Forever]

A surprisingly enjoyable game.

This game hasn't been wildly popular but it certainly should be: one of the most entertaining puzzle-type games I've played. The creative possibilities that can come from using the various weapons are far greater than initially thought due to rebounds, attacking through walls and multiple kills. Although easy to start off, Infinity Forever can be extremely challenging and those three lives are well needed to pass certain levels.

As with many action/puzzle games, a lack of a storyline is overlooked in favour for the creativity needed to pass levels. And a healthy blend of levels there was! The music was good but sound effects were lacking.
Furthermore, the main thing this game lacked was replay value: there was no hidden items and no achievements to keep people playing over and over. Newgrounds medals would vastly increase the popularity of the game by linking to the medals page, as well as adding additional challenge for medal hunters.

All in all, a surprisingly delightful find which should be much more popular than it is.

~VelvetDarkRocks~

[Toss the Turtle]

An excellent game.

It's very similar to Hedgehog Launch in many ways, and yet entertaining for all its uniqueness. A greater variety of items (including weapons!) and the inclusion of enemies sets this game quite apart.

First off I'd like to say there's something morbidly addictive about watching a turtle (very obviously based on a Squirtle) being beaten to a bloody pulp. Equally satisfying was watching your turtle backflip over spikes, narrowly avoiding a gruesome death. This inspired the idea of a ninja turtle upgrade- giving your turtle a bandana, and instead of being battered every time it hit something (or was hit by something), moving in backflips and not appearing to take damage (unless via spike death).

Secondly, the game was challenging at first with so few things available for purchase. The shop prices were cleverly set up so that you had to make some initial purchases like the jetpack and cannons in order to set the foundations for future purposes. Eventually though, with certain weapons and jetpacks, one could propel oneself potentially indefinitely. It became ridiculously easy to advance hundreds of thousands of feet. The turtle spent minutes in the air, and it became quite boring holding down the w and d keys and just waiting for the turtle to come to a stop so it could be tossed again.

This leads me to my next point. The in-game medals were satisfying to collect. It was a great idea to have the medals give bonuses in-game! However. I feel that in the newgrounds medals overvalued "distance reached" and more points should be given to "time played", "height reached" (I was consistently reaching 2700 feet) and "items bought". And possibly enemies stomped. With the Tank (nice inclusion of newgrounds there) and the Golden Gun I easily reached 1.5 million feet but there wasn't any reward other than collecting money ($200000 from that level, I think) to buy more items to get the medal. Plus it's taken me less than two hours to do so, so time playing shouldn't be held as valuable as achievements earned.

And of course once you've bought everything, there's little value to continue playing because of the lack of story. I think what this game really needs is background. Even something as ridiculous as the one used in Hedgehog Launce (sending hedgehogs to the moon for research purposes) gave the game a purpose and a very satisfying (and adorable) conclusion. This is the main thing Toss the Turtle is lacking.

Another thing the game could have used is a stats page: how long you've played, total distance covered, that kind of thing. And an indicator in-game to show you how many of which enemies you've hit and how much money you've earned from the cash bags.

All up though, a solid and very enjoyable game, though it can be tiresome in the later levels.

Tips for players!
-Guns with more ammunition are more effective than guns with more power. The AK47 is just as effective as the Golden Gun.
-The angle of descent is the main factor for the height recovered when using weapons. In other words, it doesn't matter what altitude your turtle is at. Just wait for your turtle to face as head-first as possible to the ground, and shoot it the moment you can. Remember, if it's been off-screen, it's already fallen several hundred (if not thousand) feet so it's already angled quite sharply. Landing consecutive shots will send it right back up there.
-Invest in the chest bomb when you can afford it: the distance it can get you is far greater than the cost.
-Once you have a decent version of each, upgrade your jetpacks first, your cannons second, and your weapons last.
-Enjoy!

~VelvetDarkRocks~

[The Gun Game]

I am very, very tired.

A really excellent game, although its main charm is the variety of weapons you can use. The campaign was over in half an hour, leaving hours challenges to fill in the time. Speed was the simplest and easiest of them. Skill was the most interesting because of all the variables the in-game physics entailed- it was almost as much a game of luck as skill. Accuracy was probably the most difficult because it took utmost patience.

For some strange reason, the bullets travelled slowly enough to both see and fall! Not that it was a terrible addition to the game but it doesn't make much sense to my exhausted mind.

Why exhausted? Because I'm going for the last remaining achievement: the gun maniac. Four hours of gameplay. Not just having the menus open, actually playing. (Although I'm half-cheating by just leaving it in warm-up mode).

I'm not usually for games that are about grinding. Shooting a certain number of bullets, trying over and over to pass a certain challenge in order to ultimately 100% a flash game isn't my idea of a good time. But when I came back to play this a second time, I couldn't stop. The achievements are so easy to meet, and while they take a little time, there's something enormously satisfying about meeting them all.

A healthy variety of weapons, though it was frustrating having to shoot a certain number of bullets before you could unlock the next one. It was peculiar to see the Kar 98k being the strongest weapon in the game. It took oh so very long to fire 980 bullets, but when I did, there was no need for anything else. Too bad I'd already finished all the campaigns and challenges by then. I wonder what the max damage is? 250 on an opponent, or 125 on a target, at least. How satisfying.

The Kar 98k did seem to glitch though. When I played this game yesterday, the loading between each shot seemed to take longer. I couldn't complete the accuracy challenge because the target moved before I could fire the second shot. It was very frustrating, but seemed to fix itself when I tried again today.

So that's it. Another 32 minutes until I can sleep.

An unfortunately addictive game with an excellent selection of weapons, even if they do more or less the same thing. Though there is little variation in their bullets, speed and power, there is diversity enough to enjoy a range of challenges. Grinding quickly leads to cramped fingers, so perhaps a test of skill rather than mad shooting would be a better way of unlocking bonuses. All it's lacking is music, but an otherwise solid game.

~VelvetDarkRocks~