Alter-native's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[Out of Reach]

A Simple Storyline With a Strong Point

Ultimately, decent advice for high schoolers and college students. Learn to have more than one hobby, be interesting. Acknowledge that Mom calling you is a bad thing, so be sure to be independent and reliable at a young age. And ultimately, seek the woman that matches you in personality. If I could add my two cents, I'd say getting job is a good thing, but learning a stable trade job or studying up and learning the tools for a high paying job is even better.

The visual novel though doesn't have a lot of branching paths, and doesn't have too many "gamified" stats like in others in this genre, but, it was made in 48 hours and it shows. Two things I wonder though, if Mia is not into anime, than why is she wearing a Maritime sailor fuku outfit outside of the visual parody element of the metacommentary on games like these? Is she actually a Japanese/private school student? Second, the women, Naomi, that the MC ends up with, has cat ears. Again outside of metaphysical visual parody commentary, why?

Also, I want to make a correction, Death Note is actually a shonen manga, having premiered in Shonen Jump and running alongside fare like Naruto, One Piece, and Bleach. For examples of seinen manga there is Akira, Battle Angel Alita, Berserk, Monster, and Excel Saga. Though Death Note is shonen, it is incredible and a thoughtful piece of work that transcends demographics. Sorta like how Harry Potter, a book for school children, is beloved by many women young and old, or My Little Pony, a show for little girls is beloved my many men, young and old.

[Sisypush]

Ah Sisyphus and Sasafrash!

Sisyphus was a figure in Greek Mythology. He was a very deceitful and selfish king who once ruled over Ephyra, the capital of the Thesprotia region in ancient Greece.

Sisyphus would often lure exotic travelers from far away into his local towns, only to have them killed so he could take their stuff. A supreme violation of Xenia code of conduct for proto-international affairs among Hellenians(Ancient Greeks).

He hated his brother Salmoneus so much, that he often plotted to kill him. He seduced his brother's own dauther, Tyro, into bearing his own children, and he tried to groom the inbred children to kill his brother, all so that he could take his throne. Tyro killed the inbred children in retaliation when she found out what she was going to do.

When Zeus had the hots for Aegina, the Nymph daughter of the river god Asopus, he took the form of an Eagle, and abducted her. Sisyphus bore witness to Zeus flying overhead, and when Asopus came strolling by in hot pursuit, Sisyphus revealed their location in return for a miraculous spring to pour across the Corinthian acropolis.

This got Sisyphus on Zeus's bad side. Depending on the variant, Zeus sent either Thantos(God of Death) or Hades(God of the Underworld) to chain Sisyphus up and drag him down to Tartarus(the bad place for bad people) early. In a classic looney tunes style maneuver, Sisyphus tricked Thanatos/Hades into chaining himself up after a drawn out conversion that began with Sisyphus questioning why Hermes was not sent, and ended with Sisyphus inquiring Thanatos/Hades to "demonstrate how the chains work." It was here where Sisyphus decided to boast out loud how he was even smarter then the gods of Olympus. During this period of shackling, the parameters of the world was affected in way where no one could die, because either Thanatos was unable cause death and Hades was unable to claim souls. Sacrifices could not be made to the gods, and the old and sick were suffering eternally. It also caused much frustration for Ares, because he was unable to see his subjects die in combat. So Ares brought upon himself to free Hades/Thanatos. The gods also told Sisyphus that he didn't let ares break the chains, that they would make Sisyphus suffer so much, that he wish he were dead.

During some downtime before his departure to the Underworld, Sisyphus told his wife to throw his naked dead body in the middle of the public square, so that he could continue to defy the gods. His wife decided to throw his carcas into the river Styx instead, fast fowarding his soul's arrival to the underworld. Sisyphus then sweet talked Persephone(Hade's claimed wife and Seasonal goddess) into allowing his soul to come back as a ghost and haunt his wife for disobeying his orders. Finally, Hermes dragged soul back down to Tartarus.

Sisyphus was tasked in Tartarus to roll a boulder up a steep mountain. The mountain was too steep and the boulder was too oblong, so it would keep rolling down the mountain. The task was impossible, and it led to an endless cycle of frustration.

Sisyphus and the boulder can seen as metaphor for futile efforts like power struggles. Especially since Sisyphus is the poster boy for all cutthroat Machiavellian leaders. Sisyphus lead a life of deceit and trickery in order to obtain massive power that in the end, was temporary due to the limits of mere mortality and the fact that he was only human. A virtuous man would live and let live, know his limits, and understand the fleeting nature of things.

Anyway, despite dry bare bones programming and art design, the ingenious thing about this game, is the fact that even I don't know if it can actually be done, which compel a lot of people to try their hand for possibly hours. If someone does manage to do it, I hope they have a capture card if you know what I mean.

[Twenty Forty Ecchi]

Simple Game with a Crude Production.

In this game, you just slide slam matching blocks into each other to form higher number blocks, which you have to match with like blocks to form even higher blocks. The catch is when you move the blocks, you move almost all of them. Things get challenging as you run out of room. Other than that, there's not much.

While this a crude amateur production, the game is at least deep enough to make me think about my next move, and the biggest highlight would the choice of soundtrack.

Please tell me, what track did you use? I just love this music track.

rasp-berry responds:

It's a custom-made track. The game itself is a little crude because I made it for a jam. I think I will polish it up some more.

[Snong]

Snake Vs. Pong!

The mashup of the last century!

[ChooseWisely]

I'm a Universalist!

Are you new at programming? There's not much to this little game decision thing. But, it does work, and I think it's pretty well researched enough. The ven diagram thing is short, to the point and good at allowing people, who believe in the God of the monotheistic Abrahamic canon, to quickly understand what their position is.

Calvinists are kinda fatalistic in their view of God, and fatalism depresses me. But on the plus side, I don't think they have to dwell too much on their beliefs regarding the afterlife, since in their view, God has already decided everything from the get go.

I have a feeling most people are Armenians, since it just sounds like the average belief.

[Sole Gunner]

The Empire is Attacking the Natives! Sav-- Oh Wait, Wrong Game.

Gunstar Heroes is my all time favorite action games for my favorite retro console suited for stylized action games of its caliber, the Sega Genesis, from my all time favorite company, Treasure.

We have not seen a game quite like Gunstar Heroes since Gunstar Super Heroes for GBA, and it's unfortunate that we don't see many games today, especially in faux retro scene, taking a cue from Gunstar Heroes, making the game's sense of explosive excitement somewhat of a piece of lost nostalgia for me. Something of a bygone era.

This game here is great tribute to that bygone era. The games looks, sounds, and even feels like a great Sega Genesis action game.

The music is pure hardcore awesomesauce, it sounds almost like NON composed it. From serious tone the selection screen invokes, as you try to pick out which level to tackle first, to the "Down to Business" theme of level one that makes you feel like a bad ass, to the scaling melody of the second stage as you ascend a silo, or the fast paced theme as you run across the train in level 3, the music just feels right and has that "ummph" of dynamic energy to it that makes me come back to the game.

As for the art, I can not believe it's not Han. I always dug Han designs because they felt reminiscent of Gainax designs.

The gamplay is tried and true sidescroller fare. Though to pinpoint something peculiar, the controls feel more akin to Megaman than Gunstar, considering that in Gunstar, you could jump up and do a kick or bellyflop of some sort as an alternative means of taking out enemies. In this game, you just jump and shoot, but you can shoot in four directions. The weapon system in Gunstar was awesome because you could combine 2 weapon powerups to form unique weapons based on those two specific elements. My favorite was the laser sword because it was freaking powerful despite its limited range and it could melt bullets. However, in this game, the weapon powerups are more akin to Contra's style in that you can only pick up one weapon at a time. But hey, at least the laser gun in this game is far far far more better than the laser in Contra. Though personally, my favorite gun in this game is the flamethrower, if not the rocket launcher(I am a sucker for high damage guns). However, the game does call for different guns at times, seeing that some guns do better in some areas than others. Like the flamethrower is powerful as hell, but it can't shoot through walls like the laser can, and you can't move while you are using it like you can with all other guns. So, there is balance, and I have always found balance to be an important part in designing games. The health is just like Gunstar, because in that game, and in this game, you don't die in one hit, you can take multiple hits, but your health is listed as a percentage. This aspect is what I think gives Gunstar an advantage over Contra, because I always find one hit kill stuff incredibly frustrating!(Contra still kicks ass because it has great level design to make up for its one hit kill mechanics, it also does not restart you at the begining of the level if you lose a life, which is a plus.)

Then there's some great twists in this game, like the vertical space shooter genre switch at the start of level 4 and...

===SPOILERS===
The 8 bit sub levels, one of which pays direct homage to level 1 of Contra with its Island landscape, exploding bridges, suicidal enemies and gun turrets, and another which pays direct homage to Megaman's Cutman level. The graphics and music make a total shift, utilizing NES colors and Sounds.
===SPOILERS===

Bottom line.

You earned yourself a 5 star. Now the thing is I don't normally give out these babies except for entries that I feel break the mold, that truly stand out, and of course in addition to something that I absolutely love. In general a 5 score entry is something you wouldn't believe, considering the quality, was on Newgrounds for free. In the case of games it is score reserved for games that excel with exceptional coding, graphics and level design. Any flaws, if there are any, are miniscule because this Flash game IS the kind of game I like to play on the Sega Genesis, for free on Newgrounds.

If you have any behind the scenes footage, like stuff about how you made the game, composed the music, and coded it, I would like to see that, because I would like to make games like this one, but with a twist.

I hope you make more 16 bit style games in the future.

Good luck on your next entry.

[Test Game 2014]

Okay.

Animation on the protagonist, while not the smoothest, is pretty decent. It's workable. I like the running animation and the way her coat tails flap around. The character moves with a certain grace.

Art style seems to be a bit on the "animu-ish" side of things, what with that nose less style, but that's okay, because she looks cute and I think that's what you are going for. I like her outfit.

I think she does need additional frames however, most especially some frames for her walking diagonally upwards and downwards

The enemies would be decent beginning tier enemies along with rats and slimes and the like.

The combat seems basic and workable. Right now,
I can only use a 3 hit combo, but sometimes that's enough for a decent action rpg, if, the level design is good enough, and it all goes at a decent pace, or if at least have some partners with you so the game doesn't feel too repetitive, be it AI or human players.

I don't know what you have in mind for the rest for your project for I can not level up at the moment or explore beyond this test area. Though I do hope you give us some awesome big great looking enemies, and some gorgeous backgrounds. A killer soundtrack wouldn't hurt either, see if can find some hidden gems in the audio portal.

Some other miscellaneous ideas:
Maybe work in a block and/or dodge manuever. Maybe some spells and weaponcrafting if it's not too hard.

I like it when you can actually the armor on the sprites when you equip characters with items, as if they were putting on new clothes.

I like it when characters either look more rugged, or tougher, or confident when they level up(it's like literal character development).

I like some story. Whether it just be solely character driven, or, even better, if it helps provoke a thought of some kind.

I score 1 1/2 stars because I sympathize with you and kind of like what you're doing, but I also must realize that the portal is for finalized works. However, I do hope you finish your project with flying colors. I'll be cheering for you. Good luck on your next entry.

[Famous Paintings Parodies]

At 22 Right

I scored "Universal Art Lover", and that's without knowing about the 3d glasses for the first 15!

[Cult Classic]

Awesome Picture...

It brings back so many memories to so many different people.

I'm surprised somebody actually remembered Super Dave of all things.

It's just seeing all these childhood icons in one picture, but also seeing them interact with one another in interesting ways. Stuff and little details like Slimer high fiving Booberry, Aeon Flux zapping Rainbow Brite, Bucky O'Hare meeting Usagi Yojimbo, Carmen Sandiego making out with Waldo, or Steve Urkel punching Screech in the face really makes my day.

[Segway of the Dead]

Ahahahahahaha...

April Fools everybody. You can't SP in this game. You will always die on level one. You can't actually upgrade any attributes. Segways are lame and useless and a waste of money.