Reviews

Review by Onewing all reviews by Onewing

Good: Functional and elegant
Bad: Not very entertaining or…orginal.
Not Recommended to: people with Alzheimers. Actually, can you recommend any game to someone with Alzheimers?

This is one of the games I had to review. While it does everything you’d expect it to, you’d expect it to do more. Sounds like something your parents would say…

Anyway, back on track, it was only a few weeks ago that I made a memory card game for MinorHack, a 1-hour competition. BNW is a memory card game for a 72-hour competition. You’d it expect it to be 72 times better, but alas, it is not. I guess you can’t really expect someone to actually use every hour of the competition though.

Overall: I didn’t run into any bugs and the game is fairly well-polished. However, it’s pretty boring, slow and not very original. And even though I didn’t like X-men 3, I will give you a 3.
Artistical: I’m not sure how news is an art, but I’m not a journalist either. The news is blatantly obvious and the rest of the game-art is fairly appealing. Unfortunately, I just can’t shell out more than another 3.
Technical: I’ve already mentioned several times the game is functional. The fire and the smoke, although very plain-jane, work effectively within the game. I’ll give you the exact count of how many times I said “expect” above. What more could you expect from me?
Genre: When you have to open the readme to see how garbage (and it’s related items) fit with the overall scheme, the genre is not very obvious. Two for you, Scooby Doo.

Scores: Overall 3 Artistical 3 Technical 4 Genre 2

Review by Onewing all reviews by Onewing

Good: A unique experience.
Bad: Perhaps too unique…
What the game should have been called: Gay Bob, Green Pants.

Welcome to the wacky world of Allefant’s game, Garbage, a very fitting title, both in what the game is about and how you’d sum up the game. This is another game I had to review.

First off, the most noticeable thing about this game is the style/environment. It may seem like it was drawn by a three year old, but the fact that everything is squibbly and cartoony gives it a very unique feel to it. From the classic five-point stars (which rotate, of course), to the Chinese Trashcans (yeah, I know, it’s a trash lid not a hat, but this whole game does feel like an Asian acid trip, ya?), to the orange dogs (which fly, totally predictable), to the main character and his green tights. Take a very good look at Bob, he seems extremely happy to be dueling it out with his weirdo opponents, not to mention his slow stick-laser ability, something we should all have. I’m quite certain HE’s on that acid trip…ya?

There’s quite a bit of little details that make this game attractive. Of course, the style itself is outstanding, but notice the particle affects and how neat the flames look, if you manage to get to them. Everything fits together really well.

Unfortunately, the gameplay is so bad, you might want to take some acid before attempting to play this game. The garbage cans take 20 hits to destroy and the jumping (more like floating-on-happy-thoughts) flat out sucks. And if you try really hard to see where this game goes, how it ends, it’s too bad, because at about 64%, there’s a jump you can’t make. I was sooo everly frustrated. You should get a 64% for that! That’s a D, mister!

Overall: I’m sorry to do this, but it was a pain to play through this (or at least, 64% of it). I can’t offer more than a 2, even with all the purdy graphics. Yeah, I said purdy.
Artistical: There’s news in the game (relayed in the corner) that directly relate to the game. Don’t know how true they are, but it works well with the game. Not to mention all the style-listic awesomeness of this game, I’m very tempted to give the favorable 5 out of 5. But I say no to peer pressure, so 4 it is.
Technical: I love the fire and I love the smoke. However, the fire does nothing but look pretty and the smoke does nothing but block the view. On top of that, the functionality of the game is weak. At least it didn’t crash…Three sticky stars for ya?
Genre: It’s all about garbage in a junkyard. Bonus points for the game being garbage itself. 3+1=4

Scores: Overall 2 Artistical 4 Technical 3 Genre 4

Review by Onewing all reviews by Onewing

Good: Multiplayer functionality for extreme fun.
Bad: Reminds me of my lack of friends.
Runner up in: Best Characters of TINS 07

Pyrotrash is extremely ambitious, a multiplayer game with a unique setup for a 72hour competition. Surprisingly, it works really well, making it very 1337. Unfortunately, I didn’t really get to enjoy it without having other people to play.

The four different characters you play in Pyrotrash are extremely silly, giving the game a comic-esque mood. Each character has its own movement, appearance and attributes, which I’m sure makes playing multiplayer all the more fun since you can have your own personality.

I also like how the battle system works. It’s simple, but affective. Random worlds generate a different arena each game, so there’s plenty of replay value. Sure, there’s nothing that knocks me out of my chair in Pyrotrash, but there’s fun to be had and what more could you ask for a 72hour game? Nothing, that’s what…

Overall: Four funny characters is enough to give 4 points, but really I just think it’s a good game.
Artistical: The graphics are pretty week, but the fire is pretty neat. Cuteness is pretty indeed, so I will give you a pretty 3.
Technical: Given the readme, a lot of the code is reused. Also, I don’t remember any smoke…3 for ye.
Genre: I suppose the characters are the trash items? The genre wasn’t very strong. 2

Scores: Overall 4 Artistical 3 Technical 3 Genre 2

Review by Onewing all reviews by Onewing

Good: A relatively large world.
Bad: A relatively boring world.
Not terrible, says the burning bush…

Trash Man’s got music, sound effects and even a purpose! Shocker! A game that you could say is actually complete and well-rounded. Unfortunately, it is a little slow paced.

I always enjoy a world to explore, even if there’s hardly anything in it. In fact, I popped open Mappy just to check out the world _sven created. I was even more excited to give my wrists a break when I found out I could a gamepad to play the game. Unfortunately, the controls of the gamepad aren’t as manageable as the keyboard controls. Still, it’s nice _sven put in this functionality on top of everything else.

There were a few things I didn’t figure out, like how to restore my health or how to not grab a bomb-infested item. Once I beat the high score and had a gander around the world, I pretty much put the game to rest. A few more sprinkles and this would have been a real treat, so it was slightly disappointing.

Overall: I semi-enjoyed my time playing this game and all the little details (including picking up bushes) makes this game overall pretty solid. I think it’s deserving of somewhere between 3 or 4, so I’ll be nice and make it a very low 4.
Artistical: The news isn’t very prominent in the game, but serves its purpose. Graphically, the game isn’t appalling. Once again, I’m thinking between 3 and 4 and I’ve already given out a 4 so…
Technical: No bugs (unless you could periodically getting stuck on things briefly a bug) and the smoke/fire effects are affective like an effect should affect. Can’t really argue with that, 4.
Genre: It’s all about picking up garbage. Honestly, I don’t have any reason to give less than a 5.

Scores: Overall 4 Artistical 3 Technical 4 Genre 5

Review by Onewing all reviews by Onewing

Good: Equating Britney Spears to Trash
Bad: Concept.
I imagine this game is better than her movie…

Maybe ho2go thought he/she was being funny, but really, this game made me cry myself to sleep. There’s very few things you can do, the graphics are bad and the game doesn’t make sense (not that you’d expect it to) nor does it work. If you are going to have a game with Britney as your main character, for love of bubblegum, put some hot pictures of her. If we’re going to have to play your game, a little eye candy would persuade the scores. It only takes a few seconds to google and there used to be a time when she wasn’t completely trailer trash.

Overall: You’re not that innocent: 1.
Artistical: Using news and tabloids as the main purpose of the game helps, but the horrid graphics doesn’t. 2
Technical: The game doesn’t seem to end, meaning it doesn’t seem to have a purpose. 1
Genre: Just because Britney is trash nowadays, I’ll be a little generous. 2

Scores: Overall 1 Artistical 2 Technical 1 Genre 1

Review by Onewing all reviews by Onewing

Good: Title screen gives you a short-lived chuckle.
Bad: The complete lack of functionality and/or purpose.
Where’s the carnage? I wanted carnage!

There’s not much I can say about Trash Carnage, because there’s not much you can do in the game. There’s a title screen and the layout of what seems like might actually be a fun little time-waster, but sadly, all you can do is shoot flames and watch newspapers fly. Sometimes, the newspapers disappear mid-air, which makes me think the collision of the flames and the newspapers is really poor. Unfortunately, Trash Carnage is just an incomplete thought at best.

Overall: See above. 1
Artistical: The orange sky and cutesy smoke makes me feel lenient, so I’ll give a 2.
Technical: Nothing impressive, but at least you’re number 1.
Genre: Burning newspaper waste? I guess it counts, but I’m still giving you a 1.

Scores: Overall 1 Artistical 2 Technical 1 Genre 1

Review by Onewing all reviews by Onewing

Good: Music
Bad: Having to save hostages who aren’t really being held hostage.
Man, ninjas are so stealthy, they stand still when they move.

It’s playable, as in playable like 52-card pickup and just about as fun! That’s right, you get to follow one path (unless you want to waste time going to other paths) with the amazing stick-ninja to save the green hostages in an AI-less world of ugly colors. Never have I been so excited. Puh-leeze.

In Matt’s defense, the concept is a pretty good idea. With a lot more time and proper design, this could have been a pretty good game. However, could-have-been’s are usually last place.

Overall: It seemingly works if you don’t get stuck and there’s at least music to make the painful task of playing the game a little more decent. I’d give you 5 candy bars had I not eaten 3.
Artistical: In the readme it mentions the news item this game is based around. Everything else is pretty bad. But we’re programmers, not artists! Downshift @.
Technical: You CAN get stuck in this game. There’s really no fire and I don’t know if I’d count the background as smoke. That’s a one, chum.
Genre: Uses the sewer to get save the greenies. 2

Scores: Overall 2 Artistical 2 Technical 1 Genre 2

Review by Onewing all reviews by Onewing

Good: Priests
Bad: Priests wielding handguns tsk, tsk.
No random comment for this game, as the story in-game provides enough randomness.

I thought it was weird. Not necessarily bad, but weird. There’s a zany story (that the author obviously didn’t take very seriously) at the beginning and zany characters. Hmmm, this game might have done better at last year’s speedhack. Anyway, at least it’s playable, to some degree. Trying to click the enemies is feverishly annoying.

Overall: There’s a story and a battlefield. But, there’s no music and you can’t die. Well, there’s also some instructions, so that’s a bonus. I guess a very low 3, am I right?
Artistical: I guess it’s kind of based on some kind of news item…Meh, 2.5, another generous 3.
Technical: No fire, no death, glitches in in-between menus and bad gameplay. Smoke effect is pretty neat though. 2.
Genre: Yeah, two.

Scores: Overall 3 Artistical 3 Technical 2 Genre 2

Review by Onewing all reviews by Onewing

Good: Good? How ‘bout great!
Bad: Extremely difficult at points, making it extremely frustrating.
Best Characters of TINS 07

Holy cow this game is out of control awesome. Now, read that sentence again and see if it makes any sense. Sure, it doesn’t and is filled with slang, but it was fun to say. Ballz doesn’t make sense either, but it sure is fun to play.

Hands down the best game of TINS ’07. In fact, I’m curious to put this game versus last year’s awesome game Dodger. Which would be better? Sometimes I wonder why we have to say which game is better, because they’re both a blast, both extremely well done (and rare at the same time, delicious).

Ballz is extremely polished, with a fully functional title screen, credits section and 18 levels of gaming awesomeness. There’s even a story to go along with it. Yeah, you might say it doesn’t count as a story, but rather a bad back-alley play, but each character has his characteristics. You could almost take away the faces and know who is talking. That’s what’s called brilliant dialogue, even if the topics are ludicrous.

I spent an hour playing this game, loving every moment of the overly simplistic movements and periodic power ups (that give it that juicy flavor). I’m proud to say I got to level 13 all by my lonesome, but then it was just beyond my ability. However, it wasn’t beyond my ability to hack the game and see the later levels and ending story. Let’s just say, level 13 is easy compared to those later levels.

I read some reviews above complaining about having to listen to the story line every time. You can just press Esc to skip it. That’s what’s so amazing about this game, typically, if you have a complaint about it, it’s not the game’s fault, it’s yours. I spent forever playing level 10 and decided it was impossible. Well, I found out I could get enough stars to bypass it altogether (gotta love that Mario64 star-collecting style). The next level you get a new ability that helps you in level 10. Ingenious.

Team Darkbits, I beg you to make a sequel. You freakin’ gave me blue ballz! Yeah, your game turns me on… meow.

Overall: See above: 5 out of 5!
Artistical: The professor has another role besides being goofy, to relay a few of the TINS requirements. He jumps in at one time to directly relay some news. So, technically, this rule was just barely satisfied, but the actual art of this game is so sweet, it deserves a 4.
Technical: No bugs, the smoke fits perfectly in the environment, the fire is not very impressive, but works. I’ll give you an 83%, which is a 4/5.
Genre: Once again the professor jumps into mention the garbage requirement, which is good for a laugh. And it does have a few levels in the sewer. Yeah, I’m giving it a 4, so what if I’m biased?

Scores: Overall 5 Artistical 4 Technical 4 Genre 4