Ericho's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[Riddle School 2]

Quite stylistic

I am not a big fan of point-and-click games, but this was actually surprisingly fun to play! The biggest strength is how good the graphics are. It perfectly captures a more mudane than average story and manages to really give depth to the appearance of the characters. I thought that by the title, it meant I was going to have to solve riddles. Given how I am generally not good at point-and-click games, beating them is a riddle in itself! The music is also very good and fast-paced.

Here's how far I got. Use the mouse to pick up the silver stuff lying around because that is change. Give it to the black guy as he will give you a whistle which will make the teacher fall asleep so you can leave the class. Once outside, go to Mrs. Sleep's office and find lubricant in one of the desks. Use it to get the toilet paper in the vent at the end of the hallway and then give it to the guy in the men's room who will come out leaving you the mop to give to the janitor.

JonBro responds:

Thanks, famed reviewer!

You might be the first to mention that the graphics add to the mundane mood of school portrayed in the game, and frankly it's something I hadn't noticed, but it's something I'll keep in mind for future projects.

[Keytar Hero]

Trogdor?

The best thing about this was probably how you included the Trogdor song. Homestar Runner is probably the most famous Internet cartoon yet there seem to be few references to it here on Newgrounds! I think there may be some error as I was not able to advance at all in this. The weakest part was that I took the tutorial and pushed the buttons. I even saw them flashing on the screen but when the notes came, nothing happened. I assume this is a problem for other people.

The layout is alright. One thing that you could do to make it better would be to work on your coloring because it seems like the colors (and text) are not very detailed. I never played "Guitar Hero" the game, so it starts off as not being the kind of thing I am that interested in. I think this is the first game that wants the player to hold the keyboard like that. I did not do that, so maybe that was why nothing worked.

[Shift: Freedom!]

It's beautiful

I think this is probably the most enjoyable entry in the "SHIFT" series to date. I guess it has been so long since I have played that I have really forgotten if it had any story. With something so surreal, it seems out of place to have any kind of story at all! What matters is that the gameplay in this is really smooth. This reminds me of the "Acheivement Unlocked II" game where everything was worth 5 pts. Even then, I still have yet to get a medal.

The animation is, better, but it's something that's hard to put into words. It's like the character himself seems fatter and shorter which kind of makes him more realistic. Another good thing is the haunting music that goes well with the surrealism. It's just so satisfying when the camera zooms in when he goes through the exit. This gameplay is about as complicated as an abstract painting and I love those.

[One Chance]

Amazing...

I was not expecting much from this game, but boy, did it turn out to be something truly amazing. It looks like I did not succeed as I keep being on the screen that shows the dad and sister sleeping on the bench. Maybe my biggest mistake was going with that girl that one night. It was an accident that I clicked the space bar, I promise! I just love the themes in it and how the music is so amazingly haunting. For something not done in the best animation, this was definitley compelling.

I could tell something was happening when they told about a cure for cancer. You really managed to show emotions even though there were no emotions being explicity shown. Let this be a lesson to all of the people out there who want to help the world. The bad things that happen in our personal lives will be minute compared to our ultimate fate. As for me, I believe I am going to go to sleep and hope everything's still around when I awake...

[Carve n' Share]

How'd I miss this?

I could have sworn I had gone through every Halloween related game for this year, but I was wrong. It was great to see work by poxpower, dang, he's on every great game nowadays. I really feel embarassed over myself at how simple my pumpkin looked. I just went over to see the top rated ones and I found it to be some of the best artwork I had ever seen! Seriously people, submit your stuff to the art portal if you are that good! I could spend all day just figuring out how they managed to do that.

There were certainly a lot of things to do and choose from and I am glad for that. It seems like the perfect Halloween tribute! I can just spend all day looking at the other things people have made and see how creative they are. It's amazing how far you can go with the mechanics of this game. I guess there could have been some more, but it's really great already and I can see where master pumpkin carvers got their starts!

[Jeremy Bongstarr]

Sweet!

I am really again only giving this such a high score because I had a pretty easy time playing it and stuff. I could not tell if Jeremy was supposed to be an animal of some sort or a human. Judging by his name, I thought this was going to be about marijuana. I guess I do have a pretty dirty mind after all. It reminded me of "Super Mario Sunshine" only a lot simpler. As you only had so long to complete this game, it definitley seems like it was time well spent!

If I have any complaints, it would be that it is in fact a little too easy. At least you manage to create a real world for the player to go out and explore. The artwork in the cutscenes is masterfully done and puts things in perspective well. I could feel some sympathy for this character, whatever he was supposed to be. If only I had played this when it was a lot hotter, I live in Florida you know.

[G-Switch]

Yes, I'm good at it

Ah dang it, I thought the game "Grayinator" was the first game to use this! Anyway, this was a lot of fun to play if only because, once again, I was really good at it. This is a game where you really have to test your hand-eye coordination and time everything just perfectly. It seemed to have a great CGI appeal to it, considering it was made in Flash (I assume). The only thing I did not like was how there could in fact have been some more detail. It did not seem like there was not a lot in the background.

It's great how this game manages to be really fast paced and the controls are simple enough so as to not make it too difficult. It's fun to just hear the sound of the guy flipping everywhere. Extra credit for showing you exactly how far you had to go into the game. One problem some people have is that they have no idea how long the level is going to end. It kind of makes you more motivated to take your time with what you have.

[IceBoy]

Like the "Space Jam" music

I am surprised this has such a low score, as it really seems to be just as good as any other game made in this series. I can tell that it was made in a time limit, as it does not have much detail. I still liked how the premise and design of the game was really simple to understand. The protagonist himself looks cute, with how he just bounces around everywhere. I think it may be the first game I've played where there was a button I was not supposed to touch. I kept thinking I could jump over it, but then I forgot my ice powers.

With the ice powers, it's a very creative game that you can really lose yourself in. Man, is it awesome how you can start on the same level even if you refresh the page! The missiles being fired actually seem to be more of a threat to getting on your way than actually killing you. There is a fair amount of detail in this game, especially one that's simple. If no one else likes this game, then I can.

OmarShehata responds:

Thanks for the review man!

It actually had a much higher score when it was out of judgement. It was at 3.6 and seriously dropped when it was front-paged. I'm guessing most people didn't like the lack of polish.

But anyway, I'm glad you liked it! We're considering making a "deluxe" version, I'd love to hear any ideas/suggestions you have for it!

[Dravalanche]

Happy New Year!

The graphics in this really reminded me of the work by ZekeySpaceyLizard. Dang, do I wish that guy was still around... Anyway, this had some good and bad qualities. The bad qualities was that it was just not very rewarding as it took forever just to rescue 15 of the people who were trapped in the ice. I would suggest you try to put a health bar on the dragon so you can know how far you have gotten. The controls were at least easy and it seemed to move smoothly.

I would suggest some sort of axe upgrade along the way so it did not take so long to get through the ice. It's still fairly fun to play, because it is just fun to see that little guy go around everywhere. I admit that there was not much to the story but as the game played, I barely cared about the plot anyway. Dang, this has to be a record for the most games to recieve medals in the quickest time! I would at least recommend this to a fan of mine games.

[Iced Over]

It never ends

This was a really inventive idea and I thought the overall design was again, really "cute". However, it did get annoying with how you had to refuel so soon. I was not even sure what was supposed to be a refueling or not. I definitley have to give you credit because having the secret medal be worth 100 pts and the regular ones 5 pts is a stroke of genius. The graphics/animation seem to be really nostalgic. It is like you were reaching to a time where we drew things in a simple way like that.

I would know. I used to draw stuff all the time and I am in no way saying that's a bad thing, it's still a good idea that was executed in a fairly nice way. The medals did not show up on the screen, but I still got them. It is also a creative game with how you create your own path. The flamethrower can create unique shapes, too.