MrProGamer's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[William and Sly]

Beautiful experience, great design...

Hey there Lucas,

I don't often give games a 9 or higher. But this one sure has proven itself
worthy. You've done a great job on the mood-set and the setting of the game.
The way how the music and the silence (with leaving nothing more than sound
effects) switched has been a great design decision for the overal mood-set.
How the music faded in was just wonderful, it really gave me that magical
feeling while playing. I was really living the fantasy and adventure in your world.

The concept worked perfectly, I also enjoyed finding those hidden pathways.
That always keeps you going for more. :P But I actually was hoping to expect
more of the game. I was hoping to unlock powers to get to area's that couldn't
be reached before (like high platforms in the sky). So I was hoping you would
take the game just one step further... Ah well, I can't have it all. ^___^"

Too bad the in-game menu was kind of hidden... These menu's must be
easy to enter and exit at all time (without actually searching for it... XD).

Also, it wasn't clear how you could achieve certain points like using the
"White Magic" for destroying these monsters. You did explain it in the beginning
of the game, but also on the very moment you receive this "White Magic" this
must be pointed out to the player so it knows THIS is the "White Magic" he has
to use to achieve the secondary goal. I also couldn't figure out another way to
obtain this power, so it seemed to me it was like a once shot goal. Please point
that out to the player, because it was a nasty disappointment to me when I
bumped into this.

The last thing that bothered me was the brief ending after you've defeated the
Boss for the final runestone. It's such a shame that a beautiful game like this
didn't get a fitting ending. =/

It's been a while that a game could move me in such a way, so mystical.
It kept my full attention all time, I even turned off the damn television the
moment I heard the music start playing and saw the world I jumped in. ^___^

It's a really good game, no doubt about it. This one's really worth a 9 to me,
But there are still some things that need improvement. The reason I give it a
9 lies more on the mood-set and overall experience of the game.

Please let me know what you think of this feedback. As a Game Designer I'm
trying to help you out so you can improve future work. If you like to receive
more in-depth feedback about your game, feel free to PM me and I shall respond
to you as soon as possible. There's more then just this feedback, believe me...

You're doing great I must say, keep it up!
Keep creating new things, experiment with different mood-sets
and game concepts. You'll get better and better. ^___^

Double thumbs up!
Regards,

Erik van Wees

Kajenx responds:

Great review, very helpful. I totally understand the criticisms, I felt like I was battling through them the whole way when I was making it and I never got all the way there. But now I have a really good base to jump from on the next game when I make it, and I'll be sure to address those problems you mentioned.

[Skylocopter 2]

You caught my attention...

Even though it was pretty easy, it kept my attention in such a way that
I wanted to figure out what the next level would be. (Beat the game at first
try... :P) The concept works, but there are some things that could make it better:

As a game designer I'm not going to judge you on the music, but do keep in mind that music determines almost 50% of the player's experience. You can see
it as a mood setting device that marks the "feeling" of the game. To me it felt
like a dreamy kind of setting, but the graphics showed something different.

Moving on now... The "Economy" upgrade wasn't clear to me. I took a guess on
the Fuel Tank, but you should've mentioned it "Fuel Tank" instead of "Economy".
(Or it's some vocabulary that I'm missing... I'm a Dutchy... =}) Also the upgrade
"Speed" wasn't necessary for me because if you were going faster than this
you would be bouncing through the whole level... Imagine how frustrating THAT
would be... =P (Don't know if others found it usefull, but to me it seemed kind
of risky...)

The bouncing when you touch the outide of the screen is a little too rough.
It makes the player go bouncing between the wall and the surface which drops
the Life gauge pretty fast.

Keep in mind that every gameplay element you insert in your game has
consequences, or at least try to fit the element properly so that is has some
additional value to the game.

You could add some challenges on the side for the "hardcore gamer" so they
don't have to get bored when they think it's too easy, then they have something
to come back for at another time. =) (Called: "Replay Value")

I'm not going to bother you with interface, but when you plan on making a bigger
game it's necessary that you can access a menu at all time.

There are some other things that go a little deeper in the gameplay and
experience aspect. This is not included in my final judgement, so that people
still know what I'm talking about here. (And of course, I judge on skill level...
Not on professional level.) Feel free to PM me if you're interested in further
detailed feedback. ^___^

Allround a fun game that keeps your attention 'till the end! ^___^
So I give you a 7 on this one. =)
(Too bad I couldn't view your other games, it said that the servers weren't
responding or something. Then I could judge you more on you skill level.)

I hope this feedback is useful enough for you to improve your future work.
Keep creating games, try new things and most of all keep the joy of creating
interactive fun for others. ^___^

It's a matter of trial and error. Prototype, prototype, prototype... =)
Regards,

Erik van Wees

Oknavi responds:

I must say this is the most fantastic and in depth review I have ever recieved, the reasons our other games are down currently is because of the recent bankruptcy of a company called GameJacket which as a dev I'm sure you are familiar with. We have not yet had time to reupload but will soon. Please PM me with more feedback if you can, it is very valuable. Hopefully Skylocopter 3 will be much much much better since I am coding it from scratch. Thank you.