TharosTheDragon's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[CHEFWARE]

CHEFWARE-io... ware

[Heroes of Pico's School]

Another absolutely amazing sokoban game from you! I remember FutureCop said is his review of Pico's Puzzle UFO that it didn't seem very Picoish, and you certainly fixed that critique with flying colors! I miss the secret levels though. This game also doesn't have any funny business with having to use the special partial reset functionality. But like Pico's Puzzle UFO, you can undo all the way past a reset (though you can't undo into previous levels). I can see that that functionality is also in Heroes of Sokoban, so I wonder if Pico's Puzzle UFO was also inspired by Heroes of Sokoban or maybe just the Puzzle Script engine as a whole.

I did notice a bug you should fix. You cannot play the third Darnell+Hanzo level from the level select. It just points to the second Darnell+Hanzo level twice. The third one feels like it has the same solution as the first one anyway though, so that's a little strange as well.

I also want to mention how cool it is that undoing a move seems to rewind the music! That's an extra special touch that I don't recall seeing in any other game.

This is already huge with its six characters so I don't know if you want to expand on it further, but if you do then it would be cool to see some FNF characters as well.

[Kill Laanie Race or Die Super Laanie Update]

I need more warning when a turn is coming up. Maybe a minimap or a zoomed out perspective.

Why do Marcus and David have the same stats?

GNOSTU responds:

Hi Mr Tharos. Thanks for the review. The reason for the lack of minimap and zoom is because we were trying to do a low budget remake of the classic nes game Road fighter. As for David and Marcus having the same stats its because David is a pathological liar when it comes to his car. If you want I can send you the studios character backstory pdf on each racer if you would like some more context. This is a game jam entry and we are looking at adding different difficulties with minimap on or off. Thanks again for the review. You rock !!

[Cosmoballs]

So you have a full screen mode, but require me to press escape to navigate the menus?

LoneConstruct responds:

the web version of this game may have been an afterthought...

[Suika Game PICO-8 Demake]

Treasure Hunt review!

### Aesthetics: 8 / 10

Lovely Pico-8 pixels.

### Originality: 2 / 10

What's new here? There are so many suika games on Newgrounds alone, but many of them have at least one distinguishing characteristic. The thing that distinguishes your game is the incredibly elastic physics. Not only do pieces bounce a lot when they drop, they don't ever seem to sit still.

### Challenge: 7 / 10

The pieces seem to build up energy and then launch themselves at the top of the screen making me lose. The first time I played I only made it to 51 points because I died trying to drop a cherry. I quickly learned that cherries are a liability but they just keep coming and I can't stop them. The usual suika strategy is still at play here but I feel like I just have to get lucky with the unfair physics.

### Fun factor: 8 / 10

The fact that everything feels like it's constantly in motion does lend a sense of excitement.

### Content: 3 / 10

Just a small set of fruits on a playing field. I like the inclusion of a wiki.

### Total: 28 / 50

(The Treasure Hunt review score is different from the standard Newgrounds review score because it uses different criteria.)

[Angry Dominican Kid Soundboard]

Treasure Hunt review!

### Aesthetics: 4 / 10

It's arranged nice and functionally.

### Originality: 1 / 10

It's just a soundboard. I guess you get props for being the main soundboard guy on Newgrounds.

### Challenge: 3 / 10

No challenge, but it doesn't need one.

### Fun factor: 4 / 10

Fun to play around with. It all works well.

### Content: 5 / 10

Plenty of sounds. I appreciate the inclusion of a "stop sounds" button.

### Total: 17 / 50

(The Treasure Hunt review score is different from the standard Newgrounds review score because it uses different criteria.)

[Dark Night of the Soul]

Treasure Hunt review!

### Aesthetics: 8 / 10

While it's certainly not pretty to look at, it's very imaginative and artistic.

### Originality: 6 / 10

Very weird take on the JRPG format.

### Challenge: 2 / 10

There's some challenge involved in figuring out where to go at the beginning, but not of the enemies seem to pose a real threat. One of them killed me unfairly and I wasn't penalized at all. I wasn't able to finish the game because I got a missing image error eventually.

### Fun factor: 5 / 10

It's a nice artistic experience but I don't know if I'd call it fun.

### Content: 7 / 10

I assume there's a lot of stuff here but I couldn't make it to the end so I don't know.

### Total: 28 / 50

(The Treasure Hunt review score is different from the standard Newgrounds review score because it uses different criteria.)

[Henry Stickmin Shorts]

Treasure Hunt review!

### Aesthetics: 10 / 10

Expertly animated.

### Originality: 2 / 10

Just more Henry Stickmin stuff.

### Challenge: 3 / 10

It is just an animation picker, but I appreciate that you gave me little things to do like looking for the coins while I watched.

### Fun factor: 8 / 10

Trying out everything and going for achievements is lots of fun.

### Content: 9 / 10

Three scenarios with 6+ options each and 20 achievements.

### Total: 32 / 50

(The Treasure Hunt review score is different from the standard Newgrounds review score because it uses different criteria.)

[Snowbound Snowday]

Treasure Hunt review!

### Aesthetics: 8 / 10

Very nice art and character design. I like that you can immediately tell who is a boy in a snowman's body and who is a snowman in a boy's body.

### Originality: 2 / 10

Just another visual novel.

### Challenge: 0 / 10

No challenge that I can see.

### Fun factor: 5 / 10

I guess it's fun to read a cute story.

### Content: 5 / 10

Plenty of words. A surprising amount of coding and a complicated options menu for a visual novel. I found it hard to tell what "auto-forward time" means. If you want it to go faster do you slide it to the left or the right?

### Total: 20 / 50

(The Treasure Hunt review score is different from the standard Newgrounds review score because it uses different criteria.)

[Sunday Drive]

Treasure Hunt review!

### Aesthetics: 9 / 10

Very nice looking pixel art.

### Originality: 1 / 10

Pretty ordinary car avoider game.

### Challenge: 6 / 10

I like that I don't have to worry about hitting the edges so I can focus on avoiding the cars. Most vehicles move in predictable patterns but you really gotta watch out for the unpredictable ones.

### Fun factor: 8 / 10

What a joyride. It's like the original Grand Theft Auto but just the part where you're running over pedestrians.

### Content: 4 / 10

There are just a handful of pedestrian and vehicle types on a straight road.

### Total: 28 / 50

(The Treasure Hunt review score is different from the standard Newgrounds review score because it uses different criteria.)