Score: 8

"Pretty Good"

submission: Inside The Black Box

date: January 15, 2007

If this is for a Lithuanian film competition, who really cares? It actually works here, especially the end message that gave me a nice laugh. It's short, sweet, and smooth-running. The technical artistry could be bumped up, but some reflected the style resembled Salad Fingers, so it's marginally better than the graphics score. The sounds are excellent, and the seemingly random plot ties up a little better with the closing remark.

In all, I suggest you keep submitting here.

Score: 8

"Awesome style, minor production faults, nice flash"

submission: The Supermilitia

date: January 15, 2007

This is pretty nice. It not only captures the beauty of old school television cartoons, it emulates the style. The characters are somewhat stiff, though, not well animated. It IS part of the joke but so isn't how the superheroes resolve their struggles.

The main thing that struck me was the coloring style of the backgrounds. They sharply contrast with the styles of the characters themselves. This I've picked up from cartoons over the years until recent times. It instantly draws you into a very different world than what you're used to.

If I had a complaint, it is the sound quality. Lots of things sound muffled. You probably used a basic sound recorder, though I'd recommend Audacity if you don't have it.

I look forward to part II and maybe someone will put this on the Front Page since the unique execution already embodies enough nostalgia to warrant a look from everyone.

Score: 7

"Repetitive, No Sound... but Amazingly Good ANYWAY!"

submission: Asteroid detonater!

date: December 6, 2006

I usually don't get into most games in Flash, because they tend to either suck, or not hold my interest long enough. For you, I see great potential in what is obviously the base of something tremendous. This game can rock out if you observe some crucial details.

First of all, I understand no sounds travels in space itself, but it killed the ability to correctly and intuitively avoid and mow through the space debris. At least a few sounds should be heard inside the cockpit.

Second, there was a gauge that never filled. And my craft kept getting pounded, and there was no score or any gauge of how well I was doing. I felt a little more than depressed at that. It had all the necessary graphical features for a game, but didn't seem like a game in itself.

But you certainly outdid yourself with the trial to create a graphics engine and fantastic sci-fi features, as well as a perspective that you had when you played Star Fox. Those elements remain crucial in how you scored so well. With some careful revision, you can program some improved features and sound effects. Also consider browsing NG's bottomless audio portal for a suitable, blood-pumping track that's both simple and ominous, just like the original asteroids.

I think I'm done. Sufficed to say, you have an excellent BASE for a game, but not a GAME... well, not yet. Keep at it, though--I'm looking forward to seeing this improve (or something even better).

Score: 8

"Excellent Storytelling Technique"

submission: Trash and Clash ep 1

date: December 5, 2006

This would certainly make for a different kind of series on this site.

The only real gripe I have is the lack of voice acting--only quacking sounds and text make up the conversations. But the wretched little girl was well performed, though somewhat stiff (not very).

This has excellent potential for a series unlike any other cartoon on the site. Few are considered serious shorts, and this one is tough to call (considering that dog got maimed). However, I'd say this one's a serious short. It showcases two souls alienated one way or another by the society they fall victim to. It almost sent a tear to my eye.

I almost didn't review, much less even watch this flash due to the title--it's a misleading one, and you get so used to utter garbage being submitted. I'm glad this one proved me wrong for once. Keep up the good work, and I'm looking forward to Episode II.

Score: 7

"The Revival Shit... Whatta Waste-a Time!"

submission: ...To Revive Aeris

date: November 29, 2006

I prefer Aerith dead anyway; my fanfiction sort of requires her to be a kick-ass Guardian Force, an Einherjar that does all the reviving after the wickedly evil good guy does all the heroic killing (savagery?). Let me know if you ever want to read it.

This was narrated pretty well. In fact, it was the best sort of game code show I've seen in Flash, ever. Let's face it, someone needed to offer a good send-up of those insane revival rumors about Aerith. She's a lot cooler dead, anyway. Sound, however, was still a little shaky here and there, a little inconsistent.

But hey, it was well-written. It's almost required to rip sprites and images for the proceedings, and whatever artwork was made appeared too plain to speak of. Some jokes were a bit on the lame side, but not severely. Interesting to note some mild interaction through clicking on the right button during intermissions, and how you picked on your own flash for being long (you actually recommend a piss-break halfway through...), because I don't see that all too often around here.

I still say you could end up doing this for a living if you keep at the artwork end of it.

Score: 7

"A Solid Effort"

submission: Only Heroes Wear Cravats

date: November 29, 2006

It went everywhere else, but had a cliffhanger. And it was okay in some sense--not as funny as previous movies of yours, but still put a smile on my face.

The style and art is somewhat better--simple, but aesthetically improved. Sound is still on the shaky, irregular side, like when the music is too high for the voice to compensate fairly. The jokes were simplistic as noted, but some were out there and it was outlandish enough to generate a smile in the whole audience while a few would start laughing aloud.

Anyway, keep at it. Like before, there were a few technical issues but nothing too terrible. This spawned from a random stream of consciousness, so try devising a script and storyboard to guide the direction of the actual court cast. Those "Phoenix Wrong" things might actually be a sensible source of inspiration for the kind of absurdity, but remember to do your own voices.

Score: 8

"Even Cooler"

submission: The Rest is Silence

date: November 29, 2006

With each Flash I watch, you seem to get better and better....

It's great how this often gets turned into a family-run sort of deal. This had me smiliing and even laughing throughout. Every attempt at a cheap-shot on Shakespeare and his plays is mercilessly exploited. Facial expressions are flawless, but the fight sequence wasn't too great. There wasn't much actual fencing, but fencing wasn't the point. This was all about fun.

A few tweening issues were there, but for once, I really didn't care.

Sound quality, however, was sort of inconsistent. Some parts, like the fight announcers, were on the low side, while other times you could hear the characters perfectly.

In all, this is definitely the reason why you should continue working in flash, even if your art is quite simple. I'd recommend uploading your hand-drawn scanned images onto Flash and tracing them using Flash's tools. That way, you can somewhat bypass the crudity of drawing purely with a mouse without any references to trace over.

Score: 7

"Nifty, Nifty, Nifty!"

submission: I Remember Tingle...

date: November 29, 2006

This was pretty cool--I remember Tingle from Majora's Mask. He could be one greedy punk. This was wry and ginger, through and through. Hopefully it's part of the official Zelda collection, somewhere....

There were plenty of mild problems. Artwork is simple and straightforward, and that is okay, but tweening, the thing you did to avoid having to do things by frame, did NOT look right, especially around the shoulders where they sometimes strayed somewhat off of the body (this in reference to the arm animations that helped shape the character's actions and reactions).

I recall Link is left-handed, and always has been. Lots of people get this wrong--you're not the only one--but a little known observation I realized from reading about it in the 16-bit age is how Link is, in fact, left-handed. He drew from his right.

The sound is another difficult problem--too soft. If it goes too low, your audience is bound to miss certain lines and cues that enhance the experience. In this case, it was difficult to pick up the lines, making it hard to follow. That's bad, especially since I could pick up how well-acted the show really was.

In all, you have what it takes to create funny cartoons in flash. Carefully noting the quality of the sound and making sure your tweens aren't too screwy will certainly improve your technique. If you're confident, try some mild frame-by-frame tricks--nothing full-body all at once, but be aware that tinkering with the character's objects into various schemes will keep the file size low and the possibilities for presentations high.

Score: 7

"It Made me Smile"

submission: Misplaced Turnabout

date: November 29, 2006

Anything that makes me smile automatically gets an approval. It also made me grin... and then it made me laugh. And you had silly puns and jokes lining the credits, so that made the experience even better.

It was cheeky fun. I'd recommend you keep at flash. Problems include pacing and lack of voice acting, which might actually be cheeky even if you couldn't get a flawless performance from everyone. I'll check other submissions to see what you're made of.

Score: 6

"You've Improved...."

submission: (Old) T.F.A.A.o.M. Intro

date: November 9, 2006

After watching your music video, I've realized that this submission is a perfect precursor to it, which incorporates much of the style and the talents used by the later work.

Graphics are a six.
Actually, I'd put three or four, since there isn't much to it, and you use ripped images in the sequence, so some signs of laziness show.

Style is a Seven
Honestly, you can just see the kind of characters you'd later create for the music video with this scant piece. A series you never made... but anyone can tell that you adopt a clear cartoon style in flash, and that you used this style later. If you pursued the series, it might actually have been good.

Sound is Ten
Once again, you not only kept clarity of music intact (wise choice nowadays), you also made sure that everything is synchronized. The little things you watched would indicate this as a perfect strength, especially when crafting the music video.

Violence is Zero.
Nothing but freak accidents as far as I can tell....

Interactivity is Zero.
Just a single button. I don't hold that against you.

Humor is Zero.
Ah, it's just a series that never came to light. I can't tell if the characters are outrageous or anything, and I never judge books by covers.

Overall is a Six.
With a little more effort, it could have went somewhere, but it's fascinating to watch and see how you went about developing the music video that hit #1 of all time. Watching one while analyzing the other proves that you've improved considerably. Again, I hope you're not quitting while you're ahead with Flash.