returning to the classics

alriiiighty here we go! as i get back to armor games today, I'm feeling a little nostalgic I think. So, today is a bit like Space Invaders. Nowadays, you can play it online, and my nephew has it on a joystick he can hook up to any telly. If you haven't played it yet, do it now. My nephew is 5, he can do it.

Anyway, today's game is called Frantic, posted by CrazyMonkeyGames (which has it's own site, by the way) I'm giving it an A+

functionality - the thing I really like about this game is that you don't have to worry about shooting. Just move around and collect your rewards for defending your universe and the ship does all the dirty work for you! If you were to just jump in at the middle of a level, it would be confusing, but it starts out nice and slow so that you can get a feel for what's going on.

aesthetic - pixel old-school style, but cleaned up. the neons aren't so blinding, and there's a little detail added to those bosses that makes them much more menacing compared to the little white and black you! the fact that you can see your health and power-up bars change very clearly as you play is nice. there are a lot of games where if you get hit, you get two mores lives, and that's it. here, the bright little bubbles of evil being fired in your general direction are fun to avoid. ooh, and even some smoke as you kill that boss :)



overall game play - super cute, in a very un girly way, i can assure you. the game is very responsive, though there is a slight lag if you have multiple windows open. not immensly creative, but that's okay. it's still great!

first!!!

post of the year :D

on to the good stuff...

I'm featuring a game from AddictingGames.com this time, made by Garbuz Studio called Bubble Quod. For the curly little guy stuck in a bubble, I'm giving a grade of B+.



functionality - medium. not fun for a online gamer noob. the game 'world' has the usual laws of game physics, along with a little less friction, seeing that you're moving around in a bubble. controls are purely arrow keys, which are a little finicky at times in the game, but the character was very responsive.

aesthetic - sweet! i love the sketchy background and the curly player vs a straight line world. also, the references to science, math and technology advances are cool (especially since i picked up on them!) and i definitely dig the option to choose different languages, which also have different fonts. oh, and i like the wood.

overall gameplay - the levels are very easy, and some seem to have more than one way of being solved, and most of them do rely on timing of the player and their ability to use gravity to their advantage. I played on normal, and replayed up to 6 on hard, and can't tell any difference. At first, all the levels were contained in the gamer's view. But I encountered several levels that were not contained, like adventure games, and those reminded me of a certain game and a certain character with Fancier Pants ;)

Something I Have Been Meaning To Do

I am going to start reviewing games on here. just games that catch my interest. one of my favorite games sites is ArmorGames.com. I am going to start today with a couple games from that website. I cite a game where I found it, just so you know. it may be on other websites.

I am going to grade 3 things: functionality - meaning how easy was it to navigate, start, and actually play; aesthetic - basically, how pretty it is; and, overall gameplay - self explanatory. this is the whole point of the game, after all. please note that this is my opinion. i am not exactly a die-hard halo gamer. scale is a basic percent/letter grade. Heeeere We Go!!!


Clockwords - Prelude by tfowers
grade: A-



functionality - compared to some popular games I've tried, this ranks very high because of the ease of starting. it was a *bit* confusing at first, because once i clicked play & skipped the intro, i found myself back at the main screen. I thought I'd skipped the game. The controls were very easy, unless you suck at typing. On many games, especially ones that use only the mouse, you have to do everything just right. well, here you don't huzzah for "almost"

aesthetic - very cool!! i'm such an artsy person, and the game reminds me of felt & construction paper. also, it was very put together. that is to say, the felt wasn't glued onto the paper by a two year old. I love the English steampunk/melodrama look to it as well. and the music is very clean, and blends into the game. if you are making a game and you put in anything that is similar to Lady Gaga or Metallica, take. it. out. Sound effects are cool. Music, not so much. I've got iTunes, thanks.

overall gameplay - I made it to level six before Game Over. Pretty easy, but you definately gotta keep on your toes. It reminds me a lot of Boggle, except you can use letters that you don't have, and you kill robot bugs with your words. Oops, I guess words can break bones. Their bones.