Ralix's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[Azumi and the Vertical Slice]

I think it's genuinely awesome. You nailed the era perfectly – I knew as soon as I saw the spinning "Yes"/"No" options. Then came the high-res pixel art, sounds, fonts, health bars and fast-paced action. Brilliant. Three cheers for blast processing!

Combat and movement are very fluent, and the animations are top-notch.
Try to restrict the input inside the game only – currently, up/down arrows scroll the entire page.
And if you make a full game out of this, consider allowing us to rebind the controls; for the sole reason that half of Europe has Z key elsewhere (QWERTZ + AZERTY layout).

My only real complaint is that I'd like to have a downwards (and possibly upwards) attack. Throwing stars diagonally isn't enough when you're falling and the ground is full of enemies. It'd also let you perform a jump + downwards attack combo.
Later on (perhaps as a powerup), it'd also be cool to cause damage while dashing.
Maybe the death sequence is a bit too long. I wouldn't slow it down as much.

But overall, it's incredible! Good luck with the full game.

[Cube Down]

I genuinely love the idea, it's a good, fun game. I never encountered a disc which would be impassable, so props for that. You could even add an alternative "hard mode" which would only let you touch a disc once.

As for possible improvements:
– The top disc is always the same – good – but sometimes it's rotated in a way that you fall through to your death down below. Perhaps make the rotation of the top piece fixes as well?
– It's not good to make the players hold a mouse button for the entire duration of the game, I'd make it move left/right straight away without holding (or add a toggle, as suggested below).
You could also "lock" the cursor because now if you go too far to the left (or right), you could get stuck because you reached the edge of your screen with the cursor.
https://docs.unity3d.com/ScriptReference/Cursor-lockState.html
– Add SOUNDS. Sounds add a layer of enjoyability to your game. Try to play e.g. Mario with and without sounds to see the difference. Of course, you can add background music if you want, too.
– Graphics could be improved as well. Some faces aren't visible. I don't know if it's intentional, but I'd guess it's because of backface culling (faces are visible only from a single side, so you need to flip face normals).
– Add better background than a solid white colour (e.g. a sky)
– The score count isn't very visible

In endless games, it's always difficult to motivate players to continue further. But this game is fun; that kept me going for quite a while. You could also display the player's high score (to challenge him to beat it) or add a layer of competitiveness by posting the score to the Newgrounds public scoreboard, so players can compete with each other.
https://bitbucket.org/newgrounds/newgrounds.io-for-unity-c/
http://www.newgrounds.io/help/components/#scoreboard

Finally, I think the game window size you chose in the Project System doesn't seem right. Just use whatever resolution you chose in Unity (Project Settings/Player) and add 38 for the footer if you use the Standard WebGL template, nothing if Minimal.

[Fear]

I'll say what everyone is saying – the controls are unresponsive.

The main problem, which you might want to consider fixing, is not being able to change your mind once you start moving. You press A – that's it, now you have to wait until you fully slide to the left before you can move again. What about interrupting the current movement if you press the opposite direction? And perhaps making it slightly faster?
You basically have three fixed "1 2 3" points on the screen where the player can be, so hopefully, it wouldn't be too hard to swap the current movement target e.g. from 1 to 2 mid-way.

As for loading times, I suggest you try the free add-on "Scene Streamer". It should be perfect for your game since you essentially have a single long corridor which you can load in parts.
https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/tools/utilities/scene-streamer-38168

Then I think the game doesn't exactly invoke "Fear". If it wasn't for the music, then there would be nothing scary at all. I also like the colour scheme shown in the thumbnail much more.

If you wanted to add another gameplay element, you could consider jumping (e.g. over a hole or a small obstacle).

Some bugs/other things I found:
– Go from left to right and right to left very quickly. Quite often "D" will get stuck and you'll be unable to move right for a while.
– Die on the upwards slope. Now if you restart the game, the slope modifier will still be applied and the player will fly up.
– In the console, the game complains about a missing MonoBehaviour on game object 'GM'. Are you restarting the game correctly?
– Graphical bugs – the ground seems to flicker. There's either a problem with the material/texture or it's two objects overlapping each other at the same height (so the engine doesn't know which one to render)
– It doesn't look (or sound) like the sphere is rolling but perhaps it is
– 'Level Failed' message looks exactly like a button but it isn't interactable. And perhaps wait a short while before showing it – sometimes you don't even realise what hit you.

It works, there's some gameplay, but I wouldn't exactly consider it finished or enjoyable.

DARKBLUESHADOWPRODUC responds:

I am working on them, will soon update.

[Jump Pads]

You know what? It's fine. Very good for a first game. I'm sure I couldn't have pulled off an endless game when I started, so big props for that. You even save/reload the high score between page reloads which is a nice touch.

It still looks a bit placeholder-ish (simple geometrical shapes, solid-coloured) which is probably fine for this game but could be further improved. The menu background is also quite close to the default Unity blue and the sliders in options are as default as they get. Try changing the font and use a different image in your future games, so it is "less recognizable".

And having a Quit button is pointless in a WebGL game, since it does nothing at all. Some developers circumvent this "flaw" by freezing the game or by loading a full-black screen. *Don't* do this either, please – if people want to close a WebGL game, they just close the tab. You can just delete the button or disable it in WebGL only, with something like:
if (Application.platform == RuntimePlatform.WebGLPlayer) gameObject.SetActive(false);

As for the gameplay, I would love to be able to control the ball with the mouse. Arrow keys and WASD are fine, but this game requires precision and "Mouse X" axis would allow you to slow down/speed up as much as you wanted. Or you could simplify your controls by simply making the ball's "x" position equal to mouse's "x" position at all times.

Also, if you had slightly more time before landing (= if the jump arch was higher), you could have more elaborate obstacles. Now all you have time for is avoiding a spike and the best strategy is to limit your movement to a minimum and stay close to the center (at least that's what I found out). You could also add collectables and alternative paths if you want (e.g. a simple path to the left, or a "difficult detour" with a collectable +10 points to the right).
But that's probably making the game more complex than it has to be. I'm just looking for ways to motivate players to press further, as that becomes a problem in endless games once you stop introducing new elements.

As for motivation, did you know Newgrounds has a public scoreboard? Competing with other players for the highest score is much more fun than trying to beat your own high score.
https://bitbucket.org/newgrounds/newgrounds.io-for-unity-c/
http://www.newgrounds.io/help/components/#scoreboard
You can shoot me a PM if you need help setting it up if you decide to use it in this or a future game.

Two bugs I encountered, the latter occasionally froze the game on (re)start.
– Falling pad (missing script):
The referenced script on this Behaviour (Game Object 'falling Pad (2)') is missing!
– Restart bug:
"A script behaviour (probably UnityEngine.Audio.AudioSpatializerMicrosoft?) has a different serialization layout when loading. (Read 32 bytes but expected 36 bytes)
Did you #ifdef UNITY_EDITOR a section of your serialized properties in any of your scripts?"
Welcome to Newgrounds and good luck with your future projects! :)

JaafarRammal responds:

Thanks a lot for your help, you're very kind.
I will try to fix the bugs

[Zig Zag 2]

It's alright. The core concept is pretty good, although the main flaw here is that it gets boring after a while (let's say around 20-30 score mark). The problem is, the game doesn't change (i.e. doesn't gradually get harder or more challenging), therefore there's not much of an incentive to play further. You could keep going indefinitely, but eventually, you make a mistake out of sheer boredom.

Consider these ideas/game modes for improvement:
– Speed up: Your speed gradually increases. The crystals now only take 1/3 of the path's width, so you have to make a turn at a precise point in order to collect them. Collecting a crystal resets your speed back to normal.
– Obstacles: Apart from the red "Turn" button, "Jump" and "Crouch" has been added. There are now obstacles which appear sometimes, forcing you to pick the appropriate option (e.g. jump over a gap). The road sometimes also gets wider/narrower.

Either of these (or a mixture of them) would probably help players feel a bit more in control and make the game test your skills, not your patience.

As for minor things:
– You're using the Standard WebGL template which has the footer, which means you need to add 38 to the vertical resolution you set in NG Project System, otherwise the game window is cut off.
– I believe this free texture (if I'm not mistaken and it is "Hand Painted Stone Texture" from Asset Store) also had a normal map included. Please use it or generate one otherwise. It's supposed to be stone, but the reflected light makes it look like it's flat. A normal map would make it appear more three-dimensional.
– 'Press to start' – press what? It's Enter, but it's not written onscreen and I had to figure it out via trial and error. How about pressing the red button to start the game?
– If you walk very close to the edge, the game plays 'fall state animation' even though you're not really falling yet.
– The 'Score' font doesn't match the font of the rest of the game.
– It'd be cool to see some sort of background underneath you instead of the plain orange

Nevertheless, it a good game; I'd try to think about more ways to keep players engaged, though. Good luck with your future projects.

Madhurchugh responds:

Thanks for the ideas.Really appreciated
I'll be releasing updated version soon

[Block Run 3D]

A fine, simple project but perhaps too simple to be enjoyable to play. I think you should add all the obstacles in a single scene, not switch between several to maintain the feel of continuous motion. Splitting the game into levels usually means a crash only sends you to the beginning of the current level, which is (unfortunately) not the case here – even a single collision means game over. And perhaps increase the left/right speed and decrease inertia.

Also, the waiting period, before you reach the obstacles, is too long. Even half (third?) of the time is more than enough to acclimatise and the long wait makes every game over more painful. Not to mention being instantly kicked back to the main menu can be pretty annoying.
Finally, the 'Quit' button isn't needed in WebGL and you need to add 38 to the vertical resolution of your game if you're using the footer (alternatively you can build the game with 'Minimal' template).

This can be created in Unity in approximately an hour. It works, but I don't think there will be many people 'impressed' by the gameplay.

MoonZoneStudios responds:

Thanks this is super helpful

[Geometrical Apocalypse]

For a first game, pretty good! It's a simple, but well-made project. I like the fact that the background changes colour every now and then and the little shake whenever you kill an enemy which makes it more enjoyable.

Although it's a bit pity the gameplay doesn't change much. The enemies get faster and appear more often – great!, but there's no new gameplay element introduced as the game progresses. Another weapon, temporary power-up, new kinds of enemies, a boss – you name it.
Anything which would make me believe game at score 2000 would play differently than a game at score 1000 or 500.

As for the details:
– I think the animated title in menu scene looks a bit wrong (jaggy movement with a sudden skip at the end, plus the outer glow is cut off at sides
– Since you have a fullscreen switch in the options, you don't really need the footer (which is cut off in half because in the Project System, you need to add 38 to the vertical resolution of your game). In Unity, you can build the game with a Minimal template to get rid of it.
– "Quit" is pointless in a WebGL game since all it does is freezing the game (it can't close your browser or anything)
– The black background (1000+ score) makes it hard to see the crosshair

But I'll repeat – for a first game, this is actually quite good. Welcome to Newgrounds!

ShayaanAmir responds:

Thanks! I'm working on an update which will fix all these issues. I'm also adding more enemies. Appreciate the feedback!

[The Burning Locks]

I think it was great. I liked the story; it's a pretty good idea.
However, I'd have probably chosen a slightly more contrasting pair of colours. Also, the fact that movement keys are the same as "interaction" and "continue dialogue" keys meant that a number of times, I accidentally inspected an object (or entered a memory) twice in a row.

[Diamondstep_DEMO]

Wow. The game is amazing. I have nothing negative to say about it.
There are loads and loads of game mechanics which get gradually introduced, the difficulty slowly increases (easy in the beginning, pretty hard in the later levels), I absolutely adore the art style, and since it's a bit dark, the colours nicely stand out. There are also collectables which reward those who take risks, controller support etc. I even accidentally noticed you can change the colour of the main character! Cool! The level design is superb, too.
It would take *long* to list everything I enjoyed about the game.

I didn't finish it, though, because despite reaching multiple checkpoints, the continue button didn't work after Game Over. If that's what is supposed to happen, then what is the point of the flags anyway? Only to load the game if you quit mid-way through?
This is perhaps my only true complaint.

As for the minor stuff:
– The keyboard is set up for the French layout – ZQSD, correct? I'd perhaps add an option to switch to the much more common WASD. Luckily, you can use arrow keys, too.
– Level names look like they've been pulled straight out of the game files ("wood_11", "night_4" etc.). Does the underscore make it look better? I'd say it'd be better without it, but that's up to you.
– Sometimes the art style is inconsistent, as in some objects' pixels are larger than others. The breakable platform seems slightly out of place to me (in comparison with the rest of the environment)
– The game over screen shows the base blue colour, not your actual one (e.g. if you change your colour to red, the game over screen probably ought to reflect that and show a red face)
– You could also try adding medals to make the game even more popular:
http://www.newgrounds.io/get-started/

Once more – great job! Well done and welcome to Newgrounds.

Andostress responds:

thank you so much^^