Score: 8

"Good mix of mini-games and RPG elements"

submission: Flash Point

date: September 6, 2006

4/5

At first I was expecting another Wario Ware-style blitzkrieg like the Four Second collabs, but this one was a bit different. First off, the pace was slower, and made it much more enjoyable. It gave me a chance to get ready and think before each mini-game. It also had a nice little story, almost like an RPG. And the final boss battle gave it more of a goal at the end.

The graphics were mostly nice - my only complaint would be the lack of animation in the cut-scenes. Otherwise, excellent work. The music was top-notch, I really enjoyed it. The few sound effects that were there were good as well, not too annoying or obtrusive. The mouse controls were fairly precise, which is a must in these fast-paced type of games.

This is a really good collection of games overall. Some were a little on the easy side, and I beat the game pretty quickly, but that's not a big complaint. You can always add different levels of challenge, or make a sequel (hint, hint). Good work!

Score: 7

"Very different than usual NG fare..."

submission: Through Eyes of The Moon

date: August 18, 2006

4/5

I've enjoyed your previous work - it's always a welcome breath of fresh air from the usual stuff I find on NG. This was no exception. No blood and gore, no sprites - just beautiful scenery and music to match. Your designs are excellent and the effects were nicely done. I do think the movements and transitions were very stiff and artificial. If you worked on the tweens a little, it wouldn't be an issue. But I still enjoy your work and hope to see more.

Score: 7

"Nicely done, but a few issues..."

submission: World 2-4 Retaliation

date: August 18, 2006

4/5

I was pleasantly surprised by many elements of your animation. I thought it had a nice sense of pace and style and the music worked really well. I also appreciated the use of custom sprites. They were well done and a much-needed break from the norm.

Now to my annoyances. :)

I recently had a mini-rant on the NG forums about common things that annoy me in Flash cartoons. Your cartoon is a good example. First of all, I am so sick of Mario movies, especially ones that take place in the world of SMB and feature large-scale battles and major character deaths. It is getting old fast. Yours, while done well, sadly falls into that category of "been there, done that".

Second, I'm tired of overly long credits. Yours weren't *too* bad, and at least there was that last bit of animation at the end. But still, credits should be kept to a minimum. Most people won't sit through them.

There were a few minor technical issues as well. The rain effect seemed off to me. And the Toad sprites looked like they only had one eye - was that supposed to be a side view? But, like I said, these were minor issues in an otherwise excellent animation.

I really enjoyed this, as well as your previous work. I just hope you can find a new twist next time, or try something from a different game again. (I mean, you did a Clu Clu Land cartoon! Now *that's* something you don't see every day!)

Score: 6

"That was different..."

submission: 'Boom-Bang-A-Bang'

date: August 17, 2006

3/5

Don't know why, but I really found that funny. It's obvious that you made it quickly (simple animation, no play or replay buttons) but it still looked pretty nice.

Score: 9

"More brilliance from Skaijo!"

submission: Pick Up

date: August 13, 2006

5/5

Once again, congrats on Front Page, Daily Feature, and that great score. You've struck gold again!

Where do I begin...you have a unique visual style that is creative not only in your use of color, but your selective lack of color. It's one of your defining visual characteristics and it makes a noticeable impact. Your character designs, while rooted in anime (not my personal favorite style) go beyond that. You make them all yours. Your characters are well-delineated and expressive.

The animation itself is smooth and precise. Whether it was tweens or frame-by-frame, it all flowed together into a cohesive whole. The best compliment I can give is that when I watch it, I'm not taking notice of or nitpicking the animation. I'm just enjoying the ride. What I especially enjoyed was the extra effort you went to with the character movements. When they were jumping around the screen, they remained consistent and on-model. Great work. Even your use of broken lines with variable thickness, both on the characters and the backgrounds, helps to create a visually dynamic environment. Your animations continue to improve and I can't wait to see what you'll come up with next.

Your use of camera angles and movements are striking, although it probably doesn't look as nice on slower computers due to the high frame rate. Not your fault though. :) Even your text and menus are slick and highly unique. I'm also glad you included some extra features along with the main 'toon. If I had any AS skills I would love to include some extras with my animations. Teach me someday, will ya? :D

Probably the biggest weakness would be in the sound department. The sound mix between the dialogue and music seemed to favor the music and made the dialogue a little hard to hear. I know you lowered the music volume somewhat, but this area still needs some work. I do a lot of audio work myself and I know full well the difficulty of finding the right balance. Overall though, I don't think it really hurt the animation at all.

The dialogue itself was good and quite funny in spots. I'm glad you went to the additional trouble of having someone translate and double-check everything for you. It's that extra step and attention to detail that really makes a difference. I wish some American animators would bother to check their own dialogue once in a while. :) The voice acting wasn't bad - it wasn't too emotionless or too over the top. Hickory's voice was a little too low-key for my tastes though - when you're attacking someone with a sword you shouldn't sound like you're getting your nails done. :) Your use of Bonobo's music was good as usual. It's another choice that makes your animations all your own. The sound effects were sparse, but appropriately used.

Now, on to the story. If you've learned anything about me, then you know I'm looking for a good story first. I'll ignore poor animation if there's a good storyline behind it all. And your story is a good one. It wasn't totally clear to me on first viewing, but after watching the deleted intro (which you should have kept up front) it all made perfect sense. That's probably my only issue with the story. Otherwise, I liked the setup and I wouldn't mind seeing a continuation. It's a good springboard for a variety of different story opportunities. I even liked your in-jokes to previous cartoons and freeze-frame style text. You have a good sense of humor and I like seeing it come out in your cartoons. I hope you take advantage of what you've begun and continue on.

Michael

P.S. Forget what anyone else might say, the killer blue squares were AWESOME.

Score: 6

"Blink and you'll miss it!"

submission: Moobeard Fanimated

date: August 5, 2006

3/5

Nice artwork and character designs. And as a fan of classic cartoons, I appreciated your choices of sound effects. However, it was far too short. Sometimes short and simple can work, but the animation was so brief that it didn't make an impact.

I'm not saying it was bad in any way, just too short. Your style of drawing is fresh and the material was funny. You just need to expand on it. Looking forward to more.

Score: 7

"Great combination of ideas!"

submission: Pac-Xon

date: July 28, 2006

4/5

I was pleasantly surprised by this. I was expecting a cheap Pac-Man clone and instead I found a very clever combination of two different games.

The graphics were adequate, maybe a little on the small side. The sounds were appropriate but sparse. Some tense music would really add to the excitement of the game. And the controls were just slightly off. These aren't huge concerns, and they can easily be fixed in a new version. (And I definitely want to see a new, improved version!)

But it's the concept and gameplay that really made this work. Good job.

Score: 7

"Interesting concept"

submission: Real Life

date: July 27, 2006

3/5

I found the concept very interesting. I may not have completely understood the meaning behind it, but it at least made me think.

For a moment, I thought the second person falling was going to land on the first one, killing him, thus explaining the life and death signs being pointed to the same place. But I was wrong, and from that point the story got a little weird and I don't think I got the whole point, but it's a nicely made piece nonetheless.

The style of artwork was nice, although I could see the background clouds behind the people - were they supposed to be transparent? The animation was decent, and the use of camera angles was very creative. The choice of music really added to the whole style of the Flash, good work there.

Hope to see more like this soon.

Score: 9

"Wow. Just...wow."

submission: I miss you Daddy

date: July 26, 2006

5/5

That was really moving. The simple graphic style and use of music were pitch-perfect. And the story was simply heartbreaking. I got chills all over. Excellent work.

My only complaint would be the dodgy audio quality of the little girl, but it's not a huge flaw and I can certainly overlook it when it comes to the power of the story. Again, excellent work.

Score: 7

"Good, but a bit long"

submission: "The Golden Mushroom"

date: July 26, 2006

4/5

You've definitely come a long way in the animation department. It's almost on par with the Rise of the Mushroom Kindgom series. I was also impressed with the quality of the voice acting. Really well done, although you should consider equalizing the voice tracks' quality so it's harder to tell that the voices were recorded separately. Still, good work.

My only complaints were in the story department - there wasn't much to the story, and it dragged in places. The dialogue was generally good and most of the jokes worked. It just needed some more depth.

Also, the large file size is very prohibitive and might keep people with slow connections from watching it. Just my two cents.