Score: 7

"Looks great, but a fart joke???"

submission: Super Duper Mario 2 VGDC

date: July 25, 2006

3/5

I was hoping for more out of this, and I was looking forward to it too. Like all your flashes, it's graphically flawless, and the sounds are mostly appropriate. But resorting to recycled toilet humor after everything you've done before is disappointing. And it wasn't even particularly funny.

It still looks and sounds great, and I would like to see another one in this style though.

Score: 10

"Brilliant!"

submission: Mario Brothers - Part V

date: June 29, 2006

5/5

The long-awaited and brilliant conclusion to an epic. Definitely worth the wait. And I'm very picky about giving out my 5's. :)

The thing I love most about your whole series is the use of music. Your musical choices are absolutely perfect and help create the mood you're going for. Even when the songs are from different films, you manage to blend them together seamlessly. I have to give you credit for your audio skills. The same goes for the sound effects - you know exactly when they're needed and when they're not.

The graphics are a step up from the previous installments. I could see the extra effort with the lighting and effects. It's amazing that you didn't resort to making custom sprites - but somehow the simple nature of the characters and their animation still works. I'm a little disappointed that you didn't use the Toad sprite from SMB1 (the SMB2 sprite looks a little out of place), and the lack of animation on the Princess is noticeable. Maybe a few custom sprites would have helped here. It's not a big deal - I'm much more interested in good stories and characters than fancy sprites.

The plot unfolded the way I expected it to... for the most part. I won't give away the ending here, but it was definitely very unexpected. (I will say, I was waiting for one of the Toads to walk up and say "Our princess is in another castle!" I think that kind of twist ending would have really worked.) But you stayed the course, and I applaud that. Excellent, excellent work.

Now the big question is, what will you do next?

Score: 4

"Interesting idea, needs more though"

submission: Be a Touchtone Genius

date: June 26, 2006

2/5

It's a nice concept, but there's really not much to it. If you were able to play a series of notes back as a song, it would be more useful.

Interestingly enough, I had used this idea a while back for one of my songs in the Audio Portal, called "Dial Tone".

Score: 7

"Didn't work for me"

submission: Angry Dog

date: June 23, 2006

4/5

I don't know why, but for some reason this cartoon didn't really connect with me. It had all the elements for success - slick animation, well-defined characters, clever dialogue - but it didn't seem to jell for me. I think it may have been the somewhat bizarre choices in music and sound effects. They were a little off-putting and took me right out of the story.

The voices were passable, and the sound quality was sharp. I wasn't too thrilled about some of the adult humor and language, it didn't seem necessary for the story. But some of the dialogue was very funny (the lobster getting crabs, the "Golden Girls" bit, pretty much everything the fish said).

Despite my issues, it's a very well-done animation and I'd like to see more.

Score: 7

"Nice style"

submission: Jimmy & Doiky

date: June 15, 2006

3/5

Nicely animated and I liked your style of artwork. Very understated. The music was also nice and fit the atmosphere well.

Like some other reviewers said, the pacing needs some work and the credits were about twice as long as they needed to be. You could probably cut the framerate in half and they would look fine. The humor was there, but quicker pacing would have helped it a lot. There were also a few "shortcuts" I noticed in the animation, but nothing to really complain about.

(And for a moment I thought the guy was going to steal the other guy's money out of his wallet after he fell asleep. I would've, but then again, I'm a horrible person.)

Score: 5

"Interesting concept"

submission: Vending Vendetta

date: June 15, 2006

3/5

I really liked the concept of the game. The graphics and sound effects were average, and the controls were decent. I would definitely expand on the idea, add more options like bigger machines with more items, etc.

Score: 8

"Very impressive"

submission: Rockman!! Next Attack

date: June 14, 2006

4/5

I was very impressed by the quality of the animation. Excellent work, and true to the characters. I especially liked that the characters were all a little on the short side, much like their 8-bit counterparts. The effects work was also nicely done without being overly flashy.

I wasn't a big fan of the music you chose, it was a little too light and took away from the intensity of the animation. Mega Man games have a lot of great, intense, pulse-pounding themes you could use - I would try using something else. Also, sound effects would have been nice but I think you were going for a opening credits-like feel so it wasn't a big loss.

But still, a near-perfect animation. Hope this leads to something great in the future.

Score: 6

"Good idea, but kind of quiet"

submission: Sugar Rush!

date: June 14, 2006

3/5

I liked the idea behind this. Hopefully not entirely based on real life. I also liked the music (of course, since most of it was mine :) )

There were some issues though. Voice acting would definitely have improved this. The dialogue bubbles were good and well-timed, but no one wants to read an animated cartoon. The music was also a little on the quiet side, and the lack of sound effects was noticeable. The pacing could have been a lot snappier.

But these are minor issues that can be easily fixed, and I look forward to your future work.

Score: 9

"Finally! Something good!"

submission: "Dare"

date: May 19, 2006

5/5

I thought this was a fantastic animation all-around. A great blending of animation and sound. I love that song already so that was definitely a plus.

As for the meaning behind the song, I don't see a need to defend your interpretation of the lyrics. That's the beauty of music, everyone can find their own personal meaning.

More than anything I enjoyed the optimism and feeling of hope portrayed. It's definitely a bright spot in an overly negative and violent Portal. The message came across clearly (maybe a bit too clearly, but that's a minor complaint). Hope to see more great work from you!

Score: 7

"Surprised at the low score..."

submission: Psycho Pacman

date: April 25, 2006

4/5

I thought this was a brilliant little audio-visual mix. The graphics are nice and smooth and the animation was great, especially considering you did it in a day. The music was very well done - I'm doing a similar remix of the Mario overworld theme with the same kind of beat and use of sound effects, so I can appreciate your skills. The only thing that bothered me? Pac-Man does NOT have eyes! That is WRONG!!! Shame on you!

Otherwise, great flash. :)