Score: 10

"Gaming masochism at its finest."

submission: Lastman

date: July 4, 2009

There's nothing like remembering those excruciatingly difficult old-school games by playing Lastman.

Not only is it incredibly unforgiving (no checkpoints and precise jumps), the game then spits in your face by placing ads every 20 deaths! Awesome!

Everyone needs to lighten up and realize that all of this is intended. The main author is the same guy who made V-TECH RAMPAGE -- he's probably laughing right now at your complaining.

This game excels in what it does; that's why I give it a 10. Congrats.

:)

Score: 9

"Solid as cardboard, but content gets it a bit wet."

submission: Cardboard City

date: July 12, 2008

Alright, first let me say that using purely cardboard textures in a Flash collab was pure genius. It's seriously a great idea, mainly because I haven't really seen it before.

Furthermore, the preloader game was also executed well (props to Coolio-Niato for making that, as well as Nicholas-Deary for the art). As well, the music suited the piece and was of high quality.

Now, what is disappointing for me is that, other than a few strokes in ingenuity in this collab (the opening sequence, the subway part, the hot air balloon), the content as a whole seems a bit... dull. I realize that the theme of the collab was to capture urban living in cardboard form, but it would be nice if there were some more interesting pieces. You guys are certainly a talented bunch, so I was hoping to see all of the parts stand out in a good way. Granted, the whole "rain on cardboard" thing that someone did was a unique touch.

Overall, the premise was really good. I just wish that there were some more memorable parts to it. But, other than some difficulties in execution, it gets a solid 9 out of 10 for the sheer amount of effort you guys have put into it. Great stuff!

Oh, yeah, and I noticed ads for "Corrugated Cola" throughout the entire thing. Intentional? ;)

Score: 10

"Thank you for improving on the original so much."

submission: Platform Racing 2

date: May 13, 2008

I loved the original Platform Racing, and this one somehow manages to surpass it further.

For one, the levels are a lot longer, and are actually a little bit better-looking. It's nice to see a fairly faithful recreation of a variety of levels from Super Mario Bros. in the game. The most interesting ones, though, are usually the ones that take advantage of the new types of boxes in the game. As an example, the "razorblade" level in the Campaign utilizes the Crumble block, a block that with disintegrate as force is applied to it, the Vanish block, which will disappear when stepped upon, the randomly-appearing Move Block, and the self-explanatory Swim Block.

And don't forget the powerups too! Aside from the standard items that appeared in the original Platform Racing, there's been inclusions like the sword, which makes the game more fun to play.

What is very cool about this game is the newly-added level editor. It allows to make your own map, and upload it onto the servers for people to play. It's fun to play other people's levels, no matter how crazy or convoluted they are.

An added bonus to the level editor is how easy it is to make maps. A lot of level creators in other games sometimes struggle with setting up an easy-to-use interface that provides a lot of features, but doesn't complicate things. However, it is extremely easy to place blocks down and create a map from scratch; in fact, without much effort, a player could easily make a good level in less than five minutes!

In general, this game is definitely on par with the original, if not better. The first revolutionized Flash games by having a platforming game be played online with other people -- this one one-ups it with longer levels, better-looking graphics, more powerups, and a sophisticated and easy-to-use level editor. A small nit-pick that I wish that you brought back would be the ability to jump on other people's heads and momentarily stun them, but that's a small price to pay for such an excellent, well-designed game.

Well done, Jiggmin! It's quite a fun game!