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Heaven or Hell

With Regard to the rest of the Power Star installments in the series, this one is by-far the weakest of the bunch. I'm not sure what about this submission makes it weaker than the rest, but there's an overwhelming feeling that this part wasn't necessarily stronger than that of One, Four, or even Two with its minor inconsistencies. I find that with this installment, the plot of the first two Power Star submissions is never developed. It's just an extremely long, extended fight scene inbetween Mario and Luigi. Which isn't bad, but it doesn't necessarily make this film necessary to understand the plot of Power Star, so fans of the series will find that they can just skip this installment and head straight for Power Star 4, and not miss anything. With that said, this fight scene is pretty badass. Daniel's signature animation is swift and unforgivingly fast, and the change in setting was clever and unusual. The music wasn't too bad, either. At times, it felt like it was the soundtrack for some lost Fast & the Furious sequel, at other times, it felt tense and powerful with Matrix-esque orchestral movements that strengthened the tension within the battle. Overall, this installment is a must-see for adrenaline junkies and action fans alike, but if you're trying to follow the plot of Power Star, then this isn't entirely necessary to watch.

8/10

Searchers after horror haunt strange, far places.

While I must admit, the animation is generally smooth, and the backgrounds are incredibly detailed... I must confess that this short brought some issues. First of all, I would like to echo my peers below by announcing that I too, am I huge fan of Lovecraft's work, and I must confess that from the very loading screen, I was deeply interested. The scenery and detail of the art and animation made me believe that this was in fact, a Lovecraft story that you were trying to portray. The style of the buildings and architecture capture the ideal Arkham style, and the surreal dream realm brings the cosmic genius of Lovecraft's imagination to life. With that said, there are some issues. I believe that somebody below mentioned the sound editing, and I concur that the editing of the music was off-setting and certainly ruined whatever mood you were willing to conjure. Also, it felt like the animation only pertained to fans of Lovecraft's work as opposed to fans of Horror fiction in general. Sure, it's great to see a story such as "The Black Book" make its way into flash form, but the vast majority of viewers are fans of Lovecraft. Furthermore, "The Black Book" is also an incomplete work, so the abrupt ending makes the flash awkward and unfinished itself. All these petty nitpickings aside, I'm still somewhat impressed with the scenery, and would be interested to see you work on one of his more psychedelic, cosmic works, such as "The Colour Out of Space" or Some Cthulhu Mythos related material... but either way, I still liked it.

7/10

1 Animal Abuse Point

Well, a year and a half of production, but it turns out that we have yet another addition to the Nin10doh series, that is sure to leave us basking in its nostalgia for years to come. Well, just like its predecessors, NiN10doh: ToThe64thPower is developed incredibly well. The animation for each of the submissions kept its fluidity throughout the performance, and the artwork was done incredibly well... I don't think there was a single submission in this flash collab that didn't look good. Though, I must give out star points for Audrey who animated the Boktai fanfiction. That one had to be my favorite. The length was also consistent, it wasn't too long, and it wasn't too short... it was perfect for viewing in my spare time whenever I finish doing whatever else I'm doing on the computer, and for that it receives an accolade. On the downside, however... the humor. I'm not going to say that it wasn't funny, because different people have different tastes in humor, but it seemed quite dry to me. I think there was only one moment when I actually laughed through this entire flash, and while other parts got me to chuckle slightly... I found myself disappointed by the poor attempts to grow a laugh from me, and then I just became bored. Now, once again, this could just be a personal fault on my own part... but still, the jokes are what make the Nin10doh series classic, and while the animation is always impressive to look at, I'd like to feel the humor while I'm watching. With that said, I enjoyed this submission, and I do hope to see more in the future, because I sincerely enjoy watching the series... and I hope you guys enjoyed creating it.

8/10

While I must admit, I wasn't the hugest fan of the first couple of games in the series, I couldn't help but not pass up the opportunity to play as everybody's favorite miniature blue elephant. Anybody who has played the first two submissions will grow comfortable with the motif and gameplay, that is to say... that nothing involving the control or level design has drastically changed since the last game, other than the fact that you can now poop out exploding pastries and the inclusion of teleporting doorways allow for different opportunities for unique and creative programming opportunities. Visually, the game is a major upgrade from the first two; The colours are more vibrant, and the environment is more fleshed out than just blocks and squares. Clues are given through the title of each 'stage' and the various methods for beating each stage is just as impressive as the last game, though I still feel that This is the Only Level 3 is a trial-and-error based game; While there are some elements that you can pick up on in the first play-through, you can only achieve a shorter time once you've beaten the game and have realized how each stage works. For that matter, I would've liked to see some medals in this game to amp up the replayability, but overall... I felt that this game fully delivered on entertaining the player, with some impressive programming by jmtb02 along the way.

8/10

Read Economics Book, Gain Life.

'Random Heroes' is as generic as an action platformer will ever get. A generic background involving zombies(how original), and run n' gun style gameplay make this title pretty stale in comparison to other games on Newgrounds, today. Characters have no distinguishable attributes other than their skins, and achievements are a nice touch... if they actually attributed to the medal system. The gameplay is quite easy, which wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing, if it didn't make the game boring and(let's be honest here) mindless. Upgrades would also be great, if the most powerful weapon in the game wasn't available from the start. Because then, I would just save up enough money to get that weapon, and then I'd be unstoppable. Now, with all that said... this game is visually impressive. I love the background detail and the variety of music. The controls are easy to master, and secret areas will always keep you wondering off the path in search for some hidden gold and silver. However, with such simplistic level design and slowly progressing gameplay, it's hard to stay interested for more than a few minutes. Keep on trying though, I'd love to see you guys do something else.

5/10

Rock

While I have to admit, I'm not the biggest fan of the 'Bullet Bill' series, I have to give props to Psycosis91 for making something so stunningly original. It's only a shame that I am unable to dictate what could be added to the series to make the next game better than the last. With Bullet Bill 3, I'm afraid that this is as perfect as this series is ever going to get... realistically. Well, to start off, the ability to use the arrow keys for controls are absent, which will make some players angry, though to be fair, the mouse works rather well in this game... for the most part. The problem with using the mouse, is that the control is way too slippery and it leaves the player optimally handicapped when trying to dodge really low or really high platforms. With that said, the game isn't impossible, and the boss fights this time around are reasonably difficult. However, if you pick up the key and try to beat the boss with it, you're shit out of luck, seeing as how masks like to mystically spawn from the right side of the screen and careen quickly towards you. Another thing to acknowledge is the vast array of enemies that you could hit on your way to the goal. Sure, there are the occasional Koopas and Goombas, but there are now Bomb-ombs and POW blocks. There are even instances where you can pick up a giant mushroom. There are also additional power-ups that can be unlocked that help out graciously; Such as the triple bomb or the stopwatch. These will definitely come in handy when you face certain obstacles. Being able to switch inbetween power-ups while progressing through each world is also impressive. Visually, the game looks nice. It's hard to complain about 16-bit graphics, and there wasn't really much to criticize except for the sufficient lag that appears whenever I die, or sometimes, when I leave a cannon. I also notice that whenever a boss is beaten, the goal posts seem to appear to transport from the top of the screen to the lower end. This optical snag is rarely acknowledged though. The music is fantastic; Each level has its theme cleverly remixed to add energy to the chaotic gameplay, and the sound effects differentiate, depending on what you hit. Add some medals, some unlockable character skins, and a level creator, and you certainly have one of the heaviest uplifts to any flash game you've ever seen. It is reasonable to assume that the game will progressively get harder, and with some lag issues and the sloppy controls of the mouse, it'll take some patience to get use to the whole new layout. However, it's still impressive to think that its mediocre predecessor has evolved this far. Which is why I find it hard to believe that there is still more that could be added to this game. Truth be told, I'm sure that if a 'Bullet Bill 4' was to be made... there could be some significant upgrades that Psychosis91 would be sure to debunk. But in the meantime, this works out just fine.

9/10

Not bad.

Certainly a fun idea to affiliate the two. it seems that everybody likes to make a Cthulhu Mythos based Deadmau5 picture somewhere on the internet. The only problem? No wings, no body, barely anything to distinguish Cthulhu from a generic squid. But other than that, the colour, attention to detail and contrasting elements are all there, but nothing to distinguish it as "Cthulhu," other than the use of tentacles and the face. Good job, though. It looks impressive.