Score: 4

"Good concept - some serious flaws."

submission: Typing Monster

date: July 9, 2009

It's a nice concept to combine learning how to type fast with the challenge of succeeding in a game.
It's certainly more interesting and fun than the run-of-the-mill learning program, although a little more originality wouldn't hurt.

What really made me weigh down the rating is the fact that it has serious bugs. I, for one, was able to type neither : nor ;. I wasn't able to continue the game, no matter what I put in, it didn't continue. I was watching my points sinking to zero, trying out all kind of different button combinations - but it didn't work.

It might have something to do with the fact that I don't use the English keyboard layout, but others have also had this problem. And a game that can't be completed by some players isn't really worth playing.

Thus: 4/10, 2/5

Score: 2

"Not original at all."

submission: Kill the emoticon!

date: August 30, 2007

This is not original in any way. We've seen hamsters, frogs, George W. Bushs - all kind of different objects or persons tortured interactively. It's just not orginal anymore. This flash has absolutely nothing to offer. A smiley killed in different ways - even the graphics aren't that much of a deal.
I don't really think this is in any way a flash that people have to see.

Score: 5

"Short, senseless, but well-done."

submission: The Final Task

date: August 29, 2007

First of all, this movie contains only one fighting scene between an unnamed hero and an unnamed demon villain.
Except for this fight, held in some dark red field, there is nothing.

The animation is well done, the artwork itself is pretty good. Also, the soundtrack, although badly balanced, contributes well to the scenery. Still, the flash has about zero story and although being tuned to be stylish, has absolutely nothing to offer. 6/10 points.

-1 point for giving a wrong age limit. This surely isn't suitable for all audiences.

Score: 9

"Awesome musicianship."

submission: Lounge Act

date: February 12, 2008

You belong to the most brutally underestimated musicians here on Newgrounds, there is absolutely no reason people keep giving you these low scores.

The fact that this song had a voting of 1.xx (before I voted, that is) is proof that the audio rating system here on Newground is a fraud. With cheap-ass trance songs and absolutely monotonous video game tunes scoring the first places here on the portal, one should really think the system over again.

About the tune:
The composition is really suiting and coherent. You could really imagine this as a soundtrack for some lounge or as a background for a shopping mall or elevator. It has this absolute relaxed and positive flair to it, which I really like.
The guitar gives a nice background fundament to the song, along with the very neat processed drums. The organ does a neat thing to the atmosphere, it really contributes a lot to the character of the tune.
What really stands out is the bass work. The bass is absolutely brilliant on this tune. It has just the right amount of leading the tune melodically, but also stays true to its function as rhythmical fundament. Brilliant!

As I said, you're brutally undererstimated. Perhaps you should download Fruity Loops and make fourteen techno songs a day, I'd imagine you'd be first place in an instant ;-)!

@the review below me:
Yes. Low master volume justifies a rating of 4/10. It's all about master volume. May I now instantly love Manowar, because they have the highest master volume of all? If I record a sound of me shitting and turn the volume up that much that your speakers break, will you rate me 10?

Score: 8

"Good. Not amazing, not bad."

submission: Back to Calmness

date: January 18, 2008

Your song somehow reminds me of the opening theme for Ocarina of Time. That's not necessarily a bad point.

The piano part is very well done. It has a nice progress to it and plays an excellent lead for the songs' arrangement.

The violin is something which I personally think is somewhat improvable. Other than the not-so-realistic sampling (and heck, I know how difficult sampling a violin is, so that's not necessarily a weak point), the melody isn't quite what I call easy to follow. Here is much room for improvement. A catchy, memorable melody could really improve the songs overall quality.

The strings support the atmosphere of the song pretty well, widen the arrangement and create depth.

All in all, the song is very calm and soothing. The instrumentation and mixing is well done, but not spectacular. If you'd tweak the melody a bit and improve a thing or two, it would really be much better and an absolutely stunning work. Right now, it's only 'good'. But still, much better than most of the tunes you'll find here.

------------------

Das Stück erinnert mich stark an das Opening von Ocarina of Time, was aber nicht unbedingt negativ ist.

Die Klavierspur ist dir sehr gut gelungen, sie hat einen schönen Verlauf und führt das Stück sehr gut an.

Die Geige persönlich gefällt mir wieder nicht so gut. Das Sampling könnte hier besser sein. Aber ich weiß, wie schwer Geigen zu samplen sind, daher ist das nicht unbedingt ein großer Kritikpunkt. Die Melodie, die sie spielt, ist schlecht nachvollziehbar - und bleibt einfach nicht im Ohr hängen. Hier ist viel Raum nach oben, wenn du eine richtige Ohrwurmmelodie zauberst, kann sie das Stück wunderbar tragen und den Zuhörer fesseln.

Die Streicher unterstützen die Stimmung des Lied sehr gut, sie machen das Arrangement allgemein flächiger und erschaffen ein Gefühl von 'Tiefe'.

Alles in allem ist dieses Stück sehr ruhig und besänftigend. Instrumentation und Mixing sind dir sehr gut gelungen, wenn es auch kein besonders außergewöhnliches Stück ist. Wenn du ein oder zwei Sachen verbessern würdest und dem Song noch eine sehr ohrwurmlastige Melodie verpassen würdest, würde sich dies nur positiv niederschlagen und dies zu einem wirklich beeindruckenden Werk machen. Jetzt ist der Song leider nur 'gut'. Dennoch weit besser als der Durchschnitt hier auf Newgrounds.

Score: 5

"Nice arrangement, awful guitars."

submission: CR34T10N

date: September 4, 2007

Please, why is everybody using these malicious Slayer-VST-FL-Studio-guitars? If you ever listened to rock music you would notice that they do NOT in any way sound like real guitars but like synthesizer bullshit. No offense.

The arrangement and composition is okay - up to a certain point, not superb, but okay. The drums are a bit monotonous, a bit variation would be helpful.

The song quality really decreases rapidly at 01:46. Instead of variating your song with new riffs or melodies, you keep adding really cheaply sounding synthesizers - they seep completely out of place in a song which is supposed to sound like rock. This can especially be seen at 03:16 when this really cheap Sytrus preset lead synthesizer plays alone. Use something more quiet and delightful here, a piano, perhaps a clean guitar or harp - but not these awfully cheap VST presets.

Variation and better instrumentation are the keywords here. The song isn't bad, just not good executed. You have the talent to do so, so search for some guitar players and keep rocking :)