Score: 8

"I wouldn't have known it was a sequel."

submission: The Love I'm Searching 4

date: December 22, 2009

I see you took a new direction with this installment of the Don't Trip series, Skaijo. That's not a bad thing: I certainly liked Adam Phillips' "new direction" for Brackenwood. But, you know, somehow I just don't get the same "feel" from this as I did from Don't Trip or This Is UNMEI. Maybe it was that it starred characters that were previously in supporting roles, but I think it was more the lack of action.

PROS:
Is it a sequel to Don't Trip and This Is UNMEI, two of my favorite Flash animations of all time? Yes. Is it fairly good in its own right, without story implications? Yes. Can it be a good starting point for building Ilu as a character later? I hope so, because this animation made me like her for her dreams, even if she does bully the younger kids (or hang out with people who do). You say you did this to improve your background skills? I say you succeeded.

CONS:
The improved backgrounds do nothing to make the characters look better, and their natural scruffiness is made all the more apparent without action scenes. Much of the movie, even at the start of the day, they look kinda dirty, like they've already been through something that day. Then again, it's not as if I'm an artist at all. No, my main complaint is the feel of this movie. Sure, you wanted to make something for the series that wasn't over-the-top "Uli vs. Trip" stuff. Fine. But just having a mellow, slice-of-life-ish thing in what was previously an "action series"... It just doesn't feel right. Not too much of a negative, since I like this episode on its own, but I liked this series for its action.

OVERALL:
I liked the first two better, but that's not saying I didn't like this one. I hope you can work Ilu's character development into future episodes, while restoring some of the action.
4/5, 8/10.

Score: 10

"Oh, yes! Finally!"

submission: the Last of the Dashkin

date: December 15, 2009

I've been waiting for all too long a time for this. Really, over two years? And in that time, how much has changed? Features were added and tweaked and changed, users came and went, exploits were discovered and fixed. And that's just this website. All through this, I've been waiting, wondering, "When is the next Brackenwood coming out?" I should have reviewed this when it came out a week ago.

PROS:
It's a new direction for the series, giving a real introduction to Bitey's character and backstory instead of "Bitey being an asshole while outrunning Sonic the Hedgehog" (not that I didn't love those), but it's still got what I love about Brackenwood: the animation, a little bit of the fun (at least, that part where he smashes the hive over that purple Bigfoot's head), some high-speed chasing. Meanwhile, this gives some actual story and character development. You know, something for people who would like something a bit "deeper" to think about than just the random funny exploits of Bitey. Ooh, and the YuYu as the kidnappers of the rest of the Daskin, somehow I think that will give some meaning to when Bitey nearly got kidnapped after some more plot revelation, though fine if it doesn't.

CONS:
You're expecting me to find negatives in a Brackenwood movie? Call me a fanboy, but I can't find any.

OVERALL:
Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, my favorite anime of all time, got more awesome after adding more and more storyline and continuity to the series and reducing (though not really eliminating) the episodic comic elements. I can clearly see Brackenwood turning out the same way, and that's saying something given how much I like the series already. You've got me waiting for the next one, Mr. Phillips.

5/5, 10/10, Favorited.

Score: 2

"And the humor is, where?"

submission: 3rd Grade Transformers

date: October 20, 2009

This movie isn't all bad, but the humor (is it or is it not supposed to be a comedy of some sort?) is either invisible to me, or just plain nonexistent. Now, I'll admit that I haven't seen Revenge of the Fallen, but it seems like the plot and action of the movie are not connected to this submission as the focus is not on the Transformers, but on the LOL WACKY MISHAPS of the school play.

PROS:
The art isn't too bad for what you're trying to get across. And as usual for an Egoraptor movie, the sound is perfect, especially the voice acting.

CONS:
Where to start... How about the fact that it's not that funny? I mean, I can recognize that these are supposed to be jokes, but other than the "girlfriend's" fake boob popping out they just don't do anything for me (and even the boob scene provided more a chuckle of embarrassment that I'm watching this in public). They just seem too random, drawn not from any inherent flaws in the storyline of the original movie nor (as you were probably going for) from the inherently non-professional nature of 3rd-graders but seemingly picked, to borrow a reference from the Family Guy-spoofing episode of South Park, by manatees in a tub of balls. Why did the ceiling fall on those four kids? I especially didn't like the puke spot at the end: was it supposed to be an anti-climactic finish? Only works in movies that looked epic before the end. Gross-out humor? Didn't work. And the one moment that could have provided real humor, where the kid was protesting that he didn't want to be in the play, was ruined by an adult pulling him offstage and apparently beating him or something. What school does that anymore? It might have been better if he broke down and cried like a little kindergarten girl.

OVERALL:
Despite supposedly being a "comedy", the jokes in this submission provide no humor content. And that's too bad, because the art and especially the voice acting could have been used for greatness.
1/5, 2/10.

Score: 9

"Not too shabby..."

submission: Flatline?

date: May 12, 2008

Not too shabby at all. You certainly named it correctly: the "flatline" sound can be heard throughout this song, and in fact makes up the backbone of the song. The limits of this backbone, only a few possible "flatline" tones and such, make it hard to achieve much internal variation within the melody, but that's certainly not much of a problem. So overall it's not that bad a song, though by being limited in scope it loses a point.
5/5, 9/10
<Review Request Club>

Score: 7

"cr0mZX cr0mZX... You know the drill."

submission: Sonic 3 - cr0m Gadget (8bit)

date: April 25, 2008

It's been a while since I've played Sonic 3, so I wouldn't quite remember this song, and the low-bit status really doesn't help me to remember it. However, I've gotta give you some credit: first of all, while it's not the best 8-bit song I've heard, it sure as hell isn't the worst. And second, how could I downvote anything that does homage to cr0m, even if only in the title? He's a legend, and from what little experience I have with him not that bad a guy. So overall I guess it's not all that bad, though you may need to make the beat a bit stronger and make it a little more faithful to the original.
4/5, 7/10.

Score: 10

"So... damn... cute..."

submission: Stag Beetle Theme Song

date: March 4, 2008

I can't claim to know much about StagBeetle, except that he can make some very good Flash when he works on it (and yet for some reason he would rather make lower-quality movies most of the time), but this song is just too cute for me to not like. A bit short, but it's nice.
5/5, 10/10