Score: 1

"Same old, same old."

submission: Mario Randomocity

date: August 3, 2008

Going into this movie, I really wasn't expecting much from a Flash titled "Mario Randomocity". And it's a good thing I wasn't, else I would have been very disappointed by this stuff. The movie uses the same old Super Mario World sprites (with cameos by Knuckles, Goku, Majin Buu, and Kirby, all in a similar 16-bit look), the same old jokes about Mario getting hit by Thwomps and sitting on spiked enemies, and the same old SMBZ-inspired fight scene as quite a number of the movies in the Mario collection (which, last I checked, was the largest video game collection, and in fact one of the largest collections period). I'm sure you can do better.

As far as advice for your next movie? Maybe try thinking of your own jokes, rather than just the same video game observations made in half or more of the Video Game Parodies collection and its many subcollections. Maybe you could try drawing some of your own graphics, for example maybe drawing the backgrounds yourself instead of using the usual 16-bit fare, just to set it apart from the crowd. Maybe even changing your subject matter entirely, because there are already a lot of Mario parodies, and making and submitting yet another one is just overkill.

Overall, I'll just say this: there's a place for Mario parodies on this site, however that place has already been pretty much defined and filled by Flashes that are both better and more popular than this one. To stand out from the crowd of tributes to those parodies you would have to make something truly different and original, which you did not do at all for this one.
0/5, 1/10.

Score: 10

"It's been a while since I've seen one like this."

submission: abscess

date: July 26, 2008

One as meaningful as this, abstract like this, one that satisfied my desire for a good Flash like this one. I almost felt the crowd mentality, its biases and its prejudices, ripping away the innocence of the children, as the government leads the crowd like a conductor leading an orchestra, with wars and conformist institutions as its baton. You've done a hell of a job with this one, sQueef. Keep up the good work.

The mechanics of this movie are very much what you're best with: weird, experimental stuff, people ripping out of their skins and talking heads. The sound, too, is odd, making this movie truly in the classic sQueef style. Or you can call it an "extension" of your classic style, with some stuff I haven't seen from you before. Or maybe I'm just noticing it now and it's been in there all along, I can't tell. Either way, I enjoyed watching this movie.
5/5, 10/10, Favorited.

Score: 10

"As always, it was good."

submission: Bahamut's Fav. Reviews

date: June 10, 2008

I remember watching a 2002 submission where a Flash author of the early days of NG compiled his favorite reviews and what he would have responded to them. All of the reviews in that movie except maybe one were abusive, so at the very least this Flash shows how much more civilized NG has become since 2002, which from most viewpoints can be considered a good thing. But onto the movie itself!

As always, Bahamut, you've managed to put together a pretty good Flash movie. I (kinda) know 6 out of the 7 "featured" reviewers (even had RupeeClock on my Favorite Artists list at one point), and in fact many of the reviewers from the Bonus Section (including myself)... Does that mean I spend too much time here? Nonetheless, the reviews and your reactions to them were rather interesting. And I can't take points off for Speakonia usage because there was the option to skip that (and also because you didn't use the high-pitched, high-speed Speakonia voice that makes my ears bleed), a feature that I really liked, seeing as how Speakonia gets boring fast. Therefore, as usual...
5/5, 10/10

Score: 10

"I said I would review this..."

submission: Generic Half-Assed Collab

date: June 10, 2008

So here I am, reviewing!

Overall, it's pretty good. None of these movies would be much good on their own, nor would the game (which makes up a sort of "centerpiece" around which the rest of the collab revolves), but put them together like this and it's quite the Flash, truly a worthy submission to the Portal. Of special note are the game (which I reached the end of, something I couldn't seem to do before now) and 50vmp's part (classic sQueef, good art and animation). Jehosapha's and Psycho's parts were something of weak points, but overall it was a good one.
5/5, 10/10.

Score: 4

"Could use some improvements."

submission: Mario vs. Bowser (new)

date: June 4, 2008

It's not "terrible", not by any means, but if you want to develop a good game out of this there are quite a few improvements that you could, and that I think you should, make to this game.

First of all, you could definitely use sound. For example, since you're using Paper Mario characters, why not the music from Paper Mario as well? Fitting music can add to any submission, and this one as much as any soundless submission I've yet seen.

Next suggestion: more moves. Fireballs, jump kicks, and guns are all good and well, but the addition of more moves (Bob-ombs, Koopa shells, Mario's hammer) would make this a more interesting game by far. And another thing that ties in with that, Bowser should have some moves of his own. Perhaps even make it a full-fledged fight between them, with health bars, counters, and all.

Now for the good things about this game. It's somewhat fun to play (though it is far too short and limited), it's got better graphics than half the movies or games I see on this site, and rather than using verused SNES-style sprites you decided to take the road less traveled and use Paper Mario-type graphics, which is definitely a nice change. But overall it's slightly less than average.
2/5, 4/10.

Score: 9

"Fun little game."

submission: Commie Cannon

date: May 19, 2008

I do believe I've played something of the sort before, an old game on some game system about defending something of the sort from alien invaders... Was that an inspiration? Either way, this is a good game.

I'd give it a perfect five and ten, in fact, except for one small thing. You see, it got a bit too hard after the giant aircraft passed over the first time. You probably should have had a sort of "difficulty select" thing, with the default speed and frequency of aircraft is "Normal" mode. Maybe it's just that my mouse is acting retarded, but still, it was a pretty hard game.
5/5, 9/10.

Score: 10

"All right man, all right..."

submission: Mortal Kombat 2.3 FV

date: May 19, 2008

First off, EE, congratulations on the first Underdog in weeks not stolen by spammers and mass-reviewing. Would have been damn nice if you had been able to pull it up just a point or two and get RCP, but hey, UotD's better than nothing, right? And plus, you're more likely to clinch RCP next time after this performance. Now onto the movie!

Over the last few months I've become quite a bit less interested in sprite movies, but even now I have a few positive things to say about this one. First of all, while it is just the same kind of thing seen in the MK games with a slightly different storyline put to it, it's still an interesting movie, something good to watch when I get bored of B/Ping for a bit. And what's more, it's Mortal Kombat, which was one of the first games I played. Just seeing these sprites again brings back some memories... So yeah, it's a good one.

As for what you can work on? I'm not much of a Flashist myself, so I can't provide any help technique-wise, but I can say that it could use something like "The story so far..." at the start of it, explaining what went on in the previous movies in the series for those of us who haven't watched it. But you don't lose any points for that, since it's not an "expected" part of a good Flash, just a suggestion. But other than that, I can't find any bad points in this movie.
5/5, 10/10.
<Review Request Club>

Score: 10

"Ah, yes, it IS Casualty's birthday!"

submission: Casualty in New York City

date: May 18, 2008

I was going to PM him about it after reading it on NG Log, but I didn't have time before I had to go do something... Ah well, happy birthday to the man whose log and Portal Guard program allowed me to get out of my low B/P status, and now onto the movie!

It may be short. It may not be quite as ambitious as your Pokémon Flash in terms of graphics or storyline. But it's still good, in its own way, like all your movies. Didn't take too long to watch or to load, and as always it was funny (Casualty showing up to replace Frank Sinatra crooning with metal!), so why not give it the perfect score?
5/5, 10/10
<Review Request Club>

Score: 1

"Very much overdone."

submission: Skate Something ep.1

date: May 14, 2008

I'm sorry to give such a low score and review to this Flash, but the fact is, I've seen tons of stuff like this before. The concept of a skateboarding stick has been done to death by scores of authors over the period in which NG has existed, and your movie has done little, if anything, to set itself apart from others of the genre. It's also too short, with only three scenes; this movie could benefit from more scenes, preferably depicting a larger variety of skateboarding tricks than just jumping and grinding.

As far as "improvement", I don't know what you can really do within the "skateboarding stick" genre. You can certainly increase the length and variety of the movie, and preferably find something that sets your movie apart from all the other skate movies out there, but other than that... There's not much you can do.
0/5, 1/10
<Review Request Club>

Score: 10

"Great work as always."

submission: Afro_Stud - The Fairytale

date: May 14, 2008

Hmm. So that's why those Pokémon Flashes ended... I always had heard it was otherwise, that Wade had actually paid Afro_Stud, not Hitler, to end them. Wonder why he did that? Still, I'm kinda glad it didn't get to Mudkip, just because I don't care for the /b/ meme that would have been in half or more of the reviews for that episode. Now onto the movie!

Is it just me, or do you improve more and more with every new Flash? I saw a few of your early Flashes not long ago, and then a few more recent stuff, from 2007 or so, and then the Pokémon one... And now this, possibly your best yet! I didn't know Afro_Stud liked Barbie dolls, nor did I know that he killed Hitler for not finishing the Pokémon quest (they told us it was suicide! This is madness!). A great Flash, in your time-honored tradition of improvement between movies.

I should finish off this review with a little factoid I learned today. You see, if it's really the birthday of the Afro_Stud character, you might like to know that he shares his birthday with the nation of Israel. Happy 60th to Israel and an even happier 21st to Afro_Stud!
5/5, 10/10.
<Review Request Club>