The era of flash games is dead and gone. The archetype of the simple browser game easily accessible to a 4th grader's school computer is a dying breed. Popular sites like coolmathgames are naught but a husk of their former glory, a graveyard for all the games that have fallen. One of these games is Transmorpher 2, so before all memory of this relatively obscure game fades from its last fan, I will record an authentic game review for its legacy.
When playing the game, I felt significant enjoyment despite it's relatively vanilla gameplay loop, whether this is due to qualities intrinsic to the game or my nostalgic bias is hard to say. One thing that detracts from enjoyment is the relatively slow ramp up in gameplay difficulty typical to many flash games. This can interfere with the player's sense of flow. While not having a direct narrative, the game through use of visual elements and gameplay features that as the main character you are an escaped alien trapped in the laboratory of alien scientists, and your end goal is to elude capture and escape. The main draw for the game outside its vanilla platforming gameplay is the twist of being able to transform into different aliens and scientists you absorb to accomplish specific tasks. while sounding simple, this gets increasingly complicated as you amass more captured aliens and the challenges increase in complexity. This interaction between these two gameplay mechanics lend the game to being a very entertaining 2 player game as a real test of coordination and communication. The visuals adhere to a simple cartoonish style that adds interest through varied, interesting sci-fi elements that add just a smidgen of world building to the game. The controls are intuitive and responsive for a browser game with no distinct technical problems. In conclusion, this game is simple old-fashioned flash game fun which is also great with friends, I give it a 3.5 out of 5 stars. RIP Flash.
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In this post I will be reviewing the chrome no Wi-Fi dinosaur game, yes that Dinosaur Game. Although simple the game is actually quite enjoyable once you get to the faster gameplay as the score gets higher. I find it quite satisfying to play the game while doing something else so that you are relying on your peripheral vision to dodge obstacles. Using that strategy makes you feel like a genius. The gameplay may fall on the linear side of things but when considered along traditional arcade games it actually holds quite well, because the core mechanics rely mostly on reflexes and timing. Even the visual style hearkens back to its arcade predecessors with the simple 8 bit design giving the game more simplicity in its design the audio on the hand was a bit annoying with beeps at a slightly higher pitch than I would have liked, so I usually play without audio. The interface was very simple only utilizing the space bar and up and down arrow keys to control the game. One thing that is very annoying about this game accessibility wise is that once your Wi-Fi comes back on you permanently lose the match you were on. I rate this game a solid 3 stars because it is perfect for when you are in a place without wifi, although compared to triple A games it lacks many things.
The impact of Squid Game was dramatic. Instantly emerging as a worldwide phenomenon, the behemoth of Squid Game dominated the public imagination. But behind every great masterpiece there are 1000 forgeries, Many parasites tried to profit off of the popularity of the show. And by far the most overgrown and ghastly of the intellectual property tapeworms infesting the bowels of the decaying show is "Crab Game". A game where boys become men and men become Gi Hun. I severely enjoyed playing Crab Game. The game is infused with the sort of low effort comedy that other parody games thrive in. The game takes the narrative of Squid Game and replaces it with an empty husk. Leaving behind only mini-games used in the show. The gameplay for most of these mini-games usually devolved to running around frantically while trying to accomplish the simple objective of the round. The very fast movement speed helps build on the game's goofy feel. the visuals of the game are reminiscent of several of my 3ds max projects, which is to say bad. The audio of the game is both terrifying and hilarious simultaneously. The proximity chat of the game blasting the screams of preteens into your ear canals while the Squid Game soundtrack plays in the background. I have no gripes with the accessibility of the controls or interface. Overall I give this game a 3 out of 5 stars, great for a mind-numbing 20 minutes of fun
Jackbox has remained a staple of me and my friend's time spent goofing off since before quarantine. Each party pack consists of a small assortment of casual party games designed to be easily accessible on first play through. The 5 new games introduced all brought unique elements to the table and here is a mini review for each from my least favorite to most favorite.
First but actually last we have The "Wheel of Enormous Proportions" this game is a multilateral trivia game reminiscent of an earlier Jackbox mini-game "trivia murder party". While this game has a unique visual aesthetic and might be the most complex out of all the mini-games in terms of variety of content. Where this game is found lacking is when compared to its predecessor. The introduction of a highly luck dependent "Wheel" round makes the game not feel as competitive or skillful as more traditional trivia games. In short, the game does not add anything that would differentiate from other trivia games for the better. Similarly, the mini-game I liked second least is "Drawful Animate". This mini-game feels lazy, just taking the already tried and true concept of a "pictionary-esque" gameplay loop while only adding the superfluous catch that instead of images, the players draw 2-frame animated GIFs. This mini-game also doesn't have a strong aesthetic or personality in its visuals or title. Despite these downsides, I still had lots of fun playing this and the game still has strong replay value despite its poor execution. In the middle of "pack" we have the most conceptually simple game, "Poll Mine". This game takes the simple concept of a group working together through voting to choose the best answer to user-polled questions in a style similar to "Family Feud". Despite being a simple concept, the visual execution was done quite well, with a dungeon crawler aesthetic and visually distinct characters assigned to each player. The teamwork aspect created a laid-back and fun feeling to the atmosphere of the game, and the simple rules mad it easy to understand. "Weapons Drawn" comes in at number 2. this game provides both a unique quirk and aesthetic to the pantheon of Jackbox mini-games. The game's premise is a murder mystery where each player is assigned a letter that they leave behind at the scene of the murders they commit, and the goal of the game is to disguise your letter from the other detectives by camouflaging them into pictures. This gameplay loop allows for both problem-solving and an evolving metagame for disguising your letters. This unique gameplay is complemented by a gorgeous art style that gives each player's character a vibrant and compelling design. This mini-game successfully carries on the mantel of other iconic mystery solving games like Clue with grace. My favorite mini-game out of this party pack was "Job Job". this game succeeded because of its replayability and the comedy made possible by it. The premise of the game is that players are given prompts to respond to and other players take individual words from other players and scramble them into their own responses. My friends and I have already played this game multiple times and the stupid stuff we can write never ceases to make us laugh. Additionally, the background characters at the office in "Job Job" are all call backs to previous Jackbox games, which I find pretty cool The flow state is "being in the zone" when you are in the flow state your full focus is completely locked into the game, and time flies by. Reaching this state when playing games not only improves immersion and experience, but also objective performance. the game I choose, Lego Star Wars the Complete Saga, is fun for me mainly through the wide variety of locations level designs and characters that flesh out the game's world, or "discovery". The designers of the game did not optimally design the game for flow, with each episode not guaranteed to be an increased challenge compared to its predecessor. Despite this, the sprinkling in of challenging levels along with a steady stream of fresh mental challenges helps form a fun, if not extremely difficult gameplay loop that is easy to get lost in. On my chart, I included many of the game's most memorable levels in chronological order. For example, to this day, I still distinctly remember playing the Darth Vader level for hours on end trying to beat its difficult lava platforming. The final run where I finally beat it and got well-earned satisfaction was definitely one of my first memories of the flow state. Recently, I completed the last item on this chart, the speed run, which is a way of artificially increasing the challenge of a given game to continue progression and flow. In conclusion, flow is an essential part of gaming, and Lego Star Wars is an essential part of me as a gamer.
A couple of days ago, I succumbed to the year long pleads from my friend to play Valorant and downloaded the game. The game had a decently fun gameplay loop, but nothing special. The thing that got me hooked on the game was the slight annoyance I felt at my own skill level and my perception of a higher skill ceiling to be reached. This tapped into my natural competitive drive, because what I enjoy most in a game is the feeling of progression and growth. the gameplay although slow has a wide and varied set of abilities that lends the game a more tactical feeling. The graphics were pretty good for its genre, with each map having a nuanced color scheme and architectural theme that lends the game a more sophisticated feel, and differentiates it from the gray beige color schemes of the COD's and CSGO's of the world. The in game audio has me split. On one hand, the quirky in game character dialogue can be charming, informative and eerily specific. On the other hand, the lobby music burns my soul, I hate it. The game had a large amount of customizability, but the menus are a bit confusing. The game is pretty accessible with a relatively simple gameplay loop, and the ability to run well on lower end computers. there were no obvious technical errors. In conclusion, I give Valorant a 4/5 stars, a great game to play with friends.
During quarantine me and my friends have been cycling through a different lunchtime party game. The game that we have been playing this past week is called Gartic phone and I have been enjoying it quite a lot. The game has pretty decent replay value for the simplicity of the premise.
The gameplay varied across modes but mostly relied on the idea of visual telephone where rather words being garbled it would be images. This had several variations like one where you couldn't see what you were drawing, and one where it was only drawings, but all of these followed a similar premise and were easy to pick up. The visual and audio were mainly based off of you and the players you were playing with. The interface was very accessible with the game just being available on the website. this made the game more inviting to it's very casual player base. overall I would give this game a 3/5 stars, a very fun game if you want to relax and have some fun with friends. This is somewhat of a nostalgia review with this game being one of the first that introduced me into the world of gaming all the way back in elementary school. I and my friends would wait all day for the 30-minute break where we could race each other in completing some of our favorite coolmath games. This game in particular sticks out to me due to it's absurd premise and unsettling animation. With these flaws already in mind today I am conducting a game review to see how it has held up over time. The game was relatively enjoyable, although the level grinding could at times get repetitive. The narrative is lovably incoherent with the ending being a climactic race between 2 heavily roided-out super ducks, in space. The training relies on a repetitive formula of replaying the same training mini-games until you are a high enough level to win a race and progress. Despite this as a whole I found a majority of these mini-games were fun and had an arcade style that lent them high replayability. The visuals followed the simple stylized look of its predecessors with one major twist; horrific semi duck semi human transformed mutant creatures. The premise of the game is your duck "evolving" into a horrifying buff human duck for the purpose of racing. this leads to some disturbing imagery reminiscent of "Animorphs covers. I muted the game audio due to the sheer ear-bleedingly terrible quality of the OST. The interface was more friendly than most flash games of its era to supporting both wasd and arrow keys instead of just the latter as most do. There were no technical errors except for the one obvious one. The removal of flash earlier this year marked the death of most games like this, and I was only able to play a recreation of the game on Unity. In conclusion Duck Life 3: Evolution is a solid game if you aren't trying to challenge yourself, and you are just looking for a bit of fun. 3/5 Stars
Star Wars; Two words that defined generations of fans with its deep lore and killer soundtrack. Lego; a toy that shaped almost as many lives, widely understood euphemisms such as "hurts more than stepping on a Lego" only demonstrates the deeply ingrained cultural impact that Lego has had. When these two behemoths of the public imagination collided they produced a product unlike any ever seen, Lego Star Wars. With the sequel to this 15-year-old game coming out this year I think it's the perfect time to reflect upon a game that shaped my childhood.
On my first play through of the game enjoyment did not even begin to describe how I thought of this game, a closer fit would have been obsession. While on replay the game did not captivate me as much I was still able to challenge myself to 100% the game. I was surprised about the wealth of things I could still discover about a 15-year-old game. The game's main purpose is to tell the Star Wars story through a lighthearted Lego format. Despite this the Lego game is able to perfectly tell the core story with many obscure references that demonstrate the maker's knowledge of the deep lore as well. My big sister was able to completely follow the story despite never having seen the movies. The core mechanics of fighting are fun, but they are too easy to master due to it being a game with a core demographic of children. The simple Lego look of the game has aged remarkably well due to it's intentionally simple and blocky look. The game was able to get the rights to all of the Star Wars soundtrack which is always a huge plus. In conclusion, I give this game 5 out of 5 stars. The game strove not to be merely a great children's game, but a great game in general. In a world where the reign of man is over. A world caught between the twin behemoths of the balloon and monkey races. A world forever at war. Endless war has consumed the minds of both species. The monkeys evolved for the sole purpose of war. Monkey heroes, monkey gods, nothing is too sacred to avoid being twisted into machines of carnage. This is no nightmare. This is Bloons Monkey City.
Enjoyment can not begin to describe my experience playing this game. Every frame of this game's animation should be a "frame"-d painting in a museum. Its simple character and background design hearkens back to its humble flash game origins. The stunning graphics help illustrate the sad narrative of life, death, and monkey that is told throughout the game's gripping narrative. The gameplay starts out mind-bogglingly easy, but the farther you venture from your monkey village the more brutal the levels become. The first heart lost in battle is like a slap to the face, and the first level lost is akin to a full-frontal lobotomy. This is meant to remind you that this is no children's game. This is war. The most important sound the game presents you with is the sound of balloons popping, the casualties in battle. Comparatively, the fanfare played at the end of a victory sounds hollow, the beating drums reduced to tin cans, and the pompous horns wind howling in frigid night air. The game is only available on PC most likely due to the high degree of trauma resistance and mental fortitude required to play it. In conclusion, I give this game a 2 out of 5 stars. It's your average Bloons tower defense game. |
AuthorI am an eleventh grader who goes to DSA. My main interests are design and music. Archives
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