Score: 10

"Congratulations"

submission: Super Mario bros Z ep.8

date: October 17, 2009

You're the first flash artist that has made something so fantastic I decided to donate. Enjoy that 20 bucks man.

Onto the review.

The animation was very familiar, but had a couple extra 3D sequences that were very well done. I find when people try to blend 3D with 2D it really doesn't work, but you pulled it off quite well.

As usual the overall pace is a heavy amount of story, followed by a long battle, then cliffhanger, I think this works very well. The time between people watching the episodes is long, so it was good to be familiarized with the characters. Even though they are based on their original counterparts, you have added your own touch to the dialogue and actions of the characters to really make it yours, it feels less like a parody and more like an original.

The sound quality is fantastic, you use very suitable music for each scene, the battle music feels serious, but not like it's trying to hard to be intense. I find a lot of artists make the mistake of making the music too hardcore, and it sounds cheesy more than anything. I also like how you toss in the occasional screams, noises, and one liners from the games.

The story is simple, but engrossing enough to actually care about what is happening in the animation. There is one problem however, the dialogue does feel somewhat drawn out at times, sometimes they have 10 sentences of talking that could easily be explained in 2. Shortening up the dialogue a bit won't take away from the enjoyment, but just help keep your attention longer.

Your battle choreography skills must be at the peak of human capability to produce some of those scenes. Sonic's fire tornado move was so beautifully done and smooth that I wish I had an animated gif of it to watch it over and over. The flow was very fast paced, and yet, you never actually lose sight of what is happening. I find a lot of artist go too fast, and while it is somewhat aesthetically appealing, it is jarring as well and hard to enjoy on the same level as your animations.

Overall, this animation is phenomenal. Hard to add anything onto that other than that I am really looking forward to the next one!

And congrats on front page, you deserve it!

Score: 9

"Brilliant...."

submission: Waiting for the Bus!

date: September 21, 2009

I read all of these reviews with a flood of constant 10's, and was expecting a typical Cyanide and Happiness joke, that has to do with some sick random thing that most of the comics consist of. I am glad to see how wrong I was.

It is odd, this really doesn't feel like Cyanide and Happiness at all, it is smarter, not really intelligent humor, but it is a step above completely retarded, and I am glad to see that.

The overall look was great, the characters, while simplistic are rounded and proportioned very well, showing that you don't need to over complicate art to make it visually appealing.

The sound was well coordinated, with the music, voices and sound effects not overly loud (something many people cannot do properly). The voices acting was also very well done.

I enjoyed the humor in this because it goes in such a simple and obvious direction, but throws a few curve balls along the way. I never expected the Indy 500 to be what he was agreeing to, but needless to say it was funny as hell. Who doesn't love to watch someone throw up into their own trophy?

The ending was also, like I said above, brilliant. The animation was just long enough for me to completely forget about the bomb on the bus, but the second it exploded I burst into laughter.

Great work, I ignored this animation on the front page for so long, and I am kicking myself for it.

So why the 9? Shouldn't this be a perfect 10 like damn near everyone else? Not quite. The loss of 1 comes from something very simple, yet crucial. Many people cannot pay attention for long unless something entertaining is constantly happening. And while this animation is funny, the majority of the jokes and situations are only humorous. Simply put, this animation will get a chuckle for 90% and laughter for 10%.

That being said, it is obvious I am nitpicking, because there really is nothing else I could possibly use to have this less than a 10. Mostly because I don't believe anything deserves a 10, but this is damn near perfect.

Congrats on front page!

Score: 8

"Interesting."

submission: Time Fcuk

date: September 16, 2009

I like the animation, and the 8 bit-like character. This seems very much like SHIFT, while different in design, it is very similar in concept. I liked the little ratings given to the levels, for fun factor and difficulty, indicated by little smiley faces.

The little talking character is a nice addition as well, gives the game a sense of humor without trying too hard to be funny, and because the main character isn't very sociable, it helps to have a bit of text entertainment. The sound quality is good as well, and the overall feel is very retro, yet polished.

There is only one problem, and that is that the loading times seem to take forever to load a small level. I am not a big fan of puzzle games, so once I attempt one, a long loading time can make me lose interest quickly.

Even so, I'll give you an 8 out of 10 from someone who doesn't enjoy the genre.

Good work, this may be front page material.

Score: 6

"Well...."

submission: JCTLM

date: September 16, 2009

This animation certainly isn't bad, and maybe I have been spoiled by Xiao Xiao, but for a collaboration of 5 people, I just didn't really enjoy it. The main reason is the animation. No, the animation itself isn't bad, but the pacing is too fast for its own good. Don't get me wrong, you need to have fast action for a stick figure animation to be entertaining, but you guys overdid the speed on this one.

I did enjoy how each stick figure was animated by its animator, so there was a constant sense of variety and change that you need in a collaboration. The effects were beautiful, and the ground and wall spiking was very well done, and the "S.T.X.D.F.H.T.K.S" was hillarious to say the least. It was also good that the venue was always being changed, with wall running, falling into the cave etc. I also enjoyed the ending, while random, it was a decent way to end the fight.

The problem is that the whole time I was watching this, I could hardly follow a kick or punch. Sure, I could identify whether it was the arms or legs that were moving, but it didn't flow or choreograph as well as it could have.

I went and watched Xiao Xiao 3 before writing this review to see if I was simply overrating it because I saw it back when people didn't produce good stick figure animations. However, I wasn't wrong, the speed of the attacks and movement is significantly slower than this animation, but it keeps a fast pace at all times while keeping the action aesthetically appealing. That being said, comparing you to such a legendary animator isn't exactly fair, but that isn't why I am giving a 6/10.

This may be just me, but I can't enjoy something I can't see properly. The odd thing is that when certain parts slowed down and blurred, I could see how fluid the animation really is, and I loved it. But the fluidity is ruined by a near constant speed that makes the animation so jarring.

Congrats on the awards and good luck on your future projects guys.

Score: 9

"Very nice"

submission: Spoof of the Colossus

date: July 14, 2009

I really enjoyed the animation style you used here, very original.

The sound was decent, good music, but the voice acting was somewhat lacking. To be more specific, it was somewhat unenthusiastic. However I still commend you for adding in voice acting.

I have never seen an animation that pokes fun at Shadow of the Colossus before, so you get points for not copying other popular ideas.

The dialogue ranged from hillarious to simply humorous, it is hard to keep an animation consistent with humor when you go from randomness to relate able dialogue. But that is okay, because you had a good length of time for this kind of flash animation, so some sort of filler is necessary. I also enjoyed how you went through all of the Colossi in your animation, and didn't time skip.

Now the score of this will likely be split up the middle. Those that have played the game will find this funny and enjoyable, others will have no idea whatsoever what is happening.

9/10 Well done.

Score: 7

"Meh"

submission: L4D Short: Starring Louis

date: July 14, 2009

It certainly wasn't poorly done, but I have just become so numb to L4D flashes, and thought the game was crap anyway.

That being said, it was nice to see a slightly more serious tone taken with this animation. After all of the "awesome" ripoff animations on Left 4 Dead, it is refreshing to see something that isn't poking fun at all the little obvious quirks of the game with annoying voices and poorly drawn characters.

You did however make a stick figure animation, and while a bit low on the "respectable animation style scale", it actually fit quite well.

And just like 666HeadSik666 said, that's the thinnest M4 I've ever seen! But this was for a school project after all, and the word "short" is right there in the title, so I was certainly not expecting a lengthy animation.

All in all, decent for a stick figure animation parodying a game I dislike.

7/10

Score: 10

"Fantastic"

submission: GUN & SWORD

date: July 5, 2009

I haven't seen this kind of great fluidity and choreography since Ninja VS Robot.

First things to note are the characters, I like how you had an intro for each one. This at least puts some personality to the two characters without trying really hard to make us care about a story that is not necessary in a fight scene flash.

The creativity in this animation is phenomenal, you have the somewhat typical mechanical guy that can upgrade himself, but Spade is just plain genius. Morphing in with his sword added so much to the fight as a whole, and it was fluid the whole time.

This seems very anime inspired, and the many extreme angles used kept it very fast paced, but didn't make it so quick no one can tell what is happening. The transitions between each attack flowed so naturally.

The sound was near perfect, good music choices and sound, but the occasional effect would be much louder than it should have been, this is only evident in the latter half of the animation, such as Magnum firing the massive beam.

The choreography was so well directed that it was on par with some of the best fight scenes I have ever seen. Everything flowed in a realistic way, from the punches and slashes, to the gun shots.

The background was very well done, and looked like you put a lot of work into it. I also enjoyed how both characters were not needlessly complex in design and easy to distinguish.

More than anything, you have displayed that you have too much talent for stick figures, so it is great to see some drawn figures. Can't wait for the next one.

Congratulations on front page. Even though I am typically against giving perfect scores, this is an exception.

10/10

Score: 9

"Nostalgic"

submission: Super Mario 63

date: June 13, 2009

Very nice remake of Mario 64.

Graphics: Sprites typically look ugly and unpolished, but this flowed together very well. Some nice effects and a good layout overall.

Animation: Tied in very much with graphics, the motions are all very fluid and easy on the eyes. With the many different motions going on at a time, there was no lag either, very impressive.

Sound: This is easily this games greatest asset. All of the noises, music, and overall feel were 100% Mario. If I were to close my eyes and play the game, I would swear I was playing Mario 64.

Humor: I liked how the toads always had something funny to say, the games overall tone is more of a serious one (well Mario serious at least) but it was nice to have a little comic relief.

Concept: While the overall idea is not all that creative, the transition between level design in Mario 64 and Mario 63 is very impressive. One of the best parts about this game is how accurately it mimics the original.

Overall a fantastic game, well worthy of a 9/10. There is one problem, and that is how the levels are a bit long. This is a flash game after all, and having a lot of content isn't bad necessarily. But most people would rather play this in shorter spurts, and saving seems rather infrequent for those looking to play only a level at a time.

Score: 9

"Very impressive."

submission: Pokemon Hunter

date: May 23, 2009

Simply put, this Flash animation is phenomenal.

The art style was fantastic, utilizing many different colors and shades that made each pokemon look vibrant and alive.

The animation itself flowed very well and used many alternating extreme camera angles that gave the video a constant sense of action. You certainly have an eye for how to properly utilize these, and it shows.

Your effects are also some of the best I have ever seen. Each beam or ice attack shimmered and glowed enough for it to look realistic, but not be distracting.

The music fit along with the art style, a catchy but not overbearing theme that added to the animation without interrupting the video itself.

The story is not all that important, but it is nice to see that you made one anyway, it at least gives a sense of individuality to the characters, even if they are only fighting. I also enjoyed how you introduced the characters by panning over a double layered image in a very anime-ish style.

As far as negatives go, the only thing I could pick at is how it is quite short, and that the health bars depleting was a bit much when multiple enemies were killed. (This looked fine for Steelix and the individual enemies, so I will assume you just wanted to be consistent)

Congrats on front page, and good luck on your next animation, original or not, I am sure it will be great.

Score: 6

"I don't get it."

submission: One More Brawl Taunts

date: May 12, 2009

I was never a fan of the earlier ones either, but thought I would check it out. The thing is, there are two main problems dialogue-wise.

The first is that using inside jokes is a very risky thing, the whole concept of them is that it has a "you had to be there" element to it. So more often than not, most outsiders will not be able to find it as funny.

The second is that it is also flooded with many jokes that have no need to be included. So many unnecessary dick and gay jokes that really don't relate to the content at all. These jokes seem more forced than anything, and when doing a parody based on the humor of the series, why not use something relate able?

Considering each individual game and character has it's own funny aspects that you could poke fun at, it really should be included. The whole thing is that the characters would NEVER say this, but why not take an ironic turn, and use opposite character personalities instead of randomness?

Now all of that said, the first couple were successful, so it does make sense to continue the same trend. I am certainly not the target audience, considering I didn't really enjoy Brawl all that much in comparison to Melee, but as a minor SSB fan, I expected to at least get one of the jokes, but I really didn't.

Now the only way to get past some dialogue flaws would be graphics and animation, but there is also a problem. The characters are drawn in an inconsistent manner, because this is a collaboration. Now the issue with this is the ones used are not presented in a very "front page" manner. It all seems quite choppy with the exception of the intro. It also lack the ascetic charm of say, an Egoraptor animation, which displays itself in a badly drawn way, but with a quirky style that makes it enjoyable to look at.

The voice acting was well done, but there were many problems with volume levels, I realize a person screaming should be louder than one talking, but it was taken to a much higher level than it should have, and was somewhat jarring.

This is certainly not a bad animation, but it never hurts to have content that can be enjoyed be both hardcore fans and casual viewers.

Overall a 6/10
Congrats on front page, and good luck on your future projects.