Kurosuzaku's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[Transcripted]

Original and challenging

In General:
> Very original concept; Great music choice; Visually awesome; Addicting and fun; Challenging
> Perhaps too challenging especially when playing levels consecutively; Feels like it should be a "beatable" game, not a "get a hi-score" game; Wtf is "DNA mode +"?; Useless score bonus; Never-before-seen speed (and maybe other?) bonuses

In Nit-picky Details:
> I think you've successfully combined puzzle and shooter into a very exhilarating and visually appealing game that involves a bit of strategy as well. The music choice is great and the game itself is quite addicting. However, the game feels a little unbeatable when attempting all levels consecutively (or perhaps I just suck, haha~). But like holy crap, the disparity of difficulty between Level 3 and beyond is rather huge with the addition of a new colour block AND more enemy hordes. I guess that's why you made it so that you can choose your level, but then the only purpose of this game is to get a high score. For me, that's not nearly as satisfying as actually beating the game.
> Despite that, this challenge is what sets apart this game from others of its genre (if you can say it has a specific one). It isn't just all blast everything in sight nor is it mindless puzzles. For example, in Level 4, you have to be extra careful what you shoot since the enemies split as they are destroyed, hence the strategy aspect. However, in Level 5, things just start swarming at you from everywhere (damn homing enemies) and it becomes incredibly difficult to fend them off especially when my only two weapons are these dinky bullets and an electrical attack that can hurt yourself! It's hard enough as it is trying to dodge everything let alone being careful of where I use my lightning when I'm in a panic in addition to trying to fill up the gauge as fast as I can. It's a bit overwhelming for me. Maybe a difficulty setting would be nice? Or maybe another life? Full health at the end of levels? Health bonus to heal more?
> Ah yes, the bonuses. It would be nice to know what each of them does though most are self explanatory. But there's this one called "DNA mode +"; what the hell is that? And what is this "Macro Shot" thing I saw once in my score summary after a level? The most useless bonus to me is the "+200 score" since by the time you're at Level 4 or so, you've probably racked up over 10,000 points. It may be nicer to have a score multiplier instead as it's useful at any level. You mentioned a speed bonus but I have never encountered it once throughout the 10+ times I've played. Just how high of a combo do I need?

Overall it was very enjoyable (and frustrating.. in a good way) and I look forward to your future works!

Krobill responds:

First Thx for your comment. In my mind the definitive version of the game would offer a 'scenario mode' with very progressive difficulty, cutscenes and checkpoints. Sadly these take a lot of time, gamebalancing by itself take almost as long as feature implementation if not more. In the future, if we have the opportunity, we will do this but for now the game is indeed 'just' a scoring challenge.

The access to all levels from the start is here only to decrease frustration for those unable to go through level1 to 9. The best players I know can reach level9 with a full life gauge (and a far larger one than at the start of the game) and beat level9 2 or 3 times in a row (it gets harder with each loop). The best scores are around 130 000.

Concerning the DNA mode+, yes i apologize for the lack of clarity. It increases your movement speed while carrying a cube. It can also be seen as a penalty reduction for carrying cubes. It is by far the best bonus in the game ! Though it may not seem so at first, believe me, it is :)

[The Timewaster Ultra]

Time wasters shouldn't be annoying..

When you screw up, you have to start at the beginning or in the middle of a level? Seriously? In a game where you're bound to screw up on your first attempt? And you can't try again until you reach that point?
Sorry, but as unique as it may be, this game just wasn't interesting enough to make me want to complete the first level. I'm sure it may have been better later on, but if I have to start from several stages back because I accidentally pushed the wrong button or ran out of seconds, I don't think I'd want to waste THAT much time on this game.
I like the doorbell button though ~

RatherRandomReality responds:

Don't feel sorry if you didn't like it. I guess it is not made to be liked by absolutely everyone. It's more like - if you like it- you like it a lot, but there's a chance that you hate it also :P If that makes sense.

[Co-operation]

Menu button?

I may just be an oblivious idiot but... is there no menu button during game play? I mean, I kinda want to try and get those coins in the pyramid level where you instantly fall as you approach them without having to beat the level or refresh the page in order to go to the menu screen. Though I did manage to somehow get the coins and I was curious what was beyond them. It just turned out to be a ledge of death that pretty much crashed the game when I jumped off it. Heheh my bad...
I didn't have the patience to complete the entire game without a means to easily restart the level, but based on what I did play, I really enjoyed the retro 8-bit style of art and music, and the game itself was interesting to play. Simple and fun~

I-smel responds:

On the level called INTRO, you soon find out that ENTER is pause. You can go back to the menu screen from that pause menu.