CaseyAnimates's Reviews

[Set Up To Fail]

Wow, I really enjoyed this! Definitely deserves the positive reception.

The animation was really clean! A lot of animators, myself included, aim to have a high frame-rate with lots of in-between frames to keep it smooth, but you had a great way of focusing on just the most important frames to get the action across. It definitely saves you some time, and despite the lack of actual movement being displayed at times, I never lost myself in the action. I'd say a lot of that is due to your timing! Sometimes it felt like moments came a little slower than I'd like it to be, but I have to say that it led to a lot of anticipation about what was coming next.

The aesthetic and atmosphere was great! It's something I highly value in animations, and I really enjoyed your way of presenting the world. I'm a sucker for that mix of run-down, dilapidated backdrops with traces of high-powered and dangerous technology. Your setting provides these tiny questions in our head for us to answer, like, "Why does this character owe so many credits?" or, "Why does this city require a dome to enclose it?" To be fair, a lot of these questions are left unanswered; perhaps you don't have much of an answer to it yourself. That being said, the benefit to having these little mysteries is that I want to see more!

Thinking about it, this style really took me back to earlier Newgrounds. I was reminded of videos from creators like Vinnie Veritas or Rtil; cartoons about interesting characters in an imaginative setting, where we as the viewers are only afforded a peek into what their lives are like. Those were some of my favorite animations, and I remember trying to piece together the world these characters lived in based on what was only minutes of animated content.

Your cartoon really put me back in those shoes, and I'd owe that to your impressive character art, your willingness to let us speculate, and your emphasis on setting up a scene in an interesting, engaging way. Needless to say, I really, really enjoyed it! Excellent job!

[Space James ep.02]

Seeing this on the front page so prominently got me pretty excited initially. I like a lot of TheWeebl's stuff, and one of the animators, Kried, has produced a lot of great stuff.

That being said, there are moments of potential here that could bring the quality up higher, but that missed potential, coupled with an uninspiring premise, is what made this an overall disappointment.

For instance, the beginning sequence is the most amusing. Space Jame's name constantly popping back up over everybody else is great, and really drives home his character archetype. That being said, though, the idea of a space captain who's kind of a egotistical douche is nothing new. That's not to say that I couldn't have enjoyed it regardless, but I feel like there wasn't much that stands out with Space James among all the other characters out there that are similar.

The animation felt pretty lazy, too, especially considering what I've seen in the past from the same people. All the best animation is front loaded in the intro, and doesn't become interesting again for the rest of the video. Everything is way too motion-tween focused, with actual frame by frame animation being very scarce. Sometimes that can work with simpler characters, but with characters like this, it doesn't do them any favors. The 3D portions are nice, but nothing interesting is done with them, and the particle and lighting effects are overdone and obnoxious in a lot of places. Scenes where lighting filters are plastered over characters look pretty bad when the individual character's lighting doesn't reflect it naturally.

As for comedy, I felt like I was being dragged through punchlines that were never given enough attention to really leave an impact. Maybe it looks good on paper, but without the proper timing to back this up, a lot of jokes just fly right by. Not to mention that the robot character's audio filter is way too modulated, to the point where a lot of his lines have me straining to understand them. The plot is also pretty boring; having the main character sit in a chair talking to someone on a monitor for nearly all of the episode just isn't engaging. Maybe you intended that to be the point, to emphasize that Space James is kind of useless, but even if you wanted to push that idea, you can do it in a more entertaining fashion. Perhaps put Space James in a shootout where he bullshits his way to victory or something similar. Granted, I don't recall ever seeing the first episode to this series so maybe that style of plot happens, but this episode really suffers from a lame premise.

This is the sort of thing that stings with wasted potential in the end. Mediocre animation, unfunny timing, a character that doesn't stand out, and the knowledge that these creators have made much better content, really leave a bad taste in my mouth. I still look forward to the next creation from these two in the future; hell, I'd even watch another Space James episode. I just really hope these necessary improvements come with it.

[The Crawler]

THAT was an awesome flash, man! I haven't posted a review in nearly two years, but your movie really put me in the mood; I'm still impressed at how well this was made!

Animation wise, you did fantastic! The movements in the characters is incredibly smooth, and with a frame rate as fast as yours, I'm surprised you kept the quality so well throughout the entire movie. The characters move realistically, too, which is great; I've noticed that most flash authors who use frame by frame animation usually just fill in the gaps between 2 different poses, but you've gone out of your way to make the movement continuous and fluid. It looks great, I'm very impressed, and I hope you keep it up!
Also, the art is very unique! There's an incredible amount of detail when it comes to the background (I mean damn, look at all those lines), and the characters look great too! They even managed to keep the detail through their movements, and some highlights include your perspective use, your walk-less cycles, and facial features. By the way, I hope not too sound too perverted, but my GOD man, the way you drew the amputee's boobs remained so consistent and real throughout the flash; I was oddly fascinated, so good job on making me feel bad for staring. Everything else was great, but that must've taken some practice.

While the art and animation stole the show, the sound was pretty good, too, and managed to do it's job pretty well. The voice acting fit nicely, and the sound melded well with what was happening on the screen. Looking back on it, I specifically remember how well the rolling of the scooter fit with the sound, and how every foot step and scuffle was accounted for, too.

As for the story, I don't think I'll see something quite like this ever again! The plot was dripping with uniqueness (I mean hell, I think the description has more weirdness than half of the cartoons on this site alone), and it managed to make the story really, "flow," I guess you could say. It's like my brain just accepted the quirky story with a shrug and let everything that was happening hit me with its emotion instead of its facts. It's like when you're watching a movie when you're a little kid; you may not understand everything, but you don't have to. The movie tells you the story though the emotion, while the details take the back seat. That's pretty difficult to muster, and while that's maybe not what you were going for, that's what I felt like, anyways. Awesome story, man, I liked it a lot!

Overall, I'm pleasantly surprised at how much I liked this flash, considering how odd everything was starting to look before I hit play! I'll be watching this one every now and then, rest assured, and I'm glad this film is getting the attention it deserves! Thanks for the inspiration!
5 outta' 5!
AWESOME JOB!

[FPA: Sneak Peek]

I, like thousands of others, just had a nerd-gasm.

Where do I start? :D
I've been a fan since World 1, bro, and I'm glad for how far this game's come since then. Now I hear of World 3 AND, perhaps what I'm geekin' out about the most, a downloadable arcade game?! My Xbox game library will have never looked better once I get it, I can tell you that!

The sound is, as it's always been, awesome! Nice and positive aura flyin' out the whole time and gives you sort of a sense of adventure, you can say. The bonks and boings are in full effect and somethin' about the way the door sounds when you open and close it always gives me this overall feeling of, "BRING IT, SPIDERS." I hope that the arcade title has the song from the other games that you used so often, you know? The one I'm talkin' about is the one with the fast guitar riffs and the scenic keyboard background. Maybe overused in World 2, but I'm amazingly still not tired of it, haha!

Anyways, sound can take a backseat when it comes to this game's trump card and biggest attention getter; the GAMEPLAY! Hands down, this is platforming perfection. Where others stick with the basics (running, jumping, stuff you've seen for the past 20 years), this one takes it, revamps it, and then sells it perfectly.
I'm a big fan when it comes to the little touches in gameplay, but this one's little touches end up becoming so awesome I can't help myself doin' 'em 24/7. I couldn't have possibly thought of any other mechanic to add from World 2, but you went ahead and added moves that now I can't imagine living without. I especially like how the flips adjust to how far away from the ground your about to land on is or how your character does a perfect dive or cannonball as he's about to hit the ground. Way to got the extra mile! And JESUS, the wall jumping is PERFECT. Mario can STUFF IT. Never have I had a problem with it yet, and there are so many different ways to jump off the wall (all of which are helpful in every way possible) that I really don't think it can get any better. The way you can combine the moves are downright pure FANCY. There's a reason you added that science bonus room, man, and it's 'cause combinations of awesome have never tasted sweeter.

I think what really lets me connect with this game is an old habit of mine when it comes to playing video games, and I'm sure everyone else has the same habit; acting fancy even though you don't have to. What I'm referring to is everytime you wanted to slide past a corner in Mirror's Edge using slow motion like a movie or the time you did a basic A attack with Kirby in the air from Smash Brothers just to see him spin around with some stupid grin over your friends. It's that fuel that just makes you wanna' be as cool as possible.
This game makes that instinct now only awesome and easy, it's almost necessary to feel this game's potential. The way Fancy Pants Man runs around sliding and jumping will make you feel like a total B.A. every chance it can. The movements he does (with the GREAT animation, great job Brad!) always have the aura of...well, FANCY. I also forgot the simple fun of backflipping. I thank you for showing me that fun and making it possible to basically backflip off of and from EVERYTHING.

Overall, this is the best sneak peak of anything I've yet to see. Hell, this is basically what others on this site would call a whole game, so congrats! I absolutely cannot wait for this to be released onto the consoles; you have at least 1 more excited dork who'll buy it the moment he can. I'll be sure to personally send you a PM and tell ya' what I think, and I think it's gonna' be positive. REAL positive.
5 outta' 5, 10 outta' 10 and favorited!
AWESOME JOB!!

[Dead Frontier: Outbreak]

Now THIS is a survival zombie game for Newgrounds!

Let me tell ya', most of the zombie games that I've seen so far on this site were good and all, but I'd never touch 'em again. They lose their interest after the first 10 or 15 minutes, and I felt like every single one was the same. THIS zombie game, on the other hand, was a very refreshing and needed change of pace in the zombie survival genre for this site!

Graphics were nice, actually! Sure, that wasn't what this game depended on...at all. However, what they did very nicely was set up the eerie atmosphere. Nice pictures with a simple text and blurry effect.

Sound was great! The music was great and perfect for the flash! The voice actor was really good as well, and it makes the dialogue for the situations that much more interesting. I literally skipped a scene's scenario (by clicking), and ending up dieing on purpose to LISTEN to the missed voice acting. Reminds me of some of Stephen King's audio books, and that's a compliment!

Concept was a much needed one! I love all the different decisions there were to make, and every single one that I made was made with thought and purpose in what I was doing. There was always a hesitation about what the best choice was, and I had bunches of fun! After I completed it, I did in different ways just to see what would happen, and that's where the replay value comes in! The ranking system is also a very nice touch, and I always try to get an A+ or jokingly survive trying to get an F.

Overall, a very nice game that, as a matter of face, has inspired me an a way. Maybe some day I could make a game somewhere along these lines. But anyways, this game freakin' rules!
5 outta' 5, 10 outta' 10 and favorited!
GREAT JOB!!

[Fig. 8]

Very nice game to say the least!

Perfect if you have some free time and just wanna' relax with a nice little game.

Visual aspect was nice! I like the style, with the contrast of color and simple but effective 2D imagery! Very professional looking, I have to say. May not have been that hard to draw or anything, but it makes it look great, anyways!

Sound was really good in my opinion! Yet again, anything that makes this game anymore relaxing and an overall breeze to pick up and play is a good feature in my book. I like how there's some weird background noise after each song, like someone is playing a keyboard about to set up the next song, and it's all nice a smooth, and I like that!

Some criticism for ya' though; the checkpoints can be a slight pain. If you want us to keep a freakin' 5 mile point multiplier up, why must we end it every time we want a checkpoint? Going through it to activate it would've been a bit better in my opinion. Also, the music stops after a while. This bugged me, 'cause the music is what helps you keep going, and it was some good stuff! A simple loop would've been fine. But yeah, those are my 2 cents worth. I'm still gonna' give ya' a good score because, for the most part, you deserve it!

Overall, a fine game indeed! Must have taken you a while to make, and it runs nicely. I'll be playing this for at least through the week.
5 outta' 5, 10 outta' 10 and favorited!
GREAT JOB!!

[[F12] Katamari Sunrise]

Haha, nice job, man!

You get an automatic 10 for using Katamari stuff, as I'm in love with the series! Other then that, the song is pretty good, but it could use a bit more varied parts to it, something to keep us interested more. But other then that, awesome job!

5 outta' 5, 10 outta' 10 and favorited!
Keep it up!

F0R3ST12 responds:

Thanks alot!

[-(August)-]

This is truly a great song.

Seriously, this has such a good mood to it.
One good reason to actually visit the audio portal. Reminds of things like...eh...good techno, anyway.

...oh yeah! Kind o' reminds me of Katamari Damacy!! Ever heard of some of that stuff? It kicks some serious ass. Joyful. Colorful. This makes me think of like flyin' through the clouds...really frickin' fast.

[Never Forget our Promise]

Wow, this is some really clean pixel art! Took me a second to actually notice that for some reason, it's just so effective. The colors are handled really well, the glitch effect is appropriately spooky, and the eyes are goddamn haunting.

No complaints here. Great job, my guy!

OareasO responds:

Thank you, i appreciate it!

[Max Parrish Cast]

It's STILL getting better, Xander! How in the crap are you doing that? You haven't stagnated yet!

It seems that you're giving your characters more differentiation; tall characters are taller and big characters are bigger, if that makes sense. There also seems to be more detail! It's not like detail was absent previously or anything, but the ruffles on Valerie's and June's skirt and the stripes on Max's jacket stand out to me more than the previous designs. I miss Claire's funky coat (went pretty damn well with her hair), but that's alright; it's not like I don't admire the shorts and the new knee-high's. c:

And hey, June's black now! Ethnicity, BRING IT.
The change looks nice, too; brown and purple are just good colors to me.

Definitely keep it up with the character designs, it's getting much better! I really need to start doing my own with Cletus the Cowpoke, and this is a great reminder and motivator!
KICK SOME MO' BOOTAY, SON. :D

FrostDrive responds:

Yep! I pushed the designs a lot. Made the skinny skinnier, and the buff buffer. etc.
I also made sure to actually give the girls different bodies too. It's pretty cool what you can do if you get creative about bodies. Valeries now got a short torso and long legs, and I think that really account for her character.

You don't have to miss Claire's funky coat!! The characters actually change outfits throughout the entire story, to add a sense of real life to it. But they all have their own kind of styles too.
I'm sure designing so many outfits is gonna get tedious eventually though. haha

and YES. You need to get all the character designs down for Cleetus the Cowpoke. I'd blow my pants to see that.

[Space Girl.]

Nice job, Minty, DANG!!

I love it, this is awesome! Great proportions, poppin' background effect and some sexy linears! Well, sexy girl, too, I guess, good job on that. c:
I especially like the glowy thing in her hands and the look of her face and boots!

Keep it up!! <3

MintyCake responds:

Hey! Thank ya'. C: