johnsoma's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[Toss the Turtle]

Here's a fun challenge. Do a fresh file of this game, play for an hour, and see how far you can get. I managed 497531 ft in that time.

(UPDATE 12/4/2021: I have since improved my score on this challenge to 1518403 ft. New strategies make all the difference)

[Polarity Switch]

Well it's definitely your hardest one yet. I was able to beat all the others on my own, but I struggled a lot more with this one. Level 22 was as far as I could get.

[UNITRES Dreams]

This is one of those games that doesn't look like much at first, but is actually incredibly special. The levels are really cool, though it is sometimes hard to tell where you're supposed to go. The story is also a big highlight. I'll just say things are not as they seem, and that exploring and finding secrets is a must. My only thing is that it is easy to run into hazards since you're moving too fast to react/the camera is zoomed too close.

I consider this a worthy successor to Ultimate Flash Sonic, and that is some high praise indeed.

[Hell sucker]

I don't think everyone is going to like this game as much as I do. The controls are hard to get used to, and it is sometimes difficult to understand what is going on and what you need to do. However, I got a handle on it, and found a game that is very unique compared to other top-down shooter survival games.

You're encouraged to charge forward at all times, shrugging off damage because you can heal by drinking blood. I'm not sure you're intended to be able to just ignore damage as long as you keep killing demons, but it's immensely fun to keep up that streak for a number of reasons. In summary, it's simple, but I had a blast with it.

(best score: 57753. I probably could have gotten higher, but I had to get dinner)

[Ritz on a Roll]

This is a fun boss rush game! Funny note, though, I didn't realize you could just hold down the fire button at first. I was mashing up to about halfway through the second boss. I also never realized you could aim in 8 directions until I accidentally hit up on the keyboard in the last stretch of the last boss. I somehow beat the game while doing that to myself! xD

[CHAINSAW DANCE]

That song is a jam! It should be noted that you can hit every key at once and it will still count as hitting the score with seemingly no penalty, but I assume most rhythm gamers aren't going to cheat like that.

[Princess Squirrel]

It didn't seem like much at first, but it gets more complex over time and has lots of secrets.

[Madness Accelerant]

I never actually played this one until now. I was getting juggled around at first, but then I got a handle on shooting while jumping and it clicked. This game is so well made!

[Johnny Rocketfingers]

The only reason I don't give this game a full 5 is because the sequel managed to be even better, which does not take away from this one at all.

[Dad 'n Me]

Yo! This game finally showed up on Ruffle! It is way faster than I remember, probably because my computer was slow back in the day. There are some Ruffle-related audio issues (car noises not stopping once you get to that part of the stage, and the boss music overlapping on the regular music), but I'm willing to forgive it. The boss is still a gigantic difficulty spike after everything else was so simple, but it's not impossible, and the beat-em-up gameplay is still really fun to mess around with. So happy to see this classic preserved.