johnsoma's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[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.

[ultimate flash sonic]

Another game from my childhood right here. I have to say though, this one didn't age quite like I remember. Gameplay is tight and clean for the most part, but there are a lot of gotcha moments where knockback from an enemy combos you into a pit or a boost pad sends you straight into an offscreen wall of spikes. There's also some oddities that were definitely caused by the Ruffle conversion, like a ridiculously small screen for the game and sound effects that loop endlessly. Definitely nostalgic to me, but it's got issues.

[Chessformer]

This is your best work yet! The concept is genius, and the game constantly adds new layers to keep things interesting. The puzzles get very complex, and that last level in particular is mind-bending, but I got it in the end. Fantastic work!

[Clubby The Seal]

I never got past the 2nd level of this game as a kid, despite what might have been hours of trying. I came back all these years later to beat it and put an old journey to rest. Little did I know what I was in for.

The art is excellent, and there is a well-realized, if morbid, world here. The semi-randomly generated levels are a neat trick for the 2000s, and the gameplay is tight, in a way that kind of resembles old school castlevania if you squint really hard.

But oh my god there is so much nonsense in this game. The harpoons, getting knocked back into death pits, respawning above death pits, the entire 4th level, every single boss, and the game over screens going for about 15 seconds before you can play again.

Definitely nostalgic, and it feels great to finally beat this game, but there was quite a struggle to get there.

[Alloy: Arena]

Freaking nostalgia! I remember being total garbage at this game when I was a kid, or maybe it was that my computer couldn't run this without the framerate dropping to single digits. Well now I can run the game properly, and I know how to combo, and this game might even be better than I remember. Slow and clunky at first, but the skill ceiling is massive. One of the greats of Newgrounds to be sure.

(Best score: 205480)

[Resident Pico]

Going through the old archives, this one holds up surprisingly well. Took me a minute to figure out the controls, but it's solid once I figured it out. Really satisfying too, I'm pretty sure that's because of MindChamber's amazing art. It's quite short, but that's to be expected from the time. This one's really good!

[Samurai Asshole]

I'm conflicted. Do I rate this highly because it was made in the 90s, or do I rip into it for being super clunky by today's standards? Still, I got nostalgic playing this, so I think my rating is fair.

[BulletHeart]

Neat idea, and the powerups add just enough variety to keep things interesting. However, high score (and seemingly difficulty) does not reset after dying, which hurts the replayability.

Starryman responds:

i launched a new update that (hopefully) fixes these errors

[NullCat]

Neat concept, though pretty basic, with the exception of the second to last level. That called for some serious outside the box thinking. Satisfying to beat, though.

[Ninja Demon Runner]

This has the potential to be made into something bigger. The gameplay is really fun once I got the rhythm down. Just needs a little bit more content. As it is, the difficulty peaks pretty early once the buildings disappear.

(Best score: 91)

EricDanneskjold responds:

I might revisit it again in the future, but for now, learning is my top priority :)