johnsoma's movie Reviews on Newgrounds

[Olimar kisses each Pikmin goodnight even though it's getting dark]

Someone in the comments on Youtube counted this. There were 83 Pikmin and Olimar was able to kiss 79 goodnight before the bulborb got him. He was close, but no cigar.

[PUNCH PUNCH FOREVER!]

80s anime and Newgrounds humor? Works better than you'd think!

[Hat Kid Diddy Kong Racing]

I feel called out, I used to do this constantly

[Castle Crashers OVA 3-A Freeze Resurection-{VHSAnime}-[sub]]

I have got to give respect to the sheer amount of effort that went into this. Well done!

[Power Star 4]

Here's a story. I watched the first 3 episodes when I was a kid, but I somehow missed that this finale ever came out. I just thought maybe it had been abandoned; wouldn't be the first web series like that. So imagine my surprise when I decide to watch revisit the series and see that the finale had existed all along.

I can tell there was a lot of work put into this, and there are a lot of great moments, just like the rest of the series. The thing is, I was actually kinda let down here. Maybe it was the buildup from re-watching the rest of the series and the 15-year wait, but this one just didn't click.

Looking at the date, it seems like you started work on the Armed with Wings series immediately after making this, and you know what? I can kinda see it. It's in the tone, and the supernatural, existential nature of the story. Heck, the final shot is straight out of AwW.

Thinking about it, that might be my problem. Every previous episode only ever had the story to set up the wild action. This one, all of the sudden, has the story be constantly present, weighing everything down with heavy themes and frequent dialog. It worked with Armed with Wings, because it was like that from the start. Not such much with Power Star.

The finale might not have been all that I wanted it to be, but it is so fascinating that I can see such a clear through-line from one iconic series you made to the next. All in all, going through the series was a lot of fun!

D-SuN responds:

I glad you found this one! And it's really awesome to hear from someone who both appreciate my old and new work (AwW and Power Star). Sorry you felt it was a bit of a let down! I can't decide myself which one I like the most, part 2 or part 4.
No one has ever said they see aspects of AwW in Power Star to me. Glad to hear it!
Thanks for taking the time to do a rewatch and retro review :)

A Power Star Collab just came out on NG, you might want to check that out - it's really cool!!

[Power Star 3]

Now I do understand all of the problems you had with making this, and that you wanted to move on to other projects, but this one doesn't really add anything to the overall plot of the series.

That's not a huge problem, though. Especially since this one has the best action of the whole series. That also means you don't actually have to watch the other episodes to understand this one; an unintended plus, but a plus nonetheless.

Basically, it's a great, accessible, replayable action movie. It's just lacking the extra substance the rest of the series has.

D-SuN responds:

This was meant to be the finale to be honest. The battle is pretty high octane, all it needed was the ending in part 4, but I was too lazy to animate it and decided to put it off and make a part 4.

[Power Star 2]

After binging the series, I can confidently say this is the best one. The story is present without getting in the way, but that's not the important part.

I don't have enough good to say about the action. I can see the inspiration from The Matrix in the superhuman martial arts and I love it!

(The audio on this upload is out of sync. It's the only one of the series that has that problem and that is unfortunate)

D-SuN responds:

Yeah I have to agree that this one is probably the best overall.

[Power Star]

Going through the whole series because I'm feeling nostalgic.

There are a lot of great moments here, but there are also some awkward moments and pauses. Luigi also gets built up as the big boss and then gets totally bowled over. It's a great start, with room to grow.

[Power Star Reanimated (Pt 1)]

It's pretty good! Just that the sudden shifts to non-sprite sections and back are jarring, even if they are well done.

AnonymousFrogClock responds:

That can be attributed to Etoonz and I doing our parts using regular 2D animation as opposed to sprites. I hope Part 2 will contain a better sprite to non-sprite ratio

[quaso]

That is a oddly sexy voice there. Peach sounds pretty good too, I guess.