GunPanther's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[RaidenX]

An AWESOME re-make of one of the best SHMUP games.

I seriously couldn't believe that it could ever be done, but Go0gley has finally made good on his previous promises; to re-create the sheer experience that makes the "Raiden" video game (SHMUP) series as fun as it can be. ------

Staying true to the original game series' roots, Go0gley has not only managed to re-capture and re-create the magic of several of the "Raiden" games, but he even went as far as paying tribute to the series by using the original music from the games. None of that 're-mixed' music here, just the original sound effects and music tracks from the legendary "Raiden Project" PS1 game.

GRAPHICS: Although this is somewhat of a remake of the "Raiden Project"/"Raiden DX" games for the PS1, Go0gley has not 'cheated' by simply porting over in-game vehicle sprites directly from the "Raiden" games. Each and every sprite in this game is re-drawn and animated from scratch. The detail even goes as far as having the Raiden Ship's shadow being cast on the ground below.

SOUND: In a true tribute fashion, the original music and sound effects from the "Raiden Project" PS1 game are present, albeit in a lower sampling rate. Some new sound effects were added as well and only enhance the game even more.

INTERACTIVITY: This is where the game really shines. Usually, Flash based SHMUP games are plagued with either bad controls or controls which are just not responsive to the on-screen action. This is not the case with "Raiden X". The controls are not only mega responsive, but for us SHMUP veterans, Go0gley was kind enough to let us breathe a bit easier by having the Raiden Fightercraft shoot it's guns on full-auto.

OVERALL: If you're a hardcore SHoot eM' UP fan, you WILL be in gameplay heaven, as this rendition of "Raiden" will not only surprise you, but will probably surpass any of your expectaions that you might have in regards to "Flash Re-makes" of arcade/console video games. What's even more convenient is that Go0gley was considerate enough to offer players the option to 'save' their game progress at the end of each level. I'm not only impressed, but amazed at how well this game plays. DEFINITELY one of my top 10 Flash Games. What else can I say except, EXCELLENT WORK.

Go0gley responds:

W00t! *Looks at the praises* I'm stuck with words! Thanks so much for it. ^__^

[Handguns]

Nicely done.

As a big fan of firearms, I must say that this truly cannot simulate what it feels like to fire each and every one of these weapons. I can attest to firing ALL of the weapons you listed in this Flash 'Game' and I have to say that you got most of the simulated feeling down. I'm very satisfied with the overall accuracy of this Flash when compared to their 'real' counterparts. You did an excellent job of simulating (in a simplified way) what it's like to insert a handgun magazine, chamber a cartridge by pulling back the slide and finally being able to fire the weapon. You even went as far as to keep a count of the cartridges fired, depending on the magazine capacity for each handgun (Nice!). Detailed artwork, coupled with the 'actual animation' of a handgun being operated along with accurate sounds (save for the Desert Eagle .357 which sounded too much like thunder) sets this "Handgun Simulation" apart from most other Flash 'games'. Now for a bit of nitpicking (otherwise, the Flash is just fine) - Since you're going for accuracy, here are my suggestions: 1. You should refer to handgun magazines as "magazines" and not "clips". 2. Offer more features on the handgun such as the 'safety' features for future handguns. 3. Maybe you could include revolvers in a future edition instead of just semi automatics? Anyway, good job.

Kitteh responds:

Awesome! Cuz i've never fired any sort of gun whatsoever, not even a nurf gun in my whole life.

Yes, safety would be cool to implement.

Revolvers: I attempted one but stopped because I had no idea of how to animate the drum.

[Bitch Snipe]

Nice rendition of a "Silent Scope" type of game.

Very nicely done. However, there were a few issues on using the scope itself. Sometimes, the zoomed in reticle would freeze up not allowing me to move the reticle anymore. Is there a reason for this? Other than that, it's a pretty solid game with quite a humorous plotline. "Bitch Snipe".... I didn't know that cute Porn Starlets took pictures with guns (even if they are prop guns) Where'd you find the pic of Silvia Saint? Just curious.

Ranxx responds:

I don't have that freeze problem you are having so I'm unable to debug it. I probably should have provided the ability to drop to low quality mode. You can't do it now cause the code will keep bumping it back up. Thanks for the beta test. I'll keep it in mind for the next one. About the girls with guns: I was searching the Net for pix of ppl pointing a gun at the camera when I came across a site with nothing but pix of women with guns. lol.. What a fetish! They have hundreds of them. I got almost all the T.W.A.T.S. from this site. Check it out: www.moviebadgirls.com/
Thanks for the great review.

[Gorlog 2002]

This is gonna' be a HOT shooter!

WOW! That's the first thing I said when I first played this game. As a big fan of the Shooter Game Genre, I can't really compare this to games series like Raiden, Gradius or anything by Technosoft but I can say that for a Flash game, this is definitely top-notch. The character sprites were nicely drawn although they were not really animated, the control scheme was well thought out and responsive (good idea on basing "S" for shield and "B" for bomb), the music and sound effects were crisp, clear and original and the overall concept was great. However, the game got pretty difficult to deal with when you were trying to shoot the ship's lasers: 1) You could rapid fire the lasers, but the distance was greatly shoretened and 2) sometimes the lasers would pass through the targets altogether. Work on the lasers problem and you've got a better controlling game. As for the gameplay itself, it got pretty repetitive after a while because there seemed to be a major lack of variety to the enemies as well as a shortage of power ups. Maybe you could also try and animate the sprites a little bit. Perhaps have the ship tilt to the side whenever it made a turn. Overall, you did a great job. I can tell you put a lot of hard work into this. I can't wait to see what you'll come up with next.

Robotube responds:

Points really well taken! I am thinking about the most efficient way to get the ship to "bank" when turning without having to spend too long on redoing stuff. Thanks for the input!