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This isn't entirely terrible, but the making and release of this cartoon at this moment in time... it's just too late. It's got no impact because it's all been said many, many times before.

Ho hum. You might as well rant about plane food.

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Score: 8

"me like character animations and backgrounds"

submission: William and Sly

date: July 31, 2009

Character animations are good and fluid, and the backgrounds are nice. I like the rainy, misty atsmophere, and the sound. Lots of nooks and crannies to explore. Some more puzzles would be an improvement, but I liked what was there with the wings and the bridge switches.

It was a little annoying that you couldn't kill the evil things without the energy from the stones, even though it was possible through careful planning to kill them all.

I like this game, but the medals aren't working, and it's making me cry.

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Score: 5

"Don't waste time to see the ending! I'll tell you"

submission: Free Will - The Game

date: July 5, 2009

Just plain annoying. If someone's reading this wondering if they should bother playing it, it is a standard side-scrolling platformer, like Mario, only less fun because you have to reload the browser window every time you die.

HOW "FREE WILL" ENDS:

Your character gets to the end of the level, and meets a similar-looking character, only he is wearing glasses. You say "Hi Will" and he says "Hi. Thanks for freeing me". Roll credits.

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Score: 7

"Fun to figure out, and gorgeous graphics and sound"

submission: Journeys of Reemus: Ch 3

date: July 1, 2009

I love the atmosphere of these Reemus games, and all the interesting creatures and plants that become tools! I sometimes feel like I could be challenged a little more, though. The coloured liquid puzzle was quite easy to figure out.

I should confirm the bug that some other people are also finding: I get stuck next to the pool in the gelatin cave. Doesn't matter who stands over there, the game refuses to let me select anything else, including the change-character button. I hope you've got enough information to fix it.

Thanks and keep up the good work!

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Score: 6

"Likeable, up until... you know..."

submission: Street Fighter Collab

date: May 19, 2009

Had some funny bits in there, but I really don't ever want to see the likes of Stamper's awful contribution ever again. Ditto for the extra cartoon part-way through the credits. Those two contributions were just juvenile filth, and it's unfortunate that they had to overshadow some of the better ones with just how extremely awful they are.

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Score: 5

"Not spiteful at all!"

submission: Brawl Funnies [dick 3]

date: May 8, 2009

"Lastly, this post is not about me. I'm not writing this out of self-pity, bitterness or spite."

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah ahaha

Okay, we believe you.

May 9, 2009

Author's Response:

A few months ago ashford pride made a movie with a foreboding title. It was called "Awesome Grounds".

Well ladies and gentlemen, that's might as well what this site should be called (at least right now), with the top row on the front page slot dedicated to an "awesome" movie and an "awesome" parody, an "awesome" t-shirt in the newgrounds store, and pretty much every "awesome" movie in the top 100, along with han's "awesome's creed".

I can't go to newgrounds with seeing something not about egoraptor or his coveted video game parody series. It makes me wonder sometimes if pursuing anything but half-assed cartoons making mildly funny observations about video games laced with profanity is even worth it. Truly, they are what bring the masses of 13-year olds to this site, and thus increases traffic and competition in the internet world. But you have to ask yourself, with this sort of two-bit audience increasing in numbers, are they really interested in watching anything else?

I understand that it's a dog eat dog world in the online entertainment business, and to compete you have to pretty much put up content that a majority of internet browsers would click on. This includes either women or video games. Things they already know they want. And that's all they want. They sign up, watch more, and come back and do it again later. They're trained to know that what they want is easily accessible and is promoted all over the site.

Original content is often shuffled off to the bottom of the page, or never gets any attention to begin with. Now comes into play the whole 'they won't click on it unless there's a boob for the icon', etc etc. That's because they've been fashioned to think that way.

I'm not saying i have all the mysterious answers to the way people's minds work. But this much is true - if all people click on are breasts and video game icons, and you give them breasts and video game icons, you're not pushing the envelope.

Newgrounds is the epitome of user-generated content. We already have a massive advantage over youtube in the fact that making a cartoon involves so much more creativity than snappily editing your webcam footage. So instead of 200 cartoons coming out every minute, we have 200 cartoons coming out every day. That gives someone a better chance of breaking out and being discovered for his hard work, and a reward for a job well done.

But in the same way that viewers are trained that they don't have to go out of their way to avoid original content they would otherwise enjoy, authors are becoming more and more disenchanted with their personal creations and are turning to nerd culture icons and cheap tactics to get viewers.

I can't tell you how many animators I have spoken to that have shunned their own creations in favor of sub-pop culture parody and disjointed scripts sprinkled with toilet humor and profanity. a cartoon catering to everyone who's forgotten what cartoons are all about. And here we are shoving away everything about cartoons that was originally appealing and magical, because we're pretty much forced to.

I'm not pointing the finger at any one person here. I think it's part of the bigger picture - bigger than Newgrounds, too. But if people really care about the future of cartoons and animation, we wouldn't be seeing this kind of blatant favoritism.

People will find what they want if they want it. They don't need to be spoon fed it all.

For thirty years animators who strive to create something genuinely unique have gotten nothing but a slap in the face. It's sickening and it has to stop someday, before they all disappear.

Lastly, this post is not about me. I'm not writing this out of self-pity, bitterness or spite. I'm being honest. I care a lot about the future of animation, and what I see around me is very troubling. The industry is bad enough, but where the future lies is in the small corners of the animation world. Newgrounds is one of them. I spend a lot of time trying to encourage and teach frame-by-frame animation, and creating your own characters and scripts. That is what is important

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Score: 7

"Faux nostalgia"

submission: Hungry

date: November 5, 2008

Competent animation. Keep up the good work.

This was very reminiscent of an animation I've seen as a young kid. I can't remember if it was part of Sesame Street or something else, but it was an often repeated short animation of a cat who wanted dinner. The owner was distracted somehow (on the phone, as I remember) and wasn't opening the can for the cat, so it was trying all kinds of ways of getting the can open: Chewing on it, bashing its head against it, etc. Eventually, the owner realised the cat wanted food, opened the can simply with a can opener, and let the contents slither into the cat's food bowl. I think the cat was so exhausted by that point, that it just fell face-forward into the food. :D

Was this effort in any way inspired by the cat animation?

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Score: 6

"Good graphics and gameplay, needs a satisfying end"

submission: Shadez: Black Operations

date: August 29, 2008

The use of silhouettes and muted colours is effective for invoking an atmosphere of dust and death, and the sound work is suitable.

The gameplay is a little basic, but it is fun, and easy to pick up as you go. Unfortunately, as many players have found, there is a surefire strategy of heaping all of the money on tanks, attack helicopters, and artillery fire that ensures victory over and over again without detriment to the player's health.

This results in a game that becomes too easy, and essentially infinite, with no feeling of progress as the enemy hopelessly crashes itself upon the player's unstoppable forces.

What this game really needs is a satisfying conclusion/goal that players can reach. Right now, the game goes on until the player dies, with many quitting in frustration because that event seems to be far off. The inclusion of an enemy base than can be destroyed by the player's forces crossing to the other side of the battle field would change the object of gameplay dramatically.

I would also suggest giving the player less money to start off with, no money rewards for the player's units reaching the end of the battle field, and smaller money rewards for killing the enemy.

In conclusion, the game is far too easy, and needs recognisable achievements for the player to reach.