So. After watching even a part of the first debate, I have to say... this is pretty accurate, aside from the fact that the "Jimmy Fallon" of the actual one didn't get to speak or ask questions most of the time.

I think I'm late on reviewing this.

But oh well. Review time!

The intro is interesting, and the music seems to fit in well. It was a bit confusing though, at first. I wasn't sure what was meant to happen. After a little bit though, it was revealed. It looked pretty good, and the music was ok, but in the end, the point of it escaped me, and I wasn't sure what it was supposed to symbolize or if it was just supposed to look cool. It definitely looked good, and made me think a bit about what it was supposed to mean, so I suppose it's alright. I think it would have been better if there were more of a plot or point to it though. If there was a plot or point, I think it would have been nice if it were clearer...

-Review Request Club-
-SWINT-

Okay! First review in my 3-hour rush! Let's go!

Ok, it's a tad confusing, but honestly. Nice work! Even without having read the previous ones, this is still really good, and I understood it reasonably well (...I think).

There's a lot of "heavy" content, and you can see the problem with the main character clearly. I thought the beginning was interesting, showing that dragon-like-thing-beast-whatever-it-i s in a world that I can only assume is the mind of the main character. The plot is well-done, thought I'm not exactly sure what made the main character's friend pull the fork out. That and how it actually went alright. I'm also not exactly sure how the main character can talk, considering she (assuming it's a she) has a fork in her throat. /Generally/ people wouldn't be able to talk if there was a fork lodged in their throat. Just saying. The music is nice, fits in well with the comic, and though there isn't much animation, it doesn't need it. It's a comic, not really a movie.

Overall, good plot, good music, good art, good multi-world idea. Hope to see more.

-Review Request Club-
-SWINT-

This game is neat, but fails on a few key points that makes it extremely frustrating when they're all happening at once.

- The enemies are instakills, which is extremely frustrating with highly finnicky controls.
- Some experimentation in jumping is necessary to understand that your controls remain reversed until you land.
- Difficulty ramps up REALLY REALLY fast. Right on level four, it becomes insanely difficult, if only due to the timing of the enemies.
- The time limit is very unforgiving, and makes it nearly impossible to win some of the levels, let alone actually get all the stars. The stars should be hard. The actual level itself, not quite as much (not if the stars are meant to be a bonus).
- The character's hitbox seems to be just a little bit higher than the sprite, by a fairly significant amount.

Other than that though, it's pretty good. The animations are well done, the aesthetic is consistent, and it's just generally fairly well done. It's too bad I couldn't go too far in due to the excessive difficulty from the mechanics. That really harms it the most.

Now this is a twist... I don't often review games (and that probably shows...), but I think I'll make an exception in this case since I love tetris so much.

THE GOOD:
-Creative idea.
-Generally responsive controls with a few issues I'll discuss later.
-Music is cute, fitting, and NOT A REMIX OF THE TETRIS THEME. Thank goodness. I've heard way too many tetris remixes on tetris-themed games.
-Different kinds of mino add good variety.
-Well-implemented interface.

THE NOT-SO-GOOD: First and foremost, two problems with the controls that SERIOUSLY hurt my ability to enjoy the game.
-One is that the slippery placement is slightly bugged. If you try to rotate the mino while it is on the ground or move it too much, it seems to think "place" right after rotating, which caused many problems for my placement while I was trying to get a piece in just the right spot. It would also randomly decide to not place one piece after twice as long as another piece, which caused weird issues as well.
-The other, larger problem was with tilting the world. If I moved a piece to the side, it would tilt the piece's orientation with regard to the center as well as teleporting it out to the edge and seemingly DOWN. This was especially a problem in situations where there's no spot on the side I'm on, but there is on an adjacent side. I move the piece over and it teleports to a place where I would have to move it up, even though I had to pass the place I planned to put it en route to flipping. I feel as if a better way of dealing with this would have been recording the placement of the blocks with regard to the center, then turning it and keeping every orientation and placement of the minos the same... the only actual difference would be how you can see the pile and what direction your pieces are moving.
-The music does get annoying after awhile, though this is comparatively minor as people are probably focused on the game.
-Learning curve is VERY steep. Perhaps an optional tutorial would have been good?

Overall: This is a pretty darn awesome idea, and as a lover of tetris I REALLY love the idea. Unfortunately, the two bugs I had mentioned are very annoying and cause me to dislike the game quite a bit more than I would have otherwise. If you can't replicate the bugs on your end from my description, I'd be more than willing to take a video of the issue.

-Skye Wintrest, that guy who makes weird and creative music and LOVES games.

I have to say, for a first game...

This is pretty darn solid. I'm going to use the bulk of the review on things that could be improved, not because it's bad, but because there's a lot of stuff you could do to make this shine far beyond a solid base.

The good:
-Solid, decent controls.
-Solid, decent guns.
-Pixely graphics get across what they need to, and they aren't bad.

Improvements I'd suggest:
-A better soundtrack. While it's appropriate, a simple bass/drums combo is a bit... plain. Granted, the game itself is plain, and not complex, but it could definitely be improved upon.

-Better ammo system. It's really, really annoying when I have an uzi, an AK47, and a M16, I'm trying to use the bullets sparingly, and I STILL run out of ammo before the day ends. You pretty much have to learn to click the mouse really fast and be precise in bullet use. (4 for small zombie, 8 for middle, I think 16+ for the big one) Perhaps ammo drops would fix this, it could also cost per bullet at the store to make up for it. That would make it more realistic as well. Also, a weak melee weapon with knockback (or strong melee weapon without knockback) would really help. By the time you can use it, you'll have taken damage.

-Bigger area/more zombies/more weapons. This is a large section, which I think would make the game a lot cooler. Granted, it could also revamp the game completely, but... First of all, in a shop that sells an infinite amount of bullets, has the world's best doctor, and an entire arsenal of guns, why wouldn't it have grenades, bear traps, and some kind of 'armor'? Not to mention different kinds of guns, wood for blockades, and barbed wire. I'm sure you can see how these would be used (bear traps only outside, kills one zombie on the ground before being disabled, blockades can be placed, costing a certain amount of wood/cash, and barbed wire can be placed on a blockade to harm zombies destroying it). The house could have more floors, and the lawn could be wider. This would make it more interesting. I would recommend having a front lawn screen, first floor screen, second floor, and third floor. Zombies could eventually come in through the roof, they could come in through the back door, and through the window. You could shoot the floating zombies from the second floor and the front lawn to kill them, once they come in they're a normal zombie. An enemy with a ranged attack would be good as well.

Though this is a bit messy, hopefully it has some good ideas that could be implemented in another update or other game.

As I said, this game is a wonderful base. I just don't think it's a full game quite yet, more a mini-game that's for killing 10-15 minutes. I feel like it should be in a larger game rather than being on its own as it is. But as I said, it could take off and go quite far if done right.

Good luck!

(-4 because I need to leave room for its potential, +1 because I'm pretty impressed with the quality of it already, since it's your first game)

-Swint of the Review Request Club-

MoundsofMayhem is such a great name, lol. Time for your VGMC II review! If you haven't seen my other reviews, I will be leaving two main critique sections of what you need to work on most, followed by a section detailing things you did really well and should keep on experimenting and working with!

Points of critique:

- First of all, let's look at your composition. One of the main things I'm noticing here is that you seem to be having some mild difficulty with your chord progressions. I get the impression you know some of what you're doing, but may not have studied other pieces or gone through more formal music theory lessons (at least, not western music theory which this piece is audibly aiming for). You may actually find the "Fundamentals" section of this website to be helpful if you don't know it: http://openmusictheory.com/contents.html Obviously, read through more if you're interested! But, from that basis, I'd like to point out that western music theory operates on "tension" and "release" - generally your chords in this style will roughly follow this format: [I - IV - V - I], with most extra embellishment between I and IV. One particular spot where this would have helped is at 1:32 where you added an extra chord between V and I. However, if you simply went directly there, it would have helped quite a bit. Similarly, when writing your melodies, a very simple way of making sure they stay harmonically consistent is to plan your chords first, then make sure your melody plays a chord tone whenever the chord itself first plays (likely on the downbeat). For one last note on composition, definitely be careful with your rhythm. Right at the very beginning of this piece, you sound like you're playing in 3/4... but then add extra notes around 0:10, and shift to something more like 4/4 at 0:38. Remember, 3/4 and waltzes typically strongly emphasize the first beat, then emphasize beats 2 and 3 less than the first downbeat.

- Secondly, let's have a listen to your instruments! These sound an awful lot like soundfonts, especially once the percussion comes in at 0:55. However, one thing I'm noticing about this musical palette is that certain things are sticking out FAR more than others. For example, that bass at 0:14 is rather loud, while your percussion at 0:55 was something I only noticed after several listens as it is VERY quiet. Try using a limiter at the end after doing your mixing, or at least check the volumes of your instruments to make sure things like your kick drum have a good thumpy impact to them. You can also increase the overall volume of your track, though please do try to use a limiter for this rather than just raising the volume, so you can keep it in check!

Complimentary Compliments:

- This feels super retro and reminds me a TON of the days when I used to compose and render out of musescore instead of doing works in a full DAW, haha! (Over a decade since then, kinda crazy to think about) It gives me a happy vibe, and I REALLY appreciate those trills and slide notes especially, they have a lovely texture and feeling to them. Please continue using them in future works, as you use them very effectively here. I also wanted to comment on the last section with the music box - while it has the same type of metric issue mentioned in my first point of criticism, it really caps off the whole thing quite nicely, and the dissonance here works VERY well. One of the most well-executed parts of the whole piece, I think! Regardless, I wish you luck on your continued musical pursuits and I hope this review is useful to you.

Hi ProdMARROW! Time for your VGMC II review! If you haven't seen my other reviews, I will be leaving two main points of critique with explanations and expansions on the point, as well as a section of compliments and aspects of your piece that I think work especially well.

Points of critique:

- Let's look at the organization of this piece, to start. Keep in mind that this is intended to be for a game - typically in games, discrete areas tend to need either constant themes (in this case a loop) or music to introduce the place and transition to ambient noises, with a moderate exception for playable cutscenes. The way you've composed your piece would make it very difficut for each of the three parts to be looped or to introduce a section. Part 1 has the least issues, as the quiet horn ambience could definitely be played slowly in the background on loop of exploring a creepy decrepit mansion. Part 2 would have much larger issues as it directly progresses with very little reasonable possibility for looping or fading into the background. Part 3 has a couple small parts that could loop but ultimately has the same issue as part 2. Now, this doesn't mean your individual parts can't have development. But for a game, you may want to have more of a looping [AB] structure for individual parts, even if you also have transitions between them. Cutscenes may also be an option for this style, but probably not the entire track including transitions as it exists right now.

- Okay, structure aside, let's talk about the production of the track. First things first, width and reverb. You have a lot of width in your track... but it seems to almost entirely be from reverb. Try panning more of your instruments and increasing their stereo separation. You can also reduce reverb (depending on the orchestral library you're using, obviously), as it seems to be muffling quite a bit of your fine detail. Additionally, something that will REALLY bring out your fine detail would be mastering this track. Much of the leveling is done already, but you could stand to use the full dB range for this track by using a limiter to pass over it. It seems like you want to maintain relative dynamics, but here's the important point there: Dynamics are far more than just dB level, and rather are a function of the specific frequencies contained within that dB scale. Having your track at roughly -1.0dB for a majority of the track will allow for MORE fidelity since there will be more space in the waveform for smaller, subtler sounds to be brought out into audible range (like I believe you have some choirs? But they're barely audible if so). Notably one particular spot that REALLY needs this is the ending, where your final orchestral hits around 3:00 just don't have as much "oomph" as they feel like they should from an arrangement standpoint.

Complimentary Compliments:

- Okay like. Criticisms aside, this sounds like a soundtrack to a short film based on the theme. That's AWESOME. You have some awesome samples, really neat dissonance (some of the shifts like at 1:12 especially, have phenomenal dissonant contrast). I love the bass swells and the overall vibe of this. I'm a big lover of atmosphere in general, so that helps a ton! Mainly, it has issues if used as a game soundtrack - but as an independent piece? Fantastic. And the score of this review should hopefully reflect that, haha! I wish you the best of luck in your future compositions!

Hi MOOOKS! Time for your VGMC II review! I have two main points of critique that should give you a good idea of what to work on next, then a set of things that I think you did particularly well and don't need to focus on improving right now.

Points of critique:

- This track's largest flaw currently is DEFINITELY the composition, so I'd like to take some time and focus on it specifically. Starting with the first portion, sounding like a type of "dance" theme, you may want to be somewhat careful with your meter. Many dances are set in groups of 3, using 3/4 time. You seem to lean into this at first, but then switch to 4/4 rather abruptly in each phrase. This has an unfortunate effect of making the piece feel almost "stuttery", like it can't quite make up its mind. For a dance section I would recommend sticking with 3/4 time as it has a very flowing sound emphasizing the start of each beat. If you listen to western classical waltz music, you'll actually notice this pattern in the bass, using a pattern of "down-up-up" for each measure to maintain a bouncing feel. You can build an entire piece around this!

- Next, let's look at the other aspect of your composition. A lot of your sections have an issue of seeming aimlessness. This isn't always present, but many sections such as 0:16-0:40 or 2:10-2:40 exemplify it fully. I think this actually doesn't stem from your melodic writing itself, but moreso your chord progressions. There are multiples ways to sketch out chord progressions, but you may be most interested in more standard western classical styles for that sweet sweet formula of "tension and release" letting you make dramatic flourishes in your music. You will want to know roman numeral notation for this (it's pretty simple if you don't know it, any basic music theory website should have it) - but [ I -> IV -> V -> I ] is essentially the formula that you can use, even using the I chord at the end to start the same thing again. Most classical chord progressions focus on this and just add extra chords between I and IV to embellish it and space out phrases. I would recommend trying to write your chords first and make sure they sound good, using classical theory or modern pop theory or just playing entirely by ear. Once you have that, you can start writing your melodies around it. Try making sure your melody includes one of the chord tones each time you play a chord, so that it still fits into your harmony. Using something like [ I -> IV -> V -> I ] will primarily be helpful for writing melodies that have a climactic point (the IV -> V) and conclude (V -> I) before a new melodic phrase continues.

Complimentary Compliments:

- I actually really dig the aesthetic of your instruments. It's super classic retro sound, reminds me a lot of 8-bit styled games. You also have some really nice themes despite aimlessness in others. Like, for example, at 1:00. That's wonderful! I'm glad you use it a lot too, actually - it provides a very lovely hook. Your arrangement in each section is also very nice overall, following a classic "ABA" type format. I think as you iron out more of the kinks in individual sections, you'll be able to make some pretty fantastic music (especially for retro games if you keep this aesthetic!)

Well, that's creepy. I like it.

I wonder how he's alive. Those injuries seem bad.

Also, happy birthday!

Excellent as always, friend.

You always have a way of making things seem so realistic, and so different from reality at the same time. It's beautiful.

These are some sexy images.