Christmas 2004 Dualstream Day of Zeux Judging Sheets:Galladin

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- Galladin's Scores -
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#17915 - They hide in the dark (topic: fear)

Gameplay: 25/75
Not much to do, except killing like, 20 enemies or so, plus the boss. Yay. The game was pretty short.

Graphics: 50/65
The game had pretty decent graphics, mediocre animations and palettes (except for the one used in the title board).

Innovation: 5/45
Well, it had nothing new. Built-in bullets? Status bar (displaying only the hit points)? Simple enemies? Seen those.

Plot: 18/40
Uh, evil creatures inside a well, kidnapping people and stuff? And then, in the end, all they want is a duel with you? Not very convincing.

Music & Sound: 18/35
It didn't work. The songs didn't actually suit the game.

Theme: 18/30
Fear? Well, it was there. The way the sleeping townsfolk mumbled, they were extremely horrified.

Discretion: 10/15
The game over thingy was annoying, I thought it was a bug or something. Plus, in the boss board, it kinda bugged, and I could see "outside" the screen. Other than that, it worked well enough.

Total score: 144/300

#1799 - Dungeons down under (topic: ancient ruins)

Gameplay: 30/75
So, the game had a random dungeon generator...which was nice, it worked (or at least I couldn't see any bugs or anything like that). Again, not much to do, run around, kill enemies by running into them...reminds me of those old roguelikes, like...uh...ADOM. :) EXCEPT...those actually had more things going on...you know...quests, more enemies, and so on...all I encountered was snakes. And boy, those Australian snakes are apparently pretty tough. The game was pretty difficult.

Graphics: 5/65
You see...the only bad thing about those old roguelikes (that this game tries to rip-off) was the fact that they had crappy craphicks. And I see absolutely no reason why NOT to try boosting up the graphics in a MZX game, since you can actually do it (and it's not that difficult, either). So, this game used the basic ASCII char set, except for the borders of the rooms. Oh, and it had a decent title board, that's where the 5 points came from, matey!

Innovation: 28/45
The fact that you couldn't see the rooms before you entered them was nice...however, that's not very impressing...the character creation system was good, though. And the dungeon generator worked.

Plot: 1/40
Yup. Like the help file said: "It's basically your run-of-the-mill _dunegon_ crawler with very little plot attached. You're an Aussie who's going to go loot the ancient ruins of Ayer's Rock."

Music & Sound: 15/35
The song in the title board was pretty horrible...but kinda worked, since it made me to prepare myself for the rest of the game. The cheesy tune in the dungeons was kinda catchy, not to mention the song in the game over board (even though I'm pretty sure I've heard it about a billion times before). No other sounds whatsoever.

Theme: 17/30
Ugh...yeah, I can see, it was an ancient dungeon...but that's it.

Discretion: 14/15
Well...everything seemed to work fine...the game over board was a little bit buggy, though. Crikey, matey!

Total score: 110/300

#2004 - Afraid to forget (topic: fear)

Gameplay: 10/75
No title board. One playable board. About 15 enemies. A lousy sword-engine. Self-exploding buildings. What else can I say.

Graphics: 26/65
At least it didn't use default char sets. But then again, the graphics could've been a lot better, like, actual human figures instead of smileys.

Innovation: 13/45
Well, there was a sword engine. But it was buggy. The blood effect was cool. That's all.

Plot: 18/40
A guy has lost his girlfriend, and goes on a rampage and starts killing his schoolmates. Oh angst!

Music & Sound: 3/35
Buhh...no music, just the basic "MZX beeps".

Theme: 20/30
Yeah, the guy was "afraid to forget" his girlfriend. Pretty original, I'd say...

Discretion: 6/15 Well, since it was so short, there wasn't much to be annoyed of. However, the sword-engine was pretty damn crappy. First of all, the overlay "stuck" on the screen sometimes. Also, at one point, I couldn't use the sword at all. That was kinda annoying. Oh, and no title board. :(

Total score: 96/300

#22947 - a game about fear (topic: fear, surprise surprise)

Gameplay: 1/75
This game had one playable board. AND IT WAS AN INVISIBLE MAZE. Mazes are evil...and invisible ones are just a pain in the ass. The only thing you could do in the game was to stumble around in the maze, and finally, pull the switch, just to see what the maze actually looked like.

Graphics: 5/65
Uhhuh...water was nice...and Bob looked pretty handsome. And the walls of the maze looked...interesting.

Innovation: 0/45
Yeppers. THE Maze.

Plot: 5/40
Yeppers. THE Bob and the cannon. It was so pathetic, that it was almost hilarious. Almost.

Music & Sounds: 0/35
Yeppers.

Theme: 5/30
I was afraid that the game was longer. I'm glad it wasn't.

Discretion: 1/15
I couldn't see the walls. :(

Total score: 17/300

#323 - Voyage of Fear (topic: fear)

Gameplay: 46/75 Well, first of all...I had to use the editor to find the first board, since the title board was "broken". Nice flamethrower, to be used with mouse. It took me a while to realize that it was there, since there was no introduction to the controls. But at least it worked. So, basically, it was a sidescroller, in which you jumped around killing those nice sprite enemies and stuff. The flying skulls were a little annoying, but oh well. The boss was nice, too.

Graphics: 60/65
Nice graphics. Simple, but nice. Good use of palettes, too. I kinda liked the cutscenes, too, even though they were made of solid blocks. The animations weren't that amazing, but at least they existed.

Innovation: 39/45
The flamethrower thingie, or whatever was supposed to be, was cool. It worked perfectly, at least for me. Sprites were well used, and the title board was nifty.

Plot: 10/40
Umm. The plot was reaaally vague, and it was only presented in the form of cutscenes. Like, "You are a vampire".

Music & Sounds: 17/35
No music. :( The sound effects were good and effective. :)

Theme: 12/30
Um, yep. Apparently the player was on a voyage through his nightmares or whatever...so I guess he was a little bit afraid. But it didn't really match the topic.

Discretion: 8/15
Yeah, the fact that the title board was broken and the visible robots in the upper left corner of boards were the only things that actually annoyed me.

Total score: 187/300

#35975 - Are you afraid? (topic: fear)

Gameplay: 58/75
A decent puzzle-solving game. Lots of puzzles, some of which were somewhat original, and others...well, not that original. However, the puzzles were REALLY annoying and difficult, in a way.

Graphics: 32/65
Well, the graphics were quite simple and a little bit too vague. But at least it didn't use the default char set. The palettes were okay, too. But just okay.

Innovation: 34/45
Kinda innovative puzzles. And the plot was pretty innovative.

Plot: 39/40
In my opinion, this one probably had the best plot in this DoZ. Which is good, since the game was pretty much plot-based. Nice twists and turns.

Music & Sounds: 20/35
Amazingly, the music worked pretty well. It created a nice athmosphere. Some sound effects were used, too.

Theme: 26/30
It was definately there.

Discretion: 14/15
The puzzles were maybe a little too difficult. Other than that, it was quite flawless.

Total score: 223/300

#4865 - Scottish adventure (topic: ancient ruins)

Gameplay: 65/75
Woah. I really liked this game. Another puzzle-solving game, in which you run around gathering items, which kinda "grant" access to other areas. Unlike in "Are you afraid?", the puzzles were pretty creative and nifty. I like how it actually made me think. ;) Later on, it became a little repetitive, but, it still managed to keep me going.

Graphics: 64/65
The graphics were awesome. Decent animations. The floor in the first board was a bit too...um..."messy". Oh, and best title board ever. And I totally loved the palettes, the purpleish colours gave the castle a great look. All in all, the graphics were awesome. It had good animations, too.

Innovation: 31/45
The puzzles were pretty original and funny.

Plot: 28/40
The plot was nothing really amazing, a scottish cat-like-dude "buys" a castle, filled with puzzles and a haunting ghost. But hey, it worked well. The ending was nice. :)

Music & Sounds: 35/35
Ah. Loved the music. Nice, cathcy songs, they created a nice mood, and the title song was perfect. Could've used some more sound effects, though.

Theme: 22/30
The castle didn't look that ruined. Apparently, it was pretty ancient, though.

Discretion: 15/15
I couldn't see any flaws or bugs.

Total score: 260/300

#5349 - Unearthin' Egypt (topic: ancient ruins)

Gameplay: 47/75
A nice sidescroller, starring none but the almighty Massachussetts Jones. However, this one was pretty nice, compared to some of the other sidescrollers in this DoZ. The jump-engine was decent. At one point, I had to use the editor to continue playing, and the bosses were somewhat vague. Short, a little broken piece of adventuring and sidescrolling.

Graphics: 48/65
Hm, yeah, decent graphics. Nothing spectacular, but hey, it's a DoZ game. The animations were good, for a 1x1 character. The sky behind the pyramid in the beginning was kinda ugly, though.

Innovation: 38/45
The first boss was pretty good, nice job there. The whip engine was nice, too, even though it was a little buggy. The levels were well designed, in my opinion.

Plot: 26/40
Brief introduction: Massachussetts Jones is obsessed with Egypt, and goes to investigate a strange pyramid in Cairo, to vanquish the evil spirits or whatever, and to gain some wealth in the process.

Music & Sounds: 16/35
Again, the theme song was nice. However, the rest of the songs weren't that good. Had a couple of sound effects.

Theme: 24/30
Ancient ruins it was, for a certainty.

Discretion: 8/15
Since I couldn't really finish the game without using the editor, and since the whip-engine was a little buggy, -5 discretion points. Wait, no. I can see the engine robots.

Total score: 207/300

#548 - The infernal fear (topic: fear)

Gameplay: 5/75
A sidescroller. With built-in enemies and default graphics. And with a tutorial board. On how to kill built-in enemies. ;_;

Graphics: 0/65
Default graphics. ;_;

Innovation: 0/45
;_;

Plot: 0/40
What plot. ;_;

Music & sounds: 1/35
"Built-in beeps". ;_;

Theme: 0/30
I couldn't see any fear. ;_;

Discretion: 0/15
Everything. ;_;

#6168 - Judgement of the immortal (topic: ancient ruins (apparently?))

Gameplay: 58/75
Yays, an RPG/adventure game, with a turn-based combat system, and a random level generator, which worked perfectly. The levels were kind of boring, they consisted of monsters (well-made ones, by the way), treasure chests, and forest. And it was VERY repetitive. Sure, the combat engine worked well, and you could open the treasure chests, filled with money and healing potions, but...what's the point in gathering money if you can't use it? The game seemed to lack a purpose. However, I must admit, it was an entertaining journey through the Woods of Boringness. The topic was a bit vague.

Graphics: 50/65
This game had nice graphics, even though I got a little bored of seeing the same "random blocks" all the time. The only animated thing seemed to be the player character himself. And buhh...it was poorly animated. But at least it was animated. :D I liked the palettes, though, they made the forest look fresh and natural.

Innovation: 45/45
Pretty much everything was new. Sprites, turn-based combat system, random level generator (apparently "grid-based" one, too), and so on.

Plot: 27/40
The plot was okay, and somewhat original. The player goes on a quest to find the Shrine of Suralno, "where the sun won't shine". :D However, since the game was so short, the plot didn't really advance or go anywhere.

Music & Sounds: 18/35
It had only one song, but it didn't really bore me, for the game wasn't very long. It suited the forest well enough, though. No sound effects.

Theme: 16/30
Like I already mentioned, the topic was a bit vague. There was the shrine...and the prologue also mentioned that people were afraid of the shrine. Yet, the topic wasn't presented anywhere in the game.

Discretion: 11/15
It was pretty short. And it was pretty repetitive. And it lacked a title board. Oh, and just like everything else in this game, the HP meter was pretty revolutionary, too. I liked how you could have like, -200 HP and still continue adventuring. I really wish it would've been longer.

Total score: 225/300

#743 - The temple o(f?) Ketera (topic: ancient ruins)

Gameplay: 20/75
Uhhuh...YET ANOTHER SIDESCROLLER...and this one is not so good. The levels are pretty crappy and simple. Way too simple, I'd say. And, the enemies were a bit too weird and simple. Not to mention the bosses. If someone expected to win with this game, he/she must be nuts. Oh, and the jump-engine...well...it was crappy and buggy, too.

Graphics: 22/65
The graphics were really weird. The player is a...ball? Also, there was a little too much empty space. And the palettes weren't that good, either. The player was animated, however.

Innovation: 5/45
Nothing new. Unless you count the weird graphics to be innovative.

Plot: 35/40
The plot was decent, it presented an original view on the whole Atlantis lore. I liked how, once again, the US was the first/only one to send their army to solve the problem. But yeah, kinda original plot, I must say.

Music & sounds: 14/35
It had some good songs, yeah, but they didn't really fit in.

Theme: 25/30
Yep.

Discretion: 5/15
The whole game was kind of annoying. It made me sad. :(

Total score: 126/300

#7486 - Zeeb's interplanetary adventure (topic: ancient ruins)

Gameplay: 29/75
An inventory puzzle game. Yay. At first it looked kinda nice, but in the end, it was pretty damn short & unfinished. The interface system thingy was nice, though. :D It was a little buggy, too. For example, I couldn't select the screwdriver while I was using "grinades", I had to select handbook first, and then select the screwdriver. Also, I noticed that you could plant "grinades" inside walls and destroy them.

Graphics: 36/65
The graphics were all clean and clear, until I got into the Sarnian jungle. It was a mess. The palettes were ugly. And oh god, smileys. With feet.

Innovation: 24/45
The inventory thingy was nice, I've never seen anything like that before.

Plot: 21/40
Well, it a simple plot, too. Two nations are in war with each other. The main character, Zeeb, joins the military forces, and immediately gets a task: "find the Pearl of Riddian, so that we can win the war". And, then, their spaceship crashes. Whee. Better than nothing, though.

Music & sounds: 23/35
Catchy title song. All in all, the music suited the game.

Theme: 15/30
Yeah, apparently the Pearl of Riddian was hidden in an ancient temple.

Discretion: 12/15
Um, it was unfinished.

Total score: 160/300

#812 - Jeff Kenny, Secret agent (topic: ancient ruins)

Gameplay: 20/75
Okay. A game with different kind of combat moves, ie. "kick", "punch", and "roll" (!). Well. I'm speechless. I don't know why, but the game just had this horrible feeling to it. The combat moves were pretty lousy. And the plot was...non-existant. Not to mention the enemies, who were stupid, retarded, simple, idiotic, retarded, simple, and retarded. I couldn't even finish the game without using the editor, for I got stuck.

Graphics: 24/65
The "stickfigurISH" characters weren't that beautiful, I'm telling you. The palettes were bad, especially in the Kyken Ruins.

Innovation: 27/45
The combat system was pretty innovative, and I liked the fatigue idea. However, neither of them worked properly. I constantly kept running out of fatigue really quickly.

Plot: 12/40
I couldn't really get a hold of the plot. You start the game at some airport thingy, and then you are supposed to get some document on your boss' desk. And...then you try to find a gem inside of an ancient temple or something. :( Come on. I'm sure you can come up with something better than that.

Music & soungs: 11/35
The music was really annoying, I'm glad I don't have to play that game ever again.

Theme: 8/30
Buhh. Yeah. I got this feeling that someone else forced the author to put the ancient ruins there. But sure, the gem was inside the "temple".

Discretion: 6/15
I hated the controls for the combat moves. And fortunately the guy didn't want to miss his sleep and didn't make this any longer, otherwise I would've sued him for torturing me.

Total score: 108/300

#84865 - Fear nothing (topic: fear)

Gameplay: 29/75
Hm, this game was nice. Nothing really impressing. It's a...uh...maybe a hack n' slash kind of game, with some interesting weapons, such as a pipe (?!), a shotgun, and a pistol. And...uh...there wasn't really any kind of difficulty. And it was really boring.

Graphics: 28/65
The graphics were pretty ugly. Not to mention the palette. It was all gray and "blank". Smileys. It took me some time to realize that the main character was a girl. :(

Innovation: 5/45
It really had nothing that I hadn't seen before.

Plot: 30/40
The plot was kind of interesting, but not that good.

Music & sounds: 10/35
Horrible. :(

Theme: 20/30
Well, it fit the topic alright.

Discretion: 8/15
Buggy weapon-engines. FLAMING FATHER FROM HELL. :(

Total score: 130/300

#9532 - Run! Run! Run! (topic: fear)

Gameplay: 70/75
The gameplay was awesome. It was actually fun to run around, trying to avoid the...uh...horrifying things that kept chasing you, such as hot dogs. The viewport was maybe a little too small, but I guess that was the point. However, it was quite short, only 3 levels. The radar was awesome, although I didn't notice it until I got to the 3rd level and couldn't find the way to the yellow door. Yeah, the radar worked PERFECTLY.

Graphics: 60/65
The graphics were good, they suited the whole game really well. I liked the background graphics, especially in the Space Station level. The player character looked hilarious. The title board was neat, too. The palettes could've used some contrast.

Innovation: 45/45
The whole idea of the game is pretty innovative and fresh, in my opinion. Or, at least I haven't seen any games of this type done in MZX before. Oh, and the radar...just awesome. Nice job.

Plot: 5/40
The weak part of this game. You are afraid of things. Boo. Run, Forrest, run!

Music & sounds: 30/35
The music created a nice athmosphere, and worked. Lots of good sound effects, and they were used widely.

Theme: 18/30
Um, yep...you were afraid of things. That's it. Hm, good enough, I guess.

Discretion: 14/15
Too short. Otherwise, a perfect piece of humour and DoZ spirit. :D

Total score: 242/300

#962 - Zombies (topic: ancient ruins)

Gameplay: 20/75
Good god. Another sidescroller. With two types of enemies. The ones that fly and do nothing. And the ones that are really slow, and do nothing. Oh, and you attack the enemies by walking into them. How clever. Not to mention the bad level designing and completely fucked up jump-engine. Not fun. Not fun at all.

Graphics: 40/65
The graphics were okay, nothing spectacular, but better than the default char set.

Innovation: 5/45
I couldn't see anything innovative.

Plot: 11/40
You are a zombie on a journey to find "the jewelled crown of the lost Arabian king". What a masterpiece. That kind of stories are getting a little old nowadays.

Music & sounds: 10/35
Enter Sandman! \m/ However, it doesn't work really well.

Theme: 12/30
Ruined. :P

Discretion: 9/15
You know what went wrong.

Total score: 105/300

#96234 - Tha Mindkilla (topic: crap)

Gameplay: 0/75
Graphics: 0/65
Innovation: 0/45
Plot: 0/40
Music & sounds: 0/35
Theme: 0/30
Discretion: 0/15
Total score: 0/300

It wasn't a game. :(

Weight ranking:

1 - #4865 - Scottish adventure
2 - #6168 - Judgement of the Immortal
3 - #9532 - Run! Run! Run!
4 - #323 - Voyage of Fear
5 - #5349 - Unearthin' Egypt
6 - #35975 - Are you afraid?
7 - #84865 - Fear nothing
8 - #2004 - Afraid to forget
9 - #1799 - Dungeons Down Under
10 - #7486 - Zeeb's interplanar adventure
11 - #17915 - They hide in the dark
12 - #962 - Zombies
13 - #812 - Jeff Kenny: secret agent
14 - #743 - Temple o Ketera
15 - #548 - The infernal fear
16 - #22947 - A game about fear
17 - #96234 - Tha Mindkilla

Phew. Kuru's gonna spank me for being a lousy judge. :(