Mochi Game Review Mash-up: Sunday July 26, 2009
It’s Sunday, a day I normally leave for TV shows on the DVR and playing
with my kids outside. But, I’m trying to get a good handle on
the quality of Mochi Games, so I am reviewing the latest 9 games on the
publisher page everyday (or as often as I can). Rather than focus on
the Mochi featured games, I want to see all of the games, from he drek
to the new MochiCoins games. All games are the product of some hard
work (some more than others), and all deserve the same chance to
viewed, review and played. That being said, I am fully aware that few
people really cares what I think about their games, and that reviews,
in general, are a pretty lame way to decide to play a game or not.
I play each game for about 5 minutes and then do a brief write-up on my
first impressions. Some games deserve much more time, some are
candidates for me to put in our Retro Arcade Showcase, and some make me
want to throw the mouse at the wall in disgust. Let’s see which ones we
get this time…
Note: My ratings are getting harsher as my patience gets tested. The
more of these I do in a row the more C’s D’s and F’s were are going to
start to see.
Game: Smiley Blocks Unstacker
Description: A match-2 , 3 and 4
style puzzle game with colored blocks and a time limit. Blocks stack up
the bottom of the screen and your job is to remove like colors in
groups of 2,3, and 4 stacked vertically or horizontally.
First Impression:
Not really innovative, but certainly has some play value. On the harder
levels it is a challenge. The timer bar is a nice element.
Rating: C+ :
Pretty average, but has some nice elements, up beat music and pretty
good game play. The visuals are simple but effective.
The hand-made font is pretty nice, but the system fonts look
a little plain.
Game:
Shoot’m
Description:
Using an ever expanding arsenal of weaponry, cause as much damage as
you can to the stick-man.
First Impression:
There is a difference between “Flash Games” and games “Made In Flash.
FLASH games are diversion made for and by 14 year old boys. There is
nothing wrong with that. Games Made In Flash are simply games made with
the technology that puts swfs in a browser, but usually look and act
like traditional console, classic, board, or retro games in some way.
This certainly is a FLASH game, rather than a game made in
Flash. It isn’t really my cup of tea. but I can see the appeal. The
stick-man has some nice animations and some time was definitely put
into the arsenal of weapons.
Rating: B :
It certainly has some appeal, and the location shots are
pretty hilarious.
Game:
Yoko
Description:
Run, jump, collect and explore in this well done Great Giana Sisters
(sic) style game.
First Impression:
What a lovely, well made platform game in the style of Mario. A tribute
to all great 16-bit platformers.
Rating: A :
High quality all around. I will be bringing my young son back this one,
even it I think he would like to kill the stick-man in Shoot’m more =)
Game: Konect
Description:
Draw a line to attach all life savers but don’t let the life savers hit
the lines (?!)
First Impression:
Even after playing I don’t quite understand if I can’t draw my line
across itself of not. This is a FLASH
game , not just a game made in Flash. It is a little like
Filler or Qix and is quite challenging.
Rating C : I
find it kind of fun and I am sure it was a challenge to build and
de-bug. I would love to give it a higher rating, but there is
something missing that it needs to get into the B range. I
can’t put my finger on it though.
Game: Rescue Service.
Description:
Use your plane to rescue people and shoot baddies in this ambitious
side scroller.
First Impression:
I had high hopes for this one, but it is all wrong. Sorry, I
really wanted to like this, but it needs some major improvements. I
can’t tell if I am successful or not at it. I can say that it
is certainly fun to shoot all of the green missiles at the ground, but
other than that I can’t really understand what to do. The
passengers on level one look like robots, but that doesn’t really
matter. It is cool that I can shoot them, and I see my rescue number go
up when I land on them. Those are the best pluses for this
game right now.
Rating: D :
There is the shell of a nice future game here. It has some good retro
themes and it isn’t just another click the dot, shoot the
dot, throw the dot, match 3 the dot game. It has some
innovation and a clear sense of the retro past. Please pretty it with
some polish and I will give it a proper play through. I would love to
give it an A grade some day (or at least a C).
Game: ‘Hang the Boss’ Trivia. Economical quiz.
Description:
Hang man with business related word puzzles where the boss dies if you
fail. What is this, Enron?
First Impression:
Play really difficult hang-man word puzzles and if you fail,
you hang the boss. You start by choosing from Marketing or Business /
Finance questions (does the fun ever stop?). The puzzles
seem to have been ripped directly from text books on the subject. This
is actually a very adequate and fun way to study for a test if you have
read the books or material it references. As a casual game it fails
miserably. It might do well in a word game contest though.
Rating: C :
Some bugs, such as the HTML text boxes are showing HTML mixed with the
text in the instructions. This is a pretty good engine that
can be used for better applications than casual games. It isn’t much
fun unless you know the subject and the interface needs a little polish
and improvement.
Game: DropSum v2
Description:
A Mochi Coins puzzle game not unlike Sudoku, but also not like it at
all.
First Impression:
The goal is to make rows and columns of numbered circles that add up to
9. This game has a lot of polish and is done quite well.
There are loads of extras and special tiles. It reminds me of Book Worm
Deluxe with numbers.
Rating: B.
Well done. I don’t find games like this to have lasting appeal, but
with loads of tiles and a premium mode (400 MC), it seems that a lot of
time was put into this one. Its gets a B because I am still not fully
behind paying extra for web games. Prove to me it works and this game
gets an A.
Game: Adaptation
Description:
A basic shooter with a unique twist. You become the letters that fall
down and hit you.
First Impression:
This game isn’t much to look at but I like it. It falls into the Flash
Game category (by 14 for 14), but it also has a little special
something to it. Your shots change based on the number of protrusions
out from the letter you are shaped as. There are also some pretty nice
faked particles.
Rating C :
Overall it is lacking, but it certainly is a nice blast for a few
minutes.
Game: Bird Hunter
Description:
Shoot birds by rotating your character and firing your gun. Shoot 25
before time runs out.
First Impression:
Not bad for a max 1 hour game.
Rating:
D : Needs some major improvements just be make it to a C. For
what it is, it is kind of fun, but one play through is all you need.