The collision kills are really cheap. The opening and shutting barriers move so slowly compared to the scrolling of the screen that if you arent all the way to the right when they first appear you have no choice but to run into them.
And the boss suddenly appearing on the left side of the screen and getting an automatic collision kill (unless you know about it beforehand) was also really cheap and dumb. Id also change the health display to a bar instead of tokens.
I was enthralled by it until it turned into a shooter. I think you'd be much better off doing a platformer. The shooter part didn't hold me for very long. Since it's just a demo I don't really know what rating to give it, but if it was a full fledged game I probably would have just skipped commenting or rating since I closed it right after the gameplay started.
If you're going to stick with the shooter, it's generally a bad idea to limit the ammo the way you are. I tried that on my first shooter, too, and in testing no one understood why the gun suddenly didn't work. ("The gun is glitchy, it just stops working randomly...") You'd be better off doing limited ammo on a secondary weapon, or making the game more tactically oriented - rather than action oriented - and limiting the number of shots. Right now you're kind of in an awkward middle area.
Also in a shooter like this, you should focus on how you want the player to play the game. Are they supposed to hit every enemy, or is it just a clusterfuck that you have to dodge through and the weapon is more of a shield. Here, too, you're in an awkward middle area. If you're supposed to hit every enemy, you should have a money/score system that rewards you for each hit and links to upgrades that make it easier to kill more enemies. If it's a clusterfuck, then you need tons of enemies or bullets moving in predictable patterns so the game becomes about dodging and sniping whatever is in your way. Rewards should be given in this option for distance traveled, where hitting checkpoints is tied to an upgrade system that makes dodging easier. There could be other play-style options too, it's just important to think about what exactly you want the player to do.
Lastly, protip on using bitmaps in flash: Either turn on smoothing (Library Properties -> Allow Smoothing) or make sure your bitmap is always on a pixel and not halfway between. I just use Math.Round() to snap it to the nearest pixel. That'll get rid of all the funny jumping around and image tearing. Smoothing eats up CPU and snapping it to the nearest pixel won't move as smoothly when it's going slow, so you usually have to decide which tradeoff you want.
Awesome review! Thanks for the protips man.
not a fan of these controls
Can you be more specific in a PM? I aim to please, bro.
Well first of all, I dont really like these kind of games. But for me it's just another person trying to make "that kind of game". Its not original and people doing it all the time.. Trying to make a weird or disturbed atmosphere for example the game closure. Sincerely it was very very boring.. The shooting wasn't that fun.
I dont like the way its drawn, it's weird and make no sense. You know what would be original that human plays a role and your just on earth no fantasy bullshit. Thats something no one does around here.
But well thats my opinion. I would like it if it wasnt all weird and stuff.. The ship im flying what is it? how is it hold together? Why dont just make a space ship that makes sense.. It may be fun for some people.. but every game here on newgrounds does that.. Its not cool or original.. kinda pretentious..
I'm sorry, but i found it pretty boring.. I hope I helped you..
I make games as an escape. If you want something 'down to earth,' I might suggest going to your local DMV or filing your taxes.
you lay so much focus on the graphics, which look really interessting, but didn't put effort in the control, there are no physics at all at the ships movement, it's just about moving it some pixels up or down, without any acceleration or breaks, it just doesn't feel good..