f r o g r e v i e w: d a y 27

Here's an honest critique of the 5 "best" movies and games of the day.

This review was supposed to come out sooner, but 5th place had me delving into Ancient Egyptian history for 3 hours straight.

Entries thread: https://www.newgrounds.com/bbs/topic/1534102

Authors: @mukpuddy Countess-Karo @Half-Elephant @Chauder @SomeDoodles

1st: 3/3 (+1 bonus point)

This seems to be very professionally-made, almost TV quality. Well, as professional as you can with Adobe. The industry is currently shifting to Toon Boom Harmony.

Anyway, as Tony the Tiger would say: the series is grRrRRRRrreat! I haven't heard much of this one compared to other team megaprojects like Monkey Wrench or Ollie and Scoops, and I'd like to find out why.

UPDATE: Turns out the rest of the series is already on YouTube. Catch up!

https://www.youtube.com/@mukpuddy/videos

2nd: 1/3

Laugh at PINGAS as many times you want, just know that this is not TikTok.

Compared to the Kirby animation a few days prior, which is about the same length, there is quite a bit more animation, that alone I'll give a point for.

3rd: 3/3

Sprite animation, using 100% original background and sprites. And they all fit within the pixel grid.

Most sprite animations, especially from yesteryear, often rely on vanilla sprites from external sources with varying levels of modification (sometimes none), and tend to scale and rotate them, which overall cheapens the whole thing.

None of those tricks are here. It's very well-made, great style, with good music too.

4th: 0/3

LEGO animation: This is a 3D render and not stop-motion: It is a remake of a clip from a season 5 episode of The Simpsons.

Given its length, and the author's own admission that "it didn't come out the best", I unfortunately cannot score any higher. Better luck next time!

5th: 1/3

Flash Forward Jam entry. There are ten shorts, each based on the Plagues of Egypt (W), or in other words, God's response to the Ancient Egyptians who wouldn't free the Israelite slaves so they can get out of Egypt.

It's supposed to decpit them in a humourous setting, but as a daily winner, it's relatively basic, 1st place aside. The animation features the usual Flash crud, and the plagues themselves are very straightforward (especially "death of firstborn").

Plus a bunch of out-of-context historical inaccuracies that may have been overlooked:

One big thing that a lot of modern fiction always does is that most depictions Egypt are usually set in a big desert with the pyramids as a stock background element, with very few plants in sight.

Geographically, about 95% of Egypt is desert, however, most of civilization, both historically and today, tend to live closer to the Nile River, which in Ancient times, flooded every year and made the soil fertile, making it useful for agriculture (W).

The image below shows the Nile Delta, which is where the majority of the flooding took place.

This should be relevant to "Blood", which features the Nile turning to blood, and maybe also "Livestock" as well.

Some other minor nits:

1- there exists evidence that the pyramids weren't originally beige, rather they were white. The exterior was made of limestone, but over time the limestone was removed, exposing the beige we see today.

2- corn didn't exist outside the Americas until after the 1500s (Locusts)

PS: I was working on an entry myself, but I had to put it to rest. Not only was I not able to find time in between two collabs, but Flash kept crashing whenever I opened my submission for some reason.

Overall, it's a bit lacking. Not crap, but just seems small: 1st place seems to be pulling most of the weight here.

Total Score: 9/15 (61%)

Best/Favourite:

#1, #3, #5, #2, in that order: