Developer: Eugene Karataev, Artem Popov and Johnny-K 

Link: http://www.playedonline.com/game/597857/splitter.html

Splitter is yet another physics-based online flash game. This time you take control of a blade and with it, you are able to slice up objects in the game.

This game consists of 25 short levels in which the objectives are identical throughout. You have to send the ball character from its starting point to the end point, denoted by a red circle. Levels are littered with obstacles that will block the ball from its path at the beginning of the level. They consist of wooden blocks, metallic blocks and bricks. With the blade, you are able to slice wooden blocks so that they can either be broken up or act as a ramp for the ball to roll on. Metallic blocks while unbreakable can be knocked off balance with enough force while bricks are totally static in the game.  There are also objects which are constrained to a fixed point by rope joints and can be released by slicing the rope. The scoring system is based on a timer, with the score reducing as time goes by. Additional score can be obtained through the collection of stars in the levels.

As you are able to slice objects any way you want and at the same the game relies on a physics system to function, most of the levels in the game can be completed in multiple ways. While this seems to make the replay value higher, I ended up not going back and replay all the levels again. This is mainly due to the game's uninteresting level design. After playing 10 levels, it gets really boring for me and I have to force myself to complete the rest of the 15 levels so that I am able to access the overall gameplay of the game.

The physics system in this game works remarkably well and is extremely responsive.

Graphics are very simple and works for the game. I am able discern between the different materials very easily as the objects in the game are painted clearly with the specific texture of the material. That said, the simple graphics also made the game a little boring to look at as every level looks very similar to each other. The background of each level is also of the same shades of colours making every level in the game look repetitive. Music is a looping track which works well with the game and the sounds are functional though nothing worth taking note for.

Splitter while not quite the best physics game I’ve tried is still a decent game with well implemented game mechanics. With better level design, the game has the potential to be very good. The game already has a sequel and is probably loaded with better levels.

Rating: 6/10

Weiwen

This is a classic game launched in 1994 that ran in DOS yet it is a very memorable game for me even though I played it when I was about 7yrs old. It is a real time strategy game whereby you control bugs wearing military outfit to gain territory and food pieces and eradicate enemy insects controlled by a 2nd player or computer AI.

The view is isometric and occurs in household locations such as kitchen counters whereby there will be food pieces lying around. You win the game by getting insects on the food pieces long enough whereby they will then plant flags to mark their territory. Upon succeeding, you will then proceed to the next campaign at a new location. Enemies are attacked by throwing bombs and different insects in the army such as ants, beetles, spiders or cockroaches will have varying strengths and abilities such as defense.

And interesting fact is that the game covers is a spoof of "Raising the Flag in Iwo Jima".

I think that the game is conceptually very interesting and humorous at the same time which makes it a great classic game back in the days.

Sushi Cat

http://www.kongregate.com/games/ArmorGames/sushi-cat

A pachinko-like game, albeit a cuter one. Players control a cat, who has to eat sushi that is placed in increasingly difficult to reach places blocked by barriers.

Gameplay is simple: players use the mouse to control where he wants to drop the fat cat. Once he drops the cat, the entire game is in total control of where the cat lands. The cat will, under gravity, fall toward 5 different openings (each having differing bonus points), and eats up sushi whenever he gets to them. The objective is not of points, rather, the player has to try to reach the target number of sushi that the cat must eat.

Art style is interesting. It employs a cutesy manga-ish style. There are intermissions in the game, playing a short animation showing the adventures of sushi cat. I'm not sure what this is for as it doesn't really affect the gameplay, and there really isn't much of a storyline to this game. I guess it just allows for the player to take a short break. What I do not like about the art style, however, is the way the cat is being depicted. He bounces around like a water balloon rather than a cat. Whenever he hits an obstacle, the entire body contracts and expands, depending on where the collision took place. To me, it looks like the cat is full of fats and water rather than sushi. What I really like about the animation is how the player gets to see a visual progress of how much more sushi he needs to eat. On the left hand side, there is a view of the inside of the stomach of the sushi cat. As you eat more sushi, you will see them dropping down his stomach. The level is completed when the sushi has filled the entire stomach. I like it because most games display a numerical value, rather than a graphical one.

Music is whacky, it employs a japanese/chinese influenced soundtrack. When the player goes into the game, the music style changes. Some stages have a flangy guitar soundtrack, others have a more upbeat hiphop type of sound. I fail to see the link between the soundtrack and the theme of the levels, so I guess the music would work interchangeably among the levels.

This game really really reminds me of Peggle or Peggle Nights by PopCap games, which I will review next week, to show the similarity and differences between these two games. But overall, I had a fun time playing this.

Rating: 7.5/10

Battle City!!! Battle City (known as Tank in some regions) is a multi-directional shooter video game for the Nintendo Family Computer produced and published in 1985 by Namco. The game was later released for the Game Boy and was included in the Japanese version of Star Fox: Assault. It is a port of the arcade game Tank Battalion with additional features (including two player simultaneous play, and an edit feature, both explained later). There was also a rendition for Nintendo's Vs. System arcade cabinets.

What is it about?
The player, controlling a tank, must destroy enemy tanks in each level, which enter the playfield from the top of the screen. The enemy tanks attempt to destroy the player's base (represented on the map as a bird, eagle or Phoenix), as well as the human tank itself. A level is completed when the player destroys all 20 enemy tanks, but the game ends if the player's base is destroyed or the player loses all available lives.

GamePlay
Battle City contains 35 different stages that are 13 units wide by 13 units high. Each map contains different types of terrain and obstacles. Examples include brick walls that can be destroyed by having either the player's tank or an enemy tank shoot at them, steel walls that can be destroyed by the player if he has collected three or more power-up stars, bushes that hide tanks under them, ice fields that make it difficult to control tank and pools of water which cannot be crossed by tanks. There are four progressively harder types of enemy tanks.

The game becomes more challenging in later levels, as enemy tanks may act as decoys to lure players away from their base so that another tank can destroy it. In addition, flashing tanks could be destroyed for power-ups. There are several types of power-ups: tank symbol gives an extra life, star improves player's tank (having one star make shots faster, having two stars allow two simultaneous shots, having three stars allow the player to destroy steel), bomb destroys all visible enemy tanks, clock freezes all enemy tanks for a period of time, shovel adds steel walls around the base for a period of time and shield makes player's tank invulnerable to attack for a period of time.

Why I simply love it?
Those kinda games whereby you are defending your brethren or company in pursuit of extinguishing your counterparts. It makes it all exciting where you can evolve into bigger, heavier tanks with firepower that will scare many. The levels gets more challenging as we progress and it calls for some serious gaming and firepower. Playing with a friend is most encouraged as you will hand in hand conquer lands that you first deemed unconquerable. Kind of building up the camaraderie as well you know. Overall rating 8.5/10. Classic game.

Game: Wood Runner
Developer: SlientBayStudios

Link: http://www.miniclip.com/games/wood-runner/en/

What is it?

This game is a 3d racing game.The objective is again to be the first one to reach the finishing line. However this game is quite a little from other typical racing game. The game characters are all animals eg Turtle, Fox, Ferret and Skunk. Players can choose one of these game character.In this game, the controls are left,right,up,down (directioanl keys) and x(throw acrons) and z(special power). YOU can throw acorns at the other player so as to slow down that player. If YOU are near to the other player,YOU can actually throw the acorns continously at that player then that specific player will sort of fly off from the path and landed behind you. This game of mechanism kinds of interest me as you can actually do something to the other player to stop them from winning.

Collectables?

In the race, there are two items to collect namely the star and the lighting bolt icon. The lighting bolt represents speed and will give you temporarily speed. Player has to collect 5 stars to get the special power which YOU can use to stop the other player from surpassing you. The special powers varies from each game character. For example, the skunk's special power is the green posionous gas and the turtle's special power is bees. For me, i kind of like the special power function as it gives the thrill when you successfully "HIT" the other player.

Duration?

Each level lasted 5 mins and each level consists of 3 laspe. Each level design is of a different scenary and a different track course. One thing to note is that the structure of the track course is not shown in the game so player will have to act accordingly as they sees the path approaching. I think this way is better as it gives the player the UNEXPECTED feeling of where the path is going. The track course is not that difficult as well thus adding the structure of the track course will be redunant as well.

Asethetics?

I think it is quite interesting to use animal characters rather than the usual car model character. The interaction of the special power hitting the characters is also quite interesting. For example, one of the character is being strike by lighting (one of the special power). I think this game is quite funny in a way which is rarely seen in a typical 3d racing game.

Player got "HIT" by special power from Skunk player.

"YOU WIN"!!!