Jezendar's review, part 3 of 3.
Metal Queen - Vanilla Ninja
- created by Lilina
Graphics: 1.95 / 2
- Banner: 1.00 / 1
This looks nice.
- Background: .95 / 1
This one doesn't work quite as well as the banner. It would look nicer if the title was brighter, as it is in the banner.
Music: 2.00/ 2
- Song Selection / File Quality: 1.00 / 1
This song can easily translate from GF/DM to Stepmania.
- Edit Quality: 1.00 / 1
Hearing the guitar solo is nice. I no longer have the OSC 4 simfile for this, but I don't think it included the solo. (Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.)
Stepcharts: 5.60 / 6
- Light/Easy: .95 / 1
No issues here.
- Standard/Normal: 1.75 / 2
The beginning is a bit bland for a 6 footer, and some of the 8th arrows feel like they were just randomly thrown in.
- Heavy/Hard: 2.90 / 3
A nice chart, with some very interesting crossover patterns.
Main Total: 9.55 / 10 Extras/Penalties: CDTitle: 1.00 / (-1 to 2)
Decent looking source game icon.
Lyrics: 4.50 / (-2 to 5)
Only one issue: The line "And you are ready for a thrill" disappears too early.
Animations and/or Movies: 11.75 / (-5 to 15)
A decent quality recording of a Vanilla Ninja concert. It could perhaps look a little better, but according to your readme the first copy looked a lot worse...
Readme Extras: 3.50 / (-5 to 4)
Quote: "one of the only female stepcharts in existence." I assume you mean female steppers, as last time I checked, stepcharts don't have genders.
On a more serious note, this readme contains a good amount of stepchart info, and a wealth of information beyond that.
Extra Charts:
- Beginner Chart: 2.45 / (-2 to 3)
The 8th arrows simply don't belong in Beginner, even separated as they are from the other arrows. I would also recommend removing the arrow just after the pause; a new player would have trouble reacting that quickly to the end of the pause.
- Challenge Chart: 12.75 / (-5 to 15)
Not quite as entertaining as the Heavy chart, but still pretty good. The unusual spins (LDRRLDRR and similar) should prove quite interesting to those who enjoy spins in general.
Bad Synching: -2.00 / (0 to -10 or DQ)
The GAP's a bit off; I'm consistently hitting arrows a bit too late.
Total from Extras/Penalties: 33.95 Namida Girl - Miki Fujimoto
- created by Hamm
Graphics: 1.90 / 2
- Banner: 1.00 / 1
This looks nice.
- Background: .90 / 1
Almost the same as the banner. The banner is obviously not just a copy of the background, but a little more variety would be beneficial.
Music: 1.55 / 2
- Song Selection / File Quality: 1.00 / 1
Decent sounding song that shouldn't be hard to step.
- Edit Quality: .55 / 1
Using the full song wasn't wise; this file is much too long.
Stepcharts: .60 / 6
- Light/Easy: .05 / 1
This chart feels very random and has little connection to the music. Most of it is just a giant half note stream. Large portions of the chart avoid the right button; only 21 out of nearly 200 arrows are right arrows.
- Standard/Normal: .20 / 2
A bit more connection to the music here, but still not well connected and very random feeling. The freeze patterns were a bit boring. The 16ths during the end portion of the chart don't seem to go to anything. I believe the 12th's at the end are not correctly timed to the music, but for the reason given below, I can't test them in Edit mode as I typically would when I'm not sure on such things.
- Heavy/Hard: .35 / 3
The lackluster connection to the music and overall randomized feeling remain. Much of this is just three arrow 8th note streams over and over again. The freeze patterns are still a bit boring, and the 16th's during the final part of the chart still don't seem to connect to anything in the music.
Main Total: 4.05 / 10 Extras/Penalties: CDTitle: 1.75 / (-1 to 2)
Very nice looking step artist icon.
Readme Extras: .10 / (-5 to 4)
It's got something besides the required info...
Extra Charts:
- Challenge Chart: 12.00 / (-5 to 15)
The problems present throughout the other stepcharts are noticably absent here. This chart connect strongly to the music, the random feeling is quite minimal, and the extra non-freeze arrows during the freeze patterns prevent the player from getting bored by the long freezes. The only problem is the difficulty rating. This feels like a hard 9/easy 10 rather than an 11.
Low Quality Music or Music outside of length restrictions: / (0 to -8)
There's something legitimately wrong with this music file. It's nearly two and a half minutes long, yet Winamp states its only 1:45. Stepmania will not play the song in Edit mode if you select a portion of the chart that starts after the 1:45 mark. I can only suspect that the file's been altered to cheat ITG arcade machines into playing it. Since I'm not sure if this is in fact the case, I'll let NekoIncardine decide whether or not it should be penalized in any way.
Incorrect Difficulty: -2.00 / (0 or -2 per chart)
Problem Chart(s) - Challenge (11 vs. 9/10)
Total from Extras/Penalties: 11.85 Paranoia Disconnected Max (Hyper Dirty Mix) - 190 vs. Inspector K
- created by ????
Graphics: .80 / 2
- Banner: .45 / 1
I can't tell what the object in the banner is, even after your readme identified it as a phone. The title text is hazy and quite plain looking.
- Background: .35 / 1
The Paranoia title is very hard to make out; I see "patahoiB". The rest of the title isn't quite as bad, but it's still hard to make out, and the lowest line is blocked by the bottom bar of Stepmania's default theme.
Music: 1.90 / 2
- Song Selection / File Quality: .90 / 1
I've always felt that the Disconnected series is the Paranoia series of ITG, so I'm not surprised by how well the songs went together. Some parts of the mash-up do sound grainy, however.
- Edit Quality: 1.00 / 1
No issues with the edit, and the BPM gimmicks work well overall.
Stepcharts: 3.70 / 6
- Light/Easy: .90 / 1
Pretty well connected to the music. Feels a bit randomized at times, but that would be appropriate for a Paranoia-related chart.
- Standard/Normal: 1.45 / 2
So that's why the song hangs a bit before the start of each stepchart; there are mines set to the start of the music here. (What is "FY1" anyways?) The "OSC" mines near the end are amusing, but they don't look very nice because the "C" is one line shorter that the other two letters, and separated a bit from them. It ends up looking like "OS c". The chart overall isn't very interesting, as many of the patterns focus on two arrows at a time. This means the player won't be moving around the pad very much.
- Heavy/Hard: 1.35 / 3
Many problems. Those mines at music start are still present. There are several annoying double-taps during the early part of the chart. The karaoke steps set to the operator's voice are strangely timed and are timed differently on each repetition. It looks like they were placed in Record mode and just left as is. The two arrows in the first slowdown are intriguing, but the rest of the slowdowns just have too many arrows to deal with. The long jump streams simply aren't fun. Finally, the 16th patterns during the end are just onerous.
Main Total: 6.40 / 10 Extras/Penalties: CDTitle: 1.50 / (-1 to 2)
Decent looking, and amusingly appropriate for this song.
Readme Extras: .50 / (-5 to 4)
It's got a bit of info on the stepcharts, and some info on other things. But the carraige returns are poorly placed; with Word Wrap on, it alternates between full screen lines and quarter-of-the-screen lines. Also, it's missing several required pieces of information, including your name and contact info.
Extra Charts:
- Beginner Chart: 2.25 / (-2 to 3)
The chart is a bit boring at first, but gets much more interesting once it moves beyond the starting whole notes. I'm pleased to see that the arrows were kept away from the various BPM shifts, so new players won't need to worry too much about them.
Improper Background Formatting: -2.00 / (0, -2, -4, or -6)
The banner is only 320x240.
Total from Extras/Penalties: 2.25 Paranoia Survivor Min - DJ Tepples feat. Destiny's Child vs. 180
- created by
Graphics: 1.20 / 2
- Banner: .55 / 1
I don't think you missed a font here. This mess of fonts is just plain messy looking, and the "Paranoia" in particular blends into the background a bit.
- Background: .65 / 1
The Destiny's Child/Paranoia robot mash-up fits well with the song, but doesn't look as nice as it could; this is particularly true of the center head. The title is overly compacted; the words would look better if they were a bit more separated.
Music: 1.15 / 2
- Song Selection / File Quality: .25 / 1
To put it quite simply, these songs weren't meant to be mashed. There isn't a lot of Paranoia in here, which is probably a good thing as the song sounds the worst during the strong Paranoia parts. In addition, the backbeat (or whatever you'd call it) sounds very grainy.
- Edit Quality: .90 / 1
It's a lot more Survivor than Paranoia, so 80BPM would make a lot more sense than 161BPM does.
Stepcharts: 4.35 / 6
- Light/Easy: .80 / 1
Pretty well connected to the music. However, the long streams of two arrow jackhammers got old pretty quickly.
- Standard/Normal: 1.45 / 2
Less connected to the music than Light was, and much more random feeling. Overrated, as well; this is easily a 5 footer.
- Heavy/Hard: 2.10 / 3
It starts out strongly; the chart is well connected to the music's first verse. But once the verse ends, that connection is lost and the randomness increases. In particular, the first chorus seems to be backwards; 8th's during the first half where 4th's would fit better, and 4th's during the second half where 8th's would fit better.
Main Total: 6.60 / 10 Extras/Penalties: CDTitle: 1.50 / (-1 to 2)
Nice looking musician icon.
Lyrics: 1.75 / (-2 to 5)
The words in parentheses during the choruses arent' necessary, and just serve to make the lyrics difficult to follow.
Readme Extras: 2.00 / (-5 to 4)
Decent amount of information here, overall. And here I thought DJ Tepples was actually from East Germany.
Bad Synching: -2.00 / (0 to -10 or DQ)
I'm consistently hitting the buttons too late.
Total from Extras/Penalties: 3.25 September - DJ Speedo
- created by DahrkDaiz
Graphics: 1.40 / 2
- Banner: .80 / 1
Overlapping the title on the artist like that is not wise because, not surprisingly, the artist name gets obscured by the title.
- Background: .60 / 1
Pretty simplistic looking, and doesn't really connect to the song in any ways.
Music: 2.00 / 2
- Song Selection / File Quality: 1.00 / 1
I do believe that Speed Mixes have been part of DDR since its inception, so this Speed Mix is not surprisingly quite steppable.
- Edit Quality: 1.00 / 1
I was surprised when I realized this song is more than two minutes long; it doesn't feel that long at all.
Stepcharts: 5.60 / 6
- Light/Easy: .95 / 1
Strongly connected to the music, with some interesting patterns.
- Standard/Normal: 1.95 / 2
As above, with many interesting patterns.
- Heavy/Hard: 2.70 / 3
Having studied this chart in Edit mode, I can see that it is indeed doable without double-tapping (though I doubt I have the skill to do so myself). Only two real problems: The gallops are a bit difficult to time, as gallops typically have the 16th right before the 4th, instead of right after. And the freeze near-spins are pushing things a bit too far. Using non-freeze arrows for these patterns would make them much more forgivable to an 8 foot player.
Main Total: 9.00 / 10 Extras/Penalties: CDTitle: 1.25 / (-1 to 2)
Nice looking CD icon.
Readme Extras: 1.75 / (-5 to 4)
Good amount of stepchart info. But the carraige returns are poorly placed; with Word Wrap on, it alternates between full screen lines and quarter-of-the-screen lines.
Improper Background Formatting: -2.00 / (0, -2, -4, or -6)
Its just 320x240.
Total from Extras/Penalties: 1.00 V35 - Tiger Yamato
- created by will-i-am
Graphics: 1.90 / 2
- Banner: .95 / 1
Decent overall, but the color scheme of the image used is a bit odd looking.
- Background: .90 / 1
This is a bit more bland looking than the banner, and has that same odd color scheme.
Music: 1.95 / 2
- Song Selection / File Quality: 1.00 / 1
Though I haven't played Beatmania myself, I've yet to hear a Beatmania-related song that would not fit in Stepmania.
- Edit Quality: .95 / 1
It feels just a little too long.
Stepcharts: 5.55 / 6
- Light/Easy: .85 / 1
some of the patterns in the chart get repetitve over time.
- Standard/Normal: 1.95 / 2
No real issues here. It feels more like a 6 foot chart to me, but I think that's just a hard 5/easy 6 deal.
- Heavy/Hard: 2.75 / 3
There are a few places where the arrow pattern changes before the music pattern does.
Main Total: 9.35 / 10 Extras/Penalties: CDTitle: 1.00 / (-1 to 2)
It's a decent looking source game icon, but the generic grey "IIDX" icon I've often seen is much nicer looking.
Readme Extras: 2.50 / (-5 to 4)
Great amount of info on the stepcharts, and some info on other things.
Extra Charts:
- Beginner Chart: 2.85 / (-2 to 3)
This works well.
Total from Extras/Penalties: 6.35 Votum Stellarum - Iconoclasm
- created by Super_Ray
Graphics: 1.90 / 2
- Banner: .95 / 1
Very nice looking, but I'd push the title up a bit so it's not obscuring the people's faces.
- Background: .95 / 1
A bit more bland looking than the banner, but still nice overall.
Music: 1.85 / 2
- Song Selection / File Quality: 1.00 / 1
My comment in V35's review about Beatmania-related songs easily applies to Pop'n-related songs as well.
- Edit Quality: .85 / 1
This edit is too long, and starts to drag on during the last segment of the song.
Stepcharts: 5.75 / 6
- Light/Easy: .95 / 1
This works well.
- Standard/Normal: 1.90 / 2
Good connection to the music, with some interesting variety in the patterns used.
- Heavy/Hard: 2.90 / 3
Good overall, but the freeze patterns near the end are a bit bland relative to the rest of the chart.
Main Total: 9.50 / 10 Extras/Penalties: CDTitle: 1.50 / (-1 to 2)
Nice looking source game icon.
Readme Extras: 2.25 / (-5 to 4)
A good amount of detail on the stepcharts, and a little bit beyond that.
Extra Charts:
- Beginner Chart: 2.80 / (-2 to 3)
Good overall, but far below a 2 foot rating.
Total from Extras/Penalties: 6.55