I'm sorry if my reviews don't flow terribly well. I write a big list of short notes to myself while playing the files, which I then attempt to condense into something coherent. It doesn't always work, but by the time I'm done, I'm usually sick of looking at the damn things, so I can't be arsed to edit my comments.
All in the Way
Sarina Paris: always a good choice. Overall, this sim shows little in the way of technical flaws, but at the same time doesn't show anything terribly impressive. Light and Standard are both well made, Standard possibly overrated. I thought Heavy was a lot like Standard, though; enough that you really should have just made the Oni steps Heavy and forgotten about Oni altogether. As for Oni, I didn't think the 16ths fit very well; I otherwise felt both Heavy and Oni were uninspired and fairly bland. Your graphics are all nice. Heavy is definitely the low point of this file.
steps- 3.5/6
other- 4/4
overall- 7.5/10
Bouncin!
This is a great song, but like one or two instrumentals in the first bracket, the music constrains you to about three different patterns that just keep repeating. Light didn't have this problem. Standard has a little too much double-stepping, and those short freezes don't work. As for Heavy, the 16ths near the end go with the music, but don't really fit the rest of the file. I also felt there were a lot of LR jumps (what are those, 5 jumps or something?). I think what might have helped this file most was if you had cut the song down a little: it felt a tad long, and the repetition necessitated by the length of the music just killed the replay value of what would otherwise be a very fun step.
steps- 4/6
other- 3.5/4
overall- 7.5/10
Dancin' in My Dreams
Okay, you made me feel like an ass. Why? Because one of my first comments on the song was, "The vocals are really annoying." And it turns out to be the guy from Rhapsody. ._. OMGWTF. I guess he needs to stick to metal.
Okay, steps. This file features a lot of good patterns: Light and Heavy especially, Heavy has some great crossovers. This factor is watered down by a lot of what goes on in Heavy, namely tons and tons of jump combos, and a significant amount of odd (UDL, URL) 16th triples. And you know, without the 16ths, I wouldn't have called this a 9, so the rating is a little dodgy; or else the 16ths are.
And, you know, I didn't mention any readmes in B1, although I read them all; I find myself compelled to do so in this bracket. You sure do talk about yourself a lot, although you aren't the only one. I didn't give or take and points for readmes, I'm just sayin'.
steps- 3.5/6
other- 4/4
overall- 7.5/10
Do You Know
This is a very nice song, although the opening suffers from a lack of strong beats. Your Light chart flows very well. Standard has some freezes near the beginning that last a little longer than they should. Also, I think the final freeze which appears in, what, all the charts? lasts too long. Heavy's got good patterns, though there are a lot of places where I had to use one foot to hit a few arrows, in the 4/16/8 patterns behind the freezes. It felt heavily karaoke'd, too.
Oni's got a lot of 16ths that don't fit the music/chart, but it's a good deal more fun than Heavy. As for the graphics, they were both good, but the background didn't look as sharp as the banner.
steps- 4/6
other- 3.5/4
overall- 7.5/10
Fuku wa Uchi
This is a great file. You kept everything consistent, yet varied at the same time, and it all just worked perfectly. Light falls a little flat, and I thought the song's intro was rather long.
Honestly, there's nothing else I can say; this is a keeper. Great job.
steps- 6/6
other- 3/4
overall- 9/10
Gasolina
This is another great file. The slowdown was amazing, your charts are all well made and enjoyable, and Heavy especially is a solid 9 without being killyoass hard. The one thing you lost points on is the song. I fucking hate this song. By the time I started up the file, I was sick of hearing the word "gasolina" from the opening. Augh. This song reminds me of noise-related nightmares I've had. It's terrible. But despair not! For I really enjoyed your readme and gave you half a point back for making me LOL.
steps- 6/6
other- 3.5/4
overall- 9.5/10
High School Love
This is quite possibly my most favorite file in the tournament. It makes me sad, though, because I had to take off a lot of points for little technical things. Like, the fact that the background is really bad quality; not something that detracts from the fun, but definitely from your score. I also found your Light and Standard charts to be lacking. Light should be a 5; Standard made me feel like I was hitting the same arrows all the time or something. I'd like to thank you for resisting the urge to put stops in all the quiet spots, as I'm sure a lot of people would have wanted to. Unfortunately, the jumps in those quiet spots aren't a good replacement. That's about it, really. This is goddamn fun, and I'm keeping it.
steps- 5/6
other- 3.5/4
overall- 8.5/10
Inspiration
You know, I wouldn't have called shenanigans if not for the Standard chart. Seriously. There's some patterns in there I've never seen in a fanmade file before. Anyway, this is a beautiful song, it works great, it's almost flawless. Light might be underrated; Heavy's 16th jumps are a little weird, they'd have worked better as single steps for the most part. Other than that, it's great... first file or no. <.<
steps- 6/6
other- 3.5/4
overall- 9.5/10
Kickstart My Heart
I'm gonna sum this one up first: at least the flaws in the file don't stem from the song being metal. *cough*BlowMeAway*cough* I dunno why you decided to throw some Crüe into an OSC, but you made it work pretty well. You *do* have some flaws, though. Standard should be a 7, it's got some really hard sections (Light was solid, BTW). Heavy has some awkward patterns, which are a big problem at that speed. And Oni is basically Heavy with more steps, though it's funner. And oh yeah... THAT ENDING SUCKS. D:
steps- 3.5/6
other- 3.5/4
overall- 7/10
Little Little Princess
Let me start by saying that I hate everything in this file. That having been said, I'm going to stow the rest of the insults and give you some constructive criticism, since this is your first file and I'm a nice guy and I believe in constructive criticism. When you said this was your first in the thread, I was thinking, "This guy has some balls for entering a tournament with his first file." But actually, it's a great idea, because you're guaranteed to get some really detailed feedback on this file. So I gave you a half point on the steps for trying (well, and Standard wasn't bad), and half a point for being clever. Even if you didn't mean it.
Okay, for starters, you picked a bad song, straight up. The female parts are nice, but are ruined by that guy moaning and groaning in the background. Plus, it's over 2 minutes, and could have stood to be chopped down some. So I wouldn't recommend trying to redo this file, honestly; find another, better song, and start fresh.
Next, your graphics. Okay, they suck, I said it. I'm honestly the last person to give you any advice on them (look at mine), so I'll just say, if you want a good showing for your graphics, see if you can't find someone else to do them. If that fails, do what I do and Google. D: Just make sure they're good quality and not .jpgs, because those tend to suck.
Finally, your steps. First of all, randomly doubling the BPM in the middle of a song when it's not really suggested by the music is bad, bad, bad, bad and, lest I sound redundant, not a good idea. Note that I'm not complaining about when you halved the BPM, that actually works. Second... well, it's hard to know where to start. A lot of the steps don't seem to follow anything in the song. The long 16th runs in the slow parts aren't a great idea. Gallops at this speed are a big no-no. And that's just Heavy. Light should be a 5 (even Stepmania tells you so), and Standard ought to be an 8. Okay, your Standard chart wasn't that bad, I will give you that.
Anyway, it's a courageous showing. I wish you luck in the future.
steps- .5/6
other- .5/4
overall- 1/10
Love Is Eternity
Before I start, let me say, I've got a different version of this (steps as well as song), and it's far better. I'm sorry I'm comparing this to a file that's not in this competition, but there you go. I can't unplay the other one.
I read in your readme that you didn't want to use someone else's cut of the song; you really should have, because this goes too long (the intro could have been cut down), and because of that, it draaaaags. Your Light and Standard charts are good, straight up. Heavy and especially Oni suffer from doing the same thing over and over. And it's a hard same thing. And I didn't really like it. Also, what's with the background? It didn't seem to fit at all.
steps- 2/6
other- 2.5/4
overall- 4.5/10
some Japanese song, must be Nagai Yume
So, the song's last on the song wheel, but right where it should be in the edit/sync menu? o.o
Anyway, this is a pretty average file. I liked the video (it reminds of both South Park and Mischeif Makers o.O), but the song... God, lady, stop shrieking. o_<; Your charts weren't bad, but weren't spectacular. Light doesn't lend itself to that many jumps, or most of the blue steps. I thought the ending of Standard was rather boring; and speaking of endings, that very last step? That's in all three charts? Really shouldn't have been there. The song fades out too much before you put it in, so it feels a little sloppy. I like the ending freeze-jumps in Heavy (not the last set, but the set before), but otherwise, the charts was kind of basic. I think I said that.
steps- 3/6
other- 3.5/4
overall- 6.5/10
Paranoia Sky
Another ballsy yet clever move: entering a Paranoia in an OSC. Ballsy because you know it's gonna be compared to all the other Paranoias; clever because it's almost impossible to judge this as a stepfile instead of a Paranoia stepfile. Well, you pulled it off. I have two big complaints, but otherwise loved this file the more I played it. first, I wish you'd made a better background, rather than just throwing "sky" onto the old Paranoia bg. Your videos did make up for a lot of that, though, great choices. Second, that ending: would it have killed you to at least change which arrow was used? I mean, I can understand a theme element, but man... Hitting 8 rights just got old after a while. Fantastic otherwise.
steps- 5.5/6
other- 3.5/4
overall- 9/10
Pump Up the Jam
Man, I'm not sick of hearing this song, no sir. Still not a poor choice, all things considered, but you could have stood to cut it down a bit more, it was over 2 minutes. I thought your graphics were fairly generic; why the arrows in the background? As for the steps, I found Light unimpressive; Standard has too much of the same arrow over and over. And Heavy is a big mess of poorly karaoke'd yellow stuff. Honestly, you don't have to follow *every* note in the vocals. You can switch it up, or just give us something that follows the beat and suggests the vocals. The freezes in the "make my day" were extremely weird. It was all the same thing over and over, and really just not that great.
steps- 1/6
other- 2.5/4
overall- 3.5/10
Right Now
I can't say I'm a fan of the original, and this remix is somehow worse, mostly because they took out the vocals from the chorus that were, y'know, on key. The word for this file is "generic", because that's pretty much what everything was: generic, and boring. The text in your banner is good small. The steps are mostly boring, on all charts. That's it, really.
steps- 3/6
other- 2/4
overall- 5/10
Sakura Kaduki
I was disappointed by this, because your graphics are very pretty and got my hopes up. Light and Standard are nothing really special. Heavy I found very repetitive, especially toward the end. A lot of the steps right after the stop are very confusing (and why'd you put that stop in there, anyway?). More importantly, a lot of the 16th notes didn't fit the song, which, I should add, has some real beat problems, and was often too quiet for a decent beat. I think you also had some transition issues; looking at the file in the edit section, there seemed to be a number towards the beginning that didn't happen.
steps- 2/6
other- 3/4
overall- 5/10
Samba Brazil
This was great, except for one thing: the Oni steps. Maybe you should have submitted this to ITG, like you say you had thought about. Light and Standard are both good, Heavy is just perfect, but the Oni chart kills the whole file. I mean, for starters, this song in no way suggests "Hey, make a 10-footer stepchart for me!" But with all the long 16th runs, jump chains and tons of karaoke'd 16ths... yeah, I hated it. I'm gonna keep the rest, though.
steps- 4/6
other- 4/4
overall- 8/10
Seasons of Love
Sadly, the best part of this file is the song choice. What an awesome find! But your steps really didn't do it justice. You have some very odd patterns and rhythm choices, especially the "seasons of love" freezes in L&S. Also, there are too many of those, they got redundant after a while. Heavy's got a lot of old-school patterns going on, but otherwise I wasn't really impressed. Like, I really wanted to dance to the "twenty-five-thousand" on 16ths. Freeze spins, ugh.
steps- 2.5/6
other- 4/4
overall- 6.5/10
Sphere
Speedup bad. And I looked at it, and saw there's three speedup sections, and the third one doesn't even go to the rhythm. Most of your steps were okay, Light seemed underrated, but the streams in Standard didn't offset the rest of the chart, which wasn't good at all. I got very tired of all the UDUD in Heavy. Also, you shouldn't have thrown that extra info into the background. I thought, overall, this file felt very sloppily made.
steps- 1/6
other- 2/4
overall- 3/10
This Is Love
Am I the only person in the world who doesn't go gaga for Hikaru Utada? I mean, I never really found her to be that great a singer in the first place; then she did that "easy breezy JAPANEEZY" shit and I just started hating her. But enough of that.
Umm, what to say? This didn't leave much of an impression on me. Two things: you do something cool with a freeze jump in Standard, but that's about it. For all three charts. Two, freeze spins. There were some nice turns in Heavy, but far too many spins with technical steps. So, no, I didn't like it. Your graphics were very nice, though.
steps- 2.5/6
other- 3.5/4
overall- 6/10
Together
Yeah, I noticed the fadeout too, but you explain it well, so I'll give it to you. This is, unfortunately, another of those files that really doesn't stand out in any way. The graphics fairly generic, though the background leads nicely into the first video. The song was VERY repetitive. Not the best Smile.dk has done. The steps, in all, were just lackluster, they had no character. Nothing specific, just meh.
steps- 3/6
other- 3.5/4
overall- 6.5/10
Tunak Tunak Tun
This is, hands down, the WORST simfile in the tournament. This makes me look wistfully at my computer monitor and dream of Parasite World. Little Little Princess is far better than this epithet. Never before has my hatred of a simfile honestly made me hate the author. D: Yes, I hate you, DJThugLife, for making me experience this.
Where to start? Banner: squished. CD-Title: OMGHUGE. Opening: bad. Background: hey, it's a background. Song appropriatenesss: Dragostea Din Teï was enough internet meme songs for one tournament, thanks. Oh yeah, and you put your damn name in the title. If you hadn't, then my rage would have remained undirected to this day. Light: it's blue! That means you gapped it to the wrong beat! Standard: a complete mess. Heavy: even more of a mess. I thought Pump Up the Jam was a poor example of karaoke'd steps; I have no idea what any of these steps are going to. And it's the same crap over and over and over.
Somebody, please save me from the horror that is Tunak Tunak Tun. No, I don't know why you deserve half a point. I'm too broken to care. D:
steps- 0/6
other- .5/4
overall- .5/10
Way of Life
There isn't much to like about this file. I mean, it's rap, #1. It's rap with RICHARD HUMPTY VISSION, #2. His voice is worse than Jay-Z's, ugh. Plus, it's over 2 minutes, so I'm begging for a razor by the end. Steps? Well, Light was all right, and Standard was actually pretty fun, though you take a lot of liberties with the slow BPM. Heavy is where it falls flat: far too karaoke'd, and thus extremely repetitive. Also, there are too many sections of too many jumps all together.
So what did I like? The video. Yes, you get lots of furry happiness points for that video. Go
you.
steps- 2/6
other- 3.5/4
overall- 5.5/10
Wild Thing/Poor Boy
This is the only file in this bracket to get a 10 from me, and only the second in the DDR section I gave a 10 to. It's just perfect. There's nothing at all wrong with it (well, except you forgot the / in the background, but that's not worth that many points). I've been getting nostalgic about Prozzäk recently, and while this isn't one of my favorites by them (I prefer Saturday People to Hot Show), it's still a great choice for DDR. And you included the video. And you made great steps; I'll point especially to how you handled the quieter "I think I love you" part.
Congratulations; it's the only file this bracket I liked that didn't have any technical flaws.
steps- 6/6
other- 4/4
overall- 10/10
Wowowee
Thank you for that info in the readme. If nothing else, it helped explain the background. I think, however, you should have picked something a little more... I dunno, flashy? I mean, look at the title: it certainly doesn't scream "fishing boats" to me. But maybe that's because I'm not from the Philippines. Speaking of which, good job finding an OPN tune I don't absolutely detest. I've played numerous OPN simfiles before, and I was pretty much convinced that Philippine music is all crap. You have proven me wrong.
So what about the steps? Man, THIS is how you karaoke a song. Absolutely nothing in Heavy works the wrong way. Light and Standard both have nice patterns, too. This is a great file, and I wish you luck in making it to the end of the competition.
steps- 6/6
other- 3/4
overall- 9/10
You Give Love a Bad Name
Doesn't stand a chance.
