HonestGamers - Revolutionary scoring system (RSS)

I spent the last two weeks working on a new rating system, I like to call it Revolutionary Scoring System or "RSS" for short. When you see RSS from now on you will know that it is talking about my rating system.

People say it's impossible to write objective reviews but I prove them wrong here with my new rating system. Each line is awarded points and then we add the scores and see how good the game is. Below are the rating items for "graphics" and the objective scores for Super Mari0 Maker as an example.

1. Animation (0 to 3) - Super Mario Maker is a 1 for animation, things move but it's nothing special
2. Resolution (0 to 2) - Super Mario Maker is a 1 for resolution, better than Atari 2600 donkey kong but worse than Nier Automata
3. Color Fits (0 to 3) - it gets a 3, the colors match what they're supposed to match
4. Smoothness (0 to 3) - I forgot what this means exactly, but it seems smooth so I'll give Mario Maker a 2
5. Color Variety (0 to 2) - this is objective. 0 to 14 simultaneous colors is "0", 15 to 24 is "1", and 25+ is "2". Mario Maker gets a 2
6. Sprite variety (0 to 2) - automatically gets a 2 if the game uses polygons. I give Mario maker a 1
7. Sprite size (0 to 2) - a 1 is Golden Axe, a 2 is Final Fight, Mario Maker sprites are smaller so it gets a 0 sorry
8. Sprite numbers (0 to 2) - score of 1 for 5 to 9 sprites at once, 2 rating is for 10 or more. 3D games is automatic 2 since one character can be hundreds of polygons which is like a lot of sprites. Mario Maker gets 1
9. rotation (0 to 2) - depends on how much it has. I don't remember rotation in Mario Maker so 0
10. scaling (0 to 2) - let's call this a 1 because some of the shoe enemies are big
11. other FX (0 to 2) - it has that disco stuff and other weird things, so Mario Maker gets 2

Graphics rating for Super Mario Maker: 14/23
This is 61% which is like a D school grade, so Super Mario Maker has objectively bad graphics. I like them anyway.

Please give feedback if you think I did anything wrong with my rating system.

Comments 10

joseph_valencia Jul 12, 2017

Are you serious?

Nightfire Jul 12, 2017

Yeeeah. I'm wondering if you're trolling, too.

JedwardRandy Blogger Jul 12, 2017

To show the seriousness of RSS here are the other rating items, I have not spent time to score Mario Maker against them so I only list the items and point ratings.

Playability 1. Character speed (0 to 4)
Playability 2. Technique (0 to 3)
Playability 3. Bonuses/powers (0 to 3)
Playability 4. "Attitude" (0 to 2)
Playability 5. Responsiveness (0 to 4)
Playability 6. Complexity (0 to 3)
Playability 7. Level "mazeness" or interactions (0 to 3)
Playability 8. Variety or randomness (0 to 3)

Sound 1. Music tunes (0 to 4)
Sound 2. Stereo quality (0 to 3)
Sound 3. Instrumentation (0 to 3)
Sound 4. Digitized sound effects (0 to 3)
Sound 5. Channel use (0 to 4)
Sound 6. Effect quality (0 to 2)
Sound 7. Fitting sound & music (0 to 2)
Sound 8. Music quality (0 to 4)

Theme 1. Cinema screens (0 to 5)
Theme 2. Idea concept (0 to 2)
Theme 3. Idea usage (0 to 5)
Theme 4. Does it enhance game? (0 to 4)
Theme 5. Overall fun (0 to 5)
Theme 6. Overall quality (0 to 4)

by scoring all of these items we can reach an objective score for every game. The decision to weight one item 0 to 2 points and another 0 to 4 points was subjective but if we rate all games by RSS then that will equal out and we have objective scores. Please consider using RSS

What I mean in last paragraph is if we say that 1080 progressive graphics is more important than 8-channel music, that was a subjective decision, but if we always rate all games by the same measure then the end result is objective. RSS is my serious try to put stake in ground so that we can score games the same way always.

Fiddlesticks Jul 12, 2017

I like this system. How does RSS rate Axelay and Space Megaforce?

I think it's best not to put too much thought in a score. It's better to convey your thoughts in words and just use the score as a shorthand for your overall assessment of the game.

EmP Staff Jul 12, 2017

so Super Mario Maker has objectively bad graphics. I like them anyway.

10/10

JedwardRandy Blogger Jul 14, 2017

Oh fiddlesticks, RSS rates Axelay 329 and Space Megaforce 272

jerec Jul 15, 2017

I like this stuff. Makes me nostalgic. I miss when I could see lines like "Story 0/10 - This is a sports game and doesn't have a story" or a Rent or Buy recommendation for an arcade cabinet, or stuff like shining gameplay.

bwv_639 Aug 17, 2017

The only sub-ratings I have felt are needed -- given people's varying abilities and that touching on the topic in non-indirect ways would upset many, thus indirectness is required -- are a couple to describe the challenge the game poses (intellectual challenge / manual challenge -- or something of the sort).