For nearly a decade, Newgrounds.com has provided us with a variety of popular characters, ranging from original gangstas like Pico and Samurai Asshole, to the more modern hit, Alien Hominid.

Two years ago a group of long-time Newgrounds contributers (Mindchamber, NegativeOne & Luis) were sanctioned to bring this motley crew of characters into a single game where they could live togethet in harmony. And by harmony, of course I mean brutal destruction.

Newgrounds Rumble is a side-view arena rumble game in the same vein as the Smash Bros series, with all the action and mayhem one would expect from the ever-popular genre.

Artistically, this game is a beast. With a cast of 10 characters, all hand-drawn, and each having their own special level, it’s very apparent that the near 2-year production time was not wasted. The attacks and combos are all rendered beautifully, and the backgrounds could give any modern console game a run for their money.

The sound is amazingly impressive as well, especially when you consider it’s all backed into 8mb. Every character has distinct effects, and even some minor voice-work that makes it really feel like a classic arcade game. The music keeps the pace up and never gets annoying. It’s like chicken soup for the ears.

The gameplay is what really makes this game stand above the rest. Every character has a very unique fighting style, and the strategy changes dramatically based on which character you play. Each opponent has a certain vulnerability… and even the levels themselves change the way you will play. The way you can mix regular, fierce, ariel and crouch attacks lets you really feel like you are doing more than just mashing buttons over and over.

While this game has so many triumphs, it also has a few shortcomings as well. Some are petty nuances, like the letters on P-bot being backwards when facing left, some effect the actual gameplay.
The AI, while challenging, is pretty predictable. If you camp out at a powerup spawn point, they will pretty much keep coming right into whatever attack you have waiting for them, and you will horde all the powerups.

The combo chaining gets a bit annoying at times as well. There is a noticeable delay after each attack where it waits to see if you are going to keep the combo going. Typically this isn’t a big deal unless you find yourself needing to turn around because your opponent has jumped over you or something.

The junk yard level is kind of lame as well… you don’t have to throw a single punch… just stand as bait beside the crusher and it will beat all your opponents for you.

Take the good with the bad though, because in spite these small shortcomings, the game is damn fun. Everything from earning ‘grounds gold’ to unlock characters and levels, to the fact that every single character has an enjoyable story mode, and you have an extremely impressive title here.

I would love to see a sequel to this with even more characters, more power-ups and some of the minor flaws removed and possibly some online play. It could definitely roll with the big dogs of the console world.

[ Let's get ready to RUMBBBLLLLLLLLLEEEEEEEEE ]

Awww man, I loves me some side scrolling shooters, and Agent Wing Defenders (final) by Lan is a great addition to the many that are out there.

Graphics are very well done and I’d suggest trying it out on high quality as I encountered no slow down on my lil comp. While everything looks prerendered, I like the pixelish looks to it, making it seem ever more like a classic scroller. Good cut scenes and thank god you can skip them. After playing several times you already know what’s going on and don’t need the tips or the story line so much.

From the main loop to the explosions, the sound comes through all around. A “turn off sounds” button would have fleshed it out completely but no other real complaints.

What makes a great 2d side scrolling shooter? Play the game and you’ll see. The gameplay is top notch with a very easy to control plane and a good fire rate. Nice option on being able to use the arrows or WASD to move, with A for shields S to shoot (arrows) and H for shield and J to shoot (WASD) with ENTER to pause. The waves start out easy, so don’t worry about power ups, as they will come and when they come you’ll need them. As you can see in the screen shot, there’s some fun enemies. I won’t give away to much except I’m gonna be late for work from this one. GO GO GO GO GO!

[ Play Agent Wing Defenders ]

Five ’til by JMTB02 is a nice addition to the “4 sec games” genre but with an actual plot and a bit more than 4 seconds to know what the hell is going on. Around 30 seconds per level, which is nice for old and bitter people like me.
Nice action and decent art. While it could be spruced up art wise it in no way detracts from the great game play. Some better backgrounds and better explosions would flesh it out more, but you’re going so fast trying to get crap done you hardly notice it, unless some dumb reviewer mentions it then you can’t help but notice.

Sound effects and audio are well played except after I beat the game and listened to the end music for 10 minutes before I closed the window. Other than me zoning out, nothing annoying with what you hear.

ANGRY FIST SHAKING MOMENTS: for some parts where you have to use the mouse I REALLY wish I could see what part of the icon that got changed I’m actually using. The wire cutting took me several tries because it’s different than the glass cutting. Not sure if that’s just a minor bug but yeah, on the wire cutting it should show where your actual arrow cursor is for the hit area, where you click.

Other then that, game play was freaking great. Combining several different aspects of game play I loved helped. I like this approach better then the 4 sec games (which I won’t link cause I don’t want to remember that much to beat a game) as you get some time to learn the controls. I might just be old and bitter though. I also like how if/when you lose a level you start back with the same amount of time remaining when you started that part. Great game to play and get better at, mostly for me since I want to get better then a -C, haha.

[ Play Five 'til ]

Railroad Ruckus by Orange Fox Games is a nice fast pace “get people stuff or they die” train type game.

As you can see in the screen shot, not much in the way of fancy art. It’d be nice if the stations changed each level or something. The only thing that breaks the sameness of the game is when you get power ups. I will say I haven’t seen little circles explode into so much blood before. That was very well done.

Good sound effects and I like the choice of song selections (and being able to turn it off).

What kept me playing, just like other games of this genre, is that while slick graphics are always nice nothing in this game takes away from the franticly fun game play. To me that’s what a game should always have. With hi scores and even a nice “tips” link, this is to me what a casual game should be all about.

[ Play Railroad Ruckus ]

Since the dawn of video-games, one genre has remained true over the years. Side-scrolling shooters have evolved from the days of Defender, to fully immersive adventures like Gradius and R-Type. Drakojan Skies picks up the torch and keeps the genre flying in the RIGHT direction. (See what I did there? ‘Cuz you fly right… hello… is this thing on?)

The visuals in this game are outstanding. The variety and detail in the spacehips alone is amazing, as are the weapon effect. What really took my breath away was the rendering and interaction of the levels themselves. There’s so many fine touches in the presentation. Buildings explode as you pass them, while the city in the background is alight with fire. Particles fall as giant robots walk on the ceiling before crashing through to attack. You just have to see it to take it all in.
The sound is also fantastic. There’s a lot of variety in the weapon sounds and explosives, and the soundtrack is a much appreciated break from the over-used electronic crap most other web-based shooters use. Heavy guitars are MUCH better suited for this type of game.

The awesome gameplay is what seals the hat-trick. Sure, you pretty much just move around the screen and shoot, but between the fact you can use a variety of ships, the ability to use (and upgrade) multiple weapons, and the way the environment itself interacts with the gameplay, it feels like you are actually in the middle of a war.

You aren’t even flying solo a lot of the time, you see (and try to protect) friendly mechs and vehicles in a few of the levels, and the fact there is actually a well-written story throughout the game makes it that much more immersive.

With oldschool gameplay, and modern presentation and storytelling, this game should appeal to anyone with a pulse. The bar for web-games has been raised again.

[ Play Drakojan Skies ]

Wreckanoid by Aaron Worrall is not only a beefed up Arkanoid clone, it also doubles as a Wii browser based game in silky and touchable internet silkiness.

Created for WiiCade, this is way to much fun, even without having the silly Wii dealio. I must say, having gravity and using the force at which you hit the ball with the paddle is simple yet genius add ons to this 532 year old game. As with any good Akranoid clone, you can and will find yourself stuck for a couple minutes trying to get the ball through the unbreakable objects. I’ve never found myself playing this style of game sober, so that may just be me.

Graphic wise, standard Akranoid. While anything will look good in flash compared to something made 30 years ago there’s been so many clones of this I was expecting better, since the game play is so awesome. Granted, Aaron is a coder, BUT STILL. I’ve been waiting for months to review a game with baby blood fountains, =(. While lacking nothing the original didn’t have, and having a bit more, needed that lil extra other clones have have, for me at least.

Sound wise, nothing unenjoyable. There’s a nice sound off button in the lower right corner but I didn’t need to turn it off. There’s some nice epic audio, pending what you do. You’ll see.

I’ve seen Wii vids. Laughed at how stupid people looked. Played this. I want a Wii now. No idea why I’ve not let myself think more into why it’d be good game play. Maybe I just miss my 2 buttons and arrow pad. ANYWAYS, I’ve barley touched on this game. While you COULD say “it’s just Arkanoid”, you’d be doing it a great injustice. With several modes of play, great power ups and much time to waste over such a small file size, screw writing more about it, I’m off to play it more, haha. YOU CAN COME TOO, IT’LL BE OK…

[ Play Wreckanoid ]