amazing
game
Reviews for "Newgrounds Rumble"
WOW
This is so good honestly.
sadly I can't play this because I'm on Chromebook :pain:
Newgrounds Rumble was ahead of its time. This game feels like a fever dream because a game like this shouldn't exist because the idea of a Newgrounds platform fighter made in flash sounds crazy because people would just copy or recolor sprites from other Nintendo hardware such as Super Smash Flash 1 and it took Mccloud a few months to make SSF1. Newgrounds Rumble began development in December 2005, released on May 29, 2007.
What makes Newgrounds Rumble aged like a fine wine has to be its character selection and the devs making the game a celebration of Newgrounds history by respecting these characters. Obviously, the original 10 characters are still good but Hank and Fancy Pants make the roster age really good. You got your mascot and popular character but I also like the fact that the devs didn't go all out with popular characters and added some obscure characters like Samurai Asshole, Convict, Piconjo, and even letting you play as a grunt name Henchmen as a secret character, yeah he is low tier but I love it so much. The story mode is what makes this game shows its true potential. So much fanservice and easter eggs to their series and making it a love letter to Newgrounds fans like this game is really good at making this game a celebration to Newgrounds. This game is probably the first platform fighter that supports casual play which I like because nowadays most platform fighters support competitive play which I'm a fan of but I do like the wacky items and stage hazards from time to time. The power-ups referencing other Newgrounds stuff such as Angry Faci and the Golden Sword Level Up power-up is so cool. The main theme being a remix of the Endless Handbag theme is so good and the Japanese Garden/Nene Store theme is 10/10.
But, I still have problems with characters' gameplay designs and other issues I understand why because the game is made in flash in 2005-2007 so I don't blame the devs for making these decisions but if a sequel ever happens I want these problems to be fixed.
First character problem: I don't like the way Hank plays. It doesn't represent him in the Madness Combat series, I imagine hank as a rush-down character that does little damage to opponents but has a lot of combos in the ground and in the air. In Newgrounds Rumble he is slow and feels a zoner, also his GUN power up is his jab attack and I find that to be a missed opportunity because they could've made it a chainsaw or rockets but it's a jab attack that goes further that is similar to Pico and Alloy. I don't hate this moveset idea, I think it fits well in a character like Henchmen because grunts are slow and are zoners but if there is something I would change for Henchmen would be the fact that they do the highest damage than any character but they have the lowest HP in the game.
Second character problem: Convict moveset design aged poorly. I do not like Convict's gimmick of him transforming to other characters randomly. I like the character, the design is cool, and a shapeshifter is a cool idea but I don't like the way how he transforms into a random character. If there is something I like about his gimmick is the fact that he is fun on a casual level when playing two-four players and it is funny when he changes to Henchmen randomly but it starts to become a problem when you realized that he was supposed to be hard to master type character which doesn't help him when other characters are better than others. His story mode is great until the final act which sounds like a great idea on paper, I mean, he is a difficult character for pros to master but the problem lies when there are power-ups that give the enemy or yourself a boost, the stage either helping you or giving you damage at the beginning of the round, and his gimmick...OMG, this is the moment when I started to hate his gimmick because you can either get a top-tier character like Samurai Asshole or give you the worst character that is slow, does little damage, and has a lot of frames to even get a hit, making the challenge either impossible or easier because of RNG and not skill. Not only that but in the original video he was in he had no problems shapeshifting to any character so I don't see the point of bringing the RNG mechanic to Convict. How would I change him, I would make him play like Double from SkullGirls where each attack he does is another character attack but it's not randomized (unless if you press the random button in the selection screen Convict attacks will be random character attacks). I would keep his original attacks the same but when it comes to his specials or hard-hitting attacks then he will shapeshift to a character. Heck, it doesn't even need to be a playable character, just a reference to another character for fanservice.
Small problems I have with the game would be the music selection being too small. The music is fantastic but I wish they were more in the game. Battle entrances would be great to see because seeing each character floating in the air looks weird. Skins/costumes for characters so people don't get mistaken on what character they are playing. An option to turn off power-ups and stage hazards for competitive players who want to play 1v1. And a training mode because the game doesn't have a training mode for checking on combos and attack strings, only a tutorial on how to play the game which does the job of teaching you the mechanics but fighting games need a training mode for people who want to main a character.
I still think this game plays better than Super Smash Flash 1 and is satisfying to play which is important in a fighting game. The game is basic but fun. As a flash game in 2007, the game has aged really well as a flash game because most flash games tend to age poorly or they get a sequel/remastered that fixes the problems of the original flash game. Newgrounds Rumble has one thing that aged well and that is its importance of Newgrounds history and how a group of devs put their care and passion into a game like this is wild. 10/10!
Edit: I'm editing a few things on the review that I forgot to mention
Luis responds:
Thanks for your feedback! It made me wonder how convict was programmed. The shapeshifter random was his gimmick because he sucks as himself. I guess I never expected him to revisit the same shapeshift character over and over. Hmm