Newgrounds Rumble

Fighting Perfection

Reviewed by Shawn from afro-ninja.com

Newgrounds Rumble is a fantastic flash fighting game, that amidst years in development and delays, has finally arrived to show us what a flash brawler should be.

First of all, NGR isn’t a straight-up fighting game. It’s more like a mix between a standard fighting game and Smash Brothers. Players have a life meter and can attack regularly, but also have free movement around the playing field. You can jump and move around on stage obstacles, as well as collect powerups. The controls don’t require you to memorize any complex combos either. You can do a strong attack, a weak attack, and a block. The combos create themselves, so you can concentrate more on moving and blocking. The powerups you find definitely add an interesting touch to the game, as they can cause anything from giant growth, to lightning bolts, to having an extra copy of yourself fight beside you! I also have to mention the air combat system, which is balanced very nicely and lets you pull off some sweet aerial combos.

The character list is composed of famous Newgrounds faces such as Pico and P-bot, and also includes popular characters from series like Salad Fingers and Piconjo. Ten characters in all, with two of them unlockable. Each character has a fluid and varied set of animations and attacks, and is very fun to experiment with. Each character also has their own stage.

NGR offers quite a bit to do. First, there’s the standard story mode. Instead of having to battle each of the 9 other characters every time, you only have to battle four. Well, four stages each time, with differing battle conditions. This keeps the story mode interesting and not too long, so you’ll want to keep playing through them. Each character also has their own storyline and customized ending. When you’re done with story mode you can take on the challenges, which provide a myriad of scenarios to battle in. Playing through any mode rewards you with Ground Gold points, which can be redeemed (deposited) for extra stuff, such as new stages, characters, and modes. You can also unlock a challenge mode, and play against another human!

Graphics and sound are top notch in every category. As I said each of the ten characters has their own set of animations and combos, and they all look very very nice. Ortiz didn’t spare any details here. Equally beautiful are the stage backgrounds. Some are nicer than others I suppose, but they all fit their character’s themes excellently. The soundtracks are kickin’ and varied, with plenty of stuff to listen to.

With so many high points, are there any lows? Not really. The only things I could possibly come up with are 1) sometimes the AI tends to freeze/stand still and 2) the action cam can get annoying. The cam can be turned off though, and the AI is hardly a problem. In fact 95% of the time it does everything great, with only an occasional confused moment. So maybe you’ll get a free hit in, big deal. NGR is a feat from all standpoints, with plenty of polish. Don’t miss it!

Click here to play Newgrounds Rumble






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