“ | Stomp some ass in this high-intensity brawler themed after Newgrounds. | ” |
— Newgrounds Rumble description, Newgrounds.com
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Newgrounds Rumble is a crossover fighting game published on Newgrounds.com, featuring franchises that originated from or are prominent on the Newgrounds website. The game revolves around a tournament, with the winner becoming the ruler of Newgrounds.
Story[]
Newgrounds Rumble's story focuses on a fighting tournament, in which the victor will be crowned "King of the Portal" and have complete control over Newgrounds. Twelve different characters from ten Newgrounds series have entered, each with their own reasons for participating in the tournament:
Alloy, a boy who has discovered an alien suit of armor, is trying to discover the origins of his suit, while keeping to his duty of protecting Newgrounds from villains.
Pico, Newgrounds' mascot, has entered the tournament to protect his status as the face of Newgrounds, while eliminating any enemies that threaten his position.
P-Bot, the guardian of Newgrounds' Flash Portal, wants to prove his worth as more than just an attendant of Newgrounds, and to be given the same respect as other Newgrounds heroes.
Nene, a friend of Pico's, is tired of her accomplishments being overshadowed by Pico, and wants to develop her public image as more than just the "token girl" of Newgrounds.
The rampaging samurai, Samurai Asshole, is participating in the tournament to test his fighting ability, and hopes to come across the person who destroyed his village.
Although he is totally unaware that he is competing in a tournament, Salad Fingers becomes fascinated by the metal armor that other fighters wear, among other sights in the competition, which results in clashes with the other competitors.
Piconjo, wanting his dream of destroying Newgrounds to come to fruition, enters the tournament to kill Newgrounds' heroes and ensure that no one can stop him from securing Newgrounds' destruction.
As a newcomer to Newgrounds, Tankman wants to establish himself as the ruler of Newgrounds, with complete power over it. He enters the tournament targeting Piconjo, hoping that his defeat will convince Newgrounds' citizens to elect him as their leader.
Alien Hominid is trying to find a way to repair his spaceship, but his efforts are impeded by the fact that the other combatants regard him as a threat due to his looks and inability to communicate.
Convict, a former nemesis of Pico who has the ability to shapeshift and alter his appearance, intends to destroy Newgrounds by killing Newgrounds' heroes. His hatred of Newgrounds is so intense that he wants to be the sole person responsible for the fall of the Newgrounds world.
Hank has been transported to the Newgrounds world through unknown means. Unfazed, he confronts Newgrounds' leaders for information on how to return to his home.
Fancy Pants Man was lured to Newgrounds with the promise of free ice cream. When he arrives at Newgrounds, he quickly realizes that he is the focus of an attack because of his wholesome origins, and he must fight the hostile figures of Newgrounds to return to his home.
Development[]
Development for Newgrounds Rumble started in December 2005[1], and was a joint effort by several well-known Newgrounds users, including MindChamber, NegativeONE, Evil-Dog, Afro-Ninja, and Luis Castañon. The game had received several updates after its release in 2007. The first update, released on September 17th, 2007 fixed bugs and balance issues and included four-player multiplayer capabilities.[2] On September 22nd, 2007, in honor of Madness Day, MindChamber and NegativeONE worked together to release a Madness Combat related update. Hank was added as a playable character and Nevada was added as an arena. In their development of Nevada, NegativeONE wanted the stage to be more interactive than the other stages, and added Jesus and the Improbability Drive as hazards.[3] While NegativeONE modeled the Nevada arena after Madness Combat, MindChamber's version of the arena was based on Madness Combat 7: Consternation. NegativeOne was impressed by the arena's features, feeling that it surpassed his original design, and added MindChamber's version to the final product. At that time, Hank and Nevada could only be used in Versus mode.[4] The third update allowed Hank to be playable in Story and Survival mode, and added Henchman as a secret character.[5] The fourth update, released on September 28th, was a balance update to Hank's final level in his story mode, and fixed other minor bugs.[6]
After the game's release, Newgrounds Rumble won the 2007 Newgrounds Game of the Year Awards.[7][8] On May 31st, 2008, Fancy Pants Man from Fancy Pants Adventures was added as a playable character. He was supposed to be included in the game's original character roster, but as Fancy Pants Adventures creator Brad Borne was busy with school, the sprites Borne was working on for Fancy Pants Man were not able to be finished.[9][10] The final update was added on August 3rd, 2009, and integrated Newgrounds' Medal System to the game.[11]
Gameplay[]
Newgrounds Rumble is a platform fighter featuring characters and locations from various Newgrounds franchises. Battles take place on a 2D plane, and can have up to four players in a battle. Unlike most platform fighters, the objective in these battles is to deplete the opponent's health bar to zero. The arrow keys are used to move,[12] jump,[13] and duck.[14] Characters have two different methods of attack: Quick attacks, used with the S key, prioritize speed and are used to break an enemy's combo attack or to strike and enemy first.[15] Fierce attacks, used by pressing the D key, are slower but deal more damage.[16] Rapidity pressing either attack button will have the player's character perform a combo attack, a consecutive chain of attacks that deal a progressive increasing amount of damage towards the opponent.[17][18] These attacks can be done while a character is standing, ducking, or in the air. The A key is used to guard against enemy attacks, though enough consecutive damage can break a player's guard, leaving the temporarily defenseless for a short period of time. This is signified with the shield icon, which turns red as the player guards attacks, and becomes black when the guard is broken.[19]
There are eleven arenas in the game, which are based on a location from a Newgrounds related series or are based on a character's background. The arenas all have different layouts, and usually contain different platforms for players to scale. Some stages have hazards, which can cause damage to players, or bottomless pits. If a player falls into one, they will respawn on the arena, though they will have taken a significant amount of damage.
Different objects, referred to as "pickups"[20] periodically appear on the battlefield. Each pickup, some of which are based on different Newgrounds series, has a different effect. These range from Guns, which replace the user's quick attack with a projectile attack, to Angry Faic, which increases attack, to Mines, which randomly drop from that user and can damage both the user and the user's enemies. Three items can be unlocked in the shop.
The game has five different game modes to choose from. In Story Mode, players follow a character's story, which explains their motivation for participating the King of the Portal tournament. There are four battles per character, each with a description as to why the characters are fighting. Completing a character's Story Mode will showcase that character's ending, and how they changed Newgrounds as the King of the Portal. In Versus Mode, up to four players can compete against each other or a computer controlled opponent. In Challenge Mode, players fight in battles against computer opponents under special conditions, such as defeating a giant opponent or defeating enemies while permanently under the effects of the Gun pickup. The unlockable Survival Mode pits players against an endless amount of computer opponents in The Portal arena, where they attempt to defeat as many characters as possible before their health is depleted. Training Mode explains the controls in the Training Room Arena,[21] and reward the player with 100 Grounds Gold,[22] though this can only be obtained once.[23] In the Deposit, features including characters, arenas, pickups, and modes are sold. Players can use the in-game currency, Grounds Gold, to buy them. Players accumulate Grounds Gold by winning in fights.
Series Represented[]
Series | Description |
Alloy | Alloy appears as a playable character. |
Pico | Pico and Nene appear as playable characters. Convict appears as a secret character. Pico's School and Nene's Store appear as arenas. Darnell makes a cameo appearance in Pico's School. The Gun appears as a pickup. |
Newgrounds | P-Bot appears as a playable character. The Portal appears as an arena. Angry Faic and NG Gold Sword appear as a pickup. Grounds Gold appears as the in-game currency. The Newgrounds Rumble Theme is a remix of the Newgrounds theme Endless Handbag. |
Samurai Asshole | Samurai Asshole appears as a playable character. |
Salad Fingers | Salad Fingers appears as a playable character. The Meat Locker appears as a stage. Hubert Cumberdale appears in Salad Fingers Fierce Attacks and Gun attack. |
Piconjo | Piconjo appears as a secret character. Piconjo Manor is an original Arena based on the Piconjo series. The Tyrant Piconjo challenge is based on the Piconjo series. |
TANKMEN | Tankman appears as a playable character. Wartorn appears as an Arena. |
Alien Hominid | Alien Hominid appears as a playable character. Anywhere, USA appears as an Arena. |
Madness Combat | Hank appears as a playable character. Henchman appears as a secret character. Nevada appears as a stage. Jesus appears as a stage hazard in Nevada. Agents make cameo appearances in Nevada. These changes were added on September 22nd, 2007 for Madness Day. |
Fancy Pants Adventures | Fancy Pants appears as a playable character. He was added in an update on May 30th, 2008. Spiders appear as Fancy Pants' Gun Attack. |
References to the Newgrounds series[]
- Newgrounds Rumble's in-game currency is referred to as "Grounds Gold". Newgrounds users are able to submit games and movies on the Newgrounds website. These submissions can be voted on using a five star system. Voting allows users to accumulate experience points. Users with a higher amount of experience points having more voting power for having newly submitted submissions being saved or removed from Newgrounds. Users had to vote on five different submissions before collectively making a deposit.[24] The system was first implemented in 1999[25], and was renamed as "Grounds Gold" in 2000[26][27] and as "Experience Points" in 2012.[28] In 2018, the system was changed to have users vote once per submission, as well as giving the ability to gain experience points from voting on artwork and music.[29]
- The song that plays in Newgrounds Rumble's main menu is titled "Newgrounds Rumble Theme". It is a remix of Endless Handbag by Lavender Hill Mob, which was used as the theme song for Newgrounds.com in 2001[30].
- In Story Mode, each battle has a brief paragraph explaining why the characters are fighting. This description is referred to as the "Author's Comments". Starting in late 2000, flashes submitted to the Newgrounds Flash portal had a section titled "Author's Comments" that would have a brief explanation of the flash by the author. While it originally would be shown in a new tab, it was later changed to be on the same page as the submission.[31]
- The game's story is about a fighting tournament in which the winner will be crowned "King of the Portal" and rule over Newgrounds. This is a reference to Newgrounds King of the Portal system, which was added to Newgrounds in 2001. On Newgrounds, users are able to rate a submission each week. The Weekly Users' Choice award goes to the entry that got the highest ratings from other users. The people who have won the award can enter the Monthly Flash Portal Awards, which are voted on by the top 2,000 Newgrounds users with the most experience points. Users who have won the most awards in a month are given the King of the Portal Award, which is part of the Monthly Flash Portal awards.[32]
- Upon completing a level in Story Mode, the text at the top of the results screen says that the player "has passed judgement". If the player loses, it will that that the user "gets blammed". This is a reference to the Under Judgement and Blam Threshold on Newgrounds.com. When a user submits a game or animation, it is placed Under Judgement, where other users can vote on said submission on a five star rating system. When this voting system was first established in 2000, submissions Under Judgement had to receive a certain number of votes in order for the submission to pass Judgement and remain on the Newgrounds website. This system was dependent on how many users voted on the submission and how high they rated the submission. If the submission had a high amount of low ratings, the submission would be deleted, or as it is referred to on Newgrounds, Blammed. If it had a high amount or passing ratings, it would Pass Judgement.
- The results screen in Versus Mode references Daily Features, awards given to submissions that have received the highest score over a course of one day. The award was first given on June 6th, 2000 to Idiots Anonymous - ep. 3 by Karmichael[33].
References to the Piconjo series[]
- If the player gets 100% Game Completion on their game file, the face of the real Piconjo will appear next to the Game Completion percentage on the Options page. Clicking on him will have him say "Attenshun NGR Paytrin, Piconjer is nawt the meen villin this gaim showd him 2 b. Piconjo luffs j00. Just bremembr this." Piconjo's use of leet is a principal part of his character, and was first used in a Newgrounds Forum post on March 12th, 2004.[38] Piconjo's appearance in this cameo portrays him with pink skin and pupilless eyes, which is a reference to how he appears in 0M6 PICONJO TAG. The sentence "Piconjo luffs j00." originates from a phrase that Piconjo would say, "Piconjo luvs j00", which was first said by Piconjo on a forum post on May 22nd, 2004.[39]
References[]
- ↑ NG:Rumble updates. by MindChamber on Newgrounds.com MindChamber: "In production since December 2005, this hefty s.o.b. has taken a small handful of Newgrounders a lot of work to put together."
- ↑ NG:Rumble updates. by MindChamber on Newgrounds.com NegativeONE: "Sorry, no new characters or anything at this point. This is just a desperately overdue update addressing several bug reports, adding 4-player capability for those who have joysticks, making "OMFG" difficulty genuinely hard, and sorting out a few of the balance issues (Sorry S'asshole fans :P). Nonetheless, there miiight be some more content added in the not too distant future, so keep an eye out! For now, lemme know if you catch any bugs created by this update."
- ↑ Newgrounds Rumble Update, NegativeONE on Newgrounds.com NegativeONE "I wanted to make the level more interactive than the others, so I added Jesus as a mobile hazard, and threw in the improbability drive to drop off a good chunk of the level partway through. I was pretty proud of it when I finished. This lasted until about the time I received Jose's sprites for Hank, at which time I wept a little."
- ↑ NG:Rumble updates. by MindChamber on Newgrounds.com NegativeONE: "Barely made the Madness Day deadline >__>. That aside, Mindchamber and I rushed on a VERY tight schedule to bring you a much-demanded and long-awaited update - Hank is now a member of the NGR roster, and you're welcome to fight in Nevada if you please. I went for a modest Madness Combat style for the level, whereas Jose pulled out all the stops with an impressive Consternation-era Hank effectively making my level look like shit. For now, you can only use this character and level in Versus, but survival and story Hank will be coming shortly. Hope you enjoy both all the same. Sorry to anyone who loses their save files because of this update and those soonafter."
- ↑ NG:Rumble updates. by MindChamber on Newgrounds.com MindChamber: "Before anything else, let me remind everyone that you might have to clear your cache for this update to show up for you. If you go into Options->Data and the number at the bottom left is 1.21, then you're seeing the most recent version. Sorry if anyone loses their save file again from this update, but it should be the last one for a while. All that said, Hank is now available in Story mode and Survival mode! There are also a bunch of bug fixes, challenge modifications, and a new easter egg or two to stumble upon ;) Enjoy!"
- ↑ NG:Rumble updates. by MindChamber on Newgrounds.com MindChamber: "Hopefully the last one for a while :P Sorry if anyone loses their save file over this (don't think they will), but this is just one last iteration on the Madness update since a lot of people are finding Hank's final level too hard. There are fewer henchmen to kill now, and that's all you have to do to complete the level. Fixed a couple of minor bugs as well."
- ↑ Newgrounds.com. 2007 Awards
- ↑ Fancy Pants Man in NGR, NGR wins Game of Year, and EN GEE ARE by NegativeONE, Newgrounds.com NegativeONE: "Okay, so as many of you know, NGR won Game of the Year here on Newgrounds. First of all, I cannot sufficiently express my gratitude for this. I've said it before, but I'll say it again. Jose, myself, and - to a lesser extent :D :P :3 Luis - really put our mind and soul into creating games like this. When such an immense part of the community feels that we've really done something great, it is an elating experience, and I cannot give enough thanks to the community, staff, and everyone else involved."
- ↑ Fancy Pants Man in NGR, NGR wins Game of Year, and EN GEE ARE by NegativeONE, Newgrounds.com NegativeONE: "As a present to you all, we've added Fancy Pants Man to the roster. He was supposed to be in the original game as the 11th character, but Brad got busy with school and it didn't happen. Now, a year later, he has graced us with a uniquely feeling character, and I love Fancy like one of my own. Give Brad your thanks for his donation."
- ↑ Fancy Pants Adventures: World 2 (2008): Trophies + Colors: MindChamber's description. Brad Borne: "This guy made the awesome Newgrounds Rumble, and it's true, Fancy Pants Man was supposed to be in NGR, but I couldn't finish the sprites because of school. Bah!"
- ↑ NGR medals, Sandy Eggo, Reemus wrap-up by NegativeONE, Newgrounds.com NegativeONE: "Much like the game itself, adding medals to NGR took much longer than anticipated, but they're finally here, so you can just go back to urging me to put Master Chief in there or what have you. There are a handsome 13 medals, which should keep you pretty busy. The difficulty is ranged from "Oh, that's it?" to "Why would you do this to me?", but I found them all pretty fun to chase out. Also note Mindchamber's sexy work on the icons."
- ↑ Newgrounds Rumble, (2007). Training. "Use the left and right arrow keys (default) to tun around the platform."
- ↑ Newgrounds Rumble, (2007). Training. "If you tap the jump button (default up arrow), you'll make a short jump. If you hold it, you'll get a longer jump."
- ↑ Newgrounds Rumble, (2007). Training. "Press the down arrow (default) to duck. Duck will help you avoid attacks, and also allow you to throw some lower sweeping attacks."
- ↑ Newgrounds Rumble, (2007). Training. "Press the S key (default) while standing or running to throw a quick attack. Quick attacks value speed over power, so they're better for breaking an enemy's combo or getting the first strike."
- ↑ Newgrounds Rumble, (2007). Training. "Press the D key (default) while standing or running to throw a fierce attack. Fierce attacks are slower, but pack more damage."
- ↑ Newgrounds Rumble, (2007). Training. "By releasing and repressing the attack button just before a move ends, you can create a combo attack."
- ↑ Newgrounds Rumble, (2007). Training. "You can also do quick and fierce attacks and combos in the air. This is a great way to juggle your opponent,"
- ↑ Newgrounds Rumble, (2007). Training. "The shield icon underneath your health bar shows your blocking stamina. Its redness shows how worn down your guard is. The shield turns black if your guard has been broken."
- ↑ Newgrounds Rumble, (2007). Training. "When you collect a projectile pickup, it will temporarily replace your attack."
- ↑ Newgrounds Rumble, (2007). Training. "Welcome the the training room. Here you'll learn the basics of the game."
- ↑ Newgrounds Rumble, (2007). Training. "For completing this tutorial, you've earned yourself 100 Grounds Gold, to be used in unlocking new features and content."
- ↑ Newgrounds Rumble, (2007). Training. "Hope that was a good refresher. Particularly because you don't get the Grounds Gold bonus anytime after the first."
- ↑ Newgrounds Wiki: Experience Points "In 2018 we changed everything to one vote per submission, added the ability to get XP for Art and Audio voting, while also changing to award the XP instantly, vs requiring you to vote on five things before making a single deposit."
- ↑ Newgrounds Wiki: Experience Points, Newgrounds.com When the system was introduced in 1999, users could vote on each unique submission once daily. This meant you could return to Newgrounds on a daily basis and upvote the content you liked, or downvote the content you disliked.
- ↑ Newgrounds.com
- ↑ Newgrounds Wiki: History, 2000: Full-Time Job, Tom Fulp: "My friend Ross became an essential part of NG when he built the Grounds Gold system, which allowed users to gain points for visiting the site."
- ↑ Newgrounds Wiki: Experience Points
- ↑ Newgrounds Wiki: Experience Points "In 2018 we changed everything to one vote per submission, added the ability to get XP for Art and Audio voting, while also changing to award the XP instantly, vs requiring you to vote on five things before making a single deposit."
- ↑ Newgrounds.com
- ↑ BlunderCats by Brian Hosmillo on Newgrounds.com. The October 16th, 2000 copy of the BlunderCats submission shows the earliest iteration of the Newgrounds Portal's Author's Comments.
- ↑ Newgrounds.com
- ↑ Idiots Anonymous - ep. 3 by Karmichael on newgrounds.com
- ↑ Newgrounds Portal, 2000
- ↑ The Portal, Newgrounds .com, 2001
- ↑ christmas, Newgrounds.com, 2002
- ↑ Newgrounds.com, 2000
- ↑ Newgrounds Forums, what is piconjo? Piconjo: "Piconjo is the greatest Newgrounds character ever. Piconjo pwnz you."
- ↑ Newgrounds Forums, I AM GOD YOU NG AND ALLOF YOU Piconjo: "worship me and love me for i luv j00 and pwn j00 Who agrees that I am the best animator ever to exist? if not then you msut be STUPID and need to be killed. now, all of you leave wonderful replies on how great I am and how much I pwn j00. and remember.. Piconjo luvs j00"
Alloy | |
---|---|
Characters | Alloy • CyberPitz • Minor Characters |
Locations | Mason City |
Crossovers | Newgrounds Rumble (2007) |
Cameos | Mason's Bubble Blast 2 (2001) |
Pico | |
---|---|
Characters | Pico • Nene • Darnell • Cassandra • Penilian |
Locations | Pico's School • Nene's Store |
Items | Medicinal Herb • Gun |
Crossovers | Pico vs Bear (1999) • Newgrounds Rumble (2007) • Meat Boy (map pack) (2008) • Indie Game Battle (2015) Friday Night Funkin' (2020) • Guppy's Quest (TBA) |
Crossover Entries | Pico's School: Love Conquers All (2021) |
Cameos | FDA (1999) • Disorderly (2003) • Madness Project Nexus 2 (2021) |
Salad Fingers | |
---|---|
Characters | Salad Fingers • Hubert Cumberdale |
Locations | The Meat Locker |
Items | Rusty Spoons |
Crossovers | saland figers omg (2005) • Newgrounds Rumble (2007) • Indie Game Battle (2015, Canceled) • The Binding of Isaac: Four Souls Requiem (2023) • Guppy's Quest (TBA) |
Character Interactions | Salad Fingers/Character Interactions |
Madness Combat | |
---|---|
Characters | Hank J. Wimbleton • Jesus • Henchman • Minor Characters |
Locations | Nevada |
Crossovers | Newgrounds Rumble (2007) • Indie Game Battle (2015) |
Crossover Entries | Madness Project Nexus 2 (2021) |