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Eraser of Evil Flight School Graduate Drone Warrior Combat Ready Legendary Ant Poisoner Reckless Ant Food Trained Difference Spotter Apocalyptic Missile Commander Protecterra Solving the Melody Feeling the Rhythm Sensing the Beat Causal Gamer Flux to Be You Teeter-Totter to the TARDIS Paradox Shmaradox Speed Razor Fulp Fiction Wool Whacker New Doeo King Profesioeo Rodoeo Spectral Selection You're Doing It Wrong Prismatic Rampage Up to 11 Keyboard Hero String Theorist First Picks Illuminator Alive Monsters Sensei Slayer Escape from White November To the Extreme! PC Load Letter Bloated Defense Budget Still Alive Title Trasher Snakes on a Trophy Action Potential Spherical Ninja Rollin' On Up Rolling Start S-Mart Shopper Real-World Geometry
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2008/04/27

Sonny



Yo, fantastic "Sonny"!

Escape from White November Badge (easy – 5 points)
Fight your way off the starting ship.

From the first moment the jazzy yet elegantly drawn "Sonny" splash screen contacts my eyes, I know "Sonny" must be a special game. How special it is, however, is something that turns out to be far exceeding all my possible anticipations, and perhaps imaginations, about the limits of games that are on the Flash platform of the present day.




There are 4 zones in "Sonny", which should not be bad to know at first; I thought it should be 5 at least so was kinda unfulfilled when it just ended like that.


► Spoiler (Zone 1)


Sensei Slayer Badge (medium – 15 points)
Defeat the ghostly samurai boss.

The appearance of "Sonny" doubtlessly pushes forward numerous boundaries that were previously known to be "look, things can only go this far for Flash" in the industry. Of the most spectacular is the all fascinating visuals and audios; it's not very much related with technical limitations but more about the time the developers willing to spend on it, or even something more basic - that whether someone with the right sense of art could be put in charge of the job - yet the graphics along with the musics are two major outputs the game would depend on to excite the players' sensations.







The art design in "Sonny" is a complete success.


The secret in the graphical designs of "Sonny" is the extensive usage of rich and bright color gradients, which makes the game all brilliantly vivid. Plus, landscapes are created out of simple yet alacritous shapes and lines, while details about the appearances and poses of characters are all carved into some very tiny levels. Cooperating every outstanding visual factor together, it becomes the source of magnificence which gets to be convoyed in the form of sheer beautiful scenes and interface we see in "Sonny". Not to mention the almighty battle musics, especially the boss battle one which is so heatedly ablaze; it's just even better than the average of commercial retail games! Sometimes they hire a whole lot of symphony orchestras and can't even do half better than this! Further supplemented with decent and full voice acting, the visual and audio works of "Sonny" have been successful in making up some excellent cutscenes and storytelling moments.

► Spoiler (Zone 2)


Alive Monsters Badge (hard – 30 points)
Complete the story events.

One thing smart about "Sonny" is that it knows to choose the kind of presentation style that is most ideal for the platform the game is running on, yet managed to accomplish this endeavor in a miraculous way, in which the optimization is achieved without yielding to certain compromise, thus keeping the fun value of the game sound and intact. Well, in a plainer way of speaking, "Sonny" knows how to make itself attractive without being a system resources monster.

Turn-based RPG itself is, in essence, one of the countable few genres that will be handled better on Flash over the others. Obviously the key is all about performance and processing time, for example one should be able to easily imagine point-and-click adventures being another prominent instance that is most proper for Flash (see all those escape-the-damn-room games around), while shooters on Flash always suck a big time because they either have to be laggy (suffering from excessive real-time processing) or stupid (yield to game performance by taking away advanced entertainment features). The fact "Sonny" does not opt for a real-time system but a turn-based one implies that it was given birth towards the right direction.




Voiced conversations occurring during the battles make "Sonny" being able to provide a far more fluid experience of immersion comparing with other typical Flash-based RPGs.


Yet, the term turn-based nowadays is quite often linked with some not so favorable impressions like outdated, outmoded, even perhaps superannuated, and modern indie turn-based RPGs - like the Max Mesiria series and the MARDEK series - usually propagandize themselves as "in the feeling of NES/SNES style RPGs", being very much pound of this, which I would reason is why "Sonny" comes to be such a huge impact (no exaggeration as it's currently the highest rated game on Kongregate and likely on other Flash portal sites as well upon its debut) - "Sonny" utterly toppled our past recognitions about turn-based RPG on Flash, that could be of one which is beyond a linear leveling up progression, beyond mazes and town maps where your little protagonist should run on, beyond histrionic NPCs that roam aimlessly around in circle repeating the same few duologues over and over again. Certainly there may be various games already in existence containing some of the concepts above, howbeit "Sonny" is without any doubt the first to incorporate all these elements in a delicate manner, ennobling the entirety up onto a higher plane, high above all previous attempts and actual creations of Flash RPGs.

► Spoiler (Zone 3)



Illuminator Badge (hard – 30 points)
Defeat the shadow boss in the fourth zone.

Although the accomplishment of "Sonny" is one that significantly surpassed previous expectations of, not only the players but the industry as well, on the possible extent of Flash RPG, "Sonny" is still one that was made by human and is not free of flaw. First - it's too damn short! But it is also very nice for the development team to choose quality over quantity, for which I wholeheartedly salute. Second, there are some glitches - ranging from tiny issues of graphical layer orders, to interesting leaks such as one that can grant you all four Kongregate badges within a blink; however if you are not operating a pair of sharp eyes and are not tempted to meddle with things in a way that is unintended by the game design, the game would appear to be just near perfect for you.

► Spoiler (Zone 4)

[How to Kongregate] Sonny - How to Beat Doctor Herregods at Zone 4 (Other Bosses on My Blog)


Recommended Abilities
Aggression, Break, Shatter Bolt, Electro Bolt × 2, Sunder, Heroic Motivation, Subversion

Sinjid's Shadow:
I am not sure about other bosses, but Sinjid is clearly a tribute to some early creations of Krin Juangbhanich, the main developer of "Sonny".

This is the final confrontation, against Sinjid's Shadow, and two other Shadow's Shadows. So confusing. Well actually the two Shadow's Shadows are some feebly weak illusions placed by the ninja's "true" illusion, so for convenience you can just eliminate them two at the very start. The real difficulty is that whenever Sinjid's Shadow has his focus full at 100, the next turn he will unleash a deadly blue light ball that sends a random victim back home.

Again, it all turns out to be so easy once you've got your strategy right, and the strategical decision you must make this time is - just let your good comrades get blasted away - it does you no good trying to save them!

Before entering the final face-off, re-spec and you must go for a 10/10 Regeneration, a 5/5 Reform, and a 3/3 Block. Once the battle initiates, deal with the two dummies first while Sinjid's Shadow massacring your teammates - don't worry, no problem.

With your two teammates gone as well, it boils down into a one-on-one; now, whenever Sinjid's Shadow recharges his focus to 100, just Block, and his zippy attack won't touch a hair of yours. And you should know the rest - it's all about endurance yet again.

Recommended Abilities
Aggression, Electro Bolt × 2, Magic Bolt × 2, Block × 2, Reform

Rating



Last time I was so much shocked and awed by a Flash game - and the only time before I came to know "Sonny" - was some time before 2000, when I came across Pico's School. It might be hard for some of the younger audience to catch, but back at that time, Flash games were all of monotonous content and never meant to be more than a 3-minute-relaxation; Pico's School changed all these for everyone. Its scale, length, interface and details are huge impacts of that era, and I never forget that kind of excitement, totally immersed by shocking agitations of wondrous miracle. And I never thought this could happen once more, with so many Flash games these days exploring seemingly almost all possible possibilities already, with so many Flash games seemingly being so good... But it is obvious to me now, that they were all not good enough.

"Sonny" is creating history, right now on this moment, setting already a glorious milestone along the continuing road of the ongoing development of Flash games, that is going to be remembered by the industry even after a decade's time. It is so fortunate for me to enjoy this game without missing it. The only reason it is not made a ten-star is that I want to leave it for "Sonny 2".


: State of the Art


(Read into the full article...)

2008/04/18

You Have To Burn The Rope



"You Have To Burn The Rope"!!!

You Have to Earn the Badge (easy – 5 points)
Defeat the Grinning Colossus.

So stupid, I like it!

Rating



Hilarious!


: Recommended


(Read into the full article...)

The Fancy Pants Adventure



"The Fancy Pants Adventure". Crude, yet smooth.

Pants full of Squiggles Badge (easy – 5 points)
Finish a level with 100 squiggles in your pants.

Not overly difficult; there are lots of these "squiggles" around to be picked up from. Just like how you'd collect coins in Super Mario Bros.


Antarctic Assassination Badge (medium – 15 points)
Defeat the evil penguin to put a halt to his sadistic "sleeping in bed" plans.

Greg, you must be a fatass like this sadistic penguin:





Run Fast, Run Fancy Badge (hard – 30 points)
Complete the entirety of world 1 in 3:00 (180 seconds) or under.

This is not impossible after a few rounds of practice; you actually will get the badge if you manage to score 181 seconds or lower. But like always there are ways to make your travel more secure - beneath is one of the methods that was chosen to be videoed:



[How to Kongregate] Hacking The Fancy Pants Adventure - Katana in Action


Rating






Got the easter egg already?

The World 1 of "The Fancy Pants Adventure" is rough but also reveals the series being more than another usual platformer, in tiny places such as its art design and character animations; the release of a more polished World 2 after years and the generally positive receptions just sum up to be an attestation good enough. However - the roughness of this piloting game on its own makes things not possible for me to recommend this initial installment in a stand-alone flavor.


(Read into the full article...)

2008/04/07

Thing-Thing 2



"Thing-Thing 2", as you should be able to make it out from the name, is yet another stinky shit-piece from the Thing-Thing series. Even more shitty crap is how frequently this moronic series receives "weekly highlights" from the Kongregate crew.

Big Game Hunter Badge (medium – 15 points)
Slaughter waves upon waves of unarmed enemies to complete the story mode.

See the nice fuck you've been littering around, Greg. Smells of manjuice.

► Cheat

Rating



The Thing-Thing series is for dicks. It should be ceased to continue immediately to save this world from some harmful mind pollution.


(Read into the full article...)

2008/04/06

Thing-Thing 4



"Thing-Thing 4", as you should be able to make it out from the name, is yet another stinky shit-piece from the Thing-Thing series. Even more shitty crap is how frequently this moronic series receives "weekly highlights" from the Kongregate crew.

Taste of Blood Badge (easy – 5 points)
Kill 50 enemies, then complete your current level.

Dunno what kind of garbage juice is inside of Greg's dickhead right now, but he's certainly plentiful when it comes to ejaculate the whole Kong with his shooters.


Kill Drill Badge (medium – 15 points)
This is not really a drill. Score 88 melee kills, then complete your current level.

I don't know what is worth mentioning in this joke, seriously. It's just endless zombie-like enemies respawning, from start to end.

► Cheat


Live and Let Die Badge (hard – 30 points)
Fulfill your quest for revenge, completing all 28 levels.

This is a typical "C&C situation" - the developer doesn't have a damnfuck about what to do next, so a polished (ie. resource-eating) replica is created in place and claimed to be "the next legendary installment of the never-ending saga".

► Cheat

Rating



The Thing-Thing series is for dicks. It should be ceased to continue immediately to save this world from some harmful mind pollution.


(Read into the full article...)

Boxhead: The Zombie Wars



"Boxhead: The Zombie Wars" is probably the fifth game in the Boxhead series which, as you've already known it, featuring zombies and brainless shooters.

Damn Dirty Zombies Badge (easy – 5 points)
The only good undead is a dead undead! Kill 100 zombies during a single game.

Shooters is a synonym of retardation, with shooters that emphasizing on zombies being a good sign of abysmal retardation that is beyond redemption.


Meadow Conservationalist Badge (medium – 15 points)
Score 3,000,000 points on "expert" in "classic" mode.

The core trick of mastering this game is holding down your spacebar and never let go. Ain't that very simple, w00t!


Home Sweet Home Badge (medium – 15 points)
Reach level 25 on "defense" mode with the "expert" difficulty.

Oh, and of course you need to remember keeping your little rambo running around!


Demon Slayer Badge (hard – 30 points)
Kill 200 demons during a single game.

Now - I really don't understand what kind of dicksoftening shit is inside the skull of every shooter game developer, because it seems like everyone except these developers knows how to make a shooter game fun.

The details are all explained inside the video so I will save my words:



[How to Kongregate] Boxhead: The Zombie Wars - Cheat for the GOD MODE


Rating



The hacked game is very fun, but that honor belongs not to its creator. Still waiting to see if there can ever be any developer not so fuckingly dumb to realize the sole value of shooter games, and makes design along with that fact.


(Read into the full article...)