The thrilling, and long awaited sequel, Achievement Unlocked 2 really does build on where the first game left off. With 250 achievements to unlock, you can spend hours and hours... and hours on it. Well, if you suck, it only took me 45 minutes.

Found on Kongregate, this little gem really is absolutely hilarious to play, the point of it is to satire and poke fun at other flash games. and games in general which give achievements for no real reason. This review covers some of the comical action of the tiny elephant, and will touch on a few of the more obscure achievements... and yes I really did the entire game in 45 minutes, but I mean hey... I'm amazing so whatever.

So to start, when the game first loads up you unlock about a dozen achievements instantly. and a bunch more are unlocked from not even moving... which is also one, not moving that is. The elephant is controlled via the arrow keys... or for another achievement use WADS. Of course tho, several tasks present themselves on your quest to unlock achievements, including running in your wheel, drinking some water, filling the levels and collecting coins. Coins are placed sporadically throughout each level, and as we all know when there are coins, you must collect them at all costs. However, instead of being highly visible, they are incredibly tough to see which forces you to really run EVERYWHERE in the levels.

Speaking of levels, more are purchased through the in-game store, don't worry to much about the cost as it is rolled into the coins you pickup in the game. In fact buying levels is quite humorous, as the game doesn't take itself very seriously and so includes several comments from random sources which are all false. As you purchase levels, go and collect coins to buy more until you get to the roof... and the manor in which you travel is quite unique.

You see, Achievement Unlocked 2 makes great use of launchers that move the elephant up and down, these may defy the laws of gravity, but they are essential to moving around. You do jump quite high, but not high enough... it's never high enough is it now? Also there are horrible stalagmites that kill you in various ways, and platforms that teleport you all around. There is a slot machine, and a full octave worth of keys on a piano... and that is just to start.

This game has a massive amount of content considering that the time trial mode only allows for the first four minutes of game play. Seeing the nonstop flood of unlocking things is quite rewarding, but at some of them you feel rather silly. This feeling only goes towards the real message of the game which is to make fun and laugh at games that do this in a much more serious fashion.

CONGRATULATIONS, YOU KILLED YOUR FIRST ENEMY!

How many of us have played a stupid flash game, or console game that spits this message out, and we think to ourselves... my god was I supposed to be glad for that waste of a message... it reminds me of WoW.

The sounds work nicely for the game, there is a handy mute button, but no volume control, it doesn't really interfere with the game seeing as I liked the music. In 30 minutes I did get a good portion of the entire game done, but of course that is the easy part. I would recommend this to everyone, I mean it isn't a huge game, it won't make you want to play it for hours but it is definitely hilarious.

Rating:

Longevity: 3.5/5
Interface: 4.0/5
Addictiveness: 4.0/5
Sound: 3.5/5
Simplicity: 3.0/5

Overall: 3.6/5

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Another one of those trippy, music repeats, everything flashes, and the points go up way to fast games, Epic Coaster on Kongregate has just in along with the recent influx of games that serve up psychedelic graphics and sounds to match... but is it any good.

Well I mean it is difficult to say if the game is actually any good, but it isn't really all that bad. I mean compared to our favorite game of this genre, Robot Unicorn Attack, it is a little bit simpler, and there is a little bit less flash, and the music isn't as good... but that's a good thing. This game is very low key when it comes to this type, you only get 1 life, you have to try and get as far as possible on that 1 life, as well as get any achievements the game might have to offer.

More specifically, you are riding or driving an epic coaster down a track that is made up of broken pieces of track. The goal is... well there isn't really any goal, just don't fall off and get lots of points is really all there is. You hit space to jump, and get extra points at often seemingly random times, and there are like 80 achievements in the game, so you are unlocking something every few seconds when you first start.

Dieing happens quite quickly, with once you plummet over the edge, you start back at the main screen very fast, and since you can just keep hitting space to start the game becomes very fluid. It is easy to hammer off a few tries and runs, and not notice the fact that you did... I like that feature.

Music can be disabled if you want, and it does have a slightly short track, but it is bearable and I never turned it off once. The difficulty does ramp up eventually, and getting the 15,000 meter achievement is a tad tricky, but quite possible.

Overall I enjoyed this little game, it's small, lightweight, addicting and fun... everything that a flash game should be sometimes. I would absolutely recommend this game to kill a little bit of time during the day.

Rating:

Longevity: 2.5/5
Interface: 4.0/5
Addictiveness: 3.5/5
Sound: 3.5/5
Simplicity: 4.5/5

Overall: 3.6/5

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Come, the nests are expanding, and we need each and everyone to wield their buster swords to defeat the threat of invasion from the Glooples. Amorphous+ is a wonderfully simple game, that has complex elements woven into it.

I have to say, this game didn't seem like much at the start. With it's highly simplistic graphics, and repeated game play, I discounted as nothing more than a waste of my time. But such it is with things of beauty. You see this game is quite clever, and has a huge variety of play to offer the average gamer. It's levels are not that short, the enemies are extremely varied, and there is an extra rewards system you won't know exists until you read about it.

Gamers are put in control of a sword wielding man who must clear nests of creatures called Glooples... what an odd name no? I have to be honest. You will stand in the screen (the screen never moves), in a map where you can go anywhere and things will spawn at you. Now don't be fooled, they can spawn pretty fast, and are extremely varied in their type. The objective is the clear the entire nest and win. You move around by moving your cursor, this means you will usually be moving, always a good thing.

There is no gaining levels or anything, however you will find yourself earning random medals over the course of the game. Once you reach a certain number you are awarded a key. This key, on the main menu, will help you unlock a reward. These rewards will help you slaughter the enemies more and more. There are essentially 2 modes, Single Nest and Bounty Run. In single nest the goal is to wipe out a certain number of enemies, the number is determined by the seize of the next you tackle. I started off with a small nest, and I have to say taking out 200 of those things is more difficult than it would seem.

You see, there are a total of 17 different species, and each have unique features that separate them from the rest. There are ones that will do nothing but stun you, ones that will swallow you whole, even ones that explode when struck and leave behind an acidic ooze that will kill anything that touches it. This is where the game flourishes. Dealing with the huge variety is something that gets more and more challenging. Don't worry to much tho, you still just swing a sword and cut things apart.

But there is more... In Bounty Run you try and simply clear as many enemies as possible, and the difficulty slowly increases. The game has a lot of flexibility in that manor. It lets you change a lot of the settings from the menu including even the spawn rate; the number of Glooples that can be on screen at once. This ability to change difficulty adds an element that we don't see in most games, being user friendly. Nothing is more bothersome then when a game is so difficult you can even get started.

Then there is the work the author has put in. He has a fully functional bestiary in which all enemies you've encountered can be read about and their weakness's learned. This just goes to show the amount of work that has been put into this flash game. So even tho the graphics are a bit outdated, don't let that fool you, this one has some good potential to be taken to great heights.

So overall I have to say it's pretty good, but I mean it struggles to find it's place in the flash game market. You see it isn't short enough to be considered just a game you play over and over and over, and yet it is to short to take the time to play for a long period. So in the end I can't score this game that highly because while it does everything really well... it just lacks a reason to exist.

Rating:

Longevity: 3.0/5
Interface: 3.5/5
Addictiveness: 3.0/5
Sound: 3.0/5
Simplicity: 3.5/5

Overall: 3.2/5

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X's are a great marketing scheme we can do to make something seem edgy or better than the competition! Kids these days like things that end in X! It's Xtreeeeee (too many e's)me!!!one! Raiden X is no different, this game is a tribute to the arcade originals... and it does hold true in a lot of aspects.

It has the insane, over-crowded, visually assaulting graphics. It has the techno beat soundtrack that you simply never want to end. It has WAY to many enemies, and bosses that die WAY to quickly. The Heat-seeking missiles are as overpowered as always... Oh some of you might not know what the original arcade based Raiden games are.

Well if you are part of that crowd, the original arcade Raiden games are a series (They made I and II really) that was hugely popular in arcades around at least North America. This arcade classic had teenagers dumping quarters in it by the metric ton. It was released originally in 1990, and then there were a few updates and new versions...

Game play in the original and this tribute are pretty simple. You are in control of man-kinds last defense. A super sonic jet fighter that destroys and annihilates everything in it's path. It gets upgrades during the course of the game to a max weapon/missile level. Once you achieve this level you just get points for the upgrades.

Specific to the game you will be playing tho, the ship can only take a single hit. This means avoiding things at all costs... and there are lots of things to avoid. It means you will find yourself holding down the Z key for damn near the entire game. But that's fine, accuracy and ammo don't really play much of a part in the Raiden games. Bombs however do play a pivotal role. The type of bomb you send out will be based on your current weapon type at the time. They are massively destruction one-click wonders that will destroy damn near everything on the screen. Saving these for boss fights only speed them up quite a bit. However take note that when your screen is full of baddies, sometimes it is worth dumping one just to make sure you don't lose a life.

Speaking of lives, this game gives you enough... when I played it on medium I was given 15 to start with. This number might seem absurd, but it isn't uncommon to lose them on a semi-regular basis. I mean my word I can go through 4 or 5 before you manage to score the max weapon upgrade setup... but don't worry once you do that nothing will even appear on the screen for a while, it is dead before that.

This game will push you to move fast, and keep your hands super twitchy. It really does deliver a feel very similar to the original. One of my few complaints is that there is only one type of ship to chose from, in the newer arcade version you have multiple options. However, this flash version does improve on some user friendly features. Firstly, it has a save feature that you can use at the end of each stage. And it has 5 separate files, this means that you can save a level in a different location if you lose a lot of lives and be able to go back. Also pressing the space button brings you to a full menu, giving you sound options as well as current game info. Furthermore, it allows you to change the graphical nature of the game from being high to low quality. This would allow for much nicer game play on a choppy system, something you won't know until in the game... perfect.

In the span of about 30 minutes you can get through a decent chunk of the game, even starting over once or twice. I was really pleased with this title overall, and would suggest it's twitchy nature to anyone. Also it might pull you back for more, just like the arcade.

Rating:

Longevity: 3.5/5
Interface: 4.0/5
Addictiveness: 4.0/5
Sound: 3.5/5
Simplicity: 4.0/5

Overall: 3.8/5

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The most played game on Adult Swim, Amateur Surgeon is the future of Operation! The classic game... but now it has been revamped to include everything from a pizza cutter to a chainsaw. Users take the role of Alan Probe, a pizza delivery guy who accidentally runs into an ex-surgeon with a dark past. As the game progress' we find more and more about these two, and the old surgeon who is guiding Alan more so. The plot definitely adds a little something extra to this unique game.

Clients will simply walk in off the street to lay down on your tool table and be cut open, but don't worry it's all for the sake of the community. The game escalates in difficulty quite nicely, and it starts off explaining things very smoothly. There are many different tasks a surgeon must preform, from simply cutting open a patient, to difficult brain operations and organ transplant procedures. Alan (the user) manages to do all of these with nothing more than the common things you might find in the back of any pizza truck.

This game really is something else. Normally this quirky games are simplistic, and require little to no skill. Amateur Surgeon is different, gamers will regularly run out of time, or have to try the same operation multiple times to get the timing just right. Patients have pulse rate that must be monitored, as well as a specific amount of time available to complete the operation. The patient does die more quickly also depending on what activities you are doing to him... cutting into a ribcage with a chainsaw does take it's toll. Don't worry tho, Alan has a secret weapon. A corkscrew with pain relief gel will give the patient a surge of vitality and allow Alan a few more precious minutes to be able to close him up and send him on his way.

There is a VERY large variety of procedures, and you never now what you are going to have to deal with until you are in the middle of it. This requires fast thinking and a very steady hand. For example, when removing the ribcage if your cutting is even slightly off you will have to start all over, and if you don't move quickly enough the same will happen. The creator really makes you feel like a real surgeon, having to move quickly and confidently.

The game is organized into 3 Files and 1 secret file. I managed to get through the first file in good time, but then stopped for the sake of time. The game seperates each file into location, so by the 2nd file You are now located out of the back of a shop, and into the back of an alley. But don't worry everything that Alan and the good doctor do is perfectly sanitary.

This game would be wonderful to be used to train mouse coordination, as well as speed. Furthermore, this game has a grading system for how well each operation was done. Also the game has total operating time taken, as well as a total score accumulated. Not only can surgeries be repeated and improved,due to the shear size of the game, it has great repeat value. Games can be loaded so you don't need to start over each time you play. This is the kind of game that I will go back to later and beat over a few hours just because it is so challenging and entertaining.

The sounds are required to play, and I never even checked to see if you could disable them, obviously this means it isn't important for this game. Hands go down to the author for thinking of damn near everything in this game.

One final comment, the details make this game what it is. From the cartoon characters that don't take themselves to seriously, to the fine points of surgery. Something like if your patient's wounds are cauterized but not sealed for to long they re-open. Something as simple as that makes you have to focus that much harder and balance closing him up as well as cauterizing wounds. The more open sores the faster he dies, so both are critical.

Overall I have to say I was very pleased with this obscure title. It is very obvious as to why this game has over 50 million plays. I encourage you to try this game out, but don't try and beat it in one day. Come back to it each night and do 2 or 3 operations until it's finished, it is worth the time.

Rating:

Longevity: 4.0/5
Interface: 4.5/5
Addictiveness: 4.0/5
Sound: 4.0/5
Simplicity: 3.55

Overall: 4.0/5

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If you ever doubted that those 3 words would be strung together into one sentence, let your doubts be shattered like you will shatter stars in the epic minimalist title by Adult Swim.

Robot Unicorn Attack is awesome. I'm just going to start off by saying that. I mean I heard about this game from a friend, and normally those prove to be pretty good leads, the conversation went like this.

"Hey man, are you hooked on the latest game, Robot Unicorn Attack?"-him
"No never heard of it."-me
"It's this crazy flash game, you have to check it out... and you will love the music."-him

Those sorts of conversations are the things that make me keep doing this blog every single day. Let me tell you this game will not disappoint. It is of the genre that is sometimes called minimalist games, where you do as little as possible and the game takes everything else into its hands.

Essentially from the title we can assume several things. You are a unicorn bent on total annihilation of this world called... well lets call it 'Dream Land'. And in dream land, as a deadly killer robot unicorn... similar to The Terminator... it is our mission to have a strong a 'Wish' as possible. In fact we get three wishes, and the strength (score) of each is summed up to give us our final. I personally would like to think this is the amount of death and destruction we have caused, since if I was a Robot Unicorn, that would be my mission in life.

Essentially, the game plays like one of those helicopter games, where you are constantly moving in 1 direction, with no control over how fast you travel and all you can decide to do is jump or attack.

Z is jump and X is attack. These are the only controls you need.

You start off relatively slowly, and score is collected in 3 different manors. The first is simply the longer you travel the higher your score based solely on time. And of course the longer the time the faster the randomly pieced together level moves. Eventually it gets to such a pace that you actually have to get lucky to land some jumps. The second way to accumulate death and destruction points is by collecting fairy thingies... we don't really know what they are, but since we are a Unicorn we will address them as fairies... Seems appropriate. The third way is the most rewarding and most interesting.

Crash through Statically placed stars for huge points. You see the points on cumulative so you start off getting 100 for a star then 200 then 300... and you can do the math. However if you miss a star and happen to go over it, then your cumulative score will reset back to 100 for the next star.

Hint: Don't miss a star.

The physics, as simple as they are, allow for some interesting button glitching. Jumping while in an attack can actually get you over some ledges if you are going to hit them, so just always jump. Actually, you can double jump by pressing Z again while in the air, and if you attack, you can then jump once more. This leads to a scenario where you can actually stay air-born the entire game if you wanted to. I advise you to look out for low hanging walls, as they will obliterate you instantly. Also, don't miss a jump because the only thing that happens when you fall down a hole in wish land is you go back to reality, and logically since Robot Unicorns can't exist in reality, you die.

The music, oh the music. I don't think there is a way to disable it, but who cares. This stuff is so laid back and relaxing that it fits perfectly... if you imagine you are ravaging the hopes and dreams of all the world as a deadly robot unicorn on the attack.

I really have to say I was pleased with this game, it's a good waste of time, I just didn't like the fact that the website required me to register to get access to the high scores... I don't like registering...

Rating:

Longevity: 3.5/5
Interface: 4.0/5
Addictiveness: 4.0/5
Sound: 3.5/5
Simplicity: 4.0/5

Overall: 3.8/5

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