-PERMABAN-

Hi it's Slappy. I think some or most of you know I was permabanned last night on my request. I will be back on kong someday, but not anytime soon. I will miss you all alot. I am happy, but sad in the same way. I love Kong, and like I said, I'll be back ;)

If you want to email me, my email is coltonmon@yahoo.com

Huggles!
-Slappy

Duckeh's an admin!

Y very special Kongrats there!

Yes, if you haven't heard yet, ducklette has been promoted to an admin. And even though that means that she won't be in the room as often, we still give her our obligatory "Y GRATS THAR" and "Grats", and "Kongrats". We hope you enjoy it, duck!

P.S. I feel this post needs an image... To google!
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I am the ghost of stolen posts :O

Seriously though, Ducky gets my kongrats, and likely my "abusive mod" e-mail XD

I'll just have to watch the pond a bit closer now that her time is limited.

Yes I did hijack it just so that I wouldn't have to comment.

Two posts in a row?! -- ZOMG

Alright, now that I'm done with my challenge review, I'm going to get cracking on my second review. Of the day.

A day or two ago, awalters asked me if I would like to do the "underrated game review" of the week. I happily accepted, as he was going to do it on one of my personal favorite games on Kongregate -- Zwingo.

So, let's get this thing rolling.

Zwingo, essentially, is a game where you swing a white ball into other black balls, to protect a larger white ball in the center. However, it's a lot harder than it seems. There's fifty-five levels in this game, and the difficulty escalates with the levels. And, there's a boss every ten levels, which, are actually very tough to beat.

Back to the mechanics of the game.
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Here's what you are trying to do: (In more detail.) You, are the cursor. The semi transparent circle, which, in the first five seconds of playing, you'll find out you can control with the mouse. Attached to your cursor, is a white ball. This white ball is held on with a string. As you move the cursor, the white ball gets yanked around, seeing as it's connected to the cursor. There are other balls in the game as well. One of which is the most common, the enemy ball. These are black colored, and they are the bad things in this game. You don't want those things, so you must smash the white ball (on the string) into the black balls. The black balls are trying to hit a larger white ball in the center of the stage. That large white ball is inside a boundary, and if it leaves that boundary, you get a game over. I know this may sound a little confusing if you've never played the game, but that's why I've attached a screenshot to show you the battlefield:

As you can see, there's the large white ball, the cursor, the smaller white ball, and an enemy ball. Those are the basic parts of the screen. You'll also notice the XP meter (Which I'll get to in a bit), the level counter, and the score counter.

Moving on, like I said earlier, every ten levels you'll encounter a boss. These things are very difficult, and must be dealt with quickly, or it's almost a certain game over. The good news is, the bosses get their own separate levels; you don't have to deal with the boss and the normal black enemy balls.

Here's a screenshot of the first boss battle.


That black ball with the blue lens is the boss. You'll notice the health bar for the boss at the top of the screen, as well. These things can't just be pushed off the screen, each time you hit them, you deplete a little health, and you must deplete all of it's health before it finally goes down. Now, at the beginning of a boss level, go to the bottom of the screen, and get ready to strike as hard as you can.

Because, as I have so contingently forgotten to mention earlier, the harder you hit an enemy/boss, the more damage you'll do. And, not to mention, the more EXP you'll get to spend on precious upgrades.

Which brings me to my next subject: Upgrades. After every level, the upgrade menu opens up. You can buy upgrades with the experience you've earned killing enemies. There are four upgrades:

• Speed: The speed at which the white ball your cursor is attached to moves.
• Size: The overall size and strength of the white ball attached to your cursor.
• Boundary: Increases the size of the boundary that you must keep the white ball in.
• Target Size: It increases the size of the larger white ball in the center, making it harder to keep in the boundary, but give it much more resistant to enemy balls hitting it.

The first two upgrades are dependent upon each other; If you upgrade the speed of the ball too much, it makes it too small and hard to control to hit anything, and if you increase the Size too much, the ball becomes sluggish and hard to control. The same can be said about the bottom two. However, if you upgrade the pairs at relatively the same consistency, they will work in perfect harmony and improve your performance in the game.

Well, that about sums up Zwingo. My final rating for this game is an 8/10. Here's a quick breakdown of my rating:

Pros:
- Awesome music
- Great physics
- Fantastic upgrade system.

Cons:
- Gets repetitive after a while.
- IMO, the bosses are a tad bit too hard.

Alright, I suppose that's the end of my review on Zwingo. Sorry about that huge wall of text, by the way, I'm just naturally a very elaborative writer. X_X

~PlatinumIce

Yay, moar challenge reviews.

Alright, as BlahMan stated, in the past while we've been pretty lazy. X_X But now we've got back on the routine. Let's get straight down to the good stuff, shall we?

This week's Thursday challenge is on our latest sponsor game: Battalion: Nemesis. This game is a turn based strategy game, much like Advance Wars.

Now, be forewarned, on some computers, this game may severely lag you. (It did me, It forced me to restart my computer. Twice. X-X) But, if you have one of those lightning fast computers, don't worry, you'll be in for an awesome time.

If you've ever played Advance Wars, this game will be nothing new to you, and you'll probably beat most of it with ease. If you haven't, I suggest you play through Boot Camp, to learn the basics. And even if you know how to play, it's worth playing through Boot Camp, as you'll get 15 points, and a medium badge.

Alright, enough about the game, let's get to the part where I talk about the challenge.

This challenge is for Girdle of Iron Will. A valuable card to some, so don't pass the opportunity to get this card up!

All you must do to get this card is kill 50 enemies. It can be done on any map, any difficulty setting. Not too hard. I, defeated 15 of those fifty in the first three or four levels of Boot Camp. So, playing through Boot Camp has yet ANOTHER bonus. ;D

I, myself, have not got the card yet, so I can't really provide any tips of interest. (I don't have the card because of that lag problem I mentioned earlier. XO) All I can tell you is play through boot camp, and you should have the majority of the enemies killed.

Good luck, and have fun on that battlefield!

~PlatinumIce

Getting back on track - Vector Runner review

First off, PI and I have been really lazy about this, so, we're (well, at least I am) getting back on track.

This weeks Monday/Tuesday challenge is Vector Runner, by DigYourOwnGrave.

Now, this is NOT a game that supposed to take you 3 hours to beat. It's a retro style game. The object of the game is to avoid obstacles while moving forward and collecting items. But, there's a twist. The speed picks up every 20-or-so seconds, zooming in until you can't really see all of the terrain anymore, which is one of my main gripes about the game. Still, it's a fun game. The powerups are +500 (green), +1000 (purple [get 10 for a badge!]), invincibility (white), and shield recharge (blue). Overall, I gave it a 4/5, for zooming in so freaking much. >_<

I don't have tips for the challenge, as it's waaaaaay too easy. I have tips for the imp though. Whites often come in sequences, so try and get as many in a row as you can.

Until next time, Kwek kwek!
~BlahMan

P.S. Awalters hates this game.

Interview with Chibi_Rock_Lee

It took longer than expected but we finally have our first interview done and ready to go up. Minor changes were made such as spelling and game names, but otherwise this is the interview that was done by Slappy12 on the FTDinterview account.

FTDinterview: When did you join the site?

Chibi_Rock_Lee: About late January

FTDinterview: What got you hooked?

Chibi_Rock_Lee: The Badges I have always loved collecting things

FTDinterview: Could you give us a brief history of your time on kong?

Chibi_Rock_Lee: well I started in Arcane Coding and made some friends and got the hang of Kongregate then I saw the van in one of wizky's games and saw a lot of mods there so I decided to move, I made friends with ducky and awal mostly ducky though and then she made a room and I joined it and here we are today.

FTDinterview: What do you think about the new ticket challenge idea?

Chibi_Rock_Lee: Fail. I dislike competitions like that because I never win and I’m sad if I don’t.

FTDinterview: How do you like the FtD blog?

Chibi_Rock_Lee : Its great, perfect for the FtD competitions and comments on the room, Kong or anything. It is just another way to access my friends.

FTDinterview: Would you change anything about it?

Chibi_Rock_Lee: Yes. I would change the comments button to make it easier to see >:/

FTDinterview: How do you like the interview idea?

Chibi_Rock_Lee: I like it a lot, I can answer questions about myself and Kongregate, and it will show people what I’m thinking and what I think about.

FTDinterview: What are some of your favorite games on Kong?

Chibi_Rock_Lee: There's Two Wires, GemCraft and Free Rider

FTDinterview: Any games that you don't like quite as much that you wonder why they got badges?

Chibi_Rock_Lee: Desktop Tower Defense, Jumpcat, Streamline

FTDinterview: How did you like buried treasure week?

Chibi_Rock_Lee: I thought it was a great idea! Some games were meant to be buried though, like Jumpcat, but The Last Canopy was amazing, I’m glad they did that, I needed the point boost plus more badges. I also like the fact that it brought up so many good games I would have missed.

FTDinterview: Would you like to see it done again?

Chibi_Rock_Lee: Definitely. Maybe throw in an impossible badge next time. You know, for awalters.

FTDinterview: Do you have any buried treasures (with or without API) to share with us?

Chibi_Rock_Lee: Yes. Whooly & The lost Treasures, and There's Two Wires

FTDinterview: Do you play Kongai, and if so what types of combos have you thought of that others might not have?

Chibi_Rock_Lee: My poison layer. Put the deadly poison on Popo, use Herbal Preparations twice, and then use poison dart.

FTDinterview: Any other comments?

Chibi_Rock_Lee: Rave sucks, NUT>Kong Tour, MCR forever and *removed* is the formula for a chatnuke

FTDinterview: Did you really want to be interviewed?

Chibi_Rock_Lee: Yes

FTDinterview: Thank you for your time.