Every so often you come across an Indie game that you know is just destined for greatness and has the potential to go places!

“Indie” games are games from the smaller, more personal side of the industry, where you'll often find something a little different, a little quirky, but always creative and entertaining. So why are Indie games so great?

Here's the deal, free from the pressures of big-budget game publishing companies, Indie games made on shoestring budgets can showcase some original or bizarre storylines that the big -wigs would normally shy away from .So if are you tired of all the clones and sequels out there, then this is the scene for you!

As great as Indie games are, unfortunately there is a downside. You see they often don't get the recognition and attention that they deserve from gaming websites and magazines. It’s a shame really. That’s when I decided that if and when, I came across one that demands that you stop and take notice I will write about it.

Case in point, a brand- new game (although it’s been in production since December 2005!), from NG veterans Aaron Worrall, Mindchamber and Luis Castanon called “Newgrounds Rumble”.

Within the first few minutes of gameplay, it is clear that these guys are out to prove that you don't need a huge, expensive budget to excel in the fighting game genre.

But don’t just take my word for it; well over 1,173,572 users seem to think so too. In fact, it became the #1 Weekly Users' Choice within hours of its release on May 29!

Before we go on, I would like to take a moment and talk about the developers if I may, because they're a significant part of the indie/flash web-game community. Newgrounds was founded in 1995, as a website for people who love to make Flash, be it games or movies, but also for people who love watching and playing them as well. “Everything, By Everyone.”

It’s the perfect little game, easy to pick up and play and ultra addictive! Granted it’s a simple fighting game; and it’s not going to win any awards for ingenuity when it comes to the genre but that's okay, because it wasn’t meant too!

The developers have figured out a way to take an ol’ familiar classic brawler and give it that extra special "Sumthin' Sumthin'”. Go ahead and say what we’ve all been thinking -the comparision is enevitable to “Super Smash Bros. Melee” and that’s a good thing. I’m sure the developers would be extremely flattered as a matter of fact.

The premise is of the game is summed up in the title -“rumble”. It’s actually quite simple; characters duke it out, multiplayer free-for-all style using special attacks and various items in order to knock each other senseless. You can play solo in Story Mode or you can play with a friend in Versus Mode.

Let me tell ya’ from the moment the level begins it is a high intensity fight to the finish. Bring on the Animated Violence!

The cast of characters are the some of the oldest and best characters taken directly from Newgrounds.com such as Alloy,Pico,P-Bot,Nene,Samarai Asshole,Salad Fingers,Tankman,Alien Hominid, as well as 2 secret unlockable characters. They all look great here and amazingly enough all are hand-drawn. Even with all the action going on around you, you can still see quite a few little unique quirks about each character, such as Salad Fingers’ continous eye blinking or the way Alien Hominids’ tongue sticks out as you punch/pummel/pound/beat the living daylights out of him! (Sorry I got a little carried away there for a minute!) And best of all each one of the 10 characters sports their own fighting style, storyline and ending!

The controls are done using the keyboard with the standard left/right/up/ down arrow keys to…well move left or right, up or down and the S and D buttons used to attack. Be sure to use the A button to block and protect yourself, because as we all know “the best offense is always a good defense.”

I have a confession to make, I am not a fan of fighting games mainly because #1) I suck, but I blame that mostly on reason #2), often times you are forced to fight within a tight area with no room for movement at all which I hate. “NG Rumble” gives you a more open feeling, the battle areas are big and bright, giving players more room to dash, leap, bound and crouch kick to their hearts content.

Because honestly, if you’re going to play a game with the word “rumble” in it- you definitely want plenty of room to RUMBLE BABY!! Right?

SideNote: Do yourselves a favor and go into the training room to learn about the controls before starting the game, I mistakenly rushed into the game and got my A** kicked, only to go back and learn some really cool combo moves and such. For example, who knew that while pressing the up arrow key simultaneously with the D button would give me an extra sweet, fierce attack!

Surprisingly enough with all that’s going on at once I never experienced any annoying slowdowns within the levels that can often occur with games like this where the pace is constant and intense.

You know, sometimes it’s all in the little details that matter the most. For example I really liked the fact that players are given the option to stop playing whenever they wanted and the game would save their progress for the next time. This ability gives it real “pickup and play bonus points” in my book.

Graphically, you gotta give it up for “Newgrounds Rumble” - it's really bright, colorful and eye-catching.

The backgrounds are intensely detailed, the Chinese Zen Garden was my favorite. I really wished I could stop and just take it all in at times, but of course I couldn’t because the Samarai just wouldn’t let up for one second and constantly blammed me on the head…you wanna know something- he truly IS an asshole!

I liked the sound effects, especially the swishing and clanking of the swords, and they picked a cute, catchy beat to go along with it.

“Newgrounds Rumble” is a real rewarding game- no really- rewards are earned in the form of “grounds gold” which you use to unlock new levels and those 2 mysterious locked characters I told you about before.

So what's the deal here? Great graphics and sound, super- fun gameplay, and it was all done by a small team? God, I love Indie games.

As if you couldn’t already tell (and I honestly can’t see how with all the ranting and raving), I had a real blast with “Newgrounds Rumble” and I am really excited about it.

So much so in fact if you’re not already clicking on the link below to try it out for yourselves, you are dead to me. I'm serious. DEAD.