Toronto Thumbs

Flash Focus
It Ain’t No Deertase, But…

At Toronto Thumbs, we like to stay relevant; while not surfing at the head of the pack, we do managed to do well, keeping people apprised of the latest cutting edge games available to play. Sort of. And so, we applaud the creation of Lindsay Goes To Prison, to satisfy those who wish to participate in the news of the day.

If you are looking to kill a little bit of time, this game will do nicely. I’m pretty sure that you can guess what the subject of the game is (it is SFW, so don’t get too excited.

Click here to be less bored! »

Posted in Flash Focus | No Comments »

FLASH FOCUS
Adventures in Sex City

I don’t even know where to begin. Rocco Commisso sent me a link to this crazy game from the Middlesex-London Health Unit called Adventures in Sex City.

Actually “game” is a bit of a misnomer. It’s more like “somewhat animated trivia.” Still, as a connoisseur of the gaming medium, I couldn’t help but be interested. Players choose a character and then go on to battle against the evil Sperminator. He attacks by shooting giant, single sperm through his, er, arm cannon. If you answer a question correctly, you get to put up a shield and deflect it back. Get a question wrong, however, and you get nailed.

Either way, it’s pretty disgusting. Back in my day we learned our sex ed the old fashioned way – with black and white textbooks full of awkward yet horrifying illustrations. This takes things to a whole new terrifying level. I’m not going to lie: I did not finish this game. I am too fragile.

NOTE: this game has a better soundtrack than my textbooks ever had.

Posted in Awesome, Awful, Flash Focus | 4 Comments »

Jek Porkins & Ponda Baba in
Haunted House Candy Hunt!

The fantastic site I-Mockery.com has one of the funniest Flash games I’ve seen in a while: Jek Porkins & Ponda Baba in Haunted House Candy Hunt! In it, two of the most beloved ill-fated characters from Star Wars: A New Hope team up to enter a haunted house in search of candy. You control both characters through a variety of deadly screens. The lead character in the group can attack, but it doesn’t appear to do much good.

Still, this one is strangely enjoyable. Happy Friday, everyone. The Force will be with you, always.

Posted in Awesome, Flash Focus | 1 Comment »

THUNDERCATS, HO!
Movie Dead, Flash Games Live On

Given my affinity for 8-bit games, coupled with my love for 1980s toy franchises, I was pretty jazzed to hear that Kids WB has Thundercats games playable on its website. With recent news that Warner Bros. is no longer producing a movie based on the hit franchise, these games also come as a small consolation, especially The Rescue, which is styled like an 8-bit Double Dragon-type game.

Then again, considering how the recent G.I Joe and Transformers movies turned out I’m glad the Thundercats won’t be given the Hollywood treatment after all. Nevermind the fact that the cartoon was never that great to begin with. Enemies ran away upon first sight of Lion-O, and those robot bears that helped build the base are more unforgivable than Gungans.

Anyhow, you might have heard that the 80s was a time when a lot of people did a lot of drugs. I can’t say for certain, but Thundercats might be a great example of this. If, however, like me you are a fan of the series regardless (or because) of its shortcomings, check out the Flash games, The Rescue and The Orb of Madness.

Via collider.com

Posted in Film, Flash Focus, News Bytes | 2 Comments »

Flash Focus
Nintendo of Canada’s Holiday Snowball Toss

Now here’s neat take on the holiday greeting card: Nintendo of Canada’s Holiday Snowball Toss game has players throwin’ snow at the Koopa gang and other baddies. The somewhat minimalist game only takes about 30 seconds to play, but it’s a fun and cute 30 seconds since it’s full of sights and sounds from New Super Mario Bros. Wii.

See how many members of Mario’s rogue gallery you can take out. My record is 620 points!

Play Holiday Snowball Toss »

Posted in Awesome, Canada, Flash Focus, Nintendo | 3 Comments »

FLASH FOCUS
Floater

Ever wanted to poke a corpse down a river, but couldn’t figure out the logistics of doing such a thing? There’s a lot to take into consideration. For instance, where would you stand? Either side of the river bank would be problematic in case you poked the corpse over to the other side. You could go for two-player co-op, but then you’d have to count on a friend to also be willing to poke a floating dead dude around all afternoon.

Thinking of such things can really tax your brain. Luckily, Adult Swim is doing their part to ensure we never have to over-think it. Their Flash game, Floater, is a simulation of poking a corpse down a river. You get points for hitting obstacles along the way, and you have a time limit, too. The object of the game is to score points by crashing into things and by travelling as far as possible. Trust me, this is more fun than the real deal, and a whole lot less stinky.

Play it now »

Posted in Awesome, Awful, Flash Focus, When Video Games Go Too Far | No Comments »

FLASH FOCUS
My Brute

Looking for a way to kill five minutes a day at work? My Brute may be your answer. A friend of mine recently introduced me to My Brute, an online flash RPG where you can blow off some steam once a day. All you need to do is create your own custom brute, name him or her and you’re ready to get in on the fun.

The first day you will have five battles and from then on you will have 3 battles a day to face off against other brutes and level up. There is basically no game-play. Instead you log in and go to the arena and choose the brute you would like to face off against and just watch as the battle takes place before you. As you gain experience you will collect weapons and animals to fight along side you in the arena. Then if you feel you’re ready, you can join a clan and enter tournaments which help to build experience alongside the three fights you are allotted each day.

Another way to gain experience, and also my favourite part of My Brute, is by getting your friends to join. Every friend that joins with you becomes a pupil and you can watch them training with you, their sensei, from your profile page. I like to go and watch my friend’s unique brutes standing before me and punching in unison - it feels like I’ve accomplished something. So just to reiterate, if you’re into quick little internet games which just require a few minutes of your time each day, My Brute is definitely one to consider.

Care to challenge me? »

Posted in Flash Focus | 1 Comment »

FLASH FOCUS
Scarygirl Game

Flash games get an unfair bum rap thanks to the plethora of pure garbage floating around the Internet and lurking on Flash game sites. But let’s not let the majority ruin in for the good ones. In fact, let’s celebrate great Flash game design more often. It’s the ultimate platform, after all, and has a huge install base. Today I came across this charmingly cute platform game over at scarygirl.com that seems to be titled Scarygirl Game.

Don’t let the cutesy aesthetic fool you – the game’s surprisingly well produced. Everything from the opening animation to the detailed environment and character design screams awesomeness. Note the clever use of zoom while indoors, and the way other characters interact with the protagonist via speech bubbles full of simple animations rather than text. It’s almost universally understandable, save for the use of English elsewhere.

If this game was available as WiiWare, it would sell like crazy.

Play Scarygirl Game »

Posted in Flash Focus | 4 Comments »

FLASH FOCUS
The Patapon 2 Mini-Game

If you’ve not yet had the chance to play Patapon, it might be hard to understand why waiting until May 5th for the North American release of Patapon 2 has me all knotted up inside. But SPIL Games is giving a chance for both players suffering through the painful wait, and those that have never been hypnotized by the repetitious rhythm and style of the series to bang out a few “Pata’s” all the same.

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe has announced that from March 9th until March 16th, PC and Mac gamers alike can sample the Kerb-developed flash version of Patapon. The result is as near perfect as possible - considering that the keyboard is a poor substitute for clutching my PSP. Players can get a quick taste of what’s coming and unlock designs for creating their own Patapon wallpaper - meaning you should click on through right away!

Me? I’ll just be sitting here, waiting for May 5th, unless of course I happen to get it sooner.

EBgames has also offered a demo with pre-orders of Patapon 2 that will apparently be available from March 13th until April 27th. Same game perhaps? Good question! What say you Sony?

Posted in Awesome, Flash Focus, Mac, PC, PSP, Sony | 8 Comments »

FLASH FOCUS
The Minutemen Arcade Game

With the Watchmen movie coming out in mere weeks, it seems that each new day brings us a little something extra to get us more pumped up about it. Today Kate sent me this link to a Flash game based on the exploits of the original Nite Owl and Silk Spectre as they hunt down the villainous Moloch.

Click on the arcade machine on the right, and you’ll get to play a game designed to look like it was published by Veidt Enterprises in 1977. The graphics look very good considering this, but then again Watchmen does take place in an alternate timeline. The game doesn’t take long to play through, but it is still fun despite sometimes sticky controls. It even captures the beat-’em-up feel quite well.

Play it »

Posted in Flash Focus | 1 Comment »