Introduction

Yes, you read that correctly. Not PC games, but FLASH games. Those games you may have seen on various websites in the past that were playable on the Internet. Sites such as Newgrounds, Miniclip, Iragination, and Homestar Runner. 

Flash was discontinued over a year ago, but despite that many Flash Games can still be played today. The Flash games from Iragination, the company behind various Mega Man Flash games such as Fireman: Incoming Storm and Fall of 21XX, are still playable after all these years for example, and can be found on their site (Link: https://www.iragination.com/clips/games.php).

I wasn't really a big PC gamer in the early/mid 2000s, though I did play some PC games like Test Drive 5 and Sonic 3D Blast (both of which I still have after all these years). I was more into consoles, handhelds, and Arcade games. However, I was into playing several Flash games. I visited a lot of gaming websites (including Nintendo's official U.S. site), and sites that weren't really gaming-related but had games to play (like the Lunchables/Kraft Foods site). Flash games were often short and sweet, and were nice to play after a long day at School or on a day off work.

Thanks to the Internet Archive, I was able to play many of the Flash games I played in the early/mid 2000s one more time in 2020 and recorded videos of them. This blog lists my ten favorite Flash games I've played over the years.

My Favorite Flash Games 

10.I Am Error: The Flash Game

A Flash game featuring "Error", a minor (but well-known) character from Zelda II: Adventure of Link for NES. You play as "Error", and shoot "I am Error" text boxes at a bunch of Links.

This game was playable on an NES site called NES Player (now known as Nintendo Player), which I used to visit in the early and mid 2000s. The site also had various Flash Movies based on games like Super Mario Bros., StarTropics, and Blades of Steel. I didn't play this game until 2020, when I noticed it was still on Nintendo Player. I figured I'd play it a bit before Flash was discontinued. Humorous game.

9.Awexome Cross 98

A Homestar Runner Flash game. It features the character "The Cheat" riding a Tire and jumping over obstacles. It uses some sound effects from Super Mario Bros. The levels get harder and harder. It can still be played on the Homestar Runner site (Link: https://homestarrunner.com/viderogames).

8.Rock 'n Roll Racing Flash Demo 

A demo of the Game Boy Advance version of Rock 'n Roll Racing that was playable on Blizzard's site (now Activision Blizzard). I remember playing this demo in 2003/2004, and played it again in 2020 before Flash was discontinued. It contained one track, which you raced on a few times then the demo came to an end. Like the full version of the game, you could earn money and use your earnings to upgrade your vehicle with better parts. I rented the SNES version of Rock 'n Roll Racing a few times in the late '90s/early 2000s and remember really liking it, so it was kind of fun playing this demo of the GBA version. I bought the GBA version of Rock 'n Roll Racing on eBay several years ago, fully complete and in near-mint shape. 

7.Sonic Mega Collection Plus Mini

A game that was playable on Sega's Sonic Central site, and basically advertised the PS2 and Xbox versions of Sonic Mega Collection. Though I got (and still have) the GameCube version of Sonic Mega Collection, I still liked playing this game on the Sonic Central site. It has the first level from the first Sonic game, and the goal was to reach the end of the level while collecting rings and defeating enemies. After reaching the goal, the game would give you the option to submit your score. It was another game I got to play again in 2020, before Flash was discontinued.

6.Pac-Man World 2 Tree-Top Token Game

This Flash game was playable on Namco's Pac-Man World 2 site. The Pac-Man World 2 game for PS2, GameCube, Xbox, and PC was one of my favorite games released during that era, and so of course I visited the game's site several times. The goal of this Flash game was to jump on the platforms and collect the dots, while avoiding Pinky the ghost. Collecting the dots gave you points. Getting a certain amount of points would unlock the sites Jukebox, allowing you to sample some of the music from the Pac-Man World 2 game for PS2, GameCube, Xbox, and PC.

While there was nothing really great about this Flash game, it was a nice way to relax for a bit.

5.Donkey Konk

This was a Donkey Kong 64 Flash game, playable on Nintendo's DK64 site. I remember playing it in 2000/2001. The goal in this game was to click on the enemies (Kremlings), while making sure you didn't click on DK or Diddy. It was fast-paced and kind of addicting. I got to play it one more time in 2020, seen in the video above.

4.Mega Man Vs. Ghosts 'n Goblins

A Mega Man and Ghosts 'n Goblins crossover from Staticreator. You play as Mega Man, and work your way through two levels based on Ghosts 'n Goblins for NES. Arthur, the protagonist from Ghosts 'n Goblins, is the boss in the second level. Defeat him, and you get his weapon. There's another game basically like this one called Mega Man Vs. Metroid, also from Staticreator. Weapons earned in one game can be used in the other. Beating both games allows you to unlock and play as Protoman in both games.

I have fond memories of playing Mega Man Vs. Ghosts 'n Goblins in the dark in 2008/2009, with the volume cranked up. The music in the game is a remix of the Ghosts 'n Goblins theme. A remix of the boss music from Mega Man 3 plays during the battle with Arthur. Both Mega Man Vs. Ghosts 'n Goblins and Mega Man Vs. Metroid can still be played on Newgrounds (Link: https://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/175060).

3.Fireman Vs. Bass

This game is from Iragination, which also made several other Mega Man-related Flash games. You play as Fireman, one of the bosses/robot masters from Mega Man 1. You play through a very short level, then you battle Bass (who first appeared in Mega Man 7). Bass is suppose to be one of Dr. Wily's most advanced creations (and in the real Mega Man games, he is), but his attacks have no effect on Fireman. The goal is to keep shooting Bass as many times as you can while he's in the air (the game will keep counting, until he lands on the ground or until you defeat him). Different sounds play depending on the amount of times you hit Bass. The game then shows your ranking. The better your ranking is, the longer the ending will be after the battle. 

This game is one of my favorite Flash games because of its humor. I recorded a video of the game in 2008, and then recorded another in 2019 (I did better in the second video). The game is still playable on Iragination's site.

2.Animal Crossing Find Your Way Home

A Flash game that was playable on Nintendo's GameCube Animal Crossing site. You're in a maze, and have to find your way back to your house. It's dark, and you can only see part of the maze. The maze layout changed, so you wouldn't always walk through the same maze everytime you played the game. For music, the game played the GameCube Animal Crossing Halloween music (well, part of it).

1.Ultimate Flash Sonic

This Flash game was on Newgrounds, and it can still be played (Link: https://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/151706). 

The game is based on Sonic Advance 2, featuring graphics, animations, and music from that game. As in that game, you can play as Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, and Cream the Rabbit. While not overly long (it is possible to beat it in under ten minutes), the game is a little longer than many Flash games and has multiple levels and boss battles. The game does have some issues, like being a little slow and choppy and having some glitches. But it's still pretty good for a Flash game.   

I first played this game in 2004, and it was easily one of my favorite Flash games. After replaying many of these games in 2020, I can say that this is definitely my favorite Flash game. While Flash games were usually pretty short, I kind of like that this one was a little longer without being too long and included more content than many other Flash games.

Honorable Mentions

Luigi's Mansion Poltercue

This was playable on Nintendo's GameCube Luigi's Mansion site. I remember playing it in 2001/2002. It's kind of like Pool, but there's only one ball and you use Luigi's Vacuum to get the ball inside one of the holes. By completing the game, the player was rewarded with some Luigi's Mansion Wallpaper.

Mario Party 6 Flash Games

I visited pretty much all of the N64 and GameCube Mario Party sites, from Mario Party 1 to Mario Party 7. The sites often had Flash games that were based on some of the minigames featured in the Mario Party games. 

Fireman: Incoming Storm

I remember playing this on a site called Arcade Pod in 2003/2004, and later on Newgrounds. Like Fireman Vs. Bass, it is another Mega Man Flash game from Iragination that features Fireman from Mega Man 1. It is based on Iragination's Fireman comic series. The game plays like a regular Mega Man game, and features music from the Mega Man X games (particularly Mega Man X2, X3, and X6). It has options to change the game's difficulty, and an option to configure the controls to your liking (after you're done configuring the controls, the game allows you to test out the controls before playing the actual game). The boss at the end of the level is Tengu Man from Mega Man 8. The game is on Iragination's site and can still be played.

Fall of 21XX

Another Mega Man Flash game from Iragination. You play as Mega Man X, and go through one level that has enemies from the Mega Man X series. It has three bosses from Mega Man X2 that are fought at the same time. Charging up X's weapon (the X Buster) does a lot more damage than regular shots, and you get energy from each boss you defeat so the boss battle isn't as unfair or difficult as it may seem.

I played the game using this SNES-style USB Controller.

Ninja Turtles Mutant Munchies

A Pac-Man clone that featured Michelangelo from Ninja Turtles. It was released in 2003 and was playable on Fox's Foxbox/4Kids site. It had pretty much the same gameplay as Pac-Man. Basically, you moved Mikey around a Sewer maze (which had the same layout as the original Pac-Man maze) and collected dots. The game had Pizza's that were basically like the Power Pellets from Pac-Man, allowing Mikey to eat the enemies. While it was a Pac-Man clone and wasn't very original, I thought it was worth playing for its humor. I mean think about it, Mikey eating Pizza and becoming invincible for a few seconds (complete with some rockin' music from the 2003 Ninja Turtles cartoon)? I thought that was kind of funny twenty years ago.

I think I played this game again in 2020, but for whatever reason I didn't record a video of it. If you want to see pictures of it, just search for the game in your favorite search engine. There's also a video of it on YouTube.

Conclusion

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I played a lot of Flash games. Unfortunately, some of them have been lost to time. But many have been archived and remain playable. Some of these games were on sites that required Flash (or had both Flash and Non-Flash versions). Maybe I'll make a blog about many of the game sites I visited in the past.

-MegaMan52