The Abobo train to an 8-bit wonderland of powerful punches continues to streamroll its way across the Internet and we couldn't be happier about the reception! Since so many people have been playing the game, we've added it to another site. Abobo's Big Adventure is now available for play on ArmorGames, so be sure to check it out on there and give it some votes to help show your support!

That said, there have been some requests for features in Abobo's Big Adventure, so we've updated the game with a few things we thought were worth adding in.

Version 1.4 includes the following updates:

-You can press "M" from anywhere in the game to return to the main menu - including during cutscenes! This should come in particularly handy for all you achievement medal hunters so you don't have to refresh your browser.

-There is a pause on the intro to the Pro Wrabobo and Punch Abobo areas so you can learn more about the moves you can perform in each of these big battles.

-On the intro to the Pro Wrabobo area, we've added in a secret tip for those of you who struggled to complete the tricky Balloon Fight level.

-Fixed bug during Punch Abobo fight where it locked up if you got up at the end of the 10 count.

-Fixed a bug in Prow Wrabobo where he suddenly vanished (well, we think we fixed it).

As always, please let us know if you encounter any new (or old) glitches when playing v.1.4 of Abobo's Big Adventure!

Lastly, for all of you who've been asking for a downloadable standalone, browser-free version of the game, it's coming very soon! In addition to that, the game will have a fullscreen mode feature so you can play it much larger! And yes, the game will still be 100% free and you can still use a gamepad to play it as always.

-Team Bobo

It's finally here! The wait is over and you can finally dive into the world of Abobo, fists first! Please Vote for our game on Newgrounds!

A lot of love went into Abobo's Big Adventure. We had no bosses to report to, no budgets to meet, no rules about what we couldn't do... we simply took the time to make the kind of game that we had dreamed about when we were kids. I have to thank Nick and Pox for seeing this immense project through to the very end with me. They put a ton of work into this and the game simply couldn't have turned out this incredibly well without their efforts. I'm incredibly lucky to have good friends like them who share my sense of humor to work on games with. I also have to thank our friends and families for putting up with all the long nights we spent working on the game when we could've been hanging out with them. Thanks to Tom Fulp and the Newgrounds community for showing so much support for our game projects over the years. And lastly, I want to thank you guys for being so patient with us as we kept promising this game year after year. Your undying support really kept us going and we really appreciate so many of you spreading the word about it online. I know it took us forever to complete, but once you've played through the entire thing, you'll see that it was worth the wait.

We've added in a ton of custom artwork, cutscenes, unique rage moves on each level, huge boss battles, secrets, unlockables, jokes, and a whopping 100 achievement medals! We even wrote a tutorial so you can learn how to play the game with a genuine NES controller on your computer. You'll also be happy to learn that we've created a convenient Level Select screen which automatically unlocks levels as you beat them. You don't have to beat the game in one sitting... you can always come back and use the Level Select to pick up right where you left off. You can also use it to replay any level if you need to try to unlock additional medals that you missed out on during your first play-through.

So here we are. January 11th, 2012. Abobo's Big Adventure, the ultimate tribute to the NES and our masterpiece of 8-bit parodies is finally here. All I want to do now is sit back and enjoy seeing all of you laugh and smile as all of your memories from the golden age of gaming come flooding back in an instant. And don't worry, even if you didn't grow up on these games, you're still going to have a blast playing it as the humor is universal. Do yourself a favor and play through the entire game, because I promise that the ending we've worked up for you will be something you'll remember for the rest of your life.

Seeing Abobo's Big Adventure released is a real dream come true. On behalf of Team Bobo, thanks so much for being a part of it. Please drop a comment and let us know what you think of the game!

There seems to be a little confusion about the release of Abobo's Big Adventure, especially for those of you in other countries where it's already Wednesday the 11th, so I thought I would chime in real quickly to clear things up.

Abobo's Big Adventure will be released on Wednesday, January 11th, but we never said the exact time, so we're sorry if that caused a little confusion. The countdown clock was to countdown to the day that the game would be coming out, not the exact second. We're in the Pacific time Zone and plan on getting up really early in the morning to put Abobo up live. We would release it at midnight, but then we'd need to stay up 'til 6am monitoring the game to make sure there aren't any catastrophic glitches. And frankly, we've pulled enough all nighters lately, so we'd like to get a decent night of rest before we unleash Abobo upon the world.

You guys have waited YEARS for this (as have we), just hold on a little longer and it'll all be worth the wait! :) We're still making some final adjustments to the game and preparing to load it up here on the official site, on Newgrounds.com and on I-Mockery.com, so there's a lot to be done. Plus, those who made donations already received a special, 100% original, bonus mini-game called "Aboboy's Small Adventure" that we sent them via email to help pass the time as a token of our appreciation!

So just hold on a little longer... for Abobo is preparing his fists for a whole lot o' punching!

This Wednesday, your lives will be changed forever. You will no longer see the world in the same way... instead, you will see it through the eyes of the angriest character in the history of video games: Abobo.

Settle your debts, eat your favorite meal, batten down the hatches, and say goodbye to your loved ones... for Abobo's Big Adventure is almost here.

Remember when we said that Abobo's Big Adventure would be releasing at the end of 2011? So do we. We recently asked Abobo if he was ready for the game to come out since it's December 'n all, and he got really angry and pointed at January on the calendar. Well, he didn't point at it, he punched every other month on the calendar until January was the only one left intact. We tried to explain to him that January is NOT the last month of the year, but he insisted it was and then went on to talk about other good months including "Octember" and "Junepril". Trying to have a basic conversation with Abobo is tough enough, trying to explain how the calendar year is organized to him is damn near impossible - especially if you don't want to get punched into oblivion.

With that in mind, we're incredibly excited to finally announce the release date for Abobo's Big Adventure: January 11th, 2012!

Yes, we know it's a few extra weeks of waiting, but we're making it worth it by adding more features, medals, and unlockables to the game. Plus, to everybody who has kindly donated to us, we're going to be giving out a free copy of a special new bonus mini-game starring own own creation, Aboboy! Believe me when I say this will absolutely be worth the wait.

Abobo is coming very soon... stock up on clean underwear, you''re gonna need it.

Crank your speakers up, batten down the hatches, and buckle your safety belts - the official trailer for our Abobo's Big Adventure game is finally here! You can watch it at the top of the screen or click here to watch it in full resolution.

I'm almost as excited about the release of this trailer as I am about the upcoming release of the game itself. This trailer gives me chills every time I watch it. CHILLS! It must be because it's like seeing the culmination of a project that we've worked on for years and years... and now the release of our big game is right around the corner. Make no mistake about it - this is the biggest project we've ever worked on and it's everything we dreamed of having in a single 8-bit NES-style game. I hope it really shows in this trailer.

Speaking of the trailer, I have to extend a huge thanks to my good friend Brad Webb. Without him, this extremely professional trailer would've never happened. We wanted to make this a trailer worthy of the Abobo name, and Brad absolutely delivered. Now I owe him an expensive dinner... I sure hope he likes In-N-Out Burger.

Watch it once. Watch it twice. Watch it a thousand times. Please help spread the word, because this is a free game made by the fans for the fans, and soon you'll all get to play through the entire thing. All hail Abobo!

Yep, this is pretty much the greatest jack-o-lantern ever made.

Happy Aboboween everybody!

Sorry we haven't had many updates in recent weeks, we've just been working hard on the game itself. Last night, we finished putting the final cinematics of the game together, and not to toot our collective horn, but I honestly believe this is one of the greatest endings to a game you'll ever see. I can't spoil anything, but this is far from one of those typical "game over" screens that so many NES games had. Considering how long the game is, we wanted to give you guys an ending that's truly worthy of your efforts. Can't wait for you to see it all.

Now that the cinematics are done, we're working on that final showdown with the big boss of the game. It's gonna be one hell of a battle.

I also wanted to thank everybody who came out to see us on Keith Apicary's "Apicarnage" tour. We had some great feedback on the game and gave out a bunch of free masks at each arcade we stopped by:

By the way, since it's October... anybody dressing up as Abobo for Halloween? Sounds like a great costume idea to me... especially since you can pummel anybody who dares to give you a trick instead of a treat.

The 2011 San Diego Comic-Con may be behind us, but interviews from the convention are still somehow trickling in. Personally, I think it's because it took anybody who came in contact with Abobo's Big Adventure that long to recover from the mind-shattering experience.

So anyway, the super nice guys over at firstedition.tv stopped by the I-Mockery booth back in July to talk to us about the game and have a good cry. Here's the full interview:

If you're wondering why that kid wasn't able to answer any interview questions very well, it's because Abobo already punched him for not knowing any NES history. That kid now needs a drool cup wherever he goes and people have to remind him to breathe.

Looks like another satisfied Abobo's Big Adventure beta tester to me!

Early last week we sent out a beta test for the Zeldabobo level, and those of you who were already on the beta test list have been giving us some fantastic feedback. We have a few things to tweak, but there weren't any major glitches in the level, which is always nice. So a big thanks to those of you who played through the level multiple times and sent in your feedback. Big thanks to all of you who have been signing up to participate in the beta test too - we've had a ton of sign-ups since Comic-Con!

We've also had some more coverage on Youtube, compliments of Pot of Coffee Entertainment. You can currently see the video at the top of the page - it's pretty hard to miss since it features yours truly being interviewed by a grown man in Underoos. Oh the wonders of Comic-Con. If you want to see the interview on Youtube and leave them a comment, click here.

In other news, we have an awesome Hollywood-style trailer in the works for the game that should be finished in the near future. I won't lie... when I see the trailer, it makes me want to play the game immediately, so I think it's gonna get everybody really excited about all the things to come in Abobo's Big Adventure. We'll be sure to post it here on the official site as soon as the trailer is ready.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go clean up the mess Abobo made last night. He ordered a pizza and when the delivery guy arrived, he dared to ask Abobo to pay for it. So now I have to scrape a squashed pizza delivery guy off of our welcome mat. Sometimes it's a pain in the ass having Abobo as a roommate... just don't tell him I said that.

If you're attending the San Diego Comic-Con this week, you'll have a chance to play Abobo's Big Adventure on a custom arcade cabinet! Not only that, but we'll have almost the entire game for you to play as well. This year we'll have three new levels and four (yes four) huge boss fights that will put your classic gaming skills to the test!

Plus, we'll be giving out special Abobo masks (while supplies last) to everybody who tries out the game! What better way to improve your face than by adding some Abobo to it?

Abobo's Big Adventure will be located at the I-Mockery.com booth #E10 near the 600 & 700 aisles of the convention center. We'll be there from Wednesday, July 20th through Sunday, July 24th. We hope to see you there so you can help Abobo wreak havoc in an 8-bit world!

Thought you'd like to see some of the amazing storyboard art that goes into a game like Abobo's Big Adventure

See kids? Art school really can pay off!

Since you guys have nothing better to do, why don't you try and guess who this mystery Abobo stage boss is!

Hint: It's the exact opposite of what you're going to guess as a collective.

We just wanted to thank all of you who helped test out the latest level in our recent beta test. The response to the level was very positive and we're currently working on fixing the bugs that were reported. It really helps to have you guys test out these levels, because with a game this huge, there's a lot of room for glitches and we want the final product to be as error free as possible. Thanks again to those of you who sent in your detailed feedback. We're really glad you guys enjoyed the "Megabobo" challenge!

And don't worry, if you missed out on this most recent beta test, be sure to sign up for our mailing list and we'll notify you once we're ready to test another level out.

Hi, want another useless pixel trick? Ok! Here's how you make a gradient background. Use this on anything with too many colors to turn it all pixely.

First, start with a gradient in Photoshop:

Then turn that image to an Indexed Color one ( Image > Mode > Indexed Color )

And then use these settings:
Palette: Adaptive Colors
Colors: 10
Forced: None
Matte: None
Dither: Diffusion

Now marvel as Photoshop turns a smooth gradient to a neat pixely pattern for you!

Play around with the Indexed color settings to get all sorts of different results.

You can use this to turn images with complex color schemes into pixels thus allowing you to use Photoshop's advanced tools to create anything you want and then turn it into something that looks crappy! Of course I just showed you the most basic use of this but this is actually key to a lot of fancy advanced things involving Photoshop. JUST FIGURE IT OUT YOURSELVES.

The game has been progressing nicely these past few months as we've been hard at work on completing multiple levels. Since we're trying to finish all the levels in time for the San Diego Comic-Con this summer, we brought on another programmer to assist with production so we can work on the remaining levels all at once. If things continue the way they've been going, I think we'll definitely be ready in time for the big convention.

This past week I spent most of my time working on getting some sound effects finalized for one of the levels we're working on. It's crazy how much time it can take to get a single sound just right. A lot of the sound development is trial & error, because what often sounds good as a standalone track, doesn't sound good in the context of the game. Still, it's funny how the levels always suddenly come together and feel awesome as soon as we add in the sounds and music. Up until that point, we're always second-guessing ourselves, doing everything we can to make sure the levels are as entertaining as possible. Once the sounds are in, however, the levels always feel right and that's when we really start getting excited about unveiling them.

For those of you who've signed up for the beta test, we'll probably be testing another level soon, so keep your eyes peeled for those notifications when we send them out!

So apparently I have to contribute to this nonsense web page. JEEZ. Well, people sometimes ask me how I do sprite art. They probably assume I use some fancy program or plugin for Flash but I don't. Just use the pencil tool in Photoshop and turn off all anti-aliasing on any selection tool you want to use. I'll post a tutorial here every other week.

So, for this first one, I'll show you how I draw big pixel pictures for cutscenes or splash screens. I use a graphic tablet for this. First I make an outline of what I want to draw with the pencil tool at a low opacity setting.

Then I create another layer and turn the pencil tool to 100% opacity so I can make a more precise outline.

Then I delete the first layer and get the eraser tool (set it to pencil) and erase my outline's extra pixels so that it's only 1 pixel thick all around. Doesn't take as long as it sounds.

And finally, I color it in with the paint bucket / pencil tools.

And there you go, your first lesson in something you'll never use or care about! See you next time.

Today, I thought I would share with you a little information on what it's like to build a level for Abobo's Big Adventure. Why? Because, each new level we do is based on an entirely different game. Abobo not only has to take on the physical characteristics of the game that we base the level on, thus requiring a whole new set of sprites, but it also involves coding an entirely new gameplay style.

Take the first two levels of our game for example: Level 1 is based on Double Dragon... familiar territory for Abobo, sure, but many of the enemies that inhabit this level were never there to begin with. You'll run into characters including a swarm of huggy guys from Kung Fu and innocent children from River City Ransom to Kid Niki and a psychotic barrel with a beard named Beardy Barrel. Once Abobo dispatches all of these characters and more, he makes his way to a big boss fight, followed by a cutscene which transports him to level 2 - an entirely new world based on an underwater swimming level from Super Mario Bros. In this level, Abobo is no longer punching and kicking his way through enemies, but instead, he's using his Yoshi-like extendo-tongue to catch fish and spit them out as projectile weapons. Once again, he must face a cavalcade of enemies that were never in a SMB swimming level before.

In addition to the completely different style of coding, each level contains a boatload of custom sprites, including a special "rage" move that Abobo can do. These rage moves have some crazy animations based on what you're seeing on the level and they destroy just about everything in sight when executed. You can't use these rage moves constantly, but the more enemies you kill, the more Abobo's rage-o-meter will build up.

Of course, each level also involves the lengthy process of laying out the challenges, deciding which enemies will fit best and then testing them extensively. Once we've done that, we add in all of the new sound effects and then combine this level file with the master game file. This master game file keeps track of how many lives you have left and automatically saves your progress as you move along in the game. So yes, you will be able to resume from where you left off if you're unable to beat the game in one sitting... and considering how long we've made this beast, that wouldn't be surprising at all.

So with all of this in mind, you can probably imagine why it takes us so long just to complete a single level... there are a ton of elements we have to piece together just to complete the level, then we have to tie them in with the rest of the game and make sure they still work. It's a long process, but each level feels so satisfying, and they get progressively crazier throughout the game (as do the cutscenes).

To further explain just how big this game really is, consider for a moment how many games were produced for the Nintendo Entertainment System. A lot, right? Well, we're actually at the point where we're having trouble finding games we haven't referenced at some point in Abobo's Big Adventure now. If that doesn't give you an idea of just how much we've stuffed into this game, nothing will.