In the Flash: Four Second Firestorm
Every week on In the Flash we sit down with the creator of a free online game to unravel their secret plans of world domination ... and to talk about their game:
It's a coffee buzz without the coffee. No no, wait! It's a sugar high without the sugar! Even better, it's the rush of adrenaline you get if a two-ton vehicle pinned you to the ground and you had to lift it with your bare hands. Except Four Second Firestorm does it without the loss of blood! Firestorm is the third in a series of frantic micro-game collections from jmtb02 Studios. Similar to Nintendo's Wario Ware titles, you have a few seconds to figure out and win each mini-game before you're thrown into the next. Over 170 of these tiny diversions will flash before your eyes in what feels like an exercise in trying to not have a seizure.
We sat down with John Cooney, the creator of the Four Second series, to ask just what was on his mind when he decided to unleash these games.
How did you get into creating Flash games?
I started Flash in high school, after some friends got me into the animation craze. It evolved from there into scripting some simple games. I never really laid my hands on a programming language, and Flash was intuitive enough to get started on my own
What was your first big game project?
The first real successful project I published for a fiddly ball-juggling game called Ball Revamped. I have absolutely no clue why people liked it so much, but it managed to take down my website in about two hours, so I assumed it was a hit. That was back in 2004/2005.
When did the Four Second revelation come about?
The first Four Second game came out in early 2006. Easily comparable to Wario Ware, it was but a thought that the game would ever become popular. The mechanic of rapid-fire minigames was a different animal in the Flash gaming community, so it was definitely going on a limb to release this game.
Was it an immediate hit or did it take time for people to warm up to it?
It got pretty big pretty quickly. It took some people time to get over the "OMG it's a Wario Ware ripoff!!!", but by the second in the series, people were over it.
The later two games were collaborations with other developers, was the first one all you?
Yeah, the first one was a solo project.
What made you decide to recruit other programmers for later games?
I've always been in love with the Flash community of developers. I thought it would be amazing to pool a lot of developers into a project like this, because it would give those developers a chance to apply some of those amazing ideas that they've never been able to do because the ideas wouldn't fit into a full-size game. The amount of collaboration in the last two of the series is what made the game development so rewarding.
Are you working on any new games at the moment?
Yeah, I am working on a sequel to Ellipsis, called Luminara. It's a top-down shooter with lots of particles and colors.
What about the future of the Four Second series? Will it continue in the near/far future?
LOL. I keep telling myself that the last one was the last one, but I may turn the other cheek in a year or so. So I guess my answer is 'no' for now ... I feel like I've done everything I can for the series.
Play Four Second Firestorm.
(Note: Four Second Firestorm is a massive download for a Flash game, weighing in at 14MB. Be patient. Dial-up users might want to grab a sandwich.)
Also worth playing ...
Five 'Til
Another game from jmtb02 studios, this one plays a lot like the Four Second series with a twist. Instead of random, unconnected micro-games, you play the role of a spy attempting to disarm a bioterrorism device. All within the span of five minutes' time. Fight off waves of jets, rappel down an elevator shaft, and defend yourself from swarms of guards in 30-second bursts of tense gaming. Play Five 'Til.
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