Popular content-sharing website Newgrounds has crashed as a result of being overwhelmed by demand for the latest update toFriday Night Funkin', the wildly popular rhythm game. The crash is a testament to the game’s staying power, as its popularity has only grown over the last few months despite being incomplete.
Friday Night Funkin’tells the story of The Boyfriend, who is ecstatic to be in a relationship with The Girlfriend. Unfortunately for The Boyfriend, The Girlfriend’s parents are demons, and over the course of many weeks, The Boyfriend has to survive many rap battles to sustain his relationship. While the gameplay draws very heavily fromDance Dance Revolution, its charming character designs, catchy music, and clever references have quickly endeared the game to many Internet users, who eagerly look forward to each content update.
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While fans knew the game’s Week 7 update would go live sometime in the near future, it was unexpectedly dropped on the Newgrounds site midway through Sunday. While the game normally has a dedicated web version, the update first wentlive on Newgrounds, promptly causing the site to crash. The game disappeared from the site soon after, with Newgrounds promising to improve infrastructure and get the game back online quickly.
Newsgrounds' tweet includes a segment of the TANKMEN animated series, which is appropriate, sinceFriday Night Funkin’s Week 7 update is themed around it. The TANKMEN series depicts a grim and crudely humorous post-apocalyptic world, and many may recognize it from the Newgrounds logo. Given therange of references included inFriday Night Funkin', it’s not surprising to see the game add another one. That said, it is quite a jump from Week 6, in which The Boyfriend appeared to enter a cursed dating simulator game.
WhileFriday Night Funkin’is a fun game, its longevity may just stem from the creativity of its fan base. Fans have written clever lyrics for each week’s songs, created a number of well-regarded mods, posted great remixes of the game’s songs, and much more. Most impressively, fans have been able to makeexciting crossover mods with PaRappa the Rapperand other characters that could likely not be done in the official game for legal reasons.
It’s an exciting time for rhythm games beyond the success ofFriday Night Funkin'. In addition to the release of high-profile rhythm games likeKingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory, upcoming indie titles likeUnbeatablehave sold gamers on the promise of simple and addicting rhythm gameplay. Plus, with the newly-launched Kickstarter forFriday Night Funkin', fans will be seeing much more of The Boyfriend in the future.
Friday Night Funkin’is available on Newgrounds and Itch.io for in-browser play.
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