Nostalgia is a funny thing. We tend to view the past through rose-colored glasses as time dulls the sharp edges of memory. Were things really all that good way back when? Mostly the answer is no, but on rare occasions we can answer with a resounding yes. Let's go back to a time when Reagan was president, when big shoulder pads ruled the fashion industry, and when Duran Duran were actually considered talented. A simpler time, when the gaming world was ruled by an 8-bit giant called Nintendo, and a game featuring a crazy Italian-American plumber was poised to become the bestselling video game of all time. A simpler time. A happier time. A time before some stupid hedgehog ruined everything. A time echoed in the fabulous retro platformer, Enough Plumbers.
Enough Plumbers is a basic single screen platformer. All you need to do is move the hapless hero around the scene until he lands on the flag. Movement uses the left and right [arrow] keys, and you can make him jump with the up [arrow] key. The intrepid plumber can also encounter strange power ups along the way, things that make him able to break through rock, fly, resist fire, and even make him do the exact opposite of what you'd like him to do. And — of course — there are enemies patrolling the platforms, just waiting to do the poor plumber harm.
This game is based on one of the most classic of all classic platformers, Super Mario Brothers. All the elements are there: the bright, simple 8-bit scenery; grumpy enemies lying in wait to ambush the hero; and the coins scattered everywhere. It's when the plumber encounters the coins, though, that everything changes. For every coin you collect you also get a cloned plumber who copies every move of the original. Just trying to jump ten hapless clones at once onto a small platform and you can see how things have changed.
Amusing as it is to send various clones plunging to their deaths (accompanied, of course, by high-pitched squeals as they do so), it would only be fun for a couple of screens before becoming very repetitious. However, the clones actually have a purpose, and as the game moves on they become vital to solving each level, as various clones need to be sacrificed for the greater good of all. It can become necessary to control three little plumbers on three different levels, or have plumbers with different abilities running around in order to reach the final goal. You don't have to rescue all of the clones. In fact, as long as a single plumber makes it to the flag, you've won the level and can move on to the next.
Analysis: There's lots to love about this slick little platformer, which magnificently captures the look and feel of days gone by while adding a fantastic new twist to an old chestnut. The complexity added by not only the clones themselves but by the tricky levels requiring them to accomplish several different tasks gives a whole new feel to a game that is beloved by millions.
Designed by Glen Forrester and Arthur Lee, Enough Plumbers is actually a sequel to a game Glen created in under two hours for a game development event. It took a common enough event, the frenetic little plumber acquiring coins, and added a twist: every time he picked up a coin, a clone plumber was created. An amusing concept that didn't add anything to the gameplay, but was fun to look at. In the sequel, Enough Plumbers, what was once an amusing concept boldly strides front and center, becoming the centerpiece of the gameplay.
Enough Plumbers captures the look and feel of classic games, from the simple, rocky platforms to the narrow gold coins, from the frenetic little plumber to the frowny-faced enemies. The game could literally have walked right out of the NES or the Gameboy and onto your computer screen. The thumping, frantic soundtrack only adds to the illusion, as does the amusing wah-wah-waaaaah sound effect of defeat that plays if your last little plumber plunges to his inevitable doom.
If there is a downside it is the steep learning curve. One minute you're hopping from platform to platform, just trying to get one little guy to the flag, the next you're trying to figure out how to get clones to three different places when they all move in unison to the same key commands. Some levels require an extremely high level of seriously sharp reflexes and split-second timing to complete. And with only 25 levels the game can feel a bit short on content.
Forget the complaints! Enough Plumbers is fantastic, nostalgic, pulse-pounding casual gameplay that is fun for those who remember the good old days and those who were born long after. Requiring logical thinking, forethought, planning, and lightning fast reflexes, Enough Plumbers is, just on its own, a fantastic platformer even without all the trappings of the days of yore. Be prepared to be sucked in and brace yourself for a rollicking good time, and check out this exceptionally well done little time waster.
I played the previous version/test and I like what's been done to flesh it out.
For some reason level 3 wouldn't complete when I saved all the clones, when I let most of them die it was fine.
Thumbs up for the retro atmosphere. It really feels like an old coin-chugging arcade game.
But I agree about the learning curve. It's all over the place.
Holy Macaroni!
I think this is terrific (hard, yes, but terrific). A really unique aspect of gameplay that's actually a bit of a joy to master.
I'm finding most of the levels are solveable by throwing myself into the level and developing a strategy from that, which is a good thing that most innovative and new games share.
I'm absolutely stuck on level 22 though
Level 22:
The goal is to get your flyer up into that little notch formed by the green blocks. Have your runner springboard on the enemy, over the green switch, on to the red spring, and land on the red switch. Your flyer should now be where the red wall used to be. Move your flyer into the little nook, then have the runner activate the green switch.
Really enjoyable game, with plenty of Nintendo hard. Nice game mechanic, it reminds me of "In the company of myself.
Love the sounds of the game too. I find myself charging through levels, just to hear the little voices of my plumbers.
jim le fevre,
You have to hit the red button before the green one.
A simpler time, when the gaming world was ruled by an 8-bit giant called Nintendo, and a game featuring a crazy Italian-American plumber was poised to become the bestselling video game of all time. A simpler time. A happier time. A time before some stupid hedgehog ruined everything.
...Grinny, are you aware that one of JIG's staff deliberately uses the name of that "stupid hedgehog" as one-half of his username?
I'm not sure what's up with level 10 but I've cleared it 3 times now and it won't advance. My guy flies off the bottom of the screen, does no fly by on the front of the screen, and the rest of them just dance around the flag indefinitely.
I'm having fun with this game and want to keep playing it, any idea on what's going on?
Geez, got all the way to the final level without help but I can;t for the life of me figure out what I am supposed to be doing.
Here's what I've tried:
I thought if I could keep all my clones alive, we could weight the bridge enough for the boss to get burned by the fire, but that doesn't seem to work.
I've tried jumping on the boss's head too.
For the final boss:
Watch what happens when your clones get hit by the boss's fireballs. Then, watch what happens when those clones are standing on the bridge at the time.
Still stuck on level 10 here (see above post) and thinking this must be a bug. I even finished it exactly the same way the video walkthrough showed, still no finish. Man this is frustrating.
I am having trouble playing. I can move left and right just fine, but when I use the up arrow, the whole window scrolls up. I tried to click inside the window to make sure I did not lose focus, but this did not help. Any ideas?
Thanks
EK
Ah, SonicLover, I love you dearly, but I really hated that game. Sorry. :-)
Did anyone else got reminded of the movie "Prestige" after beating last level? :)
So, for some reason, whenever I jump, the entire window scrolls up as well. Is there any way to stop this? I've tried right-clicking, and left-clicking, inside the game, and it doesn't help.
@niinjaa I noticed this issue in IE, try maximizing your window or using another browser.
I'm still stuck on level 10 using both FF and IE on a WinXP machine.
I hit the level 10 bug as well. I was having fun until then.
everything worked great for me using chrome ... loved this game ... perfect balance of hard, short levels, and puzzle-platform goodness
I just tried in Chrome and it moved so slow as to not be playable. I wonder if the developer or one of the site admins is gonna acknowledge this level 10 bug.
Ditto on the level ten bug.. tried with Safari and Firefox both on the Mac, won't go any further.. I'll be trying it with Firefox on my PC later when I get back though to see if it gives me the same trouble.
Thanks guys, I'll see what's up with level 10 right now.
Here is a screenshot of how my Level 10 just hangs. I noticed on one of the earlier levels it did the same thing, I think it might have something to do with the guy zooming off the bottom of the screen vs. up the top.
http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=10neu0n&s=5
I hate this game!!!!!!! No matter what site i go to, this game just shows an ad for Not Doppler and then goes black and does nothing!!!! I HATE IT!!!!!
[Sounds like an issue with an ad blocker. The game runs just fine for me. Try disabling your browser extensions. It's got to be a conflict somewhere in your local settings. -Jay]
Aha, that helps a lot. Thanks! I'll try to get a fix up as soon as I can.
Did anyone else think it was meant to be satirical towards the many MANY mario clone games/titles?
The title, the concept, the many inevitable "oh no!" screams?
Also, it'd be nice if there was a "score" of how many clones you kept alive when you reached the end of each level. Not that it would matter too much for me as most of my "scores" would be 1, but it'll be something for people to compete towards.
I can't even finish level 1: reach the flag, main guy zooms off (to the right side), and nothing else happens.
Anonymous and Randomname - you are absolute stars! Thanks you!
Hey guys, the problem some people were experiencing on level 10 (and anywhere else it happens) has been fixed.
Have fun!
I hated Sonic too. Mario rocked, but to me Sonic was a hysterical game that was more for watching and admiring how cool and fast it was and less for actual playing. Or as we used to say in those day, "Sonic is for comforting those who suck at Super Mario". :)
This game rocked. I'd love to have many more levels, I think there is room for tons more puzzles, different upgrades, bosses. I really liked how all the sounds (not the music) sounded like they were done with someone's voice. i didn't find it too difficult, but not so easy that I breezed through, definitely had to think on a number of levels, and the final one took a little while to figure out. Really fun!
Great job!
How do I even beat level 10? I fly up, get the first coin, fly up get the second coin, and always drop down into fire, even holding right. What am I doing wrong?
Excellent game, except it's quite slow despite the simple graphics, especially when a lot of plumbers are on screen.
I'm stuck at level 15. Very hard.
Anonymous:
Don't hold to the right, if you let the new guys spawn without holding an arrow key down they will always fall straight down. Don't give him a direction to go in and he'll fall through the fire balls and hit the lower right floaty bottle.
Nooooo it deleted my progress! I got up to level 18 over the past couple days, and now it's only giving me level 1!!! I didn't even clear my cookies or anything like that.
Completed the game, was a very fun experience. Figuring out how to defeat the boss was nice, too. But um, once you beat the boss, it just restarts the level? Kinda anticlimatic. >_<
am I the only one that is stuck on level 15?
For level 15
You need to
press the green button first, then go round the whole thing anti-clockwise and turn to stone at the end
Nutcasenightmare: Oops, fixed!
Would loved to have played it but my screen scrolls when i jump (use up key)!
Not to be a pain, but it just reset my progress AGAIN! I redid all the levels up to Level 21 or 22 earlier today, and I came back to play just now and I'm back at Level 1. Does anyone have any idea why this keeps happening? I'd like to finish this game sometime, but it apparently doesn't want me to. I'm hesitant to start it up once again, since this seems to be a persistent thing.
The symptoms of the reset are that I have to click the play button a lot to get into the game, and it also appears to have happened after each bug fix that's been reported on here.
[I have updated the game twice recently and given the game new filenames to prevent a caching issue, both just prior to you leaving comments saying your progress was lost. It's possible for a Flash game to save your progress regardless of what the filename is, not sure why it matters here. -Jay]
Wanna finish the final level in about 10 seconds?
Don't run through the flag to get to the princess, just go to the left, jump in the pipe and end up on the right side of the screen. Go see the princess, she'll turn into monster but flag stays there. Go touch the flag, you won.
Ignore my previous post, seems the flag stays put no matter which direction you approach it from. No final boss battle, epic bug fix there buddy.
Really awesome concept and cool levels, think it wasn't quite ready for release, though. In addition to the original bug that randomly wouldn't let you finish levels, and to having it also forget my progress twice, the game just runs too slowly. I did finish it, but as soon as I got more than about 5 guys out, it would just crawl, especially on levels with lots of fireballs: suggest at least making those non-animated spikes instead.
There's also a weird bug with the scale buttons. With one guy on one, it reads 9, but with two guys, it reads 7. It keeps reading one extra all the way down to 1, and reads 1 for either 8 guys or 9 guys.
Additionally the notDoppler add in the bottom right covers up the flag or power ups in a couple of levels.
Anyway, very need concept and cool game, just needs more polishing. Hope there's a sequel; I'd love to see more levels, and especially a level editor!
how do i get past the level with the springs, the eggplants and the blue switch?
@Adam:
1.
Bounce across to the Jackhammer power up.
2.
Drop down to the switch.
3.
Bounce back to the flag.
SOMETHING about level 22 has GOT to be illegal. it just has to be. i require the luck of a leprechaun and the speed of a water-walking lizard to beat this thing.
alright, SOMEONE has to change level 24. i either get the guy on the left to the button, or i get the blue guys to all be able to stand on the platform. i'm fairly sure this is impossible.
Thanks for explaining my resetting problem, Jay. It was just kind of a bummer to go back into my game thinking "oh I think I'll finish it tonight... or start all the way back from the beginning... again..."
Meanwhile I've replayed all the way up to level 24, and am determined to beat this thing before it can reset on me again :)
[If there are any more updates, I'll just replace the existing file with the new version using the same filename. That way it shouldn't happen again. :) -Jay]
Thanks Jay! You rock!
How do you do level 24? Help please. :S
mostly, luck. the boss is SO worth it, though.
I REALLY, REALLY need help with level 6. Is anybody there to help me???
-Teresa
It took me a few days, but I beat the game. It didn't really feel short, because each level used the "clone" technique and combined it with others to provide its own unique puzzle. Occasionally, I'd make a tiny mistake on a level that resulted in all my clones (or the only one I had) dying, resetting the level. Fun game overall. :)
I've got a slowish laptop, there seems to be a weird amount of lag as the Lakitu-wannabe flies around. I can't even finish Level 1 because of it. Does anyone know how to adjust the quality setting lower on this game?
Nevermind, I found another copy that allowed me to adjust the quality and it still lags.
i need help with level 19
Any tips on level 17?
any advice on level 19?
I'm completely stuck on level 21. I can see the path that the level is designed around, but:
I just can't keep the floating guy in place. It seems like I have to press 'left' at some point. Any hints on how to approach the beginning of this level?
help with number 11?
There is a secret in lvl 19 to beat the level faster but i can't find it please help?
I cant do level 22. I give up...
Is her name Princess Bleach?
I'm really curious but not skilled enough to beat the game to find out.
this is a very fun game, although i did not originally find it on this site. after i beat the game, during the credits, it said "king krusher unlocked". ive tried everything but i cant for the life of me figure out what it did. can anybody tell me what i unlocked?
"King Krusher Unlocked"
Means you unlocked a "Medal" only available in the Newgrounds portal.
you have to sign in to view the medals
Search for (Enough Plumbers +Newgrounds) in Google
Can someone please help me? I've been stuck on level 13 for about 2 weeks. Please help me!
I decided on a whim to replay this game tonight, but it's acting a little strange. All the levels are locked again (which is not the weird part), and I get an Adobe popup with every level start and restart saying that jayisgames would like to store information on my computer. Since I have limited computer knowledge, I erred on the side of paranoid and denied access, which results in none of the levels getting unlocked after playing. I've never had that popup on this site before with any game, so at the risk of making myself look like an idiot I wanted to ask about it and check to make sure it's okay to accept.
[It is not a problem to accept, in fact, if you play a lot of games here at JIG you will need to accept and even expand the size of the allowed local storage given to JIG for Flash game saves. The reason is that Flash stores game saves by domain, which means ALL game saves for the games we host are stored in the same place. You can right-click and choose "Settings" on any Flash game hosted on JIG to increase (or change) the size of local storage. If you're a frequent visitor to JIG, I recommend allowing unlimited. You should never have a problem with that setting since Flash game saves are all relatively small in size. This was such a good question, I've even updated our Support page with this frequently asked question including my response. -Jay]
I've been stuck on one of the later levels for a while, stopped playing but now that a sequel came out, I finally finished the game... By far one of my favorite games... now it is off to Enough Plumbers 2!
I'm with you, atkman. The sequel prompted me to come back and finish this one.
Final Boss, though!
Did they intentionally make him look like Mick Jagger??
Update