Ivan Drago!

By: Derek Yu

On: March 30th, 2007

When a game’s loading screen consists of a hypodermic needle going into an arm, you know it’s going to be good. When the opening cutscene has a giant, floating Gorbachev head, you know it’s going to be great. When the title screen appears and Ivan Drago, the “Siberian Bull,” is standing there in all his Soviet glory, you know the game is going to be awesome.

Ivan Drago! (Newgrounds) is a flash beat-em-up by I-Mockery that puts you at the helm of the pride of the USSR, Ivan “Death From Above” Drago. Punch your way through a street full of jocks, leather daddies, mafiosos, and babies to face your greatest opponent in the ring. The controls are very simplistic but there’s actually some depth to the gameplay. Instead of letting you cheese a single move over and over again like in many beat ‘em ups, you’re forced to concentrate on the timing of your punches (especially your 2000 psi charge punch).