Words cannot describe how I feel about this game. When I played, way back in the day when Flash was still a thing and dthdealer was at the top of the UMAG charts, I was transported into another realm. This game was an escape from my reality. At one point, my username was on the top 10 list of all time players.
The soundtrack to this game is by far the most nostalgic sound in my life. Hearing it, or even just imagining it, I am transported directly back to that time in my life. I remember all the friends I had then, the house I was in, my family dynamics at the time, everything. Summer when I was young, and had not a care in the world besides mowing lawns for spending money. This soundtrack, so unique, repetitive, engrained in my consciousness, I must have listened to it for a hundred hours.
Back when this game was popular, it was hosted in two places: Kongregate and Candystand. The game was developed, released, and tested on Kong. And Kong players loved it. Initially, there was no monetization to the game. You simply played. There was one or two types of tanks.
Then, Candystand made an offer to the dev that he couldn't refuse, so he migrated the game to Candystand. Suddenly, you could play with cooler tanks, and probably some other perks I forgot about, but only if you played from the Candystand website. CS players were easily identifiable by the types of tanks they had, and I believe there was also a CS before their username.
To say there was a feud between the two websites through this game is an understatement. I never left Kong for CS. I played with the basic tank, with red and white coloration (the Kong site colors). The game had 2, 3, and 4 player matches. In these multiplayer matches (which I believe were all free-for-all), players would shoot to kill the opposing website players before players from the same website.
My real life went on as it did, as everyone's did. Then I would come home from school, or wake up in the morning in the summer, log onto Kongrate, and my life purpose was to destroy Candystand players.
Times were good. Things were simple.
I have repeatedly come back to try playing this game over the years since Flash was discontinued, and I've yet to find a way to make it work. One day, I will return to UMAG. One day.