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hypeathon · 6 years ago

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RWBY - Volume 6, Chapter 11 Production Analysis

Previous Volume 6 Production Analysis Posts:

Chapters one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine & ten

A lot of anticipation for this episode was built up by various members of the CRWBY and for a few big reasons. Since the episode first premiered, a lot of buzz (pun not intended), debates and speculations have gone around across every corner of the internet within the fan base. So let’s try to make as much sense about everything that went down behind-the-scenes.

What is considered very surprising in hindsight is that despite its run time at only 15 minutes, it is the most action-packed episode since the volume premiere. That means that there is a lot to break down regarding who did what and while there has been some confirmation, it’s not all specified from sequence-to-sequence. No doubt such details will be reserved for audio commentaries in the eventual volume 6 blu-ray release, but for this analysis, much of what will be discussed is mostly educated guesswork.

That being said, one thing made clear is the list of storyboard artists and to a lesser extent, which one them were involved with the boards for which scenes. I made an observation last week how the last chapter had six artists assigned to handle the boards which is the most this volume has had since chapter 2 (though not the most in the series, that honor goes to chapters 1 & 2 of volume 5). In this episode, only Rachel Doda, Kevin Harger, and Cassidy Stone were credited. It is still unclear as to what the rhyme and reason is behind the amount of storyboard artists varying from episode to episode the way they do, though scheduling is a possibility. As for who was responsible for which scenes, it’s not totally certain which segments were done by Cassidy Stone, but thanks to the 11th episode of Crwby - Behind the Episode, it is confirmed that Rachel Doda was greatly involved with the first half while Kevin Harger largely did the latter half. There was one major thing that was the focus of how the visual direction flowed in the first fight, that being how Ruby and the others would each face Cordovin’s giant mech.

Scale was the main idea between eight characters and one giant machine. The camera needed to get the feel of how characters would dodge and defend themselves against every close-range and projectile attack and get closer towards whatever part of the mech they could get to. That represents the bulk of what needed to be considered between the director Kerry Shawcross and Rachel Doda. There was also a conscious attempt to keep things consistent in regards to which character was where on the part of the lead camera & layout artist, Kate Warner. For those unaware, camera layout artists are the ones that take the storyboards and animatics that establish the shot composition and timing of a scene and translate that into how the 3-D character and environment models will be placed through the “camera”, that being the way the viewer will see the scene. As mentioned before in one of the posts about RWBY’s cinematography, this team was established during volume 3′s production and due to sharing a few of the same members as in the storyboard department, communication between the two teams and the director would naturally be constant. For dialogue scenes, what matters between storyboards and camera layout is capturing the right mood and expression while focusing the shot on a character based on what a character is speaking about or interpreting as they listen. In action scenes, it’s about capturing the scenario of the conflict between who is fighting who, the size of the characters, the amount of characters fighting at once, etc..

In the production analysis for chapters 2 and 5 of this volume, I broke down observations of what could be the techniques Rachel Doda applies based on previous scenes she did storyboards for. Techniques such as camera rotation, having an object be placed in front the camera for blocking, having a character from the background be revealed to be in focus and long shots of characters in opposing positions are possibly Rachel Doda’s calling cards and while not a lot of them are seen in this fight due to it being different from most other ones, there is one other possible trick she applies in her boards. In instances such as the Weiss character short and Yang vs the bandits, both of which she did the boards for, they both applied a shot or two of characters that are about to perform an action in brief slow motion. This observation, like many unconfirmed things about these analyses, are of course speculative. But if this were the case, then it wouldn’t be a stretch to say the same technique was a applied in a much bigger way during the Cordovin mech fight, namely when the party split in three ways and when Ruby dodged and rode along each of missiles. It’s not quite like the flair in a missile circus as seen from Japanese animators such as the creator of the technique, animator Ichiro Itano and those inspired by the creator such as Shingo Fujii, Nozomu Abe, Seijoon Kim, and Yasushi Muraki, but I will certainly take what RWBY had to offer. Now if only we knew who animated that sequence.

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Though to backtrack, there is some confirmation who at least took part in animating the fight. Among the confirmed animators were Collin McAtee, Nicole LaCroix, and Vince Cappelluti. Vince seems to have specifically animated the sequence with Weiss helping provide split-second cover, not including effects while Nicole and Collin contributed to helping animated Cordovin’s mech such as in the opening cuts, among other things. Timing the mech to even move and function as convincingly slow as they did while also having other characters move in a nimble manner must have been an interesting challenge on their part. Some other noteworthy bits of animation were the way Qrow and Ruby each descended to cut down the mech. Similar to the sequence when Qrow and Ruby took down the Sphinx Grimm, there’s a lot of character between how each of them lunge down with their scythe weapons. One displays more technique due to experience and comes off more acrobatic while the other is more wild and eccentric which aligns a bit with the behind Ruby’s character design as Monty Oum stated working on with concept artist, Ein Lee. Another instance of good character animation in the midst of all the action was the small moment when Qrow and Ren destroyed the shield generator. Qrow would naturally spin his weapon before firing whereas Ren is more comfortable following his lead and time when he fires his weapon at the same time.

One glaring misstep though would be towards the end of the first half of the episode where Cordovin catches the missile Maria fired. Putting aside whether the idea of a missile not exploding on contact the way it did would be able to suspend the viewer’s disbelief, the issue is that it’s timed too abruptly. Up until that point, the mech’s movements have been animated in a consistently sluggish manner. So to have the hand catch the missile instantaneously felt very off though a possible solution in hindsight may not have required changing the animation. What could have helped alleviate the confusion was adjusting the camera in a more three-quarter view behind the missile and having it slowly zoom out as it gets closer to the mech so that when it’s caught, it would be a bit easier to see how it got caught in the viewers mind.

Speaking of camera movement, a much more positive sequence was Jaune dashing over to soften the impact of being swatted by the mech. As stated by Rachel Doda in CRWBY - Behind the Episode, this was a deliberate choice on Kerry’s part to get the sense of power behind the swing. The sequence also helped provide an example of how much camera positioning can make a difference in an action sequence. One complaint some fans expressed about the Battle of Haven episodes in volume 5 was the usage of reaction shots as if they utterly disrupted the flow of fights. However, as certain action scenes in volume 6 show, reaction shots are not inherently a bad thing and the effectiveness of them can depend on the right angle being used. In the shot where Jaune runs covers for Nora, the latter stays in the same position and doesn’t move. If the camera say, remained at a static eye level as we see Jaune run towards Nora, a given viewer might complain that Nora isn’t running away. However, since the camera only tracks to Nora briefly, then back to the mech and then proceeds to follow Jaune til he and Nora get hit, one’s belief is more suspended.

One aspect that definitely served a big part of what makes the first half of the episode what it is are the effects. We got a taste of this in the previous episode with Cordovin firing lightning dust, but now we get an array of various element-oriented dust effects, both in 3-D and 2-D. between the dust chargers, they each were given nuanced approaches in terms of how they built-up energy and how they were released. The ice dust blast emits energy in a more subdued manner before it interestingly releases cold, poofy-looking air and then unleashes a brief beam that recoils the cannon. When Weiss blocks the attack, the earth wall is in of itself pretty simplistic by just having the effect stretch. But the real charm is the 2-D effects of the smoke around the wall and most especially, the impact of the ice dust itself and how it forms from our direct point-of-view. By the following shot, we see the same impact from behind the characters which creates a combination of white flashes and dimmed lighting that nearly creates silhouettes. Moving on to when the earth dust is fired, small rocks appear and form and since they swirl in mass numbers, the cannon shakes around a bit. Once the dust is launched, rocks and boulders in larger chunks burst out. What helps sell the burst itself is how the light that was behind the rocks shoots out along with them to make the blast seem more fast and powerful. The smoke emitted upon impact and the white flashes from each cannon fire also help make the stalagmites being immediately formed seem more dangerous. Finally, there’s the wind dust blast which has the air swirl around before firing a burst with a couple of flashes and in the next shot, the blast resembles that of a beam accompanied with rings spreading out then dissolving.

Of course, there were more visual effects going on besides the varied dust cannon fire, one of which being the hard-light dust shield. This is apparently the official name of the type of dust seen in the form of shields and barriers as seen in Amnity Colosseum and the shape of Velvet’s weapons through her camera. This was not even the first time this type of dust was used since the CRWBY migrated to using Maya and 3DS Max as their main animation and modeling softwares, as it was technically used to power the train engine in chapter 10 of volume 4. Right now there’s not much to add other than that it dissipates in a manner similar to how each of the weapons appear. Also, since this was part of the scene, it’s pleasing to see how since this volume, the smoke from Nora’s grenades are not only officially given a cel-shaded pink color but that as they fired with enough distance, the trails start to wobble for lack of a better way of putting it. Other visual effects that have been seen and utilized before such as the waves on the bottom of the cliff side and the ice from Weiss’s dust usage have also been a part of the presentation, but probably the best moment outside of the dust cannon was the giant splash from Cordovin’s missiles. Being 2-D animated likely by Myke Chapman, this must have been tedious to animated frame-by-frame and yet the size and timing was effective at making the impact feel as powerful as it did. The most immediate comparison was to a sequence in episode 23 of One Piece animated by Hideaki Maniwa, whose tendency to liberally have effects be on 1s the way he did made his work a treat to watch in the first couple-hundred episodes of the series.

That was a lot to cover regarding the main party fighting against Cordovin and yet that was only the first-half of the episode. There is still the latter half that focuses on Blake and Yang each having their go against Adam Taurus and indeed is their a lot to unpack. As stated earlier, three storyboard artists were tasked with this episode, one of which being Rachel Doda who handled the former fight. Here, Kevin Harger takes over a great portion and this was actually somewhat confirmed since over a week the episode premiered. Back in episode 9 of season 2 CRWBY - Behind the Episode, insight was given about the motion capture process and in it, footage was accidentally shown of the storyboards for this episode that ended up being leaked on certain corners of the internet. This was of course a blunder and currently the boards have been blurred out ever since. But since the episode proper has become publicly available, now is a apt time to talk about them. The drawings within boards match that of previous storyboards confirmed to have been done by Kevin such as in the Yang character short, the Gods of Light and Darkness confronting each other, Oscar vs Leo and Ozpin vs Hazel, as well as some of his drawings outside of RWBY in general.

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With all of that confirmation in mind, this is a good opportunity to briefly study on Kevin’s techniques with doing storyboards. Of course, this is all observation and storyboard artists tend to work closely with Kerry to go over what is the best way to depict action sequences, so take what will be said with a grain of salt. Although it’s not much, there are two traits to assess from Kevin Harger’s storyboards. First is that scenes he’s involved in tend to display a shot where two characters briefly stare at one another or at least one stares at the other in a brief standoff before the fight proceeds. This can be seen in some of the previously mentioned examples. Second, any character that is seen as having the advantage will be framed in a shot or two as being above the other in height. This will naturally apply to taller characters like Hazel and the Ursa Grimm but is not limited to them as Ozpin when he took possession of Oscar’s body is framed similarly in one shot. The third and final observation is that in a given sequence, one character may be seen dodging and maneuvering either around or somewhat away from his/her opponent as seen with Yang and Ozpin.

The reason any of this matters is because for fight scenes, the storyboards help determine the choreography and shot composition just as much as the animation. In fact, depending on how much the animators want to stick closely with them, the boards can determine the choreography even more so. This is something that fan-favorite animator of RWBY, Kim Newman. expressed when talking about animating the Yang character short at the Just the Fights Panel at RTX Austin 2018. stating how important storyboards are and they have helped saved her time and stress. Going back to the Blake vs Adam fight, the observations made earlier about Kevin’s previous storyboards can be seen here such as Adam being framed as bigger than Blake and the two characters in a brief standoff. Also, every action and reaction the characters communicate through their movements and the emotions in Kevin’s boards can serve as great fuel for the team of animators assigned to the fight once they see the animatic. Another possible way of getting the animators psyched up for the fight in this episode and perhaps even Kevin when having done the storyboards would be knowing that Blake intends to dual-wield. As unusual of a source this is, on March 15th, 2018, Kerry Shawcross confirmed to a fan named Casualdoom12 via the live chat of of a stream of RWBY volume 5 in regards to whether or not Blake would dual wield in the future by simply saying, “yeah.” Many fans have accused Kerry and Miles of forgetting how certain characters fight until they suddenly remember to. But sources have strongly argued otherwise, such as with Qrow and the scythe mode of his weapon, Harbinger according to the volume 3 blu-ray directors audio commentary track with his fight against Winter:

Miles: “It was your idea by the way to have the transformation start and stop as the ultimate cock tease.”

Miles: “To this day, I’m still seeing comments, “WHEN ARE WE GONNA SEE THE SCYTHE?!” It was, I loved it. It was great.”

Kerry: “We just kinda wanted to mess with people.”

Miles: “Y-you and me?”

Kerry: “Nooo, naaaah.”

And in the volume 4 blu-ray directors commentary track with his fight against Tyrian:

Kerry: “So uh, a lot of people wondered why he never went into scythe mode during the fight. We actually talked about that for a really, really good amount. And really what it comes down to is it’s just not, it doesn’t seem like it would be fast enough.”

Miles: “Yeah, it’s not gonna do stuff to fight against somebody like Tyrian.”

Kerry: “No, because Tyrian has essentially got like 3-5 points of contact depending on if he’s using his feet or not. And to just try and block them with that giant scythe just didn’t seem like a good idea. So that was why because I know people really want to see him in scythe mode, but we just felt it would feel forced and not make a lot of sense for him.”

Then there was the matter of Velvet deciding to use a hard-light dust version of Penny’s weapon, again in the volume 3 director’s audio commentary:

Miles: “What was the um... what was it like-oh, I think you were the one that had the idea to end with Penny’s swords too.”

Kerry: “Yeah, so we knew like, “okay, we’re gonna have her cycle through a bunch of characters’ weapons. Ya know, we named off the main four, we talked about some other ones and then it came down to the last one and for me, immediately it was like, “it has to be Penny.” Like, there’s no other way to do this.”

Gray: “There was the briefest debate about whether or not Penny herself should be able to show up because technically the weapons are a part of her and vice-versa.”

Kerry: “Yeah.”

Gray: “And it would’ve been a different moment.”

And then in episode 13 of season 1 of RWBY Rewind, Kerry and Miles answered the matter of how aura breaking or flickering works and cited the Ghira vs the Albain twins fight, stating that he did not forget to depict Ghira having his aura already depleted so much as he was more okay with the idea of that instance happening off-screens than viewers would’ve been. Kerry is not absent-minded. He spends a lot of time with Miles contemplating in the writing process over whether a character should a particular thing in a fight, depending on the fight itself and communicates that with the storyboard artists, animators, VFX team and whoever else. Having Blake dual wield when fighting against Adam was no exception as this was meant to be defining point in her character story.

So with the matter of the storyboard artist’s and Kerry’s input into this fight established, who animated it? The team responsible for this latter half are the assistant lead animator, Melanie Stern, Matt Drury, John Yang, Megan Pellino and Joe Vick. These same names have popped up before in the fights for chapters 5 and 7. John had also done much of the fight in chapter 10 and he also handled the first segment with Blake and Adam in the forest as I mentioned previously. Seeing the full version, his portion likely extends right up until Blake and Adam enter the ravine. After that though is where identifying who did what gets a bit tricky. My best assumption would be that what follows up at least up until Blake’s Gambol Shroud is broken is all Melanie Stern. A bit of her camera work and timing feels familiar based on previous fights she worked on. Though if she really did this segment, then this is probably one of the most fast-paced sequences she’s ever animated in a fight scene. Instances such as Blake twirling a bit so that she faces Adam’s gun before using her semblance or parrying Adam’s sword in such a way that it slides across her katana and into the sheath portion of her cleaver are so quick and seamless that one would easily miss those moments if he/she blinked.

Once Blake is down and the katana portion of her Gambol Shroud is broken, things die down briefly as we get some facial expressions and character acting. In the shot with Blake, her expressions easily read that she is aware of and understood how and why Adam got his scar and that a part of her felt sorry for him. In contrast from Blake’s more nuanced expressions though, Adam’s are more explicit and seeing him unmasked definitely brings great synergy between what he emotes and Garret Hunter’s vocal performance. Given that Blake’s expression is subtly different between the end of this cut and the start of the next one, most of this segment and Yang’s dynamic entry with having her bike crash into Adam was all animated by Megan Pellino, the latter of which was definitely confirmed by Melanie. This is actually the first time we learn which part of a fight Megan has done and although it’s not much, the moment itself was bound to satisfy viewers.

Now comes the Yang vs Adam portion and there’s a couple of big things to break down from a production standpoint first. Referring back to episode 9 of CRWBY - Behind the Episode season 2, there was more being implied about what goes on in this fight than just the storyboards. The motion capture actually previewed the standoff portion of the fight before Adam lunges at Yang. It seems that in the session, Melanie Stern was doing mo-cap for Blake, either Nicole LaCroix or Nicole “Nyx” Morciniec did mo-cap for Yang and Matt Drury did mo-cap for Adam. The last one is particularly noteworthy and yet unsurprising since Matt has gone on record to liking Adam’s character and having done mo-cap for him before. On top of that, Matt has been absent in the staff credits since after chapter 7 which is not the first time an animator has been uncredited for whole episodes in a row due to going from being involved in one big scene to being involved in another one later in the volume. This same thing happened with Dillon Gu during volume 3 who went from animating the double rounds fight in chapter 4 to the students vs the Nevermore and Ironwood vs the Alpha Beowulf in chapter 10.

One could argue that he had to dedicate time working on Gen:Lock but given the timing, Matt probably anticipated this moment too much to not want to dedicate as much time for this sequence. Having said that, here’s where where the other piece of behind-the-scenes information comes in. Back in 2016, former co-lead animator Shane Newville publicly posted an open letter about various things regarding RWBY’s production, including during volume 3. I’ll spare the details and the source since his perspective and frustration on things regarding Monty Oum’s vision, while understandable given how dear Monty was to him, is also distasteful when taking insight about volume 3′s production from Kerry, Miles, Gray Haddock, then lead producer, Koen Wooten, and every other staff member’s perspective into account. Rather, I’ll refer to a small quote from his letter about a fight Monty Oum was working on prior to his passing:

“Next up was another scene that I had been looking forward to for a very long time. Blake was meant to fight Adam, and then Yang was suppose to come in and take over the fight, protecting Blake from death. Once I was done with Yang vs Mercury, I asked about this long-anticipated, ultra-badass scene.

But guess what-- they didn’t even write it in the script because they didn’t look at what Monty created for the scene before they began! It was all available to them before Monty passed away and after he was gone I made sure all of those scenes were available to them-- that they had them in their hands. It was even more of a surprise to me since I had rendered out Monty’s timelines for them, at the producer’s request, before production even started. they didn’t even look at what Monty, the creator of the show, made for this show.

Let me add that the Yang vs Adam fight was looking beyond badass. Monty was using a Linkin Park song as the soundtrack to animate it to. I was told that they would just find some other place for it down the road. But I know that when they eventually make the switch to Maya, everything Monty and I worked so hard to build up will become unusable and therefore thrown into the garbage.”

Tonal choice aside, much of what Shane stated is very likely the case when examining the unfinished footage that suddenly surfaced around the same time as RTX Austin back in August 2018 according to reddit user JauneBlackSmudge. Even the temp music for the sequence is from the Linkin Park song, “Session”. It is unclear whether Shane himself uploaded the footage or someone else anonymously did and it’s currently unconfirmed whether Kerry Shawcross himself had possession of the footage and wanted to reserve it. Regardless, it’s clear that snippets of it were directly referenced and adapted into the Yang vs Adam fight seen in volume 6. Even Shane’s claim about Kerry finding another place for this fight somewhere down the road would support past cases where Kerry has talked about usually pushing ideas out of the script or production of one volume and reserving them for another one. Rarely ever does an idea get scrapped altogether and never use it with a couple of exceptions such as dust-powered cars according to art director, Patrick Rodriguez and the double-rounds fight between Pyrrha, Nora, Sun and Neptune which had to be cut or else there would be too much of a strain on volume 3′s production scheduling.

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But enough of the behind-the-scenes and on to analyzing the fight itself which is nothing short of exhilarating. As stated, the fight matches snippets of the unfinished clip but has been adapted with more nuance depending on the camera angles and gestures. Case in point, Adam in the unfinished clip throws a slicing boomerang-like wave while the official scene has Adam using his sword like a buzz-saw. It’s also worth noting that when Adam is in the air, his form is very similar to that of when he kicked his sword at the Atlessian Knight in the Adam Character short which was a sequence Matt Drury animated. I previously compared that moment to Ken’Ichi Fujisawa’s sequence on episode 385 of Naruto Shippuden in the Adam Character Short Analysis, it was more likely a direct homage to a sequence done by animator Spencer Wan in the Netflix animated series, Castlevania. Once Yang is done blocking, she briefly dashes in with an upper-body boxer stance and starts a series of counterattacks. Like the Cordovin mech fight, the visual effects greatly compliment the motion by having certain strikes and blows be in the form of arcs. One of my favorite moments in this sequence is how the rapid-fire punches against Adam’s sword have duplicates of Yang’s arms to implement a blinding speed to them. This may possibly be due to having a copy of the same model blend in to give off that multi-arm illusion. Animator Harley Dwortz was actually the first in the animation team to use this technique way back in chapters 4 and 7 of volume 2 when Neptune was on Yang’s bike and Ruby was given pulled in by Yang. Next is another moment adapted from the unused Yang vs Adam footage where Adam runs around with afterimages and then sends a wave of energy at her. Though like previously, certain nuances are added like Yang’s close-up reaction shot to Adam’s direction and the same effects used in the last chapter against Blake where black and red accented lighting is utilized around him. Also, it seems like the wave itself was drawn in 2-D by Myke Chapman.

After a quick pause in-between, we get to the next sequence where Yang lunges right back and then dodges Adam’s strike to the side in mid-air and then spins herself to get a stronger kick at him. The mid-air dodge actually resembles a sequence from My Hero Academia and it wouldn’t be a stretch if what Yang did was inspired by that either since Kevin Harger mentioned using Bakugo as inspiration for having Yang maneuver mid-air in his storyboards for the Yang Character Short. At any rate, what happens next is that when Adam swings his sword again, Yang shoots to propel herself back but because of how instantaneous it is, it’s easy for the viewer eyes and brain to not register that in normal speed. Then comes another one of my favorite parts about this fight where Yang runs forward but she’s still sliding back a bit due to not immediately having the momentum. Then comes a few punches and some kicks interestingly similar to when Mercury attacked Pyrrha in their sparring match in volume 2. Finally, Adam knocks Yang back with his sword and I love how there are a couple of bounces on her fall before lying on the ground. I suspect that Joe Vick did this sequence who has not been explicit about which cuts he did in any of the sequences he has been involved in this volume. The reason it might him though is due to comparing the timing of the animation here to that of one of Joe’s demo reels where a martial artist character strikes at a sandbag in various ways. The animation in both the reel and this portion of the fight share the similar timing, especially compared to the previous sequence which feels a tad harsher and faster though the overall kinetic energy is not lost in what is presumed to be Joe’s portion.

Then comes the moment that caps off the action segment of the latter-half of the episode. Again, having Adam unmasked does wonders for his more explicit expressions as his pupils are shrunken and expresses ferocity. This is followed by Blake’s cat ears reacting to the sound of Adam’s weapon and his growl, which have been a key component in the action as shown earlier. Then we get the best effects in the fight where Adam is once again shrouded completely in black along with the entire screen this time, minus the red accents on him glowing. I just love how the more powerful his attacks seem to be the darker the screen gets, whether or not that was intentional on the compositing team’s part. Complimented with more black and red sparks, what follows is the icing of the cake with the blast shaped in such an extremely monstrous form. These are the kind of effects that anime fans within the Sakuga community become very fond over between individual animators and although this case is more likely from the visual effects, that does not make the spectacle any less pleasing to see. Then comes a few shots of Yang withstanding the attack and I would be remiss to not mention the fact that yes, the shot composition matches that of the climax in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. Given that Blake and Adam and somewhat Yang are inspired by the fairy tale of the same name, it would not be absurd to presume that either Kevin Harger or Kerry Shawcross used such shots as a purposeful homage. In the last several shots, we get more of Adam’s expressions that sell his manipulative nature as well as some nice shot composition in the midst of the standoff. Since Adam is focused on Yang, they are both framed in front of the cliffs while Blake is in front of the waterfall. But when Blake’s reaches to hold Yang’s hand, the latter is framed having crossed from the waterfall to the cliffs behind her, thus marking the end of the episode.

Ooh boy, what an episode to break down! A lot happened in both halves of this episode that required more dissecting than the average analysis, especially the latter part. Hopefully, this proved to be an insightful read. Since neither fight concluded this episode, there is obviously more to anticipate and this time things are being teased by Neath Oum, Monty’s brother and the voice of Ren of all people. Once these bigger things come in supposedly more ways than one int he next episode, there will of course be more to analyze about the production.

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fluffypeachwriting · 3 years ago

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I think we should all start making posts that cater to such a specific niche of people that it’s really just for ourselves. Anyway here’s hypmic characters as Binding of Isaac items ( ´ ω ` )

Ichiro - BFFS!

Jiro - Fire Mind

Saburo - Dataminer

Samatoki - Taurus

Jyuto - My Reflection

Riou - Meat!

Ramuda - Fate

Dice - Dead Sea Scrolls (any of the dice items would be too obvious)

Gentaro - Fruit Cake

Jakurai - Book of Revelations

Doppo - Glass Cannon

Hifumi - Midas’ Touch

Kuko - Old Bandage

Hitoya - Book of Shadows

Jyushi - Celtic Cross

Sasara - Bozo

Rosho - 20/20

Rei - Daddy Long Legs (or Dad’s key)

Otome - Latch Key

Ichijuku - Broken Shovel

Nemu - Eden’s Soul

#theres too many to elaborate on all of them

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archived-hero · 5 years ago

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True end?

The door to the roof slammed open as the woman dashed towards the rope ladder. She’d prepared the helicopter in advance, of course. She’d prepared everything in advance, so why was it that every time…

The boy appeared, his oversized hoodie whipping around as she made it up higher on the ladder. Not now! She was so close! She just had to climb a little faster…

“You’re not getting away this time, Boogie! Panic Station!”

Swords flew out of his body as his Stand assembled itself, the medieval mech forming from weapons and armor. It stood almost eight feet tall, the boiler at its core burning bright as ever. It aimed its arm-cannon (the barrel also made of swords) and fired.

She felt a familiar numbness grip her body, and dropped safely back onto the roof looking like a fly bound up by spider silk. The massive Stand fired again, its dark green slime this time sticking to the side of the chopper.

Ichiro stalked up to her just a bit smugly as his Stand struggled with the helicopter.

“You’re going back to jail again, Boogie. You should know by now I never give up.”

The woman sighed. “Same time next week?”

Ichiro’s face fell. “Same time next week, I guess.”

#asks #anonymous #endings #((this is the last ending meme so ill probably get back into the swing of things now))

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agent-7-at-your-service · 8 years ago

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Notes: Future Plot: Project Titanomachy - Chapter 7

The Neo-Squidbeak Fleet

In Chapter 7, Neo Squidbeak Splatoon (Consisting of Camille @inklingleesquidly Nebula @myzzy @agenttwo Celeste @alpinesquid and Telemachus; Emerald @son-of-joy @twelvetailedkitsune is formerly an original agent member before discharge) have access to their own fleet (granted by Agent 7) and they’re second in command next to the Admiral. And this fleet was used to fight Oceanus and Iapetus of the coast of Inkopolis, Japan.

Dr.Julia Noh and Quintin Noh have stated in Chapter 7 that most of the ships are based off very old blueprints.

See Chapter 7 of Project Titanomahy: http://agent-7-at-your-service.tumblr.com/post/155522754088/future-plot-project-titanomachy-chapter-7

Here is the list of the fleet along with ships not mentioned in that chapter:

Flagship:

The Great Unagi -- A Number 13-class and Kii-class fast battleship hybrid modified to be similar to the Yamato-class.

Aircraft Carriers:

Watatsumi -- Modified aircraft carrier Hōshō with the Albatross Class-aircraft.

Mori -- Modified aircraft carrier Hōshō also carrying Albatross Class aircraft. Moves more faster than the Alba-Nest

Battleships:

Hiruko -- Tosa-Class Battleship; Modified to perform aicraft carrier actions with Petrel-Class aircraft.

Ryujin -- Tosa-Class Battleship; Modified to perform minelayer actions.

Mikasa -- A replica of the original pre-dreadnought battleship.

Ōnamazu -- A Design A-150 (Super Yamato) Battleship

Submarines:

Mizuchi -- A Soryu-class attack submarine modified to also perform stealth.

Destroyers:

Goryeo -- Akizuki-class destroyer(2010); Modified to also act as Cruiser.

Ichiro -- Akizuki-class destroyer(2010)

Jiro -- Akizuki-class destroyer(2010)

Saburo -- Akizuki-class destroyer(2010)

Reserves:

Shinkirō -- Private electric yacht with sails converted into an patrol vessel carrying fire arms (not cannons, mines, etc.); Modified to perform a few cruise liner functions; thus, it’s size has changed. Commandered by Sandra Syer Cassius.

Wani -- barge converted into Supply Ship; Modified to carry fortifications, turrets, and a cannon.

#Special Features #Future #Plot #Project Titanomachy #author's note

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junker-town · 7 years ago

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A definitive ranking of every ‘Backyard Sports’ power-up

I miss these games.

The Backyard Sports series is an iconic batch of sports games that blessed my childhood with a fun spin on sports that I grew up watching and learning.

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Today, I’m here to talk about the power-ups! The extra element that reflects on just how fun and goofy the games were. I went back to all the games I could find to analyze and rank each power-up because, hey, why not?

DISCLAIMERS: I’m sorry that Backyard Hockey power-ups couldn’t make the list. I couldn’t find it. If there is a power-up I’m forgetting, or if I get my hands on Backyard Hockey, I will update the list accordingly.

I’m not adding Backyard Skateboarding, either. I refuse.

35: Super Punt

Game: Backyard Football

Description: It’s like a punt ... but super. Yeah, this one is stupid.

Originality: 1

Cool Factor: 0

Effectiveness: 2

Total: 3

Why it's ranked where it is: This is easily the weakest and wackest of all of the power-ups. First of all, this is a power-up for a punt? WHO THE HELL PUNTS IN BACKYARD FOOTBALL?! It's not even an effective move if you already have a good kicker. Also, the quarters are only one minute, so what even is the point? I would have substituted super punt for something that involves super kicking so that it could have been used for field goals.

34: Spitball

Game: Backyard Baseball

Description: A ball that makes a weird spitting noise before reaching the plate. Doesn't really affect the batter.

Originality: 4

Cool Factor: 4

Effectiveness: 4

Total: 12

Why it's ranked where it is: This power-up was probably cooler when it was used in real life by early baseball players, when early baseball gloves looked like the Hamburger Helper mascot and all of these unbreakable records were created because the game was trash. You can’t convince me 1920s baseball was exciting. It was the 1920s ... your grandparents are exaggerating.

33: Slo-mo

Game: Backyard Baseball

Description: A ball that gets really really slow as it approaches the plate.

Originality: 6

Cool Factor: 4

Effectiveness: 4

Total: 14

Why it's ranked where it is: The power-up gives itself away by making a sound. This makes this a much easier power-up to deal with. Also, the ball goes even slower, which gives the hitter more time to time the swing and crush the ball.

32: Zig-Zag

Game: Backyard Baseball

Description: It literally zig-zags back and forth.

Originality: 6

Cool Factor: 4

Effectiveness: 5

Total: 15

Why it's ranked where it is: This pitch is easy to time but hard to locate where the ball is going. The effectiveness of this pitch really depends on if you’re using the swing spot/pitch locator or not.

31: Fire Ball

Game: Backyard Baseball

Description: An absolute heater that catches you off guard.

Originality: 4

Cool Factor: 4

Effectiveness: 8

Total: 16

Why it's ranked where it is: It’s extremely effective. The only thing that alerts you is the firecracker-style sounds and by then it may be too late. You have little time to react to the ball. With that being said, it’s not as crazy or as out there as some of the other power-ups we see on the list. This one also doesn’t seem to show up as much as other power-ups.

30: Flyswatter

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Game: Backyard Basketball

Description: This power-up allows you to swat the hell out of any shot or swat the ball from an opponent. It's like having the hall of fame pickpocket and rim protector badges on NBA 2K.

Originality: 4

Cool Factor:4.25

Effectiveness: 8

Total: 16.25

Why it's ranked where it is: You’re going to see a recurring theme with most of the Backyard Basketball power-ups. Try to guess what it is.

29: Frostbite

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Game: Backyard Basketball

Description: Makes it way harder for the opponent to make a shot.

Originality: 4

Cool Factor: 4

Effectiveness: 8.5

Total: 16.5

Why it's ranked where it is: Have you guessed the theme yet?

This power-up is effective, but you can still make shots, so that part is a little bit underwhelming.

28: Butter Fingers

Game: Backyard Basketball

Description: The other team has trouble holding on to the ball.

Originality: 4

Cool Factor: 4

Effectiveness: 9

Total: 17

Why it's ranked where it is: How about now?

27: Slo Mo

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Game: Backyard Basketball

Description: You suck at this game if you can't score during this power-up.

Originality: 3

Cool Factor: 4.25

Effectiveness: 10

Total: 17.25

Why it's ranked where it is: You recognizing the theme now?

This power-up, while effective, can easily be countered. Especially if you have a long-range shooter like my boy Dmitri Petrovich.

26: Crazy Bunt

Game: Backyard Baseball

Description: A bunt that can’t be fielded until it hits a surface.

Originality: 7.5

Cool Factor: 4

Effectiveness: 6

Total: 17.5

Why it's ranked where it is: This bunt was damn near impossible to field. The ball skirts and darts around until it hits a wall or something. This power-up was best used in conjunction with someone with speed.

25: More Juice/110 percent juice

Game: Backyard Baseball/Basketball

Description: Replenishes the energy/stamina of either one member of the team or the entire team.

Originality: 4

Cool Factor: 3.75

Effectiveness: 10

Total 17.75

Why it's ranked where it is: The essential refreshment for Backyard Sports kids everywhere. This power-up was never flashy, but it was essential when a player or team was in need of a stamina boost. All of the pitching power-ups on this list use a heavy amount of juice/stamina, so this is a good counter to the energy trade-off.

TIE-23: Super Speed

Game: Backyard Basketball

Description: Do I need to explain this one? Your team runs faster.

Originality: 3

Cool Factor: 7

Effectiveness: 8

Total: 18

Why it's ranked where it is: In closing, most of these Backyard Basketball power-ups are very effective, but not creative. I’m not saying that I could think of better ones, but this list is full of creativity and originality and most of the basketball ones fall short on that scale.

TIE-23: Cannon

Game: Backyard Soccer

Description: The ball launches off the person's foot, making this a hard shot to stop for the goalie.

Originality: 4

Cool Factor: 8

Effectiveness: 6

Total: 18

Why it's ranked where it is: The Backyard Soccer power-ups are dope. With that being said, the effectiveness of this power-up depends on who shoots it. There is a huge difference between the inaccurate foot of Pete Wheeler and Lisa Crocket.

Cannon is excellent for free kicks and long distance shots; however, the goalkeeper still has a chance of saving the ball if you don’t aim well enough.

22: Cough Drop

Game: Backyard Football

Description: This power-up causes an automatic fumble on the first hit.

Originality: 6

Cool Factor: 6

Effectiveness: 6.25

Total: 18.25

Why it's ranked where it is: The moment you hit an opponent who has the ball, they lose it. This is a double-edged sword because this doesn’t guarantee a turnover. Also if you don’t tackle them at all, you lose the power-up and give up a touchdown ... soooooooo.

21: Crazy Ball

Game: Backyard Baseball

Description: It's a pitch that starts laughing and stuff as it heads over to the plate. It's not usually a threat. It just throws off your timing a little bit, you'll be fine.

Originality: 8

Cool Factor: 4.5

Effectiveness: 6

Total: 18.5

Why it's ranked where it is: This power-up depended on how loud the game was on your headphones. If you’re playing the game on mute, you might not even notice.

20: Elevator

Game: Backyard Baseball

Description: This pitch stays low to the ground before it crosses the plate.

Originality: 6.5

Cool Factor: 6.5

Effectiveness: 5.75

Total: 18.75

Why it's ranked where it is: Easy to time, but hard to figure out where the ball will end up.

19: Undergrounder

Game: Backyard Baseball

Description: Similar to the undergrounder in soccer, the ball goes below ground and pops up somewhere else on the field

Originality: 6

Cool Factor: 6

Effectiveness: 7

Total: 19

Why it's ranked where it is: It's a common power-up and when you had players with speed using this, (Pete Wheeler, Ichiro) this was an automatic home run. The Backyard Baseball fields had different dimensions, so an undergrounder would be far more effective on a place with sand or an open left field.

18: Magnet

Game: Backyard Basketball

Description: You have an increased chance of intercepting your opponent's pass.

Originality: 5

Cool Factor: 6.25

Effectiveness: 8

Total: 19.25

Why it's ranked where it is: Effective and simple. Magnet isn’t going to turn heads.

17: Corkscrew

Game: Backyard Baseball

Description: It's like a sideways tornado that makes its way to the plate. It attempts to make you dizzy in the process.

Originality: 8

Cool Factor: 5.5

Effectiveness: 6

Total: 19.5

Why it's ranked where it is: Much harder to track than zig-zag. Especially when the swing spot is big. It’s a tough pitch to hit, as you can see by me struggling to hit it in the GIF.

... IT LOOKED LIKE A STRIKE, OK?!

16: Screaming Line Drive

Game: Backyard Baseball

Description: This is a line drive that screams, depending on who hits the ball. It's an automatic hit, but it can be a little bit underwhelming depending on how powerful the hitter is.

Originality: 4

Cool Factor: 6

Effectiveness: 10

Total: 20

Why it's ranked where it is: While it looks cool, compared to some of the other power-ups in the game, it’s pretty underwhelming. It’s a line drive that yells and goes a little bit faster.

15: SONIC BOOM

Game: Backyard Football

Description: The opposing team falls to the floor. Depending on how fast the running back is, you can either go for a big gain or go to the house!

Originality: 7

Cool Factor: 6.25

Effectiveness: 7

Total: 20.25

Why it's ranked where it is: While sonic boom was very efficient, this was not an automatic touchdown. There are some more effective power-ups on this list, but this one is pretty solid.

14: Chameleon

Game: Backyard Football

Description: When on defense, this power-up allows you to assume the uniform colors for the other team.

Originality: 6.5

Cool Factor: 8

Effectiveness: 6

Total: 20.5

Why it's ranked where it is: This power-up is hard to work around if it's used against you and if you use a mouse. If you use the keyboard, it'll go over easier. This is a fun, chaotic power-up that will fool you if the computer gets its hands on it.

13: Hot hand

Game: Backyard Basketball

Description: Similar to fire mode in NBA Jam, but it applies to the whole team instead of just one person. This makes you be able to hit from damn near anywhere on the court.

Originality:4

Cool Factor: 8

Effectiveness: 10

Total: 22

Why it's ranked where it is: It’s similar to on modes in other games. That is why there is a low originality score. Still cool tho.

12: Big Freeze

Game: Backyard Baseball

Description: A pitch that freezes when it's just about to cross the plate.

Originality: 8

Cool Factor: 6

Effectiveness: 9

Total: 23

Why it's ranked where it is: The thing about this pitching power-up that distinguishes itself from the other ones is that there is no giveaway. At the last possible second, this power-up freezes and throws off your timing. This makes it extremely effective.

11: Jackpot shot

Game: Backyard Basketball

Description: The number of points that you score depends on what the jackpot decides.

Originality: 7.5

Cool Factor: 8

Effectiveness: 8

Total: 23.5

Why it's ranked where it is: This is a game breaker of sorts. You can score a nine-point layup?! That can change the dynamic of the game no matter what the score is. This is a low-risk, high reward power-up that can’t really be stopped.

10: Spring Loaded

Game: Backyard Football

Description: This power-up instantly launches one of your defenders high in the air and into the backfield. Not always an automatic tackle/sack, but it is effective.

Originality: 8

Cool Factor: 10

Effectiveness: 6.5

Total: 24.5

Why it's ranked where it is: This power-up launches you into the backfield. But depending on the other team’s play call, this could come back to bite you. If there is a run play or a quick pass play, you could easily find yourself out of position. This is a perfect play to use to try to block a punt or field goal. When using this power-up, timing is key.

9: Cherry Picker

Game: Backyard Basketball

Description: When you acquire this power-up, one of your teammates will teleport to under the opponent's basket, making it easy to pass the ball to them.

Originality: 7

Cool Factor: 10

Effectiveness: 8

Total: 25

Why it's ranked where it is: This is one of my personal favorites because I’m obsessed with teleportation. Don’t @ me.

8: Under Grounder

Game: Backyard Soccer

Description: A ground ball that disappears into the field and pops up at a random spot in the field.

Originality: 7

Cool Factor: 9

Effectiveness: 10

Total: 26

Why it's ranked where it is: Similar to the Backyard Baseball undergrounder, the thing that separates it from the other one is the fact that this one is an automatic goal and the baseball one can just range from a single to a home run depending on who is using it. This is why it’s ranked high in effectiveness.

7: Bowling Ball

Game: Backyard Soccer

Description: The ball starts to knock over opposing team members like bowling pins.

Originality: 8

Cool Factor: 8.25

Effectiveness: 10

Total 26.25

Why it's ranked where it is: This sounds incredibly effective ... and painful.

6: Hocus-Pocus

Game: Backyard Football

Description: This play is awesome because your receiver vanishes past the defense for what could be an easy touchdown depending on the defense.

Originality: 9

Cool Factor: 9.5

Effectiveness: 8

Total: 26.5

Why it's ranked where it is: This was a difficult power-up to stop. Even if you were in a position to stop it ...

You still might be powerless to defend against it.

5: Tracer

Game: Backyard Soccer

Description: With your mouse, you can control exactly where the ball will go. Like a friendly heat-seeking missile.

Originality: 8.75

Cool Factor: 10

Effectiveness: 8

Total: 26.75

Why it's ranked where it is: “Friendly heat-seeking missile.” NEED I SAY MORE?

4: Leap Frog

Game: Backyard Football

Description: The running back jumps over the defense. This play is an automatic first down, and depending on the defensive scheme, a touchdown.

Originality: 9

Cool Factor: 8

Effectiveness: 10

Total: 27

Why it's ranked where it is: Sure you can stop it, but it’s damn near impossible to without giving up a significant chunk of yards.

Imagine your favorite NFL player needs to gain one yard and you have a power-up that allows your running back to long jump 10 yards in the air for that specific time. It’s OP when you need it most.

3: Ice cream truck

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Game: Backyard Basketball

Description: One of the funnier power-ups on the list. The other team just stops what they're doing and thinks about ice cream until you steal the ball from them. The other team never gets their ice cream. Tragic.

Originality: 9

Cool Factor: 8.25

Effectiveness: 10

Total: 27.25

Why it's ranked where it is: This is funny and original and I love everything about it. It’s like being stuck in an illusion you can’t get out of. You’re powerless to stop it. It’s effective, random and low-key funny when you think about it.

2: Dunk

Game: Backyard Basketball

Description: You can dunk from anywhere on the court, which doesn't sound that cool until you remember that dunking in this game is incredibly rare. You can only dunk in this game when no one is in the paint.

Originality: 7.5

Cool Factor: 10

Effectiveness: 10

Total: 27.5

Why it's ranked where it is: You can dunk from anywhere on the court. ANYWHERE.

1: Aluminum Power

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Game: Backyard Baseball

Description: An OP bat that sends the ball at least 500 feet. An automatic home run. To top it off you have a dope sound effect that is accompanied by Sunny Day's Captain Obvious style play-by-play.

Originality: 8

Cool Factor: 10

Effectiveness: 10

Total: 28

Why it's ranked where it is: You could have the worst batter in the game use this power-up (Vicki Kawaguchi) and still hit a Barry Bonds-style home run. It was between this and dunk for the top spot; the thing that made the difference for me is the fact that these full-court dunks were still only three points while an aluminum power bat could result in up to four runs.

The earlier parts of the series are all classics that stood the test of time so well that you could yell, “Who remembers Pablo Sanchez?” in a crowd full of people and make 4-8 new friends depending on your personality type.

FUN FACT: Pablo Sanchez speaks English

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SURPRISE!

These games were filled with simple but addictive gameplay and characters you grew attached to. From Pete Wheeler to Sally Dobbs, these characters were each unique and special to our hearts.

I miss them.

0 notes

junker-town · 7 years ago

Text

A definitive ranking of every Backyard Sports power-up

I miss these games

The Backyard Sports series is an iconic batch of sports games that blessed my childhood with a fun spin on sports that I grew up watching and learning.

youtube

DISCLAIMERS: I’m sorry that Backyard Hockey power-ups couldn’t make the list. I couldn’t find it. If there is a power-up I’m forgetting or if I get my hands on Backyard Hockey I will update the list accordingly.

I’m not adding Backyard Skateboarding either. I refuse.

35: Super Punt

Game: Backyard Football

Description: It’s like a punt ... but super. Yeah, this one is stupid.

Originality: 1

Cool Factor: 0

Effectiveness: 2

Total: 3

Why it's ranked where it is: This is easily the weakest and wackest of all of the power-ups. First of all, this is a power-up for a punt? WHO THE HELL PUNTS IN BACKYARD FOOTBALL?! It's not even an effective move if you already have a good kicker. Also, the quarters are only 1 minute, so what even is the point? I would have substituted super punt for something that involves super kicking so that it could have been used for field goals.

34: Spitball

Game: Backyard Baseball

Description: A ball that makes a weird ass spitting noise before reaching the plate. Doesn't really affect the batter.

Originality: 4

Cool Factor: 4

Effectiveness: 4

Total: 12

33: Slo-mo

Game: Backyard Baseball

Description: A ball that gets really really slow as it approaches the plate.

Originality: 6

Cool Factor: 4

Effectiveness: 4

Total: 14

32: Zig-Zag

Game: Backyard Baseball

Description: It literally zig-zags back and forth.

Originality: 6

Cool Factor: 4

Effectiveness: 5

Total: 15

31: Fire Ball

Game: Backyard Baseball

Description: An absolute heater that catches you off guard.

Originality: 4

Cool Factor: 4

Effectiveness: 8

Total: 16

Why it's ranked where it is: It’s extremely effective. The only thing that alerts you is the firecracker-style sounds and by then, it may be too late. You have little time to react to the ball. With that being said, it’s not as crazy or as out there as some of the other power-ups we see on the list. This one also doesn’t seem to show up as much as other power-ups.

30: Flyswatter

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Game: Backyard Basketball

Description: This power-up allows you to swat the hell out of any shot or swat the ball from an opponent. It's like having the Hall Of Fame Pick Pocket and Rim Protector badges on 2k.

Originality: 4

Cool Factor:4.25

Effectiveness: 8

Total: 16.25

Why it's ranked where it is: You’re going to see a recurring theme with most of the Backyard Basketball power-ups. Try to guess what it is.

29: Frostbite

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Game: Backyard Basketball

Description: Makes it way harder for the opponent to make a shot.

Originality: 4

Cool Factor: 4

Effectiveness: 8.5

Total: 16.5

Why it's ranked where it is: Have you guessed the theme yet?

This power-up is effective, but you can still make shots, so that part is a little bit underwhelming.

28: Butter Fingers

Game: Backyard Basketball

Description: The other team has trouble holding on to the ball.

Originality: 4

Cool Factor: 4

Effectiveness: 9

Total: 17

Why it's ranked where it is: How about now?

27: Slo Mo

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Game: Backyard Basketball

Description: You suck at this game if you can't score during this power-up.

Originality: 3

Cool Factor: 4.25

Effectiveness: 10

Total: 17.25

Why it's ranked where it is: You recognizing the theme now?

This power-up, while effective, can easily be countered. Especially if you have a long-range shooter like my boy Dmitri Petrovich.

26: Crazy Bunt

Game: Backyard Baseball

Description: A bunt that can’t be fielded until it hits a surface.

Originality: 7.5

Cool Factor: 4

Effectiveness: 6

Total: 17.5

25: More Juice/110% juice

Game: Backyard Baseball/Basketball

Description: Replenishes the energy/stamina of either one member of the team or the entire team.

Originality: 4

Cool Factor: 3.75

Effectiveness: 10

Total 17.75

TIE-23: Super Speed

Game: Backyard Basketball

Description: Do I need to explain this one? Your team runs faster.

Originality: 3

Cool Factor: 7

Effectiveness:8

Total: 18

TIE-23: Cannon

Game: Backyard Soccer

Description: The ball launches off the person's foot, making this a hard shot to stop for the goalie.

Originality: 4

Cool Factor: 8

Effectiveness: 6

Total: 18

Cannon is excellent for free kicks and long distance shots; however, the goalkeeper still has a chance of saving the ball if you don’t aim well enough.

22: Cough Drop

Game: Backyard Football

Description: This power-up causes an automatic fumble on the first hit.

Originality: 6

Cool Factor: 6

Effectiveness: 6.25

Total: 18.25

21: Crazy Ball

Game: Backyard Baseball

Description: It's a pitch that starts laughing and stuff as it heads over to the plate. It's not usually a threat. It just throws off your timing a little bit, you'll be fine.

Originality: 8

Cool Factor: 4.5

Effectiveness: 6

Total: 18.5

Why it's ranked where it is: This power-up depended on how loud the game was on your headphones. If you’re playing the game on mute, you might not even notice.

20: Elevator

Game: Backyard Baseball

Description: This pitch stays low to the ground before it crosses the plate.

Originality: 6.5

Cool Factor: 6.5

Effectiveness: 5.75

Total: 18.75

Why it's ranked where it is: Easy to time, but hard to figure out where the ball will end up.

19: Undergrounder

Game: Backyard Baseball

Description: Similar to the undergrounder in soccer, the ball goes below ground and pops up somewhere else on the field

Originality: 6

Cool Factor: 6

Effectiveness: 7

Total: 19

18: Magnet

Game: Backyard Basketball

Description: You have an increased chance of intercepting your opponent's pass.

Originality: 5

Cool Factor: 6.25

Effectiveness: 8

Total: 19.25

Why it's ranked where it is: Effective and simple. Magnet isn’t going to turn heads.

17: Corkscrew

Game: Backyard Baseball

Description: It's like a sideways tornado that makes its way to the plate. It attempts to make you dizzy in the process.

Originality: 8

Cool Factor: 5.5

Effectiveness: 6

Total: 19.5

Why it's ranked where it is: Much harder to track than Zig-Zag. Especially when the swing spot is big. It’s a tough pitch to hit, as you can see by me struggling to hit it in the gif.

... IT LOOKED LIKE A STRIKE OKAY?!

16: Screaming Line Drive

Game: Backyard Baseball

Description: This is a line drive that screams, depending on who hits the ball. It's an automatic hit, but it can be a little bit underwhelming depending on how powerful the hitter is.

Originality: 4

Cool Factor: 6

Effectiveness: 10

Total: 20

Why it's ranked where it is: While it looks cool, compared to some of the other power-ups in the game, it’s pretty underwhelming. It’s a line drive that yells and goes a little bit faster.

15: SONIC BOOM

Game: Backyard Football

Description: The opposing team falls to the floor. Depending on how fast the running back is, you can either go for a big gain or go to the house!

Originality: 7

Cool Factor: 6.25

Effectiveness: 7

Total: 20.25

Why it's ranked where it is: While Sonic Boom was very efficient, this was not an automatic touchdown. There are some more effective power-ups on this list, but this one is pretty solid.

14: Chameleon

Game: Backyard Football

Description: When on defense, this power-up allows you to assume the uniform colors for the other team.

Originality: 6.5

Cool Factor: 8

Effectiveness: 6

Total: 20.5

Why it's ranked where it is: This power-up is hard to work around if it's used against you if you use a mouse. If you use the keyboard, it'll go over easier. This is a fun, chaotic power-up that will fool you if the computer gets its hands on it.

13: Hot hand

Game: Backyard Basketball

Description: Similar to fire mode in NBA Jam, but it applies to the whole team instead of just one person. This makes you be able to hit from damn near anywhere on the court.

Originality:4

Cool Factor: 8

Effectiveness: 10

Total: 22

Why it's ranked where it is: It’s similar to on fire mode from NBA Jam. That is why there is a low originality score. Still cool tho.

12: Big Freeze

Game: Backyard Baseball

Description: A pitch that freezes when it's just about to cross the plate.

Originality: 8

Cool Factor: 6

Effectiveness: 9

Total: 23

11: Jackpot shot

Game: Backyard Basketball

Description: The number of points that you score depends on what the jackpot decides.

Originality: 7.5

Cool Factor: 8

Effectiveness: 8

Total: 23.5

Why it's ranked where it is: This is a game breaker of sorts. You can score a 9-point layup?! That can change the dynamic of the game no matter what the score is. This is a low-risk, high reward power-up that can’t really be stopped.

10: Spring Loaded

Game: Backyard Football

Description: This power-up instantly launches one of your defenders high in the air and into the backfield. Not always an automatic tackle/sack, but it is effective.

Originality: 8

Cool Factor: 10

Effectiveness: 6.5

Total: 24.5

9: Cherry Picker

Game: Backyard Basketball

Description: When you acquire this power-up, one of your teammates teleports to under the opponent's basket, making it easy to pass the ball to them.

Originality: 7

Cool Factor: 10

Effectiveness: 8

Total: 25

Why it's ranked where it is: This is one of my personal favorites because I’m obsessed with teleportation. Don’t @ me.

8: Under Grounder

Game: Backyard Soccer

Description: A ground ball that disappears into the field and pops up at a random spot in the field.

Originality: 7

Cool Factor: 9

Effectiveness: 10

Total: 26

7: Bowling Ball

Game: Backyard Soccer

Description: The ball starts to knock over opposing team members like bowling pins.

Originality: 8

Cool Factor: 8.25

Effectiveness: 10

Total 26.25

Why it's ranked where it is: This sounds incredibly effective ... and painful.

6: Hocus-Pocus

Game: Backyard Football

Description: This play is awesome because your receiver vanishes past the defense for what could be an easy touchdown depending on the defense.

Originality: 9

Cool Factor: 9.5

Effectiveness: 8

Total: 26.5

Why it's ranked where it is: This was a difficult power-up to stop. Even if you were in a position to stop it...

You still might be powerless to defend against it.

5: Tracer

Game: Backyard Soccer

Description: With your mouse, you can control exactly where the ball will go. Like a friendly heat-seeking missile.

Originality: 8.75

Cool Factor: 10

Effectiveness: 8

Total: 26.75

Why it's ranked where it is: “Friendly heat-seeking missile.” NEED I SAY MORE?

4: Leap Frog

Game: Backyard Football

Description: The running back jumps over the defense. This play is an automatic first down, and depending on the defensive scheme, a touchdown.

Originality: 9

Cool Factor: 8

Effectiveness: 10

Total: 27

Why it's ranked where it is: Sure you can stop it, but it’s damn near impossible to without giving up a significant chunk of yards.

Imagine your favorite NFL player needs to gain 1 yard and you have a power-up that allows your running back to long jump 10 yards in the air for that specific time. It’s OP when you need it most.

3: Ice cream truck

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Game: Backyard Basketball

Originality: 9

Cool Factor: 8.25

Effectiveness: 10

Total: 27.25

Why it's ranked where it is: This is funny and original and I love everything about it. It’s like being stuck in an illusion that you can’t get out of. You’re powerless to stop it. It’s effective, random and low-key funny when you think about it.

2: Dunk

Game: Backyard Basketball

Originality: 7.5

Cool Factor: 10

Effectiveness: 10

Total; 27.5

Why it's ranked where it is: You can dunk from anywhere on the court. ANYWHERE.

1: Aluminum Power

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Game: Backyard Baseball

Description: An OP bat that sends the ball at least 500 feet. An automatic home run. To top it off you have a dope sound effect that is accompanied by Sunny Day's Captain Obvious style play-by-play.

Originality: 8

Cool Factor: 10

Effectiveness: 10

Total: 28

Why it's ranked where it is: You could have the worst batter in the game use this power-up (Vicki Kawaguchi),

and still hit a Barry Bonds-style home run. It was between this and Dunk for the top spot; the thing that made the difference for me is the fact that these full court dunks were still only 3 points while an aluminum power bat could result in up to 4 runs.

FUN FACT: Pablo Sanchez speaks English

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SURPRISE!

These games were filled with simple but addictive gameplay and characters that you grew attached to. From Pete Wheeler to Sally Dobbs, these characters were each unique and special to our hearts.

I miss them.

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