#i like still like mario its just not the Main interest anymore

[memintomori]

sorry my post are just completely random. one second u get funny posts, then kbnz pokemon, then persona.

i have brain damage

[glassmarcus]

The Lingering Will of Wario Land

Wario has always been the most unhinged of Nintendo's characters. While Mario is sane and safe and usually pushes the envelope in practical ways, Wario is sporadic and insensitive and breaks the mold by taking as many left turns as possible. Wario used to be a testing ground for Nintendo R&D1's weirdest ideas. And to this day, he still kind of is. Though that studio doesn't really exist anymore, Nintendo is still making Wario Ware games and the will of that studio carries on. As far as I can tell, Intelligent Systems is carrying on the torch quite well. But while Wario Ware acts as sort of a repository of varied minigames, it's not reminiscent of the larger scale ideas the studio used to execute on. And before Wario Ware, most of that was done within the Wario Land series. The series that I'm actually a fan of. And I've always wondered what kind of games we'd have if the will of that series was passed down. Over the year I've come to realize that it basically has.

The thing about the Wario Land games is that, while they are all at their core side scrolling platformers, they all have gimmicks and structures that dramatically differentiate them. Most games after the first feel like a full metamorphosis rather than a traditional sequel. Wario Land evolves in a collection of branching paths, and I'm interested to see where those paths end. I won't fully know because I can't possibly play every game that has Wario games as an influence, but I can definitely make a few decent observations and unabashedly glaze Pizza Tower before the end of this write up.

The first Wario Land was made as a sequel to Super Mario Land 2, thus is the installment with the most similarity to Mario. Wario functions the same as Mario in that you get a variety of power ups that vanish upon taking a hit. It has linear levels that are full of secrets. It has a cute world map to select a level. It's all very reminiscent of its predecessor, but stands apart in one aspect. The move set. All Mario can really do is run and jump at the end of the day. Sure he can get power ups that give him more options, but you can only rely on jumping when the chips are down. Wario has a bit more leeway. Even at his smallest form, Wario can tip over enemies, throw them as well. Mario can technically do this too, but it's more situational as only certain enemies can be chucked, such as koopas. Wario Land is designed around being able to do these things whenever you want and it led to a bit more puzzles oreinted. You weren't just killing enemies, you were bullying them. Using them to fulfill your goals by displacing them where they best suited you. It's a move set that fit Wario’s personality. And when you get the super onion and become Super Wario, that bully energy multiplies tenfold. The shoulder bash is THE Wario move. Haphazardly thrusting the side of your body into someone way weaker than you is something you would never see Mario do. But when I think of Wario, I think of the shoulder bash. It's his signature move, his Kamehameha. Wario honestly feels weird without one, which is why being tiny Wario kinda blows. Its a part of Wario I never want to see removed.

The next Wario Land released after the first was Virtual Boy Wario Land. It is, by all means, a natural sequel to the first. The game play is fine tuned a bit to make Wario faster and snappier, but for the most part is the same. The power ups are the same, the move set is the same, the treasure hunting aspect is the same. The main difference is the level design. Virtual Boy Wario Land takes advantage of the stronger hardware of the Virtual Boy console and uses it to make layered level design. In both boss fights and stages you are swapping between the fore ground and background of the stage, which is only possible due to the depth added by virtual boy. While Virtual Boy Wario Land had less levels than the first, it also had far more inventive levels. You don't really see level design like that in future games. Virtual Wario Land’s influence is felt more outside the franchise. The DNA of it can be found in most 2.5D platformers and every 2D platformer with layered level design. Shantae, Klonoa, Mutant Mudds, Donkey Kong, Kirby, andMario all end up using design techniques created by this obscure follow up. Despite being a by the books sequel in a lot of ways, it was still a very impactful game.

What was not by the numbers was Wario Land 2. That game was a true evolution. The things that separate Wario from Mario in the first game were the actions Wario could do. Virtual Boy Wario Land focused on level design, but that was a very Mario approach in all honestly. Wario is not about improving his environment, he's about improving himself. And this isn't to say the level design isn't an improvement, it just shapes itself around all the new things you can do. Wario Land 2 does a few things to dramatically enhance the power fantasy of playing as Wario. The first is an expansion of actions Wario can do. This guy can ground pound and shoulder bash in his base form. He can execute a rolling attack from a slope, he can aim his throws. Wario has a ton of verbs at his disposal this time around and the levels make sure to take advantage of them. Wario now feels stronger because he can do more things with zero cost. He also feels stronger because he’s an immortal demigod-like being.

The worst moments in Wario Land and Virtual Boy Wario Land is where you aren't Super Wario and feel virtually powerless. In Wario Land 2, you are always super and thus never die. You lose coins when you get hit. This shifts the focus away from completing a level without dying and instead completing a level with as much money as possible. The stages being designed with Wario’s immortality in mind allows for more treacherous and ambitious level ideas due the penalty of failure being so low. The most inventive way they handle Wario’s insane durability is turning would be obstacles into temporary transformations. Things that would have killed you in past games now only mold you into something different. Getting bit by a bat turns you into a vampire, getting flattened allows you to slip under crevices. Most of the puzzles in these games had Wario use enemies as projectiles to achieve some kind of solution. Now Wario is using enemies to intentionally get tagged by them for the same purpose. It's a far more unique approach to power ups, while also making Wario simultaneously more pathetic and more frightening.

Wario Land 2 is a complete shift from its predecessors, and while a lot of its ideas are used in future games, nothing in the franchise matches it in terms of encouraging collection above all else. Not a lot of games in this genre are willing to not kill you as a penalty to fucking up. One of the few that is is Kirby’s Epic Yarn, which I feel is the game most similar to Wario Land 2 in spirit. Getting loot IS the difficulty in that game. Stages are stuffed with secrets. You can't die, but you lose money on hit. Every other level is filled with a variety of transformations which contort your body in a visually interesting way. It feels like a lot of inspiration was taken from Wario Land 2.

Wario Land 3 takes the gameplay of Wario Land 2 and reframes it in its own unique way. You have the same move set, but most of these abilities you have to unlock, and then you use these abilities to open new routes in past levels. Structurally it's closer to a Search Action games than a standard platformer. Levels act as sections of a world that you explore and the world map is how you travel between them. Treasures you find in each level can either give you an ability to access new areas of a level, change the physiology of a level so that new secrets are revealed, or unlock new levels entirely. Every objective you complete builds towards revealing more of the game in an outward direction. The amount of backtracking you do in this game exceeds basically every Metroidvania I've played. To the point in which I think it ruins the game and makes it bad.

I'm glad they didn't make another Wario Land game like this. Not because its ideas can't be implemented well. We see this level based search action approach in other games such as Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia and Shantae: The Pirates Curse, but they execute it in a way that doesn't put a damper on exploration. They limit the number of areas and make back tracking for areas only required once or twice at most. The needless complexity is dialed down, so that retracing your steps doesn't lose its flavor. It can be done well, I simply like Wario Land 4 and wouldn't sacrifice it for a good version of Wario Land 3 under any circumstance.

Wario Land 4 is the pinnacle of the franchise. Virtual Boy Wario Land added tighter more creative level design. Wario Land 2 added more movement. Wario Land 3 added ways to experience levels multiple times in different ways. 4 takes all of these concepts to the next level. It has fewer levels than the past two games, but these levels are the most visually distinct and mechanically diverse ones so far. While there’s no central gimmick being utilized like in Virtual Boy Wario Land, each level has its own central gimmick that the level is built around rather than serving only as a motif. In addition to the levels being better than ever, the bosses are good for the first time in the series. They were fine in Wario Land 1 and Virtual Boy Wario Land, but weren't amazing. The quality of boss fights is tarnished in Wario land 2 and 3 because you don’t take damage in those games. You basically have to do every fight perfectly or restart the whole encounter as that's only penalty that can be enforced. Wario Land 4 has removed his invincibility. He instead now has a large health bar. You will basically never die in a level because of how many hits you can take and how easy it is to heal so you still feel invincible. However, you are still in danger during boss fights. Because you can take hits, you aren't required to do the fight perfectly. Instead now the boss fights are more complex and you are encouraged to do them perfectly as the faster you complete them, the more rewards you get.

Movement has always been a focus in the Wario Land series. 3 didn't add much in that department but 4 picks up the slack by adding a single move. Wario Land got pretty far move wise using only 2 buttons and a d-pad. Now with shoulder buttons in tow, Wario has learned a game changing ability. Running. The charging run is a brilliant addition to Wario’s move set. It's not only a method to go faster, it's a state which you need to maintain. Most levels are designed to be potentially charged through while stopping very little. You can become a blitzing mad man that tramples all in your path, so long as you don't run into any walls and obvious obstacles.

The charge isn't just a faster way to move around or a fun way to implement more puzzles. It's integral to the game’s defining feature. Wario Land 3 wants the player to re-experience a level by playing it again with different parts unlocked. Wario Land 4 takes a different approach by locking the player in the level and moving the exit to the entrance. You have to play every level backwards and you have to do it under a timer. Each level ends in an exhilarating Metroid escape sequence where you use your knowledge of the level coming in to aid you in getting out. And using the run really helps get you back to the entrance in time. Wario Land 4 is the best of the franchise because it excels at everything the franchise has become known for while simultaneously being so different from the others.

There is one more Wario Game made after 4 though. Wario Land Shake It, interestingly enough developed by Good Feel, the creators behind Kirby epic yarn. Shake It is a fine game, but doesn't take anything 4 does in a good direction. 4 had this nice flow to it when you knew what you were doing, but Shake It has its pace bogged down by bad motion controls that require you to tilt your controller slowly or shake objects for too long a time. The run is also removed as a normal action because the number of buttons is back to the old days. Instead there are dash pads which you are given a designated dash upon using. This isn't too big of a deal as there are some good puzzle created from this approach, though I still prefer it being a normal action. The main move set drop that bothers me is the lack of transformations you get as a result of an enemy or obstacle. It has been a mainstay since 2 and now there are only 3 of them and they all function pretty similarly. Shake It has pretty good level design and is the best looking Wii game, no joke. But it's a huge step back from 4 in a lot of ways and I can't call it a proper successor. It wasn't what I wanted out of a Wario Land 5. It didn't add enough and left behind too much. And since playing it, I’ve always wanted a game that expands on Wario Land 4 to a degree that could consider it Wario Land 5.

Enter Pizza Tower. The fully evolved form of Wario Land 4 and maybe Wario Land in general. It's an indie game that understands the franchise it's inspired by, knows exactly what makes the game it takes the most from special, and knows exactly what elements to add to bring out the best in itself. I touched upon earlier about the things that make Wario Wario. I believe these things are Movement, Character, and Exploration, all three which Pizza Tower excels at. It's not Wario, it has a different flavor for sure, but the soul of Wario Land resides within it.

Peppino, the main character of Pizza Tower, can do nearly everything Wario can do. He can ram into enemies, he can hurdle forward at the speed of a car. He a can chuck anything he can carry to the other side of the screen. He can roll down slopes like Sonic the Hedgehog. He can slam his ass through concrete. He's also functionally invincible, so obstacles and enemies can grant him transformations the same way. The only thing he can't really do is charge his throw in a diagonal direction. It's a shame, but that's too slow of an action got Pizza Tower.

Every thing you see in Wario Land you will see in Pizza Tower, but reflavoured to be goofier and more frantic. It takes the emphasis on speed from Wario Land 4 and takes it to its logical conclusion. The format is basically the same, but the rush to the exit of the level is far more exhilarating due to the deluxe suite of moves Peppino has at his disposal. Pizza Tower is meant to be played fast and thus takes inspiration from games also meant to be played fast. Mainly Sonic and Metroid. The speed at which you move with and the momentum you carry between actions is every bit as speedy and gratifying as a Sonic game. There are even different states of velocity like there are in Sonic Advance 2. The dash button works sort of like the one in Sonic Lost World. It changes your state of movement so that you not only move faster, but interact with your environment differently. A crouching attack while dashing is different from when not. You can even climb walls much like how parkour works in that game. It proves that Lost World isn't fundamentally bad, it is just made incorrectly. Once you get the hang of switching between running and sprinting the flow of the game really opens up.

The maintaining of speed feels very Sonic like, but the control of it feels very Metroid. Once moving at top speed you can store your speed and release it upwards, much like using speed boosters and shine sparks. You can also redirect your velocity by making sharp turns on surfaces similar to how you’d be expected to control your shine spark through winding paths. The breakable walls you'd find in Wario are used to obscure routes that would house a faster and more point filled path back to the entrance. This perfectly emulates the feeling of scrambling back to your ship at the end of the game, but not taking the most efficient path. It's not that these elements weren't somewhat present in Wario Land 4, but they are far more pronounced in Pizza Tower.

There are also plenty of verbs that are entirely unique to him such as Multi Directional Air Dash, Pile Drive and the most important out of any of them Taunt Parry. The parry isn't required for completion of the game. You probably don't even need it to get a high score. But the action itself is integral to the flow of the game. You move at break neck speeds here. Sometimes you will be barreling towards something you cannot get out of the way of and it will kill your pace when you face plant into it. Unless you parry. Then you can keep going. The parry acts as an emergency bitch don't kill my vibe button. It doesn't grind the flow of the game to a screeching halt, it keeps you going. It's similar to the parry in Metroid Dread, but I'm not confident that is an inspiration.

I haven't even touched all the actions Peppino can do. Some of them don't even register as individual moves because they feel so natural. Many actions in Pizza Tower are context sensitive. But they aren't the annoying type of context sensitive where things get in the way of each other. There were times in Pizza Tower where I wasn't really thinking, just letting the game guide me, and I was shocked at how many actions I was doing despite not quite understanding how I was consistently doing them. Everything makes sense. We've come such a long way from Wario picking up an enemy he bumped into it while in a vulnerable state. Pizza Tower is hands down one of the best feeling games I've played and that is far from its only strength.

Wario Land games have a unique charm that's not emulated by Pizza Tower. They aren't merely vehicles for fun gameplay ideas, they are playgrounds exercising whatever sense of humor the developers have. Earthworm Jim and Rayman fall under this category. They aren't just about making sure you have fun playing, but also laugh while doing so. They achieve this by having a larger than life main character traverse a surreal world. Wario was this weird greedy goblin man who had impossible physiology which allowed him to be an excellent target of slapstick. He was gross. But he had this confidence to him that made him easy to root for. He did what he wanted because he wanted to and nothing else. He's as aspirational as he is despicable.

Peppino is not Wario. Peppino is almost the opposite of Wario. Which you would think makes him Mario, but you'd be wrong. Peppino is not someone you wish you were on some level. Because he already is you. He is concentrated anxiety molded into a humanoid shape. He is a man at the end of his fucking rope. He does not want to be here, but he has to be here to protect what is his. Wario was a power fantasy, but Peppino is an abstraction of reality. He's the lower class citizen who constantly gets dunked on by society, but always gets back up. That's where his invincibility comes from. Not unshakable confidence, but the primal drive to survive.

Peppino is a character I love seeing on screen at all times and him interacting with the ridiculous setting of Pizza Tower. Every level in Pizza Tower is based off some corny themed pizza restaurant which makes each level not only have unique mechanics for those levels, but a motif that is pushed to its comedic potential. The commitment to the bit is where Pizza Tower excels. An urban themed pizza restaurant where you travel between levels in taxis and the cops are literally pigs is some inspired shit I'd be proud to think of. Keep in mind, this a normal, run of the mill idea this game has. Pizza Tower exist within an infinite void of transcendental japes. I notice something silly about it every time I replay a level.

What elevates the charm of Pizza Tower is the art style and animation. The spirit of every Newgrounds animation made in 2007 dwells within this game. It's purposefully amateurish and skillfully expressive. Every sprite looks like it was made in MS paint using a track pad and they probably are. The simplicity of the images allows for more aggressive drafting, bolder colors, and a higher quantity and quality of animation, because being on model and having detailed images is never a priority. The visual volume of Pizza Tower is off the charts. Peppino himself has enough animations with manic energy expanding in all direction that he alone could carry the whole game. But every character and environment is handled with care.

The level design is one of Pizza Tower’s strongest aspects. It exemplifies Wario level design by having a high saturation of secrets with collectibles both major and minor. Like in Wario Land 4, Looting is required, but you don't need 100% of it to progress. It's much more like a 3D Mario game where you need a set amount of collectibles total to pass gates in the game. This pushes exploration without aggressively forcing it. But just because it's not extremely required, doesn't mean intimacy with the levels isn't an important aspect of the game. In fact I’d say it's more important than in any game it's inspired by.

I would describe the levels in Wario Land 4 as ones that follow the classic 3 act structure that most things can be divided into. The first act is the beginning of the level where you are introduced to the mechanics. The second act is where the twist on the mechanics occur. And the third is where you speed back to the entrance and experience the first two acts in reverse. Pizza Tower follows suit, and the split between acts is even more pronounced with the change in music. But Pizza Tower takes it further with a bonus act. A hidden act 4 where you play through act 3 again, but on a tighter time frame. In order to succeed in this act 4, you have to explore the level before hand and know all the best routes to get to the entrance as soon as possible.

Each Wario Game always adds something new to the table to shake up the formula which is what I felt was lacking from Wario Land Shake it ironically. I'm not gonna outright call Pizza Tower Wario Land 5, but it does add something to the Wario paradigm that was never prioritized, but feels natural. It adds a mastery incentive. Pizza Tower wants you to be good at this game. That's why these second laps were implemented. What better way to show you know a level like the back of your hand than playing it again in less than half the expected time?

Scoring points in this game is determined mainly by two things, your combo and the things you collect. Your combo is the streak of enemies you've defeated in quick succession. It's actually pretty lenient in how long you can go without your combo resetting. And because of this leniency, the game can impose unrealistic task for you to complete in order to get the highest rank such as Combo the entire Level. It’s tough, but surprisingly doable. That's not enough though, as you are expected to collect ingredients throughout the stage and complete hidden bonus challenges in order to meet your score quota. In Wario Games, it was fun to collect things, but it never amounted to much because you could only spend money on mini games. Pizza Tower doesn't pretend to have an economy, so it instead focuses most of the collection criteria into determining your score.

Comboing the level will boost your score, collecting all major collectibles and completing hidden missions will boost your score. But you won't get the highest rank until you go for that second lap and risk it all. It turns out Sonic isn't the only Sega property acting as potential inspiration. This second lap idea is taken straight out of Nights into Dreams. Nights is a game with circular level design that wants the player to gather as many points as possible in as quick of a lap as possible. The best part of the entire game is that feeling you get when you look at the time left, see your current score is enough and decide in the heat of the moment: “ehh I got time, I'll do another one”. It's a philosophy of mastery I haven't seen in any game since, not even the sequel to that game. But Pizza Tower once again delivers. Sure you can only do 2 laps max, but the feeling of getting away with an extra run that seems like you’re not allowed to do is still there. And when it all comes together and you get that coveted P rank, it's unmistakable. This is gaming right here.

The ingredients of this game are all of the highest quality. The design, the personality, the execution is all there. Even the toppings are mind blowing. What really separates Pizza Tower from Wario Land is that all the boss fights are incredible and are just as good as the levels despite the game not being built around them in the same way. Wario boss fights weren't good until 4 and even then they only barely qualified. The bosses in this game are a genuine highlight for me which I'm not used to for platformers in general. They didn't have to go this hard, and on top of every positive thing I listed about Pizza Tower, it is all sprinkled with the best soundtrack of the year. I have been listening to this soundtrack nearly every week since April 2023. It is absolutely godlike. I genuinely put the final boss music on the same level of respect as Dancing Mad from Final Fantasy 4. Every track fills me with energy. Everything in this game revitalizes me. It is the most video game I've played in a while. It might not be huge in terms of portion size, but I'll always comeback for seconds. I can eat it all day, you know...like Pizza.

I'm glad that the legacy of Wario Land 4 has led to a game like this. But I'm even happier that this isn't the end. Its will was carried in multiple areas. I haven’t touched Anton Blast enough to speak in depth on it, but it seems to be evolving Wario Land 4 in an entire different way than Pizza Tower. There seems to be more Wario 4 like games that popping up recently. And I'm thrilled. Over the years I've lamented about dying franchises or franchises that have moved in a direction I'm not fond of. I want these things to exist, but I certainly don't have time or ability to make them myself at this point in my life so I get bummed out. But seeing how there hasn't been a Wario Land game in almost 20 years, but the franchise still basically persist anyway gives me a comforting hope. A hope that the things I love will never truly fade away. That their will, shall forever linger.

[sanvirtheobserver]

Taking Flight, Chapter 26: Rocky Road Rumble

The night sky is alight with the full moon. The cool desert air blows past the War Rig as it makes its way across the Rocky Roads. Jax, Mario, Luigi, and Kinger are all in the main cabin while Saturday and Ragatha sit atop its roof, remaining vigilant as the others wait in the trailer.

Jax: See anything, ladies?

Saturday: Nothing yet. Ragatha?

Ragatha: All clear on my end.

Mario: I'm-a tired.

Luigi: Why don't we pass the time with some games?

Kinger: Ooh, I'll go first! I spy with my little eye..................................

Luigi: Uh........ Kinger?

Jax: Give him a minute.

Kinger: .................. Oh hey there, Luigi.

Back in the trailer, we see the others making some small talk. The trailer itself is surprisingly comfy apart from the balcony mounted guns.

Uzi: And THAT is why you should never bring up doors around my dad.

Meggy: Wow, he sounds quite........ interesting.

Uzi: Yeah, he's been like that ever since my mom died. Still, he tries his best.

Tari: Do you still stay in touch?

Uzi: I call him on the phone booth sometimes to let him know I'm still kicking.

Tari: Hm...... I wonder how some of my old caretakers are doing. Maybe I should call them up too, sometime.

Saiko: Eh, parents are a bit overrated for my taste. For the longest time Kaizo was the only one who actually gave a shit about me. My parents probably don't even care that I'm not in my game anymore.

Meggy: What about you, Pomni?

Pomni: To be honest, most of my previous life before the Circus is just a blurr. Sometimes I doubt my parents even HAD faces..........I do vaguely remember having two older sisters, though.

Ragatha: EYES UP, PEOPLE! WE GOT COMPANY!

Barreling down just behind the rig is a warband of Gummy Bear Bandits riding Gingerbread Jeeps and Rocky Road Bikes. Leading the charge is the Syrup Tanker manned by Gummigoo and his brothers Max and Chad.

Gummigoo: LET'S SHOW EM WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THESE SNACKS BITE BACK!

Some of the bandits flank both sides of the Rig, unleashing a hail of bullets from their Coachguns and revolvers. Everyone ducks for cover as Tari quickly makes some barriers to deflect the oncoming gunfire. Ragatha casts some thread and ties herself a lasso, which she uses to snag one of the bandits and hurl him around like a wrecking ball. He slams into one of the bikes, sending it and its riders tumbling across the roads. Saturday deflects some gunfire with her lances before sending one straight through a bandit's heart. Tari pushes the barriers outwards and sends the rest of the wave flying away from the Rig as another catches up. Meggy and Uzi quickly get to the mounted chaser guns and begin unloading into every Bike and Jeep they see.

Meggy: COME GET SOME, WOOOOOO!!!!

Uzi: TAKE A BITE OUTTA THIS!!!!

One of the Jeeps manages to catch up with the Rig, allowing a few bandits to come aboard. One of them pops the top hatch open but is met with a hammer straight to the face as Saiko hauls herself onto the upper balcony. Ragatha notices the bandits brandishing their machetes as they charge Saiko, who manages to bat two of them off the Rig. One manages to land a slash on her side and readies to take her head, but is stopped by a cleaver slicing him in two. Ragatha casts the bandit's body aside and helps Saiko back up to her feet.

Ragatha: You good?

Saiko: Yeah. It's just a flesh wound.

Another bandit tries to attack, but Kinger pops up from the sunroof to save the day.

Kinger: RAGATHA, GRAB THIS!

He tosses a life preserver right over their heads. The bandit is confused for a moment, which gives Ragatha a chance to cleave him into pieces.

Ragatha: Thanks for the save, Kinger!

Mario: Mario wants to help too!

Mario then opens the door and tumbles out of the Rig, taking out another pair of bikes before catching a convenient rope. Looks like that life preserver hooked onto the back hitch of the trailer. He then uses some of that "Style Fu" to dodge some oncoming rocks.

Jax: Heads up, A-holes!

Jax pulls a lever labeled with a cherry sticker, opening a compartment on the back of the trailer. A cluster of Cherry Bombs tumble out of the compartment, whizzing by Mario and exploding upon impact with those who couldn't get out of the way in time. That's when Jax spots a rough stretch of land.

Jax: EVERYBODY HANG ON TO SOMETHING! WE'RE TAKING A LITTLE DETOUR!

He pulls another lever and extends the Rig's suspension as he swerves towards the rougher terrain. Mario cranks it into high gear as he continues to dodge the rocks. The bandits still follow suit, but not all of them fare as well as roughly half of them end up crashing into either the rocks or each other. The Tanker and Jeeps seem to have little issue though.

Luigi: JAX, THEY'RE GAINING ON US!

Jax grabs Luigi and plops him down on the driver's seat as he pulls something out from the backseat.

Jax: I'll be right back.

One of Jeeps is about to catch up to the tanker until it's obliterated by Jax and his Heavy Cola Cannon.

Jax: YEAH, NOW WE'RE GETTING SOMEWHERE!

He crawls out from the sunroof and starts laying waste to the rest of the Jeeps as Gummigoo and Chad look on from the driver's cabin of the Tanker.

Chad: Boss, I think we should cut our losses and get outta here while we still can.

That's when he hears several loud pops from the back. He looks out to see Tari flying behind the Tanker as Pomni hurls prismatic spikes at its tires. He grabs his rifle and takes aim, but before he can shoot he hears something land on the roof and feels something yank him up by the scruff of his neck.

Saturday: You miss me, Gums?

He flips out of her grasp and onto the roof before drawing his machete. The two fiercely clash blades as Tari and Pomni continue to attack the tires. Meanwhile, Meggy tries to pull Mario back on board when Kinger suddenly comes rushing in with an anchor.

Kinger: MARIO, GRAB THIS!

He tosses the anchor, nearly missing Mario and causing Chad to swerve out of the way to avoid getting hit. Saturday falls atop Gummigoo and the two end up in a VERY awkward position.

Meggy: Uh, Kinger....... is that tied to anything important?

Kinger: Hm..... Let me check.

As uf on cue the Rig suddenly grinds to a halt, and Chad swerves to avoid a collision. Gummigoo and Saturday both fall off of the Tanker as it spins out and grinds to a halt. Tari and Pomni land nearby and regroup with Saiko, Ragatha, Meggy, and Mario.

Ragatha: Pomni! Are you okay!? Are you hurt!?

Pomni: Ragatha, I'm fine. Really.

Tari: She was a big help, actually. Now the Tanker is out of commission without its tires.

Mario: YEAH! Mario wants to go again! My feet are a bit sore, though.

Tari notices Saiko holding a bloody towel to her side.

Tari: Oh my God, what happened!?

Saiko: Oh, this? It's nothing serious.

Tari: B-but you're bleeding!

Saiko: It's just a flesh wound, I'll-

Tari Are you dizzy!? Do you need water!?

Saiko: TARI. I'm fine, really. It's just a flesh wound.

Kinger: SAIKO, GRAB THIS!

Kinger then tosses a first aid kit that lands right beside the two.

Tari: Thanks, Kinger. Saiko, please.

Tari has Saiko sit down on a nearby rock, and she reluctantly lets Tari tend to her injuries. Meanwhile, Mario and Meggy approach the Tanker as Chad and Max pop their heads out to search of Gummigoo. Meggy raises her bowgun at the two.

Meggy: Don't you two try anything stupid.

Chad: Have any of you seen the Captain by any chance?

Max: He couldn't have landed too far.

Both groups find Saturday sitting atop Gummigoo, pinning him down by the wrists.

Saturday: Are you all just gonna stand there, or are you gonna help me tie him up?

Gummigoo: Oh, by all means, take your time! I wouldn't wanna miss out on such a *lovely* view.

Saturday: Ugh, you're such a pig.

Gummigoo: Actually, I'm a gator. Big difference.

She just replies with a well-deserved punch to his snout.

[t4x208]

A SHOW IDEA THAT I WANT TO MAKE REAL ONE DAY (really long post)

this is gonna be a HUGE little rant thing because i love talking about my ideas, future ideas, concepts. etc etc

i just realized i never said anything about this but uhh, for months ive been dreaming on wanting to make this string (I've always had in mind) come true

at first it was going to be a joke play with the huge inspiration of gumball. hes based on this joke episode i made called "Lil H". a baku inspired series (by sethical)

at the first point, he was literally gonna be called Lil h, LITERALLY. but I thought of a different name for him, and i named him "douglas dinget". it was a stupid name. the first image is the first concept idea i had for him if i actually wanted to take his design seriously . (its uhm... pretty old!). second image is the actual concept drawing when i thought of him having his own show (not a serious design take obviously LOL)

for 2nd image, he's just sonic but with a square cap hat, long gloves, basically a frickin recolor/edit LOL. it was funny when I imagined how he would look if I animated him and the background is just a realistic school. and then i thought of making his name "douglas tucker". i think him having that name is pretty cool and funny

his inspiration is a mixture of a chibi figure (like gumball) and his animations would be peanuts esque. like the way how he would walk, run, slip, etc etc. BASICALLY how peanuts characters are animated. i really loved imagining that as a test animation for this design, never really did it tho. im still learning animation

now this is where i suddenly had a new idea. i imagined "what if douglas had a girlfriend and she was a cactus? because cactuses and hedgehogs are spiky.." and this is where the design comes in

her name is KATHERINE STERLING!!!!! OMLLLL!!! (also a HALF redesign on Douglas)

this was the third character i thought of tho. second character is a "My melody" rip off LOL. (which she WILL be redesigned soon)

and also heres a joke ass image i drew a while ago LOL (it says LIL H in japanese)

you see the mario right there? yea that was literally gonna be his design until i remembered nintendo going to everyone "uhm. FUCK YOU you arent allowed to use this character named "mario" or any other mario characters anymore! make up your own design or make your own creations!" and thats what i legit did (not rlly LMAO)

heavily inspired by the chowder mario (definitely changing his design somewhere later)

stupid name for him, it was on purpose too sense uh... JOKE SHOOWWW!!! this is still gonna be a joke show, and the first episode were legit pngs (like i said, baku inspiration.) and if i all of a sudden make episode 2 a huge gumball inspiration and have these art styles like THIS? oohhhhhooo that would be a huge glow up.

anyways im cutting to the main part. heres the main cast idea

i dont really got anything to say about claire, other than being a ocho rip off LMAO

well not really a rip off but like, she could overreact a lot. she doesnt do stuff harmful or anything, like causing damage and other stuff like that. shes not THAT aggressive basically. she MIGHT become a scrapped character. (unless if a team is formed for this show and someone knows how to put a 8 bit pixel character in a high resolution show, just like ocho)

okay now i want to show you the months that went by with DT's design, i just cant type any longer to show this i geniunely wanted to say all of that just so you can get on the path before i, PROBABLY, make this show a real thing

Huge glow up a little bit, right? hopefully you think the same as me with this design

constructive criticism is allowed btw. i would LOVE to hear more ideas from you guys if youre interested.

now heres his new design in line with the main cast

now i wanna talk about the

PERSONALITIES!!!

DOUGLAS: Douglas is normal about almost everything. it would be VERY rare to see douglas scared. he is extremely calm about stuff. he is tough. he doesnt take his rage out on anyone. even if some people would try to start a fight with him. he's a strong teen and he KNOWS he would knock someone out with one punch. its rare for him to get angry because he knows how strong he is. Lets just say hes kind of the opposite of gumball. Gumball can sometimes get scared when someone is raging at him (mostly people he knows who are STRONGER than him.) hes basically a wimp LOL. douglas is the opposite of that basically. douglas just does his own without meeting any new kid unless if they want to meet him (its best for him to wait if someone wants to be friends with him first)

KATHERINE: Katherine Is a very nice and polite person. but she can overreact sometimes and get mad at douglas if he says or does something that she doesnt like at all, especially if douglas makes a joke compliment to her. she basically hits douglas multiple times on the head. usually when she does that to her friends it hurts them but douglas barely feels anything when she does it to him LMAO

HADIZA: She trys to act tough like douglas despite the fact that douglas doesnt even try to act tough at all. she basically has the personality of gumball a little bit. she trys to stand up and be a more "scarier" person, trying to scare the big character. but when the big character makes a furious noise back at her, she would bunny hop away from them fast

CLAIRE: like i said earlier, "She could overreact a lot. she doesnt do stuff harmful or anything, like causing damage and other stuff like that. shes not THAT aggressive basically."

JACKSON: Jackson Is, to put it in short, a bit of a asshole. LMAO. basically jackson is always tired and can sometimes have aggresive tones. its very common for him. douglas has gotten use to his aggressiveness because theyve being friends ever since they were in kindergarten. Jackson has been getting tired of the world throughout the years.but luckily douglas and jackson are always staying communicated everyday. they never missed a single day not communicating. they are basically BEST best friends.

THE CLASSMATES & TEACHER (W.I.P.)

dont really have that much to say about the classmates. i got 5 more designs to create till the number of students is completed. i dont have that much to say about the teacher either. but i do know its gonna be REALLY HARD figuring out how to animate her. but i REALLY want this show to be good whenever the next episode comes out. i REALLY want these guys to be animated in the style i want them to be animated in

and here are douglas parents!!!

heres some old concepts, ideas, and just some shit for fun LOL

i really love showing my stuff

welp uh. THATS BASICALLY IT! i really love ranting about my

concept ideas and stuff when i think it would be awesome if it was a real thing

if you actually read through this whole entire post THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING IT! it took me like 2 or 3 hours to make this whole entire post. hope i used good grammar and wording on this post

woohoo!!!

[2dplatformerterm1-fe]

2D Platformer Research

WHAT IS A SIDESCROLLER?

-A sidescroller is a (usually) 2D game, where the camera movements are restricted to only a first person point of view. There are different types of side scrollers (classic platformer, RUN'N'GUN, Metroidvania, ect.) However they all have very similar mechanics, which I think make it obvious they are all sidescrollers.

RESRICTED CAMERA VIEW - The main feature of a side scroller is that the characters movements are only permitted to go from side to side, as the name suggests, or up and down. The facts that the camera angles do not change is a feature which I think probably most distinguishes a side scroller.

CHARACTER MECHANICS - By this, I mean what the characters are limited to do. The player can (usually) move left, right, up and down- but never towards or away from the camera. Every game will have different mechanics, but you'll most likely find that there are plenty of similarities between a lot of games.

2D ARTWORK - Although not all platformers are in 2D anymore (see Super Mario Bro's 2), most do still pertain to the classic 2D art style that platformers were made mainstream by. Celeste, Cuphead and Pizza tower are more recent examples of beloved 2D platformer games.

GAME RESEARCH

When researching these games, I will be answering these three questions about said games:

What Mechanics does the player character have?

Are the levels designed around these mechanics?

Is there anything about the art style that makes it stand out?

I'm doing this so I can better understand how I can use these mechanics and thought processes when creating my own game. Understanding these processes and designs can also benefit the work I myself will create.

CELESTE

In Celeste, the main character - Madeline- has a lot of different mechanics. She can run, jump, climb walls (for a limited time), wall jump, and dash in mid-air in one of eight directions. This creates fun, innovative and interesting game play.

Pretty much all levels in Celeste are based around Madeline's plethora of different mechanics- especially her jump dash and climbing mechanics. These mechanics give the player a lot of control over the character, giving freedom on how they wish to play the game.

I think the art style for celeste is very recognizable. The level

SUPER MARIO BROS

Mario can jump, go into pipes, collect powerups that aid the character (fire flower, ice flower, etc.)

I think a lot of levels are designed around a lot of the mechanics, but perhaps less so then one may think. You can complete a lot of the levels without power ups, it is just a lot easier to get through them with the power ups.

I feel like the art style is very recognizable. Its very retro, almost nostalgic.

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG

In Sonic, there are quite a few different mechanics. He can jump, run, roll and collect rings that act as a means of making him invincible.

The levels are definitely designed around these mechanics, especially with the jump pads and the way that he is able to gradually pick up and increase his speed.

Like Mario, It feels very nostalgic and retro. However, it definitely feels more cartoonish than Mario was.

[everglow-synth-archive]

@kcnhub asks... 'Abandoned Mask' 'Mask's Calling' 'Another Mask' 'Try This Mask' (i offer, the little [big] bastard that is grandpa bj blazkowicz and his dumbass not knowing how to turn off a coffee machine in a train... but ONLY if you desire my homie!!!!)

Hoo boy, this is gonna be a long one. Alright ya' bastard, let's tackle this one by one.

Abandoned Mask: A character I no longer roleplay

Luigi (The Four Players)

So, this one's a bit of a weird one, and was admittedly me feeding my own niche interests. This is a take on Luigi from an old Polaris mini-series called The Four Players, which featured grittier takes on Mario, Luigi, Peach and Toad, being The Fixer, The Addict, The Star and The Soldier(which is like, the only one I really don't care for lmao).

A mixture of nobody really interacting with him (save for one person; you know who you are and I still love you for it ;D) and just kinda falling out of roleplaying for a while just made me drop him. Would I pick him up again? I dunno, maybe. But he isn't exactly a popular muse from my old blog, so I don't see him making a huge comeback.

Mask's Calling: A character I'm on the fence about roleplaying

So I was having a hard time with this one(it was this one or an OC), but I think I've landed on a decent candidate.

Rimuru Tempest (That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime)

My girlfriend got me hooked on this anime over the last few months, and we haven't finished it(well, she has, but I only ever watch stuff with her anymore, so I haven't). However, I've been watching TenSura with the thought that I would really like to RP as him.

As it is, I was planning on him maybe taking over my old Villain Deku MHA blog, mostly because I've fallen out of watching My Hero for a good while and the concept I had for Villain Deku was flawed anyway, but I don't know if he would be popular enough to warrant having a whole blog to himself.

Another's Mask: A muse I have on another blog

Cole MacGrath (InFAMOUS 1 and 2) - @the-devils-toybox

InFAMOUS is honestly one of my favorite series. Just ever. For starters, the neon powers used in the game InFAMOUS: Second Son (and subsequently its expansion First Light) inspired Matthew's powers, but Cole is the main character of the first two games.

The basic rundown for the uninitiated is that the series starts off with Cole, a college dropout bike courier, delivering a mysterious package. He suddenly gets a phone call that tells him to open it when he's basically at the heart of the city, an event which causes a massive explosion that kills dozens, but mysteriously grants Cole with electrokinetic abilities.

As the city comes under lockdown, it is full of rioters, looters, and overall just gangs that are trying to take over the city for their own reasons, plenty of them either super powered themselves or run by those with powers. Cole, discovering and learning to use these powers, takes matters into his own hands to either free the city... or to take it over for himself.

I roleplay as both versions of Cole; either the Hero of Empire City, beloved by the people for his selfless acts in the face of adversity, or the Demon of Empire City, a heartless beast who took as much power as he could for himself, ruling the city with an iron fist as revenge against the people for turning on him upon initially finding that it was him at the center of the blast.

...Or I would, if InFamous as a series hadn't fallen out of the public eye. I highly suggest at least giving the games a watch, they're made by the Sly Cooper devs, Sucker Punch.

Try This Mask: A Character you think I can roleplay well

William Joseph "B.J." Blazkowicz (Wolfenstein)

This one's... tricky. See, I would be willing to roleplay as him, but I haven't the slightest goddamn clue about anything Wolfenstein. As it is, I only just recently got into Doom a bit after 2016 came out, and I'm interested in Wolfenstein as well... but I have a huge fucking backlog so I haven't had the time to really get around to looking into it.

Literally all I know are a few funny scenes from... I wanna say Old Blood? I'd need to go and actually play the series for myself before I can definitively pick him up. Or, at the very least, watch all the cutscenes or something lol.

[heiressofdoodles]

I feel like the whole situation with Fury Bowser and the Gigabell could wind up a lot more eldritch horror or just more interesting in general if the Gigabell and the Fury had done something to Mario and Bowser respectively, other than make them big and very powerful. The main gimmick of the Gigabell and Fury Bowser mainly being the way to have Bowser and Mario finally be on the same level to have a stormy midnight slap off is cool and all, but the hieroglyph carvings on the winter islands portray the Gigabell as being actually divine, meaning Mario using its power temporarily makes him a demigod (cuz he’s still mortal, even in this form).

But what if both Mario and Bowser were fundamentally ejected from their species categories of human with magic powers, and royal koopa? Maybe Bowser can’t stay awake after dawn anymore, and his powers aren’t always under his control. Maybe Mario accidentally slept for an entire week and was confused when Luigi knocked on his door in a panic. Perhaps Bowser’s reflection isn’t always what he actually looks like; sometimes his irises are missing, or his skin is pitch black. Perhaps Mario can’t stay in dark areas without feeling like he’s about to faint.

Or maybe they don’t realize something’s wrong until years afterwards.

I dunno, but I genuinely like the idea of something being fundamentally wrong with them that makes them both more dangerous and more uncanny. Because suddenly having the power of a God of Light has got to be more than just be a one note event.

[weirdmarioenemies]

Name: Whomp

Debut: Super Mario 64 

You know what I’ve been thinking about lately? Super Mario 64. Haven’t we all, really? Between all the recent datamines and general online discussion, I can’t help but wonder about Super Mario 64! 

Something I don’t think Mario 64 gets enough appreciation for, is being the birthplace of our beloved Whomps! At least, I certainly belove them. Don’t you? We’ve covered pretty much every “Thwomp” variant in the past, and sure, Whomps may be nowhere near the “obscure” side of enemies, but a splendid design is a good thing to appreciate anytime! 

Not only is this their debut, but they get a whole stage themed around them: the Whomp’s Fortress, if by “fortress” you mean a vague collection of scattered obstacles and platforms floating in the sky, like most 64 stages! That sure is a lot of... textures! My favorite part is the little paddling pool near the bottom.

And who could forget the Whomp in all their original polygonal glory? Clearly they just wanted to make an enemy who is just a rectangle with a texture on top, yet the design had all its charm even back then! The sunken eyes with glowing red pupils, the H-shaped mouth with the crooked teeth... it’s very cute, in an ugly way. And on the back, their weak spot is a crack with a bandage on top! Adorable!

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it- that’s why the Whomp has only really had a few subtle redesigns over the years! When they appeared in Mario 64 DS, they looked just a little bit nicer to look at. They were also in New Super Mario Bros. DS, using the same model- a 3D only enemy in a 2D game, how strange indeed! Their first appearance in a new mainline game in 10 whole years- and it probably just happened because they wanted to reuse assets.

Another redesign? Don’t mind if I do! The Whomp’s grand return to the third dimension happened in Mario Galaxy 2, really cementing them (hah) as a modern Mario classic. This time, they’re huge! And square-ish! And uh, their eyes aren’t wacky anymore. No longer having a band-aid, they instead have a big ground-pound symbol on their back now, which must be just awful, right? Can you imagine having a big logo emblazoned on your back which says “crush me with your butt here”?

This here is their artwork from Mario Party 9. It’s the same as the art from Galaxy 2, but their eyes are glowy now. I just thought this was funny.  But I’m getting ahead of myself here! Before I talk about Mario Party, I need to talk about...

Their monarch, the big bad Whomp King! He’s just... He’s just a big Whomp. He acts just like other Whomps, but he’s big and takes three hits. What’s totally memorable about this boss, though, is the villain monologue he gives before fighting! 

“It makes me so mad! We build your houses, your castles, we pave your roads, and still you walk all over us. Do you ever say thank you? No! Well, you're not going to wipe your feet on me. I think I'll crush you just for fun! Do you have a problem with that? Just try to pound me, wimp! Ha!” 

Uh oh! Looks like Mario’s world has a little problem with under-valuing essential workers! Good thing our world has nothing like that. Well, jokes aside, it’s a pretty cheeky nod at how the Whomps are made of stone- but one has to wonder much of this tragic backstory is serious! It must be a pretty nasty lot in life, huh? 

Don’t feel bad- in 64 DS and Mario Galaxy 2, the Whomp King got a snazzy new crown! At least someone appreciates him a bit!

Well, it wasn’t just him: Galaxy 2′s Throwback Galaxy was one big reimagining of Whomp’s Fortress, meaning this is probably the most Whomp-focused game released in the past decade. The music was remixed, the boss fight was revamped- all in all, a lovely throwback indeed!

And the Whomp has basically just... stuck around! You may have noticed the image at the top (from Super Mario Party) has a slightly different design, being a little more rectangular with smaller, thinner eyes and a more angular mouth! They definitely redesigned the Whomp again at some point, but I couldn’t tell you exactly when... Either way, I’m glad they’re here for good! 

Not that Whomps ever really went anywhere! In the years between Super Mario 64 and its remake, Whomps survived almost exclusively in Mario Party (and other spin-offs), functioning mainly as roadblocks that don’t allow the player to pass!

Which brings me to my final point- between their design and this function, the Whomp is most likely based on the mythological yōkai called... the Nurikabe! And since I’d love nothing more, I’ll now go into a long-winded tangent about what the Nurikabe is, and... Hey, wait!! Come back! It’ll be interesting, I swear! Don’t cut off the post! Hey-

Yeah, yeah. You’re all sick of my long-winded yōkai posts. But I’m happy you joined me here, even if it was out of pity. Let’s talk about the Nurikabe!

Look at this big guy! What a card! Nurikabe literally translates to plaster wall, and they take the form of a big invisible wall that blocks the way of travellers at night. Since they’re invisible, they naturally don’t have many illustrations- leave it to Shigeru Mizuki to depict them as a large, goofy-looking slab of stone! This Nurikabe joined the main cast of the GeGeGe no Kitaro manga, and thus quickly became a cornerstone (haha) of their popular depictions!

(To be fair, there does exist an old illustration of the Nurikabe as a strange, lumpy dog thing... but I’m not MUCH of a fan? I think a literal stone wall is so much more charming!)

Come on, look at this! What could be better? 

Ōkami has a rather lovely Nurikabe-looking guy! Though his design is splendid, if you’ve played Ōkami you likely remember him as “the extremely frustrating memory puzzle” or “the memory puzzle that is literally scientifically impossible for the human brain to solve”. Shame!

Yo-kai Watch has the Murikabe, a.k.a “Noway” in the English version! “Muri” means “no way”. So like, it’s a pun. Hoho.

Nioh’s Nurikabe is quite scary, but also rather cool! Don’t you think? I still know very little about Nioh, but whenever I look at its yōkai I think “Dang! That’s cool!”, and I’m right, and it is cool. 

The Super Sentai series has two whole Nurikabe monsters, each based on a different Nurikabe look! While the latter is quite cool, I’m in love with the former and its weird, grungy brick wall look! It’s like, the dictionary definition of Gnarly! Though I know very little about tokukatsu shows, I think its kind of fascinating how creative they can get with designing humanoid monsters suits!

You may be wondering: was this entire post just a thinly-veiled excuse for me to talk about the Nurikabe? And to that I say:

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmaybe....???

[oh-boy-me]

:0 could I have a beel,asmo,belphie,lucifer,mammon, satan (not including levi) and diavolo playing videogames? I thought it would be kinda funny since they're all really old- except for levi of course haha

Ohhh this should be fun!

Decided to do individual HCs for this one instead of a group thing so they wouldn’t be limited to multiplayer games.

Most of them, save for a certain prince, have been exposed to games a fair amount by proximity to Levi.

---

Lucifer:

Lucifer has a Mononoke Land account so that he’ll get the email notifications for events and can therefore keep track of Levi’s whereabouts.  He’s never played the game, though, nor downloaded the app, and he has no intention of doing so.

In general, he’s not much of a gamer.  The most gaming he gets done is minesweeper on Windows XP.  He doesn’t have the time, and it was never something he could get into.

That isn’t to say that he owns zero games, though.  His favorite genre is turn-based strategy, because he can afford to look away from them, and they make him think and plan.

He doesn’t like the hyper-realistic ones, though.  Things like Civilization and Here Be Dragons are up his alley, Hearts of Iron not so much.

He doesn’t care too much about the story, but a good soundtrack is mandatory.

Also he’s an old man so the controls also have to be intuitive or he just won’t be able to play.  Why is he jumping when he presses A he thought that was the attack button.

The type of player who needs to get every achievement.  A completionist.

When the group gets together for the rare multiplayer night, he has no idea what he’s doing and yet still manages to do well.  It’s kind of infuriating.

He won’t make alliances with anyone, no, it’s every man for himself.  He also actively targets Mammon no matter what game they’re playing.

The fact that he doesn’t really get it protects his pride when Levi inevitably wipes the floor with him.

Mammon:

Mammon actually does game a little bit in his spare time, mostly with Levi.  He’s got a couple consoles and is more open to different genres than Lucifer is.

He thrives in any game where the main goal is to rack up as many points or as much profit as possible.  He’s undefeated in tycoons and pinball.  (Tetris is an exception; he’s terrible at Tetris.  Stupid spacial recognition.)

The RNG elements boil down to his insane luck, but he’s actually very smart when it comes to investments and stuff, so it’s not like he’s only using his luck to get by.

If the games have multiplayer, even better!  Nothing like kicking Levi, MC and Belphie’s asses in a game of Fortune Street!

He also tends to like the action-focused games that Levi plays.  Not so much into turn-based RPGs, but he enjoys stuff where the enemies spawn, like in Zelda or Rune Factory.  And he’s great at button mashing in fighting games, although Levi, who actually knows how to play them, always beats him.

Mammon uses items as soon as he gets them, and is too busy rushing a boss to care about learning its patterns and strategizing.

Skips cutscenes even on his first run.  Levi and Satan hate him for it.

Like mentioned before, he gets an unfair disadvantage in game nights because everyone targets him.  Especially in those games with RNG, because otherwise he WILL win.

He’s banned from PTW games because he will indeed PTW.

Satan:

Satan is another one who doesn’t play too many games, and that might be for the best because he’s a nightmare to play with.

The sorest loser, and a pretty nasty winner too.  He insists on the hardest difficulty and then rage quits at the slightest inconvenience.

He will play when prompted, though; he’s not above hanging out with his brothers.  His favorite sorts of games are ones with a good story and/or good puzzles.  His planning is more on the tactics side, as opposed to Lucifer’s strategy, so he would love Fire Emblem.

He WILL drop a game if the story isn’t holding his attention, and he’s done so in the past.

Overly cautious and hoards resources.  He takes the safe route every time.

Also another completionist.

Beel would often ask Satan to help him find out which art pieces were originals and safe to buy in Animal Crossing, and Satan got a little bit interested and ended up making a resident on Beel’s cartridge so the donations could be in his name.  He went on a mini-campaign to drive out the residents he didn’t like, but one of them turned out to be Beel's favorite and he felt terrible about it for weeks.

During family game nights, everyone is always torn between appeasing Satan and telling him to deal with it when he loses.

He also gets angry if he catches on to the fact that they’re letting him win, though.

Probably a genwunner.

Asmodeus:

Asmo enjoys video games.  They don’t fit into his aesthetic so he’s never really tried to understand them, but he doesn’t dislike them by any means.

Gaming is becoming more mainstream though, right?  That’s a whole new audience that could appreciate him.  Maybe, just maybe, he can let himself be a bit of a geek.

Unsurprisingly, he’s got a penchant for games with customization options.  Surprisingly, he also really enjoys FPS games.  If he and Levi ever played at the same time, it would be chaos in the House of Lamentation.

As opposed to his in-your-face attitude, he likes to play sniper units.

He said he wants to tap into the gaming community, but he’s not very good at most of the games he plays so he’s too embarrassed to actually do so.  He does, however, play the Sims on livestream.  He does his best to make the steamiest and most dramatic scenarios happen, and he’ll hold strawpolls to let his viewers make some choices.

Asmo also plays Animal Crossing like a few other brothers, but his island is so well groomed and with just the right residents, it feels like you’re touring an uncanny dystopia and Asmo is the dictator.

When the group gets together, he usually ends up doing the worst.  He’s more interested in executing perfect combos than actually dealing damage, so he’s not aggressive enough to get anything done against players like Levi and Satan.

He’s also not very good at teamwork; he starts yelling at his partner very quickly.

Beelzebub:

Beel doesn’t have a lot of “gamer” in him, but some of his brothers seem to like it so he decided to give it a go.  Turns out his hands are too big, but he makes do.  Kind of.

You’d expect a sports game to be the best for him, since he’s so athletic.  However, it’s BECAUSE he’s so athletic that this sort of game isn’t in his library.  He gets too antsy and bored tapping buttons instead of actually playing the sport.

Beel’s also not an aggressive player in any sense of the word.  He feels guilty even hurting the most basic of slimes.

No, no games are better for Beel than the stress-free, casual life simulators.  Animal Crossing is no surprise his favorite one right now.  Satan handles the museum for him while Beel gets to do whatever he feels like in a world where the biggest threat is a wasp.

He’ll also play other low stakes games where living your life is the main goal, like Harvest Moon and Stardew Valley.  His big heart can never choose who to marry in those games.

Horror is also ok for him, because while aggression is hard for him, self-defense is not.

He got the Cooking Mama app on his D.D.D. and bit the device in half, so he’s not allowed to touch that franchise anymore.

When the gang meets up, his non-aggressive side sticks around.  In fighting games, he’s more likely to dodge and steer clear of the others, and in other versus games he’s so open to compromise you’d think you were on the same team.

Satan did get him his favorite resident back.

Belphegor:

Belphie probably games the second most after Levi; it’s something that keeps him entertained but doesn’t require him to move very much at all.

I actually have no idea how to describe his preferred genres, but League of Legends and Dark Souls is basically all you need to know.

League lets him socialize a bit, and it’s the game that he and Levi play together most often.  As for Dark Souls, he loves the sort of game where learning your opponent’s every move and outsmarting/outmaneuvering them is the only path to victory.

I guess that would be described as “really hard action-adventure” games?  He’d also like Sekiro.

He also has his own copy of Animal Crossing to visit and play with Beel, but his island is so underdeveloped you’d think he started that same week.

Belphie is the true wild card of family game nights; sometimes he sleeps through the whole thing, while other times he can take down even Levi.

He has everyone’s habits down to a T--Mammon charges in, Asmo does too much setup, Levi’s overconfident--and he knows how to counter each and every one of them.

For someone who’s so much of a cunning player, though, he also misclicks a lot.

He’s the most likely out of his brothers to make alliances.  He’s also the most likely to break alliances.

If he doesn’t think he can win, he’ll choose a player and start sabotaging the game in their favor.

Diavolo:

Lord Diavolo had read about like, Mario?  The little blue hedgehog guy?  But he’d never owned a gaming console before.  He probably thought Neopets was peak gaming.

Levi swore to fix this grievous error, and this was also a mistake, because now Diavolo keeps trying to get Lucifer to play all these hack and slash games with him.

He has legitimately told Lucifer that “if you don’t play Devil May Cry with me THIS devil may cry!”

The games need to always have something happening in them or he’ll get bored, kind of like Satan’s need for a good story, except with action.

It’s also worth mentioning that “play a game with Diavolo” actually means “sit in the same room as Diavolo while he plays.”

And oh boy… is he terrible at these games.

He just button mashes until either he dies or all the enemies die.

Never uses any of the items he gets because he’s sure he’ll need them more later on.  When, Diavolo?  During the staff roll?

Will bomb a door before trying the knob.

Since he’s usually only around Lucifer, who doesn’t want to get sucked into this, and Barbatos, who honestly couldn’t care less about this, he’s been left alone and free to develop these terrible gaming habits.

It’s rare that he comes to family gaming night.  Legend has it that Lucifer’s piercing glare is somehow connected to the fact that his brothers always let Diavolo win.

Masterlist

[taglegend]

Tag Fact #3 -  I’ve come to realize I’ve always been a fan artist more than I thought. so here is a timeline of influences that shaped my childhood to now. from nostalgic times, to sad changes, to great loss, to strange rises to fame and phases, to stepping stones and finally a laughing place. all the things that make up your favorite fan artist Tag.

1. Rayman (bumped into this in the year of 1999) was actually the first fandom (with crossovers) I bumped into when I was 9. although the internet wasn’t available at the time it was still fun to dwell in home amusements. I remember the storylines and the OC’s I made but they’re kind of embarrassing and it’s probably a good thing there was no internet. I’ve done fanart and comic crossovers of Rayman with Calvin and Hobbs and Nights Into Dreams, spinoffs of Sonic the Hedgehog OC’s, Yoshi with Pikachu, and the Pokemon/Digimon craze with OC’s and other Nintendo comic shorts. but the drawings and comics are long gone and disappeared in the garage in a backpack due to suspecting my sister’s dad accidentally throwing them away. years later towards the year 2018 (now 28), we decided to move to North Carolina and it was my chance to find them again. unfortunately the backpack was gone just like I suspected (my main stuff), but for some reason I found my Pokemon/Digimon fanart, a good batch of Super Mario drawings (vaguely remember doing these), my sister’s drawings and some other neighborhood kids’ drawings in a dirty box. I was partially happy I found something at least but it was the backpack I wanted the most. sometimes I regret not looking for the backpack (’cause I was too busy being a kid) but it’s alright, noone needs to see that shit anyway, ha ha. anyways, I recall being a fan of Rayman from 1999 ‘til 2002.

2. Sonic Adventure 2 Battle (bumped into this in the year of 2003) my second fandom I bumped into when I was 12 going on 13. at the time, my sister and I both liked the Sonic The Hedgehog Franchise based on the Battle remake and ended up making our own secret fanart club that consisted of only us two members. she liked Sonic (and that was her boyfriend, ha ha) and I liked Knuckles (and he was my boyfriend, ha ha) and we were crazy in love about Shadow’s backstory. we listened to the game’s soundtracks as we drew fanart and comics after school and man, those were good times. however, as we grew older towards the year of 2005, we ended up having separate rooms and I believe it played a part in disconnecting on the same interest. then one day, I asked her why she wasn’t into Sonic anymore and she replied, “Because I grew up.” I was sad after that and slowly observed that she was influenced by the emo culture and the new friends she’s made. I was the only member of our little club for a little longer...but eventually I moved on too. I still have some surviving fanart we did together but it doesn’t mean shit anymore since she turned out to be an abusive mother from the last I’ve heard of her. 

3. Gorillaz (bumped into this in the year of 2006). as the Sonic years were at its end, I first heard the song “Feel Good Inc” on Music Choice and seeing the first image of them as displayed on this post (except the fan-made background doesn’t count since I can’t find the original artwork). this was my third fandom and later had proper access to the internet to the website I still currently use called DeviantArt. at first I liked 2D but eventually fell for Murdoc and developed a spiritual connection towards the character as obviously seen in my old fanart and rare photos of my devotion shrines on Valentine’s Day and his birthday every year. for the longest time since being a permanent fan from 2006-2017 (11 1/2 years) I had no knowledge that it was a political propaganda band and other realizations I don’t want to talk about. I only followed them because it was a cartoon and not the bullshit behind the musical project. the world I’ve built and support for them for all those 11 1/2 years shattered the fuck out of me and I just wanted to be left alone to find myself again, somehow. activity stopped on all my profiles, the flow of fanart stopped since I now cringe from the fan service and felt I was used for my talent. I didn’t want to be reminded of it all so I took down all my Gorillaz fanart and archived them for old followers’ nostalgia but also in the hopes they’ll be forgotten in my timeline. I ceased to exist in the fandom for huge personal reasons but it’s best to not say why. I know for sure that the fandom wonders what happened but it’s none of their business. THE END.

4. Waluigi (although I knew he’s been around since 2000 during childhood, I took deep interest once I revisited the character again in the year of December 2013). as silly as this sounds, when I revisited him again, the character was so bizarre that I ended up staying up 3 nights and 3 days in a row just looking all over the internet on everything about him and the questionable “hush-hush” absence of a backstory. despite there being no backstory he slowly gained a cult following and in many ways it’s a good thing. however, since the early 2010′s tension has been building up between Nintendo and its fans about him starring in a main game but everyone hasn’t fully gotten it in their heads that it’s not gonna happen. as long as Nintendo is in control of that, the fandom will not win, I’m sorry to say. on the other hand, if it’s going to be this way, then that’s what fanart and comic projects are for. as for me, I am doing my very best to get my comic project “Waluigi Land” going. again, I apologize if it’s taking very long to get Chapter 2 going if you’ve been keeping track but aha moments need to develop before I start permanent drawing (since concepts, character design and storyline needed improvement badly). as of right now I am still a Waluigi fan and I will not quit on him.

5. Turbo from Wreck-It-Ralph (although it debuted in 2012, I watched the movie two years later into the year 2014). for some bizarro reason, I had an unhealthy obsession with this character to the point where I dressed up as him for Halloween 2014. only 2 fanarts of him and the Turbo Twins exist on my profiles, mainly because my mind was more focused on just ‘thinking about him’ or ‘being him’ rather than drawing physical drawings. luckily, this supposed alleged fandom didn’t last long a little after Halloween so I chalk it up as a very short phase. to this day I don’t know what has gotten over me about him. the only thing I can think of now is that I think it’s because the character had yellow eyes and teeth but I don’t know. now that I think of it, that little fucker was ugly as hell and I STILL don’t know what had gotten over me. one day, my brother mentioned what that was about, and I said to him, “I don’t wanna talk about it.”

6. Undertale (although it debuted in 2015, I later took interest in it in 2016). It was all about Sans and Papyrus. I couldn’t get enough of the skeleton bros. eventually Toriel and Mettaton EX became my favorites but it took a long time to draw more of all 4 of them because I had other important things to do in my life plus I was still waiting for the next Gorillaz album to revive my imaginative juices (or so I thought). I really want to have this as one of my frequent fandoms but I just don’t have time for it anymore. it’s still in the back of my head to want to draw them but at this point I still have other better interests to be in. and besides, I’m lazy just like Sans.

7. Cuphead (June 28th, 2017 was the official day I called quits on the British-based band Gorillaz due to the bullshit behind it. since that date I was lost, had no inspiration to look forward to and no cartoon guy to make me smile...but lo and behold of the same year, I took an interest in playing the game Cuphead and man...that shit was a frightening exaggerated metaphor for being on that one drug (forgot the name though) and having sex at the same time but man that was the best fun I’ve had in years. I mean, it’s like, enemies are just so happy to murder you and that scared the shit outta me. and the facial exaggeration?....I think I should stop, ha ha. anyways, the Moldenhauers saved my ass from spiraling down, they have no clue. anyways, eventually I became a permanent fan of their work so to ease the hurt and erase my past from the G-fandom I had to re-wire my brain into a different cartoon category that’s a rather more American, so anything Toon related like Roger Rabbit, Felix the Cat or another favorite that’s a western-based cartoon makes me feel better, especially my new man .......King Dice <3 <3<3<3. however, there was something about this new fandom category I still didn’t quite understand until the date March 14th, 2020. I finally understood what it was but I feel I shouldn’t bring it up. anyways, Cuphead and anything western or rubber hose is my last stop in inspiration for the remaining years of my life. many say never say never but I believe I’ve found my laughing place and that’s all that matters.

[withteeths]

Maybe Steamrolling Games is Bad Actually

Videogames are unique in that they are inextricably tied to corporatism and have been since birth (this is an oversimplification but roll with it). This means that to an extent most companies even since the ’80s have never really cared about proper preservation or easy access to their titles. Nintendo carts were originally manufactured to have their battery die in 3 years so you would have to buy a new one (this failed, but it’s why you still see a lot of dead carts floating around). I think there's a nostalgia issue within the gaming fandom regarding "oh x was great back then" but a lot of the time, games manufacturers have been historically shitty and anti-consumer and it’s just that they now have the tools to execute it much more effectively. Regarding obtrusive DRM, that’s an issue PC games have had since their zenith, where if you lost your original copy of a manual or a small plastic key you could never play a game again because the codes were individualized for each copy and support would refuse to give you a new one. Even back in the arcades, there were particularly batshit examples like the CPS board, which I shit you not was built to explode a battery pack filled with corrosive acid if it detected you were attempting to repair or modify it. There’s a lot to say about the current state of games but what I would likely illustrate is that 2/3 major consoles are racing to decide who will be obsolete first. Games consoles are reaching a point where they are trying to emulate PCs with more restrictions and DRM. We're already seeing interest in steam spike again and it’s likely that eventually, we will see almost a crash for consoles where no one can justify the price for games they can play on a PC rig. The only solution I see there would be a merger between the two consoles which feels inevitable. 

That being said as interest in the PC space increases again so does attempts at entering the bubble. We have Epic, Origin, Microsoft, Indiegala, Itchio, and Steam all vying for attention, requiring accounts, and offering exclusives to justify the use of their storefront over others. Some people think this is a good thing because it's breaking up Steam's monopoly but it literally is not, if you ever really wanna hear me rant ask me about Leftist obsession with itch being some sort of ethical steam, which it is provably not. In the end, the real sort of saviour figures that work to preserve games are random ass people on the internet. I know people who automatically assume that at the end of the day, companies care about games preservation too, and they usually have a three-pronged argument that cites a) Steam’s ability to allow the redownloading of delisted games, b) retro companies periodically rereleasing titles for modern consoles in compilations, and c) companies doing limited reruns of a game that fans request. All three of these examples are basically an incredibly effective use of diversionary tactics, but most of the time when someone cites these I just assume it’s a misunderstanding and not outright malicious intent because a lot of the time companies will attempt to actively implant these ideas to build brand loyalty.

My main dissertation is usually that Steam is incredibly selective with what titles you can redownload, and most importantly, corporate benevolence is more-so a band-aid on a gaping wound! There’s no contingency for when Steam might migrate to a new service, go belly up, or become obsolete when a new OS is created. That means thousands, tens of thousands of dollars worth of games are just gone, permanently, along with fan mods, DLC, and content. It’s a terrifying thought that not many people bring up when discussing the problems with game storefronts that focus so much on providing a cloud and have DRM attached to every purchase. In a way, Steam preceded the trend of not allowing consumers to actually own the things they purchased, and they’ve avoided criticism by strategic use of silence and creating the illusion of a company being made by the consumers they’re attempting to serve. At the end of the day, Steam is a business, and if you ever lose access to your Steam account, or they decide to up and leave one day, you will not be able to play almost all of those games, even if you have them installed on a hard drive, because if you’re online, they connect with a server to ensure your steam account has the ability to play them. When it comes to other arguments like the limited rereleases or use of compilations to preserve arcade titles, I usually just beg people to look at community-driven options that have existed for years. The Scott Pilgrim game is a big source of contention, but I would point out that for years now, it was playable, for free, with all the DLC, on PCs. Preservationists didn’t wait for the gods of Universal and O’Malley to rerelease it for 30 bucks or save up to snatch the fucking ridiculous 200$ limited edition with shitty paper cut-outs, they straight up just did the work to make the game free and available. RCPS3 has (with a contemporary build) been able to run the game pretty flawlessly for years now, in fact, it was how I played through a majority of the game in high school on my shitty brick of a laptop. If you look further out than this one example then it gets even better, MAME and other emulation backends have been able to play obscure, unfinished, and homebrew titles with 100% accuracy, on almost any setup, for free, for decades! I found out about many of these options back in 2015 or so, certainly late to the curve, but I never really questioned as to why emulation, games preservation, and some key titles being available on PC remained some sort of arcane, unknown knowledge to most people interested in games. In the end, the answer was a highly effective propaganda campaign that combined with strategic use of DMCA takedowns has resulted in the concept of communal games-preservation and emulation becoming some sort of debate, where people will wholeheartedly side with corporations in some sort of quest for preserving things the “ethical and correct way,” which is code for preservation on the condition that it remains profitable for the IP owners.

 I think the best way to illustrate this would be with the community built around the preservation of an infamous PS4 title, PT. The story of its inevitable delisting from the storefront and the messy breakup between Kojima and Konami is well known, so I won’t regurgitate it, look it up at your own leisure. What is significant here is corporate reactions to attempts at preserving the game, which can basically be boiled down to Konami acting with borderline rabid fervour to prevent redownload, redistribution, or recreation of a seven-year-old demo, released for free download. Mentions of solutions to redownload the game have been taken down, fan-made recreations for PC, and archival servers that store a copy of the game for future preservation or emulation. Usually when this is brought up a debate occurs citing that technically speaking, Konami has a right to do this whenever they want, for whatever piece of media they believe infringes on their copyright. On one hand, yes this argument is factually correct considering the current state of copyright and ownership of media, but on the other hand, what compels someone to step into the ring for a multi-million dollar company with the primary argument being “well actually, people SHOULDN’T be able to play this specific video game until it benefits the shareholders”? In my opinion, it’s some sort of corporatized symbiosis where players believe that, if you cull the bad actors and play by the rules of the company, you may be able to eventually play the game a couple of years down the line. Sure, this has happened in the past with a few isolated cases, but it can’t be stressed enough that this is a genuinely dangerous and reductive position for people to take regarding games preservation.

 I have two colleagues, Mariken and Fotocopiadora, who released a short interactive title called Videopulp (playable here: https://fotocopiadora.itch.io/videopulp). It’s a dramatic reimagining of a real historical event, wherein a promotional event was held in 1994 at Lelystad to destroy bootleg carts by a figure in a Mario costume. This perhaps best encapsulates something I am pleading with younger generations to understand, as an archivist, art historian, and creator: corporations are not your friends, and they never will be. With the rise of online circles of leftism, this concept is starting to gain traction but is starting to be polluted with concepts of fandom and tribalism. This has lead to arguments that while *most* corporations are bad how could you say that about Nintendo? Or Valve? Mario is so innocent and characters like Wheatley are beloved by all! I feel some people don’t realize that they can enjoy a select title or character without enlisting in a corporate faction in the battle for “best company” or “best videogame”. It leads to a parasocial kinship with a nonexistent figure that was hand-crafted to ensure consumer loyalty to a certain brand. It’s depressing, terrifying, and should stand as a disquieting example of how the grip of capitalism on works of art has permanently distorted how we think and engage with media today. So, what’s the solution? As always I can never really provide something concrete that’ll act as a cure-all, only things that people in games need to work towards. Bring up conversations about games preservation, create archives for your own work, support archivists and boost their work whenever a new discovery is created, and try to promote optimism and solidarity in your hobbyist communities. I’ve noticed a lot of futility being intertwined with the future of AAA gaming, use of online storefronts, and the inability to own pieces of media anymore, and I feel this should be pushed back against, even in a minute way. Open-source programmes still exist that allow you to hold on to what you have purchased, offline and ad-free options exist for games launchers, e-readers, and media players. The future isn’t bright, but it is not a place without hope, and as long as people continue to enter communities with passion and ingenuity, I think we have a chance at stopping the events at Lelystad, 1994 from happening again. 

[latin-dr-robotnik]

1, 6, 16, 18, 29 :D

Oh, ‘sup beev :P

1. Why did you become interested in Sonic?

That’s the beauty of childhood - cool thing you see, cool thing you love. Technically I should’ve been a Mario fan (since SMB is the first game I’ve ever played), but Sonic was vibin’ better with me. It’s the SEGA marketing reasoning: he’s blue, he’s fast, he’s cool. That was enough to get me interested. Then the music and Sonic X helped me get invested for real in everything the series had to offer.

Also the worlds! The colors, shapes, sprites, the whole idea of an adventure interconnected instead of regular-ass 1-1, 1-2, 1-3, etc. Everything came together quite well, honestly.

6. Favourite game(s)?

At this point I think you know the answer better than me :P

S3K is the absolute holy grail of Sonic, no questions asked and full nostalgia. But it’s a well-deserved nostalgia in my opinion, since even the biggest of Sonic’s detractors can’t bring down that game.

Sonic CD. I’ll forever defend this game’s lack of flow and weird pinballing across time periods. Beyond that, the music and art style carry this game all day.

Sonic Adventure. There’s no room for discussing nuances of Sonic’s transition to 3D, this was an almost perfect transition of classic era Sonic to 3D. Everything about this game is so cool, even the poorly aged cutscenes are endearing in a “so bad it’s good” way. Probably my favorite level lineup for Sonic, while I like to consider the others as little bonuses I can go for if I’m in the mood. And, of course, the music.

Sonic Unleashed. No nostalgia bias, but this is peak 3D Sonic for me - yes, even with the werehog. The world, the adventure, the world adventure; everything is so right with this game. It takes one of my favorite parts of Adventure (hub worlds) and makes them genuine places you want to live in. And while the gameplay is not exactly Adventure-formula, it got so many things right for its first time (if I want to go slower than normal Sonic I can boot up a werehog level, and trust me, I do that a lot.) And the music... well we are very trained on that aspect :P (Jungle Joyride Night > everything else.)

Sonic Mania. Yeah, I said it. Mania was the game I didn’t know I needed until I saw it for the first time. Growing up with the Genesis games you can absolutely conclude I was also part of the target demographic for this game, and I honestly don’t care. Mania looks great, plays great and sounds great (even if I’m getting a little tired of everyone recreating Tee’s Mania style for fangames and remixes), and while it ain’t S3K, it gets pretty close at times.

(Special mention to Sonic Colors, a little gem I still love 10 years later, and probably even more than ever right now. It’s fun, it’s harmless and it’s a pretty good time.)

16. Favourite Sonic soundtrack(s)?

Look at the previous question and guess which are my favorites, lol.

I’d add Rush, ‘06, probably half of Genesis 3D Blast, half of SA2 and Forces’ Avatar songs to the mix, and we’re golden. Hell, I’ll probably even add Lost World at some point.

18. Got any remixes you like?

heh, “any”?

An entire article, and also an entire Spotlight series dedicated to great musicians that have done at least one great Sonic remix in the past :P

Need more? Metal Sonic (Progressive House Remix); Aquarium Park ~ Act 1 (Remix); Turquoise Hill Zone Act 1 (Sonic Chaos Remake); My Sweet Passion (EuRosy Mix); Marble Zone '12; Labyrinth Zone '12; Evening Star ~ Tudd Future Funk Remix; Marble Zone ~ Joshua Morse Chiptune Funk Remix; Mystic Cave Zone ~ NewJackSwing Remix; Special Stage: Sonic 3D Blast Main Theme.

Funnily enough, I just noticed I’m mentioning fan remixes. For official remixes I think I’ll pick...

Seven Rings in Hand (Fairytales in Trance) (this is a great remix, I don’t know why you guys hate it so much </3)

Generations’ Stardust Speedway Bad Future US (it beat Forces for 6 years lol)

Hell, Gens’ S3 File Select is still so great.

Well, does a cover fit in the description? Because Crush 40′s Un-gravitify is probably the greatest underrated cover.

Green Light Ride (Tyler Smyth Remix), of course.

Ice Mountain.

The Sonic and All Stars Racing Transformed Metal Sonic’s theme from S4E2. (This is the ultimate Metal Sonic theme and they just don’t use it anymore, SEGA you cowards.)

Also, Pleasure Castle is my favorite 3D Blast Remix, lol.

29. Met any Sonic friends through the fandom?

Face to face? Not really. I know about 3 people that live not that far from me, and technically we could meet up one day if we want to, but I don’t think it’s gonna happen haha.

Internet friends, on the other hand? Oh boy, a lot...

[muggycuphead]

FPAVB updates #1 - World 2 remix levels fanconcepts

(Uploading it here too bc why not? Had to resize it because apparently my internet’s on shark week and Tumblr won’t let me upload it on its normal size grrr-)

So yeah Just finished remasterization of Chapter XIII in VB's spanish version yesterday (and I tell you, it's literally crappypasta material since it's W1 remix but slightly fucked up), and went straight into thinking for W2 hyphotetical remix levels Of course they're simple concepts made for VB itself and not meant to be a 'substitute' of the W2 remix Brad might be working on or something like that (just saying this bc I feel kinda awkward about doing something the developer himself hasn't released yet and well, you know-), but whatsoever I'll explain how these would work in an 'in-game' scenario Lets-a-go World 2 'main plot' Since VB Chapter XIV is mostly focused on CPG's play instead of FPM himself, things of course won't work the same for each, but we'll get to it in a moment, keep reading This 'remix' version of mine basically goes with the same logic of the original W2 (A.R. strikes and steals your stuff for asshole points, so you gotta go find where he's at to get your things back), but in Cutie's case, it's Kabootle the one who gets it from the Rabbit (ohotheykidnappedthecatto) and she needs to get to his hideout (yesiheadcanonhimhavingahideoutsomewherefarawaythegolffieldandstuffwhatugonnadoaboutit) to rescue her cat back. However, if this actually was an in-game thing with FPM being playable, A.R. would surely steal the Pen from him instead or any other item that's important for the game to progress and stuff. Anyway, that's how the plot would work in a short (andcarefullyspoilerfree) explanation Now, let's get in the next part: Main Levels Okay, I'll clarify one thing in case you guys didn't notice the little sidenote at the upperside of the image shown here The levels I show here are just the 'starter' levels, meaning there are a few more I got below my sleeve, but I just showed them here for the sake of exposure and also because those other levels are more extense and 'variable-context' -ish, kinda influenced by the W3 original levels and what not. Anyway, I'll try not to extend myself too much on each one's explanation, alongside their entrances and which level's place they're taking (as you may have noticed some even are derivatives of their original counterparts but with different mechanics, anyhow they're propense to suffer changes as they're still on beta states, but that's besides the point) Quick sidenote, I don't really know the original W2 levels' names, so those you see there are just made-up Golf Field 2.0 (Same place, different level location) This is basically as an 'another-extend' version of the original Golf Field itself (for a lack of a better definition) and all that. Honestly I don't really like the idea of using the same mechanic of the 'hole-in-one' minigame that's on FPA2 at its own first level since it might clash a little with Cutie's mindset at CXIV (she's on her way to find FPM and therefore isn't really 'in the mood' for that) and is basically 'filler' stuff, but I'll try to 'soften the atmosphere' a little and implement it in a way that can be appealing to the story's plot (like it isn't that hard)...not to mention I need a hole so Rb gets to do his dicky move towards CPG's kitto (sorry Kaboo bb but y'know this guy won't lose any chances at doing the rob robbery rob rob) Taking the place of: Golf Field in original W2 Entrance: Door Cave 2.0 This is actually a two-in-one, which are: I.- Exploring the surroundings Works with the same format as Golf Field 2.0 (sameplacedifferentspot); no need to explain myself too much here Taking the place of: Cave level in original W2 Entrance: Hole (duh) II.-'Earthdrill' The name is a word play due to the fact it's a big amount of earth-rock structure that got the shape of an 'iron drill' and stuff. Also, this level's kinda got a 3D-like design, I'll say why, just keep reading The mechanic here is simple, you'll be sliding around this whole 'mountain' thing all the way to it's feet while the stage keeps spinning round and round the lower you go (this is why I said it has a 3D feeling since the camera remains on our spot while the scenario keeps moving along with us) But here's the fun part: P A P E R   P O R TA L S ,  S O N ! They're scattered on different places in our way (sometimes on the land, sometimes in the walls, right above us), and we must avoid them -either jumping or flinching- or else they'll teleport us all the way back to the start Pretty simple...Right? Yeah, but actually no There are also some enemies surrounding the places -flying spiders- that'll be aiming  ‘web bombs’ towards Cutie in order to stop us, and the way wecan take care of them is hitting the bombs to redirect them towards the fliers so they get covered in webs instead. But don't drop the guard down, they’ll attack with no warning and we'll better watch out when they do Taking the place of: Short Blue loops level in original W2 Entrance: Portal Door Switch-a-roo SO this one is designed differently, althought it keeps the mechanics that one first level where you go riding over ink (don't mistake my words with SFPA there) and all that, but here's the fun part (or torture one, you define it as you like): Find the right door yes, this a tricky one And worst part is, each time you mess it up, some doors (not all, just some) will slightly 'switch' places Anyhow, just to not make it too hard, I'd put a small amount of doors around the place so I don't make Cutie herself lose her mind trying to spot the correct door (and avoid unnecessary time loss) Taking the place of: First inked platforms level (Light Blue) in original W2 Entrance: Door "No-Jump" Zone Remember the 'Earthdrill' level from before? Well, this goes with the same structure (has portals and stuff), but guess what You can't jump Yeah, no Mario boings for you this time, child Okay serious talk now, in this level you have to get all the way downwards to the other side of the stage. You can fall, roll or slide through the inked platforms, but you can't jump or else,once you step on their surface, a secret paper portal will break open and will take you back to the start (YEAH I KNOW THAT'S A DICKY MOVE BUT THIS IS HOW IT WORKS-) Taking the place of: Second inked platforms level (Green) in original W2 Entrance: Door Subterranean [Metro approach] Basic platform level, design idea is yet to be worked on (but it's not a hard idea on it's own, and doesn't need too much of a explanation) It takes place, as you may guess, in an underground enviroment next to a metro stop (idkhowtoreallycallitlmao) Taking the place of: Purple rocks, green hills and trees level in original W2 Entrance: Door Jump! ...but you have to go downwards instead* The Wall-jumping level from before, but you go the opposite direction, and if you don't jump in time you'll be thrown upwards by a 'sped-up' spring to a portal that (AgAInNNN)will bring you back to where you were at first Yeah I kinda flip-flopped on this one, but it's still a BETA so pffft- Taking the place of: Jump! level in original W2 Entrance: Door Metro Basic context level, although this one includes a little 'mini boss/tension' part for interesting points haha- but -This one shares its place-take with another level that's basically W3 Squiggleville level..but it ain't Squiggleville ahahh- Partially* taking the place of: Cactus West/Sky Kingdom/Super Secret Evil Lair of Spiders level in original W2 Entrance: Door As said before there are a few more, but I'll keep them secret for now Extra levels Yep, there are also secret levels in this place And do they bring something to the VB plot? Yes my dude There's a task you must complete, and it is finding all pieces of an important item you must repair (it's a spare key to A.R.'s hideout); the doors are also labelled with a symbol on their upperside to make them easier to find And well...that's mostly it for now Jesus christ my head hurts, that was a lot of writing However, I'll put this to bed for now so I can get to ACTUALLY start digitalizing JSABBR's 2 new pages because HECK I HAVEN'T UPDATED IT SINCE LIKE- JULY?? AUGUST?? I DON'T REMEMBER ANYMORE LOL BUT I MUST GET BACK ON TRACK ASAP I HATE LEAVING SHIT ON HIATUS FOR TOO LONG- Anyway, see you guys in future updates on...whatever I upload next k bye- The Fancy Pants Adventures franchise (C) belongs to Brad Borne TH!FPA:VB|W2 Remix fanconcepts (mostly)|Artwork (C) belongs to me 2020 (C) all rights reserved

[maxsmusicmacrology]

Album Analysis: Best of Crush 40

Halfway through the 90s, everything changed. The PlayStation came out in 94, allowing games with 3D graphics and high-fidelity (for the time, that is) audio. Big Red came hopping onto the scene with Super Mario 64 in 96, and Sonic Adventure came onto the scene at the very end of 98. As a latecomer to the 3D party, arriving over 2 years after Mario had such a successful romp, they needed something special. They needed…

Children’s media! I’m of the opinion that there are two main categories that children’s media can fall into: there’s media that is specifically made for children, like Blue’s Clues or Peppa Pig or those licensed Sesame Street games. Then there’s kid-friendly media that, while made for and marketed towards children, can still appeal to adults. This would be most Pixar movies, shows like Phineas and Ferb, and the object of today’s article, the Sonic franchise.

While there’s some pretty huge differences between children’s media and kid-friendly media, one thing they both have in common is the goal of teaching children a moral lesson. With varying degrees of success. This can be something simple like “stealing is bad”, but oftentimes there’s some greater nuance, like how the protagonist of Inside Out learns to value sadness and other “negative” emotions. But when working with hardware that has some intense limitations, like the NES or Sega Genesis, telling a complex story isn’t easy, which is why Save the Princess plots (Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda, the opening to Final Fantasy) were so common: it allowed for a moral hero without requiring any deeper discussion. Sonic the Hedgehog went with a bit more of an environmentalist message- saving animals from an evil scientist- which was easy enough to portray in only 16 bits.

Halfway through the 90s, everything changed. The PlayStation came out in 94, allowing games with 3D graphics and high-fidelity (for the time, that is) audio. Big Red came hopping onto the scene with Super Mario 64 in 96, and Sonic Adventure came onto the scene at the very end of 98. As a latecomer to the 3D party, arriving over 2 years after Mario had such a successful romp, they needed something special. They needed…

I’m going to review this album out of order. This is a “Best of” album, so rather than being a picture of the band’s musical vision at any given time, it contains some of their best work from over a decade-long span. What I’m especially interested in is how the music interacts with its respective game and how it evolves with the franchise, so let’s take a look at song #15 first.

Open Your Heart kicks off Sonic Adventure with a bang. It’s the first thing you hear when you boot the game up and it accompanies the final battle. Well, most of it, anyway- part 1 of the battle gets Open Your Heart and part 2 gets generic “tense orchestral music”, which is a flat-out awful decision, but I digress. Tonally, it’s perfect- it starts out tense, preparing you for the fight ahead, and then the guitars kick in to pull you forward. But more importantly… this is why I brought up the moral conflict earlier. The story is simple, so the game leans on the song to deliver its message.

Much of the lyrics are as relevant today as they probably were for most of human history: the quieter intro bit describes various catastrophes, and describes the fear and confusion that follows (much like the one we’ve been living in for the past few months). The song’s chorus is built around a dialectic: Can’t hold on much longer/but I will never let go, but then ends with Open your heart, it’s gonna be alright. Together, these components combine the fear of catastrophe with the innate desire to make things better. It instills the idea that it’s okay to have conflicting feelings about a course of action, then promises that your heart will make the right choice.

Live and Learn is the main theme of the direct sequel, Sonic Adventure 2, and fills the same roles as Open Your Heart. The opening riff plays when the game is launched, the full song plays over the final battle, and it delivers the moral lesson of the game. If Open Your Heart introduces a lesson about conflict, then Live and Learn teaches you what to do when you’ve made the wrong choice. What happens if you trust the wrong people, stay when you should’ve run or run when you should’ve stayed, let something important fall into the wrong hands?

The very title of the song hints at its message- you learn from your mistakes and do better- but to me the line that really hits comes in the second verse. But you can’t save your sorrows/you’ve paid in trade. It recontextualizes all the regret someone feels from a mistake as a sort of currency: it’s not to be saved, kept in your mind and dwelled on- you’ve exchanged it, traded it for valuable life experience. If you focus on the mistake instead of the lesson, you’ll never grow, and it’ll all have been a waste. Not only is it a natural progression from the last song, it’s an absolute banger of a track.

Next up is Sonic Heroes, the intro track to… Sonic Heroes. That won’t be confusing. I don’t have a whole lot to say about this one, it’s not the big moral apex of the game and it’s much more of a title theme than the song the game wants you to walk away from. It’s goofy as hell to listen to, but it always puts a smile on my face.

What I’m Made of is the final battle theme to Sonic Heroes and is, in my opinion, the finale of the Open Your Heart trilogy. Looking at the three songs is a sort of rudimentary 3-act structure: you have the introduction and first conflict, the dark part at the end of act 2, and the triumphant closer. The protagonist takes the lesson they learned through the story and uses it to defeat their opponent. What I have in my two hands is enough to set me free. Use the lessons you’ve learned through hardship to better yourself. The songs form a very nice trilogy when viewed like this that parallels the games quite nicely, and I’m confused as to why they’re all out of order on the album.

That finishes off the Adventure and Heroes saga, and now onto… Shadow the Hedgehog… god. I Am… All of Me is the opening track to the game and also the first song on the album, and it’s so goofy. It tries to be all dark and intimidating because Shadow is the dark and edgy character, who has guns and says “damn” because he has a tragic backstory, and the character isn’t edgy because he’s a cartoon hedgehog and and the song isn’t edgy because it’s a song about a cartoon hedgehog.

That doesn’t mean it’s bad, mind you. I enjoy it, and in a way it’s a perfect fit for the game. It’s like a kid wearing a vampire costume on halloween: they can try to scare you all they want, but the worst they can do is make you smile.

All Hail Shadow is the next Shadow the Hedgehog piece. This one was originally by a group called Magna-Fi, and was covered by Crush 40 for use in later games when the band broke up. Shadow the Hedgehog features multiple paths and multiple endings, and this is the “true hero” ending when the player makes all the heroic choices. This song does a good job painting Shadow as Sonic’s foil: both of them are heroes from this point forward, but while Sonic is more of a classical hero, Shadow is an anti-hero. Somewhere in chaos we all find ourselves/this destruction is the only tale we tell. The game features Shadow trying to recover his memories and find his true self, figure out who he really is, and this is the song that has him rediscover himself as a hero.

Finally, Never Turn Back is the true ending theme for the game, and the last Shadow the Hedgehog song in the album. This is the “moral lesson” song I’ve been on about so much, and it’s a damn good one. It starts with a slow cover that samples I am… All of Me, then it gets a powerful kick that rings in the rest of the song. The message in the song is similar to Live and Learn about not repeating mistakes, but Never Turn Back gives a sense of a much more arduous period in one’s life. If Live and Learn is about recovering from a mistake, Never Turn Back is about recovering from a long series of them. It’s been a long rough road but I’m finally here/Move an inch forward, feels like a year. It’s very much about cutting yourself free of a bad period in your life and how difficult it can be to even stay put, but the positive vibe of the song reminds us to celebrate the small victories. It’s a bit more mature of a message for a game that… at least tried to be more mature.

I haven’t talked a whole lot about how the music interacts with the events of the game partially because this is a music review, but partially because it’s gone perfectly hand and hand with the music so far. There hasn’t been much dissonance between “rock music that gives life advice” and “young-ish hedgehog learning how to live life”. That’s about to change, though, because it’s time for Sonic 06. At the end of Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic declared that he was no one special, “just a guy who loves adventure”. This is when that ceased to be true.

The first three songs we discussed weren’t about Sonic. The singer was a nameless narrator occasionally fighting a nameless opponent. They were relevant to the series, but they could be about anyone. That’s what made them so versatile. His World is the main theme of Sonic 06, and where the other 2 versions of the song existed more to hype up Sonic as a character, the Crush 40 cover was more about the events of the game. As a song, it’s pretty good: it’s a more intense version of the original song, and it’s got a slower but steadier pace to it. But here’s what sets it apart from the other main themes: it’s about Sonic. It’s not a lesson about facing conflict and overcoming adversity wrapped up in an upbeat rock song, it’s about the events of the game and how awesome Sonic is. He isn’t the everyman anymore, he’s an important figure, a chosen one to save the world from this point forward. The music reflects that.

To really drive home this new direction they were going, Sega released two games for the Wii called “Sonic Storybook” games, where Sonic would become the main character of two classic stories: Arabian Nights and the legend of King Arthur. They’re both terrible in… just about every aspect, but the first entry Sonic and the Secret Rings is godawful. The main theme Seven Rings in Hand wasn’t written or originally performed by Crush 40, but for some reason they decided to cover it for their album, so I have to talk about it: it’s trash. It’s a bunch of empty lyrics about nothing with some pretty subpar mixing.

While Sonic and the Black Knight isn’t much better, it at least has a killer main theme. Knight of the Wind as a song is pretty badass, but it suffers the same issues as His World. There’s no more important meaning, it’s just about Sonic being a knight and saving people. It has a few familiar “never give up” themes, but it doesn’t do anything as well as Open Your Heart or Live and Learn. It falls into the Sonic Heroes mold where it’s fun to listen to and less fun to really take apart and analyze. The ending theme (which strangely precedes Knight of the Wind) Live Life samples Knight of the Wind, but that’s pretty much the coolest thing it does. It’s slow and pensive, making a sense of faux-thoughtfulness to cover mostly shallow lyrics.

With Me (Massive Power Mix) is the last Sonic and the Black Knight theme here, and was originally written by Crush 40 and performed by singers from the band “All Ends”. The album features a version performed by the band itself, and the song is unique in that it’s sung from the POV of the game’s villain. As a result, it features a look into a character who walked a “dark path”, weighed down by the mistakes they made. Don’t blame [me] for what I have become. It’s an ideological clash against the values in the other songs, arguing that anyone can be tempted to become evil. It’s deeper than anything in the game, but it’s shockingly good considering its source material.

That does it for the main series themes, but there’s a few others on here- a couple tracks for the racing games, an oddly placed cover of Fire Woman, and a too-slow ballad-sounding original song called Is It You. However, I think I’ve gone on long enough, and I’ve discussed everything I wanted to: how the songs showcased on this album elevate the messages given in the games.

Ultimately, all these songs are mirrors of the game they’re in, for better or worse. For that, I have to applaud the band’s versatility- even if most of the songs are the same genre, they cover a wide range of moods and messages depending on what the game demands. They can write a kick-ass guide to getting over failure or a fun little romp to introduce a game. Even divorced from their source material, many of the songs stand well on their own, and there’s a very good reason why fans of the franchise want Crush 40 to return for future installments.

Videos cited:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJYxYzxFyZw Peppa Pig - Caddicarus (warning: weird shit)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JWYDUYqhlc&list=PL5F29F0909BF08B56&index=15 - Best of Crush 40 Playlist

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voI-9TdS0Jw - Seven Rings in Hand (Crush 40 Ver)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HrOjyltyEM - With Me (Massive Power Mix)

[omnomsauruswrites]

Bucky finds sweet notes that encourage him, tucked into his clothes or gear or in books everyday from Reader or Darcy. Then the notes turn from sweet to naughty, leading to something more interesting. A smutty or fluffy as you like.

@cchellacat holds my heart and this of course is for her.

Bucky wasn’t used to being surrounded by people. Wasn’t used to the noise. Wasn’t used to bodies. He was used to cold, to silence, to a metal tank. Freedom was still a confusing concept to him.

For the most part, he was able to move around without much handling or much awareness from others. Well… scratch that, people noticed but stayed out of his way. People gave him a wide birth. Everyone took the former assassin with his stoic face, as a man that you just didn’t engage. That is except for Darcy Lewis.

Darcy had proven to him time and time again that she wasn’t afraid of him, wasn’t going to be afraid of him. To the point where, she had tried to drive his melancholy away with a finger in his face once night, when he couldn’t sleep. She had yelled at him for saying his life wasn’t worth much anymore, insisting that he should be pissed about what Hydra had taken away from him. That she personally wanted to burn down the Nazi-organization to the ground for him. His mouth had opened and closed like a fish after her rant not knowing what to say to her. And that’s when it all began.

Every morning on his protein shake there was a post-it. It varied in color and shape but always written with loopy cursive: Hey soldier; Morning Handsome; Sam doesn’t stand a chance against your right hook; Captain Spangles needs to pay for beating me in Mario Kart, make it happen. Sometimes they were pop-culture references that went right over his head: Trust No One, Bucky-Bear; Go, Go, Gadget, Go; Punch IT, Chewie!; What we have here is a failure to communicate.

A couple of months in, they started showing up in random places like his locker or his bathroom mirror. There however, were more flirty like Have you seen your ass in the mirror lately?; Put the guns away, Barnes, you’ll give a girl a heart attack; Do you like science because I've got my ion you.

Each one had him blushing or laughing. He knew of only one person who could be leaving him the notes, so he hatched out a plan.

———————-

Darcy drug herself into the labs. She was jet lagged from the trip to Iceland. The time zone change was wrecking havoc on her body and all she wanted to do was climb back in bed. Her hand rubbed her blue eyes, as she flipped on the lights, trudging to her desk. She plopped down in her chair and closed her eyes, as she sipped her coffee. After swirling her first sip around her mouth and letting the caffeine hit her tastebuds did she open her eyes.

The sight before here had her reeling and thoroughly confused.

There before her was her monitor covered in post-its with jagged words across each one of them. She squinted at them and readjusted her glasses as she peered at the first one that read, Morning Gorgeous. Her lips tilted up. Her eyes moved to the next one, Anyone ever tell you, your laugh is like music?. She continued through them, as most complimented her in someway about her eyes, her shape, and her wit. It wasn’t until the the third line, that the game started to change. When you show up in my dreams, you are a goddess in my bed, kitten. You’re spun sugar. I wonder what your cream tastes like, kitten. One day, I’m going to have you for appetizer, the main course and dessert and it’ll be the best meal of my life. She held back a moan at the last one by biting her lip, as her brain showed her flashes of what it would be like before her eyes.

Her eyes finally fell on the last one, Let me take you out for dinner and you can be my dessert.

She wasted no time after reading it, ripping it off the computer, as she ran to the elevator and took it up to the residential floors. She rushed down the hall, stopping in front of Bucky’s door. Her hand went up to knock before it flew to hair to try and tame the wildness of it, then she knocked.

The door flew open to reveal the former assassin dressed in low-slung sweatpants and nothing else. Her eyes flew to the tan skin, mesmerized by his hard muscles. His voice brought her back to the moment, “Need something, kitten?”

Her eyes flew to his that were bright with mischief and humor, a wide-grin plastered on his face. Her hand flew to his chest, pushing the post-it against it and in-turn trying to move him inside. “Let’s skip right to dessert, Barnes,” she answered, surging into him and sealing her lips against his.

His hands went to her legs, picking her up. His foot went out to kick the door closed, as he turned to push her against the hard wood. “What if I made you my breakfast, kitten?” he quipped, as he went back to kissing her.

She moaned against his lips and rubbed her hips against his, pushing her chest against his. “As long as we get to that dinner, eventually.”

“Promise, kitten, but first I want to have you for breakfast and lunch.”

[luigiblood]

Nintendo Switch Online, 1 year in review...

Well, well, well... Nintendo Switch Online...

You’re cheap, but you’re too cheap in return sometimes. I want to talk about it and some of my frustrations about it (and not necessarily with Nintendo). To do this, I will talk about each feature seperately.

Online Play

The most obvious feature is Online Play. It went from being free to being paid, which is pretty much a problem but then the competitors do the same. Many Nintendo games do not have the most stable netplay, even though I do not have most of the problems that other people get.

I’m not going to do a P2P vs Dedicated, or rather I would like to say that people genuinely don’t understand basic netplay and are all going against P2P without knowing that some of the games that works fine are probably all running on P2P to begin with.

I’m not gonna go into the details, nor do I want to say I’m an expert, each have their own pros and cons, but I think the main issue is ultimately the netcode. Here’s hoping with GGPO being open source and free to use for professionals now, the future could be a lot brighter.

I would want Nintendo to take netcode a little more seriously and test it in homes with slower Internet. Testing it with Wi-Fi and Ethernet and everything.

Save Data Cloud

This feature technically works. You’d think it’s hard to fail, right?

Of course they did when some games just don’t provide the support for it because of fear that people may abuse it for cheating... Meh.

Nintendo uses the exemple of having a broken Switch to where this feature might come in handy. Too bad this also means completely lost saves for some of the most important games like Splatoon 2 or Animal Crossing, the latter being really annoying if you lose hundreds or even thousands of hours...

Smartphone App

This one is tough because potential was there. Truly a waste of time.

All of the main services could have just been a website that works on PC and Mobile. But I think the main issue is that people don’t really want to check stuff about their game all the time because there is simply not enough feedback.

There was actually better execution when SplatNet was a regular website accessible on every device, Super Mario Maker Bookmark website too, instead everything is stuck to an app, limiting uses.

Content should be seen from everywhere when it’s possible. Making it work behind a subscription fee was a terrible idea.

And then let’s not even talk about the voice chat. That is a truly depressing thing. Why making it stuck to mobile? I get that you don’t want the Switch to process that stuff for performance reasons but truly that stuff is supported on it too...

Special Offers

Let me list what extra stuff we got from Nintendo Switch Online:

Exclusive Splatoon 2 Gears

Tetris 99

Game Vouchers

The right to buy NES/SNES Controllers

Game Trials (for only one game)

I did not list another thing that will be its own seperate bullet point.

Tetris 99 was truly the best part of this. It’s actually a pretty darn good game. Game Vouchers could have been nice if you couldn’t get the brand new games for cheaper in physical form.

Game Trials was a thing they tested at one point, but then they just didn’t bother...

We, subscribers, don’t really get a lot of extras, do we?

My Nintendo (Bonus Rant)

Nothing has been more of a waste than My Nintendo. Gold Points finally started to be kind of useful since it became an equivalent to a cent for the Switch eShop, but that’s the only good point I could give to it.

Its execution is terrible, and unlike many people, I do not have a lot of good memories about Club Nintendo (the European one, that said), because most of the cool items we only could get the stars we needed much later and then then the item was gone. That’s literally most of my experience with Club Nintendo.

When I learned that with the North American Club Nintendo you could get virtual console games and other cool shit I was genuinely disappointed how the European one was. And I’m not mentioning how the Japanese Club Nintendo had some of the cooler things than the west ever got.

And then My Nintendo has none of the cool things from any regional Club Nintendo... what’s the plan, Nintendo? Why does this exist?

The day 3DS and Wii U will stop being supported, what will happen to the vouchers that you guys always put up? Will it become even more useless?

NES / SNES Nintendo Switch Online

Now the real meat because that’s the stuff I really would like to talk about.

You guys know how involved I am with retro Nintendo content and I can be very invested about this kind of stuff because I just love Nintendo’s games.

Unlike many people, I don’t mind the subscription aspect and the fact you don’t really own these games anymore compared to Virtual Console games. I think this has ultimately been the better thing to do. However I find many problems with the execution of it, especially in the long run.

Due to its subscription nature, I did expect it to have less games than Virtual Console. Rights have to be renegotiated, and the most I expected were Nintendo games. Turns out we got some third parties, some even high profile, pretty cool.

But there are pretty infuriating stuff, like the slow drip feed we get. I get that you want to keep interest going for these games over time but there’s a lot of problems with that entails, and that’s how most of us are frustrated that Nintendo is not using the Switch to its highest potential, and especially about having all of the Nintendo games possible in a small amount of time.

Its portable nature wants us that Nintendo puts all of the retro games as quickly as possible, we want to dedicate our time to the Switch instead of plugging the Wii and Wii U for VC games that aren’t there. We want N64, GB/C/A, GameCube, and more. We want to have Mario Party 2 netplay in an official capacity, and so on...

I noticed the potential of retro Switch Online offer when I found myself addicted to Balloon Fight. Actually a game I’ve never downloaded off ROM sites before, as I usually dismissed it as being too simple. However the game was just there and I gave it a shot. This is one of the reasons why its subscription nature didn’t mind me, it got me to spend time with some games I usually wouldn’t spend time with, especially for NES.

I want to put a list of things that I want Nintendo to do with their retro offering to bring interest, but also sustain it:

- Bigger Drips of games

This seems trivial, but keep in mind that games have to be tested before going live, we pretty much want at least 3 games per month for each console. But stuff takes time and we at least want more communication about this aspect. We just want more games.

- Localized games

This is a personal pet peeve and only works for people whose native language is not English. I do not expect of Nintendo to localize retro games, but at least to release localized ROMs of games when they exist.

I expected of them to release these:

Kirby’s Adventure, French and German versions (yes, they exist)

Super Metroid, European version (that’s a bit more controversial however...)

Zelda: A Link To The Past, French and German versions (French even has an official 60hz version)

Yoshi’s Island, European version.

I know what you could say, 50hz games suck, music is slower- Stop. My only answer is fuck you.

Also, SNES 50hz games cannot have slower music, aside from a few rare ones. If you remember games having slower music on PAL SNES you have a bad memory and mixed up with NES or Mega Drive or something.

I don’t see how, as a developer myself, a selection menu could not be implemented for selecting the language for a game. That way you let people play whatever they want, it’s less painful, everyone is happy.

I still wish for Nintendo to localize retro games however, or maybe even bring unreleased localizations of games if they approved it back then...

- Random Game of the Day / Moment

This seems like a dumb idea, but when I played Balloon Fight I noticed how Nintendo could bring attention to games that don’t necessarily get it.

When the library gets bigger, some games will be left on the side over others, a system to bring motivation to play those games, even as simple as a random game name at the top, is better than what piracy can even bring you.

Maybe you could even implement a button that selects a random game.

- Game Tweaks / Special Versions

AKA USE LUA SCRIPTS IN GAMES

Now we’re starting to get a bit on the expensive side of things.

Special Versions of games aren’t really good on NES, they’re just save states. Some are useful (Golf Course unlocks), some are amusing (Zelda), but most of them are just a save state at the end of the game.

I want them to go on the next stage of this, actually hack the games, or even scripts on top of them. You see, some emulators have scripting features that can alter the game, in ways that improves them (map on Metroid NES), or outright gameplay altering (Kirby Canvas Curse gameplay on Super Mario Bros. 3).

I gave real exemples of use, these could be used to make games easier, harder, balanced, weirder, just like another concept that Nintendo did... NES REMIX. (What a waste of a concept... This really got people into NES games.)

I wish for Nintendo to use their LUA script system already in place for the menus, for their emulator.

This could also aid in development of localization of games without altering the ROM and without space issues.

And this could aid in making SNES Mouse games to work on a touch screen and more, it’s genuinely easy to figure out I could do it myself in a day... ;)

- Shared Library of games between Japan & International

...Well all I want is that I don’t have to need to download the japanese app or the japanese to download the international app to play other games that are not present in the local library. I thought this would have been solved with Super Puyo Puyo 2 but guess not.

This could have the added bonus of japanese games on top of the american (and european?) ones.

- Game Events

Sort of an extra to game tweaks, bringing events for people to play a specific retro game and give them gold points or something. Events could have objectives, achievements, scoreboards, many things could be done here.

You could even bring in the Nintendo World Championship ROMs, other competition stuff, or even games like soundlink games from the Satellaview like BS Zelda, BS Super Mario All-Stars and so on. These games are made for competition!

This is the ultimate thing to bring people to play retro games, bring the unusual games that most people have possibly never even heard about!

- Others

Some of those bullet points don’t need a big explanation:

More Unreleased Retro Games (Japan only or even anywhere)

Localize Retro Games that were never localized (not just in english!)

Borders

Small Control Scheme Help (to compensate for lack of manuals)

5-player Netplay support for SNES (Super Puyo Puyo 2 supports 4 player)

Netplay with Global Rooms with passwords and not just stuck to friends. (This should be a thing for EVERY GAME. This could even be a Switch OS feature.)

Automatic Matchmaking for certain games?

I have also always said this: I’m interested to work with you, Nintendo, on this kind of stuff...