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Escape To The Comix Zone

Sega took a lot of chances in the 1990s (some would say too many, leading to the company's eventual downfall, but that's a story for another day).  While the company leaned heavily on its star Sonic the Hedgehog and beloved franchises like Streets of Rage and Ecco the Dolphin, plenty of other one-off games were released in an almost experimental fashion.  Ristar brought us a lively star with a talent for hugging monsters to death.  Eternal Champions wanted a slice of the Street Fighter II pie.  Then there's 1995's Comix Zone for the Sega Genesis in which an aspiring cartoonist, Sketch Turner (née Joe Pencil), is pulled into his own drawn world and forced to fight his own creations from panel to panel in a bid for survival in the form of a side-scrolling brawler.  Never heard of it?  Hardcore Gaming 101 has you covered.

Comix Zone is basically a tribute to comics in general, yet is not too overtly influenced by any particular story. The premise of mutants lurking in New York's sewers may be faintly reminiscent of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, but it's otherwise a fairly creative world that Sketch has devised for his unlikely deathtrap. The game itself is a bit hard to cap as a straight genre, but it mostly plays as a sidescrolling beat-'em-up with elements of platforming and puzzles wedged in. The major difference from the likes of Streets of Rage or Final Fight is that the action only takes place on a single plane. Sketch must survive the pages of his own comic book by whomping on whatever enemies are in front of him and figuring out how to move onto the next panel. When Sketch can move on, a yellow arrow points away from his current panel, allowing him to flip over the panel border into the next scene. Some moves from Sketch and enemies will rip through the pages to reveal the papery underside, and the hand of Mortus will often appear to draw on new hazards for our hero. Even when you die, Sketch's body will turn into pencil sketches and get crossed out by Mortus' marker.

There's a lot to like in Comix Zone and it's worth exploring if you've never experienced it, but beware of the steep challenge level and a few frustrating mechanics.  Sketch often takes a small amount of damage while opening doors or breaking boxes as part of the game's design, enemies respawn endlessly at certain points, and players only have one life in which to complete the adventure.  The comic panel aesthetic is delightfully unique, however, and feels ahead of its time.  Imagine how Comix Zone would play out on the Nintendo 3DS where Sketch and his foes could pop out of the backgrounds in order to hop across panels.  Comics are flat, yes, but that extra dimension could help bring the game to life in new and fun ways.  Even if a revived Comix Zone isn't in the cards, I'd like to see a comic-based game try this mechanic.  It's practically begging to be done.

Perhaps Bowser Was Her Protector All Along

There's a marvelous theory that Mario is actually the villain of the Super Mario Bros games (there's even a delightful indie game built around flipping the hero/villain roles in a similar manner). The idea is that Princess Peach wants Bowser to take her away from that evil plumber, hence the frequent kidnappings in which she hardly resists. The above image from Reddit is a little alternative history for you from the end of Super Mario Bros. 3 for the Nintendo Entertainment System in which Mario slays Bowser with the awesome power of the Hammer Bros. suit and then attacks the princess rather than save her. Viewed this way, Mario does indeed become the villain of the piece with Bowser cast as Peach's protector and guardian. Now don't you feel bad for sending Bowser plummeting into the darkness? Next time: Samus Aran, xenocidal killing machine.

Remastered Sonic the Hedgehog Coming To 3DS, Mobile

People love to buy Sega's classic Sonic the Hedgehog.  Originally released in 1991 for the company's Genesis console, it's come back around over and over again for the Sega Saturn, Dreamcast, Nintendo GameCube, Game Boy Advance, Wii, Nintendo DS, Sony PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Microsoft Xbox, Xbox 360, PC... the list goes on and on.  Now we'll be able to buy the game yet again, but this time the company is giving us something extra for our money.  Two different remastered versions of Sonic are in the works, one for the Nintendo 3DS and the other for mobile platforms.  The 3DS version is presented in 3D with optional spin dash included and a few visual filters, while the iOS and Android versions are a widescreen reworking of the game running on the same stellar engine from 2011's remarkable Sonic CD re-release.  The mobile versions are due out later this season for $2.99 (and is a free update if you already own the existing mobile versions of Sonic; Sonic the Hedgehog 2 will follow), while the 3DS version hits the eShop next week in Japan for $6.  No international release date has been announced for that one.

It may well be shameful that I already own Sonic in multiple formats, yet would gladly buy it again in these new incarnations.  The remastered Sonic CD was a work of art on iOS, so I'm happy to own a similar handheld version of the original Genesis games.  I'm also intrigued by the 3D option for the 3DS version thanks to the same line of reasoning that has convinced me to buy some of the other 3D reworkings on the eShop such as Kid Icarus and Kirby's Adventure.  I keep coming back to these classic games because they've held up wonderfully over the years and offer quick hits of handheld fun in their new forms.  If these new versions of Sonic work out the same way, I'll have to kick $9 over to Sega.  It's just how things work around here.

Handy Boy Augments Nintendo Game Boy To The Max

Today's handheld gaming systems are amazing feats of engineering with their bright color screens, speakers that blast sound with great clarity, and easy to grip controls.  Back at the dawn of portable gaming, however, these qualities were just not technically or financially feasible.  The original Nintendo Game Boy wasn't exactly something you could play in the dark.  Third-party aftermarket accessories sought to fill the performance gap.  You could get a Light Boy add-on to bring a gentle glow to the Game Boy screen for those early morning car trips.  Extra snap-on speakers could amplify the system's sound capabilities.  Buying and storing all of these peripherals could be an expensive undertaking, but leave it to InterAct to try to conquer the accessory market with a single product that brought light, enhanced sound, control grips, and a magnifying lens to the Game Boy experience. Behold, the Handy Boy!

Here's how it works: the Handy Boy assimilates your hapless and trusting Game Boy, consuming and becoming one with it.  The box boasts that it sports a compact design, but a fully tricked-out Game Boy doesn't seem so compact to me.  Thankfully, the Handy Boy comes with a shoulder strap for hauling your handheld Nintendo experience around with you.  From the look of things, you'd need one. Handy Boy requires its own power source; it comes with its own power adapter or can tap into the Game Boy's own batteries.  It doesn't just envelop your Game Boy, but it feeds off it as well.  Yes, this thing is about as far from portable as you can get.  InterAct rebranded the Handy Boy as the Handy Pak later in the Game Boy's life and later redesigned it to fit the slimmer Game Boy Pocket as the Handy Pak 2.  There's even a Game Boy Color variation.  Say what you will about today's handheld gaming systems, but let's all at least agree that we've come a long way from the Handy Boy era and that, if nothing else, is a vast improvement.

Who Are All Of These Mortal Kombat People?

Mortal Kombat started out somewhat managable.  It wasn't too difficult to keep track of characters like Scorpion, Sub-Zero, and Sonya Blade and their motivations.  Then Mortal Kombat II upped the cast from ten characters (seven of which are playable) to twenty-one (sixteen of which are playable).  The Mortal Kombat world only grew larger from there are sequels and variations changed the rosters, rules, and even the plot as whims and the market demanded.  It's downright near impossible to easily follow the progression of Mortal Kombat.  Thankfully, Hardcore Gaming 101 has put together an exhaustive and complete record of what the franchise has to offer including spin-offs, crossovers, and appearances in other media.

Somewhere on a far away island, a secretive martial arts tournament has been held for the last 500 years. The mastermind behind this tournament, Shang Tsung, is actually working for the emperor of an alternate dimension known as Outworld. This tournament is the only thing stopping the forces of Outworld from crossing into our dimension and conquering it completely. The good news is that for that to happen, Outworld has to win ten tournaments. The problem is that they've won nine, thanks to the help of their four-armed champion, Goro. And so, as one of seven warriors who've ended up on Shang Tsung's island by either destiny or by accident, it's up to you to make your way through the tournament and defeat the rest of Earth's champions. Do that, and you'll have to go against Goro, before fighting against Shang Tsung himself for the fate of the world. This is, of course, if you don't find yourself having your spine extracted by a pissed-off ice ninja along the way.

While Mortal Kombat was red hot in the 1990s, it started to lose buzz following Mortal Kombat 3 and the already spiraling story became even more convoluted.  A series of lackluster, rushed ports of the arcade games to home platforms didn't help either.  Lapsed fans may have missed that Freddy Kreuger of A Nightmare On Elm Street fame visited Outworld or that the heroes and villains of the DC Universe clashed with Shao Kahn's forces.  I'll let MetaFilter's clockzero sum up the relevant thoughts that occured while reading about how much Mortal Kombat has grown over the years:

Today I learned that they're apparently still making Mortal Kombat sequels.

I just read the first part, the characters section.  It went like this:

Uh-huh, Liu Kang.  Scorpion.  Sub-Zero, ha, Reptile.  I remember these guys.

Oh, that dude's name was Goro? Huh. 

Kitana, eh?  I guess they added female characters.  Ha.  Great name, guys.

Shao Kahn, the boss!  Wow! 

Oh jesus, Nightwolf?  Wow.  Okay.  Native Americans can have bad names I guess.

Rain?  Chameleon?  ERMAC?  WTF?

Kai? Reiko?  MEAT?  How many years has it been?  FUCK do I feel old.

Okay, they...made a character who's a motion capture actor.  That's okay, that's...normal.  There can't possible be much more.

Oh, there's like, five more pages of characters...

Freddy...Krueger.  And Lex Luthor!  Why the fuck not!

It was at that moment that I realized that someone, somewhere, was fucking with me.

That someone is Ed Boon and he does that sort of thing for a living. Thankfully.

Super Mario Crossover Grows More Awesome

I've mentioned the amazing 8-bit smashup that is Super Mario Crossover before, but now it's worth mentioning again as the free Flash game is about to get an upgrade to version 3.0 which includes new levels, skins, and a few other tricks.  The team at Exploding Rabbit is hard at work adding the contents of the obscure Super Mario Bros. Special into the mix.  Here's the explanation:

We decided to take the levels from an obscure Mario game called Super Mario Bros. Special. It is a pretty weird game that even has some new items and enemies. Playing the game is an absolute nightmare because it’s on an old Japanese computer and it has many technical limitations. Now that it’s playable in SMBC, it can finally be enjoyed like other Mario games.

The other big feature we’re adding is levels that change based on difficulty. This means if you play on easy mode, you’ll play an easier version of each level, and for hard mode, a harder version. I really enjoy the hard mode levels. Since I’ve played the game so many times, I’m used to playing through the levels pretty quickly, but on hard mode, I have to stop and think about what I’m doing. It’s really fun, and it plays with the player’s expectations. Easy mode is also fun. Instead of just making the levels easier, we added tons of coins. It makes you want to collect as many as you can so it changes the gameplay a bit.

And of course, there are new skins. Many of the skins in the trailer were released in version 2.1, but I included them since many people may not be aware of them. The new map skins are Super Mario Bros. 2 (NES and SNES), Super Mario Bros. Special, Atari, and Castlevania. There are also some new character skins that were not shown in the trailer only because there is so much stuff in the game it’s difficult to show it all. As mentioned in the trailer, the new version will be released in May or June.

I can't wait to try this new version.  The Crossover series is basically made of nostalgia, and the new trailer looks as if even more memories are packed into the game than ever before.  The Super Mario Bros. 2 skin will make you smile, I promise.  Playable Mega Man Robot Masters are a great bonus, too.  I can't wait to see what the development team comes up with next.  The pantheon of great Nintendo Entertainment System franchises is just about completely represented here as it is.

Wii U Virtual Console Launch Lineup Is Very Familiar

Nintendo is poised to officially launch its Virtual Console service for the Wii U, continuing the proud tradition of bringing classic Nintendo Entertainment System and Super NES games back into the spotlight for another dance.  The company announced the first round of famous games that will be available when the time comes.  Polygon has the list.  You'll find that it's very familiar.

• Balloon Fight (NES)
• Donkey Kong Jr. (NES)
• Excitebike (NES)
• F-Zero (SNES)
• Ice Climber (NES)
• Kirby's Adventure (NES)
• Punch-Out!! (NES)
• Super Mario World (SNES)

It's rather underwhelming that Nintendo is trotting out the same lackluster games from the Wii Virtual Console days (and, in some cases, the 3DS Virtual Console) as part of the first wave.  Is anyone really clamoring to play Ice Climber again?  Balloon Fight?  Some of those games have aged much better than others; Super Mario World and F-Zero are still worth your time, for instance, but who is eager to play the watered-down NES version of Donkey Kong Jr. yet again?  I'm sure there must be a business reason to mix true classics with "this again?", but as a fan and potential customer, it's a bit frustrating to see.  Is Nintendo concerned that some of their greatest hits would be buried by one another if they released at the same time?  I hate to be one of those people who believes he's entitled to all of the great games immediately and I certainly don't expect Nintendo to turn on the fire hose, but I'd think that Nintendo would want to start this party with a bang.  The company needs to bring some excitement to the Wii U until the really big new Wii U games hit stores, and Ice Climber isn't the way to do that.      

EarthBound Coming To Wii U In North America And Europe

After years of fans (and would-be fans) begging and demanding, Nintendo has seen the light.  This morning the company announced that it's bringing the long-demanded Super NES classic EarthBound to the Wii U Virtual Console by year's end.  That's really all there is to this announcement, but I know it's enough to energize the Nintendo audience.  This is the first time that the game has been re-released outside of Japan, and it seemed for years as if legal issues were keeping it from returning, so this is certainly cause to celebrate.  I still have my old game pak from years ago and even I'm thrilled about the news.  I'll gladly kick in a few dollars to buy the game again in this new format to show that there's still interest in EarthBound out there.  Who knows?  We may yet see the game's sequel, Mother 3, outside of Japan yet.  But that's getting ahead of things.  For now, be glad that EarthBound is on the way and defintely set aside some time to play it when it's available.  I promise that you will not be disappointed.  EarthBound is a very special game and your gaming career is not complete unless you've experienced it.

Adventure Island Music Break

It's April Fool's Day which means that there's very little actual true news on which to comment and writing about the fake stuff doesn't really interest me unless the source material is especially clever.  What are we to do today instead?  Let's rise above the mess with the only tool available to us: Hudson's classic 1987 Nintendo Entertainment System release Adventure Island and its awesome music.  Enjoy this clip of one of the game's overworld themes and imagine yourself on a tropical island far away from false information and deadly eggplants.  Life-giving milk and time-extending fruit sold separately.

Beyond Beeps: Luigi's Mansion

Of all of the characters in Nintendo's stable to send into battle against a house full of angry ghosts in order to rescue the famous (and missing!) Mario, it seems that Luigi would be the least capable choice, but somehow it all works in 2001's Luigi's Mansion for the GameCube. In honor of the sequel, Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon for the Nintendo 3DS, launching this week, it's only appropriate to look back at the original game and its fun soundtrack composed by Kazumi Totaka. Far from frightening, the music of Luigi's Mansion accompanies the green-capped plumber in his journey with some familiar tunes and a memorable, hummable recurring melody that appears in several forms from traditional instrumental theme to frightened whistle by the unlikely hero himself.