SOPHIA

"This game is about a guy named Jason.

Jason had a pet frog named Fred. One day, Fred decided he had enough of being locked up in a fish bowl and made a dash for the door. As fate would have it, Jason was there when all this happened and he gave chase. Once outside, Jason was totally amazed to find Fred running toward a huge radioactive chest. As soon as Fred touched it, he grew to an enormous size, and the radioactive chest fell into the earth along with Fred. Jason tried to reach for Fred but fell into the hole along with him.

When Fred landed, he found himself alone next to a huge armoured vehicle. This was not just any vehicle, but one designed for the ultimate challenge against the radioactive mutants living under the Earth's crust. These mutants, created from escaped radioactive waste, are controlled by the Plutonium Boss.

Your mission is to fight your way and destroy the Plutonium Boss before he destroys you.

Along the way to your final encounter are many warlords of the underground you must destroy."

Greatest backstory ever.

Duck Hunt

I thought I would try something different this time around. Oh no, not by choosing another obscure subject like that Goonies game. Because this is about as obvious as it gets, and I don't even need to mention where it's from (except in the title, of course). I thought I'd be a little artsy this time and leave the edges unfinished. Well, that's mainly because I ran out of light blue bricks, but what can you do? In the past I would have waited to post this until I had replenished my supply of necessary bricks, but since this isn't about trying to create some elaborate background, there wasn't any real point to doing that. So tell me what you think. Does it look too unfinished, or does it have a bit of a artsy quality to it?

The first time I ever played an NES was in a store that was either a Gemco or K-Mart. I'm leaning towards K-Mart (the one that is now an Albertson's, diagonally from the Gemco that is now a Target). The demo was almost always this game, and of course I was amazed at the light gun technology. And of course I never owned a light gun. It hasn't even been on a list of things I should pick up, mainly because I don't like those ugly orange ones (most of the surviving examples are coloured that bright orange). Find me an original grey one that works, and then we'll talk....

The Goonies

So you don't recognise this? You don't remember this pivotal scene from the movie? The one where the ghost pirate is chasing Mikey in the caverns after they go underground from that restaurant where the Fratellis were hiding out? Don't worry, neither do I.

So while I was traveling this fall I just had to visit Astoria, Oregon, home of some enjoyable movie locales. And since I don't believe they made a Kindergarten Cop video game, my mind immediately went back to the NES Goonies 2 game. I never understood why it was called Goonies 2, even though no earlier version that I knew of existed. That is, until the internets enlightened me....

So there WAS a Goonies 1 video game, but it only came out in Japan. Wait! That's not true! It actually did come out in the US, but only on one of those arcade "Vs." cabinets. When capturing the above picture, the memory of trying out this Goonies game flared up. I certainly didn't get far enough to find a ghost pirate, but he's only really a few levels beyond the beginning. I should know, I made this cool screen capture on the emulator. Oh, and Mikey wears a jacket in this version, whilst wearing short sleeves in the sequel. There are similarities in graphics and enemies between the two games, but Goonies 2 goes way off on another tangent and is more of an adventure game.

I was a little too ambitious attempting to make a full scene, and ran into a few problems, but overall it looks alright to me. Next time I'll try to actually recreate a scene most people would be familiar with. You should try out this game, or the NES sequel, if only to hear 8-bit Cyndi Lauper over and over again. I wish I could figure out how to make it a ringtone....

Goomba (SMB)

Ah, I didn't think I was going to get to post this month, ruining my streak. But I found one that I took a picture of ages ago and never posted, so here you go...

I just purchased the new Super Mario Bros. game for the Wii, and haven't even had a chance to play it yet. When I get home we will partake in multi-player goodness, but in the meantime I give you the very first enemy you see in the very first game. Unless you count regular Mario Bros. as the first game. Which I don't since I can't even climb into the pipes in that one (and I'm a so-called plumber).

Did you know this enemy is named Kuribo in Japan? I thought I mentioned that before, but apparently not. That would explain why you jump into Kuribo's Shoe in Super Mario Bros. 3. I wonder why they didn't change the name to Goomba's Shoe? This earlier version looks a bit angrier than his counterpart in SMB3, but maybe it's just a more pronounced unibrow...

Zombie (Ghosts 'n Goblins - NES)

Spooky! Now, with a zombie movie atop the box office, I can finally post my creation for all to enjoy this Halloween season. Usually I would stick with the arcade version of a character (if I had a choice), but in this instance, the arcade one had all these shades of blue and grey that I couldn't quite pull off, so you get the NES version instead. That certainly didn't make the game any easier, because Ghosts 'n Goblins is one of the hardest ever. Even with the code it takes forever to get through. And the warp code isn't even that easy to input, nor remember (unlike the good old Konami code). Apparently you would have to play through the whole game once, and then it would tell you that the final level was an illusion devised by Satan and return to starting point again!! I think those exclamation points were included in the original screen. EDIT: OK, so my memory is mixing those words up with some other game, but I was close.

I actually don't care for zombie movies. Not because I'm scared of zombies, but because I find them extremely repetitive. I do like comparing the original Night of the Living Dead to The Birds, as was mentioned in one of my film classes, but how many times can we remake the same scenario of people barricading themselves in a protected space while waiting for the ever increasing horde of undead to come bashing in? I do like Shaun of the Dead, as it pokes fun at the whole genre, and everyone seems to like Zombieland, so maybe I'll catch it on Blu-ray for next year's Halloween season. In the meantime, I'm surprised I never considered doing Ghosts and Goblins characters for this blog. There's a whole bunch of cool ones that actually sort of look like the monsters they represent. Hell, The Devil and Satan are actually two different bosses! I originally typed "heck," but then I realised I was talking about The Devil and Satan...

Space Invader (2)

Or really, Space Invader 1, since he's the one on the lowest row....

So, after posting a fish, I ended up last week in the ocean floating amongst fishes in a wonderful setting for the first time in many years. I hope posting a Space Invader does not mean I will soon be abducted by aliens, or shot at by them with flimsy barriers protecting me. I have a terrible xenophobia, especially from those big black-eyed grey aliens that are always abucting people. Don't even get me started on those "friendly" aliens in Close Encounters of the Third Kind; anyone who abducts you for decades and then just dumps you home with no preparation is just cruel. I still have trouble watching the end of that movie without wanting to run away from their creepy alien kids with their creepy fingers.

Sorry you get another boring simple design this month, but I've been busy once again and traveling a lot and well, I think Space Invaders are pretty iconic and look cool and I'll probably even do the boring tank at one point. Don't worry, I've already completed next month's design, and I think you'll enjoy it. One hint: it's spooky!

Cheep Cheep (SMB3)

Ah, Cheep Cheep. Has there ever been a more appropriately named character such as yourself? You're fine in the water leisurely floating around and swimming back and forth, but the moment you start flying through the air you become the biggest pain ever. I'll just be walking around with Mario or Luigi and you'll miraculously gain powers of flight and oxygen-breathing, or maybe you're just holding your breath as you lunge out of the water and smack into me while I'm trying to perform a well-timed jump onto some sort of spinning or collapsing platform. You are truly evil. Why must you torment me so? Stay in your element and I can handle you, even without the frog suit...

What's weird about the Super Mario Bros. 3 version of the Cheep Cheep is that it's actually less detailed than the original version. Which is fine by me since I don't have the colour to make it look right anyways. He also comes in green, but I think I was hallucinating when I thought I saw him in orange. I even played the game on my NES for a few hours just to see if I could find one. There were a lot less water levels than I remember, even on the so-called Water Land. And here I was, all ready to call it Water World and make a Kevin Costner joke....