Bionic Commando

Ah, Bionic Commando. One of the best games for the NES, and one of the few that is superior to its arcade machine counterpart. It seems kind of weird to show you without your actual bionic arm, but that's just a long row of grey pixels, and therefore boring.

So I don't actually know this character's name. Your mission is to save the world and rescue Super Joe, who I always thought was the hero (and guy you controlled) in the original Commando. I looked all through the instruction manual, and this guy isn't given a name. I don't trust Wikipedia and its entry naming the protagonist "Ladd Spencer." That's a really silly name.

This guy couldn't jump; everything was dependent on that bionic arm. It sure was fun though, except when there were lots of spikes beneath you and you had to pull a Tarzan to survive.

Oh, and here's your green entry for March, of course. Because nothing reminds me of the Irish more than a guy with spiky red hair and a green jumpsuit....

Pokey ("Clyde")

Alright, time to put you out of your misery. Of course you know there are only four ghosts, so you won't have to deal with any more Pac Man sprites until I start making the bonus fruits. Although I'd probably start with a key or the Galaxian guy. Wait, I already did that....

So Clyde here is the only ghost to undergo an identity crisis when we get to Ms. Pac Man. Everyone else retains their original names, but Clyde takes a different path. Perhaps feeling confused that Pac Man might be pulling a fast one and just wearing lipstick and a bow, Clyde decides he wants to be called Sue from now on. The other ghosts oblige, and secretely are disappointed Sue doesn't do anything to differentiate her/himself from her/his previous persona. At least wear a skirt or something....

Bashful ("Inky")

Ah, the one that stopped me cold. You see that colour right there? It's sort of an aqua? That colour is super hard to come by. Oh sure, I could have settled for a light blue, or even turquoise, but this is the one that looks closest to the video game. And it wasn't cheap to get those pieces, I'll have you know. But anything for the sake of my art.

Fortunately, this colour can be used for other game characters in the future that I didn't think I'd ever want to get to. I even used this in the Tron one from December already. So at least it's versatile.

A few months back I was going to talk about MY original version of Pac Man. It certainly wasn't that awful Atari 2600 version. No, my first home version was played on the Atari 400. Doesn't look too bad, does it? But did you notice the weird ghost colours? Bashful here is green! If only I had thought of doing those versions years ago, I wouldn't have had to wait so long....

Speedy ("Pinky")

It looks the same, and yet it's not...

Sure, I could have just taken the design and replaced all the red with pink, but instead I wanted to have a whole set. So I patiently waited for a source of pink bricks, and that's when I discovered the pink brick box with a whole bunch of girly colours. But this pink was more of a dark pink or magenta. I actually made this ghost originally with that colour until I discovered this light pink was also available. This is far more accurate to the game, so here you go.

You'll notice the bottom is different, if ever so slightly. That's because the ghosts have two frames of animation to make it look like they're gliding, or hovering, or whatever....

Shadow ("Blinky")

So this month is going to be a little different, for reasons that will become quickly obvious. And I probably should have started this tomorrow, it being February 2nd and that ever popular holiday Groundhog's Day, but I wanted to get a bit of a head start.

This is one of earliest designs I made using Lego, and it's obvious why. Simple pixels, primary colours, and just an iconic design. I couldn't make Pac Man without having his enemies, and it's funny to see their original names used on the video game. No one calls him Shadow these days. I don't even know why you would call him Shadow. He's not that dark....

Pac Man

I have to admit, even though Pac Man is the original game, it doesn't hold a candle to Ms. Pac Man. Only one maze, along with a very annoying siren noise, make it only useful if the Ms. Pac Man machine is being hogged up by some Billy Mitchell type trying to top the world high score. Steve Wiebe would totally let you go first, even if his quarter was up on the cabinet before yours.

Pac Man was one of the first designs I made with Legos, and I sure waited a long time to post him. He's obviously more simplistic, and I could have gone for a Ms. Pac Man, but he's already jealous I keep mentioning her too much in this post. It should be about him. Actually, I'm stretching this one entry out because the next few pixels I'll be showcasing will involve some enemies of his, and I won't have enough to write if I talk about my experiences with the game. Hint: they don't involve the arcade version....