Animal Crossing New Leaf, low-detail pixel style!
These guys turned out cute. I picked 8 of the more important characters to draw. I had to give KK his guitar, otherwise he’s a naked white dog with no distinguishing features. Even his DJ outfit would look the same but with a hat.
Isabelle, Tortimer, Kapp'n, K. K. Slider, Tom Nook, Reese, Mabel, Blathers
Ocarina of Time’s Sages, low-detail pixel style!
One of my more popular posts is my Hyrule Warriors pixel art. But, after that one I started drawing my characters without necks, and I think it looks better. Oh well. A couple here were modified slightly from that existing image. I always thought these characters had to die to become Sages, especially with Rauru being ancient and Nabooru seemingly being killed by Twinrova before her awakening. It’s never made explicit though, so I wonder if it’s “canon” or if anyone else thinks that.
Saria, Darunia, Ruto, Rauru, Nabooru, Impa, Zelda
Star Wolf, low-detail pixel style!
Star Fox’s rival group has had some roster changes over the years; here’s all the various members. Although obviously Miyamoto is nuking some of them from canon, the big jerk. They’re all based on Assault art, since that’s the only game with full-length pictures of all these characters, except Krystal whose design is based on her outfit in Command when she was temporarily a member of the team.
Wolf O’Donnell, Leon Powalski, Panther Caroso, Pigma Dengar, Andrew Oikonny, Krystal
Lufia 1, low-detail pixel style!
I’m playing through this now. The characters are quite well written (aside from the aggravating forced jealousy), but the protagonist has no canonical name. The character designs as seen on the game’s two cover arts are indistinct; these drawings are based on the art made for the 2009 rerelease on mobile phones in Japan. You can see it here by clicking the portraits. There’s official art elsewhere (like strategy guides) but it’s hard to find.
Hero, Lufia, Aguro, Jerin
Megaman/Rockman Zero, low-detail pixel style!
My favourite action platformers of all time, sadly underappreciated. Even Megaman fans overlook them, which is a shame. But everything about them is so damn good. Except maybe the localisation and proofreading. Note: X’s appearance is based on this image, which is apparently now under doubt as to its origin. I always thought it was concept art but now its source is being questioned. Oh well, there’s tons of fanart and even cosplay based on it, and it’s the most complete version of X in his cyber form that we have.
Zero, Ciel, X, Harpuia, Fefnir, Leviathan, Phantom
Rare’s history, low-detail pixel style!
With Rare Replay being announced, it’s naturally a good time to get excited about historic Rareware/Ultimate. Like, say, drawing people from the character-driven series in it. Having said that, two characters here have four games each but none featured in said compilation. I guess it’s because they were mostly made by Rare “subsidiaries”/were not very good. I’ve also decided to cover the B-tier (and below) series, leaving out Banjo, Killer Instinct, etc. More detailed commentary below, but you don’t have to read it if you don’t want to.
Row 1: ZX Spectrum/Commodore 64
Jetman (Jetpac, Lunar Jetman, Solar Jetman). I used the look on the cover of the original game, as opposed to Crash magazine’s comics or the Refuelled reboot.
Sabreman (Sabre Wulf, Underwurlde, Knight Lore, Pentagram, Sabre Wulf GBA). You can sort of see art of him in some of the game’s maps, but this look is how he appears in Banjo-Tooie and Sabre Wulf GBA, with the mustache.
Sir Arthur Pendragon (The Staff of Karnath, Blackwyche, Entombed, Dragon Skulle). No art available, and he has two distinct visual looks that his sprite switches between from game to game. This one is the Karnath/Entombed look with the black cape from the other two games. Not in Rare Replay.
Row 2: NES
Kuros (Wizards & Warriors I/II/X/III). Based on the “generic knight in armour” sprite, as opposed to the Conan-inspired Fabio look from the game covers, which was also used in the Power Team show. Not in Rare Replay.
Rattle (Snake Rattle & Roll, Sneaky Snakes). The snakes in Sneaky Snakes are actually different snakes, but it’s a sequel. This sprite is based on the Mega Drive cover art, as opposed to the goofy-as-hell NES cover art, although the only difference at this resolution is having a differently coloured muzzle.
Rash (Battletoads, Battletoads GB, Battlemaniacs, Battletoads & Double Dragon, Super Battletoads). Opinions are annoyingly divided on who is the leader of the Toads, but Rash has the most consistent design (ie. his colour doesn’t change as much between games), and he seems to be slightly more the “face” of the series. Plus, cool red armbands and shades (not visible at this resolution).
Row 3: N64
Juno and Vela (Jet Force Gemini). The only game/series with two characters in this picture. You can’t really separate them though.
Joanna Dark (Perfect Dark, Perfect Dark GBC, Perfect Dark Zero). This is based on her N64 outfit, but with the longer hair from Zero.
Row 4: Xbox/360
Cooper (Grabbed by the Ghoulies). I wanted to put Amber in too, but it didn’t fit in the layout as it ended up.
Kameo (Kameo: Elements of Power). I do prefer this final look to the Gamecube one with the purple Ugg boots.
Horstachio (Viva Pinata, Trouble in Paradise, Pocket Paradise, Party Animals). One of the four main pinatas from the TV series, Horstachio is jointly the face of the series but also looks the best standing up, which I guess makes this Hudson from the show.
Banjo-Pilot, low-detail pixel style!
Racing games are good to draw out the rosters for, because they’ve pre-selected the important characters from that series. And Jolly Roger. That’s always been an odd choice but a cool wildcard one too. I already pixelised the beta version of this game, Diddy Kong Pilot. Rare converted it after they were bought by Microsoft and found themselves unable or unwilling to use IP they didn’t own. The conversion was a little rushed though, resulting in Kong-style music and even some characters that slipped through the cracks, as well as the excision of story elements, leaving the canon placement of this game debatable. Anywho! Here’s some cool pixels!
Banjo, Kazooie, Mumbo Jumbo, Jinjo, Humba Wumba, Gruntilda Winkybunion, Klungo, Bottles, Jolly Roger
Diddy Kong Racing, low-detail pixel style!
I’ve recreated the racer select screen from this fantastic N64 kart racer. You’ll have to imagine the characters jigging back and forth. Also T.T. didn’t look right unless I drew him face on, unlike my usual style. What a great bunch of characters; every one of them could (and should) have gotten their own game. Rareware, man.
Krunch, Diddy Kong, Drumstick, Bumper, Banjo, Conker, Tiptup, T.T., Pipsy, Timber
Battletoads comic, GamePro, 1993.
In 1991, Nintendo Power ran a Battletoads comic in 2 issues. In 1992, there was a pilot for an animated series that recast the Toads’ human forms as teenagers. In 1993, GamePro magazine printed another comic in 2 issues that was a direct adaptation of the animated pilot. I haven’t seen the latter mentioned much before, so here it is, thanks to scans from Retromags and Aka Games.
Note that the story (carried over from the pilot) is credited to David Wise. This is an entirely different David Wise to the legendary Rareware composer who did the music for all the games. Same name, strange connection.
Conker’s Bad Fur Day, low-detail pixel style!
When I start drawing non-humanoid characters it gets harder. Well, not that Franky is so hard… Conker’s Bad Fur Day is probably the best N64 game. Funny, subversive, constantly surprising, great multiplayer, and surprisingly emotional. Here’s my two-part series on its heroes and villains. Not that it’s so simple; there’s a lot of shady ambiguity. But there’s the major friendly-ish characters, and the primary antagonists.
Conker the Squirrel, Berri, Birdy, Franky, Gregg the Grim Reaper, Rodent
Professor von Kriplespac, The Panther King, Don Weazo
miloscat asked: Sinrevi, you're the biggest Lufia fan I know. What can you tell me about Energy Breaker and its connections to the Lufia/Estpolis series?
The most obvious one is Lufia herself (with Roman) making a cameo in the ending of the game, while the track Priphea Flowers plays.
At one point of the game you can’t enter a basement you need to go into to progress the storyline. To get permission to enter,a NPC makes you plant a flower seed she created (she couldn’t get it to grow herself, she says it only blooms after getting alot of sunlight.) When you get to grow the flower it shows up as Priphea Flower in your inventory. (The main character grows it by planting it in a sunny spot and then uses a time machine to pick the flower in the future, then travels back in time to give the flower)
Then you can also get the Dual Blade in the game.
There was a cutscene where someone (Selphie? sorry forgot who, it’s been a while since I played) purifies the air of either the island or the whole world with something. You can’t pull out whatever the object is, but returning to the dungeon later and trying to pull it out again reveals it’s Dual Blade.
Growing a Priphea Flower: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDBVVu1ihw0
Dual Blade’s location: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63Ppkvksgy8
Lufia and Roman: https://youtu.be/relcRBX9SKg?t=2m24s
I suddenly realised the other day that I’d played nothing but Angry Birds on my phone for ages and that I should play one of the games that were languishing in folders on my third screen. I booted up Infinity Blade II and pretty quickly got back into the swing of quick swiping to slash dudes and monsters.
It’s pretty much just the first game again. They added two new weapon types; one better (dual) and one worse (heavy). Blocks always seem to get broken so I never used them, hence my reliance on dual, plus they can combo better. The other thing they changed was adding a slightly more coherent plot and goal. The first game was quite vague and mysterious, which contributed to the atmosphere, but this one still maintains that while also giving you something to work towards and names for the characters. There’s also the new gem mechanic which I didn’t use at all.
I found myself sucked into the game; retrying fights several times until I’d got them perfect (I never quite got there but it was good enough). It’s quite challenging but mastering the fights and improving your skills along with your stat points is quite satisfying. I found it maybe more challenging that the first one, but I also had basically finished it before getting any of the really good weapons, so either the balance is off or I did it too quickly. I’m only halfway to the money requirement to get the actual Infinity Blade, and after getting to the credits it got a whole lot harder for a second playthrough, so I decided to stop. So I don’t have the sense of completion either from when I explored all the secret stuff in the first game.
I should mention the “clashmob” thing which is a new system in this game. There’s global progress bars that players can collectively contribute to by doing fights outside the story, from a menu. So sort of like Noby Noby Boy. The problem is, by getting into it now everyone’s played the game and moved on, so although there are new goals all the time they never get achieved. Or so it seemed from my brief foray. Bit of a dud then.
So, compared to the original: the interface is certainly cleaner, but in the process of adding bells and whistles with the social element, keys, prize wheels, new weapon types, and all that, it has diluted the pure gameplay, which is the game’s strength. Well, that and the pretty graphics; arguably it’s a showcase for the effects the iPhone is capable of. It certainly achieves that but it’s not a huge selling point for me. Still, going back is hard; I just opened Infinity Blade 1 for comparison and the menus are super ugly, and it hasn’t even been updated for iPhone 5 screens. The fidelity of the lighting doesn’t affect me but that stuff sure does. So onwards to the future I suppose. Next time it’s on sale I guess I’ll try Infinity Blade III…
I think I wanted to get this game after Disney said it wasn’t canon anymore. After playing it myself, there were some parts that I decided shouldn’t be canon either, like Darth Vader being responsible for starting the Rebellion vicariously. But it’s still interesting when they want to fill in parts of the story through the medium of video games, and there’s obviously a lot of design effort put into this project, with new characters and locations that fit right in, as well as the use of music.
Force Unleashed is set several years before Episode IV; you meet Princess Leia as part of the plot, as well as other more minor players from the films like Mon Mothma and Bail Organa (who shows up briefly at the end of Episode III), as well as obviously Darth Vader and the Emperor. I always like sources like this that are set around the time of the original Trilogy, but made after the prequels so they can insert lots of references to them. You do get all the lovely original trilogy Imperial visual design in the ships and installations though.
The game is about Vader’s so-called secret apprentice, Starkiller, who he’s training in order to one day overthrow the Emperor. Or maybe he was lying about that, there’s a few twists and turns so it’s not clear. Starkiller is the blandest of bland protagonists, coupled with a generic love interest in a bland blond pilot. His robot sidekick is cool, though. As the game progresses he supposedly is conflicted about his motives, but it’s not explored as fully as it could have been. At the end there’s a token choice with two endings; one leads into the next game and one interestingly leads to a series of DLC missions where you kill Luke and Leia and Han, etc. I was playing the basic game without extra scenarios, but it was still a fine, complete story.
Speaking of which, the different versions do have a number of extra levels and things; whether you’re playing on the HD consoles, Wii, DS, PSP, or even the N-Gage. The HD versions are the lead versions though, with the most fully realised physics engine; this is the main draw of the game and the most fun thing about it: throwing around debris and Stormtroopers with your Force powers, bouncing them off each other and plunging them off cliffs. Between this and your double jump and air dash, it turns into a fun sandbox-style traversal experience at times, although it’s quite linear and there are also a fair number of corridors.
As I said the environments look good with Imperial bases, jungle planets, and the scrapyard planet (Garbage World comes to mind for you Red Dwarf novel fans) (look out for easter eggs in the scrap, like a Clone Wars drop ship or a wrecked sandcrawler). Unfortunately the latter half of the game has you going back through the same environments—not backtracking mind you, there’s new level designs—while I was hoping for more new sights. But there’s reason to scour these places, as collectibles will help you unlock upgrades for your stats and Force powers, a nice addictive little system.
Combat is the main focus of the game though with your abilities giving you many ways to fry groups of enemies: lightning, violent Force Pushes to send them hurtling into walls, different saber comboes. Having a range of abilities makes you feel powerful but in a new play session I had to take a minute or two to remember all the controls. My preferred method of dealing with tougher enemies as I went on was to buff up my bar for Force power and just hold down the lightning button to drain their health. Maybe a bit cheap but it does get kinda brutal at times. Some of the boss battles too took many retries but you learn the tricks, that’s what it’s about after all.
So I did have some complaints, and the cutscene models were firmly in the uncanny valley, but it was lots of fun and felt appropriately Star Wars-y. From what I’ve heard the sequel improves on the formula so it’s on my wishlist now. I did feel a bit sore when I found out about the later release which included the DLC (and another extra non-DLC level), but it’s all extra stuff and the core of this game was enough. Plus you get to crash a Star Destroyer, cool!
I’m now playing the Lufia games in chronological order, so the last game made in the previous continuity is actually the second to play (I played Lufia 2 a few years ago). It’s supposed to be around 20 years after Maxim & co’s initial confrontation with the Sinistrals. This event is alluded to in Ruins of Lore’s intro but is barely ever brought up in the game; the only thing that places it is the presence of Dekar. This game is a sidestory and named as such in Japan, and it shows.
The plot has no bearing on the overall series; fair enough too, as it’s a different team to the one who made every other Lufia game. As a result it feels a little off, like it was made as a cash grab. A lot of elements are here: enemies, items, adventure aspects in the dungeons, a few songs. But it also tries several interesting new things, which is not a detriment in itself.
Any monster can potentially be captured and used as a party member; I never used them much because they replace a regular member, and why would I want that? The mechanics around using the monsters are very confusing, and were left largely untapped by me, but I didn’t feel the loss. It sometimes feels like party members are forced out in the early stages simply to leave you with an open spot to fill with these—boo!
Speaking of poorly explained things, again the plot. I had no idea what was going on half the time, we traipsed around half the world, seemingly happening upon magic stones that we then used at the end to get to some ill-defined magical realm to confront a vague threat. The cliche anime-style set-up of ten year olds passing a test to get a monster hunter’s license also put me off. Much of it was not in keeping with what I expected in a Lufia game, unfortunately.
Traversal is fairly unique, as each route between towns is a kind of dungeon in itself, and once completed becomes a fast travel location from the world map. Since you hop around so much it works well.
This game implements a job system to acquire skills. I picked one for each of the three who could get one (why not Bau?) and stuck with it for the whole game. So another mechanic that seemed unnecessary that I didn’t fully utilise. I had no trouble with difficulty by the way, except for the very final boss which takes a huge spike upwards. So there are some balance issues. Battles are also very slow and without my emulator’s turbo button (this game has never been released in my region, as with the first Lufia) I would have given up on the whole thing. Add on to this a clunky menu system and you can see how it approaches mediocrity.
Which is a shame, because there’s a fair bit to like. The areas, towns, and enemies have colour and character (despite a lack of recurring antagonist apart from the vague evil empire which you infiltrate no sweat). Dungeons are decent with each character having skills to help you through. It’s just that it doesn’t hang together so well.
All in all, I’d only recommend it if you have a turbo button. The Lufia-ness is about half of the game’s identity, with the other half being a range of other good and ill-formed ideas and tropes. It’s a decent RPG in its own right, but on a system overflowing with great ones like Golden Sun, the Final Fantasy remakes, and even Mother 3. Plus Dekar was a little underused, and they set him up with a young dancer girl! Quite a rude shock after the lovely relationship with Tia in Curse of the Sinistrals. Poor Dekar, he should get his own game that’s not this one.
Pikmin, low-detail pixel style!
Once again, it is difficult to represent smaller characters in this style. But I wanted to try, because the world of Pikmin is so much fun. I tried putting helmets on the captains, but believe me it really didn’t work.
Olimar, Louie, President of Hocotate Freight, Alph, Brittany, Charlie
Red Pikmin, Blue Pikmin, Yellow Pikmin, White Pikmin, Purple Pikmin, Bulbmin, Rock Pikmin, Winged Pikmin
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