Killer Pac-Man

Whoever created this monsterpiece probably had a fixation on both Pac-Man and Jaws.
Image downloaded from Tech Funked.

Pac-Man’s skull unearthed

Whoah! If Pac-Man had a skull, it’ll probably look like this. Kudos to the artist who came up with it.
Image downloaded from Pen Machine.

3D Pac-Man

This piece is pretty standard despite the impressive 3D rendering. I detest the way the artist portrayed our heroic yellow ball, though. Pac-Man looks like a meanie.
Image downloaded from Ville Saari’s website.

The most disturbing of ‘em all…

Finally, we arrive at the most disturbing image of Pac-Man in the form of Philippine pug Manny Pacquiao. Yeah, fans call him Pac-Man. I prefer to call him by his older and more credible alias, The Destroyer.
Image downloaded from Ang Sulong.

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Disturbing Pac-Man images

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The Goonies: Music video and video game

Actually, there’s not much to talk about as game features go. The only news concerning The Goonies is the fact that it has already celebrated its 20th anniversary and that a remake of the classic game is now available as shareware. More on this later. For now, let me share a bit of video game history.

There are two versions of The Goonies video game, one for the MSX and another for the Nintendo Family Computer. A sequel, The Goonies II (duh!) was released for the Famicom a few years later. It should be pointed out that these versions of the game had little to do with the movie, but it featured the same set of characters. Take the Fratellis, for example. They’re still the bad guys in the video games.

In The Goonies video game, however, the Fratellis have managed to kidnap all of the Goonies (except Mikey, our lead protagonist in the game) and hide them in hidden cages across a map of caverns, mazes and abandoned buildings. Mikey’s goal: to rescue all the Goonies and free a mermaid named Annie. Where Annie is in the movie, I know not.

If you’re more of a movie tie-in buff, then the Datasoft-produced Goonies may be the video game for you. This version of the video game, which features eight screens where a player has to use two members of the Goonies to solve puzzles and reach an exit to advance to the next stage, was released for 8-bit computers like the Commodore 64, the ZX Spectrum, the Amstrad CPC, the Atari, and the Apple II (I played the game on this archaic machine). Unlike its MSX and Famicom counterpart, this version made use of designs from the actual sets and the puzzles seen in the movie.

Sigh. Those were the days. Hey, if you’re looking for a rush, why don’t you try the remake of the video game by Brain Games. The remake was made for the 2006 competition organized by Retro Remakes. Take a gander at these screenshots:

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The Goonies: 8-bit gaming goodness

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Diablo videos: Because we can’t wait for III to come out

For now, though, let me focus on Diablo and its expansion Hellfire. These two are probably two of the most played games on my old Pentium 200MMX. Yeah, not Pentium 4, not even 3 or 2, but just plain Pentium, and I owned two of them back in the late 1990s to early 2000s. Why Diablo? Well, for starters, it’s the only game, aside from Dungeon Keeper that is, the runs on the bucket of bolts. Fortunately, it was enough to keep me busy during boring nights without my stalkers bothering me on the telephone.

Anyway, I found out soon after installing it on the, yes, Pentium 200MMX that the game was short. So I got a copy of Hellfire and slapped it on Diablo. I don’t remember much from the time I spent, however long it may have been, playing Diablo: Hellfire except the fact that I loved wearing cow armor.

Cow armor? Yeah, it’s called the Bovine Plate and it was the best (at least for me) armor available back then. Consider the following stats: Armor Class 150, Indestructible, +50% Light Radius, Resist All +30%, and -5 Damage from Enemies. It’s only drawback is the reduction of spell level by 1. Sigh. Those were the days.

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Diablo III: And the heavens shall tremble

Take, for example, this video series, dubbed Stupid Mario Brothers, by Rich Alvarez. They portray Mario and Luigi in the worst light possible. Here’s the pilot episode:

It actually gets worse, and the series is on its second season! Some people actually like the series. Too bad I can’t see the humor in it.

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Stupid Mario Brothers? Fanfic makes them look more stupid

Do you think you know more about the game than anyone else? Take the test either in html format or in flash animation.

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Take the quiz on Super Mario Brothers

I’ve only played Star Fox a few times in the past, but if I had a guide like this back then, I’d probably finish it, too … in a few days … or maybe a few months. Haha!

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Speed Run: Star Fox in less than 20 minutes

Yeah, my sentiments exactly—that is, if I belong to the generation of basketball fans (especially of the National Basketball Association) that only knows Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant, and Yao Ming. But I belong to the previous generation of basketball fans that idolizes Julius Erving, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Michael Jordan.

Wait a minute … Larry Bird is on that list, but where’s this Dr. J? My, my, you’re really not a basketball fan. Hehe.

This post, however, is not about basketball, per se. It’s actually about an old game I’ve dug up called Dr. J and Larry Bird Go One on One, a 1983 computer basketball game for the early generation of home computers developed by Eric Hammond and published by Electronic Arts.

Yes, I played the game (on the Apple IIc) and, if I remember correctly, I sucked at it. Between the two, however, I preferred to play Larry Bird, who is more of an on-top-of-the-key kind of guy, meaning he shoots very well from the outside. I hated having had to dribble the ball to the basket, thus my dislike for the high-flying, slam-dunking Julius “Dr. J” Erving (his computer likeness, that is). It took too much effort to get near the basket just to gain a point—and the computer-controlled Larry Bird has fast hands that almost always swipes the ball before you even begin your drive to the hoop.

My favorite feature of the game was not the players but the breakable backboard. Yes, you could shatter the virtual fiberglass backboard by having your character, either Dr. J or Larry Bird, do a hangtime on the hoop (Dr. J looks better hanging up there. Sorry, Larry). What happens when the backboard shatters? Well, a robotic janitor comes out to clean up after the big boys. Pooh.

Check out the video below if you want to learn more about Julius Erving:

Image features title page of Dr. J and Larry Bird Go One on One, copyright Eric Hammond and Electronic Arts.

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One on One Basketball: Dr. J and Larry Bird?

So far I’ve watched three videos, two of which show Worlds 1-1 and 2-1. The last video features the King Koopa stage. Well, let me shut up and let you watch the videos for yourselves.

Amazing, eh? The fusion of genres. Now, it’s only a matter of time before the Lego series of games, which include Star Wars, adopt Mario and Luigi.

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More Mario videos #2: Super Lego Mario