Good morning!
Yes, I was up at 3 am, and while doing my makeup, I was watching a video on the history of my favorite racing game of all time. I'm not talking about Mario Kart, I am talking about Diddy Kong Racing! I learned a few interesting things that stunned me! One of them? THERE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A DONKEY KONG RACING SEQUEL ON THE GAME CUBE!
Say....WHAT?
Known playable characters in Donkey Kong Racing included Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Tiny Kong, Kiddie Kong, and Taj the Genie from the trailer; plus Crankey Kong and Lanky Kong (which were shown in an internal render for the game). It is rumored that some of the original cast from Diddy Kong Racing could have returned as Taj was a playable character in the game.
The world of Donkey Kong Racing was going to include jungles, plains, and seas that were going to be stitched together into one seamless overworld. The tracks and scenery are blurred so much, "It was up to you to decide where the track met amidst marauding rhinos, schools of darting piranha, swarms of agitated wasps and other roaming wildlife bent on mischief."[1] Donkey Kong Racing was going to have a lot of realistic features, like fading sunlight and swaying trees. The game was also going to have Dolby Surround Sound, even to go as far as to put together an orchestrated soundtrack.
One of the main differences from Donkey Kong Racing to Diddy Kong Racing was that instead of riding in various vehicles, the player would be riding on the backs of different animals from the Donkey Kong Country series. The animals that could be ridden on include Rambi (Rhinos), Enguarde (Swordfishes), Ellie (Elephants), and Zingers (Wasps). Expresso (Ostriches), Chomps (Sharks), Flitter (Dragonflies), Glimmer (Anglerfishes), Necky (Vultures), and Army (Armadillos) was shown in the trailer, which could mean those animals could also be ridden in-game. Each animal would have a different size and color, with special abilities according to how big the animal was. Bigger animals could destroy objects, while smaller animals could maneuver around obstacles easier The player could also be knocked down from their animal, in which they would have to do a "Track and Field" inspired button-mashing activity to get back on said animal.[2]
When competing in races, the player could pick up fruits and prizes for their specific animal. Giving the user's animals enough could make them become "true thoroughbreds." In other words, the user can collect fruits to upgrade the user's animal to max potential.
There was going to be a multiplayer mode in the game. Up to 4 people would be able to play at a given time.
Donkey Kong Racing made its first (and only) appearance at E3 2001, where a teaser trailer for the game was shown off and said to be released somewhere in 2002. The game was anticipated to be shown at Space World 2001 or ETS 2001, but that unfortunately never happened. During that time, Rare Ltd. was not getting enough money from Nintendo to fund any of its projects. Knowing this, Tim and Chris Stamper (the heads of Rare Ltd. at the time) went to Nintendo to offer the rest of their company, but surprisingly, Nintendo refused their offer. Tim and Chris Stamper went looking for a buyer until 2002 when Microsoft beat out Activision and bought them for $375 million.
And it is a damn shame. I never understood why Nintendo didn't want to purchase Rare. And that game sounded like it would be SO different from anything that was released (and has been released honestly!). Diddy Kong Racing was such an innovation in the racing world. It pushed things further with the adventure mode, the 3 different racing types, etc. Man, I wish DK Racing was never cancelled... here's the trailer from 2001!
New pinball from Stern? THE FOO FIGHTERS! Damn, it looks SWEEEET! A mix of Attack from Mars and a band pin! Love the art. Love the cool gadgets.
Do you like the Foo Fighters?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVO79kAxvb4
By now, you all know my obsession with twin stick games. What if I tell you that I found a modern game with a retro look? Bring on the new exciting features of the 21st century with a good old look of the 80s Robotron: it's called Satryn!
Satryn is crazy. Much like other classic small-arena shooters it starts off slow, gradually introducing you to more varied enemy types. Some wander around, some fire at you, some constantly spawn new enemies and so on - it gets seriously action packed and becomes completely over the top eventually. You also need to try and collect little blue friends floating around too, and they increase your score multiplier.
There's a LOT to love about Satryn. It's a real challenge too, as you end up getting completely swarmed by enemies. It reminds me a lot of Robotron, but 10 times better!
12 fearsome baddies (not cuddly)
9 power-ups that will make you smile and say “i’m having fun”
5 hazards that add to the chaotic nature of this strange place
The love of your friends makes you stronger
Satryn was made with the free and open source Godot Engine. So you can get the game for a small donation (you will find it online), or buy it for Steam for $5. This will bring you a LOT of fun for a few bucks! Oh and it was free not long ago on the iiRcade as well!
Well, I hope you enjoy some gameplay...because here it is :) Have a wonderful day!!!
ps: Yes, I was able to program this as a two arcade sticks game on my arcade, but you can also play with an Xbox controller on PC or even a keyboard :)
What do a pizza delivery man and a gynecologist have in common? They both get close enough to smell the goods, but if they eat it they'll be in trouble.
My boss was honest with me today. He pulled up to work with his sweet new car this morning and I complimented him on it. He replied, "Well, if you work hard, set goals, stay determined and put in long hours, I can get an even better one next year."
Do you like your boss? lol
What is the worst combination of illnesses?
Alzheimer’s and diarrhea. You’re running but can’t remember where.
LOL good morning! Wishing you all a beautiful Friday <3
At this same arcade, I was also able to try the King Kong VR experience. This is a 45K machine!!!! Motion seat, fan for the wind and a VR helmet. I had never used a VR helmet before, and I really enjoyed it for the "thrill" as a first timer. It was grandiose. The effects were nice and it was fun to hit things with my hands lol! But it wasn't really hard, and I wouldn't have fun doing it over and over again (unlike Pinball). It's a nice thing to try...and the motion seat is a nice bonus....! And I do like King Kong so seeing him in VR was quite something.
Have you ever tried VR games?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olwXY3z9llc
I was out of town for medical and personal reasons yesterday, and I was a bit down at night. I found an arcade close to my hotel room, and thought "why the hell not". HOLY SCHNITZEL! It was one of the newest and most modern arcades I've seen in forever. They had this amazing Stern Pinball lineups:
Avenges
Led Zeppelin
Iron Maiden
Godzilla Premium
The new James Bond 007 Premium
Jurassic Park Pro
Mandalorian
Deadpool
I've played 5 of them. James Bond is quite something, but the shots are HARD. I feel like a novice player wouldn't have much fun. Owning it? You get better, and you can get more out of the game. Some of those lanes/ramps were so hard to get. I did get the multi ball twice (yay!)...and the music is top notch. Oh and what about that car gadget with the ball popping out? Damn!
My favorite remained Godzilla premium. The building gadget, the MechaGodzilla...the magnetic Newtown ball? And the flow of this game is just beyond amazing. Any type of player can have fun...and seeing the building crash for multi ball is beyond cool!
Iron Maiden? Loved the music, hated the flow. Jurassic Park was cool. Deadpool? It's popular, but couldn't get into it!
Anyhow, it was fun playing some pinball to think about something else. Hope you are having a wonderful Thursday <3
Here are the features of the Bond pinball machine I've played...!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cY4FjkH3L4s
ps: Do you like James Bond?
From all those epic movie franchises/series, I've only watched EVERY SINGLE movie of ONE franchise. The other 4? I didn't even watch ONE of their movies!
Can you find which one of these ever got my interest?
What are your plans for the weekend? Among everyone commenting, I'll draw one winner who wins 2 XXX videos for free! One for each day of the weekend ;)
If you've been following my love for arcade recently, you know that I LOVE those twin sticks games (using two arcade sticks at the same time!). Stop thinking about me handling two dicks for a second (even if we all know that half of you are doing it as we speak)
So...I came across Xeno Crisis. Think of Smash TV but in 2023. Actually, this game was released in 2019 by Bitmap Bureau. I believe this was their first game release and OMFG did they hit a home run with that one.
It is SO MUCH FUN. They tried to make it look like an old game, but it has the fluidity and fun items of a modern games. The game was fully funded on Kickstarter on January 10, 2018, with a release on October 28, 2019. Believe it or not, they made it for the Mega Drive! YES a game for Mega Drive in 2019!
If you don't have one, don't you worry. There are some releases on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows, macOS, Linux, Sega Dreamcast, Evercade, and Neo Geo.
On my end, I've set it up on my 4 player arcade cabinet. This way I can use two joysticks (one to move, one to shoot) and 2 buttons (one to roll and one to throw bombs). It's not the easiest game, but it's a good challenge. It's also relatively cheap, so if you like run and gun games...I highly suggest to grab that one. It's also on Steam!
Here's some gameplay! Hope you will enjoy it as much as I did :)
Toodles!
Yeah. This isn't an image related to Harley Quinn. But I'm blonde, so is she...and I look good on this. So I thought, why not? LOL
Watched Birds of Prey last night. Really enjoyed it. Thinking of watching Suicide Squad (the 2016 one) tonight. And if I like it, I'll try to watch the HBO max animated series Harley Quinn. I've seen that the first episode is available on Youtube...so I'm guessing if everything goes to plan, some Harley Quinn cosplay should happen in a nearby future ;)
Anyhow, I'm talking too much! Just hoping you are all having a marvellous Thursday <3
Never really been into the Harley Quinn universe. Not because I don't like her...simply because I never took time to explore it. Should I?
Thinking of watching Birds of Prey movie tonight and to order a used copy of Rebirth Harley Queen comic volume 1 (deluxe edition).
Any suggestions on what else I should watch / read? Please, feel free to comment :)
She fucks a red hair with big tits, she has some killer lines and she's blonde and a tad (okay, a lot) crazy. I need to get more into this universe ASAP! LOL
Finally was able to set up the new emulation of Tomb Raider on my arcade WITH jolt light guns! It's amazing! Quite recent too (from 2019!)
It's art time now... and I need help to decide which version of the Marquees would look the best? Thoughts? ***Among all the voters, I'll draw one lucky winner who will get a special XXX treat :)***
Needed a few days to mentally recover and take care of a few personal matters. Sorry if I've been more quiet the last 72 hours. I feel MUCH better. Some close me know how tough these last few days have been, and it's in those moments that I want to reiterate how greatly I appreciate your friendship <3 Wishing you all a marvellous weekend xxx
My top-3 best comics I've read recently.
Simpsons/Futurama crossover. This is quite old, and I had seen the TV episodes, but never read the comic. There's a new-ish compendium regrouping all the stories / parts. A must read for any Futurama and Simpsons fan. Futurama comics are hard to find in the wild now (Simpsons are more available with a bunch of reprints). Highly recommend.
iZombie. You might have heard of the TV show. I LOVED that show. Watched every episode of it. Well, the comic has nothing to do with it LOL! Other than the concept of eating brains and getting the memories of the deceased person....this is the only similarity between both. I prefer the TV show (probably because I've watched it first), but I do enjoy the comic. Nice way to get back in this kind of universe.
Godzilla: Cataclysm. Never read any Godzilla comics before. Someone suggested this one. And I love the artwork and the story. Apparently, not all Godzilla comics are good, but I'm glad I started with that one.
Have you read any of those? Any suggestions for my next discovery?
I know that I am late to the party, but finally watched Godzilla vs. Kong yesterday. I LOVED it. Great fighting scenes. And love the cast. Wish it was above 2 hours. It feels like we could have had a bit more depth in some non fighting scenes. But it is what it is. We don't see long movies as much anymore. Heck, 113 minutes is already a lot in todays cinematic world!
I won't give any spoilers since not everyone might have seen it. But how do you like the Godzilla franchise?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odM92ap8_c0
I think that Major Havoc had a MUCH better graphic artist. Love that marquee / art released in 1983. God, 40 years ago!
If you've never played it, it consists of several smaller game experiences played in succession, including a fixed shooter, platform game, and a lunar lander sequence. Love the diversity!
Yes, it's old, it's mostly linear graphics...but I love how simple and entertaining such games can be. You know me, I'm obsessed with Robotron 2084. I like games like Tron. I'm a simple gal who doesn't need crazy graphics to have some fun. Not that I don't enjoy them in newer games, I just don't NEED them!
I personally play with the trackball which was the dedicated cabinet version of the game. But a year later, Atari released a conversion kit for Tempest cabs, so you can find some arcades playing it with the spinner of Tempest. I don't have a spinner on my cab...so, trackball it is!
Took a break from the SNES marquees (god, there are so many. Over a thousand!) and went back to the Arcade ones. God, this has to be one of the ugliest marquees in the arcades LOL!
It's a shame as it's a pretty fun game. Gameplay has often been compared to later Taito platform games, such as Bubble Bobble (1986) and The NewZealand Story (1987). It was released in 85.
Still, not sure who was hired for that Marquee, but I hope he got fired after LOL!
