Print-N-Pixel Batman NES: Recommended Reading
Is the pixelated and physic defying world of video games a perfect playground for the over-the-top characters found in comic books? There is only one way to find out:
What is Print-N-Pixel?
Print-N-Pixel is an in depth Group look at Comic Books In Video Games. Print-N-Pixel is more than just playing comic book related video games, its also a “book club,” a month long video game AND comic book club.
Even if you don’t play video games and you only read comic, or vise versa, stick around and participate in the discussion of either the game or the comics. And if you missed the introduction to Print-N-Pixel you can find it here.
Recommended Reading
The last installment of Print-N-Pixel introduced Sunsoft’s Batman for the NES as the featured game and recommended a couple comics to read. This week we will be looking at the characters featured in both the game and the comics. We will also take an look at, and hopefully discuss, the Batman stories tsuggested last week.
For more about the history and how to play the game check out the first installment of “Print-N-Pixel: Batman NES.”
Characters
Characters in the Game:
- Good Guys: Batman.
- Bad Guys: Killer Moth, Electrocutioner, Maxie Zeus, Firebug, Shakedown, Heatwave, K.G.Beast, Deadshot, and the Joker
Characters in the Comic:
- Good Guys: Batman, James Gordon, Renee Montoya, Crispus Allen, Michael Akins, Oracle
- Bad Guys: Killer Moth, Two-Face, Mad Hatter, Scarecrow, Riddler, Charlatan, and the Joker
Recommended Reading: Introduction
I have to admit, when I decided to feature Sunsoft’s Batman, I was more excited about playing the game than reading the comics. I read Batman comics on a weekly basis and feel like he and his rouge gallery are part of my extended, and fictional, family. Not wanting to write about one of the already popular Batman vs Joker stories, I decided to focus on some of the other villains featured in the game. After rereading some of the single issues with Firebug, Heatwave, and Maxie Zeus, I could not find any that I really thought worth of discussion, until I remembered (with the help of the DC Database) Ed Brubaker’s “Dead Reckoning” story.
Published in Detective Comics at the same time that “Hush” was being told in Batman’s self titled book, this overshadowed story is one of my favorite Batman tales and one I prefer over Hush. This story may not be the first one to come to mind that coincides with the Batman video game since the only character I remembered being in common with the game was the Joker, but I was wrong. The whole storyline is set up by Killer Moth who just happens to be the video game’s first level’s boss and the one most players of the game are familiar with. Killer Moth introduces the featured villain, sets in motion the creation of the villain (all of Batman’s rouges have tragic origin stories,) and is the first targeted victim at the beginning of the story.
Recommended Reading: Review
“Dead Reckoning” - Detective Comics #777-#782
Dead Reckoning begins with a small time crook named Lenny being released from Arkham, only to be found dead a few days later wearing Killer Moth’s costume.The only clue left at the scene of the death was a double sided coin full of scratches similar, but definitely not, Two-Face’s signature coin.
The only witness for Killer Moth’s imposter’s murder was one Charlie Tann; an older man living in the building where Moth was killed. After some interrogation of the dead man’s associates, Batman learns that an older man named Charlie wanted to hire Killer Moth, and since Lenny knew where Moth kept his costumes he decided to cash in and take the job and impersonate Moth. Little did Lenny know that Charlie Tann didn’t want to hire Killer Moth, instead he wanted revenge.
After finding out about the death of Killer Moth and the imitation “Two-Face coin” found at the crime scene, the Gotham Underground begins to get restless. Especially restless is the Penguin, who receives a double sided and scared coin in the mail.
Retired Police Commissioner, Jim Gordon is the second target of Gotham’s newest villain. During the attack on Gordon, the former commissioner fights back noticing that the attacker was wearing a prosthetic or some kind of mask to hide his true identity. Like the previous attack a double sided and scared coin was left at the scene of the crime.
Batman decides to pay Harvey Dent a visit in Arkham Asylum, since this new villain is somehow connected to Two-Face. Two-Face reflects on a “job” that the Joker, Penguin, Riddler, Mad Hatter, Scarecrow, and Killer Moth were planning eight years ago and how he declined the offer to “team-up” with the other villains. Two-Face then flips his coin and decides not to share his recollection or any information at all to the Caped Crusader.
The Penguin scared by the coin he received in the mail decided to hide, only risking going out in public once, but one time was enough for the new villain to attack. The Penguin risks his life to visit a nursing home and on his way back he is attacked and left for dead with the coin in his hand.
The Penguin thought the ghost of an actor named Paul Sloane was causing all of the ruckus involving the fake “Two-Face” coins. The Penguin decided to rid himself of the “ghost” by visiting a retired “Spiritual Detective.” But to his surprise, the haunting was real but the ghost wasn’t. It seems as if Paul Sloane was not dead like the Penguin thought.
Now that he had a lead to who Gotham’s newest villain was, Batman decided to interview the actor’s widow. Sloane’s widow tells about her husband’s addiction to perfecting any role that he played. She told how the actor would want to be in perfect character for every performance, and that he sometimes took it too far by fully believing that he was really that character. This obsession ended eight years ago when he disappeared while working on an “opportunity that he couldn’t pass up.” His widow could only imagine that whatever caused her husband to go missing was “something truly unique, to have attracted Paul the way it did.”
Back at Arkham, the Mad Hatter notices something odd in his dinner – a double sided scratched coin. Almost immediately he realizes that he had been poisoned, and is rushed to the hospital. With members of the “villain team-up” dropping like flies, the Riddler beefs up his security. Even with bigger guns and more men, Batman pays the Riddler a visit to find out more about the fall of Paul Sloane.
The Riddler confesses that the group of villains didn’t think they could pull off the “job” eight years ago without Two-Face’s involvement. So they hired Sloane to act as, or impersonate, Two-Face. According to the Riddler Sloane was dead before they ever attempted the “job,” which was to kill Batman.
Since hiring Sloane to impersonate Two-Face was the Joker’s idea, Batman pays the Clown Prince of Crime a visit. The Joker confirms the Riddler’s story and tells how Sloane didn’t just want to impersonate Two-Face, but instead he “had” to become him. To make sure that he was in character, Sloane’s obsession caused him to try pulling off a heist as Two-Face. Like most crimes committed by Two-Face, Sloane’s crime was publicly thwarted by Batman. The real Two-Face didn’t like the bad press created by Sloane’s failure and wanted revenge on the imposter.
Once Two-Face caught up to Paul Sloane he tortured him for two days “slicing his face to pieces” so that Sloane could really “feel” what it was like to be him. Annoyed by his fellow criminals attempt to impersonate him, Two-Face dropped off the lifeless body of Sloane at the villain’s hideout. Scarecrow pronounced Sloane dead and had his body delivered to his personal lab.
The Joker reveals that not only was hiring Sloane his idea, so was tipping Batman off about Sloane’s crime. The Joker realized that the team-up of that many villains would never work, so he decided that it would be more fun to mess with Sloane’s mind and turn him into a monster.
Batman realizes that the only member of the villain “team-up” that had not yet been attacked by Sloane was the man who pronounced him dead – the Scarecrow. Upon being interrogated, the Scarecrow admits that Sloane was not dead when Two-Face dropped him off at the hideout. The Scarecrow saw the near dead man as an opportunity to conduct some experiments of his own. With “willing test subjects” hard to find, the Scarecrow used Sloane to help him isolate the chemical receptor in the brain that controlled fear. The painful experiment was a failure, but Sloane survived. Yet his ability to fear did not. After Sloane escaped, Dr. Crane now feared his creation that could not, and did not, fear anything anymore.
The Scarecrow told Batman that Paul Sloane wanted revenge and to finish what he started eight years ago. Batman tracked both Sloane and Two-Face to an abandoned factory where the two men were having a standoff with pistols pointing at each other. Batman disarms both men only to have Sloane change his focus from Two-Face to the Caped Crusader. Sloane takes a couple shot at Batman stating that he was originally hired to kill Batman, and that he has been in character for 8 years in preparation to finish the job.
Two-Face flips his lucky coin and decides to flee instead of fighting leaving Sloane to take on Batman by himself. Batman takes care of Sloane in just a few panels and delivers him to Arkham Asylum. With the job still undone, Sloane remains in the character he spent eight years creating that will one day kill the Batman – the Charlatan.
Recommended Reading: Conclusion
To me, this is the ultimate Batman story. It’s a story where the villain has just as powerful of an origin and motive as the hero, making the reader care for him as much as the hero.
One of the draws to the Batman universe is the fact that all of the characters are created out of emotion and exaggerated flaws we all have. The Charlatan, Paul Sloane, is a perfectionist who felt he had to go all out to be successful even if that meant truly becoming an evil entity powerful enough to rival the Batman.
Add that characterization with thrilling detective style story and you have a perfect “Batman vs” story.
What is your favorite Batman vs ____ (insert villain team-up) story?
Share it in the forums.
This week’s SpaceBooger Achievements
SpaceBooger Achievements are earned by playing the featured game, and also for comic book related tasks such as reading and obtaining recommended comics. SpaceBooger Achievements can be earned for any game or comic at any time, but I encourage all participants to attempt to earn the achievements when they are posted.
This week’s SpaceBooger Achievements are:
“Recommendation”
Suggest other comics that may be relevant to enjoying this feature. (Medium)
“Another Castle”
Short for “I’m sorry, the Princess is in another castle.”
Beat the Game using cheats, continues, or extra credits. (Medium)
“1-1″
Defeat One Level with One Quarter or No Continues. (Easy)
“1-2″
Defeat Two Levels with One Quarter or No Continues. (Medium)
Past Achievements:
“Member” – Become a member of the SpaceBooger.com forums. (Easy)
“Input” – Suggest a game and/or comics for upcoming Print In Pixel features. (Easy)
“Press Start” – Play the featured game at least once during the time it is featured. (Easy)
“Hard Copy” – Obtain and play an Original Hard Copy of the game. (Hard)
“Comic Book” – Read one or more of the “Recommended Reading” books. (Medium)
“Comic Collector” – Obtain a Hard Copy of one or more of the “Recommended Reading” books. (Hard)
Remember to leave a comment letting me know what achievements you earned along with posting them here in the forums.
Next on Print-N-Pixel:
- An in-depth look at the levels in the game.
- My review of the game.
- And the final wave of “SpaceBooger Achievements” for this game.
Looking for the newest installment of Print-N-Pixel?
You will have to wait until next week.
After successfully completing the first round of Print-N-Pixel, X-Men the arcade game, I have decided to update Print-N-Pixel every two weeks. Updating every other week gives everyone more time to suggest, read, and discuss comic books related to the featured game AND more time to play the featured game!
So dust off your long boxes and start reading, suggesting, and discussing some Batman comics that feature Killer Moth, Electrocutioner, Maxie Zeus, Firebug, Shakedown, Heatwave, K.G.Beast, Deadshot, and/or the Joker before I review Batman: Dead Reckoning from Detective Comics 777, 778, 779, 780, 781, and 782 next week.
If you have not yet read the introduction to “Print-N-Pixel: Batman NES” you should along with discussing the game in the forums.
Click here to find out more about past games
and comics featured in Print-N-Pixel.
Print-N-Pixel: Batman NES Intro
Is the pixelated and physic defying world of video games a perfect playground for the over-the-top characters found in comic books? There is only one way to find out:
What is Print-N-Pixel?
Print-N-Pixel is an in depth Group look at Comic Books In Video Games. Print-N-Pixel is more than just playing comic book related video games, its also a “book club,” a month long video game AND comic book club.
Even if you don’t play video games and you only read comic, or vise versa, stick around and participate in the discussion of either the game or the comics. And if you missed the introduction to Print-N-Pixel you can find it here.
Batman NES
Everywhere you turned in June and July of 1989 there was Batman and I was stuck in summer school, taking gym class. For some reason my parents thought having a study hall as a freshman was more important than my summer freedom, but it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. With the release of Tim Burton’s Batman, and myself being a self proclaimed expert on the Caped Crusader, it was real easy to make friends with my new classmates which, in turn, made the transition into high school almost seamless.
During the downtime at summer school, everyone was talking about Michael Keaton and Jack Nicholson as Batman and the Joker. As the little shy freshman, it was easy to break the ice with my peers and even the upperclassmen by being the “go to” resource on Batman. Needless to say, I saw Tim Burton’s Batman movie seven times that summer, not because I was a comic geek, but because I went to see the movie with the many new friends I made. I continued to hang out with one of the friends that I made from summer school throughout the school year and our discussions moved from Batman to video games. As video game connoisseurs, we wanted to play and beat every new and upcoming NES game, and no game was more desired by me than Sunsoft’s Batman game. In the spring of 1990, my friend and I decided that for the Easter holiday that he was going to ask for Super Mario Brothers 3 and I was going to ask for the Batman game and then we were going to swap them out after we both beat our game… the problem was that I never beat Batman… until recently.
History of the Game
Based on Tim Burton’s 1989 masterpiece Batman the movie, Sunsoft released Batman the Video Game for the Nintendo Entertainment System in the fall of 1989. The game itself was a phenomenal action platformer that would have been just as awesome featuring any character. In the game, Batman walked and jumped from platform to platform through various locations, throwing KO punches and projectiles at enemies. The controls were tight, the levels were challenging, and the music was awesome, making this one of my favorite games ever.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Batman for the NES was one of those games that was more a “video game” than a “comic book licensed video game,” meaning quite simply that it didn’t suck. Most comic book licensed games were crap games counting on the popularity of a character or franchise instead of solid gameplay to boost sales, and because of the movie, Batman was the hottest property on the planet in 1989. There seemed to be a downside to the game though. Even though it was an almost perfect platforming experience, the game had little to do with the movie other than Batman, the Joker, and the cut scenes. This left some comic book fans disappointed in the game.
I, on the other hand, respected both a good video game and the Batman comics. So after reading the manual for the game and noticing that many of Batman’s rouge gallery was sprinkled throughout the game, I am able to consiously say that this game has a lot of ties to the Batman comics more than the movie.
Recommended Reading
With enemies like Killer Moth, Electrocutioner, Firebug, Shakedown, Heatwave, K.G.Beast, Deadshot, and the Joker featured in the video game, the list of recommended reading could get quite lengthy. Here are a couple comics I recommend reading that revolve around Killer Moth and feature some other characters from the video game:
Batman: Dead Reckoning
Detective Comics 777, 778, 779, 780, 781, and 782
The recommended reading to coincide with Batman the NES game is titled Dead Reckoning by Ed Brubaker and Tommy Castillo from Detective Comics #777-#782. The beginning of this story revolves around the game’s first boss character – Killer Moth. The story may not feature Killer Moth as the main villain, but like in the video game, Killer Moth lays the foundation for elaborate well crafted story.
This is just a list of comics that I plan on reading and reviewing as of now. If you think of any comics that feature any of the characters from the game that you recommend, let us know in the forums.
Game Play
Batman for the NES plays like a standard platformer. Batman starts each of the five levels out moving from left to right with the ability to punch, jump, fire projectiles, and “wall jump.”
To control Batman through the five levels use:
- “Left & Right” move left and right,
- press “Down” to duck,
- B button to punch (or use a selected weapon),
- A button to jump (press the A button again after jumping on a wall to perform a “wall jump”),
- the Start button to switch weapons,
- and the Select button pauses the game.
How To Play
I still have my original Batman game, so I will be playing the game on the original NES. If you still have a Nintendo Entertainment System I would recommend playing the game on the original hardware, and if you need a copy of the game they can be found pretty cheap (as of the time this article was written) at Amazon.com for under $10 shipped.
If you do not have a NES or a copy of the featured game, the NES is pretty easily emulated, and my NES emulator of choice is Nestopia. I like Nestopia because it is compatible with just about every NES game and any PC gamepad and you can import cheat codes from an .xml file. Once you have an emulator running you will need to locate the game ROM. Please don’t ask me where to find the ROM for this or any other game, instead use google to search for the “Batman NES ROM”.
For those of you who are new to emulation, here is a quick guide to emulating the NES:
- Download Nestopia – http://nestopia.sourceforge.net/
- Unzip the using either Winrar or 7zip
- I would create a “roms” folder inside the newly created Nestopia directory, then place the game ROM in that folder.
- Open nestopia.exe
- Go to the File in the menu bar and “open” the rom folder and double click the name of the game to play.
Nestopia is setup to be used with a keyboard, but if you have a gamepad or a Xbox 360 controller I recommend configuring and using that using that instead. If you don’t have a gamepad, here are the default keyboard controls:
- The arrow keys are used to move and represent the NES’ directional pad.
- “Enter” is the Start button
- “Right Shift” is the Select button
- “,” is Button B
- “.” is Button A
If you have an Xbox360 controller or other gamepad in the “Options” menu under “Input” is where you can redefine the controls.
If you are having trouble beating the game and want a little “help,” Nestopia supports “cheat codes.” You can download and install every cheat code for almost every NES game into the “cheats” folder from Mighty Mo’s World.
If you have any problems with the emulator check out the Emulation thread in the forums.
This week’s SpaceBooger Achievements
SpaceBooger Achievements are earned by playing the featured game, and also for comic book related tasks such as reading and obtaining recommended comics. SpaceBooger Achievements can be earned for any game or comic at any time, but I encourage all participants to attempt to earn the achievements when they are posted.
This week’s SpaceBooger Achievements are:
“Press Start”
Play the featured game at least once during the time it is featured. (Easy)
“Hard Copy”
Obtain and play an Original Hard Copy of the game. (Hard)
“Comic Book”
Read one or more of the “Recommended Reading” books. (Medium)
“Comic Collector”
Obtain a Hard Copy of one or more of the “Recommended Reading” books. (Hard)
Past Achievements:
“Member” – Become a member of the SpaceBooger.com forums. (Easy)
“Input” – Suggest a game and/or comics for upcoming Print In Pixel features. (Easy)
Remember to leave a comment letting me know what achievements you earned by using the “Comment” link at the bottom right of this post, along with posting them here in the forums.
Next on Print-N-Pixel:
- An in-depth look at the characters in the game and the comics.
- A look at the recommended reading from week one.
- And the second wave of “SpaceBooger Achievements!”
Print-N-Pixel’s Next Featured Game
February 25, 2010
Boot up your game consoles, dig through your long boxes of comics and prepare to reread classic comics and replay comic based games with Print-N-Pixel. Find out more here.
Print-N-Pixel: X-Men the Arcade Game – Part 4
Is the pixelated and physic defying world of video games a perfect playground for the over-the-top characters found in comic books? There is only one way to find out:
What is Print-N-Pixel?
Print-N-Pixel is an in depth Group look at Comic Books In Video Games. Print-N-Pixel is more than just playing comic book related video games, its also a “book club,” a month long video game AND comic book club.
Even if you don’t play video games and you only read comic, or vise versa, stick around and participate in thediscussion of either the game or the comics. And if you missed the introduction to Print-N-Pixel you can find it here.
Part 4: X-Men the Arcade Game Around The Internet
With the game played and related comics discussed, it’s time to let the Internet write the conclusion to the first game featured in Print-N-Pixel: X-Men the Arcade Game.
The first time I saw the cabinet for X-Men, my jaw dropped. It was enormous! Easily, this game was twice as big as your typical cabinet. And it had two monitors, too! Six, count ‘em, SIX joysticks on the control panel. It was arcade heaven. My friend and I played all our quarters out, right then and there. The gameplay was fantastic: a marriage of Double Dragon and the X-Men comics, cranked up to 11.
http://www.co-optimus.com/article/196/Co-Op_Classics__X-Men__The_Arcade_Game.html
Another thing that was awesome was the graphics. It was 1992 and we had just barely gotten our minds wrapped around Super Nintendo, so even for an arcade game, X-Men had and incredibly slick, vibrant look plus wicked G.I. Joe-quality animation sequences. But as killer as the graphics were, the sound was even better, as the boom of this game echoed through the arcade, which rocked since it was ridiculously quotable, whether the Blob was insisting “Nothing stops…the Blob!” or Wendigo was screeching his name time and again as you beat the white fur off him.
http://thecoolkidztable.blogspot.com/2009/09/remember-x-men-arcade-game.html
I know at least one person that will disagree with me on this, but I really enjoyed the audio on X-Men Arcade. Like I mentioned in my description of the attract mode’s intro, I was really disappointed if a particular X-Men machine had the sound turned down low of muted completely. I really felt that the music and sound effects were crucial to really enjoying the game and getting into the action.
http://www.racketboy.com/retro/arcade/2007/09/review-xmen-arcade-6-player-beatemup-bliss.html
And unlike other multiplayer games in which it’s not only possible to make the journey alone, but preferable, as you don’t have to compete with another player for bonus items or worry about him/her fudging up your combos, you really f***ing needed the help in X-Men, given that the game saw our mutant heroes beseiged by insane amounts of enemies at once.
While everyone wanted to be Wolverine, conventional wisdom had it that Colossus and Nightcrawler both had the best special attack. Cyclops was pretty good as well, but then you’d be playing as Cyclops, and you couldn’t have that. Even on the cartoon Cyclops was the X-man who just came across as smug. Seriously, who likes that guy? The movie doesn’t help, he looks and acts like the guy who beat you up in middle-school. Maybe that’s why everyone likes Wolverine, he’s the guy that always gets all up in Cyclops’ business.
[At the end of the game] You move into what looks like the next room and Magneto pops out of the wall saying, “I am Magneto, Master of magnet!” Aside from the poor translation, I would have thought the X-Men would have caught on to that by that point after all, his name incorporates the word magnet. I could only imagine Wolverine asking, “What’s this Magneto guy do?” and Cyclops responding, “I think he has power over bunnies or something.” The version of Magneto that you fight is one of the best Magnetos ever, when best means awesome in a corny way. He will kick you with his magnet powered kick boots, and shoot you with magnet rays a lot like King Ghidorah, all the while taunting you with things like, “X-Chicken!”
Bonus Content:
The Best X-Men the Arcade Game Related Link: The X-Men Guide To Unlocking Your Financial Mutant Powers
Man vs Debt wrote an interesting article relating all of the characters from the video game “to personal finance topics based on their given powers.”
Here is the Juggernaut’s anlaogy to his evil equivalent in the financial world:
Juggernaut: Credit Card Debt
Real Name: Cain Marko
Mutant Power: Super-strength, Unstoppable while in motion
In the game/series: It’s widely known that the Juggernaut is not actually a mutant, but instead derives his power from a gem worn in his helmet. His strength is second to none and it’s said that he doesn’t require food, water, or sleep to stay active. Once he gets moving, he’s impossible to stop, often plowing through anything in his way. In the game, he is even equipped with a Bazooka!
Financial explanation: This was the easiest of all! Juggernaut represents credit card debt, of course. High interest credit card debt is on of the most dangerous financial pitfalls, especially once it’s able to gain momentum. The actual credit cards are the proverbial helmet, which is the source of the high interest debt’s power. Often times, the fastest way to defeat this beast is to ‘remove the helmet’ by cutting up and canceling the credit cards themselves. Even the Bazooka can be directly related to the shady techniques employed by credit card companies!
Conclusion
And with that, we conclude this edition of Print-N-Pixel. Just because this is the last article with X-Men the Arcade game featured in Print-N-Pixel, doesn’t mean we have to stop playing and discussing it – the forums are always open and I always need a good excuse to play a great comic book based video game.
Next on Print-N-Pixel:
- The next featured game announced!
References:
- http://www.co-optimus.com/article/196/Co-Op_Classics__X-Men__The_Arcade_Game.html
- http://thecoolkidztable.blogspot.com/2009/09/remember-x-men-arcade-game.html
- http://www.racketboy.com/retro/arcade/2007/09/review-xmen-arcade-6-player-beatemup-bliss.html
- http://www.scary-crayon.com/games/funnest5/
- http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2006/05/4062.ars
- http://www.digitalmonkeybox.com/x-men_arcade.htm
- http://manvsdebt.com/x-men-guide-financial-mutant-power/
Print-N-Pixel: X-Men the Arcade Game – Part 3
Is the pixelated and physic defying world of video games a perfect playground for the over-the-top characters found in comic books? There is only one way to find out:
What is Print-N-Pixel?
Print-N-Pixel is an in depth Group look at Comic Books In Video Games. Print-N-Pixel is more than just playing comic book related video games, its also a “book club,” a month long video game AND comic book club.
Even if you don’t play video games and you only read comic, or vise versa, stick around and participate in thediscussion of either the game or the comics. And if you missed the introduction to Print-N-Pixel you can find it here.
Part 3: A Review of the Game
The game has been introduced, the plot explained, the characters listed, and my favorite X-Men vs Magneto comics reviewed, now it’s time to put the focus back on the game. If you have not started, there is no better time than now to start playing.
In this edition of Print-N-Pixel:X-Men the Arcade Game, I will be looking at the game’s levels in detail while reviewing the game. Remember Print-N-Pixel isn’t just about me, it’s about the discussion, so make sure you chime in with your opinions and views of the levels and the game as a whole. While you’re at it, go ahead and chime in on the Recommended Reading too.
The Game Level By Level
Level 1: The Street
Magneto somehow gained control of the mutant hunting sentinels and sent them to attack and destroy a large city (which I assume is New York City) to start his master plan. The X-men arrive on the scene smashing sentinels and armored gunmen. After fighting along a street full of enemies, Pyro bursts through a wall and begins shooting flames at the hero.
Like most video games, this first level can seem hard when playing it for the first time, but after you get the hang of controlling your character and a strategy for taking down each kind of enemy the level becomes simple. The most effective strategy for the projectile shooting enemies, the goons with guns and the level’s boss Pyro, is to approach them from the top or bottom and avoiding being in their direct line of fire.
Level 2: Sentinel Factory
The first time I played this game I was wondering how Magneto had hundreds of the mutant hunting robots at his disposal. I also wondered why they were all human sized and standing around 3 stories. The answers to my questions are simple; Magneto took over the Sentinel Factory. The X-men travel through the factory fighting the same enemies featured in the previous level while dodging flame spewing exhaust vents on the floor and welding robots with the hopes of shutting down the manufacturing of Magneto’s army. Within the factory lies the second member of the “Brotherhood of Terrorist Mutants” – the Blob.
The enemies of this level are as easy as the previous level, but the challenge is greater because their number is greater. With more enemies on the screen at once it is harder to maneuver out of the the line of sight of those enemies who shoot projectiles. The welding robots also cause problems because they also shoot projectiles, but their fire takes off double the health. With the difficulty of the level increasing, its nice to know that the difficulty of the boss did not. I personally think the Blob is the easiest of the bosses. If you can stay out of his reach directly in front of him you can easily take him down. Approach the Blob from the top or bottom of the screen and hit him once to knock him down, literally. After a successful hit the boss falls and just sits there for a small amount of time allowing you to get three or more hits on him before he stands. Wile the X-Men were busy beating down robots, Magneto doubles back to the X Mansion and captures Professor X and Kitty Pryde.
Level 3: Island M
With the Blob not Magneto at the Sentinel Factory, Professor X psychicly suggests that his team tries looking on Magneto’s personal island – Island M. I understand looking for Magneto at the Sentinel factory before checking his base of operation since the majority of his army is composed of the robots, but rushing off before totally destroying the factory was not a good idea. Island M, like the other levels, is crawling with Sentinels, but there are also mutant Bees and Alligator Men who attack the heroes. Near the end of the level Magneto shows up and seems to be ticked that the X-Men are almost inside his base on the island, he shows up and and crumbles the cliff the hero(es) are standing on. After surviving the fall the X-Men realize that they landed right at the front door, or cave, to his secret base. At this point I was expecting the “Game Over” screen since Magneto dropped the X-Men directly where he didn’t want them and this could be a good sign that he is incapable of planning a successful planetary takeover. But I was wrong and there was no “Game Over,” instead Wendigo come crawling out of the cave.
To beat Wendigo, I used the same strategy that I used on the Blob and Pyro of attacking from a diagonal direction. With the same types of enemies attacking and the same strategies being used on all bosses up to this point the game sounds repetitive, but it’s not. The sheer number of attackers has increased and so the the player adrenaline because of the ramped up challenge, there is no time to think about anything other than your mutant’s survival.
Level 4: Inside Magneto’s Island Cave Base
After pummeling Wendigo it’s time to save Kitty, who according to Professor X is inside, and defeat the Master of Magnetism. Inside the Cave Base it seems as if every enemy now shoots some kind of projectile whether it’s the gun toting goons from the early levels, fire breathing Alligator Men, Sentinels with missile fists, or Bonebreaker the Reaver… well not just Bonebreaker but an army of his clones too. After defeating a wave of Bonebreakers and more sentinels it’s time for the heroes to save the day. Kitty Pryde is being held in a cell at the end of this level, but before you can save her you have to take out her prison guard – Nimrod.
Nimrod, a more advanced sentinel from the future, can be easily disposed of in the same manner as the previous bosses – approach from a diagonal direction, attack, retreat, and repeat. Like the Blob, Nimrod will grab you if you are too close and I found many of my attacks thwarted immediately followed by my character flying across the screen. Nimrod also has a damaging long range attack, so the best way to approach and avoid him is to constantly move in a zig-zag patter from the top of the screen to the bottom.
Level 5: Outside the Cave Base
With Kitty safe it’s time to save the Professor. The X-Men exit the cave and continue to fight their way to the left. The number of enemies shooting projectiles at this point is almost ridiculous, there is no way I could ever beat this level with only one quarter – I probably would have spent $5 in quarters (total for the whole game) at the arcade by the time I reached the next boss: The White Queen Emma Frost.
For being one of the most powerful mutants in the X-Men universe, Emma Frost is pretty easy to defeat in this game. Like the other bosses a diagonal attack, retreat, and repeat works just be aware that she can shoot projectiles at both short and long ranges.
After taking down the White Queen the level does not end there are more monsters, sentinels, and a wave of Bonebreakers that emerge from the mouth of a super-sized (or normal sized based on the comics) sentinel. After fighting what seems like hundreds of enemies in a short time our heroes read the final boss of the level – the Juggernaut.
Like the other bosses you use the diagonal strategy to defeat him, but beware when running away because the Juggernaut will charge at fast, so fast that you may not have time to dodge. I think that the Juggernaut is one of the hardest of the level bosses, not because of his super strength, but because he has a Bazooka! Up until this point most of the bosses either pummeled you to death or shot projectiles, the Juggernaut does both! Beating the Juggernaut is either real easy or super hard. If you can get a good position close enough to him, but not too close, you can land a decent amount of attacks and take him down quickly… but getting that good position seems to take more luck than skill.
After taking down the Juggernaut Professor X shows up. Apparently he was not in any type of cell and the only thing stopping him from rolling away was the Juggernaut… or was it?
Level 6: Underneath the Cave Base
The X-Men and Professor X start to walk away from the Cave Base into the sunset toward a happy ending when suddenly the Professor is no more, instead it’s Mystique in the wheelchair. Duped by the shape shifter the X-Men walked right into her trap and she sends them tumbling down a pit to the lower level of Magneto’s Cave Base.
Underneath the Cave Base things get crazy. There are literally swarms of enemies and machines that continually shoot at our heroes. Surviving this level is a challenge, but these enemies are nothing compared to four flame shooting pyromaniacs.
Yeah, level one’s boss Pyro returns with three copies of him. Take the traditional way of defeating him and throw it out the window. There is almost no way to attack him from a diagonal because as you attack one at a diagonal you are almost certain to be in the line of fire of at least one of the other three. After using all of my special mutant power and a continue or two to defeat these four foes continue your way though more enemies and the level boss.
The boss at the end of this level is not one I recognize from the comics. This boss consists of three stone statues. Remember the trouble fighting four Pyros… yeah now imagine fighting three more powerful and dangerous of a boss. After defeating the statues any way possible Professor X telepathically reviles his true location at Magnetos’ main base of operation – Asteroid M.
Level 7: Asteroid M
Upon arriving at Asteroid M, our heroes are greeted by some sentinels, laser shooting welding bots, and some more Bonebreakers. These enemies are pretty easy to take out, but what comes next is the hardest part of the game. After taking out a couple waves of lackeys all of the bosses show up again: The Blob, Wendigo, the White Queen, and Nimrod to fight again. If you are not careful and walk too far to the left, you can end up having all four of the bosses attacking you at once. The best strategy to winning this battle is to stay to the right and try to take down one boss at a time the same way you did before.
If you survive the onslaught of the four bosses you will reach the Professor X’s cell and the Master of Magnetism himself – Magneto. You might expect more from the main baddie of the game than a barrage of punches and kicks, but that is all Magneto throws at you. Using the diagonal strategy the battle is pretty easy and somewhat disappointing, but…
The fallen body of Magneto morphs into a KOed Mystique. Again Mystique tricked the X-Men by posing as someone else. With Mystique down for the count and the Professor free, it’s time to take down Magneto for real!
If you thought Mystique’s version of Magneto was easy to beat and somewhat disappointing, the real Master of Magnetism will try your patience. Magneto speaks proclaims himself the “Master of Magnet!” shields himself in an electromagnetic bubble and shoot some short of laser or projectile at you. While he is in that “bubble” you can not touch him or you will be damaged. There will be short periods of time, and I mean real short, where he is not shielded. Using the diagonal attack strategy along with lots of running and dodging is the slowest and most “credit” friendly way to defeat the self proclaimed “Master of Magnet!”
If you were successful at defeating Magneto and saving the world you will be rewarded with a short cut-scene showing the X-Men escaping Asteroid M as it explodes. To reward you for saving the world the arcade game rewards you with a new title screen to start the game over with your remaining credits.
Conclusion of the Review:
I love this game, but when writing this review, I noticed how repetitive it seems. The great thing about this game is that it never seems repetitive. While the characters may not be perfect matches for those found in the comics and the skewed physics of the Marvel Universe may not be accurate, with human size sentinels and multiple incarnations of the same character on screen at once, the game’s furious action and adrenaline rush overshadows it’s downfalls. It was not until writing this review that I really noticed, or was annoyed, with the continuity problems or the bad English that Magneto spoke, which says to me that the game play and fun factor make this one of the most fun comic book based beat ‘em up game I have ever played.
How To Play
If you have not played the game, there is still time.
MAME (Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator) is a great way to play older arcade games. If you are using a Windows based computer I recommend downloading and using MameUI to play X-Men the Arcade Game. Once you have some version of MAME you will need to locate a working ROM. Please don’t ask me where to find the ROM for this or any other game, instead use google and search for either “xmen.zip” which is the 4 player single screen rom and/or “xmen6pu.zip” which is the double screen 6 player game perfect for widescreen monitors.
For a more detailed guide on running this game in MAME read the “How to Play” section of Print-N-Pixel: X-Men the Arcade Game Part 1.
If you have any problems with the emulator check out the Emulation thread in the forums.
This week’s SpaceBooger Achievements
SpaceBooger Achievements are earned by playing the featured game, and also for comic book related tasks such as reading and obtaining recommended comics. SpaceBooger Achievements can be earned for any game or comic at any time, but I encourage all participants to attempt to earn the achievements when they are posted.
This week’s SpaceBooger Achievements are:
“1-3″
Defeat Three Levels with One Quarter or No Continues. (Hard)
“The End”
Beat the Game without the aid of cheats, continues, or extra credits. (Extreme)
“Member” – Become a member of the SpaceBooger.com forums. (Easy)
“Input” – Suggest a game and/or comics for upcoming Print In Pixel features. (Easy)
“Press Start” – Play the featured game at least once during the time it is featured. (Easy)
“Hard Copy” – Obtain and play an Original Hard Copy of the game. (Hard)
“Comic Book” – Read one or more of the “Recommended Reading” books. (Medium)
“Comic Collector” – Obtain a Hard Copy of one or more of the “Recommended Reading” books. (Hard)
“Recommendation” – Suggest other comics that may be relevant to enjoying this feature. (Medium)
“Another Castle” – Short for “I’m sorry, the Princess is in another castle.” Beat the Game using cheats, continues, or extra credits. (Medium)
“1-1″ – Defeat One Level with One Quarter or No Continues. (Easy)
“1-2″ – Defeat Two Levels with One Quarter or No Continues. (Medium)
Remember to leave a comment letting me know what achievements you earned along with posting themhere in the forums.
Next on Print-N-Pixel:
- An X-Men The Arcade Game Link Fest!
References:
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X-Men_(arcade_game)
Print-N-Pixel: X-Men the Arcade Game – Part 2
Is the pixelated and physic defying world of video games a perfect playground for the over-the-top characters found in comic books? There is only one way to find out:
What is Print-N-Pixel?
Print-N-Pixel is an in depth Group look at Comic Books In Video Games. Print-N-Pixel is more than just playing comic book related video games, its also a “book club,” a month long comic book club.
Even if you don’t play video games and you only read comic, or vise versa, stick around and participate in the discussion of either the game or the comics. And if you missed the introduction to Print-N-Pixel you can find it here.
Part 2: Recommended Reading
The last installment of Print-N-Pixel introduced X-Men the Arcade Game as the featured game and recommended a couple comics to read. This week we will be looking at the characters featured in both the game and the comics. We will also take an look at, and hopefully discuss, my favorite X-Men vs Magneto story that was featured in the “Recommended Reading” last week: Uncanny X-Men #112 and #113.
For more about the history and how to play the game check out the first installment of “Print-N-Pixel: X-Men the Arcade Game Part 1.”
Characters and Setting
Characters and settings in the Game:
- Good Guys: Cyclops, Colossus, Dazzler, Nightcrawler, Storm, and Wolverine are all playable with Professor X, Lockheed the dragon, and Kitty Pryde.
- Bad Guys: The Blob, Emma Frost, Juggernaut, Magneto, Mystique, Nimrod, hundreds of Sentinels, and Wendigo.
Characters and settings in the Comic:
- Good Guys: Banshee, The Beast, Cyclops, Colossus, Nightcrawler, Storm, and Wolverine are all featured in the comic with Professor X and Lilandra making a brief appearance.
- Bad Guys: Magneto and his loyal robot Nanny
Recommended Reading: Uncanny X-Men #112 & #113
When I first started to really get into comics in the early 90’s I loved the old 80’s Marvel books because each comic had it’s own self contained story and it’s outcome directly tied into the next issue. Because of that I wanted to hunt down every comic that came before and/or after the book I just read. That connection between issues is how I came across my favorite “vs Magento” story in X-Men #112 and #113 after reading issue #114.
The story begins with the X-Men flying through the upper part of the atmosphere in a circus wagon as prisoners of Magneto. Before being captured by Magneto, the X-Men were captives of the Mesmero and his circus (Uncanny X-Men #111). Magneto did not like the idea that someone other than him might kill the X-Men. Believing that he had earned the “right to destroy” his oldest foes, the Master of Magnetism recaptured the mutant heroes from Mesmero.
Using the his magnetic power Magneto whisks the circus wagon from Texas to one of his bases of operation in Antarctica. Antarctica is a deadly place and perfect for an evil villain’s lair, but not deadly enough for Magneto. Instead he built his base inside a volcano buried deep within the arctic ice. Once safely in the Magneto’s base, the X-Men attack their arch enemy one-by-one in hopes of escaping. Cyclops attacks first, but is no match for Magneto alone. Colossus, Beast, Storm, Nightcrawler, Banshee, Cyclops again, Phoenix, and Wolverine each attack in that order and are easily swatted away by Magneto.
Successfully beating his “deadliest foes” without killing them, Magneto imprisons the X-men once again. Instead of prison cells, each X-Man is strapped to a chair that is directly connected to the hero’s central nervous system. The last time that Magneto was defeated by Professor X, he was imprisoned within his own mind by the professor’s powerful telepathy. Magneto explained his imprisonment as being “reduced to infancy” with no power or ability to move, yet he was able to remember who and what he had been before being captured. While imprisoned in his own mind Magneto wanted nothing more than vengeance, and that is exactly what he hopes to accomplish by imprisoning the X-Men in chairs that scrambles their every thought.
With the X-Men imprisoned and unable to do anything but think, Magneto leaves the heroes in the care of his robot servant Nanny. While Magneto is off planet working in his main lair, Asteroid M, Storm starts to break free of the prison’s power and regain control of her movement. Storm who was orphaned while still an infant was also trained to be a master thief while still an infant, something Magneto should have taken into account before mentally reducing her to an “infant” state. Storm, relying on her skills as a young thief, manages to free herself from her restraints.
An alarm sounds on “Asteroid M” indicating a problem at volcano base, overconfidently Magneto dismisses this as an equipment malfunction and returns to the under arctic volcano. As soon as the villain arrives, the X-Men launch an unified attack on Magneto that sends him flying into the bases’ main control panel. As the X-Men are about to claim victory over their enemy the base begins to crumble. With the main computer destroyed in battle, all of the base’s systems begin to malfunction, including those that protect it from the magma surrounding it. With the X-Men focused on surviving the cave-in, Magneto escapes as his volcanic base collapses and is consumed by molten rock. The story ends with Phoenix saving herself and the Beast, and it is not until the next issue that the rest of the X-Men dig themselves out of the rubble.
To me this is the ultimate X-Men vs Magneto story. It’s a story where the heroes are on the ropes about to lose to a seemingly more powerful villain. It’s a story where the heroes never give up and work together as a team to ultimately win in the end. And, it’s a story where the villain escapes to fight another day leaving the reader hoping for another awesome story. This method of storytelling is what made movies like Rocky and the Karate Kid awesome, and like those movies these two comics are one of my all time favorites.
What is your favorite X-Men vs Magneto story? Share it in the forums.
This week’s SpaceBooger Achievements
SpaceBooger Achievements are earned by playing the featured game, and also for comic book related tasks such as reading and obtaining recommended comics. SpaceBooger Achievements can be earned for any game or comic at any time, but I encourage all participants to attempt to earn the achievements when they are posted.
This week’s SpaceBooger Achievements are:
“Recommendation”
Suggest other comics that may be relevant to enjoying this feature. (Medium)
“Another Castle”
Short for “I’m sorry, the Princess is in another castle.”
Beat the Game using cheats, continues, or extra credits. (Medium)
“1-1″
Defeat One Level with One Quarter or No Continues. (Easy)
“1-2″
Defeat Two Levels with One Quarter or No Continues. (Medium)
Past Achievements:
“Member” – Become a member of the SpaceBooger.com forums. (Easy)
“Input” – Suggest a game and/or comics for upcoming Print In Pixel features. (Easy)
“Press Start” – Play the featured game at least once during the time it is featured. (Easy)
“Hard Copy” – Obtain and play an Original Hard Copy of the game. (Hard)
“Comic Book” – Read one or more of the “Recommended Reading” books. (Medium)
“Comic Collector” – Obtain a Hard Copy of one or more of the “Recommended Reading” books. (Hard)
Remember to leave a comment letting me know what achievements you earned along with posting them here in the forums.
Next on Print-N-Pixel:
- An in-depth look at the levels in the game.
- My review of the game.
- And the final wave of “SpaceBooger Achievements” for this game.
References:
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X-Men_(arcade_game)
Print-N-Pixel: X-Men the Arcade Game
Is the pixelated and physic defying world of video games a perfect playground for the over-the-top characters found in comic books? There is only one way to find out:
What is Print-N-Pixel?
Print-N-Pixel is an in depth Group look at Comic Books In Video Games. Print-N-Pixel is more than just playing comic book related video games, its also a “book club,” a month long comic book club.
I hope that people join me in playing the featured games, but more importantly I hope people join in by discussing, reading, and recommending comics that correspond or inspired the featured games.
Even if you don’t play video games and you read comic, or vise versa, stick around and participate in the discussion of either the game or the comics. And if you missed the introduction to Print-N-Pixel you can find it here.
Part 1: X-Men the Arcade Game
Whether you were a hardcore or casual gamer in the 1990’s you probably have fond memories of mashing buttons and fighting off the Foot Clan in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Arcade Game. For comic book fans and button mashing beat ‘em up video game fans, you probably have even fonder memories of the X-Men arcade game.
KONAMI’s X-Men arcade game was amazing. It was the first game, other than racing games, that I remember seeing that had two screens side-by-side. Two full size monitors full of mutant mêlée madness in widescreen with up to six-players fighting together at once put the four-player TMNT game to shame. As a kid, I spent many quarters and hours slashing sentinels as Wolverine on the smaller four player, one monitor version found at the local mall’s arcade. The X-Men arcade game was never ported to any consoles, and if it was, the consoles in 1992 couldn’t recreate the widescreen six-player action of the original arcade cabinet. With malls and arcades almost extinct in the US and no home console port of this game, we are not without the ability to play the X-Men arcade game. Using MAME, the Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator, we can relive and replay this great game. (Instructions and more information on getting MAME can be found later in this post.)
History of the Game
Based on an animated cartoon, the X-Men arcade game was released in 1992, eight months before the hit animated series debuted on the Fox Kids network. The arcade game’s look and design was not based on the popular 1992 cartoon series, but instead on a failed 1989 television pilot “Pryde of the X-Men.”
“Pryde of the X-Men” told the story of the X-Men thwarting Magneto and his “Brotherhood of Terrorist Mutants” plans of sending a comment on a collision course with Earth.
Watch “Pryde of the X-Men” Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, and Part 5.
While the game is based on the cartoon’s story, the level settings, characters, and the animations are the only distinct similarity between the two. The story in the game, told during the intro, explains Magneto leads his army of sentinels and evil mutants against humanity – whom, by the way, we are told are powerless against him. After being told that humanity is powerless against Magneto, I feel it is our civil duty to deposit a quarters (or press the credit button in MAME) and take him down.
Recommended Reading
X-Men Volume 1 #112, #113, and #150
We will talk about these comics in more detail over the next two weeks.
If you can’t find the original copies of the featured comics, you can find them in the following collections and trade paper backs:
X-Men #112 is reprinted in:
- Classic X-Men #18 – 1st story
- Essential X-Men #1 – 20th story
- Marvel Masterworks: The Uncanny X-Men 2nd Edition HC #3 – 2nd story
- Marvel Masterworks: The Uncanny X-Men HC #3 – 2nd story
- Uncanny X-Men Omnibus HC #1 – 20th story
X-Men #113 is reprinted in:
- Classic X-Men #19 – 1st story
- Essential X-Men #1 – 21st story
- Marvel Masterworks: The Uncanny X-Men 2nd Edition HC #3 – 3rd story
- Marvel Masterworks: The Uncanny X-Men HC #3 – 3rd story
- Uncanny X-Men Omnibus HC #1 – 21st story
X-Men #150 is reprinted in:
- X-Men Classic #54 – 1st story
- Essential X-Men #3 – 6th story
- Marvel Masterworks: The Uncanny X-Men 2nd Edition HC #6 – 10th story
reprint list courtesy of The Marvel Database Project
Game Play
To play the game, each player starts by choosing one of the six members of the X-Men featured in the cartoon: Cyclops, Colossus, Dazzler, Nightcrawler, Storm, and Wolverine to control in the quest to take down Magneto and his “Brotherhood of Terrorist Mutants.” The game plays similar to other popular beat ‘em ups like Final Fight, Double Dragon, Streets of Rage, and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Arcade Game with the player moving from left to right of the level using a three button setup: attack, jump, and mutant power.
How To Play
Most of us do not have an arcade in our basement, but if you are reading this you probably have a computer. MAME (Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator) is a great way to play older arcade games. If you are using a Windows based computer I recommend downloading and using MameUI to play X-Men the Arcade Game. Once you have some version of MAME you will need to locate a working ROM. Please don’t ask me where to find the ROM for this or any other game, instead use google and search for either “xmen.zip” which is the 4 player single screen rom and/or “xmen6pu.zip” which is the double screen 6 player game perfect for widescreen monitors.
For those of you who are new to emulation and MAME, here is a quick guide to running MameUI:
- Download MameUI – http://www.mameui.info/
- Unzip the using either Winrar or 7zip
- Place the ROM into the “roms” folder inside the newly created MAME directory
- Open MameUI.exe
- Go to the File in the menu bar and click “Audit All Games”
- Once the audit is done click to open the “Available” games using the menu on the left
- Now you should see your available games, double click the name of the game to play it
MAME is setup to be used with a keyboard, but if you have a gamepad or a Xbox 360 controller I recommend configuring (by hitting the “tab” key while in game) and using that using that instead. If you don’t have a gamepad, here are the default keyboard controls for MAME:
- 1-4 are the Start buttons for players 1-4 and 5-8 are the Coin buttons to give players 1-4 credits.
- The arrow keys are used to move and represent the joystick.
- “z” is used to Attack
- “x” is used to Jump
- “c” is your special Mutant Attack
Remember you can change the setting for the controls at any time while playing by pressing the “tab” key. If you are used to playing games on your computer that used “w,a,s,d” and the mouse to move, I recommend that you reconfigure the controls to:
- “w” for up
- “s” for down
- “a” for left
- “b” for right
- “4″ on the keypad for Attack (button 1 in MAME)
- “5″ on the keypad for Jump (button 2 in MAME)
- “4″ on the keypad for the special Mutant Attack (button 3 in MAME)
If you have any problems with the emulator check out the Emulation thread in the forums.
This week’s SpaceBooger Achievements
SpaceBooger Achievements are earned by playing the featured game, and also for comic book related tasks such as reading and obtaining recommended comics. SpaceBooger Achievements can be earned for any game or comic at any time, but I encourage all participants to attempt to earn the achievements when they are posted.
This week’s SpaceBooger Achievements are:
“Press Start”
Play the featured game at least once during the time it is featured. (Easy)
“Hard Copy”
Obtain and play an Original Hard Copy of the game. (Hard)
“Comic Book”
Read one or more of the “Recommended Reading” books. (Medium)
“Comic Collector”
Obtain a Hard Copy of one or more of the “Recommended Reading” books. (Hard)
Past Achievements:
“Member” – Become a member of the SpaceBooger.com forums. (Easy)
“Input” – Suggest a game and/or comics for upcoming Print In Pixel features. (Easy)
Remember to leave a comment letting me know what achievements you earned by using the “Comment” link at the bottom right of this post, along with posting them here in the forums .
Next on Print-N-Pixel:
- An in-depth look at the characters in the game and the comics.
- A look at the recommended reading from week one.
- And the second wave of “SpaceBooger Achievements!”
References:
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X-Men_(arcade_game)
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pryde_of_the_X-Men
The Marvel Database: http://marvel.wikia.com/Main_Page
Just a reminder about Print-N-Pixel
The Print-N-Pixel feature starting next week is not just playing comic book related video games, its also a “book club,” a month long comic book club.
I hope that people join me in playing the game, but more importantly I hope people join in by discussing, reading, and recommending comics that correspond or inspired the featured games.
Even if you don’t play video games and you read comic, or vise versa, check back next week for the first installment of Print-N-Pixel and read about the featured game. Then come back in two weeks to look at the characters found in both the recommended comics and the game. In three weeks the focus will be on the levels and locations from the game will be explained and compared to settings in the comic. And the fourth and final week of the featured game will include other games, comics, opinions, and information gathered from people who played the game and/or read the comics.
So please make sure you participate in the discussion of either the game or the comics starting on Thursday. And if you missed the introduction post you can find it here.
Print-N-Pixel: An Introduction
Is the pixelated and physic defying world of video games a perfect playground for the over-the-top characters found in comic books? There is only one way to find out:
Print-N-Pixel – An in depth Group look at Comic Books In Video Games.
What is Print-N-Pixel
As a fan of both comic books and video games, I am a sucker for games that are licensed by comic book companies. When I was younger I would spend all of my free time reading comics and playing games, just as I still try to do today. The difference between “then” and “now” is that now I have a family and more responsibilities that reduce the amount of free time I have to read comics and play games. Not only is my time for comics and games shrunk, so has the discussion with my peers. I have found that many times the discussion between people about comics and games can sometimes be more entertaining than the media itself. Since my friends can’t come over “after school” for an hour or so to play some SEGA Genesis everyday, and I have less people to discuss, brag, and compete against, I decided to start this series of articles where a group of people can read, play, and discuss specific comics and games. With a group focusing on one specific game and corresponding comic books, I am hoping that a community will grow from sharing our experiences and knowledge.
How the Print-N-Pixel Group Works
Boot up your game consoles, dig through your long boxes of comics and prepare to reread classic comics and replay comic based games complete with “SpaceBooger Achievements!” Each installment of Print-N-Pixel will be broken down into four installments with each one focusing on a specific topic related to both the game and the comics it is based on. The four different installments are created to start discussions and give specific goals, or “SpaceBogoer Achievements,” as I call them, that we can work on together.
The four installments of Print-N-Pixel will be as follows:
- 1st Installment: An introduction to the game and the comic(s) it’s based on, recommended reading material to enhance the game playing experience, the best way to play the game, and the first wave of “SpaceBooger Achievements!”
- 2nd Installment: An in depth look at the characters in the game and the comics, a comparison between the game and the recommended reading from week one, and the second wave of “SpaceBooger Achievements!”
- 3rd Installment: An in depth look at the levels in the game and how it relates to the comics, and the third and final wave of “SpaceBooger Achievements!”
- 4th Installment: Other peoples comments, quotes, achievements, and what ever else the community in the forums can come up with for the final post about the game.
How to Participate
If you are interested in participating in the monthly discussion about comic books and related video games you will need to sign up on the spacebooger.com forum. The forum doubles as the comments section for each installment post and is where our discussions will take place. The forum will host a place to discusses, debate, brag, and gain “SpaceBooger Achievements.” To keep updated on the comics, games, and discussions related to the Print-N-Pixels, posts make sure you visit SpaceBooger.com frequently, subscribe to the site’s RSS feed, or follow me on Twitter.
SpaceBooger Achievements
In modern video games, players are rewarded for not just beating the game, but also for completing other specific tasks. Achievements can range from simple tasks such as playing the game for a certain amount of time to more complex tasks like collecting a certain amount of hidden items that are not necessary toward the completion of the game. To motivate all participants of Print-N-Pixel, I will create achievements apropriately titled “SpaceBooger Achievements.” SpaceBooger Achievements will not be earned just by playing the featured games, they may also be earned for comic book related tasks such as reading and obtaining recommended comics. Every week new achievements will be “unlocked” or posted. SpaceBooger Achievements can be earned for any game or comic at any time, but I encourage all participants to attempt to earn the achievements when they are posted.
Since this post is the first official week, here are the first two available achievements:
“Member”
Become a member of the SpaceBooger.com forums. (Easy)
“Input”
Suggest a game and/or comics for upcoming Print-N-Pixel features. (Easy)
Make sure you check back next week for the first game, set of recommended reading, and SpaceBooger Achievements!
About the Site
Feature Sponsor
Contact
Post Schedule
Categories
- Ads
- Art
- Comics
- Friday Night Fights
- Last Week In Comics
- Links
- Meme
- Other
- Pint-n-Pixel
- Site News
- Sports
- Throwback
- Video Games
- WebComic
- Writing
Store
Links
- Always Bet on Bahlactus
- BeaucoupKevin
- Bully Says: Comics Oughta Be Fun!
- BW Media Spotlight
- Chris’s Invincible SuperBlog
- Collected Editions
- Crisis On Earth-Prime
- DEM’S GOOD READIN’
- Fantasy Theater
- Great Caesar’s Post
- Hero Sandwich
- IT’S CLOBBERIN’ TIME!
- Jimmy Olsen’s Blues
- Meekrat
- Mike Sterling’s Progressive Ruin
- Nerdosity
- PHONING IT IN
- Polite Dissent
- Random Encounters
- Slay, Monstrobot of the Deep!!
- Squash is the Enemy
- Stars And Garters
- The Comic Treadmill
- The Johnny Bacardi Show
- The Sock Drawer
- Yet Another Comics Blog
Sponsors
Permalinks By IIS Permalinks