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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:

Characters and settings in the Comic:

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.

X-Men 112

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”
SB_recommend
Suggest other comics that may be relevant to enjoying this feature. (Medium)

“Another Castle”
SB_castle
Short for “I’m sorry, the Princess is in another castle.”
Beat the Game using cheats, continues, or extra credits. (Medium)

“1-1″
SB_11
Defeat One Level with One Quarter or No Continues. (Easy)

“1-2″
SB_12
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:

References:
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X-Men_(arcade_game)

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Posted by Fred on January 21, 2010 @ 10:44 PM Under: Comics, Pint-n-Pixel, Video Games
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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:

X-Men #113 is reprinted in:

X-Men #150 is reprinted in:

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:

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:

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:

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:

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

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Posted by Fred on January 14, 2010 @ 6:25 PM Under: Comics, Pint-n-Pixel, Video Games
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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:

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!

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Posted by Fred on January 7, 2010 @ 10:26 PM Under: Comics, Pint-n-Pixel, Video Games
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WebComic: Deep Pockets

Its funny that today’s post deals with a video game and tomorrow I will be starting a new feature here that focuses on comic books and video games.

In high school and in college I was addicted to the point-n-click adventure games. My friend’s dad showed me Maniac Mansion and I loved it. I immediately began buying and beating every Sierra and Lucas Arts adventure games like: Zach McCracken, the Quest for Glory series, the Space Quest series, the Indiana Jones series, Day of the Tentacle, Sam and Max Hit the Road, and the Leisuresuit Larry series.

Last year someone over at RacketBoy recommended a new game that looks and feels just like the classic point-n-click games: Ben There, Dan That! I bought the game and it’s sequel for $5. That $5 was well spent, but you can get the game for free from the creator’s website:

‘Ben There, Dan That!’ is a knockabout point-and-click comedy game, in the vein of the old classic Lucasarts adventures like ‘Guybrush Threepwood’s The Monkey Islands’ or ‘Sam and Max, Freelance Policemen’.

Written by and somewhat-narcissistically starring heroes Dan Marshall and Ben Ward, it’s bursting with bold cartoon graphics, laugh-out-loud dialogue, colourful characters, some frames of animation and nearly 100 different sound effects!

There’s no need for hand-eye coordination or split-second reflexes here; it’s a fun game that anyone can play as long as they don’t mind a few naughty words here and there and the odd dabble of mild racism.

Enjoy it today FOR FREE by clicking the download button (link)

Download and play “Ben There, Dan That!” immediately and don’t forget to check out the SpaceBooger comic strip!

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Posted by Fred on January 6, 2010 @ 9:15 PM Under: Throwback, Video Games, WebComic
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Torchlight – The Best $5 You Will Ever Spend On A Game

If you grew up in the 90’s playing video games you probably have fond memories of Diablo and Diablo II. If you do have fond memories you have to pick up the new game Torchlight. Torchlight plays similar to the Diablo games and was created by some of the same developers.

Interested? Ok, here is what you should do:

  1. Go to the official website and read about the game.
  2. Download and play the free demo.

After you play the demo I’m sure you will want to use that Visa Gift Card you got for Christmas and buy the game. Here are two great deals:

  1. Torchlight for $5 from Steam.
    Sign up for a free Steam Account and buy the game by 1PM Eastern Time on December 27.
  2. Torchlight for $10 from the Developers.
    If you don’t want to sign up for Steam (the iTunes of PC games) you can buy the game from the developers for half price until January 4 th.

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Posted by Fred on December 26, 2009 @ 2:06 PM Under: Video Games
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Playing Sonic the Hedgehog for the first time.

My 13 month-old son’s new thing now is to bring books to my wife and I and make a whiny “huh” noise. This “huh” noise means he wants to us to read that book to him.

Last Tuesday while I was at work my wife texted me saying that Cal brought her the Sonic game for the Wii and started whining “huh.”
He wanted to play video games!

When I got home Cal did the same to me, but instead of putting in the horrible “Sonic and Secret Rings” game I pulled out the Smash Pack for the Dreamcast and loaded up the original Sonic the Hedgehog.

Cal figured out that the buttons made Sonic jump. He loved watching the Hedgehog jump and loved the “boing” noise even more. The game held his interest for about 5 minutes, until he decided it would be more fun to pull out and put back the controller plug.

Here is an image of my 13 month-old son playing Sonic the Hedgehog for the first time:

cal

Posted by Fred on October 15, 2009 @ 6:00 PM Under: Throwback, Video Games
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WebComic: Happy 10th Birthday Dreamcast!

On 9/9/99 the SEGA Dreamcast was released. The next day I received my first ever paycheck in my current salary based career, and I spent it on a Dreamcast. Today on 9/9/09 I honor SEGA’s last video game console.

Since then it has always been hooked up to one of my TVs ready to play. To me the Dreamcast was, and still is, my favorite video game system ever.

Come back tomorrow for a proper post on the history of the Dreamcast, one day after it’s 10th birthday but on the 10 year anniversary of my purchase.

Check out this week’s comic strip here: http://www.spacebooger.com/index.php?comicID=117

Oh, if you don’t get the Ulala refernce – she is the main character from the DC game “Space Chanel 5″

spacechannel5

Posted by Fred on September 9, 2009 @ 10:14 PM Under: Video Games, WebComic
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The SEGA Genesis Turns 20

sega_logo_cmyk (2)

I love video games especially the older “retro” ones from my youth. I started playing games on an Atari 2600 but did not become addicted until the Nintendo Entertainment System. The NES was great to me in middle school and the start of high school, but in the early 90’s I moved to “the next level.”

segaCDTVSucksAd

The SEGA Genesis was released 20 years ago today in the US and while I was not one of the first to have the system, it still goes down in the record books as the system I put the most time into. I played my Genesis all through high school and college spending all of my hard earned money on expanding my library of games to play instead of studying.

Most of my friends had a Genesis, but friends who I would consider “gamers” all had Super Nintendo and claimed it was superior. I love my SNES, but back then and even today I will still claim that the Genesis was/is better because of the library of games I had and the amount of time I played the system.

So today the 20th anniversary of the Genesis’ release I plan on playing some Genesis today. Maybe I’ll pop in and play some Streets of Rage 2 and Sonic 3 today.

segagenesis

Posted by Fred on August 14, 2009 @ 9:23 AM Under: Throwback, Video Games
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WebComic: Full Circle

Today a coworker gave me her old Super Nintendo (SNES) and five games! This totally made my crappy week better.

The SNES is the only old school video game console I still wanted and did not have. I used to have one, but it passed away many years ago.

The other day my coworker and I were talking about my latest attempt to acquire a SNES (since I refuse to pay the price used game stores charge.) She told me how the Super Nintendo was her favorite system as a kid and that she still had hers… and today she gave it to me. I was excited and confused by her giving away something she said she loved. She explained how she now had a Wii and downloaded all the classic games she loved. She said it was easier to play them all on the Wii than to drag out the SNES… this made me think about my Wii and my Virtual Console purchases.

I also have a Wii and have downloaded old school games on it. In fact just last week I beat one of the Sega Genesis games I have been playing since 1994 on my Wii. I used to own Shining Force 2, heck I probably payed full price back then for it, but just last year I spend another $8 to repurchase it on my Wii since I no longer had the original cartridge.

Anyone one else have a Wii and if you do, have you downloaded any games that you used to or already own? I have.

Check out the comic strip here: http://www.spacebooger.com/index.php?comicID=112

Posted by Fred on August 5, 2009 @ 10:08 PM Under: Video Games, WebComic
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Getting Retro at a Rummage Sale

Went to a couple church rummage sales and got:

061309_1212[00]

With a little T.L.C. and a small screwdriver the both Nintendos work great. My last NES died before I learned how to fix it and the many games I had were sad, lonely, and unplayed until now.
The Gamecube looks perfect after I removed the “Yu-Gi-Oh!” skin. All and all I made out pretty good today.

Posted by Fred on June 13, 2009 @ 6:16 PM Under: Throwback, Video Games
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