Merry Jupiter Everyone

I Love Classic 80's Cartoon Franchises in Games

I have no idea how this whole thing started, perhaps it was the success of TMNT: Shredder's Revenge that kicked it off. But however it happened, I love it.

I recently played the demo of the Toxic Crusaders game and it certainly has the feel of the show, despite a few character changes. While it may feel a little less compared to say, Streets of Rage 4, it was enjoyable for me to play and that is enough. I look forward to playing the full game when it it released and have enjoyed listening to the soundtrack (which was released before the game. Guess they did plan to release the game, but held it back either to work on it more or to just avoid competing with the Marvel Cosmic Invasion game that was being released at a similar time).

The idea that developers are taking franchises from the 80's and 90's and are trying to make games that still have a certain feel or respect for them is very much appreciated. The reveal of the Samurai Pizza Cats game with what appears to be many of the original voice actors was so unexpected that I couldn't believe it. While it isn't the usual style of game compared to many of the other franchises that are being made into games, it certainly is interesting enough that I will defiantly be following it.

There are still plenty of other franchises to pull from. Heck, we had arcade games back then for such shows like Bucky O'Hare and Wild West: The C.O.W-Boys of Moo Mesa. I imagine the licenses for those franchises to make a game would be easier to get then that of TMNT or Marvel. I know there is a He-man game in the works and that just screams classic 80's, so looking forward to giving that one a go too.

I look forward to see what other classic franchises will be brought back into games. As long as those developers a fans and put the care into it, things should be bright for those looking for a little nostalgia in these unsettling times.  

Still here....still collecting stuff

So yeah, this year has been a rough one, but there are always things to look forward too. While things have slowed down once again in the painting department, it hasn't stopped me from building a collection.

I have slowly built up a number of warbands for Burrows & Badgers for a number of Allegiances. These include:

• Freebeasts (the Mosston Village River Defenders)
• Undead (Lord Alessandro Von Ottington the Second's crew)
• Arcane Conclave
• Witch Hunters
• Hillfolk
• Kindred (Barnard's new crew)

Most are either at 10 models or close too it, so I only need a few more to finish these groups. There are also a few now models Oathsworn has planned in the future and so would like to add them to my Undead and Witch Hunter warbands when they get release. I've also got a few buildings from the Oathsworn range, along with looking at getting some vegetables from various miniature railway ranges to make a small set of farm options. I still have my swamp gaming mat from my Malifaux games, but want to get a few more options and sizes. Still looking for grass and snow gaming mats, but they aren't as easy to get or when I do find one, are even in stock in Australia. Something I'll look into next year.

I've also had my eye on a number of other skirmish miniature games, the main one being Marvel Crisis Protocol. I have enough of a range right now to choose from, along with various terrain and a city streets gaming mat. Needless to say, I'm glad that a few of my long time favourite Marvel characters (Squirrel Girl, Gambit and Rogue) have already got models, but it's now made me more interested in researching into the other characters in the Marvel universe to get a better idea of who they are and should I consider them to add to my personal collection. I've certainly grown attached to Man-Thing and find that the 10 models you need to pick your mission crew from seems way too small for all the characters I want to add. They are all assembled and undercoated, but so far I have only started working on a couple of models.

It's strange, but after using Citadel paints for years, I now find myself moving away from them and more so to other brands. Certainly the Wraithbone undercoat spray I have found is rather thick compared to other brands and their contrast paints just don't do it for me. Currently, my main brand I'm using is the Warpaints range, and so far, I'm liking them a lot. With such a variety of paint brands and colours to choose from now, it's much easier for me to start branching out with different brands and see how well they work. Hopefully once all these heat waves calm down I can try to get back into some serious painting again.

Not everything has been great. Certainly had issues with Dice Heads, who's game Zoontails is a good game to play, but how they handled their last Kickstarter I backed was done so very poorly and as such, I won't be supporting them anymore. Still, there are many other options these days, so I'll focus on those ones instead.