Miniatures Finished: Twin Moons

Been a little while thanks to getting Nocturnal together, but finally finished up a few more minis. Nothing in particular, other than finally getting to my own MCP collection, just what came to hand after moving house.

The Leader: A little odd that I hadn't yet got to this iconic Hulk villain yet, especially because I go through big Silver Age patches in my painting. Orange and blue is always fun to paint though. Heroclix

Moon Knight: I wasn't happy with my old one, so I got a new Moon Knight, really happy with how the white turned out on this one, wish I could get results this good consistently. Heroclix

Paralax: It may be telling that I read comics in the '90s, as this is probably my favourite costume for Hal Jordan. It just oozes power and strength and I'd love to see it return when Hal wasn't possessed by a fear parasite. Heroclix

Moon Knight: My first MCP model, obtained when a friend wanted to split the Blade out of the box. A lot nicer than the starter box ones I did for work, but the white isn't as nice as my Heroclix version. Atomic Mass Games

Zubatman: In an alternate reality, Bruce Wayne defends Fuchsia City from Team Rocket as the Dark Knight, Zubatman! This was a joke I made once on Facebook and could never get out of my head, because it just gets better the deeper you dive. Typically used as a Daredevil stand-in for MCP. Converted Heroclix

Yamcha: Ordered this thinking it was 28mm, but turns out it was scaled for MCP, so he got done up as a proxy, usually Iron Fist or Wong for my Defenders. Fantastic model to paint and really happy with the result, big recommend for their service and STLs. damange83

The Pitch: Super Smash Brothers

I was watching the new Jumanji films recently, the ones with The Rock and Karen Gillian, and an idea hit me. The framework of "we got sucked into a video game" isn't wholly original, having been used at least as far back as the original Battletoads and Tron, but it is oddly underused in a world where video games are a massive industry and trying to adapt them to film is a constant challenge. Way back in my "Nintendo Movies" article, sometime in 2022 if I'm not mistaken, rather than pitch specific films, I more generally discussed the idea of Nintendo multimedia and what that could potentially look like. This time around, though, I have something more akin to The Pitch which I haven't done for a while, based on, of all Nintendo series, Super Smash Bros.

Super Smash Brothers

Trapped in a world they didn't create, four friends have to work together to harness the powers of their favourite Nintendo characters to escape and save the universe.

The Idea

Ok, we're not pretending that this is anything other than doing Tron or Jumanji -Welcome to the Jungle with the expansive Smash Bros. roster, but that doesn't mean it can't be fun or clever. Get celebrity actors to do the voice of various characters, Sigourney Weaver as Samus, Ryan Reynolds as Pikachu, Cary Elwes as Marth, that kind of thing. Put some proven writers on the job, this isn't Citizen Kane or anything, workmen will do. The story involves four young people, probably in high school, getting trapped in a video game, how isn't super important, and the game turns out to run essentially along the lines of World of Light and/or Shadow Emissary. Why not just make a film out of Shadow Emissary, because that's what people will be asking for anyway? Well, because that's not how the industry works and I don't think we can sell a franchise film with no dialogue.

How it works

The gimmick of this whole concept is, of course, getting a cast of popular characters together to bounce jokes around and have cool fights, the plot is almost secondary, with the players needing to get from A to B through a series of iconic Nintendo locations and beat the final boss, who may be Gaalem or Light or whoever, maybe someone new? Given that the Smash series has a massive roster now, there should probably be some kind of "character randomisation" problem going on preventing the "players" from picking their mains and letting us rotate through more characters. For example, having a scene where someone is stuck as Jigglypuff and learns how to do the instant-KO, or wobbling with the Ice Climbers or complains about Hero being broken are the kind of little things that should probably go in there for fans, but not be major plot-points.

In the finale, of course, the issue is fixed and the players get their mains and work together to win out, go home and we have a sequel tease. Again, nothing complicated, as much of the entertainment and humor comes from things like seeing Warrior and Megaman have to team up to take down King Dedede or something like that. In fact, some kind of World of Light system where the players have to unlock characters by defeating them could be good if not overdone. Naturally, in the end, the players mains are characters that predominantly feature in the Smash Bros series, rather than being popular in their own right, like Captain Falcon and the Ice Climbers, mostly because you kind of want to keep your powder dry on IPs like Zelda and Metroid, giving the lesser-knowns time to shine.

Just for Fun

Now, if it were me in charge of all this, I'd be working close with Nintendo and planning for the film to be released at a very specific time. Much like the 1990s 'classic' The Wizard, our Smash Bros film will be the global reveal for the next game. I'm seeing this take the shape of being a new character available in the final battle that has never been in a Smash game before, and then a full trailer post-credits like at the end of No Way Home. Of course, that's a huge ask and may not happen, but I figure if we're already talking about making a big-budget Smash Bros film, then why not shoot for the moon? The character should be Dixie Kong as well, because I said so.

Superhero Media: Pokemon Detective Pikachu

Given how much buzz there was about Pokemon Detective Pikachu around the time it came out, the fact that it is essentially never spoken about now outside of Pokemon TCG players is frankly bizarre. I'm not super up to date on the Pokemon games, having dropped off after the Red/Blue era and only played a little of a couple of others, but one of the strongest elements of the franchise is the depth and richness of the setting, even if it doesn't always hold up to close scrutiny. As someone who is not a super fan of Pokemon, the best part of Detective Pikachu is still how it makes a real world populated by real people and plenty of pokemon running around doing their thing. To my recollection, none of my favorite "team of six" pokemon are even in the film (Venusaur, Beedrill, Fearow, Nidoking, Raihcu, Cloister), but I get a little thrill seeing some of what's there. I love the little Joltics scampering around on electrical equipment and the Bulbasaur sequence was enough to even get my mother to sit and watch a bit as she passed through the room. I'd prefer if Mewtwo was less... fleshy? But he still looks pretty great in the action sequences. 

Oh yeah, almost forgot, Detective Pikachu is a sequel to Mewtwo Strikes Back, that's some Unbreakable/Split level callback right there. Sure, the only character that crosses over is Mewtwo, but that's the upside of a cinematic universe, not every character needs to be in every film for it all to be linked; sadly this means Ash is out there somewhere, but maybe we'll get lucky and see Jessie and James in the future? The ending of Detective Pikachu leaves a bit to be desired, with the wrap-up being overly convenient and the lack of a decent pokemon battle disappointing. Even when watching it in the cinema, I kind of assumed that the human/pokemon that our protagonists had met along the way would team up to take on Mewtwo, but it never happened for some reason? Seems like a missed opportunity. I know that too much violence would boots up the rating, but what's Pokemon without the battling? Hopefully any other films in the series will remedy that somewhat. At it's core though, Detective Pikachu is a buddy cop comedy/coming of age film, and on that score, it really delivers.  

Plenty of films have done the "interrogate the mime" scene, but I don't recall any having done it quite as well as Detective Pikachu, putting a shockingly dark twist on it for a family film. Ryan Reynolds may actually be a comic genius, as there seems to be no one he can't bounce a scene or joke off, not that Justice Smith is any slouch either, doing great straight man work and still making his presence known, not an easy task. Hell, Bill Nighy is in this film and he's, at best, the third most interesting actor, what a cast! I was really hoping that Detective Pikachu would smash some records, not just because I enjoyed it, but because I want to see more films in the Pokemon universe. There is so much richness and variety to be had in the setting that to not use it seems like a waste of great IP, even outside of the game narratives, which can be a little obtuse at times. Seriously, if you're not a fan, look up the Uknowns sometime, strange stuff. Even with the weirdest stuff put aside, however, there is a world of stories to be had in the Pokemon world, and hopefully we'll get to see some more before too long.

Miniatures Finished - 01/11/21

I rarely feel like I get to paint what I want to right now, more that I'm painting little projects constantly to get them finished. That's not strictly true, but that's kind of how I'm feeling about painting. Does mean some older things are getting finished though, which I guess is nice.

Astro Boy: A character I've wanted for a while finally joins the Ultimate Alliance! I'll have to borrow the complete 1980s series off a friend again for a "Superhero Media" at some stage. 3D Print.

Kirby Robobot: Remember my other Kirby being a little big? Well this one is pretty much bang-on for scale, which is nice, but now I need to find one not in the suit. Still, this was adorable and I couldn't pass it up. Toy.

Crazy Jane: I bought up the rest of the Doom Patrol that I didn't already own and I wanted to experiment with a new technique for painting black, so this was something of a perfect storm. Heroclix.

Count Vertigo: I actually had this model partially painted for years and got so sick of looking at it, I finished him in one sitting. The sculpt is terrible and not at all fun to paint. Heroclix.

Awesome A-Bomb: I wanted this character for a specific reason, but right now I have no idea what that was. This is a really nice sculpt and was pretty fun and quick to paint. Heroclix.

Kaine: Obscure Spider-Man antagonist for my Spider-Man game series, this is actually a nice little sculpt except the face. Fun, '90s colour scheme as well. Heroclix.

The Pitch: The Legend of Zelda - Hero of Time

Ok, so last time we covered just why two Legend of Zelda games from the 2000s are still on my mind way too often more than twenty years later, now let's get to the real meat of what I wanted to say. Up until Tears of the Kingdom, Zelda titles really didn't have direct sequels to speak of, so although I've wanted a third installment for the Ocarina of Time/Majora's Mask series, I've never dared to hope much and kept my ideas for how I would write such a game pretty private. Even though I've had a title in mind for almost all that time.

The Legend of Zelda: Hero of Time

Ok, first things first, this is pretty much pure fantasy, even more so than my usual "The Pitch" articles. As a published author, it's not inconceivable that something I write one day will get big and I end up doing more professional writing, which could include film work. It's really fucking unlikely, I'll admit, but not utterly impossible. Writing a major Nintendo release however? Yeah, good luck. I'm not here to cirticise Nintendo's fan-management, but given that I'm not a Japanese games developer already, let's just say they're not interested in anything I have to say, or ever will. Which is fine, I doubt too many hardcore Zelda fans will like my take on this anyway.

As my background is in prose and not really interactive media, I'm working with a three-act structure for Hero of Time, because, honestly, it's a good way to build a story, for almost every medium. For the fans in the gods, this will be a direct sequel to Majora's Mask, with the Link featured being the very same, though now-adult (or late teens, really), and having essentially continued running for the intervening years. This Link is still haunted by his past, but not to the "brutal and damaged" state, this is a Legend of Zelda game, we're keeping things PG. We'll break it down more below, but the three acts are essentially, 'The Journey Home', 'Saving Hyrule' and 'The Dark World'. Although, being a video game, players can wander back and forth pretty much at will, the idea is to delineate each act visually as well as geographically.

I actually like a good opening cinematic, so we'll be going all-out for Hero of Time, with a voice-over from Zelda explaining the history of Link, how he traveled through time to save Hyrule, but couldn't just be a child again and left, saving Termina on his way out into the world. But the evil didn't stay sealed, leaking into the land slowly as the years crept by, the Sages not even noticing until it was too late. Queen Zelda took it upon herself to battle the darkness, but was lost in the wastes West of Hyrule. In desperation, the remaining sages sent out the fairy, Navi, to seek the long-lost Hero of Time. Opening credits.

The game begins in a small coastal village, deliberately reminiscent of Windwaker but not specifically anywhere from the game, as we're not tying directly into anything other Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask. Navi finds a now-adult link wandering the shore and has to convince him to return to Hyrule to help Zelda, which he is reluctant to do at first, trauma being like that and all. Of course Link agrees in the end and the reunited companions have to head back to Hyrule. As this version of Link is by now a seasoned adventurer, he'll actually be starting out with some equipment, rather than having to gather it as he normally does. Nothing special, just a sword, shield, bow and bomb bag, everything else will come over the course of the adventure. The first part of the game is a mountain range that Link has to cross, basically it's a chance to learn the controls, try out the equipment and gather a few Heart Containers, but it will also discourage players from wandering back to the first town, as there's not all that much there to see.

Link emerges from the mountains in northern Termina, we get a nice sweeping shot of the HD version of the landscape which, yes, will be bigger and more detailed than it was in Majora's Mask, this is a sequel, not a remake. Before he can move into Hyrule, Link has to revisit some of the important locations in Termina, find some treasures and help people out, places like the Great Bay, Clock Town and the Moon. Again, this isn't a remake, so it's not the same dungeons and quests as Majora's Mask, but we get to see the characters of the games ten or so years on like we did in Ocarina of Time. This section of the game will be substantial, with Link needing to get some items, defeat some bosses and getting his hands on the Ocarina of Time, with which (and the Song of Soaring) introduces our fast travel mechanic. If, at this stage, the player can be bothered returning on foot to the starting area, there will be a nice little bonus, like some equipment or a new mask.

What's that? Yeah, we're doing masks again. Not to a Majora's Mask extent, but some old favorites like the Bunny Hood, Deku Mask and even the Fierce Deity and Majora's Masks will pop up, but more on them later. After gathering what he needs from Termina, Link can depart to the next area of the game, and the next act, Hyrule. Much like in Ocarina of Time, Hyrule is a nightmare kingdom of darkness and monsters, with the few living survivors hiding in towns and settlements. From townsfolk and people from his past, Link uncovers information about what has happened; a new dark force came from the Desert, Zelda went to fight it and was never seen again. No one knows anything specific, but the Sages, when Link finds them, push him to get the Master Sword and go confront the evil, rescue the Queen, etc. Some of the Sages are in or near the Ocarina of Time dungeons, but the player doesn't need to clear all of them again, maybe just the good ones for fun, though with some expanded sequences.

What Link really needs to recover the Master Sword is, of course, the three Spiritual Stones, so it's off to the Great Deku Tree, Dododongo's Cavern and Zora's Domain (Jabujabu is dead from the pollution, so I'm guessing Ruto hid it in the Ice Cavern or Water Temple). Each of these locations will be reminiscent of how they appeared in Ocarina of Time, but still very different, remember, this is not a remake. There will be a dream sequence, however, after Link has found the Spiritual Stones that takes the player through a full 64-bit dungeon made up of iconic bits of Ocarina of Time, just as a nice bit of fan-service, though it dumps Link in the Temple of Time and he can finally pull the Master Sword. Also in terms of fan-service, the various songs from Ocarina of Time will mostly still work, and if the player can figure them out without Link "learning" them, they work. Like the magic spells in the old Ultima games.

Finally, Link can head into the Haunted Wasteland to confront the great evil that is destroying Hyrule. He finds that the Gerudo Fortress has been destroyed and all the Gerudo killed, probably being told this by the ghost of Nabooru, and the wasteland is now more reminiscent of the Dark World from Link to the Past, a surreal nightmare of darkness more so than a traditional landscape. In this section of the game, Link will pretty much be battling nasty monsters, finding the last few items he needs to complete the game and clearing a couple of dungeons to make his way to the final boss. This is probably where he finds things like Majora's Mask and the Gold Bracers, really building up that Link is about to take on the biggest foe he's ever faced. This section of the game should ideally be pretty difficult, at least for a Zelda game, though there's a Great Fairy's Fountain just before the Boss, so that players can go in at full health, and probably with Nayrue's Love now in their arsenal.

Can't really go any further with this without dropping the big reveal; the villain is Princess Zelda. After ascending to the throne and having the influence to learn more about the Triforce and the whole cosmogonic cycle that she, Ganon and Link are destined to repeat for eternity. Wanting to break that cycle, Zelda used her magic to kill Gannondorf (who has been imprisoned since the end of Ocarina of Time) and steal the Triforce of Power from him. Of course, power corrupts, so it wasn't long before Zelda wanted to get her hands on the Triforce of Courage in Link as well, so she starts to destroy Hyrule to lure the Hero of Time back. In an attempt to subvert the cycle, Zelda has merely shifted her role within it, becoming Ganon while Link remains the hero and someone, probably Saria, Ruto or Nabooru, in the Triforce of Wisdom Role. To finish the game, the player, and Link, have to save Hyrule by killing Princess Zelda.

I'm typically a bit down on massive boss fights in video games, but the Link/Zelda fight should be pretty long and cover multiple parts, just maybe let players save and quit between sections? I don't know why more games don't do that? Link will have to use everything in his arsenal to defeat Zelda, as she's still part good, so the Master Sword doesn't do the full job, and even the Fierce Deity Mask can't quite bring down an sorceress with two Triforce sections. In order to strike the killing blow, Link has only one choice; put on Majora's Mask. Link gets to throw around some serious power for a few rounds with the mask on, but what we're really building to is a sequence where Link, as Majora, has to travel to the moon, meet the Moon Children again, and, tragically, crash the moon into Zelda to kill her. With this act, as well as narratively tying up the previous two games, Link destroys Zelda, the Triforce, and himself, closing the cycle begun in the Deku Tree so many years ago and moving on to the next rotation. Although this is a sad ending, there is reference to games that happen in the "future" of the timeline and reinforcement of the Campbell-esque ideas of mythic cycles at the core of the series.

Hero of Time is a story of gods and epic destiny, but also is very human, with Link's trauma being a big driving force for the narrative as well as the whole mythology thing. In fact, with some clever writing, Link's 'silent protagonist' status could actually be played to make him seen withdrawn and reluctant, rather than just shy. The game echoes both Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask, but is it's own thing, think more like the 8-Bit sections and Mushroom Kingdom in Super Mario Odyssey than Kirby's Adventure Wii. And, well, I'm done? I'm not a video game designer, I'm a writer (and psychotherapist and some other stuff), so the above has been an exercise in storytelling, not game design. And also the main point was to get this out of my head where it's been rattling around for a couple of decades. Hope you enjoyed the ride, but it's back to superheroes next time.

Thinking Out Loud: The Hero of Time

Hey there! This is another one of those entries that's not even tangentially about superheroes, just something that's been on my mind that I had to get down somewhere. So sorry, come back next time for something involving capes and tights.

I'm of the age that I owned a Nintendo 64 at the time it was the current generation of console, and would occasionally get games as gifts or whathaveyou. Like many of that age, I fell in love with The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, finishing it many times over; it was actually my first Zelda game, and even to this day the series doesn't feel "right" to me in the classic 2D-style. Sadly, I couldn't afford to do more than borrow a copy of Majora's Mask back in the day, but I made up for it with the 3DS version as an adult. Even now, if I'm sick, or even on holiday, running through Ocarina and Majora is a good way to spend my time.

Oddly, these games have actually gotten better as I've gotten older. I mean, I don't think there was stuff there that only came to light later, more that, having done degrees in English Literature and Film Studies, my critical faculties have greatly increased and I can see more in the narratives than I could when I was a literal child. Themes like loss of childhood, inevitability and the need to find closure permeate Ocarina of Time, which is part of the reason it still resonates with players decades on.

Majora's Mask is about trauma and grief, right? I don't know if it was a deliberate choice by the makers of the game (given general Japanese cultural attitudes towards Mental Health, I doubt it), but every element of the game is steeped in loss and the pain it brings. The antagonist has been so hurt by the world that he lashes out in an apocalyptic manner as soon as he has the power to do so, the cartoon fantasy equivalent of a school shooter. The game even starts with the bullying victim bullying the next person down the chain (Link, yes that was a pun) because it's the only power dynamic Skull Kid can relate to. Ah, but I hear you say, aren't the majority of school shooters racially motivated? Well, what does Skull Kid do to Link after stealing his horse for a joy ride? He forces a new, "lesser" racial identity on Link, which causes the people of Clock Town to vilify him, refuse him service in shops and basically treat him as a second-class citizen. With the Business Scrubs and the fact that only the local Banker is keen to talk to Deku Link, there's probably an allegorical reading of the European Jewish experience to be had, but we'll leave it at that.

And what of Link? Well, he starts the game running. From what? Here the "nebulous" nature of Zelda cannon can be easy to trip up on, but I tend to see Majora's Mask as the direct sequel to Ocarina of Time. At the end of Ocarina, Link is forced to return to childhood, despite having spent a not-insignificant amount of time as an adult, putting his life on the line to defeat a mad wizard whose evil has literally twisted his childhood home into a place of nightmares. Of course, the world where Ganon has been defeated has no need for Link, and Zelda seems to be working from a framework of compassion in sending him back, but Link has been forever changed and cannot go back to his life of the most bullied Kokuri. How do the Ocarina credits end? With Link running into Zelda's courtyard as a child once more. Whilst there is a perfectly fair romantic reading of Link and Zelda's relationship, I tend to feel that the connection they share through the Triforce is probably deeper than that, given that the three are continually reincarnated to act out the same struggle throughout history. Naturally, the child Zelda is unable to relate to the Link who has been an adult, seen the future and felt the blood of evil men on his hands, so he has lost even that connection and flees Hyrule entirely, searching, perhaps unconsciously, for someone who can relate to his experience.

Meanwhile, back in Termina, Link is stuck in a "Groundhog Day" three-day loop where he can watch those around him go from disbelief to panic to horrific fiery death knowing that he will survive and have to do it all again. And how does Link combat the end of the world? By putting on masks that literally change him into someone equipped to fix the problem, a process that is clearly painful and traumatic, but which Link puts himself through repeatedly to save others. There's probably a D-I-D reading there, but that's way above my Psychotherapist pay grade. Depending on how familiar with Majora's Mask you are, it may take quite a few runs through the last three days of the world for you, though Link, to save it, so just how many times does this poor child who has seen and lived through way too much already see the world end because he failed? Once all the titans are awakened, Link can prevent the moon from hitting Termina and save the world, pretty standard fantasy stuff, really. However, is this allegorical? Is Link really accessing an inner strength, or perhaps building his Maslow's Pyramid? Link leaves Termina at the end of the game, his belongings restored, but how is he psychologically? Is he stronger for what he has gone through, or has this adventure broken him even more?

And where could this lead next? That's a question that has been floating around my brain for years, off and on. Yes, I know about the "Split Timeline" and all that, and I've played other Zelda games, but I want to know what happens to this Link, the one who defeated Ganon and then Majora before wandering off into the dark areas of the map. Well, sorry to say, all this was a lead-in to another one of these speculating on a possible final installment of a trilogy. So keep an eye out for that, sooner rather than later.

Thinking Out Loud: Super Mario Man

Is Super Mario a Superhero? This question has kept popping up for me as I play through Super Mario 3D All-Stars and Super Mario Odyssey during my slow periods between assignments. Part of this is a broader question about weather or not video game characters in general can be considered superheroes. Now, some video games feature characters that are already superheroes from other media, Spider-Man and Batman being perennial favourites, and plenty of games feature original superheroes as their protagonists, the inFamous and Prototype series being examples I've played. But what about other characters that tread the line? Megaman regularly fights for humanity against legions of killer robots, that sounds lot like Magnus, so is Megaman a superhero? What about Samus? We know she's a bounty hunter, but she's also responsible for repeatedly dismantling a large criminal organisation, that's pretty superheroic, like a more mercenary Iron Man. And the big question, what about the granddaddy of the medium, Super Mario?

In most games, Mario has powers and abilities far beyond the people and creatures around him, or at least certainly those we can consider to be native inhabitants (Toads, Luma, etc), which implies some inherent ability that they don't possess. In the old USA continuity, Mario was a human who traveled to the Mushroom Kingdom, providing a kind of "John Carter" explanation for the increased ability, which works and does, indeed, put Mario in that nebulous "hero" area adjacent to characters like Carter and Tarzan. Due to the debatable nature of what can be considered Mario "cannon", there is essentially no real consistency to Mario's abilities, excepting that most outside of the jumping require a kind of external power-up, be it a Mushroom or new kind of hat. Even just sticking to what can be broadly considered the main Mario games, and thereby avoiding any Karts, Parties and/or hotel management, probably the most heroic action Mario engages in is fighting the villain with plans of conquest, which almost works better as a "Knight/Princess/Knave" read than anything superheroic.

All-in, I do not tend to consider Mario a superhero in the same sense that I do characters like Spider-Man and She-Hulk; nor is he as much a superhero in my mind as other video game characters like Ratchet or Captain Falcon. Mario is, essentially, the ur-text of the "Mascot Platformer" genre, so trying to parse his existence within terms of other genres, will always be fraught. There is a reading of Mario as superhero to be had if you really want to find it, as games like Odyssey certainly open that possibility, with the globe-trotting and battling huge bosses, even giving Mario a fantastic vehicle and a sidekick, so if you really want a chubby plumber who jumps high on your team, there's not much to stop you. For myself, I'll be holding off on adding much Mario content beyond my "Melee of Champions" Super Mission Force games, as it doesn't quite gel as well as throwing Ratchet and Clank in with my Guardians of the Galaxy or Solid Snake with my SHIELD forces.

That Time I Made my own Pokemon TCG format

Back when I started working at an FLGS, one of my responsibilities was the Pokémon TCG League. Whilst I've never been too big on Collectable Card Games, I used to have a bit of fun with Pokémon, mostly because the community was a lot of fun and the game had enough depth to be engaging. Like most card games, Pokémon has a rotation, meaning cards are only usable in tournaments and events like League for a couple of years before being replaced by the new ones. In a lot of ways, this approach is advantageous to players, because new cards are easy to find and you avoid the Yu-Gi-Oh issue of cards becoming impossible to get a hold of. The flipside is, of course, players end up with a lot of useless cards on their hands. Back when I was doing this (2010 to 2013ish), aside from the Standard game, there wasn't another way to play Pokémon and use the older cards in the League. Expanded Format was around, but no one really bothered and Unlimited was yet to be birthed officially, but there were some older cards I wanted to get on the table, so I had to have a bit of a think. 

Magic The Gathering already had some other formats going at the time, some of which had started with groups of players putting them together independently, like "Commander", originally called EDH (Elder Dragon Highlander), which put interesting restrictions on deckbuilding, but allowed for a greater depth of cards from older sets. To this end, I set about making a variant of the Pokémon TCG with my friends, both so we could keep using some of the cards we have, but we also wanted to capture more of the "feel" of the video games. We called the resulting format "Pokémon Trainer Battles", and it had a number of issues, but I think it wasn't too bad overall. I think if the idea of something other than Standard had been on the tables, we could have developed it more, but lack of interest made us drop the idea before it went too far. Knowing what I know now, I suspect that we would have had to start banning some cards, but any extended-format card game has that issue. 

First off, Trainer Battles was different in that a "deck" only contained 6 Pokémon and they all started on the field, face down, to better simulate the six Pokeballs carried by trainers in the video games. One was still in the "Active" space, and was revealed after turn order had been decided, but the remaining five on the bench would be hidden at the start. Unlike the normal game, these Pokémon could be at any Stage, not just basics, again in an attempt to simulate the video games. As the Pokémon on the bench were KOed or Switched, they would be flipped up, so your opponent would slowly learn what you had and vice-versa. Pokémon on the Bench could only be damaged by attacks when face up and could only use Abilities when face up, for an added element of risk. So if I was running something like the Serperior with the "Royal Heal" ability, I would have to expose it to risk to gain the benefit it provides. 

The rest of the "deck" that players had also featured a few restrictions; 40 cards rather than 60, and, excepting Basic Energy, in "singleton" format, i.e., one of each card. Unlike in regular games, "decking out" didn't trigger a game loss, as the intention was to emulate "PP" from the video games, but this may have been a mistake, as one player just built an engine to draw his entire deck as fast as possible, due to the lack of a "max hand size" rule in the Pokémon TCG. Me, I focused on recurring my Boost Energy card to drop huge attacks each turn. Energy and Items could still be attached to face-down Pokémon, but players had to declare it, as in "I am attaching a Water Energy to this Pokémon", but we did experiment with options for "hidden" attachment. Of course, some cards, like Rare Candy and Devolution Spray were essentially unplayable in Trainer Battles, but this was to be expected, and cards like Computer Search and Red Card became a lot more interesting. 

So was Trainer Battles a "failure"? Yes and no. We abandoned it because it didn't catch on, but we also really didn't put enough effort into it either. Thinking about this all these years later, I can see some fun that could be had with the format and, if I still had any physical cards, might put together a couple of decks to test out. Some cards would certainly need to be banned (anything that returned Active Pokémon to hand for example), but the opportunities to try out new combinations and give old cards new life would be good to see in the Pokémon TCG, which doesn't have all that much variation currently. The only format of Magic The Gathering I play is Commander, precisely because I don't need more than one or two new cards with each new set and even an entire new deck can be pretty affordable, so something more like that for Pokémon would be very much of interest to me. Feedback welcome on this one, folks. 

Miniatures Finished: Beasts of No Nation

It can be a lot of fun to paint some non-human miniatures sometimes, as there are fewer limits on what can and can't be done. Superheroes have plenty of monstrous villains, so finishing one off occasionally is a fun way to break up a bigger painting run.

Rocksteady: I finished Beebop years ago, so taking so long to get to his partner is almost a little embarrassing. I went for a colour scheme similar to the old toy, but a little more muted. Heroclix 

Leatherhead: I got this for free when we were cleaning out the old store and thought it would make a good version of the classic TMNT baddie for those gaming in the 32-35mm Batman/Crisis Protocol scale. he has since been converted into a 54mm mutant for Inquisitor. Privateer Press 

Copperhead: Having painted plenty of orange and green over the years, this figure came together really fast. When chipping away at the lead mountain, I've found these "easy wins" are a great way to stay motivated. Heroclix  

 

Etrigan: I was going to be clever and put this section entirely in rhyming verse, but I'm tired right now, so you miss out. Heroclix 

Serpieror: I've had this for years, from back in the days when I played the Pokemon TCG, actually and only just got around to painting it. I used to use these Pokemon as various Squigs in Gorkamorka, now they get to play with my superheroes. Toy 

Lobo: The main man! I had a Heroclix Lobo, but he was smaller than a lot of my other characters, so I hunted around and found this version, which is much better. Knight Models 

Superhero Media: Kirby's Extra Epic Yarn

I waited a while for the price to come down on this one, and I'm glad I did, because as good as Kirby's Extra Epic Yarn is, it's pretty short, I cleared the main adventure in a few hours. When the fiendish sorcerer, Yin-Yarn, escapes from his own universe into Dream Land, he begins to turn everyone and everything into yarn in a bid to conquer the world. Naturally, Kirby steps in to aid the situation, but once his is also turned into yarn, Kirby is unable to use his inhale ability and is quickly defeated. Now in the textile-themed "Patch Land", Kirby befriends Prince Fluff, the displaced ruler and the pair embark upon an adventure of freeing Patch Land from evil and collecting furniture. Yes, the collectable element of the game is furniture, with which Kirby can decorate his Patch Land apartment, a part of the game I didn't really care for, though that may have something to do with the touch-interface of the 3DS not being something I like using for precision work. 

The aesthetics of Kirby's Extra Epic Yarn (yarn instead of wool for the pun value) are probably the best part of the experience, with everything looking like an arts and crafts project, complete with bottle caps, paper clips and the collectable being beads rather than stars. Instead of inhaling opponents, Kirby lassos them with some of the yarn he's made up of, which makes for rather unique game-play in the series, but there are still powers, most of which are reminiscent of previous entries. Probably my favourite little flourish of Kirby's Extra Epic Yarn is the new dash mechanic, in which Kirby transforms into a little car, beeps twice, and is harder to steer; it's cute and exactly the kind of detail that makes a Kirby game endearing. Kirby's Extra Epic Yarn is among the easiest Kirby games I've played, with the challenge being pretty flat except for a few massive spikes, which kind of bugged me as I was playing the game pretty casually and wasn't expecting them. The bonus "Devilish" levels vary in difficulty from absurdly easy to brutally punishing with no real indication or reason, so I haven't played a lot of them. 

So why isn't Prince Fluff in Kirby Star Allies or Smash Bros Ultimate even? He's got an interesting set of moves and transformations, the big mech would work as a Final Smash really well and at least it wouldn't be another JRPG or Mario character on the roster. Is it to do with rendering the whole Yarn thing? This game was pretty popular, but aside from demands for more knitted Amiibos, I don't really see a call for Patch Land to return in any fashion, which is a shame, at least the progression of the game wasn't the typical Dream Land fare that has become pretty familiar to fans of the series. I'd still say I was disappointed overall with Kirby's Extra Epic Yarn, but there is stuff there that I want to see more of in later Kirby games, and not just a setting that I'm not already familiar with. I don't know, I get the feeling that the Kirby franchise has all of the pieces for an amazing "Triple A" style game that is engaging and story-driven whilst still being approachable for younger players, if Nintendo and Hal really committed to it, but only time will tell if that's one dream that can come true.

From the Archives - 9

Lead Capes will be moving to Tuesday and Friday posting for the time being.

I'm writing this in late March 2020, just as my State Government is about to put us all on lock down for coronavirus. I'm putting that here because I want to look back when it's all over and remember that I kept busy, even if it was just adding to the endless backlog for this blog.

Piloswine: I'm not sure where this one came from, can't remember buying it at all. I really don't even have much idea which game this Pokemon is from. It's an Ice type, I think? Toy. 

Roselia: From watching the anime and playing the games, you'd be forgiven for forgetting that most Pokemon are quite small. Not including the rock she's sitting on, Roselia is around 4mm tall. Toy. 

Leafeon: Another "Eevelution", this one after the application of a Leaf Stone. Toy.

Trapster: AKA "Paste Pot Pete", I first came across this character in late 1990s Spider-Man comics, where he has a completely different look and is trying to get himself back together to go straight. I really like that interpretation of the character and hope I can find the matching figure at some stage. Heroclix. 

Glaceon: Is there an Ice Stone? Is that how this one works? I'm not sure, as my days of keeping up with Pokemon games are long gone. Toy. 

Whirlwind: A classic Marvel villain for those who grew up watching the 1990s Iron Man cartoon on the "Marvel Hour of Power". Sure, he's usually more competent than that cartoon would have indicated, but still a nice punching bag for many heroes. 

From the Archives - 8

Some of these miniatures have been in my collection so long, I'm honestly shocked that I have no pictures of them anywhere.

Swamp Thing: Swamp Thing is one of the earliest comics I can remember reading, I'd like to know where my parent's got some copies, but I don't think I understood what they were about until years later. Heroclix. 

Leafeon: The last of the three "Eevees" in the vending machine capsule I picked up years ago. I wish I could find more of these 1/43 Pokemon, they're perfectly scaled for Heroic 28mm. Toy. 

Destiny: One of the Villain Teams I went to work on pretty early was the Brotherhood of Mutants, because I had quite a few left from my days of playing Heroclix. Destiny was a good piece in the early game, so I had a few of her. Heroclix. 
 

Snowflame: Like many, I discovered obscure DC Villain Snowflame, the man powered by cocaine, through the Linkara review of a New Guardians comic. He's become a bit of a meme since then, but a cocaine-powered villain with some of the best insane dialogue in comics is pretty much a must-have. Converted Heroclix. 

Mysterio: Despite being a huge Spider-Man fan, it's taken me a while to get some of his more sinister foes onto the table. That said, Mysterio did see play in one of my first display games, using his powers to keep the heroes flummoxed. Heroclix.

Two-Face: One of my favouite Batman villains, Two-Face was an early paintjob for me, though he's had the odd update here and there. Again, I'm thinking I should run that No Man's Land campaign to get some of these guys on the table more often. 

From the Archives - 7

God I have a lot of these. Like, when do I hit "too many"? All I know is I don't have enough, and need to keep painting. 

Allan Quartermain: Not just good for The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, but also Colonial and time-bending adventures. Ironcald. 

Bucky: Another rebase and repaint for Weird World War II gaming, Bucky got a new hand and Tommy Gun from a plastic British soldier to replace the bent one. Heroclix. 

Eevee: Another of the annoyingly-difficult to find 1/43 Pokemon collectables, Eevee really is that tiny in scale, think terrier or pug. Toy. 

Constrictor: My Serpent Society has deep roots in my hobby, being one of the "villain" teams I started work on to balance out having so many heroes. Still not finished, of course. Heroclix. 

Budew: Just in case Eevee wasn't small enough, here's Budew, only around 3mm tall. The cool thing about the vending machine toys was that they came in evolution trees, so you'd get the basic form and the later stages. Toy. 

Clayface III: It's a pretty gaudy costume for a melting guy who burns people with a touch, but this version of Clayface was hastily touched up for my old Arkham escape game. Heroclix.

Superhero Media: Pokemon The First Movie Mewtwo Strikes Back

I want to talk about something specific with this one, but there's a few things to get out of the way first. One; I'm just going to call this Mewtwo Strikes Back to save on typing, ok? Two; don't worry, I won't be covering every single one of the several dozen Pokemon films, I just want to talk about this one and Detective Pikachu later on. Three; this film, and the (at the time of writing) upcoming remake caused quite a spectacular argument in my roleplaying group's Messenger chat. When I said the remake trailer looked interesting, but that I hoped the "shitty" ending had been changed, I received a rather personal insult in response, which I felt was unwarranted, but evidently, Mewtwo Strikes Back is a sacred cow in some circles. The people in question are 10 years younger than me, I saw the film in the cinema when I was 12, meaning they were probably 3 years old when it came out? Not sure what to make of that. I'm well aware that nostalgia doesn't really function for me, but Mewtwo Stikes Back seems a weird hill to die on. The ending is terrible though, Ash is brought back to life by magical Pokemon tears after Mewtwo turns him to stone. Garbage. 

I really didn't find much to enjoy in Mewtwo Strikes Back as an adult, even one who still enjoys Pokemon and plays the card game online. The story is basic, the characters are two-dimensional and the message of the film is muddled, with Pokemon battles being framed as a bad thing if they're not done for specific reasons. It feels like trying for an anti-violence message whilst maintaining the "monster battles" aspect of the franchise and it doesn't really land at all. The best part of Mewtwo Strikes Back is the titular antagonist who, as I've discussed before, is a great foil and anti-hero, still working through being a villain in this film. Created in a lab to be a living weapon, Mewtwo breaks free, shedding his power-focusing costume and develops a plan to conquer the world of Pokemon. Just how much time passes between his escape and the mysterious invitations being delivered to Pokemon trainers is unclear, but Metwtwo is able to build a tower, cloning machine, robot Pokeballs and a weather control machine by himself, clearly indicating himself to be the Pokemon Doctor Doom. When confronted by Mew, his "parent" Mewtwo fights until Ash is killed and revived and Mewtwo, Mew and the cloned Pokemon fly away into the sunset. 

Yeah, this isn't a good story, but I still find Mewtwo to be a compelling character in his own right, with just the right mix of Magneto and "Evil Clone" to build a good antihero narrative. Not many Pokemon, being analogous for the most part, have real personalities of which to speak, even the legendary ones, so Mewtwo is pretty special. Mewtwo is as much a character as many of the humans in the Pokemon setting, and perhaps more so than Ash, Red and the various Professors Tree, as he is driven by grief and loss he can't identify; rather than a search for something tangible, he seeks identity. For a "boss monster" from a 1990s video game about pet collection, Mewtwo is thoroughly interesting and really needs to be explored more as a character in his own right, rather than just an antagonist or foil, as in Detective Pikachu. I'm not sure what that story would be, perhaps a Pokemon take on Seven Years in Tibet and/or A Wizard of Earthsea, in which Mewtwo tries to find his identity and purpose in a world that only sees his power and threat? Food for thought.

Melee of Champions - 5

Been lucky and picked up some more cheap figurines. The trick is to check out sales and dig through the bins of 2nd hand stuff, looking for gems. I did actually pay full price for Solid Snake, who I pre-ordered when I was working Full Time. I have enough of these now that I've been able to move on some of the Star Wars and Pirates stuff that I picked up in job lots, but didn't really want that much.

Lucas (Mother Series), Princess Peach and Solid Snake (Amiibo). 

 

Jin (Tekken) and Stitch (Tokentasu and Disney Infinity).

I keep promising to put up stats for these things, but Super Mission Force has released a new edition and I just can't afford it, so you may have to wait a little longer.

Superhero Media: Kirby Triple Deluxe

I decided that something I can do with my 4+ months of unemployment (for the most part) is finish some of the video games cluttering up my cabinets. Longtime readers will likely know two things; one, I'm not really much of a gamer and, two, I love Kirby games. Naturally, I play just about every Kirby game I can get my hands on, even the ones that people tend to say aren't worth the effort. The main thing that people tend to critique about Triple Deluxe (and Star Allies for that matter) is that it isn't Planet Robobot. Whilst I agree that "Robot Mech Suit" is a hard gimmick to top, Triple Deluxe is as charming as most Kirby games, but tops it off with a fairy tale aesthetic and the most powerful form of Kirby that has been seen to date. When a mysterious seed feels to Dream Land, a massive "Dreamstalk" sprouts, carrying Kirby and King Dedede into the sky. When Dedede is kidnapped, Kriby rushes up the Dreamstalk to his rescue. 

Most of Triple Deluxe is pretty standard Kirby fare, the only powers I hadn't played with in the past were Archer, Spear and Circus, which were a bit of fun, but the returning Ninja power was one of the most useful, as being able to cling to walls let me plan out moves in advance. That said, taking Archer into boss fights makes them pretty easy. The new centerpiece however, is Hypernova Kirby, when the consumption of a Miracle Fruit turns the pink puffball into a rainbow vacuum of destruction, capable of swallowing even world bosses whole in a matter of seconds. Is Hypernova Kirby a representation of the character's "Final Form", or perhaps an inversion of his destiny as a Star Warrior? The game doesn't explain any of it, preferring instead to focus on the origin of the villains and the Dreamstalk itself. As is now typical for Kirby games, the villains, Taranza and Queen Sectonia, have a pretty twisted background, with Sectonia being warped by her constant pursuit of perfection and her loyal sister Taranza too loving to disobey or leave. 

Amusingly, the reason Taranza kidnaps Dedede rather than Kirby, is that she mistakes Dedede for the legendary "Hero of Dreamland", because he has a castle and servants. That's pretty funny, but begs the question, why does Kirby live alone in a one-room house whilst Dedede gets to stay king? I'm not saying that Kirby, effectively a toddler, would be a better leader, but when your Superman equivalent routinely dethrones your corrupt king, surely someone would think of putting Bandana Waddle Dee or whomever else in charge? The plot of the first game is that Dedede stole all of the food in Dream Land, that's some major despotism right there, and Kirby tends to fight him in every game since. Am I the only one wasting time considering the internal politics of Dream Land? Do I wish I had something else to do with my time? Does it even matter because there's a 3+ year backlog on articles? Tune in next time to see what I get up to.

Miniatures Finished - 19/05/19

Feels like my heroes got pushed to the back-burner for my Deathwatch, so I'm glad that I'm able to get some up here again. Even if there are two more Deathwatch in this lot.

Balder the Brave: Just a simple head-swap on this one, Balder comes into the 40k universe as a Deathwatch Veteran with shotgun. Converted Games Workshop. 

Kirby on Warp Star: My packet of Kirbys had more than a few spares in it, so naturally I had to make a Maximilian 1934 version to go with my Ghost Rider and Yamcha. The base is from an old Warhammer giant and it was in my box of spares. Toy. 

Thor (Jane Foster): Just another Heroclix head on a Space Marine, but I've developed a fondness for female Marines and the rage they induce in idiots on the internet. Naturally, Jane gets a hammer and a shield. Converted Games Workshop. 
 

Skrull Infiltrator: As I mentioned way back in my first Superhero Wargames Armies Ideas, making Skrulls is pretty fun and easy, so I've been working on a few to break up other projects. This one is Damien Wayne. Converted Heroclix. 

Juggernaut: After seeing Deadpool 2, I decided I needed a bigger version of Cain Marko. Until a version in prison fatigues is available, this one is pretty impressive. Heroclix. 

Skrull Infiltrator: It looks as if  the skrulls have agents even in the mysterious Foot Clan! Most of my Skrull conversions are based on whatever I have spare in my Heroclix, so there's no real plan, other than to avoid any major characters and avoid too much Marvel stuff. Heroclix. 

Melee of Champions - Part 4

Been keeping an eye out for figurines in roughly the same scale as the Amiibos and Disney Infinity, picking up these few cheap at various stores.

Artorias (Dark Souls), Conker (Nintento/Rare) and Aquaman. 

A friend is a big fan of Dark Souls and Artorias in particular, so I nabbed him and Conker on a BOGOF sale. Got lucky and found this Aquaman FIGZ at a clearance place, sadly he was the only character left. I've been working on Super Mission Force stats for my collection of characters, so hopefully I'll be getting some more of those up sooner rather than later.