Time for a little 1989 Boss Rush update!
Custom Sprites:
– Mega Man: Alien (Mega Man 2) added
– Strider: new Strider Hiryu pose (based on the Famicom ad from the unrealeased game) and Tong Pooh pose (and sub-gallery) added
– Shinobi: Shadow Dancer boss (from the Revenge of Shinobi)
– Marvel Comics: White Queen Emma Frost (appeared in the 1989 NES Uncanny X-Men game and 1989’Pryde of the X-Men’ cartoon pilot)
The new custom sprites were added to the Fight-size generator.
I’ve mostly been chipping away at getting this site ready for the server upgrade, but I couldn’t let August 9th go by without a little Revenge of 1989 recognition to honor a year that brought a lot of the games (and other things) that led to the creation of this site. That’s a literal statement, because the first version of this site were Sega Smash Pack shots of Golden Axe, Revenge of Shinobi, and Altered Beast for the Sega Genesis, all games that hit the U.S. in 1989. So here’s the newness:
Custom Sprites:
– Final Fight: Andore (Final Fight wait pose)
– Gang Wars: new gallery, starting with the heroes Mike and Jackie.
– Shinobi: all-new Kasumi (the Revenge of Shinobi)
– TMNT: NES 1989 game stance (with and without weapons) for Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, and Michelangelo.
All new custom sprites were also added to the the main GFX Generators, where you can assemble your own fake screenshots and group pics.
The Revenge of 1989: A new timeline page was added, various adjustments were made to the articles, including the confirmation (thanks to an interview with Time Extension magazine) that Konami’s Crime Fighters was indeed their template for later games like Ninja Turtles and the Simpsons.
As I mentioned at the start of this post, I’m working on an all-around behind-the-scenes update of this site, using a hard drive copy of it that simulates the server update. I’ve got a lot of the site working and even the image generators are over 70% working before I stopped to do this update. This is some heavy work, and it’s costing me extra site host fees to run on the older server, so I won’t be doing much other than that until it’s done, trying to finish it (and fixes to my other sites) before the site hosting charge hits my wallet again in September. I started a separate post about that in this link to keep track of where I am in the upgrade project.
Despite that, there will be an update to the ToyBoss section this month because I’ve got that main page working with new code that works on its own and I’ve got some roster pics to update (especially since I got that new camera).
Just a small update to recognize the year that pretty much led to the creation of this site, revolutionized the beat ’em up, and just generally kicked all kinds of behind: 1989.
Custom Sprites:
– Ninja Gaiden: Ryu Hayabusa – redone NES fight stance, in-game NES sprite and cover art outfit variants
– TMNT: April O’Neil – redone calm standing pose + fixes to Shredder’s Revenge fight stance
GFX Generators:
– Main Generator: The “1989 arcade” background has been remodeled with new walls, a change to the neon, new carpet and improved arcade machine sprites.
I’m taking a “break” from the site for a few different reasons, including trying to finally finish that Guy vs. Mad Gear fight video that I started years ago. Really, I’ve been working on it on the side for a long time, including more animations for the Mad Gear members, respriting the sunglasses-wearing woman based on the Final Fight bezel art, and remaking a location I made up for a MUGEN stage long ago. You can see a bit of that in the HalfTime video I posted back in June, and it’s in there because I’m aiming to finally get that fight done.
To tell the truth, I really need a bit of rest, and I never really do whenever I take a break from the site, but maybe I’ll try it for real this time. But I’ve got a lot of big things I want to do for this site, and it’d probably help to recharge before I try some of these possibly insane ideas.
There will still be some site updates and fixes, there just won’t be a lot of new pixel art from me added for a while until further notice, except for late October (because the HorrorThon must go on).
This Revenge of 1989 update, celebrating the year that many of this site’s favorite games were released, may not have a lot of new sprites, but it definitely has big sprites to make up for it!
All new custom sprites were added to the GFX Image Generators!
Also updated
Sprites: Golden Axe gallery (GA1 arcade beasts, heroes on beasts and items)
Getting the new computer finished a few months ago made me want to experiment with different ways of making sprites, and the main new sprites were originally drawn in Clip Studio (instead of the pencil-paper-sometimes ink scans I usually make) before being shrunken to sprite size. Had to make adjustments to the ride/bizarrian Dragon after shrinking, but it’s pretty close:
I also wanted a better, unified set of sprites for Haggar for September’s Beat ‘Em Up Showcase (preview here), so I used Clip Studio trace my old sprites of him at 1000%.
I’ve done other experiments, but I’ll post about them later.
1989 wasn’t just a good year, it’s a year that changed entertainment in a lot of permanent ways. Thing is, you pretty much had to be there, or maybe been alive long enough to get a at least a minor lay of the land before it to see how things changed after. The arrival of multiple Genre-changing beat ’em ups, the 16-bit invasion of America with the Genesis and Turbografx-16, handheld gaming changing forever (thanks to Nintendo’s Game Boy and the Atari Lynx), mutant mania hitting video games (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and X-Men), are just part of why 1989 is so amazing, and that’s why this site celebrates that year on August 9th. Without further yapping, here’s the new content:
Custom Sprites
– Crime City: Mayor (tied up)
– Crime Fighters: Final Boss/Mr. Lee
– Final Fight: Cody (new FF JPN flyer pose), Poison (Street Fighter V stance with FF, SFV, and FF marquee outfits), Andore (stand), Jessica (kidnapped, red dress)
– Golden Axe: Skeleton (redone), Ax Battler, Tyris Flare and Gilius Thunderhead (MD cover art poses)
– Shinobi: Hayate Musashi (Shadow Dancer arcade)
– Wonder Boy: Leo and Purapril (Wonder Boy III:Monster Lair)
– TMNT: April (kidnapped, cinema pose)
– Literature: Chu Liuxiang (Master Chu and Drukard Hu/the Chu Liuxiang series by Gu Long)
– DC Comics: Batman (1989 NES title screen/movie still pose),Robin/Tim Drake (debuted in 1989)
edit: couldn’t help it, decided to add:
– Kunio-Kun/River City Ransom: Downtown Nekketusu Monogatari/River City Ransom NES style sprite of Freddy Krueger from Nightmare on Elm Street 5 (1989) added.
GFX Generator: all the new content that fits in the generator have been added, and the main generator gets a remake of the Electoric store in the second stage of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.The Marvel vs. Capcom 1 Ending option in the main generator and standalone MvC 1 generator now has more backgrounds based on and/or from Final Fight, Pac-Man games (Pac-Land debuted for the PC Engine in 1989), DC Comics (including the Batman 1989 stage remake I did years ago), Friday the 13th (LJN for NES remake), and all the arcades.
edit (Aug. 10, 2019): added Sunsoft blue top NES box to “Boxes, Flyer & Posters 160×192” in the main generator. “Hey, that background in the Crime Fighters box isn’t in the generator!” That’s one of the many unfinished things that didn’t make it in this time, and is also why there’s three tied-up sprites in the update.
I’ve been working on a secret project (both pixel and drawn art) for someone else lately, but I couldn’t let this day pass without the Revenge of 1989 rising from its grave once again, even for a small update. The sprite count may not large, but most of the sprites are big enough to make up for it!
Custom Sprites:
– Double Dragon: Mysterious Warrior (DD2 NES)
– Golden Axe: a new Death Adder sprite
– Strider: a new Solo sprite
All new sprites have been added to the GFX Generators, where you can make your own graphics and fake screenshots like the one above!
I also made progress on the next Horror vs. Horror print. The new sprite of Jason Voorhees was shown a while back and you’ve seen previews of the select roster (everyone from the original print returns!), but now it’s time to show you a bigger hint of what’s coming your way. Let’s roll that hastily made promo vid.
The 8th month is in its 9th day, and that’s the day this site pays tribute to a year unlike any other year: 1989. That year was so packed that I dedicated a small section of the site to it in 2009, the 20th anniversary of so many of this site’s favorite games that I just put it all in one update. In 2014, the 25th anniversary, I spent nearly the whole year doing updates with nothing but 1989-related content, because doing updates filled with Final Fight, the Revenge of Shinobi, Strider, Golden Axe, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles kinda just looked like regular site updates here anyway. Now it’s a yearly thing here, where even non-game items from 1989 get in on the fun. Now we’ve got the info dump out of the way, let’s get on to what’s new to the site today!
Custom Sprites:
– Altered Beast (new gallery): redone Werewolf
– Bad Dudes (new gallery): Kunoichi
– Castlevania: Trevor f***ing Belmont
– Double Dragon: the annoying ninja from the NES version of Double Dragon II: the Revenge
– Final Fight: Abigail
– Jaleco: acrobat enemy from Astyanax (arcade)
– Mario series: Princess Daisy
– Mega Man (new gallery): Mega Man (scratch-made jump shot to match the MvC sprites), Heat Man, Wood Man, Bubble Man
– Sega: Ashra (Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle)
– Shinobi: redone Joe Musashi (RoS)
– Strider: redone Hiryu (all-new arcade sprite remake), Rascal
– Other games: Yuko (Valis series)
– Movies: the Joker (Jack Nicholson), Ah Jong and Li Ying (the Killer), Tina (Do the Right Thing)
Mini-Logos:
– Nintendo: Princess Daisy
– Telenet: Valis
– Human: Human, Fire Pro Wrestling: Combination Tag
– Spike Chunsoft: Spike Chunsoft
– Movies: the Killer (Hong Kong and English logos)
All the sprites and most of the logos have been added to the image generators so you can make your own fake screenshots and graphics. New to the main fighting-scale generator is a remake of the beginning of scene 2 from the arcade TMNT game.
Here’s a couple of reminders about recent games that just happen to be linked to 1989:
River City Ransom: Underground from Conatus Creative Inc., a revival of Technos’ English localization of Downtown Nekketsu Monogatari (1989), plays more like something fans like myself hope and dream for than something we’d actually get. It expands everything, from the combat system stats and storyline all the way down to lovingly crafted item descriptions., but adds enough of its own spark to make it feel fresh. Yes, it’s tough in the beginning, but so was the original River City Ransom when I played it, so their changing things up a bit actually makes it feel more like the first time of playing the old RCR than the hundredth. That’s not an easy magic trick to pull, but the crew at Conatus did it.
You’ve probably at least heard someone mention Fire Pro Wrestling World recently. and there’s a lot of reasons for it. Picking up where FPW Returns for PS2 (which I also own) left off means that it’s already deeper than any wrestling game you’ll find on the market now, even though it’s only in Early Access. It’s not your average wrestling game and takes a while to adjust to the timing-based play style, but search the internet and you’ll find enough info to help you get into the game. I’m sure you won’t be surprised to know what kind of Edit Wrestlers I’ve made for it so far (nothing good enough to upload yet).
That wraps up this year’s Revenge of 1989. I know I didn’t get around to a lot of games (I’ve still got a few sketches that I didn’t have a chance to turn into sprites yet), so I apologize for any of your favorite games being left out. Maybe I’ll get to some of those others (like Alpha Denshi’s Gang Wars) next year.
Today is the eighth month’s ninth day, which mean this site celebrates 1989, the greatest year in video game history*!
Custom Sprites:
– Capcom: Quick Man added to Mega Man section.
– – Final Fight: two new scratch-made Cody sprites!
– – Strider (new separate section): (a new Tom Pooh sprite (and redone colors on the hand-up pose) in the Strider section
– Nintendo: Tatanga (Super Mario Land)
– Sega: scratch-made E-SWAT’s police ICE armor and enemy unknown/File 96 enemies
– – Golden Axe: resprited Tyris Flare fight stance
– – Shinobi: new scratch-made Pink Dragon and redone Kasumi sprites
– Sunsoft: Tuff Turf’s heroes and lady added.
– Technos: new standing sprites for Kunio, Riki, Hasebe, Alex and Ryan
– Games(other): Prince of Persia (original) added.
– DC Comics: the Joker in the 1989 NES Batman stance
– Music: new gallery starts with new Chuck D (Public Enemy) sprite and older sprites and sprite edits.
– Toys ‘n Toons: Marge, Lisa and Bart Simpson. The Simpsons cartoon started in 1989!
– G.I. JOE: Snake-Eyes in his version 3 (1989) outfit
– TMNT: Krang (in his standing pose from the 1989 beat ’em up)
Mini-Logos: Prince of Persia (Jordan Mechner), Public Enemy (Music) and the Simpsons (Television) added.
The new custom sprites and mini-logos have been added to the GFX Generators.
My apologies to any fans of 1989 games who were left out, like Mendel Palace/Quinty, Double Dragon 2(NES), Astyanax, Crime City, and dozens more. There are too many good 1989 games to celebrate and many of my older sprites needed to be redone. Let me know about your favorite 1989 games and characters in the comment section!
* – 1989 being the greatest game year is hyperbole mostly for fun, but also designed to drive disagreement-induced hits, but at least this website admits it.
This site spent most of 2014 celebrating the 25th anniversary of 1989, my favorite year for video games, and the updates were filled with many sprites based on those games, like Final Fight, the Revenge of Shinobi, Golden Axe, Strider, and more. That theme comes back for today’s mini-update because the date is the eighth month’s ninth day.
Custom Portraits: new Street Fighter Alpha/Zero 3 Vs. portraits of Joe Musashi, Poison (and Roxy), Damnd, and Haggar (replacing the horrible one I made two years ago).
The new portraits have been added to the GFX Generators along nine new palettes for Poison (based on Ultra Street Fighter IV) and five for Haggar (based on the Slam Masters/Muscle Bomber series).
The next update will return to the early 1980s with more new sprite remakes of classic characters!
As Blastermaster KRS-ONE once said, “We’re not done… we’re not done… we’re not done… check this out!”
Fake Screenshots: A new title screen based on a 1989 movie. I’m not telling you, so you’ll have to find out on your own.
Custom Sprites: The following new sprites were added
– Capcom: Strider Hiryu (arcade stand)
– Final Fight: new sprites of Mike Haggar and Belger along with improved Cody stare-down edits
– DC Comics: Batman (Michael Keaton style)
– Jaleco: the hero from Hachoo!
– Sega: Shadow Dancer (arcade) boss 3
– Golden Axe: new Gilius pose
– Then and now: Added the old and new Mike Haggar sprites for your amusement and disgust.
The Revenge of 1989: main page was updated with a few more images and more errors were fixed.
That’s all for 2014 and I hope you enjoyed this year’s updates. The custom sprite galleries grew with a lot of new pixel art, the GFX Generators swelled up even more (including new scratch-made backgrounds) and I was able to keep my promise of completing the original Mad Gear gang (including a scratch-made Damnd). The site will return to celebrating all years of platformers and beat ’em ups next year, but the Revenge of 1989 will return again in August. Have a Happy New Year and I’ll see you again in 2015!