The Beat ‘Em Up Showcade is ready! Okay, the video has been up since yesterday, BUT STILL. I originally planned to have Showcase videos for Double Dragon and Bad Dudes last year, but *shrugs* 2020. You know what I mean. Trying to make them in 2021 didn’t work out for better reasons, so I decided to make a Showcade filled with beat ’em ups. Nothing with an outside license (TMNT, Punisher, X-Men) is in the vid, because the straight-up game content felt a little neglected here lately. Let’s watch the video first, then I’ll break down what was added to the site.

Once again, mad thanks to Wizzy for allowing me to use that amazing BGM track for the video. I’ve had it stuck in my head since I picked it for the video, and it makes me feel like kicking doors open and throwing oil drums at people all day. AVPboy’s music does the same for me, and the added pressure of trying to do justice with their music in the videos pushes me to work harder.

Now for the newness that was added to the site itself!

Custom Sprites:
– Crime Fighters: Sledge, Hawk and Boomer from Crime Fighters 2/Vendetta finally get fight stance sprites, Hawk gets a redone taunt to match, and Boomer’s taunt gets a size fix. CF2/Vendetta knife thugs were also added.
– Double Dragon: Linda’s earlier two sprites completely redrawn, an extra variation of the taunt was added, and are available in arcade, NES, and DDII designs. The Billy and Jimmy Lee “JPN arcade flyer” poses were updated to fit the newer style Lee Bros. sprites I started adding months ago.
– Final Fight: Maki (FF2 fight stance, select pose edited to match newer sprite), Mike Haggar – Saturday Night Slam Masters gear (also added to the Slam Masters gallery)
– Growl: Jetgun
– Kung-Fu Master: All Five “Sons of the Devil” (a.k.a. the Bosses) get new sprites, and Silvia gets a sprite, too.
– Kunio-kun: Kunio (Nekketsu Kouha Kunio-kun flyer pose)
– Renegade (new separate gallery): the Renegade/Mr. K, Sabu
– Rushing Beat: Wendy Milan (taunt)
– Streets of Rage: Barbon and Jet(SoR/BK 2) added, Skate Hunter updated (made shorter than the 2020 sprites)

All new sprites are now in the image generators, where you can make your own sprite scenes, fake screenshots, etc.

Filed under: ScrollBoss Updates, Site News, Updates by PrimeOp
Tags: Double Dragon, Final Fight, Growl, Kung-Fu Master, Kunio-Kun, Renegade, Rushing Beat, Sprite Showcade, Streets of Rage, Vendetta
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The ScrollBoss site is 17 years old today, but the celebration will go on for more than a day! For now, let’s deal with today’s newness:

Custom sprites
– Golden Axe: the Bad Brothers
– Streets of Rage: Onihime & Yasha SoR/BK3 (stand and crouch sprites), Abadede SoR/BK2
– Crime Fighters series: Faust
– Nintendo: Bowser
– Kunio-Kun: Yamada
– River City Ransom: Slick (Yamada’s counterpart)
– Sega: Dr. Eggman/Dr. Robotnik (classic game style)

All that newness is also in the main GFX Generator, where you can make screenshots just like the one at the top of this post!

It’s been a while since I uploaded a video, so I put another short clip compilation, but finally with the real ScrollBoss theme (for better or for worse, that’s up to you).

Be ready for another update tomorrow!

Filed under: ScrollBoss Updates, Site News, Updates by PrimeOp
Tags: 17th anniversary, anniversary, Golden Axe, Kunio-Kun, River City Ransom, Sonic the Hedgehog, Streets of Rage, Super Mario Bros., Vendetta
2 Comments »

To everyone who has checked out the site back in the days of Vs. Mode fights and Minus World madness (the site section, not the completely different website), those who just visited for the first time today and every party person who falls somewhere in between, thank you for stopping by and making these sixteen pixel-packed years fly by. Get ready for multiple days of anniversary updates, starting with a seven-sprite kickoff!

Custom Sprites:
– Capcom: Protoman (with variant)
– Konami: Sledge (Vendetta/Crime Fighters 2)
– – Castlevania: Trevor Belmont, Sypha (SotN Cape up variant of the earlier sprite)
– IREM: Straw from Ninja Baseball Bat Man
– Taito: Sayo-chan (a.k.a. Pocky) from Kiki Kai Kai, Zeke from Zoo Keeper (both in-game and cabinet art styles)
– Sega: Sonic the Hedgehog… decided to start running right as I clicked on the GFX Generator screenshot maker. See, that’s just rude. Maybe someone told him Protoman was the coolest person in the pic or perhaps he was scared off by the Zoo Keeper. Don’t worry, this isn’t the only update this week, so let’s see if I can get him to slow down for another sprite before the anniversary updates are done.

All sprites were added to the aforementioned GFX Generators (the old GroupShot and Vs generators).

Filed under: ScrollBoss Updates, Site News, Updates by PrimeOp
Tags: 16th anniversary, anniversary, Castlevania, Kiki Kaikai, Mega Man, Ninja Baseball Bat Man, Pocky & Rocky, Sonic the Hedgehog, Vendetta, Zoo Keeper
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My earlier reason for putting the site on hold for a bit (details here) just got compounded by more activity book commission work. I’ve got a feeling that it’ll probably kill most of my Halloween plans for the site, so here’s an update that’s a mix of things I planned to post later, some catch-up/clean-up work and some word-spreading for all those classic side-scroller Kickstarters wandering around.

GFX Generators – Three fonts from Street Fighter Alpha 2 and the font from Bad Dudes vs. Dragonninja were added to the GroupShot generator.
Vs. & Group chars updated:
Haggar (new sprites and SFA3 Vs. portrait)
Burnov (new Capcom-like sprite)
Abobo (SFA3 Vs. portrait & SFA3 Vs. name)
Hawk – Vendetta/CF2 (improved sprite, new palettes & SFA3 Vs. name)
Vs. & Group chars NEW!:
Shantae (with new non-SD sprite and mini-logo)
Kate – Vendetta/CF2 (All-new sprite + SFA3 Vs. name)

FakeShot update: NES style (Beck from Mighty No. 9 added)

Custom Sprites – Due to the huge amount of custom sprites based on characters from the series (and there will definitely be more new ones in the fugure), Final Fight now has its own gallery page. The new Haggar sprites are there along with some sprites that I forgot to add before (including Poison, Roxy, Jake and Simmons). Burnov was added to the Technos gallery. Kate from Vendetta/Crime Fighters 2 was added to the Konami gallery. Shantae is rightfully the first sprite to grace the new WayForward custom sprite gallery

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Breakin’ News

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There are three really big Kickstarter projects closing in on the home stretch that are related to the kind of games featured on this site. Instead of laughing at my bad, rushed fan art up there, check out the project descriptions!

Mighty No. 9 – Created by a team of classic Mega Man stalwarts and led by Keiji Inafune, Mighty No. 9 looks to be more than just a spiritual successor to the Blue Bomber’s series and more like a new beginning for the creators themselves to bring fans the kind of game we all want. This project was funded with the quickness and is now blasting its way through some stretch goals that would make the game even better.

Shantae: Half-Genie Hero – WayForword’s blessed us with some great licensed revivals recently, including Duck Tales Remastered and Double Dragon Neon. This Kickstarter is to help get their own classic platforming hero, Shantae, into a brand-new game for her to run, jump, dance and whip her hair through.

River City Ransom: Underground – A group named Conatus Creative started this one to fund a true, official follow-up River City Ransom, one of the greatest beat-em-ups of all time. The crew promises more of everything, including characters, locations, items, the works. They even have Yoshihisa Kishimoto, the creator of Kunio-Kun and Double Dragon series, as an advisor on the project. This project isn’t getting the attention it deserves, so I hope others spread the word about this along with the other projects.

I know money’s tight, especially with three Kickstarters like this going on that the same time, but I hope those who can spare the money will at least donate a little bit to help out those projects. Even spreading the word and linking to the projects will help get them funded or hit those stretch goals.

Filed under: ScrollBoss Updates, Site News, Updates by PrimeOp
Tags: Crime Fighters, Double Dragon, Final Fight, gfx generators, Mighty No. 9, River City Ransom, River City Ransom: Underground, Shantae, Vendetta
4 Comments »

The site is twelve years old today, so it’s time to celebrate with a lot of new content.

Graphic Generators

New Characters: Bill Rizer and Lance Bean from Contra, Boomer and Hawk from Vendetta/Crime Fighters 2 added to Konami. Zeed/Neo-Zeed and Golden Axe Villains groups for Sega. Chin Taimei and Machine Gun Willy (separate character with new sprite and palettes) for Technos.

Updated characters: Samus (NES armor sprite) for Nintendo, Tyris Flare (new sprite) for Sega, Blue Mary (palettes) for SNK, Shadow Warriors (new Lopar and Williams sprites, improved Jeff sprite) for Technos.

Custom Sprites
Konami: Bill Rizer and Lance Bean from Contra, Boomer and Hawk from Vendetta/Crime Fighters 2.
Nintendo: Samus (NES Power suit and S.Metroid Varia).
Sega: new scratch-made Tyris Flare and Skeleton (Golden Axe), Masked Ninja (Shinobi), Omote (from Revenge of Shinobi).
Technos: Chin Taimei (NES Vs. Mode stance), Lopar, Williams, Jeff (improved DD1 edit), Machine Gun Willy (improved rifle-holding sprite in DD1 and DD2 colors)
Taito: Lady Master of Kung Fu
DNL: DNL sent a lot of new scratch-made sprites, including a very cool update of his Phanto animation. Be sure to hide your keys before looking at it.

Sprites
New galleries: Karate Blazers, Mystic Warriors, Sunset Riders
Updated: Captain Commando (hero surfing sprites), Double Dragon, Final Fight 3 (Dave and more added), X-Men (Konami arcade) pages

Mini-logos
Data East: Dark Seal
Kaneko: Kaneko and Lady Master
Konami: Mystic Warriors, Sunset Riders
Natsume: Natsume logo (blue gradient), Shadow of the Ninja
Square Enix: Square Enix logo (black and white)
Taito: Silent Dragon
TMNT: Original comic logo 1

Logos
Beraboh Man (arcade), Blue Shadow, Bravoman (TG-16), Kage (Famicom), Ninja Warriors (TG-16) added.

Game Index: The Legend of Zelda (NES), Mystic Warriors (arcade)

Vernacula-X: A few definitions now link to their own pages with expanded definitions and extra goodies like game and character lists that link up to their respective indices on the site. More definitions will get their own pages and more goodies will be added over time.

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That’s it for now. I have to go to sleep now, and go to work earlier than usual, so any site fixes will have to wait until the afternoon. I hope that all of you who visit on a regular basis enjoy the new stuff and maybe the new visitors will be overwhelmed by the sad way I’ve spent much of my free time for twelve years backlog of earlier content. I tried to mix it up between obvious, famous games (Contra and Metroid) and things that don’t get much of the spotlight (Vendetta/Crime Fighters 2, Karate Blazers). Have fun and thanks for visiting the site!

Filed under: ScrollBoss Updates, Site News, Updates by PrimeOp
Tags: Contra, Crime Fighters 2, Double Dragon, gfx generators, Kaneko, Karate Blazers, Konami, Lady of Kung Fu, Metroid, Mystic Warriors, Nintendo, Shadow of the Ninja, Taito, Technos, Vendetta, X-Men
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Updates will continue to be small while I work on a bunch of stuff including a mini-comic/artbook for a comic convention in May. It’s something that I wanted to do last year but didn’t finish.

S-Files – I’m still making minor adjustments to the engine. The default index page groups characters by the first letter in their filename. One problem is trying to get a sprite background that will keep sprites from blending in with it. There has been a slight change to how the main picture is displayed so please let me know if there are any errors with it bugging out. I finally made a crude “profile maker” to help make and modify profiles for reasons I’ll explain in the lab.
New: Blood, Boomer, Hawk, Kate, Sledge from Crime Fighters 2/Vendetta. Norton and Bild from the Rushing Beat series.
Updated: Mike Haggar, Rolento

GFX Generators

New GroupShot styles: the Marvel vs. Capcom 3 “character ring” with two solo variations and one where you can fit three characters.
Characters added: Cable, Marrow, Nakoruru (SNK), Zero (Capcom),
Palettes updated: Chun-Li, Felicia, Rogue (Green/White from MvsC2), Ryu
Other updates: Apocalypse (X-Men: CotA name graphic), Black Widow (logo), Jill (MvsC3 outfit sprite edit), She-Hulk (logos), SoR’s Shiva (custom mini logo), Storm (logo)

Custom Sprites – Zero added to the Capcom page

Mini Logos – Alien Busters & Alien Burgers (from Sega’s Alien Storm), Black Widow (Marvel), Growl, Marrow (X-Men 72 cover), Nakoruru (SNK), Shiva (Sega), Storm, Zero (Capcom).

Logos – added My Hero, Tower of Druaga, Warrior Blade – Rastan III, Wonder Momo.

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Moon Diver (official site here), the new 2.5-D platforming action game from Square-Enix hits Playstation Network this week and will debut on X-Box Live at a later date. Just in case you haven’t heard, the game is directed by Kouichi “Shiina” Yotsui (a.k.a. Isuke), the director of Strider (arcade) and Cannon Dancer (a.k.a. Osman). You can definitely see his influence all over this trailer.

Definitely looks like crazy fun to me. I’ve been waiting for this since it was announced and I’m impatiently waiting for the Playstation Store to update so I can finally play it. There will be a separate post about the game once I’ve played the game.

Update: Just bought and played the first stage of Moon Diver. EXCELLENT. You’ll love this if you love Strider. Also up for sale now is Rush’n Attack: Ex-Patriot, the revival of Konami’s Rush’n Attack/Green Beret franchise.

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You’ve probably seen this link a lot lately but the areas that were hit are still suffering many hardships. I know that times are tight for many of us in the U.S. (take it from a chronically-broke guy like me) but please think of kicking in a few spare dollars when you have the chance. Every little bit helps.
Google: Resources related to the 2011 Japan Crisis

Filed under: ScrollBoss Updates by PrimeOp
Tags: Alien Storm, Crime Fighters, Konami, Moon Diver, Namco, S-Files, Sega, SNK, Streets of Rage, Vendetta
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