Pop Culture Reference Goes Here

Here's a voice sample if anyone's curious.

I'll admit, my firsthand experience with the Legends games was an N64 rental at a Blockbuster. I remember seeing previews of it on a magazine as a kid and was intrigued by it's 3D graphics. I of course didn't have a PlayStation until 2001 and I rented the N64 port beforehand. The last person who played it pretty much beaten it as the menu had the difficulty selection option available.

Having played it from start to finish recently, I can see why the game is divisive. The controls and combat are manageable but awfully cumbersome. Everything else from the presentation to the exploration is spot on. I do like how all of the dungeons are all connected. This game is nothing but ambitious with care and passion put into it.

Now that I have shared my opinion on the game, we can get to the meat of this article. For starters, look at this map for reference.

Now watch the video.

Usually, the path to the right almost has one Gorubesshu per room, regardless of which fork in the road you take first. This is true, provided of course you listen to your inner murderhobo and reduce every single reaverbot in this segment to scrap. However if you take the pacifist route, you'll soon find the lonely bots to be accompanied by a hostile friend or two. Even stranger is the lack of Trap Boxes during your first go round. That and upon re-entering the spacious hall, you'll be greeted by another pair of Gorubesshus along with the aforementioned boxes on your second visit. So what exactly is happening?

My theory is that the game spawns a group of enemies whenever you transition from one part of the map to the next via the two-door corridor. You could say the same thing about Arukoitans paired with Orudakoitans which can respawn indefinitely by using a similar method if one or the other isn't taken out. Those however count as a single entity. Each Gorubesshu is it's own NPC and the game kept summoning new ones despite the fact the previous occupants are still alive. The production line eventually came to a halt as the system finally realized something was off and activated a fail-safe. Id est, the baddies were taking up so much space, that the game had to compensate due to hardware and software limitations. I suppose the best way to hand wave this off is that the ruins' security functions much like the game's programming of its dungeons. As for the odd clang at the 3:47 mark, my guess is the second bot's alert sound overruled and replaced the other's falling sound effect.

Nazo Unleashed has been argued by many within the Sonic community as the greatest Sonic fan animation. While this topic is debatable, there is no denying that it left an impact on everyone who watched it for better and for worse.

I'm going to get this out of the way right now. Nazo Unleashed is certainly a product of it's time. The fact that most (if not all) of the frames were hand drawn by a high school student in the year of Our Lord 2006 is an impressive feat in and of itself. But other than the titular big bad evil guy, the meme worthy scenes and how the connections to Dragon Ball are borderline uncanny, no one really seems to talk about it.

As for the story, while it's pretty simple and straightforward with a dash of fan service, it's also bare bones and orbits around the main antagonist like a moon circling it's neighboring planet. A brand new villain has appeared and it's up to the heroes to put a stop to them before their nebulous goal is fulfilled. Well, it starts off as such at first. It's only when we reach part three that his origins and motives are finally revealed. While not exactly disappointing, it does sound awfully familiar.

It's also well known at this point that Nazo isn't even an original character, but rather a scrapped concept of Super Sonic in Sonic X. With all this in mind, some may say that Nazo can't be a Mary Sue. To which I say check out the video in the link. As mentioned earlier, the story revolves around Nazo being the bigger threat treating the main protagonists like punching bags and even destroying civilizations and murdering countless lives in the process. The stakes raise to the point that the fate of Earth (and to an extension, the universe) hinges solely on his existence. It's only at the last minute that the villain is vanquished and the day is saved. Or is it?

Yes folks, we are even teased with sequel bait courtesy of Dr. Eggman retrieving one of Nazo's rings or are they wrist bands? Bracelets? We would get it years later in the form of Sonic: The Wrath of Nazo. It's a major overall improvement from the last one and Nazo feels less Sueish. It is however on hiatus and the most we're getting from it are animatics. All I can say to him and his followers is "My condolences. But whose bright idea was it to end the finale of their magnum opus on a cliffhanger to begin with!?"

All in all, Sonic: Nazo Unleashed is style over substance. Most of the animation holds up but it and the fan service feels like they're there to distract the viewers from the lackluster story that's riddled with plot holes (I.E. Tails surviving a point blank Ki blast). So you can understand how someone such as Ian Flynn (and more competent writers like George Orwell. May he rest in peace.) would dislike it. However, the notoriety gained from the trilogy earned Chakra-X enough reputation that he would be given chances to participate in animation collabs. One that he accepted would be Sonic Shorts: Volume 6.

A reminder that Sonic's target audience is kids and teens. The former of which is far more impressionable. So it wouldn't hurt to look at it from the perspective of a child. If Chakra-X is able to create a character as cool and epic as Nazo, why wouldn't he give his fans advice on how to make their own?

Perhaps it's no wonder that so many VRChat larps starring Sonic characters (both canon and fan-made) will occasionally feature Nazo in some way, shape, or form. I'm not saying that every Sonic VRChat larper is probably a Nazo stan, but rather the inverse.

Since today is World Autism Awareness day. I have decided to contribute by making a tier list of autistic youtubers. Because I'm on the spectrum as well, that makes me more than qualified to make it in the first place. I will go into full explanation as to why I put them in their spots.

D-tier: Harman Smith & Sea of Cheaters

H.L. Mencken once said, "The central belief of every moron is that he is the victim of a mysterious conspiracy against his common rights and true deserts." I believe this quote fits both channels perfectly. I'm fairly certain Harman needs no introduction, but he has been regarded by many to be one of the biggest Nintendo zealots to set foot on Earth. His holy quest is to let the world know that the gaming industry is out to shut down Nintendo in spite of all the times the company shot themself in the foot. He based his username after the same character from Killer 7. A title that started off as a GameCube exclusive but eventually got ported to the PS2 and later on to the PC. His loyalty to the brand is so absolute, he is willing to lie about the quality of the corporation's latest products.

Exhibit A I believe the video speaks for itself. You could say he's trolling but considering that he's been at this since 2020, and has just as much videos as he does subscribers, it's a safe bet that while he is rage baiting, he genuinely wants to believe that everything he says is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. This is just the tip of the iceberg, mind you. I haven't even gone over his messy word salad of a novel called Cruel And Beautiful or his self-insert Captain N sequel. If you want more details, you can check out 90's router's video on the guy.

As for Sea of Cheaters (or TheTankBall as he's known on Twitter), he is also notorious for having an inflated opinion of himself. Believing himself to be the best gamer on the planet, that is he willing to show off his rig(s) and/or console(s) numerous times just to remind everyone that he's a real gamer. His YouTube channel is no better as his attempts to expose cheaters are tainted by his actions and words.

While he does stumble across actual cheaters every now and then, he mostly encounters players who are just better skilled. Perhaps even more hilariously ironic is that fact he himself is using cheats. Unsurprisingly, he got banned and made another account. As for his desktop background, that's just the sundae cherry on top.

I will say the only thing these two have in common are their extreme political beliefs. Other than that, they would tear each apart if only for their brand loyalty. Cody is for Nintendo what Raymond is for Microsoft. Sure the latter might convince you otherwise by telling you that Windows (a Microsoft product) is superior to Linux, or showing off his Zune (also a Microsoft product). Nevermind his Xbox (yet another Microsoft product).

Final words on D-tier: Autism isn't a disease, but it also shouldn't be a crutch.

C-tier: xxDragonBladexx

When the words dragon and blade are together in one sentence, what's the first thing that pops into your head? For web-searching algorithms, it's a 2015 film starring Jackie Chan and Adrien Brody. For me, I think of an enchanted sword that leaves a trail of fire with every swing. If on the other hand you think of a VRChat larp channel, all I can say is you've led a more interesting life than I have.

Already, we're off to a great start with the early 2000's online multiplayer username. Then again, my online alias hasn't changed much since that time period either. Anyway, if you've watched any of Terrible Writing Advice's videos (specifically fanfic characters and DnD player handbook) you might have some clue of what you're getting yourself into. A bunch of self-insert recolors going on unfocused adventures that may or may not get recycled and it's all through the perspective of a guy wearing a VR headset.

Mind you, he is part of a huge VRChat larp community full of deviants, and he confessed on Twitter that he's on the spectrum. Regardless, just watch the blade.exe arc if you dare. It essentially encapsulates everything I dislike about this larp. While I can't be too mad at him since the content's harmless compared to other stuff in VRChat, it's still bad.

Final thoughts on C-tier:

B-tier: JCThornton

Before anyone raises their voice, I will admit Thornton is a talented modeler and animator. His latest show The Adventuresome Six shows a lot of promise despite the corners he's cut (I.E. him giving the characters outlines to look less pixelated behind a green screen and lowering animation frame rates). As for the brief description in the list, allow me to explain. Podophilia isn't a misspelling of a certain word. It is in fact a different fetish. Foot fetish to be precise.

His kink references can be found as early as 2020. They started off minute and obscure at first, but as time moved on, he felt the desire to escalate the number to the point the he feels no shame in showing it off unaware that it might turn off some potential viewers in the process. Look, I'm not perfect myself. But even I think he's going overboard if his animated series is anything to go by. On the plus side, he has moved from SFM to Blender. I'm still stuck in GMod, mind you. I just hope the plot goes somewhere interesting.

Final thoughts on B-tier: Less footsies, more story.

A-Tier: Dumbsville

I don't have a lot to say about this kitbashed Mini-fig other than that he could use less lawl teh random memes to keep his audience's attention. I do appreciate him toning it down whenever he takes a serious stance.

Final thoughts on A-tier: Check him out.

S-Tier: Schwalbe1728

Much like Dumbsville, he does his research when it comes to making his videos. Unlike Dumbsville, his prose is a bit more flowery and he has a sophisticated accent (sometimes). I really got nothing else to say other than...

In 2022, I was at Chicago to see the stars. Unaware it was a battlefield between corporate schmucks and rodents from Mars. And then one day, I was taking a transit to the Galloping Ghost, and there they were. Space assholes! On their bikes! Driving off the street! Space assholes! Fighting mooks wherever they meet! One of them jumped off their rides, and tail whipped a goon right in the face! Space assholes! Cheap rigs exploding left and right! Space assholes! They just love to annihilate and fight! I didn't sign up for this. I just wanted to get away far from home. Just a place to catch some sights and sounds like a certain garden gnome. But every time I think it's safe, every time I think it's calm, I'm wrong. Space assholes! Blasters firing! Buildings falling down! Space assholes! Inadvertently wasting this town! Now all the hired hands are smoked. The three stooges have prevailed. Only I am left conscious to tell the tale of the Space assholes! Comes out of nowhere to destroy! Space assholes! Anarchy is all they now enjoy! Space assholes! On their bikes! Driving off the street! Space assholes! Fighting mooks wherever they meet! Space assholes! Space assholes! Space assholes! They're the space assholes! If you haven't listened to the original song, then I'd suggest not doing it in your office space.

I have mixed feelings about the 1993 Biker Mice From Mars cartoon. I want to like it more than I should but there's just something holding me back from doing so. It's not so much that it's formulaic or lacking an overarching plot. Ed, Edd, N' Eddy which is notorious for those two factors just so happens to be one of my favorite programs. It's more like if I had to give the show a bizarre rating it would be a W. For Wasted potential.

Because for how critical the franchise supposedly is about warfare, corporations, industrialization, and arguably invasive species, the topics take a backseat as the three ass-kicking stooges from outer space go on one adventurous romp after another. Fighting nameless mooks and the occasional right-hand men who are at the behest of an antagonist who's in the middle of hatching an evil scheme before getting his just desserts right at the end on an almost weekly basis.

Sure. You could make the argument that it's just for kids, but so was Sonic Satam. The show not only had it's own critiques about industrialization, but unlike BMFM, it sort of had an overarching plot. There were plans for a third season but it got cancelled.

1993 BMFM isn't terrible. It's just that for such an interesting setup, it's all shunted into the background for branding and marketing. But if you sift through the bricks of ruined buildings and peer into the cracks of the streets of Chicago, you'll find something remarkable under the surface that isn't the pits.