#phantomoftheknight

A $25 flat color commission for @phantomoftheknight​ of Mizuki from Tribe Cool Crew

I’m getting close to my goal for my trip to New York! If you want work like this, email me at [email protected] or message me on tumblr if you’re interested!  

Wasn’t the reason why they were mobile only and couldn’t be ported to other consoles confirmed to be due to the Nintendo deal at the time?

At the time, yes. But that exclusivity deal is over now, and Sega is free to put those versions of those games anywhere they please. They know there’s a demand for them, and Stealth more or less confirmed that they told him they have no plans to further the project.

If Sonic 1 and Sonic 2 Remastered were going to hit Steam, Xbox and/or Playstation, they would have at the very least announced it by now.

Instead, I get the feeling Sega would rather buddy up to M2, because M2 is a Japanese developer and Sega is a Japanese company. That’s not to say that M2′s work is bad or wrong. M2 is incredibly talented, and their slavish dedication to replicating these games to absolute perfection is to be admired. The 3DS version of Sonic 1 is really good...

...but compared to what Taxman and Stealth put out on mobile, it rests firmly in my mind as the second best version.

The best way to put it:

M2 replicates the games exactly as they were. You can even drill down and match the exact Sega Genesis audio chipset to get it to sound the way it really did.

Taxman and Stealth replicate how you remember these games. It’s still an incredibly precise replication, but it more matches your nostalgia: the visuals are a little nicer, the sound is a little bit cleaner, and bonus features from later games are rolled back in to Sonic 1 and 2.

I suppose it depends on your preference, but to me, Taxman and Stealth’s Sonic 1 and Sonic 2 are the definitive versions of these games. Unfortunately, I’m assuming the reduced language barrier with M2 probably pushes Sega towards them instead, and given that M2′s 3DS releases just barely sold well enough to justify their existence, they probably don’t want to bother with re-releasing old Genesis games anymore for the time being.

Which, frankly, is stupid. Sega’s never hesitated to re-release Sonic games whenever they had the chance, and now that they have what are LEGITIMATELY THE BEST POSSIBLE VERSIONS, they don’t want to do anything more with them.

ONE PIECE (Vol. 03): Don't Get Fooled Again So this volume properly starts the fight between Luffy and Buggy. Zoro has beaten Cabaji in a pretty awesome fight and has collapsed to regain his strength right after, and Nami is in the background gawking in amazement at the fights going on. Oh, and the mayor is still knocked out, while Buggy's crew pretend to be so they don't have to do anything.  The fight between Buggy and Luffy takes about half of the volume, mainly due to them constantly using their Devil Fruit powers. Buggy uses his more than Luffy and does, and I'm  glad, because I really liked the abilities he showed off. He feels like a character that should be in a fighting game. My favourite part of the fight would probably be nearing the end when Nami actually decides to lend a hand and we get to see Buggy completely separate his body only for that to backfire on him. Also, maybe it's the way it was drawn, but I have no real idea how the Gum Gum Bazooka is supposed to work. Otherwise, the fight was pretty fun. After Buggy's defeat the crew head out and land on an island in a filler chapter. As per the usual filler, nothing really happens, and nothing's lost nor gained. The second half of the volume has the crew entering another town, but not before introducing a character named Usopp.  Back in the day I said that Usopp as my favorite character... and this chapter reminded me exactly why.  Usopp is fucking awesome. From his hilarious lies and tall tales, the instant chemistry he has with he other characters to his pride in being the son of a pirate, Usopp is just such likeable asshole. As far as the story goes, it looks like its going to end up as a "Boy Who Cried Wolf" scenario, and the villain actually looks pretty interesting, as well the character Django that's working for him, so it'll be interesting to see how this plays out.

Previous Posts:

Manga Marathon: ONE PIECE (Vol 1): Romance Dawn

EDIT: Also decided to link older impressions below.