Fact of the Day: Yet Another Villain Doesn't Belong

So I just saw Wreck-it Ralph this week, woo-hoo. Here's another little tidbit on it for ya: both Sonic the Hedgehog and his enemy Dr. Eggman make cameos in the movie. Sonic appears making a reference to the "Sonic Says" segment of the old Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, explaining the laws the game characters must abide by. He also appears as a guest at Fix-it Felix's thirtieth anniversary party.

Dr. Eggman has a more noticeable role, being one of the non-speaking members at the Bad-Anon support group. Sonic and Eggman have both appeared in two arcade games: SegaSonic the Hedgehog, released only in Japan, and Sonic the Fighters. Interestingly, these games feature Sonic and Eggman (called Robotnik back in those days) in their classic styled look, while Wreck-it Ralph features them by their most current style. These forms of Eggman and Sonic have never been anywhere near an arcade, so what they're doing in the Wreck-it Ralph universe is a bit of a mystery.

Just for comparison, here's what Sonic and Eggman (or, Robotnik) should have looked like, and what they look like in the movie.

Fact of the Day: Zangief is Bad Guy

In Disney's new movie Wreck-it Ralph various villains from an assortment of arcade games come together in a support group known as Bad-Anon. One of the primary members of this group, who really reaches out to befriend the main character, Ralph, is Street Fighter's Russian wrestler Zangief. This caused some controversy among fans of gaming culture, as Zangief is not portrayed as a villain in his own series.

Phil Johnston, the screenwriter of Wreck-it Ralph, has gone on record as saying that while Zangief isn't a villain, he wrote Zangief into the Bad-Anon scenes because as a child, Mr. Johnston was unable to defeat Zangief in Street Fighter II. Because of this he views Zangief as a bad guy, or rather, a good guy who does bad things.

Fact of the Day: Why the Ice Climbers Climb Ice

Ice Climber is a game for the NES released in 1984 made popular by the appearance of the protagonist and his sister, Popo and Nana, in the 2001 game Super Smash Bros. Melee. Ice Climber occupies one of the special societal ranks as a classic Nintendo arcade-style game, a position it shares with more well-known favorites Excitebike and Balloon Fight. While most gamers are now familiar with the heroes and mechanics of their gameplay, there are few who know exactly why the Ice Climbers are climbing a mountain decorated with colorful bits of vegetable.

There's actually a reason for this. Ice Climber, unusual for an early Nintendo game, actually has some semblance of a plot. You see, there is one iconic foe that battles the duo at the top of every mountain directly responsible for sending the Eskimo pair on their careless climb. Known only as The Condor, this avian adversary isn't just a savage beast, but an evil bandit who has stolen the Ice Climbers' crops.

The food and the bird might seem to be mere gameplay elements, but in reality they help convey one of the earliest stories in video game history.

Good on you, pal.

TIDBIT

Even though he's one of the most minor characters to ever play a role in a Nintendo game, even less recognized than his swimsuit clad minions, the Condor is one of my all-time favorite video game villains. There's just something appealing about his character design. All wicked and pointy and sinister, yet just a simple bird. If I could pick any retro villain to appear in another Super Smash Bros. title, Condor would soar right to the top.

Mysteries of Modern Media: The Super Evil Angry Sun

Mario's had a number of fantastic journeys throughout his thirty-one year career, but none have made quite the splash generated by Super Mario Bros. 3. This game is often hailed as the greatest video game of all time, and there's no question that it ranks up there. Creative sets, the largest arsenal the plumber has ever known, beautiful graphics, and flawless physics make this one of the most memorable gaming experiences ever. It helps that the game is just chock-full of secrets and bizarre oddities that would make hardcore realism...ists wet their pants.

Most notable? In the desert world there is at least one instance where Mario is traversing fairly flat terrain, trying to cross the sea of sand without succumbing to dehydration, when out of the blue the gigantic scowling sun swoops down to swat you out like a pesky little fly! This sun later appears in a really bad-ass black-and-white themed level, and has shown up from time to time in other Mario related games.

Dubbed "The Angry Sun," nobody is quite sure whether this is the celestial body which the Mushroom World orbits, or whether it's some kind of sun-like creature. Nintendo would later stick a haunting face on the moon and send it hurtling into the Zelda universe, so it's not entirely past them to make celestial bodies terrifying adversaries in one sense or another.

The problem arises when you discover that Mario can do away with this Angry Sun simply by bashing it with a Koopa shell. Granted, it returns after a few moments, so it never truly dies, but it does vanish for those few brief seconds. If this sun were in fact the sun for the entire Mushroom World, wouldn't Mario have plunged the planet into an absolute zero ice age? But when it falls, the stage doesn't even change from day to night.

It's possible for the Angry Sun to simply be a sun-like creature which inhabits the Mushroom World. This isn't particularly crazy as the planet is inhabited by literally dozens of star-descended beings, and suns are simply stars, so in a sense The Angry Sun is simply another star creature, like Star Spirits or the Starmen (I think those are alive... they have eyes...). To further support this theory is another living Sun Creature which appears in Paper Mario as the exclusive sun for Flower Fields, a garden kingdom which exists in the clouds.

What other possibilities are there? Perhaps the Mushroom World exists in a multi-sun star system. Perhaps the solar system where the Mushroom World exists has miniature sun satellites which act as gaseous heat-moons. Perhaps The Angry Sun was simply a magical entity created by Bowser to thwart Mario. Perhaps The Angry Sun is some kind of relative to Fry Guy (they do both shoot tiny fireballs [Angry Sun does this in Mario Kart DS]). Perhaps The Angry Sun is a being which inhabits only the Desert World, and is actually the cause for the arid environment.

All we really know is that Mario has battled the sun and won. And for that, we bury him under the many avalanches he has cast upon us all.

Stay cool, hot stuff.

Mysteries of Modern Media: Who Cooks for the Pikmin?

The Pikmin franchise has been Nintendo's most successful "modern" franchise, and for good reason. It's creative, cute, and intuitive. But beneath that adorable bug-eyed exterior is a foreboding ominous feeling which pervades both the first game and its sequel, Pikmin 2. And while the first game may appear eerie at times, it's the second game that really dives into the grim realities of the Pikmin universe.

The main focus in Pikmin 2 is on treasure hunting. Protagonist Captain Olimar returns, added by new employee Louie, to find enough artifacts so the company he works for can clear its debt. What kind of treasures do Olimar and Louie dig up in this wacky adventure?

Duracell batteries...

Rubber duckies...

And donuts.

According to the game's producer, Shigeru Miyamoto, the planet on which the Pikmin live is actually a post-apocalyptic Earth where there are no longer any living humans. The animals on this version of Earth have evolved to utilize the artifacts and remnants left behind by human kind, meaning the planet hasn't been inhabited by humans for at least a few hundred years.

So the question is: if there aren't any people left on this planet, who, exactly, is making all those donuts?