Dai Makaimura (Arcade/Supergrafx, 1988/1990)

 

Who is the most powerful character in this picture? Arthur, hero of the realm? The building-sized demon in the background? Nope, neither. Princess Prin-Prin is the most powerful character in this picture. Literally everything happening in the world of Ghosts n' Goblins / Ghouls n' Ghosts is happening around and because of her. She is the most hotly-demanded, intensely-desired character in this realm. It's easy to see why, just look at her. Wars are fought over her sick 'bod, while men and demons of all kinds line up to try and be the one who gets to try to please her.

As for the game, I heard there was a Supergrafx (Turbografx upgrade) version that was basically arcade perfect, and wanted to give it a whirl. Unfortunately, couldn't really get that going, so I ended up just going with the arcade version. It's readily available on Capcom Arcade Stadium for PS4/5. I've already played the Sega Genesis version of this game, and it was pretty good, but now I'm going straight to the source with the best version.

RIP Patrick Stewart

 

Late breaking: What a terrible week for Trek fans (and also fans of X-Men, Shakespeare, and everything else this very accomplished guy did). Glad he got to do one last show before he went.

Makaimura (Arcade, 1985)

 

The original arcade version of one of my favorite NES games: What became Ghosts n' Goblins. This is a vastly-better version of the game, both visually and control-wise, and probably the best way to revisit it at this point.

Ranking The Hardest Gym Leaders In Pokemon (The Gym Leader All-Star Game)

 

Pokemania continues with something a bit out-of-the-box. Rather than doing a boss difficulty ranking or something, which has been done a thousand times and is highly subjective/variable, I came up with something a little bit more interesting/different that I haven't seen done before. This is NOT a ranking of the eight toughest bosses overall. It's me figuring out who the toughest boss (across the series) is for each gym number, to pick the toughest representative for each number and put them in a set of eight.

I'll be going off of the original versions of each generation, NOT remakes that came later. Most of the remakes nerfed quite a few of their tougher fights, with one big exception of Gen 4 beefing them up. For this list, the regular or deluxe versions count for determining the overall threat level of each gym leader. It's very telling that all of these are from the earlier games in the series...yeah, the challenge level really fell off a cliff as the generations went by.

Pokemon Platinum (Generation 4), Part 5 - Maylene and Crasher Wake

Her upper quarter and lower quarter are dressed for Winter! Her middle half is dressed for Summer! It's Dawn!

Pokemon Platinum (Generation 4), Part 4 - Fantina

 

It's important to free the nipple. Let them get fresh air. Let them BREATHE.

Today on Pokemon: I take on the second-hardest fight in the game. Fantina, mistress of Ghost-types, is formidable. At this stage of the game, options are very limited. Will I have an answer prepared in time?

Dragonball Z Kakarot Part 20 - -DAIMA- Adventure Through The Demon Realm PART 2 - Second Half

 

This is it, the culmination of Daima. The big final battle. Akira Toriyama's final gift to the world. Featuring his own version of Super Saiyan 4. That's right, it's finally canon in the DBZ to Super timeline.

Dragonball Z Kakarot Part 19 - -DAIMA- Adventure Through The Demon Realm PART 2 - First Half

 

Daima was the last thing Akira Toriyama left us with, and as weird as it is, it's a pretty cool final present for the fans. It takes place after Dragonball Z and has our heroes go on a new adventure, serving almost as a bridge between Z and Super. It would have made a lot more sense if it had come out in the 2000's, between the two shows, rather than recently when most people are just waiting for the Moro Arc. Regardless, I really like Daima, and it feels almost like someone mixed DB, DBZ, and DBGT in a bowl and added all the Toriyama-isms they could.

That said, it's full of plot holes and retroactively causes quite a bit of early DB Super to not make sense (wondering if the strangely-named "DB Super Beerus" exists mainly to smooth that out and explain why nobody uses their new abilities from Daima during the first arc of Super...eh, probably not)

Pokemon Platinum (Generation 4), Part 3 - Gardenia

 

Today on Pokemon, the important questions get asked. What is Team Galactic really up to? What's beyond Eterna Forest? And is Dawn about to go on a European Sex Tour like the woman in Pokemon Legends Z-A did? Amsterdam, here we come.

Highlander 5x16 - Forgive Us Our Trespasses

 

It's Monday night, you know what that means. This episode initially aired May 5th, 1997. Considering it takes place in Winter, it was airing pretty late into the year - they really found a way to make the shorter-than-normal Season 5 last. This episode is a complex story about war, the ethics of it, forgiveness for it, and so on. It's nuanced enough to not have "good guys" or "bad guys" and present two sides as both being right in their own minds...so the normal human state.

One of the best episodes in S5, this is an episode that basically emits pure atmosphere. It feels a lot like a "final episode" of a show, and could have been the final episode of this show easily enough. Maybe the show would be better off if it was. This episode has a ton in common with the actual final episode of the series; both have Duncan questioning whether he's done more harm than good. Or at least, too much harm.

Pokemon Platinum (Generation 4), Part 2 - Roark

 

Today on Plat: Dawn slays Roark. That's right, she killed him. She takes this Poke-battling stuff way too seriously. Hopefully she can get off with the "Juvenile Rage" defense.

Dragonball Z Kakarot Part 18 - -DAIMA- Adventure Through The Demon Realm PART 1

 

I thought Kakarot was done. This surprisingly deep action-RPG has had no less than EIGHT DLCs added to it at this point. Most of them are fairly lengthy, too, feeling more like expansions or standalone small games than mere updates. This is the biggest one yet (and might be the last, though they've said that before), covering the Dragonball Daima series. It's actually split into two DLCs (#7 and #8), costing $10 each (or $15 for both), with the first being the more RPG-like open world of the Demon Realm and the second being all of the major fights that occured near the end of the top-heavy Daima show. While the Daima Part 1 DLC is very middle of the pack for Kakarot DLCs, I've heard Daima Part 2 called the best DLC they've made.

Daima itself is a super ridiculous series full of plotholes, with a lighthearted plot and nothing really serious or dark happening. It was a fun thing to watch, even if I'm not really sure why it exists. Was anyone really demanding a mid-quel taking place between Z and Super at this point? And one that creates a bunch of plotholes in Super. Well, let's go.