Game fans all over the internet are celebrating the #Happy30thNES event (thanks to PlatinumFungi) on their websites and on Twitter. Made to honor the 30th Anniversary of the Nintendo Entertainment System, the event is a chance for us to show and tell why we love that gray box of 8-bit magic. I’ve done my part by making 30 new NES-like sprites based on a few of my favorite NES games while using colors from the original sprites:

You can find the separate sprites (and an extra sprite that didn’t make the cut) in the new NES-like 32 gallery.

No offense to my Atari 2600 and ColecoVision, but the NES was the first system I owned that could play the kinds of games that inspired me to make this site. Platformers, beat ’em ups, run ‘n guns and similar genres really started to come into their own at that time and the Nintendo Entertainment System was one of the best ways to play those games at home. It’s the beginning of what I consider to be the sweet spot of action games becoming adventures while still being unashamed of being games. That’s probably why we still see new games using the look and feel of those NES classics and it’s definitely a big part of why many of us are celebrating its 30th anniversary today.

Help spread the word about the event if you can and feel free to talk about your own Nintendo favorites in the comments section!

Articles: I’ve had this page about Rob Strangman’s Memoirs of a Virtual Caveman book for a long time, but didn’t finish it until now. It’s made in the old, abandoned game review format because of a few jokes in the info section that I thought were funny at the time (sigh). As it says on the page, I’m probably a bit biased because I drew the cover, but I really dug that book and the voice it gives to various parts of the video game community. The article is here and I hope you give Rob’s book a chance!

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Arcade Quartermaster’s latest batch of game shrines is monster-themed and features Night Slashers (one of my favorites), Kiki KaiKai (Taito’s original Pocky and Rocky game), Laser Ghost and Nightmare in the Dark.

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You know, we’ve had a lot of fun here today, but it’s time to get serious. Dead serious.

Horror returns to ScrollBoss next week. Be there* and be scared.

(by “there” I mean “here.” Just making that clear.)

Filed under: ScrollBoss Updates, Site News, Updates by PrimeOp
Tags: Batman, bionic commando, Castlevania, Contra, Double Dragon, Kid Icarus, Kirby, Kung-Fu Master, Mega Man, Memoirs of a Virtual Caveman, Metal Gear, Metroid, Ninja Gaiden, Nintendo Entertainment System, River City Ransom, Shatterhand, Strider, Super Mario Bros., Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the Guardian Legend, the Legend of Zelda, Wrecking Crew
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So Transformers: Devastation, a game that sounds more like a wish (G1 Transformers with classic voice actors and developed by Platinum Games) than reality, is now available and there’s no way I wasn’t going to celebrate.

A small-scale G1 Optimus Prime joins the site, crash-landing in the Toys and ‘Toons gallery until the Transformers get their own gallery. Meanwhile, new sprites of Alyssa from the Guardian Legend/Guardic Gaiden and Samus Aran from Metroid join the fight! Look, someone in futuristic armor who curls up into a ball like a potato bug counts as a Transformer, alright? All three have been added to the GFX Generator. Optimus is the only Transformer on the site right now, but you may get some more toys this Christmas…

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Here’s a taste of what I’ve been messing around with for the past month:

Just like the last one, almost nothing in the video is final. I still have a lot to learn with Anime Studio Pro 10, but I think you can tell I’ve been having fun with it. Oddly enough, I made three new sprites mainly for a clip in the video, but the scene didn’t have enough people to match the clip it followed. It’s a good thing that I left it out, because the so-called surprise would’ve wound up being the preview display pic.

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Kickstarter alert: Aurion: Legacy of the Kori-Odan is an exciting action/RPG hybrid with 2-D beautiful graphics. It has 14 days left to be funded and still needs help to be published.

A lot of work has already gone into the game and it shows in every frame. If you like what you see and can afford to help, please visit their Kickstarter page and donate!

Filed under: ScrollBoss Updates, Site News, Updates by PrimeOp
Tags: Hasbro, Metroid, Samus Aran, the Guardian Legend, Transformers
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I’m extremely late with this, as the deadline is rapidly approaching, but check out the Humble Bundle that includes GameMaker Studio Pro (usually $99-$149) and Android export module($299!) for only $12, or pay just $6 for GM:SP. The packages also include games made with GameMaker and the source code for those games.

In case you’re wondering, yes, I bought it.

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Since I’m king of the late passes, I’ll try to redeem myself by letting you know that Smith Micro will be having a sale on Manga Studio EX 5/Clip Studio Paint EX in a few days. The program is more about line art and one of the programs I took a break to try and study. Quite a few artists I know on the ‘net swear by it, so keep an eye out for that sale if you don’t have it.

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Site updates will resume in October. For now, here’s another clip of my messing around in Anime Studio.

Filed under: ScrollBoss Updates, Site News, Updates by PrimeOp
Tags: GameMaker, SmithMicro
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A new Mario sprite (based the original SMB cover jump, but in Yoichi Kotabe’s style) was added to the Custom Sprites gallery and the GFX Generators.

If you really want to see some great SMB tributes, check out The Ankle Rocker’s fun series of photos, starring SMB action figure and games. See, that’s what toys are for: the fun happy times!

Those in the mood for some art should consider buying Orioto’s 30 Years of Mario giclée art print, which celebrates the history of the entire series!

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I’m still on break, getting the hang of some art programs and making things for future updates. Here’s a Tumblr post with a few preview .gifs to check out the results from one program. I also started rewriting the code for the GFX Generators, something that probably won’t be 100% finished until later this year.

Filed under: ScrollBoss Updates by PrimeOp
Tags: Nintendo, Super Mario Bros.
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Sorry for dropping off the map for a bit (I’ll explain later), but here’s some more sprites based on early 80s video games!

Custom Sprites
– Namco: Mappy (FINALLY!)
– Nintendo: Donkey Kong and Luigi
– Taito: redone and improved Ptolemy
– Williams: Lander and Flyer Model from Defender, Hulk from Robotron: 2084

All these things were added to the GFX Generators, waiting for you to use them in fake screenshots, avatars, graphics and more.

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I got yet another commission to make pixel art for a YouTube channel, but this was for a more intricate background. The irony is that most of what I was spriting was 80s-related, keeping me on theme even when I’m not working on the site. I’ll be sure to link to it when it hits the internet.

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The commission work may have kept me from doing a few planned updates this month, but those ideas will just get kicked along for later. Thanks to the votes that went into the arcade, I wanted to make an update with characters from early fighting games and beat ’em ups (think Kung-Fu Master, Yie Ar Kung-Fu, Shaolin’s Road, Karate Champ) and that’s something that’ll probably be more fun if I have more time to make material for it. The same goes for another themed update that I won’t describe, but I’ll just say that a sprite in the 15th Anniversary update was a warm-up for that.

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This site will be in chill mode for September; not really paused, but there won’t be a lot of new content. There are art programs I’ve bought months ago and it’s time for me to dig in and start learning how to use them. Plus, I’m really tired and need some rest. Updates will stay small until October. You know what’s coming back in October, right? Riiiiiiiiiight.

Filed under: ScrollBoss Updates, Site News, Updates by PrimeOp
Tags: Defender, Donkey Kong, Mappy, Mario Bros., Robotron: 2048, the FairyLand Story
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This site spent most of 2014 celebrating the 25th anniversary of 1989, my favorite year for video games, and the updates were filled with many sprites based on those games, like Final Fight, the Revenge of Shinobi, Golden Axe, Strider, and more. That theme comes back for today’s mini-update because the date is the eighth month’s ninth day.

Custom Portraits: new Street Fighter Alpha/Zero 3 Vs. portraits of Joe Musashi, Poison (and Roxy), Damnd, and Haggar (replacing the horrible one I made two years ago).

The new portraits have been added to the GFX Generators along nine new palettes for Poison (based on Ultra Street Fighter IV) and five for Haggar (based on the Slam Masters/Muscle Bomber series).

The next update will return to the early 1980s with more new sprite remakes of classic characters!

Filed under: ScrollBoss Updates, Site News, Updates by PrimeOp
Tags: Final Fight, The Revenge of 1989, The Revenge of Shinobi
2 Comments »

August is the eighth month and that means it’s time to celebrate the 80s! Look, I know that’s what I do on this site most of the time, but most of the focus will be on the early part of the decade, a time that often gets neglected on this site. So let’s fix that right off the bat!

Custom Sprites
– Nintendo: Mario (doing the pose from the old U.S. flyer art)
– Taito: Bub and Bob
– Pac-Man: Ms. Pac-Man (Pac-Man 2 pose)
– Games (other): Coily (Q*Bert’s enemy)
– Williams: Player 1 and 2 from Joust

Mini-Logos: Joust was added to the Williams/Midway gallery, Bub and Bob added to the Taito gallery

All new items were added to the GFX Generators, where you can use them to make graphics like the one at the top of this post. You’ll also find the new 1980-1986 arcade background. I asked people on Facebook, Tumblr and Twitter which seven games from 80 to 86 would they put in their own mini-arcade and picked the ones that got the most choices

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I was commissioned to make a pixel art version of the Aaliyah Channel title screen for her trip to the Neon Retro Arcade and, as corny as it sounds, it’s just fun to see a young’un step into an arcade for the first time and be wowed like I was when I was a kid. Check it out and be sure to give her a like and a subscription if you dig it!

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There will be a small update this weekend that visits the opposite end of the decade. You know what that means, right?

The Revenge of 1989, the greatest year for nearly everything related to video games, rises from its grave in less than a week!

Filed under: ScrollBoss Updates, Site News, Updates by PrimeOp
Tags: 1980-1986, Bubble Bobble, Donkey Kong, Joust, Ms. Pac-Man, Q*Bert
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Today marks 15 years of this site’s existence on the outskirts of the internet! Most of today’s update centers on sprites that I wanted to redo from scratch, but there’s also a new ScrollBoss character (you’ll see more from her in future updates) and sprites based on the games of late, great Iwata-san.

Custom Sprites
– HAL Laboratory: Lolo and Lala (Eggerland series) kick off the new gallery.
– Nintendo: Balloon Fighter added.
– Sega: a new scratch-made Shiva (Streets of Rage series) sprite added.
– DC: Green Lantern Hal Jordan
– G.I.JOE: the Baroness
– Illmosis Network: The new gallery starts with “V” but my other characters will be added later.

Mini-logos
– Nintendo: Balloon Fight

All of those sprites were added to the GFX Generators

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I’m still a bit worn out from the past few weeks and the yesterday’s great convention, so I couldn’t write the big, detailed “Thank You” post that I wanted to make yet, but will get that together this week. For now, I’d just like to thank everyone who visits the site. You’re one of the biggest factors that kept me going through that whole time. ScrollBoss has been here since the days when these older games were looked down upon by a lot of people and I’ve tried to let this place be a lighthouse for anyone looking for place to appreciate older action games and pixel art. I still have a lot of new things on the way for this site, so I hope you keep visiting every once in a while!

Filed under: ScrollBoss Updates, Site News, Updates by PrimeOp
Tags: Adventures of Lolo, anniversary, Balloon Fighter, Bare Knuckle, dc comics, Eggerland, g.i. joe, Streets of Rage
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Another heads-up that I’ll be in Artist’s Alley at the All AmeriCon convention this Saturday (July 18th) in Warren, Ohio. I’ll have copies of the new Gotham City Villains pixel art print (just added to the ScrollBoss shop page), that Freddy vs. Jason print and more, along previews of unposted stuff. Last year’s convention had quite a few sellers with game-related merch and actual games (including a seller I ran into recently and he told me he’d have games again this year), so gamers are welcome, too!

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I’ve been getting ready for the convention, so I haven’t had much time to do anything for the 15th anniversary update this coming Sunday. There will be a few new fan sprites, the debut of another site character and sprites in honor of Iwata-san.

Filed under: ScrollBoss Updates, Site News, Updates by PrimeOp

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Today’s the last of the Gotham City-themed updates, but it’s also ties up a few loose ends and fixes a few things. Here’s what’s up:

Custom Sprites – Batgirl, Bane and Catman have been added to the DC Gallery. A few more Catwoman sprite was added to the Catwoman.

Mini-logos: Batgirl, Bane, Penguin (Mego) and Catman logos added to DC gallery

Those new items have been added to the GFX Generators along with the third background of this week’s theme: a street based on the first stage of Batman for the Sega Genesis. That stage has two versions: original flavor and custom generic bar with neon signs and trash. I also added a couple of plain Catwoman sprites with a lot of palette options, because there’s no such thing as too many Catwomans.

That’s it for this theme. I’ve got to get back to work on pixel art and scribbles for the upcoming All AmeriCon convention. Again, due to the convention being on July 18th, the anniversary update on July 19th won’t be big. I hope you have fun with these updates and I’ll be back again in a few weeks!

Filed under: ScrollBoss Updates, Site News, Updates by PrimeOp
Tags: dc comics, gfx generators, mini-logos
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