I’ve mostly been chipping away at getting this site ready for the server upgrade, but I couldn’t let August 9th go by without a little Revenge of 1989 recognition to honor a year that brought a lot of the games (and other things) that led to the creation of this site. That’s a literal statement, because the first version of this site were Sega Smash Pack shots of Golden Axe, Revenge of Shinobi, and Altered Beast for the Sega Genesis, all games that hit the U.S. in 1989. So here’s the newness:

Custom Sprites:
Final Fight: Andore (Final Fight wait pose)
Gang Wars: new gallery, starting with the heroes Mike and Jackie.
Shinobi: all-new Kasumi (the Revenge of Shinobi)
TMNT: NES 1989 game stance (with and without weapons) for Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, and Michelangelo.

All new custom sprites were also added to the the main GFX Generators, where you can assemble your own fake screenshots and group pics.

The Revenge of 1989: A new timeline page was added, various adjustments were made to the articles, including the confirmation (thanks to an interview with Time Extension magazine) that Konami’s Crime Fighters was indeed their template for later games like Ninja Turtles and the Simpsons.


As I mentioned at the start of this post, I’m working on an all-around behind-the-scenes update of this site, using a hard drive copy of it that simulates the server update. I’ve got a lot of the site working and even the image generators are over 70% working before I stopped to do this update. This is some heavy work, and it’s costing me extra site host fees to run on the older server, so I won’t be doing much other than that until it’s done, trying to finish it (and fixes to my other sites) before the site hosting charge hits my wallet again in September. I started a separate post about that in this link to keep track of where I am in the upgrade project.

Despite that, there will be an update to the ToyBoss section this month because I’ve got that main page working with new code that works on its own and I’ve got some roster pics to update (especially since I got that new camera).

It’s the eight month’s ninth day, making it 8/9, so it’s time to celebrate the debut year of so many things this site celebrates. There are also a few things being added that were missed in the 20th anniversary update a few weeks ago. Here’s what’s new to the site today:


The Revenge of 1989: Updates and fixes to the Beat ‘Em Up article and Game List.

Game Index: added Cadash (arcade) (and depending on where you look for reference, was released in 1990 instead of the game’s copyright date of 1989)

Custom Sprites:
Final Fight: Guy in his arms folded taunt (updated from being seen only in some site videos and quietly placed in the index page group scene) and brand-new fight stance
D.J. Boy: Bob and Tom
Shinobi: A Better Yamato starring Ti Lung, Chow Yun-Fat all-new and better sprite of Yamato (Shadow Dancer)
Marvel: a teleporting sprite of Nightcrawler (seen in LJN’s 1989 Uncanny X-Men game for the NES). Also updated Sentinel (the two missing Konami palettes were added)
Simpsons: Marge, Homer, and Maggie

Mini-logos:
Marvel Comics: Green Goblin (Mego and 70s style guide versions)
Graphic Generators: all of the new custom sprites and mini-logos have also been added to the generators, and the Sentinels have a few extra palettes.

Also, there’s a print sale in the shop until August 17th! Buy two 8×10 and 8×11 prints for $8.90 or
buy one 11 x 17 or 11 x 14 print for $8.90!


I planned to have more done (as usual), but between some offline battles and trying to get another long-term project ready enough to show, time’s been tight. But I should have enough new things ready for this project in either late August or early September. I’m plotting more videos, so subscribe or stay tuned to the YouTube Channel.

I know I’m not the only one out there going through some things, but thanks for the support this year, and I hope this weird site can keep you going you’ve helped me to keep it movin’ in 2020. Stay strong and keep fighting for justice, truth, and, if necessary, that last slice of pizza!

Today is the eighth month’s ninth day, which mean this site celebrates 1989, the greatest year in video game history*!


This site even has a sub-section dedicated to the year for reasons you’ll see mentioned there. Then again, you’ll probably figure out why once you see all the stuff I’m celebrating (and there’s still a lot left out). Everything in this update is linked to that magical year when many of this site’s favorite games, series, consoles and more debuted. Unfortunately, there’s so much stuff that I couldn’t even fit it into 3 screenshots, so, as a first, the sprite preview is a video!

Custom Sprites:
Capcom: Quick Man added to Mega Man section.
– – Final Fight: two new scratch-made Cody sprites!
– – Strider (new separate section): (a new Tom Pooh sprite (and redone colors on the hand-up pose) in the Strider section

Nintendo: Tatanga (Super Mario Land)

Sega: scratch-made E-SWAT’s police ICE armor and enemy unknown/File 96 enemies
– – Golden Axe: resprited Tyris Flare fight stance
– – Shinobi: new scratch-made Pink Dragon and redone Kasumi sprites

Sunsoft: Tuff Turf’s heroes and lady added.

Technos: new standing sprites for Kunio, Riki, Hasebe, Alex and Ryan

Games(other): Prince of Persia (original) added.

DC Comics: the Joker in the 1989 NES Batman stance
Music: new gallery starts with new Chuck D (Public Enemy) sprite and older sprites and sprite edits.
Toys ‘n Toons: Marge, Lisa and Bart Simpson. The Simpsons cartoon started in 1989!
G.I. JOE: Snake-Eyes in his version 3 (1989) outfit
TMNT: Krang (in his standing pose from the 1989 beat ’em up)

Mini-Logos: Prince of Persia (Jordan Mechner), Public Enemy (Music) and the Simpsons (Television) added.

The new custom sprites and mini-logos have been added to the GFX Generators.

My apologies to any fans of 1989 games who were left out, like Mendel Palace/Quinty, Double Dragon 2(NES), Astyanax, Crime City, and dozens more. There are too many good 1989 games to celebrate and many of my older sprites needed to be redone. Let me know about your favorite 1989 games and characters in the comment section!

* – 1989 being the greatest game year is hyperbole mostly for fun, but also designed to drive disagreement-induced hits, but at least this website admits it.