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Super Smash Bros. (Nintendo 64) - Happy Together Commercial

The ad campaign for the original Super Smash Bros. for the N64 was super creative. The fighting game featured icons from various Nintendo franchises coming together and battling it out, and the advertising had mascots beating each other up. Simple but effective.

In this commercial, Mario, Donkey Kong, Yoshi, and Pikachu are skipping together through a flower field to the song “Happy Together” by The Turtles. Mario ends up tripping Yoshi and a brawl breaks out.

Currently lost media, but part of this ad campaign included the four mascots wrestling in a match at what Nintendo called Slamfest ‘99 at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand Adventures Theme Park in 1999. This event was live-streamed online, but no known broadcast is currently available.

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Dissidia Final Fantasy (PlayStation Portable) - Start Screen

Dissidia Final Fantasy as well as its prequel Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy are probably my most played PSP games. The premise was simple: take Final Fantasy protagonists and antagonists and place them in a 1-on-1 fighting game.

Each series (I through X) had their own stage, including such iconic locations as the Planet’s Core from Final Fantasy VII and Crystal World from Final Fantasy IX.

Each character had their own iconic fighting style based on how they fought in their original games. My favorite was Ultimecia from Final Fantasy VIII: she’s a time mage and operates by attacking with ranged magic.

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Toonami (Bumper) - Animal Crossing Review

The best part of Toonami in my opinion is TOM reviewing video games. Here’s his review of Animal Crossing for the GameCube, and he’s really into the chill vibes of the game.

I spent so many hours on the original game, and don’t tell anyone but I even got one of the cheat discs for the game to get whatever furniture I wanted.

Animal Crossing is the ultimate “sit back and relax” game (even back in the first one with rude villagers and Mr. Resetti). Nothing made me happier than hanging with my bestie Static the squirrel, shopping at Tom Nook’s, completing the museum, and doing chores for the villagers. I’m happy TOM and the fine people over at Toonami and Cartoon Network had the same sentiment.

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Pokemon SoulSilver (Nintendo DS) - Intro + Start Screen

I had the original Pokemon Silver while my brother had Pokemon Gold, but Gen 2 ended up being my favorite so much so that I ended up also getting Gold and Crystal. Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver reintroduced these games ten years later with not only a fresh coat of paint, but tons of fresh features (my personal favorite being the following Pokemon ala Pokemon Yellow).

I’m old enough to have played the Gen 1 on the Gameboy (I had Pokemon Blue, my brother had Pokemon Red), but Gold and Silver felt magical to me. It was the introduction of day and night (and time in Pokemon games), it was the introduction of baby Pokemon, it was the introduction of friendship to all Pokemon (not just Pikachu, Pokemon Yellow), and so much more.

What made it incredibly magical was the surprise of going back to Kanto. As a kid before the internet pretty much spoils everything day-of, progressing and surfing to a point where an NPC welcomes you to Kanto and a whole new gym challenge was special.

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Aqua Teen Hunger Force (Bus of the Undead) - Dr. Weird

In early episodes of ATHF, Dr. Weird segments would somehow involve something from the main story. In “Bus of the Undead,” Dr. Weird is presenting Mothmonsterman to Steve before Mothmonsterman flies away through the hole in the laboratory left by Rabbot.

Mothmonsterman is attracted to the light emanating from the Aqua Teens’ house, later revealed to be the Shake Signal that Master Shake had adorned on his head.

If Mothmonsterman sounds familiar, it’s because he’s voiced by H. Jon Benjamin. Most of you probably recognize him as Bob Belcher from Bob’s Burgers, and some of you may recognize him as Coach John McGuirk from Home Movies (another Adult Swim show).

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Left 4 Dead 2 (Xbox 360) - Intro

Something referred to as the “Green Flu” is transforming humans into zombies and mutations. Coach, Ellis, Nick, and Rochelle are immune to the disease (spoilers: they’re asymptomatic carriers), but find themselves abandoned on a roof by rescue helicopters.

L4D2 is regarded as one of the best video games ever, including one of the best multiplayer games ever. There are still servers running with players matchmaking almost 16 years after release.

Fun Fact: The Left 4 Dead series was what got me into PC gaming. I was obsessed with these games on the Xbox 360 and on Christmas 2010 ended up asking for the complete Valve game set on Steam. The rest is history.

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Space Ghost Coast to Coast (Spanish Translation) - Pasta Salad

The first episode of SGC2C to air was “Spanish Translation” even though the first produced was “Elevator.” I imagine that this was because “Spanish Translation” was more representative of the absurd nature that the Space Ghost crew was going for.

Before Space Ghost can get to guest Susan Powter, the Ghost Planet crashes into the studio. During the chaos (and a slew of older TV references), the transmission switches over to Brak and Sisto (voiced like Beavis and Butthead) watching an infomercial for a nursery rhyme album by Zorak and Moltar.

Back at the studio with everything in order, Space Ghost meets a pasta salad eating Susan Powter and tells her that he takes much pleasure in meeting her…before it is translated into Spanish.

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Banjo-Tooie (Xbox 360) - Intro

The sequel to Banjo-Kazooie on the Nintendo 64, Banjo-Tooie brings the bear Banjo and bird Kazooie back alongside the shaman Mumbo Jumbo and friends (new and old) to take on the witch Gruntilda alongside her sisters.

Banjo-Tooie deviates from Banjo-Kazooie by taking more of an adventure and open-world approach rather than a pure platforming approach. If thinking of other N64 games, Banjo-Kazooie is more like Super Mario 64 while Banjo-Tooie is more like The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

An exame of this is the interconnected nature of the levels. You still need to use Jiggies to unlock levels, but all levels aside from the last connect to at least one other level in the game. An example of this is meeting hungry cavemen in Terrydactyland that require you to bring them burgers and fries from a hole in the wall of Witchyworld.

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Tom Goes to the Mayor - Intro

TGTTM is an absurd joyride created by Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim with a simple premise: Tom goes to the Mayor to propose something that gets completely misconstrued by the Mayor.

The first Adult Swim series to regularly feature live action aspect since Space Ghost Coast to Coast, Tom Goes to the Mayor presented limited animation of the actors by using photos and filtering them through the Adobe Photoshop photocopy filter, while presenting television shows, news, online videos, and more through full live-action.

The series is one of the most “love it or hate it” shows ever on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim. Mike Lazzo (previous head of Adult Swim) believed that the debate was a good thing, and TGTTM had 30 episodes during its series.

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Super Smash Bros. Melee (GameCube) - Yoshi’s Story

Yoshi’s Story for the Nintendo 64 was one of my aesthetic favorite games as a kid. Much like Paper Mario, Yoshi’s Story made 2D graphics feel more impressive by giving them the feel of papercraft and inserting 3D sprites overtop of them. You felt like you were playing in a video game version of a storybook.

I didn’t much know how to play it “the way it was meant” (strategy and completionism was for adults!) but the concept was simple enough: eat enough fruits with Yoshi to continue to the next level.

The level in Super Smash Bros. Melee kept the aesthetic of the N64 game and inserted the flying Shy Guys from the game, but instead of carrying various fruit they now carried food items that would restore your health.

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The Brak Show (Hippo) - Doll Talker

Brak is engaged in conversation with his stuffed animal lobster named Hippo. Zorak catches wind of this and forces Brak to get rid of Hippo. Why? Because he doesn’t associate with doll talkers. Before throwing out Hippo the Lobster, Zorak comes back just to pull Brak’s pants down.

The title card for this episode is The Braks of Life (referencing The Facts of Life). Each early episode had a cute play on old sitcoms as the title of the show, but this was dropped due to confusing the viewers.

Fun Fact: Hippo was a Crusty the Lobster plushie from Russ Berrie. I totally thought he was a Pinchers the Lobster Beanie Baby.

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Pokemon Snap (Nintendo 64) - Start Screen

Pokemon Snap was one of the several experimental Pokemon games created for home console (Hey You, Pikachu! comes to mind) to cash in on the early Pokemania.

The concept was simple: playing as Todd Snap (whose character resembles Tracy Sketchit from the anime), look around various areas while riding your Zero-One buggy and try to capture the best picture of Pokemon that you can using the various tools at your disposal.

Perhaps the coolest thing about the game for all us 90s kids was that you could take your N64 cartridge to Blockbuster stores and print out pictures that you took in game. I am still so sad that I was never able to do this as a child.

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The Powerpuff Girls (Meat Fuzzy Lumpkins) - What A Cartoon! Intro

“Meat Fuzzy Lumpkins” is the first pilot of the Powerpuff Girls after their name change from a different title that would get my video flagged on social media. It not only introduces the girls but also their dangly-bob sporting villain Fuzzy Lumpkins.

This episode was featured on Cartoon Network’s “What A Cartoon! Show” which was the springboard program for many other Cartoon Cartoons such as Dexter’s Laboratory, Johnny Bravo, Courage the Cowardly Dog, and more.

However, the episode actually debuted in a Space Ghost Coast to Coast special titled the “World-Premiere Toon-In” (or “President’s Day Nightmare”) that was also simulcast on TBS and TNT. The full pilot aired as Craig McCracken won the swimsuit contest beating out Gendy Tartakovsky and others. This also makes it the only Powerpuff Girls episode to be shown years later on Adult Swim.

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Aqua Teen Hunger Force (Rabbot - Rough Cut) - Meat Bridge

Besides the colorations and animations, this scene is pretty much the same as it is in the finished product. Rabbot breaks through the mall, steals hair growth formula, uses it on the jeans, and leaves. Master Shake complains, Frylock investigates, and Meatwad turns into the Meat Bridge.

Funny enough, the Meat Bridge deviates from Meatwad’s typical initial shapes. Meatwad initially only knows “hot dog” and “igloo,” and learns more as the show goes on (such as Samurai Abraham Lincoln…erm…Wayne Gretzky).

Fun Fact: In the finished product, the mall is called “Powerpuff Mall.” That’s because the setting is that of the mall used in the Powerpuff Girls pilot “Meat Fuzzy Lumpkins.”

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Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law (PlayStation 2) - Laryngitis

Peter Potamus is charged with setting arson on Harvey Birdman’s abode, but Harvey believes in his innocence. Harvey asks Peter to do one thing to make the case easier…don’t speak.

When Vulturo examines Peter Potamus, Peter comes forward with a “fool proof” plan: claim he has laryngitis…all while continuing to talk normally.

A witness enters the stand with questionable motives. Gigi (or G.G. referring to her name Gravity Girl from the old Birdman and the Galaxy Trio days) is Birdman’s…wife?…and claims to have seen the whole thing, even though she has proven to not care about Harvey in the slightest.

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Toonami (Bumper) - Final Fantasy X Review

Before playing Final Fantasy X, I don’t think it can be overstated how excited everyone was for the game graphically. I remember people talking about how essentially, the graphics of gameplay felt like you were playing in a cutscene.

I do disagree with ol’ Toonami and Cartoon Network giving the game an 8-out-of-10 rating as I figure a lot of you do (including my boyfriend, as Final Fantasy X is one of his favorite games ever). Their reasoning for the rating is that…the game is short at 70 hours?

Regardless, I think Final Fantasy X is one of the better aged Final Fantasy games. Maybe it wasn’t as appreciated at time, but it’s definitely one fondly looked back at today.

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LittleBigPlanet (PSP) - Intro

LittleBigPlanet was either ahead of its time, or made just at the right time. Predating games like Super Mario Maker, LBP had players creating platformer levels to play through using their individualized Sackboy (or Sackgirl). I’ve always been a fan of handhelds, so I was elated when LittleBigPlanet came to the PlayStation Portable.

The big draw of the game was that not only could you create your own levels, you could share created levels online for others to download as well as download levels yourself. Statistically, almost every single player had a published level on LittleBigPlanet.

Little Big Planet was such a hit that for a period of time, Sackboy was one of the mascots for Sony and spawned multiple spinoffs. Sadly, Sackboy has waned in popularity with Sony over the years, but he’s too adorable for me to forget.