#my ninja knight jackal

[phantomrubyy]

Current projects and requests

NOTE: requests are listed in the order I received them, not by which I will finish first. My list is not absolute and some requests may be finished sooner depending on how quickly I conceptualize and write a request as my motivation fluctuates. If you don’t see your request I either didn’t see it or deleted it so feel free to message me to confirm.

CURRENT NUMBER OF DRAFTS: 63

LAST UPDATED: August 13th

PERSONAL WORKS: works that I come up with and will eventually write. As requests take priority, these will take longer to post

◇ HEADCANONS

Romantic Yandere Rise!Leonardo

Romantic Yandere Leonardo (2012)

Romantic Yandere Hamato Yoshi "Lou Jitsu"

◇ DRABBLES

Romantic Rise!Leonardo - Good enough

Romantic Yandere Rivalry with April O’Neil and Donatello (2012) inspired by yandere-galore

◇ SCENARIOS

Romantic Yandere Rise!Donatello - Study buddies

◇ MISC.

Romantic Yandere Alphabet with the Knights of the Round Table and King Arthur

REQUESTS: self-explanatory, the requests I receive in my inbox while my requests are open.

◇ HEADCANONS

Romantic Yandere Metal Sonic

Romantic Tangle the Lemur

Romantic Whisper the wolf

Romantic Polyamory with Whisper the Wolf and Tangle the Lemur

Romantic Blaze the Cat

Romantic Surge the Tenrec

Romantic Yandere Team-up: Mephiles the Dark and Infinite the Jackal with a perfectionist reader

Romantic Sir Lancelot with a flirty, laid-back reader who's a spy for Sonic

Romantic Sonic the Hedgehog with a reader comforting him after being roboticized

Platonic Yandere Team up: Rise!Michelangelo and Leonardo

Romantic Yandere Infinite the Jackal

Romantic Yandere Rivalry with Shadow and Silver the hedgehog

Romantic Yandere self-aware Sonic with a bullied reader

Romantic Yandere Rise!Leonardo and Donatello with a shy reader getting bullied at school

Mutual Pining and dating Cassandra jones

Platonic Yandere Boom!Shadow the hedgehog

Romantic Yandere rivalry with Leonardo (2012) and Sonic the Hedgehog

Romantic Alopex (2012)

Romantic Zeena the Zeti

Romantic Yandere Donatello (2012)

Romantic Espio the Chameleon and Jet the Hawk with a reader who has ghost-like abilities

Romantic Parasita Rise!Raphael, Leonardo, Donatello and Michelangelo

Romantic Yandere Dr. Eggman with a captive reader

Romantic Yandere Leonardo with a kitsune reader (?)

Romantic Yandere rivalry with Boom!Shadow and Boom!Sonic the Hedgehog

Platonic Yandere Team-up with Leonardo (2012) and Sonic the Hedgehog

Romantic Gemerl with a mechanic reader

Romantic Yandere Team-up with Shadow and Sonic the hedgehog with a shy, bullied reader

Romantic Yandere team-up with Metal Sonic and Sonic the Hedgehog

Father-figure Baron Draxum

Romantic Pale King

Platonic Yandere rivalry with the Knight and Grimm

Undecided Zote the Mighty

Platonic Yandere Team-Up: Rise!April O'Neil and Sunita with a reader who is extremely clumsy

Platonic Yandere Rise!Donatello with an online childhood reader

Romantic Yandere Rise!Raphael with a short reader who is extremely strong

Platonic Yandere Rise!Michelangelo with an equally clingy reader

Platonic Sticks the Badger with a reader who is a spy

Romantic Cyborg Sonic

Romantic Yandere Sonic

◇ DRABBLES

Platonic Yandere Espio the Chameleon

Platonic Yandere Shadow the Hedgehog with a reader who has memory loss

Platonic Yandere 2012 turtles with a ninja reader reincarnated as a child

Platonic Metal Sonic with a mechanic reader

Romantic Rise!Donnie with an s/o who gets infected by the kraang

Platonic Knight with a reader who treated them like a little sibling but went missing and finds them infected by the radiance

◇ SCENARIOS

Romantic Yandere Mephiles the Dark

Yandere Knuckles the Echidna

Platonic Yandere Infinite the Jackal

Platonic Rise!Leonardo where the reader takes his sword while picking up food for a movie night

Romantic Zora Salazar with a low ranking Bliss Ocean member

◇ MISC.

Yandere Rise!Leonardo prompt - yandere-daze #30

FANFICS: also quite self-explanation. These will be the fanfics I will work on once I have an idea. These are entirely up to me. Mostly angst.

◇ CURRENT FICS

Together for a few nights - Romantic Donatello (2012) currently working on prologue

Everything, all at once - Romantic Leonardo (2018) wip

[weatherchanneloffical]

Do you have any Etrian Odyssey OCs? If so who are they?

hhhhhhhhh i have like a million so i’ll put it under the cut

Uhh so im just going to go by game and then guild name cause some of my guilds have the same name and i will also say their classes

EO1

Anith: Zofia Sharpe (Protector), Fletcher Valencia (Landsknecht), Lisabeth Boyd (Alchemist), Cedrick Ellis (Medic), Von Warren (Survivalist)

EO2

Khint: Frederick Sargent (Protector), Roxy Thomas (Landsknecht), Robert Walker (Alchemist), Tracy Sargent (War Magus), Trent Sargent (Gunner)

Ethlyn: Johnathan King (Sovereign), Maxy Evans (Highlander), Desmond Ward (War Magus), Samuel Woods (Troubadour), Megan Harrison (Hexer)

Quan: Zoro Bando (Ronin), Callie (Beast), Cassy Warren (Survivalist), Harper Ellis (Medic), Ian Hunter (Dark Hunter)

Sigurd: Stefan Baghdasaryan/Vito Grant (Landsknecht), Mason Mills (Protector), Richard Arnold (War Magus), Ariella Rothgard/Carrie Knight (Gunner), Tina Greene (Troubadour)

Rose: Erza Kelley (Sovereign), Barry (Beast), Steve Reid (Hexer), Andy Harvey (Dark Hunter), Mahogany Kim (War Magus)

Ciggma: Ximon Fowler (Highlander), Blake Davidson (Protector), Ed Boyd (Alchemist), Anne Walters (Medic), Cyrus Walters (Survivalist)

Jackal: Jannie Fuji (Ronin), Kris Shelton (Landsknecht), Jeff Belle (Gunner), Jaxon Gregory (Medic), Axel Watts (Troubadour)

EO3

Khint: Nieve Gale (Hoplite), Lev Smirnov (Gladiator), Aldric King (Sovereign), River Newman (Monk), Fox Hale (Zodiac)

Fiore: Daniel Gale (Hoplite), Saizou Ike (Ninja), Kirk Gale (Arbalist), Mei Ike (Monk), Annie Barker (Farmer)

Lehr: Zohar Smith (Wildling), Khalid Parks (Pirate), Aster Gale (Arbalist), Benji Jo (Monk), Ren Kono (Ninja)

EO4

Khint: Rand Belle (Fortress), Ben Logan (Landsknecht), Lucas Bendranker (Sniper), Mena Stello (Runemaster), Alex (Medic)

Heinkel: Nate Hardy (Fortress), Jack Powers (Night Seeker), Kei Ball (Sniper), Nia Cross (Dancer), Cian Mann (Medic)

Whyte: Jiro NIshi (Bushi), Andrew Vega (Imperial), Da-Xia Chiu (Arcanist), Liz Cannon (Runemaster), Levi Reese (Medic)

Ayra: Mia Laurent (Landsknecht), Flick De Luca (Imperial), Red Villaverde (Dancer), Mara De Luca (Medic), Zhu Hou (Arcanist)

Naoise: Art Maui (Landsknecht), Airi Notaru (Bushi), Brigid Iceorb (Runemaster), Robin Al-Amin (Sniper), Bryan Di Stefano (Dancer)

EO5

Khint: Marie Heath (Dragoon), Derrick Beck (Pugilist), Kenia Gilliam (Warlock), Ewyn Quinn (Botanist), Hidetoshi Go (Rover), Fumihiko Asahiwada (Navigator)

Ciggma: Luna Heath (Dragoon), Rin Kobayashi (Masurao), Ray Heath (Fencer), Leigh Moore (Botanist), Con Daly (Shaman), Lenna Ravadithas (Navigator)

Jackal: Ryan Heath (Fencer), Jaymi Heath (Harbinger), Reptar Elenvir (Necromancer), Aphira Flynn (Botanist), Chinatsu Kobayashi (Rover), Ryo Fenjeon (Navigator)

Anith: Stone Mcgee (Dragoon), Yuu Fujimoto (Masurao), Ian Hunter (Harbinger), Ilyarna Haevir (Warlock), Harper Ellis (Medic)

Avdol: Echo Farmer (Pugilist), Zenko Yagi (Masurao), Caoihe Nolan (Botanist), Agis Nelnirill (Warlock), Lyklor Crommin (Necromancer), Konomi Sato (Navigator)

Iida: Austin Busby (Fencer), Amir Webb (Pugilist), Daichi Hayakawa (Rover), Elas Faejor (Warlock), Lilli Baran (Shaman), Turi Caskey (Navigator)

Naoise: Honor Flores (Harbinger), Eden Pohl (Fencer), Otomi Kiyowara (Rover), Owen O’Dwyer (Shaman), Nei Quisandoral (Necromancer), Levin Gomez (Navigator)

[spiritgriffon]

Rachael’s favorite Pokemon + Pokemon related things!

In preparation for Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon, I figured I’d post a list of my favorite Pokemon, games & characters!

Blue or Red versions: Blue, Silver, Sapphire, Leaf Green, Diamond, Soul Silver, Black, Black 2, X, Alpha Sapphire, and Moon. I didn’t realize how consistent I was until just a couple or years ago lol

Favorite Main Game: Part of me is tempted to say Silver or Soul Silver, since it was not just my first Pokemon game, but my first game period (Mom bought me Silver & a GBA for Christmas and took me out to eat at Wendys. I can still pick out the booth we were sitting in. I got stuck in the bedroom bc we both thought the stairs were a bookshelf lol). It still holds a very special place in my heart but Black is the BEST. Pokemon has yet to outdo itself.

Favorite Side Game: Pokemon Mystery Dungeon- Explorers of Sky! (SERIOUSLY GUYS THIS IS MY FAVORITE POKEMON GAME OUT OF ALL OF THEM EVERYONE SHOULD PLAY IT AAAAAAAAAA)

Favorite Generation: GEN 5 GUYS. GEN 5. Sinnoh is another one that means a lot to me bc Diamond was the first Pokemon game I ever beat (Way back in 2007!) but I LOVE GEN 5 SO MUCH.

Favorite song: Temporal Tower, Temporal Spire & the final boss theme for PMD:EoS! Though if I had to pick a top 5 from the main series, I guess;

1- Red/Lance

2- Zinnia

3- N’s Castle

4- Ghetsis (Black/White version)

5- Team Galactic Grunt (The Smash version especially)

Favorite Villainous Team: PLAZMAAAAAA!!!!! (tho. Galactic has a way better battle theme. The Brawl remix is still my jam all these years later- and part of the reason I love Lucario so much! Oh man, that intro in Subspace Emissary!)

Favorite Character: I bow before my Lord and Savior, N. I mean there’s a BUNCH I like (Silver, Green/Blue/Gary, Steven, Looker, Cheren, Guzma, Lillie, Gladion, AND ZINNIA, ESPECIALLY ZINNIA, are all great too! I love them all!) But N is like, an all-time fave for me outside of the Pokemon series too.

Favorite Anime-Only Character: Sir Aaron form Lucario & the Mystery of Mew! (I love Lucario. I love the Lucario man.)

Favorite Player Character: Hilda from Black/White! Out of all the main series games, it feels like she has the most personality, and I like her design the best. Though if we’re including side games, the avatar from any of the PMD games is a better character... by virtue of having any character at all. (I like the female avatar in Conquest a lot as well! Not a lot of personality, but she’s really cute!)

Favorite Gen 1 Pokemon: Lapras

Favorite Gen 2 Pokemon: Lugia

Favorite Gen  3 Pokemon: Absol

Favorite Gen 4 Pokemon: Lucario

Favorite Gen 5 Pokemon: Zoroark (tho Hydreigon is such a close second.)

Favorite Gen 6 Pokemon : Xerneas

Favorite Gen 7 Pokemon: Silvally

Favorite Starter: Typhlosion (I didn't really love them until I played Pokemon Mystery Dungeon, but now they’re my go-to starter! Fun fact: I much prefer Quilava to either of it’s other evolutions. By like, a lot.)

And my favorite water & grass starters are Samurott and Decidueye~

Favorite Eeveelution: Umbreon! It’s a real shame it’s stats are so mediocre bc I love it lots

Favorite Legend: Lugia! (Tho Lunala and Dialga are really close. Dialga due to Diamond the Dialga being the first mascot legend I ever caught back in 2007 and Lunala bc Nebby is amazing and I love them.)

Favorite Mythical Pokemon: Jirachi (I remember watching Wish Maker back when it first came out and loving it except that Absol needed way more screen time. I never got quite as attached to Jirachi as I did Lugia from 2000 but they’re still my favorite mythical Pokemon by quite a bit)

Favorite Ultra Beast: Pheromosa (Why can’t I get one at a low enough level to use on my team during a playthrough rip)

Favorite Mega: MEGA ABSOL YO. (It made one of my old favorites actually viable to play AND IT’S SO GORGEOUS OH MY ARCEUS)

Favorite form variation: Alolan Ninetails/Vulpix!!! (I’ve loved Ninetails since Gen 1 but it just isn’t that useful of a Pokemon in game play normally. It’s still not the best BUT IT HAS THE BEST DESIGN SO I BRED ONE AND USED IT ON MY TEAM IN MOON FIGHT ME AND MY PRETTY FOX)

Favorite Pokemon Overall: Lucario!!!!! Ok, story time:

(under a cut bc it got a bit long)

It was 2010. I was a lonely, home schooled 13 year old, an only child with only one parent, and said parent owned and was the head chef in a struggling restaurant. I had exactly one friend- my best friend had moved away a short while ago and my home school group, including the teacher, absolutely hated me because I didn’t go to their church. Said singular friend is special needs and hadn’t been allowed to spend the day at a friend’s house without her parents ever.

Oh, and we had dial-up internet. The restaurant’s back room was close enough to someone with wifi down the block that I could watch Youtube during business hours, but none of my game systems could pick it up.

Life kinda sucked hard. But that’s not my point. BUT IT DID IT SUCKED SO BAD

Mom had helped me dig out my old Nintendo 64, so I had that, my Gamecube, Youtube, and my DS to entertain me for about 5 years. One day I’d decided to look up Smash videos- and there was a sequel! It had Princess Zelda from my favorite game, Ocarina of Time in it! So I bought Melee, and then I bought Twilight Princess when I found out that was a thing, and then my mom’s childhood friend took pity on me & bought me a Wii (I’m p sure I cried trying to thank him) and then I got Brawl!

So it’s 2010, and I go into brawl completely blind- the only characters I know are the Zelda ones, Pokemon Trainer/Pikachu, & the Mario characters from Mario 64. I start playing Subspace Emissary and even though I don’t know most of the characters it is awesome. So I get to the Ice type level- I know the Ice Climbers from Melee & Meta Knight from the old Kirby anime, and this awesome jackal ninja character shows up and oh my god it’s so cool!!!

And then the Pokemon music starts playing.

I think I screamed. I hadn’t evolved my Riolu that Riley gave me in Diamond, and it had been long enough since I’d beaten Cynthia that I’d forgotten Lucario existed. There has never been another Pokemon that I’ve seen in my entire life that made me go “WOW!!!” half as much as Lucario.

And that’s how Lucario got to be my favorite Pokemon~

[oldschoolretrogaming-blog]

List of NES Games

10 Yard Fight 1942 1943 3-D Worldrunner 720 degrees 8 Eyes A Nightmare on Elm Street Abadox The Addams Family The Addams Family: Pugsley's Scavenger Hunt Advanced Dungeon's and Dragon's: Dragonstrike Advanced Dungeon's and Dragon's: Heroes of the Lance Advanced Dungeon's and Dragon's: Hillsfar Advanced Dungeon's and Dragon's: Pool of Radiance Adventure Island Adventure Island II Adventure Island III Adventures in the Magic Kingdom The Adventures of Bayou Billy The Adventures of Dino Riki The Adventures of Gilligan's Island The Adventures of Lolo The Adventures of Lolo II The Adventures of Lolo III The Adventures of Rad Gravity The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends The Adventures of Tom Sawyer Air Fortress Airwolf Al Unser Jr.s Turbo Racing Alfred Chicken Alien 3 Alien Syndrome All Pro Basketball Alpha Mission Amagon American Gladiators Anticipation Arch Rivals: A Basket Brawl! Archon Arkanoid Arkistas Ring Astyanax Athena Athletic World Attack of the Killer Tomatoes Baby Boomers Back to the Future Back to the Future II & III Bad Dudes Bad News Baseball Bad Street Brawler Ballon Fight Bandai Golf: Challenge Pebble Beach Bandit King's of Ancient China Barbie Bard's Tale Barker Bill's Trick Shooting Base Wars - Cyber Stadium Series Baseball Baseball Simulator 1.000 Baseball Stars Baseball Stars II Bases Loaded Bases Loaded II: Second Season Bases Loaded III Bases Loaded IV Batman Batman Returns Batman: Return of the Joker Battle Chess The Battle of Olympus Battle Tank Battleship Battletoads Battletoads and Double Dragon: The Ultimate Team Beetlejuice Best of the Best: Championship Karate Bigfoot Bill and Ted's Excellent Video Game Adventure Bill Elliot's NASCAR Challenge Bionic Commando Black Bass Blades of Steel Blaster Master Blue Marlin The Blue's Brothers Bo Jackson Baseball Bomberman Bomberman II Bonk's Adventure Boulder Dash A Boy and His Blob Bram Stoker's Dracula Break Time: The National Pool Tour Breakthru Bubble Bobble Bubble Bobble: Part 2 Bucky Ohare The Bug's Bunny Birthday Blowout The Bug's Bunny Crazy Castle Bump N Jump Burai Fighter Burgertime Cabal Caesars Palace California Games Captain America and the Avengers Captain Planet Captain Skyhawk Casino Kid Casino Kid 2 Castelian Castle of Dragon Castlequest Castlevania Castlevania II: Simon's Quest Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse Caveman Games Championship Bowling Championship Pool The Chessmaster Chip N Dale: Rescue Rangers Chip N Dale: Rescue Rangers 2 Chubby Cherub Circus Caper City Connection Clash at Demonhead Classic Concentration Cliffhanger Clu Clu Land Cobra Command Cobra Triangle Code Name: Viper Color a Dinosaur Commando Conan: The Mysteries of Time Conflict Conquest of The Crystal Palace Contra Contra Force Cool World Cowboy Kid Crash N the Boy's: Street Challenge Crystalis Cybernoid: The Fighting Machine Dance Aerobics Danny SulIvans Indy Heat Darkman Darkwing Duck Dash Galaxy in the Alien Asylum Day Dreamin Davey Day's of Thunder Deadly Tower's Defender II Defender of the Crown Defenders of Dynatron City Deja Vu Demon Sword Desert Commander Destination Earth Star Destiny of an Emperor Dick Tracy Die Hard Dig Dug II: Trouble in Paradise Digger T. Rock: Legend of the Lost City Dirty Harry: The War Against Drugs Donkey Kong Donkey Kong 3 Donkey Kong Classics Donkey Kong Jr. Donkey Kong Jr. Math Double Dare Double Dragon Double Dragon II: The Revenge Double Dragon III: The Sacred Stone Double Dribble Dr. Chaos Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Dr. Mario Dragon Fighter Dragon Power Dragon Spirit: The New Legend Dragon Warrior Dragon Warrior II Dragon Warrior III Dragon Warrior IV Dragon's Lair Duck Hunt Duck Tales Duck Tales II Dungeon Magic Dusty Diamonds All-Star Softball Dynowarz: The Destruction of Spondylus Elevator Action Eliminator Boat Duel The Empire Strikes Back Evert and Lendl Top Player's Tennis Excitebike F-117A Stealth Fighter F-15 Strike Eagle Family Feud Faria: A World of Mystery and Danger Faxanadu Felix the Cat Ferrari Grand Prix Challenge Fester's Quest Final Fantasy Fire N Ice Fisher Price: Firehouse Rescue Fisher Price: I Can Remember Fisher Price: Perfect Fit Fist of the North Star Flight of the Intruder The Flintstones The Flintstones: The Surprise at Dinosaur Peak Flying Dragon: The Secret Scroll Flying Warrior's Formula 1: Built to Win Frankenstein: The Monster Returns Freedom Force Friday the 13th Fun House G.I. Joe G.I. Joe: The Atlantis Factor Galaga Galaxy 5000 Gargoyles Quest II Gauntlet Gauntlet II Guardian Legend Gemfire Genghis Khan George Foreman's KO Boxing Ghostbusters Ghostbusters II Ghost's N Goblins Ghoul School Goal! Goal! Two Gold Medal Challenge 92 Golf Golf Grand Slam Golgo 13: Top Secret Episode The Goonies II Gotcha! Gradius The Great Waldo Search Greg Norman's Golf Power Gremlins 2: The New Batch The Guardian Legend Guerilla War Gumshoe Gun Nac Gunsmoke Gyromite Gyross Harlem Globetrotters Hatris Heavy Barrel Heavy Shreddin High Speed Hogan's Alley Hollywood Squares Home Alone Home Alone 2: Lost in New York Hook Hoop's Hudson Hawk The Hunt for Red October Hydlide Ice Climber Ice Hockey Ikari Warriors Ikari Warriors II: Victory Road Ikari Warriors III: The Rescue Image Fight The Immortal The Incredible Crash Dummies Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom Infiltrator Iron Tak Ironsword: Wizards and Warriors II Isolated Warrior "Ivan ""Iron Man"" Stewarts Super Off-Road" Jack Nicklaus Major Championship Golf Jackal Jackie Chans Action Kung Fu James Bond Jr. Jaws Jeopardy! Jeopardy! 25th Silver Anniversary Edition Jeopardy! Jr. Edition The Jetsons: Cogswells Caper Jimmy Connors Pro Tennis Tour Joe and Mac John Elways Quarterback Jordan VS. Bird: One-On-One Journey to Silius Joust The Jungle Book Jurassic Park Kabuki: Quantum Fighter Karate Champ Karate Kid Karnov Kick Master Kickle Cubicle Kid Icarus Kid Klown in Night Mayor World Kid Kool Kid Niki King's Knight King's of the Beach King's Quest V Kirby's Adventure Kiwi Kraze Klashball Knight Rider The Krion Conquest Krusty's Funhouse Kong Fu Kung Fu Heroes Laser Invasion Last Action Hero Last Ninja The Last Starfighter Lee Trevinos Fighting Golf The Legacy of the Wizard Legend of Ghost Lion The Legend of Kage The Legend of Zelda Legendary Wing's Legend's of the Diamond Lemmings Lempereur Lethal Weapon Life Force Little League Baseball: Championship Series The Little Mermaid Litle Nemo: The Dream Master Litle Ninja Brothers Little Samson Lode Runner The Lone Ranger Loopz Low G-Man Lunar Pool M.C. Kids M.U.L.E. M.U.S.C.L.E. Mach Rider Mad Max The Mafat Conspiracy: Golgo 13 II Magic Dart's Magic Johnson's Fast Break Magic of Scheherazade Magician Magmax Major League Baseball Maniac Mansion Mappyland Marble Madness Mario Bros.. Mario is Missing Mario's Time Machine Marvels X-Men Mechanized Attack Mega Man Mega Man 2 Mega Man 3 Mega Man 4 Mega Man 5 Mega Man 6 Mendel Palace Metal Gear Metal Mech Metal Storm Metroid Michael Andrettis World Grand Prix Mickey Mousecapades Mickey's Adventures in Numberland Mickey's Safari in Letterland Might and Magic: Secret of the Innner Sanctum Mighty Bomb Jack Mighty Final Fight Millipede Milon's Secret Castle Mission Cobra Mission: Impossible Monopoly Monster in My Pocket Monster Party Monster Truck Rally Motor City Patrol Ms. Pac Man Muppet Adventure: Chaos at the Carnival The Mutant Virus Mystery Quest Narc NES Open Tournament Golf NES Play Action Football NFL Football Nigel Mansells World Championship Racing Nightshade Ninja Crusader Ninja Gaiden Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom Ninja Kid Nintendo World Cup Soccer Nobunagas Ambition Nobunagas Ambition II North and South Operation Wolf Orb-3D Othelo Overlord P.O.W.: Prisoners of War Pac Man Pac-Mania Palamedes Panic Restaurant Paper Boy Paper Boy 2 Peter Pan and the Pirates Phantom Fighter Pictionary Pinball Pinball Quest Pinbot Pipe Dream Pirates! Platoon Popeye Power Blade Power Blade 2 Power Punch II Predator Prince of Persia Princess Tomato in the Salad Kingdom Pro Sport Hockey Pro Wrestling (Mike Tyson's) Punch-Out The Punisher Puss N Boot's: Peros Great Adventure Pzznic Q*Bert Qix R.C. Pro-Am Racing R.C. Pro-Am II Racket Attack Rad Racer Rad Racer II Raid on Bungeling Bay Rainbow Islands Rally Bike Rambo Rampage Rampart Remote Control The Ren and Stimpy Show: Buckaroo$ Renegade Rescue: The Embassy Mission Ring King River City Ransom Roadblasters Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves Robocop Robocop 2 Robocop 3 Robo Warriors Rock N Bal Rocket Ranger The Rocketeer Rockin Kats Roger Clemens MVP Baseball Rollerball Rollerblade Racer Rollergames Romance of the Three Kingdon's Romance of the Three Kingdon's II Roundball: 2 on 2 Challenge Rush N Attack Rygar S.C.A.T.: Special Cybernetic Aattack Tea Secret Scout Secret Storm Section Z Seicross Sesame Street: 123 Sesame Street: ABC Sesame Street: ABC/123 Sesame Street: Big Bird's Hide and Speak Sesame Street: Countdown Shadow of the Ninja Shadowgate Shatterhand Shingen the Ruler Shooting Range Short Order/Eggsplode Side Pocket Silent Service Silkworm Silver Surfer The Simpsons: Bart VS. The Space Mutants The Simpsons: Bart VS. The World Simpsons: Bartman Meet's Radioactive Man Skate or Die Skate or Die 2 Ski or Die Skulls and Crossbones Sky Kid Sky Shark Slalom Smash T.V. Snake Rattle N Roll Snakes Revenge: Metal Gear II Snoopy's Silly Sport's Spectacular Snow Brother's Soccer Solar Jetman: Hunt for the Golden Warship Solomon's Key Solstice Space Shuttle Project Spelunker Spider-Man: Return of the Sinister Six Spot Spy Hunter Spy VS. Spy Sqoon Stack Up Stadium Events Stanley and the Search for Dr. Livingston Star Force Star Soldier Star Trek Star Trek: The Next Generation Star Voyager Star Wars Starship Hector Star Tropics Stealth ATF Stinger Street Cop Street Fighter 2010: The Final Fight Strider Super C Super Cars Super Dodge Ball Super Glove Ball Super Jeopardy! Super Mario Bros. Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt/World Class Track Meet Super Mario Bros. 2 Super Mario Bros. 3 Super Off-Road Super Pitfal Super Spike VBall Super Spike VBall/World Cup Soccer Super Spy Hunter Super Team Games Superman Swamp Thing Sword Master Sword's and Serpents Taboo: The Sixth Sense Tag Team Wrestling Tale Spin Target: Renegade Tecmo Baseball T&C Surf Design Tecmo Bowl Tecmo NBA Basketball Tecmo Super Bowl Tecmo World Cup Soccer Tecmo World Wrestling Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: The Manhattan Project Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters Tennis Terminator 2: Judgment Day The Terminator Terra Cresta Tetris Tetris 2 The Three Stooges Thunder and Lightning Thunderbirds Thundercade Tiger-Heli Time Lord Time's of Lore Tiny Toon Adventure's Tiny Toon Adventure's 2: Trouble in Wackyland Tiny Toon Adventure's Cartoon Workshop To the Earth Toki Tom and Jerry Tomb's and Treasure Toobin Top Gun Top Gun: The Second Mission Total Recall Totally Rad Touchdown Fever Town and Ccountry II: Thrillas Surfari Town and Country Surf Design's Toxic Crusaders Track and Field Track and Field II Treasure Master Trog Trojan Twin Cobra Twin Eeagle Ultima: Exodus Ultima: Quest of the Avatar Ultima: Warrior's of Destiny Ultimate Air Combat Ultimate Basketball Uncharted Water's Uninvited The Untouchables Urban Champion Vegas Dream Vice: Project Doom Videomation Volleyball Wacky Races Wall Street Kid Wario's Wood's Wayne Gretsky Hockey Wayne's World Werewolf: The Last Warrior Wheel of Fortune Wheel of Fortune: Family Edition Wheel of Fortune: Featuring Vanna White Wheel of Fortune: Jr. Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego? Where's Waldo? Who Framed Roger Rabbit? Whomp Em Widget Wild Gunman Willow Win Lose or Draw Winter Games Wizardry II: Kight of Diamonds Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Wizards and Warrior's Wizards and Warrior's III Wolverine World Champ World Championship Wrestling World Class Track Meet World Game's Wrath of the Black Manta Wrecking Crew Wrestlemania Wurm: Journey to the Center of the Earth WWF King of the Ring WWF Wrestlemania Challenge WWF Wrestlemania: Steel Cage Challenge Xenophobe Xevious Xexyz X-Men Yo! Noid Yoshi Yoshi's Cookie The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles Zanac Zelda II: The Adventure of Link Zen: Intergalactic Ninja Zodas Revenge: Star Tropics II Zombie Nation

[christhehoff]

An Ode to Silver Boxes

To those who got into video games only in the last 10 or so years, the appeal of the Konami name might not be readily apparent. Newcomers to the hobby probably associate them with Metal Gear, soccer games, and probably little else. But there was a time when the Konami name was as good as gold; in the days of the NES, Konami built itself up as a gaming powerhouse, and it delivered its trademark brand of 8-bit action with a distinct, eye-catching hook: action-packed artwork framed by a silver border.

To me, that silver box, with its weighted lines on either side that faded away to showcase the dynamic art, was a promise — a promise that something awesome was inside. Whether it was flying through space to save the galaxy in Gradius, running through the jungles with a buddy in Contra, hitting the ice in Blades of Steel, maneuvering an assault jeep across enemy territory in Jackal, or driving a stake into the heart of evil in Castlevania, there was almost always something good behind that silver veneer. It seemed like just about any game could get the Official Nintendo Seal of Quality, but to get into a silver box? That meant it had to be something special. It had to be elite: adrenaline-pumping gameplay, cutting-edge graphics, responsive controls, and some of the most memorable music you'll ever hear from a sound chip.

Not every Konami NES game was great, of course. Top Gun was fun until you tried to land, and few games have disappointed me as much as The Adventures of Bayou Billy. But for the most part, Konami consistently delivered excellent game after excellent game. To me, Konami games were just as much of a reason to own an NES as the first-party Nintendo titles were. It could be considered sacrilege, I know, but as much as I love the Super Mario series, Zelda, Metroid, and Punch-Out!!, if I was forced to choose one library over the other, I might take Konami's NES offerings over Nintendo's.

And Konami's appeal went beyond those silver borders. Konami's second label, Ultra Games (created to circumvent Nintendo's third-party publishing restrictions), didn't feature the silver boxes, but typically delivered quality nonetheless (Metal Gear, anyone?), and Konami's reputation for amazing gaming experiences continued late into the NES's lifecycle and into the 16-bit era when Konami eschewed the silver frames for more conventional designs. But even when the silver was gone, the quality remained, with games such as Super Castlevania IV, Legend of the Mystical Ninja, Axelay, Contra III, Rocket Knight Adventures, and one of my all-time personal favorites, Snatcher.

And let's not forget Konami's licensed offerings. In an era when movie- and cartoon-based games were frequently unplayable garbage, Konami made licensed titles that weren't just good but brilliant. As a kid, I wasn't even a fan of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Tiny Toon Adventures, or The Simpsons, but I absolutely loved the games. (Well...not the first, awful NES TMNT game.) These games were fantastic whether you enjoyed the property they were based on or not, and the games actually got me interested in the franchises they were based on rather than the other way around. Co-op brawler TMNT IV: Turtles in Time, technique-filled platformer Tiny Toon Adventures: Buster Busts Loose!, and skull-crunching beat-'em-up Batman Returns exude as much polish as anything released in the 16-bit era and remain among my favorite SNES games of all time. As for The Simpsons? Konami didn't have home-console rights to the property, so when the opportunity presented itself, I bought the actual arcade machine.

As the gaming industry matured, consoles and gaming fads came and went, but Konami remained a leader, branching out into new genres, reinventing old ones, and pioneering its own with offerings that included Suikoden, Vandal Hearts, Metal Gear Solid, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, Silent Hill, Zone of the Enders, and the groundbreaking Dance Dance Revolution and Bemani music series. When the Pokémon craze hit, I was excited by the prospect of this new, collectable take on RPGs, but I was even more excited hearing that Konami had its own spin on the formula with Yu-Gi-Oh, which I was sure would outclass Pokémon in every way. I was completely wrong, of course, and in retrospect I'm glad, but at the time, it certainly seemed like a possibility.

When I made my first trip to Japan in 1996, it warmed my heart to see a Konami building in the Tokyo skyline, complete with the classic red-and-yellow wave logo. "Those are my guys," I thought as I looked at the building. I knew they were making magic in there. Maybe someday the Konami Omni Building from Snatcher would even be a reality.

But the magic didn't last. Though Konami continued to pump out appealing games on both consoles and handhelds up through the PS2 and Nintendo DS eras (special shoutout to Contra 4, a game I'm incredibly proud to have had a hand in revealing), the company's output dropped dramatically after that. The rising costs associated with the PS3/Xbox 360 era were not kind to Japanese gaming, and the teams responsible for beloved franchises got dissolved, development on some properties were outsourced to external companies, and resources were shifted to pachinko machines and lackluster mobile titles. Subsidiary Hudson Soft, purchased by Konami in 2011, was shut down, and its brands were all but wiped from existence. Later, reports trickled in of how some of gaming's greatest minds were being mistreated by Konami management, and most of them abandoned ship at the first opportunity.

When I visited the once-proud company's E3 booth on the second day of the show in 2014, it looked like an abandoned wasteland. An irate Konami fan once accused me of taking the photo shown here before they'd finished setting up the booth, but this was right in the middle of gaming's biggest annual event, and they apparently didn't have any products to display. Instead of warming my heart like it had 18 years prior, this Konami just made me sad.

Honestly, I applaud Konami for branching out into alternative revenue sources rather than go belly-up or face continuous losses like some Japanese gaming giants, but to say they threw the baby out with the bathwater is an understatement. By squandering their greatest resource — their creative personnel — and abandoning the brands that made them famous, Konami has eliminated the very things that made them special, and destroyed the good will and respect that they'd forged with a generation of fans.

Will Konami ever try to take back its place of greatness in gaming's pantheon? Will they consider reviving brands like Gradius, Contra, Mystical Ninja, and Suikoden? Or could those series be licensed to talented outside studios who, like me, were inspired by Konami's original works and would love to carry on the legacy? After seeing Konami's revival of Bomberman R on Switch, it may be fair to say that those old brands may not be dead just yet.

Then again, if they are, I'll still always have my old cartridges...and my memories of those captivating silver boxes.