Worthy of a Second Look

Author's Note: All copyrights for the images in this comic go to their respective owners.

Today marks the 30th Anniversary of the launch of the Sony PlayStation in Japan. While it was the video game console that revolutionized the video game industry and gave us Twisted Metal, Final Fantasy VII, PaRappa the Rapper, Crash Bandicoot, Spyro the Dragon, Tomb Raider, Metal Gear Solid, Klonoa and too many other franchises to name, we must also remember the forgotten gems of the original PlayStation because they also made this console the icon of video game history. Here are just five PS1 games that deserve a second look.

1. The Sunsoft Memorial Series: Remember the Famicom/NES games that were conceived by Sunsoft? In 2001 and 2002, Sunsoft ported twelve Famicom/NES games to the PS1 in a six-volume compilation known as the Sunsoft Memorial Series. The twelve Famicom/NES games in this compilation are Ikki, Super Arabian, Route-16 Turbo, Mystery of Atlantis, 53 Stations of the Tokaido, The Wing of Madoola, Blaster Master, Ripple Island, Journey to Silius/Raf World, Hebereke, Super Spy Hunter/Battle Formula and Mr Gimmick. Give these NES games a try if you miss the glory days of Sunsoft.

2. Jaleco Collection Volume 1: Jaleco was also involved in bringing Famicom/NES games to the PS1 as well. However, they stopped making these compilations after Volume 1. The games featured in this compilation are Argus, City Connection, Exerion, Field Combat, Formation Z, Ninja Jajamaru-Kun and Rod Land. If you miss the glory days of Jaleco, this compilation is a must-try.

3. The Arika Cardcaptor Sakura Trilogy: Did you know that Cardcaptor Sakura video games exist? In fact, Arika made three Cardcaptor Sakura games for the PS1, and one of them happens to be a Tetris game, so give it a try if you like Tetris as well.

4: Puyo Puyo BOX: This was the very last Puyo Puyo game to be developed by Compile before they handed over the Puyo Puyo rights to Sega. It was also the first PS1 game to be published by Sega, and it was released on the PS1 months before Sega discontinued the Dreamcast. Awkward, isn't it?

5. Metal Slug (PS1 Port): While Metal Slug is best remembered for being the Run-and-Gun title that gave the Neo Geo a second wind, we should also remember that the PS1 version of Metal Slug has another game mode called "Another Story". It can only be unlocked by winning the arcade game once. Free space on the PS1 Memory Card is also required for this mode. This mode has four minigames. If you complete it, it will unlock "Another Story II" after pressing R1+L2+O while the title screen cursor is on "Another Story".

With all that said, Happy 30th Anniversary, Sony PlayStation! Here's to the next 30 years!

Thrown Weapons

Throwing weapons featured in this comic: Throwing axe (Castlevania), lance-shaped javelin (Ghosts'n Goblins), dagger (Castlevania, Ghosts'n Goblins), stick grenade (Metal Slug), large shuriken (Ninja Gaiden), pitfall seed (Animal Crossing).

Axes are a common sub-weapon in Castlevania, and this is showcased in Super Smash Bros Ultimate by Simon and Richter as their neutral special move.

A lance-shaped javelin would be a silly weapon, especially in Ghosts'n Goblins. Yet Sir Arthur hurls them at the bad guys without giving a thought about how silly the weapon looks. At least it's not as silly as the breakable armor Sir Arthur wears.

Daggers as a throwing weapon are very common, and are featured as weapons in Castlevania and Ghosts'n Goblins, though daggers are more popular in the latter.

Stick grenades are a powerful alternative weapon in Metal Slug available to the player from the start.

Ryu Hayabusa is known for throwing shurikens in the NES Ninja Gaiden, including large shurikens.

The pitfall seed from Animal Crossing can be thrown at opponents to ground them in the Super Smash Bros series.

In general, throwing weapons have been a staple feature throughout video game history.

The War for the Final DLC Slot

Now that Tekken's Kazuya has taken the penultimate Fighters Pass Volume 2 character slot, one question remains. Who will the final Fighters Pass Volume 2 character be? And no, Sakurai is not telling who it will be during his presentation on Kazuya Mishima.

However, here are my eight candidates for the final Fighters Pass Volume 2 character, and six of them, including honorable mention Dirk the Daring, were from my Fighters Pass Volume 2 candidates comic. All they need to do now is to get into a huge all-out war for the final Fighters Pass Volume 2 character slot and we will finally be done and over with Super Smash Bros Ultimate's DLC so that we can prepare for an even bigger war to come.

Update: Sora from Kingdom Hearts qualified for Super Smash Bros Ultimate, meaning none of the characters in this comic will be in Super Smash Bros Ultimate.

Rit © City Connection. Arle © Sega. Klonoa © Bandai Namco. Bill Rizer © Konami. Marco Rossi © SNK. Sir Arthur © Capcom. Lemmings © Sony Interactive Entertainment/Exient. Dirk the Daring © Digital Leisure.

35 Years in 8 Pictures

Author's Note: Having observed people portraying past years in meme form, I decided to come up with my own portrayal of past years. Here's how the last 35 years are portrayed in 8 pictures, now in comic form.

1986: Back when Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union, a reactor in the Chernobyl nuclear power station exploded, rendering the nearby town of Pripyat uninhabitable. It turns out that Chernobyl was a terrible name for a nuclear power station because Chernobyl in Russian means "wormwood", which is synonymous with bitterness.

1991: A pivotal year for the Allies as they not only defeated the Iraqi Army in Operation Desert Storm, but the Allies rejoiced over Russia throwing in the towel as a result of the Soviet Union's collapse.

1996: Metal Slug's launch gave the Neo Geo arcade cabinet, and the run and gun genre, a new lease of life. Metal Slug was also known for iconic quotes such as "Heavy Machine Gun!" and has since become an icon of the SNK community.

2001: The day the worst terrorist attack in history happened on American soil was believed to be the day the biblical end times began. Since then, America was never the same again.

2006: Nintendo launched the Wii console, which went on to be the first Nintendo home console to have unit sales that surpassed 100 million units sold.

2011: Japan's worst earthquake, tsunami and nuclear reactor explosion combo left several parts of the country's east coast devastated, and the area around the nuclear power station damaged by the tsunami was rendered uninhabitable as a result.

2016: The United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union. Nobody, not even those who advocated for the United Kingdom to leave the European Union expected the "Leave" camp to emerge victorious.

2021: The year the European Union Copyright Directive, as well as Japan's copyright regulations that prohibits manga piracy, comes into force. Everybody fears that the copyright regulations will censor the Internet by getting rid of copyright infringement first before turning their attention towards those who call the European Union undemocratic, which they obviously are.

Up In United Arms

I cannot believe I have not featured anything related to MapleStory in my comics until now. Maybe it's time MapleStory got more attention in my comics...

Attention, all readers. If you are fed up with all the injustices going on throughout the whole world, it could be time to rise up in united arms, regardless of what weapons you are using.

Below is a detailed explanation for all the weapons featured in this comic:

The bronze dagger is known for being the weakest weapon in the history of the RuneScape game in both RuneScape 3 and Old School RuneScape. Steel daggers are significantly stronger than bronze daggers in both RuneScape 3 and Old School RuneScape, and are commonplace with special forces all over the world.

In RuneScape, farmers fight using pitchforks, and pitchforks have always been a symbol of angry mobs.

The 2020 edition of Looney Tunes has decided to remove guns from the show. This means Elmer Fudd will no longer be using his shotgun. However, Warner Bros did not remove dynamites from the 2020 edition of Looney Tunes. Therefore, enjoy laughing at cartoon explosions while we still can, because weapon control laws will tighten the noose on our childhood memories.

Shotguns, handguns, Uzis and dynamites have always been weapons featured in many games in the Worms series, which has been known for the many hilarious deaths of worms due to these weapons.

In the Command and Conquer games, technicians use their pistols to defend themselves. Unfortunately, it's useless against buildings and most vehicles. Only in the hands of super commandos do pistols do any damage against vehicles, with the most prominent example being the Metal Slug games.

The AK-47 has become a symbol of Russia's military power, as well as a common weapon of Russia's client states. Unfortunately, terrorists have idolized the AK-47, and that's no good.

Wands have largely been the favourite weapon of choice for many magical girls, including Rit from Rod Land and Soldam, and being a magic user is quite common for many female MapleStory and RuneScape player characters. This is why Rit's magic wand, MapleStory's Ice Wand and RuneScape's Mystic Wand are featured in this comic.

The stick grenade was originally used by the German Army during World Wars 1 and 2. Unfortunately, it failed to help Germany win both World Wars, which they obviously lost. In the Metal Slug series, the stick grenades are used by the playable characters as well as mid-boss Allen O'Neil.

Dynamites have always been a favourite weapon of the Crazy Ivan from Red Alert 2. In fact, the Crazy Ivan is one of the most humorous units in the game along with any explosive unit that blows up enemies.

Sais have been a mainstay in all things ninja, including MapleStory. The most prominent user of sais has to be Raphael from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

MapleStory is just one of those games where you can use silly weapons, and one of those silly weapons is a steel pipe.

Gonbe and Tago from Ikki use bamboo spears to fight for justice. Just as pitchforks are the weapons of angry mobs from Western countries, bamboo spears would be the best choice for the Japanese or East Asian counterparts to the pitchfork.

How To End A Great Series

There was an old saying "All good things come to an end". Sometimes, we need to end a great video game series before the fanbase turns toxic, like in the cases of Sonic, Warcraft and Pokemon.

To be fair and honest, thwarting the Burning Legion was futile, since the Void Lords always win. Due to the campaign to boycott Blizzard over somebody's suspension because he speaks for freedom and justice, the only merciful thing to do for the Warcraft series right now is for the Void Lords to devour Azeroth and bring World of Warcraft to an end so everybody can get back to their lives.

The Pokemon Sword and Shield controversy over omitted Pokemon is a possible sign that the Pokemon fanbase has also turned toxic. However, there is a way to rectify everything. There had been theories over a war that took place before Generation 1, as well as theories about Silph Co being the true villain of Pokemon and not the criminal gangs that seek to cause trouble. From my point of view, the reason the gangs of organised crime seek to cause trouble, even pursue world domination, is because their villainy was motivated by the fact they wish to overthrow Silph Co. But they have always failed because a low intelligence hero foiled their plans. Perhaps if Ash could gather his friends and foes to fight against Silph Co in a final battle similar to Avengers: Endgame, the Pokemon fanbase would finally get the ending for the Pokemon anime that they wished for, even if Ash perishes at the end, because it will have to end with Silph Co vanquished at the end.

All the clues about the Toads' true identity could finally add up. While the mystery of the Toads may remain unsolved, not everyone is deterred by that. The existence of parasitic toadstools that destroys its hosts will be one of the biggest game changers. If the Toads turn out to be an anthropomorphic species of parasitic toadstool, this could justify Bowser's villainy in the Super Mario series. Given that Bowser has a heroic side that has him confront villains nastier than him, he could have been fighting a losing battle against a sinister parasite since 1985, and that could have been our fault. The only reason the parasite has not truly won yet was that it had been stymied by the Toads' incompetence. Should the parasite finally infect everybody, nobody will survive its destructive power, not even Waluigi.

Should General Morden finally win after years of defeats, he will not restart the Holocaust, but instead he will pull a Nick Fury and expose the Regular Army's leaders for the corrupt crooks that they had been since the Central Park terror attacks that killed his son. But like most SNK villains, he was doomed to perish. Yet he will tell the Metal Slug heroes that he wanted to get rid of the corrupt officials who caused his son's death. This could be the plot twist that will bring the Metal Slug series to an end because the corrupt bureaucrats who General Morden sought to bring to justice had been getting away unpunished for years, and our heroes finally turn against them upon learning who the true villain of the Metal Slug series had been all along.

Update: The Ash Ketchum Arc has officially ended, and it ended with "Next Time, A New Beginning". However, it left me disappointed over a few things. If Silph Co was a greater evil than the criminal gangs, why hasn't there been a hero who will rise to overthrow Silph Co? I guess justice is a theme Pokemon will not cover...