Mega Contra 3 Fight Man

June 16, 2010 8:25 PM

Animator OrinCreed said I Dream In Retro is "based heavily on a dream I had that was caused by a long day of playing NES, SNES, and Genesis. In the dream I was moving through different levels from many games. In each level the music was wrong and my sprite (while fitting the bit style) didn't quite work with the game. During the dream I was abusing a cheat ability to use different weapons from pretty much any game I wanted at any time. The game itself behaved as it should, with my actions being the only aberration." The result was this loving tribute and mash-up of video game titles.
posted by ShawnStruck (21 comments total)

Also, according to OrinCreed, he is planning on a short IDIR game and more IDIR animations.
posted by ShawnStruck at 8:25 PM on June 16, 2010

Nice. Reminds me a bit of ROM CHECK FAIL (previously on MeFi).
posted by danb at 8:34 PM on June 16, 2010 [1 favorite]

That version of Balloon Fight looks AMAZING!
posted by jstef at 8:55 PM on June 16, 2010

The Pac-Man / Bomberman mashup is genius.
posted by jedicus at 9:03 PM on June 16, 2010

Anyone want to compile the list of all the references?

At the very least, what's that music in the underwater stage? It's catchy as hell.
posted by naju at 9:21 PM on June 16, 2010

Its a water level from the first Sonic game. Pretty much the only thing I recognized.
posted by Trochanter at 9:23 PM on June 16, 2010

There's also...

super mario crossover
posted by symbioid at 9:25 PM on June 16, 2010 [1 favorite]

Shit, I KNOW this guy. He works with my best friend from high school. We ate together at Macaroni Grill once.

WEIRD.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 9:26 PM on June 16, 2010 [3 favorites]

jedicus: "The Pac-Man / Bomberman mashup is genius."

I might be wrong, but I thought this was a combination Pac-Man/Bomberman/Legend of Zelda mashup.
posted by barnacles at 9:28 PM on June 16, 2010

(Also, she showed me it like a year ago, and even then it bugged me that the music from the ghost levels of Mario play during the Pac Man scene.)
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 9:28 PM on June 16, 2010

... also I love that in the dream start screen, the shadow of the "3" is Mario in the Tanooki Suit. That's such an awesome little touch.
posted by barnacles at 9:37 PM on June 16, 2010

Somewhat tangentially related, Video Gamers Can Control Dreams, Study Suggests.

I've noticed this in my own dreaming; I have few true true lucid dreams, but have some sort of non-conscious awareness of them. When things start to get bad, I often change the rules to suit what I want. Just a few nights ago, for instance, I was in one of the 'looking' dreams, where you're looking for something but can't find it. So eventually I got frustrated, declared "here it is!", pulled it out from behind my back, and went off into whatever followed.

It wasn't lucid, in that I wasn't really aware of the dream as such, just that the world was malleable. And I strongly suspect this is related to 30 years or so of being exposed to video games.
posted by Malor at 9:42 PM on June 16, 2010 [1 favorite]

This is what happens when you run video games through a Markov generator.
posted by speedo at 10:11 PM on June 16, 2010

Yeah the PacMan/Bomberman features the use of the ice wand from Link to the Past.

My favourite part was the Bowser theme from Mario World in the Megaman-style boss level, I forgot how much I love that song. Pure awesomeness.

Malor: I also have editor-like control of my dreams. Including an "off" button which invariably wakes me up.
posted by mek at 10:36 PM on June 16, 2010

Neat feature, mek. Know where I can upgrade? :)
posted by Malor at 12:55 AM on June 17, 2010

Now I want to play the game! Unfortunately, I know that I would also suck at it.
posted by Life at Boulton Wynfevers at 1:53 AM on June 17, 2010

Reference cataloging:

Guy in opening and throughout, grappling arm: Bionic Commando

Opening card from Little Nemo in Slumberland

Title Screen: Rock/Mega Man (and "Pass Word"), Contra Super Mario 3, Balloon Fight, Ms. Pac-Man (Genesis)

Map, enemies, powerup carriers, diagonal aiming and ability to jump from Contra
Music from NES Batman (Sunsoft)
Axe from Castlevania (actually probably the Castlevania III version of the weapon)
Wave beam & powerup from Metroid
Pea shooter gun and (at end) charge-up shot from Mega Man series
Red Gun power-down from Fester's Quest
"Alert" noise from Metal Gear (NES)
"Oh no" noise after that I don't remember, but have heard before
End music from Castlevania III

Level, enemies, energizers from Ms. Pac-Man
Magic and hammer from Zelda: Link to the Past
Music from Mario World (Ghost House)
Bombs, Exit and exit music from Bomberman

Level, enemies and Evil Fish from Balloon Fight
Boomerang from Zelda
Cane jump & swing from Duck Tales
Air pump from Dig Dug
Candy and ride ability from Little Nemo
Music: unsure (Evil Fish song from Balloon Fight)

Level & enemies from Super Mario 3
Music from Labrynith Zone, Sonic the Hedgehog
"Gulp" noise from Mario World (Yoshi). Coin noise also from there.
Hammer from Mario 3
Fire shot from Mega Man (Heat Man weapon, Mega Man II)
Art style for guy in boss fight: unsure
Boss music from Bowser, Super Mario World
Chain whip: Castlevania
Some noises in fight (door opening, lifebar filling), I'm unsure
Boss (Bubble Man) from Mega Man II
Hadoken: Street Fighter II
"Congratulations" message, victory music and clapping hands from Mario Paint bug-swatting game

Ending scene from Super Mario Bros. 2
Dream image of guy from Kid Niki
Dream image for Mike R from Startropics
For Sandra C. not sure, maybe Renegade?
Ending music I don't think I've heard

Guy's face at end: Duke Togo from Golgo 13

Now that I've got through all that and established my "bona fides"... haven't game mashups been kind of overdone lately?
posted by JHarris at 3:27 AM on June 17, 2010 [5 favorites]

It's like a sequel to I Wanna Be The Guy that I can't actually play.

(Thank God.)
posted by painquale at 3:58 AM on June 17, 2010

shiruken!
posted by garlic at 5:14 AM on June 17, 2010

At what point does Newgrounds get around to adding a progress bar and pause/play functions? It's 2010, kids.
posted by Pope Guilty at 3:28 PM on June 17, 2010

Pope Guilty: "At what point does Newgrounds get around to adding a progress bar and pause/play functions? It's 2010, kids."

That's usually left up to the individual animator, but I don't see why NG couldn't make one available like they do with preloaders and ad APIs.
posted by ShawnStruck at 8:55 PM on June 17, 2010