Donkey Kong Country – Pinkie's Paradise

Celebrating Badass Video Game Moms

No bad games this week, peeps! Just some serious mom love. Not like that either you, deviants. I am far from being the only person that has realized that mothers are pretty underrepresented as far as video game characters are concerned. This doesn’t surprise me in the least. Let me explain:

In an industry that, until pretty recently, has been overwhelmingly dominated by males its not very shocking that programmers and writers are not out there writing about maternal badasses. It’s probably less a “stick-to-what-you-know” situation as it is a “write-for-who-you-think-is-playing” situation.

As we all know by now non -male gamers have always been out there but historically have been treated as a silent – if not completely forgotten – minority. That’s not to say just because you are a woman and a gamer you don’t totally love a badass male protagonist. But diversity is the spice of life!

So in honor of Mother’s Day weekend, here is a completely silly and random tribute to video games moms throughout the years. As diverse as all of our real mothers – these badasses prove that blood doesn’t always make family – in fact you don’t even have to be a human to be a good mom. Happy Mother’s Day.

THE BOSS (METAL GEAR SOLID 3: SNAKE EATER

Alright alright – a few things right off the bat. For those of you who have been reading Periwinkle posts from the beginning I just want to say, “thank you.” Secondly, if you are one of those readers and are asking yourself, “can this guy just do a damn list without mentioning a Hideo Kojima game?” The answer is a hard no.

I can’t because it is nearly impossible for me to talk about my love for gaming without pointing towards something he has done. I’m a fan boy. You know this, I know this, once he finally accepts my love letters even he’ll know this – ahem – moving on.

The Boss is not winning any “mom of the year” awards and is a very far cry from your typical soccer mom. A hardened soldier, a World War Two veteran and Naked Snake’s mentor, their relationship is very, very complicated.

Every confrontation the two have throughout the game she teaches Snake another harsh reality not only about the battlefield but about human nature. Basically whooping his ass repeatedly until he stops making the same mistakes. Their final battle is haunting.

And even after all that Snake isn’t even her son. Her relationship with her real son, Revolver Ocelot is just as complicated in an entirely different way. What is for sure however, is The Boss’ legacy as a complicated badass being cemented in the hearts, minds and conscious of Metal Gear fans the world over.

Wrinkly Kong (Donkey Kong Series)

Alright so I have to admit that up until today I thought Wrinkly Kong was Donkey Kong’s mom. I was wrong. Turns out, Wrinkly is actually Donkey Kong’s Grandmother. Whom regardless still seemed to raise “DK the third” as her own with her husband, Cranky Kong. And anyways, Grandmas are still moms and grandparents still make great parents. So here we are with the not dangerous but unbelievably cute, intellectual and spry, Wrinkly Kong.

Making her first appearance in the unbelievably fun and still totally killer, Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy’s Quest she runs her own Kong College educating her little Kong grandchildren about the game’s items and tossing them hints. She also offers her place as a safe respite and a save point for the little ones so seeing her cute little face on the map always accompanied a sense of relief.

By the third DK Country she had retired from her career as an educator but still offers game tips and a save spot for Dixie and Kiddy Kong.

Sadly by Donkey Kong 64, Wrinkly appears as a ghost. We learn that she passed away due to her accelerated age yet she still finds a way to make herself valuable to her family with hidden doors, hints and bananas. Proving that lessons and guidance outlive the greatest of teachers.

SONYA BLADE (MORTAL KOMBAT SERIES)

Sonya has had a rough go. Following trash bag ozzie, Kano into some sort of hellish underworld. Her and her military partner Jax are split up, captured, freed, captured again, ignored by the US Government and eventually she gets cut in half.

BUT luckily (sort of) Ms. Blade or should I say, Mrs. Cage was granted new life with the “current MK timeline”. Eventually marrying Johnny Cage and giving birth to their daughter, Cassie Cage. They eventually divorce and The Cage family is constantly being pulled in and out of the Netherrelm and yet time and time again she always sets a good example for her daughter and never thinks twice about sacrificing herself for her family no matter what hellish obstacle stands in her way.

KARA (DETROIT: BECOME HUMAN)

“ I know you think we’re just machines… but since I met Alice, I know I can feel things… I care for her, I fear for her, I can’t be happy if she’s not… This probably doesn’t make any sense to you but… I know she changed me somehow”

Created by CyberLife as a common household maid android, Kara lives with and serves Todd Williams. She also takes care of his daughter, Alice. During her assembly she is tested by operators on her physical and cognitive functions where she begins to realize she isn’t a human. Learning she is to be reset and sold, Kara panics claiming, “She thought she was alive.” As a gesture of mercy after Kara pleads with the operator they don’t reset her and she is shipped off to a store to be sold with her sentience intact.

It is there where she is purchased and brought to the Williams home. Without a mother figure in the home, Kara fills the void for Alice, Todd’s daughter and it’s in response to Todd Williams abusive personality that Kara takes Alice and runs away with her. Showing that true love can break any cycle no matter how impossible or deeply programmed it may seem.

LULU LULU (FINAL FANTASY X)

Ah, Lulu. Technically not a biological mother yet in Final Fantasy X – she might as well be. Guardian to Yuna on her pilgrimage she has not only sworn an oath to protect her but guides her emotionally as well. Also a prime example of a protective mother-like figure in battle, Lulu’s dark magic and fury overdrive is devastating when used correctly.

Seemingly stiff and stoic to protagonist, Tidus at first as the story progresses you get a true glimpse into the grieving process of a woman trying to hold it all together not only for herself but for her friends and family as well.

One of the darker more moody characters that develops beautifully throughout FFX, Lulu has been a fan favorite since the release of the game and for good reason. Free thinking (one of the only Yevonites to question the religion) powerful and beautiful – Lu is the epitome of badass video game moms who are as compassionate as they are deadly.

I’m sure I missed a bunch and I’m excited to hear who. Let us know in the comments who you think are the best video game moms/ mother like figures in gaming. Thank you for reading and happy Mother’s Day to everyone out there!

If for some reason you’d like to read more of my thoughts, follow me on social media or my website: https://linktr.ee/BuffaloRetro

OH AND – I’d like to point out the fact that I made it through an entire post without using vulgar language. Since I was fined by Paradise Palace for my last entry. I can’t afford to swear anymore. Until next week!

It’s Impossible! … Not To Have Fun! Yooka Laylee and the Impossible Lair Review

Konichi-what a satisfying feeling, to treat yourself to a game for your birthday and have it be as good as The Impossible Lair is to me! For those who read my rambling and store them in their head a bit , it might not come as a surprise but one of my favourite Platforming franchises of all times was Donkey Kong Country. I adored those games. So the Sequel to the already amazing Yooka Laylee came out.. and it would mimic the classic Donkey Kong Country games rather than the Banjo Kazooie franchise. I was more than hyped to play this. I figured content would be a bit lacking though so I bided my time to find a good sale.. I sure as heck got my money’s worth now!

Don’t Worry BEE Happy

The Impossible Lair is the second Yooka Laylee game by Playtonics Games, published by team 17. It enjoys moderate success on Meta-Critic with about a 7.7 user score consistent out of 78 positive reviews, 17 negative ones and 9 mixed ones. I’d say the grade is slightly low.. but that is because this game comes with a bit of a warning and unique concept. The game has a self imposed style difficulty level, with a rather steep drop in the deep at the end. It is a game without difficulty settings but instead, you as the player are more or less free to determine your own difficulty level. This however.. does not apply for the final level.. which is a very harsh stage. One life.. and if you lose.. you get booted out of the level.. and since it’s a 30 minute level… it isn’t easy! Lots of people do not like this system and think the last level is unfair.. but I honestly don’t believe it is. It’s a very natural evolution of the old school difficulty system that blends in perfectly with the ban on traditional stock of lives. Most people play this game the wrong way I think.. and I might have found the perfect way to do it!

The entire concept of this game is that the final stage of the game is also the very first stage of the game. A small story tells you how Capital B, the franchise enemy uses a device called the Hivemind to control all the bees in the world. This leads the queen of the Stingdom to be overpowered and her precious shield gets stolen. Yooka and Laylee but in the fight and get to play the Impossible Lair stage from the beginning. In theory.. you can beat this game in about half an hour.. if you are a god tier gamer.. there even is an achievement tied to it.. YET people think.. because there is an achievement for it.. it should be doable.. but this game takes a different approach.. it shows you through the achievement it is near impossible to do this. Like.. offering a money fee to people who can hack into your new security system.. it’s not like you want to hand out that price.. you are confident that your thing is impossible to crack!

This rubs a lot of people the wrong way with this game.. but I , who was born without the ability to give any fudges about prestige like things such as achievements or victories over others.. and is just here for the fun, love this idea. Based on what type of gamer you are you can immediately see if pursuing “platinum” is something you can do.. and I can not! .. But I am getting a bit of track here! Once you die in the first stage you get booted out and the overworld opens up.. here you can travel to twenty five-ish chapters by exploring the overworld and exploring the stages. Using T.W.IT. Coins you find in stages and beating special stages you unlock more and more areas in the overworld and learn more about the game. Inside the stages you try to make it to the end and free.. one of the 48 beettalion bees. Why? because they become your hit points for tackling that final stage! Man I love that concept!

To BEEt or not to BEEt that is the question

_{Yes I know I spelled that wrong}

Here is how most people tackle this game.. okay so I need to free all the bees.. and then go tackle the final stage. Most negative comments I’ve seen are of people trying to rush things. Just beat all the stages and gather the bare minimum of T.W.IT. Coins to go through the final stage without any disadvantages or advantages.. This however is the WRONG way to go about that. The game technically is fairly hard.. though with infinite lives all stages are beatable.. so many people delude themselves that just by beating the game you are good enough for that final stage.. then they plunge into a half hour gauntlet of grueling challenges completely unprepared for what is to come. Most negative reviews say “I was having a lot of fun with this game, then I reached the final stage and could not beat it.. what a fricked up game 0 out of 10… Well first of all if you have 90% fun… just don’t like the last stage.. it is NOT a 0 out of 10 game. This game makes it fairly clear it’s not about beating it. In fact I would have been perfectly content with getting across the finish and just enjoy playing in some very fun stages. See how far you get!

Yet I think if these people played the game the way I play it.. they would have had a lot more fun! You see.. beating an area , instead of going to the next one first I take a crack at the Impossible Lair first.. to see how far my current Beetalion will get me! Usually that isn’t very far.. because the final stage REALLY is hard.. but this means I slowly make my way through sections of the stage.. getting a feel for the layout of the place. If I get tripped up by a section with a lot of buzzsaws .. I then will make sure that I 100% complete a stage (as in find all T.W.I.T. Coins) as a practice for that section. I then move on to get the next batch of bees and repeat this process. Yes I failed a few times in the last stage.. but this way I am not going in blind and in the end have to do a 30 minute stage blind. I notice I am keeping my bees with me for longer as I go as well. But here is the truth.. YOU ARE GOING TO LOSE… just like retro games gave you a game over resetting all progress.. this game mimics that by just yeeting you out the final stage without checkpoints. You get good by losing.. not by beating stages. That’s how these games always worked.. Now there is just a lot of stuff built in to have fun with.. without beating the final stage.

BEE a Hunter

The story in this game is practically non-existent , an evil guy causes trouble. .you have to travel to his castle to beat his ass… and that is exactly why I love this game so much. Never did I feel compelled that I needed to see the ending, it’s just a part of the skeleton that can help you have fun.. but even if you miss a single bone somewhere.. you can probably still have fun! Finishing this game is a cherry on top of a sundae.. or for me.. a chocolate pudding as I don’t like Ice Cream. It’s not the ULTIMATE goal needed to enjoy the game. There is so much to do that can give you satisfaction.. beat all the 48 regular stages! Find all the tonics in the overworld.. solve all the pagie challenges. Open all the Paywalls (These are the names for checkpoints you open with the T.W.I.T. coin resource). There is cute dialogue from familiar and unfamiliar NPC the overworld is colourful and creative and allows you to use all your platforming skills in a 3d setting.. almost in a zelda-esque way. There is so much to do! This is a 12-ish hour platform game and that is a lot for the genre!

Tonics make your life easier or harder.. you find them hidden in the overworld, once found you unlock them with feathers, you can carry three at the same time and these provide modifiers to the game world, some make your life easier.. for example I used the “do not lose T.W.I.T. coins after death” one.. This one makes sure I keep my coins even if I do not bring them to a checkpoint in time! This means I can leap to my death to obtain some of these.. saving me a lot of frustration. This does mean however that the feathers I collect at the end of the stage get reduced.. to compensate for that I use a tonic that sticks googly eyes on the enemy making them look more cute.. but gives them two hit points instead of one! Which increases my feather count. Then I use a tonic that makes Laylee the bat.. more tranquil..
In this game you start with two hitpoints. In phase one you have Laylee riding on Yooka but once you take a hit she begins to panic and flap about.. if you can collect her before you take another hit or you are fine you regenerate that hitpoint.. if she flies away.. your can not be hit anymore or suffer your demise. So having her more stable allowed me to try some zanier stunts. There are a lot of fun modifiers, such as inverted controls for more feathers, more invisibility frames for less feathers and lots and lots of visual modifiers for no other reason than just to have fun!

“But wait A minute Pinkie.. did you not just say there were 48 bees to collect.. but only 25 chapters.. how does that work”… well my sharp eyed friend.. or people pretending to be clever to the insight I just provided… Most stages have two varients. You can unlock a second mode by interaction with the overworld. For example a book on a pond might indicate a stage featuring lots of water elements but by eating an ice fruit and having Yooka spit it at the stage portal.. that same stage is suddenly frozen solid.. which completely alters the stage layout and path. These alternate stages are very fun and it’s always a surprise to see what happens. There is a stage where the book gets covered in sticky honey suddenly turning a horizontal stage into a vertical stage. There is also a certain book you can read the wrong way.. suddenly you have to backtrack this level.. chased by deadly lasers.. but since there is so little time.. you more or less travel atop of the first stage. Think of these as the reversed levels of Yoshi’s crafted world.. but done a lot better. It’s not just beating the stage that is a challenge.. it’s also finding a way to unlock the counterpart in the overworld that is a delight.

Finally there are the Pagie challenges, the collectable/Jiggy variant from the first game is back in this game.. not to be collected by you but to use that power you unlocked before in your favour.. but you have to prove your worth to them. The challenge is simple .. beat all the enemies in a single screen without dying and the pagies will reshape the overworld. Allowing you to find more tonics, unlock more alternate stages, get more hit points for the final stage.. or even just find hint signs that provide you with clues where to find a particular type of treasure. Most of the time you can choose what you want to focus on to make progress. You will need to collect some coins in the stages to get past paywalls in the next areas but I never had too much trouble getting enough of those things without straining myself or feeling I was forced to do this. Even if i did .. feel like “I really should get extra coins in this stage” I either made it training for the final stage OR I decided to reward myself with a vanity tonic and would use my hunt for the coins to reward myself with vanity! It’s super fun and motivating that way.. everything just reinforces each other.

This might STING a bit

Is this a perfect game? No!… Yet in sale I only payed like 10 euro for it and King Coconut and the Shy Coconut helped the blog get some funds for reviewing projects like those..as well as the Buddy Coconut.. so I was super content. I do have a hand full of grips with the game though. First of all I find the music slightly forgettable.. I love the overworld team and for good reason. It’s Grant Kirkhope. It is fantastic. He made music for both the original and for Banjo Kazooie and it has that distinct feel. He doesn’t do stuff for the 2d stages and that is okay.. because his style fits the overworld more.. that feels a bit Banjo-esque.. The 2d stages feel like Donkey Kong.. and two people where put in charge of this Matt Griffin, who does a very good job at capturing that DK spirit but making it feel original and David Wise.. who makes every stage he designs the soundtrack off sound like that Royalty Free Ukulele music that is everywhere on YouTube… Can you guess which one is the one I consider a downside?! A few stages in and you can really tell who is who and that kind of irked me a bit. On the one hand we hear how good the music can be.. on the other hand we see what I as an anime fan would call.. musical filler episodes. Blegh! Luckily half of the music is still good!

The second issue I have with the game is it’s level design.. well that is the wrong worth.. the level “assets” and esthetics. While it is nice that zones are themed we do not get that many themes and it all has this really familiar aspect. The buildings in the desert world look different from the ones in the forest world.. but it feels more like a skin change than an actual change in the assets.. The best way to describe this is.. that everything in the background feels a bit “Little Big Planet ” You know that game with sackboy! There are loads of assets to make your creation look unique but it is all tied to a very similar style. So a tree house looks the same like a cactus house.. the cactus house just has .. hacienda style wallpaper. It makes the stages a little less exciting than the original game or it’s big inspiration Donkey Kong. There we have a volcano world, a theme park world.. a swamp world (Okay that is the second Donkey Kong but it’s just so good) and here.. you’d get.. a Roller Coaster going to the same forest assets.. some hue shifted wood textures to make it look a bit darker.. to signify we are in the swamp.. maybe there is a pool of water.. but all in all I always kind of keep expecting sackboy to come stumbling through. The stage challenges and level design as in.. how to get from A to B is fantastic though. The set dressing is a bit stock.

The final gripe I have with this game is the tiniest one. There is not enough interaction with NPC’s .. mostly from Laylee.. I loved how bold she was in the last game. While I do get that there is less dialogue in a 2d platform game, plenty of elements in the overworld and sometimes even in the stages talk to you through a small text balloon. It would have been funny to give Laylee a bit more flavour and would make everything pop. If a Pumpkin tell “hey you are not support to be here” .. it would be fun to say Laylee tell it to shut up or she will eat squash tonight..or even give her some 4th wall breaking humor.. that once you encounter the living fans in the overworld Laylee would comment, they are really running out of ideas. Simple stuff like that could help the game pack that Yooka Laylee flavour a bit more. THe rest is there.. but the two main characters don’t shine as brightly as I would.

BEE Plus

Time for me to score this game! It is tricky to do this for everyone else so do take note that this is just for me personally. I do think fun, challenge level and time needed are all self imposed. What do you define as beating the game, what do you think is fun to do within the confines of this game?! I really like this.. it has that shovel knight.. feeling of picking your difficulty, there are plenty of ways to make it easy.. there are plenty of ways to make it hard. Neither should be a gripe as you can choose not to use it. I will admit that the plunge into the final stage is a bit too steep and I would not call the final stage a great success. It might have been better if you had a few sub tiers and chose to continue at the last checkpoint with the amount of bees you had left when you got there -1 for each try or go back to the beginning if you lost too many bees in that segment. Had they done that I would have been perfectly content with this game despite it’s minor flas like generic music from Mister Wise.. and a lack of unique polish here and there. Controls are tight..graphics are fine and in sale it is super affordable.

Now I do have to conclude that not everything in the game is as fun as it can be. Honestly if I have to give advice to people who liked the Donkey Kong Country games.. I’d say the best way to play this game is to pick it up on sale.. play the stages until you had your fill.. try the impossible lair and if you did not reach the 50-70% marker (depending on how many of the bees you got) and just end it right there! Quit while you had fun, this is a game to have fun with not one I’d say you really need to beat. It’s a neat achievement to check off your list but there is no big epic ending you would need to do it for. It’s the classical video game ending with a story wrap up.. in the vein of those classics.

There is no deep lore you will miss. No secrets that will be needed to play the third game if there ever will be one.. which I would hope mixes the two playstyles. This is a game to have fun with.. and the game knows it!You can literally put glittery effects when you defeat an enemy, or put googly eyes on an enemy to make them cuter.. sometimes those eyes are on their bumholes! Teehee! Cinematic filters, Dramatic Sepia.. tonics that make you have to play this game like a bat.. Everything screams that this is just a game to have fun with and that’s what I did ! Strawberries all around!

Be Loved or Bee Love?! Pinkie chooses the latter! Bee Love Award!

In the penultimate post of tag week I got nominated for an award I never had heard about. It is called the Bee Love award and I love the name. However this tag can be done by simply posting the logo and doing some nominations. It’s not even a specified number!. Post the logo.. thank the one who nominated you and then nominate people and you are done!I can’t do a lot with that! So I decided to add something to it! Since this post is called Bee Love and not Bee Loved.. I guess it’s about love for bees?! A top 5 bees it is.. video game bees to be exact.

Thanking Craft Lover

Selina, thank you again for the nomination and sorry it took me that long! I needed a fun idea to give this post some content it took me a while to come up with something! I talked about Selina’s crafting blog a fair bit in my sunshine blogger award so feel free to check that one out and of course Selina’s very own blog! If you want to get ideas for crafts everyone can make.. or be inspired for delicious smoothies Craft Lover is the place to be!

Number 5: The Good Bee
(A Link to the Past-SNES)

Now I bet all of you would have expected me to pick a lot of special bees. Like Maya the Bee from one of her video games? Or like Bee video game bosses. While not untrue in case of the latter sometimes a bee is just a bee. Bee Mario is also not on here.. because.. he isn’t really a bee! The good bee however is! And he sparkles! Not only was a link to the past one of the first games where i could catch a creature in a small container and allow it to fight for me… .I LOVE CATCHING CREATURES IN A SMALL CONTAINER AND MAKING IT BATTLE FOR ME SO MUUUCH!..

It was also sparkly. While the good bee doesn’t have to much of an impact on the main game, when playing a randomiser encountering this little bug is always exciting because we get another free item! Having a buddy to battle with you isnt half bad either! Except when you release it when trying to sell it.. and it goes off to attack that stupid weathervane! That’s a BAD Bee! …Which also is a thing.

Number 4: Not even in the manual Bee
(Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde-NES)

Now this game is absolutely horrible, for those who have never seen the Angry Video Game Nerd, this game is the unholy grail. It might not be the worst game in existence…but it’s pretty close. I host bad video game nights for my friends every now and again and whenever some rolls to play Jekyll and Hyde.. it’s always fun….for the ones not playing. For the majority of the game you try to play as Jekyll.. mostly because if Mr Hyde goes further than him you die. Jekyll has a walking speed that is slower than that boat Guts and his party got on in the Berserk manga. He has to take a quick stroll to the church but he mozies around so slowly that the One Piece Manga can start AND finish by the time he has walked down the street. Horrible! All you can do is prod your cain at people…who all try to kill you for some reason. It doesn’t do anything! Hitboxes are completely unfair and don’t even get me started about the bombs.

Amidst a slew of named enemies in the game, the appearance of the bee is not even alluded to in the manual. The cat and the dog are in there.. but the poor bee gets the short end of the stick.. and that can be taken quite literally. You see the Bee is the ONLY Enemy that Jekyll can kill. It has this dubious honor of being the only fair enemy in the game. Mr Hyde has a few but if you have to much fun with those.. you die! So the bee is the only fun thing in this game and that makes it a great bee for this list.

Number 3: King Bee
(Conker’s Bad Fur Day Nintendo 65 and Xbox)

Bees are usually video game enemies, regular bees as the two above or these super cutesie adorable heroes that everyone loves. Pinobee was one of these platform heroes that cutified the bees. Charmy Bee from the Sonic Squad was another of those.. but to me bees aren’t cute. They are quite scary beings that haunt me and while not as mean as wasps nor as scary.. their video depictions oftenly being more wasplike give me the heebie jeebies. So there are no nice bees on this list. King Bee from Bad Fur day definitely is the nicest of the lot.

King Bee is a washed up hungover looking bee, who had a rough night and the next day he just wants to pollinate something with big boobs! Not even kidding.. that is what you as an equally hungover squirrel have to help the man with. However the big breasted sunflower is kind of shy and covers her chest. So you have to gather plenty of small bees to tickle her armpits so she throws them up in laughter. When you tickle her enough her boobs show and the king is finally energised enough to do his job… that is a whole lote of bee and a whole lot of love! Perfect for on this list.

Number 2: Capital B
(Yooka Laylee series)

Now it is finally time for a major character on this list. Somehow I like me bees lower profile. But this video game villain is quite a good bee. He looks scary and the idea they made to make him into a corporate gold loving maniac worked like a charm. In both Yooka Laylee and the sequel the impossible lair this villain plays a major role, without really popping out. Unlike Bowser or Dr Eggman he feels much more like a behind the scenes guy. While Bowser later got his Koopa kids to control, the way how Capital rules his company and twarts the heroes kind of feels spot on. We don’t find him 5 times before the final encounter.

His looks are crazy and remind me of the Joker. The world seems to be catered around him in both games..which makes sense for such a megalomaniac. He is one of those classical style villains done right.. we miss these types of villains these days. Even Bowser and Eggman are deeper now and not always evil for evil sake. This guy is just a meanie bo beanie for the sake of money and being evil! He wants to rewrite reality and enslave all bees into a hivemind. Not only is he Capital B.. he is a Major D and a Giant A hole as well!

Number 1: Zinger
(Donkey Kong Country series)

The bee I most remember from video games is definitely the Zinger from Donkey Kong Country though. Man did those things look scary when I was a kid. Being terrified of wasps this hybrid design between bee and wasp made them look as deadly creatures.. and so they where. The easiest one to kill can only be killed by a barrel or by the animal companions. Some other bees are completely and utterly indestructible. Hitboxes of certain death! Many vine swinging stages had these set up as hazards and many many times did they cost me a precious life.

What made them stand out the most to me was their sound effect. This weird melodial buzz that audibly changes when they change height was very unsettling to me. Not completely buzz like but close enough to unsettle you. Each buzz lasting indefinitely until it reaches it peak height or death to repeat the cycle gave it also some sort of timerish feeling like a ticking bomb. These creatures actually gave me nightmares and yet when they got replaced by the buzzers, the buzz saw green bees in Donkey Kong Country 3.. I missed them! Zingers became iconic to me, more so than Goomba’s , whatever sonic has or Kremlin’s from the same game. While later that faded down a bit.. I tried to make drawings of these monsters way before I realised I could not draw! When you say bees in video games.. I say Zinger.

Nominations

Now let me repeat the tag rules again.

Thank the one who nominated you and provide a link to their blog.
Share the Award Logo
Nominated some people.

So really .. there are no real rules except for being decent. So I talked about bees! With this post I dare you to write about something you normally would never write about. It can still be within the realm of your blog.. but why would you talk about bee monsters in anime.. or a documentary about pollination. Of course it doesn’t have to BEE about the flying insects but just show us something new! Let’s have fun with this one!

My nominees are:

Lyn from: The Otaku Author
Who I nominated because I think he hasn’t done this tag before.

Megan from: A Geeky Gal
The person who might have the title for most blog awards ever…so if a new one catches my eye .. she gets nominated.

Naja from : Blerdy Otome
Because I really want to know if there is an Otome/dating game with bees for some reason! Also her blog starts with a Bee .. so I feel it is destiny.. also I wanted to write her name correctly for once!

Kat from: K at the Movies.
Because I really wanted to give K a B.

Joe from: Average Joe Reviews
Because I feel a Bee is a good grade for an Average Joe!

Five Game Characters I’d Invite to New Years Eve

We are rounding it out, finishing the story of the biggest cross media New Years Eve party I’ve ever hosted. We’ve got a bit of everything , Including Pokémon, Bloggers Anime Characters and now we are up to video game characters. Like every other guestlist I have made, the five guests have to contribute something to the party. Not only because I am mean and lazy, I mean I am lazy but not THAT mean. It’s because I want to set an example that if we can all work together we can throw the most epic party on the fictional planet where my fictional tropical resort is on. So let’s not waste any time and see which video game characters I’d invite.

Game Guest 1: Donkey Kong : The Bouncer

While everyone is welcome, you still got to have a bouncer, because you still have to have good intentions. When you come to paradise to troll, laugh at the weebs.. or in case you get to drunk and cause trouble you gotta go! Since I would lose a fistfight to a juice box, I really can’t manage this myself. My Pokémon have other things to do.. and one is an evil killer creature, the bloggers I doubt will do much good and I have only two anime characters that could fight..but they have other functions. I don’t want some gun wielding nutjob like Max Payne or Master Chief to handle my security. I hold a strict no guns policy, unless the guns shoot bubbles. I could have invited Genzo Shibata from Kemono Michi in yesterday’s post but I am afraid of what he will do to my pokémon. I don’t want him to lewd Raticate or Jigglypuff and I don’t want to get suplexed for asking him to deal with someone dressed as a cat girl or something. So I had to make a carefully selected pick. So I of course ended up picking a gorilla what hides in barrels and has a no tolerance policy on piracy. The Kong formerly known as Donkey Jr… Donkey Kong.

(*Such a good bouncer, he even has a suit)*

He’s finally here, bouncing for you, if you misbehave you’ll get bounced out too! If you make me cry he will give a slap! As we take you through this Monkey RAP! Huh! DK Donkey Kong! DK Donkey Kong is here! This ape has been a beloved video game hero ever since he tried to rescue his father in Donkey Kong Jr. In Donkey Kong Country he finally took the name of his father who moved on to become Cranky Kong. Thus this Kong never kidnapped Pauline, and thusly has a clean record. Important for a bouncer to have a good record. Punch Out for Wii shown he can fist fight, we see him able to grapple things, he shoots coconuts, which I do not count as a gun but as a gag weapon. He is musical so he can help the band of Jigglypuff and he is very good and hauling barrels. Which means that besides a bouncer I also got someone who can fetch the kegs of beer and barrels of wine. He is indigenous to the tropics so PETA will not bother me either with their silly little nags when it comes down animals in geekdom. And best of all I think Donkey Kong could give some of the best hugs..or crush my spine when doing it after which he would throw fecies at my corpse… he still is a gorilla after all.

*(Donkey Kong says he would never do that stuff I said last)*

Game Guest 2: Tommy Vercetti : The Designated Driver

While on paradise anyone can have a beach bungalow for the night free of charge, I get that a few people will have to leave early. New years day they visit their family and all of that stuff so I will take care of transportation from and to the island for you. While Donkey Kong has shown he is capable of driving in the mario kart games I did not think it was a great idea to let an ape pilot a plane or an aquatic vehicle. I mean his cousin Diddy can do that but I am still hoping that Diddy Kong Racing will return one day so I will not be stealing the hatted simian’s time. Big brain tactics going on over here. So rather than give this job to some cutesy little animal I gave the function to Vice City’s greatest narcissist criminal, Tommy Vercetti. I mean the guy has experience with playing taxi for people so he should be perfectly be able to do it. He comes already dressed for a tropical paradise either and he is a master of any vehicle, without gathering skill points or licenses for it. Whether you come by car, boat , plane or even tank Tommy can take care of it. He even might bring a little pick me up for those who are into such things. I am not personally, those things would kill my weak heart and such, but I also do not take a very negative stance against it. To each their own poison and all. So you do you and if Tommy can’t make a sale on the island, we can do a hidden package run all together the next day that sounds like a hoot and a half.

*(That suit isn’t that well tailoured I think, I’ll get him a pink suit)*

Tommy is used to deal with difficult people, long before he kills them all he helps them with some trivial task like getting them home after a party or the likes, so as long as you are not a big criminal kingpin…or a sex worker…. you will most likely be completely safe when using Tommy as your designated drivers. Just when you review him.. don’t give him five stars.. the military will show up and the party will be a mess. Never give a GTA character 5 stars, it’s a death sentence to them. Tommy however will take care of you in retro style. The tunes he plays on his radio on the way back keep that party Buzz Buzz going for just a bit longer. How I am sure that he won’t drink an drive? Well Tommy usually only gets wasted when the cops show up or a rival gang tries to take him out, and there are no police or evil gangs on my island. So weirdly Tommy would not get wasted. Tommy can also blend in at the resort very well. He can play a mean round of golf, though Pinkie’s Paradise only has a putt putt course. He likes investing money into booming business so we might even get an investor of this blog, and even if he is a money hungry criminal.. he isn’t as money hungry as our next guest.

*(Tommy isn’t much of a dancer, so he will stand out from the crowd when you want to go home)*

Game Guest 3: Tom Nook: The financer

Parties like these cost money and that is a resource I do not have. Nearly every wealthy character in gaming is an insane evil soulless bastard. Handsome Jack will not treat my guests very well nor would Albert Wesker. Ken Masters would probably steal Dark Magician girl from me so he is out as well..he’s kind of a douche anyway. So let’s look at the more child friendly consoles and series of games. Lara Croft simply wouldn’t be into parties plus I would not know which one of the renitions I would have to invite. Mario should have a lot of coin but whenever he gets hundred bucks he just gains more life essence.. so I doubt he will have over 100 dollars on his account. Which brings me to the most greedy bastard of all. Tom Nook! While he would finance such a triviality as a party without us paying him massive interest this time we will flip the tables around. Amongst all of us we will have laboured many hours for mister Nook, it is time he did something for us in return. If he wants us to buy stuff from him in that new game coming early next year than he better show he is as committed to us as we are to him. You gotta spend a few bells to make more bells. I bet making a raccoon give me money is something PETA will disagree with me on, so I guess I will give Tom Nook a chance to earn some money while financing my party.

*(At least Tom Nook is pleased by my style if he likes Kyary he will like me as well)*

So as I told you everyone has a bungalow in Paradise. I guess Tom Nook can sell you all customisations sets for your bungalow should you desire to customise it. Your bungalows will be expandable and if you want to rent a hammock to lie on the beach at New Years Day.. you better bring some cash to pay Tom Nook. He will also rent out the putt putt golf course, for of course a nominal fee, boats, fishing rods and one of those speedboat banana things… new year’s day beach events will all be hosted by Tom. I will be in bed with a hangover anyway so I am honestly not all that bothered. My bungalow is pink already so I doubt there is aa customisation set I want from and….. OH MY GOD UNICORN WALLPAPER….
Luckily I am immune to Tom Nook’s *cough* charm, because even after this party is over I still won’t have any money. As soon as I have some though I will spend it on the new Animal Crossing Game of course.

*(Sigh.. I should have expected as much)*

Game Guest 4: King Knight: The Tabletop Guy

I love myself a good competition on New Years Eve but Smash would exclude my friend Jilly, the only person in the world who doesn’t like Super Smash Bros so I’d feel said for her to host a big competition like that. Gaming against each other can also get very insociable , but there is one type of gaming that never does. Tabletop gaming is always neat and cosey. Whether you play a card game, a storytelling game or a co-op adventure you always talk. To save some room at the party, the big board games like Dead of Winter or Fury of Dracula will not be played. To much stuff going on and when drinks spill people will cry. So we opted for a card battling game. Squall is way to emo and a buzzkill to be fun at a party so out with him and Triple Triad. Yugi and Kaiba cheat in their own game, plus the banlist changes about every hour so duel monsters is not viable as well, besides from that I don’t want anyone summoning something that can destroy my Dark Magician girl of my anime character post. Magic doesn’t really have great video game avatars plus it can be a tad elitist and that is not allowed at my party. Gwent is only played by people who love to rip other people to shreds.. so there is only one option left. We shall play Joustus! Since I don’t want to see a big apple fish dancing all the time we also only have one option on who to invite. King Knight.

*(If he spins like that on the dancefloor I bet he will make a girl very happy.. and sick)*

King Knight is the protagonist in the newest Shovel Knight expansion and it is great. The man has such great flavoring in all of his powers as well as his persona and sense of humor. This make King Knight a perfect party guest. Sure he will think he is superior but the guy is hurting inside and just needs a good cry. Fred might be able to help him, if you read my Bloggers invited post you’ll get that. He is not a great fighter and not that insanely evil… he is just a boy who believes he is a king that’s kinda cute. I am really good at Joustus as well so I could make some serious money at the tables. Maybe even enough to buy that unicorn wallpaper from Tom Nook…dag nabbit!. Joustus is a grid based card games where arrows can indicate movement, you use this to slide pieces around to claim as many “winning” tiles as you possibly can before the board is filled up. However some cards can block being pushed and have special effects and more of that jazz… it actually kinda feels like jousting with all that pushing. King Knight is forced into the tutorial so he can explain you the finer details, but be warned he cheats. Luckily I don’t have blue fish guys in chests where he buys his cheats from.

Game Guest 5: Ratchet and Clank : The Tech Guys

Yes yes I know that’s two characters but they just might as well be one plus it’s my blog so I rule that it counts. With a gaming court, a movie theatre a fully equipped cocktail bar, a karaoke stage, and a band podium among other facilities there, is a lot of technology to handle. I know nothing of stage lighting and when I blow a fuse in my house I need assistance to realise what happened. So we need tech guys and who is better than Ratchett and Clank. No one really. Though I did consider that grandma from Watch Dogs 3 as well. Ratchett and Clank I’d say would be a lot quicker to respond can have access to difficult to reach spaces and when the party is over they most likely would happily take most of the scrap metal and stuff that is in my way to build weapons from as long as they dont build weapons on the island. Both are huggable in their own way though I do prefer clank. His solo game I found to be rather enjoyable and I do not like Rachet’s character as much as I do like Clank. Still enough for a good hug though. So yay for cuddly tech support.

(*I have no funny comment for this picture so you make one)*

What puts Ratchet and Clank a nodge above the other candidates for tech support is their immense creativity. You see Mario is a plumber that can probably fix some leakage or pipes going to the Koopa Kingdom but only if he has the right parts. Being from Brooklyn (yes I am using that one) he will never have the part that I need and has to wait for the store to open again on January second.I can’t use that sort of behaviour. Ratchet and Clank get the job done .. parts or no parts. If my band’s pyrotechnics do not work THEY will make some for me, if MasterMixMovies projector goes down, they will build me a new one or fix the old one. I can not think of any character that is as flexible as them except for maybe Macgyver but he got badly remade. We can somewhat say the same about this duo, being that their last games haven’t been THAT good, but hey that just means I can employ them cheaper, so Tom Nook is also happy because he is paying their bills.

And with this we are all done with the party guest , which means it’s actually time to PARTAY! So everyone who joined me in this adventure, thank you so much for sticking trough untill the end and Happy New Year. Twenty Twenty will be our double digits of hapiness and love! Stay awesome, stay pink, untill we read again, Pinkie is blasting off again! Greetings from Pinkie’s Paradise and Happy Happy New Year.. may the force be with you.

The other Chapters in the New Years Party Arc
-A Pokémon Team For New Years Eve
-Five Bloggers I’d Invite to New Years Eve
-Five Anime Guest I’d Invite to New Years Eve
-Five Movie Characters I’d invite to New Years Eve