Chapter 413: A Year of Video Games II
After the Blue Blur... who else could he flip through next other than the Blue Bomber?
Mega Man. The 7th of the Creed Games roster.
Just another successfully plundered mascot but a run-and-gunner platformer instead of being a pure runner.
One would think that the gunner gimmick would give it an extra edge and an extra oomph... but from what Alexander's seeing... Sonic's still taking the win.
Not that a champion between the two games really mattered... especially when they are developed under the same brand.
Still, it would be quite insightful to look into what made this dynamic the way it is.
Sonic and Mega Man. On their own, they stood out yet one stood out more than the other.
Albeit peddled by the same company in the same unbiased and equal vigor.
Why is that?
It's not just these two blue mascots that he's asking that for.
He's also asking for the ups and downs of all the other video games he's gone through and will go through.
Alexander had a list of obvious answers but what he's looking for is the manner in which they can perform synergistically altogether.
Worlds Collide and some other grand video game universe popped up into his visualization... but he wouldn't count on it.
This is just him contemplating greed and not anchoring to his content for a little while.
Not wanting to be blinded for the sake of better profits, he looked at where it shone and really... Mega Man was not too bad.
Not bad at all.
All that had to be done was sacrifice Bad Box Art Mega Man. Making for a not-so-rough start to the endearing, classic, and multi-game franchise that this whole thing will flourish into.
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The stakes were high on that one... but not as high as Alexander's ambition for another folder of files that he was now reading through.
Mystic Quest sure did sound like some fantasy epic to read but it was actually just an RPG through and through.
An introductory RPG to be exact.
It was so simplified and so entry-level that many fans loathe it. Even going as far alienate themselves from it.
Those were Final Fantasy sentiments of the old timeline, of course.
Far removed from the reactions that Alexander was currently skimming away today.
If his speed-reading comprehension were to be believed, they actually laud it.
Not too highly. With a few finding it to just be simplified storytelling in over-complicated and video-gamey steps.
Some stray DnD fans even called it the most boring campaign they've ever taken part in.
However, many still praise it and that's probably partly because of the lack of a true digital RPG to compare it with.
It was an introductory game done right as it didn't trail highly acclaimed prequel offerings before it.
Which brings Alexander's thoughts into his company's curated development of Final Fantasy.
Along with his overly-ambitious and previously dragged-out indecision to work on Dragon Quest as well.
With a second look into this simple game's sales graphs and by factoring in Final Fantasy's multiplicative factor... the result would most likely be more than double...
If that equation were to be paired with the addition of Dragon Quest, then it's already as good as quadrupled...
So... yeah... why not do both?
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Of course, the same could be said when it came to his meddling in the Metroidvania sub-genre.
It's only the first half of it but he'll get to the second half eventually.
At the very least, with what he worked on, he can somewhat claim that he did wonders with it.
The accompanying Samus toy... the Predator inclusion... and the whole game in of itself...
It all compounded into something that gave quite a lasting impression... even after the reveal that Samus was actually a pretty girl all along.
Never to be misunderstood as a more pixelated Mega Man. Though Alexander could very well be the only person worried about the similarities between armored characters with arm cannons.
Through what many considered to be a masterclass of a somewhat respectable societal manipulation... Metroid really set itself apart.
In a spectacular debut whose lingering consequences could still be tracked as GameKey procurement is expected to be on the rise.
Without a doubt, the power of marketing was strong on this one.
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The power of marketing was sort of strong on another video game as well.
Being paired with a national scandal was really quite aiding, given the circumstance.
In spite of the star power that the pixelated Arnold and Sylvester lookalikes had, the political undertones actually outshone them.
Regardless of the Rambo-Rocky fame or the Mr. Universe clout, none of them could match the attention and scrutiny that is currently directed to the current administration.
It isn't dying down anytime soon and Alexander can surmise that the president would probably opt out of Creed-based inspirational messages in his next broadcasted address.
With where he's going, he's going to need roads. It's even his fellow prison inmates that are tasked to work on them.
Of course, Alexander didn't need to go "back to the future" to know that Reagan will get away with it, mostly scot-free.
Lieutenant Colonel Ollie North, together with his fellow scapegoats, will be called out and many will just be pardoned years later when Vice President Bush becomes President Bush.
It's quite the turn of events that American Dad will make a catchy song out of it.
In that song, Fawn Hall, North's hot secretary, is implied to have shredded incriminating evidence together with him.
Which in turn made Alexander turn to his own hot "secretary" and wonder... would she do the same?
That's quite the test of loyalty there but he's getting sidetracked here... from the Contra details he's supposed to get a gist of.
Which all essentially boils down to... somewhat of a success... yada yada...
Action-packed but so challenging that those that came close to the alien mastermind reveal is practically nada.
Then again, it is highly acclaimed by fans... yada yada...
And that was pretty much it.
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Well... not all of it.
Last but not least was a little game that was released just a month ago yet it's shaping itself to be a legend already.
Of all the confusion that arose from it... it sure is appropriately named The Legend of Zelda.
It's literally an adventure game that exceeded expectations. Expectations relating to Neverland's Peter Pan or Santa's elves.
In any case, it had more to offer than the typical hack-and-slash epics... with monsters to fight, secret doors to discover, and plenty of frustration.
One after the other, it's also rewarding with new treasures, weapons, experiences, places, and discoveries.
Praised to be very appealing and has that beautiful, fairy-tale quality.
Brought about by the charming graphics, superb original music, excellent animation, and smooth transitions in scrolling between locations.
Altogether shaping to be an incredibly rich and deep gaming experience that goes far beyond the typical video game with an appeal to both male and female players of all ages.
Making it a "must-have" for every Creed Gamer out there... and sales have been racking up ever since.
Other than those, there's the fact that Link figurine sales were also high and that's definitely not about that holiday misunderstanding, definitely not.
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All in all, that makes eleven folders...
Containing details of the eleven projects that made Creed Games into what it is at present.
Achieving Alexander's little goal from way before he began.
It's a claim that popped up here and there... but at this point... it's safe to say that they did it.
What he's read sure indicates things to be that way...
His plunders revived the downtrodden North American video game industry... riled their way to some parts of the world... and left it all roaring for more.
There should be more, right?
After all, that was just a year of... nay... the previous year of video games.
If anything, people should really look forward to this year... and the next years of video games to come after that.