Treehouse of Horror discussion

Hello everyone I'm XboxClown89, you already know I'm a huge Simpsons fan. I recently heard the crazy Treehouse of Horror news. I felt I should talk about it more details here. First, the actual announcement was we're getting two Treehouse of Horror episodes this year. One of them will be a full blown parody of Stephen King's IT.

Ever since Season 2, there's always Treehouse of Horror episodes. This alone became one of the biggest things in all of The Simpsons. We are talking parts of several Simpsons video games. They also made a different holiday spin off episode, Thanksgiving of Horror. There's also Halloween of Horror being the only canon Halloween episode in the show with a brief mention of the Halloween specials.

Treehouse of Horror is filled with creativity. The format originated from several classic horror comic books. A good number of them were recreated through shows & movies over the years. A great example of this is Tales from the Crypt, a show I highly recommend except for the final season. Although the final episode itself being the only good episode of that season.

The Simpsons parodies so many different things through pop culture. It's a very long list from start to finish with the actual list getting longer every year. Treehouse of Horror are virtually among the most popular episodes of the show. Personally if I could, I would scenario. I would list all of them as my number 1 favorite Simpsons episode.

Yes I know that's one long episode lol. I loved how each story is virtually it's own canon. Thus having it's own rules in the process, that's genius as well as surprisingly clever. You can tell I'm very excited about the news. I didn't expect getting two episodes but I did predict since 2019. I knew deep down for years, The Simpsons had to do IT parody eventually, it's finally happening this year.

There also was a Treehouse of Horror game on Game Boy. These specials already been an essential part of Halloween. Just like the Christmas specials & movies for Christmas. We're getting four stories with IT episode breaking a record for the longest story ever told through an Treehouse of Horror episode. It's no secret The Simpsons absolutely loves Halloween.

You actually could make these their own show, people would watch them a lot too. Treehouse of Horror allows the maximum of their creative potential. There is no limits as in regular Simpsons episodes, anything goes here. You got stories that surprisingly works for the most part. Even I confess some stories do fall flat.

There's so much to love with these episodes. The Simpsons fully goes the distance with the jokes. Personally I felt their parody of A Nightmare on Elm Street was way better than 2009 remake movie. Of course the very short story everyone loves with a passion was The Shinning. A great parody of Stephen King's The Shining, this felt like the perfect example how you take something scary then make it hilarious.

Kang and Kodos often became stables through these episodes. They do have a few canon appearances within the show. There's no question classic horror shows like The Twilight Zone was a major inspiration. Treehouse of Horror episodes among a handful of things I look forward to Halloween every ear along with Halloween AVGN episodes.

I felt with their level of creativity, we should get some unexpected surprises in the near future. Kill count very likely going to be a huge number here. If you are actually interested in counting all the deaths across these episodes. Treehouse of Horror isn't afraid to make something not originally horror like The Cat in the Hat parody.

Trust me it's way better than the live action movie with Mike Myers, yes I just said that lol. I could take all day about these Halloween specials. It's a must watch for any Simpsons fan. There's some surprisingly good stories in here with some stinkers. Overall, I would say you aren't living if you aren't watching these.

What's the Difference? Darkstalkers Edition

Hello everyone I'm XboxClown89, today I want to help to prevent as much confusion Darkstalkers wise as possible. I previously mentioned the Japanese titles situation. But this will be more of a direct game comparison. I'm doing this in two parts for several reasons. I'll start with the case of Darkstalkers & Night Warriors first.

Part 1

Mostly the same character roster but Night Warriors added two more characters. It also made both boss characters playable right off the bat. This is interesting because originally in Darkstalkers you can't play as them. Although more recently in Capcom Fighting Collection, there's an option making them both playable.

Not to mention, originally through hacking beating the game as either boss character. Virtually the same endings in Night Warriors just without the text. This was later changed to a new Thank You for Playing screen with a close up of Morrigan in that compilation. Speaking of that, neither shares the same screen pictures to help telling them a part easier.

The stages are virtually identical as well as most endings. Yes the boss characters are the same in both games. A few animations like a particular one with Demitri in the intro can be seen in both games. The title screen as well as character selection screen looks very different. There's also more overall animation including moves added in Night Warriors.

How the original Darkstalkers went about specials should be a crime!!! Originally as soon as your special gets filled, the meter notably does down. Which forces to player to play more aggressive during matches. Thank god they fixed it Night Warriors, it no longer goes down after filling it up plus you can stock a few specials too.

Part 2

This will be very confusing for those who don't know these versions of Darkstalkers 3. A handful of compilations has all three versions including Capcom Fighting Collection. All three games has very different intros as well as title screen. Neither Vampire Hunter 2 & Vampire Savior 2 got translated into English to this day.

Which means they're only in Japanese, unusual among their Arcade fighting games at the time. Darkstalkers 3 most characters has endings. Most of them are removed in the updated versions only leaving in the final boss' ending. I'm not an expert on moves, which notably got affected in some way among all three versions.

Not to mention, both updated versions removed three to four characters to include three classic characters into the roster. Even hidden character wise gets a little interesting. Both Oboro Bishamon & Shadow are present in all versions of Darkstalkers 3. Keep in mind, I'm using Capcom Fighting Collection as reference here.

Dark Talbain is only playable in the original version of Darkstalkers 3. Both updated versions adds Marionette, Alternate Donovan and Alternate Huitzil into the roster. Personally I don't know what makes those versions different from the usual ones I'm curious to find out. Vampire Hunter 2 removed Jedah, Baby Bonnie Hood, Q-Bee and Lilith from the roster.

Vampire Savior 2 removed Jon Talbain, Sasquatch and Rikou respectively. What's more interesting is Vampire Savior 2 reuses Darkstalkers 3's soundtrack. In Vampire Hunter 2's case, it actually reuses Night Warriors' soundtrack instead. Essentially making it Night Warriors recreated through Darkstalkers 3 experience.

Both updated versions uses alternate stage colors as well as your CPU opponents. Originally some characters fights someone else after Jedah in Arcade Mode. For some characters, Jedah is the final boss. Both updated versions has a different boss set up that most characters follows suit. In Vampire Hunter 2, the sub boss being Huitzil with Pyron being the final boss.

In Vampire Savior 2, Pyron ends up being the sub boss with Jedah being the final boss. I should point out Capcom already removed secret endings out of the updated versions from Capcom Fighting Collection. Another notable difference is where the character pictures are, in Vampire Hunter 2 it's colored differently.

Darkstalkers/Killer Instinct comparison

Hello everyone I'm XboxClown89, yes I previously compared Darkstalkers to Killer Instinct. But I felt I should do this on a bigger scale. Maybe more people wants an actual crossover between the two franchises or it's just me. Regardless, I know parts of this will get confusing to follow. All I can promise is I'll try to prevent as much confusion as possible.

1. First entries came out the same year

This might come as a surprise for those that doesn't know. The original Darkstalkers came out in Arcades a few months before the original Killer Instinct did. Although Killer Instinct on SNES came out in 1995 before Darkstalkers PS1 port the following year.

2. Technically speaking two Arcade games are the original canon main series

Killer Instinct had 2 games making it very straight forward. In vice versa, oh man this will quickly get confusing. The original Darkstalkers ended up getting the boot then replaced with Night Warriors. Which became the newer, improved canon Darkstalkers 1 game. Oh wait there's more of this madness. Darkstalkers 3 would be the second entry in the timeline. The last two Darkstalkers games are both updated versions of Darkstalkers 3 with most stories removed.

3. Some interesting ports

We'll start with Killer Instinct 2 with Killer Instinct Gold. The only console port around that time on Nintendo 64. Most endings got removed with people being rather mixed on how parts of the stages were done. More recently in 2014, the first two Killer Instinct games got ported on Xbox One & PC. The following year through Rare Replay among the thirty games was Killer Instinct Gold. Keep in mind, only the original Killer Instinct game got ported to Game Boy. Now we got a more confusing comparison to do with Darkstalkers series. Vampire Chronicle on Sega Dreamcast was technically the first Darkstalkers game to allow online play predating the 2013 Killer Instinct game. Then in 2005 came Vampire: Darkstalkers Collection which also got repackaged with Hyper Street Fighter II. This also included three exclusive variations to all versions of Darkstalkers 3 with every character. In 2013, we got Darkstalkers: Resurrection including Night Warriors & Darkstalkers 3 respectively.

4. Interesting one team connection

Darkstalkers: Resurrection was handled by Iron Galaxy Studios. Who also responsible for Street Fighter III Online Edition as well as Marvel vs. Capcom: Origins. Originally Double Helix was making content for the 2013 Killer Instinct game. Then they ended up getting removed due to unrelated problems. Iron Galaxy Studios ended up staying for the remainder of the game from Season 2.

5. Currently both franchises are playable on a few platforms

Killer Instinct (2013 game) was on Xbox One and PC. Which also includes ports of the first games as well as Killer Instinct Gold through Rare Replay. I also believe all the games are compatible with Xbox Series S/Series X. More recently through Capcom Fighting Collection, all five Darkstalkers Arcade games are on Xbox One, Xbox Series S/Series X, PS4, PS5, Switch and PC. Although three of these games are going through the cycle again through Capcom Arcade 2nd Stadium coming later this month.

6. A lot of similar character concepts

Majority of both rosters are similar to each other in many ways. Parts of this could possibly get confusing. Regardless I did promise a bigger comparison this time so here we go.

Anakaris & Kan-Ra

Both are mummies with major differences in their back stories. Like Anakaris was the phaorah while Kan-Ra got caught by the king for betraying him that led to a terrible curse of decay. Both mummies has a move where they wrap their opponents just enough to slam em afterwards.

Demitri, Hsien-Ko, Donovan & Mira

Demitri is a vampire noble that once challenged one of the rulers to end up being defeat. Hsien-Ko is a Chinese Hopping Vampire that often gets mistaken for ghosts. Donovan is a Dhampir whose half human, half vampire. Mira was the twin sister of Maya while Hsien-Ko also had a twin sister named Mei-Ling. Although she must take the form of a talisman on Hsien-Ko at times.

Jon Talbain & Sabrewulf

Both are werewolves that's against humanity to a degree. However Jon through help learned how to control his werewolf side while Sabrewulf never had that. Although the possibility of Jon losing control known as Dark Talbain could still happen.

Victor, Huitzil & Aganos

Technically speaking parts of inspiration for Mary Shelley's Frankenstein does connect with the concept of golems. Huitzil is among an army of similar machines built by Pyron that's very old. Aganos sorta connects to both these characters in weird ways. Aganos is actually a golem with a good heart. Victor in one story ended up sacrificing his life to bring the little girl back to life. Huitzil in Vampire Savior 2 has a kid named Cecil accompanying during matches.

Lord Raptor & Spinal

Lord Raptor depending on regions is either labeled as a ghoul or a zombie. There's a particular decease warrior we know as Spinal. Whom are living skeleton warriors. Both are known for having a similar smile as well as maniacal laughter. Not to mention, some of Lord Raptor's moves does include his bones. They're both servant to a villain whose in control of the world. Lord Raptor serves Ozom who stolen Jedah's position among those whose ruling over the demon world. Spinal serves Aria thus Ultratech itself.

Pyron, Glacius & Cinder

Pyron is an old, powerful alien who came to another planet to challenge the dark stalkers in a fight. He is a being mostly made out of fire. This will be a little confusing to explain since I have to temporary mention the alien Glacius. Ultratech stolen some of his DNA to originally transform a criminal later in another time line a soldier with modified Glacius' DNA. Which resulted in him becoming a hybrid being made out of fire that wasn't stable.

Sasquatch, Rikuo & Glacius

Essentially the ice fighters of both franchises. Considering Glacius also manipulates water. Rikuo whose a merman also manipulates water himself. However he does not manipulate temperature of water. Another thing all three of them has in common is neither of them are humans.

Baby Bonnie Hood, Donovan, Q-Bee & Sadira

Q-Bee is the leader of her soul bees from the lands of Jedah's family. Sadira is the leader of the Red Eye of Rylai assassins with traits of a spider. There's hunters that hunts the dark stalkers like Donovan & Baby Bonnie Hood. Although Donovan is still figuring out who he's suppose to be while Baby enjoys a good hunt. She isn't afraid of playing dirty to get what she wants.

Shadow, Marionette & Omen

Shadow is a mysterious being that starts Arcade Mode as a randomly selected character. Among defeating his opponents, Shadow posses who just got defeated for the next match. Marionette controls a similar character to her opponents like a puppet. Omen whose virtually Shadow Jago while inside Jago does a similar thing. Omen also has a similar face to Shadow as well as their default colors is mostly purple as well.

Bishamon & Hisako

Both are widely known wielding a sword. Although Bishamon was a monk who got overwhelmed by a possessed armor & a cursed sword. They also have a further variation that's displaying their full potential. Shin Bishamon & Shin Hisako respectively. Both of them are also from Japan.

Jedah, Gargos & ARIA

Both are central antagonists in their respective franchises. Jedah had a hand in a lot of character's stories. Like giving Lilith whose the missing portion of Morrigan's soul, her own body to allow her to co exist. ARIA is the one behind Ultratech that controls the world. Jedah used to be one of the rulers of the demon world at one point. Gargos became the ruler of another plane of existence. Like Jedah, he had a similar plan involving altering worlds in order to rule over everyone. All three of them have some form of form as well as a God concept.

Huitzil, Kilgore & Fulgore

Kilgore was a prototype that had some similarities to Huizil. Fulgore became the preferred machine army model. Also in most Killer Instinct games, Fulgore acts as a sub boss. Although in Season 1 of the 2013 Killer Instinct game, he does have as the final boss. Huitzil in most Darkstalkers games acts as a sub boss.

7. Some stages are similar as well

There's a lot of stages in both franchises. Mostly I'm going to compare Victor's stage from the first two Darkstalkers games to Sabrewulf's stages. Also Astral Plane from the 2013 Killer Instinct would be similar to Darkstalkers 3's Fetus of God stage. Kan-Ra's stage has some similarities with those of Anakaris' stages. Fury's Core would be similar to Pyron's Hellstorm stage. Village of Whispers has graves like the first Lord Raptor stage.

Which retro licensed Disney game compilation is better?

Hello everyone I'm XboxClown89, I think it's time for another game compilation comparison. This time from two particular Disney game compilations I already previously reviewed. I am comparing The Disney Afternoon Collection to Disney Classic Games Collection, both developed by the same company Digital Eclipse.

The Disney Afternoon Collection

1. DuckTales

2. DuckTales 2

3. Chip & Dale

4. Chip & Dale

5. Darkwing Duck

6. Talespin

Disney Classic Games Collection

1. Disney's Aladdin (Sega Genesis, Game Boy)

2. Disney's Aladdin (SNES)

3. Disney's The Lion King (Sega Genesis, SNES and Game Boy)

4. Disney's The Jungle Book (Sega Genesis)

5. Disney's The Jungle Book (SNES)

I should point out a few major things. The Disney Afternoon Collection was essentially a spiritual successor to Mega Man Legacy Collection 1. Which also had six NES games with some similar options. Disney Classic Games Collection went through a major change with adding more games. Even without that it does three platforms rather than one.

The Disney Afternoon Collection games are also based on classic Disney cartoon shows. In vice versa, Disney Classic Games Collection actually based on classic Disney movies. Rewind is offered in both compilations. I felt achievement wise it's more proper since it covers all the games while the later doesn't. I should also point out the same company also doing TMNT: The Cowabunga Collection.

Anyway there's plenty to love here. If you came across my reviews you already know my exact thoughts on both compilations. So let's get right into it then, which Disney game compilation do I think is better? After much needed considering, I gotta say Disney Classic Games Collection. Trust me, I got a few reasons to pick it here.

For starers, even the finest The Disney Afternoon Collection offers. Fails in comparison to the finest among Disney Classic Games Collection. Like a compilation exclusive version Disney's Aladdin (Final Cut) virtually what if the team had enough time during development to fully finish the game. Back then, a lot of licensed games got rushed out quickly getting a bad name.

More recently, it's becoming rare when a licensed game actually terrible. Oh the times sure have changed indeed. Honestly, they do offer more exciting bonus content as well as features to help with your overall experiences. Yes you technically can cheat the entire achievement/trophy hunting. Despite that, you really can't go wrong with either compilation.

I would even say it could come down to nostalgia or personal taste. If you grew up heavily around those shows, you'll prefer The Disney Afternoon Collection more. If you grew up more about these classic Disney movies, you'll prefer Disney Classic Games Collection more. Personally, it's tough to compete with what this compilation offers in comparison.