Where I jump around and rant like a loony

Truth to be told, I adore the DKC TV show possibly more than I adore most other stuff on TV. Skin me alive, kick me out, give me a silly nickname, call me a backstabbing murderer, throw me to the Klaptraps, etc, etc, I don't care. I LOVE THAT SILLY SHOW.

Why yes, Krusha, stealing is, in fact, bad. Too bad you're a bad guy yourself, eh?

But the sad part is, there's some episodes I'm really curious about yet cannot find them anywhere. The episodes I'm looking for are Speed, To the Moon Baboon, Watch the Skies, Baby Kong Blues and Message in a Bottle Show. But the sad part is, I can't find them anywhere, while Mario Wiki even nags me with providing screenshots and plot synopsis's. It irks me to no end, because that show is so darned fun to watch.

See Reaver. See Bluster. See Bluster run. Run, Bluster, run!

Here's the plan - I need help. Help finding those episodes. How can you help? Well... perhaps alert others. I dunno. But only if you feel like it and have got nothing better to do. I don't wanna bother anyone. 'til Then, I'll just draw some stuff. And write fan fiction.

So here goes nothing.

HELP!!!

The king is dead

It was a few days ago, but I feel like I can never live it down.

For Rare has just given most of the permanent art team the boot. This means that we will possibly never see either Conker or Banjo ever again. The thought saddens me deeply. They didn't even get a noble swan song. Nothing. This is a Rare fan's darkest hour since the buyout.

I think this song portrays my sorrow well enough. Yep, we'll never see Kameo again, either. Nor the inhabitants of Timber's Island, or all those other googly-eyed critters that inhabited the various isles in the Rare isles chain.

Except for Diddy Kong.

You see, I see Diddy as the link between Rare and Nintendo, as the link between Donkey Kong Country and Banjo-Kazooie and Conker. Because he was made by Rare, but during the buyout, stayed with Nintendo just because he belonged with DK. If he wasn't affiliated with the ape he'd have gone over to Microsoft. So now, safely under Retro Studios' care, and what with Returns, he's back again and about time too.

But Banjo nor Conker have shown their faces for over a year now.

Goodbye, my friends. May you continue to have adventures beyond the games. Let's all hope that the people who left still have a bit of that Rareware magic in them, and will show the world how much better it could be at their new jobs.

Speaking of art, some fellow Rare-fans have started a new blog - Rarevive. The point is to submit art once in a while, out of pure love for the franchises Rare had created. I know I will contribute some as soon as I find out how.

Good luck, guys. Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong, thank you for defining the beauty of experiences in platform games. Banjo and Kazooie, thank you for all those memories of romping through Spiral Mountain. Conker, thank you for being the first M-rated game I could play without feeling bad about it. Viva Piñata, thanks for all the colorful experiences in my garden. Kameo, thank you for showing me the beauty of the Enchanted Kingdom. Fox and Krystal, thank you for introducing me to the Star Fox saga and the wonder that is Sauria in the most brilliant ways possible.

Thank you, Rare. Thank you.

Diddy through the ages

Like with all videogames, most of the cast from Donkey Kong Country have had different looks before. While this isn't as obvious as with DK himself, he only underwent one drastic change (actually none at all if you take into consideration that the DK from the arcade is actually the modern-day Cranky) and a change of fur color. He always kept his tie, too.

Most design changes are so subtle that only a true nerd, a nerd to end all nerds would notice it. Say, for example, you guys probably know that I have a rather peculiar fangirl-obsession towards Diddy Kong, right?

Well, he's changed quite a bit in the last fifteen years. From his debut in Donkey Kong Country, to Donkey Kong Country Returns. He kept his trademark red cap and shirt all his life, but to be honest, I think I prefer his design post-buyout. *dodges rotten tomatoes getting thrown at me* Something about how he gets portrayed by Rare outside the games in promotional renders looks... iffy. He's supposed to be a cute little monkey, folks! Cute does not equal loads and loads of details and stuff!

And all that while he looks adorable in-game.

D'aww he's looking at us guys

Yeah, I don't really know about this. I am nitpicky, I know. He's still cute, though. And the renders are actually very well-done still, despite my nitpicking. Speaking of well-done renders...

Donkey Kong Country - The Wind Waker? I like cel-shadedness.

Donkey Konga may or may not be a well-remembered game, you gotta hand the makers that they made some cool promotional artwork. Let it be said that that's probably the only time I'm ever mentioning the game here.

Dinosaur Planet's do's and didn'ts

I know most of you don't like fanon, preferring reality with facts over mere theories. But sometimes I have an idea, and that idea is just too perfect to not be canon. So it's fanon instead, and I use my fanon in each fan fiction I write. Do you follow me? What has this to do with fanon... well, you guys do remember Dinosaur Planet?

You know, I quite like this artwork. Why didn't Rare make more of it?

Of course you do! Not to be confused with a Discovery Channel series with a similar name, that epic adventure game with those... cat/fox dudes as protagonists, who were on a journey to find a wizard dude who also was their poppa [citation needed], and at the same time battle evil dinosaurs led by the even eviller General Scales... what do you mean, never heard of it? That may just be because it got changed into Star Fox Adventures late in development. I never witnessed this happening as I was much too young but... The character of Krystal got a drastic makeover while the character of Sabre just disappeared and got replaced by the similar-looking Fox McCloud. Poof. Zap. Zlitch. And gone.