Tuesday, November 15, 2011

It's like the sexy, wacky Out Run spin-off I've always wanted but never got to play

What do you think of when you look at the digital collage below?

When I first saw it, I thought of an only-in-my-dreams Out Run spin-off that features a wacky splash of Parodius. I'm not sure how such an idea would work as an actual game, mind you, but I'm sure it would be amazing if handed to the right developers.

Anyway, enough about me and my odd ideas. Instead, let's delve deeper into the aforementioned collage, which was produced by Atlanta-based artist Ashley Anderson.

It's one of three pieces that were commissioned by the owner of a local pizza joint, by the way. Although the commission fell through, Anderson completed the series anyway.



The one above is the series' first and is titled, "Memory Beach, Part 1." According to Anderson, it's about "an octopus who drives to the beach to forget about his ex-girlfriend, who has cheated on and/or left him."

Anderson doesn't say on his blog where he found each of the sprites that appear in this piece, but he does say that the "Japanese pornographic mahjongg video game industry" is responsible for the girl and the lipstick. (He also says he learned to operate a Famicom emulator while working on the "Memory Beach" series, so I'm guessing a number of the sprites were pulled from Famicom titles.)

For more behind-the-scenes info on how Anderson produced "Memory Beach, Part 1," check out this blog post. To order 7-3/4-inch-by-7-3/4-inch prints of it, check out Anderson's etsy shop.

See also: Other posts about Ashley Anderson and his art

6 comments:

Viewtiful_Justin said...

Sweet piece! I love it. I'm pretty sure the flying saucer came from Super Mario Land for the GameBoy...it was a background piece in one of the wacky levels...

Bryan Ochalla said...

Oh, that's great to hear, Justin! I wonder if Ashley will stop by and let us know where some of the other sprites came from?

Also, I desperately want a canvas of this -- like the one on Ashley's Flickr photostream. Sadly, even if I could afford such a thing (*if* it were for sale), I'm not sure where I'd put it! Maybe I could convince the hubs to repaint my office, and then I could put all sorts of game-inspired art back there...

RetroKingSimon said...

Nice pic! It's super OutRun-ish as you say and also reminds me of another racing game. Big Run, maybe? Great post anyway! :)

Bryan Ochalla said...

Big Run, huh? I don't know that game -- or at least I don't think I do. Time to hit up Google, I guess. Anyway, glad you liked the post, Simon!

coolpowers said...

Did you ever see the Trucker's Delight music video and game? Definitely could be described as a sexy Outrun.

http://www.thirdsiderecords.net/truckersdelight/truckersdelight.php

Bryan Ochalla said...

Oh. My. God. That was ... unexpected (but cool), coolpowers. Aesthetically and even (kind of) thematically it reminded me of an adult Wario Ware game. Thanks for letting me know about it!