Boy, does this piece of Pac-Land art (produced by madamluna) bring back memories...

Of all the games I've attached memories to over the years, Pac-Land has to be among the oddest. After all, it's not like this quarter-muncher from 1984 is one of Namco's most-loved releases. Hell, it's not even one of the company's most-loved Pac-Man spin-offs.

I guess Pac-Land just came into my life at the right place and time. The former is especially relevant to this story, I think, considering the setting of my earliest memory of the game is a shopping-mall arcade that was located a few hours away from where I grew up.

I'm sad to say I can't remember exactly how old I was when I first encountered the Pac-Land cabinet in the aforementioned arcade, but I'm pretty sure I was in my early teens. Regardless, I distinctly remember my incredulous reaction to it. After all, this was a Pac-Man game that looked and played like the original Super Mario Bros.

And don't forget: this was back when the Internet was but a gleam in Al Gore's eye. If you didn't read gaming mags at that time, you often didn't know which quarter-munchers were being released or when until you walked into your local arcade, bar, bowling alley and the like.

Anyway, I was blown away the first time I laid eyes on Pac-Land. Admittedly, its odd control scheme--one button moves Pac-Man to the right, one moves him to the left and one makes him jump--leaves something to be desired, as does the repetitive simplicity of its overall gameplay, but this platformer's vividly colorful, "Saturday morning cartoon" visuals do quite a bit to make up for those flaws--or at least that's the effect they've always had on me.

All of the above should help explain why the piece of art that serves as the focus of this post resonated with me as much as it did when I first came across it late last week. Actually, I'm pretty sure it would have resonated with me even if I weren't an unabashed Pac-Land fan thanks to the unmistakable look of innocence and wonder that's splashed across Pac-Man's face.

Artist Pauli Kohberger, aka madamluna, is responsible for this winsome illustration, by the way. If you'd like to see more examples of her work--and, really, why wouldn't you?--head over to madamluna.deviantart.com at your earliest convenience.

'Sweet dream' indeed ...

I don't know about you, but I haven't run into many examples of NSFW-ish fan art devoted to Nintendo's pugilistic Punch-Out!! series over the years--which, in my humble opinion, is a crying shame.

Sadly, the piece of saucy fan art below (titled "Sweet Dream") doesn't include Little Mac, but it's so appealing even without his presence that I won't spend too much time complaining about the oversight.

This drawing was produced by the hand of artist Pauli Kohberger (aka madamluna), by the way. To see more of her stuff, check out her deviantart gallery (which contains a number of additional Punch-Out!!-inspired pieces) or her site, Electric Stories.

See also: 'Kirby and Meta Knight en fleur'

Kirby and Meta Knight 'en fleur'

I may be an odd Kirby fan (my first two Kirby experiences were with Kirby: Canvas Curse and Kirby's Epic Yarn), but I'm a Kirby fan nonetheless.

As such, I'm always down for great pieces of Kirby fan art--like the ones below, for instance.



Both were created by artist Pauli Kohberger, aka madamluna, for the soon-to-be-released Kirby’s Dream Zine.

For more on the latter, click on the link above. To see more examples of Kohberger's work, on the other hand, go to madamluna.deviantart.com or electricopolis.net.

Manly, muscly Wario

When I think of Wario, I think of an annoyingly lovable mischief-maker. I don't think of a Tom of Finland-esque muscleman.

Thankfully, artist Pauli Kohberger (aka madamluna) is more imaginative than I am. Otherwise, we wouldn't have access to the following illustration, which is rather appropriately titled, "Greed is Good."

To see more examples of Kohberger's work, check out her blog, Electric Stories, and/or her deviantART gallery.

The Muscle March fanfic you've all been waiting for (don't deny it)

I don't know about you, but when I first played Namco Bandai's wacky WiiWare game, Muscle March, I thought to myself, "You know, this could inspire some really great fanfic!"

OK, so that's not what I was thinking while I played the game for the first time. Still, I'd be lying if I said that I was anything other than intrigued when one of my most favorite deviantartists, madamluna, shared (via Twitter) a link to a piece of Muscle March fanfic she'd penned a while back.



The piece is called "Love and Muscles," by the way, and it's quite a hoot. (Does anyone under the age of 80 use that term? No? Oh, well.) Don't take my word for it--read the following paragraphs and find out for yourself:

Call him typical, but Pedroso lived for the hunt. The hunt of the heart, that is--the passionate dance of flirtation and courtship that set his Spanish blood a-boiling. The stolen glances, the gentle kisses, the tiny, expensive presents given to coax out the glow in a lady's eyes! Oh, just the thought of it was enough to have him dancing on air for days! Pedroso knew his stuff, all right, and many a señorita had fallen gracefully into his arms.

Which is why it nearly broke the poor man's heart when Abebe, gorgeous, chiseled, newest-member-of-the-team Abebe, spurned Pedroso's every advance. He used the man's rose petals to line his pet chick's 'fro-nest, pulled away in boredom at his veiled romantic poetry, and didn't look at all impressed when the keepsake silver bracelet snapped in half as he flexed his wrist. Pedroso could only watch in horror as every one of his attempts turned into a disaster right before his eyes, and at the end of it all he dragged himself back to his villa, in the deepest despair he'd ever known.

If you were at all tickled by what you just read, I'd highly recommend reading the rest of the piece at archiveofourown.org.

See also: Previous Muscle March posts