Remembering a Legend of the Squared Circle

Randall Mario Poffo -- November 1952 - May 2011

By now, it's all over the news and internet -- "Macho Man" Randy Savage died from a heart attack while driving with his wife in Florida.  According to some reports, he lost consciousness and his Jeep careened through the median, into opposing traffic.  Randy's wife, Lynn, took the wheel to avoid hitting a motorcyclist and crashed into a tree.  She suffered minor injuries, but Savage was not so fortunate.  It was believed that he was already gone before the crash.

There are plenty of articles and stories about what happened, and me just repeating the facts would just sound like second-hand news.  No, I'm not here to report on his death.  I'm here to remember his accomplishments and his effect on an impressionable young boy growing up in suburban Missouri.

I grew up watching pro wrestling at a young age; my dad watched it, my cousin down the street watched it, even my grandmother watched it.  There were many larger than life characters who electrified the ring: Hogan, Piper, Snuka, the Ultimate Warrior.  But few superstars were as flashy, outspoken, or hard working as Randy Savage.  Inside or outside the ring, he left an impression.  When his entrance music, the classic "Pomp and Circumstance" played, you knew you were about to see a great performer.  Although he has won the World Wrestling Federation's World Championship Belt, he is more commonly considered the greatest Intercontinental Champion in WWF history.

In a time when wrestlers, such as Hulk Hogan, captured the attention of the fans, Randy Savage still found great success and secured himself as a wrestling legend (Take Wrestlemania III, for instance; while the battle between Hogan and Andre the Giant was extremely hyped, Savage's clash with Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat is still considered one of the greatest matches in pro wrestling history).  The Macho Man also had some great feuds with other wrestling legends, like Ric Flair, the Ultimate Warrior, and, of course, the Hulkster.

Not only was the Macho Man a consummate performer in the ring, he could cut a promo like few could.  With his gravelly voice, outlandish style, and, of course, his machismo, he earned the cheers and jeers of wrestling fans.  Whether he played a face or a heel, he made sure you never forgot him.  His dynamic personality lit up arenas for many years; so much that he became just as famous as the spokesman for Slim Jim snacks (if you don't know the famous line, by now, I'm not telling you), as well as his roles in TV shows and movies, such as wrestler Bone Saw McGraw in Spider-Man.

Strangely enough, Randy Poffo's original dream wasn't pro wrestling.  He tried to get into Major League Baseball.  At one time, he played for the St. Louis Cardinals in the Gulf Coast Minor League.  Unfortunately, this dream was broken and his destiny of a second generation wrestler was revealed (his father, Angelo Poffo, was a pro wrestler and a situp record holder).  The rest is pro wrestling history.

After his 30-year career, he withdrew from pro wrestling, but he kept his macho persona.  Recently, he seemed to be making a new life for himself, marrying Barbara Lynn Payne last year.  They celebrated their first anniversary only a few weeks ago on May 10, which makes Randy's death all the more tragic.

Randy and his new wife, Lynn, at their wedding in 2010.

Since his death, many great wrestlers have spoken out about the legacy that the Macho Man left in professional wrestling, including Chris Jericho, Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan, The Rock, and Roddy Piper.  One of the most touching was a poem from former TNA wrestler Jay Lethal (Savage was one of his idols who he imitated with his "Black Machismo" persona).

This Monday, I watched Monday Night Raw, hoping they would show some sort of tribute for the man who gave so much to help make the WWE the greatest wrestling promotion in the 1980s.  While there has been said to be some rancor between Vince McMahon and Randy Savage, the 2009 release of the Macho Madness DVD has shown that the company recognizes the legacy of this amazing performer.  And, indeed, the live broadcast of Raw did air a tribute to Randy Savage, which, afterward, the crowd was chanting "one more match" and I did tear up a bit.

I wish the best for Randy's family, his brother, and his wife.  The world has lost one of the greatest, most crowd pleasing pro wrestlers in history.  Rest in peace, Mr. Poffo.  As you used to say, "Space is the place and the sky's the limit."

Video courtesy of WWEFanNation on YouTube.

Forgotten Worlds - Dungeons & Dragons

When I was four, my older brother introduced me to something that would leave a huge impression on me.  This was something more impressive than any video game, blockbuster movie, or Saturday morning cartoon because it allowed me to tell my own stories.  Being a highly imaginative kid, I was enamored with such a phenomenon.  It was something that could have become a household name; spawning books, toys, video games, and a TV show; if not for the fact that "some people" thought it was a tool for Satanism (in my opinion, these people were the tools).  That thing was Dungeons & Dragons.

28 years later, I'm still playing tabletop rpgs.  I may have changed sides between companies a couple times, but I still enjoy rolling the dice to see if I'm drunk.  Back in the day, there was a certain mystique to Dungeons & Dragons that drew all those socially awkward dreamers, such as myself, to their friends' basements every week to become something much more fantastic.  Even though I don't play D&D anymore (I don't like 4th Edition) I still pay tribute to the pioneers of fantasy gaming.

In 1989, TSR released their second edition of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, which resurrected the interest in tabletop rpgs.  It was only a matter of time until someone orchestrated the awesome marriage between D&D and video games.  Capcom did just that -- not once, but twice.  When I first saw the majesty that was Dungeons & Dragons: Tower of Doom in the arcades, my jaw hit the floor.  While fantasy arcade games with rpg elements were nothing new (just look at King of Dragons, Knights of the Round, and Cadash), this brought it to a brand new level.  Never before had someone so perfectly integrated a lot of the classes, rules, and creatures of D&D into a brilliant side-scrolling brawler.  Seriously, this game was the closest one could get to "Nerdvana".  Three years later, they followed up an awesome game with an even better one:  Dungeons & Dragons: Shadow Over Mystara.  While I've never seen the sequel in arcades, I did get the chance to play it at an old friend's house with the Dungeons & Dragons Collection import game for the Sega Saturn.

Of course, the games weren't exactly like playing D&D.  It didn't have a "Roll a d20" button, no saving throws, no THAC0 listings.  Actually, I don't think I would play a game that was that painfully adherent to the rules (and those games were made, just for the PC).  Tower of Doom captured the feel of playing D&D without all the bookkeeping.  The game was what a D&D game should look like: seamless, fast-paced fantasy action.

Both of these games were full to the brim with classic D&D style.  The adventures take place in the classic D&D setting of Mystara, which was, pretty much, your standard fantasy campaign.  You and your friends can go around rescuing villages and defeating vile beasts.  And what would D&D be without the monsters.  Capcom scoured the Monster Manuals to give the players plenty of creatures and enemies to slay.  I couldn't believe how psyched I was to fight the Manticore or the Black Dragon for the first time.  And the Lich?  Holy crap, that was awesome (if you didn't know, liches are my favorite fantasy adversaries).

There were also multiple paths you could take throughout gameplay.  While you still played through the same storyline and ultimately end up at the same destination, your journey was dictated by the choices you made. This allowed players to play different levels over others and added to the replay value. With each choice, you explore different areas, such as a swamp, a mountain pass, or a village under attack.  Each specific level had their own unique boss, so there was always something new and exciting to fight.

Of course, with all these adventures to embark on, treasures to collect, and enemies to slay, the world has to have heroes.  Each of the characters in these games run the gamut of the standard D&D classes, but you won't find any multiclassed characters (sorry, all you Fighter/Mage/Thief fans).  Only four classes were available in Tower of Doom, but that number expanded to six in Shadow Over Mystara

First off, you have the Fighter.  Strong, reliable, good with a sword -- your typical hack 'n' slash type.  Of course, he can't use magic, but there are magic items that allow him to use spells, should he find them.  The Fighter is my usual go-to guy when it comes to fantasy roleplaying, so I typically end up playing him in the game.

While not as good with a sword as the Fighter, the Elf makes up for it with the use of arcane spells.  She is a bit faster than the fighter, but loses some reach with her blade.  This Elf is a dead ringer for Deedlit from Record of Lodoss War, who, in turn, was inspired by a roleplaying group that creator Ryo Mizuno played in.

On the other side of the coin, the Cleric mixes divine magic with mace swinging combat abilities.  His healing spells are invaluable in an arcade game, but he's got a couple of offensive spells in his repertoire, such as the ability to turn undead (into dust, that is).

Rounding out the group from the first game, the Dwarf is another combat focused class.  Like everyone else who isn't the Fighter, his weapon's reach isn't very long, but no one can hit faster than he can with his axe.  He also has a higher resistance to spells than any other character.

The enigmatic Magic-User is one of the new classes featured in Shadow Over Mystara.  He's the weakest character, physically, but his arcane abilities are unmatched.

The other character from Shadow Over Mystara is the swift and sexy Thief.  Though not as strong as the Fighter, she makes up for it with the ability to detect traps, which can save your entire party from some unnecessary damage.

With their fantastic side-scrolling action, four player cooperative ability, and the quests, characters, and monsters straight from the pages of one of the most famous tabletop rpgs, both of these games are high on my list of all-time favorite arcade games.  It's a shame that they have not seen a console release since the days of the Sega Saturn (and that was only in Japan).  These games need to be available for current gen systems.  The XBOX 360 is perfect for four player arcade action (as evidenced by Konami's X-Men).  Someone at Capcom better get to work on that, seriously.

A lot of the images, including the video below, are from this great D&D arcade shrine, which features a lot of great resources.  Check out the link here and take a look.  The guy who made it also has some other great video game shrines you should see.  Just click the link for his homepage at the bottom of the shrine.

Until next time, keep your scores high and the quarters flowing.

Free Comic Book Day!

Today is a special occasion for every geek, dork, nerd, and spaz:  Free Comic Book Day.  Go to your local participating comic book store and pick up some great free comics.  It's a perfect opportunity to find new titles you may like or get interested in something you may have missed.  For a full list of free comic books that may be available at your local store and more details, check out http://www.freecomicbookday.com.  Happy reading.

Forgotten Worlds - A New Kind of World Record

For the past few years, many arcade mavens, such as Billy Mitchell, Steve Wiebe, and Hank "Dr. Kong" Chien, have tried to take the top score on many arcade games.  Donkey Kong has been at the center of this competition, but it's only the tip of the iceberg.  Many other games beckon arcade aficionados to break new ground in world records.  One man is forging his own quest for greatness, but he's not going for a high score.  He's in it for the long haul.

Joel West has been playing arcade games and breaking records since the early '80s.  He was one of the gamers featured in LIFE magazine back in 1982 in Ottumwa, Iowa at Twin Galaxies Arcade and is also in the arcade documentary Chasing Ghosts: Beyond the Arcade.  He is the first gamer recognized by Twin Galaxies for holding the high score record to two arcade games at the same time.  He's been in competition for the top score for the arcade game Berzerk, a record he previously held.  This game has been known for having gameplay so frenetic, that two teenagers died from heart attacks after playing this game in the early '80s (no foolin', they died immediately after getting a high score).    While he doesn't hold the high score for Berzerk anymore, Mr. West is going for a different record: the longest single gameplay on one credit.  That means he must keep a single game going, from pressing start to "game over," for days without stopping.  For his shot at the record, he's aiming for 72 hours of straight gameplay.

His game of choice for beating the record is Frenzy, which is the sequel to Berzerk and considered to be tougher than its predecessor.  For those who don't know, in Berzerk and Frenzy, you play this guy with a laser gun.  You have to run through these rooms, shooting human hating robots and running from Evil Otto, this giant, robotic smiley face who comes back, even faster, every time you kill him.  There are certain elements of each game that differentiate between the two, but the gameplay is very similar.

Mr. West's first attempt at breaking this record happened at Big Bang 2010, a video game convention in Ottumwa, Iowa (if you want to know more about the arcade history of Ottumwa or the Big Bang events, check out an old article I wrote here).  He really wanted to break the record there to give the town a bit more press, but the Frenzy arcade machine there froze up only four hours into his attempt.  Undaunted, he recently tried again at New Jersey's Richie Knucklez Arcade during The Kong Off (which I talked about on the last Forgotten Worlds).  Unfortunately, he spent so much time traveling and setting up for the attempt that he didn't get a lot of sleep and tired out before breaking the record.

 Here, we see Billy Mitchell getting Joel West started

on his marathon run during The Kong Off

(photo courtesy of TheKongOff.com)

 
Despite these setbacks, Mr. West remains certain that he can claim a new world record.  He plans on returning to Richie Knucklez to make his third attempt.  So far, no date has been set for the event, but I'm keeping my ear to the ground and will let you know when he goes for the record again.  Until then, I wish Mr. West the best of luck.

If you want to see what Frenzy looks like, check out this video.



And, for no other reason than to make my wife happy, here's some pictures of red pandas.  Gawk at the random cuteness!

Aww...

 ...so charming.

 They just seem so cuddly.

Look, he's winking at you.

 They're even adorable when they're eating.

Okay, that was more cuteness than I could handle.  I hope my wife appreciates this.

I'll see you next week.  And, remember, keep your scores high and the quarters flowing.