Sparkling Summer Fan Fest '22/Niobium Moon Studios

==CRUISE==
A trailer begins with the Nintendo GameCube 2 logo popping up onto the screen.
Then, after the logo fades to black, we catch a glimpse of a vast woodland, filled with familiar objects like coins, mushrooms, Question Blocks, and multiple enemies scattered throughout.
A red-clad plumber leaps out of a deep purple pipe, followed by his brother in green, a princess in pink, a blue Toad, a shimmering star maiden...
And an adventurous Goomba with a miner's helmet.
Footage of Mario, Luigi, Peach, Toad, Rosalina, and Goombella navigating this early woods course is displayed, as they stomp enemy Goombas and show off their abilities.
We then see Mario and Goombella exploring a noir city world, this time with some help from yellow-clad treasure hunter Wario and the shady, mysterious Don Pianta.
This footage is followed by Luigi and Toad on the run from a swarm of Eeries in a haunted cave level.
In the woods, Mario picks up a new bone power-up with blue bandages on it. The Super Bone turns him into Wolf Mario, and we see clips of him running at faster speeds and trampling enemies in his path.
In a western desert level, Wolf Mario bites into a rope and tugs on it, pulling out a huge minecart. It starts rolling and he hops into it before it eventually speeds up, taking him on a ride throughout a massive gold mine.
A massive purple cloud rages above the woods, and Peach and Rosalina dodge dark lightning strikes that make Goombas, Koopas, and other nearby enemies stronger and more furious than before.
As we see in the next clip - which takes place in an oriental temple world - these storms can even affect items and blocks. Bricks crumble beneath Goombella's feet and a Mushroom goes rotten and chases her.
The all new Princess Thorn, a crazy little rebel bent on creating chaos, is introduced in footage where she shoots orbs of emerald-colored magic at Mario and Luigi as they chase her through an alleyway in the noir city world. Her magic orbs warp the landscape around them and create spike traps, lava pits, and bottomless holes where they don't belong.
Peach confronts Bowser at the top of the oriental temple, while Rosalina and Wario fight Boom Boom and Pom Pom on the wings of a large jet soaring through the night sky.
Luigi and Don Pianta are lost in a maze of glistening green blocks, Toad and Goombella find themselves on the run from a giant, shadowy Piranha Creeper with sharp red fangs, and Mario - alongside the spunky Koopie Koo - encounter an angry bison sheriff in a dusty old desert town.
All the playable characters revealed so far manage to get their hands on several Shine Sprites throughout the worlds' many courses, and we see footage where they use them at a cruise ship hub world to open gateways to new stages.
Mario, Luigi, and Rosalina approach a massive black castle in a dark, unstable kingdom... with a red-headed lady with a black dress standing next to Rosalina.
Cosmetta, returning from 's content like Super Mario: Elemental Journey, prepares for battle against a crimson void behemoth, as Mario, Luigi, and Rosalina stand with her...
----
==Sonic Charge New Info==
In Sonic Charge, what exactly is the big difference between the Chaos Dimension and the all-new Charge Dimension, where our new companion Sister Sonic resides along with her friends and enemies?
Well, we've already made it clear that the Zones you'll explore in the Chaos Dimension are remasters and reimaginings of fan-favorite Genesis stages as well as some more obscure levels from games like Sonic Chaos and Knuckles' Chaotix, while the Charge Dimension features a variety of wholly new Zones that feel a lot like what you've seen before, but with a strange new vibe and charm to further emphasize that you are no longer in Sonic's world, but instead Sis's.
Zones in the Chaos Dimension are shown off with the visual style of Sonic Mania, complete with a soundtrack of remixes to back up their classic but newly renovated environments. In each Chaos Zone, Act 1 kicks things off with a faithful remake of the aspects that made its original counterpart work so well... but Act 2 is where things start to get crazy, as in some cases the Zone's primary features and gimmicks are ripped apart and put back together in fresh new ways, and in others you may even feel like you're walking into a new Zone entirely - especially when the Charge Dimension's young overlord Omelette takes control! For example, Casino Night Zone Act 2 is no longer the cozy, jazzy giant pinball machine you saw in Act 1; now it's an intense, icy gambling madhouse, complete with roulette wheels in place of the old jackpot machines.
The Charge Dimension, meanwhile, is portrayed in a 4:3 aspect ratio with sprites that much more closely resemble the original Genesis games, with new chiptune compositions to capture the essence of said titles while also emphasizing the familiar but still brand-new reality surrounding the player character. The Zones within this world take on some intriguing characteristics - in one, you'll leap through a field of massive flowers at sunrise, awakening them with buckets of water to reach new heights, while in another, you'll navigate an enemy base fueled and energized entirely by... music?! Along with these, you'll also encounter a foggy swamp-infested palace, a blockade of shield-generating radio towers, and even the remains of the Flying Battery blimp, which Omelette has stolen for her own purposes along with other old Robotnik creations - including the bulky Silver Sonic model Sonic fought on the Death Egg. Silver Sonic has a renewed grudge against Sonic and will stop at NOTHING to do exactly what he was programmed to do - no matter what it takes to do so.
What about the Special Stages? Well... if you're a Sonic fan, have you ever imagined Sonic running beside you during a car ride, jumping over other vehicles and dashing through the many routes you take?
Yeah.
In Sonic Charge's Special Stages, the player character breaks through reality and finds themselves in an illusion seemingly crafted to resemble those moments of imagination, dodging cars, trucks, motorcycles, buses, and trains as they snag up the Rings they need to speed up and pass through the barriers, represented by stoplights. But that's not all - Fang the Sniper will appear to fight you and attempt to reach the stage's Chaos Emerald (or Charge Opal) before you do.
Bonus Stages are also back, and this time there are a lot more of them. If you have enough Rings in a Zone, jumping into the star circle above a Lamppost in the Chaos Dimension will warp you to a recreation of one of multiple different Special or Bonus Stages from across the Genesis and Game Gear era - including, but not limited to, Sonic 3's Blue Sphere stage and Gumball Machine bonus, Sonic & Knuckles' Magnetic Orbs and Slot Machine bonuses, Sonic Spinball's Pinball Machine bonus (returning from Sonic Mania Plus), the Special Stages from Sonic Chaos and Sonic 3D Blast, and even the original Secret Zone from Sonic 1.
==Interview with Crakabo==
In this interview, I ask about his experiences as an artist in the Fantendo community.
Nio: Aight, so the first thing I wanna ask is, what inspired you to start drawing?
Crak: Well drawing had always been something I had enjoyed doing. I've mentioned it before but I've been coming up with game ideas since I was a kid, so that sort of pushed me into getting into art as a way to sort of visualize my ideas. Eventually after getting into Fantendo I started trying to do digital art, primarily out of necessity since I never really drew with anything outside of a pencil. Through that I eventually sort of evolved into the art I create today.
Nio: Art is definitely an integral part of Fantendo content and the community that surrounds it. With that being said, which of your projects have you had the most fun making art for so far?
Crak: Oh absolutely KillGames: Rechained. I loved taking all these characters that I had created and giving them a nice new fresh coat of paint, whether it just be modernizing their established looks, or giving them a total redesign. At first I felt characters like Diablo and Blitzkrieg had always looked kinda boring, but with this reboot I can give them a redesign that really shows off their personality and traits.
Nio: Redesigning your old creations can be quite rewarding, as it shows just how far you've come as an artist. However, it's definitely not always easy and the trials and tribulations can prove to be a burden if you're not patient enough. Which of your projects has been the most difficult to draw for?
Crak: Oh that's easy, Smash Something Else! While the game is really fun to work on, I have to admit it's what pushed me the most. 120 drawings is a very tall order for any artist, and while obviously characters like Kirby and Jigglypuff took like 30 minutes at most, there are definitely a lot of characters that took hours, if not days to complete (Champion Zelda, Rex and the "underrated three" as i call them in Pack 3 come to mind). To this day I'm still surprised I managed to complete the game in a matter of a few months (though that might be because I spent a lot of time devoted to just drawing everyone). I've definitely slowed down as of now, but I think it shows cause the character art I've been drawing now is a lot more detailed. I'm still proud of what I did but you can definitely tell a few characters (namely I think Kirby and Terry) look kinda off (The former due to being the first art I drew in my colored outlines style, and the latter being a result of me trying to push as many characters as I could.)
Nio: It's good to know your limits as an artist and understand how to work *with* them. Drawing is definitely a different experience for everyone who tries it, so some people may have a harder time with some aspects compared to others.MS Paint is a program that gets some flak for its very limited features compared to the likes of Paint Tool Sai, FireAlpaca, and Photoshop, as well as its public association with weird DeviantArt drawings. However, in the right hands it can be just as worthy of an art tool as its more advanced counterparts. Do you have any advice for new/future members of the community who are looking to make art for their games and stories?
Crak: I'd say just keep doing what you like! Even I'll admit MS Paint is a limited program (the lack of good ways to make art transparent without an outside source or layers comes to mind), but I try and work around those problems simply because MS Paint is the program I enjoy the most. Digital art isn't defined by the program you use it, it's how you use that program to create your art. As long as you're having fun creating the art, use whatever you want!
Nio: Those are some good words to live by! Is there anything else you'd like to say before we close up?
Crak: I'm glad to be part of this community for so long! I still remember back when I was a middle schooler just snooping around the site reading about games like New Super Mario Bros. Omega. It feels weird that today I'm now considered one of the site's bigger creators, but I'm glad to have gotten to this point and met so many people that I now consider friends!Also I'm not adding Goku to Smash Something Else.
Nio: Thanks for your time Crak! We look forward to seeing what you come up with next!
Crak: Ey don't mention it!
Category:Subpages
Category:Presentations
Category:Sparkling Summer Fan Fest '22
Category:Showcases