A good dream. A 1UP classic...

About 20% of my dreams are about videogames. Some of them classic, many on the arcade, some of them new, but the majority are about games that have never existed. Two nights ago I had one of the most vivid game dreams I've had in a while. Now you have to use your imagination because I can only draw in 2D. The game in my dream was all in 3D and high definition I might add! It all started out with these soldiers running up a hill in a quiet suburban neighborhood. There were few houses, a great mountain range and nothing but wide open spaces.

I don't play RTS games and especially not war games. My older brother loves RTS games and his favorites have been Advance Wars, and he's looking at getting Batallion Wars now.

The character designs of the soldiers were stylized. Somewhere in between the Advance Wars and Metal Slug designs. Are you starting to visualize my game a little better? Great. Now back to my dream.

As I pan the camera back I notice that the soldiers are advancing to something way in the background. The draw distance in my dreams is always exceptional! The ground was shaking and about 3 miles away Godzilla was fighting with Rodan!

In my dreams I have about 4 seconds to figure out the control scheme before the game ends. I pushed some buttons and noticed that I could zoom into the troops, select them and move them around with a few button presses. I guessed that my job was to slow down the advance of Godzilla and keep him from wandering into residential neighborhoods. It seemed easy enough since Rodan was keeping him busy and we were fighting way out in the boonies.

I clicked on the soldiers and noticed that there were specialists mixed in with the infantry. These are the characters I remembered. A demolitions specialist, a medic, machine gunner, flame thrower and general.

As the game progressed (there was no loading time). Godzilla and a different monster would begin a new fight and they'd drop the troops in the middle of the action. Way off in the distance I could see the lights from the city. I figured that sooner or later the harder levels would be taking me closer and closer into the city.

I would get to call in air strikes and artillery against the rampaging monsters. As the levels progressed I was able to get more special weapons to use such as the electric cannons on the beds of diesel trucks and even the flying Super-X.

The units under my command became more and more advanced the closer Godzilla got to the city. Eventually I got to use G-Force members, the elite task force called in when everything seems hopeless. They had access to special weapons that regular army folks didn't have, such as phaser rifles, the Super-X and even Godzilla's son Minya.

There was even a way to control the alien invaders that had brought some of the monsters to Earth. If you've ever seen the old Godzilla movies you'll remember the aliens were the people with curly toe shoes and razor thin sunglasses. With access to their UFO's, lightning rifles and ability to move some monsters around they added a whole new dynamic to the game.

Right before I woke up one of the last levels was starting up. King Ghidora flew into Tokyo to challenge Godzilla. Right away buildings were being toppled as monsters were being tossed through them. Too bad I woke up because the camera angles and particle effects of the buildings collapsing were great.

I can trace where most of the concepts in my dream came from. Aside from Godzilla movies, Metal Slug and Advance Wars I was a big fan of the King of the Monsters games from SNK - Neo Geo. I liked the first one more because it was a wrestling game, the second was more of a side scrolling brawler like Final Fight.

The second game that influenced my dream must have been War of the Monsters by Incognito. I've played that game backwards and forward and have unlocked everything and figured out all of the combos by myself. So there's no way I could give you and exact amount of hours spent playing that title. Needless to say the scale and scope of my dream was much bigger than what ended up in any other game. Ah, too bad I couldn't have recorded it!

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The Aliens, Predator, Terminator, and Capcom connection...

In the previous blog I talked a little bit about the inspiration behind some of the Mad Gear bosses. It got me thinking about the roots of other designs in the series. It made me realize that Metro City may have been a nexus for some science fiction franchises. Before we do a deep dive we should acknowledge the state of Capcom during this period. What games were they working on, what games that they published in the arcade, and home consoles? The early '90s was unique for the industry because the brawling game was declining in popularity at the same time that the fighting game was exploding. While the two genres were similar, they each had their own audience. In any case Capcom was knee-deep in keeping both formats alive. The teams working on arcade and home brawlers had some crossover. In 1993 the studio published Final Fight 2 for the Super Nintendo, and released The Punisher, and Cadillacs and Dinosaurs in the arcade.

In 1995 when the studio published the last entry in the Final Fight series, they were also releasing a new version of Street Fighter. They used this time to tie together the events of several games. For the Street Fighter Alpha / Zero series it was connecting Street Fighter, Street Fighter II, and Final Fight into one narrative. For Final Fight 3, on the SNES, it was calling out the various brawlers that the studio had worked on. There was dealership selling the very distinctive Cadillac cars. There was also a stage set aboard a moving bus. There were even details pulled from the Alien vs Predator arcade game from 1994. Capcom had every right to be proud of the legacy that they had created. Final Fight 3 was overlooked for how it tied together various properties.

Before I get ahead of myself let's talk about one of the bosses, and his design inspiration. So we've established that films like Escape from New York, Streets of Fire, and the Wanderers inspired the creation of the Final Fight series. Those films from the early '80s had a unique take on science fiction, and gang culture. They framed the characters, and story of the original Final Fight. The sequels therefor pulled influences from later films. The villain Stray from Final Fight 3 was a boss in the Skull Cross organization. He was nowhere near as memorable as the bosses from previous FF games. His look however had some familiar elements.

The appearance of the armored warrior was more than likely inspired by the bad guys in Cyborg. The film from 1989 featured Jean-Claude van Damme. The post-apocalyptic science fiction movie had gangs patrolling the wastelands of the southern US. Actor Vincent Klyn played Fender Tremolo, leader of the pirates. Ralf Möller was the second in command, named Brick Bardo. Both were cruel, and very strong. Their group murdered countless families in the movie. In the canon of Final Fight 3 Stray had murdered the family of Dean, one of the heroes. I would argue that the look, and costume of Stray was an amalgamation of the two villains. But the inspiration from science fiction cinema ran so much deeper than that. The stage where players fought Stray was set inside of a giant factory. The heroes fought on top of metal grates, suspended over boiling metal. It looked very much like the steel mill at the end of the 1991 James Cameron film Terminator 2: Judgement Day.

Final Fight 3 was peppered with nods to science fiction cinema. These Easter Eggs were more than an homage to the great films from the '80s and early '90s. Capcom was trying to connect the movie and game continuities together. During the development of the arcade and home brawlers the studio had become well versed in the canon of the popular science fiction films. They did a deep dive into those worlds because they were working on high profile licenses. They went over production notes, design books, comic books, and various cuts of the film to try and squeeze out anything that could be used in a game. Capcom did not get a license to create a Terminator game, however during their research they made an important connection. As a wink to sharp-eyed audiences they put in a number of these cameos, and let players figure things out.

Final Fight 3 was not about breaking up the Mad Gear gang. Nor was it about defeating the crime lord Belger. A new gang called Skull Cross had taken over Metro City. They were headed up by a rogue military leader named Black. The arms merchant was trafficking illegal firearms through the city. They ran operations out of a company called SIM Inc. Veteran fighters Mike Haggar, and Guy reunited to save the city. They were joined by Detective Lucia Morgan, and the mysterious Dean. Their hunt for Black lead them all throughout the city. As they put the pieces together they found where the weapons were being manufactured. It turned out that SIM Inc. was working on more than just guns. In a side room of one of their factories there was a cybernetic arm in a glass case. This was a nod to the same arm featured in the Terminator 2 film. This technology from Cyberdyne Systems, would lead to the creation of the Terminator cyborgs and Skynet.

As the heroes of Metro City fought their way to the top they raided the headquarters of SIM Inc. Inside there were even more nods to science fiction canon. In a glass case there was a Work Loader. It looked identical to the ones featured in the 1986 movie Aliens. In film canon Weyland Corp built and patented the P-5000 Powered Work Loader in 2025. Caterpillar Inc. would make commercial versions later on. Was SIM Inc. the actual manufacturer of these machines? Did they secure government contracts to help develop this technology for Cyberdyne? To further connect Final Fight continuity to those of other Capcom brawlers there were also display cases filled with the latest weapons developed by SIM Inc. In the Aliens film it was never stated who had created the weapons used by the Marines in the far future.

So why are all of these Terminator / Aliens connections so important? Why would they be featured in a Capcom fighting game set in an urban city? Aside from the easy answer; that the developers were just calling out all of the other games the studio published. The truth was that Capcom had very subtly managed to link three of the biggest science fiction franchises together in a licensed game. The timelines from Terminator, Predator, and Aliens were all interconnected thanks to the Alien vs Predator arcade game that the studio released in 1994. Cracked put the pieces together several years ago. If you haven't heard here is how everything fits; so you may know that Arnold Schwarzenegger played the Terminator in the 1984 film by the same name, and he also played Dutch Schaefer in the 1987 film Predator. What if I were to tell you that the reason the characters looked similar was not because they were played by the same actor, but because in canon they shared the same DNA?

In his story Dutch was already a well regarded mercenary, but he became legend as the first human to kill a Yautja, or Predator in a one-on-one fight. Years after the initial encounter he lost an arm during what was called the 2nd Alien War. Cyberdyne Systems retrofitted him with a cybernetic arm, which doubled as a gun. With his newly enhanced strength he could now go toe-to-toe with both Alien and Predator lifeforms. This enhanced version of Dutch was recorded as CDS-170A3. This numbering was important. In the Terminator 2 film it was explained that Dr. Miles Dyson, director of Special Projects was working on the next generation of cybernetics. He helped develop the CDS T-800 Endoskeleton. More commonly known as the Terminator. Cyberdyne undoubtedly used Dutch's martial training, military tactics, and weapons proficiency to program the perfect killing machine. It only made sense that they also used Dutch's DNA to clone human flesh and muscle to go over the robotic frame.

Lt. Linn Kurosawa, a cyborg from the 13th Colonial Marine Corps, was also featured in Alien VS Predator. Linn was younger, and featured newer technology than Dutch. Her skeleton and frame were enhanced with synthetics. She was essentially the next generation of human. Cyberdyne Systems would eventually evolve into Hyperdyne Systems. The company would create Synthetics, human-passing androids designed by Michael Weyland. Eventually his company would merge with another and create Weyland Yutani Corporation. The synthetic named Ash (Hyperdyne Systems 120-A/2) was featured in the original 1979 film Alien, and another named Bishop appeared in the James Cameron-directed sequel. Being partly synthetic would explain why Kurasawa was able to keep pace with the larger Dutch, and their Predator teammates.

I believe that the reason that Capcom went with a new villain named Black, and an organization called SIM Inc. was so that they could expand on the brawling worlds they had built. Metro City, and Final Fight by extension allowed the studio new paths for their cast to explore. It allowed crossovers from Street Fighter, or another franchise I way to fit into continuity. I'm holding out hope that we might get a new Final Fight, or at least another new brawler from Capcom in the near future. Which were your favorite Capcom brawlers? Were there any hidden details that you enjoyed in any of the games? I'd like to hear about it! If you would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

The monster files, when giants roamed the Earth.

So I had some extra details that I had gathered on monster trucks that didn't quite fit in with my diesel series. Rather than let them go to waste here's one extra post on my favorite automotive freak show. Most of you may know that the tires are really what make the monster trucks unique. In the four wheel drive community bigger is better. At the start of the monster truck movement it got to the point where traditional truck tires were not enough. So the pioneers in the late '70s and early '80s looked elsewhere for resources. Farm, construction, forestry and even mining vehicles were scoured for their unique, and massive tires. The early builds used military wheels and axles to support the weight of these new tires. With the exception of the motor, the biggest cost of each monster truck are the tires. On average the "terra" tires are 66 inches tall, 43 inches wide, and cost $5000 or more each. This price does not include the rims. The tires weigh over 800 lbs. each. On average monster trucks are 10,000 pounds, so a good chunk of that comes just from the wheels and tires.

 

 

In normal farm applications these oversize tires are not modified. Their wide stance and deep treads are meant to help pull heavy equipment across soft terrain. They provide enough buoyancy to help move a vehicle over swamps, marshes and even rivers. More important, they can do all of this without damaging crops. The extra weight of a stock tire however affects the performance (and safety) of monster trucks. So the tires are shaved using a hot tool. Hundreds of pounds of rubber are cut from each tread. The process of shaping each tire can take over two days. Teams sometimes have different treads or patterns that they cut depending on the types of shows they perform in. If a truck performs on mainly concrete courses they would have almost no tread. If they performed on mixed courses with dirt, and asphalt then a light tread would suffice. They would cut very little off if they performed on sand.

 

There were no templates to work from in the early days of monster truck construction. Each vehicle was completely unique. Builders were figuring out how to create suspensions, what types of motors and transmissions to use, and even the different sizes of terra tires to go with. The profile, or stance of each truck was different. This was something that I absolutely loved about the early days of monster trucks. Each truck had its own personality. Today the sizes and frames are almost all uniform with just a different fiberglass body on top. Back in the '80s a long-bed or short-bed truck determined the wheelbase, or distance between the wheels. Longer trucks tended to race better and turn quickly. Shorter wheelbase trucks tended to bounce, and lose control quickly because their center of gravity was very high. Yet for many of these builders the look of the truck was more important than how it performed.

 

Everyone knew that the big trucks could crush cars, but how many could look good while doing it? Some trucks were considered more for show rather than for sport. One of these was Showtime. It had a bright yellow paint job and a lot of chrome detailing. It did compete in many events but it also looked amazing. It boasted a powerful sound system, and it showed up perfectly polished in many car shows. The 1978 Ford Bronco had a shorter wheelbase than others, and when it that was combined with 73 inch tires, then it really stood out. There were a fewer number of trucks that used 73 inch Firestone Flotation 23's rather than the 66 inch Goodyear Terra's that most ran with. These trucks included Casper by Dale Harris, High X-pectations by Scott Palmer, Lon-Ranger by Gary Bauer, and the Giant by Kirk Dabney. When those trucks lined up against others the difference was noticeable. The extra size of tires also meant they raced slower and broke parts with more frequency. It was a small price to pay to stand out from the crowd. But like I said, in the early days bigger was better, and some builders started going to extremes.

 

The Dabney brothers, Kirk and Kevin, experimented with different monster building techniques. Instead of a truck for example Blue Thunder was a 1968 Camaro SS. It was piloted with a joystick from a Huey helicopter. That bar not only controlled the front wheel steering, but also the lights, nitrous, hydraulics, and rear wheel steering. Then they built two Nissan King Cab trucks. Mega Force and Alien. They started with 66 inch Goodyear Terras as well, but then made the switch to 80 inch Heavy Duty Deep Tread Firestones. When paired against other monsters these compact trucks looked gigantic. In fact the Nissan's were advertised as the "world's largest mini trucks." The only other import trucks that compared were The Toy. A 1985 Toyota Hilux compact by Joe Rinke that also sported the 80 inch Firestone's. It actually had a giant metal wind up key in the truck bed that rotated, making it look like an enormous toy. I have very vivid memories of seeing this truck as a child. Then there was So High Too by Dave Bell. The 1985 Toyota Hilux long bed had 73 inch Firestones, however the body rested on an elevated frame that made it stand over 13 feet in height.

Shots kept getting fired at Bob Chandler and his Bigfoot team as monster trucks got bolder. Every new build was a chance to do something original, and try to dethrone the king of the monster trucks. I had mentioned in the previous series that Jeff Dane's Awesome Kong II had a 3000 hp V-12 Allison aircraft engine. It was sourced from a helicopter. In the golden age of monster creators Scott Stephens built the Coors Brewser, and Coors Silver Bullet with jet turbine engines. They were capable of shooting flames almost 20 feet in the air. These jet monsters were capable of generating over 1,800 hp.

Then there was the diesel powered beast Godzilla. It took years to build, and when it was unveiled the monster truck community took notice. With its "standard" 73 inch tires, and custom features, it was much bigger and heavier than Bigfoot. The builders Al Thurber Jr., and Al Thurber III wanted to make their beast incomparable so they got even bigger tires. With 96 inch Firestones (and gold plated rims) Godzilla stood 16 feet in height, taller than So High Too. It weighed 28,000 lbs. Many thought that Bigfoot couldn't compare. History would prove them wrong.

 

Bob Chandler got tired of comparisons and wanted to settle the issue once and for all. Bigfoot was the King of the Monster Trucks. To prove it he built different versions of Bigfoot that could support 10 foot tires. That's not a typo. He has several sets of 120 inch Firestone tires. Their origins of those tires are fantastic. The LeTourneau Land Train started off as a military project in the 1950's. The company wanted to create an off road vehicle that could cross any terrain, especially extreme locations like the arctic or desert environments. This was to support research stations that could not be accessed by helicopter or ship. Roads were not readily available where this beast was headed. The company created hybrid diesel, electric motors that went into each wheel and helped pull the train over everything. Several versions of the land train were built, each better than the last. Each of those sported the enormous 10 foot tires. Sadly the military stopped testing the train, and parts of it ended up scattered all over the Pacific Northwest and Canada.

 

In the mid '80s Bob Chandler was on tour with Bigfoot when he saw some of the enormous tires at a salvage yard in Seattle. The owner was asking tens of thousands for them, so Chandler let it go. He returned later and offered to buy multiple sets at a lower price. After lots of back and forth they finally agreed on a price. Chandler then started work on Bigfoot V. Not satisfied with being able to run with a single set of 10 foot tires he created rims that could connect two sets, or "duallys." Its total weight jumped from 28,800 lbs to over 38,000 lbs. Each tire weighs a ton, with the aluminum wheel they jump to 2,400 lbs. In dually configuration that is over 19,000 lbs. In the end Bigfoot V stood 15' 6" tall, 13' 1" wide, 20' 5" wide with duals. In 1986 Chandler set the Guinness Book of World Records for the biggest, tallest and heaviest pickup truck. By this point Chandler was on top of the world. It was apparent that Godzilla and the rest could try to take the title, but his best could never be beaten. With the Bigfoot name out there it was only a matter of time before Hollywood came calling again. Silver Pictures needed an expert to build a monster truck for a very expensive stunt. Chandler's shop rose to the occasion and they created Bigfoot VII so it could be used in the 1989 movie Roadhouse.

 

Bigfoot VII originally had the traditional 66 inch tires. In the movie they used the truck to drive through an auto dealership, crushing every car inside. Estimates say the shot cost about a half million dollars to put together. I'm sure most of that went into building Bigfoot VII. After the movie Chandler returned it to his shop configured the truck so that it could also use the 10 foot tires. Chandler was approached by the Race Rock Cafe, to sell them Bigfoot VII for their collection. The cafe was a themed restaurant in Orlando Florida that had racing memorabilia from all over the world. The engine and transmission were removed and the truck sat outside as a show piece. The restaurant closed down in 2007 and all the memorabilia was sold off. Bigfoot VII ended up at Fun Spot USA in Kissimmee. The amusement park painted the truck slightly different and changed the name to BigFun. This version of Bigfoot was so iconic that an homage to it appeared in the Splat Pack, a video game expansion to Carmageddon. The Mac and PC title from 1997 had a cult-like following (I was a huge fan). The truck went by the name of the Monster Masher. It sported "Firestarter" tires and was driven by Herman Monster.

 

With the Bigfoot legacy secure this piece of history could be laid to rest. But if you know me then you know that I like to dig a little deeper. What if I were to tell you that there was a monster truck even bigger than Bigfoot VII? It turns out that in the super heavyweight category Godzilla had the third biggest tires, and Bigfoot VII was the runner up. There was a colossal monster truck from Canada that owned the title. This enormous beast went by the name of Superfoot. It was the undisputed champ of gigantic monster trucks. It used 150 inch tires, that's 12 feet, 6 inches of rock hard rubber. The tires came from an earth mover, one of those enormous yellow dump trucks that Tonka modeled their toys on. The tires were designed for enormous mining equipment and definitely not for regular trucks. It didn't stop the madman Richard Arel from trying the impossible. Richard was known for tinkering with engines, transmissions, and making his own vehicles for use on his pig farm.

 

The original name of the 1978 GMC 3500 truck was Suberfoot, because it was part Suburban. Arel had actually put two GMC trucks together to make his ultimate farm truck. This was way back in 1982, making him a pioneer of the culture. He put his (then) black and red truck on 66 inch terra tires, and it became the first Canadian monster truck. He did stadium shows all over the country. He was joined by the Super Toy, a Ford monster truck and fellow early Canadian monster. Suberfoot was eventually painted hot pink with bright blue lettering on the side. The name was then changed to Superfoot. When the monster truck shows slowed down Arel decided to use his truck as a centerpiece at Le Madrid, a hotel-restaurant that he owned. The restaurant was a popular rest stop, it was situated on the long road between Montreal and Quebec City. It featured a number of roadside attractions, including a collection of giant cement and fiberglass dinosaurs. Superfoot would fit right in with them.

 

To make it really stand out however Arel built an extended frame and mounted the 12+ foot tires on the truck. The engine and transmission were removed and it remained outdoors for years, just like Bigfoot VII. The downside was that he let the truck fall into disrepair. He would tell patrons that he was going to restore it someday but that day never came to pass. The truck ended up rusted and covered in graffiti near the end of its life. Arel sold off the property in 2011 and the truck vanished. Many assumed to the scrap yard, but I like to imagine that it got bored and instead ran away. It now roams the countryside looking for abandoned cars to flatten. Like a cryptid it pops up every now and then to startle young motorists. So if you're ever driving alone in the middle of nowhere and see a bright pink giant off in the distance, just keep moving, or you might become the next victim of the mysterious Superfoot. I hope you enjoyed this look at monster truck history. Did you have a favorite monster truck while you were growing up? I'd like to hear about it. If you would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!