Did I really make a 20 minute video on Awesome Possum? Yes, I did! I promise you the story is way more interesting than you think. Stay safe, everyone!
Gaming Historian you too! can you also look at more videos about the gameboy (color, light, pocket, advance, advance SP and micro)? like it doesn’t matter what it is just make it about the gameboy, that would be awesome thanks!
At least they won the lawsuit this time around since the attacker had no solid evident that they may had stole their comic idea. Seriously, that lawsuit was so dumb...
i just find it funny that its ATARI that started making unlicensed games, considering they fought the battle against that themselves after refusing to credit programers
I mean... There is a game with a mascot that heads a Resistance against a scientist polluting and transforming his native environment for profit and power through automatives processes. It's Sonic.
And Sonic did a better job inspiring hope, but you know how environmental PSAs go. Dr. Suess' The Lorax is a big example of this: It was banned because it blasted controversey, the movie had ironic advertising, and people crushed hard on the mogul "The Onceler", setting the stage for Tumblr's downfall.
Well, the 3D-games is not about environment, I think..their stories are all over the place, I think the games before 06 is about peace and pacifism though (especially Sonic battle, which is a bit ironic).
That’s pretty epic, the game may not be great and it’s a shame it didn’t turn out better, but I love how he actually kicks his butt at the end. They really didn’t falsely advertise at all. I feel like an environmentally conscious but cool mascot genuinely is a good idea, I think if would be fascinating to see an alternative take on this game with a brighter more comic-themed art style, and improved code with less slowdown. If Awesome Possum was less annoying and slightly cooler and had more charm, like Sonic does, I think this could’ve been great. Imagine if you could see the game’s levels become more polluted and dark as you go through it then see things get better in a prologue level after beating Dr. Machino.
It exemplifies the common worldsaving do-gooder attitude. Might have to do with the whole advertising approach for the agenda which is reminiscent of the MMO concept of telling everybody they are a hero ... (for making the corporation profit).
@Nobody comments are not funny you troglodyte Of course you have to believe it is not real. Your inferiority complex got triggered, that is why you perceive it as obnoxious. If you are still a teenager, you have a good chance of growing out of it.
I remember playing this game as a kid and being super excited about the fact that character talks a lot. To me this was the first time when i had an experience with voice in videogames (there was EarthWormJim but it had only few phrases, seeing character talking with voice just like in cartoons was cool at that time). However even as a kid i didn't like the art style that much. The style of the game could have been a little more polished. For example the comic book version looks great. If they kept that bright simplified style and not the muddy mess that we got, the game would get more praise even with that terrible level design (i beat that game as a kid but my god that water level...how i hated going through it...i was just rushing through those late levels without caring about the game itself)
Yeah! I had it too. I live in Russia and in the 90s the coolest console you could get was the Megadrive or the SNES. My father (he's the sailor) got me a japansese Megadrive in 1995 with the three games which were Sonic & Knuckles, Awesome Possum and Virtua Racing))))) That voice in AP got me hooked and I played all the shit of it! Questions were the pain in that Japanese though!)))) Funny to think now of how my father got it bought in japan)) Like "Is it discounted?? Well, then I want it and the best 3 games please!"))))))))
Something that isn't a muddy game on the Mega Drive? Well, you'd have to export to Japan where they knew how to do that. It was already doomed from the start since TenGen was a western operation.
“The first design of Awesome Possum was a North American possum... But the character wasn’t exactly cute, and looked too vicious.” *could somebody please show me where the North American possum presented in the video looked vicious*
Yeah probably because the face is angular it might have looked more vicious as when rendered as an anthropomorphic character while the ringtail does have a cute face and with bigger ears.
The actual American possum is a lot mode Vicious looking when scared or angry when they hiss or bare their teeth they are very unfriendly looking . The demeanor of an animal can mean a massive difference in how threatening they look. Case in point wolves can look majestic and can represent the untamed beauty in nature but when angry have been used to represent all of man’s worst fears of the unknown (big bad wolf and werewolf mythology)
I like the interview you did with an animal expert. Never would've thought there would be any need for a video game, but it works (such as the bit about playing possum). These in-depth documentaries are so fun and informative to watch! Very well done!
I love Rocket Knight Adventures. It's such a polished game, one of the few from a 3rd party publisher that matched that Sonic or Mario level of polish. And I love the spin off game Pop'n Twinbee Rainbow bell Adventure. Plays just like Rocket Knight but with a cutesy look to it, and it's quite a bit easier. Sparkster for SNES is great too. Sparkster for Genesis though, is no match for the original Rocket Knight game or Rainbow Bell
It also got released for the Super Nintendo as Sparkster the opossum and it got a remake for the PS3 and Xbox 360. Sadly it didn't get the love and attention it deserves and it's very unlikely Konami will ever use their armored marsupial because of how shamefully greedy they have been.
I'd love to see you do a video on the PS1 title Intelligent Qube and it's little known history. It's an amazing game with some big names attached to it's development.
Im a animal science student and I grew up with more Sonic, and I found it really touching with this info of Awesome Possum. Even though video games and agriculture/biology dont really go together at least its nice to see people’s intentions of making the world a better place
I rented this game around 95 for a week and it was a difficult but rewarding time. I've just never met very many people who remember it , I seemed to be one of the few genesis owners in my circles
This is so strange! I was in a low mood so I decided to watch some Gaming Historian to calm my nerves (I hadn't done so in quite a while). Once I was finished with Punch-Out you posted this... and it felt so crazy. Thank you, brother!
I've always thought this show is one that deserves a series on Netflix or something. It's always very professionally done. Great and interesting video!
So Netflix can get full control over what is created and then is canceled after one season? Idk why people think creators who get millions of views need to sabotage themselves.
The fact that possums look so derpy and cross eyed all the time, like they're the 'special' one in the marsupial family is adorable, at least to someone not from the North American continent
@@scramblesthedeathdealer a decent game...at causing tons of frustration from it's confusing level design, continuous annoying quips, a very poor system where Bubsy is trying too hard to be both Mario and Sonic while being unique, and no extra cool cheats that can at least make the game fun sometimes. You enjoy what you enjoy, but we think it's one of the worst games ever made.
@@autistichades5552 Let me specify that we did not *own* Bubsy, merely enjoyed the memories we had of the rust-colored smart ass. I will probably end up purchasing a copy of Bubsy just for shits and giggles, but I have to be careful while modifying a replacement Genesis plastic case to fit this special-shaped cat turd.
7:33 "After watching the movie 'Godzilla,' he wondered what it would be like if an ordinary animal was given extraordinary abilities." We now need a game starring a kaiju possum.
The animation in Awesome Possum reminds me of when I was a lazy animation student and I would run my animations at double speed so it looked like I drew more frames than I actually did. In practice it just looked ungodly choppy
@@supakusuta nope, that's the game's actual framerate. It goes up and down like that. It is speculated that Awesome Possum was written in (very unoptimized) C compiled to the M68000.
@@luisjogos821 1st part, I have known some time after this comment. It runs like this on different emulators and on a real Mega Drive. 2nd, that's what I thought. The game running on unoptimised C code.
@@supakusuta yeah. The dev team probably saw a opportunity for efficiency (since C is higher-level than a 68000 assembler), but not optimizing it was a big L for this game.
When you did the mascot roll call at 5:33 , i was kinda disappointed that there was no mention of Apollo the Cheetah Man from the game The Cheetahmen by Active Enterprises for their hit multigame cartridge Action 52.
Sonic also, in his own way, had a more subtle pro-environmental position in its premise: A hedgehog restores nature from an industrialist who wanted to convert everything to machines. Sonic CD shows nature & technology in cooperation, but it's still a game in favor of reducing the pace of every-increasing industrialization at the cost of nature.
6:20 hey I'm thankful to this lady for all these good information about the animal. I wasn't expecting this in video game content, but the job is definitely all-around. Well done!
Of course they used the word "Butt" in the title. It was the early 90's, and the word "butt" finally crossed that taboo and was deemed okay for use in kid's programming. It was the fart joke of its day. Easiest way to get a laugh out of your fellow school kids was to say "butt." Watch a cartoon from that era, especially Animaniacs or Ren and Stimpy. Hell, there was that weird episode of Tiny Toons that had characters with big butts in it. AS far as the lawsuit goes, the name "Awesome Possum" should be absolutely obvious. Wasn't that Bonkers's catchphrase?
I'm willing to bet that this isn't the most ridiculous lawsuit ever filed by somebody from Clarks Summit. There's some weird people with too much time and money up there.
Thank you for the true effort you put into these videos. The in-person interview, artists renderings, VO in previous episodes, etc. You're one of the best on the platform. Thank you for such great content!
Great video, I especially liked the interview with the rescue worker. Kind of surprised to hear the North American possum was rejected, the one you got footage of was a cute little bugger. I do think it's maybe a bit of a reach to say that this game or other environmentally themed media at the time were about climate change. Global warming was just one among many broader issues of natural preservation and sustainability and not the overruling concern it is today. I don't think this game actually makes any references to the climate at all, including in the comic in the instruction manual. I'd be surprised to hear this specifically led anyone to wanting to be a climate scientist.
I know it's probably not the same thing, but there is a cartoon from the 90's that was called "Pit Possum, Super Dynamic Possum of Tomorrow" that featured a possum who would save his forest city Superman style(and other superheroes were spoofed as well, he does have a superhero car like Batman). One of the bad guys is a French-Canadian lumberjack. I dunno, the similarities are there. Worth a check if you haven't seen an episode. It was funny shit back in the day.
I got a family of opossums living out near my shop, they're kinda friendly and come in the shop when I'm in there to just wander around I pet one of them before, but it was scared, it's fun to give em fruit though, they love it
Gosh, Gaming Historian, I genuinely hope your smooth, professional and elegant style of video-making becomes more normal. You're 10 notches above most videos, and at least 5 notches above most other video essays
Hey I’m here pretty early! Also I remember this awesome possum game as a kid growing up. Ok that possum you saw irl was super cute and cross eyed. The possums I see irl that run under my car tires do NOT look that cute. They look like serial killers on drugs
I saw this game on Vinesauce streams. Noticing the deforestation equipment that Possum smashes, I had a sneaking suspicion regarding the game's environmental message. Even then, Sonic CD conveyed the message a bit better.
Agreed! Driving the point of environmental destruction home with bad futures and the ominous, insanely catchy music accompanying the stages was a fantastic way to drive the point home. Night and day from the constant stream of highly irritating synthesized speech that Awesome Possum had to offer.
I think you have one of the best, if not the best, gaming history channels on RU-vid. I’m always anticipated for the next video you released. I have literally run out of content to watch on your channel is how much I enjoy watching. Also seeing the level of work you put I and to see how your channel has evolved over the years. I wish there was faster content releases, but also understand that would dilute the quality of content that you release. Keep it coming gaming historian. Can’t wait for the next one.
I'm sorry but if I saw this game in a store as a kid, I would be instantly turned off by the environmental message. There's nothing wrong with an environmental message but I just didn't care as a kid. My concerns were school, video games, and Power Rangers. Why would I buy Awesome Possum when I could get Sonic or Ristar instead?
Id say there's plenty wrong with environmental messages. Especially that it's OK to confiscate property with the idea that the govt has agency over the weather.
Dang, being reminded of the term "Greenhouse Effect" takes me back. Haven't heard of it in so many years, probably decades even. It's still relevant too, we just keep renaming it.
Dude, I saw a video of yours of my favorite device ever, the GameGear, yesterday and was in love with this new channel that was recommended. When I looked carefully, the video was from nearly 10 years ago! Damn man, new subscriber here- and your quality has been A 1 since Day 1- good shit!
Great video Norman..love learning about games even those that weren’t too popular...so many games I would to see you make a video on but I also respect the process necessary to deliver that quality content 👍🏼
Possums are ugly-cute... don’t know how to describe it. One time I was walking early in the morning and saw a momma possum carrying her babies on her back. It was really sweet
"Protecting the environment" was the theme of many TV shows, movies and video games in the 1990s. * Captain Planet (TV show) * Widget the World Watcher (TV show) * Ferngully (film) * Toxic Crusaders (TV show) * Mick & Mack as the Global Gladiators (video game) * Awesome Possum (video game)
This game feels like a bubsy rip off both have voice acting and the story being told through a comic book. But the main difference is that I had more fun with Bubsy than awesome possum.
I know man, I'm a big bubsy fan too and I liked his games (obviously except the 3D which is worse than this game) but I don't think awesome possum could be his rip off of either bubsy or sonic , the Game is original and the plot is more different from that of the 2 of them, but he has always had the same behavior and speech as bubsy☺️☺️☺️
7:26 "speech and debate class in high school" - Man, I could only dream of such in my school years here in Germany, especially in that early school form.
One of my friends love possums (and he has a possum fursona), so, as a joke, I showed this video to him. While he didn't find it funny about the fact it contained possums, he was having fun learning about videogame history and possum facts. He's now a new subscriber. ^w^
I think I heard about this game a while ago but don't remember much. This video was really good. Always learn something new with your videos. Also I thought the character from Rocketknight Adventures was a dog this whole time
