Wednesday, May 11, 2011

'A lifetime at the races'

While working on the following illustration, artist Ashley Davis says she was "inspired by the fact that everyone who has ever been important in my life has played a Mario Kart game with me."

Peach is her mother, she adds, while "Mario and Toad are my sisters, Funky Kong is a long lost best friend that I wish I could reconnect with, Wario is my husband, and Dry Bones is me."


Is anyone else jealous of Davis? I mean, she's played a Mario Kart game with her mom. I guess I should be happy that I got to play a lot of Super Mario Kart with my older brother back in the day, even though he beat me about 75 percent of the time.

To see more of Davis' wonderfully whimsical creations, check out her deviantart.com gallery or her website, oddlookingbird.com

15 comments:

Viewtiful_Justin said...

I'm certainly jealous. My mom never played a video game a day in her life. But I am happy that I have a partner who is more than willing to play Mario Kart, Super Mario, or Gand Theft Auto with me!

Marcus said...

Hmm, that's a really interesting tidbit behind the cute image. I also have some pretty cool memories of gaming with my family and would love to find a way to show that in drawn form. Unfortunately it wouldn't turn out nearly as nice as this art xD.

Bryan Ochalla said...

Justin: My mom plays the occasional DS and Wii game, but she's rarely strayed from CrossworDS, Tetris DS and Wii Sports. I can only imagine what it would be like to play against her in Mario Kart DS or WIi :)

Anyway, I'm completely jealous that you have a partner who is willing to play Mario Kart, Super Mario, etc. And Bubble Bobble, too, right? Argh!

My husband is like my mom: He'll play Brain Age or Wii Sports Resort now and then, but that's about it. He has expressed interest in trying Pac-Man CE, but he has yet to do so. I should film it when he finally gets around to it, as it's sure to be hilarious :)

Bryan Ochalla said...

Yeah, I know what you're saying, Marcus. My older brother and I really bonded over games when we were younger. I have fond memories associated with playing games with good friends, too. Nowadays gaming is a much more solitary experience for me, I'm sad to say :(

LottieTwintails said...

My mom played Bubble Bobble together with me on the NES a few times, those are some fond memories! Otherwise, neither parent ever really got into games, but I'm just grateful they accepted the fact that I played them. A lot.

My wife-to-be is just as much of a gamer as I am, though, which I couldn't be happier about. Gaming can be a lot more rewarding with someone sitting next to you, even if they're just watching the story scenes and pointing out things you missed ;D

Bryan Ochalla said...

Oh, that sounds wonderful, Kamiwoo! (I'm talking about your memories of playing Bubble Bobble with your mom.)

I have to say it's been a kick seeing my mom become fully obsessed with Tetris DS. She also decided to give New SMB a try, but just couldn't get a hang of it. So weird to encounter someone who doesn't understand the basics of SMB.

Anyway, enough about me -- back to you! I love that your wife-to-be (!) loves games, too. Do you play any particular games together?

Unknown said...

+1 for Bubble Bobble

Bryan Ochalla said...

Hey there, just.so! Ah, so you've had some familial/friendly Bubble Bobble battles, too? Awesome :)

Unknown said...

You kidding? All time favourite! :P ... and, since starting this comment I just discovered it's available on XBLA. My sister is going to FLIP! :D

Bryan Ochalla said...

Ah, someone after my own heart! Bubble Bobble is an all-time favorite of mine, too :)

Just so you know, the version available on XBLA (and WiiWare) is a remake, not the arcade original. I haven't played it, though, so I can't say if it's worth buying or not...

LottieTwintails said...

We're both JRPG junkies, so a lot of the time she watches while I play those. Occasionally, with games like Atelier Rorona, she's the one playing while I watch. It's all give-and-take, you know?

We definitely shy away from playing games versus one another... that's just asking for trouble. We've recently been playing Sengoku Basara: Samurai Heroes cooperatively, though, which has been a blast!

Otherwise, we often find ourselves playing portable games, sometimes the same game at once! Which is really nice if you get stuck, because we can help each other out. Or, in the case of Pokemon, trade with each other to help things along.

LottieTwintails said...

Oh, and in the case of Bubble Bobble on XBLA/Wiiware, that's actually based more on the arcade version of the game. Which means the bubble bouncing/popping mechanics are slightly different than the beloved NES version. This means... I've still never been able to finish level 99 in the original mode, as a result. I'm stuck in my old ways, I guess!

However! It has all-new sets of stages and support for up to 4 players (adding in a yellow and pink dinosaur to play as), which is a blast. You just have to know what you're getting into first so as to not get frustrated/disappointed with the original mode.

Bryan Ochalla said...

Aw, it sounds like you two are perfect for each other! I especially love that you watch each other play :)

As for the XBLA/WiiWare version of Bubble Bobble, maybe I'll give it a try soon. (I could always start with the demo of the XBLA version, I guess.) I've ignored it until now because I don't really like the art style used for it (esp. compared to the arcade and NES versions).

Anonymous said...

Wish I had that kind of talent. The only thing I can draw is cute furry animals, I could open a Deviantart full of bunnies <3

Bryan Ochalla said...

Hey, a deviantart gallery full of bunnies sounds OK to me, Trxd :)