Stinkoman 20X6 Real-World References

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Stinkoman 20X6 consists of dozens of references to the real world, primarily other video games.

Contents

[edit] General

[edit] Nintendo Entertainment System

  • The square areas around Stinkoman's face as it fades in on the intro screen are a reference to the method many NES games used to fade large images and backgrounds. Some games exhibited similar color artifacts and glitches primarily due to the NES's small color palette.
  • The game controller Stinkoman is holding in the Level 5.1 cutscene bears a striking resemblance to the redesigned NES controller, also called the dogbone controller.
  • The Negative Zone is laid out similar to glitches that would happen on the NES. Sometimes, these classic glitches allowed you to play through the whole level with odd, random textures for everything and sometimes revealed textures hidden in the cartridge that are otherwise unseeable.

[edit] Mega Man series

[edit] Graphics

  • The sprites for Stinkoman and the enemies Poorbt and Astromund are patterned after sprites in the Mega Man games for the NES.
  • When shooting at enemies, you are limited to three projectiles on screen at a time. This is a direct reference to the original Mega Man series, where the Mega Buster could only fire up to three shots at a time. Older video game consoles only allowed limited amount of sprites at a time. For the NES, only 64 sprites can be on screen at a time, with only a maximum of 8 sprites in the same given line.
  • The bulky, muscular Stinkoman in the game's box art is likely a reference to the first two Mega Man games. The box art for the American versions of those games featured a similarly muscular Mega Man that looked nothing like the character in the game. The first game's box art was particularly inconsistent, showing Mega Man with a middle-aged complexion and fully realistic body proportions, as well as blue and yellow armor.

[edit] Sounds and Music

  • One of the main features in the music for Mega Man is the rock-based element, often employing the bVI-bVII-i cadence; the main progression for the music in Stinkoman 20X6 features i-bVII-bVI-bVII-i. Further rock influences contain the consistent "back beat" that occurs on beats 2 and 4 in the main music, and the apparent AABB' + bridge form, where each letter consists of 8-measures, often found in Mega Man titles.
    • Technically, the music is most like the music from the SNES line of Mega Man games, as it is more complex and synthetic than the music that the 8-bit NES is capable of producing.
  • The chime sound in the intro screen and main menu mirrors Mega Man X for the SNES, and is also featured in Under Construction.
  • The sound effects for text appearing in the cutscenes are taken from Mega Man for the NES.
  • The whistle used to summon the Stinkowing in Level 9 is similar to the whistle used to call Rush in the Game Boy game, Mega Man 2: Return of Mega Man.
    • It is also similar to the sound that plays when you get an item on the NES Castlevania games.
  • The sound effect for the teleporter tiles in Level -0 is Raccoon Mario's tail sound from Super Mario Bros. 3 played in reverse.

[edit] Characters

  • In the attract screen, Stinkoman, 1-Up and Pan Pan flash onto the screen in a similar fashion to the character introduction in the arcade game Mega Man: The Power Battle (featuring Mega Man, Proto Man and Bass).
    • A similar character introduction is featured in the Sonic Advance series for the Game Boy Advance and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for the NES, as well as many other video games, animes, and other media. Though Mega Man has technically used this, it is more likely to be a reflection of anime as a whole, as evidenced in other appearances of Stinkoman.
  • The intro to Level 3 is a parody of Mega Man's limited jumping ability.
  • Stinkoman taking the large gray fist as a "new powerup" in Level 3 is a reference to Mega Man's ability to take on the powers of defeated bosses.
    • Internally, Stinkoman with the fist is called "Fistman", a reference to the naming scheme of most bosses in Mega Man.
  • The contrast between the combat mechanics for Stinkoman (shooting at enemies from afar) and 1-Up (kicking enemies with melee attacks) calls to mind the two main characters from the Mega Man X series, X and Zero. Where as X uses his arm cannon to fight enemies at a range, Zero uses a beam saber to attack foes up-close.

[edit] Enemies and Hazards

  • Greggo is similar to Metall (also known as Mettaur, Metool, Met, or Hard Hat), which was also invincible while ducking.
  • Old Sage is similar to the instant-death spikes that are usually placed under moving platforms in various Mega Man levels.
  • The trapdoor platforms are similar to the "Guts Lifts" from the first Mega Man game, similar platforms that are found in Guts Man's stage.
  • Stobat (first seen in Level 2) is similar to a Cocco in Mega Man 5.
  • Poorbt behaves similarly to Sniper Joe.
  • The Bendini Sisters in Level 5 are similar to the meteorites that fall in Star Man's stage in Mega Man 5.
  • Uptant, Downtant, and Roldhap behave like Screw Bombers.
  • Protek's cord draining half of Stinkoman's health is probably a reference to Mega Man's weakness to the Thunder Beam.
  • The "evil fortress" seen at the beginning and end of Level 9 is a parody of the Skull Castle/Fortress in Mega Man.
  • The second boss of Level 10, Z Sabre, draws a lot of inspiration from Mega Man characters.
    • He is similar to Sigma from Mega Man X in appearance and attack methods.
    • His name alludes to the series deuteragonist Zero's primary weapon, the "Z-Saber", being spelled with British English as opposed to the American spelling of "saber".
    • The eyebrow waggle before the fight is similar to the eyebrow waggle that Dr. Wily would do in the classic Mega Man games
  • Mecha-Trogador's design is partially based off the Mecha Dragon Boss from Mega Man 2.

[edit] Super Mario Bros. series

  • Old Sage looks similar to the spikes found in the moon level in Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins.
  • Many NES games featured the letter P (presumably for "Power") in various forms, such as the P-switches, P-Wings and P-Gauges in Super Mario Bros. 3. This may explain the collectible Ps in Level 3.
  • Firey-Hot is a recolor of the fire cannons' blasts in the airship levels of Super Mario Bros. 3.
  • The Liekand is very similar in appearance to Fryguy, from Super Mario Bros. 2. Fryguy, the Level 4 boss, is a flame that wears sunglasses.
    • The fact that The Liekand turns into a mouse could be another reference to the game, as one of the bosses is Mouser, who is also a mouse that also wears sunglasses.
  • The name for Level -0 (Negatory) is a reference to the Minus World level in Super Mario Bros.; a glitch that could be found by walking through a wall in Level 1-2, just as Stinkoman walks through a wall in the level's opening cutscene.
  • The interior of Z Sabre's castle resembles that of Bowser's castle in various Mario games.
  • Yekop appears to reference Pokey, another tall enemy consisting of many stacked segments. The name "Yekop" is simply Pokey spelled backwards, and the Stinkomanual mentions that it is not a spiky cactus.
  • The game's ending credits, most notably listing all the enemies in the game (except for the ones that are not covered in the Stinkomanual, like the octopus enemy in Level 9), resembles the endings of games like Super Mario Bros. 2 and Super Mario World.
    • The fact that not every enemy in the game appears in the credits, like said octopus from Level 9, could be a subtle reference to how not every enemy from Super Mario World, most notably the Ninjis, appears in the ending credits.
    • Harvax being depicted in the credits as actually being an octopus instead of a robotic gangster in the actual game (due to the credits being based on the Stinkomanual's descriptions) could be a subtle reference to the Birdo/Ostro error in Super Mario Bros. 2 instructions manual and ending.
    • Mecha-Trogador, the game's final boss, winking at the camera at the end of the credits resembles Wart, the final boss of Super Mario Bros. 2 doing the same thing at the end of that game's credits.

[edit] Sonic the Hedgehog series

Find all the colors before the bad guy!
  • Jaro looks very similar to the "Red Eye" mini-boss in the Death Egg level from Sonic & Knuckles.
  • Brody's boss fight is similar to the Egg Foot fight, the third boss of Sonic Advance 3.
  • The name of the world in Level 6 ends in "Zone". This is a reference to the Sonic the Hedgehog series, in which many levels end in the word "Zone".
  • After defeating The Liekand in Level 6, it transforms into a mouse. This may be a reference to the Sonic the Hedgehog series for the Sega Genesis, in which defeated enemies almost always revealed their power sources, which were various animals.
  • Z Sabre's fleet (the Level 9 enemies) is a reference to Sonic Heroes, in which the Egg Fleet was modeled after fish.
  • The seven Crystal Shards that make up the Crystal Heart of Mecha-Trogador are similar to the seven Chaos Emeralds from the Sonic the Hedgehog series.

[edit] The Legend of Zelda series

[edit] Metroid series

  • The sound effect for Tampo's destruction is taken from Metroid for the NES.
  • The timed escape sequence after defeating the final boss is a signature of the Metroid series.

[edit] Other Games

  • The intro cinematic in the Level 10 update is framed and compressed much like full motion videos in Sega CD (Mega-CD outside of the Americas) games were.
  • The death sound effect is the same as the player damage sound effect in the NES Ninja Gaiden series.
  • If you sit still for a while, your character becomes bored and yawns or falls asleep. This gag was first used in an old PC game called Boulder Dash, and has since been used in countless video games.
  • Jaro's explosion appears to be modeled after many of the character explosions in The Adventures of Rad Gravity for the NES.
  • Tampo appears to have been modeled after Andross, the final boss in Star Fox 64. Andross's "true form" is that of a giant floating brain (with eyeballs, unlike Tampo), and both he and Tampo have the same weak point: the cerebellum.
  • Tampo moves in a similar way to that of Krow, the first boss in Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest for the SNES.
  • Stinkoman's pose with the giant fist at the end of Level 3 is a reference to some of the poses in Battletoads.
  • 1-Up's spin-kick is similar to the Street Fighter move "Tatsumaki Senpuu Kyaku" (otherwise known as the Hurricane Kick).
  • In Level 5.2, you can see a planet in the background that has a C-shaped portion on its left side. This portion bears a striking similarity to the stylized C in the title of Chrono Trigger for the SNES.
  • Level 6 parodies countless video games that include cloud stages.
    • In particular, the "pink cloud zone" in this is most likely a reference to EarthBound, in which the sixth "Your Sanctuary" location (in Dalaam) is called Pink Cloud.
  • The Liekand is similar in appearance to Mr. Glitch from Mathman, a Pac-Man spoof from the PBS series Square One TV.
Muhahahahaha!
  • The cutscene featuring Z Sabre at the beginning of Level 7 is a reference to a similar cutscene at the beginning of Ninja Gaiden 2 for the NES. This cutscene features Ashtar, the evil boss of the game, seen from behind, surrounded by lightning and laughing maniacally.
  • My Benj appears to be the starting form of an original Tamagotchi or the first iteration of the Digimon digital pet.
  • In the cutscene at the beginning of Level -0, Stinkoman blasts part of the wall in a similar fashion to the Kamehameha, an energy attack seen in the Dragon Ball manga series.
    • This move may also parody the Hadoken move in the video game series Street Fighter. It should also be noted that one of the Mega Man games (which Stinkoman 20X6 is somewhat based on) contains a secret move, the Hadoken.
  • The cutscene at the beginning of Level 9 shows Stinkoman gazing upon the Evil Fortress from atop a rock. This is a direct reference to a similar scene in Ninja Gaiden, in which the main character gazes upon a fortress from atop a mountain.
  • Level 9 is designed after the shoot 'em up game Gradius.
    • Broodacre is very similar to the volcanos in Gradius.
  • After defeating Harvax XVII, the robot boss says "PI...PI...PI...". This message is similar to messages spoken by robots in Bionic Commando for the NES.
    • In addition, Harvax XVII visually resembles minor villain Pinstripe from the superhero video game Freedom Force.
  • After waking up in the level 10 opening cutscene, Stinkoman says "I feel asleep", a line from the NES port of Metal Gear. This was also referenced in the game Population: Tire.
  • The composer credited for Level 10's exclusive music, "U.Z. Inu", is likely a pseudonym used by indie game developer and composer Toby Fox. The music shares Fox's signature composition habits, instrumentation, and samples; the name "U.Z. Inu" may be a play on the Japanese localized name for the Undertale character Annoying Dog (うざいイヌ, romanized as Uzai Inu), which is often used by Fox for his public image.
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