8-Bit Dr. Horrible's Conclusion

Posted in News by on Apr 27th, 2010 4:36 PM

Following the first and second acts, Doctor Octoroc has finished the third and final installment of his 8-bit adaptation of Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. Here are parts one and two:



The entire five-video series is also available as a single YouTube playlist.

But wait — there's more! After I reported that Doctor Octoroc's site had been hacked, it was temporarily down while its CMS was upgraded for the first time in two years. When it came back up, there was additional content: a director's commentary, explaining the editorial decisions he made in adapting Whedon's work (count the quotation marks!); and a "making of", detailing the tools used to create the faux game.

Kudos to Dr. Octoroc on a creative, original, and excellently executed adaptation! My only question … what's next?

8-Bit Dr. Horrible, Act II

Posted in News by on Apr 16th, 2010 11:50 AM

8-Bit Dr. Horrible, the NES-style adaptation of Joss Whedon's musical superhero comedy, debuted its first act last week. Its creator, Doctor Octoroc, has now completed his two-part second act:





I love how Billy apparently has a tracer on Penny. That's not creepy stalking at all…

I'm still thinking this would be a great game, but we've seen no combat mechanic. I wonder what that would look like?

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along RPG

Posted in News by on Apr 8th, 2010 11:54 AM

Although only 41 minutes long and now nearly two years old, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog continues to be an Internet sensation. The three-part series, starring Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother), Felicia Day (The Guild), and Nathan Fillion (Firefly), incorporates humor, music, and a sincere, witty, and surprising story.

What else has all those elements? … Why, 8-bit role-playing games, of course! Doctor Octoroc agrees and has crafted this masterful rendition of Dr. Horrible's first act:

I love that Doctor Octoroc has remained true to Joss Whedon's story while still being flexible enough to incorporate common RPG elements. He even explains any unintentional spelling errors as being consistent with Japanese translations of the era. Brilliant!

Since Dr. Horrible is no longer available on Hulu as it once was, this 8-bit version is the only legal way to see the series for free. Similar arrangements of the second and third acts are en route, so watch Doctor Octoroc's blog or Twitter feed for updates. If Twitter is to be believed, the first act already has the blessing of Neil Patrick Harris, Nathan Fillion, Felicia Day, Dr. Horrible co-writer Maurissa Tancharoen, and even Dr. Horrible himself. Is the next step a playable game based on the series? Would such a production beat Dr. Horrible 2 to release? And in the meantime, what game will this amazing video inspire us to play — Dragon Warrior? StarTropics?

Stop censorship