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?
Nicely done! What game "engine" is this based on?
Good question! According to the creator's blog, "Since I lack the coding skill and time to create an actual game, I decided to create a video of the hypothetical game, but couldn't decide what kind of game it would be."
He goes on to say he was inspired by Final Fantasy and Earthbound.