If it worked for The Wind Waker…
It can be pretty uncomfortable when you realize that your tastes don’t align with the direction that your favorite fantasy franchises are headed in. As for me, I’m used to that feeling by now. At age 41, I’ve been through at least three entertainment cycle generations that have passed me by, but the first time was definitely rough. Seeing my favorite game franchises like Mario and Street Fighter “go 3D” in the mid ’90s was devastating for me in my late teens, to the point where I think I even wrote angry letters to video game magazines.
So I get it when people hated The Wind Waker when it was first announced, as it didn’t look like the “masculine and grown-up” Zelda Spaceworld demo from 2000, or when they say they want to remake The Last Jedi, or that a cartoon like ThunderCats Roar! should be pre-canceled. Recognizing the “signifiers of your increasing irrelevance” can be tough. So if this is the first time you’ve felt like nerd and fantasy media no longer caters to your interests, let me give you a small piece of advice. Either get on board with what’s new or find something else to do. There isn’t a viable third option. Trust me, I know from experience.
That said, it it can be hard to decide to like something that feels too weird at first. One fix for that is some quality fan art. It can be the perfect way to get your brain where you want it to be, especially if it comes in video game form. Maybe the same could happen for ThunderCats Roar! were it to get a playable game in the style of these screens by Jumanji and Bayonetta fan game mock-up artist Castpixel.
That samoflange salesman is friggin’ adorable.
