Play American

An art blog by J.J. wherein I draw video game characters. If you have suggestions click the link below, or follow me on Instagram @jjmccullough

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I recently made a video about all the food in Mario Kart World, and as part of that I captured and edited screenshots of all the foods from the game. These images only appear briefly in my video, but I thought they might be useful to other fans, so here they are if you want to use them for something. Help spread them around!

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Terra Branford from Final Fantasy VI (originally Final Fantasy III in America), released by Square Co. of Japan in October, 1994.

I was very inspired by Yoshitaka Amano when I was a kid, though it may not seem like it today. The baroque flourishes of detail were always very captivating.

If you’d like to buy a print of this drawing, or some of my other Play American stuff, I now have an Etsy shop.

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Agents Angela Ray and Antonio Reyes from Thimbleweed Park (PC, 2017), made by Terrible Toybox, an American startup. 

I just finished this game last night. It’s a wonderfully nostalgic recreation of classic LucasArts games, made by many of the same people. I kind of screwed up the ending, though. If you’re going to play this, I recommend making lots of save files at interesting points, because backtracking is limited. Don’t make the mistake I did!

[playamerican]

Here are the Koopa Kids, or Koopalings, who first appeared in Super Mario Bros. 3 by Nintendo, which came out in February of 1990. 

I loved these characters to bits as a kid, and drew them all the time. They’re all burned into my brain now as a result. I vividly remember seeing my friend Oliver fight Larry Koopa for the first time and I remember being delighted that the Koopa Kid was playing a saxophone. I later learned it was supposed to be a magic wand. Kids today won’t experience confusion of that sort, and frankly they’re worse off for it. 

[playamerican]

And now here’s Ken whynot.

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Ryu, from Street Fighter (Arcade, 1987) made by Capcom of Japan.

I always forget that there was a Street Fighter 1. I never really played number 2 when it first came out, though it’s now considered one of the greatest games of all time.

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Tracer, from Overwatch (multiple systems, 2016), made by Blizzard Entertainment of Irvine, California.

Is this game even out yet? I got a lot of requests to draw her. The character designs in this game are really inspired. The buff Russian lady is a fun one too.

[playamerican]

Chrono from Chrono Trigger (SNES, 1995) made by SquareSoft of Japan.

I have never played this game before but someone at GaymerX asked me to draw him so I did. I actually get a lot of requests for this guy.

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I’m really into the 2015 3DS puzzle game, Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition. I’m almost at the end, and these are my strongest characters at present, who tend to dominate any party I assemble: Chain Chomp and three Fire Chomps, Blooper and two Cheep-Cheeps, blue Yoshi, Green Koopa Paratroopa, King Bill, and Boo Luigi.

[playamerican]

Various characters from Crossy Road (handheld,2014) made by Hipster Whale Pty Ltd. of Australia.

I’m a big fan of this one. I enjoy the Anglosphere theme. I hope they someday add some Canadian characters, like a beaver or a polar bear. 

[playamerican]

Dr. Yang and Kid Yin from Legend of the Mystical Ninja (SNES, 1992) made by Konami of Japan.

I bought myself this game around Eastertime long after it had ceased to be relevant. I have memories of playing it while eating a white chocolate rabbit. 

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David from the Metal Gear / Solid Snake series (1987- ) by Konami of Japan.

I am mostly familiar with this guy from his Smash Bros. appearance. It’s actually more fun to draw characters you don’t know as well.

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A Creeper from Minecraft (PC, 2011) made by Markus “Notch” Persson of Stockholm, Sweden.

As I get older, I come to make peace with the fact that I not only have no time to play games, I am actively ignorant of major gaming phenomena. I know next to nothing about Minecraft, even though I believe it is now the most popular game that has ever existed, or at least something close.

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The Fabulous Mettaton from Undertale.

I just had to do another Undertale one.

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Ness from Earthbound (SNES, 1994) made by Nintendo of Japan.

I was big into Earthbound as a kid, and my first online community was the Rocky Horror-esque subculture that formed around the game. When I was still in elementary school, I started drawing Earthbound-themed comics for a site that was then known as Earthbound.net under the pseudonym “Worker and Parasite,” or “WaP,” as they started to call me. The site is now called Starmen.net, and I don’t think anyone I knew is still there. A lot of the site’s ruling clique from my time went on to run the FanGamer merch store.

The further I get away from the game, the more I am inclined to think of Earthbound as being somewhat overrated, or at least over-praised. While it has a lot of very clever and funny moments, I think it’s a bit too disjointed overall, and is more a collection of ideas than a coherent whole. Mother 3, the sequel, is a far better game, in my mind, with a superior plot and more engaging characters, as well as a theme with higher, and I dare say more mature ambition.

As a work of whimsy and irreverence, however, few things have probably had a greater influence on me. 

[playamerican]

The Scout from Team Fortress 2 (PC; October, 2007) produced by Valve Corporation of Bellevue, Washington.

I probably get more requests at shows for a print of this character than any other.

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JJ from Undertale (2015), made by Toby Fox of Massachusetts. 

A very remarkable, very thoughtful game. It truly has to be played without knowing anything about it. I am fortunate enough to have had that experience.