Games - Kid Radd

	Games - Kid Radd

Kid Radd is a finished pixel art webcomic created by Dan Miller in February 2002. Being pixel art, it greatly resembled the sprite comics, but the sprites involved were created by the author instead of being ripped from video games. The comic's design allowed for complex animation while keeping the associated file sizes small.

The comic's plot started in observing a fictional 8-bit video game of the same name. It then began to rapidly evolve as the characters found themselves not only out of the control of the player and their programming, but in a ROM image on the Internet instead of their original cartridge. The increasingly convoluted plotline developed continuously and consistently since 2002 and the strip ended at its 601st strip on 13th of September 2004.

Kid Radd was mainly humorous, with most of the jokes coming from character interaction and the setting. The setting also lent itself to a more serious side, though, with dark introspection and small amounts of angst.

Plot

The Game

Radd is a "hero sprite" of a video game named "Kid Radd," in which he must save Sheena from his arch-enemy Gnarl. Radd is armed with Radd Beams, basic attacks, and the Mega Radds, which are more powerful(they can charge up to a value of "255"), but must be charged. He can also use a Rocketboard to transport himself. He is initially impatient with the player's incompetence, and failure to learn from his mistakes. Additionally, he grows bored when he is consigned to a "void" when the console is off. However, he grows to respect the player, who ultimately helps him to reach Sheena and defeat Gnarl's two forms. However, Radd is unable to receive even a kiss from Sheena before the credits roll.

The Real World

Radd's player succeeds time and time again, but longer periods of inactivity suggest that he is growing bored with the game. After one long period(perhaps lasting up to two decades), Radd awakens, only to find that no player is controlling him. An enemy, a Bogey(used as the name for this particular Bogey), informs him that he can move on his own, and that the player has long since left. A mysterious sprite known as Captain QB teleports in, and whisks Radd and Bogey away before their world is destroyed by the effects of his intrusion.

Captain QB reveals that he is with a group known as the Moderators, which frees sprites from ROMs on the Internet, and settles them in a city called Hopetown. The group was foundeed after a hero known as GI Guy, and other sprites from Doom Platoon, escaped through a portal in a faulty ROM, and replicated the trick to free others. Radd and Bogey explore the city, and go to Itty Bitty's Diner, a restaurant that serves powerups from real video games. The two encounter Sheena, who reveals that she is working for the Moderators. She was chosen for this position because she is an "NPC Sprite," a sprite that cannot take or inflict damage, and thus can enter dangerous games.

While Bogey finds a job at a power plant, Radd's job is as a chatroom avatar. He earns little money, is called whenever he is needed, and is privy to some disturbing conversations, such as conspiracy theories and debates between animé purists. He is also forced to stay with Bogey, and because he cannot pay half the rent, he sleeps in the closet. At this time, Sheena transports some puzzle sprites to Dr. Amp for safe-keeping, and meets his assistant and grand-daughter, Joule.

Upset with his life, Radd attempts to enter a game with the help of an illegal code dealer. However, it turns out to be Playland, a fictitious side-scroller that is excessively cute. Radd socializes with Elfman, who was also tricked, and Benny the Bunny, the game's hero, who warns him to get out. Things turn dangerous, though, when the human seizes control of Benny, and mistaking Radd for an enemy, attacks him. Benny, unfortunately, has multiple lives, so not even death at the hands of a massive boss can stop him. Elfman pulls Radd into a secret room, but Benny, down to his last life, discovers it. On the brink of death, Radd flips over Benny, and blasts him in the back with a Mega Radd, killing him. Shortly thereafter, he is called in for a chatroom job, and is transported back into his "default location" in Hopetown.

Radd seeks vengeance against the dealer, who gives Radd a program that he says will get him into the superior Playland 2. However, the program disrupts Radd's code and nearly destroys him. Bogey, however, saves him and brings him to the Moderators, who arrest him shortly after he finds out what happened. He is forced to work as a spreadsheet assistant, but is defiant and dishonest.

Meanwhile, Dr. Amp discusses his latest idea with the group; by giving puzzle sprites mirrors, he can simulate "matching" them, and thus create unlimited energy. Sheena is disillusioned with her job, partiuclarly a nightmare in which some sprites are left behind in a ROM, and writes a letter of resignation, citing her concern that silent or immobile sprites may be destroyed along with the game, and that some sprites may not be happy in their new homes.

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