Adventure Island and Fantasy Zone

Sweet awesomeness, who else remembers Adventure Island? I especially remember seeing it in the arcade when I was little, then repeatedly renting Adventure Island II for the NES. Really hard game if you ask me. I haven't finished it before (without save states), but then again, i really haven't tried in years...

So out of the blue I feel like drawing some Master Higgins. Rockin! He came out rather nicely... and just yesterday they release a new Adventure Island game for WiiWare... how cool could that be?

I'm thinkin of adding some dinosaurs in the pic, cuz they were always a favorite part for me...

Since i'm feelin' retro, just last night I sat down and doodled out some Fantasy Zone action!

NOTE: WITHOUT REFERENCE...

I think I like how it's turning out so far, but going back to the internet today to look for references, I came across this picture...

Now, if I had finished it like it was, the resemblance would have been pretty close... Even the posing of the little Opa-Opa is very similar, with the jet trails curving back.

The similarity is almost creepy... maybe i'm channeling 1980's japanese game artists?