Captain Kronos – Vampire Hunter Review

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It’s time for another vampire film and this one is made by Horror. Needless to say, this was doomed from the start. Both of those things are usually connected to the absolute worst films around and when you mix them together then that’s a recipe for disaster. Ultimately this film was not able to rise above my first impressions there and at best you can give it credit for some original decisions.

The film introduces us to Captain Kronos who is a powerful fighter. He has been slaying vampires for a long time along with his partner Professor Grost. This time he is tasked with finding a potential vampire in a small village. This will not be an easy task as Kronos will need to lay out some traps and gradually begin getting suspects. In the meantime this vampire will keep on picking more and more people off. Kronos also runs into a lady named Carla who was about to be executed. After saving her, she decides to become his girlfriend but is there any time for this?

Okay lets blast through all of the issues first. Right away one of the big ones is naturally going to be the usual vampire violence. I’m not big on the blood sucking at all and that is always a main part of this genre. It’s a bit different than some others since the vampire is more interested in stealing vitality but equals out to the same thing. The vampire also uses the usual hypnosis to force the victims into accepting their fate rather than running off to live another day.

We’ve also got the very shallow kind of romance at the ready here. Yes, Kronos saved Carla’s life so you can see why she would be grateful but this doesn’t immediately have to turn into a relationship. She jumps right into the one night stand kind of situation without batting an eye. I feel like the Hammer films like to use any excuse for a bit of fanservice. It’s not as crazy as in some of their other titles but still comes across as unnatural.

The characters also aren’t all that interesting. Professor Grost is easily rage baited by the villains to the point where he doesn’t realize that they were being paid off to instigate a fight. Both Kronos and Carla seemed to figure that out right away so why didn’t the professor? He is a good ally to have around and helps out a lot with the weapons and everything but you feel like he could have done a whole lot better.

As for Kronos, well I suppose he’s your classic hero. I don’t get the feeling that he is the most dependable guy in a relationship with how fast he was moving here but maybe he wouldn’t rebound later on. His fighting skills are pretty good though and surpass the film’s budget. He essentially vanishes mid combat to show off how fast he is. I appreciate that from a power level sense but then his final plan is terrible. He sends Carla into the vampire’s lair as bait and then takes his sweet time to get there. He takes the time to look at a skull in the upper floors and this distracts him while Carla is attacked.

If not for a significant degree of plot armor, she would have been dead. Prior to Carla, all of the other victims were destroyed right away. A good example of this was earlier in the same film. The heroes all staked out the location where the vampire would be striking and a girl was walking on by. Well, they lost sight of her and so she was destroyed before she could even get close. Not a good look at all. It’s why you feel like Kronos should have done a lot more before the ending.

As for the vampire, well the identity of the final boss is a twist of course. Still, I wouldn’t say that the villain was very impressive or imposing. This long term plan had a ton of risks with it and I would say that the character even got lucky. It’s not like vampires ever tend to be all that interesting but this was still pretty egregious even for that. You also had a pair of siblings who are around for lore but don’t do much of anything. It was a little funny to see them standing so still in the background during the big battle.

The final battle is essentially fencing so it wasn’t terribly interesting but I give the film some credit there. Still, there is just nothing really to enjoy about the film. If you heavily lean into the action angle then it is possible to make a vampire film that is actually decent but it is incredibly difficult and not something that just any title can do.

There isn’t much to talk about regarding the setting as it looks like basically any old town. The writing is okay I suppose but just about everyone in town seems to be evil. There aren’t many characters that Kronos can count on. The doctor who invited him there had to be bumped off naturally and it wasn’t the most painless way to go out either. The other humans at the bar didn’t even need to be mind controlled because they were already content to murder the main characters for a little money. With humanity being so corrupt in this town, it’s no wonder that a vampire was able to get so far.

Overall, This film was definitely a mess and is not going to end up being known as a solid title. It does at least try to have the usual twists and turns but ultimately comes down to just being another slasher title. It takes forever for Kronos to stop the vampire from murdering everyone and so the victory feels hollow. It doesn’t even make all that much sense on why Kronos left without Carla. She totally could have kept going on the journey and instead it seems like he’ll probably just be rebounding before now. Perhaps this could have become a really cool movie series some day but that day isn’t today.

Overall 1/10

Mega Man Legends 2 Review

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Mega Man Legends 2 is the longest of the 3 titles in this sub series so I was expecting things to end off with a bang. It is definitely a fun title and one that I recommend checking out. It still feels surreal to finally be checking out these games from way back in the day. Hopefully one day w will get the elusive Legends 3, but I suppose that would probably be far in the future.

The title kicks off with Mega Man and Roll attending a conference when a group of villains show up. They are seemingly led by Roll’s mother and they will be reawakening a powerful threat that may end the world. This seems to tie into Mega Man’s past which was hinted at in the first game but now things are personal. Mega Man will have to take these opponents down while trying to find out why Roll’s mother would join the dark side like this. Tron still tries to get Mega Man to notice her but perhaps they are doomed to always be on opposing sides.

Right away there are a few improvements you can see compared to the first game. The general gameplay is smoother, particularly with turning. The dungeons are also bigger as the very first one was about as big as the final dungeon from the first game. This does mean that some dungeons are going to have gimmicks though. For example I did not care for the underwater dungeon as Mega Man moved way too slowly for me. It was not nearly as fun as any of the others. The final dungeon also had these weird leech things that felt a bit overpowered. When they touch you, you are unable to move for a decently long period of time while they drain your energy. Falling into any lava will deal massive damage as well.

So the stage hazards in general got a big buff here. There is also an ice dungeon where everything is very slippery. I get the feeling that the game was just trying to show off all the cool stuff it can do since none of that was in the first game. This one is really bigger in every way and has so many power ups to buy. Earning money is not that hard in this game which I appreciated. If you want to buy anything then you just need to save up for it.

The ole strafe and blast strategy still works really well on almost every boss. The game did manage to make a few exceptions to that at least so you aren’t totally mowing down every challenge in the game. You will occasionally need to jump and use some strategy. That said, the game feels a bit easier than the first because I was able to make it through the whole game with my mega buster. I just never got the blueprints for the missiles or any of the other sub weapons. Without those you can’t unlock any sub weapons which makes that process much more involved than the first game.

They are likely in the optional dungeons. The game has quite a few of those, I only did the first optional dungeon personally. We can chalk this up to more replay value though. The most important thing is having the 3 buster part upgrades. With that your mega buster is absolutely busted anyway and deals a ton of damage. Almost any opponent will go down in a few shots to that thing. So for bosses it was really busted as well.

There are a lot of upgrades to buy in the game so I recommend focusing on the health potion and making it as big as possible. It is often cheaper than buffing up your actual health bar and has the same real effect anyway. Of course buy as much as you can effort but if money is tight, go for the potion. With that you can just keep healing as needed. The last boss required me to heal 4-5 different times to the point where my bottle had run out. It really came down to the wire there.

Since this is a PS3, PSN game there is no rewind either. So that’s something to really keep in mind here. You will have to complete this game the old fashioned way but that’s how you will get more satisfaction in there. The graphics are really good as you’d expect. The PS1 artstyle works well and all of the energy blasts look good. The combat is good as well and I enjoyed all of the cinematics. The soundtrack is a bit more on the forgettable side, nothing you’ll really be putting on the ole Youtube playlist.

Then we have the story which was a lot more interesting than the first one. The first story was good too but this one is going a lot more into the cosmology of the verse. We learn a lot of twists about the humans, the robots, and he motivations of everyone involved. It all gets a bit convoluted but in a fun way. It’s the kind of series where you can probably have a lot of fun watching lore videos on Youtube. There are still questions left for the next game as well although I would say that the ending here is still mainly conclusive enough. We also get one last look at the eternal rivalry between Tron and Roll.

Overall, This was definitely a really fun game. There are a few ways where the game’s age starts to show itself but on the whole it goes really smoothly. This is basically what I pictured a 3D Mega Man title would be like. I still can’t believe that they haven’t done more since then. Capcom really has let Mega Man fans down ove the years. I would say that it does beat the original Legends as well as the spinoff. There is just a whole lot to enjoy here so if you haven’t bought the game yet, you should hurry and do so! The PS3 version of PSN won’t be up forever and once that goes down, there won’t be an official way to play the game anymore.

Overall 8/10

Ape Escape Review

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It’s time for another classic title from back in the days. While Ape Escape may not really be around nowadays, it had a good run. It’s a really unique game all the way. I guess it reminds me a bit of Billy Hatcher if I had to compare it to something but the game is ultimately still very different. It’s definitely not one of the longer titles but you’ll be having fun all the way through.

The title starts out with a monkey escaping from the zoo and gaining super intelligence thanks to some sci-fi tech. He decides to liberate all of the other monkeys and travels all the way back in time. The main character is tasked with bringing him back to justice. To this end he will need to master a number of different tools that all have different abilities. You have the classic net which is how you capture the monkeys. You will be using this more than any of your other tools. Each level will ask you to capture several of the monkeys and that will automatically trigger the completion of the level.

You may wonder, what about the monkeys that you don’t grab? Well, there is a level select that you unlock after you complete the first level and that lets you go back. I would recommend not backtracking until you have completed the game though because some monkeys will require tools that you don’t get until the end of the game. So going back may just end up wasting some of your time otherwise. There is also one final weapon that you obtain after the game has been fully completed, which is the super punch.

The levels are pretty generous in that you get to skip a whole lot of the monkeys. This way you can enjoy the levels without stressing out about having to find each one. You have a radar tool which points you in the right direction of where the monkeys can be. It can be a bit of a misleading tool to be honest but can still work at least a little bit. Then you have the wings which is easily the most useful tool in the game. It gives you an extra jump and lets you hover around for a long while. With that at the ready you can breeze through most obstacles. It’s almost hard to go back to your normal jump while you have that.

You can equip 4 items at a time though so that helps with the balancing. You will be required to use every item at some point or another so they all get their time to shine. While the game isn’t particularly difficult, I will say that the monkeys can be really hard to catch. They run quickly and will counter attack if you get too close. This means that you are constantly going to be on the back foot and have to time your moves carefully. Without the rewind I would have gotten hit a bunch of times and just catching them would take longer. So length is something that would go more in the game’s favor without the rewind.

I’d say the most impressive thing about the game may be the technical elements. The graphics are really good. The art style is bright and expressive the whole time which fits the game series well and then you also have a really fun soundtrack. The main themes are all super good and will stay with you. There is just something really nice and catchy about them. The game doesn’t have a large variety but what you do have there is really good.

There is a decent amount of replay value in the game since they actually added trophies to it. This means that you will be able to go back to each of the levels and get the extra monkeys. You can then grab a nice Platinum at the end. This platinum trophy is also super generous because you don’t need to get anywhere near all of the monkeys or coins. I know for some that will feel like a cheap Platinum since you should need 100% in order to obtain it but that’s just not how it went this time.

I’d also end things off by giving the game credit for a lot of quality of life features. I’m not even counting the PS5 ones but the features built into the game. You can enter and exit levels at any time, you can switch gadgets really quickly, and everything is explained very well. Even the fact that you can hold 4 gadgets at once is really nice because otherwise you’d have to pause the game too much. It’s something that would have really helped the Legend of Zelda Oracle of Ages game that I played recently. Mix that in with the fact that the main character moves pretty quickly and you have a winning formula. The levels are also just pretty fun to run around in. They’re large without overdoing it and each one is very distinct.

Overall, Ape Escape is definitely a game that I would recommend. It’s one of those titles that took advantage of the classic PS1 days. It has an absolutely bonkers plot but takes itself very seriously. The voice acting is definitely fun as well and feels really authentic. I suppose in a way the game feels like a passion project and not quite as corporate as you might see in a title that comes out nowadays. So long as you like good platforming then you will enjoy this game. It is well rounded all the way through.

Overall 7/10

Uncharted: The Lost Legacy Review

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I have returned to the world of Uncharted with this spinoff adventure. Chloe and Nadine get to serve as the leads this time so Nathan is getting himself a break. It’s a fun adventure although you can definitely see how it is a lot shorter than the main titles. Typically Uncharted adventures have over 20 chapters while this one has 9. Still, the 9 that we do have are very good so I had a great time here. There is a whole lot to enjoy.

The adventure starts off with Chloe trying to get aboard a truck. She manages to slip through the enemy defenses and we find out that she is working with the mercenary, Nadine. Together they are going to try and grab another ancient relic but there appears to be more to this mission that Chloe is keeping secret. The two will try their best to work together while staying professional but this doesn’t do wonders for their very tenuous bond.

At first I actually thought the opening level was a flashback because it’s rare to see Chloe panicking or unsure of herself. I guess that’s what happens when you go from the big rival character to the main lead. She ends up needing a little help from a kid in order to get past the initial guards. I would have preferred Chloe to be her usual sarcastic self right from the start and just beat everyone up. Instead she acts a bit more like Nathan this time around and panics a whole lot.

Still, Chloe is a fun lead overall. Once she begins her team up with Nadine then she goes for more of the usual quips we know her for. Nadine ends up being less likable by the end as she tends to blow up at Chloe a whole lot. She also goes out of her way to mess up their plans on different occasions because she couldn’t contain her emotions. It was a very difficult situation at different points so I understand that, but Nadine is supposed to be a professional.

She does get hit with the main character nerf as well though. In the last game she was defeating Nathan and his brother Sam at the same time. Here she and Chloe are losing when going 2 v 1 against the new villain. Times have really changed. That villain end up looking pretty impressive as a result though. He’s certainly not my kind of villain but I do have to respect his abilities.

The story is fairly straight forward here though. The two heroines have to get to the treasure before the villains do. In the process of this we get a ton of action scenes and have to blast through the equivalent of a mini army. From a gameplay perspective you get a lot of the usual parkour and gun combat. They are both handled very well and in some ways the parkour can be a little more difficult than the main titles. This game assumes that you have played those so there is no kind of tutorial at all. I was a bit rusty at first but quickly got with it.

By contrast the gun combat was a lot easier than the main Uncharted games. One reason for this is the amount of checkpoints in them. Usually if you lose a gunfight then you have to restart it. In this game some of the enemies will stay dead when you die so it inevitably gets easier as you keep on fighting. As long as you use some good tactics and hide as necessary then you should be fine.

There is a decent amount of replay value to be had here. There are a whole lot of collectibles to grab after all and there is a proper level select here which allows you to nab them. Completing the game will only get you a few trophies as well so you will need to replay the game a lot to get the rest. Only the slow motion walk scenes may get a bit annoying but the rest is really easy to replay. Sony games are known for being cinematic and while some use that as an insult, I always find it to be very impressive.

You feel like you’re in a movie here. The graphics are really strong and there is a ton of attention to detail. The gameplay is very well polished as well. I suppose I would have liked to have had a map that was always active instead of having to constantly pause to see it. That’s a bit more of a nitpick though. I was starting to get lost when driving around in the car but was gradually able to figure it out.

It was cool to have a car in general. That’s something you don’t see every day. There isn’t much of a soundtrack here but they squeezed in a song for the end credits. Those credits were extremely long though, one of the longest ones I’ve seen in a long time. I looked it up and apparently they are close to 11 minutes in length. That’s pretty insane, they needed to speed that up or let you skip them. It’s extremely rare for a game in 2026 to not let you skip the credits.

Overall, I would definitely recommend checking out this Uncharted title. It is a full fledged game even if it is shorter than the others. I got this one for $10 so if you get a deal like that then I’d say you should really jump on it. As far as I’m concerned that is an absolute steal! Even if you have to shell out a little more for this one, you should do it. Hopefully one day we get another Uncharted game. This is the kind of series that could easily have many more adventures because there are an infinite amount of treasures out there. I feel like the recent James Bond game was essentially a kind of Uncharted title so they need to follow that blueprint.

Overall 8/10

Quit Laughing, Shijima Review

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It’s time for a manga oneshot that came out recently. It’s got a pretty interesting premise and definitely succeeds at setting up a full length series down the road if the author ever wants to go there. The artwork is pretty solid and the characters are on point. The adventure also sticks the landing so this one makes all of the right choices throughout.

The title starts off by introducing us to a guy who hasn’t made up his mind on what he wants to do with his future. In a way you could say that he still has some time since he is in high school but everyone else have already decided on their plans. Azumi may fall behind if he doesn’t decide soon. The whole school also idolizes a girl named Shijima who has a nice laugh. People are constantly giving her things for free as a result of her positive energy but Azumi feels like something is wrong about this. Just 1 week ago everyone had been bullying her for the way that her teeth looked. What has changed?

The chapter goes through a whole conspiracy with the town basically deciding to be collectively evil. It’s the kind of experience that would be hard for anyone to accept. Azumi has to deal with the knowledge that he can’t trust anyone and that if he wants to save Shijima, it will pit him against everyone. That’s not an easy choice to make but Azumi is ready for this and has also been in love with her for a long time. Yes, at its core you could say that this story is part romance as well. There is a whole lot of horror along the way as well.

That’s where the art gets to show off. The visuals get really crazy and you almost wonder why Azumi hasn’t gone crazy yet. He’s one of the only ones who is able to see the weird demons running around. There are others who can see them as well but they refuse to talk about it. There is a very eerie atmosphere throughout the story and so I can say that the writer really understands the horror genre well. This is still part Shonen so I wouldn’t expect anything too crazy but to me that was a really fair mix.

Azumi also just works as a great main character. He knows that what the town is doing isn’t right and so he sets off to stop it. He is heavily outnumbered and is making powerful enemies but doesn’t care. He will save Shijima no matter what price he has to pay. The ending even doubles down on this as he will continue trying to save as many people as possible. If this ever did get a full length series I bet it would really be a lot of fun. The world building is already set up really well.

As for Shijima, I get the feeling that she wouldn’t really return. This oneshot was revolving around her but I took it as an example of the kinds of people that Azumi would be helping. She was a solid enough character. While I disagreed with her actions, she was grown up and raised in a way where she wouldn’t have known enough to fight back. From Shijima’s point of view she was doing the right thing so it is hard to fault her for that. She was essentially brainwashed from the start. Shijima still never complained about her lot in life and just went forward as best she could.

A side effect of this is that all of the adults look terrible of course. They are all on board with the corrupt system plaguing the series and don’t bother to ask any questions. They have even created a whole system of money and power around this. Now with a full series I imagine we would get introduced to people who are against the system and those who would rise against it. That’s a good thing but still won’t let these guys out of the woods. No matter what twists and turns come up, we know they were all willing to sacrifice Shijima for what they considered to be the greater good.

The kid also look equally bad. They’re in high school so that’s old enough to know better. I was glad that Azumi didn’t remain friends with the rest of the crew after he found out the truth. Some things are just way too far to ever come back from. As for what this thing is? Well you’ll have to read the oneshot to find out. I’m mainly avoiding mentioning what it is that the whole town/city is complicit in but I’m confident you’ll agree that they are all crazy.

The story isn’t defending it in any way either. It’s really just showing how nobody was ready to stand up to this situation before Azumi showed up. I also wonder if a series is already being planned because you have more characters introduced at the very end of the story who are poised to play a role later on. Definitely an interesting thing to do if this was truly a oneshot adventure right? I’ll be rooting for it to continue at the very least. We can always use more classic hero stories like this one about one guy having to fight to destroy the system.

Overall, This was a pretty good story. There were no weaknesses to it. The story, artwork, and characters were all very good. I can definitely understand why it is getting a lot of praise. The ultimate goal of a oneshot is to get you excited for a full series around this concept and the story absolutely succeeded with that. Every part of it was super interesting and the groundwork is already there. I think Shonen Jump could have a really fun title for the next generation here. In the meantime, read this one so you can get that view count up.

Overall 8/10

Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3 Review

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It’s time to jump into a classic Wario game. The style tends to be fairly similar to Mario while still being different enough to stand out. This one definitely follows that formula and makes for a fun game. I would say that the Mario style is ultimately better though. Wario puts a bit more emphasis on puzzles and slow gameplay which keeps it from having Mario’s energy. That’s not completely crippling to the series or anything but does mean that you can’t just turn your brain off and have fun like some of the other titles.

The story follows Wario trying to do what he does best, get rich! Most of the plot is really in the booklet here so you mainly just know that you need lots and lots of money. It won’t be easy as a lot of enemies continue to get in your way but they are not ready for this level of power. In order to complete levels you have to donate 10 gold coins to a mysterious tower. I know that has to hurt Wario quite a lot since giving away money is definitely not his main thing. Wario is all about keeping money after all.

This is also a pretty unique gimmick since usually just making it to the end of a level is how you complete a platformer. The whole money thing took me by surprise at first as I wandered for a little bit before realizing what I had to do. The levels are extremely plentiful when it comes to coins though so you aren’t going to run into a scenario where you have none. You can also spend 10 coins to unlock checkpoint throughout the level. I recommend doing so of course. It is worth the price since not having checkpoints is always going to be super rough.

Even with that you will still have a lot of coins. That’s because this isn’t a Sonic game so you don’t drop the coins when you are damaged. You have to actively try to avoid the coins in order to not get them so the game is really working with you here. I would say the toughest part just tends to be about navigating through the levels. Even the enemies aren’t very difficult because bumping into them hurts the enemy instead of you. I thought that was a really nice twist because it’s the opposite in virtually every other video game. It was a subtle, but effective way of showing how powerful Wario is.

All of his power ups also feel like brand new forms which was impressive for the game. For example he has one form where he can shoot out fire breath. It’s an incredible ability and makes every boss go by quickly. I highly recommend hanging onto that one. Another one lets you temporarily fly which is good for cheesing levels. Then of course there is normal Wario which can body slam into opponents. The forms each have their uses to be sure and none of them are weak by any means.

That’s why the game feels like it got a lot of effort by Nintendo. You’re not seeing recycled abilities here or anything like that. It is a fresh Wario experience right from the start which is definitely impressive. The levels are also fresh. They can be a little mazy but nothing crazy. The bosses are also fun and actually have some rather sinister designs by Nintendo standards. Yes, Nintendo has had scary designs over the years but I wouldn’t say that it was routine even back in their more intense days.

The graphics are also on point. The colors are all gone since that’s how all of the Game Boy games look here but the designs are good. I will admit that I miss the color though, it can be hard to play a game when it’s so washed out for large periods of time. I guess I wouldn’t have lasted in the really old days. As a medium I just think movies and books work much better in black and white. Although this is more of a green and white which might be why it is tough.

The soundtrack is okay but definitely does not approach Mario levels. That is par for the course though as the only big Wario theme that I tend to remember is Mona’s pizza. Now that was a really fun song back in the day. This game is fairly long with over 30 levels and has solid replay value with another 20 bonus levels after that. You have enough bang for your buck to be satisfied here and again I would expect nothing less from Nintendo.

I’d say my biggest problem with the game is how slow Wario moves. There is no way to run in this game so you have to slowly walk everywhere. This makes the levels feel a bit more dragged out than they would be afterwards. I know that Wario isn’t the fastest guy on the block but I would have made him just a touch faster. There could be all kinds of game reasons used to explain why he is faster. It’s a relatively small nitpick but at the same time I would say that it is the difference between a 6 star game and a 7 star one.

Overall, I would recommend playing through this Wario title. Naturally as part of the Switch Online you can play it for free but even aside from that it is just a well rounded title. I still find it impressive how Nintendo succeeded in making the Wario series actually be a mirror to the Mario series in the same way that the characters are reflections of each other. They really got creative there and showed off their imagination. The Wario series may never become my favorite titles but they are still fun to play through.

Overall 6/10