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Frosty Returns Review

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Frosty Returns is the Frosty film that I have certainly seen the most. As a kid, I watched this title several times and it was always a pretty fun experience. I was too young to fully appreciate the historical significance of Frosty returning, but that didn’t stop me from rooting for him to take out Mr. Twitchell! Unfortunately, this film doesn’t take place during Christmas as it’s just the good ole Winter.

You can certainly tell that Frosty Returns is pretty modern compared to the two other Frosty titles. The animation is a lot sharper as every scene seamlessly transitions to the next one. The audio is clearer and the character personalities are pretty different from what you may have expected. This can be a good or bad thing depending on how you look at it.

Frosty is no longer the extremely nice guy that he had been. He’s still nice of course, but now he has his witty remarks and quick comebacks to defend himself. It’s all in good fun of course, but you can’t imagine the old Frosty giving out pop culture references and singing in opera styled music right? This Frosty is certainly more street smart and he’s not going to be pushed around by anyone. He’s definitely a pretty solid lead and I just wish that he could have taken on Mr. Twitchell.

Mr. Twitchell is the big villain of this special and he resists the hero transformation for a little longer than the other villains. He wants to destroy all of the snow in the world so that he can be rich and famous. He has an invention that will do just the trick so he just needs everyone to buy it. He’s having a lot of success with this until Holly and the other kids get wind of what he is doing. It quickly becomes a battle of wits and that’s when you know that Mr. Twitchell probably doesn’t stand a chance. He’s a little more extreme than the other villains as he actually sends someone plummeting down a trap hole when she refuses to abide by his plans. He even gets his own song, which doesn’t sound very good and the music doesn’t match the lyrics, but that just adds to the effect right? He’s a pretty decent villain although you know that he’s basically doomed from the start.

Holly is the main character and she’s a pretty decent lead. She’s not really a team player like the lead from the first two films and she just wants to become a really good magician. Luckily, she has a friend by the name of Charles who comes over to help her with the act. One thing leads to another and Holly finds out that she is the only one who can save Frosty from his imminent destruction. Unfortunately, she tends to freeze up when she is talking to a figure of authority so she is going to have to quickly get over this in order to win.

Charles is a pretty nice character even if he isn’t a great singer. I think that he is one of those kids who definitely acts a lot smarter than he really is, but he definitely provides a crucial role in keeping Frosty alive. When Frosty was too slow to dodge the anti snow guns, it was up to Charles to use his quick thinking abilities to think of a way out. From there, he mostly just watched as things went all according to his plan.

The Narrator for this film is more interesting than the one in the last two mostly thanks to the animation. His eyes make him seem very tricky…almost sinister despite the happy lines that he is uttering. He is always sipping his hot cocoa and he seems to have a handle on things. He does tend to get blown away by the elements and by creatures who are bigger than him, but he never loses sight of his goals and he keeps trying to fill in the audience on what is happening even when he may be risking his life. This is a pretty solid announcer to say the least!

The film also decides to allot a little time to the parents and teachers this time as we see that none of them like the snow. It’s pretty interesting since that’s basically how things go in the real world as well. For every adult you meet that likes snow you’ll meet at least 20 who do not. Even most of the younger generation don’t really care for snow anymore. I blame it on the fact that the world isn’t as innocent as it used to be. Now, we think of car accidents and people losing their electricity when snow falls instead of snowmen and snowball fights. In a way, it feels selfish to want snow nowadays, but I still enjoy it when it is here. It certainly causes negative consequences along with positive ones, but you have to take the good with the bad. I won’t ask for snow, but when it comes you can bet that I’ll be the first one out there to tackle it!

The main reason why Frosty Returns is so enjoyable is that it’s just a fun film to watch. It’s simply enjoyable to look at the snow and listen to the songs. The film only has positive messages to offer and none of the characters are truly bad. It’s the kind of film that you can watch at any time on any day and you’ll still enjoy it. It’s short duration may help in this regard or an extra half an hour would make it even better. It’s hard to tell and it’ll probably just end up being one of life’s mysteries.

Overall, Frosty Returns is a pretty fun special. It’s not quite Christmas themed like the first film, but I like snow as well. While it does lose to the original, it certainly beats Frosty’s Winter Wonderland by a long shote. Mr. Twitchell makes for a pretty sinister villain and he’s the type of character that you want as a villain when you’re a little kid. Frosty The Snowman has grown up with the world and while he is still a nice guy, he can fight if need be. You may be disappointed in most of the kids since they betray the snow after a single day, but you can argue that they were just pawns in the great scheme of things. The soundtrack is pretty good and the animation is the best that I’ve seen for this iconic snowman. I definitely recommend checking this special out and it’s under 30 minutes so you really can’t go wrong there. You’d have time to watch this while eating breakfast!

Overall 7/10

Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town Review

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This is one of those old Christmas stories that didn’t become quite as legendary as Rudolph or Frosty. It’s still big enough that you will likely have heard of it though and who doesn’t want to learn about Santa’s origin story? I don’t think that it holds up quite as well as the others though and Santa just isn’t as much of an endearing lead as he could have been. Still, the film is a little more serious than the others and the stakes are much higher than usual.

A nice guy by the name of Mr. Kluger is getting ready to deliver some gifts when he realizes that a lot of children are asking questions about Santa Claus. Since he is the resident expert on the subject he decided to take some time out of his busy schedule to humor them. He tells them the story of Santa’s origin. Santa was left at the doorstep of some nice dwarves and they decided to call him Kris Kringle. They liked to make presents, but they could never deliver them because of a sinister Warlock who lived in the mountains. Time went by and Santa grew up enough so that he could defeat the Warlock. He set off, but little did he know that the true threat was waiting to pounce!

It’s a pretty cool plot on paper and it’s filled with twists, but it didn’t hold my attention quite the same way that the others did. It’s simply less charming and it’s not filled with wonder and excitement like the others. It may be in part because of the stop motion animation though because that style makes the world seem rather bleak in universe. The snow is not quite as majestic even though you can definitely tell that it is in fact snow. The animation isn’t bad for its time though and it’s not hard to watch, but stop motion is certainly one of my least favorite styles of animation.

Burgermeister is the big villain of the film and would you be shocked if I said that he doesn’t end up turning into a good guy by the end? This guy wasn’t going to fold so easily and you can practically see his sinister nature the instant that you hear his name. I know that Burgers are usually synonymous with excellent, but the meister part is what should make his name ominous. He’s not very powerful…he’s just a normal guy, but he has a lot of influence. As a villain, he’s actually quite good and he’s always munching on something. It keeps him ready for what comes next.

Santa Claus is a nice enough guy. He decides that he is going to get the toys to the kids one way or the other and he sets off on a very dangerous quest from which he knows that there may be no return. It’s the kind of heroism that you may remember from the good ole days. He’s pretty selfless and he lets bygones be bygones with the Warlock in the end. His reasoning for only giving gifts once a year by the end is pretty sound since everyone starts to weaken eventually. He’s a nice guy, but I still stand by my claim that he’s not quite as good as Frosty. He’s simply not as charismatic.

The Winter Warlock is an imposing figure who becomes sympathetic as the film goes on. It all happens so fast that you’ll probably be suspicious of the Warlock for a while, but he ultimately seems genuine. That being said, he doesn’t look very good considering that he has a nice array of magical abilities. By the end, we find out that most of his spells are actually pretty useless in a fight and breaking out of a simple prison is beyond his capabilities. He may have powers, which makes him stronger than most of the other Christmas special villains, but it’s still not saying a whole lot.

Jessica has a twist hear that you will start to realize as the film goes on. She plays the main heroine, which may be a first for the Christmas stories. Frosty’s Winter Wonderland had one, but I’m thinking that the title came after this one anyway. She plays a key role when she reminds the Warlock that he has a lot of magic so he takes out the corn. Otherwise, the heroes had basically given up and they wouldn’t have lasted much longer. Her screen time is a little limited, but everyone’s ultimately was since the film is still pretty short.

I think that one more factor which impacted the film was that Santa Claus wasn’t all powerful here. It’s always fun to see him being portrayed as an invincible being who can do just about anything. If we’re going to make a legend, we may as well make him an invincible one right? Santa should have inherited the powers of previous or future Santas in the climax and materialized some kind of super gift. It may be asking for a lot, but that would have been a good way to end the film on a pretty high note.

Overall, Santa Claus Is Coming To Town is a pretty decent film, but it’s one that could have been a little better. Santa Claus just doesn’t draw a crowd the way that his Christmas counterparts do, but it was nice to see how it all began for him. Having a villain with the word “Burger” in his name was pure genius and the Warlock made for a unique villain since most of them didn’t have magic powers back in the day. The special is well over an hour so it won’t take too long to finish it. Considering this, I think it’s probably a good bet to check it out as we are not too far past Christmas, but you could also watch the original Frosty The Snowman as a good alternative. After all, you’ll want to stay frosty during these cold days right?

Overall 5/10

Frosty’s Winter Wonderland Review

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Well, now that I finally got to review the original Frosty The Snowman, it was time to check out the sequel. I’m sure that you are aware of how sequels can rarely challenge the original right? This is one of those cases and the plot is definitely not as engaging as the first. It’s still a good Christmas story, but it has less to do with Christmas and more to do with the cold.

Frosty has been at the North Pole for a very long time now so he finally decides to head back to town to play with the kids. Little does he know that this upsets Jack Frost! Jack Frost feels left out since nobody plays with him anymore and he decides to put a stop to this effective immediately! He plans to steal Frosty’s hat, which will turn him back into a lifeless creature. Will the kids be able to put a stop to this?

This actually sounds like a pretty good plot on the surface, but we quickly find out that the film misses more than a few opportunities. One of the plots that was rather unnecessary was the invention of a Ms Frosty. Frosty got lonely so the kids decided to create a wife for him, but it takes away the uniqueness of Frosty. They also go overboard as they create another guy to also be a Snowman. Also, Frosty no longer needs the hat to survive because he can simply get by on the power of friendship. It’s pretty touching of course, but the hat is why he’s alive and they shouldn’t have changed such a crucial element to his origin.

Jack Frost is probably a better villain than Mr. Hickle since he actually has powers, but he also seems to be a little less intimidating than the former. He just wants friends so you can probably tell where that plot will lead as soon as you see him. After all, Frosty’s a very nice guy so I’m sure that he can straighten this fellow out. It’s good to have someone with powers, but he’s probably not the villain that you were looking for.

Frosty The Snowman is still a pretty great lead, but his naivety goes into borderline parody mode as he welcomes insults. Jack Frost takes some shots at him, but he doesn’t notice and thanks him. Jack Frost also nearly takes down the whole town with his sudden blizzard, but Frosty and Ms. Frosty decide to invite him for the wedding. He may have been trying to destroy it, but that won’t stop Frosty. Frosty lives up to his name since nothing ever seems to ruffle his feathers. The only time where he drops this front is when he lets the kids know how lonely he is.

The animation is about as good as the first one although they decided to switch a lot of the character designs for some reason. It also helps to try and trick the audience at first as Frosty’s eyes are red, but then we quickly learn that he is a fake. The soundtrack is certainly a little more bland and we don’t get the cheery Christmas songs that you may have been looking forward too. Beyond that, there are many nods to the first film like the Police Man who was shocked the first time. I think he shouldn’t have been shocked here so that wasn’t a very believable scene, but it’s good to see him come back I suppose.

The narrator still seems to be the wisest character in the series and he’s always ready for the change in seasons. The action scenes are probably more intense than the first film’s although you can barely call them “action” scenes. The film is still pretty fun and enjoyable while you’re watching it, but the Ms. Frosty parts do tend to drag a little. Frosty didn’t need a match and that’s the part that I find a little hard to get over. She’s not a bad character at all. Maybe a little generic, but that’s to be expected. I just would have preferred if she was a childhood friend of Frosty’s or something.

Overall, Frosty’s Winter Wonderland is about what you would expect from a sequel. It’s decent and Frosty’s still a pretty good character, but it lacks most of the charm and wit that the first film had. This one is simply a pale shadow from that title and Santa Clause doesn’t even get to appear. The animation is still good enough, but the soundtrack might be a little worse. It’s a bit of a stretch to recommend this film, but it’s very short at around 30 minutes so it can’t hurt that much and you’ll get to see Frosty again. That may be a good enough deal right?

Overall 5/10

Mario Kart DS Review

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This is certainly a title that has been pretty high on my video game list for quite some time now. Mario Kart is just one of those franchises where I want to eventually own all of the games so I had to start somewhere. Now, I’m only missing Mario Kart Advance, Wii U, and 3DS. That’s not so bad, but it could be a while until I get the latest one since the price is going to be very high for a long time. This title does a good job of keeping the Mario Kart DS series near the top of the Mario franchise.

There are 8 cups to complete in this game and the style is similar to Mario Kart Wii. There are four cups filled with all new stages and the other 4 cups consist of old levels from the previous games in the series. I do think that this is a little lazy, but seeing as how most of the old games only had 16 levels anyway, I guess it’s still a fair trade off. It is certainly fun to see the old levels come back with updated graphics of course…not counting Double Dash though since it looks better than this game. Completing all 8 cups can be done pretty quickly, but the game has other features to keep you hooked to the screen for some extra hours.

There are many unlockables to be found in Mario Kart DS like extra characters and items. There’s even an alternate opening/ending screen for the game if you get golds on various tournaments and beat the cups on harder difficulties. These features certainly add to the intensity of the game and there is no ultra long cup to worry about so trying to finish these cups off on 150cc shouldn’t be much of a hassle. Finally, the game also has a mission mode, which is a pretty unique feature for the series. It’s pretty fun and I think they should keep it for future installments as well. The missions help you focus on driving skills like steering and drifting in a fun way. You also get to race against popular bosses and even face off against King Boo. A certain Legend of Zelda villain makes an appearance as well so the missions are pretty great. There are over 50 missions in the game and I ended up playing close to 40 of them before deciding that I should probably take my leave of the title. (The L button was also acting up and some of the missions can be pretty tough to complete without such a crucial button at the ready)

So, the actual game may be pretty short, but the replay value is certainly there. A long time ago the replay value would have been much greater, but the servers were naturally taken down so that gets rid of the Wi-Fi potential. The home console versions always have the option of just racing a friend, which definitely give them an advantage over a portable title. Naturally, the game is still worth it if you are just looking at content since it should certainly tide you over for a few days or maybe even a week depending on how often you play it.

I doubt that I really need to describe the gameplay, but I’ll give it a quick run through anyway. The object of the game is naturally to cross the finish line first, but you will have to get past the other 7 racers to do that. There are many items that you can obtain by going through item blocks and you can use them to get the other racers in trouble or just breeze by them. Anything goes here so be prepared to do a lot of fighting as you power through.

That being said, the second screen can almost be unfair against some of the items. One item has a squid pour ink all over your main screen so that you cannot see, but a new feature of the DS version is that you can look at the race from an aerial view on the bottom. Evidently, the developers forgot to think about this so the squid is now pointless as you can quickly shift views. The aerial view can actually be more efficient in some ways since you can see everything from that point of view so you can turn accordingly. It’s a very useful feature, but I think the ink should affect it as well when someone uses that item. I suppose that it’s just a minor slip up.

The graphics are pretty good for the DS. There are few games on the console that look better than this one and Nintendo has always done a good job of working on the graphics for their sport titles. It’s fun to see how the older stages look on the portable screen and you can clearly tell what is happening at all times. The character models are never too blurry for you to comprehend what is happening and they have held up well against the test of time.

The soundtrack is also one of the better ones that you will see on the console. A lot of the themes are pretty nostalgic and the new ones are pretty good as well. They are suitable for the races and there isn’t really a “bad” theme. They’re all pretty peaceful and soothing, which help you to fight off the long roads when there are no other racers in sight. It’s easy to listen too many times, which is good since you will likely be playing the stages several times to try and unlock everything.

How does this game stack up to the other Mario Kart titles? Well, it naturally loses to Mario Kart Double Dash and Wii. I’m guessing that it likely loses to Mario Kart Wii U and 7 as well so it’s best chance is against the old, old Mario Kart games and the Advance version. It should beat all of those in terms of gameplay, although the older ones for the Super Nintendo and 64 would probably win overall thanks to the multiplayer aspect. That’s not a knock on Mario Kart DS of course, but it’s a racing game and that genre always does best on the home console front since you have people to play it with. Mario Kart Double Dash doesn’t keep a record of your play time on it, but I’m confident that it is my most played game by a long shot with 999+ hours. I played it just about every day for a few years and I still end up playing it now and again. It’s simply the ultimate Mario Kart title, but the DS version is pretty fun as well.

Overall, Mario Kart DS is a very strong racing title and it could be one of the best portable ones that I have played. The controls are sound and the graphics hold up pretty well. The soundtrack makes the stages pretty fun to play since you don’t have to worry about getting bored of hearing the same tracks over and over again. The other portable racing games that I’ve played would probably be games like Sonic Rivals and F Zero. I think this game is probably better than those if we look at them for pure gameplay, but Sonic Rivals’ story mode and longer replay value would ultimately give it the edge. I look forward to seeing how fun Mario Kart 7 is since I’ve only heard good things about that title. I know that Mario Kart DS is old and that just about everyone has already played it, but if you don’t own it yet…I highly recommend checking it out. The online functions are gone, but you can still enjoy some good races. If nothing else, Mario Kart is always a whole lot of fun and it’s the kind of game that you will never get bored of…like Smash Bros!

Overall 7/10

Sonic and Sega All Stars Racing Review

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It’s time to wrap up the big three racing games that I got for Christmas. Pac Man World Rally was pretty fun, but it could have been better. Mario Kart DS was about as fun as I could have expected, but it’s safe to say that Sonic and Sega All Stars Racing easily took the win here. It’s very fun and I can see why the case is made that it could give Mario Kart a fair challenge. The game is certainly very good and while it may be a stretch to say that it’s better than Mario Kart….it’s getting there.

There is no plot of course and there are 24 courses to play in. They are divided into 6 different cups so that you only have to play 4 courses back to back. Completing the cups can help you obtain trophies and points that you can spend at the shop for more tracks, (For 2 player purposes) characters, and music. There are certainly a lot of things to buy, which can be daunting at first, but earning money in this game is surprisingly easy so that makes it a lot more fun. You can earn about 10000+ points for completing any of the latter cups, which is over 3000 points a stage. That’s definitely not a bad bet.

Speaking of which, the trophies in this game are pretty reasonable for the most part. They will take some time since a trophy requires you to get 750000 points, but that’s not a bad grind compared to many other games. It should be pretty easy if you enjoy the game and you may even get it naturally. The only trophies that I don’t care for are the online ones since those are definitely asking for a bit too much. Unless a match is rigged, how are you going to lap someone? That person would have to be playing extremely poorly for that to happen unless we had a stage similar to Baby Park in Mario Kart…and even that is a stretch. There is also a trophy for racing a friend…let’s just say that this can be problematic. On the whole, the trophies are certainly reasonable since most of them are just long. That being said, I likely won’t be getting the Platinum here.

I enjoyed the level designs here a lot and I dare say that they look better than Pac Man World Rally’s as well as the levels in Mario Kart DS. That being said, this mainly applies to the Sonic stages. I don’t care for most of the Monkey Ball or Party Monkey stages and Sonic’s tend to be the best ones. The Haunted Mansions and City levels are also a lot of fun of course and the stages usually have a shortcut or two to spice things up. One short cut is so great that it’s almost impossible to win without it. I think that this is a bit much, but it does force you to learn where it is before you can finish off the cup.

The gameplay is pretty much what you would expect from a racing styled game, but it all handles so smoothly that you will still be impressed. Naturally, you have to make it to the finish line and you use items that you pass by to help you achieve that goal. You can attack other racers or just focus on speeding your way through to the finish line. Drifting is very important here since you get a considerable boost from using this technique. It’s as good as a mushroom from Mario kart or even better since the boost lasts for several seconds. Likewise, performing tricks on the air will give you a similar effect. Technique is important here and while the items do balance things out, it can be the difference between the 1st and 2nd place racers.

Graphically, Sonic and Sega All Stars Racing manages to hit it out of the park once again. Every character design looks flawless and the graphics are definitely PS3 level. Everything is really colorful and it just pops out at you. This applies to everything in the game. From the backgrounds to the items, nothing in this game is lacking in detail or looks out of place. It may just be the best looking racing game that I’ve played, but naturally I have not played Mario Kart 8 yet. Until then, Sonic’s going to have to take the win there.

The soundtrack is also pretty good. I actually found it to be a little too limited at first since the character’s All Star moves always give them their theme. You will likely hear Eggman and Amy’s a lot since they constantly get their super attacks and then any stage from a certain video game where the stages are all in the city always has the exact same theme. It’s a good theme, but I like variety. Of course, that’s when I noticed that I still had over 30 songs to purchase. That ought to help a great deal and I consider the game’s soundtrack to be pretty good with them. I definitely wouldn’t call it excellent though and that’s mainly due to the fact that it takes tunes from many different games. I like just about all of Sonic’s themes, but I definitely don’t care for the party ones or for Monkey Ball. Their themes just don’t work for such a fast and explosive racing game.

How’s the overall value for the game? Well, the 6 cups won’t last you very long since it’s roughly 4 minutes per race with only 24 in the game. So, the game will barely last 90 minutes if you just count that, but there is a whole lot more to do. Trying to get the Platinum Trophy will mean that you’ll definitely have to play it for a few days and let’s not forget about buying everything at the shop. On the way to the Platinum you’ll need to master all of the missions as well and there are a little over 60 of those. I haven’t even touched that mode yet, but you can bet that I’ll certainly be trying it out soon. I always like tackling a good mission!

In the end, does this game beat Mario Kart? That’s very tough to say and especially since I’ve put in a few hours on this game and hundreds on Double Dash. It’s fair to say that this game automatically beats all of the portable Mario Kart titles and all of the other item based racers, but can it really beat the famous Mario Kart titles? It’s just hard to definitively say so. That being said, I don’t believe in ties so I will say that it is slightly better than Mario Kart, at least when you’re playing by yourself. We’ll see if it’s Mario Kart level in multiplayer or not eventually.

Overall, Sonic and Sega All Stars Racing is a great racing title. It really could be one of the best period and it’s a worthy rival to the Mario Kart series. I would just say that it is the best racing game of all time, but we have to consider the racing games without gimmicks and then things get tough once again. I’m definitely looking forward to the sequel since I’ve heard that it’s even better. The gameplay is supposedly pretty different from this one, but I’m okay with that since it still sounds like lot of fun. After all, Transformed is the Sonic title that I’ve heard manages to maybe even defeat Mario Kart 8. It’ll be interesting to see if I agree with that. I recommend this to anyone who likes to enjoy a good racing game and for anyone who especially likes a chaotic racing game. You’re always moving at a very high speed so the excitement never dies down as you race for the Gold!

Overall 8/10

Pac Man World Rally Review

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For Christmas I decided to go with a racing theme with the video games. From the 6 that I got, 4 of them were in this genre and I managed to get one from the three big video game icons. You’ll find out what the Sonic and Mario games were soon, but Pac Man was the first one that I completed so it made sense to do this one first. It’s pretty fun and you can tell how it was inspired from Mario Kart, but it lacks the latter’s sheer intensity.

There is no plot of course and the goal is to beat all of the tournaments and ultimately unlock all of the racers and items. There are 15 levels in the game and they are divided up into 4 cups. After completing each cup, you will unlock the ultimate cup, which features all 16 races back to back. I have to admit that those gauntlet styled cups have never been my cup of tea. Imagine losing on the 14th or 15th race and having to do it all over again. It’s a pretty scary thought, but it ultimately must be done if you want more characters. To get all characters, you’ll need to beat all of the cups on hard and getting all of the items means eating a certain amount of ghosts in each cup. That definitely helps the replay value aspect since locked content is always fun to unlock.

The actual gameplay is very similar to Mario Kart, but with its own wrinkles and twists. There are 8 racers and the gameplay speed is similar to Double Dash’s. Along the way you’ll see a lot of items and you can use them to blast the person in first with a Paratroopa Blue Ghost or throw some red shells red ghosts. The game didn’t really try all that much with the items since many of them are not subtle knockoffs of Mario Kart. Instead of lightning, we get a lightning cloud here since I suppose that this makes everything okay. The items are still good of course, but they just aren’t original.

Each level has a shortcut that is blocked by a food door. To get past it, you’ll have to find the fruit switch somewhere on the stage and drive through it to unlock the fruit. After that, you must find the actual fruit and then head through the shortcut on the next lap. Typically, the shortcut is well worth the effort as long as you are able to get the fruit while you are driving. You do the same thing with pellets. First, you activate the switches and then you collect as many as possible. Once you have enough you can use your final smash. I have only used Pac Man’s so far, but it’s definitely solid. You get a new theme to play over the stage music and then you drive a little faster as you eat any cars that get in your way. Eating cars is important to unlock items so you’ll want to eat as many as possible. Occasionally an angelic ghost will appear to give you some pellets, but I’m not sure exactly why it comes to help. It seems like there is some sort of meter that triggers this, but I cannot confirm such a notion just yet.

I think that the game could have done a little better with the stage designs. I liked the final cup the most as the Retro Maze was a good idea and we finally got a city level. The thing is..the first three cups are filled with landscapes that simply aren’t very interesting. A game like this should have a lot of bright levels like Mario Kart Double Dash so you can marvel at the graphics as you drive. The city level towards the end is one of the only ones that I can think of which fits this category. Most of the others are fairly bleak and you’ll forget about them very quickly. There may have been an island level or two, but it’s simply not the same.

The graphics certainly aren’t as good as the other racing games on the console (F Zero and Mario Kart) and it definitely doesn’t look like a whole lot of effort was put into this game. The graphics simply aren’t that good and I would compare them to the MnM game, which is pretty bad. The graphics actually did hurt the game a little as it would be more fun with better graphics. Graphics are never the most important factor in a game, but they certainly play a big part in sport titles.

The soundtrack is as forgettable as the stage designs. You’ll naturally remember Pac Man’s sound effects from the Arcade Game and they are included here, but the themes just vanish in the wind. I can’t think of a single theme and I’m sure that I wouldn’t be able too even if I had just finished playing it moments before this review. It’s like elevator music. It’s typically decent while you’re in the elevator, but you end up forgetting it immediately after.

Needless to say, this game loses out to Sonic and Sega’s All Star Racing as well as to the Mario Kart titles. Pac Man World Rally just lacked a few things that it would need to compete with those two like great stages and fun items. The game can still be pretty fun of course, but it’s not the kind of game that you will want to keep on playing for very long. It would just get tedious and the battle mode is really what saves it from the fate of the 6 star game. Duking it out while on cars has always been a novel concept and while this game may not pull it off as well as Mario Kart of Sonic Riders, it’s cool that it still has it as an option. Just be warned that the games can last a while since the stages are rather large.

Overall, Pac Man World Rally is definitely not the ultimate racing game, but it’s pretty fun to play. It’s on the Gamecube, which is great news for the game because it means that it can support 4 player action and that’s always exciting. This is the kind of game that greatly benefits from that option and there are also many battle modes to try out if you don’t want to race. The replay value is definitely enough to keep you playing long after you’ve beaten the 4 cups since those, admittedly do not take all that much time. I definitely recommend checking this game out and you’ll just need to try and get past Pac Man’s insanely high pitched voice when he celebrates. It’s simply not the Pac Man that we are used too.

Overall 7/10

Batman Mask of the Phantasm Review

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It’s time for one of the first great Batman films to finally be reviewed and Mask of the Phantasm was certainly a film that turned the tides for animated superhero films as we know them. This film was in the same continuity as the 90’s Batman TV show so that was definitely a draw for many since it was known as the definitive version of Batman. I can’t argue there and seeing him on the big screen was probably a lot of fun. This is a pretty solid film that also contains the Joker so expectations were certainly high coming into it. I’ve seen it several times at this point and it’s always been one of the better Batman films.

Batman is framed by a new vigilante in Gotham, but this new figure is willing to cross the line. He has already vanquished several members of a mob and he intends to finish off the last survivors. Batman won’t have this and he decides that he’s going to have to take this Phantasm down. Will Batman really have what it takes to pull off such a feat? The film also deals with Batman’s meeting with a lady named Andrea. She has something to do with his past and now she has returned after 10 years…what’s her angle!? The Joker also decides to show himself towards the second half of the film so he adds to the intrigue.

Mask of the Phantasm certainly delivers on the animation front as Batman’s cloak looks very crisp and modern. You would think that this was a high budget episode of Justice League and that’s what I expect from a theatrical film. I think that the beginning of the film certainly got the most attention as it looks considerably better than the rest of the film, but the whole thing still looks really good. For a film, it also makes sense to trow most of your budget into the opening to really hook people in as opposed to a show where you want to put some budget into the beginning, but then you’ll want to save a lot of it for the climax. A good indicator of how good the animation looks here is to look at Batman’s design. The way that they design his cape and cowl are pretty good indicators of if the animation is good or great. Mask of the Phantasm is definitely on the latter side of that.

This film’s soundtrack uses a few tunes from the TV show while also inventing a new theme that plays during the intro and ending. It’s an operatic piece that works pretty well with Batman since it lets you know that something serious is about to happen. It’s more fitting with the ending than the beginning since it highlights a key decision that has now been made. It’s rather dramatic and it works well. You definitely won’t doubt that this is a theater film while you’re listening to the soundtrack.

Batman looks pretty good for the most part although I certainly have some qualms with his portrayal here. It naturally revolves around his scenes with Andrea. Many of the events with them take place 10 years earlier during Batman’s first adventures as a crime fighter. She arrived and he started to consider hanging up the mantle before he had even begun so that he could lead a normal life. It’s not the “I am the night. I am vengeance. I am Batman!!!” character that I remember, but this was fairly early on in his career so I could cut him a tiny bit of slack. Now, what I can’t simply overlook is that 10 years later Batman is once again in shambles because Andrea has returned.

No matter how close they were, there’s no way that anything would cause Batman to hesitate at this point. He’s already decided that being Batman is something that he’s going to do until he’s physically unable to handle the job anymore. He definitely wouldn’t consider stopping now for any reason. So, that subplot was definitely a pretty big stretch and it was a little sad how his secret identity was found out so easily. I don’t think he would typically make the mistake of standing in front of the Wayne’s grave or at least being caught doing so. He just didn’t look too good there and I have warned films about the possible traps involved where romance is concerned. I think it did hurt his portrayal here.

That aside, Batman tended to look pretty good in the fight scenes. It’s safe to say that he had the edge against the Phantasm and he took out the Joker with sufficient strength and finesse. It was only close because Joker had the home field advantage and I can live with that. He is still a tough villain after all so a close fight is to be expected. Batman put together the clues for the mysteries pretty quickly here and he also put Alfred in his place when he started to go a little too far. This is definitely the Batman that I am used too and it will be tough for any continuity to ever surpass the DCAU version of Batman.

The Phantasm is a pretty intense villain. I naturally won’t disclose his secret identity even though the film is so old because spoilers must be protected through thin and thin. So, naturally these lines just pertain to when he is in costume. He’s a pretty intense villain and he seems to show no fear as he hunts down gang boss after gang boss. He is equipped with a pretty sharp gauntlet that can cut through guns without effort and he is quite adept at moving through smoke. I think that some of his feats are certainly a little exaggerated since there is no possible way (Barring supernatural powers) that he can accomplish them. One example is where he throws a smoke bomb and Batman immediately grabs at him, but the Phantasm is gone. It’s pretty spooky, but a little hard to buy.

Andrea is one of the new characters for this film and she’s pretty decent although it can be tough for Batman fans since we don’t like to see him give up like this. Unfortunately, Andrea is in a pretty tricky situation since her father got involved with gangsters so now their lives are in jeopardy. That’s why she ended up leaving Batman 10 years ago and then she returns for this film. She seems nice enough, but also a little too easy and the whole affair with Batman happened way too quickly. Naturally, both of them are to blame for this, but also allowing the flirting by Reeves was a bit much on her part. I probably prefer some of the original characters from the final film in the Batman DCAU trilogy, but Andrea certainly could have been worse. At it stands, Andrea didn’t make the film lose any stars. (A star probably could have been gained without her subplot though)

Joker appears to give the film some star power on the villain front. Admittedly, the film probably wouldn’t have been quite as exciting without him. A super villain is always appreciated and you feel pretty confident that he will be able to stand up to the Phantasm. He is the Joker after all and he’s always prepared for every eventuality. His home base is pretty cool and he’s just a very charismatic character. I always did like him in the DCAU even if he’s not my favorite villain in most of the other forms of media. His fans will certainly be pleased with his portrayal here and he is seen as a pretty big threat from the get go.

Arthur Reeves is one of those guys who likes to be at the top of the Anti Batman game. He appears on TV constantly to remind people that Batman is a menace and you would almost think that he was Harvey Dent at first. It makes you wonder how this guy always manages to get on TV, but he is a politician. Let’s just say that all original characters tend to have something to do with the plot so he’s entangled in the past full of mysteries in this film. He’s definitely not a good character and I wouldn’t have minded if he hadn’t been in it. I guess we do need more villains though and he beats some of the sub villains. He just brings shame to the Arthur name! If it helps….he does have the courage to laugh at the Batman!

You may wonder about a certain figure on a boat as the film ends and what it all means. Well, I like to think that the figure threw another figure away as a certain explosion hit and quickly escaped, which is how the figure is here. That also explains why the other figure continues to appear in future media in this continuity. I think it makes sense, but it also undermines one character’s big moment at the ending. Ah well, at least it means that the character resisted from crossing the line one last time…even if it was accidental. This may sound vague, but you’ll know what I’m talking about as you watch the film.

One scene that may make you wince is when Batman takes on the cops. Typically, that is an easy feat for Batman, but they were probably trying to make it a little more realistic for the casual moviegoers so Batman actually doesn’t look good. We’ve seen him take on a planet full of enemies in the past so no true Batman fan will really be able to buy the scene. It’s also sad since Batman ultimately has to be saved. I think it would have been more appropriate for Alfred to have saved Batman since it would have left the crimefighter with more dignity. As the scene stood, it was a pretty sad moment for the Dark Knight. It also makes Bullock look worse than usual since he just shot someone who has been helping him out since day one. That’s definitely what I call being not grateful to someone.

The main plot is a lot more interesting than the flashbacks, but I did enjoy this rendition of Batman’s origin. It was fun to see his first fights against the hoodlums of Gotham. I just think that it would have been even more fun without the romance in Andrea’s subplot. This film definitely has a lot of romance in it and it’s interesting that the other two Batman films have romance plots involved in some way. It may help the general audience I suppose since they expect that, but you can certainly do a good Batman film without such a subplot. After all…what would the fans have to say about all of this? Batman is the solitary Dark Knight…end of story.

Overall, Batman Mask of the Phantasm is a pretty good way to start off the classic Batman trilogy of animated films in the DCAU continuity. The soundtrack is pretty good and the animation is superb. It tops several of the DC films that have come out in the last few years and that’s no small feat. Batman’s portrayal is hardly perfect, but he still looks smart and tough, which is good. The Phantasm makes for a nice villain and the Joker’s certainly a classic villain to use. The opening action scene is pretty great and you really feel the blows. The film may only be a little over an hour, but there are a lot of danger/combat scenes to help make up for that and the action never get boring. I definitely recommend checking this film out whether you’ve watched the TV show or not. It’s good as a stand alone Batman film no matter how much experience with Batman you have. Even if you’ve never heard of Batman before, (Is that even possible?) this is a pretty good place to start.

Overall 7/10

Star Trek Golden Key Archives Volume 1 Review

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The Golden Key Archives bring together some of the first ever comics for the Star Trek franchise. It’s fun to see the original cast from the TV show get back together and they look even better than in the show. It’s no secret that I wasn’t a huge fan of the show and I definitely do not like Captain Kirk, but he actually looks like a pretty good character here. I mainly blame it on the comic format since it tends to make the main characters look good no matter who they are.

There are 6 comics in this collection and each issue deals with a situation of unprecedented adventure. Star Trek is about going to various planets to meet aliens and discover other ways of life so the issues are pretty faithful to that. One story sees the crew land on a planet where large robots are threatening to destroy the world due to the fact that they keep on creating more and more cities. Soon, there will be nowhere for the inhabitants to live so it’s a pretty sticky situation. The issue was pretty interesting, but one of the original characters was pretty annoying. He didn’t want the heroes to help since he thought that it would make him look bad. He hogs the glory and then he allows the heroes to help. The problem is that the comic still portrays this guy as a hero even though his motives were completely selfish.

In another story, Spock was possessed by 5 ghosts who wanted him to help their land go free. He had to blow some things up because the world was very dangerous due to its constant shifts in climate and land. Kirk and friends almost decided to stop Spock, but they allowed him to continue and it was certainly good for the alien race that he did. Of course, one of the stowaways did happen to be evil so that certainly threw a wrinkle in the situation.

The best story was probably the one where Kirk and friends land on a planet filled with inhabitants who crashed from their spaceship, but we quickly learn that the situation is more sinister than they let on. It’s like a classic Klingon episode since the heroes have to escape back to the ship within 24 hours (Since the planet will explode) but they dare not allow the villains to go with them. Kirk will have to outsmart these guys somehow and that’s definitely going to prove to be very difficult.

One story that did not involve a lot of fighting was the final issue. Two planets are on a collision course so the Star Ship Enterprise is tasked with stopping this from happening since it could wipe out the solar system. They want to blow up one of the planets, but then they find out that they are both inhabited. How can they possibly move the planets out of the way before impact? It’s a pretty good story and you may be able to guess the outcome, but that doesn’t take away from the drama of the moment. It’s simply a fun issue without too much stakes.

The other two stories aren’t quite as remarkable. One of them deals with a dangerous planet where the plant growth has gotten a little too extreme. The heroes simply have to deal with this as they attempt to survive. In another comic, the heroes wander onto a deserted planet and wonder why it is so quiet. Let’s just say that it has something to do with a Civil War. It’s not a very original plot, but at the time it may have been so I’ll give it a pass there. It’s still a good issue.

The main reason why the collection’s enjoyable is because the writing is sound. A good writer is can make any situation exciting and that’s just what happens here. Some of the stories certainly had the potential to not be very good, but this came out during the golden age of comics where most of them were very interesting. I have my doubts on whether a current Star Trek series could be of comparable quality to this one, but I suppose that there is always a chance. The right writer coupled with a good artist can bring hope to any franchise.

The art is decently good. It’s in the style of the old Marvel and DC comics. Back in the days of hand drawn issues, which are always fun to read. The one reason why I didn’t say that the art is very good is due to the fact that a lot of the characters are interchangeable. Kirk looks about the same as Henry Mc Coy or the random red shirt of the day. If not for the uniforms, you would probably mix up just about everyone in the series. The artist just doesn’t do a great job of making the designs unique for the characters. Beyond that, the art is pretty solid and definitely easy to read.

Captain Kirk is your average leader from this era of comics. He makes all of the tough calls without letting any casualties become a part of the equation. He’s pretty confident and he’s also a capable fighter when he needs to take part in a battle. There’s really nothing wrong with him here and he’s certainly a lot different than the other versions of Kirk that we have seen over the years. I could get used to this incarnation!

Spock is pretty true to character and aside from Kirk, he’s the only member of the TV show cast to really get a big role. He has two comics devoted to himself and he’s a main supporting character in the others. He’s the voice of reason and he’s definitely a good character although he’s not as likable as Kirk. He tends to leave Kirk and the others lost as he only lets them know of his plans at the very end. It’s a risky gamble, but it tends to pay off.

The other characters are technically around, but they’ll only get a line or two and it’s easy to forget that they are there. That’s all right though since Star Trek is more about exploration than character development. All that we need are two good characters to hold the plot together and the rest will go along smoothly. I definitely look forward to reading more Star Trek comics in the future. So far, Star Wars definitely has the best comics and Dr Who would be second in the Sci-Fi race, but Star Trek is chasing them down at number 3.

Overall, Star Trek Golden Key Archives Volume 1 is a great way to get introduced to Star Trek. It may set the bar a little high for the franchise, but watching Star Trek Into Darkness after this is a great way to keep enjoying the series on a high note. Captain Kirk is actually a capable leader here and Spock certainly looks intelligent as he should be. The art is solid and it’s just a fun collection. I can see why Star Trek was a fun franchise for everyone if they read the comics. It’s not quite The Avengers or Justice League, but it’s certainly a fun read from start to finish. I recommend this title for your reading pleasure.

Overall 7/10

Bakuman Review

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Bakuman is a very unique Shonen Jump manga that decided to try and get some success without the typical action formula. There are no real fight scenes so would this really work out? Well, it manages to be very interesting like Death Note was and the continuity is very important here. I can safely say that it was much better than I had expected and it shows that Shonen Jump can succeed in any format!

Mashiro and Takagi are the main characters of this story. Mashiro had always liked drawing ever since he was a kid and Takagi enjoyed writing stories. One day, Takagi asked Mashiro if he would like to partner up to create a manga and that’s when the whole thing really started. They have to move up the Shonen Jump ranks if they want to catch up to famous authors like Kishimoto and Kubo. Along the way they meet many other aspiring authors and friends. They go through several editors although one of them ends up staying longer than the rest. They even get a rival in the form of Eiji. It’ll be a tough road, but these guys can hold their own!

Mashiro may technically share the lead role with Takagi in the series, but I’d say that he is definitely the true main character here. A large part of the plot is the fact that he proposed to Miho at the beginning of the series and they promised not to speak with each other again until Mashiro drew a hit series that got an anime and Miho got to be the voice actress for the main heroine. A rather lofty goal, but one that they decided to stick too. Naturally, this is an impossible deal that is broken several times, but they try to keep to this throughout the series and it’s a good subplot.

Mashiro is very determined and he can be pretty stubborn once he has made up his mind. He’ll never be the guy to crack first and he’ll hold his ground to the bitter end. His uncle died from overworking himself and it’s a trait that Mashiro shares with him. He ends up working on manga well past his limits and it comes back to hit him several times. He’s a pretty solid lead although he’s not nearly as good as the average Shonen Protagonist. To an extent, he’s meant to act as the reader. So, he has some personality to keep him interesting, but not too much so that you can still put yourself in the manga instead of him. He’s basically just your average joe who wants to succeed. He’s likable though and that’s what counts.

Takagi is more reasonable than Mashiro on most things. He never overworks himself, although he certainly takes his job seriously. He trusts Mashiro’s opinion when it comes to anything manga related and he’ll keep on creating new stories until he makes one that has Mashiro’s approval. He’s the guy who initiated the team up and you can tell that he is definitely more confident in his movements. Mashiro was rather timid at first and he was still known as a pretty quiet person til the very end. (Although he certainly got braver) Takagi was brave from the start although he didn’t gain rivals quite as quickly. He “cracks” a little more often than Mashiro when the pressure starts to get to him and I do think that he probably has the tougher job since he has to come up with a new story each week, but both are certainly difficult. Mashiro just does a better job of handling the pressure and I do think that he is a better character than Takagi.

Eiji is the big rival of the series and he certainly gets a lot of screen time. He’s basically untouchable though since his series manages to outlast just about every other one and it surpasses Naruto and Bleach at one point. Naturally, those two aren’t mentioned by name, but Crow managed to be in 1st place for over 10 weeks straight so you know what that means. I don’t blame the readers either since Crow sounded pretty awesome. Eiji is a fun rival even if his personality does a 180 sometimes. For no reason he’ll just become antagonistic before reverting to his cheerful self once again. It seems to just be a quirk of the author’s here though as characters tend to act a little out of character when it’s not from their point of view. He’s still one of the better characters in the series.

Miho’s the main heroine of the series and she doesn’t get as much screen time as most of the main characters, but she’s always around. The main reason for her lack of screen time during some of the sections is due to the fact that she is keeping up her end of the bargain to not see Mashiro until their goals have been met. She quickly rises up through the ranks of the voice actress ranks so that she can be ready when the anime has arrived. She’s a good character, but not quite as interesting as most main heroines. She’s very polite and also pretty quiet like Mashiro so this unfortunately means that we don’t get a lot of tough lines from her. A “Watch me win this role” 2 months in advance would have been an awesome line to really get the shonen blood going, but it was not to be. So, she’s a good character, but she could have been better.
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Kaya is another one of the big characters and she serves as the other main heroine since she’s with Takagi. Unlike Miho and Mashiro, they get together pretty early on in the series. Kaya helps the team out with art and other duties when the heroes are in a pinch, but she usually just tries to remind them that they should have a life beyond just working on manga. Time usually flies by for them so they can basically go a whole day just working after all. She’s pretty nice and she helps to keep the heroes together. She doesn’t have a lot of misunderstandings with Takagi unlike the other pair so that’s pretty good.

Fukuda is a character that I could never really like. He’s decent to be sure, but he’s one of the rivals to the main characters and he just never seemed that talented. His stories had some good concepts, but he could never execute them and the art simply wasn’t there. He talked really big and he got a big following on his motorcycle series, but I can’t really say much for him beyond that. He was probably the most vocal member of the team from the main characters, but he was never really a threat and he eventually just became an ally for the heroes.

Nakai is one of the worst characters in the series and he goes from being a decent character to being downright antagonistic. By the end of the series he has lost all of his morals and he’ll stoop down to just about any level. I definitely grew tired of his plot and I would just wait for him to go away only to see his character return. The author makes sure that you will dislike him so don’t expect any redeemable qualities from the guy.

Aoki almost feels out of place amidst the other authors because she is not loud and determined like the others. She feels more like royalty and she’s very cautious in all of her moves. She simply very polite and she wants to make a nice manga without cheap Shonen tricks like fanservice and action every other chapter. I disagree with the latter, but I’m glad that she avoided the former. Unfortunately, the series does send a pretty sad message since she is eventually forced to throw those into her story. That was pretty sad and I wished that she could have held her ground a little more. She’s definitely a nice character, but maybe just a little too perfect. Considering that everyone is basically in one large drama, she doesn’t really add to it like the others. That’s why she should have defied the authors, it would have given her a pretty cool subplot.

Hiramaru is one of the more desperate members of the main authors since he doesn’t even like drawing manga. He used to be a professional at something and he was making a lot of money, but he thought that manga writing would be easy to he decided to focus on that. Turns out that he was wrong, but his editor manages to keep him around by promising to get him a connection with a lady at some point. Hiramaru falls for this trick for most of the series and eventually his character arc comes to a close. I don’t agree with him teaming up with Nakai towards the end though and I think that this was definitely a bit much. Nobody should have to work with Nakai after all of the things that he has done. Hiramaru has his charm, but he’s still not one of the better characters.

Iwase was a pretty good novel writer who wondered why Takagi would sacrifice his great grades and writing abilities to join the manga world. She was so interested that she decided to get involved as well and she quickly became a rival of his. She’s also a story writer so she needed to find someone to do the art and the situation intensified when Eiji volunteered to help. In the end, Aoki proved to be more talented at writing novels since manga typically use less text per page, but she held her own for quite a while. She’s pretty proud and believes herself to be above such things and that’s one of the reasons why I would say that she was one of the more interesting members of the group. She eventually learns the value of being a manga writer or course.

Nanamine is probably the only villain in the series. Nakai may as well be one, but this guy makes it clear that he is on the side of injustice from the get go. He comes complete with his own sob story about how he used to be a fan of the main characters. Now he believes that the end justifies the means so he comes with a pair of tricky strategies in order to guarantee his success. They are pretty ingenius methods, but at least one of them is not practical unless you are already rich…and it just so happens that Nanamine is rich so it works out. As a character Nanamine definitely isn’t great, but I was glad that he came around. It brought the Shonen Jump effect on the series to a whole new level and we got some pretty cool cliffhangers out of the whole thing.

Hattori is the main editor for the two main characters and he’s pretty good. He can be a little annoying at times though as he is very cryptic with his advice and he tends to panic a lot. Every series has “that” character who panics about how strong the villains are and tells the heroes that they should quit while they’re ahead. (Brock, Krillin, Chopper, etc) Whenever a new character shows him the manga that they are working on, he makes an incredibly exaggerated face (That is recycled a lot) and he mentions how it may be impossible to top this work. He sticks up for the main characters sometimes, which is pretty good, but he’s certainly not one of my favorite characters in the series. If it helps, I’d say that he’s probably the best editor in the series, although the editor in chief is cooler than him.
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The art looks very good throughout the series. The artist has to be able to switch his artwork several times as he showcases very different series from the authors/artists within the series so that definitely takes a lot of skill. The artist is definitely experienced and my only complaint with the art would be that a lot of the characters use the exact same expressions from time to time. It may not be very evident if you were reading this series on a weekly basis, but I basically marathoned through the entire series so I would even read 2-3 volumes a day at one point. At that quick pace, you tend to notice things like this a lot easier. The face expression that I never liked was when the editor’s nostrils would turn huge and steam would come out as he exclaimed how good a series was. It’s a little exaggerated and it makes him look bad since he says that about almost every big series. A random newcomer who turned evil made a series about wrestling and he had that reaction. I can understand him reacting that way for an Eiji or Mashiro story, but that should be the extent of it. For the most part, all of the other characters suffer from this as well and I think that it may just be one of the weak points of such a story. Since the main characters are in a pretty similar setting in similar circumstances many times, it makes sense that it would be harder for the artist to resist using such a tactic. Nevertheless, the overall art is pretty solid.

This is the kind of series that you would certainly expect to get a 7 or less, but it was just too interesting to deny it an 8. Whenever there would be a new batch of manga for me to read, this one got top priority. The only series that I would choose over it at the time would have been Soul Eater and Kenshin. Beyond that, Bakuman was the series that I was most eager to read. It’s a real page turner and that’s mainly because of the big cast and all of the subplots that are going on. It takes the typical Shonen routes and throws some drama in there and there is certainly a lot of tension because of the deadlines and the fact that only a certain amount of series can run in the magazine at once. No matter how you look at it, that means that some of the main characters will have to take a loss at some points when their series is cancelled.

The series does unfortunately have some fanservice in it. Typically it doesn’t have anything to do with life outside of the manga, but some authors believe that you should add it into the series and there is the whole subplot about having Aoki add it into her series. It’s a sad running gag that the guys naturally enjoy seeing those kind of scenes as well, which doesn’t help their case. There are also two perverted characters in the series whose every line is just cringe worthy and it makes you wish that they were not there. Luckily, one of them does get punched…maybe both of them. That was pretty fun and satisfying. So, the discussions can be a little much at times and it’s never enjoyable when they’re talking about things like that. It doesn’t happen all that often at least.

The series certainly has a lot of romance since it is like a drama during a lot of the volumes and many pairings happen. Miho and Mashiro’s is probably the best one since they decide that they won’t even talk until their goals are met. Now, that’s a safe and happy relationship if I ever saw one. Naturally, they break down and allow texts to be sent to each other during the series and by the end they are willing to phone each other, but they stay true to their goals. For the others, nothing unnecessary happens so I’ll give credit to the manga for that. The romance is handled a whole lot better than most other series.

One of the fun parts about the series is getting to see the various series that the authors are writing. It’s cool to see the actual manga artist adapt his style so many times to see what they are like. The best series that we get to see is probably Crow since it’s your average Shonen filled with a lot of fights and cool characters. The main characters created several series, but their best one was definitely the one that they closed out with. Reversi was its name and it was a mix of D.N. Angel and Deathnote. It had a pretty cool concept and the ending was certainly intense. Their other two big series were PCP and Detective Trap. Both of them were mysteries while Detective Trap was played seriously and PCP was basically a kudomo in disguise. Both of them sounded good, but not quite as good as Reversi.

Their rivals naturally had others, but they weren’t quite as good. We had +Natural…which sounded really boring and I have no idea how it lasted so long. There was a Beaver series and it was basically a comedy that I also thought should have been doomed. The Classroom of Truth was a great series and it’s one that they should totally make in real life. The concept is incredible and it could really have a bright future. Road Racer Giri also sounded fun as a racing series, but it was lacking something. Many more series also get to appear throughout the manga so it’s fun to keep an eye out on those.

The series is very heavy on continuity, which is fun since you get to age alongside the characters. Several years pass as you go through the volumes and they make sure to let you know where some of the series rank just about every week. Keep in mind that we are supposed to believe that Naruto, One Piece, and Bleach are around even if we have to stretch our imaginations a little to actually believe that they would lose to these titles…consistently. They lost just about every week, which is kind of sad for them. The series may have been better off just ignoring those titles, but I guess this series is also meant to be pretty informative about how to write a manga so they wanted to keep it in.

It’s one of those series where you just need to read it to fully capture the size and scope of it all. The plot is pretty linear and it always continues from the last point, which is why it’s impossible to mention all of the plot lines. They just keep going and going as they transition into other things. There are also a lot of other characters who come and go during the series. Many of them are forgettable while some of the others can be fun like the other editors. They definitely get competitive with the series. Bakuman is very realistic so just about all of the characters can be annoying from time to time as they try to downplay some series and upvote others with some personal bias, but that just makes the whole thing more exciting.
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Overall, Bakuman is a pretty great series. As I mentioned, it will naturally not be as exciting the second time around since that is a weakness for series that don’t contain action, but the first time is good enough. It’s a series that will make you want to keep reading from start to finish and most of the characters are likable. I do think that they reuse too many expressions throughout the series, but I guess it’s tough to not do that when you’ve got a series like this one. I recommend checking out the series because it is not as dull as it may sound. (Although I love these kinds of plots myself) This is still Shonen Jump after all so you can typically expect a high quality piece from them.

Overall 8/10

Smash Bomber Review

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Smash Bomber is a series that I had not heard about until about 10-20 minutes ago. I quickly checked out the 3 chapters and I have to say that I can see why it was canceled. The actual concept is great and this could have been the next toyetic elite, but the author made some interesting choices that just didn’t go over well. Add in the under average art and you don’t have the next Megaman NT Warrior. Well, let’s see how it went.

Keep in mind that there were only three chapters and the page count was less than 60 overall. So, this is about half as long as the average manga volume or even less than that. Well, it is the future and a new game has captured the hearts and minds of kids. It’s called Smash Bomber and the rules are almost identical to that of Beyblade’s. You have to essentially use your disc to hit the opponent’s discs out of the arena. It takes skill and tricks, but the big change is that you use your physical abilities to amp up your moves. Like jumping off of a sky scraper or something like that. Each fighters starts out with 5 discs so you have to think strategically about how you want to win.

The main character goes by the name of Binta. He wants to be the greatest Smash Bomber who ever lived. Unfortunately, his friend thinks that this is an unreasonable goal and so does everyone that he comes into contact with. I can understand since Binta is apparently not even that good, but it’s still sad for the kid. He duels Banji, the leader of the bullies at school and then they learn of an evil plot led by BJ. These guys are stealing people’s discs after they humiliate them in duels. Binta won’t stand for this and he quickly decides to team up with Banji’s group to put a stop to this. Will they be able too?

I do have to give the series credit for the fact that it actually manages to end things without a cliffhanger even though there were only three chapters to be found. That takes a lot of effort on the author’s part and he’s probably glad that he hadn’t started adding many characters in yet. Some of them certainly get the shaft thanks to the quick ending, but at least they got to show just how strong they could be. One panel fights can still be impressive…..right?

So, Binta seems to be a decent main character. Naturally, he is super generic though and I can’t say that I’m overly impressed with his skills. He gets a “hardcore” moment after his big training montage, but it’s hard to really feel like he earns one. He can’t have improved all that much in a few hours. I also think that he should have quickly walked away from the training at the first opportunity so that certainly did not help his case either. He’s not a bad main character, but he’s not exactly the next Kaz Gordan!

Banji is the Dex of the series. He’s a bully who quickly turns out to be a nice guy after chapter 1. He’s supposed to be very tough, but he lost to Binta in chapter one so consider me unimpressed. I definitely don’t care for him and he almost put a whole building out of business just so that he could train some more. He has an emotional moment during his duel that is supposed to win you over. Let’s just say that it didn’t really work.

BJ is the main villain of the series and he’s mean to the bone. He wants to duel with the highest possible stakes, but the problem is that the stakes are actually pretty small during the duel. Nevertheless, he decides that he will take his own life if he loses the duel. This causes some tension with the main character. After all…can Binta really try to win this duel if he knows that it will be all over for BJ? BJ’s design is pretty cool and he’s a tough villain. He’s very one dimensional, but you can only do so much in three chapters right? He’s definitely the best character in the series so I’ll give him some props there.

Chie is the main heroine and she’s certainly not passionate about Smash Bomber. She wants Binta to give up on the “silly sport” so that he can become a real person like the others. She must not have heard that everyone in the world loves Smash Bomber, but that’s just the way that it goes I suppose. At least the author finally decided that having everyone’s name start with a b would get old after a while so he went for the next letter. She has her big friendship moment during the last chapter, but she still felt a little overly hostile towards Binta. He has discs to save after all!

The art is pretty sketchy here I’m afraid. It’s very rough around the edges and even the Beyblade manga started out on a higher level in this category. The actual designs are good, but it’s almost impossible to see what is happening. I only grasped the rules once the third chapter had started and even then I have a feeling that there is more than meets the eye. The way that they hit the discs just seems strange. I think the characters throw the disc at the other discs or maybe they just make contact with their staff or body. It’s very interesting and the series definitely could have gone more in depth with it. Binta gets mad at BJ for putting all of his pieces together, but why should he be. It’s like camping or projectile spamming…they’re totally legitimate….

Now, why is this series a 5 instead of a 7? The main reason is the second chapter. To improve their skills, the heroes head to a local bathing house and learn that training requires serious business. They mean that literally btw. Basically, each character poops and then they place the stack right in front of themselves. The others have to throw their discs at the other person’s disc, but if they aim too low they will hit the poop and if they aim to high….that could be painful. Naturally, all of the kids aim too low for shenanigans to ensue until the main character steps in. That being said, it’s still incredibly wince worthy and you will never want to read the chapter again. I’m sure that the series was canceled at this point because that chapter was just sad.

Overall, Smash Bombers is a series that could have certainly been better. Toyetic shows should always be nothing less than amazing and if you aren’t an instant 7 to an 8 then you must have done something wrong. Having an entire chapter dedicated to the main characters using their droppings to train was really uncalled for. That guaranteed that a 5 was the best that it could do and even a 4 was in question for a minute there. *shudder* If you ignore that chapter, then the rest is decently good and you should probably check it out since it’s a very quick read.It does have some neat action scenes and the ending does manage to make things very dangerous very quickly. Also, how many people can brag that they’ve read a 3 chapter manga before right?

Overall 5/10