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My Hero Academia Season 8 Review

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It’s time to finally take a look at the final My Hero Academia season. It’s always impressive to not only see a show reach this many seasons but to actually have an ending. We really got a full adaption here which is really cool. The show ends on a solid note here with a lot of closure for all the characters and great action throughout. The season’s a little short with 11 episodes but will eventually be getting a bonus episode to help out with this.

The season picks up right where the last one left off as All Might and Deku continue their fights against Shigaraki and All For One. The results of this fight will be felt across the globe and will determine whether good or evil will emerge triumphant. It’s a lot of pressure but our heroes are ready for this. The season even has time for 3 episodes of epilogue which is rare for any title, but especially for a big Shonen Jump one like this.

With this being the last season, there was naturally going to be a lot of pressure on the animation. Fortunately the show was up to the task on this. The battles are really intense and flashy at all times. The characters are moving at great speeds and you never get lost during it. This is a high quality production all the way and I was glad to see it end on top. The soundtrack is also really good. You’ve got a lot of great tunes throughout including a lot of really classic ones. The technical elements are great as you would expect.

First lets go over the All Might battle. All Might hasn’t had a whole lot to do since the opening seasons since he was depowered. Giving him a mech suit so that he could keep on fighting was definitely a great idea. While it’s true that All For One should still be able to crush All Might, the show does acknowledge this and tries to mitigate that by having All Might constantly bait him into aggressive approaches. It’s also nice to see that side of All Might.

The world remembers him as an ultra heroic force who is always grinning and that much is true, but he is also a man of utmost intensity who does not like to lose. All Might pulls out every trick in the book in order to win and that makes sense. Evil must be defeated at any price. The mech suit also just happens to look really cool which is an added bonus. Stain also shows up to help out although at this point he has a little trouble keeping up. Stain would be able to take on nearly any character but All For One is one of the only ones in the verse that is a direct counter because of his blood arts mastery.

As for All For One, well this is the season where his tough guy facade finally breaks. He begins to panic a whole lot and falls for every single trap. He was a really fun villain for a while but in this season you’re likely just going to be laughing at him. He severely underestimated the heroes and gets relentlessly clowned on for it. They just keep on beating him up throughout the season no matter how many times he tries to pull out a secret power. I would have liked him to go out with a little more dignity at times, but I still can’t say that the appearance itself was bad. He even gets one last jump scare near the end.

We also see his backstory in this one. It’s actually not a sad backstory as we just see how he was a really twisted person from the start. All For One isn’t some misguided soul who took the wrong path, he was actively making the world worse at every step. It’s a strong contrast to Shigaraki who actually had a rough upbringing and things just kept getting worse for him. A good person could have been able to persevere but ultimately that wasn’t going to be Shigaraki’s lot in life.

The main fight is over there of course as we continue the deadlock between Shigaraki and Deku. If Shigaraki touches Deku even once then the fight is his, while Deku has to find a way to overcome Shigaraki’s healing regeneration without murdering him. It’s an incredibly difficult task and the more Deku holds back, the more people are put in danger. Deku is forced to consider some tough decisions here and even gets to go into Shigaraki’s mind to really see the full story of what happened.

By this point in the show you either like Shigaraki or you don’t. For me he is one of those villains who started out weak but did gradually get better in every season. By this point I’d say he is a very strong villain. Even when the heroes do their best to try and turn him good, the villains stays true to his convictions. He wants to destroy everything and as far as he is concerned, that is the end of the story. There is nothing more to his adventure than that. He continues to resist All For One and gives Deku an incredibly strong fight, not many characters can say that.

Deku also does well in the climax here as he finally does what he has to. There are a lot of legitimate complaints about Deku taking too long and putting too many people in danger in the meantime. I tend to agree with that but he gets points for ending the situation. In the end, Deku is a kid who always believed in All Might’s idea of perfect justice. It does make sense that he would have a very hard time going away from that and making a decision that does have some negative effects.

The very end of his epilogue nearly left Deku in a rough spot so I’m glad that it got overturned. That would have been really rough and also just plain undeserved. So this was the much better outcome all around. If they ever make a sequel to MHA, I’d still want Deku to be a primary focus. Doesn’t have to be the main character but I would want him to be getting some action.

Then we have Bakugo who shows up at crunch time to really help out. Without him the heroes would have been doomed. He also has the most impressive quirk by the end of the series. Al For One, All Might, Deku, and Shigaraki all had multiple quirks/stockpiled quirks. Bakugo is hanging in there with them despite only having his natural quirk. That’s extremely impressive and I don’t think we’ll really see any more examples of that any time soon.

He’s also got one of the clearest character arcs in the series. He started out as a huge bully and by the end of the series he has learned to respect the other characters. It doesn’t mean that now he is a huge softy or anything but he’s certainly not telling anyone to go jumping off a building. That’s definitely big time character development. His redemption just works better than some others.

That about wraps up the big battles and then of course we get all of the epilogues. We see how some villains have been fully turned over to the side of good like Gentle Criminal, some are still carrying out their sentences like Nagant, and then others are going to continue with new careers like Spinner and his book. With 3 episodes there is plenty of time to give just about everyone a true ending so that was impressive. If you like any MHA character but didn’t get to see them too much in the climax, then they will probably be somewhere in these last episodes.

On the whole it is a pretty solid ending. We do get a full scene/episode for the Todoroki family at the end and they definitely went through a lot. Dabi is basically doomed to die a very slow death and there is no way to save him. Now that is a total nightmare scenario. The guy was a total villain so that’s just what he gets at this point.

Endeavor will never be back to fighting shape but he is doing his best to turn over a new leaf. I was never a big fan of Endeavor after seeing the past and even these scenes are not enough to really save him. I appreciate the author allowing one of the family members to basically say that he’ll never accept Endeavor and leave. The others are all handling the situation in their own way but it’s for sure that the family will never be quite the singular unit that Endeavor would wish for them to be.

Uravity may have been grieving for Toga way too hard but I suppose everyone deals with death differently. There’s an old lady in the final episodes who sees a kid that is turning to the dark side and she wonders if she could have made a difference if she had helped Shigaraki prior to the start of the series. I think that is pushing herself too hard because that wouldn’t have made a difference (Especially since All For One was watching, not that she would know this) and there’s no way you should be taking responsibility for reaching out to everyone. What happened to Shigaraki was tragic but it doesn’t mean that everyone should have realized this in hindsight.

Either way it is safe to say that the world is now in the safest place that it has ever been. The top heroes are incredibly powerful and also still in the prime of their youth. No villain will be able to challenge them or a long time and so All Might’s dream was achieved. This is the world that he envisioned after all. Villains will still be around and doing their own thing but certainly not to the same level as the League of Villains.

These 8 seasons would really make for a killer marathon watch going from start to finish. In terms of length it feels like the closest thing to when Naruto and Bleach ended. Sure Bleach has the sequel going but the original anime was one the big ones as well. This feels like it’s easily the longest modern gen title to finish all the way. There have been a ton of great moments during the adventure and of course lots of fights. So the final episodes should hit extra hard when you consider that angle as well.

As for this season, if I had to pick a top highlight then naturally it is going to be Bakugo. At the end of the day it is easy to see why he got to be so popular. His explosion quirk is just so much fun to see when animated and the guy really persevered through quite a lot. The best low key moment would belong to Gentle Criminal holding up the whole base like he was Captain Celebrity. He was always a really enjoyable antagonist and I’m glad that they didn’t saddle him with a really dark fate. The stuff he did was certainly not as bad as many of the other villains so he deserved the leniency. There were still a ton of lasting effects to other characters who will never be able to fight as heroes again and so the war felt very legitimate. My small pet peeve would be not getting to see Koichi and friends show up but if I only saw this show then I wouldn’t even know about their existence so that’s not something for the anime to worry about.


Overall, This was definitely a great final season. It wraps everything up and keeps up a good level of intensity. The production values are super high and the cast is a strong one. It’ll be difficult for a sequel to really catch up to this one but of course it is definitely possible. Ideally the sequel will still have a lot of these characters as pros and they show up to help in their grown up forms. I wonder what villain will be chosen to give them a good fight. If you haven’t seen this season yet, then you need to hurry!

Overall 9/10

The Beast With A Million Eyes Review

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The poster for this film is such clickbait that you almost have to double check if you’re looking at the right one. It is so different from anything within the actual movie. Unfortunately this creature feature is really lacking in screentime for the main villain and the main cast is definitely on the weaker side. There aren’t a whole lot of silver linings to this film and so it loses to the average title in its genre.

The film introduces us to Allan, his wife Carol, and their daughter Sandra. They live out in the middle of nowhere and Carol resents the whole thing. She spends most of her time yelling at Allan and Sandra as she has not been able to adjust to this lifestyle at all. They also have a neighbor who lives on the premises but it unable to talk and always seems a bit off. Allan insists that he is harmless but the guy spends his time looking at inappropriate magazines and secretly watching Allan’s daughter. Maybe he should think twice about this guy? For some reason, the animals in the area are starting to go crazy now too so that is another thing to keep an eye on.

Before we even touch the monster stuff, the main cast just isn’t all that good. First up we have Allan who is far too dismissive about the neighbor. We learn a twist about this near the end of the film which at least adds a little more of an excuse. It’s still not a great one though. Lets face it, this does not in any way make the neighbor safe. In fact, the twist about why he can’t talk just gives even more reason to why he might be unstable. While the family was toxic, Allan should have definitely told the others the whole story.

Then Carol is unlikable from the start. None of her complaints seem all that justified or deserved. We are starting this film in the middle of their lifestyle so perhaps some context would change this but as of now, it’s just a bad look for her. Her treating the daughter poorly is also terrible because she has nothing to do with this. So Carol comes off as a total bully here and the film doesn’t have enough time to really redeem her character.

I have the fewest issues with Sandra here. She’s really just trying to do her best and have a normal life out here. She could easily be complaining about how boring everything is since there is nothing to do but she takes the higher road. Sandra may not stand out as some kind of amazing character but at least she was avoiding making any big mistakes. She also gets far more of a role than her boyfriend who could be written out of the film and almost nothing would change.

As for the neighbor, well I feel bad for him with the injury but he’s definitely not remotely likable. He would definitely need to fix up his room and to stop being so obsessed with women to really have a chance here. Perhaps his injury is what started this in which case that just gets even more tragic but we simply don’t know. It’s all a mystery at this point.

Okay so what about the monster? Well, it’s not your average 11 foot creature trying to crush everyone. This being is a high intellect alien who can body swap. He gets a big speech near the end about his power and how the humans can’t stop him. Allan responds with his own speech about love and kindness. It’s definitely a bizarre climax. I’m not entirely opposed to ending things with a war but the creature probably gets less than a minute of actual screentime. It just doesn’t result in a particularly satisfying climax.

The creature is able to emit energy waves that cause animals to become violent. This results in the main character’s dog turning evil as well as a cow and a lot of birds. There is a bit of a body count here as a farmer friend dies but for the most part this is very isolated. It works against the film as well because I’m not here to see a bunch of animals dying. The birds are used as suicide bombers against a car and the dog unfortunately ends up getting axed. The film was never going to survive this kind of a plot.

Additionally, the alien just doesn’t seem to have a great plan here. Causing chaos with the animals may work as a distraction but he tried with too many small ones which allowed the main characters to form a plan and make a counter attack. Really the alien shouldn’t have lost so easily and perhaps should have hidden his hand better if he could be defeated so easily once the animals weren’t a problem. His powers aren’t the strongest either as he can only control humans when they are alone and not when they are in a group.

Apparently his weakness is the power of love which is not a great weakness for a villain. It means he will always be on the back foot here. So the film definitely has a ton of clickbait all the way through. If not for the poster, then maybe I could just call the monster as a plot twist which would excuse the lack of runtime but I can’t really do that here. The film is too much of a slowburn for such a short length and the characters are just not good enough to hold their own. Honestly the more I think about it, the more I realize that the film was completely outclassed from start to finish.

Overall, This is not a creature feature I would recommend. It barely even deserves to be called a creature feature. I know that the alien is the one orchestrating all of the events so sure it technically counts but in the most unsatisfying way possible. I would say to check out just about any other creature film instead and you’ll be getting more bang for your buck. Probably more of an action packed climax too.

Overall 3/10

One Piece Season 2 Review

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One Piece has finally returned! It’s been a really long time since season 1 aired so I’m definitely glad that the show wasn’t cancelled or anything like that. Now that would have been rough. This time we already know season 3 is on the way so that’s a load off. I wouldn’t say that this season quite beats the first one but of course it’s difficult to beat the first meetings for all the characters. We don’t get to see Mihawk this time around but there are a bunch of characters running around.

The story starts with the Strawhats making it to Loguetown to stop by for supplies before continuing on the Grand Line. They are still being pursued by Baroque Works for taking down two of their agents and get even higher priority from the terrorist agency when Luffy runs into the princess of Alabasta. The crew will have to keep her safe while fighting off the various enemies as well as the World Government. The sea is a vast place and so the heroes will get to go to a whole lot of islands and meet a lot of characters. No matter what obstacles head their way, nothing will deter Luffy from being King of the Pirates.

First off the effects are definitely solid like in season 1. I really enjoy seeing the characters use their special abilities like Luffy stretching all over the place and the villains having their own abilities like wax and bombs. The series is not afraid to go all out with the effects which is a good thing because a title like One Piece needs to embrace this. We’re not watching this show to just see some run of the mill pirates adventure.

The soundtrack is also really good. Sadly Buggy isn’t around all that much so his amazing theme doesn’t get to appear as prominently. The rest of the soundtrack is still really good though and you even get the occasional remix. Tony Tony Chopper even got his own theme which I was definitely not expecting. It’s catchy enough. So the technical elements are good here. The only small issue is that like season 1, the camera tends to zoom a little too closely into everyones’ faces. This is the only show I’ve ever seen where it’s so noticeable but granted, I haven’t seen a ton of live action TV shows.

The show manages to cover quite a few islands within the 8 episodes as well. The first one we go to is Loguetown where we get to see Smoker and his assistant Tashigi. Tashigi is given a little more ability in this version as she can actually fight and even defeats someone in a future arc. It was nice to see because she did start with some potential before getting completely written out. This feels like a much more balanced approach to what you would have expected here. Meanwhile Smoker definitely looks strong as always. At this point the Strawhats would really have absolutely no chance of defeating him. None of them have any counters to his smoke. Buggy also got to show up which was definitely a lot of fun.

Then we get the episode introducing us to the giant Whale who sailed with a future member of the Strawhats. Some good foreshadowing there and of course the group gets to take down two more members of Baroque Works. The Strawhats were definitely not doing too bad up to this point although I still have my share of issues with Luffy which I’ll get into later on. Lets just say that he isn’t quite the power hitter that you would have expected him to be.

The highlight episode of the whole season has to be the third one though. We see the heroes head into a town that lays traps for pirates. Most of the crew fall for this but Zoro was ready and now has to take on 100 fighters all by himself. In the show at least he definitely appears to be the strongest Strawhat. I can’t picture any of the others pulling off this feat or anything close to it to be honest. The whole episode has a lot of fighting and is very fast paced. The other members get their fights too of course but Zoro is the highlight. We even see how he is still dealing with what Mihawk told him before about being too weak. Zoro will prove him wrong or die trying.

Then we get to the final two arcs which are a little longer. Little Garden has the heroes meeting up with some giants and unfortunately Baroque Works is around to get in their way as well. In particular Mr. 3 is the big villain here with his wax powers. He is able to basically stick things together and can even create shields that are so powerful that Luffy has a hard time breaking them. That’s a really impressive devil fruit. If not for his getting supremely overconfident, the heroes would have been doomed here. In general the villains just have a whole lot of creative powers and of course the numbers advantage is on their side as well.

The giants look more on the underwhelming side if anything. They may be big but that’s about all that they’ve got. They are shown to not be strong enough to break through the wax which is a really bad anti feat for them. If you can’t even do that, then you’re naturally going to be in a whole world of trouble. Hopefully the giants look more impressive in their next appearances but in general it’s not like they’re my favorite characters anyway so it’s not a big deal.

The final arc has the group going to Drum Kingdom which is probably the most emotional arc of the series. We get nearly a whole episode that barely features the Strawhats as we focus on Tony Tony Chopper and his origin story. It’s handled pretty well and of course the final fight with King Wapol is good. The final episode is always fun because you get to see what the show will use as a proper cliffhanger for season 3. There are a lot of options after all and I have no issues with the one that they chose. We’re definitely in store for a lot of hype.

With all of these strengths, it’s fair to say that the show also has some weaknesses. The biggest one here would have to be Luffy. I think the show just went a little too overboard with having him lose fights. It’s not like he is undefeated in the manga but generally you can count on Luffy to win. He is an inspiring figure and a powerful one who can back up the tough talk. That is why all of the various characters can depend on him in the first place after all.

In the live action series it feels like they cannot count on him. He loses virtually all of his fights. Luffy got crushed by Buggy’s right hand girl in the first episode which was rather embarrassing. Then Vivi defeated him with her dancing skills, one of the Baroque agents beat him with her painting skills, and even Wapol was beating him until Luffy was saved by the Strawhats. You can definitely hit a good balance here but this isn’t it. Luffy still acts really cocky the whole time as he grins 24/7 and says he’ll kick their buts but it comes across as hollow when he is the one being crushed. So how do you fix that? Well, I’d say in the next season Luffy should be racking up the wins and generally overwhelming his opponents. To make up for this, he should be looking dominant.

As it stands, he just seems to be very weak and uses his gum gum powers as a crutch which isn’t really how Luffy should be portrayed. I don’t have any issues with his personality otherwise but he’ll be a lot more endearing when he can back up the tough talk. Meanwhile Zoro looks great as expected, he really dominates his opponents in every fight and has a lot of great scenes. In a way you would think that Zoro was the true captain of the Strawhats. At the very least I couldn’t really tell you different.

Nami does well as always in a support role. She is written out for most of the final arc but is otherwise a big player throughout. I’m looking forward to seeing her get more action scenes down the road. Usopp is one of those characters where how much you like him will depend on how much you can tolerate his lack of bravery. Yes, he will get the job done in the end but generally it is going to take some time to get to that point…in every arc.

Princess Vivi does well in her role. She is a real fighter and gets more than one action scene which was good. She takes a little while to really get on board with the group but that makes sense since they are definitely a very active bunch. I’m definitely cool with her sticking with the crew for a while. Then of course we have Tony Tony Chopper who has never been my favorite character but he’s not bad. Chopper’s dream of being a good doctor is naturally a good one and he can fight when needed. Chopper just needs more experience under his belt so that he can really stand up to the others. He’ll be fun as the team’s animal mascot of sorts but he needs to work hard so he can be seen as a true member of the crew.

Finally there is Sanji who is pretty solid. The show does a good job of not really playing up the flirty part of his persona. So he comes across as a well rounded character with good cooking skills and combat prowess. I like his natural confidence and of course his rivalry with Zoro is always a lot of fun. He adds a whole lot to the dynamic of the main characters so you would want to have him around at all times.

Then we have the villains who tend to be pretty solid within their screentime. Buggy was great in his guest star role. He got to show Luffy who was boss and really take command there. Nico Robin gets a lot of hype throughout the show and it is definitely deserved. She will be a tough fighter to take down, especially if her opponents are not shooting on sight. If they don’t do that then there is really no way to realistically defeat her.

The Baroque Work agents can be more hit or miss. They work well as antagonists but less so as characters. Mr. 3 for example has a cool power but it’s not like his personality is all that interesting. He’s one of those very theatrical guys who likes to do everything his way. His own pride is what gets in the way of claiming victory here.

King Wapol is one of those super petty characters. He is as corrupt as possible and will never even bother to acknowledge someone else’s viewpoint on the matter. He’s the king so that is the only viewpoint that counts. So I may not be the biggest fan but he does have a good design and fights well. He actually had the upper hand for a while there. That makes him stand out at least.

Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine also have fairly big roles. Valentine’s weight abilities are really handy and I would say that makes her one of the stronger members. She was also very confident so that’s a lot of wins all around. Mr. 5 has bombs but there is a decent mount of load time before he can use each one so that limits him a bit. They also don’t seem to be super strong based on their range. They’re just strong enough for him to put up a good fight but that’s about it.

There are a bunch of other side characters running around but these are a lot of the big players. It’s always really cool to see an adaption ongoing like this. Hopefully the series can really make it all the way to Water 7 or Marineford before ending. I’ll be rooting for it all the way. At the end of the day this is a very fun show and that is its biggest strength. The positives certainly outweigh the negatives by quite a lot.

If there’s anything that really keeps the show from reaching the next level it would be the pacing at times though. Luffy being weak is annoying but not the kind of thing that really hurts after all. While the pacing isn’t enough where I would say it’s downright bad or anything, at times the scenes can drag a little bit. You aren’t always at the edge of your seat the way you need to be when a show is going for 1 hour episodes. Generally a 1 hour episode should still feel really fast when you’re having a blast but where were a handful of times here where you would want them to speed through some of the exposition so we could get to the next big moment.

Overall, This One Piece show is a good example of how any title can get a live action show if you have enough dedication. You just gotta go out there and get the job done. It certainly won’t always be easy but you just have to be confident about it. I would recommend this title to anyone looking for a fun action adventure series. You definitely don’t need to be a One Piece fan to enjoy the story. You’ll probably want to watch season 1 first before going onto this one though.

Overall 7/10

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie Review

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Mario has returned with another epic adventure. The first film was a great experience from cover to cover and I can safely say that is true of this one as well. Now I do have the first film over this one in virtually every area, however I want to emphasize that it’s very relative. This film keeps pace very well, it’s like comparing an 8.4 to an 8.2. The first wins but it’s not a landslide and so I have high hopes for the next installments here.

I feel like the trailers were intentionally vague about the plot so I’m going to do that as well. The general story introduces us to Rosalina, the most powerful princess in the cosmos and one of the strongest Mario characters in the lore. She can use the Power Cosmic to take most opponents down but a new threat has arrived to the universe, Bowser Jr. Mario and friends will have to keep him from rescuing Bowser because then the universe will truly be doomed. Mario and Luigi have their adventure while Peach and Toad tackle things from a different angle. Can they succeed?

Separating the main cast into two plots is a double edged blade because that does mean that we don’t get to see many interactions with Mario and Peach for a while. I get that this helps to prevent Peach from upstaging Mario in a combat sense but they tend to have a fun dynamic when side characters aren’t teasing Mario all the time. Unfortunately this doesn’t completely work because Peach’s plot ends up being much more interesting than Mario’s. The stakes are higher and we have some really good fight scenes in there.

Lets zoom out a bit to the film at large. The soundtrack is very good as you would expect. We have a number of Mario songs that show up from time to time. You may not have the emotionally powerful Hero song like in the first title but the film keeps you energized throughout. The pacing is very fast for this film which is always a good thing since it lets the title cover a whole lot of ground in a very short amount of time. I’ve seen 2 hour films that couldn’t cram in this much content.

The animation is really excellent just like you would expect. The characters are true to life and look like they just came out of a video game. Characters like Rosalina and Peach always have a lot of poise and elegance in their actions as well while someone like Bowser gets to look chaotic. So the film looks good and I’d also say the script is generally fun. The film is prioritizing a good time over any serious developments so I wouldn’t expect many scenes of depth compared to the first one. Mario and Peach certainly had more heartfelt moments in the first film like when Mario was worried that he couldn’t be the hero that they all needed. There is a bit of an emotional plot going on with Bowser Jr. and Bowser though. I dare say that’s probably the only plot that really hits home in that regard.

The film doesn’t delve into the horrors of crude humor either which is always good. Yes, the film can be rather silly but it’s in harmless ways. The only jokes that just didn’t work for me is the film’s obsession with messing with characters’ eyes. I dunno there’s a scene where a character’s eye gets stretched and another where one is licked and I dare say it might make you cringe just a little because of how uncomfortable it feels to see that. Not in a content warning kind of way but just in a “That was strange” kind of thing. Not to make a mountain out of a molehill but yeah sometimes the film needed to take a bit of a step back.

If the film has any issues it’s really just that it tends to run the jokes into the ground. You may find it funny for a second when Bowser is trying to play nice but ends up losing his temper. Then the joke happens again within a few seconds and you might let loose a nervous chuckle. Then it happens a third time and you’re completely over it. A similar issue happens within the first after credits scene where you have a decent gag but it just keeps going on and on. Sounds a bit odd when the film itself is so short but maybe they just wanted to really make sure that the kids understood the joke. Not a big deal, but that’s the kind of thing that separates a reasonably funny film from a hilarious one.

In general Bowser’s portrayal is on the weaker side here. They lean way too far on him just being absolutely wishy washy. He goes through too many character arcs here to the point where it weakens him. The film needed to either lean one way or the other and as you watch the film you’ll see what I mean. He’s just trying to be too many things at once and is a decent reason why the Peach plot was more interesting.

Bowser Jr. is definitely a highlight here. This is easily one of his best portrayals and the guy can really fight. He’s shown to be considerably more powerful than Mario and Luigi. Based purely on this film he may be the most powerful character in the film series. Typically the heroes have to rely on him getting careless in order to really make a dent. There are some other villains like a snitch but for the most part this is Bowser Jr’s show with Bowser as more of a sidekick.
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For the heroes, well Mario is a solid lead as always. He’s your well rounded every man who is doing his best to save the day and be a hero. Mario is very confident at this point without being a braggart and gets the job done. In a way you sympathize with his just wanting to have good friends while everyone’s teasing him about getting a girlfriend. Mario isn’t in any rush no matter how much the other characters pester him.

Luigi is solid as well since his scaredy cat persona isn’t played up too much. Asid from a joke near the beginning of the film, it’s really not that relevant. He gets a good hit on Bowser Jr during the opening fight and in general gets a lot of great lines. He’s sort of portrayed as the witty bro in this dynamic with Mario and I like that approach.

Yoshi gets quite a lot of screentime and is a fun addition to the cast. I do wish he could talk though as it would open up a whole lot of other possibilities for the character. Regardless, I was satisfied here and he got a lot of good moments. My only nitpick would be how he is written out of the final fight. It would have made way more sense to let him get involved and even in a power level sense would have been good.

Power level issues don’t tend to hurt a film’s score and this one is no exception. However, it is certainly noticeable how the writers didn’t really care about power levels at all. Mario and Luigi consistently look very weak and out of their league in any encounters with the big villains and then suddenly in the climax they are looking way better than they should. If you always thought that Bowser was stronger than Mario, a decent amount would agree. Mario usually wins through his resourcefulness and agility. If you said Bowser Jr was stronger than Mario, well people would probably laugh, but perhaps not so much after this film.

I have to be honest though, Rosalina’s role is a little disappointing here. The character herself looks great. She has a lot of confidence and tremendous ability as you would expect. She has a ton of power and experience so I have absolutely no issues there. Unfortunately she just doesn’t get as much time to show off as she should and there is one scene that absolutely makes her look far weaker than she should be at this point in her career. From a plot perspective it makes sense to write her out but this was not the way to do it. There are two dicey instances for her, the first not being as bad as the second but they’re both rough.

Meanwhile Peach looks great but runs into a similar issue. She is simply too powerful. The films always have to find ways to avoid her being in the big rumbles so this one also has a reason to keep her out of the final climax. It’s a shame too because I feel like she would be able to dish out a whole lot of damage. In this film we see her take on a whole army and she has some of the best physical feats in the film. In terms of brute strength it’s almost like she is up there with Bowser. The film may be called Super Mario Galaxy but by the end you end up wanting a Peach film so we can really see her fight at length.

The film also has some guest stars and while Nintendo themselves spoiled this in a poster, I’m not going to do that. I’ll just say that the main guest star is a lot of fun. I was just a little disappointed that he did not get a single fight scene. That didn’t make sense. Yes, he’s far more powerful than any Mario character so you don’t want him to trivialize the whole thing but a single fight scene could have still worked. There are other quick easter eggs and fun characters running around so you should keep your eyes sharp. Each moment is a whole lot of fun.

The film has two after credit scenes here and as per usual you have the comedy one and the plot one. The comedy one’s okay, you might crack half a smile before the scene starts to drag on and you just shake your head. The second scene is excellent though. It gives me a lot of hope for the third film to the point where I dare say it will end up being the best one in the series. Unless the series really messes up, this will be tremendous!

If I had just one item on my wishlist for the next film, it would be for Nintendo to let the characters take more actual damage in the next film. While the fights look really good here, there does tend to be a bit of a floaty vibe throughout. You don’t really feel the damage half the time and the characters are more or less still at full power by the end of each engagement. Give us an emotional scene with Mario using the last bits of strength to deal the finishing blow to the opponent. I think you can do this in a way that’s not too scary for the kids while still being impactful. Just look at the Sonic films. They target a similar audience but are a million times more intense and have crazy good plot developments within them. I know it’s not realistic to try and pass the Sonic films but you can try to be on that track.

Overall, This is definitely a great film. Yes, it may be less ambitious than the first film in terms of adding in really emotional moments and serious stakes but it makes up for that with fun. Someone once said that the film has amusement park pacing and while that is usually seen as an insult, I take it as a complement. The movie is always moving forward and is not interested in taking any breaks. It will just keep on going full speed and you’ve gotta respect that. I’ll be here week 1 for the next film as soon as it’s ready and I definitely recommend watching this one right away.

Overall 8/10

Much Ado about Nothing Review

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I’ve often considered Shakespeare to be the most overrated writer of all time and I’m afraid that this film did not change my mind on that. The writing style just doesn’t really work as the old time English get tiring rather quickly. All the witty banter is a little too forced with none of the conversations actually sounding natural. The movie can make for some ironic amusement but that’s about all that you’re getting out of this adventure which quickly overstays its welcome.

The film starts with Pedro, Benedick, Claudio, and John riding into a small town. They have arrived after glorious conquest and look forward to being treated like royalty. After all….that is precisely what they are. Claudio falls for a girl named Hero and they quickly get ready to be married. Benedick is mad about this because he thought that Claudio would be an eternal bachelor like himself. So the guys get together to set up Benedick with Beatrice who always mocks him. The two of them have been verbally sparring for a long while but perhaps this can turn into romance. What they don’t realize is that John aims to end these romances. He wants to cause a lot of chaos and is ruthless in his approach. Will he be able to so easily tear these alliances apart?

Of course the whole film’s premise is based on the fact that he can which shows just how weak these romances are. Lets start with Claudio and Hero here. Basically John shows “Hero” cheating on Claudio with someone else. Unfortunately Claudio could not tell that this wasn’t the real Hero. I think that’s pretty rough in itself since you should clearly know what your girlfriend looks like. If it was so dark that you could not see clearly at all, then you either rush to the door and ask for Hero or ask her the next day. Being completely tricked is certainly the worst out of all the options here.

Claudio naturally throws a big fuss about it but what’s worse is that he doesn’t give Hero a chance to talk at all. He just storms away and destroys her reputation which seemingly causes her to die. Then as an apology he prepares to marry a relative of hers. That’s already a rebound but it’s also a terrible apology in general. There was no saving Claudio at this point and honestly the whole thing isn’t a great look for Hero either. At that point if this is how Claudio is going to act, she should have just moved on. Not just giving up or being passive and seeing how the situation was going.

Beatrice had more of a real reaction as she wanted to murder Claudio and convinced Benedick to do it on her behalf. I appreciate that from a family standpoint but of course on a romance one it did end up hurting the ship. It showed after all that she was only with Benedick by this point so that she could manipulate him and the love itself felt very weak at best. I much preferred when they were just bantering with each other. To so easily be manipulated into liking each other by the supporting cast makes them all look like deeply unserious characters. It’s as if they were so pleased at the other being secretly in love that they were willing to overlook everything else.

John gets more credit here because as a villain he was actually fairly effective. It didn’t take long for him to infiltrate the ranks and really split everyone up. Ultimately once the heroes turned on him the guy didn’t put up much of a fight but he still kept them all on the back foot. Pedro was a decent commander but also someone who was easily fooled and got very emotional. In general I guess you could say all of the characters were driven too strongly by their emotions.

Like I mentioned before, the way they all talk gets old really quickly too. I get how it feels really dramatic and all but the old English takes forever to get through. You’re basically begging the characters to get to the point of their speech instead of taking forever. You also have the subplot with the guards who have no idea what is going on and their scenes really tend to drag. It goes from potentially being funny to you just rolling your eyes by the end because you know that it’s just not going to end.

The film could have really done well to be about 30 minutes shorter but that still wouldn’t have saved it. The movie doesn’t help itself with a super rough opening either as all the women in the village get ready to meet the men and look desperate in the moment. The fanservice was bad enough but do they really have to go so all out for these guys? Desperation is not really going to be a super attractive trait here and it’s another one of those old time dynamics that just doesn’t work. If you’re desperate for any guy to pick you, then there’s nothing really romantic about that. By the end of the film you are supposed to feel happy for the two couples and yet you can’t help but feel like they won’t really have a happy ever after.

Overall, This film absolutely needed some big time action. It needed the characters to get some real fight scenes and for the individual characters to also not be so weak. You’ll see various characters pinned to the wall and threatened while they can barely react in retaliation. None of them really have a whole lot of honor left by the end as they get thrown into every conflict. They also aren’t interesting enough to hold their own stories. I dare say this kind of film would only work as a parody because it feels like one for a while until you realize just how seriously the characters are taking themselves. A romance film without any understanding of what a true romance is will always be doomed to fail.

Overall 3/10

Moonraker Review

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Moonraker continues the James Bond marathon as we actually get some sci-fi elements this time around. Personally I would say it does continue with the classic Bond vibe despite this. To me this is a very familiar kind of adventure so you shouldn’t worry about the space stuff feeling a bit off. The climax is certainly explosive to be sure but it’s not even one of the longer Bond climaxes.

The film starts with Moonraker, a space station being taken by a mysterious foe and so James Bond is called in. James Bond is known as 007, the top British secret service operative in the entire world. He also has a license to kill as needed. Surely Bond should be the man for the job, but it turns out that M16 isn’t the only agency interested in what’s going on in space. The CIA send in an agent named Holly and this provides Bond with someone that he can finally show off for. Bond is usually one step behind the villains and get clowned on consistently, but tends to fare better with other agents. Can he keep his mind on the task at hand or will his endless weakness for women be his demise?

Bond is one of those guys that you don’t really want in your corner. Yes, I recognize that he ultimately gets the job done but it certainly tends to be at a high price. A lot of bodies will roll by the time he stops the villain here and that is true in this case as well. You can’t always blame him for every event but it would be easier to sympathize with Bond if he wasn’t constantly distracted. The “romance” with Holly definitely won’t be impressing you as each one is just manipulating the other. There isn’t really any passion or development here.

It did lead to the best scene in the film though where Bond walks through her room and calmly disables every trap possible. It was one of the only scenes in a minute where Bond actually looked like the top ranked professional that he is supposed to be. That was absolutely impressive. I just wish we could see more of that Bond. In terms of fighting ability, Bond is pretty good without the film portraying him as invincible or anything like that. For example he is usually not going to defeat someone like Jaws and has to just try and get out of the area.

On one hand that is a good look for Jaws but not so much for Bond. Surely his mastery of the martial arts and other deadly forms of combat should be enough to make up for a strength difference right? This may just be an issue with the films not being more modern but Bond always seems to fight like a normal guy. He is always willing to step into the fight though so I’ll give him that and he does have a lot of confidence. You can always count on him to deliver with a strong one liner as needed.

I don’t like the guy but at least he has the charisma to hold a film. Meanwhile the heroine Holly is more proactive than some of the others. She may fall to Bond’s charms like the rest but at least she can fight. It would be smarter for her to carry a gun so that she can properly defend herself but at least she has a knife. I always like when they add in a second agency to these films so having her be from the CIA was a good move. Bond got to have a little backup in that way.

It was also nice to see Jaws return as the big villain here. He is definitely a true threat with how powerful he is. I do think his character switch at the end was pushing things though. I would have liked to have kept him as fully evil, just unwilling to listen to Drax out of self survival. That would have made more sense and unfortunately I wouldn’t have added his new girlfriend either since that whole plotline was too rushed. It just didn’t really make a lot of sense and someone like Jaws isn’t going to change so drastically in such a short amount of time.

Drax is more of a forgettable main villain. He’s definitely not very smart though with how easily he allows Bond to draw a rift between him an Jaws. You’d think that Drax would have been able to see through the bait but I guess he’s just not socially aware of what’s going on. Other villains wouldn’t have gone down so easily. Drax isn’t a fighter at any rate so he won’t end up being all that memorable anyway.

The action and special effects are good as always. The Star Wars type energy climax may come out of nowhere but it does look good so I can say that in favor of the film. The soundtrack isn’t particularly noteworthy but as always I do like the classic Bond theme. No matter how many times it plays or gets remixed, I’ll always find it to be pretty impressive. If the film could just stay away from all the fanservice and rushes romances then this could actually be a good series. Unfortunately as it stands, the Bond films tend to all get absolutely crushed when you’re watching them.

The film also gets some props for being long but never feeling all too drawn out. The action is consistent and the different set pieces are all unique so it’s not like the film starts blending into itself either. The pacing is good and the writing is nice. I always like when Bond bumps into another M16 base and all of the big shots happen to be there. In a way it feels like magic with how quickly they set everything up but I’ll chalk it up to their intelligence gathering truly being first rate.

Overall, Moonraker is one of those films that I wouldn’t recommend but it’s not as if it is significantly worse than the average Bond film. On the contrary it holds up to the others just fine and the space climax really isn’t bad. It’s just a shame that this is known as the outer space Bond film and yet they don’t actually leave Earth for a good chunk of the runtime. If the film really wanted to be bold, it should have made the majority of it take place out there.

Overall 4/10

One Hundred and One Dalmatians Review

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This is one of those films where its reputation definitely precedes it. I dare say that the film even increased the popularity of the dog breed itself. It’s a movie that holds up pretty well with fun characters and solid pacing. It has quite a bit of action as well and a good amount of stakes. As long as you find dogs to be charming then you should have a good time with this one.

The movie starts with a dog named Pongo trying to find a wife for his owner Roger. Roger is always busy with his music and so the guy hasn’t made any kind of a real effort in order to find someone. Pongo doesn’t want this guy to end up being lonely so he takes Roger to the park and gets him married to a lady named Anita. Roger marries Perdita as well and they have a lot of cubs, but unfortunately the villain Cruella shows up and demands the puppies. Roger is able to block her but she has two hooligans break in to steal them anyway. The cops are unable to find any leads and so Pongo figures that it is all up to him and Perdita. Will they be able to catch the criminals or is this really game over?

As always with these classic Disney films, they do a great job with the color and vibrant tone of the world. There is always something going on here. The characters are very expressive and so the animation looks far better than something you would expect from the 60s. Although at this point I say that for a lot of old films so perhaps I just need to start thinking of the 60s as a great time for pure animation. The soundtrack is more on the forgettable side but you won’t see me complaining about the fact that they decided not to go the musical route with this one.

Pongo makes for a good lead because of his sheer confidence. It’s rare to see the main character being the one to play matchmaker. Pongo wasn’t embarrassed or overly shy; he was just out there getting results. That is exactly what you want to see from a character like this. He was also quick to fight when he had to defend the little pups from the enemies. All in all a very strong performance and he absolutely ends up being one of the more memorable leads.

Perdita also did well. She was right there with Pongo fighting off all of the enemies. While Pongo was the one with the plans, she was always there as good support. So she gets full credit all the way. The owners are a little less impressive, but hey that’s why they aren’t the main characters. Roger did well in standing up to Cruella even if he was super nervous the whole time. In his own house he really ought to be able to muster up a bit more courage than that. Perhaps I’m being a little greedy here.

Anita had less of a role but unfortunately it wasn’t a very strong one for her since she wasn’t taking Cruella’s threats very seriously. Cruella isn’t exactly a subtle character after all so you just have to follow your gut there. What Anita could have used was one really standout scene where she confronts Cruella and shows how aggressive she can be.

The romance may have been on the weak side but as it’s mostly off screen we can try to say that a lot of it was just not seen by the audience. I don’t have any big quarrels with it at any rate since it’s not a big focus on the film. Cruella appears far less than I would have expected though considering how popular she is as a villain. The design is certainly memorable and it can be nice to just have an overt antagonist like this. She has no dreams of helping the planet or some kind of random sob story. No, she just wants more fur coats and is willing to murder everyone in order to get it. That’s just her style.

Her two henchmen get a big role but they’re your general bruisers. They aren’t too smart and are just good at throwing things and picking fights. Technically that’s more or less all that you need for henchmen though so in a way I’d say they do their job well. They had accumulated quite a lot of Dalmatians as well although apparently the rest of the owners had just sold them so I guess that’s less impressive. Either way, it’s good that the main dogs could fight or this would have gotten real ugly real fast.

The puppies didn’t tend to be the smartest guys around but they’re young so I’ll cut them a bit of slack. It was also fun to see them all watching the cartoon early on in the movie. It was a rare chance for the characters to all catch their breath and we got to see some happy scenes as a family. Generally, in a film like this the plot is moving at all times so there isn’t much downtime. I appreciated having this scene before things got crazy. The movie also did a good job of showing how powerful community can be with every dog pitching in to help out and do their best.

Now while the soundtrack may have mostly been forgettable, I did enjoy the Cruella song near the beginning. It was a very catchy song and using all of the lyrics just to bash her was pretty fun. You get the feeling that Roger wouldn’t be brave enough to say it to her face but the thought is what counts here.

Overall, One Hundred and One Dalmatians is definitely a fun film. It’s the kind of title that has a lot of replay value and really goes by quickly. The characters are all handled well and the film’s animation is super clear. The movie never drags on nor does it have any real weak points. I could easily recommend this to anybody and it ends up being a really timeless film. It’ll be tough for the other Dalmatian films to try and top this one so we’ll see how that goes. In the meantime don’t let the 1960s date scare you, the film certainly doesn’t feel old and the writing is on point from start to finish.

Overall 7/10

Infamous Collection Review

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Infamous is another one of those games that I’ve always known about but never got to play before. Now thanks to the collection I get to play two of them at once so that’s pretty cool. The games definitely hold up really well as great 3D action games with a whole lot going on. They are the kind of games that you want to keep on replaying until you have completed all of the missions around.

Both games are a similar length. They’re not all that long but will still keep your attention at all times. The first one introduces us to Cole who was at the epicenter of a giant explosion. This destroyed thousands of humans in the area but Cole survived and now has super powers. Other people have also gained abilities so the city is in a terrible state. Cole has to decide whether he should use his powers for good or for evil. If he chooses the dark side, then he will be able to do whatever he wants but if he chooses the light side then he will need to start protecting the humans from all of the villains around. It won’t be easy.

The game has you choose between the light and dark options for every story decision so those tend to come around very quickly. Then at the end of the game, your choices will start being locked in depending on how good or evil you are. There are no takebacks here for the most part. You could do a bunch of normal missions to try and shift courses but the game intentionally makes this difficult so you can live with your decisions. You can’t really trust anyone in this game, every person has their own selfish motivations for either helping you or standing in your way.

Cole’s specialty is lightning so you are able to shoot bolts of it or even shoot out thunder grenades. You can absorb electricity from any object near you to power up when you are running low. You also have hand to hand attacks but for the most part that’s not something you will really need to worry about. Hand to hand simply isn’t as effective as ranged attacks although the sequel changes this a bit. There is also a pretty large hub world where you will be helping people out at different points in time.

In some ways I would even compare the game to Spider-Man in how the plot progression works. You can always choose to go right to the next story mission or clear some side missions first. You have a clear upgrade system as well which lets you get stronger and stronger. As always I would recommend beefing up your attacks as soon as possible but realistically you don’t need to go for all of them. As you play through the game you will quickly find your favorite and least favorite attacks to use after all.

The graphics are definitely solid. By now the game has certainly aged quite a bit but to me it holds up pretty well. The soundtrack also isn’t bad but it’s a little generic. I wouldn’t really recall any specific themes by the end. The sequel updates the graphics pretty well although the soundtrack is about the same. I guess some things can’t be easily upgraded to the next level in a single sequel.

The second Infamous is very similar but the small changes stand out more since I played them back to back. For example there is a much bigger emphasis on melee so your hand to hand attacks are actually useful this time around. The upgrade system was made to be a lot more convoluted which was annoying. Aside from the EXP needed to buy the upgrades, you now must have completed some conditions first which can be a bit of a grind. I ended up beating the game without a lot of the upgrades as a result of that.

For the most part it is all more streamlined than the first game though and a general improvement across the board which is what you want to see from any sequel. Even the story is a lot more intricate now as we have several main characters who all have powers. The whole story is about stopping the Beast, a being of unlimited power who is set to destroy humanity. It was cool that you get to fight him at the beginning of the game to see how outclassed Cole is and then to contrast that with his new powers at the very end of the game.

By the time you’re done with the first two games you are super hyped to get out there and play the third one which is exactly what I imagine the intent was from the start. I’ll certainly be there at some point. Outside of the main story content which should take you around 15 hours or so, the games have a good amount of replay value. You need to beat the game under both light and dark modes for each title. In the first game that means beating the entire story for a second time while for the second one you are able to quickly just re-complete the last level. Still, a lot of the other trophies will take time as well.

The best thing I can really say about the game is that it’s a lot of fun. The hub world is handle perfectly which plays a large role in this. With some games you can feel afraid to start a side mission because it’s going to take forever and be boring. The average side mission here takes less than 5 minutes and immediately rewards you with EXP and more territory so it just feels worth it. Likewise with finding the various birds across the city. All of the side content really adds onto the main story and just feels like a part of the overall experience.

Overall, This collection gives you a lot of bang for your buck and is also just a lot of fun. I had a blast using my superpowers everywhere. This feels like a full fledged superhero game all the way through and shows just how many things you can do with electricity. The blueprint is there now if they ever want to make a Static Shock game. That said, you don’t have to be a superhero fan to enjoy this game. As long as you really like 3D action titles then this one will be right up your alley. I would definitely recommend checking it out at any time and the price is generally really cheap nowadays.

Overall 8/10

Hollow Knight Review

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Hollow Knight is one of those games that I have been waiting to play for quite a long while now. It has been waiting and waiting for its chance to shine and that time is finally now. The gameplay and style are both well known for being distinctive and I’d agree with that. It’s a lot of fun to play through the game and there is plenty to explore. I have no real complaints on the gameplay front with the only weak aspect being the lack of a real thorough story. There is enough lore for you to build something out of it though.

The game follows the little Hollow Knight as he seeks to destroy all the monsters in his way. He must wake up the souls of three sleeping guardians from around the world and then face his final trial. Along the way he meets Hornet, the heroine from the legendary game known as Silksong. She tests his might on several occasions before letting him go on to the next challenge. Hollow Knight will have to gain more and more strength if he wants to end this quest in victory.

You start out with your basic jumping ability and a short sword. As is the case with most Metroidvanias you will gain more abilities as you play through the game. For example you will get energy blasts, double jumps, wall jumps, etc. You will feel quite powerful by the end of it all and that sense of power progression is absolutely important in a game like this. That’s because you will be doing a lot of backtracking and going across the same areas 50 times. So by getting stronger, you can go through the rooms a lot quicker than you could before. You will also gradually create shortcuts.

The game is very well done on the quality of life front. Whether it be checkpoints or maps, you will consistently be able to make things easier on yourself. There is also a very in depth customization system which lets you choose what you want to power up. Sometimes you may want to amp up strength while other times you want to amp up your speed instead. You have to choose carefully because you don’t have many slots. You can buy more slots as you go through the game but will always have to settle for just a few badges.

My lineup was to use the shield, expanded map, and orb gatherer. I found those to be the most helpful and for the very end of the game I got to use my longer sword. The game will be difficult regardless, in many ways you could even say that’s the whole point of the game. It’s not meant to be the kind of title that you breeze through. I certainly lost to some bosses over and over again.

I’d say the best thing to do is take it slow and learn the attack patterns. Eventually you will be able to dodge pretty well. You could even go for parrying but I found the timing to be tight, even for me. So personally I would say to not bother with that unless you are feeling incredibly confident. Jumping and dodging is the best way to go. You can also heal health by staying in one place but the bosses are all programmed to attack even more intensely when you stop moving so you want to be careful about that.

The minions can also be tough at times due to the sheer numbers. Make sure you don’t let them surround you and skipping a minion is a bad idea if you aren’t by an exit because it will eventually catch up to you. Dispatch the enemies as soon as possible when going forward and only skip the ones that you are sure you can outrun. As long as you keep on doing that then you should be good. This also may be obvious but I highly recommend prioritizing buying the maps as soon as possible every time they appear. This will save you an incredible amount of time.

Like I mentioned the only weak point here is the story. It’s really complete lore with very few cutscenes. The dialogue we get from characters like Hornet is pretty good but these scenes are rare. It is possible to just have a game be so atmospheric that it works without a story but I dare say that it is nearly an impossible task. The atmosphere here was good for example and I liked the surroundings but I still missed my in depth plot. Ultimately I just really wanted to see that. The sound effects for the various characters you walk past could be a little extra loud too.

The soundtrack is good though. Several good boss themes in there and the music always helps to enhance the scene. The graphics are also really good. Everything is polished and so the game feels modern all the way through. There is also a ton of content crammed within the game. I was able to clear it after about 15 hours but my completion% was only in the 70s. There is plenty more content to be played through beyond that including a ton of boss fights and extra rooms. One day it would definitely be worth going through more of the game to get some trophies. The price point for Hollow Knight is incredibly considering how much content you get.

Overall, Hollow Knight is a game that I would definitely recommend. The content and replay value really speaks for itself. The gameplay style is also a lot of fun as it tests your abilities greatly. There is no RNG here at all. Whether you win or lose is completely based on your own merits. There are plenty of checkpoints everywhere so you don’t feel bad when you lose. It doesn’t take long to return to where you fell in battle. I personally would enjoy an instant rematch button but I understand how that might make things a bit too easy. The exploring is part of the fun after all and if you’re seriously stuck then you can always double back and try another route. I definitely look forward to trying out Silksong at some point and seeing how it stacks up to Hollow Knight. By playing the first game so late I got to avoid a whole lot of the wait that fans had to put up with.

Overall 7/10

Mega Man Star Force (Re)Birthday Review

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It’s always good to see Mega Man coming up with a new manga even if it’s just a oneshot in this case. Star Force was always a fun trilogy and now with the collection it can reach a whole new generation of fans. This story has the heroes getting to team up against an old threat for one last hurrah. It definitely goes by quickly but still manages to be very nostalgic and satisfying all the way through.

The title starts off with Geo’s birthday being celebrated by his friends. He has saved the world 3 times in the past so it’s about time that he gets to relax a bit. Well, it doesn’t all go according to plan when the Crimson Dragon returns. This creature intends to destroy everything and so Geo is called in one last time to help out. The others tried to beat the Crimson Dragon on their own, but he’s too powerful. Mega Man is needed!

Now if I’m splitting hairs here, I feel like Ace and Bly should be enough to take the dragon out. He was really powerful as a final boss of course, but these guys are true power hitters. Maybe I am underestimating the Crimson Dragon though. Personally I never expected to see him again so that was a fun surprise. This also gave us a chance to see the whole cast show up and start throwing blows. It’s always fun to be reminded of just how fast the main characters can move with how they were in space right away. It may be the last time that Geo gets to really have a proper fight like this though so I’m sure he enjoyed it. If anything that makes the birthday more exciting.

There isn’t much more going on beyond that but it’s still enough to be a fun chapter. The artwork was excellent and I’ve come to expect nothing less from the Mega Man titles. Each page pops out and the action is drawn well. The characters have a good relationship between each other so it’s easy to root for them here. I don’t really have any negatives. While there isn’t much to say just because of the size of the chapter, it is a good time.

I was also glad that this takes place after the trilogy. You don’t always get to see what the main characters are up to once the main quest ends so this was a good way around that. The time skip isn’t very large so the characters still look the way that you remember them but it helps to work as a sort of epilogue. Maybe someday we will get a 4th Star Force game. In general I just want more Mega Man content because it feels like this tends to happen way too slowly.

Overall, This was a good one shot. If I had my way, every series would get a oneshot at some point so the franchise doesn’t have to be totally over. Of course a new game or ongoing series would be even better but I’ll take what I can get. It’s also cool that Capcom actually released this in English officially. So if you haven’t checked it out yet then you should change that. It only takes around 5 minutes to read it after all so it’s not like you are going to be missing out on anything. You owe it to yourself to read this and remind yourself why Mega Man is such a cool series.

Overall 7/10