With Furious 7 out in theaters, it’s the perfect time to continue my journey through the series. I can’t say that I was impressed with the first one at all, but this looks like one of those series that gets better as you go along. In theory anyway. This one is certainly more fun than the first film, but it still falls into most of the holes that the first did, which prevents it from ultimately being a good film.
Brian has fallen from the good grace of the police for letting his target escape in the first film. He now has fun in underground racing so he has ironically become the very criminal that he used to hunt. The cops eventually show up with a job for him. He is to pose as a racer for a criminal mastermind so that he can help the cops get some evidence on him. Brian will need a partner and that’s where Roman comes into play. They’re going to need to drive hard and drive fast if they want to win this round!
All right, let’s talk about the improvements from the first film first. For one thing, the racing scene at the beginning totally destroys the scenes from the previous film. The cars were going very fast and the new nitro effects were a lot of fun to watch. The dark background of the night contrasted with the bright colors and made for a very explosive race. It was tough to beat..evidently too tough to be honest. The film could not even come close to matching that race for the rest of the film, but it was still a very epic way to start off the film.
The characters are also a lot more interesting than the ones from the previous film. The dynamic between Brian and Roman can be good at times. Brian is portrayed as an expert when it comes to this kind of operation. After all, he has been through this before back during his cop days. That being said, he starts to lose control of the mission whenever he sees a pretty face. That’s where Roman comes in. He may not be an old pro officially, but he knows how to fit in rather easily and probably does a better job of convincing the villains of their authenticity than Brian. He’s probably not as good a driver as Brian, but he’s good enough.
The film is typically a lot of fun, which is a shame that it fell into numerous holes. Where to start right? First of all, let’s go for the rat scene. Each of these films will probably try to have at least one big gangster moment to show us how evil the villains are. The first one had the scene where the villains forced someone to drink oil and this one has the villain pin a man down and watch as a rat starts to eat through his stomach. It’s a very gruesome scene to say the least. I prefer the classic “Held at gunpoint” trope as it shows that the villain is ready and the hero still knows that the guy is willing to pull the trigger.
Another aspect is still the underground/gangster feel that the films try to have. This results in a whole lot of unfortunate fanservice. The characters wear skimpy attire and are constantly making suggestive remarks. Roman and Brian naturally take part in these shenanigans as well, which is sad. What happened to professionalism? I fear that it died with James Bond and Captain Kirk taking office. It almost goes without saying that we also get language issues and birdies as well. The film should stick away from those things. It’s a writing issue and it’s one of the things that I’m hoping the films can change later on.
That may not seem like a lot of “holes” as I put it, but they are so frequent that there may as well be a dozen issues with it. The film simply can’t control itself. The main villain is also rather unlikable. He’s another guy who’s really just interested in getting rich and getting the girl. I would have preferred for him to have just been a good driver who wanted to get rich the quick way. He would still be a villain, but at least he would be someone that you could get hyped to fight.
The cops naturally look pretty bad as this is Brian’s show. A squad of around 20 cars can’t match up against two and they are constantly crashing. The FBI is fooled by the ole switcheroo tactic and they are also kept out of the loop a whole lot. You have to wonder why they always need to ask Brian for help during the beginning of these films, but the latter scenes show why they need him. On their own, they simply can’t stand up to the gangsters.
The final big scene where the heroes summon hundreds of cars is really the definition of plot hax. I really don’t buy that happening for a second. Getting everyone into the garage and into their cars while also allowing enough space for the heroes to fit in and get their car into the middle? That’s way too unpractical and elaborate to actually happen. It’s worse than the heroes constantly betting hundreds of dollars against each other every day. There must be a gold mine around there that we don’t know about.
I still have a problem with such large areas not being covered by the police as well. With their fancy satellites and FBI guys on the case, you would think that underground racing would really be a thing of the past at this rate. Of course, that probably won’t be the case as long as Brian is on the case. After all, he loves a good underground race apparently.
I was pleasantly surprised by one of the detectives making the right call at one point. After being threatened with the rat, he still managed to assemble the cops to have one last clash. I hope that he got his family to safety first so that he could really focus on this issue. It’s still too bad that the cops weren’t more organized, but at least the detective did the right thing. Hopefully he can live safe and sound now.
My main piece of advice for the series would certainly be to include more race scenes. We only got to proper races and one was just a back and forth route so it wasn’t a true race. Car action scenes are okay, but they’re not even close to being as epic as a race. A real race gets your heat pumping and you become ready for more. If the whole film had been epic races like the intro, it could have bumped it up a star. 1 star may not sound like a lot, but it’s something. Improving the races is simply one element to add to the whole. If it can get everything right, soon it could be one of the best racing franchises out there. (In movie world. F Zero and the famous Captain Falcon own the streets otherwise)
Overall, This film was better than the first one. It’s slowly becoming more of a respectable franchise, but it is really slow going. As soon as it gets rid of the suggestive themes and bad writing, the films will begin to rise up rather quickly. As it stands, none of the characters are actually likable. Brian and Roman are charismatic characters and they certainly have personality, but they’re way too into women, which distracts them from their moral compass as well as their job. I look forward to the FBI appearing to hire the heroes once again. I’m not sure when I’ll be seeing the next film, but eventually I’ll be onto the current one. Then we’ll see if it manages to live up to the hype or if the series has not changed quite as much as I hoped.
Overall 3/10
All right, it’s time to read a Justice League comic! Not one of the really old ones or the New 52. This is the Justice League as they were meant to be seen from one of their classic incarnations. No Hal Jordan or Barry Allen so I’ll have to wait to read a comic with the full cast in all their glory, but there replacements are ready to step into their shoes. It was as much fun as I could have expected and I actually remember flipping through this comic in Barnes & Noble back in the day. This volume is always in stores and spoiler alert: I recommend checking this one out as soon as possible!
The main chunk of the story is about the Martian Invasion. A group of martians have come from space claiming to help the planet. They have added water to the desert for starters. Superman warns the world that these are merely “cosmetic changes” as he says and disrupting such a big part of the world will have dangerous side effects. For some reason, the humans are not listening to him. It turns out that they are being mind controlled by the martians, which is severely impacting them all. The Justice League assemble and realize that they must stop this intergalactic threat. It’s only the first issue and the stakes have never been higher!
After that starting arc, we get some mini stories and the collection even brings a bonus issue that shows how the league formed. That’s pretty neat and who doesn’t like to see the League form right? Then we have the second arc which has some more of those religious themes that we’ve been wanting. Another angel is planning to rebel like Lucifer so he has come to Earth because another angel wants to leak his plans. Can the League defeat this being who may be too much for them to comprehend? Time to find out! (There’s also an issue with the Key in it…I’m just saying!)
Let’s look at the members of the Justice League before really getting into the arc. We’ll start with Superman as this is him in all of his glory. He acts like the commanding leader that he should be. The curls look from this era is also classic. I remember owning his action figure a while back. Nothing beats his standard look from the DCAU, but he probably does look a little tougher here with that mean hair style. I certainly have no qualms with his appearance here. He realizes that he is being tricked with a fake kryptonite through hypnotic suggestion and he is able to break out of his prison. It gives his intelligence credit and all of the leaguers certainly respect his impressive abilities. At one point, he randomly switches into his thunder look. You could say that his death took place between two of the issues, which accounts for the random change. We get a mini comic where we see him tryout for the team, which is pretty fun. He may not have his strength anymore, but his thunder abilities essentially give him the same effect. His personality is a little different as he’s more cocky now, but with all of the retcons around, that’s not even too unusual at this point
Batman also looks great and this is one of his better appearances. As expected, Batman is a beast when he has prep time. He manages to sneak into the watchtower and stay there for an hour before he finally had to let the League know that he had been there the whole time. He has an interesting laugh/chuckle which is spelled “hh” and it works well. Maybe it’s more of a scowl effect. Either way, Batman has some epic moments. He also shows the others how to deal with the Starro and he takes on 4 Martians by himself. That’s more than the rest of the league put together, which is awesome. Yes, it’s good to see Batman getting his respect.
Wonder Woman’s role is not as big as the first two, but she looks good during the comic. She wins her matchup with relative ease and brings Aquaman on board to help even the odds. This was before the New 52 push where she was upgraded to Superman level so she’s not quite as impressive power wise, but that’s why she’s an expert in hand to hand combat. It helps to tip the scales. She’s definitely still one of the big three for DC. Aquaman’s role is a lot smaller and I can’t say that he looked very impressive. It wouldn’t have made much of a difference if he was not here. Still, his ability to give a person a seizure by thinking about it is pretty neat. I wonder if we actually inherited part of our brain from fish or if that just applies to martians. Either way, it’s interesting.
The Flash does a good job of living up to the reputation of the original scarlet speedster. He’s still not as brilliant as Barry, but few are. He still knows a good deal about the speed force and uses this to defeat the Martian speedster. None are as fast as the Flash and he made sure to prove this in the battle. Wally West can be a fun hero to root for and I liked this portrayal of him. He was strong and dependable as a Flash should be. It’s a little hard to buy the fact that a Starro managed to jump him, but I’ll just say that he was shocked and leave it at that.
As for Green Lantern, this is Kyle Rayner and not Hal Jordan. I certainly miss Hal since he’s still my favorite Lantern. Kyle does well, but he is the flirting kind of guy, which is a little unfortunate. It holds him back from being easy to root for. His constructs have more of an effect on the holy beings in the latter stories than most of the other heroes, which is interesting. His ring is still supposed to be the most powerful weapon in the universe so it’s nice to see it getting some props. It is no longer weak against the color yellow so Kyle has no weaknesses now. As long as he remembers to focus, there are few who can stop him.
It’s another story with the Martian Manhunter. In this story, the Martians are weaker against fire than ever before. An exploding car would destroy Martian Manhunter if it hit and being near fire causes a martian to lose all of its powers like Superman being near Kryptonite. Batman uses this to his advantage when he goes up against the Martians, but it’s a huge risk. The Manhunter was tempted by these martians, but in the end he made the right call and helped the League out. I would have preferred for him to have helped the League win from the start, but at least the plan worked.
It’s also a good thing that the civilians in DC world are typically more reasonable than on the Marvel side. There were around 70 more martians so the humans had to fend for themselves against a good deal of them. It’s a good thing that they all had their lighters and matches at the ready. When together, even humans can manage to put up a pretty decent defense.
So, the first arc was a blast and a half. The Martians were powerful and a real threat. It’s good that the Justice League is so formidable because none of these guys are throwaway villains. The weakest member is still like a weakened Superman so all of the League members have to stay alert. Their true forms are also nice and sinister. This is another reason why I don’t think the Avengers would have lasted here. The weakest Justice League member is probably Martian Manhunter here and he could still take out most of the Core Avengers…most, if not all. If the Martian group attacked the Avengers, Thor and Hulk are probably the only members who could hold their own. The rest would be speedblitzed and then it would be 8 against 2. Hardly a fair fight.
The angel chapter was interesting. I really just had fun listening to the hype. Simply walking onto Earth would be enough to destroy it. This didn’t happen as the hype fell through, but it was nice to hear. The angels can create barriers that none can breach and everyone looked on with great respect as Superman managed to wrestle the being. The air from the angel’s world would make people blow up, the sights would destroy our eyes, the music would damage our ears, etc. Basically, the angels admit that we should stick to Earth and our galaxy before heading to their plane. The hype was awesome and the villain was certainly very powerful….but the overhype was strong in this issue. On the bright side, the Presence was actually mentioned! It’s rare that the One Above All’s DC counterpart is mentioned so that was a lot of fun. Unfortunately, he couldn’t appear to stop the angels because they tricked him. They made an impossible event occur at the beginning of creation to keep the Presence busy fixing the problem. At least they acknowledged his existence, which is more than most comics do at this point.
The art is in the big and bold 90’s style. That means that everyone looks really powerful and intense. Unfortunately, it also means that the artists can get a little lazy with the details. Characters will make odd facial expressions and just look off during various parts of the comics. I love the action scenes for this style, but the talking scenes can certainly use some work. On the bright side, you will always feel a certain sense of amazement and intrigue with this style. You just know that you’re in store for some epic brawls!
Overall, This was a solid start to this JLA series. The characters are in character and the action scenes were great. The Martians made for powerful opponents for the League and the Angel beings from the stars weren’t bad either. I’m definitely going to miss Superman’s classic look as his thunder form will likely stick around for a while, but I suppose that his new form is still good to an extent as well. There is one unnecessary scene as we meet a random guy during the tryouts who just turns out to be a perv so I don’t see how anyone recommended him for that event, but luckily he’ll never appear again. This volume really embodies how I picture a Justice League comic. The roster is one of their strongest ones to date and all of the issues are a lot of fun. I’ve probably read more Marvel comics than DC ones at this point, but DC will always be much more interesting and thought provoking than Marvel’s for me. This volume reminds me of why that is as it’s just so awesome to see the Justice League tackle all incoming threats. Time to get hyped for Batman vs Superman all over again! I highly recommend checking out this graphic novel and you won’t regret tuning in to the intensity that is the JLA. I’m not sure when I’ll be reading another big DC adventure like this one, but the bar has certainly been set rather high.
Overall 8/10
It’s time for another newspaper styled comic in this Snoopy volume after the Superman review that I recently wrote. I think that this is probably the first Peanuts comic that I’ve read so that’s pretty neat. I’ve always wanted to purchase the Snoopy video game and I’ve only seen one of the TV specials so I’m relatively new to the franchise, but this should help me really be able to delve into it.
Snoopy is the main character here. Naturally, as this is essentially newspaper strips combined into a volume, there’s not much of a plot. In the background things do happen though and there is continuity, it’s just not the biggest factor here. Some bird are hatching on Snoopy’s land and they come back to visit sometimes. Snoopy’s adventures against the Red Baron continue as well and then the kids try to comfort him once in a while. The plot isn’t really the important thing here.
The art is simplistic, which fits the Peanuts style. It’s the kind of art that you can envision matching up to one day, but it’s still good. If it works, then it works right? The author is able to reuse a lot of character expressions and movements because they often do the same things, but it’s just part of the style. An elaborate art style like in Marvel or DC could ultimately go to waste here since it could only be used for a few panels each issue. As long as the art is clear and allows you to read through the comic, that’s really all that counts.
The collection is fun to read through. It’s rather short so you’ll be done with it quickly. That’s a good thing as a much larger collection could have dragged on. It’s fun to see Snoopy and the gang go at it, but it’s not really my style as much as some of the other comics. I just prefer to have more of a loose plot somewhere or a continuing story. Something in between the TinTin adventures and the Superman newspaper comics would be a nice balance.
Snoopy’s still the best character in the Peanuts franchise. He takes charge and doesn’t let anyone mess with him. His home is his fortress and you never know what he’s going to do. It is a little sad that his Red Baron adventures aren’t actually real, but at least he has a good imagination. I imagine that being a dog could be a little boring after a while so I suppose that I would start day dreaming as well. It passes the time at least right?
It doesn’t help that the kids aren’t very nice to Snoopy. Charlie Brown tries his best, but the other kids don’t seem to realize what a great dog Snoopy is. Snoopy can wrestle and tackle with the best of them. Snoopy’s one of a kind and while he isn’t as cool as my dog, Sonic, he’s still a pretty excellent pup. Without Snoopy, the comic would lose a lot of its personality.
Still, Charlie Brown is a decent supporting character. He’s just not very interesting. Charlie rarely says anything that isn’t a fact that we just heard. He’s a nice kid, but that’s about all that Charlie Brown has going for him. Snoopy has looks, bravery, and skill. He even lives it up during Christmas by switching his water and food bowls. The humans never suspected a thing.
Peanuts has had many products in just about every area. I think it has had the most success in the video game world and next would be in TV land. Comics are its weakness for now, but that will likely not be the case forever. Archie has gotten many spinoffs and various comic series and that title’s not nearly as big as the Peanuts. (Debatable I suppose) I’m sure that the Peanuts have more than one series and there are likely some more plot based ones out there. Even if they are simply stand alone stories like Sonic Boom, full length stories would do wonders for the series.
More of a plot is all that I ask from the series. If not that, then maybe the elaborate art that I was talking about earlier. The writing is good though and typically the adventures are fun. The worst subplot was probably the one where Snoopy would stick out his tongue and say “Bleh” but it luckily didn’t get too much screen time. You’ll end up feeling bad for Snoopy as well since he is constantly defeated by the Red Baron. It’s easy to see who is winning the war in Snoopy’s version of the world war. Come on Snoopy, you can do it!
Overall, Let’s Dance Snoopy is a nice nostalgia boost for long time fans. As someone who isn’t very deep into the franchise yet, it can be a little uneventful. An actual plot is the big upgrade that the comic needs to make the leap to the next rating. I’m sure that it will happen at some point. A Snoopy solo series based on his adventures (real ones this time) would be pretty great and a very promising premise for the next series. If you are a big fan of Peanuts, then this is the comic for you. If you’re looking for a fun comic to pass the time by, I’d refer you to TinTin instead.
Overall 5/10
Aw yeah, it’s time for a Superman review! I think we all remember how that Unchained review went after all. Suffice to say, this one isn’t quite at that level of awesomeness, but it’s still a fun comic from back in the day. We get to see why Superman deserved to have such power as he teaches others about humility and perseverance. He certainly does have a lot of power within.
There are really two big story arcs to be found here. The main one is about two factions who are fighting for power. One group believes that Superman is the messiah and that he has come to help them. Many miracles start to occur and they gain special abilities. The other group believes that Superman is the Anti Christ and he has come to lead people astray. They have no special abilities, but they do possess great weapons, which can harm the Man of Steel and even destroy him. They are ready!
This story was interesting because of the Christian elements involved. We do know that an Anti Christ will appear and seem to have remarkable abilities. In that sense, it’s interesting to see so many people actually become suspicious. There is a plot twist involving mental suggestion, but that’s how I would expect us to be when the Anti Christ shows up. In this modern era of skepticisim how will he trick us? We do know that he will trick many people so I just may not be able to comprehend exactly how he will do it. I suppose that a few heroic feats can go a long way. If he stops a terrorist attack or something, that would win him a lot of fans instantly.
Well, back to the comic. The humans certainly don’t look great as they believe in Superman so quickly. The twist involves a certain villain of Superman’s who wants to understand the human race a little more. This is all just an experiment to him. Unfortunately, Superman only gets into a small scuffle with the guy before he leaves. Superman was batted aside rather easily, but you can make the case that he was startled and not really ready for a fight. Next time, Superman would be victorious!
At least he got to prove to his religious fans that he wasn’t God during that moment. He showed them the light and that they had to lead their lives without thinking of Superman as always watching over them. Superman stopped a war in the making and showed us why Metropolis is still such a great place to live. This plot were mainly told through one page stories, which was a unique twist. Hopefully they came out daily as you would have had to wait through around 50 installments to see it through to the end.
The second story is not quite as engaging, but we are in more familiar territory. Lex Luthor has ordered a suspicious belt from someone that allows the wearer to enhance his/her abilities 1000 fold. His receptionist receives the package from a dying man and her brother decides to put it on. They suspect that Luthor is a little shady and their hunch turns out to be correct. The girl’s brother already had some telekinetic abilities so now he is a powerful figure. Will the power corrupt the boy or will he help Superman stop Lex?
This comic seems to have taken place after some kind of political action in the real world. Superman ended up demolishing an army from the place that we were fighting. Likely for some war propoganda and hopefully we were the heroes through and through. Superman is a little unsure of whether he made the right call, but we have to have confidence in the Man of Steel and trust that he did the right thing. The people from that culture who live in Metropolis certainly don’t like Superman anymore. Superman gets blasted by the kid on two occasions before the kid realizes that Superman is all right.
The kid got a lot of hype as his abilities were enough to even hurt Superman. Superman’s superior speed should still help him claim victory in a fight, but the kid certainly gave it his all. The climax has them team up as a large UFO is planning to wipe out the world (or the country) so Superman takes it as far as he can and then the kid erects a barrier over the city. It cost him (most of) his powers though, but it was worth it. The ending is pretty happy though as the kid can eventually grow up to be a protector for those who need one.
The art is nice and retro. You can definitely tell that these stories were published quite a while ago. It’s nostalgic to see things like this and you can also appreciate how much everything has changed. Perry was still there, but most of the other reporters are new or vastly changed. Lois looks nothing like she does nowadays and this was back in the times where Lex Luthor was actually very overweight. It’s cool to see the old cast and at least Clark Kent was the one constant that you could depend on.
Speaking of which, it’s also good to see Superman portrayed as strong, but also intelligence. He uses his deductive skills to figure out who the culprits were in the first case and he uses his abilities in useful ways. He scans an entire physical database in seconds with his x ray vision and the dialogue says that he can essentially see to the ends of the earth when he concentrates. Likewise, he can hear everything in the city when he concentrates. It’s always good to see this. It’s why Superman is always ready to stop a crime, but also why he can’t be everywhere. There is a crime every minute so if he was constantly focused, he could keep on trying to stop them, but he would never have any peace. It’s why he still spends some time as Clark Kent and doesn’t stop everything. It’s a tough moral issue that is tackled in other comics, where I would likely go into it more. Still, Superman does the best that he can and he is still the best comic book character out there. That’s why it’s always exciting to read a new Superman story.
Overall, The Power Within is a fun Superman collection. It’s a stand alone story that doesn’t really have anything to do with…anything so it’s very easy to just jump in and read. I had never heard of this collection before I read it, which is always a fun way to be introduced to something. At times, it can be hard to buy the fact that the alien weapons from a certain planet can be so lethal to Superman, but I suppose that it’s a decent change of pace from Kryptonite. Superman also doesn’t give in and he could likely have taken down both armies rather easily despite their armaments. Superman tries to find a nice balance on being a hero while being careful not to let the people think he’s more than that. He has trouble with moral dilemmas just like the rest of us. The collection is rather short and you can finish it really quickly, but I imagine that the price shouldn’t be too high. I certainly recommend picking up this title and you won’t regret it. Batman is even mentioned so be on the lookout for that reference.
Overall 7/10
I now own the whole series! It’ll be fun to re read it soon and then I’ll hit you guys with an epic review. Be prepared for epicness!
Well, it’s been a while, but I finally went back to finish up the Scribblenauts series. The first three games were all pretty fun and this one added DC heroes to use as well. I was ready for the epicness that would ensue and this game even had an actual story mode, which was an added bonus. The story mode does come at the cost of the usual Starrite system, which is actually a big trade off, which I will certainly look at.
Maxwell has learned his lesson from his adventures in the older games. He now knows that his powers must be used responsibly. Unfortunately, he is transported to Gotham City along with his sister. He soon finds out that a doppelganger of himself is teaming up with various super villains and they intend to collect all of the starrites for their own purposes. Maxwell must team up with DC’s greatest heroes if he is going to stop the villains. Can Maxwell prove that he is the ultimate hero and save the multiverse from annihilation? Only one way to find out!
The gameplay is similar to how you would typically expect here. You have your notepad and what you create is limited only by your imagination. The new addition is that you can create DC superheroes to aid you in your quest to be the ultimate fighter. You must travel to each of the worlds and stop the villains who are causing trouble in each land. Each land will have citizens who are in trouble and need your help. When you solve the problem, you will be awarded with points that you can use to unlock future worlds and advance the plot. Each world has one main mission that you can complete right from the start to save the city. Eventually, you will make it to the final world where you can stop the ultimate evil. There are also some bonus missions where you view each hero’s origin story and try to help out as only you can.
As I mentioned, the story mode did come as quite a price. In this game, the missions in each world seem to be unlimited. As such, there doesn’t seem to be a point to actually helping the citizens. It’s possible that you actually complete each world eventually. If so, that helps to erase this complaint. Otherwise, it’s just not as fulfilling as it was in the other games. I suppose you can say that it increases the replay value, but I prefer when the game actually has an ending. Games like Pac Man could be considered to be the exception, but at the same time, I would like to have an ending as well. This way, you can keep on earning points I suppose, but I wish that each world only had a set amount of missions. The Starrite collecting was a classic.
Also, the gameplay seems to have gotten a little worse in this title. There are numerous glitches that are present and you are very likely to encounter some of them as you play the game. There were many missions that were instantly completed as you approached them and others that were lost for no reason. It’s partially due to the fact that your creations continue to move once you leave, but also because the game seems to have not been tested quite as much as the others. I’ve never really minded bugs and glitches. If anything, they serve to enhance the experience. Still, it does show that the gameplay wasn’t focused on as much as you would expect.
The graphics are nice as always. Scribblenauts is one of those games that isn’t meant to look really good of course like the Lego series. You could grab the graphics from Mario 64 and make a case for it looking better. It makes sense since it’s hard to imagine how you could make a lot of graphics for each items that Maxwell could create. It would simply take too long, which is why cardboard cutouts/sprite looking objects are what it used here. It works for the game and everything still looks rather clear. It’s nice to see the chibi heroes helping out as well.
It’s also nice to see Maxwell’s development through the games. He can finally talk now and we have learned that he is actually a wise kid. He knows how powerful his abilities are and he takes great pride in doing the right thing. He’s certainly come a long way from Scribblenauts Unlimited. He only makes one real mistake here and it can barely be counted as a mistake in the sense that he created a doppelganger. His real mistake was not remembering that he had made the drawing or checking it before he attached it to the globe. Ah well, in the end he learned how to fix this error.
The final boss was interesting because it came at a good time. The game actually goes into the Convergence styled plot, which is cool. We got to see other realities and learn more about the universe. The final villain even found a way to take care of the Justice League rather easily. He simply didn’t count on Maxwell. The game is rather thorough on the amount of DC heroes that you can summon. I believe that there are about 200 pages worth with each page having 6-12 characters on it. That’s certainly an impressive amount and the game did its research.
Some parts of the review likely seemed negative, but this is a fun game through and through. It’s rather short and you can probably beat it in a day or 2, but you’ll have fun exploring the worlds. Making this crossover was certainly a lot of fun and it would be cool if they did one with Marvel someday. It wouldn’t be quite as Epic without Superman of course, but I’ve always been a big DC fan.
How does this game stack up against the previous three? I think it’s safe to say that the original three were better games in how they handled this. The gameplay is still smoother than the first game though, but I miss the mission select. The guest stars and story combo does manage to propel this game though. Each game excels in its own area. The first one was the most difficult by far and really helped to stretch your imagination. The second game perfected the controls and probably offered the most complete experience. It was long and packed with a bunch of fun and difficult levels. The third one erased all of the difficulty, but had the big screen novelty to back it up. You could finally run around and help people out. It still had a core mission system with it and was a blast to play. Finally, this one had a real plot. So, all of the games had their strengths to be sure.
Overall, If you played the first three Scribblenaut games, then you need to add this one to your collection. If you haven’t played any of the other titles yet, then I still recommend picking this one up whenever possible. It’s a short game, but a very fun one and you may actually learn more about the DC universe. Summoning up about a dozen versions of Supermen to fight by your side can also be entertaining. Once you pick this game up, you can also bulk up your Wii U collection and see where it ranks. This may be my final Wii U game for a little while so I certainly savored the moment. My next stop is in PS3 land…for now!
Overall 7/10
DReager1.com 