Sonic Christmas Blast Review

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Sonic The Hedgehog is one of the most influential video game characters of all time. Here’s a guy who has always managed to stay relevant in all eras and it is only fitting that the series would get a Christmas special at some point. It’s definitely a really fun one. The whole special goes by very quickly but throws in the classic Sonic fun that always works out well.

The special starts out with Santa Clause deciding to give the role over to Eggman. He just doesn’t feel up to the task anymore and while the guy seems a bit more mechanical than usual, the people don’t really suspect that something is up. Unfortunately Eggman has decided to ruin Christmas and changed the holiday so that now people must give him presents instead! It is an absolutely diabolical change in procedure and the heroes won’t stand for it but now what can they do? It is nearly Christmas after all….their only hope might be in Sonic The Hedgehog!

Sonic gets roped into this because he was trying to find a present for Princess Sally. Well, now’s his chance to make her happy and also save the day. Eggman doesn’t really have a chance once the Blue Blur shows up and from there Sonic even ends up taking on the mantle of Santa. It was all in a day’s work for the hero and while the plot may sound basic, this is a Christmas special. It’s not like they were going to have a whole lot of crazy shenanigans going on at the same time. It was enough for me though with all of the fun moments here to smile about.

The animation is pretty classic here. There’s nothing that will shake your world but it’s fun to see the old speed effects as Sonic zooms around the place. The character models are on point and the background stage designs are good. The soundtrack is less memorable but when the character designs and animation are good enough you can overlook that to an extent. Only to an extent mind you, I think there’s a lot they could have done with the Sonic music.

Whether you really like this one or not will really depend on what you think of the humor though. I tend to like all of the cheesy puns as Sonic messes with everyone but it is considered to be a retro humor style so I know it won’t work for everyone. Sonic dressing up as a garbageman and tossing out the robots is just classic though. This Sonic doesn’t have a care in the world and just has fun trolling and messing with everyone. It’s really awesome to see and I would even say that’s part of his appeal. Sonic is so strong and so fast that there are no threats to him so he can just laugh everything off. He’ll keep everyone safe in the meantime.

It’s why even Santa Claus is willing to immediately turn everything over to him. He knows that Sonic will be a better Santa than he ever could. It’s not something that discourages him though. No, in fact you could argue that this actually makes Santa feel good because it’s like a big burden is off his shoulders. Other characters would have declined the position while Sonic jumps at the chance! (Well after being buttered up at least)

I would say the only humor that doesn’t work as well is for the scenes that involve Eggman’s two robot lackeys. They just can’t keep up at all and it can almost be hard to understand them at times with hos shrill the voices are. I generally tend to prefer the heroes joking around while they’re on top than the villains joking around while they’re losing. The first dynamic just works better but if you have to have a comedy villain then you want to be like Eggman. He is clearly on the losing side the whole time but he is fairly oblivious to this and keeps on talking tough the whole time. That’s not easy but he pulls through.

I would have liked a little more combat but it’s clear that wasn’t in the cards here. It’s really just a fun adventure about Sonic clowning on Eggman. Low key Eggman did well though since he took over a city with ease and generally seems to have a lot of power in this continuity. We just know that Sonic can take him out at any time. That’s why Sonic is a full blown hero. Princes Sally fans may be saddened to know that she doesn’t do much. Even a random kid who breaks free from Eggman’s prison gets a bigger role than Tails. Sonic is the only hero to really get a big role here so you can tell that it’s squarely taking place back in the days when he was a solo act.

Sonic even gets a power up in the special although you get the feeling that Sonic could have saved the day regardless. No way he’s turn down the opportunity to get even faster though. All in all the special feels like a classic episode and has the pacing to match it. Eggman’s santa costume was also rather intense I have to say. The whole thing is absolutely bonkers from top to bottom and unashamedly so. As long as you like things to be as crazy as possible then you’ll have a great time. This special is as chaotic as they come.

Overall, Sonic’s Christmas Blast was definitely a fun special. It was nice seeing the retro designs since I hadn’t been in this era for a while. They should do a modern version of this someday with all of the new characters involved. I imagine a lot of people growing up nowadays probably won’t even recognize this version of Sonic so they are definitely in for a treat. It’s got a good amount of replay value and so I can recommend this to anyone looking to just enjoy a fun story.

Overall 7/10

Light Crusader Review

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I’m venturing further into the Genesis library and Light Crusader was the next one on the list. It’s a pretty fun game and one that feels retro while still getting some unique mechanics in. It’s a game that was well made for its time and I had a good time in the present. It is fairly short so you’ll need to keep that in mind but it does a better job of being a big dungeon/maze than most of the newer ones that show up.

The game starts with a lot of people being kidnapped by a cult and so the main character heads off to save them. Underneath the castle is a 7 floor dungeon where these people are being kept. His mission, should he choose to accept it is to rescue them all and destroy all of the villains and monsters down there. The hero is equipped with a sword and has basic mastery over all elements. With these abilities at the ready he can handle these guys.

The gameplay style is mainly that of an overhead exploration game. The idea is to get to each set of staircases to reach the next floor. On the way there you will need to defeat the boss of the floor and solve a lot of puzzles to get there. The puzzles range from using boulders to fall into the right holes or trying to jump and hit different switches in order. They range from being extremely easy to sometimes being completely unknown. Some of these puzzles just felt like good ole fashioned button mashing to me. One of them for example was to hit 4 numbers in a certain sequence and I didn’t come across any hints in the game. So I just got cracking on trying every combo out until it worked.

If there were too many puzzles like that then it would have definitely hurt the game but fortunately that wasn’t the main focus. They would appear from time to time in the background but most of the game was about running and defeating enemies which is more up my speed. I also enjoyed the platforming puzzles because those tend to be run fair and square You can absolutely solve those puzzles just by deductive reasoning and without using any gimmicks or relying on hints. Those are the best kinds of puzzles I’d say. Since those represented the majority of puzzles in this game, I was all set.

Additionally this game has one of the better maps that I’ve seen. It was very detailed and easy to comprehend at a glance. I didn’t have to be wondering if I was looking at the screen right or anything like that. No, this was a map that would let me get to the end. The game’s length is fairly short as it’s only a few hours long. That said, it’s better to be short than to have had some forced length at the end. With this amount it felt like the game was running at full speed the whole time and never had to pause or try to buy some time.

We even got to squeeze in a classic boss rush as you have to save 8 wizards near the end and fight all of the old bosses there. That was pretty fun. Each boss has a very different gameplay style to them so there aren’t any clones here. Additionally, the final boss has a pretty cool design. It makes for a very impactful climax with a lot of color and depth to him.

The only area where the game is a bit weak is with the hitboxes. For most of the game they don’t even make much sense. There will be times where you know that you hit the enemy but nothing happens and other times when your blow seems to fall short but you land the move. I don’t think it was lag or anything like that but instead it just felt like for some reason the hit boxes were added to odd areas. Eventually you just get used to the difference and adjust accordingly but for a while there it definitely ends up feeling weird.

The soundtrack is solid here. No tunes that I will remember by the end of the week but they still work well enough with what the game is going for. Likewise the graphics are pretty good. Perhaps not out of this world good but they are clear and it is always obvious what is happening on screen. The art style is appealing too so I really have no issues there.

Overall, Light Crusader is a pretty good game. I definitely had a solid amount of fun with it and this would be a good template for how you should do a platforming puzzle game. It’s a genre that would definitely be difficult for most titles to pull off after all. It takes a whole lot of engineering and quality of life features but this game was clearly up to the task. There are even different collectibles and rooms that I didn’t get to explore so there’s even a bit of replay value here. If you have the Switch Online then you should definitely check it out. The experience is a very memorable one and while you might be annoyed at the short length if you had paid for it, that’s the perks of getting it through the Switch Online. If they ever wanted to bring this franchise back I would say there is a lot of potential there.

Overall 7/10

Tetris (NES) Review

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It’s time for some more Tetris adventures! I played the Game Boy port of this one a while back but now I have the home console experience. It is one of those games that everybody knows about at this point but it still manages to be quite fun. After all, the core fundamentals of the game are sound and when that’s the case you can always rest assured that the end product will be good. At this point there are other Tetris titles that have surpassed this one but that doesn’t take away from its own ability.

The game has two main modes. You have the endless Tetris challenge where you try to get a high score and then you have the other one where you race to complete a certain amount of lines as fast as you can. Both of them have their fun points to be sure and when you get a new high score you will get a little animation that is pretty fun. This one also doesn’t bring in the cheesy factor of having you start off with a high score when you enter the higher speed arenas. Instead no matter what mode you begin with, you end up with 0 points. It’s definitely a whole lot fairer to the player. Ultimately my best run here was around 32,000. A far cry from other players who would deal in the hundreds of thousands. Well, what can I say..I’m more of a casual player myself.

In general the best speed I can handle tends to be around 6 out of the 9 possible options. When you get past that, the objects fall down faster than I can match them all together. Ultimately I end up going down while on the slower speeds I can really keep it up forever. That said, the game never lets you stay on a speed for very long. If you pick a slow speed, the game will automatically start leveling you up as you continue to make more lines get completed. As a result it’s almost like an online match making setup in a fighting game. It all balances well.

The game surprised me with the option to pick out of 3 different music tracks while playing the game. Music makes a lot of sense for a puzzle game like this but at the same time I wasn’t really expecting it. The tracks are fairly catchy too which goes a long way. it makes the game stand out and also gives it more replay value. I wouldn’t want to be playing in silence after all. Having a second mode for taking out lines is also a lot of fun because the main mode can be very time consuming with how long it takes to lose. This other mode is clearly better equipped for fast founds of knocking out as many matches as possible. It’s way more fast paced as a result and works out well.

In terms of any gameplay tips, I suppose I would say to always use the long 4 piece object for the sides. Mix and match the others well to take care of the center and that way you can usually knock groups of 3-4 rows out when needed. I’m assuming it helps with the score multiplier since that’s the case in other Tetris games but additionally it also makes it easier on you to keep track of the board. By knowing what you will be doing with each piece ahead of time, you don’t have to waste as much time thinking while you’re actually on the field.

Overall, Tetris is a fun game as always. It may not have anything on the newer ones like Tetris 99 but it’s a game you should check out as long as you have the Switch Online. There is basically no downside to downloading it after all so why would you not do this right? Just something to think about at the very least. I’ll be playing another Tetris game soon so we’ll see how that one stacks up. Due to how straight forward the game is, there’s not a whole lot to talk about here. You will either like the game or not and it only takes seconds to tell if it’s your kind of game. Now if it had a true story mode then that would be another matter but we’ll have to wait a little longer for that one.

Overall 6/10

ToeJam & Earl in Panic on Funkotron Review

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Toejam has returned for another big adventure. This one’s definitely pretty different with how it plays out as a 2D platformer this time. It’s okay in most areas but does lag behind the average platformer. It could use more of a plot and also more straight forward levels. This = is one of those games that is all about finding a ton of collectibles in a way in order to complete the game. That’s not exactly my cup of tea as you may know.

The basic plot involves a lot of craziness but the important thing to know if that you must capture all of the humans who have been released into the wild across 17 levels. Each level varies in term of how many humans are captured and fortunately you have a compass that lets you know where the next one is at all times. When the compass turns green then you have caught all of the humans in the level and can proceed. You must capture all humans before you can get to the next level so in that way the game really makes sure that you have done a thorough job. It often involves going through quite a few different paths to locate them all.

You throw bottles as your main attack but you have two super moves. One of them lets you run around like crazy throwing bottles everywhere while the other one has you summon a washing machine of sorts that absorbs all nearby enemies. They’re both pretty handy so you should save them for when you really need them. Some of the humans are rather powerful after all so you want a good move in your back pocket after all. Sometimes you are up against a whole pack of dogs and they make good use of their sheer numbers. A single hit takes quite a bit of your health away. Then you have the photograph pros who really don’t play around. Their pictures stun you for a few seconds while also dealing a lot of damage. Underestimate them at your own peril.

The toughest enemy has to be the guy on a flying carpet though. It takes a lot of hits to defeat him and since he is constantly flying away it is difficult to go on the offensive. A few sucker hits is enough to really take the fight out of you and that is the whole plan in a nutshell. There are burgers and such that you can grab to replenish your health but you have to be careful checking the trees because they also contain items that will make you lose health like bowling balls. Naturally those are infinite while the health items are one time use only.

You can use ESP to see through objects and know which place are safe to check but as you can probably guess these run on an energy meter. Once you’ve used them up it’ll generally be a while before you have enough energy to do it again. You can teleport infinitely though which is really handy. Not just handy, it is absolutely necessary in order to beat some of the humans so you need to keep that in mind. I kept forgetting that I even had this ability for most of the game.

As far as the graphics go, I would say those are pretty good. The character models are fun and the levels definitely keep that odd look you would expect from the series. Everything always appears to be a bit off which is of course the entire point. This has always been a crazy universe and the game keeps that same energy. The soundtrack is more on the boring side though, I’d like to see them get more creative with it than what we have seen so far. I know there is a whole lot of energy there that they can channel into some really good beats.

There’s not much in the way of replay value since you have to round up all of the humans anyway. The game’s length is pretty decent though because like I said it takes a while to get all of those humans. They keep running around trying to buy time after all. All you really need to do in order to make the game better would be to make the platforming a bit more fun. I dare say that the bottle throwing should be removed in favor of a more traditional punch or jump. It would feel a lot more satisfying when defeating the humans and would also help the platforming. Having to hold the down button while jumping to go higher also doesn’t feel very intuitive. It works well enough but it just feels so random in the end. It’s definitely there just to mess with the average player.

I’d say again, it’s not a bad game but it’s not a particularly good one either. It could have been a lot more interesting and as it stands it will end up forgotten. If not for the Switch Online I would bet that most people haven’t even heard of it before. That’s just how obscure this title is. The series definitely needs some kind of a big modern AAA remake that can turn the franchise around. As it is, this one just isn’t performing well enough to break out on its own.

Overall, Toejam has its moments but having to capture all of the humans can be more on the annoying side. The 17 levels feel quite long by the time you are done with the game and you have to imagine that they could have made the levels a lot more compressed and fun. Give me 34 shorter levels instead of the 17 really long ones. If you have the Switch Online then you should check this one out but it’s probably not a game that I would have searched for otherwise. It’s just not really hitting the heart of what it means to be a platformer. That didn’t happen.

Overall 5/10

Banjo-Tooie review

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Banjo-Tooie is one of those games that gets worse the longer you play it. Initially it isn’t so bad but as the worlds go on and the mechanics get more and more annoying, you really feel it. It’s a game that should only be around 12 hours long and yet it ends up getting stretched to over 30 hours. The game just keeps on going on and on and on. Even after you unlock the initial ending, then there is a true ending after that. The main goal of a game is to be fun but the problem is that this one stops being fun early on. It lacks every possible quality of life feature and that’s just a shame.

The game starts off with a few years passing since the first one. Gruntilda is back and she is definitely aiming to take her revenge on Banjo. It starts out well for her as she murders one of our friends. We have to take her down now and avenge him but to do that we will need to collect all of the Jiggies and stop a bunch of powerful monsters. This may sound like a tough mission but it’s nothing that Banjo hasn’t done before. He is a trained hero after all.

Okay so the basic gameplay style here is that of a 3D platformer. You run, jump, and fight your way through the levels to grab some Jiggies. There are 10 of them per level which can be gained by completing different tasks and sub missions within the world. You need 70 out of the 90 in order to get the true ending here. As you complete the worlds you will learn more and more abilities that let you get more Jiggies. So in that case you could almost call this a vania type of game. There is a lot of backtracking that you have to do over and over again.

The worlds are all connected by the hub world but another way to phrase that is you have to constantly be going to the hub world to then go back to the actual level. There is no instant travel or anything like that. There are shortcuts and warp points but none that will ever get you to where you want to go directly. Trust me when I say that is a very annoying thing. With a huge game like this that is absolutely a must.

Additionally the actual walking speed of Banjo is incredibly slow. You should run with Kazooie as much as possible but the more the game goes on, the more times you have to completely use Banjo to get the jiggy which means that running is not an option. Just travelling will take you a very long time. The game also has a gimmick where every world has you control Mumbo at different points and also transform into various objects. You have to go to their huts to do this and then to transform back you have to run all the way there. Often times they have to take different routes around the level which means even more places to explore.

The worst one is definitely the dinosaur world which is absolutely massive. In addition to the usual transformations your dinosaur mode has two forms. You guessed it…you have to run back to Mumbo’s each time to set this up and then go back to the magic tent. Nothing is made to be easy here and that is a massive problem. It’s not something you can just handwave either. Not when it takes hours upon hours to get past this.

The annoying part is that at first it’s actually rather fun. It’s enjoyable to first enter a world and start to check out each of the passageways and find the Jiggy that you are looking for. That is the heart of this genre after all. Where it all goes horribly wrong is when you have to keep on coming back. At the very least they should have a limit like you have to only revisit world 1 once, or something like that. It’s fine to gradually unlock new powers but you shouldn’t spread them out so completely. Every time you have to go back to the same worlds again is more time that is just wasted. It wasn’t planned out very well at all if you ask me.

The technical aspects of the game are surprisingly good though. The graphics are quite sharp with all of the character models being good and the stage deigns are on point. They hold up really well to the current day. Then there are quite a few catchy tunes to listen to in the game as well. At least that helps you to ignore how long you’ve been playing the game. It’s not enough to block the negatives to be honest but having a bad soundtrack would have made it all way worse that’s for sure.

Throw in some maps, basic descriptions of what’s missing and an effective quick travel. Adding those 3 things would do a whole lot of good for the game. Keep in mind that it took this long even with all of the rewinding and such to avoid going down random paths that lead nowhere. If not for that then this would be even worse. That’s a rather terrifying prospect because some Jiggies require an insane amount of platforming while others are very unrelenting with the damage count. A single death will send you wayyyyyyy back which is definitely something to consider. When I say there are no quality of life considerations here I really do mean it. They were all ditched long ago which is a real shame. his may be the most realistic treasure hunting game in the sense that it is so hard and you are given no direction but that’s no a good thing. The game manages to squander some really entertaining writing and a good story which is an absolutely tragic feat.

Overall, Banjo definitely fell down pretty hard here. I wasn’t the biggest fan of the first by any means but it is worlds better than this one. Whenever you have a sequel that is worse than the first one then you’ve got a big problem. That kind of thing just should not be happening. The core concepts are here that could make this a good series but this game did not reach its potential. I’d definitely advise you to stay far away from this one. It’s just not worth the playthrough and makes for a very exhausting game.

Overall 3/10

Silver Bells Review

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It’s time for a whole lot of drama here. Silver Bells is one of those films that brings in the Christmas cheer but also puts the characters through a lot before that. It may not be able to take down some of the classic Hallmark titles but there’s a good amount to enjoy here. It’s always fun to see the big city after all and the writing is solid. The length is also fairly short so the movie really flies on by.

The movie starts off with introducing us to Christy and the family as they sell Christmas trees for a living. It’s been a really good family business but unfortunately Danny is not very satisfied with this arrangement. He’s always felt that he could do a lot more with his life and his passion is in photography. One day he runs away and vanishes. 1 year later, Christy has come to the city again and he is determined to find Danny but is the kid even still okay after all this time?

From the jump I can say that Danny didn’t handle things well. I get wanting to do his own thing and all but the way he handled it was absolutely dangerous and irresponsible. It’s completely possible that things could have gone badly here. If anything that would be the most likely outcome and he just got lucky a bunch of times. While the film makes it clear that Christy wanted Danny to follow in the family business, at no point did I get the impression that he would be violently against it.

I believe if Danny had built up to this long enough then he would have been okay. Instead he actively makes things harder on Christy like when he ran off to take pictures during one of their really busy days. He just felt really selfish the whole time and unfortunately he is also not very good at hiding his tracks. A lady named Catherine decides to help him out and he gets real close to putting her career in jeopardy many times. He leaves snacks lying around, the computer open, forgets to lock doors or close windows, etc. You wonder how he could have really lasted a year.

Also I know he was proud of his photos and remaining a mystery but the fact that he wouldn’t even tell Catherine the answer to where his big photo was taken is crazy. She could have easily been fired and then there would be no more connections for him. In short, I was not a big fan of Danny here, I thought he made too many blunders.

I also didn’t care much for Christy. He definitely made a mistake with how he handled Danny’s wanting to skip on the opera show but beyond that at least he did a good job in finding him. My main problem is with how dismissive he is of Catherine by the end and how quick he is to turn on her. That was an absolutely terrible look and it definitely made it so that you could not root for the romance in the end. The whole climax feels very unbelievable as a result and you will just be shaking your head. It doesn’t feel very plausible and even if it’s going for an unrealistic view, you’re actually hoping that it won’t work out.

As for Catherine, she’s one of the better characters here. You don’t see how she could possibly like Christy after everything they’ve been through though. Catherine is good at her job and doesn’t let herself get distracted too easily. She’s exactly the kind of worker you want to have in your company because she will give it 110%. Manipulating Christy in order for Danny to see his sister was definitely on the underhanded side but she was in a sticky situation.

I also liked corporate here. The son of the CEO is a pretty big character and he is forced into the role of the antagonist due to what’s going on here but he is very reasonable. Look, if someone is constantly breaking into your company and sneaking around then you have to do something about it right? Made perfect sense to me and even then he tried to de-escalate at every turn. I don’t think there is much more you can ask for him. His final emotional scenes were maybe a bit heavy handed though. That subplot about wanting approval from his father felt rather random.

His father also made for a good CEO. He cared about making a difference and seeing the long term vision instead of the immediate bottom line. That is absolutely the way to go here. It’s clear that the company is in good hands. The movie does a good job of fleshing out the world pretty well beyond the immediate main characters. I’d even say I probably cared more about the city and Catherine’s project than with the drama about Christy and the others. Maybe it’s because Danny felt so petty and Christy had his moments as well. They weren’t the best pair of main characters.

His little sister Bridget was okay but doesn’t really contribute much to the adventure. The only main weakness here is the romance like I said before. The film gives too many reasons for the main pairing to despise each other rather than falling in love. It felt pretty bold for Christy to even show his face at the party in the end. Catherine’s friend was definitely a bad influence with how hard she kept trying to make this happen though. That was going a little too far if you ask me.

Overall, Silver Bells is a pretty good film. It may not be an absolute top tier but I had a good time with it and it fits right in with the Christmas themes. You know right from the jump that you will be in for a fun time with lots of fun visuals and a wholesome ending. That’s the main appeal of these films after all, even after things get rocky for the cast, you know it’ll all end up well in the end.

Overall 6/10

Bug Ego

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This is definitely a very weird manga so far. For now I can’t really say if that’s in a good or a bad way though. Each chapter is certainly a trick but I can already see the series leaning too hard on the same jokes so we’ll have to see if ONE can step it up. I’ll have a review when the series is over.

Overall 5/10

No Guns Life

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In a world where people can manipulate robotic bodies with their minds, just about anything is possible. This includes having a gun for a head. It’s a pretty unique premise and I look forward to seeing how it plays out. The manga can certainly go in a whole lot of directions from here and isn’t afraid to really show how hopeless this dystopia is. I’ll have a review up for the series when I finish it.

Overall 6/10

November Christmas Review

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It’s time for one of the more emotional Christmas experiences. This one keeps you at the edge of your seat the whole time as you wonder what will happen to the main character….or does it? The movie unfortunately makes the massive mistake of spoiling the entire point of the film in the intro scene by having a fast forward. It’s still one of the craziest kinds of decisions no matter how often I see it. I mean it doesn’t happen often but it shouldn’t happen at all. In a way you’re better off skipping the first 10-15 minutes here.

So ignoring that, the film starts off by introducing us to Tom and Beth who have two kids. Unfortunately their daughter Vanessa is incredibly sick and the treatments have not worked so far. It seems likely that she will be dying soon and so Tom has the idea of celebrating every holiday early so that Vanessa will get to experience them one last time. This is a very unusual plan but Beth gives in and they decide to go for it. It’s time for Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Is it possible that they will be getting a Christmas miracle at the end?

Naturally it’s an incredibly difficult situation to deal with when you have a sick kid like this. Tom and Beth are both trying to stay strong throughout the circumstances but they have different ways of handling it. Beth figures that Vanessa should really be isolated and kept away from anything requiring effort so that she can heal better. Meanwhile Tom wants her to have fun and encourages her to move around in order to build up some strength. Due to this there is some fighting initially.

I tend to be more on Tom’s side so I felt lie Beth was being unreasonable but it’s not a large part of the film. They both have to team up once the holidays part comes into play and from then on it is pretty smooth. I was glad about that because if we had a subplot about them fighting, that would have been pretty rough. The film is dramatic enough without any of that after all. I also think the idea of the early holidays is really fantastic too. No reason you can’t just celebrate early and whether it looks weird or not, it’s certainly worth it in case Vanessa does die.

We also have a subplot where the nearby farmer Jess shows up to help. He noticed a connection in all of Tom’s questions and decided to put his best foot forward. He even mended his relationship with his best friend. There’s a lot more drama there but basically Jess had a death of his own to think about and so he wasn’t around for his friend during a tough period. You sot of feel like the friend could have been more understanding there but we don’t know the exact context of how it all went down. Meanwhile the friend has a new girlfriend after his wife died and I didn’t think we needed a rebound romance in this film. Focusing on the main plot is good enough for me.

As always it was fun to see the strong sense of community spirit that you always see in these Hallmark type films. Everyone pitched in to help once they knew the situation with Vanessa and so she had a lot of support. It’s always nice to imagine a town where everybody knows each other and they plan evens and things like that. If you’re introverted it’s probably a nightmare but otherwise it’s like something is always going on.

This one can be a little relentless with how sad it is the whole time. Part of me thinks that is why they spoiled the final outcome in the beginning of the movie so that people wouldn’t be too on edge the whole time. I get it but I do think that it weakens the impact for that very reason. You have to commit at that point and just go all in. I’m a bigger fan of happy films generally but if you handle the tone and ending right, a somber one can work too.

The ending was ultimately satisfying here so it ended up working out. It’s no exaggeration to say that the ending could have swung the film 2-3 stars in a single move depending on how it went. So this is a complete experience and has good writing throughout. It’s more of a holiday merge as opposed to a full Christmas film but it works well for each of them. The writing is pretty good and as always the film’s length is pretty short. That means there isn’t a ton of time for fluff or any of that. Instead the film really dives into the heart of things right away.

The only plot that seemed really out of nowhere with no reason to be included was the rebellious nice and her uncle at the cafe. She was basically rebelling and wanted to be a good artist instead of waiting tables. She comes off as very irresponsible the whole time especially once we learn about her backstory and how he came through for her when nobody else did. The film never paints him as being unreasonable at all so this plot needed some more cooking. The problem is that there just wasn’t much time for it and so they really ended up rushing the whole thing. She basically just learns to be a better person right away but putting more time into the holiday celebrations would have been a better use of the movie’s time.

Overall, November Christmas is a pretty good film. At times it can be a little too somber though. The ending really helps things out but I do feel like the replay value for this title would be very low. I suppose you would just need to really be in the mood for this kind of flick but I don’t see that being the case too often around the holidays. It’s well made and there are a lot of fun moments to be had but it does lag behind the average title. There aren’t a lot of big competitors in the somber arena though so if this sounds good then you should definitely check it out.

Overall 6/10

The Black Cauldron Review

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It’s time for a film that very much feels like how I would picture a Legend of Zelda movie to play out. There are some differences to be sure but you can definitely see the inspiration the whole time. It’s a very serviceable film. There have been way better ones out there to be sure but there’s also nothing really bad about this one. It’s a film that goes by quickly and should keep your attention.

The film starts off by introducing us to Taran who is super bored the whole time. He wants to be a cool warrior who gets stuff done and instead he basically just looks after the livestock. Well, things change one day when his pig uses future-sight to see that the Black Cauldron threat is very real and the Horned King will be making a move. Fortunately the King doesn’t know where it is so Taran heads out with the pig to keep him safe. Unfortunately it doesn’t take long at all for the pig to be captured. The King is ever closer to his goal. Can Taran become the hero he has always known that he could be or is it game over for him?

Taran means well and he makes for a pretty decent main character. The guy may be quick to get frustrated but at the end of the day he is trying to do his best. It would be good if he had some more real skill though. Sure he may not have had an opportunity to fight against any powerful super villains but he could have been training his body so that he would be ready when the trials arrived. The guy is incredibly weak and has to rely on a super sword to do anything. The sword is really cool but Taran needed to put in more work.

Then we have the Princess who is a go getter. She proactively goes after her goals and makes for a solid ally. Even when Taran blows up at her early on, she doesn’t let it stop her for long. She tends to look on the bright side of things. Whenever a princess is out there on the front lines I definitely respect that. She looks way better than Gurgi who takes too long to have his big courageous moment. It’s a classic character arc of going from being the coward to being a talented ally but you still have to go through it quickly because otherwise you’re just dreading his scenes. Giving up and deciding not to help out when the time comes is hard to really come back from.

I’m sure the old man who owned the pig was scared to send Taran out the way that he did but the guy just steadied himself and made the tough choices. It’s what you have to do. Then we have another ally in Fflam who is also not the bravest sort but he gets with the program right away. This guy was a lot more fun and had way more of a complete personality. In a way you could argue that his presence alone ended up hurting Gurgi quite a bit because it showed the gap between them even more than you would have naturally noticed otherwise.

Generally speaking the supporting cast are a bit on the weaker side though. I didn’t care for the small old fairies, the three fairy godmother of sorts who would be bartering, etc. One of them was constantly flirting which was definitely a choice but yeah these characters were just not going to keep the film interesting. It’s why we are very fortunate that Tara and the Princess were solid since thing could have been tricky otherwise.

I did like the main villain but he suffers from an incredible lack of screentime. He talks tough here and there but then he vanishes for large portions of the film. He’s just completely gone and then when he does show up in the climax he isn’t strong enough to resist gravity. Ultimately this makes him lose all of his hype because the tough talk means nothing by that point. It’s a shame because he has the design and the voice down 100%! Just another minutes could have really done wonders to make the film more memorable as well.

The animation certainly holds up really well too. It’s very active with a lot going on as the characters move around very rapidly. There is some intriguing CG type visuals near the end but those are still fun to see. The bolder CG can at least leave more of an impression than some of the modern ones that aren’t really trying anything serious. The best looking shot of the film is probably when the burning sword activates. It really makes an impact and just looks really impressive. It works well as a Master Sword substitute.

So at the end of the day the characters are the weak point here and what could easily fix the film is to make them a bit bolder next time around. Give Taran more of a hook or an edge to him beyond just wanting to be a hero. Give the princess more witty banter and for the coward sidekick, maybe just make him evil from the jump and eventually he starts to turn good. Just some ideas on how you could make them resonate more with the audience, I think that would be effective in keeping this from just blending in.

Overall, The Black Cauldron is a good movie. It starts out fast with the hero getting into the evil castle right away and from there the plot continues to adapt and change. It may not stand out next to other fantasy adventures but it still makes for an easy watch when you have the time. I would have liked a longer climax with more action against the main villain though. The actual ending was more on the anticlimactic side. They could probably do better in a remake but instead I’d say this film should just get a sequel. With the intros out of the way we can jump right into the action.

Overall 7/10