Stats time!
Stage Bonuses 26/48
Mission 1 2/3
Mission 2 1/3
Mission 3 2/3
Mission 4 2/3
Mission 5 1/3
Mission 6 2/3
Mission 7 1/3
Mission 8 2/3
Mission 9 1/3
Mission 10 0/3
Mission 11 2/3
Mission 12 3/3
Mission 13 3/3
Mission 14 0/3
Mission 15 2/3
Mission 16 2/3
With the new Star Wars film in theaters it was only fitting that I go back and finally play the next Star Wars game. It’s had a pretty good track record thus far and this one continues the saga on a high note. It has quite a few different gameplay modes considering that this is a movie tie in and the quality is surprisingly good. Throw in the multiplayer feature and we have ourselves a winner. It may not be Star Fox Assault, but it does as much as it can to try and rival it.
The Empire continues to be quite powerful. I believe they are referred to as the separatists this time around and the Jedi warriors have their hands full. They are fighting a losing war and need something to tip the scales. Luckily they have their two aces, Obi Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker. The two of them are quite powerful and that is good since the heroes need every warrior that they can get. The real question is….will these two be enough? If they aren’t, then the Dark Force stealer will end up sucking their powers dry and bringing the universe to the brink of ruin.
Right off the bat you can tell that this game wouldn’t be at the level that you may have expected from it. For starters, the controls are seamless and you can play this game as well as any AAA title. There are several gameplay modes as mentioned earlier so lets run through them all. First, we’ve got the tank gameplay. You control a tank and move quite quickly through the terrain, blasting all who stand in your way. You have your booster and missiles at your disposal. An endless supply of energy blasts also makes your tank a force to be reckoned with. This mode was a lot of fun and may have even been better than Star Fox Assault’s version.
Next, we have plane mode. You fly around using your green lasers to smite your opponents along with normal blasters and bombs. You feel truly powerful while in plane mode and it’s fun to rain bombs on the dozens of robots that get in your way. Again, this mode is actually smoother than Star Fox Assault’s and it’s crazy just how much destruction you can cause. You still have to be careful not to just rush in and get blasted, but you can survive for a while at 1 HP. I got caught on my last breath in two levels, but took advantage of the high speed turns to complete the level anyway. It was pretty exhilarating!
One mode that only appears once or twice in the game is where you control one of the large Tripod robots. It’s very slow which is a big weakness, but more than makes up for it with overwhelming destructive power. Most enemies will crumble after a second or two of being blasted. This mode was also a lot of fun. Finally, we have human combat. This is the only area where the game failed. It’s incredibly hard to hit anyone because the controls are too sensitive. Using the Force isn’t recommended either because you’ll have gotten blasted many times as you try to land a single hit. Throwing your lightsaber is easily the best attack, but try not to move as you do so or you’ll start running in circles. We didn’t get many human levels and perhaps that was for the best. Typically that would be the best mode of gameplay, but it was clearly less refined than the rest. It was still not bad though. If anything, it was just a little campy and I can get behind that.
There was also one racing level where you had to jump on a little scooter and breeze through the forest. That was probably one of the toughest levels as it was hard not to crash against all of the trees. There were so many obstacles lying about that it was pretty crazy, but also very satisfying to get past. That’s one thing that the game really did well, it was satisfying to play and complete the levels. The check points were put in good places for the most part so redoing the sections over and over again wasn’t too annoying.
I had to go back a few times because the game is actually fairly difficult. I played it on normal mode and most levels took me 3-4 tries to complete. If you wander into an enemy ambush then you’re going to die. There’s not much that you can do at that point. I had to resort to run and gun tactics for some levels when I was low on health. It’s very tense when you’re at low health and are still outnumbered 20-1. The difficulty was at the perfect notch where it was too hard to beat in one shot, but not cheap where an opponent could one shot you. You had to treat some of the enemies like Mega Man foes where you memorize the pattern and then rush in. Even then, I beat several bosses with only a sliver of health left.
My recommendation is to really use the health packs sparingly. If you’re at half health, don’t waste the full health pack yet. Wait until you’re as low as you feel comfortable waiting. It’ll end up paying off big time by the end. The ammo packs are also really handy since I just spam my full arsenal as soon as I get it filled up. It makes a big difference when you’re outnumbered since the missiles will scatter the opponents and take a lot of them down.
The graphics are pretty good. I like how the energy blasts look and the character models are sharp. The faces can be funny to look at though as they do try to be very expressive and it can result in some interesting results. The game did the most that it could with the barren landscapes that it had to work with. The soundtrack is excellent as it uses many themes from the movies. You’ll probably recognize just about all of them. Even Darth Vader’s theme plays several times as you go through the game. A lot of the music is reused over and over again as the soundtrack is quite small, but it is effective.
Another factor that helps the game is its replay value. The title has a multiplayer mode in it so that helps a lot since you can always challenge a friend at the game. Multiplayer mode is a must if you want to earn an extra star from me and it really helps solidify this game as an 8 instead of as a 7. I haven’t tried it out yet, but I definitely will within the next few days or so. There is also some single player replay value as well as you can try to complete all of the bonuses to unlock illustrations and such. I got a good chunk of the bonuses naturally, but the ones that are left do seem quite difficult to unlock. Keeping your allies alive seems to be a recurring theme and that’s one thing that I’m not so good at.
If I had any complaint for this game, it’s that I’d like for less of the levels to be about protecting people. I lost quite a few times because my allies died as opposed to it being due to me losing. The levels where it was just me still had me die sometimes, but it felt more legitimate as in those cases it was just an instant where the villains planned better than I did. At 16 levels, the game had a good amount of missions in its arsenal so I just think that they could have redistributed it a little better.
Overall, This is a very good Star Wars game. I’m not going to say that it is the absolute best because I believe that Bounty Hunter may still deserve that title, but it is really close. The fact that it can actually beat Star Fox Assault in some areas really speaks volumes since that is a completely elite title. Star Fox ultimately wins though because of a superior story, multiplayer, graphics, and soundtrack among other things, but that’s not a strike against The Clone Wars. It has a good amount of content for the low price that you can get it for and I’d highly recommend it even if the game was a little more money. It’s just a solid game through and through. Trust me, you’ll have a blast blowing everything up with your crazy arsenal. I can’t say that I’ve played many games at all where you have this much power to unleash on the environment.
Overall 8/10
It’s time to take a look at a rather infamous cartoon from back in the day. I only got to see 2-3 episodes back in the day so I had always wanted to check out the whole series. Well, I finally got my chance for Christmas as I took the plunge and purchased the whole series. I mean, for only 6 dollars how could I not take the plunge? These 13 episodes may fly by, but they still deliver with a lot of content and you’ll find yourself grinning throughout. It’s a fun show that you can recommend to anyone and it should feel very nostalgic.
The story follows a young hero named Link. He guards Princess Zelda and her magical object of power (The Triforce) from the evil Ganon and his demonic followers. They want the Triforce and will stop at nothing to get it. The only way to stop Ganon for good is to claim his Triforce for themselves, but it’ll still be a very dangerous undertaking. As a result, the two sides are at an eternal stalemate and that’s where the show picks off. Oddly enough, Ganon’s side is the only one that continues to attack and press the advantage. Link and Zelda are content to just relax all day and not actually get anything done. It’s a rather risky move and honestly, it feels like their team should lose after a while. Ganon’s big advantage is that the heroes don’t dare wander into his domain while he breaks into their castle every day. The heroes have no guards or defenses and the villains are able to teleport into the room anyway. They broke in while Link was sleeping once and many times they even nab the Triforce. They’re always caught of course, but it just shows how easy it should be for the villains to claim the win here.
It’s pretty admirable how the show just launches into the episodes without explaining much. The mystical weapons? Nah, the viewers will understand what is happening right off the bat. It’s the way most shows should go about this and this lets the pacing be very fast. The heroes just go about their business and we follow as best we can. If anything, the show developed such a fun little world that it makes you want to see more of it. Where are all the citizens of this big kingdom? We see some briefly in 1-2 episodes, but for the most part the Kingdom is completely deserted, which may seem odd at times. At least this means that Link and Zelda can go anywhere at any time without having to worry about a crowd. That’s definitely a nice perk.
Link also isn’t your average selfless hero as he doesn’t care for the job. He just wants Princess Zelda, which isn’t the greatest reason to stay. He isn’t even a great fighter half the time as he lets his sword do all the work. It must be nice to have a sword that can fire energy blasts which destroy most foes in a single hit. Even with that weapon, Link is overwhelmed most of the time and gets captured/defeated many many times. It’s quite telling that he is still the strongest warrior in the kingdom. That should speak volumes. While he may not be much of a hero, Link is still pretty charismatic. His catchphrase “Excuuuuuuuse me Princess” is one of the greatest in all of television and it’s really cool that he is able to say it almost 30 times in the span of 13 episodes. He is only cut off once so Link usually gets to squeeze the whole line in. Link may not have any magical abilities, but his weapons certainly seem to be magical as they can shrink and enlarge at will. Link can even materialize his shield to help him out in the tougher fights.
Zelda’s a fun heroine as well, but she definitely does openly use Link the whole time. She insults him quite a lot and always makes sure to dodge his advances. I can definitely get behind her on that, but then she’ll also lead him on or accept his advances in other episodes which makes the whole thing really odd. She changes her mind on how she feels about Link quite often so you never know which Zelda to expect. It’s also strange to see her not fight all that much since her magical abilities seem to make her a much stronger fighter than Link. Her sorcery seemed to not really have any limits, especially when she was with the Triforce. It would probably be safer with the heroes than locked in an isolated room next to the window, but I suppose that I shouldn’t question royalty.
The King also appeared a few times. I liked how similar he was to the CDI games. He even said “Mah Boi” and we had some other homages like Link saying “Oh Boy” and a variation of “It sure is boring around here” The show always knew how to include some really good dialogue. Throughout the show, the writing is very strong. The voice acting is also top notch as all of the characters really give it their all for all of the lines. The King may have been overly naive, but it’s just to show that the people in the Kingdom are super innocent. They aren’t really prepared for Ganon and his onslaught of evil.
Speaking of Ganon, he was a decent villain I suppose, but probably the weak link from the main cast. I actually liked his screechy voice as it helped to make him sound whiny. On the other hand, it was a little odd to see that he was also interested in Zelda. That’s certainly not the Ganon that I remember. His magical powers seemed to be pretty decent for the most part, but since a sword blast will also take him out Ganon doesn’t get too many chances to fight. His blast was able to get past Link’s shield so that was impressive I suppose.
One character who gets a pretty big role in the show during the early episodes is Sprite. She’s a fairy who likes to interrupt Zelda and Link before things get tricky. She is a little on the gullible side as she falls for Link’s tricks, but she means well. She can fire energy blasts, which is pretty useful in a fight and comes through for Link in one of the episodes when he was trapped as a frog. It’s interesting to see her so antagonistic to Zelda considering that Zelda is her boss, but at least it shows how fearless she is.
The show’s soundtrack is pretty solid as it uses a lot of classic Legend of Zelda tunes. You’ll recognize the original music as it plays quite a lot. It’s pretty fitting for the scenes. The animation is also pretty smooth and crisp. Once in a while the show will show its age as a character model won’t really move as he/she is blasted, but that helps give the show that retro feel. It’s certainly aged really well considering how old it is and I dare say that it looks even better than Captain N. The theme song is also pretty fun as it gives you a nice wrap up of what the show is about off the bat so you know what to expect.
Given that this is an old cartoon and that it is only 13 episodes, you can probably guess that there isn’t a big plot or anything like that. All of the episodes are stand alones with attempts by Ganon to steal the triforce. Luckily, the episodes are all pretty solid. The best episode is probably the one where another Prince shows up and Link feels threatened. It’s a classic trope and you know that the new prince is doomed, but it was still nice to see him talking so tough. Also, Ganon was actually a little worried about his presence and the Prince was a good fighter so he was given more credit than I was expecting. That was a nice twist and Link still took him out in the end.
Another classic one is when Ganon gets a duplicate Zelda to make Link bring the Triforce over to his lair. The plan actually works fairly well even though Link figures out the trick right away. Still, the problem is the same as it always is. Ganon’s henchmen can’t do anything so even if he gets the Triforce, Link will just steal it right back. The “romance” in the episode was pretty sad though and it still shows why Link isn’t really a hero here. He just wants his thrills and saving the kingdom is just a way to keep from being bored. The rest of the episodes are more such attempts. Sometimes Link is a ghost, a frog, or just bored, but he always finds a way to win along with help (Sometimes quite a lot of it) from Zelda. While most of the episodes follow the same formula, they stay fresh and epic because of the great writing. I can’t stress enough just how important it was for this show to have such a solid script.
Overall, Legend of Zelda is a really fun show. I definitely wish that it could have gotten more than 13 episodes. The title is gone just as soon as it is started. Especially since each episode is shorter than the average episode for another show. The main cast are likable and we do have a nice array of action scenes which are great as well. Even if you’ve never played the Legend of Zelda games, I’m confident that you can get behind this show. It’s the kind of classic fun that can appeal to all audiences and who doesn’t know the legendary hero of time? Naturally I need to wrap up the final box set of Mario as well so I can give that one a review as well. Eventually it’ll be fun to check out other similar shows like Captain N, Mega Man, and Street Fighter. These retro shows are just too good to resist. I really wish Nintendo would come up with a new show. There are so many possibilities here!
Overall 7/10
It’s always a good feeling to have a new Pokemon film around. I was definitely ready for this one and while I wasn’t very hyped walking into it (The trailer wasn’t all that exciting) I still knew that it would be a good film since it’s Pokemon. As expected, this is a pretty solid film. It may not be one of the highest Pokemon titles for me as it’s around Hoopa level, but it has good action scenes and Pikachu gets his props. I don’t ask for much more than that.
Volcanion is a Pokemon who protects others from the villainous humans who roam the world. In particular, he is currently protecting Magearna, a robot who is also classified as a Pokemon, but very unconvincingly. Unfortunately, this robot is wanted by Alva and his cronies so that they can take away her life gem and make the world a darker place. Ash and friends are caught right in the middle of this when a mystical stone binds Ash and Volcanion together. They may not get along all that well, but they’re going to have to make do now because neither one of them will be getting away. Can these two strong willed individuals get along or is it curtains for the heroes?
Before talking about the new characters, it’s important to point out that the film gets all of the main characters right. Ash and Pikachu get the respect they deserve and it’s why so many people liked the X and Y series. This was one of Ash’s toughest rosters to date and he had the most experience that he had ever had except for possibly Johto. It’s a close fight with those 2. Well, this film acknowledges that as Ash is able to defend himself from multiple Mega Evolved Pokemon at once with Pikachu, Greninja, and his other fighters. Since the little green mascot is around, this seems to take place well into the X/Y series so it makes sense that Ash would be ready to deal with just about anything. Pikachu also looks really good and even picks a fight with Volcanion. Ash puts an end to that since pointless fighting isn’t his style, but Pikachu would have won that fight. I was very satisfied with how they looked and it’s probably one of their best movie portrayals in a while although Pikachu has been consistently looking strong lately. (Ignore Sun and Moon)
Likewise, Serena and the others were still around. I can’t really say that they did all that much to be honest. They were ready to fight as well so I’ll give them some props there. There was nothing wrong with them, but they were mostly here as spectators this time. Bonnie is definitely still my least favorite member of the group and she’s too young for the journey. Clemont is certainly not very charismatic either, but I do like that he has the same voice actor as Yuuya. It makes him a little more bearable. I have yet to see Serena fight, but she’s always seemed like she has a lot of personality so she’s probably the best from the group.
All right, lets look at Volcanion, the Pokemon that this film is named after. I’m afraid that I did not like him. He is Hoopa levels of bad and we’ve seen this kind of character way too often. I liked Mini Hoopa so that helped the former a bit, but there is nothing like that for Volcanion. Not only is Volcanion not that smart since he doesn’t realize that Ash is tied to him for a very long time, but he is way too grumpy. Eventually he becomes a nice guy of course, but I just couldn’t get on his side. If you want to be a mean character, then you’ve got to go all in. A good example is Kamui from Tsubasa. He didn’t want to get along with the heroes and never made an effort too. That was just how he was and I can roll with that. Also, Volcanion is easily one of the weakest legendary Pokemon that I’ve ever seen. The Mega Evolved Pokemon completely destroyed him in the opening scene and he never looked much better. At least that proves that Pikachu is stronger than him, but it is always sad to see a Legendary Pokemon look so weak.
He is still better than Magearna though. Personally, I wouldn’t even count her as a Pokemon based on the description here. I mean, as far as the movie is concerned, she is a robot who was given a gem and is now called a Pokemon. That doesn’t really make you a Pokemon if you ask me. She is also not all that smart and just comes off as very annoying the whole time. If she had been able to fight or defend herself even a bit, that definitely would have helped quite a lot. As it stands, things didn’t go all that well for her since she wouldn’t defend herself.
Alva’s the main villain here and he’s fairly good. He tricks the prince pretty easily and then accomplishes his goals. He knows how to use everyone else to do his bidding including Team Rocket. His Mega Pokemon army was also very formidable and their sheer numbers would be enough to defeat just about any Trainer. He simply didn’t count on Ash and his team working together with the land of Pokemon inhabitants. Not to mention that the new Mewtwo-esque DBZ character was also around to stop his city destroying blast. There was really nothing wrong with Alva and he actually had a good plan.
Chymia was a reasonable character. She realized that her younger brother Rali was being gullible again so she had to stop Alva. Unfortunately, Rali seems to have all of the political power since he is the prince so she had to ask Ash and friends for help. Her Gardevoir was certainly a powerful Pokemon to have and being able to Mega Evolve as well helped to really make her a useful ally. Hers may not be as strong as the Elite Four Champion version that Ash fought, but it was still quite tricky. Unfortunately, Rali was not likable in the slightest. It’s just hard to believe how naive he was. He didn’t suspect anything even when the villain was attacking his sister and her friends or when he kidnapped Magearna and held her at knife point. He still thought that Alva was a nice guy…and that’s just sad.
This film went back to Pokemon’s roots with some aspects that I really enjoyed like the opening fight. Remember the good ole days in the first films where Ash would wreck multiple trainers to start out a movie. That was awesome. The opening fight here was definitely a blast as well and then we also got a nice song to end the movie with. The epilogue itself may not have been super exciting, but the song was definitely well done and overall I did enjoy the soundtrack. It actually had some decently good battle tunes and the lyrical themes spoke for themselves. Additionally, the graphics were good as always. The fight scenes stand out and the sharp colors are always good for the fights as well. All of the character designs are on point and there’s not much more that you can ask for from this one.
The film never drags on either, which is important. Some plots in the Pokemon movies aren’t that interesting or are bogged down by the characters which can hurt the overall film. There was nothing like that here so the film was just fun from start to finish. I may not have liked the Legendary Pokemon much, but they weren’t bad enough to hurt the whole thing. The running gag with Ash being stuck to him may have been rather pointless in the end, but I guess it was the only real way that the film could have him stick around the way that he did. The Pokemon films are never very long so I suppose that helps the pacing.
Overall, This was another good Pokemon film to add to the total and I would recommend it. It had good action, a nice plot, a good character roster, and a fun soundtrack. This film is just a fundamentally good film even if it isn’t one of my all time favorite Pokemon films. It’s the kind of film that you could recommend to anyone, whether they are a Pokemon fan already or not. If you are, then you’ll naturally get an extra kick out of it. It’s going to be tough waiting for the next film since it’s looking like it could be one of the all time greats. A remake/alternate route to the original Pokemon episode with a super high budget? Count me in! The one annoying part will be that Ash will be back to being a rookie…again, but maybe he’ll just get really good really quick. I could definitely roll with that and since this is such a big homage, I do think that he will end up looking pretty good. Maybe Mewtwo will even appear….maybe.
Overall 7/10
It’s time to take a look at the original Final Fantasy film. I saw this one a long time ago when I was a kid. I remember enjoying it back then so I wanted to revisit it and see if the film was as good as I remembered. It’s certainly a very interesting take on the series since it really has nothing to do with Final Fantasy. I suppose that you could say the same about most Final Fantasy games, but at least they all have the standard enemies and a lot of the same lore. This feels like it is Final Fantasy in name only. It’s a good story that is bogged down by not really having any direction.
Aki’s world is in a very perilous position. It is now a desolate wasteland that is infested with aliens. Everyone now lives in a space station as they seclude themselves from the rest of the world. Going outside for even a moment without a space suit will result in you getting infected and turning into an alien/zombie. Aki works for Doctor Sid and they believe that they have a cure. They simply need to find the 7 (I think it was 7) Gaia elements. Every living thing has a soul, which is a Gaia. There are 7 chosen ones which are needed to blend together and power a generator which will essentially make the virus inert. The only problem is that the government is tired of waiting and they don’t believe in the whole Gaia thing. They want results and they want them yesterday. General Hein proposes that the government use a giant cannon to fire at the planet. Sid admits that this could work, but that it could also destroy the planet’s soul. Two very different approaches, but only one of them will ultimately work. Who will strike first?
So, that’s a pretty interesting plot line. The film also starts off right away as Aki breaks the rules and quickly heads down to the planet to grab a sample. She has a brief skirmish with the aliens, but is saved by a group of soldiers. I don’t really get Aki’s plan here though since she seemed surprised by the aliens and was also not prepared for a fight. She wouldn’t have lasted long without the soldiers so the mission would have been a waste. Unfortunately, the scene is rather dark and the camera keeps shifting so we don’t get a proper look at the fight, but it is a very atmospheric way to start the film. It’s very tense and feels like something out of a Resident Evil film. Unfortunately, things slow down from here.
We don’t really get another fight scene until the very end of the film. The next large chunk of screen time is on Aki and Sid discussing Gaia, the fate of humanity, the aliens, and we also get some romantic tension between Aki and Gray. That goes on and on and on for quite a long while with the side characters also getting some development. At the very end of the film, Hein unveils his big plan to invite the aliens into the base to scare the authorities and make them give him authorization to shoot the cannon. The aliens come in and quickly overwhelm everyone for a while until the Gaia are assembled. That gave us another action scene, but not really a fight scene. It’s mostly just everyone running from the aliens.
That made the first bit of the film a little misleading since it had a lot of action and was gearing us up for something epic. I also think that the rest of the film was a bit of a missed opportunity since the heroes were safe and peaceful inside of their base the whole time. That kind of destroys the tension since we know that there is no way for the aliens to get in. We do get a big plot twist about the aliens and we learn why these spirits are intangible. It’s actually a little self explanatory and you can put the pieces in place yourself. Think about it…why would these Aliens be spirits? How do people typically turn to spirits in these kinds of things? Just think about it and it should come to you. The twist wasn’t bad in itself, but there wasn’t much of a point behind it. Nothing ever came out of this revelation and it didn’t change the final objective.
As the main character Aki is fairly good. I always like the “Take charge” characters so breaking the rules to go and save the day was cool. However, not being prepared wasn’t really excusable. Aki’s random visions were intriguing, but they kept distracting her from what was actually happening. The romance also made for another distraction. I liked what they were going for with Aki, but I feel like she definitely could have been a better character. The same can’t be said for Gray, who never shows signs of being a good character. He’s annoying from the get go and again…the romance just wasn’t handled well. He seems like the kind of guy who panics very quickly when things don’t go according to plan and he just wasn’t very useful. There wasn’t much to Gray and he was just there to be the tough army guy. That was his only character.
Sid was a nice enough guy, but a fairly generic scientist. He was pretty smart and at least he wasn’t afraid to state his opinions, but he also wasn’t bold enough to discuss Gaia with the council. It’ll be a little hard to convince the council of anything if you aren’t being straight with them. I had nothing against Sid though, he wasn’t a bad supporting character. The best character here was actually Hein. He was the main villain and he showed a lot more drive than the rest of the cast. I don’t necessarily disagree with his plan to use the cannon since the planet was already uninhabited and since I also wouldn’t believe that the planet is actually alive, I’d definitely take the shot. Naturally, he went off the deep end when he let the aliens into the city and put everyone in danger. That’s where he became the main villain, but at least he had real goals and aspirations. He didn’t strike me as a one note villain and he performed the role pretty well. It was a small cast, but that doesn’t take away from Hein’s win.
The graphics look pretty good. They’re nowhere near Advent Children and I suspect that the film was constantly very dark and vague in an effort to mask everything that was on screen, but it still looked good overall. It doesn’t compare to the average anime film, but CGI rarely does. We also didn’t get many action scenes as I mentioned so there wasn’t much of an opportunity to show off the animation either. Unfortunately, there isn’t much of a soundtrack either. It’s not bad, but very forgettable and you probably won’t remember it a few days after you finish the film. It’ll just be completely gone as far as you’re concerned.
While this may not sound like a very positive review, it was still a good film. It was just riddled with missed opportunities and a lot of moments where the film could have really shone. I mean really…how hard would it have been to have included some more action scenes? Having some visible action moments would have been great and since they put a lot of budget into the film, I like to think that it could have handled some day time fights. I think the film may have been trying to look a little too realistic which ended up hurting it a bit, but that doesn’t really make up for the pacing. Still, the actual concept was interesting and the plot was good. Action or not, you shouldn’t get bored while watching the film, but it does mean that it has low replay value.
Overall, You should check this out if you’re a sci-fi fan and like a good apocalyptic future kind of film. If you’re a Final Fantasy fan, don’t watch this film in that mindset. Treat it like a Final Fantasy product and you are bound to be very disappointed. The decision to make this a stand alone doesn’t really make any sense, but it happened and we did get Advent Children around the bend anyway so that more than made up for it. Watch this once and then you’re basically set for life. I don’t think I’ll be watching this one a third time myself. Once you’re done, just think about how cool a prequel would have been about the actual alien race instead of the spirits. That would have solved a lot of problems.
Overall 6/10
All right, it’s time to take a look at the first Star Wars spinoff movie. This one helps to bridge the gap between film III and IV by showing us how the rebellion managed to actually acquire the plans to the Death Star. After all, how could they hope to get such secretive intel from the Empire? There’s a lot of action here and it’s always fun to see The Force move about. It’s a little hard to go back to the days when the Jedi weren’t fighting with their cool abilities, but Rogue One is a solid action movie. It’ll help get you ready for the Episode VIII movie which is coming soon.
Jyn is the main character of the film (Could have sworn that it was Jane) and she witnessed her parents get captured by the Empire. She escapes and was rescued by a tough resistance fighter. Many years passed and Jyn is now a very aggressive person who dislikes the Empire and the Rebellion. She is thrown back into the fray when the rebellion shows up and decides to use her to get to the resistance member. Jyn isn’t thrilled about this arrangement, but she doesn’t have much of a choice. Planets are on the line and the planetary destruction weapon is now complete so the clock is ticking.
The film gets to the plot right away as Jyn’s backstory flies by and her first big mission is upon us. There is no need for a super large build up and that’s really the point. In a war, you don’t have time to go to the local deli first, it’s just on to the mission. As soon as Jyn and Cassian are at the first planet, the skirmish between the Rebellion and the Empire begins. From there we get a lot of other action scenes and the big climax is certainly the largest scale one in the movie. When you think that the fight is about to end, it ends up continuing and continuing. The film doesn’t let up right up through the very end. Naturally I won’t go into any details at all about the ending, but it is quite great and the perfect way to end things on a high note. It also explains why a ship wasn’t pulled back with The Force. I suppose it may not have been the wisest move anyway. You’ll definitely want to watch Episode IV afterwards to put all of this into perspective.
The graphics are good as you would expect. Due to the layout of the Star Wars universe, we don’t get a chance to see many futuristic tech or cities lying about, but the heroes do go to one cool city. It’s a fun camera pan out as we see what the city looks like from afar and then see how desolate it really is when the heroes land. The lightsaber that Darth Vader has looks cool as always and I did appreciate the beam battles that we got as always. That being said, I feel like they heavily nerfed the blasters here. Numerous characters are blasted in the chest with no serious injury. I don’t really think anyone should survive getting his by a blast, especially considering that everyone had their phasers set to stun kill.
I also enjoyed the soundtrack. It was fun hearing the classical themes of the series. I also really like the death wail that all of the machines make when they’re about to explode. I’ve been hearing it more and more as I play the video game and it certainly is catchy. The film doesn’t really have any new tunes, but the classic ones are all that you need in the end. Also, there weren’t really any one on one fights so there wouldn’t be much of a chance to use any new battle music.
Before getting into the characters, I have to talk about one in particular. A guy runs off during the film spouting some nonsense about finding an ultra powerful Jedi warrior who could turn the tables. He said that he trusts her with his life before running off and now we know why. This would give him an excuse to escape before things got messy. What other reason is there for him dashing off and not returning? The Jedi warrior never got to show up unless she was a cameo somewhere and that was just mind boggling. Hardcore Star War fans may know who is was talking about and why it was significant, but for a super casual (At least that’s what I let people think!) fan like myself, it was just rather random.
Jyn makes for a good heroine. I do think that her personality was maybe a little too similar to Rey’s though. Both of them are really tough “Me against the world” characters who know hand to hand skills and dislike everybody. Both of them eventually mellow out though and learn how to be team players. A big difference is the fact that Rey knows the Force though. Regardless of comparisons, Jyn was fun to have around although she maybe became a nice person a little too quickly. Her character arc was a little rushed, but I’ll take action over drama any day so I’m pretty fine with it in the end. Cassian was the main guy in the film and I can’t say that I cared for him. He doesn’t mind putting aside his morals when in the line of duty and even though he got too scared to pull the trigger, it’s hard to put aside the fact that he was willing to do the deed. Jyn calls him out on it and Cassian basically runs off to sulk, after insulting everyone and trying to pick a fight. I know that Cassian’s supposed to be a likable guy by the end, but I just wasn’t buying it. He could fight, which is a nice start, but he was just very annoying.
Speaking of annoying characters though, one of the worst was probably Chirrut. I dislike this fan favorite because he got on my nerves immediately. His whole “I’m one with the Force” gimmick was boring and repetitive. He couldn’t really back it up either as he would have died several times without his generic partner. He came across as a fake Jedi and the only way that I would have liked him would have been if he had an actual lightsaber and used the Force to attack. If the film wanted to have a Jedi around, then they should have gone the whole way. Have him fight Darth Vader near the end or something like that. Yes, Chirrut would have certainly died, but it would have been a good fight and it would have been a way to actually cement the fact that Chirrut was a fighter. His character arc just felt very empty and while it’s cool that we had someone with powers, I was hoping that we’d have someone who knew how to use those abilities.
Back to cool characters though, I certainly enjoyed K2SO. He was a fun sarcastic version of C3PO and he got most of the best lines in the film. He can actually fight, which is a big improvement from C3PO and had some fun action scenes. He is very useful as an undercover robot since the Empire always thinks that he is one of them and the design is cool as well. The heroes would have been utterly doomed without his expertise. Another cool character is naturally Darth Vader. He gets a pair of pivotal scenes, which was nice for his fans. He’s definitely one of the biggest symbols in the franchise and any moment with him in it is always neat. I don’t think his very first scene was necessary as we see him in the water tank since it makes him a little less threatening, but I suppose it was to help acknowledge him as more than just a Sith Lord who wrecks everyone, but I’m actually fine with the latter. You definitely can’t escape from Darth Vader, as many of the characters quickly figure out. It’s why I want a proper light saber fight with him since today’s effects could make it quite epic.
One character that you’ll probably feel bad for is Bodhi. He’s a pilot who had an important message to give to the extremest rebel, but ends up nearly being brain fried for his troubles. It shows just how shady this rebel was and I can see why the rebellion wanted nothing to do with him initially. Not that the rebellion is a whole lot better either. While they aren’t evil like the other guy, some of their members aren’t very courageous. The fact that a lot of them wanted to join the Empire speaks volumes about their resolve. I don’t know how they got a seat in the council. The “It’s a Trap!” guy continues to be a great character though. Now that guy’s a true leader!
Orson and Tarkin are two fun sub villains to have around as well. They’re both political villains who talk a good game and hide in the shadows. They use mind games and overwhelming numbers to take the heroes on while they debate among themselves the whole time. They both have personality and are fun to have around so I actually enjoyed them. They certainly can’t fight all that much, but Orson did manage to take on Cassian in a gun fight so he does have some skills. That or Cassian just isn’t that good and the latter is a real possibility.
I’m probably one of the only ones who feels this way, but I felt bad for the Storm Troopers a lot of the time. They’re constantly defeated through cheap tricks and sneak attacks so it was always cool to see them land some counter hits. The Storm Troopers may be on the wrong side, but they have cool armors and they do try their best. Only plot hax is enough to stop them at times. Rebellions are built on that after all. This film was fairly reasonable on that angle though. There’s no way that the attack should have worked and the Rebellion should have been squashed, but it’s hard to realistically have such a small group attack a big army. The Empire just has too many options at their disposal.
In the end, this film is definitely better than I, II, V, and VI, but it loses to IV and VII. It’s pretty close with III though since that film had a lot more action and big fight scenes while this one leaves you with more of a “Feels Good” feeling. III’s ending is rather somber and dark. In the end, I suppose the epicness wins out so that still puts this film as the 4th best among the 7. 8 if we count the animated film, but it’s really been a super long time since I watched that one. That one could potentially be the best, but I remember always being annoyed that some of the fights are so close to happening and yet they don’t happen. They were probably saving that for the TV show or something.
Overall, Star Wars Rogue One is a fun prequel. It’s a good way of expanding the universe of Star Wars mythos and allowing us to see some classic characters like Darth Vader again. It’ll remind you that the rebellion certainly went through a lot of hardships before they got to claim some victories. The universe desperately needed some more Jedi. If you haven’t watched a Star Wars film before, then you can certainly jump into this one. In a way, it can be a new starting point for fans since it links into IV so well. I have always been with the crowd that says watching IV before I is crucial so this is the only exception to the original trilogy rule. The film accomplished what it set out to do here so I look forward to seeing if the next prequel will be as good. They definitely put a lot of work into these films so I’m confident that they will keep on checking through the script until it’s just right.
Overall 7/10
Stats time!
PS3 Trophy% 23%
Play Time 13h 8m
Collection 46%
Gold 39570
Characters Unlocked 66/72
Challenges Cleared 66/110
S Ranks 40/49
Battle of Gold Win Rate 79%
Survival Challenges Cleared 25
High Score 23100
Galaxy War Bronze Cup Victories 2
Total Cosmo 769672
Costumes 90/144
Titles 196/435
Assist Phrases 50/169
Record 170-3
Regular Hits 2924
Strong Hits 427
Long Range Hits 54
Guards 505
Guard Breaks 30
Break Falls 90
Throws 144
Throw Escapes 1
Burst Dashes 0
Burst Hits 0
Cosmo Charges 61
Special Moves 620
Lightspeed Moves 148
Seventh Sense Awakenings 0
Big Bang Attack Hits 50
It’s time to finally check out the recent Ratchet and Clank film that came out. I’ve played most of the games and it is definitely a fun franchise. Jak’s the most epic and Sly typically has the best banter, but the Ratchet series has always had the best overall package. The gameplay is always very crisp and the colorful cast of characters makes each game a lot of fun. This film didn’t do the greatest job of adapting the game and I can see why people would have a lot of issues with it, but it’s still a fun film overall. A faithful adaption of the first game would have been even better, but if you didn’t know the source material and just walked up to this one, I think you’d be reasonably satisfied with the end product.
Ratchet is a mechanic on a sandy planet who has grown bored of the routine. Being a Skywalker would be a lot more fun so Ratchet decides to head to the Galactic Ranger tryouts to see if he has what it takes. The Rangers are adding a new member for the first time in a very long while because they need to beef up their defenses to take on a new threat. Planets are being destroyed across the universe and the culprit must be brought to justice. Unfortunately, Ratchet fails the exam and heads back home. Suddenly, a robot appears with a grave warning for the princess rangers and Ratchet uses this opportunity to live out his dream. Will Ratchet and his new robotic sidekick Clank be able to stop the villains or will this team up be short lived?
You can definitely see quite a few similarities to the Star Wars beginning in the film. I didn’t really notice the similarities in the game, but granted, the film expanded on a lot of the intro. The film also added a few Easter Eggs like Sly Cooper and Daxter as Clank tried to find out what species Ratchet was a part of. The beginning of the film is probably the best part. The cool music that played when Ratchet first appeared helped to set the mood and the first fire fight between the Galactic Rangers and the enemy robots was neat. The villains were actually pretty tough and I wouldn’t have minded seeing more Star Wars esque battles like that. Don’t get me wrong, seeing the Mini Zorgs running after everyone is almost hype and all…but I prefer my full on battles.
Granted, Ratchet and Clank isn’t a super serious action movie. The games aren’t like that either, although things did get a little more serious during the time trilogy. The games have always walked a very fine line between total comedy and light hearted action adventure. I’d say that the film definitely went more towards the former and probably overdid it just a bit. Some of the comedy was a bit much and just on the generic side. Qwark is rather extreme, but that’s in character so I can roll with it and he does a better job than most of the others.
The graphics are pretty good. I’m not sure if I’m prepared to say that it looks better than some of the latest games because I was actually more impressed with those, but it certainly looks sharp. It’s pretty surreal to see the series getting a big theatrical film like this. As mentioned earlier, the soundtrack is pretty sharp. At the very least, the film didn’t hold back on the technical aspects. I think better writing would have gone a long way, but it’s not bad either. I just think that it wasn’t up to par with the main games. Perhaps the film was trying to appeal to the general audience a bit.
The characters are solid and that’s not just nostalgia talking. Ratchet’s a very relatable hero who wants to do something great with his life. He has a lot of skills, but things just don’t always work out the way he hoped they would. His careless nature is maybe a little extreme in the film, but he’s a hero at heart and always makes the right call. Clank’s a good sidekick as well. The film didn’t use his iconic laugh as much as it should have, but he still got to shine. Case in point is one of his earlier moments where Ratchet tries to say that Clank was taking him out of context so Clank had to whip out his recorder. Ratchet’s comeback would have worked on just about anyone, but Clank was prepared for it. It was a good move and it shows that you can never be too prepared. They make for a good combo and I do prefer Clank to his rivals Daxter and Bentley.
Captain Qwark is a fun character as always. Betraying everyone was a rather serious crime though and he did get a whole planet destroyed as a result. It’s a little hard to simply walk back from that although people didn’t seem to care too much and he already wrote a book about it. It may be a little hard to buy at times. One aspect that I think the show got wrong is how people started to ignore Qwark in favor of Ratchet. Part of the point to Qwark is that he’s like Hercule from DBZ. The main characters know that he is a phony, but nobody else does. The film didn’t really get that vibe across. Maybe they figured that the plot would not be able to work otherwise, but it is quite the change.
I didn’t really care for Drek as the main villain. Ratchet & Clank’s one weakness has typically been the villains. You can’t really take any of them seriously. Drek is worse than the usual villain though because at least some of the others can fight. Drek can only give out orders or jump in a mech suit if he is feeling lucky that day. I liked Victor though. His design was actually pretty good and his energy sword made for quite the weapon. He’s easily the most intimidating presence in the film even if it is never really explained how he was immune to the magnet. He’s made of the same stuff as the others right? Hmmmm. Doctor Nefarious is around, but he’s a lackey for most of the film. I’m not sure if he started out this way in the games too, but I look forward to seeing him in a leadership role instead. It’s just odd seeing him like this.
The other Galactic Rangers are fairly generic and I look forward to seeing them get written out of future films. Seriously, there’s no point to these guys and they just steal screen time from the real characters. They are really cardboard cutouts who just live up to their character tropes and no more than that. While that may sound harsh, I don’t really dislike them all that much, I just don’t think they really needed to be present. Qwark is the only superhero that you really need and the plot could have just been altered to have had Qwark bring along a sidekick instead of a 5th member. Problem solved!
For all the film’s faults, it still manages to achieve the general goal that every film has. It’s a fun film. You’ll never be bored during Ratchet & Clank and it’s a film that’s easy to watch no matter what time of the year it is. Christmas, Thanksgiving, President’s Day,….Halloween, this film will still be fun. It’s not all that long either at only around an hour and a half so it’s easy to fit into just about any slot. It may not be a masterpiece, but the film has heart and I’d be content to see the creative staff behind this one tackle some more franchises someday. It’d be great if they could play up the action angle a little more considering how high tech everything is in this universe, but I’ll take what I can get here. As long as the film never goes downhill and starts really overdoing it with the comedy, then I’m on board.
Overall, Ratchet & Clank may not have been as great as it could have been, but it’s still a good film. It’s a shame that we may not end up getting a sequel at this rate. It’s nostalgic to see the characters again since it has been a while since I played one of the games. Turning more video games into movies is definitely a good idea and I want to see Sonic and Mario get that treatment at some point. Honestly, just about any Nintendo game could make for a good movie and I’d also like some RPG movies like how Final Fantasy XV got one recently. The more the merrier I say. Whether you’ve played the games or not, I recommend checking out this film. It’s a fun little adventure film that I could recommend to anyone and there’s not even a cliffhanger so if that’s not your thing then you don’t need to worry. I do have to say that the one sad part of the ending is how Ratchet’s boss isn’t very sympathetic. It’s hard to feel bad for him when he doesn’t give Ratchet a day off for saving the universe. I think Ratchet had a point when he said that he thought the boss would be a little more touched at the gesture of Ratchet coming home instead of becoming a billionaire on another planet or something. I guess that’s the boss though, he does what he wants when he wants.
Overall 7/10
It’s time for another Gene Wilder film. This one sees him witness a murder while on a train and now he must try to get away with his life. This will be no easy task since everyone wants him dead now. George also has a tough time remembering how villains love to attack from behind, which gets him into a few sticky situations. He’ll need all of his skills and experience if he wants to get out of this in one piece. It’s a pretty fun film for the most part and the only thing that drags it down a little is the heavy handed romance plot which suffers from poor writing and being generally unrealistic. There just isn’t much to it and the whole time you’re just wondering why the subplot was included. The film would have been even better without it.
As mentioned earlier, George was just minding his own business at first. He wanted a train ride so he could have time to think and relax. Unfortunately, he quickly meets a bad influence who tells him that train rides are only good for finding rebound characters. It turns out that he was right as George quickly dashes back to his room in triumph. The joy is short lived as a dead body crashes past his room and then George is thrown off the train by a bunch of brutes. George must get back on the train and save Hilly or it is all over. Can he really catch a train though? Even if he does…what hope does he have against trained professionals?
George isn’t really my kind of main character. He has his funny moments as always since the actor is quite good at playing this type of character. The reason I can’t like George is because he’s simply too easy and he can also be rather slow on the uptake. George also isn’t much of a fighter so he ends up getting knocked around whenever he doesn’t have a gun. It is still priceless to see him panic at everything though. His constant yelling is what makes his character enjoyable most of the time. Unfortunately, Hilly doesn’t end up being a good heroine. Unlike George, she isn’t even charismatic and funny to make up for it. She really messes up every opportunity possible and a lot of the time she has no real reason to make the decisions that she does. For example, she had George alone with her quite a few times and still decided to keep him in the dark. Even once the villains throw him off the train and start to get violent, she tries to trick George into thinking that he was imagining everything. That was never going to work and if she thought that the villains were going to leave him alone, then she was just being very naive. Throw in the fact that she is constantly flirting and seems to be very “free” in the worst meaning of the word and you have a very underwhelming character.
Luckily, we had Grover as the fan favorite character. He doesn’t show up until we’re well through the film so unfortunately his role is rather small. No matter, he still made the film a whole lot more fun and I can see why people would like him and Wilder as a good combo. Their characters worked well together. Grover’s appearance meant that Gene finally had some muscle backing him up and he would have certainly been doomed otherwise. Grover even got the happiest ending out of all the characters so his hard work paid off.
Roger is the main villain and he’s all right. He’s basically your average villain so there’s nothing unique about him, but he does a good job in the role. He keeps the heroes on their guard at all times and does have a lot of confidence. Even once he is outnumbered and at gunpoint, he tries to make a deal with George. Only plot hax is enough to save him at that point. He may have even been a little better than I would have expected. One of his minions, Reace, was also all right. He’s definitely an intimidating villain since he is rather huge and one good hit would be enough to defeat George. Luckily, fights between mere mortals will always come down to who has the better aim and George is a crackshot with a harpoon.
Finally, I have to mention that the main Police agent in the film is pretty bad. Bob is undercover so he uses that as an excuse to get drunk and flirt a lot before actually getting serious, but it’s a little too late by that point. He’s a very unlikable character and not even a very competent one at that. He opens a door without even looking even though he knows that gangsters are on the train. Seriously, they even knocked to give him a bit of a warning, but it was no use. Common sense couldn’t save Bob so what chance did George and friends have?
This film would have been an easy 7, but the main thing holding it back is the romance. As mentioned earlier, the plot isn’t written well. It just implies that George and Hilly are both people who will start a relationship with just anybody and are constantly on the rebound. The plot is given way too much screen time and you have whole minutes of nothing happening because they are too busy with each other. It slows the film down and that’s something that the film didn’t need since it is already so long. Parts of the film do drag towards the middle and this doesn’t help matters. Honestly, getting off the train 2-3 times was rather embarrassing. Actually jumping off was probably the worst mistake that George made. The heroes had the win in the bag at that point, but didn’t have the courage to follow through.
The milking the cow scene is also pretty gross, but I’ve always thought so. It’s just hard to watch and looks so painful for the cow. That’s why you should always bring something with you while watching a movie, like a snack or a water or something. That way you can quickly look away and grab that as you wait for the scene to end. Honestly, the cow scene is almost worse than the normal romance because of how iffy it is. Back to positives, the action scenes are pretty solid. Action isn’t exactly one of the genres so don’t expect long fight scenes or anything like that, but the fact that George can’t really fight makes his action scenes entertaining.
Overall, Silver Streak is a good film. I highly recommend the TV version since it cut out what felt like dozens of swear words throughout. The air bubbles make for a pretty funny experience. The romance holds it back and the cow scene was unnecessary, but the rest of the film is strong enough to make up for that. If you’re a Gene Wilder fan then you already know what to expect. If not, just come in looking for a fun retro comedy film and it should not disappoint. It’s not quite as strong as his Willy Wonka film, but it is still solid. Gene is definitely rising up as one of the better actors for me. He’s certainly charismatic and the fact that he always plays the same character type works for me. If you’ve got a good thing going, why switch it right? Get ready for some serious plot hax, but….since when has a gun film not had some of that?
Overall 6/10
It’s time to review a quick one shot that was recently scanned. The story takes place towards the beginning of the Cyber Sleuth game and you can think of it as a promo for the game. It’s a fun little adventure. I always wish that these one shots could at least go on for a full volume, but I suppose that one shots have to exist or the term wouldn’t mean much. Whether you know the plot from the game or not, it’s pretty accessible to new readers since they explain enough to keep you in the loop.
A detective agency exists to help people with cyber related crimes. The world is very high tech so this takes place in the future or in the present time of another world which is more advanced than ours. Kyoko is the leader of this 2 man group and her subordinate is known as the Cyber Sleuth. He lost his physical body thanks to an accident involving the mysterious creature known as an Eater. He now lives as a half digital being that can exist in both planes of existence. He uses these unique abilities to help people as he tries to find a way to become normal again. In this chapter, some people show up to ask for help since their accounts have been stolen. The main character heads to the internet to stop the gang that is responsible. It’s a fairly direct story since he just has to beat them up and then the case is cleared.
A running gag in the game to an extent is the fact that the main character always shows up too late to save the people and they end up being eaten by the Eaters. That continues in this chapter as the gang members are simply eaten and no trace of them is left. So much for those guys eh? We got a nice little fight scene and the main character looked tough so that’s always a plus. This was during his rookie days so he is fairly inexperienced, but does a decent enough job. His personality seemed very different from the games though as he would interrupt Kyoko and was more assertive than usual. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, but he would have to step up a bit as a main character if it were a longer series. Being assertive is great, but then you have to be consistent and this main character would be getting worried in the next panel.
The art is all right. It looks like it has the potential to be very good with some nice, crisp cuts, but other moments don’t work quite as well as the art can get a little cluttered. I think it’s just a case of trying to do a little too much because of time constraints. It probably wouldn’t be an issue for a longer series as the artist would get used to the characters and you would see it get smoother over time. You can still tell what is happening the whole time and that’s certainly the important thing.
Overall, There’s not much more to say about it. The chapter is only around 30 pages or so and it’s a good story. There’s some action and foreshadowing, not to mention that they leave you with a decent cliffhanger so you can go play the game yourself. I completed it a while back and highly recommend it. It’s certainly one of the best Digimon game and that’s considering that the competition is rather stiff. Most Digimon games end up being rather awesome. If you’re a Digimon fan then you should definitely check this out. I can’t say that you’ll get much out of it if you’re not already familiar with Digimon though. Maybe you could just enjoy it as a quick action story I suppose, but there’s only so much you can do in 30 pages. It’s good to see more Digimon manga being scanned. It shows that there is always hope for obscure one shots and other titles that are missing to the wind. On the video game side, I’m ready for Cyber Sleuth 2 although I know that probably won’t happen. The new Digimon World game will definitely be fun though.
Overall 7/10
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