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Altered Beast Review

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It’s time for the next Genesis title. This one’s really short but it’s still a good amount of fun. I feel like they went all out here as the levels that we do get have a lot of detail to them. The combat is pretty fun and every animal form has its own special abilities which also helps them to stand out. You really feel like you’re super powerful once you’re in the beast mode. It also at least does have a real plot in game which is always nice.

The game starts with a god resurrecting you from your grave and ordering you to save someone from Hades’ clutches. You start out as an ordinary joe but when you grab power ups, you get more and more buff until you turn into a monster. Then once you are a monster you have really great special abilities and have to defeat the boss of that level. There aren’t many levels and each one is fairly short. The real trick is getting to your monster form because if you don’t, then you are absolutely doomed. Your human form isn’t strong enough to defeat any of the bosses and your health is low in any form so that’s not an option.

My favorite monster form was one that could shoot a bunch of energy blasts. I’m not too good on greek mythology so I couldn’t really tell you which form was which to be honest though. They all sort of blend together even though they’re different but the fact that each one has different special abilities is cool. Even in a lot of modern titles that would not have been the case. This one went above and beyond and I definitely gotta respect that. It’s also a bit surreal seeing this random dude just going around punching a bunch of giant monsters you know?

I already talked about how the graphics are pretty good, so we can jump to the soundtrack now. That part’s a little more on the generic side but I’ve come to expect that as not many older games had stellar soundtracks. That would come in later but it’s also why some titles like Mario, Mega Man, and Sonic stood out. They surpassed the norms and got really creative. Still since this game surpassed expectations on the visuals and the gameplay I can give that a good pass. It may not have replay value but the initial playthrough is fun enough to carry you through.

There’s not a whole lot more to say to be honest here because the game is really straightforward and short. So once you know what the gameplay is, which is effectively a 2D platformer then you’re all set. There’s not much more to get into and you will know right away if you like the game or not. Who doesn’t like a good platformer though right? It can be a little unforgiving like with most Genesis titles of course but that’s par for the course.

I guess if there’s one thing I would change here it would be to make the character models a bit smaller. I get that the game wanted to show off just how strong the main character was but it also means that there isn’t a ton of room to dodge or move around. You’re always confined to an extent and I like having my freedom to run around and do what has to be done. In that way this game almost becomes more of a beat em up than a platformer at times.

Overall, Altered Beast is a good game. It could have been even better if it was longer since the overall experience is so short but either way with the Switch Online I would recommend checking this one out. There’s absolutely no downside after all and because it’s so short it’s not like it’s going to take all that much time out of your day right? There’s a ton of potential if they ever wanted to make a modern remake out of this one. In the meantime we’ll have to stick to this though.

Overall 6/10

Space Harrier II Review

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It’s time for a pretty pleasant game. It’s basically like a 3D auto runner you could say. You are always moving at a high speed and the levels go by quickly. It almost feels like RNG with how quickly the enemies attack but technically it is all skill based and you are testing your reaction times. I bet people had to try again a bunch of times before the end.

There’s not really much of a plot until the end to be honest but you have to stop powerful aliens and monsters with your sci-fi gun. What’s more hype than that right? You only have one gun so unlike the last few games this one isn’t very customizable. It’s fully arcade style in that sense as you just have to strike at the opponent enough times for him to go down rather than playing the long game. As it’s a 3D auto runner like I said before, you can only move up, down, left, and right. There are no other dimensions to the game and since you don’t control your speed that does mean you can focus all of your brainpower on blasting at the enemy.

What I found to be the best strategy was to constantly be flying in circles. It always made it very difficult for the enemies to land hits but sometimes it also meant that I would sort of fly into an attack. So you probably shouldn’t start spinning with reckless abandon unless you want to be reusing that rewind feature a lot. Hey, there’s nothing wrong with that of course but it’s probably good to win as much as possible. Then there are also lots of buildings and other objects where if you bump into them then you lose as well. There is no health bar in this game, when you get hit you die. That’s all there is to it.

The graphics here definitely look really nice. You could tell that they want all out in this area and the color are striking. I was pretty impressed and in terms of pure visuals it is one of the better Genesis titles. The soundtrack is more on the standard side but it works well enough, I didn’t really have any issues there. In terms of length it’s around an hour or so which isn’t bad. Not one of the longest ones but it works well enough.

I also liked the various boss designs. The game was really creative with them. In a sense every boss does feel the same because the attacks are only different in terms of cosmetics. Either way you have to dodge them all so it doesn’t change much. It does go back to how this game in a sense is a very simple gameplay style because you move and blast. There are no other dimensions to this, no twists and turns. No new mechanics. And it works well for what it is but the one downside is the developers can’t really show off with the bosses.

The final level is crazy though as you have to fight every boss back to back and then the final boss. That’s a lot of time where you can’t afford to get hit and I don’t see how realistic it would be to complete that without taking a shot. Maybe there are extra lives you get or something else that I was missing. If not, my hat’s definitely off to whoever was able to beat this one back in the day. You really did have to be a complete pro gamer to tackle titles like this one.

Overall, Space Harrier II is a pretty fun title. It may not be the best sci-fi game but it will pass the time by. The length is fairly decent and the graphics are colorful. Considering that you can basically play it for free, you really can’t go wrong here. The sci-fi marathon has been a blast but now it’s going to be time to turn my attention to some of the other Genesis titles. We’ll see just how well they stack up next to these last few. If you have the Switch Online you should go ahead and play this one though. A fun way to turn your brain off and just have fun.

Overall 6/10

Alien Storm Review

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This is definitely a weaker Genesis title. It’s a beat em up which is usually awesome but it has some extremely questionable design choices that hold the whole thing back. Like I’m talking design choices that will just have you scratching your head the whole time. Like why is this the case? It has some interesting ideas and I like the final boss but the game could have been better.

Basically you jump in to save the humans from the aliens that are everywhere. The aliens are shapeshifters and have even started turning into humans and different objects. One common object here is a trashcan that the aliens will turn into to get you to lower your guard before they pounce! So you have to still save the normal humans without letting the fakes go. No worries though, none of this is reflected in the gameplay. There is no friendly fire so just blast everything and you’ll only hit the aliens anyway. Most of the game is the 2D beat em up style but some levels at the end will quickly turn 3D where you blast a lot of aliens trying to get onto the screen.

This game is fairly unforgiving as even with rewind I got myself completely doomed on the first playthrough and barely survived on the second. The reason is that your normal attack either goes straight up if you’re playing as the guy or is a flame thrower that doesn’t do much damage if you play as the girl. Why can’t you just blast these aliens straight up? The whole time I’m wondering why the gameplay would be intentionally making it hard for you to hit the opponents. You have to use combos by hitting the normal attack button several times to do a ground move which knocks them out but this costs energy.

You can always call in an air strike or drop a massive nuclear bomb on the enemies to clear the screen but it takes up a ton of energy so you really shouldn’t spam this. If you do run out of energy then it’s tough because even your normal attacks don’t work anymore. When you have no energy, you swing it like a club and hope for the best. The problem is that this does almost no damage and it’s super hard to dodge the enemies.

I should underscore that when I ay it does almost no damage, that technically does mean that it does a little bit. So in theory you actually could beat some enemies like this but not enough to clear a level. Even with rewind I tried every kind of angle to get close to the aliens and it just wasn’t working. Then if you enter a 3D level with no energy, you can only fire a few blasts here and there so there is no way to blast all of the creatures in time. In both cases you are doomed so these are what I’d call complete choke points. Once you’re out of energy then even rewinding won’t save you.

All of this is to say that it’s an extremely difficult game. Perhaps the third playable character would have had a better weapon to use, I didn’t actually play as him. The core issue though is that your normal attack shouldn’t use energy. You should always have an attack that you can use at all times in a beat em up. Otherwise you can’t really focus on just having fun and blasting away at everyone because you’re worried about running out. I definitely think the game needed to improve on this aspect.

The 3D parts were fun at least but in part I admit it’s because they were just easier. These parts felt enjoyable to just be blasting everything as the screen keeps panning left to right. It’s even soothing in a way as it’s all so symmetrical. You know exactly what you will get at all times. It’s also good that it was fun because otherwise the plot really doesn’t exist here. You barely even know why you’re doing all of this. Of course in general you’re saving the world but it’s such a general/basic plot. You are not going to be playing this game for the story.

Now we come to the graphics and I can safely say that the game looks pretty good. I like that we actually see different shops and lots of unique backgrounds. The enemy character models are good and the same goes for the civilians. The music is fast paced and so I don’t have any issues with the technical effects here. The game is fairly short but considering how difficult it is, it’s probably a good thing it wasn’t longer or that would have been really daunting.

Overall, Alien Storm is a game with a fun premise but the gameplay doesn’t live up to this. My main problem stems from the fact that it’s a beat em up where you can’t just have fun knocking out the competition because you’re always worried about your energy and ammo. You should be able to just go in there guns/fists blazing and then fight them. It feels like the game missed out on what I would consider to be the critical point of any beat em up. Why make a game in this genre when you can’t do that? So check this game out and maybe there is some kind of attack option that I missed but otherwise this is not the title that you will want to check out.

Overall 5/10

Alien Soldier Review

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Alien Soldier is another sci-fi game from the Genesis and this one is a complete boss rush game which is pretty different from the usual adventure. You’re fighting more than 25 bosses and the levels just keep going so once you are done with a boss, you fight a few minions and then the next boss shows up. You can recover some health while fighting the minions but most likely instead you will just lose more health so you end up having to play the boss very carefully. Throwing another element into the ring is the timer. If you don’t beat the boss quickly enough then it’s all over.

So this is a really hard game all the way through. I will say that the story was very intriguing in the opening cutscene. It’s really the only thing you are going to get though as it basically vanishes after that. It’s a shame because there is so much detail in the intro that you know the writers had a clear idea on what they wanted to do. So if this had been a newer game I have no doubts that they would have added more cutscenes and story beats throughout the adventure. This would be a good game to make a remake out of at some point.

The gameplay is very customizable. So you choose 4 guns at the start of the game and during the levels you can find others to switch to or you can choose to keep the same ones. You can even go with 4 of the same gun if you really prefer one to all of the others but of course I would recommend a mixture instead. Usually some guns will be better than others depending on the boss and you don’t want to be stuck. I would go with the mega buster, laser sword, fire attack, and homing attack. This is a good mixture that will serve you well against virtually every boss.

At least as well as can be considering that you will still be having a really tough time with most of them. The timer got me on a bunch of bosses and other times the boss would just shred me. Their health bars are really big and they’re always moving around. One attack you want to get really used to using a lot is your dash since it makes you intangible for a second. It’s a great way to get out of a bad spot and then start to counter attack. It’s a mechanic that is fairly unique to the game with how big of a focus it is so that works really well. I would definitely recommend trying to get used to it in the early levels.

One level in particular that is the toughest in the game is level 20. In this level you need to fight multiple bosses and you have 10 minutes to down them all. So in this case you can actually find yourself in a jam that even the rewind feature can’t get you out of. For example, if you start the last boss with only 2 minutes left, then it is not possible to defeat him. You had to defeat one of the earlier bosses a lot quicker so that was the one time I had to hold the L and just do a complete restart. For a bit there I thought I was not even going to be able to beat the game but the levels after it were a lot more manageable.

The graphics here are pretty solid. They’re very colorful and there are so many unique boss designs that I was impressed. The game doesn’t really go the lazy route of doing palette swaps and instead each boss makes sense as a unique figure to stop the main character. Throw in all of the minion designs as well and we’re talking about a game with a high level of effort and dedication. The soundtrack is also good even if it’s not the most memorable one out there.

In terms of length I’d say it’s a bit longer than some of the other Genesis games. In part that’s due to the difficulty but even outside of that you effectively have 25 full length levels here which is considerably more than the average Genesis title. You’ll be here a reasonably long time so even though there isn’t really any replay value, I had no problems with the length.

In the end this is a fun shooter and the fact that you have to watch out for your ammo the whole time is pretty interesting. I do have to admit that I prefer the more arcade style of unlimited ammo at all times and being able to save after each level but the latter wasn’t possible for many games at this point and the former is definitely a design choice. It’s always rough when a weapon runs out and you have to switch. Also the final boss has an interesting gimmick where you can only hurt him if you are out of ammo. That’s pretty weird and feels like a cheap way to stump a lot of players back in the day. I certainly would have had no clue what was going on because why would a weapon with no ammo do more damage than a weapon with ammo? Doesn’t really make sense.

Overall, Alien Soldier is a good game but one that’s too excessively hard. The time limit plus everything else just makes for too many variables and if you end up losing then you’re really sunk. You do have multiple lives of course but I can safely tell you that you will absolutely need the rewind feature a whole lot. There are some bosses where it feels like you would need hours upon hours to try and memorize their attack patterns. Then you have to remember those while going through all of the other bosses again which is no easy feat. It’s a fun title to try out on the Switch Online but I don’t think it’s one that I would have purchased back in the day.

Overall 6/10

Hellboy: The Science of Evil Review

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It’s time to jump into the world of Hellboy! This is one of those games that I sort of forgot existed but it’s a pretty fun beat em up. The gameplay is solid and there are a good amount of cutscenes in here. So while there aren’t a lot of frills around the game, it does really do the job of being a fun title that keeps you entertained all the way through. The combos are tight and while you will be spamming a lot, it’s just fun.

The story is kind of all over the place since you keep jumping from the past to the present. There’s an evil witch who is causing trouble so you have to destroy her in the past and then in the present you’re dealing with an evil scientist who is probably trying to take over the world. You feel like Hellboy himself is probably overwhelmed too because it feels like every level involves him getting beat up and thrown around over and over again. Like he seriously can’t catch a break and he’s fed up at this point. Fortunately he does have super durability so he can handle himself.

Hellboy’s a fun lead because he has a very sarcastic air about him. No matter what happens, he’s got to have the last word on it and I can respect that. The guy is also a total tank with how he can just keep taking shots and walking them off. It doesn’t always translate into full attack power which his opponents take advantage of but he wins in the end which is what counts. The gameplay is mainly beat em up style so you go around crushing enemies with your fists or using your gun. For 99% of the game I recommend sticking to your fists but one world has a light gun which one shots all opponent so I definitely recommend using that one.

There is no level up system or any kind of power ups so what that means is you should only fight the enemies that you have to. I would just keep on running until a barrier stopped me and then I would fight the enemies. After all, why fight when there’s no benefit right? Occasionally there are a few puzzles that you have to solve like moving a lever or breaking something but the game keeps them fairly simple so I wouldn’t worry about that too much. You’ll typically be able to notice that the object or wall look a bit different.

One mechanic that makes the game a whole lot easier is that you are able to absorb health from enemies. This attack is petty much broken to be honest. You just grab the enemy and thrown him in the air for a slam. Do this and you get half of your health back. You also have high speed health regeneration if you can dodge attacks for around 5 seconds. So with very few exceptions, you should not typically be in any danger. It is possible to get overwhelmed if you let your guard down though. Also, the final boss did finish me off the first time. The laser basically covers the screen and is tough to deal with. I very nearly lost a second time but hung on with the last bit of my health. That seems to happen to me in a lot of games to be honest.

The game has constant checkpoints which is a great quality of life feature. As I mentioned the gameplay is also just fun because it’s nice and flashy all the way through. You may be using the same moves over and over but they’re still fun because of this. The platforming is a bit clunky but there are only a few sections in the game where you have to jump so this tends to be rare. The graphics are also fairly decent. It’s not a high end PS3 game but it is still PS3 level and so you have full cinematics and a lot of different backgrounds. I felt like the game had a reasonable budget. The soundtrack is more on the forgettable side.

There isn’t a ton of replay value to be had here. You can try to find all of the collectibles scattered throughout the game but aside from barely charging the power up meter that you never use anyway, I’m not sure if there is much of a point to it. The main playthrough here will really be for the story all the way through and that works for me. It’s short but there’s enough levels here. The ending also leaves room for that hype sequel even if you know that it’s just not going to happen at this point. We did get an unrelated Hellboy game recently though so it’ll be fun to compare that one at some point.

Overall, Hellboy is a pretty fun game. It brings you back to the simpler days of movie-tie ins where they had basic gameplay styles and just took you through the events. Some would be about the same as the movie and some would diverge immediately but you didn’t have to worry about advanced mechanics or anything like that. This is a very simple plug and play that I think works really well. I’m not going to call it a great game but it was never trying for that. It’s a game that you can get for cheap and will last you for a few hours so there’s no real downside to that right? I’d say to pick this one up as long as you like the beat em up genre.

Overall 7/10

Dark Cloud 2 Review

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It’s definitely been quite a while since I got to play the original Dark Cloud. It was a pretty fun game but one that had some mechanics I wasn’t crazy about like the breakable weapons and building. I always enjoyed being in the endless dungeons but the parts outside of that were a bit weaker. Well, Dark Cloud 2 definitely improves on the first one. I will say that building still isn’t my favorite part to say the least but weapons are no longer broken in the same way. They can run out of energy so you have to give them a potion but you never lose a weapon and I can tell you that this is an absolutely huge deal! A serious game changer all the way through.

The game’s story is also rather ambitious. You start out with the main character Max trying to get into the circus when a really odd evil clown shows up asking for the necklace that he got from his mother. Max barely escapes into the sewers and then manages to leave the town. The rest of the world is…empty. It turns out that his town is the last one in existence and the only reason it wasn’t destroyed with the rest of the world is because the villains need his necklace. So if he turns it over…then its going to be the end of everyone he knows. Fortunately he runs into a time traveler named Monica who is here to save the world from its imminent fate. It’s not just the world that is in danger but all of history as the villain can time travel as well. Can they possibly stop him?

So this is a full RPG story all the way through with a lot of twists and turns around every corner. The game handles everything very nonchalantly though which can always be pretty fun. Max just takes it all in stride and never reacts as hard as you would expect. The heroes are going out there and fighting off god level threats and he’s still got his wrench and determination. It’s one of those games where it would be fun to see this as an anime because in theory these are just average joes fighting crazy high level opponents.

The game really has two main gameplay styles. First is the combat in the dungeons and then you have the overall building aspect. I’ll go into the building first since that one to me is definitely trickier and will take a lot of time. So basically one of the elements of the plot is that the villain is destroying the “origin point” of various landmarks that are critical to the heroes. So you have to rebuild them with parts that you obtain from every level in the game. Building involves buying the required materials and then putting them all over the map. Here’s where most of the grind comes from because you need money for the materials and you get a lot of money by selling materials but then you’re missing the materials for the next item. Rinse and repeat over and over. It’s a rather tricky cycle and I sold important stuff a few times by mistake before I realized what was up.

If you put something in the wrong spot, it takes a few steps to remove it and replace. Would have been good if you could have just picked something up and moved it. Part of me suspects that there has to be a way and I was just doing it wrong. You’re given hints as to where each item should go but there’s going to be a ton of trial and error to get it just right. Also you won’t see all of the hints initially so you have to keep playing levels to get there. Occasionally a level will have two exits so you need to hit both of them.

As for the combat, that is still the meat and potatoes of the game and it’s the really fun part. It’s sort of like .Hack where you will enter a dungeon with many different floors and have to clear them all. You do get to save between every floor which is incredibly useful. I would have really been in a jam without that because I did die a fair number of times. It can be difficult to gauge the enemy range and then you die from a powerful hit. I do want to say though that the gameplay is rather exciting because of that. You’re certainly never bored because the game isn’t too easy but it’s also never unfair. When you die you know that it really was your fault because you got greedy and over extended.

The level up system is one of the toughest parts of the game. Unlike a traditional RPG where you level up with XP, you instead get weapon XP when you beat an enemy> This levels up your weapon which allows you to give it orbs to absorb to increase its stats further. This is another manual process that takes a while but get the stats high enough and then you can upgrade the weapon. Rinse and repeat as much as needed. So I took it at face value and kept on doing that, but it’s actually better to level a weapon up to level 5, then sacrifice it to your main weapon to get much bigger stat boosts. I didn’t find that out until the final boss….so it took me a little longer than it should have but in my defense I don’t know how you would guess that from the start.

As a result there are tons of different methods towards building yourself up with the best armaments by the end of the game. Go with whatever seems like the best bet and then you’re all set. Some routes will take more effort than others but you’ll still be able to make it. The final boss is incredibly difficult because you have to fight close to 11 bosses back to back. Make sure you bring a ton of health items and boost your attack power as high as possible. I had to go back and get just about every health power up possible with my attack upgrades and it was still close.

This game is listed as being 50+ hours for the story and I can see why. I beat it sooner than that but there is a ton of content here. There are also side missions and a post game so there is a ton of bang for your buck. That’s a good thing since the game tends to be on the expensive side. There are a ton of different mechanics into the game that I barely even touched on like golf, fishing, etc. so the developers really went out of their way to make sure there was a lot to do here. Even the gameplay is rather deep but I will leave you to experience that all for yourself. Mainly the thing to focus on here is that the game is just great and excels across the board. Hopefully we get more games in this series at some point. I don’t mind if they drop the building aspect and focus purely on the dungeon gameplay though heh heh.

Overall, Dark Cloud 2 is an improvement over the first and a really solid game. I feel like many people have not gotten to play this one since it always felt a bit on the obscure side but if you can find it in stores then I definitely recommend checking it out. It’s really a good bit of fun all the way through and is a lot more expansive and all encompassing than you might think. The building mechanics can be a bit of a challenge but once you get the hang of it then you’ll be fine. It just takes a lot of time unless there are some controls I ended up missing on.

Overall 8/10

MUSHA Review

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It’s time for another retro game courtesy of the Nintendo Switch Online. I can safely say that this is a fun title but it doesn’t really stand out all that much compared to the other sci-fi titles that I’ve played. It’s a good game of course but eh it definitely could have been better if you ask me. In the end it needed a little more of a plot or some kind of super unique gimmick.

The gameplay is more of a top down shooter style. You are blasting away at all of the enemies that try to stand in your way. It can be a bit hard to tell when you are dealing damage since the visual indicator isn’t very obvious but keep on blasting and you will take the enemies down in no time. You can keep on switching the way that your robot fires its shots as well so I recommend experimenting until you’ve found the perfect blend for you. There are certainly many different ways to tackle this and you can also alternate between manual and automatic fire.

I found that the best firing method was the 3 guns style. It works well on automatic and you get a lot of coverage while you are moving around. There are wider guns like the 5 way but I felt like they didn’t do as much damage so ironically it was a bit tougher to use that one. I would often find myself being a bit held back there. You lost your extra firepower the more you get hit so it is important to dodge every blow. Seriously one wrong shot can send you all the way back to the basic gun which is the worst possible gun to have. If you’re down to that weapon you can pretty much turn in the towel at that point.

You can of course get the power ups back by hitting the collectibles but surviving that long is the tricky part. The bosses have a ton of health as well and they will drain your HP quickly. Your reaction times are probably the most critical part of the journey since that is what will keep you alive. The graphics are pretty solid for this time frame. The characters look solid and the backgrounds had a good amount of detail to them. The levels are also fairly different so it’s not like the same background is used over and over again or anything like that. Now that would have definitely been pretty lazy.

There isn’t a lot of replay value here but that’s pretty normal for a retro game like this. The main idea is to just complete it as you normally would and then it goes back on the shelf. You can probably have fun creating your own strategies like maybe trying to complete it while only dying 5 times or something like that but for the most part this will just be around for 1 hour. At least it’s an hour of quality content though. The soundtrack isn’t bad, no home run hits but it’s not a weak selection. It works pretty well with the look and feel of the game.

I do think the developers had a fun idea with the gun customizing and it feels like an early concept of what Armored Core would turn into. Customizing your robot can be fun whether it is in game like this one or pre game like the Leynos title. That said, it would also need to be perfected more. Each gun should have some kind of benefit to it and in this case some just felt like downgrades. Why would you ever use 2 guns instead of 3? Maybe one way you could do this is that you sacrifice more armor as you add more guns. That would be pretty fun or you could scale down attack power the way it seemed to work for the 5 way gun. That would make a lot of sense.

Overall, MUSHA is a good game to check out while you have the Switch Online. If you had to pay for it then I wouldn’t be able to recommend it quite as highly but there’s really not much of a downside when it’s free like this. Just jump in and have a lot of fun right? That’s really the way to go about it and a modern remake of this game could have a lot of potential. Even if this may not be the flagship title of the genre, I like the genre enough where it still works out in the end. Blasting away at enemies while zooming around is always a good bit of fun. I’ll do my best to keep on remembering the game at least for the remainder of the year. A true challenge indeed!

Overall 6/10

The Orbital Children Review

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It’s time to look at a quick miniseries. This one originally came out as movies but on Netflix it’s a full TV show so that’s how we’re gonna approach this one. Sci-fi titles are always pretty fun so I was ready for a good time here. The characters are mainly all kids here and it’s played more realistic so don’t expect massive fight scenes or anything but it’s solid enough. The kids are more bearable than I’ve seen them be in other titles so that worked out well enough for me.

In the future space travel has become more normal. In fact it’s so normal that there was a whole generation of people who was born in outer space and are used to living up in a spaceship their whole life. Touya is one of these people and he is one of the last kids like this. The governments of the world have vowed to bring everyone back to Earth because the experiments didn’t work very well. The chips that were planted inside of the kids to allow them to survive have backfired which is why most of them are dead. Touya and another girl in space will be dead soon if nothing changes.

Partially because of this, Touya holds a lot of resentment and doesn’t want to go to Earth. He has become an internet sensation for how rude he is and how fascinated people are at his lifestyle. The guy is a top tier hacker and people enjoy watching him but at the same time this is a big cost to the governments who basically have to keep a lot of systems and supplies ongoing to space basically for a handful of people. One day another tour group of kids is sent up to the space station to talk with Touya and the staff but they are all rocked by space debris. The systems are going offline and the heroes are effectively trapped in space. Can they find a way to get this ship back to Earth? Also…there is a terrorist among the group.

There’s a lot going on here and some may describe the plot slightly differently but I’d say this is effectively what’s going on here. The show is still more of a slice of life than a drama to me even with the stakes though. While the danger ramps up as the show goes on, a good chunk of it is really about the kids talking and gradually getting to understand each other. Touya really wasn’t giving any of them a fair shake at all for a while there but when you’re all trapped in a life or death situation it really gives you a chance to talk things out.

The animation’s good although it’s not great or anything. This isn’t really the kind of show that is trying to show off its animation anyway though so that makes sense. You’re just getting a chance to see the characters interact and some nice space backgrounds. There is one fight between two of the A.I.s that was pretty fun though as they were zooming around the place. It’s the closest thing we get to a big fight scene here. There is one lady who has a gun but you’re not really expecting her to shoot a bunch of kids right? That could have gotten dark quickly but it is the biggest moment of plot armor in the series. There’s no way she should have lost at that point to be honest. The show does excel on its big still shots showing off the different colors and tech though. I do think they went all out there.

There’s not much in the way of fanservice or violence here so I would say it’s a pretty safe series overall. It feels like a title that would be very accessible even to someone who doesn’t watch a lot of anime since the themes are pretty general and it’s not diving too hard into the sci-fi terms. There is some explaining on the microchips and all but it’s nothing too complicated that would throw you for a loop.

As the main character Touya is a solid figure who is able to hold the show. His rudeness helps to set him apart from the other characters and his hacking skills are legitimate. Without him the others would have definitely been dead many times. I also think that his goal makes a whole lot of sense even though it was risky. Basically he wants to revive the ultimate A.I. that went crazy and got taken offline a while back. The reason for it is that the implants that were put into the kids were so advanced that humanity doesn’t know how to fix them. They were created by the A.I. and of course only that A.I. would have a chance at knowing what to do about them.

The risk though is that the A.I. could end the planet or do something drastic. It was operating on levels that humanity could barely even understand which is why they had to pull the plug. Part of the debate though is that the A.I.”failed” in a sense with the implants. Yes it extended the kids’ lives since they would have already been long dead anyway but even if you brought the A.I. back, would it do any better this time? It’s really all a toss up, a gamble if you will. For most people the gamble is absolutely not worth it since if you succeed you only have a chance to save two lives while you put humanity at stake. Touya’s best friend Konoha is the other kid who is dying though so he can’t stop.

I was with Team Touya all the way. Meanwhile Konoha is a nice enough character. She certainly doesn’t want to die but isn’t really fighting as hard as Touya. She’s taking more of a “What will be, will be” approach of just waiting. It’s not a task that just anyone could do though so it’s not like she has a whole lot of say on this. Then there is Taiyo who is sort of like a rival to Touya. This guy is also a hacker but he works for the law and so he does everything legally. This puts him at odds with Touya who is expressly doing illegal things the whole time. My main problem with Taiyo is his priorities.

Even when everyone is danger or the heroes are plummeting to their doom, he insists on arresting Touya. This guy is just way too obsessed and it takes him a really long time to realize that. By the end he’s okay but the guy was a thorn in the heroes’ side for a while. Mina is another online sensation but not on the level of Touya. She has a lot of fun with her streams but has the most annoying catchphrase in the series by far. She starts all of her streams by saying her name 3-4 times and it just feels like an eternity even though it’s only a second or two. She’s really a decent character otherwise but that gimmick alone really hurts her quite a bit.

Hiroshi is one of the youngest kids here and so the guy feels out of his depth the whole time. Being smart is technically his thing but at the same time it just doesn’t come in handy as often as you would expect. Touya and Taiyo are the hackers here so that doesn’t leave as much room for general intelligence. Then we have Nasa who has the biggest role out of all of the adults. She’s easily one of the standout characters here the whole time. She is very dedicated to her goals and puts up with a whole lot.

I’d argue that she is one of the most tragic characters in the series with how much she had to sacrifice to be here. Ultimately she seems like a good person who just disagrees with the others. Of course by the end of this you may feel that is giving her a bit too much credit but I feel like she earns it. From her position, the actions make a lot of sense and you could tell that she cares about everyone.

There are a few other supporting characters in here like the other adults but for the most part they’re just helpless the whole time. Nasa could handle herself well but the other adults would have to just give advice and hope for the best. The kids really outshined them here. There’s a quirky old guy in an alien bunny type suit who helps out a bit but I feel like he barely even needed to be in the show. The A.I.’s owned by the two hackers were pretty fun though.

I would have liked to have seen more footage of the people on Earth talking things over though. Like the budget of having to keep Touya alive with the space station. It sounds like for once the government wasn’t corrupt here as they were helping out a whole lot so it’d be nice to get some screen time of that. I’d also have enjoyed a flashback with the super A.I. It’s a massive plot point after all but we technically don’t get to see a whole lot of it. The poem it left as a cryptic riddle is also a fun plot point but one that is really left up to a lot of interpretation. In the series different groups have different ideas on it and that makes sense. With something so vague you can interpret it in 100 different ways so whichever way fits your goals the most is the one that will win. Because we follow the kids we don’t focus on the thriller aspects quite as much but there is a lot going on in the background.

Overall, The Orbital Children is a fun miniseries. It’s not going to be terribly exciting even with the occasional explosion because it’s not really going for that vibe. I’d still say it’s more about the character development or a type of coming of age story. Either way it should keep you engaged all the way through even if there may not be a ton of replay value this time around. You could probably make a sequel if you wanted to but this is the kind of story with no real loose ends so it would be a sequel just to have one. I don’t really have a problem with that though.

Overall 6/10

Day The World Ended Review

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It’s time for a really sloppy movie which is why this one does not fare very well. The poster’s actually pretty exciting but the monster barely even appears in the movie. I suppose it’s not false advertising per say but it’s certainly on the border right there. You see that poster and it just makes you shake your head because the vibe the poster’s going for will not reflect your experience with the movie in any way.

The film starts off with Jim and his daughter Louise taking refuge in their house. Most of the world has been irradiated after a big bomb attack and the only reason they have survived is because Jim knew this day would come so he has enough supplies for the two of them and the house is in the perfect place where the winds are kept out by the nearby caverns. Unfortunately a few people stop by and Louise lets them all in despite Jim’s protests. There isn’t enough supplies for all of these folks and as they all get hungry, these “nice” strangers may prove to be deadly. Also there’s a monster running around.

The movie really has a Twilight Zone kind of feel to it for the opening act. It’s a very strange circumstance after all and we’re thrown into the mix without much of an explanation at first. So as more people pile into the house, you know that something’s going to give way and fast. It’s inevitable that there will be big fights and disagreements when everyone is hungry and irritable. The movie is at its best during these opening moments when everyone is suspicious of each other. Where the film falters is after that and I’ll get into it more in a second but basically it breaks the atmosphere for a lot of action and thrills except it’s all very poorly written.

The first issue here is just how much of a villain Tony is. Now at first as the viewer you’re upset with Louise for letting everyone in but hey they would die without coming inside so you get it. The first thing Tony does though is break through the door and hold Jim at gunpoint. That should be enough to immediately say that this is not going to work right? If this guy is so willing to use a gun then it’s time to take him out. He takes out the gun and makes threats multiple times. He attempts to murder Jim, Rick, and other people in the house numerous times.

Often times they will beat him up and he’ll say that he’ll try again later once they are asleep. Tony is not subtle at all. Then he’s always trying to force himself on Louise and he’s abusive to his sort of girlfriend Ruby but nobody does anything about this. Time after time they just threaten him some more. The heroes will literally say that they’ll shoot him next time to Tony calls their bluff and each time they don’t do anything. Right now they are at the brink of life and death with how bad the situation is, there’s no way they should be tolerating this.

The whole film feels supremely unrealistic. To put this another way, there are many times where Tony goes for Jim’s gun but Jim insists on just leaving it on the couch all the time. Inevitably there comes a time where Tony grabs it and you’re just wondering what is going on. You’re hoping that it’s somehow part of the plan but it really isn’t. Then Jim has all day to shoot Tony but doesn’t seem to want to do it. He only fires as a last resort after the body count has gone up enough.

All of the characters look awful as a result and this comes down squarely on the writing. It makes absolutely no sense to put up with so much from Tony. They should have finished him off or at least tied the guy up a long time ago. By not doing anything they’re putting everyone else in danger for no real reason. You just can’t be doing that sort of thing. Then there is the injured guy who mutates into a monster hybrid who goes out at night to eat animals. This guy also has veiled threats the whole time and is generally creepy but the heroes don’t do anything. They just go to sleep as normal.

For this guy I’m not saying you take him out per say as he’s not obviously evil the way Tony is but you figure they should do something. This guy talks about the future of mankind and how his mutated kind will rule which is as ominous as it gets. That and when he says that they’re all going to be killed shortly. Makes you think a little right? Of course this is referencing the monster which barely appears. The monster really should have shown up more, that would have made everything a bit more exciting. Yeah it takes away from the spooky Twilight Zone atmosphere but that was already starting to break anyway.

I think this movie would have been most effective without the monster or mutations. Just the heroes surviving as they slowly run out of food and have to decide what to do. Do they make a run for it and try to find some food, stay in until the last moment and hope the radiation leaves? A lot of good ways to have some tension in there and the film doesn’t go for any of that unfortunately.

So yeah back to the characters. Tony is super evil yet nobody does anything about it. Ruby is also super annoying because it’s clear that Tony doesn’t love her and will just keep on using her but this never sinks in. The guy does everything short of murdering her and she still thinks they have a chance of being together. Ultimately this really doesn’t go over well and the whole subplot is just really annoying.

Jim is a pretty bad main character for all of those scenes with Tony where he doesn’t do anything. Jim talks a tough game but when the chips are down he’s just not leadership material. Louise allows Tony to go free by not reporting what he was doing to the others. She needed to mention immediately what he did and have the team destroy him. She takes too many chances and lack of communication is a big reason why the heroes are always falling behind in situations like this. You really need to be warning others and prepping for what is coming up.

I’m afraid that I have to take shots at Rick for the same reasons. Even more than Jim, Rick doesn’t want to shoot anybody. Jim even tries to talk him into it a few times and he refuses. Look, it’s great to not want to murder someone but when they keep on trying to murder you, you’re now putting other people in danger. It’s a selfish ac at that point and he doesn’t do a great job of protecting the other heroes as a result. I just expected way better out of this guy.

Another knock against Jim and Rick for going along with it is how Jim decides that it’s time to continue the human race. He encourages Ruby to go with the abusive Tony to have some kids and wants Louise to forget about her missing fiancé and hook up with Rick. Really now? As someone who’s never liked the idea of arranged marriages, telling someone to get together to protect the future of the human race is crazy. It’s way too much of a dramatic leap in logic. We don’t yet know that everyone is doomed and if they are, why bring a baby into this? The babies will now be all on their own if something happens and without any civilization around, there’s not much that can be done if anything bad happens. It’s just a net loss all around.

This film isn’t even that long but it sure drags on at times. There’s also some dead animals that pop up because of the whole eating animals part which doesn’t go over well either. If the film could make a mistake you can bet that it did. It’s a shame because I do think that the premise is really solid. It’s just been done way better by other titles including the Twilight Zone itself. There is really no reason to watch this one.

Overall, Day The World Ended is a very disappointing film. Particularly because I thought the ending was really strong. I was seriously impressed by it the whole time and yet it all ended up failing miserably by the end. The characters’ actions make absolutely no sense and so the drama felt forced. Tony should have been taken off the board way sooner and the longer he remained with the group, the worse it got. You had a hard time seeing him just enjoy the music and sleep soundly with the group when he was constantly trying to murder them. Maybe if this was a parody it could work but it’s all played straight. Yeah the writing here was brutal.

Overall 3/10

Star in the Night Review

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It’s time to take a look at a movie that is very short but still ends up being great. It’s a perfect example of how you can have a great film with developed characters in a really short period of time. The overall message is very clear and executed well. I had a really good time with this one and would definitely recommend it to anyone. It’s super accessible to fans of any genre.

The film has a Hitchhiker stop by a local motel where he is hoping for a place to shelter from the cold for a while and maybe get a hot coffee. The owner isn’t very hospitable though. His name is Nick and he feels like people don’t actually spread goodwill around Christmas. It’s Christmas time right now and yet everyone is as rude as ever. One lady is always complaining about the noise, one guy comes in to complain about his dry cleaning, etc. Nobody seems to actually be in a good mood and they just fake it for a while. The Hitchhiker disagrees and believes that people actually do get nicer on Christmas and that’s when you see their true selves. Will he be proven correct before the night is over? There will be a good opportunity to see how this plays as a young couple runs in with the wife about to give birth. The motel has no available rooms and everyone’s already stressed out…how will this end?

I’d say the character who deserves the most amount of credit here is Nick’s wife Rosa. From the start she is the only character who actually does seem to care about everyone and she is doing her best to make things turn out well. Even before the other characters start to turn around, Rosa was consistent right from the jump. Whether it’s in offering her own blankets for a guest to use or running around to get some clean clothes and fresh drinks, Rosa was doing everything. She never got jaded or let the world beat her down the way it did for Nick.

You get why anyone would get discouraged when you interact with so many rude people every day and that’s why it was super impressive that Rosa never backed down. She was ready for every situation. Best character by far. I will say that Nick is the most entertaining character though. The guy gets extremely irritated all the time so he’s constantly muttering and making a fuss about things. The guy has absolutely lost the last bit of patience a long time ago and is the kind of guy who will no do you a favor. Ultimately he does get the Hitchhiker his cup of coffee once the goodwill starts to spread.

Meanwhile it was nice to see everyone start to pitch in later on. The guy who was complaining about his clothes being wrinkled ends up ripping them up so they can be used as rags for the lady giving birth. The lady who was complaining about the noise ends up helping with the delivery, etc. Everyone did their best to play a part and for the ones who were not really sure how they could help, they just did their best to be compassionate and supportive. There was one guy in particular who was a bit older and not exactly sure how this worked but made it clear that he wanted to help so they had him transporting water and then calming down the husband.

In the end everyone appeared to be rude and basically not good people at the start but once someone was actually in a jam they ended up helping out. Nowadays it can be hard to picture that happening in many situations but it is nice to think that people would help you out when the chips were down. For example a lady being pregnant and about to give birth should cause you to want to help. It should trigger your parental instinct as you jump in to attend every need. The Mom is just in such a delicate state that you want to help as much as possible. I knew someone who was pregnant for a while and it was always fun to help her out. I probably overdid it a bit as I tend to but I made sure she was stuffed full of pop tarts, Chipotle, Burger King, chocolates, and whatever other snacks she would suddenly have a craving for! It just feels kind of nice like you’re helping make sure the kids comes out all right but of course that’s taking way too much credit.

That’s the kind of memory the film helps to bring out of you though. Each character here really wanted to do their part and so minor complaints like the noise just weren’t a problem anymore. You quickly start to see the big picture in those moments and it’s important to remember that even when there isn’t something urgent going on. You should always take a step back and just try to make sure you aren’t losing your cool over something minor.

The film is extremely short at less than 30 minutes long so it has to move quickly. I’d say that the film pulls this off perfectly though as the pacing is good and the writing is on point. In a way it’s able to directly tackle the message even easier this way than if it was super long and had to throw a lot of extra plot elements in. Make no mistake, I think this could absolutely work as a long movie as well because when a film’s writing is good, length is not really a factor. So I have a lot of confidence in the team behind this one.

Overall, Star in the Night is a great film. It’s a nice optimistic view on humanity which you don’t see very often and it makes for a very wholesome watch. It works really well as a Christmas film and is more focused on the true meaning of Christmas in spreading goodwill and cheer to all. It’s an allegory for the Three Wisemen in a way with a lot of elements from the Nativity being brought in. I also think this is a great way to explain some concepts to kids and younger viewers watching as it’s all very clear and easy to understand while still being mature enough for older viewers to get something out of it. The production values were all on point and the characters were solid. It may have been short but it’s very memorable.

Overall 8/10