Tag Archives: Robin

Gotham Knights Review

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Batman has definitely had quite a few top tier titles over the years. When you think of Batman you tend to think of the best level of comic book games. This one didn’t quite get the same acclaim as the big Arkham titles but at the same time I’d say it does hold up. There is a whole lot to do within the game even outside of the story and so the replay value really hits hard. I would say it sacrifices a bit of polish for overall content and of course that won’t always be seen as a positive so I suppose it’s a bit of a case by case kind of thing.

The game starts with Batman taking some heavy injuries against Ra’s and is forced to settle for a draw as he blows up the Batcave. With Batman dead, the rest of Gotham’s heroes have to suit up and defend the city. Batgirl, Nightwing, Robin, and Red Hood will have to team up for this one. They find out that Batman was looking into a crazy conspiracy involving an organization that controls Gotham from the shadows. This was such a big secret that it cost the Dark Knight his life, so his successors must solve it or die trying. This won’t be easy, but they understand the risks.

The gameplay is your classic 3D brawler. You have a lot of different attacks up your sleeve and will also be dodging a whole lot in order to counter blows. One thing I was surprised about was the lack of a block button. Dodging is your complete form of counter attacking here which is different from what you’d normally expect. Still, it works pretty well and after not being allowed to dodge like that in God Eater, I was glad to go back to my spamming ways. Most of your super attacks are locked behind side quests so I had to make do with the default ones. They are good enough though. The main story is fairly long even if you are only focused on doing them and not touching the side quests.

Counting the side quests, it feels like there is a very impressive amount of content here. It certainly feels longer than the main Arkham titles at the very least. The fact that the side quests also have a lot of cinematics is also pretty fun. At one point I had skipped so many side quests and such that there were no random mobsters to interrogate which held me back during chapter 6. I had to randomly defeat a few Clayface minions which let me go forward. It’s a pretty decent mechanic though because the heroes should be penalized for not defending enough civilians.

I will say that navigating the city isn’t quite as fun as in Spider-Man since you can’t just leap through the city. Arkham City was much easier in that respect. The motorcycle is cool though, it just does take much longer. Locking the fast travel points behind side quests is diabolical but it does encourage you to at least do a few of them. I ended up doing at least a few of them because it would save time in the long run.

Then you have different forms of currency and materials which you use to get new suits, weapons, and projectiles. You can also get mod chips to put inside of them, although I never had gear good enough to equip any so I had to go with the defaults. The equipment was a nice touch though because it adds further incentive to go exploring. The more you do that, the stronger you get. I always like when a game rewards you for these kinds of things. Yeah there is definitely a whole lot of replay value here so you can bet that you will be adventuring around for a long while. Getting the Platinum looks like it could be rather difficult though.

The graphics are pretty solid. I’m not a huge fan of the art direction at times as a lot of the humans look rather generic but the costumed fighters are good. The game does a good job of making all of the dozens of suits and equipment match the art style as well. It may not be the most colorful game but it still does look good. The soundtrack is definitely more on the dull side though. Not many memorable tunes here so you will end up forgetting them rather quickly.

While the game is definitely centered around having multiplayer, I think they should have added AI allies for when you’re playing solo. It would have been nice to have seen the other characters fighting too since otherwise it doesn’t feel as much like an ensemble game. I mainly played Nightwing the whole time so to me this was basically a Nightwing solo title. Of course I could have switched and such but I already had Nightwing leveled up really well so at that point I didn’t want to switch. The fact that all 4 characters have their own unique fighting styles is cool though.

The game’s only real weakness for me could be that the mechanics are really not explained very well at all. Installing mods is really confusing and likewise the map has way too many icons that look similar. White triangles are mobsters, white upside down triangles are for the freaks, yellow triangles are corrupt cops, etc. Your world map gets real cluttered real fast. There had to be a better way to display all of that information. Again I would point to Spider-Man where the map never feels as imposing. Additionally it’s just easier to do a ton of side missions because of how quick they all are there. This game doesn’t move at quite the same high speed because while the combat gameplay is very smooth, the hub world navigation can be a little rough at times. Get ready to run past buttons when you just meant to walk past them.

Overall, Gotham Knights is a great game, it was better than I expected it to be. The game is definitely very combat heavy so you really need to like the style though. Ultimately I found it to be very rewarding as you actually feel it when you level up and get stronger. It’s a great template for a title and the story is also good. There’s really not much else to say about this one. As long as you enjoy really good action titles then you should have a good time and while you may feel overwhelmed at first, just take it one mission at a time and gradually the main map will become a lot emptier.

Overall 8/10

Batman and Superman: Battle of the Super Sons Review

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Now you might be thinking…wait is this film CG? Well the answer is yes so DC decided to try a little something here. As I always say, CG isn’t even bad, but it is a step down from traditional animation. It beats the more experimental types like flash, stop motion, claymation, etc. but traditional animation is the GOAT of getting hype content across the board. So that starts this one off at a bit of a disadvantage next to its peers but ultimately it’s still a pretty good movie. It doesn’t quite top the last one but if you’re looking for some fun action then this movie has you covered.

We start off with Krypton blowing up again as Superman’s dad can’t catch a break and we then fast forward to the future where Superman and Lois are married with a kid named Jonathan. For years he hasn’t displayed any super powers so they figured maybe it wasn’t going to happen but all of a sudden he starts to develop them. Superman is at last able to reveal his secret identity but is promptly taken out along with the rest of the Justice League. Jonathan will have to finally become the new Superboy as he teams up with Robin to save the world. Are these two kids ready for such a big challenge or are they about to get absolutely destroyed as they try to fight off the big fighters?

Now you may have some questions about how the League is handled and we can quickly just write this off as a little plot hax/power level issues. You’re not sidelining Superman this easily but hey we can’t have him stealing the show right? The film wisely kept the Flash out of this as well since he’d be tough to take down. The villain of the film isn’t revealed immediately but I will say that he’s fairly cool. Not powerful enough to take out the Justice League levels of cool but he gets a good amount of hype dialogue and talks a big game. I always appreciate when a villain talks really big so I did like that about him. The film doesn’t really have any bad characters so even if he’s weaker than the heroes, I rather enjoyed the villain. I just wish he could have fought some more.

Jonathan works as an okay main character once he gets his head in the game but it does take a while. At first he’s really just your average kid who is getting picked on at school and gets upset since Superman keeps missing his big games/moments. Once he gets his powers and starts fighting then he quickly improves as a character. He is a solid contrast to Robin as they both fight off the villains. I think Jonathan should only continue to improve as a character the more he becomes accustomed to his powers. In theory once he learns them at 100% power then there are very few characters here who will be able to defeat him.

Meanwhile Robin looks great here. This is Damian specifically as from all of the Robins he always has the most attitude which leads to a lot of great one liners and character moments. You just have to appreciate this guy’s confidence. He may overrate himself just a little bit but considering how strong he is at such a young age you can absolutely see how it would happen. He does get a lot of good moments to shine though like diffusing a situation with a bully twice and holding his own against fighters with actual super powers. It’s always fun to watch him fight even if you don’t believe things would really turn out this way.

I already talked about the animation so you’re still going to have good fights here. The soundtrack is a surprising hit though with a lot of themes that sound like they’re straight out of the DCAU. You get some hype themes for the battle moments and also some nice eery ones for when the villains are around. It makes for a well balanced collection of tracks and that’s definitely what you want to see here.

Where the film has to do a bit of a balancing act is having some emotional scenes for Jonathan while also trying to throw us into the action quickly since it’s not like the film is super long or anything like that. I probably would have sped up some of the intro scenes with Jonathan so he can get his powers and take names quicker. It’s always tough since you do want to introduce the character completely but that would be my take. Once the story really gets going then it’s pretty much nonstop from there. The villain’s plan was a little too good so realistically he should not have been stopped but we’ll see if they can top that for next time.

This movie also seemed to take some elements from the new movies with some of the character designs/general roster, Justice League with one character’s role and even Young Justice. As a stand alone it worked really well there in just grabbing a bunch of elements from all sorts of places. I was surprised that Alfred didn’t make a cameo but otherwise just about everyone is here. I think the general premise of the story really lends itself well to a big cast like this. In fact, you could do a whole movie series or a full saga with this plot. There are so many different directions you can go with it so I’d be cool with this villain returning for another stab at it but this time focus on the adult heroes. Even for them this wouldn’t be a walk in the park depending on how far it goes.

You could switch out the villain if you want to keep it fresh though. It’s the general concept/premise of what’s going on that really kicks things up a few notches. Keeping things rather vague since I forget if they even showed the villain in the trailers but if not then this way you can still go in fresh. Meanwhile Superman and Lois get good roles as well at least during the intro. Lois also gets some more to do near the end so I enjoyed her character here. She got to show off why she is still the top reporter around town, willing to take on extra risks to save the day. If she had super powers I dare say she would become a vigilante really quick but that’s a complement in this case.

Overall, Battle of the Super Sons didn’t get us a battle between the Super Sons but their teaming up to stop a common enemy is always a classic way to go. The film has a good amount of action and story here so you should have a good time watching this one. You may wish you could see the League more but I suppose the kids have to get their fun sometimes. Whether you’re a DC fan or not you should enjoy this one. It’s just a fun experience and you should walk away satisfied as the ending is good and there’s a lot of room for a sequel. I’d be cool with the kids showing up again in the future for more action but wouldn’t mind a little time skip.

Overall 7/10

Godzilla vs Robin

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Suggested by Destroyer Robin is a talented hand to hand fighter and he has a lot of gadgets. Despite being around for decades the guy hasn’t really gotten any big power ups that would put him above Godzilla. I like to think his agility would still give him an edge but ultimately he would fall to the King of the Kaiju. No escaping that Atomic Breath. Godzilla wins.

One Piece Film: Z Review

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It’s time to look at the most well known DBZ One Piece film out there. Film Z always got a ton of hype due to the fact that it had the DBZ type battles. I was certainly eager to check this one out and it turned out to be a lot of fun as expected. I would even give it the slight edge over Stampede. Mainly my only issue with that one was since it was all of the hype characters fighting each other almost none of the battles even had an ending. Here there is a winner or loser in each match which I think was important. It’s always good to finish things and the battles are a blast. More on that in a minute but this is definitely a film you should check out.

The movie starts by introducing us to Z. He is attacking a large island and Kiazaru shows up to try and stop him. It’s a pretty good fight but Z manages to blow up the island anyway. We then fast forward to where Luffy and friends are sailing as normal. They help Z out of the water and nurse him back to health but since they are pirates and his mission is to destroy them all, he ends up attacking and easily defeats the Strawhats. The team will now have to try and mount a comeback tour. Can Luffy really defeat this immensely powerful Z character?

Right away the first scene of the film started things off on a high note. The battle with Z vs the Marines are definitely solid. Kizaru has always been pretty much untouchable in the One Piece series so it was nice to see someone make him sweat a bit. That said, Kizaru was definitely going to win that round if it had kept going. As strong as Z is, he’s just not ready to take down Kizaru. Part of the issue here is that Kizaru’s ability to turn into light itself makes him extremely fast and also extremely hard to injure. How can you stop a guy who can just zip away at light speed? Z’s sea prism arm helps to negate that but at the same time he isn’t fast enough to actually grab Kizaru so at most it just helps him bypass the light and actually deal some damage at ties. Every step counts though so I suppose we take those.

There are a lot of action scenes throughout and they’re all quite solid. One of the best fights is definitely the opening skirmish with Z. It’s always fun to see the Strawhats actually team up against an opponent. It feels like they haven’t actually done that since Aokiji so it was nice to see here. I like to think that the big 3 should have done a little better against Z but as they said later on, their guards were down at the time. The film also uses a lot of 3D views during the fight which is nice. They tend to work pretty well for stylizing the fights. RWBY’s been adding some more of that in lately as well. It helps you really see the full attacks which works out quite nicely. The battles here definitely aren’t playing around and the animation is great as you would expect.

Then we’ve got the soundtrack which is solid although I don’t care for the pirate’s song. It plays near the beginning and near the end of the film but both times I didn’t really feel like it meshed all that well with what was going on. I dunno, it just had no real energy or life to it. You can do soft songs that are still pretty epic but this was not one of them. Beyond that, the rest of the songs were pretty solid though which is good. One Piece is all about being high energy so we wouldn’t want to lose that.

Film: Z goes by very quickly so the pacing is solid. There are a lot of action scenes but there’s also a lot of downtime so fortunately those scenes work out well enough. The writing is on point and this feels like a classic One Piece adventure. My only real fault with the film is that it can definitely be a bit obnoxious with the fanservice for Nami and Robin. Fortunately Nami gets taken out of the picture for a while since she gets turned into a kid but before that the film really seems to make fanservice her main role. It’s nothing crazy compared to other films and shows, but it’s definitely there and quite direct about it.

As for the new characters, there were really 3 main ones. The first is Z and he makes for a solid villain. He’s had enough of pirates messing up the world so why not just end everything right? If he destroys the new World then that’s it. I do question how he believes this would destroy all pirates though. The only way is if the entire planet does literally blow up which seems like a possibility I guess but at the same time they seem to act like it’ll destroy a lot of people but not everyone. No matter how you slice it, the pirates would be the last survivors if anyone was to live so the humans would need to watch out. Some Devil Fruit Users can fly as well so a flood wouldn’t be the end. It would be time to fly up to Skypiea.

Z’s motive here is really about revenge so it’s a compelling mission. He’s certainly made a lot of sacrifices to get to this point. He’s also quite determined in his goal to take out the pirates and doesn’t waver. From all of the big film antagonists he would have to be the best one so far. Then you have his right hand lady Ain. Her ability to de age a person by 10 years every time she makes contact with them is quite impressive. It’s definitely a very useful ability that won’t steer you wrong. How do you hope to fight an ability like that right? Her battles with Zoro were quite impressive and her ability has to be one of the most dangerous ones in the series. Especially if she hides the true effect until it’s too late.

Then you have Binz who is just as loyal as Ain but doesn’t stand out as much. His ability is that he can dance to summon up plants. It’s a pretty useful ability for sure, but not nearly as flashy. I would also make the case that he should have lost a lot sooner but at least his speed does help to compensate for his ability not being very offensive in nature. His battle with Sanji is also pretty solid. As for the main cast, they’re all pretty true to form. Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji are still the heavy hitters here dealing with the enemies. Usopp and Brook can never focus long enough to actually be of help and just limit the crew for the most part. Nami and Robin get the job done when they appear even though they aren’t core fighters. The group is pretty big at this point so it’s always hard to find a villain group big enough to deal with all of them.

One last thing I have to mention though is that the government’s plan was pretty terrible here. So, from their point of view if Z destroys all 4 end points then the world might end. After he destroys two of them they have a big meeting about protecting the last 2 points with every available marine. So they should be around for the final 2 islands right? Wrong! On the final islands they’re basically just messing around the whole time and show up too late. They have some flunkies protecting the points but that’s it. Shouldn’t they have had the Admirals there or something? If Luffy hadn’t shown up then all 4 islands would have been destroyed for sure and the Marines wouldn’t have done a single thing. So no matter how you slice it, they failed here and owe their lives to a pirate. I don’t know what they were thinking.

Overall, One Piece Film: Z is a pretty fun ride. There was a good amount of detail put into the villains here so you should remember them. The story is strong and it’s always nice to see someone giving Luffy a good fight. It may be a little unsatisfying to some that Luffy doesn’t put up a bit of a better fight here but Z’s not someone you can really mess with. Zoro and Sanji put their opponents down pretty quick though so at least they brought their A game. If you like action films or just want a good adventure then this is definitely a solid film to check out. The One Piece films always do a good job of making sure you can understand what is going on whether you’ve already seen the series or not. Of course, you’ll understand the cameos and easter eggs more if you’re a fan of the series.

Overall 8/10

Lego DC Batman: Family Matters Review

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It’s time to look at one of the latest Lego adventures. DC has been particularly good at using this format and this movie is no exception. This time we’re back to focusing just on the Batman characters and it works out pretty well if you ask me. Batman steals the show and we get to adapt both the Red Hood and Omac sagas in one film. That’s pretty impressive.

The movie starts out with Batman really not liking the fact that he has to continue living as Bruce Wayne. It’s all just a big distraction from his true passion in life which is beating up enemies. It’s gotten to the point where Batman can’t even stay awake during a board meeting. Something’s got to give and he gets his chance when Wayne Enterprises develops the Brother Eye. In theory it can replace Bruce Wayne so Batman jumps on the idea and even decides to sell Wayne Enterprises entirely. Now he can be Batman 24/7. The only problem is that the city is as dangerous as ever. A mysterious figure is bumping off all of Batman’s allies one by one. If he doesn’t stop this guy soon then everyone is doomed. Additionally, Brother Eye may be deadlier than it appears to be. (Although it looks pretty deadly from the jump.)

One of the main reasons why this film works so well is because of how good Batman looks. He’s got that smug confidence that we’re all used to seeing at this point. Not only is Batman highly skilled but he knows it and it’s even gone to his head by this point. Only Alfred is really able to keep him in check. The others can just hope that Batman sees it their way. The voice actor has done a good job of becoming an iconic voice for the character as well. There doesn’t seem to be anything that Batman can’t do at this point. He beats Solomon Grundy with ease and always has a plan of action even if Brother Eye proves to be a formidable foe.

The rest of the Bat characters are also fun. Damian wants to prove himself as Robin but has to work pretty hard at this since Batman really doesn’t trust him yet. He does well enough when it counts and takes down a bunch of the robots with ease. Batwoman gets one of the larger roles from the allies though. She’s certainly got a lot of confidence and takes Killer Croc on with no hesitation. I like the concept of Batwoman since she’s more of a loner like Huntress. Batwoman doesn’t necessarily work under Batman since they usually have no affiliation. That being said, her skills do suffer a bit as a result since she doesn’t get that training. Here she has got that confidence that you always want to see in a hero.

Batgirl gets less to do as a result though. She holds a petty grudge against Nightwing for a good portion of the film. Her fight with Scarecrow was fun as she had to work her way through illusions and mirrors to get at him. The mind games definitely took their toll though which made Red Hood’s job pretty easy. Nightwing looks good and is the only one to not fall for the quick sucker hit. At least he gave Red Hood a good fight and that makes sense. From all of the Robins I do consider Dick Grayson to be the most skilled. After that I would put Jason Todd as number 2 and then Damian as 3. While I do think Tim Drake is a great character and a fun Robin, he’d have to round out the group almost by default. The Robins are just stacked when it comes to power.

Red Hood definitely looks really good here. He gets a lot of hype and seems to be the smartest character next to Batman. The film has no shortage of emotional moments like this plot line as well as the reason why Brother Eye is so sore. Red Hood’s identity may not be much of a secret and I don’t think it was supposed to be, but it’s still nice to have the reveal later on. It’s just a good arc in general whether it’s through a film or a Lego adventure. We didn’t even need the Omac subplot and the film would have still been great but it made for a solid climax.

It’s always good to round things out with some big action scenes and Family Matters didn’t forget about that part. I can’t really say that I had any issues with the film. As far as animation goes there isn’t really anything to say because it’s the same as always. Either you like the Lego style or you don’t. This film wouldn’t be changing your opinion one way or the other because it’s not trying anything different with that. I don’t think there is much you could try either. Legos will always look like Legos or it wouldn’t be a film in that style. That’s the way I see it at least.

A Lego film will usually live or die on the writing. If the writing is bad then the jokes won’t really land and the whole thing will fall flat. What the film is hoping for is that the jokes will be pretty funny and this one succeeds there. Right from the gate we get a lot of great lines. I wouldn’t even mind a whole film about Bruce Wayne just mocking everyone and trying to make it a whole film without people blowing his cover. Batman may not be as cautious when he’s Bruce Wayne like when he’s talking about his Batman job on the phone, but it goes hand in hand with his contempt for everyone. Batman doesn’t think it’s a security risk to be on the phone because nobody’s smart enough to stop him. The arrogance makes for a lot of comedic moments.

Overall, Family Matters is one of the stronger DC Lego specials. The dialogue is some of the best I’ve seen in the franchise and there’s a lot of action here. If you mentally switch the animation out this could legitimately be one of the big DC animated films. The fights are good and the pacing is tight. The film feels like it ends pretty quickly as a result. If you like Lego or at least don’t mind the format then I highly recommend checking this one out. You really can’t go wrong here and it’s always fun to see Batman getting his hype. Even if his scenes may not all be meant to be taken seriously they’re still hype.

Overall 8/10

Asuka (Tekken) vs Robin

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Suggested by iKnowledge Asuka is a very talented hand to hand fighter. In pure combat ability she may be able to give Robin a good run for his money although my money would still be on him to have the slight edge. Robin’s mainly got the advantage here because of how he’s gotten many power ups over the years (Although they’re pretty slight) and his many gadgets. Robin can use his explosive discs to great effect here and his boots being reinforced with steel doesn’t hurt either. Asuka can’t really afford to take many hits from him. Robin wins.

Teen Titans Go! vs Teen Titans Review

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It’s time to look at the most recent Teen Titans Go! movie. This one brings back the classic Teen Titans for a quick crossover event. While the film doesn’t manage to be quite as fun as the first Titans Go movie it’s definitely still a quality film in its own right. You’ve got action, comedy, and a final boss. What else would you even need right? One thing to watch out for is the opening credits makes the interesting decision of spoiling the entire film. It literally goes section by section from start to finish and shows all of the big scenes. It’s a very odd choice.

The movie starts off by showing us that the Teen Titans have still got it as they beat the Gentleman Ghost. People may doubt their abilities, but they shouldn’t because these kids are the real deal. Things get a little hectic when a portal appears and they’re all kidnapped. It turns out that the Master of Games is kidnapping Teen Titans from various universes to make them fight. The Go Titans are eager to start the battle while the modern ones just want to find a way to save their world. It looks like both of them may have to team up, but can the two groups possibly learn to work with each other in time?

Going forward I’m going to call the original Titans the Gen 1 crew and the others will just be referred to normally since they are the main characters here. The Titans act about as well as you’d expect them to. They’re still treated like comic relief because even they acknowledge that they aren’t serious the way that the Gen 1 guys are. They can’t help but constantly be at the center of the gags. The only one who tries to be serious is Robin and even then he is constantly overshadowed by his Gen 1 version. I’ll give him points for effort though and he’s the only Titan who really understands the gravity of the situation. He needs the portal device and he needed a win to secure the team’s confidence. It’s just a shame that he isn’t able to fight quite as well as the others. The other Titans are all on point except for the fact that Starfire was not taking this seriously enough. None of them were all that serious, but at least they tried in the tournament. Starfire was too busy trying to make friends to do much of anything which was disappointing.

As for the Gen 1 crew, it was fun to see them again. Robin and Raven probably get the most to do here. Raven has a lot of experience with the demonic realm so she coaches the kid version on this. Meanwhile Robin is ready to lead the team and he definitely does not like the baby titans. He’s constantly belittling them and when they don’t listen to reason he is quick to put them down. Gen 1 Robin certainly enjoys being the leader and makes sure to stretch things out when possible. After all this is his chance to lead two different teams to victory so you can bet that he is going to milk this as much as he can. It’s just an opportunity that he cannot miss.

The movie moves pretty quickly through the different phases to the climax so it never drags on. I didn’t feel like any of the humor was all that bad either. I would consider this to be one of the stronger Teen Titans Go episodes if it was on TV. The return of Santa Claus was also a lot of fun. It’s always great to see him as an antagonist and he is one of their tougher opponents. Of course taking on a group this large would be difficult even for the greatest of villains.

Then we’ve got more crossover appeal towards the end of the film. If you managed not to see who was included already then I won’t spoil it for you. Needless to say it’s a pretty solid lineup. I would have liked to have seen them all a little more to be honest, but what we got was pretty neat. Imagine if the whole film was the tournament though and we got to see a lot of different verses duke it out. That would have been really cool and then this probably would have beaten the original film. The animation here does look pretty good, but more standard than the first movie. The colors are a little brighter and there is extra detail either way. There’s no super catchy theme like we got in the first film, but I guess it’s hard for Lightning to strike twice.

Where the film really shines is in how absurd the whole thing is. The Go characters are in full parody mode and they just don’t care what the Gen 1 group thinks. They’re here to have fun and nobody’s going to stop them. That straight forward goal really keeps the film going and it’s why you don’t even need the crossover aspect for this to be a success. The group can hold their own as is. If anything I’m just glad that the Gen 1 group weren’t too obnoxious in trying to question the Go characters at every turn. They quickly learned that the Go characters weren’t going to change and just rolled with it.

Overall, Teen Titans Go vs Teen Titans is a fun film. While it’s a versus title there isn’t a lot of action between the two teams. A good chunk of the action scene is just comedy, but to an extent that is to be expected with these guys. It’s probably the only vs title I would give a pass to because of that. Whether you’ll enjoy this film or not is completely dependent on whether or not you enjoy the Go series. If you like the TV show then you’ll like the film and if you don’t like the show then the movie won’t be for you. This basically feels like an extended few episodes and it’s really a movie for the fans. It brings all the best qualities of the show together.

Overall 7/10

Robin vs Nemo

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This is a tribute to Teen Titans Go! vs Teen Titans. Robin definitely looked pretty good here. He may not have won every fight, but he never lost his confidence and stood up to the bigger heroes time and time again. Nemo is used to standing up to bigger opponents as well, but he doesn’t have the combat skills needed to pull off a win. What Nemo needs is a bunch of gadgets, now that would put him back into the conversation. Robin wins.

Batman Dark Tomorrow Review

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Batman has had quite a few video games over the years. I’ve yet to play one that was truly spectacular though. The other games were fairly solid but I’m waiting for a game that will be the next big thing. I got Dark Tomorrow in the hopes that this would be it as the comic driven plot and early 2000s aesthetic would be just what the series needed. Unfortunately a truly dreadful opening ends up severely limiting the game’s potential even though the ending is fantastic.

The game starts off by spoiling the final twist as we see very obvious silhouettes of Ra’s Al Ghoul and Talia. They plan to cleanse the world of humanity. To proceed with this goal they free all of the villains in Arkham to distract Batman. Batman also has to deal with a turf war going on in Gotham and the fact that Commissioner Gordon has also gone missing. Robin and Oracle are ready as backup but Batman decides to handle this alone, that’s how dangerous these villains are.

There’s always a debate about which is more important, gameplay or story. Well, gameplay will always be the most important part of a game and it is certainly what holds this game back. The game just doesn’t tell you anything about the controls and puts in so many red herrings that you aren’t sure what to do. You have extra gadgets that are basically pointless like the flashlight. You can barely move while that thing is one and the light it emits is comically small. You’ve got night vision goggles which are good for a small handful of segments when trying to dodge the trip lasers but you don’t even need to bother with them. I ran through all of the lasers for fun and honestly I didn’t notice a big difference in the amount of enemies that popped up. Then you’ve got the bat grapple 2 different times as one lets you swing and the other lets you shoot up. They are also used quite sparingly. This really feels like the game was meant for pure hand to hand combat and the gadgets were only added since someone in development thought Batman should have them. The Batarangs never get useful and the same goes for the smoke bombs which really don’t fool the villains for a second. The health packs are great though.

The game uses an interesting auto save feature. Basically, you have an unlimited amount of lives and typically wake up in the area that you died instead of going all the way back to when you last saved. However, while the game keeps a local record of your progress, you do still have to save on your own if you want to turn the game off. So just don’t make the mistake of thinking that the game is auto saving even if it does seem that way.

So, why is the gameplay so broken? Well for starters, the game has some really bad puzzle sections that just don’t make sense. The first level has most of these. In one section of the burning street you will try going forward but are quickly riddled with bullets. It doesn’t matter what tactic you try, you will never be able to get through there. You have to instead go through a side road and walk through some burning cars. There’s a small gap there that just seems cheesy. In another level, you are stuck next to a fence and your lock pick inexplicably does not work on the door. The lock pick is another negative as it’s called an ultimate something instead and the game doesn’t even tell you what it does. You will just find out that it’s a lock pick once you use it towards the end of the game. Here’s the problem, the game makes a big deal about it during this gate section as if you are supposed to use it, but you never do in this level. Instead you have to jump on a car and then jump on the roof with perfect precision. If you are slightly off or the game glitches again then you will miss the jump. Due to this, you will likely believe that the jump isn’t possible unless you know beforehand that it is.

Even the combat system is hidden from you. You have two attack options, punches and kicks. You use them to knock the enemies down and then you handcuff them. If you don’t handcuff them, then they will simply keep getting up forever. It’s an odd mechanic especially since you can’t skip the long handcuffing cutscene. What the game doesn’t tell you is that if you hold onto the L button you will unleash a series of rapid kicks and punches which deal a considerably higher damage output and make the bosses child’s play in comparison. You can certainly beat the game without this knowledge and sometimes it’s actually better not to go for a combo since it leaves you vulnerable if the opponent blocks it. I do think that information should be somewhere in the game though.

These are the reasons why the game got off to a rough start. The design of the opening levels where you are stuck in a death loop and the jump over the gate mixed in with the rather choppy combat controls if you don’t know how to combo the hits. However, once you get past the level and master the combat system, then things get fun. The second half of the hand feels like a whole different game. The Arkham level in particular is a lot of fun as you go through a marathon of bosses including Mr Freeze, Killer Croc, Szaz , and Poison Ivy. The bosses are a lot of fun. This is one time where the poor camera angles and the overused cutscenes can be quite fun. It’s pretty satisfying to knock the boss down since you get the full cutscene. Of course, it’s also fun when he knocks you over as well. Once you learn the combos the combat system becomes genuinely fun as well. It’s like an old school arcade game.

Some aspects of the game also shined from the start like the graphics. They are way ahead of their time and look considerably better than any of the other GameCube Batman games. It has a certain comic aesthetic that just works really well with the character models. The first cutscene sets the game on a positive note as it just feels very theatrical. You would not be blamed for thinking that it was a clip from a film. I can’t say as much for the soundtrack unfortunately. I suppose they didn’t put in quite as much effort into this section of the game compared to the others.

The level designs are really large and well thought out. You can be wandering for quite a long time from room to room. Fortunately the game remembers who you have handcuffed until you turn the game off so you don’t have to worry about beating them every time. Unfortunately you aren’t always able to appreciate the levels because of the really bad camera angles. It just keeps on turning whenever you move which really causes you to stop in your tracks or take more hits than you would have liked. It’s pretty distracting and I died a few times thanks to that, but at least there are constant checkpoints.

Then there is the plot which is probably the best plot from any Batman game. We get to see an onslaught of Batman villains throughout and Ra’s can make for a good villain. As par for the course Batman certainly does give him a whole lot of credit but I don’t consider him to be quite as impressive as many of Batman’s other rogues. Oracle did doubt Batman quite a bit in the cutscenes and it was too bad Robin couldn’t help out more, but I suppose the developers really wanted to keep this as a Batman solo game.

There isn’t any real replay value to be had in this game. It’s the kind of title that locks you in next to the final boss so you couldn’t go back and get collectibles even if you wanted too. You could play the whole game again for that, but that’s a little drastic. The value in this game will be in the main story which is really a 50/50 gamble. It’s tough because the climax is so amazing, but I just can’t forget the opening.

I should also mention that the game has around 4-5 endings. I actually ended up with one of the bad endings as I ran into the villains and knocked them all out, but I didn’t deactivate the apocalyptic machine. Apparently that was in the next door over. I also lost to Ra’s once so I actually got to see both endings. Getting to the good ending wouldn’t take very long but I was rather satisfied with the ending I got so I stuck with this one. It’s actually a fairly realistic look at how the situation usually goes if your opponent has a deadman‘s switch.

Overall, Dark Tomorrow is going to have to stay squarely in the middle. The two parts of the game neatly cancel each other out. Dark Tomorrow certainly seems to have divided its team up into various sections and some worked harder than others. If you’re a big Batman fan then I’d recommend checking this game out. Just watch out for the burning level and try to find the truck right away. It’s the best chance you’ve got!

Overall 5/10

Cottonmouth vs Robin

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Suggested by iKnowledge Cottonmouth has returned to take on Robin. Cottonmouth appeared in Disk Wars which could amp up his speed and power, but I haven’t found any evidence to this being the case so for now I’d definitely take Robin to win. Robin would be able to overwhelm him in close quarters combat so Cotton’s famous mouth won’t be all that useful. A good bite is pointless if it’s not able to connect after all and it’ll be hard to tag Robin. Robin has too many gadgets at his disposal as well. Robin wins.