Pokemon Trading Card Game (Game Boy Color)

Pokemon Trading Card Game is a video game based on the real life Pokemon Trading Card Game.  It is exclusive for the Game Boy Color but can also be played on the original Game Boy.  The game contains the first three sets of the physical card game (Base, Jungle and Fossil) with a bunch of exclusive cards for a grand total of 226 cards.  This is actually a decent amount and you can build a fair variety of decks.  The card game itself is fairly easy to understand and get a hang of.  The tutorial does an okay job of introducing you to the game but you really need to play a few games before it fully clicks.  There are three types of cards:  Pokemon, Trainer and Energy.  A Pokemon card can be one of seven types:  grass, fire, water, electric, fighting, psychic or colorless.  Each type has their own distinct attributes such as fire usually having a high attack but also high cost.

Trainer cards will give you a variety of effects while Energy cards are what allows Pokemon to attack.  Each Pokemon have attacks that require a certain number of Energy cards attached to use.  In addition to attacks doing damage, they can also have a variety of effects.  Each Pokemon has HP and knocking out your opponent's Pokemon will allow you to pick up a prize card.  If all prize cards are taken, or your opponent has no more Pokemon on the field, or they run out of cards to draw, then you win.  You're only allowed sixty cards in your deck and those slots are used up quite fast.  Building a deck is really easy and the menu system is done really well here.  Of course, being familiar with the cards and their attacks will aid you as you can quickly tell what's up during battles and also what cards you want.  This familiarity will come in time as you continue to play through the game.  You're able to save up to four different decks at once but just like the real life card game, multiple decks requires multiples of the same card because if you're using one card in one deck, you can't use that in another.

A really neat aspect of the game is how it contains a story mode.  The story and flow of the gameplay takes cues from the mainline games.  At the start, you're given the chance to get your Starter Deck.  You have a choice between three decks, each based on one of the original three starts in the mainline games.  The deck is usable but very flawed and doesn't complement itself well.  Once you get your deck, you're told that there are eight clubs on the island.  You'll gain a medal every time you defeat a leader from the club.  Gain all eight medals and you get to challenge the Grand Masters in order to obtain the four Legendary Cards.

Throughout your journey, you'll be able to challenge other NPCs as well as having your own rival.  Your rival's deck will change as the game goes on and gets stronger just like you do.  A negative is that you select a club from a world map, you don't actually get to travel along routes like the main games.  Every time you defeat a NPC you get booster packs for new cards to improve your deck.  This is actually one of the most addictive things in the game as getting new cards gives you an awesome feeling of satisfaction.  Like the physical card game, certain cards are more common or rarer than others.  The story doesn't take too long to beat, only around five to six hours.  Once you have a few good cards and a good strategy, then the rest of the game becomes a cakewalk.  There isn't much replay value after you finish the game though, only a Challenge Hall which will hold tournaments at random for promotional cards as prizes.

Since this is a game for the Game Boy Color, the graphics are basic but still passable.  The color palette is a bit on the simple side and doesn't fully show off some of the awesome art of the cards.  Overall, Pokemon Trading Card Game is an addictive game.  It perfectly translates the card game into a video game, including the feeling of beating other players and getting booster packs to increase your collection.  The story mode is welcome and makes it feel that this spin-off game is fully fleshed out.  Pokemon Trading Card Game is one of the fully realized Pokemon spin-off game we've had.

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Justice League (2017)

Justice League is DC's answer to The Avengers but unfortunately, like the rest of the films in the DC Extended Universe, it fails to live up to any expectations and is an overall bland result.  Combining the forces of Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Flash, Cyborg and Superman, as half of the cast did not have their own solo film beforehand, Justice League spends the better part of the first half quickly introducing each of them.  As a result, we don't know much about their abilities, their experiences or their motivations.  Combined with this is the fact that so much time was spent getting the group together that it doesn't play off the interactions between them.  Ignoring the obvious CGI of Superman's mustache in certain scenes, Justice League continues on the fast stylized action sequences that does not feel like could actually happen.  Characters fly by so quickly but lacks momentum when they suddenly stop in place really throws you off.  Actually, the film basically has an overuse of CGI, with plenty of scenes that looks obvious fake.  The plot is quite basic being that the superheroes must stop the villain from gaining all the pieces of an artifact lest the whole world be destroyed.  Perhaps the biggest missed opportunity is making viewers care for the characters, their personalities feel dampened.  The pacing is subdued and never quite lifts itself up, even leading up to the climax.  Justice League doesn't come close to living up to its potential but is not quite the disaster as reviews would lead you to believe.

One-Punch Man - Season 2 (2019)

One-Punch Man is based upon the webcomic.  The second season is 12 episodes long and it took four years in the making.  It did change animation studios in the meantime and this is fairly obvious at times.  The anime follows Saitama, who is probably the strongest human on Earth.  He is able to destroy most (if not all when he gets serious) monsters with just one punch, no questions asked.  Granted, he is a hero for fun and is bored with his immense strength since nothing is a challenge anymore.  At the end of the last season, he had formally registered as a hero and is currently a Rank B hero (the top being Rank S).

Genos is Saitama's disciple, being a cyborg and more of your traditional powerful type.  He's straightforward and uses brute force for most things.  He's more serious and more akin to taking in the situation, understanding it and then formulating his response.  The season begins with monsters attacking the cities with increasing frequency.  It gets to the point that the hero association, who is in charge of organizing and deploying the heroes, is stretched for resources.  It loses this focus midway through the season before picking the plot point up again in the ending.  Compared to the first season, we don't get the monster-of-the-week structure anymore.

Even though he is a Rank B, fairly unremarkable as far as heroes go, Saitama isn't too concerned with his ranking or credit for defeating monsters.  As the viewer and knowing his exploits and real powers, you feel that he should get the recognition he deserves.  It's funny though when others in the hero association looks down on Saitama due to his rank but then there is the shock that undoubtedly occurs once they see his real power and how he is on friendly terms with various Class S heroes.  The story is more focused and streamlined compared to the first season.  While it does deviate from time to tie, especially when it shifts from focusing on something you thought was important.  there is a very intriguing plot point surrounding everything that is currently happening.

Stronger and stronger monsters do appear and it seems to start exploring the weakness of the current hero system.  There is what feels like an overabundance of heroes, with a typical executive team that's cowardly and useless.  It reflects the red tape that is impeding everything.  Garou is the deadly villain this time around and while he is wild with a run of the mill motivation, his craziness works.  The bigger picture comes into focus after midway through the season.  It is bigger in scope than just Garou picking off all the heroes one by one for fun.  Unfortunately, the very beginning of the season teases, and you anticipate, the showdown between Saitama and Garou but they never truly cross paths and duke it out.

Saitama himself isn't as clueless as you'd expect.  He speaks his mind and it is his honesty, as well as his lack of care (or indifference) that makes the anime funny.  This season throws in some fairly intense scenes, with a fair bit of violence.  Despite the childish (in a good way) tone at times, there are others where it is serious and it delivers an effective message.  To the common folk, or even the the weaker heroes, it can be despairing when faced with an overwhelmingly powerful monster.  All the time, you would be hoping for a hero (in our case, Saitama) to show but this might not happen at all.

There are obvious cost-cutting measures in place.  There is an abundance of static images during "action sequences" with blurring effects and streak lines to make it more exciting without actually bothering to animate it.  It loves to start a fight, then immediately skipping it to show Saitama winning.  It's disappointing and kills the momentum whenever it does this.  The season ends at a very bad point.  It felt like midway through the arc and then it just suddenly ends.  What makes this worse is that we don't get to see much of Saitama in action at all, which is a shame.

Overall, the second season of One-Punch Man isn't a disaster but it isn't a masterpiece either.  There are obvious issues with it including the obvious cost-cutting measures.  Despite that, it contains an intriguing story and a set up for a promising arc, it's just that it didn't have time to actually finish going through with it, opting to stop at an awkward spot instead.

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Book Review: Ready Player One

Review:  #898
Title:  Ready Player One
Series:  N/A
Author:  Ernest Cline
Comments:  Ready Player One is perfect for readers who have a decent amount of knowledge of the 1980s and the decades surrounding that.  This is because there is a huge amount of references to that era, mostly on pop culture (music, literature, games, movies etc) and if you grew up in that era, it’ll probably set you alight with nostalgia.  The novel is set in the future where VR has developed to the point where it is like another reality.  It’s still a weird combination since you can wear suits to simulate feeling but you’re still physically in the real world.  Ready Player One follows a teenager with an avatar called Parcival in the Oasis, the leading VR world where it’s not only a game but pretty much the other reality, used by businesses.  We’re shown how this is integrated into the world, which is currently suffering from an energy crisis.  Things are much cheaper to run in the virtual world, from education to entertainment.  Before the original creator and super-billionaire of Oasis died, he set up an Easter egg hunt and whoever could find it will get all of his fortune.  This naturally set the world on fire and everyone went on the hunt.  It is an interesting premise and the plot follows Parcival as he participates in this challenge.  He is focused most of the time but gets distracted, nearly to his detriment, during the middle of the book and this is one of the weaker sections.  Otherwise, the way the journey was presented slowly increased the stakes, while at the same time kept introducing us more and more to how the world currently functions.  Once the plot starts to reach the climax, it is relentless, building an excellent tense atmosphere of anticipation.  The ending is satisfying in terms of what happens at the end of the challenge but ends a tad bit too early without giving a definitively conclusion on what happens to each character.  Despite that, Ready Player One presents a fun time, even more so if you’re into gaming and 1980s culture.
Rating:  6.5/10

Toy Review: Transformers Generations Studio Series Jet Powered Optimus Prime

Review:  #537
Name:  Jet Powered Optimus Prime
Brand:  Transformers
Allegiance:  Autobot
Line:  Generations - Studio Series
Year of Release:  2019
Size Class:  N/A (combination of Voyager and Leader)
Mold Status:  new

OPTIMUS PRIME AND JETFIRE:

Based upon the Revenge of the Fallen movie in which Optimus and Jetfire combines during the climax, the Studio Series toys provides that ability, with more screen accuracy than ever before.

You can see that Optimus is a Voyager while Jetfire is a Leader so there's a bit of a size difference.

Jetfire also comes with a spare torso piece.  This is designed to replace the one in the Leader Optimus figure (since that one comes with the Dark of the Moon inspired six-pack torso).

TRANSFORMATION:

Unlike the ROTF version, Jetfire splits into multiple parts.  Optimus himself is super easy since you just fold his legs up.  Jetfire, on the other hand, has his lower torso form the jet pack, the upper sort the gigantic gun, his legs as the combined mode's legs, and parts of the cockpit as shoulder armor.  Everything snaps onto Optimus via secured pegs, it's not difficult and is really well designed.  Most of Optimus' remolded parts allow the pieces of Jetfire to attach.

COMBINED MODE:

This is probably the main reason you would have bought a second version of Optimus and after seeing this mode, you won't regret it.

Despite putting a Leader classed figure onto a Voyager, the kibble is manageable.  The biggest piece is the backpack but even that is only a few panels.  Unfortunately, the jet engines cannot tilt outwards.

The black pieces that wrap around his torso is made of soft plastic to allow that extra tolerance if required.

Thanks to adding on Jetfire's legs, the combined mode adds in a little bit of height, but is still shorter than a typical Leader figure.

Jetfire's cane folds up into a mini-gun that pegs underneath Optimus' forearm.

While the ax can be held in his other hand, and this lends him to be pretty well armed.

If not used, the ax can remain stored on one of his back wings (the same place as Jetfire's robot mode).

As well as that, Optimus still has his gun that can be held.

This isn't in the Hasbro instructions, but the TakaraTomy version includes them.  If you only followed the Hasbro instructions, you're left with Jetfire's upper torso, this can be transported into his massive cannon.

The cannon has a single post for Optimus to hold.  Unfortunately, the weapon is way too heavy and bulky to be held without assistance.  It's actually really awkward to use.

Despite gaining so much bulk, Jet Powered Optimus retains most of the articulation of the base figure.  Balancing is easy because of the big feet, it's fairly impressive.

A great combined mode, he feels super solid as well as looking very powerful and menacing on your shelf.

OVERALL:

This is a really nice bonus on top of two solid figures.  If you already had the first Studio Series Optimus, then this combined mode is a really good reason why you should get the second version.  Jetfire is an average figure by himself but the pair shines brightly together.

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The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX (Game Boy Color)

The Legend of Zelda:  Link's Awakening DX was originally released for the Game Boy.  It was later ported to the Game Boy Color with color graphics and a new dungeon with the DX moniker.  It is the fourth game to be released in The Legend of Zelda series but is the first game for a handheld console.  The control scheme is simple.  You use the d-pad to move Link around and then the A and B buttons for using items.  You can map any item onto the two buttons via the Start button and the Select button pulls up the map.  Having the ability to map items to any of the two buttons at will is pretty cool and an ingenious way to overcome the physical limitations of the hardware.  Unfortunately, with only two buttons and nearly always wanting to have a weapon equipped, this means that you will constantly be reassigning items in order to progress.

The game is in the style of the original NES game where one screen is one area and going to the next scree involves a short sliding loading animation.  It's smooth and works well and the color graphics really help make the game pop and age well.  With color, it also makes it easier to distinguish what is what in the game compared to the original monochrome version.  Link will traverse the overworld filled with enemies, initially only armed with his shield and sword.  The overworld is at least as big as the original game which is pretty large and impressive for a Game Boy game.  There are some annoying enemies that like to jump around or teleport, as well as firing projectiles or simply be invincible.  As you progress through the game and gain more powerful weapons, enemies that gave you trouble before can be swiftly dispatched and this is quite satisfying.

The story is different for the fact that Link's objective is not to save Zelda.  Rather, after a storm and being left marooned on an island, he is tasked with finding the eight instruments of the sirens in order to wake the Wind Fish and leave the island.  There are plenty of cutscenes to help explain the story but the game mainly leaves it up to the player to explore and find out for themselves.  Eight instruments means that there are eight dungeons in the game and each gets steadily harder.  You will need specific items in order to clear some of the dungeons.  These dungeons will contain familiar enemies and bosses, as well as plenty of hidden areas to collect additional hearts which serves as your health bar.

There are surprisingly 2D platforming segments which feel inspired by the Mario games.  However, perhaps some of the more annoying platforming are not found in this 2D sections but rather just jumping over holes.  You'll struggle at first to get the timing right and have Link actually jump instead of running into the hole.  As expected of the series, there is little guidance in where to go next and thus it can be easy to get lost.  The same goes for the dungeons, with even the second and third one becoming difficult when you go in for the first time.  Item management is required early on as you can easily find yourself unable to progress because you ran out of bombs and need to go track down some more.

The later dungeons are extremely convoluted, requiring backtracking once you've found special items to access other areas.  As a new player, you might be at a lost at what to do when you are supposed to push some blocks in a specific way, or bomb some walls to open up a path.  This leads to a hard final dungeon filled with mini-bosses.  However, there was a worthy final boss which leads to an interesting ending that doesn't feel as cheap as you would have thought if you had knew what was going to happen beforehand.  The exclusive color dungeon in the DX version of the game is short and easy.  Completing it gives you a very nice reward that makes the rest of the game much easier.  It's not the biggest draw card if you have already played the original since it shorter than even the first dungeon and it felt like an afterthought.  It uses color as the main gimmick for its puzzles.  Overall, The Legend of Zelda:  Link's Awakening is a great Zelda game.  It doesn't feel compromised at all for being on the Game Boy, filled with all of the elements of a game in the series.  The dungeon exploration is fun, the graphics hold up well, and there are so many secrets that it is a satisfying experience to find them all.

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Independence Day: Resurgence (2016)

Twenty years after the first film, the sequel Independence Day:  Resurgence was released.  Taking place also 20 years later, we see that the planet is united as one, with massive advances in technology thanks to the technology left behind by the aliens.  Merging some of the old cast with new, unfortunately, Resurgence tells an uneven story.  It felt like it tried to lift off shaky ground and thus lacks the charm that you'd expect.  There's also some obvious pandering to certain demographics and obvious product placements that's horribly placed.  The plot is a simple one and requires a huge suspension of disbelief.  The aliens have returned to invade Earth once again but the speed of their plans are crazy, so much that it's hard to take it in seriously.  As expected, the film relies heavily on special effects yet the action sequences aren't too engaging.  The cast is too large since there were various viewpoints who contributed nothing to the plot.  You can see that there is potential in the film but it just doesn't quite deliver on all its promises.