Toy Review: Transformers Generations War for Cybertron Kingdom Warpath (Deluxe)

Review:  #658

Name:  Warpath

Brand:  Transformers

Allegiance:  Autobot

Line:  Generations - War for Cybertron:  Kingdom

Year of Release:  2020

Size Class:  Deluxe (Wave 1)

Mold Status:  new

TANK MODE:

Gaining a new mold for Kingdom, Warpath transforms into a red tank that's a lot more reminiscent of his appearance in the cartoon rather than the H-tank we got from the previous Deluxe Generations figure.

This is an excellent tank mode, and there are small plastic wheels underneath to allow him to roll since the treads are molded in plastic.

In terms of size, Warpath is smaller than your typical Deluxe figure, which is generally accepted due to his status as a minibot but in terms of value for money... it's a bit harder to swallow.

The turret can rotate 360 degrees, and the cannon can tilt up.

For a bit of fun, you can also flip the head up which sits above the turret.

As part of the Kingdom line, he comes with a card / holographic sticker.

A strong and solid tank mode.

TRANSFORMATION:

The front part of the body detaches to become the robot's shield.  Otherwise, the front treads from the feet while the rear part forms the arms.  The back part of the tank collapses upon itself and folds around the turret, which is actually quite fiddly when going back to tank mode.

ROBOT MODE:

The proportions of Warpaths' robot mode is definitely leaning more towards the cartoon rather than a humanoid robot, but he does look a lot better in person if you thought he looks weird in photos.

He doesn't have much kibble, the biggest one being the treads underneath his arms.

The head sculpt is good, with black eyes and a perfect balance between detailing and accuracy to the cartoon.

Warpath is shorter than a normal Deluxe, above is a comparison against Siege Sideswipe (who was already fairly short).  While he is small, he does have the complexity of a Deluxe.

Articulation is really good, he has joints for the head, shoulders, elbows, waist, hips, knees and ankles.

The feet are large but coupled with the ankle tilts, and he has a superb amount of motion there.

A portion of the tank detaches as a separate piece, which acts as a shield.

There are a few places that you can plug the shield to, the first is on his shoulder.

You can also peg it on his forearm, which acts as a gauntlet of sorts and doesn't look half bad there.

As mentioned before, the large feet gives him a lot of posing possibilities, he can even balance on one feet without too many issues.

A surprisingly good robot mode.

OVERALL:

Warpath is a great figure.  Yes, he is smaller than your usual Deluxe which kind of sucks (with the common assumption that he is in scale with the other figures), but he has the complexity of a Deluxe.

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Clannad (2007)

Clannad is an anime film that is based on the visual novel of the same name, and actually came out just a bit before the anime series.  At only one and a half hours long, it had to massively truncate both the high school and After Story portion in order to fit it into a theatrical length.  As such, there are a lot of liberties taken and while the overarching plot remains the same, it is like a completely different product.  This isn't necessary a bad thing as it brings a new experience to fans already familiar with the game or anime, and is a like a different take on things.  It focuses exclusively on the Nagisa route of the game and only a few characters make regular appearances.  Events feel familiar yet different at the same time, and so it doesn't feel like a retread.  The plot follows high school student Okazaki Tomoya who has nothing to look forward in life, until he meets Furukawa Nagisa on the way to school one day.  Nagisa isn't put off by Tomoya's cold attitude and the pair, along with Tomoya's best friend, Sunohara, become good friends.  Clannad was well known for its sad emotional impact and the film doesn't quite succeed since it did not have the time to build it properly.  The way the story is told is via Tomoya reminiscing about the past and this is an interesting way to present the events as it means that we suspect what will happen.  The ending is probably the most contentious because it is a more realistic resolution but remains bittersweet.  Considering the limitations a film adaptation would have had on a 40 hour story, Clannad does an admirable and passable job of distilling the story to its core and you'll still fall in love with the characters.

Toy Review: Transformers BotBots Sandy Shades (Series 5)

Review:  #657

Name:  Sandy Shades

Brand:  Transformers

Allegiance:  N/A

Line:  BotBots

Year of Release:  2020

Size Class:  BotBot (Series 5)

Mold Status:  new

ALTERNATE MODE:

Sandy Shades transforms into a pair of blue glasses.

For a Transformer, and at this small size, it is pretty impressive that it isn't bulkier or have more robot kibble.  She even has the proper arms.

In terms of size, she is fairly small, above is a comparison against Legion Barricade.

A great alternate mode

TRANSFORMATION:

Fold the glasses in half, then flip out the hands and legs and you're done.  Simple but very elegant and works wonderfully well.

ROBOT MODE:

Sandy Shades has a unique robot mode but one that actually works fairly well despite not being completely humanoid.

The designers has made the curves work really well, incorporating it into her arms and legs.

The face is also unique, and is basically two eyes painted on, and using the transformation joints for the rest of the facial features.

She is extremely short and small in robot mode, above is a comparison against Legion Crosshairs.

Poseability is fairly limited, you can only swing the arms and legs.

OVERALL:

Sandy Shades is a good figure.  The alternate mode is great, with a clever transformation and a robot mode that works fairly well for what it is.

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Spider-Man (1994) - Season 1 (1994-95)

Spider-Man is based upon the Marvel superhero and this is an animated series that was first released in 1994. The first season is comprised of thirteen episodes and each episode is usually loosely based on story arcs from the comics. The show already assumes that you are familiar with Spider-Man. It is actually one of the best decisions as it doesn’t waste time with an origin story or introducing the various characters. It dives straight in with Peter Parker already familiar with his role as Spider-Man and facing up against the Lizard. That being said, Peter is still gaining experience but he has his web shooters perfected, he’s already familiar with Flash and Harry Osborne, and he is achieving a sort of balance between his two personas. There is an episode that does end up doing a quick summary of what happened to Uncle Ben but it doesn’t dwell on it for long.

Another side effect of not doing an origin story is that Spider-Man is already established in the city. People know who he is and what he does. Unfortunately, we are shown time and time again that being Spider-Man is a thankless job. He hasn’t left a good impression since he is a vigilante but he is often the one who is immediately blamed or framed, before later proven innocent. The season is very episodic and as a result, it jumps all over the place, leading it to feel disjointed at times. It is very much like a best of villain gallery since each episode has the appearance of an iconic villain, as well as more obscure ones. We’ll see villains from Dr Octopus to Mysterio to the Lizard.

There is a slow burn of the love relationship between Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson. He seems to be desperate to find a girlfriend and can’t decide whether to go for Felicia or Mary Jane. He’ll spend one episode with one, then another with the other, before swapping back.

Another thing that the show nails is the witty one-liners by Peter / Spider-Man. He doesn’t mince words and openly mocks his opponents as well as J Jonah Jameson. Jameson is a frequent target since the Daily Bugle’s coverage for Spider-Man is usually negative. On the flipside, there is a lot of cheesy dialogue and melodramatic voice acting.

The animation is good for its time. Of course, by today’s standards it is not as smooth or fluid in comparison. At least the show doesn’t use repetitive stock footage and he is extremely nimble with his web swinging and acrobatics. There is 3D CG used for the buildings as the camera pans around the city, and this clash greatly against the traditional animation.

Due to the episodic nature, it can be repetitive and predictable. The second half of the season gets a lot better with the introduction of two multi-episode story arcs. The one involving the rise of black Spider-Man and appearance of Venom is definitely the highlight of the season. It has an interesting character arc and it perfectly represents the crazy power and the fact that Peter Parker realizes that he is being changed. Venom is power and you wonder how Spider-Man will overcome this threat. It ends up relying on a coincidence which is a bit disappointing.

Early on, there are name drops of several other Marvel characters and groups, like the Hulk, Fantastic Four and the Avengers. The final episodes then do the setup for the potential for several other Marvel characters to start making appearances. Overall, the first season of Spider-Man is fairly average. It would have been great at the time of its release but it hasn’t aged gracefully due to its writing and episodic nature. It shows a lot of potential though for its later seasons and it is definitely great seeing such a variety of Spider-Man’s villains in action.

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Flipping Death (PS4)

Flipping Death is a game from the creators of Stick it to the Man! As a result, it has a very similar artstyle, set in a 3D world with paper cutout characters and environments. It looks pretty neat and gives it a distinctive visual identity. The gameplay loop is similar to the developer’s previous game in that you will be placed in a chapter, free to explore. You can only progress by helping characters and these often aren’t immediately obvious or make the most sense.

The story focuses on Penny, who ends up dying in an accidental (but stupid) death. She gets mistaken for the temp in the afterworld and ends up becoming Death after the real Death went off on a vacation. She gains his scythe and sets off in her new job. This is the gimmick of the game, Penny is able to roam the afterworld, or possess a living being and jump back into the living world.

In order to possess a living being, Penny needs to spend the ghost currency which can be obtained (unlimitedly) in the afterworld. Once she jumps into the living world, she can read the mind of the character she had possessed, as well as control them to assist in her missions. As the afterworld has several characters who had unfinished business, Penny can use her unique ability to jump to the living world and do a few things that would affect the afterworld.

As mentioned earlier, the causality can be hard to fathom at times. There are a series of great hints which uses pictures to guide the player if they are stuck. Despite that, the lack of an objective marker (apart from specific important items) will mean that the player will spend most of their time in the game running around. In the afterworld, Penny is able to jump and use her scythe to warp a short distance. This is neat although her jumps can be a bit floaty which makes some of the light platforming annoying. In the living world, mobility is a bit more restricted and so these characters rely on strategically placed elevators in order to move to higher levels.

Each chapter has a set of optional challenges but apart from the title, you aren’t given any further detail on what they involve. While trial and error can be part of the fun, the game hides too much that a player will just as likely (if not more so) ignore it. There are some good quality of life elements such as the ability to pull up a map and then instantly teleport to any of the characters you had already interacted with. It makes traversing the long map much quicker and a lot more bearable.

The charm of the game comes from its characters. All the characters often have an unusual personality and once you possess them, will spout out some great dialogue. Characters also have their own unique abilities including flying, shooting and licking. It sounds weird but it makes sense in context and this adds variety into the game. Controls are not the best, can be finicky and cumbersome. The use of right stick in activating the abilities not the best control scheme decision. This can be annoying and unsure why it couldn’t use a face button considering so many of them are unused. This makes several of the optional challenges much more challenging that it should be as you wrestle with the controls.

The whole game is mainly based on two locations, although there are some variations each time (such as time of day or overlaying skins). While it takes a bit of time to familiarize yourself with it in the beginning so that in later chapters, it is helpful to know exactly how to traverse, it’s still a bit of a shame that there aren’t any more new locations. This is a short game and the core content really only takes around four to seven hours to complete. Due to the vague objectives and unorthodox solutions, if you play through the game blind it’ll take a bit more. The story ends up pretty average in the end, only held up by several funny dialogues. The wacky characters keep it interesting, from skeletons to whales to mermaids, there is nothing the game isn’t afraid to do.

Overall, Flipping Death can be fun, and it is fun a lot of the times. However, it is marred by vague progression objectives and clunky controls that can be frustrating. The fact is that it had no reason to be like this but it seemed more like it a design choice instead. As it is, this is like a more polished version of Stick it to the Man! in its gameplay design.

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Toy Review: Transformers Generations Studio Series Jazz (Deluxe)

Review:  #656

Name:  Jazz

Brand:  Transformers

Allegiance:  Autobot

Line:  Generations - Studio Series

Year of Release:  2020

Size Class:  Deluxe (Wave 11)

Mold Status:  new

VEHICLE MODE:

Celebrating the 35th release of the original animated movie comes a new mold for Jazz that is the most accurate yet.

Jazz transforms into a sports car reminiscent of a Porsche.  Unfortunately, the back has the robot feet sticking out, which is quite disappointing here.

In terms of size, Jazz is fairly small, above is a comparison against The Last Knight Bumblebee.

The robot gun can peg onto the roof but not that the whole roof is paint on transparent plastic, so you have to watch out for scratches and chips.

There's not other gimmicks to speak of in this mode but that doesn't mean it's not an awesome vehicle mode.

TRANSFORMATION:

The back extends to form the feet, while the arms unfold from the underside of the car.  The hood forms the chest, and the roof along with the doors fold onto his back.  It's simple, but neat.

ROBOT MODE:

Robot mode is pretty good, although you might miss the door wings, it is accurate to the animation model.

The vehicle roof forms the backpack which does stick out a little bit.  It's not bad in person though.

The headsculpt is great, although he has a neutral to angry face, rather than a smile that you might have expected.

In terms of size, he is roughly the height of a normal Deluxe nowadays, above is a comparison against Siege Sideswipe.

As part of the Studio Series, Jazz comes with a cardboard stand.

The stand shows off the inside of the Ark and it actually makes for a pretty nice diorama since it has several computers there.

As expected, the figure is quite hollow, from the thighs to the arms to the feet.  As a result, he feels quite light.

Articulation on the other hand though, is great.  He has joints for his head, shoulders, elbows, waist, hips, knees and ankles.

Jazz comes with a silver gun as his weapon.

Naturally, he can hold the gun in either hand.  His large feet allows him to stay standing in a lot of poses.

The robot proportions is really good.  It may look off at first but it will slowly grow on you if it hasn't already.

The gun can store on Jazz's back when not in use, in the same spot as vehicle mode.

This is a wonderful robot mode that is near perfect in terms of the character's cartoon appearance.

OVERALL:

Jazz is a solid figure and the most accurate we've had for a while.  The sports car is really good and reminiscent of his G1 figure, while the robot mode is equally good.  The only negative is his small size and light weight.

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