Slowly Learning...

By popular demand (that being that one person asked), I have decided to give me take on the latest Dr. Mario release.

As most of you may know, I love Dr. Mario. Oblivion may be an enormous time-sink with it's hours and hours of content for me to explore, but it still hasn't put a dent in the countless numbers of hours that I have spent with the good Doc. I love it so much I was greatly disappointed when the doc didn't make a return in the new Smash game (travesty!). So how does the new version stack up?

Of course the standard play modes have returned (with claim of up to 4 players, although I'm not sure I could find 4 people to play with me), and there is even the new "Virus Buster" mode. I was skeptical of this mode at first (dragging the pills into place?) but it was actually really fun. There is also an online mode, complete with leader board, so I can finally see how I stack up with the competition worldwide. Not surprisingly the current Top10 all seem to be Japanese, go figure!

But now onto the bad. There are still the annoying "friend code" issues with online play (I seriously wish Nintendo would just bite the bullet and do away with it, but it ain't gonna happen) and as far as I can tell online play is restricted to standard mode on level 4. I can't imagine that this is a system limitation (and if it is then Nintendo has some serious problems with their online setup), so I can only assume that this means online was just an afterthought that was given no real effort, and that's a shame. Dr. Mario has always been a multiplayer game.

There are also a couple of other minor things that I would have liked to have seen cleared up since the N64 version, but these are mostly minor nitpicks that most people probably don't run into, but I think they deserve mention anyway. First off, there is no save feature. I know this sounds silly, but on the N64 I have been known to play games that last over 2 hours. My record on high speed was level 59, and it takes quite a while to get that far (even at 3 mins a level, times 39 levels, you get about 2 hours). And my record on medium speed was... undetermined (due to the fact that the old game stopped counting after level 99; I have yet to test if RX fixes this issue), but it did take me at least 3 hours to get up to the 3,000,000 points before I decided to just quit. Yes I know this isn't a problem that most casual gamers would run into, but it doesn't take a whole lot to fix either. Just let me "pause" the game between levels and come back to it later without having the leave the system on. Is that too much to ask?

But in the end I am glad to see Dr. Mario make a return, and finally have online play (even if it is rather sparse). And the price isn't too bad either at only $10 (it could have been a bit cheaper for what it includes, but I still find it more than worth it).

RATING: If you have a Wii and like puzzle games get it, hell I'd suggest it to any Wii owner.

Posted by Thom at 4:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Going in I figured I'd see an over-the-hill Indy doing Indy things in the familiar Indy ways. Needless to say I was surprised to learn that I had actually stumbled upon the new X-Files movie two months early! I know Indiana Jones has always had that mystical element to it, but throwing us UFOs and aliens pretty much from the get-go, that was too much. Now I could go into what was good about it, but there wasn't that much. Anything that was good you can see by re-watching the previous three. So let's get into the bad.

1 - Stop throwing the hot young flavor of the week into action films like this. I have nothing against Shia LaBeouf, and I loved him in Transformers, but he does not belong here. Indy with his female side-kick is ok, and I'm even willing to grant you Shortee and Bond, but stop throwing in these young hot stars (I'm talking to you Die Hard).

2 - If you are looking for a magnetized case in a gigantic warehouse (one that is probably a half mile across), throwing gunpowder into the air is not going to work. That was the biggest stretch of the whole film. And if somehow the gunpowder trick works, then the object has to be so magnetized that you would not be able to go near it with any sort of metal. My physics may be a bit rusty, but I'm pretty sure most electromagnetic forces aren't that strong from that far away.

3 - Surviving a nuclear explosion at ground zero in a fridge? Sure... That one will work. On top of that having the fridge blown two miles clear of the site, with Indy inside (and unharmed), without it popping open, and then having Indy just hop right out when it lands? Come on.

Now, I'm willing to suspend disbelief for a great many things in action films, but there is a limit (on the number of these events and the magnitude of each of them. And Crystal Skull exceeds both those limits. Oh and could anyone have taken the film seriously at all after hearing the title? That's worse than when I heard Episode II was going to be called "Attack of the Clones!" Which gets me to what is probably the main issue with this movie. Spielberg directed it (and Lucas wrote it). I remember the good old days when the Lucas Films logo made me tingle with anticipation. Now it just makes me shiver with disgust. Oh how the times have changed. And don't think you're fooling me Mr. Spielberg with those stupid monkeys and prairie dogs. You can't try to squeeze Ewoks into this movie!

And finally...

4 - Why does Indy even try? The bad guys always end up getting whatever they are all after, and it inevitably kills them all and takes itself with them, leaving Indy and his pals alive with nothing to show except for piles of dead Nazis (or Russians in this case). I say just let them have it, seriously.

RATING: No matter what I say people will see it, but don't say I didn't warn you. Stick to the old ones and forget this one was ever made.

Posted by Thom at 4:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yes, I have a backlog; and yes I am getting them all out in once as fast as possible. So here we go!

21 - Entertaining story (although most likely highly exaggerated), but I do enjoy gambling stories. But why is a pre-med taking combinatorics and non-linear equations?

Baby Mama - Not Tina Fey's best work I've seen, but still good chemistry between Fey and Poehler. And it had Maura Tierney actually looking good again.

Bank Job - Strong, classic heist movie that goes well beyond the heist. However, I do have some issues with Saffron Burrows as a model (not my type at all).

Forgetting Sarah Marshall - One of the best romantic comedies I've seen (but still probably one of the weaker movies from this team). And be prepared for the most male nudity you've seen outside of porn (or possibly Jackass).

Iron Man - I may rip on Robert Downey Jr. and his roles at times, but I always enjoy his work, and once again he doesn't disappoint. Fantastic blend of comic book and action in one (probably the best one I've seen).

The Forbidden Kingdom - Think Karate Kid meets some bad martial arts film (I know that may be redundant) and that's what you get with some kid roaming ancient China. Throw in the fact that Chan and Li are two very different martial arts actors and you have a very unbalanced weak attempt.
Side note: Jackie Chan and Jet Li are now a combined 99 years old (and it's showing).

Priceless - Very odd French romantic comedy about sugar-daddies and sugar-mommas, but funny through and through (with a few tugs on the heart strings). And while Audrey Tautou is still hot, she looks waifishly thin.

Prince Caspian - I liked this one better than the first, which I also enjoyed a lot, but perhaps it was because of a story that isn't quite as familiar as Lion, Witch, Wardrobe. However if they plan on doing the books in the order they were written, while keeping the same actors they may run into some issues down the line.

Sydney White - Teen comedies are my guilty pleasure (and so are Amanda Bynes movies), so this was a very guiltily pleasurable evening. Sure the plot is about as predictable as can be, but I do enjoy clever takes on old works (and nice to see Snow White as opposed to another Shakespearian remake).

Vantage Point - Interesting concept, not so great execution with some timing issues. And nice to see Matthew Fox break out his highschool spanish for no reason at all!
Note To Hollywood: Hispanic does not equal Spanish. If the movie is set in Spain, don't try to pass of Mexicans as extras.

What Happens in Vegas - As much as I try, I can't help but like Ashton Kutcher. I know most of his roles are as pretty-boy idiots, but he plays it so well.

RATINGS: Netflix, Dollar Theatre, Matinee, Full Price, Full Price, Skip It, Student Discount, Full Price, High Netflix, Student Price on top of a Matinee Ticket at the Dollar Theatre, Dollar Theatre.

Posted by Thom at 3:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)