Monday, January 19, 2026

Re-Review #25: Tomb Raider: Legend

Tomb Raider: Legend
PlayStation 2


For my initial review of this game, click
>HERE<


I first played through Tomb Raider: Legend back in May of 2015. If you are interested in my thoughts, I posted the link to my initial review above. In my review, I talked about how the game was too short and how it was relatively easy compared to the classic Tomb Raider series. I liked the game, but I wasn't crazy about it. I raced through it in about 6 or 7 hours, and then I was done with it. I ended up giving the game the score of a C+. This usually indicates that I found the game to be just slightly above average. My memories of the game agree with this. Thinking back, I can only remember the game as being "all right". I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it, either. It was fine. That's about all I can really remember about it.

I hadn't intended to play through this for a second time. But I recently played through Tomb Raider Anniversary, and I really liked it. I didn't like that game when I first played it. I thought: if I can change my mind on one game, maybe I could change it for the other? So I decided to come back and play through this one more time, while trying to keep an open mind about things.

I ended up liking it a lot more this time around. I think it was a matter of adjusting my expectations. I didn't expect this to be a world beating title. I just wanted to play through it and have fun. And that's exactly what I did.

It's a fast moving game. The puzzles are easy. The combat isn't too overly difficult. It's a game that moves along quickly from location to location. And then before you know it, the game is over. It's short, but it is action packed.

If you are coming into this game expecting it to be like the classic PS1 games, you are going to come away disappointed. It's a more action oriented and cinematic experience. It is also a very forgiving game. I won't say it holds your hand, but it makes things much easier on you than its predecessors. I remember when this game first came out, it was essentially a complete reboot of the Tomb Raider series. They made it more like Prince of Persia than anything else. So I can forgive them for not quite finding their footing with this one. I think Anniversary was a lot better, and it perfected the things that this game laid the groundwork for. I can't speak on Underworld, the third game in the PS2/3 trilogy. I played it a looong time ago, and I can barely remember anything about it. I looked back through my PS3 trophy list and can't find this game on it, so I must have played it before trophy support was offered, which was common for a lot of early PS3 games back in like 2007 or 2008. But I assume it takes things and improves on them even more.

Would I recommend this game to others? Yes, actually. If you're a Tomb Raider fan, you have to play this no matter what. If you're a fan of the action/adventure genre as a whole, then you'd probably enjoy this as well. If you're expecting a 40+ hour epic, you've come to the wrong place. Compared to video game "masterpieces" out there, this is more of a Michael Bay movie than anything else. Or maybe a superhero movie. It's fun, it's fast paced. You enjoy it as you're watching it. But when it ends, you'll find it left very little impact on your life. One week after finishing it, you've forgotten it completely.

That said, I still enjoyed it. I can see why I gave it a C+ the first time I reviewed it, but I also liked it a little bit better this time around.


THE GRADE:
B


The C+ and the B scores average out to a B-, which is probably a bit more indicative of where this title lands.



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Tuesday, January 13, 2026

VHS Tape #27: Marty Rocks + Howie too



For those unfamiliar, this is an ongoing series of blog posts where I document what is found on the contents of the numerous VHS tapes I recorded back in the pre-internet era. I still have about 20 or so more to go. You can see a complete list of the tapes so far at the bottom of this post.


(00:00:00)

Ken Jennings finally loses on Jeopardy

G4 game clip montage
 - Grand Theft Auto 3
 - Conflict: Vietnam
 - Pokemon Red Blue
 
Big Brother 6 clip where April checks out her HoH room

Hilton Griswold sings 

Rockstar INXS
 - Mansion show recap where the contestants sing a new INXS song, and pick their songs for the week
 - Ty Taylor: You Can't Aways Get What You Want
 - JD: Suspicious Minds
 - Marty: Wish You Were Here
 - Jordis: Imagine
 - Mig: Live And Let Die
 - Suzie: Bohemian Rhapsody

Rockstar INXS results show
 - Last night recapped
 - Marty and Suzie both get encores
 - Contestants reactions are shown after they return to the mansion
 - JD is in bottom three and sings This Time
 - Ty in bottom three and sings The One Thing
 - Jordis in bottom three and sings Listen Like Thieves
 - Ty eliminated and plays the race card

(1:22:02)
 
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "The Visitor". Best Star Trek episode ever! The last few minutes of the show before this are recorded too since I had to set the timer on my VCR to get this. The commercials are also not edited out.

(2:23:36)

Big Brother 6
 - April's friends and family members talk about her
 - James evicted and interviewed by Julie Chen
 - Howie wins HoH and is forced to nominate Beau and Ivette on the spot

Tiny clip from a Wisconsin Badgers football game against Bowling Green. Booker Stanley gets a carry filling in for Brian Calhoun.

COPS
 - Crazy drugged up shirtless stands on a roof and has to be taken down by the police. I'm pretty sure I have this on another tape. I think I only recorded this because its the full thing whereas the beginning was missing from the other clip.

(2:49:10) 

Big Brother 6
 - Howie and Janelle play with lightsabers
 - Ivette nominates Howie and Janelle :(
 
Clip from Inspiration Time with an old woman playing a funny musical instrument

Rockstar INXS. Contestants sing 2 songs each - an original song, and a song picked by America
 - Recap of contestants posing for photo shoot
 - JD: Come As You Are and Pretty Vegas
 - Suzie: I Can't Make You Love Me and Soul Life
 - Mig: Hard to Handle and Home In Me
 - Jordis: We Are the Champions
 - Marty: Everlong and Trees

RINX results show
 - Contestants interviewed
 - Group song Us performed
 - JD sings the encore of Pretty Vegas
 - Footage of contestants reactions after last night's performance episodes
 - Contestants interviewed again. Blah blah blah
 - Jordis in bottom 3 and sings I Need You Tonight
 - Suzie in bottom 3 and sings Never Tear Us Apart again. This is the second time they assigned this same song to her in the bottom 3 which is kind of weird.
 - JD in bottom 3 and performs Mystify
 - Jordis leaves
 
(4:06:32)

Animal Planet clip of a show called Pet Star. There's a dog where we don't see his special talent, a dog riding a skateboard and a squirrel riding on water skis. The audience has to vote on which one they like the best and of course they pick the dog that I didn't record his talent. I was rooting for the squirrel. 

Survivor Guatemala preview on the TV Guide channel. Tom Westman hosts.
 - Rafe, Morgan, Breanna, and Amy are interviewed
 - They go behind the set of the Guatemala Tribal Council
 - Jim, Cindy, Brandon, Danni, Blake, Brooke, Margaret, and Judd are interviewed
 - Art director of Survivor is interviewed and behind the scenes stuff is shown
 - Inside look at the creation of an immunity challenge
 - Contestants speculate on who the returning players will be
 
Tiny brief clips from the Simpsons and the Christopher Lowell Show

Big Brother 6
 - Ivette's girlfriend and family are interviewed. Her girlfriend likes Janelle and hates Ivette's obsession with Cappy.
 - Howie evicted

Ozzy Osbourne sings Crazy Train at a New England Patriots game

Carrie Underwood on TV raising money for hurricane Katrina victims

Big Brother 6 clip of Howie coming to the jury house. There is tension between some of the jurors.

Rockstar INXS
 - Recap of the mansion episode, where JD gets a family visit and INXS asks the contestants interview style questions
 - Suzie: Interstate Love Song and What's Up
 - JD: Pretty Vegas and Money
 - Marty: Trees and Creep
 - Mig: Paint It Black and Kiss From A Rose

RINXS results show 
 - Marty voted by fans to perform an encore of Trees
 - JD also performs an encore of Pretty Vegas, this time a stripped down version
 - Clips from the mansion after last night's performance show
 - Contestants chit chat with INXS. More blah blah blah
 - Suzie, JD, and Mig (finally) in bottom three
 - Suzie: Suicide Blonde
 - JD: By My Side
 - Mig: What you Need
 - Suzie eliminated
 
(5:53:55)

BB6 finale
 - Recap of the season's events
 - Janelle joins jury house and they discuss which of Maggie/Ivette deserve to win
 - The jurors question the final 2 and begin placing their votes, but the tape ends before they finish
 


END OF TAPE



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Monday, January 5, 2026

Video Game Review #605: Star Wars: The Clone Wars

Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Xbox


Nostalgia Factor:

I first played this game back in... hmm. I want to say it was 2005 or 2006. I remember buying it at a used video game store by my house. It came packaged together with Tetris Worlds on the same disc. I remember thinking how that was such an odd combination. Star Wars and Tetris? Uh, okay.

To be completely honest with you: I barely remember anything about this game. I didn't think it was anything special. I remember playing it. I remember it being composed of mainly flying stages. I remember beating it. That's about it. To be fair, this was during the heavy drinking phase of my life, which I like to bring up on this blog from time to time. I don't remember much of anything that happened during that timeframe.

What happened to my copy of the game? I ended up trading it in for something else. Like I said, this game was only mediocre in my opinion, and it didn't seem like something I'd want to play through again.

Let's jump forward about 20 years into the future. I randomly stumbled upon this game when looking for something to play online. Immediately, it caught my interest. I'm always intrigued by games that I know I've played, but I do not remember anything about. I decided to take the plunge.

Would I find this game to be any better here in 2025, or would I still find it to be completely unremarkable? Let's find out.




Story:

I didn't pay much attention to this game's storyline. It is very inconsequential. I was more focused on the driving and the shooting and the blowing shit up side of things.

But if you must know, the game is based around the Clone Wars (obviously). The earlier stages cover the events on Geonosis that take place during Attack of the Clones. But the majority of the game focuses on Clone Wars battles that take place after the movie, and before Revenge of the Sith. Completely uncharted territory, if you've only seen the movies.

The main goal of each level is usually pretty simple. It's normally something like destroy a base, protect a ship, wipe out all enemies, that kind of thing. Don't come into this game expecting a deep narrative, or any kind of interesting plot twists. It plays things very safe. It's just you and the Republic fighting against Separatist droid armies. It's like if you plucked a few random episodes out of The Clone Wars TV series and made a game about it. Although this came out before the series.




Gameplay:

If you like vehicle-based shooters, this is the game for you. There are some on-foot levels, but they are few and far between. Thank god, because they aren't good. The controls for them are quite questionable. It is very clunky. Fallen Order or The Force Unleashed this is not. If the entire game was just these on-foot sections, you are looking at one of the worst Star Wars games ever made. Luckily, there are only about two or three on-foot sections the entire game. The rest is all flying. The flying is definitely the meat and potatoes of the game.

You're going to take control of a large number of vehicles in the game, from speeder bikes to tanks to walkers to fighters. Each vehicle handles differently. The buttons all do different things for each one. The controls are never explained in the game. And since I was playing a digital version of the game, I didn't have access to an instruction manual. I suppose I could have looked one up online, but I decided to just roll with it instead and figure things out on my own.

Luckily, it is not too difficult to figure out. Each vehicle generally has a fire button and a zoom button, where you can lock onto enemies with your blasters. Each vehicle generally has missiles you can fire. Some vehicles offer special perks, like shields, the ability to speed up or slow down, or powerful laser attacks that serve as a secondary weapon. And of course, each vehicle handles differently as well. A walker is not going to move the same as a speeder bike, obviously.

Each stage is relatively short. Some can be beaten in less than five or ten minutes if you know what you are doing. There are 16 stages in total. It took me a week or two to play through this game, because I was only doing a stage or two before bed each night. But if you really wanted to sit down and dedicate some time to the game, you could probably beat it in a day or two. Maybe even in one sitting if you were truly dedicated.

While the game is short, it is tough. Some of these battles can be quite intense. You are under constant bombardment, and you take damage left and right. I found myself dying quite often, and having to replay large chunks of the game at a time. That's kind of annoying. If you use save states *wink wink* you don't really have to deal with that. But yeah. I play everything on the normal default setting, and I found this to be a super tough game. Especially right at the end. There's a stage where you have to protect a squadron of walkers and I tell you: it is a son of a bitch. The final boss is insane also.

If you are persistent, you'll eventually power through with trial and error. Once I "learned how to play" I was able to breeze through most of the game pretty quickly. Move slowly. Stay at a distance. Use your zooming ability. Don't be shy with your missiles, as the game is relatively generous with refill power ups.

When the action is time sensitive, like with an escort mission, my strategy would change a bit. I was big on strafing and laying waste to the enemy with as big of a bombardment as humanly possible. Then I'd fly away, regroup, and come back for another pass. You always want to have a strategy. You never want to blindly just fly in, especially when there are a lot of enemies to fight. You can go from having a great run to getting completely obliterated in seconds. So you have to be careful. But you can't be too careful, or you'll run out of time.

All in all, I found this to be a relatively fun, but shallow experience. I can see why it didn't stick with me when I first played it. It's a decent game, completely forgettable in the long run.




Graphics/Sound:

It looks like Star Wars. It sounds like Star Wars. I don't have much to complain about here.

The graphics are fine. This clearly an Xbox/PS2 era game. Things look okay on the surface, but when you start examining them closely, you can see the rough edges. But its fine. I didn't decide to pick up and play this game for its graphics, not that they are bad by any stretch of the imagination. It is a perfectly serviceable looking game. The most impressive thing visually is probably the scope of some of the battles, and the size of some of the ships you must face.

The music, on the other hand, is great. This game doesn't limit itself by only using music from the prequels. It uses music from the original trilogy as well. It really adds a sense of fun and excitement to the game. I'm sure the prequels have fine music, but aside from Duel of the Fates, nothing stands out much compared to the soundtrack of the original movies.

Sound effects are great, too. All the normal Star Wars effects are present, from the piercing sound of blaster fire to the hum of a lightsaber. Voice acting is okay... for the most part. Line delivery can be a little stiff, but the characters mostly sound like their film counterparts. Obi-Wan is my favorite. He is quite zesty in this game. 



Overall:

I liked this game. I didn't love it, but I liked it.

My problem is that it is so utterly forgettable. It's similar in structure to something like Star Fox, or even the Rogue Squadron games. But it has absolutely zero personality carrying it. There's nothing memorable here. It didn't even do much for me as a Star Wars fan. In one week, I'll have forgotten basically everything about the game.

But as I said, I still liked it. It's challenging. I like the mission variety. Never at any point was I like "wow, this game sucks!" as I was playing. It's a perfectly short, enjoyable game. It just doesn't do much to stand out. There's honestly not much else to say about it. 

If you like vehicle-based Star Wars games, you will probably like this, as I did. If you aren't a fan of the genre, you'll be missing absolutely nothing if you decide to skip this. 

Will I ever play this game again? Nah. It's like the video game equivalent of cotton candy. You like eating it. It's enjoyable while it lasts. But when you're done, you are still hungry. And five minutes later, you've moved on with your life, the cotton candy long forgotten. As much as you liked the cotton candy, you're never going to think back on it and be like "wow, that was so good!" 

So while I can't give this game much more than a slightly above average score. As much as I enjoyed it, it did almost nothing for me. And I certainly will never be coming back to it again.


THE GRADE:
C+


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Thursday, January 1, 2026

Video Game Review #604: Tomb Raider: Anniversary

Tomb Raider: Anniversary
PlayStation 2


Nostalgia Factor:

I remember being extremely hyped for Tomb Raider: Anniversary when it first came out. I was a giant fan of the original Tomb Raider, and I was just dying to see what a remake would look like with the technology of 2007. Unfortunately, I didn't end up liking the game. It changed too much. I was expecting a fresh coat of paint, along with a few gameplay tweaks - kind of similar to the recently remastered Tomb Raider games. Instead, I looked at Anniversary as a "dumbed down" version of the original. It was too forgiving. The puzzles weren't obscure enough. Too many parts from the original were just completely skipped over. It made things too easy. There was an added focus on climbing and acrobatic jumping, similar to what I had seen in Prince of Persia. There were also a bunch of QTEs. The entire game was not what I had been expecting.

I played the game. I made my way through it. I beat it. I traded it in at the used game store and got something else. I wouldn't play it again until now, in 2025. General consensus online is that this is a decent game. I was beginning to wonder if I hadn't given it a fair shake the first time around. I decided to come into it with an open mind and give it my honest, objective opinion.

Let's see how that worked out.




Story:

The storyline is pretty much exactly the same as the original Tomb Raider. Lara is hired by Natla to help find three pieces of the Scion, an ancient artifact. Once the pieces are brought together, it is supposed to give the user great power - or some shit like that. Anyway, you find out later on that the lady you are working for is actually an ancient Atlantean who had been buried but recently unearthed by nuclear testing.

This version of the game fleshes out the characters a little bit more. Natla's henchmen take more of a starring role. I like the Malibu's Most Wanted looking white boy in a durag. And the Barrett looking MF with the milky eye. That being said, I've never been too overly interested in the storyline in any Tomb Raider game. This one is no exception.




Gameplay:

This game is much easier to pick up and play than the original Tomb Raider. I could immediately see why some people may gravitate towards this game when given a choice between it and the OG Tomb Raider. The controls are explained right away in the first portion of the game. It takes place in a snowy area right before you enter the caves. It explains how to run, jump, climb, swing, etc. You get a much better idea how to play this game from its first five minutes than you do the entire mansion sequence in the OG Tomb Raider.

Gameplay is very fluid. It's not stiff or rigid like the original game. Jumping and grabbing onto ledges are easy to pull off. You won't be mistiming jumps and falling to your death nearly as many times in this game. The puzzles are also a lot easier to solve. Part of the thing that gave the original game longevity was the obscurity of its puzzles. Finding out where you were supposed to go and what you were supposed to do next was a big part of the challenge. I won't say that this game is "hand holdy" because it is not. But I didn't find myself getting stuck nearly as much this time around.

Overall, this was a surprisingly fun adventure for me. I expected to hate it based on my past experiences. But I liked it a lot more than I ever thought I would. It's a relatively short game, too. I don't know what my actual numbers were, but I can't imagine that this game takes more than 12 hours to play through. If you are looking for something fun and relatively breezy to play through, I can't recommend this enough. In fact, it is currently free on PlayStation Plus right now (depending on when you are reading this).

Before we move on, I want to talk about my five year old son's experience with this game. I fully expected to play through this game by myself. No one in my household likes Tomb Raider. Plus, I thought this game would be too hard for a kid who only has ever played Untitled Goose Game and Scrat's Nutty Adventure. But when I was playing through one of the levels (the dinosaur level), my kid came into the room and started watching it. He fell in love with the game, and immediately wanted to go back and see all the old levels and play through them with me. After we were done doing that, we forged ahead. And we made pretty deep progress into the game with each other. We ended up making it to the last Egypt stage before he lost interest, and wanted to go back and replay some of his favorite levels. He loves the dinosaur level, the Midas level, The Coliseum, and St Francis Folly in particular. I had to play through St Francis Folly like five freaking times in a row with him, because it is his favorite level.  

But I was surprised with how well he did playing this game. He's never played anything as "advanced" or complicated as this. But he did surprisingly good with the controls. He was great at navigating as well, and helping to figure out puzzles. Although his interest in the game was short lived, I think playing this game did him some good as far as his development goes.




Graphics:

Even though this game is 18 years old now, I still think it looks pretty darn good. Obviously, it doesn't look as good as anything that would come out today. It's clearly a PS2 game. But I don't care. Never once did I think "wow, this game's graphics are really detracting from the experience." I think it looks perfectly fine. Lara moves well. The environments are beautiful. The whole game is very atmospheric overall. No complaints from me.




Sound:

The sound design has always been one of the greatest strengths of the Tomb Raider series. This game is no different. It really helps create an atmosphere for each of these levels, from dank and creepy caves to lush ancient temples. The music is good, too. I like how it cranks up whenever there is an intense moment. During more subdued game sequences, it helps sell the atmosphere even more. My son would often say "The game is creeping again" whenever the faint, creepy music would start playing. 




Overall:

I have no problem admitting that I judged this game far too harshly when it first came out. I understand why I didn't like it as much. It didn't meet my expectations of what I wanted it to be. With all the changes, I was never going to like it. But I think I handled things the right way. Put the game down. Come back to it later. Set aside those expectations. Give the game another chance. Judge it on its own merits.

On its own merits, this was a pretty fun game to play through. I would have enjoyed this game regardless, but my son taking such a vested interest in it was the icing on the cake. He really enjoyed playing old levels over and over again, and finding all the secrets. Exploring every nook and cranny. That's something I never would have done by myself. It helped me look at the game from a new angle.

If you judged this game harshly like I first did, I implore you to come back with an open mind. This game deserves another chance. It's a top 5 Tomb Raider title for me.



THE GRADE:
B+


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2025 Things: December





12.01: Listened to 1 episode of Arcade Attack (ep 246). Watched 1 episode of The Outsider (1.04). 

12.02: Watched 1 episode of The Outsider (1.05). Watched 1 episode of The Amazing Race (38.10). Listened to 1 episode of The Losers Club (King's 10 Best Stories for Valentine's Day). 

12.03: Watched 2 episodes of The Challenge (41.10, 41.11). Watched movie: Street Fighter. Finished video game: Policenauts.

12.04: Watched 2 episodes of The Outsider (1.06, 1.07). Watched 1 episode of Attack on Titan (3.05). Listened to 1 episode of Collateral Cinema (ep 59 pt 1). Watched 1 episode of Survivor (49.11). Watched 1 episode of The Challenge (41.12). Listened to 1 episode of Sega Saturn Shiro (Editor's Corner ep 30). 

12.05: Watched 1 episode of Pluribus (1.06). Watched 1 episode of The Outsider (1.08). Watched 1 episode of The Amazing Race (38.11). Watched 1 episode of Attack on Titan (3.06). Watched 3 episodes of The Wonder Years (2.08, 2.09, 2.10).

12.06: Watched movie: Child's Play 3. Watched 2 episodes of The Challenge (41.13, 41.14). Listened to 1 episode of Staff Picks (Jaws 2). Watched 1 episode of Attack on Titan (3.07).

12.07: Watched 1 episode of The Outsider (1.09). Listened to 1 episode of The 7th Rule (ep 302). Listened to 1 episode of The Retrograde (I Love You, Colonel Sanders!). Listened to 1 episode of Unsolved Mysteries (The Haunting on Brownsville Road). Listened to 1 episode of Retrovaniacs (ep 60). 

12.08: Watched movie: Mortal Kombat. Watched 1 episode of The Outsider (1.10). Listened to 1 episode of The Cartridge Club (ep 78). Listened to 1 episode of Sega Saturn Shiro (Live Show Apr 16 2021). Listened to 1 episode of Retronauts (ep 101). Listened to 1 episode of Collateral Cinema (Last Ounce of Courage). Listened to 1 episode of The FF Dynasty (9.113). Listened to 1 episode of The Losers Club (The Shining Opera w/ Paul Moravec). 

12.09: Watched 3 episodes of Game of Thrones (1.01, 1.02, 1.03). Listened to 1 episode of The FF Dynasty (9.114). Listened to 1 episode of Collateral Gaming (Tomb Raider Collaboration Special). Watched 2 episodes of The Challenge (41.15, 41.16).

12.10: Listened to 1 episode of The Stephen Kingcast (ep 216). Watched movie: Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero. Watched 2 episodes of Game of Thrones (1.04, 1.05). Listened to 1 episode of Fantasy Football Happy Hour (12.9.25 ep). Watched 1 episode of The Challenge (41.17). Listened to 1 episode of The Losers Club (Breaking Down the Firestarter Trailer).  

12.11: Watched 1 episode of Game of Thrones (1.06). Watched 1 episode of Attack on Titan (3.08). Watched 1 episode of The Amazing Race (38.12). Listened to 1 episode of Collateral Cinema (Holiday Edition: Top 3 Favorite Cinema Snob Episodes + Jesus, Bro! Review). Watched 1 episode of The Challenge (41.18). Finished video game: Stargate (Genesis). Watched 1 episode of Survivor (49.12). Finished video game: Sonic the Hedgehog 2.

12.12: Watched 2 episodes of Game of Thrones (1.07, 1.08). Watched 1 episode of Pluribus (1.07). Watched 1 episode of The Challenge (41.19). Listened to 1 episode of The Stephen Kingcast (ep 217).  Listened to 1 episode of The FF Dynasty (9.119). 

12.13: Watched 1 episode of The Challenge (41.20). Watched 1 episode of Survivor (33.01). Listened to 2 episodes of Staff Picks (The Last Supper, There's Something Wrong with Aunt Diane). Watched 1 episode of SEC Football: Any Given Saturday (1.06). Listened to 1 episode of The Cartridge Club (CC Portable #33). 

12.14: Watched 1 episode of Game of Thrones (1.09). Listened to 1 episode of Retrovaniacs (ep 61). Finished video game: Lego Pirates of the Caribbean.

12.15: Listened to 1 episode of The Cartridge Club (CC Hangouts #1). Watched 1 episode of Chernobyl (1.01). Watched 2 episodes of Attack on Titan (3.09, 3.10). Watched 1 episode of Game of Thrones (1.10).  Listened to 1 episode of Sega Saturn Shiro (Editor's Corner ep 31). Listened to 1 episode of Post Show Recaps: The White Lotus (2.02 recap). Listened to 1 episode of The Retrograde (Doki Doki Literature Club). Listened to 1 episode of Unsolved Mysteries (Murder in the Military). 

12.16: Watched movie: Police Academy 3. Listened to 1 episode of Arcade Attack (ep 247). Listened to 1 episode of Retronauts (Micro 63). Watched 1 episode of Survivor (33.02). Watched 1 episode of Game of Thrones (2.01).

12.17: Watched 1 episode of Game of Thrones (2.02). Listened to 1 episode of The FF Dynasty (9.120). Watched 1 episode of Chernobyl (1.02). Watched 1 episode of Attack on Titan (3.11).

12.18: Watched 2 episodes of Game of Thrones (2.03, 2.04). Finished video game: Batman: Arkham Origins. Listened to 1 episode of The 7th Rule (ep 303). Watched 1 episode of Survivor (49.13). Watched 1 episode of Attack on Titan (3.12).

12.19: Watched 1 episode of Chernobyl (1.03). Watched 1 episode of The Challenge (41.21). Watched 1 episode of Survivor (33.03). Watched 1 episode of Pluribus (1.08). Watched 1 episode of Game of Thrones (2.05).

12.20: Watched 1 episode of Survivor (33.04). Listened to 1 episode of The Retrograde (Fight Night Round 3). Watched 1 episode of 50 Seconds: The Fernando Báez Sosa Case (1.02). Watched movie: The Karate Kid (reboot). Watched 1 episode of Game of Thrones (2.06).

12.21: Watched 1 episode of Game of Thrones (2.07). Listened to 1 episode of Collateral Gaming (Game Launch Edition: Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment). Watched movie: Southern Comfort.

12.22: Watched 1 episode of Game of Thrones (2.08). Watched movie: Gremlins. Listened to 1 episode of Staff Picks (Southern Comfort). Listened to 1 episode of The FF Dynasty (9.122). Listened to 1 episode of Retrovaniacs (ep 62). Listened to 1 episode of The Losers Club (On Writing Pt. 1).

12.23: Watched 2 episodes of Game of Thrones (2.09, 2.10). Listened to 1 episode of Retronauts (ep 103). Watched 2 episodes of Survivor (33.05, 33.06). Watched 1 episode of Attack on Titan (3.13).

12.24: Watched 1 episode of Attack on Titan (3.14).

12.25: Watched 1 episode of Game of Thrones (3.01). 

12.26: Listened to 1 episode of The Losers Club (On Writing Pt. 2). Watched 2 episodes of Survivor (33.07, 33.08). Watched 1 episode of Game of Thrones (3.02). 

12.27: Watched 1 episode of Survivor (33.09). Watched 1 episode of Pluribus (1.09). Finished video game: Tomb Raider Anniversary. Listened to 1 episode of The FF Dynasty (9.123).

12.28: Listened to 1 episode of The Retro Blast (Sonic the Hedgehog). Watched 1 episode of SEC Football: Any Given Saturday (1.07). Listened to 1 episode of Collateral Gaming (ep 59 pt 2). Watched 1 episode of Game of Thrones (3.03). Listened to 1 episode of Retrovaniacs (ep 63).

12.29: Listened to 1 episode of The Cartridge Club (ep 79). Watched 1 episode of Game of Thrones (3.04). Listened to 1 episode of Retronauts (ep 102). Listened to 1 episode of Ear Biscuits (ep 66). Watched 1 episode of Attack on Titan (3.15).

12.30: Listened to 1 episode of The FF Dynasty (9.126). Watched 1 episode of Survivor (33.10). Watched 1 episode of Game of Thrones (3.05). 

12.31: Watched 1 episode of Game of Thrones (3.06).  Listened to 1 episode of Collateral Gaming (ep 60 pt 1). 


26 episodes of Game of Thrones watched
13 episodes of Survivor Watched
12 episodes of The Challenge watched
11 episodes of Attack on Titan watched
8 movies watched
7 episodes of The Outsider watched
7 episodes of The FF Dynasty played
6 video games completed



For a complete index of all my past posts and game reviews, click

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Tuesday, December 30, 2025

15 Things That Brought Me Joy in 2025

Another year down, another year of crap consumed. What did I do with my free time in 2025? Mainly binge watch TV shows. I watched some movies and played some games, but most of my free time went to TV. You'll see that reflected on this list. 

If you're interested in seeing what has made my list in previous years, follow the links below:



Cobra Kai
Television Series

Coming into 2025, I had written off Cobra Kai. The show had drawn me in during its first few seasons, but its rehashed storylines and overall decline in quality had lost me for a while. I wasn't even excited about the last season coming out. I only ended up watching it because I'm a completionist.

Towards the end of the show, something changed. All the storylines finally started to tie together. The stakes felt high, for once. It felt like the characters' actions were finally starting to mean something. Plus, the show finally looped around to what kicked it off and drew people in to begin with: Johnny. He is the real main character and star of the show, and I think the show kind of forgot that for a while. But when Johnny became the focus again, man oh man did it pay off. The training montage sent chills up my spine. Call it fan service but I call it an awesome throwback to one of the greatest movie sequences of all time. I am going to post a link to the scene below.

The last few episodes were great. Maybe it wasn't exactly realistic. Maybe things ended "too nicely" for our characters. But I didn't care. The final season hit all the right nostalgic feels, and tied things up perfectly for me. Coincidentally, the new Karate Kid Legends movie also came out in 2025. I haven't watched that yet, but I did watch the Jackie Chan Karate Kid movie just to "prepare" myself for when I do watch it.






Untitled Goose Game
Video Game

I've been trying to get my five year old interested in video games for a year or two now. Everything I've shown him has been met with indifference: Sonic, Mario, Pac-Man? Nah. Even newer games like Bluey or Peppa Pig? No interest. Who would have thought it would be Untitled Goose Game that would finally break the trend? 

This game is a lot of fun. But it was even more fun watching my little guy get so excited watching me play. He'd yell, he'd scream, he'd bounce up and down on the couch. He was really into it. Of course, it was only a matter of time before I'd end up handing the controller over to him. He was extremely hesitant at first, but ended up figuring things out in no time. It made me so proud to see him pick up the game so quickly and adeptly. 

All emotional reasoning aside, I would have enjoyed the game regardless. It is so entertaining running around as the goose and seeing what kind of trouble you can get into. How your actions will trigger reactions among the NPCs. Just seeing the physics of the game in action, like when you pick up items and drag them around. It's a super fun game, and it supplied us with countless hours of fun in our household.

If you have a young kid who you want to get into gaming, look no further. Even without one of those, I'd still recommend giving this game a try.



Game of Thrones/House of the Dragon
Television Series

It started very early in the year, when I realized I had forgotten to watch House of the Dragon. Ten years ago, when Game of Thrones ruled the world, this would have been unthinkable. But the Song of Ice and Fire is so much of an afterthought now that this whole entire spinoff series somehow got by me without me even realizing I hadn't watched it. I mean, I knew it was there. But somehow the thought "you should probably watch that" never crossed my mind.

Instantly, I was hooked. I was transported right back into Westeros like I had never been gone. I binged the show fairly quickly. I remember the thought rattling around in my mind: "I forgot how good Game of Thrones is!" I mean, this series isn't Game of Thrones. But close enough. It hits all the right notes. It feels genuine. I knew right away that this series was going to probably make my end of year list.

But as if this wasn't enough, I started rewatching Game of Thrones later on in the year. It was early December, as a matter of fact. I'm now on season 3, episode 5. In less than a month, I have binged through two and a half seasons worth of TV, the same thought rattling around in my mind yet again: "I forgot how good Game of Thrones is." There's a reason this show was a cultural phenomenon. There's a reason I read through these books about four times apiece back in the 2010s. There's a reason I'm still looking forward to Winds of Winter, whenever it might come out. There's a reason no one could stop talking about this show in my workplace for about four or five years straight. Because it is awesome.

I can't wait to continue my way through the show. The Red Wedding and a few more heavy hitting moments are coming up soon. Game of Thrones isn't just good because it is "popular." I know some people like to boast about how they've never seen seen an episode of Game of Thrones. That's not really a flex. It's an awesome show. I'll go even further and say it is an awesome book series. And House of the Dragon is great, too. If you've been dodging it all these years, you've really been doing yourself a disservice.



The Retro Blast
Podcast

I listen to a lot of podcasts, but there are none that I enjoy more than The Retro Blast. You can tell that there are endless hours of hard work and devotion put into each episode. It is the most relatable podcast I've ever listened to.

It is such a treat listening to the host, Patrick Brickhouse, lead us on a walk down memory lane with each episode. Each episode is more of a love letter to retro gaming than anything else. I have so many shared memories and experiences with him. We are of a similar age and grew up in the same era of gaming. So many times as I listen to this podcast, I think "I thought I was the only one who thought/noticed that!" 

If there was ever a "comfort" podcast in my rotation, this would be the one. I can just imagine sitting down by the fire as an old man someday and putting this on and listening to all the episodes in order again. If I ever make a podcast someday, I want it to be like The Retro Blast. I cannot speak its praises enough. If I had to offer one criticism, it is that there are not enough episodes. I am all caught up in real time now, and it is agonizing waiting a month or two for each new episode. I guess that is the price you pay for quality.

Special shout out to the Retrovaniacs podcast as well. I have to restrain myself from listening to episode after episode. I look forward to each one. I'm only on episode 64, and there is still a massive backlog of episodes for me to play through. 



Twin Peaks
Television Series

I've seen Twin Peaks in its entirety a few times now. It's been an up and down road for me. When I first watched the series back in 2008 or 2009, I hated it. I thought "how in the world did this show get such a big cult following?" I filed it away in the back of my mind, vowing never to return to it.

Years passed. The Return came out. It also got rave reviews. I decided to give the series one more shot. This time, knowing what to expect, I liked it. I binged the two original seasons, the movie, and The Return. But now I didn't like The Return.

More years passed. People have continued to rave about The Return. I decided what the heck? I am going to come back and watch it all one last time. The two original seasons, the movie, and The Return. And I liked it all this time, even The Return. Still don't really understand it, but I liked it.

The original series is still the highlight for me. I had forgotten so much about it. It was almost like watching it for the first time, even though it was my third. And now that I knew what to expect from The Return, I was able to come into it with an open mind. I've been a David Lynch hater all my life, but I finally have to admit that the series is genius. A real work of art. I don't think I'll come back to it again in my life, but I'm glad I finally was able to stop being a hater and appreciate it for what it is.



Batman
TV/Movies/Games

I am just going to drop everything that falls under the Batman umbrella here. Mainly, my 2025 Batman experience consisted of bingeing through The Animated Series, which I loved as a kid. All these years later, it still holds up. The Mr. Freeze and Mask of Phantasm movies are great, too.

But it didn't stop there. I watched the new Caped Crusader series on Amazon Prime. It was a nice throwback to the old cartoon. I also watched Batman and Robin, the George Clooney Batman movie. Not expecting anything serious, I was able to put my feet up and enjoy it and have a good time, despite hating this movie in the past. And last but not least, I ended up playing through a few different Batman games. First was Batman Returns for the Game Gear. Then Batman: The Video Game for Game Boy. And then Arkham Origins for the PS3. It was a good Christmas game.

It was a big year for Batman in my household. I suspect 2026 won't be as good. I plan to watch the Pattinson movies and the Joker sequel. I've been dragging my feet on these for a long time.



Fantasy Football


Fantasy Football is probably going to make this list every year. It is one of the things I look forward to the most each year. Even when it is not in season, I do a lot of research on the rookies and potential breakout players. I listen to several podcasts, like The FF Dynasty and Fantasy Football Happy Hour. Not that it helps me much. I was in 7 leagues this year, and I may not win any titles. In fact, the only league I'm still alive in is my home dynasty league, which I screenshotted above.

As I write this, the last game of the season (Rams vs Falcons) is taking place. Will my team hang onto its 46 point lead, or will I walk away from this fantasy season winless in the title game for the second year in a row? I'll update this with the results later. But yeah. I love fantasy football. It probably occupied my mind more than any other thing you'll see on this list here in 2025.

(update: I won!)



From
Television Series

I was obsessed with this show for a good portion of 2025. I binged through all three seasons of it fairly quickly. It is one of those shows that is always introducing new mysteries and keeping your mind working. It is almost like a horror version of Lost.

The basic premise is that there is a group of strangers trapped in a town that they cannot escape from. When they try to leave, the road loops back around to the town. Monsters that imitate humans come out at night, and the strangers must hide from them or they will be killed. There's all kind of mysteries to uncover. What are these monsters? Why are these people here? Why can't they escape? Time travel even showed up as a concept in season 3. The show has a great ensemble cast, and it is one of those infinitely bingeable shows where you always want to start another episode when one ends.

If you haven't seen this show, you better get on it! I'm always trying to turn people onto From. It's one of my favorite shows of the modern era.



Survivor
Television Series

Survivor is a show that seems to make my list every year. Even though I don't love the current era of Survivor (seasons 48 and 49 aired in 2025), I still love Survivor as a whole.

The highlight of the year for me was Australia vs the World. It was a truly great, bingeworthy season of Survivor. I couldn't put it down. Most people I know only watch US Survivor. If you are a fan of the series at all, you NEED to watch Australian Survivor.

In addition to Australian Survivor, I've also slowly been rewatching the old US seasons. I'm up to season 33 now. I love these old seasons. They remind me how great the series used to be, and give me hope that it will return to glory someday. This itself is funny because as I was watching these old seasons originally, I considered them Survivor at its worst. Oh, how the times have changed. 2026 will bring us season 50 of the show, so hopefully seeing a bunch of returning players like Coach will help reinvigorate my interest in the US series.



The White Lotus
Television Series

Speaking of Survivor, here is a show with heavy Survivor ties. It was created by former Survivor player Mike White. It has several castaways in guest roles. Overall, it is a character driven show that tackles some societal issues while in a resort/vacation environment.

Like the other TV shows I've listed, this is an infinitely bingeable series. I was hooked from beginning to end. Season 1 is great. Season 2 is just as good (if not better). Season 3 is good, but not as great as the original seasons. If you've heard of this show, but haven't taken the plunge yet, I encourage you to. The acting and the cast alone should be enough to convince you. Murray Bartlett as Armond is one of the greatest performances I've ever seen. And throw in a bunch of other greats like Steve Zahn, Sydney Sweeney, Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Alexandria Daddario, Jennifer Coolidge, and Connie Britton, and you've got yourself a heck of an ensemble cast.

It's an anthology show, so you don't need to have seen one season to enjoy the others. But season 3 does bring up some stuff from season 1, so I would just advise watching them in order. As long as you just watch it, that's all I care about.



Yellowjackets
TV Series

It seems like 90% of my list this year is TV series. But that is what I have been spending the majority of my free time doing. Not playing games, or reading books, or watching movies. Watching TV shows. It truly is the golden age of television, and I am doing my best to make sure I'm all caught up on everything.

Yellowjackets is everything I like in a TV show. It's got a big ensemble cast, it has interesting characters, it has a plot that keeps you guessing, it has mysteries with many layers. Similar to From, it is another "horror" show that is infinitely bingeable.

I watched seasons two and three in 2025. I had seen season one in 2024 (in fact, it made my list last year). Season 1 is peak TV. Season 2 is almost as good. Season 3 it starts to decline a little bit. It starts to become too ridiculous to believe. But there were some fun plot reveals that make me look forward to season 4.

Oh yeah, what's the show about? A girl's soccer team crashes in a remote location. The survivors may or may not resort to eating each other. The show flashes back and forth between the events on the island, and the survivors as adults. It is clear there is some type of mysterious thing that happened that the survivors are conspiring to keep quiet. I hate to make this lazy comparison a second time, but it is like a scary version of Lost.

This is another show I recommend to anyone who has actually made it this far reading my post.



The Last of Us
Video Game/TV Series


2025 was the year of The Last of Us for me. It started early in the year, when I played through the first game. I also watched the first season of the show. The second season soon came out later, and I watched that as well. While I didn't think the second season was terrific, I don't think it was as bad as everyone on the internet likes to make it out to be.

Later on in the year, I would go on to play through the second game. I didn't even really intend to. I was randomly scrolling the PS Network one day, looking for a game to play. I saw this included with my subscription, and I thought: "I'm going to play that." I didn't even have to think about it for a second.

I've played this in the past. I liked it, but didn't like it as much as the first one. I liked it a lot more this time around, though. In fact, I loved it. It is much better than the second season of the show, that is for sure. I really became attached to the characters and the world of the game, and I was sad when it ended. Just like Billy Idol, I wanted more more more. This may be an unpopular opinion but I do believe the second game is every bit as good as the first. The first time I played through this, I didn't think so. But I've changed my mind. Great game series overall.



Raised By Wolves
TV Series

Well, would you look at that? Another television series. I can't help that I watched so much good stuff in 2025. Now, I want you to know that I've seen this already. I really liked it the first time around, but that was back in 2020 or 2021 when my kid was a baby. I was very, very distracted. I wanted to come back and watch things more closely now that my life has settled down a bit. It's always interesting watching something when you know what is going to happen as well, and looking for hints and foreshadowing.

The show is even better the second time around. I swear, many times I thought to myself: "Is this the best sci-fi show I've ever seen?" It is truly peak sci-fi, and peak television in general. I was going to offer a brief recap so that I could convince people who have never seen it before to watch it, but I don't feel as if I could truly do it justice without sitting here for three hours and going into way too much detail. It would take forever.

If you like science fiction, you'd probably like this. It has great atmosphere. Ridley Scott had a hand in this, so picture the vague vibe of the first Alien movie. In fact, this entire series has an odd Alien vibe to it, even though it isn't related to the series. It feels so much like it is. The ships feel like Alien ships. There are androids with white blood. You could easily see it being part of the Alien universe. Anyway, I loved it. And I am sad that it did not get more seasons. That's really the only bad thing about it: its abrupt cancelation.



The Leftovers
TV Series

Just like I did with Raised by Wolves, I wanted to come back and watch a series that I've seen before and enjoyed, but I wanted to watch it again with fresh eyes. I wanted to watch it knowing what to expect and what to watch for. The Leftovers is perfect because it is one of those shows that warrants a second viewing, as there was so much that the average viewer would miss out on the first time around. 

For those not familiar, the show revolves around a fictional event known as "The Sudden Departure" where 2% of the world's population just blinks out of existence with no warning whatsoever. Poof. Gone. But it is not really about the event itself; the how or why of what happened. The series has a more ground level approach, dealing with the grief and the aftermath regarding the event. It mainly deals with the Garvey family and how it is splintered by the Departure, even though they did not lose anyone. And it brings in other characters like Nora, who lost her husband and all of her kids in the Departure. This is very much a character driven experience. Expect the show to try to make you cry early and often. You always know it is coming when you hear the music start to queue up. 

I loved the show the first time I watched it several years ago. The second time was just as good, if not better. I remember being really confused by the Kevin Garvey side of things with the dreams and the Jesus parallels the first time I watched this. But this time around, I just went with it, man.

I feel like if there ever was to be a show that is mandatory viewing, this should be it. Again, if you have read this far on my post and you have not seen The Leftovers, you need to go out and see it.



The Challenge
TV Series

The Challenge has made my list for three years in a row now, and it will probably continue to for several more years as well. There are a ton of seasons to watch! I started at the end, and have been slowly working my way back in time towards the beginning. I'm "up to" season 32 now. And then I'll watch 31, then 30, etc. I am doing this because a lot of the early seasons are extremely difficult to find online. I'm hoping that by the time I get to them, they will be easier for me to watch.

I'll admit, this is easily the "trashiest" thing in my TV rotation. It's a lot of people hooking up. It's a lot of drinking and fighting. A lot of yelling and screaming, and people being overly dramatic. The people on this show are crazy. Are they really like this or just playing it up for TV?

I was initially drawn to this because I know that Survivor and Big Brother players often make it onto the show. It's been interesting seeing people like Josh, Michele, Paulie, Da'Vonne, Dee, Kacy, and other Survivor/BB players playing this crazy game. The Challenge has its own eccentric cast of originals like CT, Bananas, Nany, Turbo, Cara Maria, Devin, Tori, Aneesa, Ashley, etc. These guys play very often, some of them every single season. It's not like Survivor or BB, where players only come back occasionally or rarely. These people make a living being on the Challenge over and over again. And it creates a lot of drama between the players, as they are a lot more personally connected than players would be on other shows.

Again, it is probably the trashiest thing I watch. But I don't care. It's an endlessly addicting show, and there is just TONS of Challenge content out there. I've been watching this for almost three full years, and I still have 30 plus seasons to watch. I love this show and I am not ashamed to admit it.


------


Things that did not quite make the cut:

Collateral Gaming/Cinema podcast
The Cartridge Club podcast
The Devil's Plan series
Doom games
Fargo series and movie
ET movie
Silo series
Bridge to Terabithia movie
Pluribus series
Staff Picks podcast
Tomb Raider games
Squid Game: The Challenge
Mass Effect game
The Fugitive movie
The Losers Club podcast
The Amazing Race series
The Traitors series
X-Men movie series
Far Cry 4 game
Planet of the Apes movie series
Phantom Menace movie and PS1 game
Dune movie series
Ice Age: Scrat's Nutty Adventure game


For a complete index of all my past posts and game reviews, click

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