Video Game Review: The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker

The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker

GameCube

A lot of people gave this game a hard time before it even hit the shelves. After Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask for the Nintendo 64, many had been clamoring for a more realistic looking Zelda title. Instead they got the most cartoonish looking Zelda yet. I am ashamed to admit that I am one of the people who was initially angered by the game's presentation. Luckily, however, I came around quickly once I started playing the game and I realized how amazing it was.

A lot of the focus on this game is on its visual style, and rightfully so. The game is gorgeous. Even playing it now, nearly 15 years after its initial release, it still holds up. It's not a perfect looking game and it does have a few notable visual flaws, mostly if you are playing on a big high definition TV. An hour or so into the game, though, you stop noticing them.

The world of Wind Waker is bright and full of color. It looks like you are playing through a living, breathing cartoon. All of the characters are full of detail, nicely animated, and pleasing to the eye. The environments are large and expansive. The game is simply enormous, and there is much to explore. And the game's cartoon like look and feel definitely helps contribute to making exploring a fun thing rather than a chore.

The game looks good enough as it is, but a lot of small visual touches really put it over the top. The blowing wind and ash before you enter Dragon Roost Cavern. The lava and fire effects once you get inside. All of the glittering fairies floating through the air in Forest Haven. The feeling you get as you walk through and slash the tall grass. The storms that pop up as you sail through the night. Even how your enemies vanish in a cloud of purple smoke when you defeat them is a fantastic touch.

I would recommend putting on headphones while playing the game. Wind Waker's musical score is epic, perhaps the best yet from a Zelda game. It goes hand in hand with the visual style of the game. All the classic Zelda tunes and jingles are here, along with some fantastic new songs and sound effects. Put on some headphones, kill the lights, and lose yourself in this tremendously immersive atmosphere that Nintendo has crafted for you.

It doesn't matter how great the game looks or how immersive it is if it is not any fun to play. And I must tell you that this game is a blast. I guess I should tell you about the story of the game before I go any further.

The game takes place thousands of years after Ocarina of Time. Hyrule has been flooded and only the people who retreated to the mountaintops are still alive. These mountain tops are now a scattering of islands located all over the map. But these islands are far apart from one another and can only be reached by long boat trips.

Ganon has broken free from his long confinement and has begun a mad search for the Triforce. He knows that the last descendant of Princess Zelda holds one of the pieces, so he begins capturing young blonde girls from around the world. When Link's sister is captured, he embarks on an epic quest to find her and to stop Ganon once and for all.

There is no overworld as we traditionally recognize it from past Zelda games. As I mentioned earlier, the surface of the planet has been flooded, and only a scattering of islands remain. A lot of the game takes place on a boat as you sail from one island to the next. Much of the game's fun lies in its exploration. You start with a blank sea chart, and as you progress and discover new islands, your chart begins to fill up. Each island has a purpose, even if it is not story related. There are SO many secrets and things to discover in this game. Wind Waker is one of those games that keep you playing even at times when it seems like there is not much going on with the game's story. It is just that fun to play and explore.

The game is very easy to control. Everything works exactly as it should. If you have ever played a past Zelda game, you will find no surprises here. I guess if I did have a complaint, it is that I found it annoying you couldn't invert the camera controls when trying to look left or right. I had just played a game with the opposite camera controls before playing this, and it really threw me off for a while there. Also, I wish there were more than three inventory spaces so I didn't always have to pause the game to change items.

Despite the fact that the game takes place on a series of islands, this doesn't mean that there aren't any dungeons. There are. Some of the islands are quite big. The dungeons were not too difficult to navigate. In fact, they were quite easy. The only one I really had a problem with was the Wind Temple, and even that wasn't too bad. Zelda is known for its big, intuitive boss fights as well. There are epic fights in this game, but again, I found them very easy. Easy dungeons, easy bosses. Even the regular enemies were quite easy as well. I found that the game's main sense of challenge came from piecing the game's story together.... finding out where to go and what to do next.

It is a huge "overworld" and a lot of times it doesn't quite seem clear where you are supposed to go next. For example, when you need to find all the Triforce charts and pieces late in the game I hadn't discovered Tingle's Island at that point yet. The game is just like: OK go find the Triforce pieces now. And it doesn't point you in a direction to go. As I said, the overworld is huge. I could have been looking for days and days if I didn't know beforehand what I was supposed to do. I could imagine a new player being very confused as to what they were supposed to do next. One of the Triforce pieces is, almost unfairly, a real bitch to find too. It is inside a building with all these puzzles, but the puzzles are a red herring. You have to look up into the ceiling of the building for something you can grab on to with your rope, and pull it to ring a bell. This unlocks the Triforce piece. I NEVER would have found this if I didn't have to look up the solution online. And I've played and beaten this game twice in the past before.

I feel as if the game could have done a much better job explaining a lot of things. But as I said, the dungeons and enemies are pretty easy, so I guess they made the exploration side of things a little more challenging to make up for that.

One major complaint I hear about the game is the excessive amount of boring sailing you have to do. This is true to an extent. There is a spell that allows you to warp from island to island, but it is possible you could play the whole game without finding it. As I said, I have played through this game twice before (albeit both play throughs were years and years ago). Even with the game knowledge I had coming in, I still almost missed the warp spell because I couldn't remember how to get it.

Even with the spell, you do a lot of sailing. And it can be very time consuming. At least the game keeps you entertained by putting enemies out at sea, along with little outposts to raid and barrels of gems to collect on the water. As you play you also discover treasure maps, and these definitely help keep sailing entertaining. Even if I was close to my destination I still constantly found myself stopping to explore and check things out.

It seems as if my last several paragraphs have been bitching about the game. Despite this, Wind Waker is still an excellent game. The pros are bountiful and far outweigh the cons. I had an amazing time with the game and found it very hard to put down. It is so well done. You can tell a lot of thought and hard work went into making the game as great as it is.

You can tell a game is really good when even me with my short attention span can't put the game down. Usually it takes me weeks to beat even a medium length game, but I was finished with Wind Waker in under one week. And I played the game nearly to completion too. I explored the whole map, collected nearly everything there was to collect. And I never got bored once. Maybe a little irritated with all the sailing, but never bored.

This is truly an amazing game. I was going to give it an A+ before I wrote this, but now I question giving this game an A+ with all the flaws I was harping about. But still, I think I am going to. It is a terrific game. The Zelda series has had a long history of success, and this may be my favorite entry in the series. That is no small accomplishment.

If you have never played this game you are doing yourself a disservice. There is even a new HD version for Wii U if you are worried the game hasn't aged well. Play it now.

Overall:

A+

Dan's 2017 Movie Power Ranking

I've been ranking all the movies I watch in a year for a while now. The first few years I simply waited until the end of the year and then ranked everything from worst to best. Then last year I did something different and picked my 5 favorite films from each month, giving me a total of 60 for the year. Then at the end of the year I cut 10 movies from the list and proceeded to go ahead and rank the top 50.

This year I will again attempt to do something different.

Let me admit something first: I am a lazy bastard. As I write this I am already behind on 3 blog entries I have to write (video game reviews for Wind Waker, Dirge of Cerberus, and Walking Dead: Michonne). So making something MORE labor intensive is not my goal here. I want to make things easier on myself.

So instead of doing a one by one ranking of my favorite movies this year, I have decided to do an all in one "Power Ranking". I will update this ranking once a month. In it, I will list every movie I have watched in the year. At the top will be the best movies overall. At the bottom will be the worst. I will only write a few sentence explanation as to why the movie is where it is.

Things may change as the year goes on. A movie that appeared above a different movie one month could be below it the next month. My opinions change over time. A movie I enjoyed in January could drop towards the bottom by the end of the year if I find that it is not memorable in the long run.

As usual, the Power Ranking will be based on how much I enjoyed my experience watching the movie rather than its overall merit. So while I may love Star Wars: The Force Awakens, you will find that it ranks relatively low on the Power Ranking because I was on my phone playing games and not paying attention to the film the whole time it was on. 

Trust me, this will all make sense as we get started. So let's do that. 

14 movies watched in January. Here is how they rank, as of now:

#1:

Classic movie. I saw it for the first time ever this month and I thought it was super funny. I was in shock that I made it to nearly 35 years of age without seeing this film before. So many great characters and iconic moments that I didn't even realize were iconic moments. I was a huge fan. I want to see the second one but I have heard it sucks.

#2

I watched all 3 of the newest Star Trek films this month and this one, the original, was by far the best. I love the way it looks and the sound of the film. It's all very sleek and shiny while at the same time paying homage to the original series. Great characters, great story line, great special effects. I found it to be a very engaging movie.

#3

I had relatively low expectations for this, but I found that I enjoyed it more than the original Finding Nemo. I like the film's faster pace. The animals don't feel as limited as to what they can do in the "human" world as they did in the first. And that makes for a much more fun movie. 

#4

This is about a family that lives by themselves out in the Pacific Northwest. The matriarch of the clan has committed suicide, and now the family must come out and rejoin civilized folk for the funeral. I always have enjoyed "fish out of water" type movies, and this one falls into that category. The movie has a humorous tone but also deals with many personal and emotional issues as well. It will have you laughing one moment and crying the next.

#5

This is a nice, up close look at the life of Leonard Nimoy. Not only does it deal with the rise to fame of the Spock character, but it touches on Nimoy's personal life as well. I didn't know much about him coming into this documentary, but now I feel so much more enriched and happy for the man and for the (mostly) wonderful ride he had through life.

#6

I found this to be pretty entertaining when I watched it. I worry for the movie though because while I know I enjoyed it at the time, I think that I am going to forget about it quickly and it won't be able to sustain its high-ish ranking.

#7

I had just finished season 2 of Daredevil, and I wanted to see a different take on the character of the Punisher, so I watched this. Some of the acting choices here are a little goofy. I just can't take John Travolta seriously in his role here. But overall, although the film can be a little cheesy in parts I enjoyed it. It is fun and has some nice little plot twists. Just don't expect too much from the film.

#8

One of the rare instances where I enjoyed a sequel more than the original film. I found this to be much more entertaining than House of 1000 Corpses. I love the way the film looks, how it was filmed. I really love the music. The characters are great, the action is tense. Not much meat to the story, though.

#9

I tried to watch all the old Star Wars movies at the end of 2016, but I didn't have time to watch Return of the Jedi. So instead it falls into my 2017 ranking. I enjoyed the film but (you have probably heard this a lot if you follow this blog) I have seen it far too many times to me to really truly enjoy watching it anymore. It has lost a lot of the magic and fun it used to have for me.

#10

The second best of the new Star Trek films. But there is a huge drop off from the first. I like how the movie tells an original tale instead of rehashing an old idea like Into Darkness did. But the original tale isn't that interesting to me. There is too much action and it is a bit cheesy at times. Idris Elba was wasted on such a generic villain. It failed to hold my attention the way a good Star Trek film should.

#11

I enjoyed the creepy tone of the film. There are some disturbing moments here, and I love to be disturbed. But overall I found that things were just a little too over the top for me. The bad guys acted too silly and they got annoying after a while. And a lot of what happened in the film made no sense whatsoever. I found this only mildly enjoyable.

#12

I've never been a huge fan of this movie, especially after how much I loved the first new Star Trek film. I like how they try to give the Wrath of Kahn a shout out. But instead of coming across as a cool and unique spin on the story, this movie comes across as a wannabe. It's an okay movie, I guess. But it could have been a lot better.

#13

I actually do like this movie a lot more than some of the other films above it. But as I alluded to in the opener, I spent too much time on my phone playing games while watching this. The film quickly became background fodder that I hardly paid any attention to. Maybe if I watch it again (before episode VIII comes out) it will jump in my rankings. But for now I can't in good conscience rank it any higher considering I barely watched it.

#14

This generally isn't the type of movie I would watch, but I had heard it was good so I gave it a try. It's a decent film, I guess. It just had an extremely tough time holding my attention. My mind kept wandering and I started to do other things while watching this. Good for kids. But for me, meh. It didn't even make me cry either.

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So that is everything I have watched in January! Stay tuned at the end of February when I will update this ranking with everything I watched in that month as well. Will Caddyshack maintain its hold on #1, or will it be unseated?



EDIT from March: I am just going to do a traditional ranking at  the end of the year. This is too ambitious!


Watched so far in February:
It Follows
Ex Machina
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Cannibal Holocaust
Don't Breathe
The Godfather
The Hills Have Eyes
Teen Wolf
Westworld
Suicide Squad
The Girl on the Train
Arrival

Dan's 2016 Movie Ranking: #5 to #1

Here comes the final results of a year's worth of watching movies. What was my most enjoyable movie watching experience of 2016? Let's find out.

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#5

This movie finished at #10 in 2015's ranking and has moved up to #5 in 2016. My 2016 viewing took place way back in January. I had seen it in the theater for the second time (the first being in December of 2015).

I think I enjoyed it more the second time around because I knew what was coming. I was more relaxed watching it this time. I wasn't there simply to soak in every detail. I was able to just kick back and enjoy the movie for what it was this tine. Great cast, great special effects. As always, an epic musical score. And there were some memorable, emotional moments toward the end when Han is killed and we get to see Leia's reaction to it.

My only complaint is that the story line is a bit too simplistic, and it seems to borrow heavily from themes we had already seen in the original trilogy. With a little more originality and an identity of its own, this movie could have been truly great rather than just very good.

#4

I had heard all kinds of good things about this movie before I finally sat down and watched it. I didn't actually know what it was about, but I knew that people liked it. So I came into it with pretty high hopes.

It turns out that people liked the movie for a reason: it is very good. It was actually better than I was hoping for, which was a pleasant surprise.

I am a sadist and I like seeing people suffer in movies, so of course I thought it was awesome when Leo fought with the bear. That was one of the scariest scenes I have seen in a movie in a long time. The movie is very brutal and there is a lot of gore and violence. The weather is cold and unforgiving. The film makers do a really fantastic job depicting how harsh the conditions are.

The Revenant goes through many stages. Western, survival movie, revenge thriller. And I was fascinated the whole way. While I was watching this movie, the thought popped into my head that this could win my ranking for the year. It didn't quite finish #1, but it did come very close.

#3

I've seen The Rock a handful of times in my life before. While I have always enjoyed the movie, I thought it was particularly incredible watching it in 2016.

Let's start with the bad: Nicolas Cage. He is not the greatest actor, and there are some cringe worthy moments in this film. In particular, the sex scene. If you don't know what I am talking about, you will when you watch this. But really, he is the only bad thing about the movie. Because everything else in it is pretty bad ass.

The supporting cast is one of the best I have ever seen. Sean Connery, Ed Harris (who is really, really good in this), Michael Biehn, David Morse, Tony Todd, and the dude who plays Tuco in Breaking Bad all shine in this movie. One of my favorite performances was by John Spencer, an actor I had never heard of before. I Googled him after the movie and found out that he died. That's sad.

The movie is nonstop action almost the entire way. But The Rock is unique in the fact that this never gets tiresome. Scenarios are constantly changing and evolving. The plot moves along at a fast and entertaining clip. The movie is a thrill ride, there is no way around it. I was blown away by how fun it is.

Don't write this off as a cheap dime a dozen action film. It is definitely worth your time.

#2

I enjoyed the original Cloverfield movie. It was intense and a lot of fun. It was a very simple "monster destroys city" movie, but effective and enjoyable. When I heard about this movie, I probably assumed what everyone else did as well: that this would be a sequel to the original Cloverfield. Or if it wasn't necessarily a direct sequel, it would be related in some way.

Not at all actually. Despite having the name Cloverfield in the title, this movie couldn't be more different. The film follows a young woman who wakes up from a serious car accident in a mysterious bunker. She is held captive by a slightly nutty John Goodman. He insists that it is dangerous to leave the bunker and that everyone outside is dead. You don't know whether he is telling the truth and just happens to be a little eccentric, or if he is making it all up and he is absolutely out of his mind. But I will tell you that Goodman is fabulous in the role. He is very creepy and keeps you alert with his unpredictable behavior.

The whole movie keeps you guessing as to what is really going on outside the bunker. It kind of reminded me a little bit of some of the mysteries of the TV show Lost. It felt pretty cool to experience something like that once again, if only for a short little movie like this.

I thought the film was sensational, and I loved every second of it.

#1

You know, I never thought the day would come when a big blockbuster superhero movie would win one of my year end film rankings. Don't get me wrong, I have always liked superhero movies on the whole. But I can't say I have ever been too excited about them.

But that changed with Captain America: Civil War. This movie isn't just about superheroes vs bad guys. In fact, it blurs the line between who exactly is good and who is bad. In the film, a rift opens up between Captain America and Iron Man when concerns are raised that the Avengers have too much freedom and power to do whatever they want. A registration act becomes an area of contention between the opposing superhero factions. Things are further complicated when Captain America's old friend Bucky (The Winter Soldier) shows up at a peace deal and kills a bunch of people.

The side that wants to force the heroes to register themselves want Bucky dead. But Captain America and the anti-registration heroes want to capture him alive and find out the truth about what is going on. The movie becomes a giant hero vs hero battle.

It is epic watching the two sides duke it out. I was more excited by this film than I was any of the Avengers movies. Great plot, great action scenes, characters that you really care about. Twists and turns all over the place. And the cast... so many superheroes! There is something exhilarating about seeing Ant-Man vs Spider-Man vs Captain America vs Iron Man vs Black Widow vs Hawkeye vs Black Panther and so on and so forth.

There is never a dull moment in this movie. And with all the different characters that make appearances here, the film does a brilliant job getting you to care about each and every one of them. I want to see the new Spider-Man now. And I want to see Black Panther. And I want to see the new Ant-Man if and when they ever make one. The next Captain America. The next Iron Man. It goes on and on. Everything is tied together too, which I love about the Marvel cinematic universe. Everything has repercussions which will be felt in the next film.

So yeah this ranks as my favorite movie watched in 2016. I'm probably more surprised that I loved this movie as much as I did than you are. What will 2017 have in store? I don't know, but I have changed up how I do my ranking 2 years in a row now, so I think I'm going to make it #3.

Stay tuned.

Dan's 2016 Movie Ranking: #10 to #6

Well, I had intended to wrap up this ranking in a single post a few days ago. But - big surprise - I got lazy. I'd rather put out something than nothing, however, so here you go. It's not the big conclusion to the list that you all have been waiting for (and by you all, I mean the three people that have been following this ranking) but for now it will have to do.

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#10

Coming into this movie, I thought it would be your standard shark attack film. I didn't have very high hopes.

Turns out I liked the movie a lot more than I had thought I would. This isn't just a cheesy shark film. This is a film about life or death survival. It features a character being tormented by a shark, but it has more substance to it than that. As Blake Lively swims around the ocean from a giant whale carcass to a floating buoy to a random chunk of rock sticking out of the water looking for safe haven, she reflects on what brought her here. Memories of her mother and how this used to be her favorite place.

The movie surprised me because it isn't all action and people getting killed by sharks. It has a heart too. Not only is it very fast paced, intense, and not only did it keep me on the edge of my seat - it pulled me in on an emotional level as well.

Plus, Steven Seagull was a total stud.

This was an excellent movie, but not quite good enough to be a serious contender for favorite movie watched in '16.

#9

Here is another movie I didn't know much about when I started watching it. I had read the premise of the film, but I expected it to be more noir-like, somehow. The basic idea is that a band playing a gig at a seedy club witnesses a murder and is held hostage by the club's owner, who is trying to cover up the crime.

That is the basic idea, but the film is much more brutal than you would expect. There is a lot of violence here, some of it very graphic and lifelike. The physical and psychological torture some of these characters go through can be tough to watch. The whole film is very intense, and the level of dread the characters feel is palpable in the air.

I always look for movies that can elicit a strong emotional response, and this one does just that. You can't help but feel on the edge of your seat the whole way through. It is just so suspenseful. My only complaint is that I really feel that Patrick Stewart could have been amazing as a bad guy, but he is way too subdued here. He's the main reason I watched, but I was a little let down by his performance.

#8

I have seen this movie many times in my life, but I never really sat down and watched it and focused on it until my viewing in 2016. In the past I have found this movie to be just okay, but watching it now I loved it and was really fascinated by it.

This film is loosely based on the life of the Marquis DeSade. In the movie, he is being held captive at a mental hospital. He's done terrible things in his past. Violence, rape. I think it is hinted that he murdered someone. He also writes a lot of sexually graphic stories, which are taboo for his time. He smuggles them out of the mental hospital with the help of Kate Winslet's character. She is a chambermaid that takes out his laundry.

The whole movie is very, very entertaining. There is a big and colorful cast of characters. The Marquis himself is the biggest character of all, but the people he shares occupancy with at the mental hospital really add to the carnival-esque tone of the film.

Things get darker in the second half of the movie when the Marquis's stories are traced back to the hospital, and someone is brought in to stop him from writing by any means necessary.

I was fascinated by the film and its violent and at the same time very sexual tone. But also by the character of the Marquis himself. You can tell a movie has piqued my interest when I research it after the fact (which I normally don't do). Quills definitely left a big impression on me.

#7

I thought the Rocky franchise was dead and had nowhere else to go. This isn't technically a Rocky movie, but it does prove that there is still life in the film's story line.

Creed follows the boxing career of Adonis, an orphaned boy who finds out that world famous boxer Apollo Creed was his dad. He follows in his dad's footsteps to become the best ever, teaming up with Rocky Balboa who vows to train him to the best of his ability. The two have their ups and downs, but become very close in the process.

The movie not only makes you feel good with Adonis and his underdog story, it also tugs at the heartstrings as Rocky suffers health problems and spends some time in the hospital. The acting is really great in this movie, and it made me shed a few tears while watching.

This was a great movie that I would rank above several movies in the Rocky franchise. I was very impressed bu the film and hope to see a sequel some day.

#6

It is actually a little disappointing to me that this film "only" ranks number 6 on my list. I had been looking forward to this for a long time, and was hoping that it would blow me away as one of the best Star Wars films of all time.

While it is certainly an excellent movie, I expected better. The first half of the film is a little bit of a mess. Too many worlds, too many characters, too many odd situations where you don't know what the heck is going on. Once things start to come together a bit, however, the whole movie turns itself around.

I had a really great time with the second half of the film. It was vintage Star Wars with the big battles and the epic musical score. The movie really shines with its tone in the second half. The whole underdog story, that feeling of hopelessness like the main characters have to do everything themselves, or they will all be wiped out. There is this certain feeling of dread that permeates the whole second half of the movie that I found to be very well done.

It is a sad movie too, with a lot of heartfelt moments. Major spoilers coming up, so be forewarned. But about a half hour into the movie I got this feeling in my stomach like "oh crap everyone is going to die, aren't they?" A lot of characters from the film appear in later Star Wars movies, but all the main ones are nowhere to be seen. So I was pretty sure that they were all going to die getting their hands on the plans, and that is exactly what happened.

Many manly tears were shed while watching this movie.

So while this movie wasn't necessarily as great as I had hoped it would be, I still consider it a very worthy addition to the Star Wars universe.





Still in contention:
The Revenant
Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Captain America: Civil War
10 Cloverfield Lane
The Rock

Video Game Review: Taz-Mania

Taz-Mania

Sega Genesis

The year: 1992. I was ten years old when Taz-Mania hit the shelves. This was a game that I really, really wanted and would stop at nothing to get. It looked super cool, super fun. The graphics looked amazing. Plus I had always really loved the character of the Tasmanian Devil. It seemed natural that this would be a game I would be excited about.

My mom took me to Funco Land where you get to try a game before you buy it. I didn't even need to play it five minutes to know that I was going to love the game. I took it home, and played it obsessively for weeks on end. I mastered this game. I made it my bitch.

But eventually I moved on from this game. Over the years I ended up giving away or trading in most of my Genesis games. Now here we stand in 2017. This game has been out for 25 years now. This makes me feel very old. But nostalgic, too. I have been on a kick lately of playing older games from my childhood and then posting my thoughts about them on this blog. So when I got my hands on a copy of Taz-Mania (one of many Genesis games currently loaned to me from my cousin Ryan) of course I was going to want to play it and review it here.

My initial thought was that I was going to breeze through the game in one try and have my review up by the end of the day. Boy was I wrong about that. This game is much more difficult than I remember it being. The problem is not that the game is consistently difficult. In fact, many of the levels are quite easy. But there are a few particularly difficult and annoying stages that make you want to throw your controller at the television in anger. But of course, we don't do that because we're better than that. Right?

Before we talk about the stages I have in mind, I will fill you in on the basic premise of the game. Remember Taz, the Tasmanian Devil from the cartoon? Well, Taz's father is telling his kids about an ancient land with giant eggs that could feed a family for an entire month. Or maybe it was a year? Something like that. I forget the exact amount of time, but you get the picture. Taz of course immediately runs off in excitement to search for one of these eggs.

The game begins. The first thing you notice: Taz-Mania is a 2D side scroller. If you have ever played a game like Super Mario Bros. or Sonic the Hedgehog, you know what that means. And if you don't, I don't know what to say to the likes of you.

Controlling Taz, you must work your way through each level. You will notice between stages a map screen of the progress you are making. Ancient, giant mystical eggs, here we come!

Taz jumps. He spins. He eats. He can pick things up and throw things. He consumes chili peppers which allow him to spit fire. These are your basic actions in the game. It took me a few minutes to adjust to the game's controls. Moving and jumping can feel a bit stiff. I got the hang of it relatively quickly, but I still had to burn a continue on the game's very first level. LOL. That never happens to me. I almost reset the game but my lazy ass couldn't be moved from the couch to hit the button.

So I kept on. I actually ended up doing okay until I hit something I had long forgotten about. The dreaded mine cart level. I don't know why game makers always have to torment us with overly difficult mine cart levels. As soon as I jumped in that thing and crashed into a barricade, all these horrible memories came rushing back to me.

This level is a departure from all of its preceding levels. You begin it on foot, as usual. But less than 10 seconds into the stage you are forced to jump into a mine cart. And it is off to the races. There are barricades along the way you must avoid. You do this by pulling a switch that raises the cart high off the tracks. But then you have to make sure you lower yourself or you will hit the ceiling. There are also gaps in the tracks. You either have to go super fast or slow down to make it over the gaps safely.

The whole level moves really, really fast. And there is no margin for error. Prepare to die while playing this. Many, many times. The whole thing is trial and error. There is a pattern but you must memorize it. And the only way to memorize it is to keep trying again and again and again and again....

Eventually after about 4 or 5 complete game play-throughs I finally did it. I thought I could rest easy because the rest of the game would be a cakewalk compared to that. Nope.

The next level is just as hard. You are still underground, still in the mines. You must navigate a maze of tunnels using an old elevator system. The problem is - some of these elevators give out and fall, plunging you toward your death with little to no warning.

And there are also some of the hardest jumps in platform gaming history here in this stage. Having to jump from swinging cage to swinging cage at high speeds is extremely nerve wracking. There are several death defying jumps in this stage. One mistake and back to the checkpoint you go. I failed miserably on several more complete game play-throughs.

Finally, something clicked and I finally was able to squeak through the stage. I nearly had a heart attack about 8 times with all the dangerous jumps I had to complete, but I did it. The rest of the game from there was easy-peasy.

This is a pretty fun and imaginative platforming game. I loved it as a kid. I enjoyed playing it as an adult as well. Overall the game is a decent challenge, although most of the challenge came from the mine levels. But it has great sound, great graphics. Its funny. Some of the levels are an absolute blast too. I was always partial to the stages where you have to jump from log to log in the river. And the stage where your spin move takes out an entire tribe of those pink creature things. I always loved doing that and I don't know why.

As much as I liked it way back when, and as much as I enjoyed playing it now, I realize that the game is no all time classic. It is fun and all, but it has flaws. Its not easy to pick up and play immediately and get the hang of. Some of the levels are a little unfairly challenging. It is short.

It just doesn't have "it". Whatever it is that certain classics like Ducktales and Super Mario Bros have. It is fun and all, but ultimately a tad forgettable. I liked it and I will give it a decent score. But now that I am done playing I will likely never pick it up again.

Good game? Yes. Great game? No.

Overall:

B

Dan's 2016 Movie Ranking: #20 to #11

We started with fifty. Now into the top twenty we move. It is finally going to start getting difficult, as only ten movies will remain at the end of this post.

What will rank #1 as my favorite movie watched in 2016? We're almost there.

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#20

I first learned of this movie while reading a clickbait article about the ten most disturbing films that were hard to sit through. I am a fan of the disturbing so I immediately decided to check it out, even though the article didn't really go into much detail about what the movie would be about.

The movie is about two young boys who just happen to be psychopaths. They dress nicely, they act politely. They show up at people's door steps, asking for a favor. And then they weasel their way into the house, take over, and psychologically torment the family before killing them.

In the movie they seem to be making their way through the inhabitants of a gated community. The main character, played by Naomi Watts, sees these guys at her neighbors' house. The neighbors seem to be acting strangely. Later on, when these guys show up at her door and start terrorizing her, she realizes that her neighbors must have been going through the same ordeal. 

The movie is not all about gore or physical violence. There is physical violence, but not much of it. It instead focuses on the psychological horror side of things. The implied threat of violence. The two boys are very creepy. They remain polite and formal the whole time while doing these awful things. You think maybe they will see reason and go away, but no. They don't.

I liked the movie's tense atmosphere. The film will keep you on edge nearly the whole way as you watch it. That is not easy an easy thing to pull off. I would rank this movie higher, but I didn't like the ending much. No justice or revenge is served. Plus it is open ended. I've mentioned multiple times over the years on this blog that I prefer closure rather than having things finish open ended. That always bugs me.

#19

Again, if I was making a ranking of my favorite movies of all time, this would be right up there in the top ten. It is arguably the best Star Wars movie ever made. While I have a hard time picking my favorite Star Wars film, I can't necessarily say that people who love this one the most are wrong. It is a great movie.

I watched this right at the end of 2016. I had just finished Rogue One and a New Hope. I figured: eh, why not just keep going and watch the rest of the Star Wars films? Unfortunately I didn't get around to Return of the Jedi until 2017, so it won't appear on this ranking.

The first half of the movie, I was a little bored. I've watched the battle scene on Hoth a countless number of times in my life. It holds no surprises for me anymore. Luke's training on Dagobah: same. The parts I found most interesting were when Leia and Han were working on the Falcon in the asteroid. And everything after they arrive at Cloud City. Lando's betrayal is epic. The "I know" scene. The music. Luke and Vader's big lightsaber duel, followed by Vader's bombshell.

The whole second half of the movie is fantastic. But it did take me a while to get into. Not the movie's fault - it is my own for watching this so many times in my life. But its so good, I can't help it. I am going to try to let ten years pass before I watch the original Star Wars films again. I probably won't get that far, but I think it would be neat to watch this after not seeing it for ten years and having all the memories come flooding back at me.

#18

I am normally not into movies like this, but American Sniper was so built up and so talked about by people I know that I just had to break down and watch it.

This is definitely a big time propaganda film, and transparently so. I can't deny that. Woo go America. The superheroes and good guys of the world! 

Not everything is that black and white in real life, but I could put aside that fact as I watched the movie. It tells the story of Chris Kyle. He is a Southern All-American rodeo boy who decides to do his part for the country and enlist in the military. He becomes the most decorated sniper of all time, racking up a large number of kills and saving a countless number of lives in the progress. The movie chronicles his achievements, plus the way he copes with all of the death in his life.

Again, he is shown as the ultimate American hero who can do no wrong for his country. Accurate or not, I don't know. But you can empathize with him as a character and feel the effect his job has had on his personal life. At the end of the movie he comes home and really struggles with the things he had to do.

The tragic thing about his story is that after all he survived overseas, he is killed by a fellow ex-soldier with PSTD when he gets home. It was someone he was trying to help to cope with affects of the war.

Say what you want about whether or not the movie glorifies war and death. If it is propaganda or not. Question its accuracy if you like. But if you just look at it as a movie, and nothing else, it does its job well. It is expertly filmed. You feel for the main character. The action is intense. I didn't find a dull moment in the whole movie. It hits home emotionally. I had a great time with it.

I wish Kyle's actual death would have been more than just grazed over. It is basically a footnote at the very end of the film. I feel as if they missed a big chance to get the audience to shed some tears doing it that way. But it is what it is.

#17

I didn't know a whole lot about this movie when I sat down to watch it. I vaguely remember hearing that it was unique because it was one of the first movies of its kind (a thriller) to feature a mainly black cast. Props to the movie for that. This is a genre that has historically been dominated by white actors and actresses. But once the movie begins, you forget about all that stuff. Because race aside it really is a fun movie.

This is perhaps my favorite Idris Elba role. He is menacing and very intimidating. You can't help but feel uncomfortable and on edge watching him. He plays a brutal, violent criminal who escapes from prison and comes back home to find the woman who left him behind. He sees her with another man, and that throws him into a frenzy and he kills her. He then leaves, only to crash his car in the woods on his way out of the city. He comes to the door of a woman who is at home with her child after her husband has left out of town. She lets him in, only to realize something is not right with the man. He begins to terrorize her and the little kid. Things get messier when a friend pops by the house to visit.

The movie seems like a standard "don't open the door!" thriller type movie until we get to the end, and then there is a relatively big twist. Things aren't as random as they seem, with this man showing up at this particular house. It is clever how things are tied together.

So I enjoyed the movie a lot. There are a few moments where you have to shake your head in frustration because the main character keeps doing things that seemingly go against what every woman should do when faced with a threat to herself, her home, and her child. It is so unrealistic and eye-rolling that it takes you out of the movie a little bit. But other than that, I thought this was great.

#16

With all the issues about race swirling around the United States these days, I figured it would be a good time to go back and watch a movie like American History X. Even though this movie came out nearly 20 years ago, it is sad to see that not much has changed since then.

The film follows a white supremacist who is thrown in jail after brutally murdering some black men who were breaking into his house. Anyone who knows what a curb stomp is... well that came from this movie. He comes out of jail several years later a reformed man. He is dismayed to see that his younger brother has followed in his black hating footsteps in his absence.

The younger brother, who is doing horribly in school, is pulled into the principal's office. The principal (Captain Sisko from DS9! Great actor, don't know why he is not in more stuff) gives the boy a do or die assignment: to write about his brother, his jailing, and his experiences with race.

The boy talks to his brother, who is trying to reform him and get him to change his racist ways. The two butt heads, but the paper gets written. Just when it looks like he is starting to turn the corner with his viewpoint, the younger brother is shot and killed by a group of black kids who he had previously given a hard time about the color of their skin.

It is a powerful and hard hitting movie that isn't afraid to tackle a particularly touchy subject. It can be hard to watch, but there are lessons to be learned from this film. It touches on hate and why hate exists in the world. It touches on the fact that everyone has a reason for their views, no matter how much you may disagree with them. It shows the good in even the most vile individuals. And it shows that no matter how lost someone may appear, anyone can change. You just have to make sure you do it before its too late.

#15

I think I watched this shortly after I had finished my epic rewatch of the entire series run of the Walking Dead. I was on a big zombie kick at the time. I watched Zombieland in that time frame too. It only made sense to then sit down and watch the grandfather of them all: Night of the Living Dead.

I know this movie is old. If you are some young kid you may think this movie is cheesy, especially some of the lines at the beginning. I, however, think it is perfect. It is the first zombie movie I ever saw, so it is the movie by which I judge anything zombie related.

It is a very creepy movie. I think it has aged well. The black and white adds to the movie's authenticity. You really feel that there could be a zombie outbreak, and if there was - this is kind of how it would go down. There is gore, but the movie doesn't overwhelm you with it. Mostly it is the hopelessness of what the heck is going on and how are we going to survive this?

The film focuses on a group of strangers who are holed up in a lonely farmhouse in the middle of nowhere. All they know is that there is some kind of outbreak causing people to turn into mindless zombies who attack and eat other people. Some in the house want to hide in the cellar until things pass over. Some want  to fortify the house and fight off the zombies, knowing that if they hide in the cellar they could be trapped forever.

The hero of the movie, Ben, is the one who wants to fortify the house. He is portrayed as the good guy the whole movie, and rightfully so. He seems to be the only one tough enough and smart enough to survive this thing. But you get the feeling that other people disagree with him even when they know he is right, if only because the color of his skin.

The tension level is high in the house. It is even higher outside as the zombies are gathering and trying to get in. In the ultimate twist of fate, the characters fail to defend the house and the zombies get in. Ben, the lone survivor, is forced to retreat to the cellar and take shelter. It turned out to be the right move after all, as a rescue party shows up the following day. Ben, however, is taken for a zombie and shot on sight.

Everyone dies. The end.

It is a great movie, and it still holds up today. It all seems so believable in this film. It holds the distinction of being one of the few movies out there capable of being able to legitimately scare me while watching it.

#14

I'm sure this seems an odd choice to rank so highly to some people. It is very comic book-y. It's over the top. It's not very well acted. It is silly when its trying to be serious.

But damn it, the movie is FUN. It is about a scientist who is working on perfecting human skin masks or prosthetics for the disfigured. These masks are indistinguishable from real human skin, but the only problem is they break down and melt if they spend enough time in the light.

The scientist's girlfriend catches wind of some kind of mobster real estate scheme and she is thinking about blowing the lid on it. It would be a huge news story. Unfortunately, the mobsters come looking for her, and they find the scientist instead. They destroy his lab and kill his assistant. They torture the scientist and leave him for dead, setting up a bomb to destroy the place as they leave. The bomb detonates and the scientist is tossed into the water. Everyone believes him to be dead.

Turns out he survived the blast. He comes back burned to a crisp, all nerve endings scorched so he can't feel pain anymore. He goes back to his lab and salvages enough of the equipment to make masks of the mobsters. He uses these masks to infiltrate the gang and take revenge on the men who destroyed his life.

It is a really fun movie. I was probably sitting there watching it with a big goofy grin on my face the whole time. It is fast paced. Violent. The bad guys get what's coming to them. As I mentioned, the movie seems silly in parts where it is trying to be serious. But that is part of its charm and appeal. It all just works for some reason.

Fun movie. Obviously it is no cinematic masterpiece but I really enjoyed it a lot.

#13

I've brought up the point a couple of times while writing this blog that scary movies often don't scare me at all. I like scary movies and I think they are fun, but they just for whatever reason flat out don't scare me.

That changed with the Nightmare. I had read that this was a haunting documentary about night terrors and sleep paralysis. I had never experienced either of these things, but the topic did intrigue me.

The movie interviews several people, and they talk about their experiences while sleeping. Many of these stories involve a heightened sense of tension. They are in bed but can't move. A dark figure enters the room. Crazy things happen. The dreamer thinks he or she is about to die. And then they wake up, terrified out of their damn minds. This happens to them every single night.

A lot of the reenactments are very spooky. Especially considering that these are things that have happened to actual people. I was skeptical at first but the fact that it happens to so many people who don't even know each other makes me think. How can so many people have the same dream where they can't move, and the same mysterious dark figure comes into the room and torments them?

 It is a very freaky movie that sent chills down my spine more times than I could count. It is a rare thing for a movie to legitimately creep me out like this. But The Nightmare accomplished that task and I have to give the film makers props. Great job.

#12

I know that this is a classic comedy and all, but I had never watched Coming to America until last year.

I figured it was time to finally give in and watch the film since I had always heard how funny it was and how much everyone loved it. Comedy is not my favorite genre, but I really liked the movie too.

My favorite comedy films tend to be movie with "fish out of water" characters. And Coming to America definitely fits that bill. Eddie Murphy plays a rich African prince who is unhappy with his prearranged wedding and comes to America to find a bride of his own choosing.

He comes to New York City, where no one knows he is a prince or he has money. The interactions he has with people are amazing and hilarious. The prince is such a relatable and lovable character too. You can't help but root for him during all his misadventures.

You know a movie is good when it leaves you wanting more. When this movie ended I went through Prince Akeem withdrawals. He is such a great character I was hoping there was a sequel, a spinoff, SOMETHING I could watch with more of him in it. But no.

I had a great time with this movie. It left me wondering how I had never seen it before. If I had to rank my favorite comedies of all time, this would definitely make my top 10.

#11

I had seen Platoon before, but it had been several years since my last viewing. So it was essentially like I was watching it for the first time.

Unlike Saving Private Ryan, this movie is less about big battles and more about the individual struggles of war. It is more about the characters. How they interact with each other under inhuman conditions. How they laugh, fight, agree, disagree. How they struggle with each other for power.

Each character in the movie has his own unique, well fleshed out personality. Sure there are some caricatures (the bad guys are 100% bad and evil) but for the most part everyone seems well thought out. How all these different personalities react during such trying times is fascinating to watch.

It is a hard hitting movie with a lot of emotional moments. The film is definitely not for the faint or weak of heart. A lot of moments will make you smile. Most of them, though, are very uncomfortable and deal with subjects we don't see a lot from the comfort of our homes and couches.

I often measure a movie's greatness by how much I think about it after the closing credits. Some movie I am just like "oh that was fun" and then I move on to other activities. Some really affect me and make me think and reevaluate my opinions in life. This was definitely one of the latter types of movies for me.




Ten films to go. Here are the remaining movies still in contention for my favorite film watched in 2016:

Creed
The Revenant
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Quills

Green Room

Captain America: Civil War
10 Cloverfield Lane
The Shallows
The Rock
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story