Sonic 3 - The Shadow of Knuckles

The first thing I would like to advise all of you to do, before I begin this movie review, is show up late to the movie theater. Usually, showing up early to movies now means that you will be bombarded with multiples upon multiples of commercials. These are not trailers for the most part, they are actual commercials and there are entirely too many of them. There are so many that they actually delay the movie BEFORE they finally get to some mediocre looking movie trailers. Waiting for this movie was like pulling anxious teeth and by the time it actually started, I almost forgot what I went to go see in the first place. 

Sonic 3 starts off very inconsistently. For some reason, the first few scene are choppy and feel very rushed. The story goes from Japan to England within the blink of an eye. It isn't until we get introduced to Dr. Robotnik's long lost grandfather that we finally start to feel like the story has become more evenly told and the characters become more fleshed out. 

Shadow is one of the highlights of the film as a whole. Not only is his backstory well told but it is also very heartfelt. While his strength is a tiny bit inconsistent from time to time, and his redemption is a little rushed, he is one of the most entertaining factors in the film. Jim Carrey plays both Dr. Robotniks and they even acknowledge this in a meta moment that got a good bunch of laughs in the theater.

It was good to see that they did not forget about Tails or Knuckles in this whole thing. It would have been very easy for them to leave them behind to focus on Sonic along with Shadow, but they included all of them in the action and the moral of the story. They still kept them relevant to the plot and they even had some very good comedic moments as friends. It was heartwarming to see how close they had become and it was always a treat to hear Idres Elba as Knuckles. 

They even brought the human characters back, and thankfully kept Rachel out of it aside from a cameo appearance. Where her wedding scene was the worst part of the second movie, her small partial role in this was actually useful and even somewhat comedic. Pretzel Lady and Donut Lord do not have as large of roles in this, but they are included to the benefit of the story. Even the comedy relief cop guy was in it for two seconds in something of a lame appearance, but thankfully he is given to us in a small serving. 

Jim Carrey in his dual role is a very good bunch of scenes, and they even gave Agent Stone a very meaningful part, while dropping his more corny one-liners. In many ways, this gives it a better edge than the second movie, where they leaned a little heavy on his comedy routine with the evil doctor. Robotnik and his grandfather have a complicated relationship that is actually a little heartwrenching, especially with the elder Robotnik's ties to Shadow's backstory. 

The story is simple and while the beginning is a bit rushed, the eb and flow of the plot goes well and keeps up a steady pace through the second and third act. They even give enough fanservice to the audience without outright insulting their intelligence. The fanservice is earned rather than the normal forceful intentions we've seen from other, less successful studios in their recent productions. It goes to show that there are still those out there who understand their source material, especially when they only bend the story slightly to allow for more crowd pleasing. It does my soul good to see that this has been reflected in their ticket sales. 

While the story is deeper, it's not overly complex and we get to see plenty of comedy and action where it is needed. There are cracks here and there when Shadow delivers a punch to Donut Lord that is taken more seriously than the other scenes of violence. It's still a good movie for kids, even given the deeper plot, and there are plenty of laughs to be had with Jim Carrey, along with Sonic and friends. Keanu Reeves feels like he is giving a serious, but also genuine performance to round out his part in the new cast. 

It's something to be said that this is the third entry in the franchise, as it not only stays with the level of quality we've seen but also outshines the previous entries in more than one way. To say this is a rarity for a video game movie to stay the course and deliver a great threequel is an understatement. Even the best video game franchises have tripped at this point in their creation and it's wonderful to see Sonic 3 is a proud addition. Let's hope they keep it up, because it's obvious that they're going to keep surfing along this wave. There still seems to be more to tell and they thankfully kept it open for a fourth installment. The Blue Blur speeds on and we're here to see where he zooms. 

Dragon Ball GT Final Bout (PS1) - I'm a Goku! - Virtuamehameha #2

When the early fans of Dragon Ball look back, many will look back at when Toriyama Akira wrote his greatest scenes: Goku meeting Krillin, the Dragon Ball Tournaments, Vegeta vs Goku, Trunks killing Freeza, maybe even the awesome scenes with the Ginyu Force. One thing many of them do not tend to recall is Dragon Ball GT. For those who do not know, GT is Grand Tour, the series that Toei wanted Toriyama to do, but he was done. Akira Toriyama pulled out of the series, but Toei still maintained the anime rights, so they went ahead with the project. 

It is famously known that Akira did not like what they did to his series. So many characters were cast aside and powered down for seemingly no reason. Character designs were made far worse where Vegeta's hairstyle changed and he grew a mustache, Gohan was made especially skinny and wore glasses, and the artstyle itself grew more and more distant from earlier designs. They also turned Goku back into a kid in an obvious attempt to recapture the magic of Dragon Ball in its hayday. However, they didn't pay attention to the important things, like story progression or tone. Many found the themes of the episodes hollow and many of the stories were obviously synthetically elongated to fill an episode duration while seemingly nothing was accomplished. 

While GT boasts some impressive fights between characters and a genuinely touching ending, fans couldn't really build up a lot of enthusiasm about it. That seems to be where the developers' headspace was when they created Dragon Ball GT Final Bout. This game has so many corners cut, so many glitches and misgivings on characters and other elements that many have wholly forgotten about its existence entirely. For being such a forgettable title, it has the distinction of being the first Dragon Ball game to be fully rendered in 3D and it is the final Dragon Ball game to be created for the PS1.

It's also not even technically a DBGT game, as it doesn't have any story elements from Dragon Ball GT other than shallow character references. Beyond this, the game has no story, what little dialogue it has is cringeworthy and shallow, and what little features it does have, it does very badly. 

The closest thing you get to a story mode is a build up mode. This is an interesting concept that would be carried onto other fighting games like Smash Brothers WiiU and Ultimate, where you can train fighters and build them up through levels. The problem with this is the fighting itself. The controls, the mechanics and just about everything about this game is rather terrible. Even if the graphics are blocky and charmingly 1997 graphics, it doesn't stop this title from being very worn and aged like fine rotted goat cheese. 

Now, what is the twist? I love this game! You heard me correctly, as terrible and horrible as this title is, it is the spice of life that made sleepovers so great. Back in the day, this was a ghost of a title among many US Dragon Ball fans because Dragon Ball GT didn't get released in America until the early 2000's. It had wrapped up in Japan already in 1997. At that point, DBZ was still trying to get the Funimation studio going on Season 3. The Japanese Dragon Ball Z and GT series beyond the second half of the Freeza Saga was all shrouded in mystery. So, when someone came over to our house with his Playstation, he brought this little gem out. 

As terrible as it is, it's just fun to wail on each other! Sure, you can break out FighterZ and Budokai 3 any day, but back then, our titles were rather limited. There existed better fighting games, but this was in full 3D and there were our favorite characters and Pan. Yes, sorry, no one really liked Pan.

Either way, the early days of Dragon Ball were rather mixed up thanks to some misfires in the US before Toonami bought up the rights and released Season 2 while we waited for Season 3 to get dubbed. When you talked about anything as far as Dragon Ball GT, it's like you were talking about space age stuff in the middle of the Industrial Revolution. GT is not looked back upon fondly, but it is a piece of DB history that seems to go together with the nostalgia goggles quite nicely. We can only hope that the shock of this being a guilty pleasure is enough to make you forget that this is literally the first Playstation 1 game I've ever officially reviewed. Virtua Shame.

Christmas Nights - A True Christmas

 This Christmas, we're going to look at one of the more obscure titles on the Saturn. Even with its obscurity, more and more attention is starting to arise for this game. That's a wonderful thing, because this game is so simple, yet so complicated at the same time. It has so many different features attached to it according to the days that you play it. If you play it on Christmas, you get an even better feature that I will not spoil for you. 

This game only has one level and one boss, but that's because it was a special feature made for a magazine promotion. It's a reskin of Nights, but they obviously put their hearts and souls into it and made it absolutely gorgeous. Even the story mode behind it is exceedingly simple. There's a huge Christmas tree in the city, but it has no star. So, you beat the level with both characters to get the star. That's it. It goes out of its way to just show you how beautiful it is with Jingle Bells playing in the background and all of the wonderful decorations it put up throughout the level. 

What I would like to draw attention to, aside from the many features and secrets, aside from the gameplay and the rarity of this title, is the message it conveys. The people in Twin Seeds are all distressed and rushing through the holiday season. They are not happy, they are busy buying toys and scurrying through the streets to get where they are going. Claris and Elliot look on this in distress and notice that the star is missing atop the giant Christmas tree. 

Once they find the star, people seem much happier and able to enjoy the time of year. They seem to bring happiness to the citizens of Twin Seeds and let people slow down and take their time. That's the message we need to listen to, folks. No matter if you celebrate Christmas, no matter what you celebrate, as long as you are happy and those around you are happy along with you. Make sure you are able to enjoy this time of year, even if it seems to bring a lot of stress along with it. Simmer down, breathe, and find someone to share it with. The holiday season was not put here to bring you misery, even if some people seem to think otherwise. 

Obviously, putting a big star on top of a giant Christmas tree is not going to instantly fix everyone's problems here in this plane of existence. The message here is that you need to bring about your own joy and share it with others. There's always someone out there looking for someone else to share their experiences with and we here on Planet Virtua want you to help bring that joy to life. So, from all of us here, we wish you a Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas and a joyful New Year. Singing those Virtua Dreams.

Christmas on Planet Virtua 2024!

 Here on Planet Virtua, we celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve! Strange, yeah I know, but who cares! Come have egg nog! We're not going to invade you! While we sit here and eat our cookies, we like to think about the good old Christmas mornings of old. Some of the old systems showed up in boxes and we all remember that we couldn't get the boxes open fast enough. 

Sadly, it seems that those days are from the times of old. More and more, we're seeing video games on digital systems with no disc. It's a good thing that Stadia went nowhere, but that's not saying it wouldn't have worked. The longer we stick with physical media, the better. Is there a good side to owning digital? Of course, but who wants to wake up and open your Playstation store, find new games in your library only to need to download them, install them and patch them over the next three hours? 

Classic gaming is the way to go when you give new media to loved ones. Give them something they can pop in and play, or you'll just be deleting games from your storage to make someone happy. Santa is there to deliver the presents, he can't just sit there and pick which games you don't want to play, making way for 20 gigabytes a pop. 

The solution? Hit the game stores! Used game stores have consoles of old and they can be some of the most engrossing titles. You don't need to spend much more than a 100 USD to have a Merry Christmas or whatever other holiday you celebrate. If you have people you want to entertain, take some of these into consideration.

Nintendo 64

While these better known titles can be rather expensive, nothing can be said about the hours upon hours of family entertainment that it is clearly capable. The cartridges it has in its library are sturdy and long lasting. You will be hard pressed to not find some great 2-player game or two. Even if you can't get 007 GoldenEye, the chances are you can find Mario Kart 64 for at least a decent price. Quake is a multiplayer capable port for this and you can have mindless fits of glee killing each other in arena combat. 

If you wish to do cooperative, there is plenty of that here as well! Gauntlet Legends will allow you to work together to cut through rows upon rows of orcs sksletons and goblins. The N64 is perfect to just pull out and play whether you want to play with someone else or if you want to play by yourself and/or with someone as a spectator. 

Sega Genesis

That's right, we're going Sonic 2 and 3 for some of the greatest in 2-player goodness. Whether you want Mortal Kombat or Street Fighter 2, this is your baby. Blast Processing may not be an actual thing, but it sounded cool and honestly became something of a fond memory in early gaming memes. 

For a little extra co-op, look toward the Adventures of Batman and Robin (not the movie of the same period, mind you) along with Toejam and Earl! Some of the greatest 2D titles can be seen on the Sega Genesis, even if it doesn't seem to get as much praise as the SNES. Streets of Rage 2 and Contra Hardcore are two hidden gems that seem to go overlooked a lot on the Genesis but you put any of these games into your machine and you're bound to find one that you'll quite possibly love. 

Playstation 2

This system was made especially with families in mind. While you may not consider it an old school system, it still doesn't require patching. Even the PS3 is guilty of patching and updating games before you play them, and then it's not nearly as bad as the ones we have now. The Playstation 2 came at the time right before multiplayer went primarily online. There are still so many games with local multiplayer like the legendary title, Twisted Metal Black. 

To say destroying your loved one's vehicles with missiles and miniguns is satisfying would be such an enormous understatement. You completely destroy them in huge gales of smoke and fire and it is glorious! 

Baldur's Gate II: Dark Alliance is 100% co-op friendly. In fact, the game is easier with two people with the puzzles you need to solve. With one as a caster and another as a warrior, you can beat down your enemies with no problems and have a ton of fun while doing it. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is an amazing example of technology that is scarce even today. With such an enormous world to explore, having two people in one game to do it is something of a marvel in gaming in general. 

There's a ton of local multiplayer options in the early to mid-2000's, and even into the PS3 era. Here at Planet Virtua, we're all about the physical media you can pop and play with a loved one. Christmas morning, don't forget the money-saving presents that can bring a family together. Even if it's a passing fancy, it gives them something that they can come back to. Just a few titles in your library like this and maybe a few for some self therapy with some good story. 

The Konami Triforce - Don't Punch the Machine

 

The arcades were once a treasure trove of gaming greatness. Everyone loved eating a pizza, throwing some quarters into the machines and going to town on some pixelated baddies. There were three of all of these arcade games that stood out among the rest with beat'em up greatness in their veins. These three games are none other than the Simpsons, X-men and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. These three are remembered for their game mechanics and graphics, along with how many quarters they drained from our pockets.

TMNT stands among the greats for its enormous graphical superiority that does not stray from the original 1987 cartoon's greatness. This doesn't just pertain to the four turtles, this also goes for Shredder, Bebop, Rocksteady and all of the foot ninja. Taking down Killer Pizzas, Leatherhead and Krang never felt so good until the Konami came along and did great things for the Turtles themselves. 

While it may be considered inferior to its successor, TMNT IV: Turtles in Time, this game does not slouch in the slightest. Levels like the Technodrome and the sewers have been seen as some of the more iconic in the series. There are some annoyances here and there, especially when it comes to the flying villains that you can only jump kick. This is most prominent with Baxter Stockman, but thankfully, it is seldom seen throughout the game.

The Simpsons was in its hayday when they decided to put them into an arcade machine. The fighting mechanics and the imagery just scream fandom for the old TV show. The plot is very simple, Maggie got a diamon in her mouth, Smithers kidnapped her and you need to go save her. Apparently, Mr. Burns has a lot of influence because you suddenly find yourself fighting through droves of people and animals and whatever else decides to take a swing at you. 

There are a lot of familiar faces throughout the whole game. Milhouse, Nelson, Principal Skinner to name just a few. It's really cool that they gave them all their own styles of fighting. While Homer can punch with his fists, Marge carries her vaccuum to swing at the ne'er-do-wells. There are a lot of different levels through the game, namely Mr. Burns' powerplant and the cemetary. It's all a fantastic spectacle for any who know the deep, long, maybe overly long lore of the Simpsons. This was a simpler time, though. This was when they were good. 

X-men once had a different TV series in mind before they went with the 1992 Fox Kids Cartoon for Saturday mornings. If you would like a glimpse of this former series, you need only watch the original pilot that was turned into an X-men TV special called "Pryde of the X-men" because it was going to star Kitty Pryde, or Shadow Cat for those in the know. 

They took this concept and brought it into a game before the series was ultimately cancelled, but with the existance of the special and the 92 series, made it to where this never lost relevance. Fighting sentinels, robots and strange other mutations is amazing when it comes to using your mutant powers. There are some amazing powers on view here. The favorites here have to be either Wolverine's laser claw slashes or Colossus with his power up that everyone knows "OOOOOOAAAAAHHH!!!!!"

It takes a lot to make a truly great beat'em up. Where some have failed, these three have succeeded with every category. Their graphics, hit mechanics, power ups, powers and enemies have to be among the greatest in gaming. They are very reflective of the TV series they all represent (or were going to represent) and remain gems that need more ports. More people need to play them! More punches and kicks need to be done against foot ninjas and punk yellow kids who think they can pop an attitude! Virtua Pop'em in the Face!!!  

Doomverse #18 - Doom Creators

 

Thanks to John Carmack and John Romero, Doom was made to last. One community that Carmack respected and loved was the hackers. To that end, he made Doom into an easily hackable game where they can change everything about the outlook and mechanics, swapping out content to make it customized to however you want.

Even if you can't modify the game mechanics, you can still create your own maps using Doom's own components. The only limit is your imagination and thanks to the enginuity of many modders and mappers, Doom has stood the test of time and still remains one of the strongest and longest lasting game fandoms. Doom WADs (or Doom "Where's All the Data" files) can be tampered with, edited and changed to your liking. Just remember to get the creator's permission before you start messing with their maps.

Doom mods like Brutal Doom, Project Brutality, Doom Zero and No Rest for the Living, created their own entities of Doom and freshened up its concept many times over. People hold Doom Mapping contests all the time and one trip through the community will put countless Doom maps and mods at your disposal and enjoyment at no extra cost.

If Doom is your game, you owe it to yourself to try out these different mods. To get into the community, get GZDoom and start looking for commuities with maps and mods. The space taken up in a more modern computer will be minimal compared to the enjoyment you'll get. 

Mods like Brutal Doom and Project Brutality up the violence factor, add new and awesome weapons and different game mechanics to the whole thing. It ups the difficulty and also makes blood paint the walls with every shotgun blast. These have breathed new life into the franchise and people have started testing maps on them just to see how they hold up as opposed to just the "vanilla" Doom WADs.

Doom Mapping has become so inclusive that even I have gotten in on the action. I've been Doom mapping for over a year now and I'm still mediocre, but I can make as many levels as I want and play as much as I want as a result. If you're curious as to how my Doom levels are, here's a link to my Doom World post. That's a forum where many Doom creators congregate and show off their stuff. Give them all a look and happy killing.

There are mods that change the game entirely and in just about every way you can imagine. The possibilities are endless. However deep you want to go into the Doom fandom, just be careful, because like any community, there are some dark events and unsettling lore set around the community. Just be sure to check your sources and make sure you know the truth about a lot of it. Rumors and myths have run rampant dating back to its very inception. A good place to start would be the ID biography, Masters of Doom by David Kushner. That will get you started. The rest is up to you. Just try not to go too far down the gory rabbit hole and try to remember to consume the water labeled "Drink Me".

Doomverse #17 - Neptune Origins

 My father got us the shareware of Wolfenstein 3D back in '91. I need to say that I played it on an ancient computer and it still ran like a champ. We played it for hours and loved mowing down the Third Reich. We did a 100% run on I am Death Incarnate through out all of the episodes. It took a long time, I think around a year, and that was my introduction to the FPS genre. So, ID wowed me with their new game because there really was nothing like it at the time. We had a NES, but now this was the game we focused on. 

Then he got us the shareware for Doom. It was on two 3 1/2 floppy disks and required everything in our current computer at the time. Our computer was a real clunker and only had 6 megs of RAM. My dad went out of his way to get two more megs so we could play.

I remember, when we got Doom working, it was just like Wolf 3D, only different in its capability. Where everything was well lit in Wolf 3D, Doom was dark and gothic. I remember being in awe of being able to go up stairs and being terrified of the pinky demons when I first saw them.

Then there came the time I first made it to Phobos Anamoly and met the Bruiser Brothers. Their little entry points and their strength wowed me to no end. It seemed like I was emptying my chaingun on them and couldn't bring them down. I finally beat them with the rocket launcher and I was mesmerized by the terrible ending. I found myself playing the shareware version over and over again. I didn't memorize levels or secrets, I just loved playing the game so much that I would try out weapons in certain situations and find out ways to kill things faster. 

It took us a while to get Ultimate Doom, even though we got the shareware very soon after it came out. My dad was very triumphant when he brought those suckers home. It opened up yet another gate of gaming for me to enter and I had no idea at the time.

As a kid, I only rented the Sega Saturn Doom when I had my original gen 2 system because it was only at the neighborhood Blockbuster for a very short time. My brother and I played it over the weekend. I personally enjoyed it at the time because I simply loved Doom. I didn't notice things like framerates, I just accepted graphics like that because I started out when the SNES was just hitting its stride. I played the NES when I was five so these sort of graphics didn't really bother me. I had already played the Doom shareware and that one didn't run well on our old computer. 

I remember playing Doom 2 very near after playing Ultimate. One of my biggest memories was my first bout with the Cyberdemon. Trying to fight him with the rocket launcher was a pain! I didn't know at the time that the plasma gun was far more effective. Still, he's so awesome, it hardly mattered. To be honest, I did hit a few of those stupid Lost Souls up close with the rocket launcher. It was the weapon of choice, of course those little gremlins are going to fly into you. The programmers knew that! 

Since then, I've played all of the main titles aside from the mobile games. I have so many Doom ports, it's gotten a little comical at this point. The best levels were in their shareware version and it remains my favorite iteration of Doom to this day for its amazing enginuity and creativity with such limited power and resources. Doom became one of the pillars of gaming itself, along with Wolfenstein. So few franchises affected my gaming quite like Doom and it still remains one of my alltime favorites. Virtua Death!

Die Hard Arcade (Saturn) - Yule Die Even HARDER!

Hey! Are you ready to get punched in the face? Then, once your punching ends, did you want to get punched some more? Then, once that punching is done, did you want that punching to continue? Then, once ceased, did you want the former punching to then elongate in duration?! Then you have come to the right game, my friends! Here in Die Hard Arcade, the punching never ends (or so it seems)!

This is a beat'em up, so there is obviously going to be plenty of punchings in the face, but wow, they use the three dimensions to their fullest extent. This game makes getting the fire beaten out of you quite enjoyable, yes. It also brings about quite the challenge when it comes to keeping up with all of the enemies on the screen, however. The graphics, as the Saturn goes, are magnanimous. This is absolute pure Saturn gold, but that also makes it harder and harder to line up shots!

This game is a very well loved addition to the Saturn library, and for very good reason. A lot of people tend to overlook its flaws when it comes to controls, however. You would think a d-pad would be easier to work with than an arcade joystick, but it really isn't. The three dimensional environment makes it harder to use thrown weapons and projectiles effectively with so many enemies on the screen. This is especially apparent when you're fighting an entire battalion of fire fighters for some reason. This also involves a fire engine spraying water all over a parking garage. I don't know, I just work here!

Is this apparent throughout it? No, in fact, sometimes the firearms can come in very handy with taking out multiple enemies all at once. Even with the pistol, you shoot one bullet and it can pass through three enemies. Logic, am I right? The most fun that comes out of this is grabbing the missile launchers that blast your opponents into a fine powder. It is sooooo satisfying, it's amazing!

Whether it be on the arcade or in the Saturn, this game is really fun to play, especially with two players. It makes it easier, much more fun and it's one of those games that allows for those really fun moments where you take out multiple enemies with one explosion or save your partner, fighting off the thugs while they recover their bearings. It encourages a comradery like any other arcade beat'em up and it does it with a grace that makes it a standout. 

Pop this game in the machine any time. You may not get too far because mistakes can be made with so many opponents all at once. This is not a big commitment of a game, it's really more for the come-and-go arcade player who is just looking for a quick breaking of his jawline before class or work or coma. Just remember to bandage your wounds and don't get sprayed by a firehose. 

Die Hard Trilogy (Saturn) - Dreaming of a Red X-Mas

 

When you want a good time, you want a bit of variety, right? Why settle for one when you can have three? Although Die Hard Arcade is still a very good 3D beat'em up, and a jolly good bit of fun, Die Hard Trilogy is a bundle of fun on top of a frantic fast and furious ride (yes, I know what I said). So, now that it is the holiday season, why not end the year with a fantastic Christmas game? Whatever your thoughts on its status as a Christmas theme, this is what we're going with. 

The first game is probably the weakest of the three, but it's still a load of awesome gameplay. You lead McClane through a parking garage and shoot down some baddies. As simple as it is, you can go pretty crazy with your gun and keep firing off your gun as they surround you over and over again. Is it easy? Not especially, the bad guys can gang up on you pretty quick if you are not careful. Thankfully, the real saving grace for this section of the game is that there is a map for you to keep track of where everyone is. No matter how good you are, chances are you will be getting some hits. 

Making your way through the building, things do not improve for you. Men come out of nowhere and they keep up the heat! Help the hostages escape and cause as many explosions as you can to take down the criminals as you make your way toward the roof. You get machine guns, shotguns, grenades, and just about as much blood as you can stand. The real problem with this game is that it can be repetitive but that's to be expected with such a bare bones 3rd person shooter. So long as you pay attention to your surroundings, you can beat this game with a bit of patience and fast reflexes. Is it perfect? No, but really, when you're in the mood for some mindless shooting, just pick it up and start firing. Yippee Ki-yay.

The second game, Die Harder, is a railshooter, almost a Virtua Cop clone with a lot more blood. I do mean a LOT more blood. One shot and the criminals are a torrent of red, it's hilarious. Is it as good as Virtua Cop? Not really, but it's still a lot of run and gun fun for everyone. One nice feature is that it boasts a much higher ammo clip and you're able to turn the screen slightly when you're aiming off of it. It's chaotic, which is a good thing and a bad thing, because sometimes there's a bit too much action on the screen and the framerate can take a bit of a hit. 

Explosions are where this game really flourishes. Who doesn't love setting off a grenade only to have five puddles of blood to splatter everywhere? One real problem with this game is that the innocent civilians will literally saunter onto the screen without a care in the world. Because why run for cover when you can just get in the way of gunfire? They've obviously got a plane to catch so why wait? Run through the bullets! Make your way through the entire airport so you can get to the runway to fire down an entire jumbo jet! That's right, the main baddie is a passenger aircraft! Will wonders never cease? 

Now comes my personal favorite game in the trilogy. Some may call it Die Hard With a Vengeance, but I call it blood wipers. You drive through New York City streets, you drive through Central Park and you drive against a nefarious garbage truck. You can do all of this and beat the clock, taking down the bombs or you can just drive around and run into cars and pedestrians because why not? Blood on your windshield can just be wiped off because why not? The free wheeling style of this game can nearly be considered addictive. It's fast and bloody and beautiful!

One thing you may notice from all three of these titles is that they are unbearably simple. They are about as bare bones as it comes. This is a turn off for some, and that's understandable. However, as said before, this game is all about variety and it has that in spades. Die Hard Arcade adds a beat'em up element that could be considered one of the many features, so long as you possess both of these games. Die Hard Trilogy is something to pick up and just lose yourself into some brutal violence with guns and manslaughter where you don't need to worry about the 32-bit people you are destroying. 

Love it or hate it, Die Hard Trilogy is delicious junk food. You can eat it by the handfuls or you can have a light snack, it doesn't matter. Just put in your initials or a curse word in the top list, and have a Merry Christmas, because that's what it's all about in the end.

Sunset Overdrive - Zombie Brain Horror Fest 3: Wacky Splatter Zombs

What makes a game a guilty pleasure, truly? Why must a well-made game be considered something we should be ashamed to like? Nay, dear friends and readers, Sunset Overdrive is not a perfect game by any stretch of the imagination, but it most certainly shouldn't be considered a terrible game. The customization of your character and the free-wielding nature of this sandbox game should be enough to get some blood boiling with an itchy trigger finger!

This is a third person shootem up developed by our on again, off again friends at Insomniac. Before they created Spider-man for the PS4 and killed the sequels in the same breath, they created this very interesting free-roaming game. You're a lowly worker at a rave with a new energy drink. The energy drink causes people to mutate into OD (Overdrive Drinkers) and now it's a fight for survival as you try to escape the city. The story is exceedingly simple and that's really a good thing, because there's a lot of things to learn about the underlying lore and how the world works in its mechanics. 

The game is definitely aces when it comes to movement and controls. While the aiming leaves a bit to be desired, the interesting specials and different weapons make up for a lot of short-comings. It's just a matter of building up your arsenal, along with all of your special moves. You need to grind and collect things throughout the city in order to gain upgrades and levels. You collect the energy drink as a form of currency for weapons while toilet paper, camera lenses and various other things are there for various other abilities and powerups throughout the game. 

While the variations of OD are somewhat interesting in a few cases, overall, they're your normal zombie affair. There are the obligatory exploding zombies and they all love to crawl onto things while other variations shoot you with either fire or ice or whatever their types are. Visually, they stand out from everything else, and that helps when you're at a distance so that you can use your movements to your advantage. 

Combat is a bit of a double-edged sword, but it is definitely something of an addictive quality to the game at the same time. You skid along rails and bounce on cars and dumpsters in order to maintain your mobility and gain up momentum for special attacks with your style meter. The more you kill as you grind and jump, the more your style meter fills for special attacks. It's pretty standard, but if you trip up even once and stop moving, the meter can drop like a brick. This mechanic is awesome when it's pulled off, but losing all of your score is quite the constipated experience. 

The fetch quests are fine, for the most part. Yes, there are some "Go to the place and get the things" happening, but throughout everything, you'll find that they at least make it with your while and switch up a few elements here and there. The frequency with which you actually obtain items and mini-games keeps the game fresh while grinding elements allows you to explore the city, gain items and experience. The freedom you feel is kept because of the nature and the tone of the game. 

Someone tried very hard to make this game funny and it worked to a degree. On occasion, they will break many fourth walls and it will get somewhat annoying at times. Mentioning a character has a marker over his head and "Oh I should talk to him", yes, this has been done. There is some Deadpool humor, dark humor and all of that, but what really works is the random humor. At times, the game will finish a storyline for you as a gag or mention that you're not doing so well but you're getting better and it's these little touches that I like because it gives you the feeling that the game is on your side. 

The big glaring issues are a bit large on occasion, though. There are sections of this game that are a little tedious and some of them can be a little on the very frustrating side. Sometimes, you will be dealing with characters that are seen as losers or nerds and they will live up to this stereotype wholesale. The frequency with which you talk to these... Gen-Z stereotypes? Whatever they are, it's abysmal. They are not the only annoying characters but they are the ones that stand out the most in that category. 

Some of these combat sections and missions can come off as just flat out cheap. The mission where you're sailing a boat out of the city has to be one of, if not the worst part of the entire game. The number of enemies that appear at multiple intervals of the shore gets to ridiculous levels. There are levels where the platforming can get into details of a very small and difficult level where one single slip up can mean starting at the beginning. Then there are the boss battles where you need to climb the tower to strike at one point or you need to navigate your way through the sliding rails to do so. Either way, these points of the game are not especially good, but thankfully are not especially plentiful. 

One of the best parts of the game is the ability to customize your own character. They made it to where your options for skin color, eye color, voices and overall vibe can be molded to your liking and their personality isn't especially terrible, especially given the type of game this is. They tried to go for the late 90's, early 2000's vibe, much like Crazy Taxi or Jet Set Radio. They succeeded, but they also didn't need to try so hard with the soundtrack and all of the punk tattoo artwork on the menu screens. It's a delicate balance and they may have bled over the edges a bit.

One very large flaw this game possesses, if one measures such things, is the DLC. It's really kind of strange how developers think tacking on random story elements after the fact somehow enhances the gaming experience. It really doesn't. If you weren't planning to put in another story, doing this with a hastily shoved together game extension is not going to endear you to the vast public. It's some forgettable crap about going to an offshore oil refinery and you need to kill things. It's really not worth the time, nor the effort.

The humor of this game is subjective, like all comedy, but it's also an acquired taste. Some gags hit right on the money while some of the bigger, broader running gags run pretty thin quickly. I can only work my ass off to get stuff for ungrateful cellphone-dwelling jerks so many times before that runs dry. It's not at all a flawless game, but also pretty fun to just sit and grind. You might want to redo some of the favorite missions where you're taking down hordes or just casually blasting zombs. They just should have been drinking water, though. 

Virtua Turkey Cooker 3000!!!

Virtua Thankfulness is upon us! More Virtua Turkeys must be harvested for the Thankfuls! We must take to the Virtua fields and hunt us down Virtua Turkeys and the turkey equivalents. Find your weapon of choice and we must fight them now! Our travels will be vast, through Hyrule, Mars and even South Park! Yes, this is the true journey of gaming in order to feast upon the Virtua flesh of turkey and have left overs for sandwiches. Do not forget Virtua Gravy!

While we eat and watch the Turkey Day Mystery Science Theater 3000, we must plan the next day of feasting in Thankfulness! Our eating will be followed by our long journey, but do not forget to pack the left overs. Let us keep watching our show and prepare to take down evil horrible turkeys!

 Doom 3 Turkey Puncher

Super Turbo Turkey Puncher 3 is only for the most manliest of men who must man Turkeys to death with their fists! Go onto the Mars Station and find this arcade machine! The Virtua Turkeys are not going to punch themselves. Turkeys must be had for Virtua Thankfulness! 

South Park Turkey Shooter

South Park for the N64 requires much discipline in the ways of shooting and harvesting Virtua Turkeys! These are aggressively terrible turkeys, and you must be on top of your game! Gain your guns and fart bombs to take out these horrible specimen of Virtua bird flesh! Fully automatic weapons and winter gear are required to decimate the Virtua Turkey ranks and take down their numbers! The Thankfulness must be had! Virtua Fire!

Duck Hunt Dog Hunter

There is more bird flesh than simple Virtua Turkeys and Virtua Duck may also feast upon in Thankfulness! Fire them down and keep up the firing! Now, once you see the dog, primary target verified! Fire at the dog and don't make it look like he is the reason you are hunting! Do not question this! There will be Virtua birds for the Thankfulness but the dog must go as well! No one needs to know and no one shall question his absence! Go! Onward, to Hyrule!

Link to the Past Chicken Attack

Virtua Chickens are an acceptable bird in order to feast upon! Begin by going to the fields of Hyrule where chickens dwell. Next, begin to attack them with the sword of Thankfulness! This will bring us more chickens in order to feast upon in Thankfulness. Yes, I will be going over here while you do this. There is no questioning this action, keep slicing the chicken! I'll be running away now! Keep attacking chickens and do not worry about them pecking you into oblivion! The Thankfulness is had! Happy Turkey Day!

Virtua Sonic #8 - The Way Past Cool TV Shows

 

If there was anyone deserving multiple forms of media, it was definitely Sonic the Hedgehog! Sega wanted to cash in on his popularity and they came out with a multitude of everything from toys, glassware, clothes, and just about everything you would see in franchise spanning multiple countries across the globe. Sonic hit it very big for a very long time and we are still seeing him bask in his fame with not only TV shows, but also his own live action films. 

The shows, however, have run the gambit from frightfully awful to just downright amazing! With a plethora to choose from, Planet Virtua will just be covering a select few. We've covered the movies thus far, but it may take a few swings to get to all of our favorite shows about the Blue Blur. These are the TV shows featuring none other than the man himself, Jaleel White. Urkle from Family Matters was the original American voice actor that we all remember and love to this day. He had such volume and scope in his voice and it was a delight to have him as his voice for so long. The shows, however, were a bit of a mixed bag. 

The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog

Ask a collective of people and you will get a vast spectrum of different opinions on this very peculiar title. Not only is this a strange show by standards of this quality, but also by its continuity from start to finish. In the beginning, we have Sonic and Tails with a very inept, terribly realized Dr. Robotnik. By the end, you may as well have decided we were on an alien planet with how vast the races, species and animalistic all of the inhabitants of this world are. The very last thing in its continuity was a Christmas special and the people were humanoid but also had pointed ears and weird colored skin like they were from Doug. 

The juvenile humor definitely appealed to a younger audience, but even then, there is clearly something wrong. The real problem with this show is that it is very repetitive by nature. Basically, Sonic will encounter the chicken and the dozer robot, have on a stupid disguise and fool them into getting destroyed. Dr. Robotnik will pull some giant robot out of nowhere or scam a whole bunch of people with plans that would never work. He lavishes in being evil and stupid and Sonic out smarts him. Somewhere in there, speed is involve. That sounds like it's over-simplified, and yes, it is. This show is not exactly something you can binge. You will run the risk of losing braincells. 

It's such a cheesy show and there is some form of enjoyment out of it, but at the same time, it also takes itself entirely too seriously. Sometimes, it will get its own stupid humor, but sometimes, it also has mello drama and tired old plots. Then it has the strange tendancy to have some sort of moral at the end of the show. These deal with deeply strange and/or serious issues that are a bit jarring after such childish antics. The series was cheap in both writing and animation. This allowed them to make the episodes en masse. 

Sonic the Hedgehog 

Sonic from Saturday Mornings was a very stark difference in quality from the show that was running along-side it. It also had a very stark difference in length, as it did finish its original season's plot, but ended on a cliffhanger. It was abruptly cancelled after a very successful run because the show's animation was extremely expensive. 

This show was far more grounded in reality and took place in a dystopian future of the planet Mobius. The planet has been taken over by Dr. Robotnik, because he actually has competence and brilliance. The problem is that he is also very arrogant and constantly underestimates the resistance that keeps fighting against him and his death machines. While Tails was a whiney little baby with stupid questions in the other show, here, he's a whiney little baby with stupid questions that have depth and character. This actually has a story behind it with likeable and relateable characters and Sonic has more dimensions than just liking chilidogs. 

It is a shame that there was a chance this show would have survived had it not been for Adventures. It had actual drama and a deep plot of trying to bring peace and prosparity to the planet while taking down a tyrant in the process. Sonic's powers are more defined and he is actually really cool when he fails, but then picks himself back up and comes back in style to save the day. While the story was ended in a very satisfactory fashion, despite the weird sequel bait and various small loose ends, it would have been nice to see what another season could have brought to the table. Instead, we got another TV show entirely. 

Sonic Underground

It is very much understood that this show has a following and that many Sonic fans got their start from it. However, the content herein suffers a great deal from having a little too much Adventures of Sonic blood in it. While it does have more story and depth to it, that's not saying a great deal, as it also has a great deal of juvenile humor and head-scratching moments. 

It really seems that the problem is that the characters have growth, but it's either entirely too slow or in the wrong ways. The siblings are constantly talking about how they need to find their mother, but it really seems like they are not going to extreme lengths and they are following clues that are obviously going to lead to all of the wrong places. There are just such enormous wastes of time and side-tracking that could have been avoided and that's saying something, given the quality of the writing. 

Jaleel White is awesome and there is no denying that. The dialogue, however, is abysmal and the direction they all get for voices must have been some of the worst. White voices all three of the siblings and the way they differentiate his voice tends to grate on the ear the higher the pitch. The episodes are also very clearly meant to drag out the plot and the "mystery" of them and their big series long quest. 

It's truth time, I don't even know if they find their mother or not. There is no way I could sit through every single episode of this. Unless there were some enormous payoff or there was some entertainment value in creating a youtube video or something, that would probably break the cerebral cortex for no payoff. It was hard enough sitting through the theme song. Seriously, if you wanted to hammer in your plot with obvious lyrics, you could have just skipped the song and had them explain the plot in a small speech at the beginning. Okay, that's rather harsh, but seriously, if you did not grow up with this show, there is no nostalgia to fall back on and that is a heavy hit. 

So, one out of three are not great odds, but Sonic has had some gems of TV shows, as Sonic fans know. We'll be taking a look at Sonic X and Sonic Prime in due course, but until then, the hedgehog will just continue to be awesome. Virtua Believe It!