This month, I’ve inadvertently watched 3 horror-ish movies. So, Leftovers time it is!

Alien 3: Assembly Cut

I finally took time to watch what is the “complete” version of Alien 3, and this is by far the superior version of the movie. Though this version runs pretty long, it also adds about 45 minutes of new material into the movie that fleshes out what has always been a pretty “eh” movie. I feel like this version gives the rest of the crew of the Sulaco that dies more focus, more characterization of the prisoners (who seemed one dimensional before), an interesting subplot where the alien is caught midway through the movie, and a lot of extra scenes discussing religion and the prisoners embracing it. It’s still a flawed movie that just has fundamental plot decisions that I don’t agree with (killing the previous supporting cast, the smallness of the movie, finishing off Ripley), but this version is the best. It feels a lot more like the first Alien, and likely you will have a slightly better opinion of the movie.

Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives

Color me unimpressed. This Friday movie just didn’t have the creative kills and gore and boobs that it should have. My favorite is IV by far, and this was one of the few I’ve never seen. It has a great intro where they reanimate Jason and he tears out a dude’s heart, but most of it goes into meh territory from there. Lots of deaths, but almost no gore and not a lot of creativity. The best part was where he killed the kids in the RV, and even that part was a little tame. That and the lead character Tommy is in jail for half the movie with absolutely inept cops, which hurts the movie because the jail scenes are boring and stereotypical stuff (“You have to believe me, Jason is back!” “Yeah right buddy!”). Overall, it’s watchable, and better than V, but it could have been a lot better.

Mindwarp

This is a low budget b-movie from the early 90’s starring Bruce Campbell. It waivers between unwatchably bad to amazing one liners to head scratching bizarreness. The beginning is a lot like the Matrix (before the Matrix!) in that everyone is living in a dream world, and they connect to it from the base of their neck. One woman gets away from it and into a dystopian future where Bruce Campbell rescues her from some crazy mutants. Then some crazy stuff happens where they are dragged into some seedy underworld that looks like something out of Beneath the Planet of the Apes, and then Bruce Campbell pukes bloody leeches into the girl’s face. It was great!

Eastern State is a historic prison which is possibly most known for housing Al Capone for a brief while. It was abandoned back in the 1970s and is now believed to be haunted. You may have seen it on television, as it’s been featured on The Travel Channel’s “Most Haunted Locations” and MTVs now canceled show “Fear”, along with some History Channel specials. ESP now functions mostly as a tourist attraction during the day, but around this time of the year it doubles as a haunted house at night. I decided to check this event out with some friends, as it had been a while since I’ve done any haunted attraction. So after grabbing the first unsold tickets I could find through Ticketmaster, I was on my way to hopefully have a spooky good time. (more…)

Sonic and his rag tag pals have the adventure thing down. Whether it be side scrolling or 3D, Sonic games have a simple formula: speed = fun. However, that formula has gotten stale. Since the fall of the Dreamcast, Sega has been creating Sonic titles at a steady rate. The luster that Sonic once had has certainly dimmed due to a lack of imaginative ideas and over-production. The fine people at Sega perhaps realized this and decided to take Sonic in a new, and bold, direction. Sonic Chronicles is the series’ first RPG. (more…)

What’s that you say? The World Series already started? Well it’s 1-1, so it’s basically back to being a 5 game series, so get off my back already. Besides, I was totally right on the last two series. Anyway, let’s do this.

WORLD SERIES

PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES VS. TAMPA BAY RAYS

How they got here
Phillies: Matt Stairs was not impressed with Jonathan Broxton.
Rays: Feasted on the rotting innards of an injured Red Sox team, who almost beat them anyway.

Matchup
Since this has already started, here’s my analysis through two games:

1. The Rays offense has yet to impress me. It looks like they have come back to earth a bit, and if not for some terrible calls and bad plays yesterday, they’d be down 2-0.

2. The Phillies offense has yet to impress me. What the fuck guys, they don’t give you runs for getting a lot of guys on base and then calling it a day. Drive ‘em in, jerks.

3. The Rays are a good young ballclub, but they are not going to dominate this series like every national pundit thinks. Their pitching has been much more hittable than advertised.

4. The key for the Phillies is taking care of business at home. And unlike the first 2 series, Moyer’s start has now become probably one of the biggest keys to the series. If grandpa can pitch this team like the Marlins and give us one more crafty performance, I think there’s a very good chance the Phils take it in 5. If they lose game 3, this could go 7 easy, and I like their chances a lot less.

5. Could the Rays have any worse of a ballpark for national television? The field looks like ratty carpet, the atmosphere looks like a minor league game, the lighting is dingy, and the idiot cowbell fans don’t help anything. Thank god the next 3 games are in Philly, at a real ballpark, with real fans.

6. Can someone please tell Fox that no one wants to listen to Joe Buck and Tim McCarver? I can’t take them anymore.

My prediction
I didn’t jinx them last time, so I’m rolling the dice with fate again. Phils in 5, Moyer pitches the game of his life, Blanton gives a tough, sturdy start, and ending it all with a masterpiece by Hamels in front of the home crowd. Fuck the Rays, bring on the parade!

Ninja Gaiden started out on consoles on the NES as a game requiring skill, reflexes, memorization, and most of all, patience. While it could be very unforgiving at some points (flying birds anyone?), the game was always balanced and fair enough that the end of each level was never quite out of reach. Ninja Gaiden on the Xbox translated the spirit of the older games perfectly to the last generation. Team Ninja’s reimagining of Ninja Gaiden worked so well that I hold this transition from 2D to 3D in the same regards as Ninendo’s masterful Metroid Prime. In this inevitable sequel, Tecmo has brought more of the same to the table with lots of refinement, while adding a few new elements…and lots of gore. (more…)

Filling in for Mr. Spook Derosa, here’s my completely professional and 100% correct opinions:

ALCS

BOSTON RED SOX VS. TAMPA BAY RAYS

How they got here
Rays: Beat up on a weak White Sox team in 4 games. Chris called their first round victory, and they come into this series as pretty much the story of the season.
Red Sox: Had some pretty intense games with a tough Angels team, but pulled it out on a dramatic 9th inning victory in game 4. Chris totally blew this one.

Matchup
I would say if the Red Sox were completely healthy, this would probably be their series, due to the fact that this is largely the same team that won it all in convincing fashion last year. As it is, however, the Sox are going to be down Lowell, Beckett’s not completely healthy, Drew has been battling to stay in the lineup, and Ortiz hasn’t been 100% all year. As they are, they are still a very good team, but the injuries make this series not near as clear cut.

Compounding that is the fact that the Rays are pretty much completely healthy and playing with their best lineup now. Crawford, Longoria, Baldelli, Iwamura, Pena, Upton, Navarro…a lot of names many people might not immediately know, but these are some great young players that have been playing great baseball all year. And then there is their pitching, where the starters are impressive and relievers are deep and versatile. And they get home field advantage, which has been huge for the Rays all season, plus it limits the amount of games in the intimidating Fenway Park.

My prediction
I could probably flip a coin and be just as right or wrong as this opinion. But for the sake of something to laugh at in a week or so, I say Rays pull it out in 6. They are on a roll right now and I like the pitching matchups for them.

NLCS

PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES VS. LOS ANGELES DODGERS

How they got here
Phillies: pulled out some tense games with the Brew Crew but won on the strength of great starting pitching, timely hitting, and slaying the mighty CC Sabathia. Chris got this one, right amount of games too.
Dodgers: Ran over a sloppy Cubs team who really didn’t put up much of a fight. To the Dodgers’ credit, they, like the Rays, are fielding their best team all year. Christ got this one too. 3/4 ain’t bad.

Matchup
The Phillies come in with an intimidating yet streaky lineup that heavily stacked with power that often times has a very weak 7-8-9 of the order. It’s key that the Phillies top of the order guys get on base early and often so that the Dodgers are forced to pitch to guys like Howard, Utley, and Burrell. The Phillies pitching was excellent against the Brewers and is really the key to their success. They need Cole to dominate like the ace he is, Good Brett Myers to show up, have the old man fool batters for another start, and have the fat man pitch like he did against the Brewers.

The Dodgers right now are a scary team, and a team that no one has really seen yet. With Furcal back, Manny in his usual post season form, and a young trio of Loney, Kemp, and Ethier, this lineup is solid. That’s not even mentioning one of the best catchers in the majors, and a bench full of experienced veterans. Their pitching is also stingy and very much a ground ball inducing group. Expect to see a lot of frustrating double plays on the Phils side. Then their relief crew, like the Phils, is also tough and hard to score on.

My prediction
I could easily back out of this one on the pretext of jinxing my team, but fuck it, I’ll do it live. I think the Phillies step up and take it in 6 on the back of solid starting pitching and the heart of the order stepping up, including a big series by Utley. Let’s do it, boys.

In 2004, a little development team by the name of The Behemoth released a little flash game called Alien Hominid. Eventually it was made into a full fledged game and released on GameCube and PS2. Featuring cartoon styled 2D graphics and classic run-n-gun game play, The Behemoth created a gem of nostalgia and humor.

Here we are in 2008, and The Behemoth has struck again, this time with a game that is reminiscent of beat-em-up and hack-n-slash games like Final Fight or Golden Axe. Featuring the same style cartoon graphics and character design, Castle Crashers looks like Alien Hominid set in medieval times.

Graphically, the game is very well done. The characters are colorful and fluid, and animations are smooth and exaggerated. The presentation is a mixed bag of grim brutality and whimsical humor. There is plenty of violence, but it is comical rather than offensive. The player characters are fairly generic, varying mostly in color. The enemies are more varied; standard enemies range from goblin like creatures to black armored cone head knights, to creepy panda bears. Bosses are anywhere from regular sized to massive screen filling hulks. The bosses are clever and humorous, particularly the Catfish and giant ear of corn bosses. Yes, you will fight a giant ear of corn.

The music in the game is a great mix of epic battle tunes, lighthearted medieval fare, and funky synthesized melodies. Generally the music fits in well with the levels and keeps the game anything but boring.

Although on the surface Castle Crashers looks similar to Alien Hominid, the two share very little in the game play department. Castle Crashers is essentially a side scrolling beat-em-up. The levels are fairly straightforward, and the main goal is simply to push through the onslaught of enemy combatants. Levels are made up of a number of stages, generally climaxed by one of the zany bosses. After beating levels, players can revisit any stage.

The arsenal includes loads of weapons as well as magic and items. The weapons range from simple swords to giant, bloody blades to twigs and fish. Different weapons provide different stat bonuses. Each character has its own magic style, but they all work somewhat similarly. For example, the orange knight has flame based magic, and the blue knight has ice based magic. Holding down the R trigger put the character into magic mode. The Y button activates the main magic attack, which is generally a large area attack that can hit multiple enemies. The orange knight sense out a large blast of fire, and the blue knight summons large ice chunks to crash into the ground. Using the B button fires off a projectile that can hit one enemy, but usually does more damage. The A button allows for a jumping magic attack that is good for getting out of a tight spot. Items include bombs as well as a bow and a boomerang. Survival in this game will require good use of each of these attacks.

Some good RPG elements are in place to keep the game fresh as it progresses. Gaining experience points from attacking enemies, players level up and gain the ability to boost their stats. Each character has its own strength, magic, defense/health, and agility stats. As these stats increase, the player becomes more powerful and it is especially noticeable when returning to earlier stages. The magic stat has several steps that, when reached, provide new/better magic. That stat system is pretty customizable, so players can create a heavy magic use, or a brutish warrior. But the game is designed to require a range of styles, so it will never be an easy cruise if you stick to one style.

Castle Crashers supports up to four players, allowing for dynamic parties of friends. The action can get a bit hectic with this many players, but it’s definitely more fun than going solo. One of my few gripes with Castle Crashers is how multiplayer is handled. Each player will need a Xbox Live profile, no guest accounts. This makes it slightly more of a pain to just get into the game and start bashing skulls. Second, the characters aren’t shared between players. My level 45 orange knight is usable only by my profile, so anyone else wanting to play as an orange knight will start at level 1 (but you can’t have two of the same character playing at a time). If you have friends to play with often, this might not be so bad. But when you only occasionally play, it becomes a pain. It makes it difficult to sample the many characters available. It would be really nice if character stats were a game wide thing and not a profile specific thing. Online multiplayer is available, but many gamers have complained that it is shaky at best. A patch is supposed to be coming in the future to fix this, but in the mean time it may be difficult to play online.

Despite the flaws in the online department, Castle Crashers is a blast to play alone or with friends. There is plenty of humor and there is no doubt that to the developers this game was a labor of love. There is plenty of replay value as the game is just plain fun. Revisiting levels hardly gets old, and with friends to play with the fun keeps going.

Cave Story is a free, indepedent 2D action-adventure game created by Daisuke “Pixel” Amaya. It’s also one of those games that either you are reading this thinking “yeah this game is amazing, welcome to 2004″ or you have no idea what it is. Regardless, since I am primarily a mobile gamer anymore, a port to PSP allowed me to experience this recently for the first time.

The basics of Cave Story are reminiscent of the Metroid and recent Castlevania games, with a strong bit of adventure and RPG-style game elements mixed with a solid action core. It’s not entirely original, however, it’s a very entertaining blend of genres. It’s slightly more linear than some of the “Castletroid” games, but I think the best part of the game is how it very slowly and methodically evolves from a storyless start and amps up the action as you progress. The game essentially just drops you into the first area and leaves you to figure out what to do. From there, you eventually find a “hub” type village where you will revisit at several times during the game. What is fun is that the game blends in a fair share of exploration with level-type game play through teleporters that are interspersed throughout the game. Though the mechanics of the game never change between these two types of gameplay, the dynamic of the game sure does. Once you teleport into levels, the game becomes more structured and full of enemies, and this is where you get to experience probably the best part of the game, which is the weapon dynamics.

You acquire several weapons throughout the game, and while many of them seem pretty bland at first, as you kill enemies, you can acquire weapon energy that can upgrade your weapon. As you do, the weapon gets more and more useful, and can have secondary uses, such as launching you like a jetpack by shooting downward. However, if you get hit, you lose weapon energy and you will downgrade your weapon. So it is really a cool system that rewards smart gaming and (relatively) flawless play.

The graphics are rather simple, and wouldn’t look out of place on the Game Boy Advance or DS. However, it’s rather solid pixel art with great stage and character design and solid atmosphere. Additionally, while not exactly my thing, the anime artwork is very well done and adds to the immersion in the story. The story itself slowly unfolds as you progress, and while it doesn’t seem all that interesting or well planned in the beginning, by the end it works out all the mysteries and you realize that it’s actually better than most platformers, and probably better than some of the plotlines that Castlevania has trotted out in some of their recent games. And I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the music, which has an excellent 8-bit, chiptunish sound with several very catchy tunes. It’s a great soundtrack worth listening to on its own merits.

It’s hard not to recommend Cave Story for the simple fact that 1. it’s free and 2. it’s really fun. It’s not perfect by any means, but it has very addictive gameplay that kept me playing during any free time until I finished it. Add in a couple different endings for replay value, a challenging but balanced difficulty, and some pretty high production values for a free indie game, and you have a game you have to play sometime. Download the game here!

So here we are again. After a grueling couple of months, with hopes either kept high or broken, the 08 baseball season is over. But with the end of another regular season means the dawning of a new postseason. This entire October (there’s still only one, right?) promises to be a thrilling ride of emotions, featuring the best that baseball has to offer in terms of fresh talent. With 4 teams in each league left to duke it out for a spot at the “big game”, I’m going to try and break down each match up with my “expert” analysis. This is how I think everything will play out.
(more…)