Star Fox Command

Following the release of Star Fox: Assault (Assault) on the GameCube, a new Star Fox game, Star Fox Command (Command), was developed for Nintendo’s then-new DS system and released early in the system’s life cycle. Admittedly, I didn’t have much interest in this game at first, but I ended up investing in a physical copy, partly to fill the unsightly gap in my Star Fox collection after realizing it was the only game I didn’t own in any capacity and partly to complete my experience with the timeline started by Star Fox 64 (64). Rather notably, said timeline represents a more experimental era in Star Fox history, with each subsequent game after 64 attempting to bring something new to the table to stand out. In the case of Command, its most notable feature is its use of multiple endings, as well as a unique control scheme based around the DS touchscreen, making it stand out from even the radically different Star Fox Adventures (Adventures) and Assault. While these are interesting ideas in theory, the end result unfortunately falls a little short in practice.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze

As Turtle Mania continued into the ‘90s, it was natural to follow up the success of the first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT) film (TMNT I) with a sequel, this one coming just one year later in 1991 as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze (TMNT II). Much like the first film, this was one I was vaguely aware of since childhood, but didn’t watch for the first time until around the release of the 2016 TMNT film, Out of the Shadows. After rewatching TMNT I, I decided to give TMNT II another fair shot, finding it to still be enjoyable, if weaker than the first.

Star Fox: Assault

With the success of Star Fox Adventures (Adventures), Nintendo greenlit a sequel, Star Fox: Assault (Assault), this time developed by Namco rather than Rare, with the latter having been purchased by Microsoft. After I had originally played Adventures, I admittedly didn’t have much interest in the other Star Fox games, until I learned that Assault was a sequel and even contained elements from Adventures beyond Krystal becoming a mainstay, which led me to explore the franchise further and eventually receive Assault as a gift. Like the previous game, Assault was also developed for the GameCube, however I could not get my GameCube to properly read the disc, so I ended up playing it through the backwards-compatible Wii. After finally getting to play it, I found it an interesting follow-up to Adventures due to its different gameplay approach, and I also liked getting to see its characters and setting again, however briefly.

Star Fox 64 3D

Following the release of the original Star Fox on the SNES, with Star Fox 2 having been shelved despite being fully completed, the series was rebooted for the then-recent Nintendo 64 system in 1997, aptly named Star Fox 64. In 2011, as part of a series of 3DS remakes of older Nintendo titles, Star Fox 64 received one as Star Fox 64 3D, which aimed to be faithful to the original release while adding new content. I had become curious about playing Star Fox 64 after playing Star Fox Adventures, which was made as a sequel to it, to get a better hang on the story, but didn’t actively attempt to do so until the Nintendo 3DS eShop was shutting down, at which point I went for a physical copy of Star Fox 64 3D both for convenience and to get the best experience possible. After finally getting around to playing it, I can see why it’s considered a classic game in terms of gameplay and story.

Hoppers

As I said in my review of Elio, Pixar’s track record has proven rather hit and miss in the 2020s, complete with Elio itself finishing its theatrical run as a box office bomb that maybe made its $150 million budget back. This made me less enthusiastic about their follow-up film, Hoppers, at least at first. The more I saw the trailers, however, the more my curiosity got the better of me and I ended up watching it on opening weekend. Although I didn’t have high expectations going in, I had a genuinely good time and walked away with a willingness to actually rewatch a recent Pixar film later, which rekindled some hope for the studio’s future.

Mission: Impossible III

Note: This review contains spoilers for Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning.

Despite the mixed reception to Mission Impossible 2 (M:i-2), its success would lead to a sequel, Mission: Impossible III (M:i:III). Production got off to a rocky start with the search for a director, that is until Tom Cruise suggested J. J. Abrams after binge-watching two seasons of Alias. After some initial production delays, the final release in May 2006 garnered greater critical reception and became the eighth-highest grossing film of 2006. Unfortunately, it still proved a financial failure against its budget of ~$150 million and has the (dis)honor of its place as the lowest-grossing film in the entire franchise and hurting Tom Cruise’s career until Ghost Protocol revived it. Looking at the film now, it’s a shame that it didn’t do well, as it is an improvement on its predecessors, but I wouldn’t consider it my favorite either.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990)

While Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT) debuted in 1984 with a sleeper hit independent comic book series by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, it didn’t truly become a global phenomenon until it was adapted into an animated series in 1987. With Turtle Mania going strong, the next logical step would be to adapt it into a live-action film (as was the style at the time), also named Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT I), in 1990. As a kid, I was vaguely aware of this film growing up, but I never watched it until the Turtle bug bit me much later. Although my first viewing was around the release of the 2014 film, I felt like giving it another shot after attending a pre-release for the Magic: The Gathering | Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles expansion. Even without having any personal nostalgia for it, and it isn’t perfect, it’s easy to see why this film is so beloved and is easily the best of the original film trilogy.