Jak II - Continuing The Legacy

After the success of 2001's Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy, Naughty Dog began developing its first sequel, Jak II. Released in 2003, the game would go on to receive critical acclaim like its predecessor, as well as get added to Sony's "Greatest Hits" lineup of PS2 games. Having finished a 16+ hour campaign, Jak II definitely lives up to its fame, but is also a little off from perfect.

The tone of the game takes a complete 180 from the first game based on the opening cutscenes alone. Jak, Daxter, Samos, and Keira go through a portal generated by a Precursor Ring on a Rift Rider (both of which they found in Jak and Daxter) and end up in a technology-filled dystopia known as Haven City. They are nearly immediately separated for about two years, during which Jak has been experimented on Dark Eco in an attempt by Baron Praxis to create essentially a super soldier. Daxter comes to his friend's rescue, aiding in his dramatic escape from prison as they run into a man named Kor that tells them briefly about the citywide takeover by Praxis as well as the attempts by the Underground to restore control to its rightful owner, who happens to be a child he is protecting. Once the duo start aiding the Underground, things quickly escalate as they continue to realize just what they have gotten themselves into.

Storywise, the game unfolds like a rollercoaster as alliances are made and broken, love is tested, and numerous revelations come to light, especially a very notable one near the end that will literally leave you guessing. While the story is considerably darker than the previous entry, its execution is astoundingly brlliant thanks to its expert pacing, as well as including well-written dialogue that explains just about everything you need to know about the characters and events without going into long expository speeches. With the screen time the characters are given, it's easy to map out their relationships and motivations while still being genuinely surprised by at least one or two unexpected plot twists. At first I didn't feel too much emotional attachment, but it's hard not to be shocked when something happens to them late in the game to affect plot or character dynamics.

Speaking of characters, the very first thing anyone should note about them is that Jak can now speak. While he is fueled by revenge on Praxis, this is justified by having been tortured in experiments for two years against his will. The growly tone of his voice serves as a nice touch and adds some depth to him, allowing him for once to interact with other characters on a more equal level. In addition, new characters like Sig, Torn, Tess, Ashelin and Krew are well-written for their roles, though talking about their relationships with each other would only make this more confusing than it needs to be. The voices selected for these characters are also done well, with specific praise going to Krew's sinister British voice and Clancy Brown's voice for Baron Praxis. I also found Daxter's dialogue to be humorous at times in a way that didn't feel annoying.

In terms of overall gameplay, this is perhaps where Jak II differs the greatest from its predecessor. The Eco abilities from the previous entry are now instead integrated as ammo types for a single weapon known as the Morph Gun. Using the D-Pad to switch between ammo types is very simple to adjust to and aiming the morph gun was never a problem, with advantages for each ammo type serving to inject a nice level of tactical skill on the part of the player. Thanks to Jak's prison time, players can also collect Dark Eco to transform him into Dark Jak with the press of a button, though they must forgo using the Morph Gun for the duration. While Dark Jak does have his own advantages and is very strong in melee combat, the time it takes to recharge a single use plus a near lack of a need to use him greatly lowered my incentive to even consider using him, especially when taking into account that the Morph Gun alone is enough to get you through the game. The rest of the controls are lifted directly from Jak and Daxter, so there was also a great sense of familiarity in the game that I could immediately latch onto.

In addition to gaining a new weapon and a new power, the enemies Jak and Daxter must face are now a race known as the Metal Heads, replacing the Lurkers from The Precursor Legacy (though they still play a role in the story). This race has plenty of enemy types to keep one on their toes, adjusting strategy accordingly to deal with specific groups. Killing Metal Heads can reward you with a Metal Head Skull Gem, the new currency of sorts for the single Precursor Oracle in the game. Bringing a certain number of Skull Gems to the Oracle will reward Jak with a new ability for Dark Jak to wield, ranging from invincibility in this mode to clearing a group of enemies much faster. No matter how many abilities Dark Jak gets however, I still did not feel the need to wield his powers that often. In addition, Precursor Orbs, the currency of the previous game, plays a bit less of a role now, with a total of only 286 scattered throughout all of the game's levels. Collecting a number of them will unlock secret modes or other extras, which may or not be worth it depending on how much of a priority you place on collecting them.

While different powers and enemies already provide a good amount of variety to the game, a great deal more is applied throughout the entirety of the story. One moment you'll be platforming as usual, the next you'll be racing on a NYFE vehicle, and in another you'll be piloting a mech suit that can punch through walls. There's even an on-rails shooting section and times when you'll be shooting airborne enemies with a turret. This level of gameplay variety is something I liked since it helped the game constantly feel fresh, helped by the fact that the controls in any stage are mapped very well and respond near-flawlessly.

Overall level design is good in this game, though some annoyances do crop up. Checkpoints are placed in each mission with the frequency of Ratchet & Clank, making some of the longer ones painful to redo multiple times in succession, each death becoming more frustrating to deal with. However, the constant replaying of missions did manage to improve my efficiency in approaching them once I figured out the correct way to do it. Haven City is also designed as a sort of giant maze, which while making the environment a lot better to look at also made it sometimes difficult to travel to my destination since it was easy to take a wrong turn and waste too much time in a critical moment. Transit also takes some time whether running on foot or using a hoverboard or flying vehicle of some sort. The AI for the Krimzon Guard, controlled by Baron Praxis as the other enemy faction of the game, is also interesting. It seems that you can absolutely anything to the general populace and they won't do anything, but if you so much as tap them while not running or dodge rolling across the city streets they'll send the entire city after you, ending their search only after you're dead, you hide under a bridge long enough, or you get into an open spot and keep running away long enough, sort of like how you outrun any police force in other open world games.

The NYFE races are also a good example of a mixed bag. Since you need to get into first to advance the story, there is absolutely no margin for error thanks to the course design and enemy AI. The only way to achieve this is by exploiting every shortcut possible at every turn or abusing boost power like there's no tomorrow. Controlling a NYFE vehicle is harder in courses with lots of turns, since letting go at any point during the turns makes it harder to regain steady control again. Regardless, I felt a feeling of triumph once I managed to get through these missions.

In terms of graphics, Jak II improves greatly from its predecessor of two years prior. The atmosphere is helped greatly by the use of a darker color palette to show just how different it is in tone from the more upbeat Precursor Legacy. With the presence of the day-to-night cycle still around, I also praise the lighting on the environment as the shadows projected also change more realistically. Water and lava also operate more distinctively this time around, with physics that stick much closer to their real world counterparts. I also loved the lack of a visible load time despite how huge and intricate Haven City is, which made the experience a lot more immersive. In addition, I also praise the great score and sound design, which is done in a way to not only make the world believable, but also keep the appropriate mood throughout.

With its hairpin u-turn in both tone and style from Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy, Jak II is still an impressively fun and enjoyable game. While there is more focus on variety, open world play and third-person shooter elements, the core platforming aspect is still visible in a way that keeps the experience fun and fresh, and its ramped up difficulty by comparison is still a good challenge despite its annoyance from time to time. On its own, Jak II is a game that fans of the series or PS2 owners should not pass up, as it holds a rightful place in history in more ways than one.

The Darkness: Levels (Comic)

In order to increase output, this blog will be gaining video game-based comic book reviews. The reason behind this is because comic books are another way to tell more of the story of a game as well as explain things that aren't touched upon. Adaptations of games, such as the subject of this review, can also be good if done properly, especially if the concept can work for/originated from a comic book. To start things off I will be reviewing The Darkness: Levels, a 6-issue mini-series (numbered Levels 0-5) made by Top Cow to promote the video game, The Darkness, which seems like a natural step since the game was based on the similarly-named comic book. I decided the best thing to do was to read this mini-series via trade paperback after playing the game, and for the most part it's a rather good adaptation, though there are changes from the game (which itself has differences from the mythos of the base comic).

The story itself is similar in structure to the game it adapts, although some events are changed in both content and placement. For instance, a scene in the game involving Jackie chasing down Eddie Shrote, head of the NYPD, is replaced with a scene in what appears to be a strip club where Eddie escapes from a fire caused by Jackie, but is still soon followed up by another scene with Shrote in a church (which incidentally is called Cold Springs church/cemetery here instead of Trinity church/cemetery in the game). Another example involves changing the order of events, where the death of Jenny, Jackie's girlfriend, is moved to be immediately after the scene with Dutch Oven Harry in the game, and the area of her death is in her own apartment rather than another building she was kidnapped to, although in both cases The Darkness prevented its host from interfering. Despite these differences, among others, the structure is kept as Jackie going after Paulie, dying once, going after Eddie, dying again, and achieving his goal of revenge. On the bright side, characterization is kept intact and we also get a scene that develops the background character Charles Hazelgrove as well as an entire issue (Level 0) that gives more exposition to Anthony Estacado, the one who brought The Darkness into his family.

The artwork, though different between each issue, is really impressive, especially in Levels 0 and 1 where it is positively gorgeous. While each of the six artists presents a different style in each issue, there is still a lot of consistency is what everything is supposed to look like. Each style is good in their own ways, going from the painting-like qualities of Levels 0 and 1 to art more akin to the original comic in Levels 2 and 3 until becoming more gritty in Levels 4 and 5, and they all in different ways help to preserve the tone of the story at their respective points. Within the art though, a few things pop up that never appear in the game, but were probably used to appeal to readers more familiar with the comic. Jackie's Darkness armor appears a couple of times in the middle of the story, while otherwise his Darkness mode is more like in the game (I looked when I used a Darkness power while playing), and at one point he uses a two-handed gun made from The Darkness that he didn't use in that fiction. However I think the art and story changes help bring something new to the comic to help it stand out on its own from the source material(s).

The writing of The Darkness: Levels, like the artwork, is very solid. Paul Jenkins and David Wohl do a great job translating the events of the game into a comic book form, including Paul Jenkins' solo work on Level 0. Not only does the comic retain the game's dark atmosphere, it also has a sense of humor at times like the original comic. As I've said, what helps the writing is the exposition given to Charles Hazelgrove, in that we get to learn more about his character and feel for his predicament, in addition to telling more about Anthony Estacado. We also get a better understanding of the iteration of hell from the game when Jackie converses with a "German" demon on his way to a castle (replacing the part in the game where you have to look for a shell for a ginormous death cannon).

If you are a fan of either the game or comic, The Darkness: Levels is a comic for you. Not only does it transfer the game to a comic faithfully while creating its own identity, the combined work of the writing and art display the amount of care and effort put into the project to achieve the end result. If you decide to read this comic, I suggest obtaining a trade paperback, as you will also be treated to a gallery of concept art for the game, which you can also unlock in-game after collecting enough phone numbers.

The Darkness - Let It Consume You

When I first heard of The Darkness as a game, I thought the idea sounded pretty cool, given the promise of being able to control the power of darkness as well as summon creatures called Darklings to do your bidding. It was later that I found out, during my first time playing, that the game was based on a still-running comic of the same name by Top Cow Productions, so I became curious of its source material, though I eventually stopped playing the game without completing it. Since then, while I haven't read very much of the comic overall, I found what I did read to be quite entertaining, though I should warn you that it's definitely not kid-friendly. With the release of The Darkness II on the horizon, I decided to come back to this game as a more experienced player, although I played on Easy because I'm not well versed in First-Person Shooters; while I enjoyed this title, there were some small issues I had with it.

Jackie Estacado is a mafia hitman for the Franchetti family, headed by "Uncle" Paulie Franchetti, who targets the hitman on his 21st birthday on account of suspected danger to the don. When this attempt fails, Jackie soon discovers an ancient force called The Darkness has awakened within him, having been passed down between generations. As Jackie figures out how to control this new power, he sets out on a mission to kill Paulie as payback for the assassination attempt. While the origin of The Darkness itself is similar to that of the comics, the approach to the story overall is the sort of thing one would expect to see in a live-action movie, which I mean in a good way.

The voice acting of this game is at the very least decent, with characters from the comic being given especially well-chosen voices and great performances (I praise Mike Patton's role as the titular Darkness). While the acting at times sounded slightly off to me, this was thankfully scarce and I liked it (the acting) for the most part. The action of the game is accompanied by some really amazing music, from a soft violin tune when it's quiet to a truly epic, evolving guitar riff during important battles. If the original music for the game was put out on CD, I would totally go out looking for it.

The basic gunplay of this title isn't too different from any other FPS at this point, but it overall manages to stand out. For instance, when Jackie holds any one-handed weapon, the system of dual-wielding kicks in and he is holding, for example, two pistols (two-handed weapons such as shotguns still operate realistically). Though you'll half the time be using your bullets to kill lights, the system of reloading is more realistic in that if you, as another example, decide to reload while your gun(s) has extra bullets left, you are ditching those spare shots in favor of a new clip. The guns themselves, particularly the pistols, are extremely accurate to where if the reticle is aiming at a light from a great distance, a single shot is enough to destroy it. Switching between your arsenal of guns is very simple and quick, making it fairly easy to switch to whatever it is you need/want at the moment.

On the subject of shooting lights, there are a multitude of Darkness powers you have at your disposal, so long as you're away from any sort of light source. These go from performing stealth kills with and manipulating a Darkness tentacle to dual-wielding guns powered by darkness and summoning a black hole to quickly take care of a large group of enemies, the last two of which I enjoyed using to where I tried to activate them at every opportunity I got. These powers run on Darkness energy, drained quicker by using them in light, which is easily replenished by devouring hearts or simply being in a dark area. Devouring hearts from enemy corpses also increases your Darkness Level, allowing you to use your powers for a much longer period of time. As mentioned previously, you also have the ability to summon an army of Darklings, creatures created from The Darkness that aid you in taking down enemies by attacking from a distance or blowing themselves up, among other things. Listening to these things talk can be hilarious, given the kinds of things they say and how they seem to almost converse with each other at times when you control a group of them. However, like The Darkness itself, these assistants are just as susceptible to light.

To increase the time you spend with this game, there is a variety of side-missions you can perform that will award you with unlockable content, including concept art, behind-the-scenes videos, and even full issues of the Top Cow comic. These are given to you through phone numbers and letters found on the ground, some of which require using The Darkness to obtain, which you redeem by using a telephone in the subways or a mailbox respectively. If you look all over every level, you can also find (fictional) phone numbers to note down and dial manually into subway phones in order to learn a rather interesting secret. In fact, you may find yourself spending about half your time alone searching high and low for these secret numbers.

During my bout of controlling the forces of pure darkness, I ran into a few odd glitches. At one point far into the game when I used a Darkness power to move a police car to use as footing, all of the lights from the vehicle remained in the same spot they were in, effectively becoming disembodied in the process. Also at least once when I used a phone number to collect an unlockable, Jackie went through the dialing motions twice, the second time during the beginning of the actual call. This next criticism is not a glitch, but while I appreciated the attention to detail in the level design, I sometimes couldn't help but think Jackie could at least walk just a little bit faster to make travelling across an area somewhat less time consuming.

The Darkness also has a function for online multiplayer, although I don't have very much to say about it. The options for a type of match merely cover the basics, so it's not exactly fresh meat. From what I could see there's surprisingly still barely any sort of community left (though it was probably thriving when the game first came out), and the one match I played suffered from huge amounts of lag before the server disconnected.

While this is an entirely new take on the tale of The Darkness, I should note it has some changes from the comic, at least from what I know from the little I've read of the overall story. I'm not going to comment on any design changes, but I can say that while in the comic Jackie's powers are only rendered moot by strong light, tension is added to the game by making his weakness any sort of light period, though he retains his creativity for getting around this. Adding to my comment on the approach feeling like a movie adaptation, the name of the don of the Franchetti family went from Frankie in the comic to Paulie in the game, though I'm not one to complain about this. Having read the very first few issues of the original comic via trade paperback, I was expecting the characters of Sonatine and the Angelus to appear, but the story does a good job of telling itself without them; thankfully though, it retains the character Butcher Joyce, who has a prominent role in the game.

Even if you are not familair with the Top Cow comic, I would suggest giving this game a try if you are of age. As you advance in the engaging campaign it becomes more and more fun to use The Darkness as you wreak havoc on those that stand in your way. It may even make you curious as to what the source material is like, as I did when first playing (from my small library I recommend the Coming of Age trade and the Four Horsemen mini-series). That said, I can't wait to see how The Darkness II improves on what this game has laid out.

Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy - The Beginning Of A Great One

Within the sea of modern games out there that are sequels or reboots/re-imaginings, perhaps this is the best time to look into the past for some quality entertainment. As Sly 4 is slated for release this year, this blog now has an ongoing project to review every game possible from within three of Sony's landmark franchises: Ratchet & Clank, Jak and Daxter, and Sly Cooper. Since the first one is already being taken care of, it has become my job to tackle the second. With this being my second playthrough of the game after a couple of years, my only question now is where to begin talking about Jak and Daxter.

I suppose the first thing to say would be a brief history of this title and its developer. After creating only three titles with mixed reception, Naughty Dog hit their stride when they developed the highly acclaimed Crash Bandicoot series for the PS1, which would later become some of the best selling games of all time for that system. After their acquisition by Sony, Naughty Dog made Jak and Daxter as the developer's first title for the PS2. Released in late 2001, it would go on to receive massive critical acclaim and spawn three sequels and two spin-offs. With that introduction out of the way, I now present my review of Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy for the PS2.

Before the story can begin, the player is given an explanation by Samos, the sage of Green Eco, about the concept of the Precursors as creators of all things, as well as the substance known as Eco. Following this, the story starts officially with Jak and his friend Daxter travelling to Misty Island against Samos' wishes. While there, they witness an evil plan being hatched by two people and are attacked by a Lurker while trying to leave. While Jak is able to defeat it with a bomb, Daxter accidentally falls into a vat of Dark Eco and ends up transformed into a creature called an Ottsel, a combination of an otter and a weasel. When they return to Sandover village, Samos yells at them for their disobedience, but informs Daxter that Gol Acheron, master of Dark Eco, may have the ability to change him back to his former self.

As the plot advances it seems to be rather thin, even with an rather interesting twist regarding the true identity of the villains, who seem to be made mostly of cardboard. There's even a developing romance between Jak and Keira, Samos' daughter, that seems to play out under the radar. Due to the lighthearted nature of the game though and how wonderfully it is pulled off, these things are very easily excusable. While the story may not have much meat, there are other aspects that make it interesting anyway. For example, we get to learn more about the world these characters inhabit, as well as the kind of technology that exists.

Controls are very simple and responsive, with moves that are easy to figure out with the lack of a tutorial. Since Jak's only moves are in the realm of hand-to-hand combat, experimentation in this sense is so intuitive that looking at a manual isn't even required. However, there is one small problem where the second press of the X button doesn't always seem to register, leading occasionally to some unintended loss of health. Despite this, it doesn't detract from the amount of platforming required to get through a level.

Speaking of which, the various levels of the game are crafted very well, especially since they are all interconnected in some form or another, with some events sometimes affecting what is accessible in other areas. The advantage to this level of interconnected design results in the absence of load times no matter how big the area, as everything is right there waiting to be accessed. While this may result in some formulaic structure for some games, there is fortunately a great variety in world structure and enemy types, though some of the challenges do carry over between stages. Most of the challenge familiarity however is focused within the three hub stages, mostly consisting of paying off NPCs or Oracles for Power Cells needed for advancing the game. Also, the levels seem to borrow from every type you'd expect from a platforming game, like cave, forest, ice, and lava levels. It seems to work in this game's favor though, since it creates a lot of level variety while still being fun and accessible to play.

Jak and Daxter is one of those games where collection is key to getting to the next area available. These collectibles are the aforementioned Power Cells, Precursor Orbs that are used as a sort of currency, and Scout Flies that gain you Power Cells once you've collected all seven in one area. As you can probably tell, Power Cells are the biggest key of all to going to the next hub stage, but thankfully they are fairly easy to obtain and it is not required that you have all of them at all times. This design trait helps to keep the game fun and interesting, with motivation to continue playing to collect them all.

One other key aspect of gameplay is Eco. Different types of Eco interact with the player in different ways, with Green Eco offering health, Blue Eco providing speed and ability to operate certain machinery, Red Eco giving Jak a leg up in combat, and Yellow Eco allowing him to shoot forth small energy blasts. With a system as simple as this, it's interesting how they are placed in the environment in a way that you can figure out what you're supposed to do without the game treating you like an idiot. It also helps the game retain a certain level of challenge as well, with the occasional need to try and conserve certain types that won't regenerate.

For a game released in the year 2001, making it an early PS2 title, the graphics hold up surprisingly well.  At this point in the franchise there's still an upbeat tone as evidenced by the cartoony visuals, which are very inviting, and the colors used which work very well with the lighting, especially considering the game has a full day-to-night cycle. The in-game models are very smooth, with precursor technology always dominating with a particular shade of brown. One thing I especially liked was the interactions that Daxter has with Jak's character model during movement. During jumps and runs, he fluidly moves through the air as he tries to hang onto his buddy's shoulder. I suppose the only complaint I could have about the physics is that the lava in the game seems to move and sometimes sound like water, but then again they may not have had the kind of physics engines we had later on to facilitate the proper effects.

One other thing I can praise is the overall sound design. The sound effects are all very fitting and unique, with the right choices that they aren't annoying every time they are heard. Voice acting is also superb, though one thing to note is that between the title characters, only Daxter does the talking. Thankfully, his lines are actually pretty humorous and help keep the overall tone of the game intact, although during control he sounds much like a guide fairy. In any case, he seemed to be handled pretty well in this game as the voice of the duo. Of course, that would change in later installments.

Lastly, it's important to mention that this game does provide a healthy degree of challenge. On some of the challenges it is possible to die multiple times, even the final boos, but each death is always the player's fault and only serves to provide motivation to try again. Given the nature of this game though, it's overall a fairly easy but enjoyable game.

If I could give an opinion on Jak and Daxter now, it would be that Naughty Dog was able to craft a very excellent platforming game that no one with a PS2 should miss. Taking the longevity of the game into account though, I'd say that it was a very good start for the franchise, and the ending unlocked by collecting all of the Power Cells does create an air of mystery that seems to only be solved by playing the sequel. If you want to relive the game but don't own a PS2 anymore, maybe the upcoming Jak and Daxter HD collection will suffice, as it promises to do just that.

Now I can't wait to play Jak II and continue my reviewing adventure with this series of games. Hopefully I'll enjoy is as much as, if not more than, this masterful work.

Stubs - The Bank Dick

THE BANK DICK (1940) Starring: W.C.Fields, Cora Witherspoon, Una Merkel, Evelyn Del Rio, Shemp Howard. Directed by Edward F. Cline. Written by Mahatma Kane Jeeves (W.C. Fields). Run Time: 69 minutes. Black and White. U.S. Comedy

I like to think of myself as a fan of all sorts of movie comedies. Even ones made for audiences other than myself. I love Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, the Marx Bros., Laurel & Hardy, etc. One comedic star of yesteryear that I had never been exposed to, and partly by choice, was W.C. Fields. While I know of him, his persona and have seen people imitate him for years, I had never watched a W.C. Fields film all the way through nor had I really wanted to. But recently, I got around to watching THE BANK DICK, which had been featured some time back on Turner Classic Movies, a channel I love and respect, as an Essential. So who am I to avoid an essential film? But after watching THE BANK DICK, I can honestly say, I don’t see what all the fuss is about.

The story, written by Fields under a different name, is definitely designed to take advantage of the W.C. Fields character, a henpecked drunkard, who doesn’t like hard work or children. Egbert Sousé (Fields) is a man with no obvious means of support, who spends too much time at the Black Pussy Cat Café. He has a wife, two daughters and a mother-in-law who is living with him. Every morning, he leaves home, presumably on his way to the Black Pussy Cat Café, where Joe (Shemp Howard) is the bartender, and whatever happens to him there is the plot of the story.

One day, in the bar, he meets a Hollywood producer who is in town making a movie, but the director is too drunk to continue. So he hires Sousé on Sousé’s own recommendation (If only it was that easy to get a job in Hollywood). Sousé also just happens to have a story idea on him, which he passes on to the producer. However, when Sousé starts directing, the set turns into anarchy and it seems like the idea is forgotten in favor of the next bit.

Later, he is credited with catching one of two bank robbers, though in reality, he had nothing to do with it. But the publicity lands him a job as the bank dick, read that as guard, with the promise of executive advancement. On his way to work, at the Black Pussy Cat Café, he runs into a swindler with what the swindler thinks is worthless mining stock, which Sousé convinces Og Oggilby (Grady Sutton) a functionary at the bank and Sousé’s eldest daughter’s fiancée, to embezzle $500 to pay for it.

However, since this a comedy everything works out for Fields: the mining stock actually pays off, the producer sells Sousé’s story to his boss back in Hollywood, and there is also that reward money for “capturing” the first bank robber. But before he can get the money the second bank robber has returned to rob the bank again. Having stolen the mining stock, along with other money, he kidnaps Sousé. A frantic, supposedly funny, car chase ensues with the police, the producer and the bank chasing after them throughout the countryside. The second bank robber is foiled.

Suddenly wealthy, Sousé does what he does every day. He gets up from the breakfast table and goes out into the world. And once on the street, who does he see but Joe the bartender and Sousé runs to catch up to him.

At 69 minutes, THE BANK DICK seems long. While there are some laughs in the film, overall, it is not really all that funny. There are signature bits, like Field’s habit of putting his hat on things other than his head, like hooks and canes, but seeing it once is funnier than several viewings. He also repeats a trick of throwing a piece of balled up paper over his shoulder and kicking it with the bottom of his foot. (This is a bit I had seen Chaplin do many times in movies before.) And his mannerisms, like washing his fingers in the water that’s supposed to be a drunk as a chaser, is unusual, but not laugh out loud funny.

Perhaps Fields is an acquired taste. But after seeing this film, I’m not really tempted to watch others. Or maybe he’s like the Three Stooges, something you watch with the occasional lapse of brilliance, but which you outgrow over time as your tastes get more sophisticated. Since I’ve never watched him before, I can’t say that’s what happened to me. Or maybe he’s something not everyone gets. If that’s the case, then I’m in the last category.

If W.C.Fields is supposed to be a genius, then it is wasted on me.

Rayman Origins - Rayman's Great Comeback

Despite never actually beating one of his main games before, I have been a fan of Rayman for a good portion of my life. I fell in love with the idea of the limbless wonder and had pursued playing each of his games since I got my hands on Rayman 2: The Great Escape as a child. Around Rayman Raving Rabbids however, I became more disinterested as the titular rabbids hijacked the franchise and turned it into a series of mini-game collections.  This lead to my surprise and imminent joy when I had heard about Rayman Origins early last year and its return to his 2D roots. Based on various magazine articles I had read on the subject, it seemed that they would be combining new and old ideas into the project in order to deliver a new platforming experience on current generation systems. When I finally obtained this game as a Christmas present, which explains why this review is late, I felt it would be best to see immediately if everything I had hoped for out of this title would be reality. In the end, it was more than I could have ever dreamed of.

First and foremost, this game is absolutely gorgeous. Thanks to the new UbiArt Framework used to create the visuals by scanning in real art, everything ends up looking simply amazing to look at. This helps make the graphics not only very consistent, but it also makes it fun to try and spot the tiny details in the characters and backgrounds, as well as the subtle actions created by interacting with the environment, such as kicking up grass when landing on that surface. The backgrounds in particular also help to establish an interesting sense of depth for a 2D game, helping the important details stand out in either visual plane.

Besides being beautiful, the game is also a very expertly designed platformer. The controls are tight and responsive, helped by the intricate character animations being designed in a way that they don't make the game more difficult than it already is. On top of this, the level design is fantastic, with some interesting and humorous twists on old level themes to help keep things fun and exciting. I also appreciated the gameplay variety within the worlds, such as having entire sections consist of flying around on a mosquito's back. One thing to point out however is how the difficulty seems to spike within the later sections, with some of these requiring a perfect rhythmic jump timing to be able to pass through. Despite this, most of the deaths I encountered, of which there were plenty, helped me to learn where I went wrong and enable me to overcome it. It's very difficult overall, but also fair for the most part. 

What may ease some of this difficulty is the drop-in drop-out Co-op that supports up to four local players simultaneously. The ease of difficulty comes form the fact that when a player would die, a friend can smack them back into the game, although just smacking other players around in general proved to be very fun on its own as well. The biggest advantage to this though is that it makes the game more fun when working together to get through a tough section or boss fight, among of course all the aforementioned smacking.

One item of note that should be taken into consideration is how the game doesn't stop throwing new things at you. In practice, this felt not only fun, but also kept the game very refreshing as it went along even if it's not directly explained. It could be a new gameplay mechanic, powerup, costume, or level, Rayman is always doing something new. Even the introduction of water levels to the mix is exciting, especially considering how well they handled the diving controls compared to most other games out there today.

Another smaller item of praise I can give this game is the music. Every level has a different theme of music to suit the style of the game perfectly and most importantly not get annoying. In fact, I found myself returning to specific worlds or levels on occasion just to hear the background music even more.

If I could only have one real complaint with this game, it would be the emphasis on gathering Electoons. Electoons are not only scattered in cages around the world, but are also gathered by collecting enough lums in a level or speeding through as fast as possible. You need to collect a certain number of them to to go to specific areas, and this can be a little frustrating given where some of these cages are placed and what obstacles you need to overcome in order to even get to them in the first place. While I did put priority into finding them right off the bat, I have a feeling that I'll be returning to the game again in the future just to see what happens when you get all of them, a revelation I am a little afraid to find out about, if only due to the fear that it may not be worth it in the end.

As the only Rayman game I have been able to beat so far, Rayman Origins is a very solid platforming experience that shouldn't be passed up with those that have a passing or long-term interest in the character and want to see what he can do now that the Rabbids are nowhere in sight. This is definitely a title that can help him stand up now against other heavy hitters out there now and I can't wait to see more from him in the future.

[OLD] Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure - This Game Literally Sells Itself

This game has been re-reviewed. Read it here: https://trophyunlocked.blogspot.com/2021/10/second-look-skylanders-spyros-adventure.html

Spyro, a well-known cute purple dragon, began life in an acclaimed trilogy of games created by Insomniac for the PS1, before the developer left the character to create Ratchet & Clank. Since then, Spyro was relaunched by the hands of Vivendi Universal Games, who made several games for the character with mixed results. Now under the control of Activision, the dragon has been revitalized in a new relaunch title, made to appeal to a younger audience, which this review shall cover. Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure proves to be a rather interesting title with a unique concept, but you'd better make sure you don't burn a hole in your wallet too quickly.

The story, written by Toy Story veterans Joel Cohen and Alek Sokolow, begins in the mystical realm of Skylands, inhabited by the protective Skylanders as peace reigns under the Core of Light, created by Portal Master Eon. However an evil Portal Master under the name Kaos destroys the Core of Light through the power of darkness, ejecting the Skylanders along with it. When a Skylander reappears later, it is up to you, a new Portal Master, to use the Skylanders in order to rebuild the Core of Light and defeat Kaos. Though simple, this is effective and coherent enough to to string together the game's events.

The graphics of this game are bright and colorful, which actually works really well in the game's favor. Aside from being good visual appeal to its target audience, everything stands out perfectly well and makes things very easy to spot. The soundtrack is a delight to listen to, including some instances of very catchy and equally epic battle music during boss fights. The voice acting is done rather well for a children's game, including the voice of the villain Kaos, performed by Richard Steven Horvitz, perhaps well-known for his role as the titular character of Invader Zim. His performance is in fact very similar to Zim's, which I found made him a more entertaining bad guy to say the least.

What makes this game unique, however, is the main gimmick: Your Skylanders are represented by physical toys, which you can transport into the game through the Portal of Power. This new peripheral is a light-up base that wirelessly connects to your console, giving you the role of Portal Master within the actual game. The fascinating thing about these toys is that everything that happens to their avatars in the game (money, levels, upgrades, and experiences) is saved onto the toy itself, so you never have to worry about losing that precious data from your console. However, this is also part of an ingenious way for developer Toys for Bob and publisher Activision to continuously print money.

For starters, there are, as advertised, over 30 Skylanders figures to collect, reducing the titular Spyro to a bit player despite his name being in the title, which is appealing to someone like me who is easily attracted to gimmicks. The game itself comes with three of these toys (Spyro, Gill Grunt, and Trigger Happy); I managed to complete the game and whatever I could access using only these three toys, though I had to bring my brother in for the drop-in drop-out co-op in order to win the final boss fight. You actually need several Skylanders, at least one from each of the eight different Elements, in order to access everything the game has to offer since some sections only allow access to specific types. To put into perspective my earlier comment about burning holes in wallets: A single Skylander costs $8; a pack of three Skylanders costs $20; and an Adventure Pack, containing an extra setpiece, a Skylander, and two item figures, also costs $20 (I have nothing to say about the Adventure Packs because I don't have them at this point). This means that in addition to paying $70 for the base package, you need to spend at least $40 extra at retail in order to get the best experience, which can sound ridiculous to any older player.

On top of this, as I've stated in the title, this game takes many an opportunity to advertise these toys. For starters, part of the actual story, explained by Eon, dictates that once the Skylanders were scattered from Skylands, they shrunk in size and landed on Earth for you to find (read: spend your money on) them. To add to this, an off-hand comment made by a fairy (who unfortunately looks slightly like Chucky from Child's Play) refers to the current Skylander leaving their world and turning back into a statue (read: removing the toy from the Portal of Power to replace with another). There are even advertisements in the actual game, although these are more subtle. At points when you collect Soul Gems, which represent powers for another character, you are given the option of previewing the character its associated with (including Spyro), which is only missing a voice-over and some children to become a more blatant commercial. Adding to my previous statements on spending money, this means you have to buy the advertised character in order to actually use that power.

While spending money this way can be problematic for some people, this is actually not among my major complaints with this game. For example, although this isn't a platforming title, it seems like the type of game that would have a jump button, which it doesn't have. This often leaves some items nigh impossible to reach in higher places unless, in some cases, you give your Skylander the ability to fly. Even worse is the fact that the Portal peripheral is a tad temperamental at times. At least a few times I've had it where I was asked to place a Skylander on the Portal of Power, only for it to immediately follow up with the summoning animation, all while a figure was still placed on the Portal of Power (I've even once seen the animation flash through the symbol for every Element before coming to the correct one). These I learned to deal with as I went forward, as I eventually accepted the lack of jumping as normal.

This is more of an observation, but while I played the PS3 version of this game, it appears to have been designed with the Wii in mind. Menus are laid out as if one would have to point with the Wiimote, some commands are replacements for shaking the controller (in fact one tip against a particular enemy is "shake to escape"), and quite possibly the aforementioned lack of a jump button. Again, this isn't a complaint so much as mere observation.

Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure is a unique approach to the Spyro franchise and to gaming in general. Save for the Portal of Power at some points, everything is solidly constructed and gives a worthwhile experience to its demographic in addition to existing fans of the series. This game is a perfect gift for any child since they will quite easily have the most fun with this title. Although paying for the physical DLC can be a problem for some, I actually enjoy the unique aspect of this gimmick and I plan to invest in more figures in the future so I may complete my experience.

I apologize for this review being late, as I received it as a Christmas present.