Get Burn Notice on Blu-Ray from Amazon.com

So, I’ve previously reviewed the first two seasons of Burn Notice. While I wait for season 3 to come out on DVD, I’m going to get started on another spy themed TV series – one with more of a James Bond (pre-Daniel Craig) theme.

The Premise:

Chuck is in charge of the Nerd Herd (Not-The-Geek-Squad) at a Buy More (a Not-A-Best-Buy-Circuit-City-Or-Comp-USA consumer electronics chain). His old friend-turned-arch-nemesis from College, Bryce Larkin, sends him an E-Mail that ends up uploading the contents of the Intersect, a classified NSA & CIA database (which Larkin has also destroyed) into his brain. Chuck ends up under the tender loving care of a beautiful CIA agent (whose cover is his girlfriend) and a rather nasty NSA agent (who presumably killed Larkin), while both agencies try to get the Intersect out of Chuck’s head, and deal with various international plots in and around LA.

The Good:

While a lot of the references to certain video games end up having the serial numbers filed off, generally the references to geek humor are pretty solid, to Chuck and his friend Morgan dressing up as a sandworm from Dune for a costume party (which they correctly refer to as Shai-Hulud, though they don’t refer to it as The Maker either, but that’s okay).

Also, the concept of the Intersect, while not technologically feasible, is conceptually feasible – and is actually something that the NSA and other intelligence agencies are working on – a computer system that can connect the dots between pieces of intelligence, particularly finding connections that human analysts might have missed.

The acting is pretty solid too, with Adam Baldwin stealing the show fairly often (particularly in “Chuck vs. the LTD”).

The Bad:

This season got cut short by the Writers’ Strike, so the season doesn’t really have much of an ending – particularly in comparison to some of the endings Burn Notice has had – enough of a cliffhanger to make me come back for next season, but enough closure that if I don’t get anything more, I can be somewhat satisfied with what I’ve gotten so far (or at least it’ll tide me over until they wrap things up with a mini-series, a movie, a novel or a comic book.)

The Ugly:

The segments in the Buy More can be a little annoying, but that may be because a previous job I had was tech support combined with a heavy focus commissioned sales – which wasn’t in the original job description (sales yes, the focus on sales, no) – so those segments brought up some bad memories. The segments covering the romantic subplot between Chuck and Sarah, his CIA handler, also run into the (in my opinion) bad romance conceit of drama by utter failure to communicate. Admittedly, under the circumstances some of that failure to communicate can be forgiven, but it’s still annoying.

Get Devil May Care from Amazon.com

It’s been a while since my last book review on my blog, in part because it’s been a while since I finished reading a novel. But, finally (okay, after two weeks), I’ve finished the most recent James Bond novel, by Sebastian Faulks, which continues where Ian Fleming’s last Bond Novel left off. Is Faulks a worthy successor to Fleming (or at least the other non-Fleming writers to take on 007 – John Gardner and Raymond Benson)? If he isn’t, how good is the book?

The Premise:

It is the dawn of the “swinging ’70s”. James Bond has been on leave for 3 months since the events of The Man With the Golden Gun (the novel, not the film). However, he gets pulled off his leave early to investigate an heroin smuggling cartel which is suspected to be run by pharmaceutical mogul Julius Gorner, a man who has a unique deformity, one hand is large and furry like an ape’s – but it doesn’t have an functioning opposable thumb. He also has a passionate, fervent hatred of the UK, and only 007 stands in his way.

The Good:

This is very much a Bond story in the Fleming style. There are little to no gadgets used by Bond. The book pays the same attention to continuity with Bond’s previous novels that Fleming did with his novels.  The book had it’s changes from Fleming’s style, some for the worse (which I’ll get to in a second), but this felt like a Bond novel, like as opposed to Benson and Gardner’s novels, which felt like Bond movies.

The Bad:

While Fleming’s Bond novels were products of their times, they never wore the trappings of their times on their sleeves the same way this did. I never felt like they were beating me around the head and shoulders with “This is the ’60s.” In part, this is because the 60s and late 50s were current when Fleming was writing, in the same way that the late 1800s were current when Bram Stoker was writing Dracula, and including such cutting edge technology as Dr. Seward’s dictated diaries on wax cylinders, and blood transfusion. Here, on the other hand, Faulks tries too hard to remind us, the reader, that the book is set in the ’70s. This leads into some problems which I’ll get into under the Ugly.

The Ugly:

In short, Faulks tries too hard. he tries too hard to establish that the book is set in the ’70s, and play up Bond’s dissatisfaction with the times (remember Bond bad-mouthing the Beatles in Goldfinger – sort of like that). They play up the US’s involvement in Vietnam, though they never go there, and the dirty tricks of the Nixon presidency – and they end up becoming political, more so than Fleming ever was in the Bond novels. Now, I have no problems with books being political, but the politicization of this book actually took me out of it some what.

Additionally, Faulks villain, Gorner, is actually too evil. It’s not just a matter of fighting drug smugglers (Mr. Big in Live and Let Die was proof that Faulks was willing to involve drugs in his plots). It’s Gorner’s immense hatred of everything even vaguely British that goes above and beyond the Nazis’ hatred of Eastern Europe, and white supremacists’ hatred of people of color. It’s the treatment of addicts in Gorner’s plant, and his use of gang rape and murder as punishment for female infiltrators (though he never actually subjects any of the female characters to such acts). All and all, it feels like it’s too far for a Bond novel, and that it instead belonged to something more R-rated.

The Verdict:

If you’re a die-hard Bond fan who happened to have this book slip under your radar, go ahead and give it a read. However, if you’re new to the Bond novels after Fleming, someone coming into the novels after just seeing the movies, or just a casual fan who reads the novels every now and then, I’d recommend giving it a pass – unless Faulk writes a second Bond novel, then you might want to check this one out from the library.

So, Technorati wants me to prove that I am the writer of the blog by putting a unique verification code in a blog post, to be specific, they want me to fit “THQNTUNF68J8″ into a blog post. I’m not entirely certain how I can do so organically, but there we go. Hopefully they’re satisfied with it.

Get "Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid" from Amazon.com

This week I have another review of a classic motion picture for you – or at least a motion picture that is widely regarded as a classic of the Western genre. It’s also the film that helped bring Robert Redford to the big time, and named the Sundance film festival – Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid. So, as I always ask when reviewing classics, does the film hold up, or has the years undermined its supports? Oh, and as a quick aside – I’m probably going to cut back on my blogging for a bit – at least for the rest of the term, as my work schedule and class schedule isn’t conductive for the rigorous schedule I was blogging before.

The Premise

Butch Cassidy, along with his friend, The Sundance Kid, is in charge of The Hole In The Wall Gang, a notorious group of outlaws who have previously been robbing banks and trains across the West. When a train robbery goes spectacularly pear-shaped, Cassidy & The Kid head south, to Bolivia, where they will end up finding their destiny.

The Good

Redford and Newman have excellent chemistry. For that matter, I’d like to take a moment to go aside and say that while I’d seen Redford in films before, I’d only seen Newman once before (in The Hudsucker Proxy) and I’m kicking myself repeatedly for not going to see some of his other work earlier. The direction is great, and the script is also excellent, with a few complaints.

The Bad & The Ugly

I don’t really have a bad and an ugly, so I’m lumping them together here, because I have one large point to make.

While I liked the sort of 3-way romance between Katharine Ross’s character and Newman & Redford’s characters, when she leaves, the audience response could be stronger. We, the viewers, know that Butch & Sundance die bloody in real life. The moment Ross’s character says, before they leave for Bolivia, that she’s not willing to watch them die bloody, and if it looks like they are, she’ll leave – they’re foreshadowing this point. At some point, she’s going to leave, and when she does, the audience is going to realize that things are going to go pear-shaped. The film should emphasize this some. We should get a bit of a feeling of dread. I didn’t get that then, and it didn’t happen until Butch is hit for the first time during the climactic shootout.

That said, as someone who has seen the Wild Bunch, and knows that the director wasn’t going for the conclusion of that movie (in terms of the Peckinpah slow-mo bloody death scene), by build up the sensation of dread a little more in the audience here, at Ross’s character’s departure, you can get the audience in a state of mind that – as soon as Butch’s plate is shattered by the bullet, you know that they’re dead. Is it grim and nihilistic, yeah. But, then again, I’m approaching this from the perspective of an fan of anime and eastern cinema, which are no strangers to grim and nihilistic endings – just look at the endings of Cowboy Bebop,  Hero, Kagemusha and Violent Cop. So, when you have a western film (both in that it’s a Western and in that it’s made in the West) where the heroes die at the end, why pull your punches when you kill them, even if you aren’t going to outright show them dying bloody? If it’s a downer ending, than so what? You got an emotional response out of your audience – you got your audience to care enough about the film that they sympathized with the two outlaws, and felt bad when they died. That’s doing your job right.

Notes for a Role Playing Game Campaign

For all this film’s merits as a good film, it frankly, also stands a stark warning to the GM (Game Master) of what not to do. On the one hand, the repercussions that Butch and Sundance (the PCs – Player Characters in this example) see in the US over their robberies are reasonable. More advanced tactics against the trains will, ultimately, lead to more advanced tactics used in hunting down the robbers. Much as the Grand Theft Auto games have the wanted meter, if you have PC outlaws who are robbing trains, banks and committing other acts of banditry in the same area, or against the same target (like a particular railroad), people will use more  aggressive and sophisticated tactics against them, possibly even a super-posse.

However, in the campaign sense, when the GM managed to get Butch and Sundance away from banditry, as payroll guards, he then screwed them. He didn’t just have the NPC (Non-Player Character) bandits shoot the PCs employer first, he had the character killed in a single shot, deriving them of their new, legitimate, livelihood. Now, with games like Aces & Eights, this can happen.  That’s fine – it’s not a fault of those systems. However, what that means is, ultimately, is that as the GM, fudging dice rolls is good. If you don’t like fudging, or think it’s cheating – that’s okay too. That’s what warning shots are for. Having a TPK (Total Party Kill) come organically out gameplay is fine. That’s the way things happen and it usually results in a situation that the group will remember (hopefully favorably) for some time to come. Railroading the party into a TPK leads to the GM being beaten senseless, and awakening to find his or herself dangling from the ceiling by his or her ankles, with his or her entire DVD and video tape library replaced with copies of the Star Wars Holiday Special.

Consider yourself warned.

The Verdict

This is, frankly, one of the best westerns ever made, and I’d even recommend it to people who aren’t necessarily fans of the western. That said, I’m not sure if I’d put this on my “Everyone Needs To See This At Least Once” list, but I’m leaning in that direction.

This week’s Nintendo Power, issue #29 for October of 1991, finally has some better cover art – for Star Trek! Oh, and this is a good one too – they’re finally getting back up to speed. It’s original art too, not stock art from Paramount either. I can tell they’re using a model, but it still looks good anyway. It helps that they’re using the Constitution Class refit.

Letters: Our themed letters this issue are based around parents who hyjack their kids console, in that they’re gaming enough that the kids have to try (and fail) to chase them off the NES.

F-Zero Guide: We have notes on the games controls, and which tracks you’ll have to race on which circuits. We also have notes on the various vehicles and their pilots, including Captain Falcon.

Nester’s Adventures: This issue Nester is playing Star Wars, and the advice this issue is to jump over the bloody nusance bounty hunters in Mos Eisley.

Star Trek 25th Anniversary Guide: So, Star Trek is 25 years old, Star Trek VI is on it’s way to theaters, Next Gen is coming to an end, and the Dominion War Arc is going to start. Meanwhile, on consoles, we’re getting a new Star Trek Game, in the Adventure genre. It’s also guilty of having nesting fetch quests. Oh, and by having nesting fetch quests I mean there aren’t any non-fetch quests. I don’t even think you fight any enemy ships.

Roger Clemens MVP Baseball Guide: It’s a NES Baseball game. I’ve already told you in my EGM and GamePro recaps how unimpressed I am with those.

Metroid Guide: This isn’t Metroid II for the Game Boy, it isn’t Super Metroid, this is a new guide for the original. It even has notes on the power-ups, and most importantly, it has maps for Brimstar, Norfair, and the lairs for the bosses of Kraid and Ridley, along with Tourian, and the boss fight with Mother Brain – plus the escape.

Shatterhand Guide:We get power-up notes, some level maps, and some boss notes for about 3 levels. We don’t get coverage for the last boss fight though.

Game Boy Coverage: We start off with coverage of Castlevania II for the Game Boy, which while it apparently has some improvements over the first game, keeps the damn ropes. We also have a preview of Bart Simpson in Escape from Camp Deadly. Interplay also has Track Meet, and we’ve got a port of the NES version of Monopoply.

SNES Q & A: We get some answers to basic consumer questions about the SNES. Stuff like “Will the NES still be supported?” (reasonable) and “Can I hook both consoles up to one TV?” (not so reasonable), and “Will we get 16-bit remakes?” (pretty unreasonable).

SNES Coverage: We get a preview of Super Ghouls & Ghosts, which I think I may make my pick, just to see how later versions of Ghouls & Ghosts compare to the original (which I have played). There’s also Hal’s Hole in One Golf, and Super R-Type also known as R-Type 2 (which I’ve reviewed in the form of R-Types at Bureau42.com).

Now Playing: The Highlights of the also-rans include Captain America & The Avengers, which is actually making itself a canidate, along with a Wolverine game.

Top 30: I’m going to try something different and see if I can splice both pages of the scan togeather. To be absolutely honest, I like being able to post the pictures of the pages – not just because it’s easy (thought it kind of is), it’s also really fun to look at the top 30 as a whole, particularly since they have some of their own commentary, and – to be honest, there are some stylistic things from the early 90s and late 80s that I liked – we’re not yet in the mid-90s in the midst of Rob Liefeld attitude, so I’m reveling in this while I can – in case things change for the worse a few volumes down the road.

Celebrity Profile: This issue’s profile is of a real person this time, Joe Regalbuto, currently co-starring on Murphy Brown as Frank Fontana (a role he reprised on an episode of Family Guy, which is one hell of an obscure reference to drop). Is it just me, or with the exception of Wil Wheaton, has the careers of the most of the celebrities profiled here not lasted long afterwards?

Pak Watch: The upcoming titles of note here are Ultima V, G.I. Joe II which is from Capcom this time, and it’s borrowing from Bionic Commando, and there’s also UN Squadron.

Letter from the Staff: This issue it’s from Leslie Swan, one of the writers for Nintendo Power, writing about getting to meet Bill Elliot at Nintendo HQ.

Now, for my Quality Control pick. This issue my game of choice is going to be Super Ghouls & Ghosts. Yeah, I’m not good with hard games, but this time save states are on my side. At the very least, I want to get to a boss fight.

This week’s issue of EGM, #64 for November of 1994, is a doozy – 398 pages (including the cover), just short of 400 pages. We’ve also got one heck of a cover story, the 32X version of Doom. Now, due to the length of this issue, I may end up skipping a few games if they’re games that just don’t interest me. In particular, I’m going to skip the sports section entirely, and for the system specific coverage I’m going to skip games that were reviewed earlier in the issue (and possibly games that don’t interest me).

Editorial: Since this is, basically, the second-to-last issue of 1994, it’s time once again to speculate at where the video game industry is going, particularly considering that the game industry going to enter the 32 bit era soon.

Letters: We get a letter asking if we’ll get the Street Fighter II anime (yes, we will, thanks to Manga Video – which is still fortunately in business, though I don’t know if they have the rights). We also get a call to start a letter writing campaign to get Bandai to bring some of the DBZ games to the United states (particularly since DBZ is gaining popularity in the US now). We also have complaints about the “64-bit” era bringing the 16-bit era to an end too soon. We also get a giant letter applauding the Crew for speaking the truth about the (thus far) eternal string of SF2 games and telling Capcom to, in the writer’s words, “eat excrement and expire.” We also a letter bemoaning the lack of support for the Atari Jaguar.

Review Crew: The crew still is Ed Semrad, Danyon Carpenter, Al Manual, and Sushi-X.

• Donkey Kong Country (Nintendo, SNES): This game impresses the hell out of Ed, who gives the game a 10. The rest of the crew gives the game 9s, and they find it spectacular, due to both excellent graphics and (in their opinion) control. Overall: The game gets 37/40 recieves the Editor’s Choice Platinum award and is Game of the Month.
• The Lion King (Virgin, SNES): Ed, Danyon, and Sushi give the game 8s, and Al gives it a 7, finding that the game ties in well with the plot of the movie, along with looking good and controlling well. However, Ed and Al had complaints about cheap hits in the game (with Ed specifically mentioning that some areas of the game require you to get hit to progress). Overall: 31/40.
• Shaq-Fu (EA, SNES): This is a fighting game/brawler featuring a certain successful basketball player. In general, the scores are middle of the road, with Ed giving the game a 6, Danyon and Al giving the game 5s, and Sushi giving the game a 4. However, the actual opinions on the game are a little more mixed. Ed, Al, and Sushi are wondering why this was made as a fighting game in the first place, while Danyon is a little more forgiving of the bizarre premise, though he still finds it very mediochre. Overall: 20/40.
• Pac-Man (Namco, SNES): It’s an adventure game featuring Pac-Man, instead of another maze game. That said, the crew finds it a solid transition, though some of the members of the crew feel it may be difficult for people to adjust to the new setup. Ed gives it an 8, Al, Sushi, and Danyon give the game 7s. Overall: 29/40.
• Boogerman (Interplay, Genesis): A gross-out platformer attempting to capitalize on the success of Earthworm Jim. The game gets 8s from Ed and Danyon as they find it a good solid platformer. Al and Sushi on the other hand gave the game 5s, finding it generic with the sole exception of the gross-out humor, which they weren’t too fond of. Overall: 26/40.
• Virtual Bart (Acclaim, Genesis): Another year, another Simpsons licenced game, and while Ed likes it and gives the game an 8, everyone else finds it very generic and mediochre (and with bad control), with Danyon giving it a 5, and Al and Sushi giving the game 4s. Overall: 21/40.
• Animaniacs (Konami, Genesis): An action/puzzle/platformer featuring the Warner Brothers and the Warner Sister. Danyon gives the game an 8 and the rest of the crew gives it 7s, finding it a solid licenced puzzle-action-platformer, much like Rabbit Rampage. Overall: 29/40.
• Mickey Mania (Sony Imagesoft, Sega CD): An new Mickey Mouse Action Platformer. The crew is very impressed with this one, with Ed giving it an 9 and Danyon and Sushi giving it 8s, as they find it superior to the cartridge version, and finding it an excellent reflection of the history of Mickey Mouse. Al gives it a 7, finding it only superior to the cartridge version only in terms of sound. Overall: 32/40, and it recieves the Editor’s Choice Gold Award.
• King of Fighters ‘94 (SNK, Neo-Geo): Ed and Danyon give the game 9s, and Al and Sushi give the game 8s, with the main complaints being that you can’t fight outside of team mode, and some of the teams are unbalanced (I agree – though Team USA is considerably more unbalanced than the Ikari Warriors Team). Overall: 34/40 and it recieves the Editor’s Choice Gold Award.
• Burning Soldier (Panesonic, 3DO): Another FMV Action game, which kind of gets a mixed reaction. Ed isn’t too fond of FMV action games, but he likes this one enough to give it a 7 and to reccomend it as a “buy”. Al also gives it a 7. Danyon and Al give it 6s, finding it not too intense, but still fun. Overall: 26/40.
• Alien Vs. Predator (Atari, Jaguar): The Jaguar gets the first Alien Vs. Predator licenced shooter. Unfortunately the only member of the crew who likes it is Danyon, who gives it a 7. The rest of the crew gives it mediochre scores, due to cheap hits, a lack of a jump button, and rather odd complaints like the Alien leaving bodies lying around. Ed gives it a 6, and Al and Sushi give the game 5s. Overall: 23/40.
• Burn Cycle (Phillips, CD-I): A cyberpunk RPG. Ed and Danyon love it and give it 9s, with Danyon considering it a system-seller. Sushi gives it an 8, lauding the game’s story. Al isn’t so impressed, giving it a 6, finding the pacing too slow. Overall: 33/40 and it recieves the Editor’s Choice Gold Award.
• Sonic Triple Trouble (Sega, Game Gear): A collection of (sort of), the highlights of the Sonic series. Ed, Danyon, and Sushi give the game 7s, and Al gives it a 6, with the only complaints being that the game is essentially same-old-same-old. Overall: 27/40.

Gaming Gossip: Among the Q-Mann’s rumors this issue are a possible release for Mortal Kombat III for the Playstation when it comes out. There are rumors that Dracula X will come out for the Playstation, 32X, and SNES (not so much – though the Playstation does get Castlevania: Symphony of the Night). Oh, and Nintendo has bought Hasbro’s VR tech and is planning on using it as a new console this upcoming year. I presume that this will become the Virtual Boy, and will be the failure that destroys the once-prosperous career of Gunpei Yokoi.

Press Start: We’re starting off with a look at the Sonic & Knuckles add-on cart. EA also has a bat peripheral for home console systems, and apparently the saga of Data East vs. Capcom isn’t quite over yet. Capcom’s also working on an a Mega Man animated series which I watched as a kid and loved. I really should give it another watch to see how it holds up in hind-sight.

Arcade Action: Banpresto has a new Gundam fighting game with Gundam EX Revue. Sega has the tank simulator Desert Tank. Capcom has Super Saturday Night Slam Masters which is more of a traditional fighting game (unfortunately). Virtua Fighter 2 is also appearing in arcades.

International Outlook: Bandai has a G Gundam fighting game (no surprise). There’s also a Mobile Suit Gundam puzzle action game. Enix has Dragon Quest VI, which is finally due to get a US release for the Nintendo DS. Technos has a pair of fighting games set to come out for the Neo-Geo, one adapated from the Double Dragon series, and one off a new IP titled Voltage Fighter Gowcaizer. Banpresto has the mega-crossover shump The Great Battle IV. Myst is set to make its console debut on the Sega Saturn. There’s a Lupin III puzzle action game for the SNES, as well as a 3rd version of Super Tetris. We also get our first look at Ridge Racer and Battle Arena Toshinden.

One of the first US ads for "Snatcher"

We also get a little ad for the US release for Snatcher for the Sega CD. I’m still hoping that we’ll get a much belated release of Policenauts, and maybe even a re-release of Snatcher for those who don’t currently have a Sega CD.

Next Wave: We get a look at the Sega CD version of Samurai Shodown, and Rayman for the Jaguar.

Features: First up is a look at some of the new levels we’ll get in Sonic & Knuckles, as well as a look at Knuckles in Sonic 2 with the add on module. There’s also a preview of the anthropormorphic fighting game Brutal for the Genesis, Sega CD, and SNES. We also get part 2 of their multi-part feature they started in EGM^2 about the making of Mickey Mania. We also get looks at some of the titles from The European Consumer Technology Show, JAMMA (Japanese Amusement Machinery Manufacturers Association) and AMOA (Arcade Machine Operators of America) shows. We also get a big look at the 32X, including our look at the 32X version of Doom, along with Star Wars Arcade (which most of the readers of this know by a later version – Star Wars Trilogy Arcade). There’s also Virtua Racing, Cosmic Carnage, and the mecha action game Metalhead.

SNES Coverage: The first of the new titles we get a good look at this issue is Clayfighter 2: Judgement Clay. That title is groanworthy enough that I’d pass on the game even before seeing review scores. Anyway, there’s a Yogi Bear licenced platformer, which doesn’t have any continues or passwords (ugh), and a Looney Toons themed Mario-Paint style software package. There’s also the SNES version of Interplay’s Starfleet Academy, which also includes missions that weren’t in the PC version, such as missions based on various Star Trek films (like Star Trek II) and episodes (like Balance of Terror). Ocean has an Addams Family Values RPG, which gives me unpleasent reminders of Fester’s Quest. US Gold has an Incredible Hulk brawler that doesn’t look so hot. Viacom’s also got an Nick Guts licenced game, which looks interesting, particularly considering that I loved that show when I was a kid too. We also get a look at Clay Fighter Tournament Edition and Final Fight Guy which are remakes of their particular games which recieve rental only releases, with the former getting a tournament mode and the latter having Cody removed and replaced with Guy.

Genesis/Sega CD Coverage: We get more of a look at Ecco The Dolphin: The Tides of Time. There’s also Zero the Kamakaze Squirrel which looks rather bad. Fox Interactive has a game base of its Pagemaster animated movie. Time Warner has an very interesting Sci-Fi platformer in Generations Lost. Sega also has the FMV action game Masked Rider, which features a certain Tokusatsu hero (hint, “Kamen” is Japanese for mask… figured it out yet – fine, it’s Kamen Rider). Sega also has the shump Android Assault. There’s also a look at Lethal Enforcers II, and an in-depth preview of Stalker. There’s also a preview of the Sega CD version of Starblade by Namco.

Neo-Geo Coverage: Nothing here outside of stuff covered in the reviews.

3DO Coverage: We get a preview of Mad Dog McCree II. Other than that, not much of note.

CD-I Coverage: Nothing of note for the CD-I.

Game Boy Coverage: We get a look at the portable version of Contra: The Alien Wars.

Game Gear Coverage: We get a look at the portable port (ahem) of The Lion King, and Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.

Lifestyles: We have a series of artbooks for the Star Wars trilogy, including some of Ralph McQuarrie’s concept art. Unfortnately, these artbooks are out of print. We also have rumors of an second Jurassic Park movie coming out, as well as the impending start of the Age of Apocalypse Arc, which I remember reading some of when I was a kid, but I didn’t read all of the series. Meanwhile, in the DC Universe, Knightsfall and Knightsquest have come to an end, and Knightsend is starting, with Bruce Wayne finally returning as the Bat – where he’d stay (with a small hiatus) until Final Crisis. Also, Disney is starting off their darkest animated series, Gargoyles – which was one of their best animated series until they brought it to an end.

That wraps my EGM Recap. Tommorow I’ll continue my Nintendo Power Recaps. However, I’m stopping my GamePro Recaps as I’m starting a new job.

Get Season 2 of Burn Notice on Blu-Ray

This week we finish up the Burn Notice reviews (for now), with a review of the show’s second season. I haven’t watched Season 3 yet, but once I do, you can expect a review.

The Premise:

Following the conclusion of Season 1, Michael finds a few answers about who burned him – sort of. To be more accurate, he’s lost the FBI surveillance and instead has found himself in the care of Carla, his new handler. So, while now trying to make ends meet by helping the helpless, he now must also try to find out who Carla is working for, and what they want to do with him.

The Good:

Season 2 starts off very well, and continues to be paced pretty well. While we don’t have total resolution over who burned Michael, and how to get out from under their thumb, we do feel like we’re getting somewhere. It’s different from, say, Lost, where you get this sensation of taking two steps forward, and then one step back (and sometimes more). The show always feels like it’s getting forward momentum in terms of the plot. I also liked the reference to the George Smiley novels with the name choice for Carla.

The Bad:

Michael appears to rely on his guns and his explosives a bit too much. That said, he does try to keep with his MO of manipulating other people into doing the necessary killing for him.

The Ugly:

Michael’s mother taking him to the group psychiatric sessions again. Look, I know Michael has issues that he needs to work out with his family, but they did that for a B-Plot last season. It was annoying when they did it as a B-Plot last season, and it’s annoying this season. If they’d changed it up by having it be Fiona and Michael, that’d be something else entirely.

Gaming Usage:

The same general usage as last season. The show remains the perfect TV resource for Shadowrun GMs and players, at least in terms of missions, tactics, and group dynamics.

The Verdict:

The show’s changed for the darker tonally, but it’s still a great show, and I’m still giving it my recommendation.

Well, I tried to beat this game. I couldn’t. This game is very hard. That said, I made it through Tatooine, with the help of the map in Nintendo Power, and I made it through the asteroid sequence through what I guess is dumb luck. However, after arriving on the Death Star, I ran into a brick wall. Well, not literally, but figuratively. I couldn’t find where to go next. That said, I do feel that I experienced most of the pieces of the game experience, at least enough so that I feel comfortable rating the game. So, let’s get started

The Premise:

A long time ago, in a galaxy far away… oh you know the whole plot already. Seriously, the game sticks fairly close to the basic plot points, though it embellishes on them to bring the game to a length that would be acceptable for a commercial release.

The Good:

The weapon selection of the game is moderately balanced. All the playable characters carry blasters, which don’t do a lot of damage, but have very good range – in that the shots go the entire length of the screen. However, they don’t deal a lot of damage in comparison to Luke’s light saber, which will kill most enemies in one hit. However, most enemies will kill you in one or two hits if you make contact with them, but blaster bolts will take a bunch of hits to kill you.

Additionally, spikes won’t kill you instantly. Usually, if there’s a platform nearby at a jumping height you can survive while losing only about one-third-to-one-fourth of your life bar. After being killed numerous times from Castlevania to Mega Man to Ninja Gaiden by lightly brushing spikes, this is a very nice touch.

The Bad:

During the asteroid sequence I didn’t get much feedback about where the asteroids are coming in, and having enemies on the over-world on Tatooine when you can’t fight back is also a pain in the neck. Some of the jumping puzzles were also a nuisance, and I’m not a fan of the falling damage – that’s a “feature” that could have been eliminated from the game entirely.

The Ugly:

From Mos Eisley on I found myself basically encountering bullet-hell segments in the game. In particular, the Bounty Hunters on Mos Eisley are incredibly cheap, as once you shoot them they’ll take off with their jet-pack while still shooting, and if they hit you once, all their bullets will home in. Also, once I got on the Death Star, I actually ran into a situation in one room where there were enough bullets being shot at me on screen that the game lagged. Now, if this were Contra, where my gun had more power to it, and I could shoot on the diagonal, this wouldn’t necessarily be a problem. But it’s not Contra, I can’t shoot on the Diagonal, nor can I shoot straight up or down, or jump high enough to take out some of the more dangerous enemies who are shooting at me. Thus, the deaths I end up experiencing can justifiably be described as “cheap”.

Yes, I am aware that this is an “old-school” NES game, and old school NES games are hard. However, as I’ve said repeatedly, they weren’t always hard in a good way. Some times they were hard because they tied one or both hands behind your back. That’s not a good way of being hard, that’s a bad way of being hard.

This game is hard, in the bad way.

The Verdict:

For now, I’m going to recommend giving Star Wars for the NES a miss. As it is there’s Super Star Wars as well, which I’ll be reviewing later, when I come to it.

This week’s Nintendo Power recap finally takes us into the 16-bit era, with issue #28 for September of 1991 and our cover story is Super Mario World for the SNES. I’m strongly considering dropping my “no classics” restriction for this game. However, let’s see what else we have this issue first.

Letters: We get a bunch of suggestions for future contests.

Super Mario World Guide: We get coverage of Mario’s new companion, Yoshi, as well as the game’s power-ups. We also get notes on some of the enemies in the game, along with some of the over-world maps. We also get notes on what levels are where, but we don’t get detailed level maps – which is kind of unfortunate, as this is the only mainstream Mario game I’ve gotten lost on. For the record, I also got a little lost in Super Mario RPG, but that’s a slightly different matter. We also get some notes on finding the Star Road – but again, they don’t get in a lot of detail on anything.

Nester’s Adventures: This issue Nester’s playing Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure and… I can’t figure out what the tip’s supposed to be. Is it “hide in the bushes to escape persuing enemies” or “search the enviroment to find the number for the era you want to go to”? I miss Howard!

Star Wars Guide: A long time ago, on a 8-bit system far away, JVC and Lucasarts put out a game based on the first Star Wars movie. This is also looking like a strong canidate for my Quality Control pick (particularly since I haven’t played this one). We get the over-world map for Tatooine. We also get the maps for the various areas on Tatoonie. We also get some notes on the levels after Tatoonie, though not particularly any detailed maps.

Smash TV Guide: Smash TV has been ported to the NES, with several of the levels missing, and as a single stick/d-pad shooter. Well, sort of – you can use two sticks to replicate the twin-stick setup. We also get notes on 3 circuits.

Kickmaster Guide: We have a guide for the kick-boxing themed fantasy game from Taito. We get some notes on the levels, but not a lot of maps on the levels.

WURM Guide: Asmik has an underground exploration themed shooter, with a bit of the Blaster Master changing vehicle thing going on. We get some detailed maps this time, on the other side of their F-Zero poster.

Game Boy Coverage: This issue we get coverage of Final Fantasy Adventure – the first game in the Mana series, and some very, very detailed maps. I’m impressed with the amount of coverage we’re getting here. We also get some coverage of the Game Boy version of Tecmo Bowl, and a similar port of Marble Madness.

SNES Previews: We get a preview for Super Castlevania, which returns us once again to Simon Belmont, and introduces 8-way whipping. We also get a peak at some of the stages (and some of those get re-used in Rondo of Blood). We also get a preview of the home port of Sim City, and the first 16-bit brawler – Final Fight, though we don’t particularly need maps for those games.

Now Playing: This issue the also-rans include Eliminator Boat Duel and Bo Jackson Baseball.

Counselor’s Corner: We have questions about Star Tropics, and Legacy of the Wizard. The Legasy of the Wizard question is particualrly useful as it covers which characters you should use to get what crowns, and what screens you have to go through to get there. We also have questiosn about getting some of the 1-ups and past some of the obstacles in Ninja Gaiden III, along with questions about finding WarMech in Final Fantasy, and getting into the castle at the end of Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves

Top 30: Well, this issue I no longer have a nice, convenient two page scan to put up for my Top 30 section, so it’s time to type out the list again. I’m going to switch to the monthly system here, particularly since Nintendo Power has been monthly for several years now, and I’ve stopped counting total run, instead going for the current run (more or less – they don’t give time of run for stuff lower than 10 on the list).

1. Super Mario Bros. 3 (9,039 pts.) – No Change (23 months)
2. TMNT 2 Arcade (7,582 pts.) – No Change (10 months)
3. Mega Man III (5,616 pts.) – No Change (10 months)
4. Crystalis (5,251 pts.) – Up 3 (11 months)
5. Final Fantasy (5,156 pts.) – Down 1 (13 months)
6. Bart vs. The Space Mutants (4,511 pts.) – Up 2 (5 months)
7. Dragon Warrior II (4,474 pts.) – Down 2 (9 months)
8. Tetris (4,371 pts.) – Down 2 (19 months)
9. Startropics (4,350 pts.) – No Change (6 months)
10. Dr. Mario (3,429 pts.) – No Change (8 months)
11. Battletoads (3,219 pts.) – New!
12. The Legend of Zelda (2,908 pts.) – Up 8
13. Super Mario Bros 2 (2,541 pts.) – Down 2
14. Mega Man II (2,351 pts.) – Down 1
15. Destiny of an Emperor (2,324 pts.) – Up 3
16. Double Dragon III (2,066 pts.) – Down 6
17. Bases Loaded II (1,838 pts.) – Up 11
18. Dragon Warrior (1,779 pts.) – Up 6
19. Ultima IV (1,740 pts.) – Down 5
20. Tecmo Bowl (1,663 pts.) – Returning!
21. Double Dragon II (1,523 pts.) – No Change
22. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1,470 pts.) – Down 3
23. Castlevania III (1,386 pts.) – Down 9
24. Maniac Mansion (1,368 pts.) – Down 9
25. Faria (1,168 pts.) – New!
26. Wizardry (1,146 pts.) – Down 10
27. Duck Tales (1,144 pts.) – Up 1
28. Battle of Olympus (1,074 pts.) – Returning!
29. Little Nemo (1,045 pts.) – No Change

Celebrity Profile: Oh you’ve got to be kidding me! Bart Simpson? Look, regular celebrities which are actual human beings are fine. Hell, if Koko the gorilla (or any other gorilla) was tought to play video games as part of an experiment, a profile of him or her would be fine too. Bart isn’t real! Lame!

Pak Watch: Among the interesting upcoming titles are a Tale Spin licenced game and a Might & Magic for the NES. The SNES has Darius Twin coming out, Nosferatu, which is sort of Prince of Persia meets Castlevania. There’s also Super Battletank.

Letter to The Readers: This issue we have a little note from Scott Peland, the writer of Howard and Nester, and now Nester Adventures, with a little peak behind the scenes.

Well then, my Quality Control pick for this issue is going to be the NES Star Wars game from JVC. I’ll move on to the SNES versions later, when they come out – unless something more interesting is up against it. Also, I’m considering dropping GamePro. I don’t feel like I can trust their reviews. However, EGM has started up EGM^2 around this time, plus I also have access to a small archive of DieHard Game Fan. So, I’m interested in both of those. If you have a preference, please post in the comments. Thank you.

This week we continue with our EGM recaps with issue 63 for October of 1994. Our cover story for this issue is Donkey Kong Country for the SNES, one of Rare’s latest games.

Editorial: Well, last issue, Steve Harris teased an announcement this issue about Capcom’s responce to their lower review for Super Street Fighter II Turbo. Well, this issue we learn Capcom’s response – they blacklisted (at least where Advertisements are concerned) EGM to “make a statement” in the words of Capcom’s director of marketing. Steve Harris says that the only statment coming from Capcom here is that they don’t have faith in their products, and I can’t help but agree. Further, I’d expand on that by saying that any game publisher or developer who engages in the journalistic equivalent of the Tarkin Doctrine only succeeds in making them look like the bad guy to the gaming press. If they blacklist a blogger or web site, then they’re picking on the little guy. If they’re blacklisting an established bastion of games journalism, then they’re making a Nixon-esque enemies list. Further, this is only aggrivated when they’re doing the blacklisting for a review that isn’t particularly bad. The Street Fighter II series had been pushing perfect scores in EGM for most of its run. This is the first game that didn’t, and thus they get upset over it.

Letters: We get letters about how game developers choose what new concepts to turn into games, about the fate of the 32X once the Saturn comes out, and about old Tengen games for the NES with the Seal of Approval. That last one I don’t need to explain, if you’ve been following the EGM recaps, and have learned the sad tale of the Tengen/Nintendo feud. Also, EGM now has an E-Mail address, through Compuserve. Obviously, this E-mail address is now out of date, so I’m not going to share it here.

Review Crew: Once again, as a reminder, our crew is Ed Semrad, Danyon Carpenter, Al Manual, and Sushi-X.

1. Final Fantasy III (Square, SNES): Final Fantasy III/VI has gotten released – and I really need to get around to beating that game. The game gets 9s across the board, with the crew having nothing bad to say about the game. Overall: 36/40 and the game is Game Of The Month and recieves the Editor’s Choice Platinum Award.
2. Mortal Kombat II (Acclaim, SNES): This version of the latest installment in the MK series gets a 9 from Ed and 8s from everyone else. The consensus from everyone is that it’s an arcade perfect port, though the controls are looser than the arcade version. The main disagreement is, I suppose, between Ed and everyone else over how much of a problem this is. Overall: 33/40 and it recieves the Editor’s Choice Gold Award.
3. Demon’s Crest (Capcom, SNES):. This is a semi-port/sequel of Gargoyle’s Quest (the spinoff of Ghouls & Ghosts). Al gives it a 9, everyone else gives it 8s. The consensus is that this game is fantastic – and they’re surprised Capcom isn’t promoting it. Now, I don’t know how much of this is, Capcom isn’t sending them promotional materials, or that Capcom isn’t advertising it at all. Overall: 33/40 and it recieves the Editor’s Choice Gold Award.
4. Mortal Kombat II (Acclaim, Genesis): The Genesis version of MKII doesn’t do as well – the game gets an 8 from Ed, and 7s from the rest of the crew. They find it similar to the arcade version, but inferior to the SNES in most respects. Overall: 29/40.
5. Contra Hard Corps (Konami, Genesis): It’s the Genesis turn to get a Contra game. Ed gives the game a 8 and the rest of the crew gives it 7s. The main complaints are that the game is a run-and-gun bullet hell shooter, which means there are a lot of cheap deaths. Overall: 29/40.
6. Earthworm Jim (Playmates, Genesis): It seems appropriate that I’m recapping this issue after seeing video games live, which feature Tommy Tallarico, the composer of the music for this game. The game gets an 8 from Sushi and 9s from everyone else, with no complaints leveled against the game at all. Overall: 35/40 and it recieves the Editor’s Choice Gold Award.
7. Switch (Data East, Sega CD): The odd Japanese puzzle game has gotten a US release. Ed gives the game a 7, finding it very funny and enjoying the variety of jokes in the game. Danyon found the game to be not so much of a game, though they did find it rather amusing and gave it an 6. Al and Sushi give the game 5s, found that the game got pretty boring after playing it for a while. Overall: 23/40.
8. Agressors of Dark Kombat (ADK, Neo-Geo): When I first looked at the title, the first thing that kame in my head is Mortal Kombat ripoff. The game gets 7s across the board, due to the game’s sense of humor and devestating combo moves. Overall: 28/40.
9. Star Control 2 (Crystal Dynamics, 3DO): The PC strategy game gets a port to home consoles. Ed and Danyon give the game 9s, finding it a solid strategy game and superior to the PC version, as does Sushi, who gives it an 8. Al isn’t much of a strategy game fan, but he still found it enjoyable enough to give it a 7. Overall: 33/40 and it recieves the Editor’s Choice Gold Award.
10. Wolfenstein 3D (Atari, Jaguar): The first FPS is on the Jaguar, with blood, attack dogs, and Nazis intact. Sushi gives it an 8, and everyone else gives it 7s, with the main complaitns being about the scrolling being a little too fast. Overall: 29/40.
11. Little Devil (Phillips, CD-I): Ed gives the game an 8, and everyone else gives the game 6s. While the animation is good, there are soem significant complaints about the control. Overall: 24/40.
12. Mortal Kombat II (Acclaim, Game Boy): Ed finds that this port plays better than the port of Mortal Kombat I, and gives the game an 8. Everyone else isn’t so impressed, and they still think that the game doesn’t work well on a 2-button controller, with Danyon giving the game a 6, and Al & Sushi giving the game 5s. Overall: 24/40.
13. Bubble Bobble (Taito, Game Gear): Bub and Bob are back! Al gives the game a 7 and everyone else gives it 8s. The consensus is that the game is still solid even on a system like the Genesis. Overall: 31/40.

Gaming Gossip: According to Q-Mann, several publishers are working on a 6-button controller for the 3DO so wew can get some fighting game ports for that system, which would be pretty impressive. Acclaim’s working on a Batman Forever licenced game, and Sega’s working on a Congo licenced game – both of which turn out to be rubbish.

Press Start: Aura Systems is working on a vest for use in virtual reality games, called the Interactor. We also get previews of other upcoming controllers.

Arcade Action: Kaneko has The Great 1,000 Mile Rally, which looks iffy to me, mainly because of the camera angle. Taito has the fighting game Global Champion, SNK has Samurai Shodown II, which I haven’t played, but I’ve been meaning to play – once I get Samurai Shodown Anthology or something. Operation Wolf is getting a 3rd installment, and an arcade version of Mad Dog McCree II is on it’s way out.

International Outlook: Of note this issue is Goemon 3 for the SNES, a Sailor Moon S fighting game, Battle Robot Legend from Banpresto for the SNES, which sounds like a Super Robot Wars game to me. We also get a feature preview of Shining Force CD which unfortunately didnt’ get a US release, and as yet CD games haven’t shown up on the Virtual Console, whether they were released in the US or not.

Next Wave: Of note for the upcoming titles the US is getting are 3DO ports of Samurai Shodown and Super Street Fighter II Turbo.

Special Features: We have a behind the scenes look of the 3DO FMV game Corpse Killer. We also get a look at Donkey Kong Country particularly screen shots of several levels and the game’s power ups. There’s also a look at some of the upcoming titles for the Jaguar, including Rayman and Wolfensten 3D.

Team EGM: To be honest, sports games haven’t aged very well, so I’m going to scale back my recaps of this section to games that interest me. This means that annual sports franchises won’t be getting listed. The 3DO is getting a port of Road Rash and Need for Speed (and it doesn’t look half bad).

SNES Coverage: We have more screen shots of Demon’s Crest, along with Final Fantasy III (with particular focus on the new Active Time Battle or ATB system). We also get an interview with Square’s then publicity director, Yusuke Hirata, and a few screen shots of Chrono Trigger. There’s also a preview of Virtual Bart, Animaniacs from Konami, Indiana Jones Greatest Adventures JVC which has some problems with cheap hits. Activision has the platformer Radical Rex, and Capcom has a Bonkers licenced platformer. There’s also a preview of Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure. EA also has the semi-fighting game Shaq Fu (ugh). FCI has a the combination action-platformer/shooter Metal Morph, and a port of Ultima: The Black Gate. Spectrum Holobyte has the puzzle game Wildsnake, and JVC has a sequel to Zombies Ate My Neighbors titled Ghoul Patrol.

Genesis & Sega CD Coverage: We have a look at Lethal Enforcers II, which takes the series to the old west. The Genesis is also getting another first person shooter in Battle Frenzy – the FPS boom is on. We also have a look at the isometric shump Viewpoint, Accolade has the fighting game Ballz which is a fighting game with characters made out of a collection of Balls (and which I suspect lead to Vectorman). The Sega CD also has Star Wars Chess.

Neo-Geo Coverage: We have our first look at King Of Fighters ‘94, with profiles of all the teams. Though, unfortunately, at this time the game has some slowdown problems. It’s also really hard. We also get screen shots of Agressors of Dark Kombat.

3DO Coverage: We get a look at the semi-RPG Guardian War, and the D&D licenced game Slayer, and the space sim, Burning Soldier.

CD-I Coverage: We get a look at the cyberpunk game Burn Cycle, and the fighting game Mutant Rage Body Slam.

Game Boy Coverage: We get a look at the Game Boy version of Samurai Shodown, which compensates for the system’s graphical limitations with Super Deformed characters.

Game Gear Coverage: We get some more screen shots of Bubble Bobble, and a Star Trek: The Next Generation simulator game.

Lifestyles: We’re getting a bunch of new audio books on the US market – or rather, audio dramatizations of novels and comics. Of particular note is the BBC’s adapatation of Knightfall. I hadn’t heard about the Dark Empire and Neuromancer ones though. We also get a look at new (and now defunct) comic publisher Tekno-Comics, and at the upcoming (and horrible) live-action Street Fighter movie. (By the way, it’s a crime that the live action Street Fighter movie got a Blu-Ray release, and not any of the anime films).