Metroid Prime 3: Corruption

Well, I have to admit, I was nervous about this game. It reminds me of Metroid Prime. Let me start at the beginning.

I got an SNES emulator and played a bunch of different SNES games. The most fun, by far, was Super Metroid. So much so that I attempted to play Metroid (for NES) and Metroid 2 (for Game Boy). Both weren't as successful. Metroid is too convoluted with nothing to give it. You don't ever know where you are. A map is ridiculously useful in Metroid games. Metroid 2 was just kind of sad to me. Spider Ball is so broken in that. Super Metroid is one of my favorite games ever, though. It is so much fun. When Metroid Fusion and Metroid Prime were coming out, I was interested in Fusion, but not in Prime. See, I don't like first person shooters. I just don't. My friends have gotten me to play games like Halo (different versions of it) or Call of Duty or some other stuff, and I just don't enjoy them. So I was very against the idea of a Metroid 1st person shooter. Eventually, I beat Metroid Fusion (on a GBA emulator), and bought and beat Metroid: Zero Mission on my GBA. Before Zero Mission, though, my friend bought Metroid Prime and played it, then exclaimed how great it was to me. I was wary, given my dislike for 1st person shooters, but tried it out, and was captivated. See, it really isn't a 1st person shooter. Like all the Metroid games, you have your arm cannon and you shoot stuff, but it isn't a 1st person shooter. It is an action adventure game where you just happen to be in 1st person and shooting things. Metroid Prime, I have played a ridiculous amount of times now, mostly because it really is amazing. So, I was also really excited for Metroid Prime 2, which I thought was much better. They fixed some stuff and added new and exciting concepts (such as using the Boost Ball on Spider Ball tracks) and items (Screw Attack? Hell, yeah!).

Metroid Prime 3. Well, aside from really wanting a Wii anyway, this was a game I was nervous about. How were the controls going to work now, with the Wii remote? Pointing at the screen and shooting? I don't know...

The game is awesome. The game is a lot of fun. Now, the controls are a little difficult to pin down, but once you get used to them, it feels very natural controlling Samus. Shooting is a lot more fun now. You can point and shoot stuff, as opposed to before, where you just shot one place (most of the time) and moved around it. Like Prime 2, there are new things. One of my favorite concepts is that they used each one of the different beams from Prime (Wave, Plasma and Ice) as a different idea (Grapple Beam can absorb or send out electricity, Plasma Beam and Ice Missiles). Now, with ice missiles, it makes it a lot harder to take on Metroids, as you can't freeze them and then missile them (as the freezing is the missile), but I enjoy them anyway. The game is a lot of fun and has a lot of stuff to offer. The voices are interesting and you get to see lots of great new planets. I really like Rundas, and think it is sad you have to kick his ass. Oh, and you really grow to like your ship. You fly everywhere in that game. And I mean everywhere. To get to a new planet? Fly. To get to a new part on a planet? Probably fly. Which means I was actually concerned for my ship when Ghor attacked it. He always was kind of a jerk, but I was able to at least not despise him until he went crazy and Phazon possessed. So, if you have played Metroid Prime games, you know about Phazon. Getting a Phazon powered suit? Not the idea I wanted to use. Oh, geez. How can we make this more awkward, Samus? Let's use Phazon! I mean, Phazon is the new Metroid in the Prime trilogy. In Metroid games, the Space Pirates want to use Metroids to take over the universe, given what they do and how. In the Prime games, it is pretty much with Phazon instead. Sure, you face a bunch of Metroids also, but... you get the point. And like how they wanted to harness Metroids for good, they wanted to harness Phazon for good. Both failed miserably, with the latter actually causing a lot more harm than good. Still, it did feel good using the Phazon, becase of how ridiculously powerful you become. Still, my other complaint (other than hard to grasp controls, at first), is that it is too short. There is a lot, but it feels like the game goes by too quickly. Still, an amazing game and well deserving.

ASM Review

Okay, so this is kind of a general thing, but whatever. This is not about a specific issue, but recent Spider-Man as a whole.

One More Day was going so well. I like Quesada's art and was liking everything. It was pretty damn cool. Then, it was ruined. I have said it before, but will say it again. That was bullshit. Making a deal with the devil? Okay, so he isn't actually the biblical devil, but he is pretty much the devil for most of the Marvel Universe, considering what he does, what his powers are and where he does all this. Plus, he goes by Mephistopholes, which is a common name for the devil. Anyway, Spidey has had run-ins with him before. Also, he has teamed up with various Ghost Riders multiple times and has also met with other people. Back in Black was pretty cool in ASM, but there was one story in Sensational that was awesome. Basically, God goes to Peter and tells him what a wonderful job he's doing and that he needs to be Spider-Man and blah, blah, blah. God tells him he has been doing the right thing. Very next Sensational issue (also the last, but whatever)? Meeting with Mephisto to talk about saving his aunt. Wait, so after God tells him he is doing a good job, he ruins it by agreeing with Mephisto? Oy. Also, he is supposed to be smart and he hasn't been shown as smart in that. Aunt May should have died. I like the character, but she should have died. She's died before, and he's gotten over it. Sure, it was his fault, kind of, but really, he shouldn't blame himself as much as he did. Stupid OMD...

Brand New Day started off okay. Basically, it wasn't all that great, but wasn't bad. Considering what they did with Spidey, I was pretty much expecting something awesome or I was going to be disappointed. Eventually, I realized that BND wasn't just outright bad, but it took me some time. See, the thing about BND is that it is confusing as hell. Each month is a different writer and artist from the previous month for a 3-issue storyline. Some of the stories are good, and some of the art is good. Some isn't. All in all, it is confusing to me, as I can see very big differences in the writing styles, and definitely the art styles. There were some good storylines that were fun. There were also freakishly horrible storylines (yes, Freak, man, that sucked). Still, I do have to say that the goods didn't quite outweigh the bads. The good stuff was often ruined by the bad stuff, or characters didn't act right the next issue, and then a couple issues later, act completely differently again. 3 issues per month? Fine. Just have more consistency. Maybe have a story take 2 months, and not shove everything into a single month. I personally liked multiple titles, and liked FNSM and Sensational. With what they are doing, it feels too rushed and too much. To follow Spidey, you have to pick up 3 issues a month, as opposed to picking up 1-3 every month, following different storylines. Personally, though, I think that they just wanted more issues of ASM so that ASM could pass FF in number of issues. Sure, there have been a lot more Spidey issues than FF issues, considering the number of titles he has had and how long they went, but ASM started after FF, and got close to FF (which started 1+ years before ASM) with 2 per month stuff, but kicked it into overdrive and passed FF as the Marvel title with the most issues. Okay, so I don't think that was the reason, but it is kind of amusing.

Comics for 8/26

Okay, so I didn't get Ultimate FF last week or Squadron Supreme II, mostly because those don't interest me as much. Ultimate FF has just been bad and Squadron Supreme isn't about the Squadron Supreme. This week, though, I didn't cut anything I would have gotten. Man. 18 issues, apparently. Oy.

Reviews and pics later (when my computer stops being a jerk)

Avatar, The Last Airbender

Have you ever seen this show? It is on Nickelodeon, but don't let that fool you, aside from a few more random episodes, it is mostly a fairly deep show all in all. It really is good. And I don't just mean that it is good for a Nickelodeon show, which I have forgotten a few times myself, but it is food for a show in general. Basic premise? There are the 4 elements of water, earth, fire and air, each one that has benders (waterbender, airbender...) that allow the bender to control the element. So, a waterbender can take some water out of a lake and whip someone with it. An earth bender can make giant rock walls out of the ground. Each element has its own tribe that lived in harmony with the others. Then the Fire Nation wanted to rule the world so they sent armies out to take over. The only person that was supposed to be able to stop the Fire Nation was the Avatar, someone who mastered all 4 elements, and was able to use all of them. The current Avatar is Aang, an airbender who ended up freezing himself in suspended animation for 100 years, while the Fire Nation wiped a lot of people out. Aang was eventually found by Katara, a young waterbender, and Sokka, Katara's older brother. They then set out to help Aang master the elements so that he could defeat the Fire Lord and bring balance to the nations. He is the last airbender because the Air Nomads were wiped out and he is the only one that remains.
Anyway, I highly recommend this show. Don't let the Nickelodeon part scare you away from a really great series. It was 3 seasons (books) long and had 20 episodes (chapters) per season. I recommend watching from the beginning, as it is a whole story from beginning to end, and while there are some stand-alone stories, all in all, you might get confused by the plot which keeps moving along.

Marvel vs Capcom 2

Okay, people. This is my favorite game of all time. Ever. Not just fighting, not just arcade, not just Marvel, but favorite game ever. Metroid Prime games? All great, but not as fun. Super Smash Bros. games? Again, awesome, but not as fun. I don't know the first time I played, but the most memorable was in Las Vegas. See, as New York, New York they have an arcade. One of the games there was Marvel vs Capcom 2. I believe I had played prior, but I don't remember it as well. My parents went off to gamble (not a lot, on nickel machines about 10 bucks total or so), and they gave me a small bucket of quarters for the arcade. Of course, I only needed them for one game, Marvel vs Capcom 2. Which took me a while to beat, but with a team including Thanos, Juggernaut and I believe Doom or Hulk, I was able to defeat Abyss and was victorious. It was awesome. I loved that game from then on. I am not the greatest at it, considering I have never owned it or have been near enough to an arcade that actually has it, but I do some cheap moves (not Air Hyper Viper Beam stuff, just spamming Mega Man's buster or Blackheart's minion attacks), and have lots of fun.
My roommate in college for this year has a Dreamcast and has Marvel vs Capcom 2. I always knew this was pretty much my favorite game ever, but like other things, I never remembered how much fun it actually was. Now that I actually know how to play (doing the attacks I like and being able to attack with some of my attacks), I was able to defeat the game on the default mode with Blackheart, Mega Man and Shuma Gorath, only losing Mega Man during my final fight and never using Shuma Gorath (aside from combos), getting twice the score on the system currently (which I had gotten slightly earlier with beating the game with 1+ continues). Man, I love this game.
One of the things about other games like Marvel Ultimate Alliance and the X-Men Legends games that bugs me, character power levels, doesn't matter as much to me in this for whatever reason. Basically, I don't think that Thor and Moon Knight both should be able to knock down the same stuff with almost the same amount of ease. There are different power levels, sure, such as Thor being stronger, but if you look at it, if you do nothing, a random SHIELD agent will eventually take down Thor, whereas Moon Knight can definitely kick Loki's ass by himself, given enough time and a good enough player. Yeah, that makes sense. Still, I don't care in this game. I give myself Blackheart and Shuma Gorath (both really, really powerful) and yet I lose to Sakura and Dan. Still, I don't really care enough. I love just playing as all these different heroes and villains, and with the game balanced as it is, sure some characters are more powerful, especially if you know how to use them, but for the most part, everybody is pretty equal (Okay, so Roll is a weaker Mega Man, whatever). Maybe it's the pixelated characters that remind me this is just a video game that has no actual rules with the characters, as opposed to looking a lot like the characters with smoother characters that aren't that pixelated. It just is fun.

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog

Okay, if you have not seen this, then when you get the time (43 minutes in 13-15 minute intervals), then go ahead and watch Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog.

Whole Thing:


Act 1:


Act 2:


Act 3:



As for a review, well, here goes:
This may be the best musical ever. Definitely the best superhero/supervillain musical ever. When I like a musical, what happens is that all the songs get stuck in my head. Well, for a week or two, they have been stuck and I have loved every moment of it. I don't often buy things in iTunes, as usually I'll have internet and be able to watch things or listen to things, but for those times I don't, I'll have Dr. Horrible still. I love the actors and actress who play the main characters (Neil Patrick Harris as Dr. Horrible, Nathan Fillion as Captain Hammer, and Felicia Day as Penny) and have seen them in stuff before. It is kind of weird that the protagonist is a villain and the antagonist is a hero, but that just makes it more fun. Dr. Horrible is just such a lovable loser. He tries so hard to be a supervillain, but has morals and mainly just wants to rule the world through his own methods, because, "The world is a mess, and I just need to rule it." He isn't really a bad guy, aside from that he is a villain. Hammer is a jerk and it is amazing that people think of him as a hero. The greatest example is the third act, especially with his song. He tries to be modest by saying that everybody is a hero in their own way, just that he is more of a hero. Look at the lyrics, "It may not feel too classy, begging just to eat. But, you know who does that? Lassie. And she always gets a treat," "Everyone's a hero in their own way. Everyone can blaze a hero's trail. Don't worry if it's hard. If you're not a friggin' tard, you will prevail!" Just to put out there, that is definitely not me, but Captain Hammer, the hero antagonist of the story. He's offensive, barely cares about people, and is a complete asshole. The story is kind of cheesy, but the songs are actually really good and I love them. I have watched it so many times at this point in time. I have memorized a lot of the lyrics and man, I really enjoy singing them, even in my own head.

Comics for 8/20

Well, here are the covers, review later:

Haven't done this in a while, so if you are reading for the first time, be warned that I always assume you have read the comic or at least don't care about spoilers.

Captain America 41



Basic Plot: As the Red Skull's plans come to fruition (around Albany, which I just flew into last night), things go haywire.

I already mentioned this on read/RANT in a comment in Billy's review of Cap, but that last page was awesome. In fact, it is very cool. Bucky hasn't really felt like Cap to me, even now, but that pushed him just enough further that I feel like he actually could be the new Captain America. He just has the presence that Steve had, and I believe that he should be Cap. Anyway, the story itself was pretty cool, and I like where all of this is going. I think this was one of my favorite Cap stories just because everything fit so perfectly and well.

Amazing Spider-Man 568





Basic Plot: Still, down on his luck, Pete sells his photos to Front Line, while Norman Osborn prepares...

Okay, remember how I said that Cap had one of my favorite last pages. Well, this blew it away for me. Out of all of Spidey's enemies, my favorite is the Green Goblin. He is the one who has done more to Pete than anyone. Not only are all of the things he did (first to know Spidey's secret, was behind Mayday's death, killed Gwen Stacy) his own, but you can also give credit to every single Goblin enemy, which would be multiple Hobgoblins, Demogoblin, Hobgoblin 2211, and all of the other Green Goblins, including Harry, his best friend, who made Pete believe his parents were alive with robots, and man, just ruined everything. Still, Norman's insanity led to Harry's insanity. So I love the Thunderbolts as they are now, with Norman running a team of "superheroes." I always wondered, when they had BND, what became of Norman's memories. So, nobody was supposed to remember, right? Well, before MJ met Peter for the first time (we had seen parts of her, but never her face), in issue 39, the Green Goblin had caught Pete and knew his identity. Sure, he kept forgetting and remembering, forgetting and remembering, but he knew before Peter and MJ even met. So did Mephisto even affect something that happened before they met, let alone get married? I don't think so, but we'll see. Oh man, the Thunderbolts have come for Spider-Man. Norman is so crazy, but awesome.

X-Factor 34


Basic Plot: The holy Skrull-guy fights X-Factor and She-Hulk.

Why She-Hulk and X-Factor? Seriously? I guess they kind of explained why both work, but honestly, I don't see it that well. Sure, the Skrull guy was after Darwin because he believes that Darwin could be a key to helping unlock humankind's potential. And sure, She-Hulk works with a Skrull that could sense him. But Crusader couldn't? Because he also could have done stuff. Still, this was written better than the first part (not as good as the second part), but the art is still puke-provoking, and while I accept this story, I still don't like it all that much. Still, they took him out, which was pretty cool. Major hit to the Skrull nads, unfortunately. Come on, Skrulls! Rally and win! (Revealed Invasion Plans, damn, not into my hand).

Incredible Hercules 120


Basic Plot: Herc and the God Squad take on the Skrull gods.

Remember how I said there was a huge blow to the Skrull nads? Well, this was even bigger. Herc and friends won. Which is kind of cool, but what now? They just took out the Skrull gods, you know, the reason that the Skrulls have this massive invasion? I mean, come on! That is kind of sad. I wanted a draw, because otherwise, I feel it is stupid if Herc loses in his own book (although a draw would be almost a loss anyways), and I feel it is stupid if Herc beats the Skrull gods, the whole reason for the invasion. Well, at least Mikaboshi is going to lead them. Kind of. Ish. Sigh... Still pretty cool, but oh well.

Guardians of the Galaxy 4


Basic Plot: Nobody trusts anybody on Knowhere.

That was confusing. Okay, let's try that again. In Knowhere, everybody is suspicious of everybody else, mostly people being suspicious of the Guardians. Which is understandable. And they finally explained why everybody is working as a team. Mantis, why? Why did you brainwash such powerful people. Even just a tiny bit. You know that if Drax ever found out, he'd probably go crazy and... Ooohh, I like this final page too! Drax is awesome and I think he's about to go off and kill some people. Sweet!

He's baack!

Yeah, I'm pretty much back. I'll try to get this back up and blogging. Expect comic reviews again and random other stuff. I have a lot to tell...

Comics tomorrow!

Oh, back in Troy, on the East Coast...well, will be in the air when this gets posted, but will be back at school. Funny that I have more time when I am doing stuff then when I am not. Hmmm...