Internet Game of the Week: Toribash

Say hello to what is - in a sense - one of the coolest online multiplayer attempts in a long time. It’s innovative, free to download and play, and boasts very low system requirements.

The gameplay is in essence simple, yet the system itself is so complex I can’t imagine anyone actually completely mastering it. You can always get better at a game like this.

Toribash is a turn-based, martial arts style online game. Though the genre itself isn’t exactly a rare breed, this game stands out as genuinely unique due to its physics-based combat. While most fighting simulations simply call for the player to press a button in order to execute an attack, all motion in this game is determined by the states of the character’s many joints and muscles, which the player decides. Though there are many joints, for the most part there only four modes for each: Holding, Relaxing, Extending, Contracting. After the players assign the desired states, the characters move for ten motion frames, at which point everything freezes again and the players assign new modes according to any new situation that’s arising. Like I said, it’s a turn-based battle of coordinative skill.

Sound complicated? That’s only because it is. Lasting long enough to get any kind of high Belt Rank in the online multiplayer ranking system is certainly something to brag about.

Though single-player training is available, the online multiplayer is without a doubt the main attraction. In this mode there are two main rules: one, the player with the most points at the end of the match wins, and two, if a player’s body hits the ground he’s disqualified.

Who knew a 12.5 megabyte download could go so far? Toribash’s many available mods and game modes are sure to keep players coming back for quite a while, not to mention the creator’s frequent updates.

If you’re looking for something fresh and innovative, this just might fit the bill.

Play this game

I Am David: An Adaption Gone Bad

Thanks for checking out my movie review of the year 2003 release, “I Am David”.

Why is it so many historical fiction works are about escaping concentration camps, and the concept of fleeing to freedom? As I approached this film, based on the 1963 novel, I had every right to expect that this story would stand out, and deliver these concepts with new meaning. As it turns out, the story does have a unique element of the book to it, but is otherwise extremely lacking in almost every other area as a movie.

Before the viewing, as usual, I’d gone to various sites such as IMDb to see other people’s impressions of this story. That way I’d know what to look out for as I watched. But at the film’s end, I turned off the TV and began contemplating: just what do grown-ups see in “I Am David”? Certain user reviews I had read claimed that it was, “Brilliant,” and “Surprisingly well adapted.” One was even titled, “A True Work Of Art–More Than A Movie.” I began to list my own assessment. Being the fair and helpful critic that I am, some positives, sure enough, came to mind.

One of the most noticeable qualities is the film’s simple, energetic music, that at least helps you feel that the story is actually getting places. Also certainly worth noting is that Jim Caviezel’s performance, as well as that of many of the side-characters, was both fresh and convincing. This was undoubtedly the best part of the movie.

Now here are the negatives, and fans of this film are not going to like it. “I Am David” defies not only expectations as a genre, but as a movie, and not in a good way. Much of the events feel like they were side-stories taken straight out of the novel and placed in a certain order without context, in order to simulate David traveling. Nothing against adventuring and side-stories in a movie(”O Brother, Where Art Thou?” made fantastic use of both), but how about some story in there somewhere? At one point David gets taken in by a family, but this doesn’t get much anywhere as he soon leaves, justifying his actions by saying, “You’re just too good for me.”

Ben Tibber’s performance as David is astoundingly… dull. Sure, he’ll say all the lines in a cute accent, but all his face ever projects is what could only be described as skepticallity, confusion, or perhaps a look of infinite boredness(which I’m not really sure is a word, but I felt portrayed my thoughts best).

The movie I Am David’s recurring theme that there is “always true good in the world”, though portrayed from a somewhat unique angle, can’t redeem the generic and disjointed mess that is itself. Though it tries, it is never suspenseful, scary, cool, or passionate. It barely succeeds in depicting some interesting drama, though it’s still, like the rest of David’s convenient and side-character driven adventure, pathetically unconvincing. It’s a mediocre title that’s made worse by the fact that the upsides to the story were solely inspired by the novel. “More than a movie”? Not on your life. At best, “I Am David” is so much less.

35% Barely Tolerable

Olimar is in!

In what, you say? Why, in the latest Smash Bros installment, Super Smash Brothers Brawl! It’s just been announced that Captain Olimar, from the Pikmin series, is being added to the game’s character roster. Awesome news, or what?

His moves seem to mostly include plucking Pikmin out of the ground and wielding them. Be careful: he can’t execute a Smash Attack without them, and they tend to scatter a bit. Summoning all the little dudes and having them fight alongside you, not to mention keeping them organized, looks like fun. If anything, this bit of news has only made me even more eager to get my hands on this game! Only a few more weeks…

Video of the Week: New Brawl Trailers

Check it out: it’s a video combining three Smash Brothers Brawl commercials that were aired in Japan on TV.

One of the coolest parts is the Pokemon Trainer’s Final Smash at the end.

Past and Present: Maverick

If you like a film that is cool, hilarious, gripping and extremely intelligent all at once, then…what am I saying? Who wouldn’t? This movie is hot!

Pardon my enthusiasm, but it’s very hard not to appreciate what this movie has accomplished. William Goldmen, the man behind Lethal Weapon and Scrooged has created a film adaption of the TV-series character Maverick. The result is without question a great and very much enjoyable movie, boasting a western setting(casinos, stagecoaches, indians, the whole deal), cool gunfights, action, impressive comedic elements, and a cast of actors who are both widely-acclaimed and practically perfect for the roles for which they were chosen.

Released in the summer of 1994, this movie was greatly appreciated by critics and movie-goers alike. Eighteen years later, and guess what: it’s still just as cool and entertaining, despite what anyone has to say otherwise. It may not be the most interesting and thought-provoking film you will enjoy, but if you missed it before, should a chance present itself to check this out you will not want to miss it again.

Mel Gibson(Left), James Garner(Middle), and Jodie Foster(Right) in Maverick.

A main recurring theme in the story is Poker, which is ironic because pretty much all the main characters that are introduced over the course of the story are bluffing in some way, and are not what they first seem. In fact, even your first few impressions, which are completely opposite from each other and take can place all in the same scene, may be as far from the truth as possible. In other words, you’re kept guessing. THAT is entertainment. This especially applies to Bret Maverick(Mel Gibson) himself, who has a certain amount of days to gather money for a Poker tournament he feels he must join to prove himself. Goldman tosses us back and forth; we never truly know whether Maverick, who always finds a solution when in danger, is experienced or lucky, or is pretending to be lucky but is really experienced, or maybe vice versa.

Eventually we give up and let the story and it’s characters twist and turn, taking us where they will, until we are shocked into laughter by the the story’s climactic conclusion. If you’re not going for deep and interesting, this is it, the kind of stuff almost anyone can enjoy. This is the very definition of what moviegoer summer releases are all about.

Video of the Week: Play Super Mario Galaxy on your DS! (not!)

Here’s a trailer for the DS version of Mario Galaxy. Though many people have announced this a fake, the idea was that this feature can be unlocked in the Wii version and ported over to your DS.

Fake or not, I think we could all agree that it’s a cool idea.

Past and Present: 12 Angry Men

Movie: 12 Angry Men

Year of Release: 1957

Genre: Drama

This movie is about a jury. So basically its twelve men in a locked room, talking, for the entire movie. Sound boring? On the contrary, it’s quite cool. In fact, it may sound boring at first, but in actual fact it has been for many people one of the most exciting movies there is. It just could be one of the most important, maybe even best movies out there.

The first thing this movie made me think of was Alfred Hitchcock’s Rope, which is reminiscent in the sense that the entire film takes place in one room, and the primary way the story moves is through dialogue.

Contrary to what many people have said, it is not my opinion that this is movie actually a courtroom drama. However, many elements of said genre are present. At the film’s beginning all we know is a teenage boy has been tried for murder, and twelve men, the jury, must decide by vote whether the boy is guilty, or not guilty. But here’s the real premise: the law is that all twelve men must agree on the verdict. As the meeting begins, everyone cries guilty except for one man. This man(Henry Fonda) begins laying out his reasons for believing the boy may not be guilty. No one can leave until a verdict is reached, so they talk, and eventually argue.

Over the course of watching many conversations and arguments, you steadily discover more details about the case; the defendant, who the eyewitnesses are, and the evidence that was brought forward. The creators did a great job of giving us all the information we need to know, when we need to know it. They did this through the characters’ dialogue instead of dragging us through the actual case.

12 Angry Men boasts an all-star cast, which makes for a very gripping story. The characters are interesting to see interact with each other, mostly because they’re so very different. As the protagonist discusses more issues with everyone, we learn more about each person’s character, and their ideals. We think things like, “Oh, no. He’s never gonna convince these guys the kid’s not guilty. How could these guys ever change their minds?” But slowly, they start do. However, it’s a slow and suspenseful process. We, the audience, begin to realize that a possibly innocent boy’s life truly is at stake.

This movie is a careful mixture of humor, drama, and suspense. You’d be surprised all the things that can happen in one room. In fact, there are a couple thrilling moments that, just when you least expect it, will almost make you jump out of your seat and yell, “No way!” Which is cool because that’s exactly what the characters on screen do.

This may not be the kind of thing that everyone’s necessarily into, but it’s hard to imagine that someone could watch this movie and not find at least one thing they really liked. A timeless classic.

95% Incredible

Young Zelda in Smash Bros Brawl?

Something has just been brought to my attention. Before you get too excited, let me just say that it’s only an idea, and I really couldn’t get it out of my head so that’s why I’m writing it now. Maybe this is just me being weird, but here goes.

Masahiro Sakurai recently released some pictures on the official Smash Bros. site. The topic was of the character Kirby, and his ability to swallow other characters and transform. Sakurai wrote, “So… Which belongs to which character?” above a list of images showing Kirby’s different transformations. They were all really neat, but the one that really caught my eye was this.

See the figure on the left? For those who haven’t played a Smash Bros or Kirby game before, that’s him. But what character is he supposed to have transformed into? The triforce on his forehead indicates the character is from the Legend of Zelda, but neither Link nor Ganondorf wear that kind of headgear. The first thing it made me think of was Zelda, but the currently announced Zelda to be in Brawl looks like this.

Then I realized the reason it made me think of Zelda was because he’s wearing what looks like Young Zelda’s hat from the game Ocarina of Time. Or is it just me?

Is Young Zelda a playable character? It wouldn’t be the first time Sakurai’s sent a hint our way. For example, he released this in a screenshot long before Sonic the Hedgehog was announced as an official character in Brawl. This was soon discovered and released on a Smash Bros blog.

If the newer Kirby screenshot is a hint, it’s much more obvious than Sonic’s. However, I just can’t see any other explanation.

It is believed that Sakurai did not wish to use any clones for the latest Smash Bros installment. So if Young Zelda is in, her move sets will probably be different from Zelda’s. Also, the creators have said that they wanted the character roster and gameplay to be balanced. So if they bothered to put in a young version of Zelda, what else did they do? Young ‘Majora’s Mask’ Link has been a popular idea. Wouldn’t that be cool! Maybe it’s possible, maybe it isn’t. In any case, here’s to what looks to be the best Smash Bros. yet!

Past and Present: Superman

Movie: Superman

Year of Release: 1978

Genre: Action/Adventure/SciFi/Fantasy

Who has not heard of Superman? He is very probably the most well-known superhero, and certainly was the most popular in his prime. The 1978 version of Superman was a fantastic film then. Though some people may think him to be a thing of the past, I think you may find that Superman can still be cool.

Everyone knows the story, right? Just before the destruction of the far distant planet Krypton, an infant was released in an escape pod that eventually landed on our own planet, Earth. Since Earth’s atmosphere was so much more mild than that of his homeplanet, the child was able to navigate and manipulate it in ways no other humanoid could. This child was destined to be Superman. After this child crash-landed on Earth, an elderly couple discovered his powers and took him in. They named him Clark Kent, and taught him to control himself so that he would not be discovered. Eventually, the father died of a heart attack, and Clark decided that he couldn’t stay any longer. The scene where he says goodbye to his mother so he can go make his own way in the world may seem like an overused cliche, but you have to remember that that’s only because we’ve seen so many versions of it since then. In any case, I’m very happy to report that the film goes very much uphill from there, as Clark Kent travels to the thriving city of Metropolis to work as a reporter for The Daily Planet. There he meets a female reporter named Lois Lane.

I’ve often heard this criticism of Superman in general: “why doesn’t anybody notice that Clark Kent is really Superman? I mean, all he does is take off his glasses and bam: he’s Superman.” Before addressing this, let me first say that Christopher Reeve does a brilliant job as the Superman role. Many have even speculated that it was his best role ever. Having said that, Reeve has done a great job of behaving differently from Clark Kent as Superman, and vice versa. You’re almost fooled. Okay, so the audience is usually intelligent enough to follow the storyline and recognize that Kent and Superman are the same person. You get what I mean.

Superman has many powers. Over the course of the story we witness the use of super speed, super strength, and x-ray vision, among other things. We also see Clark Kent catch a bullet while pretending to stumble, which is both funny and pretty cool. It was something that I, admittedly, didn’t expect to see in a thirty-year-old movie.

A noteworthy thing about this movie that has not aged badly is it’s humor. Some of the characters and moments are just hilarious, like when Superman’s duty calls and the nearest phone booth just won’t do. The story’s antagonist, Lex Luthor(Gene Hackman), is a great character with great lines. His first line tells you half of what you need to know about him before you’ve even seen him, when you hear him say about someone, “I find it fascinating that that brain of his can generate enough energy to keep those legs moving.”

The plot of the story is a bit more complex than in a lot of super hero films I’ve seen. Lex Luthor is facing a predicament. In order to carry out his evil scheme, he must thwart Superman. So, Luthor comes up with a tactic reminiscent of the Spiderman movie; he finds a way to launch two nuclear missiles in opposite directions. One is headed for where Lois Lane is, the other for Luthor’s target, and Superman can’t possibly stop both in time. What’s more, Luthor has out-thought and disabled our hero with his one weakness, Kryptonite, and thrown him into a deep body of water. And I’ve only touched on the turns of events that take place nearing the end of this movie.

Much of the effects may seem cheesy now to many people, and some of the romantic aspects are liable to maybe even make a guy gag. Well, not really I guess, but it’s a close thing. However, the real good stuff more than makes up for this. I’m talking about goofy and gripping dialogue, classic characters, and action and suspense that has to an extent inspired action adventures(and perhaps every single super hero film) everywhere over the years. You have to remember that special effects make a good story better, not just a good story. This movie was cool then, and for a lot of people it can still be cool now.

79% Interesting

Past and Present: Equilibrium

Movie: Equilibrium

Year of Release: 2002

Genre: Sci-fi, Action-Thriller

Chances are that this is the first time you’ve heard of this film. It was released a couple years after The Matrix, and I’ve heard many people call it a copycat. However, I think you’ll find that the only similarities between this Sci-Fi and Matrix is that they both have guns, trench coats, and wild fighting. I don’t think it’s a rip-off at all. In fact, Equilibrium sets itself apart very clearly, and has a lot to offer that Matrix never had.

Equilibrium was partly an attempt to combine aspects of different film genres. Firstly though, it is a Sci-Fi. According the film, after the Third World War, mankind began to realize that there was one thing that caused conflict. This thing was ‘Feeling’.

Christian Bale plays the part of the protagonist, John Preston, who is the top Grammaton Cleric. The Clerics are an organization that have outlawed Feeling. In fact, most the entire populace takes an injection, or ‘dose’ of Prozium every day to suppress extreme highs and lows in emotion. People have been taking the dose their whole lives. What if you were one of these people? What if, one day, you missed a dose? This is exactly what happens to Preston. What’s more, now that he’s felt, he wants to stop taking the dose altogether. For much of the story his Cleric partner(Taye Diggs) is watching him, and becomes more and more suspicious.

The concept of the Cleric is important because they’re like the elite officers. Their job is to enforce the “no-feeling” rules. John Preston is very specialized in this area because it seems he can sense what people are feeling. This adds a very cool element to the film’s drama. At one part, when a citizen denies being off the dose, Preston grabs him and says, “Then how come you’re so scared of me?”

This movie received a lot of criticism due to the fact that it was released in the same year as another Sci-Fi, called Minority Report, which people say was a much better and more intriguing film. Granted, Minority Report is a brilliant movie, but Minority Report and Equilibrium are targeted toward two, for the most part, very different audiences. Though the first may boast a much more complex plot, Equilibrium is one of the best crosses that, in a way, combines the drama in Minority Report with fighting scenes reminiscent of The Matrix.

Another thing that people complained about was: bad acting? Many people claimed that the lack of emotions in the plot made for actors who were unable to have character. False. Let me give an example. Over the course of the story Christian Bale portrays every single major emotion. When he stops taking the dose he’s afraid he’ll be discovered. When he hears music it’s so beautiful to him he that cries. When he arrests a woman for being off the dose and she’s scheduled for combustion (or, she’s gonna be burned alive) he feels regret and is torn because he likes her but doesn’t know what to do with these feelings. Near the end, he gets extremely angry, to the point where he can no longer feel anything. He then confronts his enemies in an extremely cool finale, with a face-off action sequence that has to be seen to be believed.

You’ll follow the protagonist as he experiences emotion for the first time, which is very interesting and philosophical. But on top of that, you get some amazing action, featuring a martial art called Gun Kata, which was created specifically for the film. The style is very unique and original, and though it’s debatable whether the action is better than in The Matrix, it sure is much more energetic and adrenaline rushing.

Overall, this movie was great then and still is. The acting, action and drama have barely aged from the day this was released. If you like a different, interesting story and adrenaline-rushing action, you very well should, at the very least, rent this movie.

80% Great