Predators

AWESOME MOVIE ALERT!

Saw Predators in the theater today. I am a huge fan of Predator and this movie is as good as, if not a little better, than the first movie. They even reference the first movie in the new one, kind of making Predators the "true" sequel and pretending the 'meh' Predator 2 does not exist.

Lots of action and gore, good acting and script, and both the humans and Predators hunting them are badass. Also a cool plot twist near the end I did not see coming.If you are at all a fan of the first movie, or just good action/horror movies, go see it. Four stars.

Also:Predator 'dogs'.Really nasty f***ers.

Die Dracula Die!

I have been a fan of the Castlevania series since the first game came out on the Nintendo Entertainment System. I think I passed on Castlevania:Simon's Quest (although I rented it), but really enjoyed Castlevania III, which I still believe is one of the best Castlevanias behind Symphony of the Night. I played Caslevania IV on the Super NES and the excellent Genesis version. I also played Castlevania 64 (certainly the weakest in the series) and the two recent 3D versions for the past console generation, which unlike many people I liked a lot. I have all three Castlevanias for the Game Boy Advance, and when I got a DS I got Castlevania:Portrait of Ruin. I was not sure, after playing the GBA versions, if C:PofR would just be more of the same 'Metriodvania.'

I'm very glad to say that I love C:PofR. The graphics are noticably better, the demons you fight are as imaginative as ever (there are some returning faces, though. Horrible, monstrous faces.), there are great boss fights, and the fact you can switch between two totally different characters on the fly (or have them fight together) is great. Plus the titular 'portriats of ruin' add some scenic vareity to the game. So yeah, Konami has done it again. Once I'm working again I'd like to get the two other DS Castlevanias, I haven't gotten tired of whipping demons yet.

On a related note, what do you think about a 3D Castlevania on Nintendo's 3DS (come on, you know it's coming)? And anyone excited for the upcoming Lords of Shadow?

Games for makeup!

My wife goes to this forum called Makeup Alley, where women, and the occasional gay man, obsess over, well, makep. They also do swaps, usually for makeup, but for other stuff too. A woman was swapping a bunch of GBA games, and my wife, knowing my own obsession with video games, asked if I wanted anything off the list. Many of the games were serious under 10 kiddie games, but a few looked very interesting, Namely the three games pictured up top. Now anyone who reads this blog knows I'm not a big Mario fan, but Super Mario 3 IS a fun game, and I'd never played a Mario Kart game before. And I've always loved Sonic, even though the poor guys' last 10 games were terrible.

So Donna was willing to trade a limited edition Mac lipstick (which was pretty expensive, so she tells me) as well as some hair product samples. The woman who was swapping the GBA carts agreed to the three (I had actually been expecting one, which would have been fine for me, as none of these games are cheap, even used. But Donna assured me that the lipstick was NOT cheap by any means, she just happened to have gotten a duplicate for Christmas.)

So I got the games in the mail last week, and they are all pretty cool. We have not gotten a response from the woman who got the lipstick, I hope she likes it, honestly. And thanks to my wife, I got 3 good GBA games, technically free. She's even played some Super Mario Bros. 3, which is just as hard as I remembered it. (I played the games as part of Super Mario All Stars for the Super Nintendo.) All in all, pretty cool.

In movie news, I saw Knight and Day at the movies and liked it a lot. Lots of action with some funny dialogue thrown in. Also saw the Wolf Man remake (re-imagining?) on DVD. Thought it was pretty good, can't compare it to the classic original 'cause I haven't seen it! Really should get on that.

Oh, and I got the 20th anniversary Transformers The Movie soundtrack on cd with bonus tracks for only 5 bucks at half.com. I also have the soundtrack on tape, but that's 20+ years old and probably melted by now. I heard The Touch on that Transformers:War for Cybertron commercial and remembered how much I love that song and the rest of the soundtrack. Gonna rip the songs from the cd to my MP3 player so I can listen to them anywhere, too.

And yes, I really want T:WfC, but don't have a PS3 or X360 yet. I'll just have to wait till all are one...I mean, till I get a new system.

By the way, is it really freakin' hot, or is it just me?

Shootin' In Style

I recently played the game P.N. 03 after having bought it a year ago (yeah, I'm retarded) for about 4 bucks at Gamestop. I had read horrible reviews of the game when it had come out, as one of the infamous "Gamecube-exclusive Capcom 5". We all know how that turned out.

Anyway, I did not have any great expectations for the game, having almost stole it from Gamestop. But I quite like it. Basically, you're shooting bunches of robots wearing one of several versions of a mechanical suit, called an Aegis suit. Each suit having one "special attack" at the onset, although you can buy more special attacks for the suits. You can also power up the suits in different parameters and even buy extra continues at a shop. (Yup, this game has limited continues.)

You're "currency" is points you get by blowing up robots, and if you shoot a bunch of them in an alloted time limit, you rack up a "combo" and get bonus points. Frankly, this hooked me, as points mean something, and there is plenty to buy from the store (much of it expensive.) You can even do trial runs between missions to rack up extra purchasing points.

The graphics aren't anything spectacular, but they are well done, and the techno sountrack is nice to listen to while blasting various robots. What I really like about this game, besides the point system, is it's simplicity. You shoot and dodge missles and lasers, (or duck and take cover), and blast the 'bots with your own laser or special move (which are like the special moves in street fighter:up, down, shoot or something to that effect.) I am just so tired of all the overly complicated games made nowadays where you have to remember 20 different button combinations to play a damn game. With P.N. 03, I can just zone out and trash some bots, trying to get enough points to get the next cool Aegis suit.

Also, the heroine of the game, Vanessa, seems to be dancing along to the beat of the music as she turns robots to scrap. That's just cool.

So yeah, I recommend this game if you have a Gamecube or a (yuck) Wii. It's cheap enough, just don't expect to get your mind blown, and just enjoy the dancing. And shooting.