Author: Dr. K

Game Corner [Zelda Month]: The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap (Nintendo Switch)

Dr. KLeave a comment

On 21 February 1986, The Legend of Zelda (Nintendo EAD, 1986) was first released in Japan. The creation of legendary game designer Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka, The Legend of Zelda launched one of Nintendo’s most popular franchises. This year, I’m dedicating every Friday to Nintendo’s most famous silent protagonist, Link and his vast and enduring fantasy world of sword and sorcery.

Released: 9 February 2023
Originally Released: 4 November 2004
Developer: Capcom / Flagship
Also Available For: Game Boy Advance and Nintendo Wii U

The Background:
After making an immediate impact upon its release, The Legend of Zelda franchise was further refined and expanded throughout Nintendo’s handheld ventures and 16-bit era, but changed forever after a successful jump to 3D with The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (Nintendo EAD, 1998). After further 3D success with the bleak follow-up, The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask (ibid, 2000), Nintendo surprised everyone by adopting a cartoony, cel-shaded aesthetic for Link’s GameCube debut, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (ibid, 2002). The visuals were as widely praised as the gameplay and The Wind Waker enjoyed rave reviews, prompting Nintendo to adopt the style for further adjacent, handheld adventures. After a successful collaboration with Capcom and Flagship on The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons (Flagship, 2001), the teams returned to develop a new Zelda title for the Game Boy Advance, a spiritual successor to The Wind Waker and The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (Nintendo EAD, 1991) whose story and aesthetic mirrored a whimsical fairy tale. Development specifically focused on Link’s new ability to shrink in size, thereby opening new avenues for exploration and puzzle solving, and providing some unique new items for players. The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap was a best-selling title for the Game Boy Advance and was met with critical acclaim. Reviews gushed over the cartoony art style, innovative dungeon designs and puzzles, and the new shrinking mechanic, though its short length and repetitive elements were criticised. Despite winning a Game of the Year award, The Minish Cap was stuck as a ridiculously expensive Game Boy Advance exclusive for many years until finally being made available on Nintendo’s online stores.

The Plot:
Apprentice blacksmith Link accompanies his childhood friend, Princess Zelda, to the Picori Festival, where monsters are unleashed by the evil wizard Vaati. With Zelda petrified, Link teams with wise-cracking magical hat Ezlo and assists the pixie-like Minish people in restoring the legendary Picori Blade to confront the threat.

Gameplay and Power-Ups:
The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap is a traditional, 2D, top-down action/adventure game in which players take control of Link (or whatever they choose to name him), in the “toon” style of his Wind Waker counterpart, and embark on a quest to save Hyrule, and the Princess Zelda, from new sorcerer on the block, Vaati. As a Game Boy Advance title, the controls are as basic as it gets and akin to the previous handheld Zelda titles. You equip any of Link’s weapons and items to either A or B and then use that button to attack, defend, hit switches, solve puzzles, and whatever else your items are capable of. The Right Trigger performs a roll, speeding up your travel time, and also performs similar actions to A (like speaking to non-playable characters (NPCs) and opening chests). R is also the only way to open locked doors, which can be clunky as it would’ve been easier for Link to simply manually use any keys he possesses. The Left Trigger also performs a dedicated function, fusing “Kinstones” with NPCs, which I’ll detail in a bit. The + button pauses the game and brings up your inventory screen, the pretty basic map (which uncovers the more you explore and highlights notable areas), a subscreen showing how close you are to extending your health bar, total Mysterious Seashells and Tiger Scrolls, and allows you to save the game or enter “sleep” mode. As I’ll also get into in a bit, Link is joined by a hat-shaped companion, the insolent Ezlo, who constantly interrupts your gameplay to offer blindingly obvious advice that would make Navi blush. Also like Navi, you can choose to ask him for a tip by pressing -, though I’d just as soon never speak to him again. As you’d expect, Link acquires his standard sword and shield but the enigmatic Grimblade Brothers will teach additional sword techniques, such as a rolling attack, the aerial downthrust, and patented moves like the Sword Beam and Spin Attack. Some of these are more like padding, though, such as Link having to learn to attack with his sword when running with the Pegasus Boots.

Link’s traditional and new weapons are brought to colourful, cartoony life.

Many of Link’s recognisable weapons return here and function exactly as you’d expect. The bow and arrow lets you to hit eye switches and take out Eyegore statues, bombs blow up walls and discover new areas, and you can purchase a boomerang to stun targets or hit switches. This can be further upgraded into the Magical Boomerang, allowing you to manually direct it. Eventually, you can swap out the regular bombs for remotely detonated ones (though there are few benefits to this) and obtain the optional (and missable) Light Arrows for extra arrow damage. The Flame Lantern lights up dark areas, ignites torches, and burns certain enemies and spider webs. The Roc’s Cape lets you jump and glide short distances, the aforementioned Pegasus Boots let you run really fast, and the Ocarina of Wind warps you to any Wind Crests you’ve uncovered. The Minish Cap debuts three new items: the Cane of Pacci (which flips certain enemies and objects and creates temporary boosters in holes to launch you higher), the Gust Jar (which sucks up enemies, propels you across gaps when used on spring mushrooms, and turns lily pads into rafts), and the Mole Mitts (which dig through dirt). The Flippers, Grip Ring, and Power Bracelet are all passive items that don’t need to be equipped to use and let you swim and dive, climb certain walls, and pick up and toss jars and such, respectively. Link can capture life-restoring Fairies or store potions in bottles, increase his total bomb and arrow inventory with bigger bags and quivers, and also carry more Rupees by finding bigger wallets. Link’s sword is progressively empowered as you acquire the four Elements, duplicating Link into as many as four copies to push bigger blocks, step on or slash switches, and attack enemies, as well as fire a special beam that restores petrified NPCS. Finally, you can upgrade the shield into the reflective Mirror Shield, though this requires awakening a sleeping Biggoron and waiting for him to finish chewing on it.

Link’s shrinking ability doesn’t live up to its potential, and Kinstones are overused.

Link’s newest gimmick in The Minish Cap is the ability to shrink to microscopic size, courtesy of Ezlo’s magic. This is performed primarily at magical tree stumps and allows you to enter small holes, climb small steps and vines, and access out of the way places. When shrunk, you’ll interact with the pixie-like Picori tribe (or “Minish”) scattered throughout Hyrule (once you’ve consumed a Jammer Nut, that is) and be given additional side quests and assistance from them. In this form, Link takes more damage and his weapon usage is limited, but he can talk to animals and cross small lily pads. Occasionally, Minish Link enters Armos statues to activate or deactivate them and the action frequently zooms in to follow him up rafters, into the Minish towns, and through enlarged (from your perspective) areas, like in Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (Johnston, 1989). Apart from this, Ezlo is more a hinderance than anything; he’s obnoxious and rude and demanding and pops up to point out the obvious, severely dumbing down puzzles and interrupting the gameplay. The other big mechanic here is Kinstones; as you slash bushes, defeat enemies, and open chests, you’ll find several coloured Kinstone pieces. These are fused with certain NPCs to alter the overworld in different ways. This may involve spawning a treasure chest containing another Kinstone, or Magical Seashells, or a Big Rupee, or even a much tougher gold enemy for an additional challenge. Fusing removes vines to open new areas, parts waterfalls, drains ponds, and even spawns in NPCs for you to trade and train with. You can buy Kinstones, but they cost a lot and it’s not really worth it as you’ll inevitably find them on your travels, and none of the main variants are necessary to complete the story, though the benefits (extra hearts, Rupees, and training with the uncovered Grimblades) can be worthwhile. Specifically, fusing with Din, Farore, and Nayru spawns Lucky Butterflies which, when touched, increase your digging, shooting, and swimming speed. The only time you’re required to fuse Kinstones is when you find golden ones, such as in Cloud Tops, where you navigate a maze of clouds, floating about to find different halves of golden Kinstones to activate five propellers and be blasted up to the Palace of Winds.

I would’ve liked to see more creative use of the duplication feature in puzzle solving.

Link’s shrinking ability isn’t just used on the overworld; you’ll frequently shrink in Dungeons to reach new areas and progress. As ever, Dungeons contain a map, compass, and new weapon to aid your journey, as well as secret areas, switches, and stairways to other floors. Sometimes, you’ll drop or push blocks to lower levels; others, you’ll push levers to let in sunlight to melt blocks. Frequently, you must eliminate all enemies to open doors, or push jars or statues onto switches for the same effect, though it’s much more likely you’ll be duplicating Link to solve these puzzles. Tornados carry you across bottomless pits, moving platforms carry you across gaps, and floors are often covered in collapsing tiles, spikes, or rolling spiked logs that must be avoided. You’ll jump up to mesh bridges (and down through certain holes), hop up and across cloud platforms, push ice blocks into place, cross gaps using powerful wind blasts from propellers (in conjunction with the Roc’s Cape), and spring across chasms with the Gust Jar. There’s a giant rotating barrel in the Deepwood Shrine which must be rotated to progress, high-speed mine carts in the Cave of Flames that you redirect with switches, the Fortress of Winds is a veritable labyrinth of floors and dirt, the Temple of Droplets is a largely pitch-black mixture of ice and water, and the Palace of Winds offers the constant threat of falling to your doom. For the game’s final Dungeon, Vaati corrupts Hyrule Castle, transforming it into a monster-infested Hell filled with recycled enemies and hazards from previous Dungeons. While largely inspired by A Link to the Past and Link’s previous handheld entries, it’s in Dark Hyrule Castle where I saw some of the strongest parallels as exploring the Dungeons, battling Darknuts, and restoring the petrified NPCs was very similar to Link’s celebrated 16-bit adventure. Sadly, only two of the Dungeons are Minish-sized (the Deepwood Shrine and Palace of Droplets). Though you don’t really notice as you’re exploring these Dungeons, the developers did include larger variants of common enemies as boss battles. Still, I feel they didn’t take full advantage of Link’s new miniature perspective in these (or other) areas as the shrinking mechanic was more of a gimmick or hinderance a lot of the time.

Presentation:
I’ll be the first to admit that I never really cared for The Wind Waker’s cartoony aesthetic. It’s grown on me over time, but I much prefer the more realistic, fantasy-orientated style of Link’s other 3D adventures. However, it works really well here; probably better than in 3D. Link is super expressive; from his grunts and yells (carried over from this 3D titles) to his messy bed hair, his look of sheer panic on a runaway minecart, and the way he races around when on fire. He’s a jaunty little cartoon sprite, bobbing along and reacting to everything around him. Ezlo is very animated as well, popping up on Link’s head to react to and comment on their surroundings or the plot, and all the NPCs are similarly cartoony and fun to behold. Many will be familiar to long-time Zelda players, such as Malon (with her milk cart and nearby farm), Dampé the grave keeper, Ingo (now a real estate developer), and Gorons intent on ploughing through a rocky underpass. Many characters fuse Kinstones with you to solve a personal crisis, such as the overworked mailman, the librarian searching for lost books, and a poor man haunted by a restless spirit. The Minish Cap is a little light on new races but there are anthropomorphic characters to find, animals to chat to (as a Minish), and, of course, the gnome-like Picori tribe. These peaceful little sprites have a main village and live in little mushroom houses or up in the rafters, their homes made out of barrels, walls made of books, and heating provided by flickering candles. When Link is turned microscopic on the overworld, a helpful bubble indicates where he is. Though his actions are limited, he has full access to his arsenal when the game zooms in, casting dirt paths with the shadows of grass and blocking his path with chestnuts and such. Minish-Link must avoid cats looking to swipe him and relies on lily pads to cross water until he gets the Flippers, and you must be on the lookout for small holes, paths of flowers, and flappable objects to progress and shrink or return to full size.

The “Toon” style really suits the traditional Zelda aesthetic and brings Hyrule to life.

The Minish Cap’s overworld and Dungeons are heavily reminiscent of A Link to the Past, mixing locations such as ruins, a swamp, and Hyrule Castle itself with areas I’m more familiar with from the 3D games, like Lake Hylia and Lon Lon Ranch. Mt. Crenel acts as a Death Mountain substitute, featuring falling boulders, climbable walls, tornados to fly you about, and a Minish mine where Melari repairs the broken Picori Sword. Like the Swamp of Evil, Castor Wilds is a murky swamp full of thorns; you’ll need the Pegasus Boots to navigate this area, and shrink to clamber inside Armos Statues within the maze-like ruins. Finally, the Flame Lantern lights your way in the desolate Royal Valley, which contains a looping maze in its haunted forest. Aside from the Minish Village, Cloud Tops and the Palace of Winds and the Temple of Droplets impressed me the most, visually. The other Dungeons are very formulaic, despite some fun perspective and depth effects, but these three have you up in the clouds or high in the sky or navigating a frozen labyrinth, respectively, which really mixes up the formula. Dark Hyrule Castle is similar, putting an ominous spin on the palace’s ornate rooms and recycling all previous hazards, but I was disappointed that the Dungeons didn’t utilise Link’s new miniature perspective to make their visuals and layouts standout more from the likes of A Link to the Past. Instead, The Minish Cap often resembles a toon-ified version of that game, doing little to stray from the usual stone trappings of those Dungeons and being a little too familiar at times. Still, there are fun touches, like the Biggoron atop Veil Falls, the big bell in the bustling Hyrule Town, guards to sneak past, and occasional weather effects. The game’s story is all relayed though text boxes, as usual, but key events are told using stained glass murals, Wind Waker-style art is showcased in the end credits, and the sprite-based cutscenes are full of cartoony life. The music is as infectious as ever, with familiar and slightly tweaked classic Zelda tracks at the forefront (many I mostly recognised from A Link to the Past and Ocarina of Time), though new areas and Minish locations have a spirited flavour that adds to the game’s whimsical, fairytale-like charm.

Enemies and Bosses:
All of Zelda’s most recognisable enemies make a return in The Minish Cap, though redesigned to evoke the toon style of The Wind Waker. This is most evident in the Moblins, who charge with spears or fire arrows and have much more life and detail compared to past 2D Zelda titles In some cases. This ups the challenge represented by some enemies, such as the various Dark Knights you’ll encounter. These are essentially mini bosses and swarm Dark Hyrule Castle, defending against your attacks and landing powerful sword swipes and even boasting a charged thrust. Your best bet against these enemies is to hop over them with the Pegasus Boots and attack from behind, a tactic mirrored when facing the Ball and Chain Soldiers. Other enemies require strategic use of your other items, such as using the Gust Jar to suck up and fire out the annoying Peahats or pull the masks off Helmasaurs, tossing your boomerang at Sparks, or using the Cane of Pacci to flip Spiked Beetles and attack their vulnerable underbelly. Like Likes masquerade as Rupees and steal your items, Keatons and Takkuris make you drop Rupees on contact, Madderpillars (also a kind of mini boss) fly into a rage with you bop their noses and attack their tails, and you’ll even encounter Bob-ombs and Lakitus. ChuChus fry you, Floor and Wall Masters return you to the Dungeon entrance, and Octorocks and Deku Scrubs are subdued by deflecting their projectiles. Cloud Piranhas snap at you from the clouds, fake doors crush you, and Acro-Bandits leap from the ground in a swaying tower. You’ll also battle elemental Wizzrobes, who teleport about shooting ice, fire, or lightning; Stalfos leap and toss their bones at you; and Slugglas drop from above. By the time you reach Dark Hyrule Castle, rooms are filled with an assortment of these enemies. Though you can often simply bypass them, you’ll need to defeat a gauntlet of them before Vaati completes his macabre ritual to reach the petrified Princess Zelda in the finale.

Too few bosses require the shrinking mechanic, but they’re mostly big, fun challenges.

The Minish Cap is surprisingly light on bosses; four of its five main bosses guard an Element, which empowers your sword and duplicates Link, relinquishing a Heart Piece to extend your life bar. The first boss you battle is a gigantic green ChuChu; well, it’s actually a regularly sized one but you’re in Minish form, so it appears huge. A blue variant appears later in the game too, now sporting electrified skin, but the tactic of sucking at its “feet” with the Gust Jar and whacking it with your sword when it’s stunned remains the same. Next, you face the turtle-like lava dinosaur Gleek, which sits in a pool of lava and spits fireballs in a circular motion. You must run behind it and flip its shell with the Cane of Pacci to race up its neck and attack the crystal on its back. In retaliation, it rains rocks and breathes fire, making the fight more difficult as it progresses. Mazaal is the only one of the main bosses to incorporate the shrinking mechanic in. A strange, disembodied Aztec head and fists, he is stunned by shooting and slashing the jewels on his hands (which try to crush and hit you). You then shrink, enter his head, and attack the glowing pillar to deal damage. As the fight progresses, you use the Mole Mitts in his head and dodge a Shrink Ray attack from his eyes. The Big Octorok is fought in a shallow pool that it freezes, reducing your traction and making avoiding its pellets much harder. Well, I say “avoid” but you actually smack these back with your sword to stun it, allowing you to set fire to the petal on its back. This causes rocks to rain down and the Big Octorok to freak out; it also charges, spins around, and creates a smokescreen to limit visibility. Finally, the Gyorg Pair are easily the most unique boss in the game. This fight takes place in the skies of Hyrule on the back of two manta ray-like creatures. When riding the red one, you must dodge the smaller blue one and its fireballs and duplicate Link to attack the red one’s eyeballs. You then hop to the blue one, slashing its eyeballs, and repeat, watching for smaller green variants that fly past.

Vaati assumes some familiar forms in his attempt to spread darkness throughout Hyrule.

After battling past the many Darknuts that haunt Dark Hyrule Castle, you’ll finally confront the master swordsman and corrupted sorcerer, Vaati. Vaati takes many forms, one similar to Agahnim, one like Arrghus or Vitreous, and one like Nightmare’s final form, Dethl. The first form, “Vaati Reborn”, morphs him into a dangerous sorcerer protected by many small, spinning eyes. These encircle him, distracting you as he shoots fireballs, and must be destroyed to expose his big, eyeball-like weak spot. After enough hits, he encases the eyes in protective shields that must be sucked off with the Gust Jar. The eyes also fire vertical laser beams (just stand between them) and Vaati erratically teleports, making him a harder target to hit. For his second form, “Vaati Transfigured”, fought immediately after in a psychedelic landscape, Vaati takes his obsession with eyes to the next level. In this fight, you shoot arrows at the small sphere surrounding the central body to uncover four red eyeballs. You must then duplicate Link into the same formation and attack, continuing your assault when he’s stunned. However, Vaati spews destructible spiked balls and a spread of electrifying balls, which can be tricky to dodge especially considering his large hit box. After he’s defeated and Princess Zelda is revived, Dark Hyrule Castle collapses and Vaati’s true, final form, “Vaati’s Wrath” emerges. In this form, he pursues you, again firing balls of electricity, and sends his extendable claw arms under the ground to attack. When one pops up, stun it with the Cane of Pacci, shrink down, and venture inside to destroy the one real bladed eyeball amongst the fakes to literally disarm him. Repeat for the other arm and Vaati sends four electrical orbs your way from the small eyes in front of him, as well as a spread of larger orbs. To win, simply avoid the spread and duplicate Link in a line to deflect his smaller shots with your sword (the timing can be tricky), which will stun him and soon end his dreams of conquest.

Additional Features:
As you’d expect, there are forty-four Pieces of Heart to find all around Hyrule. Collecting four will extend your life bar, so they’re worth seeking out. While some are just lying in the open, others require your items to reach or are gifted by fusing Kinstones. Opening chests, defeating enemies, and cutting grass also sees you collect Magical Seashells. Unlike the similar items from Link’s Awakening, these are essentially infinite in number (though your inventory maxes out at 999) and are traded for figurines in Hyrule Town, similar to the Pictobox side quest in The Wind Waker. This is quite a time-consuming task, however, as you must speak to the proprietor, set how many Magical Seashells you wish to trade (with the percentage of a new figurine increasing the more you wager), and then pull a lever to get an egg-like capsule containing the figure. The more places you explore and the more NPCs you meet, the more figurines you can get, with your Magical Seashells being replaced by the Carlov Medal once you obtain all 136 figurines. This, in turn, opens Baris’s house, gitfting you another Piece of Heart and the Phonograph, which acts as a sound test for the game. Similar to the Magical Seashells, there are a near-infinite number of coloured Kinstones to find. Fusing with NPCs unlocks new areas and gifts rewards that aid your quest, and completing all fusions awards you with a Tingle Trophy. Clearing the game earns you a Triforce stamp on your save game file; you can have up to three of these and also change the language to suit you. Finally, the Nintendo Switch version lets you play the European and North American releases (with subtle differences between them), rewind should you make a mistake, and create save states at will, dramatically reducing the game’s already low difficulty.

The Summary:
I’ve wanted to play The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap for the longest time. Finding a physical copy was expensive, even unboxed, so I consoled myself with the knowledge that it would be another Zelda game that passed me by…until I upgraded my Nintendo Switch subscription and finally dug into it. Visually, the game is very impressive; colourful and lively, The Minish Cap is like playing a cartoon and I really enjoyed how it translated a Wind Waker aesthetic onto a traditional Link to the Past formula. The core gameplay is as reliable as ever; Link has some fun new toys to play with that mix things up, like the Gust Jar and Mole Mitts, though I do feel these could’ve been emphasised more. Similarly, the shrinking mechanic became tedious after a while. Generally, it’s simply anther way to get from one place to another and fuse with different NPCs rather than changing the puzzles in a meaningful way. Likewise, while the graphics represented these sections well, I think the developers could’ve done more with it, such as more bigger enemies and obstacles that meant using the duplication feature in interesting ways, rather than just hitting switches. Ezlo was also a pain in the ass, thankfully rectified in the post-game, and the Kinstone fusing got old quickly, too. This mechanic replaces traditional fetch and trading quests and is used as a shorthand for everything, limiting your exploration options and adding an element of grinding. The bosses were fun, if too few in number, but Vaati wasn’t the most enigmatic or threatening villain and the story felt uncharacteristically low stakes for a Zelda game. As a spiritual successor to A Link to the Past and the handheld games, The Minish Cap does well and the core Zelda gameplay is always enjoyable, but I don’t think this one lived up to its full potential and it ended up being more of a chore at times.

My Rating:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Great Stuff

Was The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap a staple of your Game Boy Advance library back in the day? Were you a fan of the Wind Waker art style and, if so, what did you think to the way it was implemented here? Did you enjoy the shrinking mechanic and the Kinstone fusions or did they become tedious for you, too? Did you ever fuse every Kinstone and collected every figurine? What did you think to Vaati as a villain? Would you like to see the Minish return? Which Zelda game is your favourite and how are you celebrating the franchise this month? Whatever your thoughts, share them below and be sure to check out my other Zelda content on the site.

Movie Night [PokéMonth]: Pokémon: Detective Pikachu

Dr. KLeave a comment

Upon the release of Pokémon: Blue Version and Pokémon: Red Version (Game Freak, 1996), a new craze swept through playgrounds. An entire generation grew up with Pokémon, as clever marketing saw it become a massively lucrative and popular multimedia powerhouse. Accordingly, February 27th is recognised as “National Pokémon Day”, which I expanded to an entire month of Pokémon this February, which is even more fitting given that February 6th is the day that Mew gave birth to my favourite Pokémon, Mewtwo!

Released: 10 May 2019
Director: Rob Letterman
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
Budget: $150 million
Stars: Justice Smith, Ryan Reynolds, Kathryn Newton, Bill Nighy, Suki Waterhouse, Ken Watanabe, and Rina Hoshino/Kotaro Watanabe

The Plot:
When his ace detective father goes missing, Tim Goodman (Smith) reluctantly teams up with his Pikachu partner (Reynolds) and aspiring report Lucy Stevens (Newton) to unravel the mystery.

The Background:
Pokémon is no stranger to the silver screen. The aptly-titled Pokémon: The First Movie: Mewtwo Strikes Back (Yuyama, 1998) was a box office success that kick-started a slew of feature films, though development of a live-action venture didn’t gain momentum until 2016. Rather than adapt the incredibly popular and long-running anime series, director Rob Letterman pitched a story inspired by the well-received Detective Pikachu spin-off (Creatures, 2016) to incorporate a talking version of the franchise’s beloved mascot. Ryan Reynolds won out over names like Danny DeVito and Dwayne Johnson to land the titular role, providing both the voice and motion-capture for Pikachu. The Pokémon were brought to life through a combined effort by multiple visual effects studios, who opted for a photo-realistic aesthetic that saw the effects team closely studying the videogames, anime, and previous 3D representations of the pocket monsters. With an impressive worldwide box office of just over $450 million, Pokémon: Detective Pikachu broke the curse often associated with videogame adaptations and was the most successful film of its kind for a time. The reviews were largely positive, praising the surprisingly emotional narrative, Reynolds’ wise-cracking performance, and fan service on offer. Though some criticised the pacing and effects work, a sequel was announced just before the film’s release; however, as of this writing, it’s still very much in the developmental phase.

The Review:
Pokémon: Detective Pikachu takes place in Ryme City, a bustling, neon-drenched metropolis billed as a utopia for humans and Pokémon alike to live and work together in harmony. The city was built by billionaire tycoon and Pokémon advocate Howard Clifford (Nighy), a disabled visionary who poured his heart and soul into protecting Pokémon and fostering positive relations between them and humans. Much of this is related to the audience during Tim’s train ride to the city and in a format not unlike the “Welcome to the World of Pokémon” introductions included in many of the animated features, and is a fun way to show how Ryme City sets itself apart from other regions and locations. There, Pokémon battling is banned and people are discouraged from having PokéBalls. The relationship between humans and Pokémon is supposed to be more symbiotic and mutually beneficial, though that doesn’t stop everyone Tim meets asking where his “partner Pokémon” is. We’ve seen similar cities to this in the videogames and anime; indeed, the idea of humans working alongside Pokémon has been present since the first games. However, it’s presentation in this decidedly Blade Runner (Scott, 1982) inspired environment is not just to stuff in a load of Pokémon cameos but also to acclimatise viewers to the idea that, in this world, Pokémon are real and integrated into society. Still, the world of Pokémon: Detective Pikachu should be instantly recognisable to series fans and the film thankfully doesn’t bog down its run time with heavy handed exposition into its mechanics. This may be somewhat alienating to newcomers but it’s pretty clear from the title and the presentation who this film is aimed at, and I appreciate that it embraces the concept and plays it straight. It also has some tenuous ties to both the anime and the videogames: Mewtwo is said to have “escaped form the Kanto region” twenty years ago and Pikachu tearfully sings the anime’s original infectious theme song at one point, meaning the film can easily be seen as an extension of one or the other (or both, if you like). Layman viewers are tossed a bone in the main character, Tim, who is noticeably distinct from every other character he meets in that he doesn’t have a Pokémon partner and seemingly has no interest in the creatures.

Distraught Tim reluctantly partners with Pikachu to investigate his father’s death.

Again, this isn’t something new; the animated features often include characters either wary of or disinterested in Pokémon. Tim was an avid Pokémon fan as a kid; young Tim (Max Fincham) followed and participated in battles, collected the cards, and lived the Pokémon life. However, that all changed when his mother died; this drove a wedge between him and his father, who threw himself into work with the Ryme City Police Department, leaving Tim to be raised by his grandmother (Josette Simon) and grow up resenting both his father and the Pokémon he preferred to spend time with. Rather than growing up to be a Pokémon Trainer, Tim takes up a tedious job in insurance and has no interest in partnering with a Pokémon but ends up lumbered with his father’s cheeky Pikachu partner when he travels to Ryme City following his dad’s sudden death. Tim’s clearly shaken by his father’s demise and wrestling with conflicting emotions. He struggles to express himself when meeting with Harry’s friend, Lieutenant Hideo Yoshida (Watanabe), who relates that Harry always loved his son. This is little comfort to Tim, who’s clearly rattled at being denied the chance to get some closure and just wants to get home as quickly as possible. The deerstalker-garbed Pikachu completely upends that, however, since Tim can strangely understand the pint-sized detective. Tim initially reacts to this with shock and horror, believing he’s either going mad or has been adversely affected by a mysterious purple gas he discovers in Harry’s apartment. Even when he accepts that no one can understand Pikachu but him, Tim is reluctant to assist the Pokémon in figuring out what happened to his partner. Believing he lacks the same detective skills and expertise as his father, Tim repeatedly shuns Pikachu, who latches onto him out of desperation since he’s suffering from amnesia but feels it “in his jellies” that there’s more to Harry’s death than the media and the police want to admit. Pikachu’s insistence is infectious, and Tim reluctantly agrees to help with his investigation, aiding Pikachu by talking to humans for information while Pikachu interrogations Ryme City’s Pokémon. Though he’s uncomfortable carrying Pikachu on his shoulder and indulging his hairbrained theories, Tim proves a great asset when they question Harry’s informant, a Mr. Mime, leading to a hilarious moment where Tim threatens (through pantomime) to light the Pokémon on fire!

Aspiring journalist Lucy helps Tim and their investigation leads them to Clifford Howard.

Tim also provides Pikachu with the strongest lead in their muddled case when he’s accosted by aspiring reporter Lucy Stevens and her Psyduck (Michael Haigney). Struggling as an unpaid intern repeatedly ignored and chastised by her peers, Lucy is desperate to break a big story and senses that something’s amiss about Harry’s death. This is primarily because she has acquired several vials of the purple gas Harry was investigating, a strange substance known as “R” that temporarily drives any Pokémon that inhale it into a blind rage. Though he claims otherwise, Tim is clearly smitten by Lucy (and, honestly, I don’t blame him) and, while he doesn’t tell her the truth about Pikachu, he does review her notes and work with her to figure out what’s going on. Pikachu tries to help Tim flirt with and grow closer to Lucy, but despairs when Tim proves to be awkward around her and lack game. However, Lucy doesn’t seem to mind and finds the troubled young man charming, even when he’s stumbling over his words or making a fool of himself. While Yoshida believes Harry perished in a car crash, Clifford’s advanced holographic technology shows the detective survived and that both Mewtwo and Pikachu were at the scene, compounding the mystery further by naming his resentful son, Roger (Chris Geere), as the one behind the R. Thanks to Lucy’s digging, Tim learns of an abandoned research facility where Mewtwo was held against its will and harvested to synthesise R, and all signs point to the genetically engineered Pokémon turning its wrath on its captors and, by extension, Harry, who was contracted to capture it. Though this is clearly the big break Lucy has been looking for, she never abandons Tim in favour of getting her scoop like some fictional journalists. Indeed, they remain united throughout the film, working together to help each other, though Lucy continues to run into obstacles when she desperately tries to warn Ryme City’s inhabitants about the R gas in the final act.

Though suffering from amnesia, Pikachu is determined to solve the mystery of Harry’s disappearance.

Since he isn’t a detective, Tim’s at a loss about how to investigate his father’s death and even more helpless at uncovering proof that Harry survived. Thankfully, Pikachu is more than capable of carrying the bulk of the detective work. Though he’s suffering from amnesia, he’s no less determined to root through newspaper clippings, articles, photographs, and unturn any stone to find some kind of connection. Fuelled by caffeine and an insatiable lust for solving a good mystery, Pikachu tackles the investigation with gusto, chattering a mile a minute and standing up to any challenge. This bites him in the ass when he and Tim infiltrate an illegal underground Pokémon battle run by Sebastian (Omar Chaparro) and Pikachu’s forced to battle a voracious Charizard to get information from Sebastian, a sequence that showcases Tim has retained knowledge of Pokémon battles, but the amnesia has caused Pikachu to forget how to fight! Pikachu’s stunned to see he was at the scene of the crash and heartbroken when the Pokémon Comprehensive Laboratory (RCL) footage suggests that he betrayed Harry and led to his death/disappearance by freeing Mewtwo. Tim, Pikachu, Lucy, and Psyduck’s desperate escape from RCL sees them eluding not just a contingent of Greninja but also nearly crushed to death by giant Torterra masquerading as a forest, further results of the RCL’s horrific Pokémon experiments. Pikachu is gravely injured during the escape, which deeply upsets Tim. Despite him shunning Pikachu, and all Pokémon, he comes to connect with the adorable pint-sized detective and is devastated at losing him, both because he considers him a friend and partner and also because he’s the last link to a father he never knew. Luckily for them, some local Bulbasaur guide them to Mewtwo, who heals Pikachu and adds a touch more exposition to what really happened before being ensnared by Roger’s drones. However, this brief glimpse leaves Pikachu despondent and he wanders off, believing he’s a danger to everyone, only to stumble upon the crash site and realise it was the Greninja who attacked Harry’s car, not Mewtwo, and rush to help Tim confront the true mastermind behind the film’s events.

The Nitty-Gritty:
Given the movie’s title, it should be no surprise that Pokémon: Detective Pikachu is primarily a mystery story. There’s the obvious mystery surrounding Harry’s unexpected death, which evolves into a mystery about whether he survived or not, what happened to him after the fact, and what role Mewtwo and the Cliffords played in it all. Pikachu, Tim, and Lucy are united in investigating this conundrum, which intersects with all their lives: Lucy’s been investigating the R gas, which was found in Harry’s apartment and produced at RCL, with each step piecing more of the puzzle together for them. Along the way, they’re hounded by numerous obstacles: first, the R gas turns some Aipom rabid, showcasing how dangerous the gas can be, then Tim and Pikachu have to survive a battle with a similarly enraged Charizard, and finally they face persecution from Roger and his minions as they seek to recover Mewtwo and cover up their tracks. All the while, they’re shadowed by Clifford’s mysterious and unnerving bodyguard Ms. Norman (Suki Waterhouse), who turns out to be a Ditto in disguise, and forced to flee from every confrontation since Pikachu cannot remember how to fight and Psyduck’s powers are too unpredictable to be reliable. This means Pokémon: Detective Pikachu doesn’t have many traditional Pokémon battles or mechanics, a fact only exacerbated by Ryme City outlawing battles. Indeed, Sebastian’s arena is the closest thing we get to seeing Pokémon battles; the rest of the time, the characters are fending off or running from Pokémon driven into a frenzy by R. It’s an unusual approach but it seems to serve the narrative well. This isn’t the traditional story of an aspiring Pokémon Trainer earning badges and overcoming a nefarious team of criminals. It’s a young man desperately trying to figure out what happened to his estranged father in a colourful and chaotic world where Pokémon of all shapes and sizes exist.

Many Pokémon are brought to life but the effects often suffer as a result.

The idea of doing a live-action Pokémon movie had been doing the rounds for some time and many aspiring digital artists had tried to show how the concept would work on the likes of Deviantart, with these efforts being pretty close to the final result. Pokémon: Detective Pikachu is stuffed with all kinds of Pokémon, from Machamp and Snubble working with the police department, to firefighting Squirtles and various Flying-Type Pokémon soaring through the skies of Ryme City. Charmanders walk the streets, Jiggypuff (Rachael Lillis) sings karaoke, Greninja hunt our protagonists, and gigantic Torterra shift the very landscape and it’s all taken entirely in stride. There’s literally nothing unusual about these creatures wandering around as they like and the integration of Pokémon into human society is fun to see, though the CGI can be questionable at times. It’s obvious that most of the work went into bringing Pikachu to life; he’s the most detailed, expressive, and nuanced of all the film’s Pokémon. Everything from his little red cheeks, his glassy and vivid eyes, and the tufts of fur on his body are beautifully brought to life, and he interacts seamlessly with Tim at all times. The same isn’t true of most other Pokémon, unfortunately. While Gengar looks great rendered as a gaseous, leering spirit, Charizard, Machamp, and even Psyduck appear a bit too cartoony. This is largely because the filmmakers stick very closely to the Pokémon’s original designs, which is commendable and definitely brings them to life, but results in them sticking out against the more realistic backgrounds. It’s a bit like Who Framed Roger Rabbit (Zemeckis, 1988) but, whereas it made sense for the Toons to appear as living cartoons, it doesn’t quite work for these supposedly real creatures to appear so fake. I definitely think it works for the most part and I’m impressed that Pokémon: Detective Pikachu includes so many Pokémon and integrates them so well, but I do wonder if the effects might’ve been better served by focusing on a handful of Pokémon. Like, maybe if Ryme City were a little different and Pokémon are largely banned and Clifford was trying to change that, so you’d only see a few different types of Pokémon, freeing the animators to make them look as good as possible. It’s a minor thing, but a noticeable one, for sure.

Tim stops Clifford’s mad plot and Mewtwo finally reunites him with his father.

Sadly for me, the Pokémon who suffers the most from this is Mewtwo. Appearing sleek and eel-like, it lacks the armoured, menacing appearance it usually exudes, though it’s no less threatening in its actions. Once again captured and experimented on, Mewtwo flies into a rage and destroys its facility, but is unable to save Harry from the Greninja attack. However, his loyal Pikachu offered to house Harry’s consciousness until Tim could be brought to Mewtwo to reunite Harry with his recuperated body. These revelations all come after it’s revealed that Clifford’s Ditto has been posing as Roger all along (or, at least, for much of the film) and that Clifford was behind everything. Interestingly, Clifford’s goal isn’t world domination or power; it’s to transfer his consciousness out of his crippled body and into the most powerful Pokémon of all. Successfully possessing Mewtwo’s body, Clifford unleashes the R gas throughout Ryme City using a balloon parade, turning all Pokémon feral and leaving them susceptible to his Psychic powers. Again, this isn’t to control them, but rather to use Mewtwo’s hitherto-unknown ability to merge a human’s consciousness with a Pokémon to literally unite the two species in a forced harmony and allow humanity to “evolve” into a better form. While the mismatched Pikachu battles Mewtwo atop the balloons, having rediscovered his Electric-based attacks, Tim fends off Ms. Susan, who assumes various forms (including an unsettling masquerade of Lucy) and removes Clifford’s control device from his prone body, breaking his connection to Mewtwo. Sadly, Lucy isn’t much help during all this as she’s infused with her Psyduck while trying to get the panicked civilians to safety, but she’s charged by the real Roger to break the story after Mewtwo restores everyone to normal. This includes Pikachu and Harry, who returns to full health as Ryan Reynolds and is delighted when Tim decides to stick around and build bridges with his estranged father.

The Summary:
Pokémon: Detective Pikachu has a lot going for it. I really liked the design of Ryme City, how it mixed old and new technologies and East and West in its makeup and echoed the tech-noir design of Blade Runner to be both sleek and futuristic but also grimy and dangerous at the same time. I quite liked Tim’s character and his arc; it’s nothing especially ground-breaking but I think Justice Smith did a great job with the character’s emotions and charming awkwardness. I loved Kathryn Newton; she’s super cute and I liked that they didn’t have her simply be obsessed with her career and screw Tim over for her big break, though she does get a bit shafted in the finale. Ryan Reynolds was also great as the wise-cracking, coffee-obsessed Pikachu. Pikachu is as adorable as ever but given a fun edge through his snarky demeanour and obsession with cracking the case and figuring out what happened to his memories and his partner. It was a bit of a shame to not follow a more traditional Pokémon story and characters, but I think it works well for Pokémon’s first live-action outing. I feel the movie appealed to both long-term fans and newcomers by choosing this format and it help make the presence of these cartoonish creatures more acceptable by focusing on them as just an everyday part of life. Sadly, the effects can be a bit hit and miss; like I said, I think the filmmakers overreached a little by featuring a few too many Pokémon and the CGI does suffer at times as a result. Pokémon: Detective Pikachu also struggles a bit with its pacing; it seems to drag a little in the middle, making exciting sequences seem lifeless in the process, and I wonder if this could’ve been prevented by having Lucy be a Pokémon Trainer and thus injecting some traditional battles to keep the pace up. Still, it’s a fun and heart-warming film that appeals to kids and has some fun content for adults (mostly in Ryan Reynolds’ depiction of Pikachu), and it’s worth it just to see Bill Nighy go on a maniacal rant while possessing Mewtwo’s body!

My Rating:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Great Stuff

Did you enjoy Pokémon: Detective Pikachu? What did you think to the depiction of Pokémon in a live-action aesthetic? Did you like the mystery surrounding Harry and Tim’s depiction as reluctant partner to Pikachu? What did you think to Ryan Reynolds’ portrayal of Pikachu? Were you disappointed that there weren’t more traditional Pokémon battles? What did you think to the CGI and was your favourite Pokémon included here? How are you celebrating National Pokémon Day this year? Whatever your thoughts, drop them in the comments below and be sure to check out my other Pokémon content.

Back Issues: Captain America #117-119

Dr. K1 Comment
Writer: Stan Lee – Artist: Gene Colon

Story Title: “The Coming of…The Falcon!”
Published: 3 June 1969 (cover-dated: September 1969)

Story Title: “The Falcon Fights On!”
Published: 1 July 1969 (cover-dated: October 1969)

Story Title: “Now Falls the Skull!”
Published: 30 July 1969 (cover-dated: November 1969)

The Background:
World War Two was in full swing by 1941. Nazi Germany had barrelled through Denmark and Norway in April 1940 and, after initially resisting joining the war, the United States entered the fray and provided much needed support against the “Axis powers” of Germany, Japan, and Italy. Patriotism and national pride was high at the time, especially in America, and it was during these dark days that Joe Simon and the legendary Jack Kirby introduced readers Captain Steve Rogers/Captain America and his kid sidekick, James Buchanan Barnes/Bucky, to encourage support of the war effort. However, after the end of the War superheroes declined in popularity and Captain America’s solo comic was cancelled in 1954. Luckily, Cap got a second chance as a “man out of time” when he joined the Avengers, reigniting his superhero career and butting heads with such iconic villains as Johann Shmidt/The Red Skull and even eventually battling his fellow superheroes. In the aftermath of this civil war, Cap was left seemingly dead and his mantle passed to his troubled sidekick, now also a superhuman figure, who operated in the role until Steve’s inevitable resurrection and, in 2014, Sam Wilson took on the mantle, to much undue controversy. Created by Stan Lee and Gene Colon, the man better known as the Falcon was the first Black American superhero in mainstream comic books. Specifically created to be a trendsetter during turbulent times, the Falcon went on to have a lengthy career in Marvel Comics, though mostly as a bit-player until his promotion into the shield-slinging role of Captain America, and has achieved mainstream recognition thanks to Anthony Mackie’s celebrated portrayal of the character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The Review:
Sam Wilson’s debut in Captain America’s solo title came in the middle of a particularly trying time for the Star-Spangled Avenger. After almost having his identity made public, Cap was ambushed by his old foe, the gruesome Red Skull, who used the power of the Cosmic Cube to switch bodies with his hated enemy! As if being tapped in the body of a skull-faced Nazi wasn’t bad enough, the Cosmic Cube’s near-limitless power dumped Cap on a remote island home to the Exiles, a misfit group of would-be conquerors who hate the Red Skull with a passion. Observing through the Cosmic Cube’s omnipotent power, the Red Skull watches as the wheelchair-bound Franz Cadavus leads his venge-filled fellows in search of the one who robbed them of the Cosmic Cube’s power. When Cap crashes before them after falling from his hiding spot in a tree, he doesn’t even bother trying to explain the situation. Instead, he defends himself against Angelo Baldini and his deadly scarf, easily using his knowledge of his foe’s abilities to his advantage. Cap then uses his incredible agility to dodge Cadavus’s “murder chair” cannons, tossing sand in his eyes, and disarms Jun Ching. However, the numbers soon overwhelm the celebrated Avenger when Eric Gruning restrains him with his whip and “Iron-Hand” Jurgen Hauptmann closes in for the kill. For the observing Red Skull, the irony and glory of it all are too much to witness. Confident that his plot has succeeded, he decides not to witness his hated enemy’s final moments and turns his attention towards his greater goals.

Trapped in the Red Skull’s body, Cap nevertheless inspires young Sam to become a hero.

Consequently, the Red Skull doesn’t see the timely intervention of a falcon, later identified as “Redwing”, who distracts Iron-Hand long enough for Cap to fight him off with a swift uppercut. Redwing also helps Cap escape the iron grip of the brutish Ivan Krushki and, as Cap flees to the bushes, he notes that the bird seems to be trained, as if following orders. Cap surmises that the Exiles probably haven’t seen the Red Skull’s true face, so he removes the gruesome mask and manipulates his features with clay to move more freely around the island. In contrast, the Red Skull walks in the guise of Captain America, disgusted by the adulation and awe his appearance inspires and secretly conspiring to enslave everyone. The Red Skull revels in deceiving the masses, taking advantage of their goodwill, before deciding to further his victory against Captain America by destroying his enemy’s distinguished reputation. He is completely unaware that the Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing/MODOK and his beekeeper-suit flunkies at Advanced Idea Mechanics (A.I.M.) are working to render the Cosmic Cube they created powerless to avoid it being used against them. Back on the island, Redwing returns to his master, the jovial Sam Wilson, a lone vigilante against the Exiles. When Cap spots him, he thanks Sam for his assistance and learns that he’s a simple Harlem man who came to the long-peaceful island to organize a resistance against the Exiles. Sam relates that he had an affinity for birds since boyhood, communicating with them in a way beyond a simple animal trainer. When he unwittingly answered the Exiles’ call for a hunting falcon, Sam turned on them, unwilling to help them enslave others. While he initially laughs at Cap’s suggestion that he turn his love for falcons into a symbol, a costumed identity for the natives to rally behind, Cap soon organizes the creation of a garish outfit that will better suit his radical goals and dubs him “The Falcon”.

Despite this God-like power, the Red Skull doesn’t foresee Cap training a new ally.

Back in New York City, the Red Skull finally realises, with anger, that his protégés have failed to find or kill their quarry. Realising that Cap must’ve taken off his skull-like visage, he resigns himself to the inevitability that his enemy can’t hide forever. Yet, the Red Skull decides he’s not willing to aid the Exiles or simply blink Cap out of existence with his God-like power and thus doesn’t bother to look in on Cap or witness him bonding with his new friend, whose connection with Redwing constantly impresses the disguised Avenger. Cap teaches the Falcon the basics of superheroing…And by that I mean they spar on the beach, Cap instructing Sam how to fight properly and use an enemy’s momentum and strength against them. Sam’s experience fighting for survival on the mean streets of Harlem see him take to the training like a natural, quickly becoming stronger and more sure of himself, and Cap impresses upon him that he must embody his new identity whenever he’s wearing his awful costume. When the Red Skull is awoken by concerns of an overexcited rabble of Cap fans in the lobby of his hotel, he sees it as the perfect opportunity to discredit Cap’s name. He shouts at the hotel manager and berates the fans, spitting spiteful insults every chance he can get, and even ostracises perennial hanger-on Rick Jones, who had aspirations of becoming Cap’s new sidekick. While A.I.M. continue their experiments, Cap and the Falcon blindside the Exiles, easily besting them even though Cap’s speed and strength are lessened in the Red Skull’s body. The Falcon proves very adept, dodging Gruning’s whip and inspiring the natives to rise up and drive the Exiles into fleeing for their lives.

Ultimately, it’s A.I.M. who quash the red Skull’s dreams of ultimate victory,

Unfortunately for them, the Red Skull happened to be looking in. Angered and determined to finish his enemy and his new ally off, the Red Skull assumes his more familiar appearance and effortlessly teleports himself to Berchtesgaden Castle, where he once conspired with Adolf Hitler to conquer the world, ravenous to stage his final victory in the castle’s opulent halls. Cap and the Falcon are then violently transported halfway across the world to Berchtesgaden Castle. Though Cap bemoans getting the Falcon caught up in his ages-old rivalry with the skull-faced dictator, Sam vows to face the threat no matter the outcome, but is enraged when the Red Skull’s first act is to cage Redwing. The Red Skull feeds the Falcon’s anger and spirit, goading him into attacking so that he can repel the fledgling hero with a forcefield. Sam is then stunned when the Red Skull uses the Cosmic Cube to undo the mind and body transfer, reverting Cap to his colourful costume and rearming him once more. Galvanised by this revelation, the Falcon willing follows Cap into battle, despite the Red Skull encasing himself in a protective rocky shell and spontaneously conjuring a tidal wave that threatens to drown the two heroes. While the Falcon’s caught off-guard by such tricks, Cap warns of the Red Skull’s power and insanity, which see the villain whisk them to an arid desert. With Sam exhausted, Cap hurls his shield and, incredibly, causes the Red Skull to drop the Cosmic Cube! The two fight valiantly over the prize but, just as the Red Skull reclaims the Cosmic Cube, he watches in horror as it melts between his fingers thanks to MODOK and A.I.M. activating their “Catholite Block” and rendering the weapon inert. Despite this, the Red Skull uses the melting cube’s fading power to teleport away, leaving MODOK victorious and Cap and the Falcon to head into the sunset as triumphant new allies.

The Summary:
I’m honestly not very familiar with the Falcon. This may very well be the first story I’ve ever read where he’s a part of the plot. I’m much more aware of his film counterpart and, honestly, never thought too much of him since his gimmick is very similar to Adrian Toomes/The Vulture, another character I traditionally find lacklustre compared to other, more colourful and appealing characters. However, his appearance here was enjoyable for what it was. There are some holes in his backstory, though, that the story didn’t satisfactorily explain for me. So, he’s a bird-lover, that’s great; he can communicate with Redwing on a near-telepathic level, sure, I’m all for that. But…why did he answer the ad for a hunting falcon? I mean, I guess he just wanted to leave Harlem and I can understand that, but it’s a bit random to jet off to a secluded island on a whim. Also, why did the Exiles need a hunting falcon anyway? Sure, they’re repeatedly shown to be useless at tracking their enemies but still…a falcon? And how did they place an ad for that when they’re exiled to the island? Still, Sam’s heart is in the right place; he won’t stand for injustice, especially slavery, and is determined to encourage the remaining natives to reclaim their land. It’s obviously a very racially and politically charged motivation and character, but I think it’s a universal truth we can all agree to: slavery and mistreatment of others is bad and should be opposed. Sam embodies this ideal before Cap shows up but lacks the proper means to enforce it. He seems to operate mainly from the shadows, but Cap encourages him to stand in the spotlight as a symbol for people to believe in, not unlike he is when in full costume.

It’s a good job Sam’s such a likeable guy because his superhero costume is unsightly!

Unfortunately for Sam, Cap and the natives whisk up one of the worst costumes I’ve ever seen. God, it’s so awful, with its lime-green and brown-gold edging, it’s weird-ass cowl and strangely angled boots. Considering Cap encourages him to take inspiration from his love and use the moniker “The Falcon”, nothing about Sam’s outfit screams “Falcon” to me. He doesn’t have a bird-like cowl like, say, Katar Hall/Hawkman, doesn’t match Redwing’s gold and red/brown feathers, and doesn’t even have his now-iconic wings. Just about the only thing this outfit has going for it is its sense of native tribalism, but otherwise it’s truly a ghastly sight. Luckily, Sam’s personality makes up for it. He’s not some jive-talking street tough or a shallow Blaxploitation cliché; he’s just a regular guy from Harlem with a friendly disposition who wants to do what’s right. His time on the mean streets toughened him, sure, but there’s no sense of malice or ego. The only time he shows any anger is when Redwing is threatened and when confronted by the embodiment of xenophobic oppression. Otherwise, he’s a level-headed, affable young man who luckily turns out to be a natural when it comes to learning how to fight. In a short time, Cap teaches Sam how to defend himself, how to fight smartly, and leads him into battle against the Exiles, a fight that puts them at a disadvantage due to the group’s numbers and weapons but which the heroes ultimately triumph thanks to putting their skills to good use. This also sees the Falcon inspire the natives to rise up, though this was very rushed for me. There was never any indication that the people even know the Falcon was heading into battle that day. All they knew was that Sam was wearing a costume now, not that he’d done anything worth riling them up. Of course, Sam’s natural abilities are only half the story; Redwing gives him a memorable gimmick that helps him stand out against his peers. The bird is exceptionally well trained and intelligent, turning the tide in every battle the Falcon is involved in and proving invaluable to their cause.

The story completely wastes the potential of the Red Skull’s unlimited power.

Beyond this, the story is a bit of a mess. I love the idea of the Red Skull attaining God-like power, and the Cosmic Cube effectively allows him to do anything. He can see anything he likes at will, switch bodies with people, teleport, conjure forcefields and the elements, and is functionally untouchable as long as the cube is in his hands. Unfortunately, the Red Skull is a cackling buffoon. Rather than simply will Captain America out of existence, he swaps bodies with him and dumps him on an island, where inept forces fail time and again to do his dirty work. Rather than reshaping reality in his image, brainwashing the masses and conquering the world a piece at a time, the Red Skull parades around in Cap’s body to take advantage of their goodwill, all while ruminating about how much he hates Americans and the many ways he’ll subjugate and destroy those around him. Rather than doing this, the Red Skull plots to destroy Cap’s reputation by…being rude to people! It’s ridiculous! He doesn’t even watch what’s happening on the island until it’s too late and gets so distracted bringing himself, Cap, and the Falcon to Berchtesgaden Castle that he doesn’t think to set aside his pride and just snuff their lives out with a thought. It’s typical, cliché supervillain behaviour to assume victory, bask in your superiority, and to toy with your enemies but I expected more from someone like the Red Skull! Despite demonstrating that he can protect himself from any attack with a thought, Shmidt is disarmed by a simple throw of Cap’s shield and then he completely fails to consider that A.I.M. might be angry at him swiping their most powerful weapon, leaving him undone not by his enemy, but by his own lack of foresight. Overall, this was a decent enough introduction for Sam Wilson; his costume was awful, but I liked his attitude and his gimmick. What lets it down, though, is the nonsensical main plot regarding Cap and the red Skull switching bodies. It’s a great concept but the story completely wastes it, having Shmidt lounge around thinking nasty thoughts but squandering his great power, leaving him undone in the lamest way possible.

My Rating:

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Pretty Good

What did you think to the Falcon’s debut story? Were you as repulsed by his costume as I was? What did you think to his moxie and his gimmick with Redwing? Were you also disappointed that the red Skull squandered his potential here? What are some of your favourite moments in the Falcon’s long history? There’s a comment section down below; use it to share your thoughts and then go check out my other Marvel content.

Back Issues & Knuckles: Sonic the Hedgehog #13

Dr. K1 Comment

With the release of Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (SEGA Technical Institute, 1994) on this day in 1994, gamers were introduced to Knuckles the Echidna. This mischievous, dreadlocked antagonist was created by Takashi Yuda and is my favourite of Sonic’s supporting cast so excuse me while I celebrate his debut today (every Sunday in February!)

Story Title: “This Island Hedgehog” (Part 1 and 2)
Published: 16 May 1994 (cover-dated: August 1994)
Writers: Mike Kanterovich and Ken Penders
Artist: Dave Manak

The Background:
When Sonic the Hedgehog made his dramatic videogame debut in 1991, he was an immediate hit thanks to SEGA’s aggressive marketing campaign seeing his debut title being bundled with the Mega Drive. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (SEGA Technical Institute, 1992) expanded his popularity and, suddenly, Sonic merchandise was suddenly everywhere! He was included not only in the Macy’s Day Parade, but in cartoons and numerous comic books. Following the initial four-part miniseries, which combined narrative elements of Sonic’s cartoon adventures, Archie Comics published what would become the longest-running videogame comic book of all time. In time, to better capitalise on Sonic’s continued popularity, Archie also produced various Sonic spin-off comics, with the Knuckles the Echidna sister series being the most prominent. Long before writers like Ken Penders lumbered Knuckles with a convoluted lore and launched a bitter lawsuit that forever changed Archie’s Sonic comics, Knuckles debuted in this issue as one of Archie’s many loose videogame adaptations.

The Review:
Sonic and his perennial kid sidekick, Miles “Tails” Prower, first encounter Knuckles, the last of the echidna race and guardian of what was then known as the Floating Island, completely by chance. While flying through the skies of Mobius in search of Doctor Ivo Robotnik’s “hovercraft”, the two stumble upon a mysterious island in the sky. Interestingly, unlike in Fleetway’s comics, the two have no knowledge of the Floating Island and can thus only speculate how it stays afloat, with Sonic guessing (correctly, it turns out) that it’s held aloft by one of the (many) Chaos Emeralds. As the two come in to land to investigate further, unaware that they’re being watched by a mysterious, spike-fisted individual, their biplane is knocked from the sky by a literal “unwelcome mat” and Tails is forced to air-lift the duo to the ground. With no choice but to investigate further to find some way back to Knothole Forest, Sonic and Tails venture into a close approximation of Angel Island Zone and are attacked by an “Assaulting Batter Blimp” (essentially the “Fire Breath” mech from Sonic the Hedgehog 3, but with a far less intimidating white paint job). Assaulted by the blimp’s flame bursts, Sonic is randomly shielded by “some sort of energy shield” (visually similar to his Insta-Shield ability, though Sonic seems unaware of how this happened) and forced to dive into the nearby water. Caught in an inescapable current and blasted past spikes and through crumbling walls in what I guess is supposed to be Hydrocity Zone (but which looks more like Labyrinth Zone), the duo find themselves blacking out from the strain and the force of the suction. They awaken in a dark room with their arms and legs bound and are stunned when they’re greeted by Knuckles, who steps from the shadows and introduces himself as the island’s guardian.

After Sonic and Tails prove their innocence, Knuckles joins them in fighting Dr. Robotnik.

Knuckles also reveals that he’s formed a friendship with Dr. Robotnik, who’s fed him lies about the two’s intentions to steal the island’s Chaos Emerald! Dr. Robotnik observes the events with glee alongside his long-suffering right-hand and nephew, Snively, and reveals that he’s misled the naïve echidna in order to steal the Chaos Emerald for himself to recharge his hovercraft. Having successfully duped Knuckles, Dr. Robotnik sits back and watches as the echidna’s riled up by Sonic and Tails’s defiant attitude. Still, Knuckles offers to give them ten minutes to get off the Floating Island before he hunts them down like wild dogs. While Sonic and Tails instead resolve to use the time limit to prove their innocence, Dr. Robotnik berates Knuckles for not finishing off the “jewel thieves” when he had the chance. Thus, Dr. Robotnik moves up his schedule and, after snatching the Chaos Emerald from his minion, Crabmeat, prepares to enact his dastardly plot. Angered that Sonic and Tails are still hanging around, Knuckles takes a short-cut to the Chaos Emerald and is horrified to find it’s been swiped from its simple stone pedestal. When Sonic and Tails arrive immediately after, Knuckles realise that he’s been duped and demands to be taken to Dr. Robotnik. The three arrive just as the semi-cybernetic dictator is preparing to take off and, after swiping the gem, reduce his SWATbot guards to scrap metal. However, Dr. Robotnik manages to elude them by powering up his hovercraft (how he does this without the Chaos Emerald is beyond me) and awkwardly escaping across the sea. To thank his newfound allies, Knuckles gathers the pieces of Sonic’s trashed plane so Sonic can reassemble it at super speed and then sees the two off, sure that it won’t be the last time their paths cross.

The Summary:
My first observation about this story is that the art is pretty atrocious. A lot of it was back then in the Archie comics as their artists opted for a more cartoony approach to these characters, one that emulated the cartoons that inspired them, yes, but which was also somewhat dumbed down and a far cry from SEGA’s official artwork. Most of this criticism is aimed towards Knuckles, who looks decidedly off-model here. Judging by the poses he strikes and the limited exploration of Sonic 3’s environments, I wouldn’t be surprised if the writers and artists only had access to limited materials to produce their story. It seems like they had footage or screenshots of Angel Island Zone (at least Act 1) and Hydrocity Zone and images of Knuckles, and that was it as this story explores even less of the Floating Island than in the Fleetway adaptation! As was the style at the time, “This Island Hedgehog” is seemingly more concerned with awful puns and pop culture references than emulating the source material. While the “unwelcome mat” was kind of funny, ““plane” crazy” was very cringe, Tails’s reaction when Sonic says they should “hit the drink” probably went over most kids’ heads, and “cute” references to Super Mario and the 1960s Batman television show just come across as corny. Sonic’s “energy shield” really bugged me since it appears out of sheer convenience to save him from being roasted, is never seen again, and never gets explained. Again, it’s like the writers just watched some footage of Sonic 3 and had no idea how the Insta-Shield works, making its inclusion even more egregious than how Fleetway handled it. Couple that with the Master Emerald and Hidden Palace Zone shrine being reduced to a simple, run-of-the-mill Chaos Emerald and a pile of rocks, and that Dr. Robotnik’s plot is to power up his hovercraft rather than the Death Egg, and you have a very poor representation of the source material, even by Archie’s standards!

More focused on bad art and worst puns, this story is a poor showing for Knuckles and Sonic 3.

I wish I could say that Knuckles, at least, comes off well, but it’s a bit of a mixed bag, to be honest. I liked that he was kept hidden, seen as merely a fist and speech bubbles for most of Part 1, and that he was shown to be responsible for the traps and pitfalls that deter Sonic and Tails. His reveal was somewhat dramatic, but a far cry from how he made an immediate impact in Sonic 3 and his impactful introduction to Sonic in Sonic the Comic. I will say, though, that I liked Knuckles’ more relaxed way of speaking (he often drops g’s from his words) and that he gave Sonic and Tails a fighting chance to leave the island, showing he has some pride and honour despite being duty-bound to protect his home. He’s still easily fooled by Dr. Robotnik (though we’re not seen how) and quick to assume Sonic and Tails are jewel thieves based on paltry evidence, but he’s also seen to be quite eloquent and intelligent rather than a meathead. However, in saying that, we don’t get to see any of Knuckles’ abilities here: he’s not seen gliding, digging, or climbing and never throws a punch. Sure, he and Sonic trash some SWATbots but the action is obscured by sound effects and dust, so there’s no indication of his physical strength…again, almost as though the writers only had promotional art to work from. Knuckles does part on far friendlier terms with Sonic and Tails than in most adaptations, however, but is a far cry from the character he should be. The story is also an extremely weak adaptation of Sonic 3, serving only to touch upon the most basic of elements and leave the door open for further adventures. Perhaps if Archie has spread the story out across a few issues, or dedicated this entire issue to Sonic dealing with Knuckles rather than wasting pages with a back-up story, things might’ve been different but, as is, this is probably the worst comic book adaptation of Sonic 3 I’ve ever read!

My Rating:

Rating: 1 out of 5.

Terrible

What did you think to Knuckles’ first appearance in Archie’s Sonic comics? Were you also disappointed by how poorly he and Sonic 3 were represented here? What did you think to Dr. Robotnik’s drastically reduced plot for the Chaos Emerald? Which of Archie’s Knuckles stories and/or characters was your favourite and why? Are you celebrating Knuckles’ debut this month? Whatever you think about Archie’s Sonic comics, and especially Knuckles, leave a comment down below and let me know, support me on Ko-Fi, and check out my other Knuckles content!

Mini Game Corner [Sci-Fanuary]: Body Harvest (Nintendo 64)

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January sees the celebration of two notable dates in science-fiction history, with January 2 christened “National Science Fiction Day” to coincide with the birth date of the world renowned sci-fi writer Isaac Asimov, and HAL 9000, the sophisticated artificial intelligence of Arthur C. Clarke’s seminal 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), being created on 12 January. Accordingly, I dedicated all of January to celebrating sci-fi in all its forms.

Released: 30 September 1998
Developer: DMA Design

A Brief Background:
Developed by DMA Design, the team behind classics such as Lemmings (1991) and the original Grand Theft Auto (1997) and who would go on to be rebranded to Rockstar North to spearhead the subsequent Grand Theft Auto franchise, Body Harvest had a tumultuous development history. An early example of open-world gameplay, Body Harvest was initially planned as a launch title for the Nintendo 64. Unfortunately, the complex nature of the ambitious gameplay mechanics prevented that. Language barriers also caused issues for the Dundee-based team, who drew inspiration from B-movies and sci-fi classics when conceiving the time travel plot. Nintendo of Japan had many notes regarding this, wishing the narrative to be simplified, and the initial idea to incorporate role-playing mechanics was ditched in favour of a more mission-based structure. While Body Harvest received only average reviews, it’s been praised as a hidden gem for the console thanks to its many gameplay mechanics and replay value.

First Impressions:
Body Harvest is one of the Nintendo 64’s more obscure and ambitious titles, primarily because it takes place in a very large (if, often, very empty) open world and affords you a great deal of freedom regarding exploration. As related through the open text and cutscene, you take control of genetically engineered soldier Adam Drake, who battles bug-like aliens who routinely return to Earth to harvest humans. With the aid of a time machine, Adam (and therefore the player) visits various historical locations over a 100-year period before confronting the enemy head-on on their artificially created comet. Body Harvest is a 3D, third-person shooter with puzzle solving elements and vehicular sections, and a lot of back and forth between locations sprinkled in as aliens teleport in and attack the area. Players can interact with their environment (open doors, pull levers, talk to non-playable characters (NPCs), check drawers and chests for goodies, light candles, etc) with A, fire their current weapon with Z, and hold the Right trigger to enter a targeting mode to better blasts alien bugs. While shooting in this mode, you can press C-Left or C-Right to dodge roll out of harm’s way or press C-Down for a complete turnaround. You can switch weapons by pressing up and down on the directional pad, take calls from Daisy (who alerts you to alien attacks and objectives), and view a larger (though surprisingly unhelpful) map from the pause menu. A mini map is also present but, while it shows you vehicles and enemies, it’s not the best at pointing you in the right direction so you’ll be doing a lot of jumping between active gameplay and the pause map to make sure you’re going in the right direction. Adam can swim, but not for long, and can replenish his health, ammo, and fuel by grabbing pick-ups dropped by enemies or found in people’s houses

Blast alien scum in this fun, but clunky and incredibly challenging, obscure N64 title.

Adam starts the game with his default pistol (which has infinite ammo), but you can also grab a machine gun, shotgun, rocket launcher, and TNT for blowing up boulders blocking your way. Each level hides three Weapons Crystals and three Alien Artifacts; finding the crystals grants you a unique, powerful alien weapon and finding the artifacts allows you to replay the boss battle. You’ll also make use of the Sun Shield, another infinite ammo weapon that burns up bugs and lights torches, and hop in various vehicles with C-Down. Each vehicle handles differently, with trucks chugging along, motorcycles blasting away at breakneck speed, and tanks crashing through gates and trees. Most vehicles see you switching to the machine gun by default but tanks fire an infinite gatling gun or mortar cannon, though you must keep an eye on your fuel and vehicle health. You can also jump in fire engines to extinguish fires and, eventually, pilot various planes and even the all-powerful Alpha Tank. A degree of auto aim helps with the shooting sections, which are where Body Harvest shines. It can be hectic attacking bugs as they’ll attack buildings and eat or capture NPCs, forcing you to quickly take them out to add to your high score and keep from failing because the environment has been too badly damaged. Each stage is broken up into at least three sections, separated by a boss battle (against an alien “Processor”) and a shield wall. The only way you can save the game is by defeating these bosses, meaning you can lose a lot of progression very quickly if you don’t stay healthy. Adam (and the game’s vehicles) can be a bit clunky to control, moving very slowly and utilising “tank” controls. He’s also quite fragile, falling down dead from sustained attacks and even drowning if you stay in water for too long, with no lives, checkpoints, or respawn points to help you if you make a mistake.

Solve puzzles, save NPCs, and blow up large alien Processors to progress.

I played Body Harvest as a kid and loved it. Something about the graphics, as blocky and simple as they are, and the bug-blasting action really stuck with me, even though the game was always difficult. You get two difficulty settings (“Hero” and “Zero”), though the game cannot be completed on “Zero” and is pretty unforgiving at times no matter which one you pick. Adam is a big, lumbering target, vehicles struggle to turn and get up hills, and ammo isn’t exactly plentiful. There are some puzzles to deal with, too, like searching for keys or pulling levers to lower bridges. As long as you enter every building and chat with NPCs, you should figure these out but Daisy’s not much help at delivering specifics so an online guide is recommended. There are also some handy-dandy cheats to help you out; by naming one of your three save files ICHEAT, you can activate these with in-game button presses. These grant you all weapons, stronger firepower, weaken bosses, turn Adam into his dark doppelgänger, and even make him dance. Sadly, while you can fully replenish Adam’s health, there’s no invincibility, which really handicaps my ability to overcome Body Harvest’s immense difficulty curve. It’s not even really the difficulty; it’s the lack of check- and save points that really cuts the legs out from the game. Thus, unfortunately, I couldn’t even clear the first stage, which takes place in Greece in the 1900s. It didn’t help that the game’s thick with fog and slowdown, but I gave up shortly after beating the first Processor. Just getting to this had me wandering around the ruin-strewn valleys looking for a key to the military hanger, putting out fires, and being crushed by alien mechs. These all explode in a spectacular splatter of alien gore, which is very satisfying, but it’s not very fun when you’re at full health and then get clobbered down to nothing. I blew open the boulder, jumped in the Panzer tank, and defended the monastery and village from attacks, but got screwed by the mortar-firing Humber and died shortly after exploring an underground passage.

My Progression:
I was determined to beat Body Harvest on at least the “Zero” setting but failed miserably. It’s just a very tough, obtuse, and clunky game. The map seems very big from the map screen, but the environments are quite small, which is actually helpful as you’ll be doing a lot of backtracking and exploring. Looking ahead on the Greece stage, it seems you eventually get a crash course in aviation, have your first run-in with Adam’s alien twin, and take control of a boat to reach new areas. I was screwing about trying to find a boat when I died on my last attempt, so I don’t think I was too far from the second Processor but my motivation for trying dwindled after this death. If the game employed a lives system, these issues would be immediately circumvented. Indeed, it’s very unusual to play a Nintendo 64 game that doesn’t have a lives system and it unfortunately makes Body Harvest unnecessarily difficult and inaccessible. You can use the ICHEAT and refill health code to help, but it’s not going to do you much good if the “human” damage bar fills up or you get caught in a crossfire, ending your run and forcing you to restart from the last save point (or, worse yet, the level’s start!)

Unfortunately, the game’s too difficult for me to experience the later stages and bosses.

It’s a shame as there are some unique and fun looking stages later in the game. Players travel to the swamp-like Java, an American city, hop in a Scud missile launcher in frigid Siberia, and blast around the alien’s home comet in the all-powerful Alpha Tank. There, if you survive the onslaught of aliens and their projectiles, you’ll confront their mastermind, a brain in a jar, and Adam’s doppelgänger, who apparently transforms into a monstrous form. You’ll pilot a gun boat, test drive an experimental submarine, and commandeer a UFO to track down and destroy Black Adam’s (not that one) doomsday devices. It all sounds, and looks, very thrilling and I wish I could’ve experienced it with some kind of level skip or invincibility cheat, or if the game were a little more forgiving or had a lives system. Honestly, your best bet is to get a Gameshark or similar cheat device as Body Harvest is one of the toughest games ever, never mind on the Nintendo 64. It’s insane to me, honestly, that the game is so punishing. By the time Body Harvest came out, regular save points were well established on the system, either using the cartridge or a Memory Pak. There’s no excuse for not allowing manual saves or dropping in more save points to help players out but, again, simply having a lives system would’ve been enough. Start Adam with three lives and have him pick himself up or respawn after a life’s lost, then hide lives in buildings or behind score points. Instead, I’d wager very few players managed to get past Greece and, even then, were probably stunned to find the game ended prematurely on the “Zero” difficulty.

Body Harvest is at its best when you’re blasting aliens or driving around and blasting aliens. The on-foot sections and puzzles are clunky and boring, the environments don’t lend themselves to exploration, and the visuals are subpar considering some of the titles that were available at the same time. I’d love to see more of it but it’s too frustrating to keep me motivated to try so, sadly, it goes back on the shelf as a piece of nostalgia that I cannot crack. The alien bugs look great, as do the vehicles, but buildings and character models are very basic, blocky, and forgettable. Even Adam doesn’t impress with his plodding orange armour and inability to jump or control well. The sheer amount of wandering about, pulling levers and exploring, probably explains why the alien processor isn’t much of a fight, especially in the thick-hide of the Panzer tank. It just sits there, firing energy bolts, and blows apart after a few hits. If you collect the level’s unique alien weapon, these battles are apparently even easier, though I don’t think you can access the weapon in the first area alone. But perhaps you had better luck. Maybe you easily blasted through the levels despite the lack of save points. Perhaps you easily assembled the Weapons Crystals and took out Black Adam. If so, I’d love for you to tell me how in the comments.

Movie Night [Sci-Fanuary]: The Transformers: The Movie

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January sees the celebration of two notable dates in science-fiction history, with January 2 christened “National Science Fiction Day” to coincide with the birth date of the world renowned sci-fi writer Isaac Asimov, and HAL 9000, the sophisticated artificial intelligence of Arthur C. Clarke’s seminal 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), being created on 12 January. Accordingly, I dedicated all of January to celebrating sci-fi in all its forms.

Released: 8 August 1986
Director: Nelson Shin
Distributor: De Laurentiis Entertainment Group
Budget: $5 to 6 million
Stars: Peter Cullen, Frank Welker, Orson Welles, Judd Nelson, Leonard Nimoy, Robert Stack, and Corey Burton

The Plot:
The Autobot/Decepticon war escalates when Megatron (Welker) kills the heroic Optimus Prime (Welker). When Megatron is empowered by the planet-sized Unicron (Welles), young Transformer Hot Rod (Nelson) must embrace his destiny as the Autobot’s new leader.

The Background:
In 1983, representatives from Hasbro were sent to the Tokyo Toy Show to find toys they could import to North America. While there, they spotted manufacturer Takara’s range of transforming robots and bought the rights to produce the toys under a single brand. Hasbro already had a partnership with Marvel Comics and thus turned to then-editor-in-chief Jim Shooter and Bob Budiansky to flesh out the overall story and character names for their new toy line. The premise centred on a war between the heroic Autobots and the evil Decepticons, with both factions being “More Than Meets the Eye” and capable of transforming into different forms. The toys were a big hit due in no small part to Hasbro accompanying them with an animated series that effectively doubled as a dedicated advertisement for their products. The Transformers (1984 to 1987) was a phenomenon for an entire generation and Hasbro sought to further capitalise, and advertise their new range of Transformers toys, with a feature-length animated movie. Despite the protestations of screenwriter Ron Friedman, Hasbro were determined to kill off the heroic Optimus Prime and many of the original characters to make way for a new crop of products, traumatising many impressionable youths and leading to a speedy revival. The production was supervised by Toei Animation vice president Kozo Morishita, granted a far greater budget to the television show, and was the final cinematic performance of the legendary Orson Welles, who was famously outspoken about the role. Released alongside a summer of blockbusters, The Transformers: The Movie was far from a box office hit and reviews were largely negative. Several reviews criticised the film for being a glorified, nonsensical toy commercial determined to bombard children with new products, though franchise fans loved the film and its intended audience ensured it became an endearing cult classic. While the movie’s poor box office meant a sequel never materialised, the cartoon and toys continued regardless and the franchise returned to cinemas about twenty years later for the first of many big-budget, live-action releases.

The Review:
I think it’s important to note that I don’t have much nostalgia for The Transformers. The original series ended shortly after I was born, and I don’t recall re-runs airing when I was a kid. I did have a VHS tape of a few episodes, though, and some of the toys (both official ones and knock-off ones), but I’m certainly not a die-hard fan. Yet, even I knew the awesome theme tune, the ridiculousness of the concept, and the death of Optimus Prime. Not necessarily when I was a kid, but certainly as I got older, especially as Transformers is one of those franchises that just keeps truckin’ along. Anyway, all this is to say that I’m hardly a Transformers expert; I barely know who’s who and I have only a basic grasp of the continuity and lore. Still, all I need to know heading into The Transformers: The Movie (because I guess The Transformers Movie would’ve made too much sense as a title?) is that the battle between the Autobots and the Decepticons raged for some time. Unlike in Michael Bay’s later movies, The Movie largely takes place in space and on alien worlds but the Autobots have established a city on Earth (in the far-off year of 2005, no less) and on our Moon. They’re regularly aided by human allies like Spike Witwicky (Burton) and his young son, Daniel (David Mendenhall), who repair and maintain both Autobots and their weapons while fighting alongside them in transforming mech suits. A helpful narrator (Victor Caroli) provides an overview of the plot, though you’re honestly better off listening to the lyrics of Lion’s hard rock remix of the Transformers theme song as it tells you everything you need to know. Led by the maniacal Megatron, the Decepticons have conquered the Transformer home world, Cybertron, and forced the rag-tag Autobots (led by Optimus Prime) to Earth and hidden bases on Cybertron’s moons. There, Optimus plots to pick up a shipment of Energon from Earth to power a counterattack in a desperate bid to retake their home, unaware that Megatron’s spy, Laserbeak, is reporting to its master via Soundwave (Welker).

Megatron’s attack leaves the Autobots devastated and him transformed by Unicron.

Thus, Megatron leads his long-suffering lieutenant, Starscream (Chris Latta), and his forces in intercepting the Autobot shuttle, massacring Ironhide (Cullen) and his crew and callously stepping over their smouldering remains to slip into Autobot City. Luckily, Hot Rod and Daniel spot the shuttle and notice the damage. Hot Rod lives up to his name and opens fire, confusing his war weary mentor, Kup (Lionel Stander), but scuppering the Decepticon’s…well, deception…and putting Autobot City on high alert. Despite the best efforts of Ultra Magnus (Stack) and Arcee (Susan Blu), the city takes heavy damage and many Autobots are killed before the city can be transformed into its defensive mode. Blaster (Buster Jones) sends a distress call and Optimus Prime makes haste to Earth and quickly turns the tide of the battle, engaging his hated rival in a one-on-one fight. Though evenly matched, Optimus isn’t prepared for Megatron’s aggressive and driven demeanour and suffers mortal injuries in the fight, largely thanks to Hot Rod unwittingly spoiling Optimus’s kill shot on Megatron. However, Megatron is equally injured and left to die by Starscream; though the loyal Soundwave spirits him to Astrotrain (Jack Angel). In the aftermath, with Autobot City badly damaged, Ultra Magnus, Hot Rod, Daniel, and the others watch helplessly as Optimus tragically dies. Before he passes, Optimus passes the “Matrix of Leadership” to a reluctant Ultra Magnus, who vows to lead the Autobots until a more suitable leader rises. Optimus prophesises that this will happen during the Autobots’ “darkest hour” and then dies, leaving a generation of children heartbroken. As for Megatron, he and his loyalists are unceremoniously tossed into space by Starscream and left to die, only to encounter Unicron, a planet-sized Transformer. Unicron offers to empower Megatron and his minions in exchange for their unfaltering servitude and for destroying the Matrix of Leadership, the one thing that threatens Unicron’s quest to conquer and consume worlds. Though livid at being a pawn to even a being as mighty as Unicron, Megatron quickly accepts and is reconfigured into the far more imposing Galvatron (Nimoy). No longer requiring a minion to fire him, Galvatron heads to Cybertron and executes Starscream with his new cannon form, reclaiming his position and heads back to Earth to kill Ultra Magnus.

As the Autobots scramble to counterattack, Hot Rod gets an odd side quest.

The Autobots flee in two shuttles; one leaves Hot Rod, Kup, and the Dinobots stranded on Quintessa and the other sees Ultra Magnus fake his death by separating the ship and eventually landing on Junkion. Thus, the story diverges somewhat, with Ultra Magnus, Arcee, Daniel, and the others trying to repair their ship and fending off Wreck-Gar (Eric Idle) and his oddball Junkions and Hot Rod and Kup struggling against Quintessa’s hostile natives. All too soon, the two are separated from the Dinobots, captured by Allicons, and brought before the multi-headed Quintessons (Regis Cordic and Roger C. Carmel). Tried in a kangaroo court, they are sentenced to death but, just as he defied the judge’s authority, Hot Rod valiantly fights back against the Sharkticons. Luckily, they’re saved by the Dinobots after their leader, the child-like Grimlock (Gregg Berger), is led there by their new ally, the rhyme-speaking Wheelie (Welker). Although they successfully turn the Allicons and Sharkticons against their masters and reunite with Ultra Magnus and the others, and even make peace with the Junkions by using the “universal greeting” and offering Energon, their celebration is short lived when they arrive on Junkion to find Ultra Magnus blown to pieces by Galvatron and the Matrix of Leadership stolen. Luckily, the Junkions reassemble Ultra Magnus and even provide them with a ship to pursue Galvatron back to Cybertron, a suicidal prospect against Unicron’s awesome power and yet Hot Rod remains determined to confront the planet-devoured and his bloodthirsty minions. Hot Rod is just one of many supporting characters here but it’s obvious that he’s being given the limelight. He’s characterised as a somewhat reckless and impulsive Autobot who often acts without thinking and lacks the seasoning of his mentor. In contrast, Ultra Magnus is the definitive soldier; loyal, determined, and steadfast. And yet he hesitates when Optimus passes him the Matrix of Leadership and his inability to open it almost costs him his life.

Galvatron’s bloodlust pales in comparison to Unicron’s looming threat.

Megatron is more driven than ever here. He strikes without mercy, gunning down countless Autobots and ransacking their city to kill his hated rival, even if risking his own body and life. Though victorious, Megatron sustains heavy damage and is predictably betrayed by his allies, who descend into in-fighting without his leadership. Stubborn and proud, Megatron initially refuses to kneel to Unicron but acquiesces since he fears death more. As Galvatron, his determination is only increased with his added abilities and newly christened lieutenants, but his mission to kill Ultra Magnus and destroy the Matrix is fraught with “exaggerations” as he’s quick to claim victory without confirming his kills. Galvatron is thus constantly reprimanded by Unicron whenever he gets ahead of himself or dares to think of defying the planetoid robot. Unicron makes an immediate impression since he opens the movie by devouring Lithone in a truly unsettling sequence of death and destruction. Wandering the void like a force of nature, Unicron seeks only to devour planets to sustain himself, seemingly nonplussed by the lives he snuffs out in the process. The vast, enigmatic Unicron clashes with Megatron by demanding his servitude but only angers his subordinate more by devouring two of Cybertron’s moons and constantly inflicting pain upon him when his pride gets out of control. It’s interesting that Unicron even bothers creating minions since he could conceivably devour Cybertron and Earth and snuff out any resistance. Of course, then the movie wouldn’t happen and it’s better to not leave such things to chance as the finale shows that, for all his incredible size and power, Unicron is surprisingly vulnerable. The Transformers: The Movie was also, I believe, the introduction of the Quintessons, horrific tentacled, malicious robots with three heads and a sadistic streak who delight in dropping “innocent” prisoners to the Sharkticons. They’re a minor sub-plot here, something for Hot Rod to rally against, but are visually more interesting and disturbing than the Junkions, who are as annoying as Wheelie and Blur (John Moschitta) and speak only in television soundbites, a trait I more associate with Bumblebee (Dan Gilvezan), who’s barely featured.

The Nitty-Gritty:
The first thing to note about The Transformers: The Movie is how gorgeous the animation is. The film is brought to life by a detailed and intricate anime aesthetic that really makes every scene pop since you can feel the effort that went into every little detail. Sure, it’s weird that Optimus Prime spawns a trailer truck out of nowhere when he transforms and some transformation effects defy all known physics, but you have to forget about that when watching Transformers. The titular Robots in Disguise have never looked better, and their deaths are depicted in unsettling detail. Chest plates have laser holes blown through them, body parts go flying, and your favourite characters and toys are literally blasted to smithereens in incredibly detailed battle sequences bolstered by explosions, tearing metal, and, of course, a rocking soundtrack. Almost every scene is accompanied by some kind of music, be it Vince DiCola’s suitably dramatic score (Unicron’s theme is the perfect balance of awe and dread) or a power ballads. There’s the aforementioned Transformers theme by Lion, easily the best and most infectious version of the song, and songs by Kick Axe, Stan Bush, and, most bizarrely, “Weird Al” Yankovic. “Dare to be Stupid” plays after Hot Rod makes peace with the Junkions and is as surreal as the weird and annoying Junkions. Stan Bush’s “Dare” and “The Touch” make up for this, even if these power ballads somewhat undercut the death and destruction happening onscreen. The Transformers: The Movie is a very loud and chaotic affair; characters are always yelling and moving, and the pacing is a mile a minute, which is somewhat overwhelming. It’s difficult to keep track of who’s dead and alive at times (I legitimately thought Spike was dead at one point) and the movie never really stops to take a breath (except for when Optimus dies). I do like how it focuses entirely on the robotic characters, though; Spike and Daniel are merely supporting characters, which is exactly how it should be. The Transformers: The Movie is also surprisingly dark; there’s a lot of gruesome deaths, constant peril, and much destruction. Spike even drops a “Shit” at one point, which I’m sure had a few mothers clutching their pearls as Little Jimmy was bawling over Optimus Prime.

The massacre of your favourite characters has never looked better thanks to some slick animation.

Speaking of whom, let’s discuss this tragic and life-changing moment. The battle between Optimus Prime and Megatron is a brutal, no-holds-barred affair that sees the two mortally wounded within a few blows. Surprisingly, Optimus Prime is often taking the brunt of the assault and, though he eventually turns the tide, he seems half dead when he moves to execute his rival, who predictably falls back on deception to finish his foe. Although the Junkions and Hot Rod simply piece Ultra Magnus and Kup back together, Optimus Prime is damaged beyond repair and delivers a stirring speech to his comrades before passing, his body dramatically turning grey. It’s true that the film meanders without Optimus Prime’s charisma and visual appeal to fall back on, but his death certainly raises the stakes. The Autobots are almost completely wiped out by Megatron’s attack and constantly on the run, forced to fake their deaths to catch a break and suffering many losses, with Galvatron delighting in blasting Ultra Magnus to pieces and Daniel being concerned that his father has suffered the same fate. Thanks to Unicron’s glow-up, the Decepticons easily overpower the Autobots and force them to flee into new dangers. While the Dinobots offer some much needed power, their childish demeanours hold them back just as Hot Rod’s inexperience leads him to make erratic decisions. To be fair, neither Ultra Magnus nor Kup’s years of experience really help all that much since their so incredibly outnumbered here. The Quintesson sub-plot is a bit of an odd diversion, though. I think it would’ve been better for Hot Rod and the others to somehow crash on Unicron and discover the Quintessons there, then they could regroup with the other Autobots in the finale. Still, the devastation brought to your favourite toys is almost laughable at times: characters are gunned down and tossed aside mercilessly to put the spotlight on Hot Rod and the others. It’s an interesting tactic considering Megatron and his loyalists are physically transformed without being callously killed, but it makes for a startling example of how violent this world can be when the creators take their gloves off.

Ultimately, Hot Rod claims the Matrix and ends Unicron’s threat with surprising ease.

Casting an ominous shadow over everything is Unicron, a looming, unknowable figure about whom we learn nothing except he desires destruction and to continue on this path without resistance. Although he’s not seen all that much during the first two acts, Unicron remains ever present in his constant reprimanding of Galvatron and brief cutaways of him making demands or devouring worlds. Sick of being brought to heel like a dog, Galvatron captures the Matrix of Leadership and turns it against his planet-sized master. However, like Ultra Magnus, Galvatron cannot open the Matrix and is simply devoured by Unicron, who then transforms into a gigantic robot akin to a God and attacks Cybertron. Although the Decepticons are powerless against such a threat, the Autobots have better luck. The Junkions’ modifications to their craft allow them to largely survive Unicron’s plasma breath and crash through his eye to explore his insides. There, Hot Rod encounters Galvatron, who surprisingly suggests they team up against their common foe. Living up to his namesake and fuelled by the need to avenge Optimus Prime, Hot Rod naturally refuses and a fight ensues. Though outmatched, Hot Rod finds himself forever changed when he reclaims the Matrix of Leadership and hears Optimus Prime’s stirring endorsement. Empowered, adopting a sterner demeanour, the rechristened Rodimus Prime overpowers Galvatron and tosses him out into the void. Rodimus then successfully opens the Matrix (he had “the touch” after all), which destroys Unicron in an impressive, if somewhat anti-climatic, end. Unicron’s severed head is left orbiting Cybertron, which is somehow reclaimed by the Autobots (I guess Unicron’s attack killed or drove off the Decepticons?), with many of their allies revealed to have survived previous attacks. Rodimus Prime then delivers his own inspiring speech proclaiming a new era of peace and prosperity and the movie just ends, the momentum and kinetic action screeching to an abrupt end where all obstacles are overcome with ridiculous ease.

The Summary:
This was only my second, maybe third, time watching The Transformers: The Movie. As I said, I didn’t grow up as a big Transformers fan and my experiences with the live-action films have largely soured me on the franchise, but the original cartoon and this feature-length release have always appealed to me. I’ve watched from the sidelines as others have talked about the merciless offing of beloved characters and the death of Optimus Prime, an event that still hits hard even though he was later resurrected. The balls of this movie are to be commended; it’s not often you see beloved children’s characters blown to pieces by a cackling villain and, credit where it’s due, the movie excels because of this. The stakes are incredibly high here; it feels as though no one is safe, not even the newer characters, because Megatron is more crazed than ever and Unicron is always lurking in the background. Leonard Nimoy shines as the sadistic Galvatron, showing a side of himself I’ve never seen before, and the ominous, gravelly voice of Orson Welles adds a gravitas to Unicron that’s truly bone-chilling. The voice acting is top notch, to be honest; even the more annoying characters exude a lot of personality, which is only matched by the impressive and painstakingly detailed animation. Unfortunately, The Transformers: The Movie meanders in the middle; I didn’t really connect with Hot Rod or care about his Quintesson side plot, which largely felt like padding. There are a few holes here, too, like Unicron being both ridiculously powerful and surprisingly vulnerable and him relying on minions when he could just eat anything in his path. The film’s also a visual frenzy at times; I felt assaulted by colours, movement, and music and it was difficult keeping track of what was happening at times. In this regard, I think the film would’ve fared better if it had scaled down the cast but then they wouldn’t be able to sell all those toys, would they? It’s still better than any of Michael Bay’s movies but I still struggle to be that invested in the narrative, characters, and concept. It’s a bleak and stirring rollercoaster of a ride, for sure, but maybe it needed a little fine tuning and a lot less corporate greed to deliver a complete package.

My Rating:

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Pretty Good

Is The Transformers: The Movie a pivotal event from your childhood? How did you react when Megatron gunned down all those Autobots and Optimus Prime shockingly died? What did you think to Megatron’s glow-up and his new abilities as Galvatron? Do you agree that the Quintesson side plot dragged a bit? What did you think to Unicron, and do you think he should’ve been depicted as a more awesome and powerful force? Were you happy to see Hot Rod become the new Prime or do you think Ultra Magnus, or someone else, was a better fit? What are some of your favourite Transformers episodes and how are you celebrating sci-fi this month? Share your memories of The Transformers: The Movie down in the comments and go check out my other sci-fi content.

Game Corner [Sci-Fanuary]: Earthworm Jim 2 (Mega Drive)

Dr. K1 Comment

January sees the celebration of two notable dates in science-fiction history, with January 2 christened “National Science Fiction Day” to coincide with the birth date of the world renowned sci-fi writer Isaac Asimov, and HAL 9000, the sophisticated artificial intelligence of Arthur C. Clarke’s seminal 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), being created on 12 January. Accordingly, I dedicated January to celebrating sci-fi in all its forms.

Released: 15 November 1995
Developer: Shiny Entertainment
Also Available For: Game Boy Advance, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Wii, PC, PlayStation, SEGA Mega Drive Mini II, SEGA Saturn, Steam, Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES)

The Background:
Back in the eighties and nineties, anthropomorphic characters were all the rage, with toys, cartoons, and videogame mascots seeking to capitalise on the popularity of the likes of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT) and Sonic the Hedgehog (Sonic Team, 1991). The TMNT were successfully licensed by Playmates Toys, who sought to follow this by basing a franchise of their own around Doug TenNapel’s sketch of an earthworm. Their efforts were met with early success; Earthworm Jim (Shiny Entertainment, 1993) was a big hit that earned widespread praise for its zany action and was accompanied by toys, comic books, and even a sadly short-lived cartoon. For the sequel, the developers expanded upon the original’s gameplay mechanics but, unlike the first, was developed first and foremost for the Mega Drive before being ported elsewhere. As before, the PC port included additional features, though a version for the Atari Jaguar never saw the light of day. Like its predecessor, Earthworm Jim 2 was widely praised, despite its greater difficulty and increased focus on the bizarre. Sadly, Earthworm Jim 2’s mostly positive reception couldn’t keep the franchise from being lost to time after failing to translate this early success into 3D and handheld ventures.

The Plot:
Annelid superhero Jim and his new sidekick Snott head out across the galaxy to rescue Jim’s beloved Princess What’s-Her-Name from a forced marriage to the nefarious Psy-Crow.

Gameplay and Power-Ups:
Like its predecessor, Earthworm Jim 2 is a 2D, run-and-gun action platformer that sees you reassume control of videogaming’s most bizarre superhero, Earthworm Jim, and blast your way through various bizarre levels. However, while much of the core gameplay remains the same, Earthworm Jim 2 veers away from the purely action-orientated focus of the first game and introduces more puzzle solving elements and gameplay variety. Unlike the previous game, your control scheme is set from the start: A fires your current weapon, B sees Jim’s suit crack his worm self like a whip, and C jumps. If you’re playing other versions of the game (like the SNES port), you can switch weapons with X but that feature isn’t available in this version. You can, however, pick between three difficulty settings (I chose “Easy” this time) and the game also employs a password system, though it’s not as simple as being presented with a series of icons after clearing a stage. Instead, players must search high and low for three flags (an Earth flag, a Jim flag, and a worm flag) to gain the password to skip ahead. You can still pass by continue lights to setup a respawn point, however, and collect extra lives, with the added bonus of also earning extra continues if you find cans of worms. Otherwise, Jim’s health and ammo are replenished by finding Suit Power and various ammo types. Jim’s suit can be fully replenished to 100% with the returning Super Suit Power pick-up, and boosted to 200% with the new chip sandwich power-up; his shot power can also be increased with a new power-up. Finally, Jim can duck (though this isn’t that useful) and climb up ledges, which I always appreciate in a 2D platformer.

Jim’s arsenal and repertoire has been expanded, for better and for worse.

This time around, Earthworm Jim can collects a bunch of different ammo types for his Plasma Blaster. The default rapid-fire setting is still present, as is the Mega Blaster, but you can now grab a homing missile, a worthless bubble gun, a three-way spread, and the screen-clearing Barn Blaster. When you grab a different weapon, your gun automatically switches to it so be wary of wasting your more powerful shots; however, it’s not like there are many bosses to use them against. Jim can whip his worm self to conserve ammo but no longer uses this attack to swing from hooks. In fact, the swinging mechanic is thankfully downplayed and toned down compared to the last game. You can still do it but only when near snot-covered ceilings and sections, and by pressing C when jumping to have Snott latch onto these access points. The mechanic is much smoother and easier to control, and rarely appears. The tricky sections in See Jim Run, Run Jim Run are the exception as you must swing from moving sections, though the swinging is more of an afterthought this time. Similarly, Jim’s helicopter hover is also thankfully gone, replaced by a Snott parachute that’s much easier to perform (press A when jumping). Jim’s pocket rocket returns, but sadly only in one stage and now as a clunky isometric shooter. In The Flyin’ King, you must awkwardly nudge a TNT-carrying hot air balloon across a series of islands floating in the sea to take out Major Mucus in this snot-covered lair. Jim’s rocket has infinite ammo and firework-like turbos give a burst of speed but the screen quickly outpaces the balloon, forcing you to clumsily turn around with C to push it back on track. In the reverse of Buttville, Jim finds himself floating upwards in Inflated Head, deflating his head to avoid explosive lightbulbs and Flagitious the Cat’s attacks and slow down with B, and inflating with C (or using the many helium stations). Jim doesn’t get separated from his body this time, but he does assume the guise of a blind cave salamander to navigate through the intestinal layout of The Villi People. In this form, he can swim about by holding C and fire his regular shot with C, avoiding sticky amoebas, pinball bumpers, and being challenged by a nonsensical quiz and to bash bumpers in the correct sequence.

Quirky innovations are one thing but Earthworm Jim 2 is bogged down by a lack of focus.

Most levels task players with doing more than just running and gunning. The first stage, for example, has you holding down to pick up pigs to weight down weighted platforms and open doors. A similar mechanic appears in Udderly Abducted, where you pick up and heft cows to barns to open gates. This is made more troublesome by some cows being on fire, giving you a few seconds to find a bathtub, the fragile platforms that break under your combined weight, and the indestructible UFOs seeking to abduct the cows. You can fend these off with your whip and use them to carry to cows up tricky sections, as well as blast cows across gabs with a cannon, but this level quickly becomes tedious when you are forced to find multiple cows. In Lorenzen’s Soil, you’re given 90 seconds to blast your way through dirt with an infinite Electro-Gun. You can grab stop clocks to gain more time, raise yourself higher by blasting dirt above you, and douse flaming hazards to progress, which is much easier and more fun than the numerous Puppy Love mini games. These replace Andy Asteroids and see you bouncing puppies to safety using a giant marshmallow. If you miss too many, Peter Puppy transforms and attacks, and you can only clear each of the three rounds by bouncing a bomb to Peter so he can take out Psy-Crow. This bonus stage nets you passwords and such, but quickly outstays its welcome when you’re bouncing multiple puppies at once. ISO 9000 sees you picking up hamster balls to power printing presses to jet across the stage, hitting switches to temporarily shut off boilers, and climbing dangerous filing cabinets to new areas. Level Ate takes place on a giant barbecue and sees you taking cover under sizzling meat to avoid killer saltshakers, alongside the usual worries of spikes and pits. One fun section of Anything But Tangerines sees Jim riding a stairlift and avoiding cantankerous grannies, who’ll rain down and beat him with their umbrellas, and many stages contain lightbulb teleporters that transport him to mini games or an oddball ending, as well as hidden areas behind the foregrounds.

Presentation:
Once again, Earthworm Jim 2 shines as one of the most visually interesting and colourfully cartoonish titles on the Mega Drive, or any system for that matter. Jim’s sprite has been overhauled, appearing slimmer and slightly more akin to his cartoon counterpart. He still has a bevvy of slapstick idle animations but is ready and raring to go this time, constantly jogging on the spot. Jim has more voice clips and reactions this time around, celebrating every time he picks up items and wailing whenever he’s in danger; even his life icon reacts to the game! The music’s also very much of the same ilk as before, occasionally favouring a calypso-like jingle or even shameless borrowing from “Cuban Pete”. Earthworm Jim 2 once again confines the details of its story to the hilarious instruction manual but you do get a brief gist of the plot during the company logos, when Princess What’s-Her-Name is kidnapped by Psy-Crow as Jim is serenading her with an accordion. Though Jim no longer exits levels on his pocket rocket, he does spring away using a weighted seesaw or calls for an intergalactic taxi. In ISO 9000, he has to literally chase down the exit door, which must be tricked into tripping over a giant wardrobe you toss in its way. Levels are still full of oddities to marvel at, though they largely serve a practical purpose this time. Dunking a pig in water seems pointless but using them to open doors isn’t, and cows are now carried and used to open gates rather than randomly being launched into space. While a large pixel art rendition of Jim displays the name of each level, you’re greeted by a bizarre photorealistic image of a cow complimenting your ability after clearing each stage. Completing the game sees Jim reunited with Princess What’s-Her-Name and a scroll of text congratulating your efforts, only for the Princess, Psy-Crow, and Jim to be revealed to be cows in disguise and the text to rewrite each time!

The visuals are more outlandish than ever, and perhaps trying too hard to be weird.

Earthworm Jim 2 features a bunch of new, bizarre environments that up the wackiness to eleven. While things start fairly innocuous in Anything But Tangerines, which boasts waterfalls and a blood-orange sunset, you’re soon blasting through crumbling soil, swimming about inside some giant unknowable creature (that’s apparently swallowed a pinball table and part of a house), and hauling cows across a post-apocalyptic landscape (which includes several half-destroyed monuments in the PlayStation version). Inflated Head stood out as one of the more memorable locations; it’s set against the background of a nightmare amusement park, with rollercoasters and such in the distance. I also enjoyed ISO 9000, which takes place in a giant printing press and sees you jumping to stacks of papers (with newspapers flying as you move) while more scroll in the background. I also really enjoyed Level Ate, with its platforms made of bacon, skewered fried eggs and meatballs, fork hazards, and flaming grills. Earthworm Jim 2 impresses with some prerendered backgrounds in the Puppy Love sections, which add a three-dimensional skew to the game. The Flyin’ King tries to capture this feeling more explicitly by being an isometric shooter, though it’s let down by the clunky controls. The level is impressive, though, with little pirate ships and cannons firing from the sea and islands and the level transforming into a snot-encrusted hellhole at the end. The final stage is a huge alien cathedral full of spinning beams, moving platforms, and bottomless pits. It can be a bit difficult telling which platforms you can walk on and which are part of the background, but I enjoyed the chase against Psy-Crow and seeing the detailed, ominous background loom past as I ran. Quirky humour is everywhere in Earthworm Jim 2, almost to its detriment. Sure, it’s fun seeing electric chairs as hazards, references to Mortal Kombat (Midway, 1992), and the crazy-ass enemy designs but I wonder if the developers were trying too hard to top the zaniness of the original here since gameplay is often bogged down by odd layouts and objectives.

Enemies and Bosses:
Similar to the first game, Earthworm Jim 2 only features a handful of enemies, though most are exclusive to each level they appear. These are also absolutely bonkers, ranging from floating octopi carrying blunderbusses and cantankerous grannies to cow-stealing UFOs and sentient straws looking to skewer you. Bob’s henchcat, Number Four, is said to appear in Anything But Tangerines but I must’ve missed him on my playthrough (though I was attacked by his rolling goldfish ball). Notably durable and aggressive ants and little larvae globs attack in Lorenzen’s Soil; sheep-like creatures float about in The Villi People and will explode, knocking you into bumpers or the health-draining tentacles; and you’ll find your pocket rocket weighed down by sumo wrestlers in The Flyin’ King. Waves of snot also push you back in this stage, while caped penguins fly into you as you’re carrying cows to safety in Udderly Abducted. While Flagitious is your main obstacle in Inflated Head, you must watch for lightbulbs to avoid having your wormy head popped. Lawyers return in ISO 9000, now resembling executioners and driven mad by all their paperwork. The filing cabinets are the worst hazard in this stage, though, as they bound around, immune to your shots, and are the only way to reach higher ground. Level Ate features snails seeking shelter from the evil saltshakers, forks that act as spikes, eggs that crack their yolks onto your head, and grills that’ll burn your feet alongside killer straws, of all things! While no enemies appear in See Jim Run, Run Jim Run, you’ll blast through barriers (both solid and rotating on gears), make tricky jumps, and snot swing from moving overhead access points to beat Psy-Crow to the end.

There’s a distinct and disappointing lack of bosses here, especially challenging ones.

Strangely, Earthworm Jim 2 is surprisingly light on boss battles; many stages end with a bizarre challenge rather than a boss battle, which is disappointing considering how imaginative the first game’s bosses were. You’ll encounter Bob the Killer Goldfish at the end of the first stage and he’s defeated similar to before; simply walk up to his bowl and Jim automatically eats him. The Villi People sees you answering obscure questions and bouncing into bumpers before the stage just abruptly ends, Udderly Abducted asks you to rescue cows, and ISO 9000 has you trip the exit door to leave. Bosses are present, though, they’re just not as interesting as before: I barely realised that Lorenzen’s Soil’s unicycle-riding maggot was a boss, for example. This guy cycles back and forth spitting goop and spawning maggoty minions, but is easily blasted to death with your basic shot. Major Mucus returns, spitting snot from atop a snotty column in the snot-filled finale of The Flyin’ King. As long as you’ve brought the bomb-carrying balloon safely to the end, you can simply explode it to easily take him out. Though Evil the Cat seems to return, it’s actually his cousin, Flagitious, who spits darts and pounces from above in Inflated Head, though you just have to avoid him to reach the level’s end. Level Ate has a boss, an anthropomorphic T-bone steak fought on a giant pepperoni pizza! It hops up and down, dropping a plate on your head and spitting fireballs, leaving him vulnerable to your shots. Psy-Crow has been upgraded from a pest to the main antagonist; not only will he toss Peter’s puppies to their doom in bonus stages, but Jim must race against him in the final stage. While a 2D perspective isn’t the best for a race, this is more of an obstacle course. You can blast Psy-Crow to stun him but your main concern is making jumps and clearing your path, making for a finale so anti-climactic I was convinced a true final boss was looming…but, sadly, not.

Additional Features:
There are a lot more collectibles in Earthworm Jim 2 compared to the first game, but sadly they’re not all that useful. Sure, the flags will grant you a password to skip ahead but they’re quite tricky to track down and there’s no indication of which ones you have or how many are left to find. Similarly, Jim’s new ammo types are great, but I rarely had many opportunities to properly use them. You’re rarely surrounded by enough enemies to justify using the Barn Burner, for example, and it’s not like the game is packed with tough-as-nails bosses for you to use your stronger weapons on. Hidden areas make a return, of course, with lightbulbs teleporting you to a granny avoiding section or a test of strength. Most prominently, you can brave a spiky end in Level Ate to access the hidden Totally Forked stage, a level set in an abattoir and filled with useful power-ups. There’s still no high score table, though you can challenge harder difficulties and input various cheats. These refill your health, grant extra lives, continues, or invincibility, give you access to different guns, and let you skip stages. You can also input a debug mode cheat, like before, and take advantage of save states and rewind features if playing the Nintendo Switch Online version of the SNES port.

The Summary:
I adored Earthworm Jim and have been a huge fan of the character and franchise since I was a kid glued to the hilarious cartoon. I’d long coveted Earthworm Jim 2, a game much more expensive and harder to find than the original, and was eager to finally get into it, expecting more of the same but with the wackiness dialled up to eleven. While this is certainly true, I do wonder if the game is trying too hard to be more bonkers than the original. Things were weird in Earthworm Jim but they’re borderline nonsensical in Earthworm Jim 2, throwing a bunch of bizarre locations and enemies at you that don’t make a lot of sense in this world (I love Level Ate but, c’mon, what’s a giant grill got to do with a space-faring earthworm?) The game looks as fantastic as before, with shadows and details and a cartoonish appeal infused into every animation, making Earthworm Jim just as appealing and zany as ever. Every stage is packed with innovative features that have you solving puzzles in outlandish ways, like carrying cows to barns to using their milk to open gates. However, I wasn’t a huge fan on this focus on puzzle solving. It slowed the pace down considerably and was often a waste of the larger, more intricate stages. Equally, while Jim’s expanded arsenal is welcome, it feels superfluous to give him all these awesome weapons and have little to no enemies to use them on and next to no bosses to blast with them. Gone are the troublesome bosses of the first game, who forced you to think your way around their attacks, replaced by…a door that runs from you, a unicycling maggot, and Evil the Cat’s lesser-than cousin who you don’t even fight. The Puppy Love sections wore me out with their three-round structure, the quirkiness of Jim’s salamander form and inflated head felt wasted, and the isometric shooter felt out of place. I’m all for mixing up the gameplay and trying new things, but it felt like there was too much going on in Earthworm Jim 2. In trying so hard to throw new mechanics and increasingly bonkers scenarios at the player, the game lost some of the charm that made the original so appealing and was much more of a chore to play, despite being notably easier than its predecessor.

My Rating:

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Pretty Good

How do you think Earthworm Jim 2 compares to the first game? What did you think to Jim’s tweaked abilities and expanded arsenal? Did you also struggle with the Puppy Love sections? Were you disappointed by the lack of boss battles? Which of the new gameplay mechanics was your most or least favourite? Do you think Earthworm Jim deserves a comeback? What are some of your favourite sci-fi-orientated videogames? Tell me your thoughts on Earthworm Jim 2 in the comments and then check out my other sci-fi content on the site.

Movie Night [Sci-Fanuary]: Edge of Tomorrow

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January celebrates two notable dates in science-fiction history, “National Science Fiction Day” on January 2 and Arthur C. Clarke’s HAL 9000’s birthday on January 12. Accordingly, I’m dedicating January to celebrating sci-fi with an event I call “Sci-Fanuary”.

Released: 6 June 2014
Director: Doug Liman
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
Budget: $178 million
Stars: Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt, Bill Paxton, Noah Taylor, and Brendan Gleeson

The Plot:
When public affairs officer Major William Cage (Cruise) unexpectedly gains the ability to reset time after his death in battle against the aggressive alien “Mimics”, he teams up with the heroic Sergeant Rita Vrataski (Blunt) to defeat the invaders.

The Background:
In 2004, Hiroshi Sakurazaka and Yoshitoshi Abe collaborated on the spectacularly named “light novel” All You Need Is Kill, the story of soldier Keiji Kiriya, who’s caught in a time loop that allows him to improve his fighting skills against invading aliens. Nominated for the 2005 Seiun Awards, All You Need Is Kill caught the attention of producer Erwin Stoff, who optioned the rights to create a live-action adaptation. Despite being intimidated by the source material, writer Dante Harper produced a screenplay that was listed as one of the best unproduced works doing the rounds. After Brad Pitt declined the lead role, Tom Cruise joined the project, and the script underwent additional rewrites after he and Emily Blunt were cast, with writer Christopher McQuarrie and director Doug Liman struggling to produce a satisfactory ending. The cast and crew spent an unexpected three months filming the complex, action-heavy beach assault on a large soundstage surrounded by green screens. The UDF exosuits were designed by Oliver Scholl, Pierre Bohanna, and Kate Hawley and modelled after real-world exoskeletons and built as largely practical suits that bruised and battered the stars. In contrast, the Mimics were digital creatures courtesy of Sony Pictures Imageworks; the designers worked hard to make them an otherworldly mess of dangerous tentacles that had a tangible reality to their otherwise fantastical appearance. Despite a worldwide box office of just over $370 million and largely positive reviews that praised the direction and execution, and the time loop twist, Liman and Warner Bros. were left so disappointed by the film’s reception that they pushed to re-brand the film to the clever tag line, “Live. Die. Repeat”. Indeed, while some found the film tedious and strangely limited in its scope, Edge of Tomorrow is widely branded as an under-rated sci-fi romp. Though talks of a sequel have done the rounds since its release, it seems we’re more likely to get a TV spin-off than a direct follow-up any time soon.

The Review:
So, two caveats before we get into this film: one, I’ve never read All You Need Is Kill (though my fondness for this movie makes me want to sit down with it some day) and two…I absolutely cannot stand Tom Cruise. I don’t care how many of his own stunts he does or about his weird personal life; I’ve just never bought into him as an actor and find his characters very bland and unlikeable. Thankfully, Cage is written to be pretty unlikeable. A smarmy, confident, well-dressed spokesperson, he’s effectively become the face of the UDF’s counterattack against the Mimics, frequently appearing on television and in interviews to encourage viewers to join the military, hyping up the combat prowess of the armoured exosuits worn by their soldiers, and painting Vrataski (the so-called “Angel of Verdun”) as a heroic symbol. In Edge of Tomorrow, humanity was completely caught off-guard when a seemingly innocent meteor landed in Germany, only to spew out a legion of weird, tentacle-like aliens that swiftly overtook most of continental Europe. Because of their uncanny ability to seemingly anticipate their enemy’s actions, the aliens are dubbed “Mimics” (an odd name considering they don’t physically or strategically mimic anything about us) and, in the space of just five years, were seemingly set to destroy all human life. That was, until, the Battle of Verdun, where Vrataski scored a major victory, one which galvanised humanity to push towards total victory. Unfortunately for many of their troops, the UDF still employ trench warfare, literally dropping their soldiers into enemy territory and leading to mass slaughter in most cases, keeping humanity on the razor’s edge of extinction.

The time loop and brutal training transform the once-cowardly Cage into a battle-hardened soldier.

This, as much as anything else, is why Cage would rather be anywhere else but on the front line. A former advertising guru, he adapted his skills to promoting the war effort, receiving a complimentary military rank, and has successfully hidden his abject cowardice and combat inexperience behind his silver tongue. However, when he’s called to meet with grizzled veteran General Brigham (Gleeson), Cage is aghast to learn he’s been ordered to join the next push into Europe as a war correspondent. Desperate to avoid the danger, death, and bloodshed, he begs, bargains, and eventually tries to blackmail his way out of the assignment, only to be arrested, stripped of his rank, and branded a deserter (“Rail-roaded”, as he calls it) and dumped into the judgemental and unsympathetic care of Master Sergeant Farell’s (Paxton) J-Squad. Despite desperately trying to explain his situation, Cage is met by nothing but sarcasm, mockery, and aggression from his newfound peers and, before long, is strapped into an exosuit and violently dropped into battle with little to no combat training. The beachfront assault is not a battle, it’s a massacre. Cage’s entire battalion is killed and he comes face-to-face with a large, voracious Mimic, barely able to defend himself. Out of desperation, he blows the “Alpha” to pieces with a Claymore mine and is drenched in its caustic blood. He then suddenly finds himself waking up 24-hours earlier, being given the same impassioned speech by Farell, suffering the same abuse from J-Squad, and dying in battle once again, only to begin the day anew each time.

J-Squad are unimpressed by Cage’s attitude, inexperience, and increasing mania.

Confused and disorientated, Cage initially believes he’s suffering some kind of déjà vu or nightmare, or that he’s losing his mind. This latter explanation is what the other characters default to whenever he tries to warn them of the mission’s impending failure. No matter now many times he repeats Farell’s words or rattles off his knowledge of J-Squad – Griff (Kick Gurry), Kuntz (Dragomir Mrsic), Nance (Charlotte Riley), Skinner (Jonas Armstrong), Ford (Franz Drameh), Takeda (Masayoshi Haneda), and Kimmel (Tony Way) – they simply think he’s losing his mind. Eventually, during his many repeats of the same day, Cage’s knowledge of each increases; though this happens offscreen, we learn a bit more about each of them from his exposition as he tries to earn their trust. Ford, for example, is using his dead best friend’s name and sending his payment to his family. Mostly, Cage simply earns their ire; they’re annoyed at being saddled by him, his incompetence, and personally insulted by him being a deserter and they even attack him when his subsequent absences see them being punished by Farrel. Played by the late, great Bill Paxton with a delicious, scenery-chewing charisma, Farrel appears to be a man completely consumed by the fire and glory of war. However, unlike Brigham, Farrel isn’t all talk and bluster and eagerly joins his men in battle, relishing the taste of combat. Cage’s eventual combat prowess is more to do with memory, tough training, and a constant cycle of failure than him being mentored by J-Squad. They essentially leave him to fend for himself at the beginning, and are therefore stunned when he suddenly exhibits near-superhuman deftness and ability on the battlefield. Later, when he convinces them to heed his warnings, they’re shocked to learn how insurmountable the Mimic’s power is but readily follow him into a final assault on the Louvre Pyramid, giving their lives to his cause and even sacrificing themselves to cover his infiltration. However, as persuasive as Cage’s parlour tricks and knowledge are, they’re primarily convinced by him having the seal of approval of the near-mythical Vrataski, who backs Cage’s claims and emboldens their fighting spirit.

Constantly frustrated by Cage’s inexperience, Vrataski works hard to train him for combat.

Vrataski is a tough, no-nonsense soldier equally dubbed the “Full Metal Bitch”. Extremely adept with her exosuit, Vrataski also employs a massive, anime-styled sword (fashioned from a helicopter blade) and inspires awe in her fellow soldiers. However, Vrataski is also cold and stoic, rarely showing her emotions or letting them rule her actions, to the point where she’s largely impassive when her fellow soldiers die in battle. Behind this façade, she hides a deep pain at having watched so many of her loved ones die and failed to end the Mimic threat when she had the chance. When Cage unexpectedly saves her in battle thanks to his foresight, she orders him to find her when he wakes up and reveals that her victory at Verdun (and her entire reputation) is thanks to her also having previously acquired the Alpha’s time-manipulating blood. Working with Doctor Noah Carter (Taylor), Vrataski learned that the Alpha’s death triggers the gigantic “brain” of the Mimic hoard, the “Omega”, to reset the day, allowing the Mimics to counteract accordingly. The longer one has the power, the more the Mimics become aware of them and the closer the protagonists get to learning the Omega’s location. Vrataski therefore forces Cage to train again and again, executing him to restart the day whenever he’s incapacitated or killed, to turn him into her proxy. Vrataski is constantly exasperated by Cage’s inexperience, questions, and cowardice and delights in abusing him, barking orders and forcing him to step up and find a viable route off the beach to find the Omega. Similar to J-Squad, Cage eventually learns a bit about Vrataski and bonds with her, to the point where he becomes despondent at having watched her repeatedly die and their continued failures to make real headway.

The Mimics are an ugly, aggressive alien race that can somehow create time loops.

A bunch of veterans and barflies speculate on the reason the Mimics have come to Earth, but Edge of Tomorrow largely leaves the explanation vague. They’re described as a “perfect”, planet-conquering hive mind, a near-exhaustible army even without accounting for their time-bending powers. The actual creatures are somewhat generic; they’re perfectly monstrous and disturbingly Lovecraftian, but we never really get a decent look at them and they often resemble a blurry mishmash of nanobots rather than living beings. They’re often hiding, either under the sand, ground, or elsewhere, and burst up to strike, skewering prey with their tentacles, firing energy bolts, or manhandling soldiers with their superior speed and strength. Even the regular grunts are extremely durable, often tanking multiple shots or moving too fast to be hit, and it was only through blind luck that Cage killed the Alpha in the first place. The Mimics are controlled by the Omega, with the Alpha overseeing the invasion and signalling for a reset upon its death, with all the aliens retaining the knowledge of each day, as Cage does. The longer he has the power, the more aware of his presence they become; the infected begin to see visions of the Omega, something the big brain uses to lure the soldiers into a trap. Indeed, Dr. Carter suggests that the Omega allowed the victory at Verdun as part of a grander plan to wipe out humanity, making them an almost invincible force. So powerful is the threat of extinction that the UDF’s only thought is to counterattack with everything they have. At one point, Cage and Vrataski infiltrate Brigham’s office, using Cage’s foresight to finally convince him to hand over Dr. Carter’s experimental transponder to learn the Omega’s true location, only for Bingham to immediately order even Vrataski’s arrest and forcing the two to reset to simply steal it. Cage’s power is constantly at risk since he must die to reset the day; it cannot be passed on but can be lost via a blood transfusion, which is what cost Vrataski the power. This eventually strips the ability from Cage, forcing him and Vrataski to recruit J-Squad for one last, desperate mission to destroy the Omega in Paris.

The Nitty-Gritty:
At first glance, Edge of Tomorrow is simply another generic, sci-fi war film with many of the tropes you’d expect from the genre. You’ve got the gruff, uncompromising General; the tough, but somewhat fair, Drill Sergeant; and a squad of ground-level troops simply trying to defend their world. J-Squad are sadly one-dimensional, despite Cage spitting facts and exposition about them, but are at least visually distinct. Griff is constantly walking around in a pink bath robe, for example, Kuntz “doesn’t talk much”, and Kimmel literally goes into battle balls out. Though as thirsty for combat as their Master Sergeant and far better trained than Cage, J-Squad is as doomed to failure as every UDF campaign and we witness their hubris, downfall, and deaths numerous times as Cage lives, dies, and repeats his time loop over and over. Though they give him nothing but abuse, they show respect for and surprise regarding his combat prowess in different time loops when this cowardly, pathetic deserter is suddenly blasting around at speed and picking off Mimics with uncanny precision thanks to Vrataski’s brutal training. Vrataski is a loner by nature, training by herself in a mechanical simulator and fighting solo on the battlefield regardless of how many troops follow her. She often dies alone in battle as well and constantly keeps Cage at arm’s length, hiding injuries and insisting on pushing onwards even when he begs her to stop because she won’t make it. Her stubbornness is her greatest strength and she impresses this fighting spirit upon Cage, eventually transforming him into a more hardened soldier over who-knows-how-many time loops.

Cage’s repeated experiences improve his skills but burden him with knowledge.

As someone who dislikes Tom Cruise, I get a perverse pleasure out of seeing him die over and ever. He gets skewered, eaten, shot, and blown up multiple times throughout the film, suffering broken limbs, a shattered spine, and being crushed under vehicles. With each loop, he gets a little better, pushing further along the ill-fated beach assault and committing to memory the movements of the Mimics, exactly as a videogame player gets better through trial and error. We’re never given an exactly tally of how many times Cage relives the day, but he sometimes burns through days in quick succession, such as when he’s blindsided by threats or struggles with his combat training, much to his frustration. A series of montages show him failing time and again, but also his progression; once a lumbering liability who couldn’t disengage the safety on his weapons, he graduates to sprinting with an uncanny deftness and blasting Mimics with his shoulder cannons, saving those who despise him and pushing further into France. Much of Cage’s experiences aren’t shown to us, however. Edge of Tomorrow cleverly frames some of his and Vrataski’s excursions as his first experiences, only to reveal that he’s been at that same barn before and even learned to fly a helicopter. These sequences are all very gritty and realistic, with the beach assault resembling equally doomed real-life military campaigns and the UDF’s weaponry being surprisingly low-tech, save for the exosuits. These are surprisingly practical effects, with some CGI enhancements, and effectively make even a novice like Cage a super soldier, though we don’t see their full potential until Cage masters their functions. The Mimics, by comparison, are entirely CGI but they work well as an unknowable, monstrous “Other” for humanity to rally against, even if I find their design visually confusing. Cage eventually becomes burdened by knowledge; tortured by Vrataski’s repeated deaths and the virtual hopelessness of the situation, he deserts the campaign entirely at one point, only to be branded a coward. When he learns that the Omega is setting a trap for them to regain its power, Cage goes for the transponder to try and change the future, only to end up losing his powers and being given one last try to get the job done.

Stripped of his powers, Cage heads a final assault that results in the dawn of a new day.

Having been wounded and saved by a blood transfusion, Cage escapes military custody with Vrataski and the two enlist the help of J-Squad in defying orders and flying a night-time assault on the Louvre, the true location of the Omega. Essentially a suicide mission for all involved, this murkily shot mess of a sequence sees all of J-Squad heroically perish to cover their insertion into the iconic pyramid, leaving Cage and Vrataski the last survivors (ironically, Cage survives events in this sequence that would’ve surely reset his day previously). Cornered by the Alpha and realising victory will cost their lives, Vrataski finally expresses her regret and not getting the time to know Cage better, giving him an awkward kiss before sacrificing herself in the “fiery crucible” of combat against the Alpha, unaware that she and Cage have basically lived a lifetime by this point. Left alone with only a gun and a belt full of grenades and his harsh training, Cage plunges into the water’s beneath the Louvre to blow the Omega to kingdom come, only to be mortally wounded by the Alpha. However, he manages to pull the pins with his last act, destroying the Omega and earning himself another drenching in alien blood. This time, Cage awakens a few days earlier to find a strange energy pulse from the Louvre has mortally disabled all Mimics, effectively ending the threat overnight. He’s amazed to find J-Squad all alive and well, the war finally over, and himself restored to his previous life. Naturally, his first thought is to visit Vrataski, grinning like a moron when she greets him with her usual barking wit.

The Summary:
Edge of Tomorrow is a surprisingly good time. Like I say, I’m not a fan of Tom Cruise but he’s actually pretty enjoyable here. Seeing him play a slimy, cowardly, untrained soldier who gets repeatedly killed brought a lot of joy to me as a sycophant and I enjoyed watching him improve with every failure, getting more and more combat proficient and transforming into a soldier on par with Vrataski. This is masterfully conveyed not just through the physical representation of his abilities and proficiency with the exosuit (he demands additional rounds, forgoes his helmet, and show a veteran familiarity with its functions) but also in him assuming the same “thousand-yard stare” as Vrataski, becoming numb to the bloodshed and death over time. Yet, he retains a humanity that wasn’t immediately apparent thanks to his selfish nature. He genuinely wants to find a way to save everyone in his battalion and is frustrated to lose even a single one of them. Emily Blunt was stunning as Vrataski, embodying the stern, brutal efficiency of a battle-hardened soldier. I loved that she constantly pushed Cage, forcing him to think like her, and how she cooled over time to show a vulnerability beneath her façade. The Mimics were generic, but serviceable; they’re weird, bio-mechanical octopus things who want only conquest and human blood and that’s all you really need. The twist is their weird ability to control time, which is kind of swept under the rung and has a few logistical holes in it, but it makes them a unique and insurmountable foe. Character actors like Bill Paxton and Brendan Gleeson steal every scene there in and lend Edge of Tomorrow some legitimacy, and I liked the bleak, brutal nature of the combat (even if it was largely bloodless). In the end, I think Edge of Tomorrow is an under-rated alien invasion flick; there’s a lot to like here, especially with the time loop gimmick, and I always enjoy giving it a watch, even if it can be a bit generic visually.

My Rating:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Great Stuff

Did you enjoy Edge of Tomorrow? If you’ve read All You Need Is Kill, how do you think the film works as an adaptation? What did you think to Tom Cruise’s performance? Did you also enjoy seeing him fail and die time and again and get a little better with each reset? What did you think to Emily Blunt and the depiction of the Mimics? Do you think the film needs a sequel? Is there a day in your life you’d like to relive over and over? Whatever your thoughts, drop them in the comments and go check out my other sci-fi content.

Game Corner [Sci-Fanuary]: Earthworm Jim (Mega Drive)

Dr. K3 Comments

January sees the celebration of two notable dates in science-fiction history, with January 2 christened “National Science Fiction Day” to coincide with the birth date of the world renowned sci-fi writer Isaac Asimov, and HAL 9000, the sophisticated artificial intelligence of Arthur C. Clarke’s seminal 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), being created on 12 January. Accordingly, I dedicated January to celebrating sci-fi in all its forms.

Released: October 1994
Developer: Shiny Entertainment
Also Available For: Game Boy, Game Boy Advance, Game Gear, Master System, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Wii, PC, SEGA CD, Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES); PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 (HD remake)

The Background:
During the eighties and nineties, anthropomorphic characters were king. It seemed every cartoon, toy, or company mascot was some kind of humanoid animal, generally fighting otherwordly or intergalactic forces. The most prominent examples from this time were, of course, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT), though mascot platformers were prevalent in videogames thanks in no small part to the phenomenal success of Sonic the Hedgehog (Sonic Team, 1991). After successfully licensing the TMNT, Playmates made the bold decision to develop a franchise of their own. Impressed by Doug TenNapel’s sketch of an earthworm, they purchased the rights and TenNapel joined programmer David Perry and the rest of the team at Shiny Entertainment, simultaneously programming for both the Mega Drive and the SNES using custom-made tools. Created as a satire of the genre, the developers enjoyed exploring their creativity, free from the restrictions of licensed characters, and the project was expanded upon with a line of action figures, comics books, and a hugely enjoyable cartoon. This was made possible by Earthworm Jim’s critical and commercial success; critics praised the quirky story, fluid animations, and zany action. Sadly, Earthworm Jim’s time in the spotlight wasn’t to last. Though followed by a highly-regarded sequel, even a later high-definition remake couldn’t atone for Jim’s failure to capitalise on his early success in 3D and handheld ventures, leaving him another videogame icon sadly lost to time.

The Plot:
A renegade ship steals an ultra-high tech super suit from the evil Queen Pulsating, Bloated, Festering, Sweaty, Pus-filled, Malformed, Slug-for-a-Butt. Although intercepted by the Queen’s henchman, Psy-Crow, it lands on unassuming earthworm, Jim, transforming him into an anthropomorphic superhero.

Gameplay and Power-Ups:
Earthworm Jim is a 2D, run-and-gun action platformer in which you assume to role of perhaps the most unlikely and bizarre superhero in all of videogaming, an earthworm given incredible powers by an alien suit. Players guide Jim through various surreal worlds, from a crow-infested junkyard to claustrophobic underwater base, to Hell itself, blasting at everything in their way and pulling off some tricky platforming feats. Earthworm Jim has two attacks: one is to throw his worm body like a whip and the other is to unload with his Plasma Blaster. You can change the button configurations from the main “Options” menu, though I got along fine with the default: A to whip, B to fire, and C to jump. Jim has a good jump and can grab ledges to pull himself up. He can also spin his worm self like a helicopter blade to glide across gaps or down narrow shafts (though I had difficult pulling this off). For longer gaps, Jim can snag his worm self onto various hooks and swing across gaps, a finnicky system, especially when you must perform successful swings or make your way up hooked columns. The hit detection on the hooks is iffy at times and Jim is very cumbersome when swinging, but I found holding up on the directional pad helps. Jim can also cross chains using his hands and head to bypass gaps and spike beds, or whip wheels to open doors and gates. Jim’s default shot is a rapid-fire, ammo-chewing burst that cuts through most enemies. When your ammo runs dry, it’ll slowly refill but you can boost it by grabbing Plasma Power. Just be aware that your ammo isn’t refilled at the start of each stage.

Blast away with Jim’s Plasma Blaster or struggle to master the game’s vehicles and mechanics.

Earthworm Jim can also grab Mega Plasma to fire a massive, concussive blast that’s great or blowing enemies away or whittling down bosses. Unfortunately, there’s no way to save this ammo for boss battles; once you grab the “Plasma!”, it becomes your default until you run out so choose your shots wisely. You replenish Jim’s health, which is measured in percentages, by grabbing Suit Power or a Super Suit Power for a full refill, grab extra lives, and Continue markers to respawn when you inevitably die. While everything in each level is out to hurt you, there are some things that’ll aid you. You must free hamsters in Down the Tubes, pressing A to chomp up Bob the Goldfish’s kitten guards, and also take control of extremely fragile spherical underwater craft to navigate between Bob’s lair. When in this craft, you have thirty seconds of air that you can replenish at air stations (if you’re careful enough) but you must avoid the narrow caves and walls as you boost around with A as the craft can only take so many hits. Jim also possesses his own pocket-sized rocket ship, which he’ll hop onto when finishing a stage. You’ll then race against Psy-Crow in numerous Andy Asteroids bonus levels, dodging asteroids and grabbing shields and accelerators for a burst of speed. You must hold A to accelerate and can collect “Fuel Pods” (though they do nothing) and even bash into Psy-Crow to slow him down. Fail to beat him to the end and you’ll have to battle him, but succeed and you’ll gain nothing except pride. Occasionally, Jim will be separated from his super suit. This first happens in the boss battle against Evil the Cat but also occurs in Level 5. Without his super suit, Jim’s just a regular earthworm and can only hop about, but you can jump into fan blades to be tossed ahead to reunite with your suit before Professor Monkey for a Head ditches it down a pit. Other times, you’ll be running on jewels to reach higher areas or teleport around, or take more traditional teleporters to reach new areas.

Bizarre levels and oddball gameplay mechanics make for a very challenging experience.

Earthworm Jim is quite the challenging experience. You can set the game’s difficulty in the “Options” menu, but even “Practice” gets pretty difficult as you progress further. Most stages are very linear, but you’ll be climbing, jumping, and running about in twisted, winding environments, often falling to lower levels or spike pits when you miss swings. Environmental hazards start quite mundane, such as debris falling down conveyor belts, flame bursts, electrical bolts, and such, but soon you’re facing monsters and bugs that bite you in two or being assaulted by voracious dogs and ghosts. In Down the Tubes, you won’t stand a chance against Bob’s muscular cat bodyguards and must jump to the alcoves above them and hold up until the past by, and ride ravenous hamsters to even the odds. Andy Asteroids stages get faster and more difficult as you progress, with more asteroids to avoid and Psy-Crow blasting ahead and stealing your power-ups, just as the very environment in later stages conspires against you. You’ll be whipping wheels to open gates, hitting levers to release hamsters, smacking switches to reverse escalators, and jumping to Dyson spheres that burst with electrical energy. The difficulty really ramps up in For Pete’s Sake, an escort mission where you must keep Peter Puppy safe from UFOs, tentacles, pits, and meteor strikes by either blasting hazards or whipping him. If he gets attacked, he transforms into a bestial form and shreds your health, setting you back a bit, too. This is a cakewalk compared to Buttville, though, a nightmare realm made almost entirely of spikes and tricky swing challenges. You’ll need to master Jim’s helicopter float just to get past the maddening first section, a narrow shaft full of spikes, to say nothing of avoiding swinging into the jagged spikes lining the floor of the stage.

Presentation:
Earthworm Jim is one of the most impressive games on the Mega Drive. It has a surreal, bonkers cartoon presentation that elevates it above the competition and gives it endless visual appeal. Jim is at the forefront of this, featuring numerous idle animations (from off-key singing, flexing, and blasting himself in the face), sound bites, and slick animation frames that make him a joy to control and watch. He reacts to everything, yelling in pain, swinging his worm self like a lasso, and reacting in horror at times, infusing him with a madcap personality that perfectly matches the insanity offered by the game. Between stages, partially animated pixel art compliments your gameplay and Jim turns into Tex Avery when meeting Princess What’s-Her-Name in the finale, only to be dejected when she’s crushed by an errant cow and consoling himself by swiping her crown! The cow isn’t even that random since players launch it in New Junk City, and weird, quirky humour like this is all over Earthworm Jim. From lawyers making up Evil’s minions in Hell, to the Professor literally having a monkey attached to his head, Earthworm Jim is crammed with visual gags and personality. The soundtrack compliments this, often being subdued or a simply bop, though What the Heck? does impress with a remix of “Night on Bald Mountain” underscoring the action. I did notice some instances where the music cut out, though, especially after pausing the game, though Earthworm Jim otherwise runs as smooth as butter and is a joy to play in terms of how responsive everything is. If you’re looking for story and cutscenes, you won’t find either here. The manual details the narrative alongside a few comic book pictures, but the game itself just starts up with no context and never tries to explain anything that’s happening, which is actually pretty great.

Earthworm Jim is one of the most colourful, cartoonish, and bonkers games on the system.

Earthworm Jim’s stages are absolutely bonkers. You start in New Junk City, a junkyard filled with bouncy tyres, fragmented cliffs, and monstrous dogs just waiting to bite your leg. There’s an impressive art deco effect to the background but it’s nothing compared to What the Heck?, where Evil the Cat hangs out in the distance and you must platform across sinister-looking Hell structures. Down the Tubes makes everything much more claustrophobic, restricting you to the glass tubes and rooms of Bob’s lair, but a water effect over the action and a beautiful rendition of the lair make this a visually memorable location. The simply named “Level 5” is a mad scientist’s dream of conveyers, escalators, 1950s-style machinery, and Dyson spheres. You’ll regularly by separated from your suit here and will briefly be encased in a mesh cage as the Professor toys with you. For Pete’s Sake is a simple barren, alien landscape but the looming planet, weighted platforms, seesaws, and never-ending onslaught of hazards bring it to life, to say nothing of Peter’s looming threat if your aim is a little off. Intestinal Distress is easily the most disgusting level, being made up of gross, mucus-like platforms and tubes, while Buttville is a spike-ladened nightmare hive. A lightning storm looms in the background, insta-kill hazards pop out from holes, and hooks and spikes close in all around you, really upping the threat level. The Andy Asteroids stages are simple chases through high-speed wormholes but those sensitive to flashing lights may struggle at the finish line, which bombards you with a strobe effect. Finally, the Snot a Problem challenges see Jim bouncing down a cliff on a bungee cord, bashing into Major Mucus and avoiding the Mucus Phlegm Brain below. If you’re lucky enough to own the HD version, you’ll be treated to a comic book-style intro sequence that gives a largely wordless account of Jim’s origin. There are also graphical differences between the Mega Drive, Mega-CD, and SNES versions and improved audio quality on the Mega-CD version.

Enemies and Bosses:
Surprisingly, there aren’t that many enemies in Earthworm Jim. The stage layouts and hazards are generally your most persistent enemy, with baddies merely existing as another obstacle to overcome. Defeating them makes your life easier since they won’t dog you when you inevitably miss a jump or a swing. None of them drop health or ammo and there’s no scoring system, so it’s literally a case of killing them to not lose health. New Junk City houses crows and ravenous dogs; crows swoop down and bite your head while the dogs bite your legs, though you’ll also have to watch for falling junk. What the Heck? sees you fighting off dark spirits (essentially a combination of the crows and dogs) and suited-up lawyers who block your shots with their cash-firing briefcases. Bob’s cat minions are completely invulnerable in Down the Tubes, requiring you to avoid or eat them with a hamster, but you’ll also encounter weird gas-spewing spheres that show up later in the game, too. Level 5 sees you attacked by the Professor’s weird science experiments, which explode into maggots when hit or see eyeballs constantly spawning to swarm you and disembodied brains pouncing in your face. Strange helicopter fish spit small fish at you in Intestinal Distress and bugs burst from nests in Buttville, compounding your attempts to safely navigate the spike-filled environment.

Quirky, often disgusting mini bosses have you rethinking your attack strategies.

For Pete’s Sake charges you with temporarily subduing the many tentacles bursting from the ground and finding off UFO attacks and meteor storms. If Peter is hurt or falls, he becomes a bestial creature that attacks you, shrugging off your shots and setting you back. However, your most persistent foe is Queen Pulsating, Bloated, Festering, Sweaty, Pus-filled, Malformed, Slug-for-a-Butt’s main henchman, Psy-Crow. You’ll race him in the Andy Asteroids stages, barging him to slow him down and snagging power-ups to beat him to the end, but must battle him if you fail. Fortunately, this fight isn’t too hard; simply fire at him to stun him and then whip him until he flees. Some stages see you facing off with mini bosses, too, such as the living trashcan in New Junk City and the snowman waiting in What the Heck? The trashcan is tougher than it looks not just because of its powerful uppercut and it constantly launching debris, but also because it can only really be damaged by the Mega Plasma or from behind. The snowman is much easier, despite warping around by turning into goo and spitting fireballs. Similarly, battling Major Mucus in a bungee fight isn’t too bad; it’s similar to the rope section from Battletoads (Rare, 1991) and sees you barging the living snot ball into walls to whittle away its snot bungee. Still, you have to be careful of his counterattack, spinning top move, and the one-shot Mucus Phlegm Brain. Although you encounter Professor Monkey for a Head, you don’t get to fight him. Instead, you fire at him and chase him around his lab, and he sets his steampunk-style robot chicken on you. This thing is completely immune to your attacks and clucks about spitting egg bombs. You need to whip a target to drop explosives on it, the shoot or whip it while in freefall not unlike the Snot a Problem stage.

While some bosses are innovative or ridiculous, others are unnecessarily difficult.

The first real boss you face is Chuck, the owner of the junkyard, though he’s actually easier to face than his sentient trashcan. Chuck drops anvils and crates and such from an overhead crane; simply avoid these and whip the crates onto the spring beneath him to deal damage. He’ll spit up fish and eventually move back and forth but he’s way easier to defeat if you time your whips properly. Evil the Cat is a touch trickier; he randomly pops up in What the Heck? to toss bombs and cause stalactites to rain down, then somehow separates Jim from his suit. In this phase, you must jump over his flame bursts until he destroys his platform, reuniting you with your suit. In the second phase, Evil attacks from the darkness and you must blast him nine times, avoiding the flame bursts, to finally put him down. Bob the Killer Goldfish is a joke by comparison, potentially because of how difficult Down the Tube’s underwater sections are. Simply walk up to Bob and Jim tips over his bowl, leaving him flailing on the ground. At the end of Intestinal Distress, you’re attacked by Doc Duodenum, a strange, mucus-like being that hops about and spits goo but it’s easily put down with your regular attacks. Queen Pulsating, Bloated, Festering, Sweaty, Pus-filled, Malformed, Slug-for-a-Butt herself awaits at the end of Buttville, her gigantic egg sac looming overhead not unlike the Xenomorph Queen. Gloop leaks from this and hurts you and you must hop to temporary spinning platforms, avoiding her scepter swipe and taking out the bugs swarming around her. The biggest threat here is the bed of spikes and potentially running out of ammo, but simply fire at her as you spin around and she’ll soon burst like a pimple. Frankly, the weird growth you fight before her is far harder. This…thing…spits goo, which is bad enough, but the ground is constantly moving you towards a spike wall and the ground also has spikes in it. It gets faster as you deal damage, too, and can really burn through your health and lives!

Additional Features:
With no high score table and no collectibles or unlockables, there isn’t much else on offer in Earthworm Jim. You can challenge the game on a harder difficulty, of course, and replay the game to try and reach new areas of each level for additional goodies, but your main reason for going back will be to discover the hidden areas. Not only are there secret areas hidden behind the foregrounds, you can access the secret stage Who Turned Out the Lights?, the Professor’s dark and dingy basement where spotlights briefly illuminate your surroundings and a hungry, unkillable creature stalks from the shadows. Other replay incentives include the cheat codes, inputted from the pause screen, that refill your health, ammo, grant an extra life, and allow you to skip stages. There’s also a debug mode that allows you to freely move the camera around each stage and grants invincibility (though, oddly, some enemies can still hurt you) that also protects you in underwater sections. Those playing the Mega-CD version can also play through an additional level, Big Burty, and battle the blind dinosaur of the same name. This stage (and Who Turned Out the Lights?) was missing from the HD version but was replaced by digital fantasy stages where a keyboard-playing cat ruled supreme. The HD version also included online and offline co-op mode where up to four players navigated all-new levels, in addition to leaderboards and Achievements/Trophies that challenged you to such tasks as collecting stuff, beating single and multiplayer levels, and finishing the game in under fifty minutes. Finally, if playing on Nintendo Switch Online, you can take full advantage of the save state and rewind features to really level the playing field on this challenging game.

The Summary:
I’ve played Earthworm Jim before, mainly on emulators, and have been a big fan of the series since it first came about. I loved the cartoon and have long coveted the action figures, so it was a must buy for my Mega Drive library once I started seriously collecting for the system. However, I’d previously played through the HD version on PlayStation 3, a game I remember beating without cheats. That wasn’t the case here. Earthworm Jim is almost unforgiving in its later stages, throwing spikes and pits and platforming challenges that will have you gripping your controller in frustration. So, yes, the debug mode helped a lot for this playthrough since it meant I didn’t have to worry about my health or oxygen, but it was no help at all with whipping those hooks or navigating the spiked, nigh-impossible nightmare that is Buttville. It also wasn’t much use against the damn trashcan, or that robot chicken, both of which can be a pain in the ass to defeat, especially as the game rarely indicates when your attacks deal damage. Racing against Psy-Crow can also become very difficult; fighting him isn’t so bad but it’s a waste of ammo, something you desperately need when navigating stages and defeating bosses. I do think the game would’ve benefitted from a meter system to measure Jim’s ammo. Like, firing his gun depletes a meter that refills over time, rather than forcing you to wait around for your ammo to slowly replenish. Still, while the game is very difficult at times, a lot of the time it’s simply challenging and you do get better at judging when to whip at hooks and how to navigate past hazards. It helps that Earthworm Jim looks fantastic; it has sprite animation so smooth and slick that it rivals the likes of Aladdin (Virgin Games, 1992) and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (SEGA Technical Institute, 1992), basically resembling a playable cartoon. It plays really well, offering a quirky, action-packed experience while also making you think outside the box at times, especially when Jim loses his suit. Jim is also a wonderfully realised, bonkers character with so much life and personality and his enemies are equally memorable for their bizarre appearances and attack patterns. It’s not the most accessible game and at times will have you tearing your hair out, but my God is Earthworm Jim an enjoyable experience, if only to look at!

My Rating:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Great Stuff

Are you a fan of Earthworm Jim? How do you think the game holds up against other action platformers? Did you also find the game challenging at times, and struggle with the swinging mechanics? Which of Jim’s outrageous villains was your favourite? Did you ever beat the game on the hardest difficulty? Would you like to see Earthworm Jim make a comeback? What are some of your favourite sci-fi-orientated videogames? Feel free to share your memories of Earthworm Jim in the comments and then check out my other sci-fi content on the site.

Movie Night [Sci-Fanuary]: Starship Troopers

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January celebrates two notable dates in science-fiction history, “National Science Fiction Day” on January 2 and Arthur C. Clarke’s HAL 9000’s birthday on January 12. Accordingly, I’m dedicating January to celebrating sci-fi with an event I call “Sci-Fanuary”.

Released: 7 November 1997
Director: Paul Verhoeven
Distributor: TriStar Pictures
Budget: $100 to 110 million
Stars: Casper Van Dien, Denise Richards, Neil Patrick Harris, Dina Meyer, Clancy Brown, and Michael Ironside

The Plot:
In the 23rd century, mankind wars with the “Bugs” of Klendathu. Youngsters Johnny Rico (Van Dien), Carmen Ibanez (Richards), and Carl Jenkins (Harris) enthusiastically join the fight, only to find war is not the glamourous affair portrayed by the media.

The Background:
First published as a two-part serial in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction as Starship Soldier, Robert A. Heinlein’s 1959 pro-military sci-fi tale of humanity’s war against arachnid aliens was just the inspiration writer Ed Neumeier and producer Jon Davison needed to sell their similarly-themed concept to TriStar Pictures. TriStar were far more receptive to their pitch for Bug Hunt at Outpost 7 once it was pitched as an adaptation of Starship Troopers and the Outpost 7 concept was tweaked to accommodate Heinlein’s work. Neumeier and Davison quickly recruited and reunited with Paul Verhoeven to direct based on his predication towards satirical subtext. Though production slowed in the mid-nineties, the ensuing effects tests finally convinced the studio to get the project moving in collaboration with other studios. Despite Neumeier’s attempts to remain faithful to the source material, Verhoeven introduced satirical elements regarding the media, military, and politics and removed the trooper’s power armour to put them at a greater disadvantage. While Phil Tippett and his studio created the practical and visual effects for the film and Verhoeven meticulously drafted detailed storyboards, Verhoeven purposely cast young, beautiful actors to evoke Nazi propaganda films. The cast endured combat training in harsh weather conditions to prepare for the film, which initially debuted at number one at the box office, though it barely cleared $120 million in profit. Reviews were mixed or largely negative upon release, with many missing the satirical elements and criticising its characterisations. Positive reviews praised the action and effects, and its violent content, and it has gone on to be regarded as an increasingly relevant cult classic that led to numerous divisive direct-to-DVD sequels, videogames, and a surprisingly well regarded CGI cartoon.

The Review:
Starship Troopers doesn’t pull any punches, even from the start. The movie opens with a platoon of gung-ho soldiers from the Mobile Infantry (MI) division of the United Citizen Federation (UCF) charging into battle with the Arachnids (derisively referred to as “Bugs”) on their hostile home world, Klendathu. Joined by a FedNet correspondent (Gregg Travis) who exposits the danger of both the Bugs and their world and boisterously hails the bravery and righteousness of the UCF’s troopers (before being summarily devoured by an Arachnid), the infantry immediately realise that all their training and heavy machine guns are largely superfluous against the Arachnid threat. Slaughtered and torn to pieces, the troopers are left bloodied, with Private John Rico seemingly left for dead following a brutal wound to the leg. The story then dramatically jumps to one year prior, when Rico was a fresh-faced, lovelorn senior trying to steal a kiss from (and seal the deal with) his beautiful, determined, but somewhat nauseous girlfriend, Carmen Ibanez. Alongside their friend and budding psychic, Carl Jenkins, and Rico’s jump ball teammate, Isabelle “Dizzy” Flores (Meyer), they are three young, sexy kids taught from an early age by the likes of seasoned veteran Jean Rasczak (Ironside) of the sanctity of enlisting. Those who enlist and complete their federal service are awarded “citizenship”, gaining such perks as the right to vote and have children, while ordinary “civilians” have little influence in the body politic. Though talented on the field and boasting a stronger stomach than his beau, Rico is completely naïve to the dangers of enlistment, repeatedly knocks back Dizzy’s affections, and is ruled by his heart when it comes to his decisions. Thus, he clashes with both his parents (Christopher Curry and Lenore Kasdorf) and rival player Zander Barcalow (Patrick Muldoon) when it comes to his life choices and Carmen.

Enlistment tests our three young leads in different, often painful ways.

Indeed, swayed by the perceived honour that’s associated with Citizenship and desperate to stay close to Carmen, whose top grades make her a shoe-in for the fleet academy, Rico disregards his parents’ very real concerns that he’s signing up to get himself hurt or killed for a girl and readily enlists. Since he doesn’t have the grades to be a pilot like Carmen or the psychic aptitude to be part of the overly fascist military intelligence division like Karl, Rico’s assigned to tough, no-nonsense (and scene-stealing) drill sergeant Zim (Brown) and immediately thrown in the deep end. Alongside his new best friend, wisecracking Ace Levy (Jake Busey), Rico is subjected to harsh physical tests, constant berating from Zim, and resentment towards Dizzy when she follows in his footsteps. His placement in the Mobile Infantry ironically means Rico’s further away from Carmen, who takes to flying like a duck to water and finds herself under Zander’s tutelage, quickly gaining a reputation as a fearless and unconventional pilot. Still, Rico’s physicality and natural charisma serve him well until he makes a critical error during a live-fire exercise and causes the death of fellow cadet Breckinridge (Eric Bruskotter). Although Zim vouches for Rico’s potential and he takes his ten lashes, Carmen’s ending of their relationship and Breckinridge’s death weigh heavily on Rico and cause him to quit. However, right as he’s about to make amends with his parents, his home of Buenos Aires is obliterated by a Bug Meteor, sparking all-out war and Rico’s return to combat to get a measure of revenge. This leads to the opening assault on Klendathu as a direct counterattack, a siege that leads to thousands of deaths as the Bugs blast ships from orbit and slaughter the ground troops.

Rico, Ace, and Dizzy join Rasczak’s Roughnecks on the frontline of the conflict.

Though listed among the dead, Rico survives thanks to the intervention of Rasczak, commander of “Rasczak’s Roughnecks”, an elite infantry squadron who absorb Rico, Dizzy, and Ace into their ranks. Rasczak demands only the finest work from his troopers and orders them to shoot anyone, even their own people, if it means sparing them a more gruesome fate. Impressed by Rico’s valour, Rasczak quickly promotes him to Corporal after his football skills and natural leadership take down a particularly dangerous Tanker Bug. While associating with Rasczak’s Roughnecks, Rico finally sees what’s been in front of him and gives in to Dizzy’s affections, though their tryst is short-lived as the group is ordered to investigate a distress call from Planet P. There, they discover a ravaged UCF outpost and General Owen (Marshall Bell) driven to the brink of madness after witnessing the Bugs sucking the brains out of their prey. The squad realises all-too-late that the distress call was a trap and are besieged by Bugs in a gory slaughter that leaves Rasczak mortally wounded. After Rico mercy kills him and assumes command of the survivors (now renamed “Rico’s Roughnecks”), he’s embittered when his order to carpet bomb P is countermanded and yet duty-bound to return to P when ordered by Jenkins, now a high-ranking colonel, to flesh out the rumoured “Brain Bug” residing there. While Carmen is aghast at Carl’s callous nature, especially after Dizzy’s death, he justifies his decisions as the natural fallout of war. His ultimate goal is to capture the Brain Bug and thereby learn more about the Arachnid’s nature to better fight them, though this goal requires the sacrifice of hundreds and even thousands of lives both in the Mobile Infantry and the fleet. The relationship between the three is strained as a result; fleet and infantry don’t mix as it is (since “MI does the dyin’, fleet just does the flyin’”) and the increasing incompetency of the revolving door of UCF officers doesn’t help matters. Still, the allure of combat remains; Rico readily accepts his mission, even if it’s potentially a one-way trip, and even Zim “busts [his] ass down to Private” to get back on the front line.

The Bugs represent a monstrous, alien force but is man the true enemy in this interstellar war…?

On the surface, the Arachnids are a perfectly horrific and monstrous alien threat. They’re gigantic spider- and bug-like aliens that attack in swarms, slicing limbs, gobbling up their prey, and even spitting fire and firing plasma from their rears. They’re an uncivilised and obviously non-human alien species, one apparently capable of blasting asteroids from orbit towards Earth, and they’re incredibly resilient. Not only are their larger variants armour-plated, not only can they burrow underground and fly, but even their spider-like drones continue to be a threat after their limbs are blown off. Indeed, it takes almost an entire clip just to put one down, and that’s when the troopers are aiming at centre mass, and even then there are hundreds more to take the place of their fallen. Starship Troopers does suggest, more than once, that the Bugs aren’t the aggressors in this fight, however. There’s an off-hand suggestion that they were riled by humans venturing into their airspace, and that the UCF is seeking to colonise the Bug world for their resources, and even the implication that the Buenos Aires attack was perpetrated by the UCF. Such discourse is quickly dismissed, however, especially be the impassioned troopers, who believe wholeheartedly in slaughtering every Bug they encounter. They certainly have their work cut out for them, something not helped by the UCF’s bizarre insistence on relying on ground troops rather than orbital bombardment, the Bugs’ sheer numbers, and the fact every battle takes place on alien worlds. Analogous to the futility and ill-conceived strategies used in the Vietnam War, the Bugs overwhelm the heavily armed but poorly protected troopers, making mincemeat out of them and even sucking out their brains as an act of intimidation. The UCF itself is an aggressive force that controls all the media, society, and strategy regarding the Bugs. They make enlistment to look as attractive as possible to bolster their numbers and it takes the entire movie for them to develop better weapons and defences towards their warmongering efforts. Though Rico clashes with Zim and Zander and even Carl, the various divisions are portrayed as united against the Bugs. This hatred has torn down social and gender inequalities and given humanity a common enemy to rally against, even if it means sacrificing certain freedoms (or their lives).

The Nitty-Gritty:
Starship Troopers was a pretty big deal in my social circle back in the day and a regular watch at sleepovers, mainly for the action and gore. Yet, despite my love for the film and the science-fiction genre, I’ve never gotten around to reading the original book. From what I gather, there are many differences between the two, particularly regarding gender, politics, and the portrayal of the military (who utilise mech suits in the source material). The film instead opts to focus on satire; dark, bleak, biting satire as only Paul Verhoeven can deliver. Taking his portrayal of the media in RoboCop (ibid, 1987) and cranking it up the eleven, Verhoeven presents the UCF-controlled media as a constant recruitment drive. Every bad decision from the various Sky Marshalls is twisted into a propaganda piece designed to encourage viewers to enlist to stamp out the Bug threat. Unedited footage from doomed frontline assaults is aired alongside pro-military advertising specifically targeted at children (portraying killing Bugs as fun and necessary), those who showcase psychic potential, and anyone curious to “know more” about the ongoing campaign. The hypocrisy of the broadcasts is staggering, and anyone who dares question the stratocratic regime is seen as being somehow “lesser”. Rico’s father openly criticises Rasczak’s teachings, preferring Rico apply to Harvard than go to war, and is ridiculed by his son as a result. Rasczak is seen as a heroic, aspirational figure, one responsible for saving many lives and killing many Bugs, who believes in the sanctity of aggressive force as a decisive factor in any conflict. This is again bolstered by the media, which teaches the best ways to kill a Bug, showcases the gruesome experiments performed on the Brain Bug, and highlights the gung-ho attitude of Rico’s Roughnecks as a means to coerce anyone watching into enlisting and following in their footsteps, regardless of the thousands already dead and the untold numbers sporting artificial limbs as a result of enlisting.

While the effects and gore still hold up, our three leads seem a bit miscast in their roles.

As enjoyable as Starship Troopers’ satire of the military, politics, and futility of war is, it’s equally enjoyable at a far more primal level. Just as the media glamorises war, the horrifically one-sided battles between the MI and the Arachnids is as gory and brutal as you could ask for from Verhoeven. Largely portrayed as swarming, voracious CGI bug, the Arachnids make for fearsome alien foes, sporting sharpened limbs, large mouths, and capable of slaughtering our naïve young troopers in numerous creative ways. They’ll dice you up, eat you whole, immolate you, and suck your brains from your skull, clambering over your bloodied remains to take out your friends as they go. Even the mighty fleet is of little consequence to them and the MI’s rifles are so ineffectual that it often takes some creative physical feats (or a well-aimed nuke) to thin out the Bugs’ numbers. Although there are no humanoid aliens like in the book, the Bugs have a decent amount of variety and their effects hold up pretty well thanks to the film using model shots and animatronics alongside the CGI. Unfortunately, Starship Troopers is a little let down by its young, sexy main cast. This in itself is a creative way to further emphasise that these kids have no idea what they’re signing up for, but Denise Richards is such a blank, vacant void that I’m totally on side with Rico’s mum in thinking she’s a bit of a bimbo. Dizzy, despite her clingy obsession with Rico, is a far more attractive prospect. Ballsy, fearless, and capable, she’s much more Rico’s equal and it’s a shame he’s so late coming to that realisation. I don’t mind Casper Van Dien here and he has an undeniable physical appeal and charisma, but he seems a little out of his depth as a leading man. Similarly, as much as I love Neil Patrick Harris, he seems a little miscast. Thankfully, Clancy Brown, Dean Norris, and the immortal Michael Ironside lend some much-appreciated gravitas to proceedings and command the screen every time they appear.

The MI captures a Brain Bug, seemingly turning the tide in humanity’s favour.

So, yeah, it turns out the assault on Klendathu was doomed to fail. The UCF bit off way more than it could chew and were forced to refocus on targeting the neighbouring worlds, like P. After they finally hooking up, Rico is devastated when Dizzy is mortally wounded on P. However, her death galvanises his belief in the UCF and the virtues of Citizenship and he completes his transformation into a devout, battle-hardened copy of Rasczak (even copying his idol’s mannerisms and declarations when commanding his Roughnecks). While many of Rico’s troopers were killed so Carl could get evidence of a Brain Bug, he doesn’t hesitate to return with the surviving troopers and a contingent of “kids” fresh from the academy to flush out and capture the grotesque Bug commander. During the assault, Carmen and Zander are shot down and presumably killed; though Sugar Watkins (Seth Gilliam) offers to lead a rescue party, Rico stoically orders to stay on mission. Luckily for him, Carmen and Zader are captured and brought to the slobbering, larvae-like Brain Bug, which slurps out Zander’s brains and is only stopped from doing the same to Carmen thanks to Rico’s timely intervention. Despite Carl’s earlier stoicism regarding their lives, he subtly influenced Rico, using his psychic powers to nudge him in Carmen’s direction so she could be rescued. Though Sugar heroically sacrificing himself (literally going down fighting) to cover their escape, they make it out injured but alive and are stunned to see that the Brain Bug was captured, offscreen and through means unknown, by none other than Zim, now a private under Rico’s command. Carl arrives and “mind melds” with the Brain Bug and announces that it’s afraid, to the uproarious delight of the solders, and the Bug is taken to be probed and dissected to learn how to better battle the creatures. The film ends with Carl declaring that, one day, everyone will forget that it was a lone infantryman who turned the tide of the war, delivering a soliloquy that sells the MI as the most important division of the war effort, and the three reaffirming their friendship. We also get one final propaganda piece touting humanity’s inevitable victory over their monstrous alien foe, which is presented as a stirring piece selling the military as brave, conquering heroes but is, again, a ridiculous satirical misrepresentation of the bloody truth of their lives.

The Summary:
As mentioned, Starship Troopers was a constant favourite when I was a kid. As teenagers, we loved the film for its gore, monstrous aliens, and because we got to see Dina Meyer’s boobs. I grew up on Paul Verhoeven’s movies so I was well into the splattergore on show here, the bloody action, and his ludicrous satire of the media, politics, and military. These elements are what really help Starship Troopers stand the test of time; as media and the government become more controlling, oppressive, and hypocritical, it’s hard to not see our modern times reflected in this sci-fi classic. The effects hold up really well, too, again thanks to using practical effects wherever possible and focusing on strong, bloody, uncompromising scenes of brutality even as they exist side-by-side with amusing moments, such as Zim nailing Ace’s hand to a wall with a knife just to prove a point. The only real downside for me are the three main actors: they’re all perfectly fine and portraying them as naïve, fresh-faced youngsters makes sense in the narrative, but I do think they’re a little miscast at times and not quite up to the task of carrying the film. Veteran actors and the satirical subtext counterbalance this, but all the gore and brain sucking in the world can’t get me invested in Denise Richards’ lifeless performance. Still, Starship Troopers is as appealing to me now as it was when I was a teenager. It’s crazy to me that it didn’t get stronger sequels as there was real franchise potential here. What I really like about this film is how layered the subtext and satire is, allowing for numerous critical and academic interpretations and discussions on what on the surface appears to be a mindless sci-fi action flick but is actually a compelling commentary on the glamorised portrayal of fruitless warfare.

My Rating:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Great Stuff

Did you enjoy Starship Troopers? Have you ever read the book and, if so, how do you think the film works as an adaptation? Do you agree that the three main actors were a little out of place in the film? What did you think to the Bugs and their capabilities? Were you a fan of the satirical subtext woven throughout the movie? What did you think to the subsequent movies and spinoffs, and would you like to see another big-budget entry in the franchise? Whatever your thoughts on Starship Troopers, feel free to leave a comment below and be sure to check out my other sci-fi content across the site.