Enter a bold and bright world with Captain Olimar in Hey! Pikmin for Nintendo 3DS. Guided by stylus, this new game offers fun for even younger family members with the ability to toss assorted Pikmin into exciting battles. Complete special missions in Hey! Pikmin, and help Captain Olimar escape and go home.
Hey! Pikmin is weird, as a sidescrolling entry to the franchise. It doesn't quite capture the magic of the normal console games, but it still manages to feel like Pikmin, as well as something new and engaging. It's a fun game, and makes me realize I'm ready for another full fledged Pikmin title.
Alien Covenant feels like the original Alien, combined with Prometheus. It's a beautiful film, and it's raises more questions than answers as far as it's status as a prequel to the original Alien films, but it's still entertaining.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 successfully recaptures the fun of the first movie and builds on it. The first movie seeing the team learn to work together, this one seeing them learn to be a family. The soundtrack is great with a poignant selection of 70s-80s classics, the humor is still fresh and entertaining, and the characters are as endearing and fun as before. I'm not usually a fan of steelbooks, but I made a point to get this one because I think combo packs that include the 4K, Blu, and 3D discs should be a standard instead of having to choose between 4K and 3D or double dipping.
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For those who missed out on Splatoon on the Wii U, Splatoon 2 is a must have. For those that played the first game, you pretty much know what to expect. Splatoon 2 is a refinement of the first game, better visuals, more balanced multiplayer, a new single player campaign that is still as inventive and fun as the first game's, plus a new co-op mode and the promise of lots of post launch support like the first game received. It's nice to see this franchise continue on the Switch. There are still odd decisions like with the way the co-op mode is only available at certain times, and the maps are still on a periodic rotation or 2-4 hours. I think the 2 player couch mode isn't in this game, but admittedly, I never played that in the first game. This game is a must have for Switch owners.
Your favorite marsupial, Crash Bandicoot™, is back! He's enhanced, entranced & ready-to-dance with the N. Sane Trilogy game collection. Now you can experience Crash Bandicoot like never before in Fur-K. Spin, jump, wump and repeat as you take on the epic challenges and adventures through the three games that started it all, Crash Bandicoot™, Crash Bandicoot™ 2: Cortex Strikes Back and Crash Bandicoot™ 3: Warped. Relive all your favorite Crash moments in their fully-remastered HD graphical glory and get ready to put some UMPH in your WUMP!
The N. Sane Trilogy has the original three Naughty Dog Crash Bandicoot games, lovingly remade with contemporary graphics and redone sound. The level of detail to which these remakes were done is astounding. From the redone cutscenes with much more detail and personality injected into the animation, to the amount of character given to Crash's sister Coco, now fully playable in almost all levels. There are a few minor gameplay qualms, according to some, the jumping and hitboxes are slightly off. The ice physics in the second game are definitely off, and it would be nice to have the ability to just restart a level, especially when trying to get the colored gems in the first game. All of these are very VERY minor, and did not prevent me from enjoying these games at all. I can't recommend this collection enough to both long time fans and new players alike.
John Wick 2 could have been too much of a good thing, answering too many questions about the world set up in the first movie, trying to shoe horn in too much lore and backstory, whittling away the mystery that made the first movie so intriguing and and fun. Luckily, I didn't feel that way at all after seeing this movie, and I'm actually anticipating the third. This movie is even more action packed and fun than the first movie, it's ridiculous, almost a superhero movie in a sense, and while it does flesh out the world established in the first movie, it manages to do so without completely robbing it of intrigue.
As a parody, a sort of humorous deconstruction of Batman as an icon, The LEGO Batman Movie is entertaining and hilarious. The animation is excellent, a marvel to watch, convincingly rendered and to resemble stop motion with LEGO bricks, albeit with more effects and extraneous polish than The LEGO Movie that inspired this.
After three whole volumes in the relatively limited Poser software, RWBY finally made the move to Maya, with higher quality character models and animation, better effects, and lighting, making this volume feel like a parked increased in production value on top of the already expected increase in the quality of the acting and writing year over year.
Race your way down a series of futuristic tracks with WipEout Omega Collection. This comprehensive set includes all the high-definition content from WipEout HD, WipEout HD Fury and WipEout 2048, bringing the game to life on your PS4. Pilot a selection of crafts and become the master of anti-gravity racing when you play WipEout Omega Collection.
The WipEout Omega Collection combines the PS3 game HD, with it's DLC expansion Fury (both already serving as console quality versions of the PSP games Pure and Pulse) with the Vita game 2048. This is the first time 2048 has been ported to a home console, with a smooth 60fps frame rate that blows away the original release, and higher quality models and textures. The whole package is presented in 1080p 60fps, with none of the screen tearing that was present in the original PS3 release, and with higher clarity even without taking into account the stunning 4K presentation on the PS4 Pro. The game is challenging, and can be unforgiving, but is incredibly satisfying to play and conquer. There are three meaty campaigns on offer, as well as a full online component. At $40 this package is absolutely a steal.
Logan is an excellent film, even outside of the comic book "genre". It works as an action drama, with a bit of western elements. It's adult, in content, and execution. It's not adult because of nudity and violence, but because of the heaviness of the plot, and the way the film isn't afraid to slow down to let it's characters breathe and contemplate. The blu-ray is excellent, with a decent amount of special features, and the Noir version of the film, presented in black and white, which works surprisingly well and is effective. I hope we get to see superhero movies continue to explore varied avenues like this, and breathe variety, diversity, and art into these characters and franchises.