TMNT Marathon: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003): Ow, the edge

Gritty, realistic, anime like in style. Three things you wouldn't associate with something like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles would you? An argument could be made on those first two and the movies, but that would depend on if a Michael Bay movie matches the description of the word "realistic". I will give him this, his version of realistic is better than some video game definitions. From the late 80's to the early 2000's, allow me to look back at the series that got me into the Turtles originally with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2003... and here I thought Transformers was bad with reusing the name "Robots in Disguise".

To get into some backstory here, while I once owned these episodes as a child, I have not seen them since watching next weeks review subject when it was in cinemas. While vague memories did clear up, they were vague enough for me to basically be going into these blind.

Emerald Test

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzgYqz0gXNs

We are looking into getting into LP's again, so don't expect this to be the last test.

Mediaholics Podcast Episode 13: 2017, The Year That Was

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sT_Mq81KfHw

Something far simpler this time, and as the length suggests, we do get more and more exhausted as the recording goes on.

TMNT Marathon: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987): Yikes, this has not aged well

And already from that title, some will see it as going from insulting one original generation of fans to another. Well, let's just hope that some will actually let me explain myself. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, something that continues to linger around in pop culture, and one that will try everything it can to get your money, even if it makes absolutely no sense for it too. No joke, I've seen TMNT Transformers, and some of those old toy commercials for them make you go "what were they smoking when they designed that?". I won't lie, I was into the Turtles as a kid, not from this series, but from the next one in the Marathon because funnily enough, in research for this marathon, there haven't actually been many different TV shows, just that those shows last a really long time. With the turtles joining the roster in Injustice 2 soon, let's see how they've faired over the years, starting with the original series. And before anyone asks, no, I'm not reviewing the Bay Movies in this marathon.

How Would I Fix: Live Action Transformers Movies (Bayformers) Part 3: Cinematic Universe ideas

I hope everyone has been enjoying the holidays, regardless of if you celebrate it, and what you celebrate.

While this further stretches the definition of Bayformers, though at this point some people are probably just looking at the title of the post, thinking I'm insane and moving on... They're partially right, at least for that insane part. This post looks more at story ideas that could work well for in a Live Action aesthetic, and tweaks that could be made to bring them to the big screen. It'll be going through the Generations one at a time, so with that out of the way.

Generation 1 and Generation 2 (I'm lumping them together): Let's piss off a lot of fans right away, I don't think there's much worth bringing from G1, at least from the show. The problem is that the show was so ingrained in the 80's kids show design mentality that not much of it would work well without having to do massive rewrites to the point where it might be the stories in name only. Take Dark of The Moon which is basically the space bridge arc from the show (I want to say the Season 1 finale based off what I remember off the top of my head, but I could be wrong). If anything, I think the Season 4 episodes (all three of them) would be worth bringing over as I think it could be interesting to do the Nebulos story around the Headmasters and Targetmasters. It could even borrow elements from the Japanese exclusive cartoons to have a mini-series of stories. In terms of the comics though, I think more could come from them, such as Bludgeon, Jihaxus, the Underbay saga (heck for fun I'd like to see them do Ratbat's evil carwash). I will admit that I don't know too much about the G1 and G2 comics (both Marvel US and Marvel UK) as I haven't looked into older comics from most lines (the exception being the old Archie Sonic comics).

Beast Wars: Beast Wars is something that I think could be really interesting to do, just due to the nature of the beasts. There are lots of different ways I could see it brought in. It could be brought in with the Time Travel gimmick of the show, and maybe have that be the justification of the legends of monsters, akin to how the Predacons from Transformers Prime were the reason the legends of Dragons exist in the show. I think it would be funny that the reason the legend of Big Foot exists is Optimus Primal. Another way I could see it is to borrow an element of Cybertron, and have the stories be on the Jungle Planet, turning it into a place for all the Beastformer Transformers. Imagine Cybertron Scourge being aligned with the Beast Wars Predacons as an example. Another way I could also see it happening is if it was brought to Earth in the modern day, adding elements of RID 2001 and maybe doing some actual monster movies with Transformers, rather then the pseudo monster movies the real movies have been so far. This could also be used as an excuse to do Beast Wars versions of other Transformers, such as Starscream as that Basilisk concept from The Last Knight. Beast Machines could also be brought into the story, with the Vehicons being an experiment made by the Predacons to bolster their army, eventually leading to the Transmetal technology.

Beast Machines and RID 2001: See above, I haven't got any ideas for them solo. What I will say though about RID 2001 is that the concept of it (and Rescue Bots), Autobots being common knowledge and don't have to hide in order to save people, can just be a side part of a story once the set up for it is ready.

Armada: With the main exception of the weapon Mini-Cons, I could see most of the Mini-Cons being something more like a commercial product in a Live action universe, the new version of small vehicles like bikes, scooters etc. Some could be used to add versatility to the Transformers akin to the PS2 game, and the Decepticons could be weaponizing the technology. It could even be used for things like the Apex Armour being a Mini-Con weapon.

Energon: The collection of Energon story would only work once (as evident by the fact that Energon is one of the worse entries in the franchise, and it did the "collect Energon to power Unicron" twice. However, turning Prime's Combination Spark into a power of the Enigma of Combination could be good for stories, just as long as they remember who can combine with who. It would be good for keeping things fresh in combat without needing to rely on 5-6 bot combiners, as they could have any of the two bot combiners from the trilogy, or even 3 bot combiners like Rail Racer. Some Autobots and Decepticons could even have "power armor modes", such as Energon Landmine and Bulk Head, or to use the one G1 fans know, Powermaster Prime.

Cybertron: I can easily see the Omega Lock and the Cyber Planet Keys being a multi film arc, though with one big change. I would keep the Jungle Planet, Velocitron and Gigantion planet keys where they are, but move Earth's key to Caminus, if not tying the planet keys to the Titans, so that there are 13 Planet keys, each with a power either tied to the Titan, or tied to the planet. Such as a key from Necrotitan allowing for resurection of the dead, or the Gigantion key able to make things grow or shrink. Combined with the Omega Lock, the keys would give an ultimate power to anyone who weilded the weapon. If anyone is wondering, yes this is inspired by the Infinity Gauntlet and the Infinity Gems.

Animated: While in terms of story ideas, there's not much I'd take from Animated. I would however take characters, such as Blitzwing's split personalities, Lugnut, Lockdown and Sari. Bulk Head would be a combo of his Prime and Energon incarnations.

IDW: A lot of stories from IDW I'd like to see in the Live action style, such as Last Stand of the Wreckers (as teased in the first post) and Dark Cybertron. In terms of characters, the Decepticon Justice Division would make for a great series of villains for a story, and remember that arc based on the Omega Lock I mentioned before? Well, I'd personally do that story not with Megatron as the villain, but Nova Prime, with the goal to use the Lock to make him stronger then a god, using the Dead Universe as his personal prison. To those wondering why I didn't bring up Dreamwave, well its the same as the Marvel comics.

Prime: I've got nothing more to add from Prime that hasn't been addressed in other paragraphs. It would be cool for the Decepticons to use the Nemesis as an aerial base in a story, and I would use that incarnation of Shockwave for stories as it could be cool if he was the one that opened a gate to a Live Action Shattered Glass universe, or was the one who freed Nova Prime from the Dead Universe.

RID 2015: Mainly as a side story at first, though maybe as a main story later, the idea of an Autobot team trying to capture Decepticons would be a nice idea. Maybe lead by Sentinel Prime who in this timeline would be an Autobot enforcer, capturing Decepticons causing trouble for other planets. It could be a way to use the DJD for a main story, as both see the other as getting in their way.

War For Cybertron/ Fall of Cybertron: Aside from acting as a good base for the stories of the war, one idea that I admit I'm tweaking from a post I saw on Facebook (If you read this sir and want your work shared, please let me know and I will edit this page), based around the idea of two seperate Autobot factions. Optimus's faction, and while the original had Ultra Magnus as the more war driven leader, I'd rather use Zeta Prime, who would survive the war, but would see both the Decepticons and Optimus's Autobots as an enemy, leading to an Autobot v Autobot battle.

Ok. I think I've the general points covered now. If anyone would like to see a full pitch for any of these ideas, let me know and I'll come back to this topic. For now though, the year is almost done, plans are underway to do a Podcast looking back on 2017, but if that doesn't happen next week, then I'll be starting a new marathon. Not on robots, but of another franchise I was into as a kid, but didn't stick with me. Keep an eye out for either the 2017 Podcast, or the start of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles marathon with the 8

How Would I Fix: Live Action Transformers Movies (Bayformers) Part 2: A clean slate

Encase you missed last week's post, you can find it here: https://mediaholicreviews.blogspot.com.au/2017/12/how-would-i-fix-live-action.html

Very quickly, before beginning, while I will not go into spoilers, I have seen The Last Jedi and my personal views around the controversies it has been causing in the Star Wars community is really petty. Looking at the larger picture, I'm personally fine with the issues people have with it after a single view and thinking back on it. That view might change when I go to review it though, which I'll try to do as soon as the DVD gets released.

While it is all well and good to try and fix, course correct, take something into a new direction and more, many people believe that Bayformers is something irredeemable. While I stand by my choice of releasing the post talking about how I'd start to handle it going forward, there's also the flip side of "what if I could give it a clean slate? What if I was in control from the beginning?".

For the sake of a challenge, I'm limiting myself to the movie release schedules of the actual movies, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014 and 2017. As such, I am only using characters and ideas that existed around those times. Original ideas are still fair game, but I can't add in a character like Victorion into Movie 1, she didn't even exist yet. The thing to remember about this though is that hindsight is 20/20, and I am looking at this with the knowledge of the five movies, so these ideas wouldn't be the same as if I was coming at it without that knowledge. And like with the last post, I am keeping in mind that these are for mass audiences, but I still hold to my rule of "if there is an audience for it, its there for a reason, and it'll be your free advertisement", so there will naturally be a combination and balance of the two audiences. Also, like with the last post, this is being done with the visual style of Live action/ CGI (even though I prefer animation). Also I'm using the poster/ DVD art for the actual movies as placeholder images, just to help break up the wall of text.  With those out of the way:

How Would I Fix: Live Action Transformers Movies (Bayformers) Part 1: The current path

If you'll allow me, I want to take a small break from reviews for a few weeks, not to go on leave again, but to write down something that has been clawing at my mind for some time. It should probably not come as a shock to anyone who's been here for a while, I am a Transformers fan. I've watched all the shows (including the Machinima stuff everyone hates, those are for another time), read some of the comics (before I get hate from that, comic books in general are something I've been trying to get myself into), seen the movies, been collecting the toys recently and used to collect them when I was a kid. If there was one franchise that defined my childhood... it would probably be Lego, then Pokemon, and then Transformers though mostly because when I was growing up I was really into robots and machines, its why Thunderbirds also makes that list. However, its pretty safe to say that the live action movies have not gotten a good reputation both in the fandom, and in the film analysis community, with general audiences overall not caring about the details. It's a shame because, like many, I know the IP has potential. As to what kind of potential, well that's something I'd like to test for myself (heck I need to use some of that self taught game design knowledge for something other then a DMCA waiting to happen as a thing for fun).

Inspired by Movie Bob's series, which in turn was inspired by the Whatculture team (almost certain that's right, correct me if I'm wrong), I'm going to try my hand at a "How would I fix" series. What comes out of it going forward? I'm not sure, it'll really depend on any feedback I get from this. At the moment, this is planned for three parts:

• Part 1: How would I handle this series in its current state (if I was, for some reason, brought on to direct Transformers 6 and 7, yes this part is two movies)
• Part 2: How would I have handled it if I was in charge from the beginning/ how would I reboot it (ignore the fact that when movie 1 came out in cinemas, I was 11)
• Part 3: Movie ideas that would work in either timeline

While this is going to come into play more next week, I will set one ground rule, while creating new ideas is on the table, if an idea is being borrowed from the source material, it has to have existed at the time (for example, no Windblade in Movie 1). What is however in play is visual style. These are being designed with Live Action and Live Action CGI in mind, none of these would be fully animated, though considering the subject matters later on, there might need to be a lot of Live Action CGI. With that out of the way, let's begin.

So with this following on from The Last Knight, let's first establish what is in play, and who can be in play. The last movie teased that Unicron would play a big role in the movie, which means that by the end of this post, Unicron has to have been dealt with in some form. A lot of major Decepticons are dead, though thankfully there's still room to grow. For this though, I am assuming that all the Autobots in The Last Knight survived, because to be honest I don't care enough to rewatch that movie to find out, and that the only two survivors on the Decepticons were Megatron and Barricade. To get the ball rolling, every movie needs a plot, and what I've come up with is as follows.

Earth is right now in a state of chaos. Government bodies have stood down their Anti-Transformer policies and defense divisions due to the looming nature of what is below their feet. With the cities in chaos, the Autobots have begun preparations for a planetary evacuation, using their technology to rapidly increase the nations' individual space programs. With the assistance of the Knights of Cybertron, Cade, Viviane and Cogman believe they may have found structures on Cybertron that could have survived the chaos the planet has gone through in recent years, and have traveled to the dead planet to look for them.

Meanwhile, on a defensive front, Optimus Prime and Megatron have agreed to unite their forces, including recent arrivals to Earth, to counter the threat. Taking a team made up of the strongest Autobots and Decepticons available to them, Optimus Prime and Megatron travel to the planet's core to try and stop Unicron from awakening. Before departure though, Megatron orders a Decepticon flier to travel with Barricade to the old Decepticon base on Mars and prepare it for the fight should they fail (something we won't see until the post credits of the movie).

The idea for movie 6 is to give more of a build up to Unicron's arrival, adding weight to it by showing how unprepaied everyone was, splitting the teams up to each prepare for the chaos. But, I hear you ask, what are those teams? Well:

• Team to Cybertron: Cade, Viviane, Cogman, Bumblebee, Drift, Hound and Crosshairs. Their goal, to awaken the dormant Cybertronian cities, the Titans, along with any usable ships, to help with evacuation and (eventually), heavy fire power against Unicron
• Team on Earth: Perceptor, Hot Spot, Blades, Streetwise, Rook, First Aid, along with several, unnamed Transformers. Tasked with the evacuation of the continents
• Team in the core: Optimus Prime, Hot Rod, Megatron, Silverbolt and the Arialbots (which would be unnamed in this movie), Motormaster and the Stunticons (which would be unnamed), Six Shot, Quick Switch and Springer. Tasked with trying to stop Unicron from awakening, and would be fighting constructs of Unicron the further they traveled
• Team on Mars: Skywarp and Barricade: Tasked with reactivating the ship, which is in reality Trypticon. Yes, the post credits scene is dedicated to awakening the first Decepticon Titan (that anyone actually cares about).

Now transformers fans would know I named three combiner teams there, the Aerialbots, the Stunticons, and the Protectorbots, and yes its because some of those are going where you think they're going. Superion and Menasor would form in this movie, though I wouldn't form Defensor, simply due to the nature of the missions. Granted this is very Autobot heavy, mostly due to the fact that its almost a given there will be Decepticon drones of some form, a lot of the Decepticons I had in mind for this would work better later on, so expect some of those stories in movie 3. As for the Dinobots, sadly to many, the movies don't care enough about them which is why I've ignored them here. However, doing some research, I have something in mind related to them for part 3.

So, onto Movie 7. With the assumption that the events of Last Knight and Movie 6 have happened several months apart, and Movie 7 directly following on from Movie 6, the transformers have managed to evacuate the human population from Earth. I know that sounds like several leaps in logic, but I have to ask you, has anything in these movies made any logical sense? At least this one you could use the arguement of the Governments actually doing something with all that Transformer knowledge accumulated over a decade and a bit. Moving on, the humans are on Mars, Metroplex, Fortress Maximus and Trypticon, each in their battle modes, have moved into position outside of Earth's orbit. Cade, Viviane, Cogman, Bumblebee, Drift, Hound and Crosshairs. are onboard Metroplex alongside Six Gun, Slammer, Scamper, a small team of Autobots tasked with the protection of Metroplex. Onboard Fortress Maximus is the Earth Evacuation team along with Cerebros and Cog, two (though secretly four) Autobots tasked with the protection of Fortress Maximus. Skywarp and Barricade pilot Trypticon along with Wipe-Out, Full-Tilt, Necro (who wouldn't be a headmaster this time) and Brunt, who were the guards of the Decepticon Base, due to the fact that it was still making Protoforms.

As for the team in the planet's core, they are currently trapped inside Unicron and must find four ancient Cybertronian Weapons inside of it as it is transforming. Yes, the reason why I held him back, is because I want to do something I doubt the movies will actually do, and transform Unicron into his robot mode. As for the weapons they need to find, because I personally need to squeeze some post G1 in here somewhere, the Energon Saber and Chaos Saber (I want to save the name Star Saber for, we Star Saber), the Requium Blaster, and the Skyboom shield, four weapons said to have been placed onto Unicron by Primus should he ever be awakened again, though due to the transformation, are now inside him. From there the movie becomes one half space battle, one half land battle/ Scavenger Hunt as the Autobots and Decepticons battle to defeat Unicron. The day is eventually won, Unicron's body returns to planet mode as his spark is believed destroyed. The reconstruction begins once the humans return to the planet, now having to remake the world due to the changes caused from Unicron (I'm leaning towards continent mass changing in some way), the weapons break to reveal themselves as Mini Cons before scattering themselves to the universe. Credits roll, mid credits scene, Fortress Maximus and Metroplex are in city form acting as a centralized point to help with the rebuilding efforts. Some Autobots depart earth now that the mission is done to return to tasks they were doing before, including Springer and Perceptor, who say they are gathering a team to handle a situation on Garrus-9 (hint hint for part 3). Post credits scene: Unicron's spark finds its way to a dead planet, fusing itself with it, the planet begins to cyberform into a far more familiar planet look. Drained of Energon, the new planet breaks free of its orbit, and begins to travel the universe for planets to feed on.

While I'm not one for handling casting, as that would depend on what happens to the pitch, those would be the story ideas I'd put forward as a semi course correction, and better set up other movies going forward. For next week, we go back in time to see what I'd have done if I was in charge from day 1.

Mediaholics Review: Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon

This video was 25 Video and Audio channels, took 15 hours to render, and at least 10 hours to upload (if this was 720p, this would have been 24 hours to upload). I genuinely didn't have the time to fix the mistakes. Lesson learned though, DON'T MAKE SOMETHING THIS COMPLEX AGAIN, ON A LAPTOP!

Sonic Forces: Apparently I am doing this alone

Relax, I'm not going to compare it to Super Mario Odyssey. Too many others have, I want to be somewhat original here.

Well, time to see if my thoughts on the game are still as high as they were when it was announced, huh? Back in that awful livestream when Sonic Mania was announced, Sonic Forces was also teased, and I remember saying I was looking forward to it (proof of that being in the Podcast episode with Marcus talking about the event). As time went on though, that excitement was quickly draining. The first big sign was how much of a promotion Mania was getting by comparison, and even after Mania was released, the promotion never really seemed to be there for Forces. In fact, I wasn't seeing any excitement for the game aside from the memes with the Avatar, and the cross promotion with Hooters of all things (I still don't get that either). If anything, most of what I was was negativity and hate, at least from what I saw. Is it really worth it now that the game's out? Well...

To start with the plot and, I know this is going to sound weird, but while the story is awful, the writing is solid overall with some great lines. The overall story is garbage and one of the worst Sonic stories because the tone is all over the place. What do you think of when you get a story that's about a rising revolution to take back the world from evil? Was your answer "anthropromorphic animals saying cheesy one liners that kill the grim tone the story is trying to do"? No? Well too bad as that's what's here. While that isn't a bad thing, as the character writing is some of the best the series has ever had, it just doesn't work in this setting at all. Sonic and co are on point with great writing in their dialogue, but that can lead to bad payoffs. For example, the little promotional material given was trying to build up Infinite as something mysterious. Wanna know his backstory? He was a hired thug that Shadow beat up and got pissed off. "Sonic was being tortured for six months", yet has Sonic act like nothing ever happens once we see him again. Heck, you know how the game was promoting the return of Metal Sonic, Chaos 0 and Shadow as villains along with that red guy for Sonic Lost World? Well, Chaos 0 and Shadow are beaten up in cutscenes, you only fight Metal Sonic, Infinite, Eggman and that reg guy from Lost World. It feels underwhelming by every stretch of the imagination due to the shifting tone.

In terms of gameplay, while I had fun with the levels overall (oh primus that Casino Level as Classic Sonic is awful), it still felt unrewarding, like the levels are just hitting their stride once they end. A lot of the Metropolis (no not that one) levels are really fun to play through along with the ones on the Death Egg for Modern Sonic and the Avatar, but I don't get the satisfaction from them that I got from something like Rooftop Run, Empire City, Starlight Carnival, and more, and that's with all the collectibles as a large chunk of the red rings I was finding without even trying, though there was an unhealthy mix of "ok, how the hell was I supposed to think to do that?" to get them. In terms of a gamplay break up. Classic Sonic and Modern Sonic do still play almost as they did in Generations. However there are some control changes (why is jump and homing attack mapped to the B button?!) and Classic sonic actually feels worse to play here then he does in Generations. I don't know if that's the level design, or an engine change, but I can't even say "No, he doesn't have the same "physics", but he's still playable" because he feels clunky and in levels like "Not Casino Night", I get genuinely angry at the game because I know Pinball physics (I like playing Pinball games ok?), and that felt awful. Shadow plays close enough to Modern Sonic that I think there should be a Shadow mode in boost formula going forward, as for the Avatar, like the Werehog, it was fun, but not needed.

The Avatar plays as a Modern Sonic without the boost and a few extra tricks. Which is fine as the new tricks lead to some interesting level design. The Grapple acts as both your homing attack and a way to use grapple points which sometimes leads you to new paths, while the Whispons let you use Whisps to attack and provide ways to get to new paths and secrets, along with new ways to defeat enemies. Only problem is that there's little reason to swap the weapon around. I just stuck with the Electric Whispon unless I needed to swap. The Character Customization is also solid with lots of combinations, but I found one specific limitation (combining chest and back as just "Body", meaning I couldn't wear a shirt and a backpack as an example) annoying while the UI quickly became a mess. There were times where I wanted to see the brand new stuff I got to quickly add, but lost the item in the mess of gear. I personally didn't notice if there was a way to sort gear into "new acquisitions" either which didn't help. Honestly the only reason why I think the Avatar isn't needed is the Avatar itself. I'd have preferred the gameplay be given to a character with a personality, like Tails. I can say that with some certainty because the Modern Sonic and Avatar levels just scream "Modern Sonic and Modern Tails gameplay".

Presentation is another mixed bag honestly. Visually, the game looks great on the surface, but some individual animations look really stiff, and these animations aren't easy to miss either. Worst offender for me is Shadow in the scene where the two armies clash. Soundtrack is a similar situation where some are good, but nothing's great, and even Fist Bump is just kinda "ehh" at best (I really hate the way its structured honestly). To be honest, overall the soundtrack felt like white noise. It was there, but it just there, it never stood out. I'm listening to the soundtrack as I write this and even on its own, it doesn't stand out, and I wish I didn't have to say that about a Sonic soundtrack.

 In fact, "ehh: is probably the best way to describe the experience overall to be honest. Nothing absolutely stands out, what good bits are in the game finish too soon, and the bad bits are abundant. Forces is not the worst Sonic game. Nowhere close to 06 or Boom. However it is the worst boost formula Sonic game beyond a shadow of a doubt and it shows the biggest problem plaguing Sonic Team right now, a lack of trust in their ideas. While I'm not going to compare the game to Odyssey. I will compare it to Mania. When you break down the differences

Sonic Mania: 2D game that plays like the original games with new levels and older levels getting new geometry, with a story akin to the older games where its there, but not the center of attention.

Sonic Forces: 3D game that plays like Unleashed with the 2D gameplay of Generations, and a avatar that's a watered down of the main 3D gameplay with extra gimmicks, and Shadow who's another slightly watered down of the core 3D game, with a story that feels more like a focus, but with nothing making it crucial to the game.

Notice how Forces sounds more complicated, more scrambled? There's no focus because instead of sticking to one idea, and designing ideas that compliment that one idea, they just threw everything in and hoped for the best. And it didn't work. At all. I get that a part of why this game feels rushed was the development of the new engine. But at the same time I don't see that as an excuse, because Unleashed was the debut of a new engine and that game felt complete, like it wasn't rushed at all. Here, they had to patch in Super Sonic, and even then he's still unobtainable in the game. If the engine was going to take that long to make, why not start making the levels in the old engine and then port them to the new engine to finish them? When a game four years in development still feels rushed, there's a big problem. From where I sit, Sonic Team needs fresh blood, and a focus. I don't care what that focus is. But Sonic needs to find something to stick to, to refine, to improve. Sonic needs an identity in the 3D space, or at least an identity at all. I don't want 3D development on Sonic to stop, but it does feel like a possibility based on how well Mania did, and how badly Forces is doing by comparison. Now, while myself and Marissa play Pokemon Ultra Moon (neither of us started playing Ultra Sun...), some smaller projects in the meantime. Such as Machinima's Combiner Wars, because I'll cash in on that Titans Return cross promo.

Super Mario Odyssey: Time to go off the rails

Before anyone asks, I'll come back to Gumball, its just that I've been more focused on Odyssey. Sorry.

This year's been a pretty good year for platformers, hasn't it, and it was tied off with the tease that was Super Mario Odyssey. A return to the style Super Mario 64 helped pioneer, featuring a world adventure (am I the only one who's going to say that it ripped of Sonic Unleashed in that area?), and sporting an earworm of a song that got people excited from the moment it was announced. But, now that its released, while it has gotten an overwhelming amount of praise, its also gotten the "oh its been praised to much, everyone's lying" treatment too. So what do I think of it then? Forewarn, spoilers ahead.

Starting with the story, its a very, very, very slight variation on the usual Mario story, in that Bowser wants to marry Peach, and enlisted the help of five rabbits (one of whom could seriously go for either a diet or a new wardrobe because that dress does not look good on her), to plan the wedding by stealing priceless artifacts and treasures from many kingdoms all over the planet, so its up to Mario and newcomer Cappy (who's trying to save his sister Tiara who Bowser also kidnapped, remember, this is the Mario series, almost every time there's a problem, its because Bowser kidnapped someone or stole something, or a combination of the two). With a goal in place, and a ship to captain, it is up to Mario to crash Bowser's party. This honestly, for me at least, is the weakest part of the game. I don't know, I guess I was just hoping for something more. It does what it needs to do, and there are moments in the story that are great to see (seriously, who gave Bowser a dragon?!). The story gets you from kingdom to kingdom, but there's a part of me who wants more then just "it'll do".

Especially when the rest of the game seems to go above and beyond to entertain. Throughout the entire game I was enjoying every single moment, and like many, I had a smile on my face. It was fun to go through each of the kingdoms, and none of them (so far, I'm still going through post game), have overstayed their welcome. Thinking back, the two times I got genuinely annoyed with the game was a moment in Tostarena, where I couldn't get the Jexi to spawn at the ruins (until I went back to the village and there it was) and the Seaside Kingdom boss, because I wasn't a fan of the enemy you had to Capture in order to fight it. Granted, that was 5 moons out of the over 400 I have now, not even 1% of the moons in the game. That being said, I've heard horror stories about some specific moons, so it is likely that number will change. On the subject of the Power Moons though, they are everywhere in this game. On the one hand, their over abundance does make it easy to say to yourself "just one more moon", but on the other hand, I would have personally preferred less Power Moons, but all of them would have been more rewarding then just "ground pound here, go here to see it floating there to tease you, catch the bird, get to this female Goomba" and so on. To compare it to Super Mario 64, while there are far, far, FAR less Power Stars in that game (even the version I own, SM64 DS with 150 power stars), all the stars in it feel more rewarding to get. It is however a case of "to each their own".

To go into the presentation. I almost cannot fault it. At all. I've looked hard trying to find something, anything I have a genuine issue with, but almost nothing. Visually the game looks amazing, in every sense of the word. The kingdoms look gorgeous and so distinct from one another that they all stand out. From the rolling hills of Tostarena, to the giant skyscrapers of New Donk City, to the crystal clear waters of Bubblaine. Heck, even Bowser's Kingdom looks distinct from many of his other castles, going for a traditional Japanese theme to the aesthetics which looks and sounds amazing. The music itself is an absolute delight to listen to, and is up there as one of the best soundtracks I've heard this year alongside Sonic Mania and Splatoon 2. I love this soundtrack that much. While I don't like some of the individual songs, what ones I like, I love. Jump Up Superstar, the Sand Kingdom ruins, Lake Lamode's serenity, the Jazz of New Donk City, I could go on here with examples of how good this soundtrack is. The only fault I have with the presentation is that some of the Mario enemies feel a bit out of place in some of the kingdoms, but even then that's me reaching hard for something to say against the presentation.

I'm genuinely surprised this came out this year, considering as the system launched with Breath of the Wild, this could have easily waited until next year as it is another game of that caliber. It's such an adrenaline rush for the franchise because, while realistically, not much is different in aesthetics. A lot of these have been seen before in Mario in generic forms, the level of charm here is a delight and helps me ignore the fact that I'm in another desert themed level, or another beach, or another Bowser's Kingdom, as different as they may be to predecessors. While to many, it doesn't have the charm of Super Mario 64 (because that charm is just nostalgia), to me its not something to knock the game down for, because its not Odyssey's fault that people have been playing Mario games for decades. If you were on the fence about getting a Switch, this should be enough of a push to get it. From one platformer to another, I'll next be going to Sonic Forces, and no it won't be a video... let's just say Marcus hasn't seen the reports on the game I've been giving to him privately as a reason to go get the game.