Opinion Piece: Super Smash Brothers Ultimate, and the talk on Echo fighters

Ever since its reveal in E3 a few weeks ago (at time of writing), the Smash community has been set ablaze with the news of a new game, and the chances of new characters to come. While I could do a list on new fighters I want to see, there isn't really anything I could add to previous posts I've done on the matter, so just look at those, they should all be tagged with Smash bros like this post (if I did my job right, there have been times where I forgot to add tags to posts). Instead, I'm going to focus on the topic a lot of people are talking about, Echo Fighters, the "clones without being clones" coming to Ultimate. Because I hate myself, instead of going through and listing just characters I want to see, I'm going to go through every single character coming to the game (as of 29/6/2018), and see what they could get as an Echo fighter, or as a costume (bear in mind I haven't seen everything that came from E3, including all the individual off-screen recordings of gameplay so I don't know what all the costumes are going to be). I'll also be tackling some Echo Fighter ideas I've seen others talk about, and giving my views on them now that I've had time to think about them. This order is going to be the same order as what's on the site by default and does leave out confirmed Echo Fighters (Daisy, Lucina, Dark Pit), we do not need Echos of Echos. So come into this inevitable flame war I'll be entering, share your views on the list, just try and keep things civil (I know these posts don't get comments often, I share them to other sites that do). These aren't going to be overly detailed, just due to the fact that there are 62 characters to go into.

Due to the length of the post, the only images I've included are the official renders for the characters in the game, as an easy way to find a character you really want to know about. For more information on the extra characters I talk about, I recommend looking up their information on your own accord, as you might find something new and interesting to play if you like the sound of them.

1. Mario

It sucks that I have to start on a boring note, because the more I think about it, the more I don't see Mario getting an Echo fighter. The two I've heard thrown around the most are Fire Mario (because apparently that outfit's missing from Mario's alt costumes), and Paper Mario. To get the easy one out of the way first, no. Fire Mario's not going to be an Echo for Mario. What could they possibly do for it, especially when the one thing Fire Mario can do, throw fireballs, is in Mario's regular move set? Do I think its weird that those colours are missing from his alternate costumes? Yes, but it's not because he's going to be an Echo fighter.

Paper Mario though... I get it, I get the logic behind it, I get the passion behind it. Fans love the Paper Mario series, and while it would be better than nothing, Paper Mario is such a unique series that I don't think an Echo Fighter would work for the character. Does that mean he's going to get his own move set? I don't know, but I do think its rather unlikely. We already have 8 (according to the site) designated Super Mario representatives, and that's not including all of Bowser Jr.'s alternate costumes, and the franchises loosely connected to Mario being Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Yoshi and Wario. That's the main reason why I'm struggling to see Paper Mario making the cut. Would he be fun to play? Yes, absolutely, and would be a nice representative of the Mario RPG games. I would like to be proven wrong, but for now, I consider him "really unlikely, borderline impossible".

2. Donkey Kong

Donkey Kong's a weird case because there's a fighter I think would likely be his move set, with only one drastic, non-cosmetic change being needed. But at the same time, there's one I would rather see be the Echo fighter, even if it wouldn't make much sense.  Who do I think would be the DK Echo? Funkey Kong. It's the closest match to DK's body so the strong punches would make the most sense, and the Up Special could be changed to incorporate his surfboard, akin to the Switch version of Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze. Who would I rather see as the Echo? Cranky Kong, as he's considered to be the original Donkey Kong from the arcade machines, and it would be nice to have him in the game, see where DK got his skills. The problem is that due to the design of Cranky Kong, it is such a stretch of the imagination that its almost impossible to see this actually becoming a reality. It's a shame really.

3. Link

"Hasn't he got enough clones already?" Though all jokes aside, this is another where I doubt we'll see an Echo of him. Toon Link and Young Link already basically fit that role, it's not needed. The best I could come up with was Dark Link, and that can easily just be a costume.

4. Samus

Finally, one I could actually see as a possibility, so long as the two aren't relegated to Assist Trophies. Either Dark Samus, with the major change being a minor poisoning effect its attacks have thanks to Phazon, or the SA-X from Metroid Fusion, which would not only bring Samus's more iconic Super Metroid/ Metroid Prime look back, but could easily have a Final Smash being a Power Bomb. No one would complain because A. It gets more Metroid representatives into the game and B. both of these are clones of Samus anyway, it fits their character portrayals in Metroid Prime 2 and 3 for Dark Samus, and Metroid Fusion for the SA-X.

5. Yoshi

A lot of people say that this is the way to bring in Birdo, but by the looks of it (I haven't spent a lot of time in Mario 2 USA), there are too many differences to be considered as a potential clone. What makes it worse is that any Yoshi clone one could think of... is just another Yoshi. Maybe Yarn Yoshi? Have the eggs replaced with yarn balls that could have a catching effect to stun enemies? That's the best I've got at least.

6. Kirby

Aside from the fact that Kirby has the same problem as Yoshi, Kirby's already hard enough to develop thanks to the copy ability. We don't need a Kirby clone. That being said, Bandanna Dee as a unique playable character I'd be all for, and a thing as innocent and pure as Bandanna Dee should not be relegated to an Echo fighter. Stop trying to force it to be one you monsters!

7. Fox

You know that joke I said about Link? The same thing applies here. I could see James McCloud as an alternate costume for Fox though... granted, there'd need to be some work done so that he doesn't just look like Fox with Pilot Sunglasses (I forget the name of that type of Sunglasses). Just, please, don't use that model from F-Zero GX.

8. Pikachu

This could honestly go to any of the Pikachu clones Game Freak has ever made (except Mimikyu). However, why not use the ones that might have almost gotten into Brawl, assuming those file names are accurate. Plusle and Minum. This would be one of those "Kinda sorta Echo fighters" like Dr Mario, Young/ Toon Link, etc as while they could have Pikachu's move set, the individual damage output would be halved and the two would play like Ice Climbers. Plus the Final Smash could be them using Helping Hand on a Legendary Electric Type Pokemon for a supercharged Thunder. You can't deny that it wouldn't be cool.

9. Luigi

The main one I've been hearing for Luigi is Mr L, a persona he adopted in Super Paper Mario thanks to being brainwashed by, I wanna say the main villain? I haven't played Super Paper Mario yet. However, that statement should give away my views on Mr L, in that I think he works better as a costume for Luigi rather than an Echo of Luigi. It should be said though that for any of these costume ideas that are alternate characters, I personally view them in the same way as Alph for Olimar, and the Koopalings for Bowser Jr, and that they have a unique announcer sound effect for them saying their names, Mr L being one of them.

10. Ness

You can thank CJ for help on this one as... well you saw what I was able to do in Earthbound... Anyway, for both Ness and Lucas's Echo fighter (and at least one other I'll get to later). To make this work, swap the roles, have Ness as the Final Smash assist for... Paula.

11. Captain Falcon

The only character I could think of that isn't Samurai Goroh is Black Shadow, though the problem is that I don't know what could change about him to be an Echo, so I'm personally leaning closer and closer to an alternate costume. That's the problem with racing games as the source material for a fighter.

12. Jigglypuff

While I didn't say the obvious one for Pikachu, I will say the obvious one for Jigglypuff: Wigglytuff. Why? Because I'm a fan of the Mystery Dungeon series, and the Guildmaster deserves a place. There could be a few tweaks to the move set to make it more unique then just a bigger Jigglypuff, but I do think Wigglytuff has a place, especially if one of the taunts is it dancing with an apple on its head!

13. Peach

While Peach does already have an Echo in the form of Daisy, there is one other character I think could work with some tweaks to her move set. Yes, she's already in the game, but that didn't stop Toon Link in the Spirit Tracks stage. Of course, I speak of Pauline. The only problem is that she'll need quite a bit more work then a new head and a colour swap, but I think its entirely possible, especially if you draw inspiration from the items you could get in the original Donkey Kong.

14. Bowser

No Echo, just a costume. In this case, Dry Bowser. Not much more to say really.

15. Ice Climbers

I kinda blew this one already with Plusle and Minum, but the thing is that I don't know an Echo idea for the Ice Climbers. It doesn't help that they haven't had a game since the NES, but their move set is so unique that the only thing I can think of is "What if *insert character here* played like the Ice Climbers".

16. Shiek

The main character I could say for Shiek's Echo, Impa, I don't feel I could say anymore because of Hyrule Warriors. I don't want the main series Impa now, I want Hyrule Warriors Impa with the Giant Blade. That being said, could they use Shiek's moves on other ninja characters? They could, there isn't much about Shiek's move set that's unique to Shiek, there just no longer a Zelda character that could be her Echo. On the subject of Impa though, can we have either HW Impa or Lana? Those two basically design themselves!

17. Zelda

A lot of people call for Hilda, seeing as this is based on her Link to the Past/ Link Between Worlds design, but there is one that could work just as well, just with a darker tone for her moves. Twili Midna. It would be a nice way to get Midna playable, as Twili Midna is her true form. Change a few models, make a new Final Smash, give some new taunts, you're basically set.

18. Dr Mario

Another "No Echo, just costume", but I could see Dr Luigi as a costume for Dr Mario. Most of the work's already done as you can just merge the Dr Mario assets with Luigi.

19. Pichu

Considering as Pichu is already kind of a clone of Pikachu, there's not much to say. I will, however, say that one of its costumes should be the Ukulele Pichu from Pokemon Ranger: Guardian Signs.

20. Falco

Falco is to Fox what Pichu is to Pikachu, and not worth going into. Feel free to consider this as an "I've got nothing"

21. Marth

We already have Lucina.

22. Young Link

The only thing I really have to say about Young Link is that I wish he had the Majora's Mask shield. Look, it's hard thinking of Echo fighters for fighters that are basically Echo fighters of someone else, why do you think I left off the explicit Echo fighters like Daisy and Lucina!

23. Ganondorf

Refer back to the second sentence in number 22. Would be nice to see alternate costumes based on his other reincarnations though (Wind Waker for example).

24. Mewtwo

There aren't too many Pokemon that could fit the role Mewtwo has in Smash without excessive reworking... but there is one that could work, but would need a lot of new animations and models. That pokemon being? Deoxys. They could even incorporate the different forms for animations. Normal forme for regular attacks and movement, Atack forme for Special, Smash and Final Smash moves, Defense forme for shield and grab, Speed forme for recovery. As for the Final Smash? Psycho Boost, Deoxys's signature move.

25. Roy

I do not want this character because of one thing related to the Fire Emblem franchise. But, to be fair, there is an Echo for Roy that would work. Eliwood, Roy's father from FE6 and FE7. Why do I not want him? As an extension and refining of the "2 many swords users!!" argument, I would like to see any more FE representatives that make it into Smash either have more distinct variety like Robin and Corrin or even better, use different weapons from FE's weapon triangle. I would like to see an Axe user, a Lance user, a pure dragon stone user maybe? There's more variety than just sword users!

26. Mr Game and Watch

As a character that represents all of the Game and Watch games, there's no real room to make an Echo of him unless you wanted to incorporate other games, in which case you're making a new fighter.

27. Meta Knight

A lot of the Echo fighter ideas I've seen for Meta Knight's Echo (being Galacta Knight, Dark Meta Knight, Morpho Knight and Blade Knight) I can't see going anywhere further than a proper costume for Meta Knight. Galacta Knight has the best chance thanks to the fact that he has a Lance and a Shield, but Sakurai has gone on record saying that he doesn't want to overexpose his franchise so I doubt we'll be seeing him. Would be cool though and worse case scenario, alt character costumes for Meta Knight.

28. Pit

We already have Pitoo.

29. Zero Suit Samus

The only character I could think of that could be a Zero Suit Samus Echo is Gandrayda, a bounty hunter from Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. However considering her ability to shapeshift, I'd rather her as a unique fighter, there are more possibilities for her than just an Echo. There's no one really like Samus without her power armour though so it's a bit of a no-win situation.

30. Wario

Take away the farting powers, and I could see Mona being an interesting Echo for Wario, maybe bringing her closer to a "kinda sorta Echo" by incorporating some of her microgames from the Wario Ware series.

31. Snake

Thankfully unlike a lot of the other characters, Snake's easy to find Echos for. Why? Because This Snake isn't the only Snake. Not to mention, thanks to how the games are handled, you could take any main character from the Metal Gear Solid series, and make them an Echo of Snake. Personally, I'd rather Big Boss... as in the real Big Boss, not Venom Snake... Look, as much as Konami might want to hide it, the MGS series is a series made by Kojima, which means its absolutely insane at times and to explain what the difference is between those two, or how all these characters are connected would take as long as me trying to explain the plot of Kingdom Hearts. Before I move onto Ike though. Give Snake his MGS 1 look (I expect it to be straight from the PS1!), and Old Snake looks from MGS4. If Big Boss is an Echo, Naked Snake look from MGS 3 as an alt!

32. Ike

A lot of people want Chrom as an Echo of Ike. It's something I heard back when 4 was dominating my news feed, and its something I'm hearing now. What I said about Roy and Eliwood applies here, and even more so because we don't need another Fire Emblem Awakening representative, let alone another sword user when there are plenty of other weapons.

33. Red... I mean "Pokemon Trainer"

With Leaf... Sorry "Female Pokemon Trainer"... actually no I'm going to call them Red and Leaf. Back on point, Leaf is in the game already, there's not much of a point to them getting an Echo. However, as with Ice Climbers, their gimmick could work for another trainer with three different pokemon. Do I think we're going to get that? No, I've seen the six alternate colours they're getting. Red gets outfits based on Gold, Lucas and Calem (Gen 2, 4, 6) and Leaf gets outfits based on May's Emerald look, Hilda and Moon's Ultra Sun/ Ultra Moon outfit (Gen 3, 5, 7). Would I like to see more trainers playable? Yes. Give me a playable L.T. Surge with his Voltorb Bazooka from the manga.

34. Diddy Kong

A lot of people call for Dixie Kong as Diddy's alt, the problem is that the two do play very differently in the DKC series, and with Dixie being one of the main Kong's now, she's more fitting of her own spot on the roster with a dedicated move set. Is there an Echo for Diddy? Not that I can think of, no.

35. Lucas

Like with Ness, this requires some shifting of characters. In this case, upgrading Kumatora to a playable with Lucas being in her Final Smash. In talks with CJ though, we both agreed that a newcomer in the form of Duster would be interesting to play as because there are Earthbound characters that don't use PK powers.

36. Sonic

I know I'm going to sound really hypocritical here as I was one of the people (in private) thinking Shadow could get upgraded. He still can, but out of all of the Sonic characters, there are two I'd rather see, either Tails or Blaze. Tails could have a stronger recovery then Sonic thanks to his ability to fly, maybe a stun ability using some of his gadgets in the battle to act as an electrical elemental, and for a Final Smash? What else? his FLICKY ARMY OF DEATH! form Sonic 3 and Knuckles.

As for Blaze, she already plays very similar to Sonic thanks to the Rush games, and the easiest way to distinguish the two? She has fire powers. Ad a burning effect to some of her punches and kicks, and maybe an ability to hover at the cost of a weaker recovery (in terms of height).

37. King Dedede

This one, like Meta Knight, I could see more as a costume option for Dedede instead of a full-blown Echo. Bonkers, the main enemy Kirby gets the Hammer ability in the games and the basis of Dedede's move set in the Kirby games.

38. Olimar

No Echos, but more alternate costumes like Alph for Louie, Brittany and Charlie... Maybe the President too for the fun of it.

39. Lucario

This is one I could see acting more like Pichu, in terms of how close of a clone it is. Encase that wasn't a giveaway though, Riolu. Just replace damage from electric attacks with damage from aura attacks.

40. R.O.B

Sorry R.O.B, no love for you as an Echo. Don't feel sad though, it makes you special, unique (shut up I like R.O.B in the games).

41. Toon Link

See the second line of Young Link.

42. Wolf

See Falco... however, there is an alternate costume that could work for him. Panther Caroso.

43. Villager

Animal Crossing is quite similar to Star Fox in terms of fighting game material, in that the most you can do is make one character and base everyone else around them (Oh shut up Falco and Wolf fans, you know I'm right!). On the plus side, it means picking an Echo fighter is pretty easy because I could throw a dart at a list of Animal Crossing Villagers and get a fighter... So, of course, I'm going to go the easy one and say, Isabelle. Like it or not, she is basically the franchise's mascot now, so if anyone was going to get an invite, it would be her.

44. Mega Man

Who could possibly be the Echo fighter for the Super Fighting Robot? Proto Man? Bass? X? Guts Man? How about someone you could do a lot too, someone who's closer to the Falco, Wolf, Toon Link and the like, giving a Mega Man moves with some more melee options, and potentially using some of the potentially scrapped alternate moves from Smash 4? Who is this heroic robot I speak of? Roll. No, I'm not kidding. Look, everyone's saying Proto Man or X, I wanted to give some variety. Besides, who doesn't like Roll?

45. Wii Fit Trainer

The best I could come up with is reskinning Wii Fit Trainer's move set to have an Echo as Party Phill... no, I don't blame you if you don't know who the heck I'm talking about, he's the announcer in Wii Party and Wii Party U. If you recognize him now, you know where I'm going with this, reskinning WFT's moves for a party theme, and potentially adding music based moves to reference Wii Music? I know I'm reaching here.

46. Rosalina and Luma

In terms of a Mario representative that could work with Rosalina and Luma's move set? I've got nothing. However, I have one idea I'll come back to later on. Hold that thought.

47. Little Mac

With all the potential fighters that could be added in with Little Mac's move set, there's one that a lot of people want to see, and one I agree with. Glass Joe. I would honestly laugh if he was just a worse Little Mac in every way.

48. Greninja

I've got nothing for an Echo, but I do have an idea for an alternate costume. It is now in the games, Ash Greninja. Granted, that could easily be either an alternate costume or a part of Greninja's Final Smash.

49, 50, 51. Mii Fighters

Yes, I am lumping all three of them together for this. No, I have nothing for an Echo of either of them. If they were to make a fourth type of Mii Fighter though, I'd love to see a Spellcaster Mii.

52. Palutena

A lot of people have been saying Viridi should be Palutena's Echo. I personally heavily disagree as I think she has a lot of potential as a unique fighter (Goddess of Nature after all, if you can't make a move set out of that, you have not played enough games with nature magic in them). That being said, if Viridi had to be an Echo fighter to make it into Smash, there is a character that could work better. Remember how I told you to hold on Rosalina and Luma for a bit? Viridi's why. Give Viridi a nature spirit companion, maybe add some extra moves in like a vine for a grab, some extra range as she uses a staff instead of a wand, there's more room for her as an Echo of Rosalina then there is as an Echo of Palutena (however I stand by the fact that she should be a unique fighter first and foremost)

So, if Viridi's Rosalina's Echo, who's Palutena's? Well, this is one I'm kinda surprised no one thought of first, Medusa. Replace the light effects with Darkness, maybe give her a stunning move based on the real-life myths of Medusa. She seems to fit a lot closer to an Echo of Palutena then Viridi does.

53. Pac-Man

You know exactly who I'm going to put here. I just don't think she'd be an Echo, but an alternate costume for Pac-Man. I just don't know how much they could change to make Ms Pac-Man different enough to justify an Echo (yes I am aware of how bad that sounds).

54. Robin

While originally I was going to say "I have nothing for Robin, because again, more variety in Fire emblem reps please", there was one thing I saw that convinced me of this pick. A Facebook reply from a man I'll just call Mathew (for the sake of privacy), detailing how Celica could be a nice Echo for Robin. There would need to be a number of changes made to make her an Echo, as she is more associated with fire magic then thunder, but I could see her as a fire equivalent of Robin, especially because she can use Elwind and Nosferatu (or so I've heard, I really need to play Shadows of Valentia). They could also swap out Robin's durability mechanic for something like Pichu's self-inflicting damage to make it closer resemble Gaiden, the game Shadows of Valentia is a remake of. I take no credit for this one as this was all him. Besides, a Three Houses character probably won't come until DLC (should it exist, I struggle to think of what DLC could add to an already massive game).

55. Shulk

I was given this as a challenge, to come up with an Echo for Shulk. I couldn't think of how to mould Rex and Pyra around Shulk's move set, nor a character from Xenoblade Chronicles X. The best I could come up with? Dunban, the user of the Monado before Shulk. Do I think this has a chance? Not a hope in hell, but it's the best I could come up with just because of how versatile the Monado as a weapon is.

56. Bowser Jr.

The only characters that could be Bowser Jr's move set are already using it, the Koopalings. Maybe Baby Bowser? But I personally feel that would be pointless just because of the Koopalings.

57. Duck Hunt Duo

Before anyone brings it up, that is what they're called in PAL versions of the game (the one I own), that's the name I'm going to call them. I do not want to see comments saying "But they're called Duck Hunt you moron!" On topic though, I've only heard one idea for an Echo for Duck Hunt Duo. Banjo and Kazooie. I do not agree with this, I think it would be a bad representation of the pair. I want to see the two of them in Smash, but not as an Echo of Duck Hunt Duo. That being said, an Echo based on the cat from Nintendogs and Cats would be funny to see.

58. Ryu

Another very, VERY easy one because of how many clones Ryu has in Street Fighter. While I'd like to see the clones as alternate costumes for Ryu, as an Echo? Can we have Guile, please? That might require a bit more work compared to someone like Ken, but still, it would be a nice change of pace.

59. Cloud

I, unfortunately, don't know enough about Final Fantasy to come up with someone as an Echo for Cloud, if it's even possible. I would like to see more Final Fantasy representation, I'm just not the person to ask about who should be the representation.

60. Corrin

If I remember my Fire Emblem Fates lore correctly, then theoretically, any of the siblings could work as an Echo of Corrin. That being said, I don't want to see the sibling, I've seen enough of the siblings. The only other character I could think of is Azura, but she would be better suited as either an Assist trophy or as a unique fighter (I just don't see Fates getting another representative in Smash).

61. Bayonetta

Almost forgot about this one somehow, but thankfully this one's an easy pick, Jeanne, who is basically the same as Bayonetta in terms of combat potential.  Side note, to the people complaining about Bayonetta in Smash, stop calling for her to be nerfed, its more productive to buff everyone else up.

62. Inkling

Another "no shit sherlock" pick for this one, Octoling. Doubt we'll see it though as the Inklings seem to be only based on Splatoon 1, and the Octo Expansion only released a few weeks ago, so if we're not even seeing Splatoon 2 content, what hope is there for Octo Expansion outside of maybe a trophy or two?

63. Ridley

Robo Ridley from Zero Mission? Maybe? Look, I tried my best here, the only Echo that had a chance at all already has the spot it was most likely to get, Meta Ridley as a costume.

And with that, I'm done. All 63 characters, and my best attempts at giving them either an Echo or a character change costume. I am not going to update this the moment a new fighter is announced. If you liked what I saw and want me to do other opinion pieces on Smash in the lead up to Ultimate's release, let me know. For now, I'm going to get to work on the review of Transmetal Optimus Primal for the Toybox.

The Greatest Showman: Ladies and gents, this is the moment you've probably not been waiting for

Like I've said time and time again, if I'm given something on a silver platter, I'll take it.

We've hit a counting down point, haven't we? The number of new, Fox-branded films made by Fox is getting smaller and smaller. Like it or not, we're in a weird time for the movie industry, something like the Fox buyout has never happened before. We might not know for a few more years what the final movie funded and released by them is going to be, movies take a long time to make after all. But one of the movies on that list? A stylized musical pet project based on P.T, Barnum and the creation of the Circus... ok then. Allow me to introduce to you, Ripply's Believe it or Not, the movie... I mean The Greatest Showman. (how many people are going to get that reference?).

Mediaholics Podcast: E3 2018

Late to the party? Maybe, but better late than never (unlike PrE3 this year)

Operation M.A.Y.V.E.L Phase 1; Black Panther: Does no one remember Blade? Luke Cage?

The first black-led Superhero film in the MCU? Fine, I can give you that one, first black lead Superhero in the MCU? That belongs to Luke Cage. First black led superhero film made by Marvel? Blade holds that title. Sorry for that General media outlets and people who simplify media stories. You might want to do some more fact checking first. On a completely unrelated note (honest), "Oh goodie, another film that got a lot of political attention and therefore became a politically charged topic to the point where it feels like I'm going to be put to a firing squad no matter what I say!" How many of these things am I going to get away with? On the plus side, this is one of the safer ones compared to Last Jedi and Ghostbusters 2016. So, let's close off MAYvel for 2018 with the newest Marvel movie to get on DVD, so new in fact that it only came out here last week, throwing off my schedule for June! Ok fine it was one of the reasons for the shakeup...

Operation M.A.Y.V.E.L Phase 1; Thor Ragnarok: WE HAVE A CODE GOLD PEOPLE, I REPEAT, CODE GOLD!

We've got full Goldblum people, this is not a drill, I repeat, this is not a drill!

Also, there are moments in this that are not suitable for younger readers or work. Nothing graphic, just words you might not want to talk about yet. Parents have been warned.

In order to recover from what many believe to be the worst of the Marvel Cinematic Universe so far, it would appear that not only did Thor need to be hacked to the bones, losing his mother, father, his hammer, his eye, half his cape, his friends and his home, but also the Shakespearean style to the Thor movies, and going the complete opposite, a Sci-fi space romp where most of the film is on a junk planet with a little bit of Roman gladiatorial combat. Look, this movie is weird, and its time to take the same drugs Taiko Waititi took when making the film, here's New Doug Ragnarok... I mean Thor Ragnarok.

Operation M.A.Y.V.E.L Phase 1; Spider-Man Homecoming: Yes yes Marvel, very clever name, no one would have ever figured it out,

I don't know if I have the right to talk since this marathon is called MAYvel...

Though you have been getting rather risky with your story ideas. Do you have that much of an ego now that you're willing to put Batman into a Marvel movie while WB still owns the rights? Though to be fair this is the eighth movie with Peter Parker in it, and the third in the MCU (Remember that kid with the Iron Man mask in Iron Man 2? Apparently, that was a very young Peter Parker). Anyway, now that Peter is legally back with Marvel (under shared custody for now), it was only a matter of time before he got his own solo movie, and they did not waste the chance, though they did take every chance they could to separate this movie from the last five solo Spider-Man movies. Did it work though? One way to find out.

Hyrule Warriors Definitive Edition vs. Fire Emblem Warriors (Switch) vs. Hyrule Warriors Legends

As clickbaity as that sounds, that is basically what this post is going to be, it'll be hard not to compare the Switch release of Hyrule Warriors to the last Warriors game released for Switch (outside of the Japan eshop, no I haven't got any of them, I don't have a Japanese account and haven't looked into how to pay for them, but I will admit I am interested in Warriors Orochi 3), and the 3DS version of Hyrule Warriors (along with the WiiU release by extension). I'll try to keep my bias due to buying this game three times now out of the review though.

Instead of my usual format, I'm going to split this review up into categories and compare from there, starting with the Story (you can check my in-depth thoughts on the stories in my previous reviews of the games), putting the two head to head though, its a fifty-fifty split when you factor both the story, and the delivery of said story. Hyrule Warriors wins on story due to the wider variety of characters and locations at its disposal, and while I like the 2D drawing cutscenes, they're still not used often as the game bounces between CG cinematic cutscenes, narration over basically Jpegs, and narration over the animated 2D drawings. I wish they went for something more consistent. Fire Emblem Warriors though, while the longer, not as entertaining of a story does lose to HW (going forward, HW= Hyrule Warriors, HWL= Hyrule Warriors Legends, HWDE=Hyrule Warriors Definitive Edition and FEW= Fire Emblem Warriors), it has the better delivery of the story thanks to sticking to Fire Emblem's way of delivering stories, CG cinematics and emoting character portraits talking with each other. Granted, most of the dialogue (in the main story, History mode is excluded) is forgettable, it's still more interesting than the narration in HW. So... point to both? Maybe more towards FEW because History Mode's story moments are a lot better in execution compared to the main story, even if there are moments like the mission to unlock Male Corrin, where to win over the trust of your brothers and sisters, you have to go to war with them.

On the subject of History Mode, we might as well go into History Mode from FEW vs Adventure Mode in HW. This is another fifty-fifty split as both have their pros and cons. First of all, to get it out of the way, HW's (the WiiU game) Adventure Mode is the worst of the lot, due to forcing all of the content into the one map, making the map more frustrating to navigate through. Legends had the advantage over the WiiU version due to being able to space the content out more, something that HWDE continues with. Now then, while I haven't finished the game (its been three days at the time of writing, and I've been working on all three), you do unlock the ability to play almost all the Adventure Mode maps as soon as you finish the first mission in Legend Mode. The one map missing being the Rewards Map, due to how you unlock missions in it. Each of the maps now has a difficulty marker on them that hints at the difficulty of the map. Adventure and Great Sea are easy, Master Quest and Master Wind Waker are normal, Twilight and Termina are Hard, and Koholint Island, Grand Travels and Lorule are Hero (hardest difficulty in the game). Alongside spacing out the weapons, the hero unlocks have been spaced out too. By default, you have Link, Impa, Shiek, Lana, Zelda, Ganondorf, Darunia, Ruto, Agitha, Midna, Zant, Fi, Girahim, Cia, Volga, Wizro, and Linkle unlocked. I have heard that you can unlock Toon Link, Tetra and (cause I cannot remember how to spell his last name to save my life), the King of Red Lions when you finish the Wind Waker Epilogue in Legend Mode. The remaining unlockables are split up as such

• Adventure: Young Link, Twili Midna, Skull Kid, Tingle (it also looks like you can unlock the remaining Level 1 weapons)
• Great Sea: Medli, Tetra, King Daphnes (along with the Level 2 weapons)
• Master Quest: Level 3 weapons
• Master Wind Waker: Based on the 3DS version, this will have Medli's Level 2, 3, and 4 Weapon
• Twilight: Level 4 weapons for Zelda, Lana, Agitha, Impa, Link, Ganondorf, Midna, Linkle, Zant, and some characters I haven't unlocked yet
• Termina: The remaining Level 4 weapons for the characters unlocked to this point
• Koholint Island: Marin, Linkle's Level 2, 3 and 4 Boots, and 4+ weapons (weapons introduced in HWL's DLC that have the same power as Level 4 weapons, but have two elements tied to them) for unlocked warriors
• Grand Travels: Toon Zelda, Toon Link's Level 2, 3 and 4 Sand Rod, and more Level 4+ weapons
• Lorule: Ravio, Yuga, and the remaining Level 4+ weapon

All of these maps and the Rewards map also have a series of costumes to unlock for all your warriors, fairy companions to find, Heart pieces/ Heart containers to give your characters more health, fairy clothing, fairy food, and Skulltulas which, based on Legend Mode so far, have not changed locations, but may have changed requirements. With the closest square I can get in Adventure Mode that has Skulltulas on it, the second Skulltula mission has had a requirement change from "Do *x* without losing 4 hearts" to "Do *x* without losing 40% of your health" a far easier challenge I assure you, but one I haven't done yet cause I always do Legend Mode before doing Adventure Mode (except to get my first Fairy). If anyone would be interested in a more detailed guide for the Adventure Mode, please let me know and I will get to work on it.

Why do I bring all of this up? It's because HWDE does beat out FEW in terms of this kind of content. While structurally, FEW does have a better way of handling the missions, because backtracking isn't required (although HWDE allows you to purchase item cards now to help minimize backtracking), the rewards you obtain in History Mode are, overall, not interesting. Most of the time you're getting materials needed to make your characters stronger, which in itself isn't as interesting as finding a Heart Container. What weapons you do get in History Mode I personally found almost useless, and only good for quick money. It's the main reason I never felt the need to finish FEW's History Mode. Score's now one each for the two games.

Characters and Movesets: This is another clear win to HW. Excluding the roster size difference, 31 for HWDE (as the Challenge Mode along with the missions where you play as Gannon and a giant Cucco are back) and 32-34 for FEW (depending on if you view the Male and Female variants on Robin and Corrin as alternate characters), the reason why HW has the advantage is in the weapons. Every single weapon type in Hyrule Warriors has a unique playstyle to it, which not only makes every character feel unique, but even unique when compared to themselves if they have two or more weapons. I said it before and I'll say it again, the biggest problem with FEW is the roster. Aside from it not being a strong representation of the entire Fire Emblem Franchise, a lot of characters share movesets with each other, and some of the unit potentials are locked behind DLC. Leo and Elise have the same moveset, Sakura and Takumi have the same moveset, Rowanand Lianna, I believe Chrom and Lucina share a moveset, Hinoka, Cordelia and Caeda feel like they have the same moveset, and I wouldn't be surprised if some of the DLC characters share movesets too. What's a problem as well is that there are not only missing classes from the game entirely, but characters like Oboro and Azura, the ONLY TWO LANCE USERS WHO DON'T HAVE A PEGASUS AND THEREFORE AREN'T ARCHER FODDER, are locked behind DLC. Armored Knights? Nope. More Creature Stone users other then Tiki? Nope. We don't even really have a bruiser Sword user, further making all the sword users feel similar in nature. Yes, some of the weapons in HW are dumb, I won't deny that for a moment, but its a kind of dumb that I welcome because of the sheer lunacy of it. Hate on the Great Fairy as a weapon all you want, your argument is invalidated by the fact that she can AIRDROP MAJORA'S MOON ONTO ENEMIES OVER AND OVER AGAIN! 2-1 for Hyrule Warriors.

Mechanics and controls. This is a clear win to FEW (when compared to HWDE), due to three things, control mapping, Infinite inventory (as far as I could tell, I never tested it), Bonus XP, and AI level ups. While yes, you can control more than one character in many parts of HWDE, when they aren't being controlled by you, they are as dumb as rocks. FEW has that problem too, but what helps alleviate it is that the AI controlled characters can still level up, be they on their own, or when paired up as a support. This did make character grinding a lot easier, because if you needed to power level, just have them as a support for one of your stronger characters for a while. This and being able to map controls are something I wish they added to HWDE because you need to do a lot more here and after spending hundreds of hours in HWL, it just feels clunky by comparison. Item swapping is a bit of a pace killer for me as in order to get to it, I need to stop moving, move my thumb down to the Directional buttons on the left Joycon, and swap between the items I need. The worse one though is how to use the Fairies. as that's now mapped to pressing the right Analogue stick, something that never feels natural for me, in any game. While there is a degree of customization in the controls, it's limited to two options that mostly change what the ABXY buttons do, I'd rather the option to customize my layout so that I can map things I use more often to easier to access buttons (like swapping Fairy magic and Guard around). Granted, I say all of that as someone who uses Joycon controls, not a Pro controller so your mileage may vary if you use a Pro Controller, but for what I use, it just feels clunky. I miss the touchscreen of HWL, point to FEW for two each.

In terms of looks and sounds, these games are pretty even, as it really just comes down to personal tastes. Both can run at a smooth 60 frames per second (if you so choose in the case of FEW), both games look really bright and vibrant (especially when comparing the WiiU and Switch versions of HW), and the soundtracks for both games are amazing rock covers of songs from each game. Some of my favorites from FEW being Conquest (Flames), Road Taken (Roar), Alight (Hoshidan Wind) and A Dark Fall (Fire). In regards to HW, Eclipse of the Moon, Hammer of Stones, Skyloft, Solidus Cave (Crystal Cave), Eclipse the Sun, Title and Dragon, Molgera, Tal Tal Heights, and the 8 bit inspired version of Overworld Adventure from Spirit Tracks. It comes down to which franchise you like more at the end of the day, so while I cannot objectively say "this game is better in visual appeal and music compared to this one", subjectively, I have more of an attachment to Legend of Zelda then I do Fire Emblem, so subjectively it goes to HW. I won't count it though so its still two apiece.

Finally, value for money, in terms of bang for your buck? When comparing their full prices, HWDE beats out FEW, FEW does still have the season pass after all, while HWDE doesn't. If you haven't played the previous versions of HW, then HWDE is a great way to play the game. THAT BEING SAID THOUGH, what about the people who are double or even triple dipping this game (like me)? Well, I don't think its worth the full price. While this is a way to play everything from the WiiU and 3DS versions of HW, there's not much on top of that so if you have bought the 3DS version and its Season Pass, the only thing you're getting out of this is better looking visuals, the return of Challenge Mode, and two new costumes (one for Link and one for Zelda, both based on Breath of the Wild). HWL had an easier sell, cause while you weren't getting Challenge Mode and the 8-bit weapons, you were getting 5 new characters in the base experience, a new adventure mode map, two new stages based on Wind Waker, including new enemies to fight, two new giant bosses, the Fairy system and other smaller tweaks. Here, its really just the smaller tweaks. While I don't need another Adventure Mode map, it would have been nice to see some more playable characters, or even more costumes. People want Groose and Linebeck in the game, I'd personally like to see Urbosa (the Gerudo Champion from Breath of the Wild), a new weapon and costume for Ruto to let you play as Mipha, a new costume for Darunia to let you play as Daruk, maybe a Revali costume and weapon for Medli. I would have liked a little more as a way of getting people who have played it before to pick it up again. While yes, the Switch version is the better version to get if you haven't played the game at all or since the WiiU version, if you have played the 3DS version, there's not much more on top of it, as such I can't really recommend it for someone who has.

With that said then, if you had to choose one, Hyrule Warriors Definitive Edition is the better game between it and Fire Emblem Warriors, though it's not as one-sided as many like to claim it as. I hope this helps anyone still on the fence about it. If you want to see my reviews of the WiiU and 3DS versions of Hyrule Warriors, along with my review of Fire Emblem Warriors, you can find them here

Hyrule Warriors WiiU: https://mediaholicreviews.blogspot.com.au/2016/03/zelda-week-hyrule-warriors-strength-in.html
Hyrule Warriors 3DS: https://mediaholicreviews.blogspot.com.au/2016/05/addendum-review-hyrule-warriors-legends.html)
Fire Emblem Warriors: (https://mediaholicreviews.blogspot.com.au/2018/02/fire-emblem-warriors-it-was-successful.html)

I think that just about covers it. If I have missed anything, let me know, until then, I'll see you for the Spider-Man homecoming review.

Operation M.A.Y.V.E.L Phase 1; Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2: The word Ego is used 13 times in this review, for 3 different things

A movie where a bunch of assholes comes to grips with the fact that they are a bunch of assholes. That statement could probably sum up this movie, in albeit a vague way, pretty well. Many call this movie one of the best the MCU has so far, and while I can see where they're coming from, there is a big reason why I personally don't see it. Allow me to explain why, as MAYvel starts to come into the home stretch, where Marvel started putting out three movies a year, and this is the first one from last year.

Operation M.A.Y.V.E.L Phase 1 (Maybe? Kinda?); Lego Marvel Superheroes 2: TT, we need to talk

I have a love-hate relationship with the Lego games. Two of my favorite games when growing up was Lego Star Wars Complete Saga, and Lego Batman 1, and motion sickness inducing camera aside, I do enjoy BIONICLE Heroes (though that's for another time). While simplistic, the games are still entertaining. However, things did change during the last generation of consoles. While it is a case by case situation, some of the changes made to the game since Lego Batman 2 turned me off of the games, and when I did try them again with Lego Dimensions, the flaws of the engine started to become really apparent to me. I got this game a few weeks ago as, encase it wasn't obvious, I've been on a marvel binge, and the game was heavily discounted. So I figured why not, and I'd even get the DLC because the two together was still cheaper than the normal retail price... See if you can guess where I'm going with this based on the title alone.

Operation M.A.Y.V.E.L Phase 1; Doctor Strange: Strange, isn't it?

Remember when there was no magic in the MCU? When all magic was just more advanced science? Well, now its time to backpedal on that, because we have a movie all about alternate dimensions, spirits exiting the body, cities being bent around themselves to the point where it looks like a Bayonetta arena is in between what could either be the same building 20 times or 20 buildings so close to each other that it looks like walls. Many have given this movie a somewhat valid comparison of "What if Iron Man was on a s@&* ton of drugs", but where are they coming from? One way to find out.

Star Wars; The Last Jedi: Is this better or worse then Ghostbusters 2016?

I mean that in terms of the political discussion around this film. No joke, the talk around this one has been extremely hostile ever since the movie came out. What makes it feel worse is the complete split of opinions. Critics love it, general audience members are overall mixed (unlike some people I see 50% as "meh, middle of the road", so 47% is "more people hated it, but its almost a 50/50 split"). I even know people who hated the movie, and some are calling the entire franchise dead because of this film. I think some people are even blaming these new films for the death of Toys R Us (that last one I completely disagree with for the record). Is it as bad as people say though?

Operation M.A.Y.V.E.L Phase 1; Captain America; Civil War: You can't run away from your problems Marvel!

One of the biggest problems leveled at Marvel has been the villains. From killing off a lot of the iconic villains in their debut movies to many of the villains being rather boring compared to the heroes. If I asked you to name three MCU villains that aren't named Loki, Thanos or Killmonger, would you be able to? In order to combat this, Marvel decided to turn a chunk of their heroes into villains for a story that really went to show how bad Batman in Black vs. Batman in Blue: Dawn of the Jesus Symbolism... yes I am still calling that movie Dawn of the Jesus Symbolism. It's friend against friend for this film though. To quote the marketing material for the film, are you Team Cap or Team Iron Man?

Operation M.A.Y.V.E.L Phase 1; Ant-Man: Ants, lots, and lots, of ants.

Look, if I'm doing this, I'm going all the way with it. And before you ask, yes I am working on an acronym for it. While calling it phase 1 is a small lie, as this is basically the Marvel Movie Marathon version 2.0, this is basically a reboot of it so Phase 1 it is. As for why MAYvel content is starting in April? I'm doing one a week, and Infinity War launches the day this post gets released (I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing as today is also ANZAC day...). Anyway, Ant-Man, the (depending on who you ask) final movie of the MCU's Phase 2, or first film of Phase 3, and the Marvel movie that suffered the most in production hell. Shall we delve into one of the Marvel movies from the mindset of "we can do whatever the f!@$ we want and still make s@$( tons of money!"?

X Men; The Last Stand: Didn’t Eric ever learn to not play with fire in the camps?... oh… wait…

WARNING! This review does tackle a topic not suitable for children, and not suitable for work. The purpose of this is for an explanation of a particular matter of the film and isn’t meant to depict the action. The writer recommends having someone over 18 look over the review first in order to judge suitability. You have been warned.

I would like to take this chance to clarify that this joke is intended to take a stab at a fictional character with strong magnetic abilities, and the potentially distasteful joke isn’t aimed at any real person or culture. If someone can show me that Mutants are real and one with control over magnetism is Jewish and was in a concentration camp, I will take the joke back.

The problem with iconic stories is that a lot of people try to get them in adaptions of the source as soon as possible. Fox had a really bad problem… actually, it hasn’t gone away, has it? Fox has a really bad problem with doing this with the Marvel properties that they own, leading to a large number of problems. We saw it with their desire to have Galactus, a planet-eating villain from the comics, be the main villain in the second Fantastic 4 movie (and for some reason he was a space cloud?) and the signs of it happening again with the Dark Phoenix storyline is happening again with the next X-Men movie, Dark Phoenix. According to many though, this was not the first time they rushed the Phoenix force, for X-Men: The Last Stand, tried that too. How did it go? Well…

Spider-Man 3: A spider’s greatest villain isn't within, it's corporate greed

We come to the end of a time before the Marvel Cinematic Universe stole the talk when it comes to Marvel movies, and (at least at times), superhero movies in general. Unfortunately, many see it ending more with a whimper than a bang. Views on both Spider-Man 3 and X-Men 3 are mixed at best, but do they still deserve it? You’ll have to wait until Sunday for X-Men’s chance, but for now, let’s see how Sam’s Spider-Man trilogy ended, with Spider-Man 3.

X2: And thus, the dominos fall

I hope you're a fan of leather because they're back to try and keep a war from happening to absolutely no success. Because one extremist group often makes another, let's take a look at a film where the extremist is a regular human who knows how to get his way when it comes to politics. Let's look at X2...

Spider-Man 2: Guilt be a two way street dear spider.

Fun fact, one of my earliest Spider-Man experiences was one of the Lego Sets for this movie (aside from watching… I’m not sure if it was the DVD or VCR, of Spider-Man 1 at my grandparents’ house with my cousins. You can blame them (or at least one in particular) for exposing me to superheroes). If anyone is curious as to the set, 4857 Doc Ock’s Fusion Lab. Doubt it will get a review cause I’ll probably have to replace parts (if I can find them), but it’s still a fun fact.

With a hit in the form of the original Spider-Man, it only makes sense that a sequel would be made, not to mention this was a point in time where the number 2 didn’t have negative views if it was attached to a Marvel movie, though Marvel did have a mixed reception at this time. People were still excited for Spider-Man 2, so how well does it hold up over a decade later? (Yeah, the first Spider-Man movie is going to be 20 years old in 2022, and the first X-Men movie is going to be 20 in 2020).

X-Men: #ISupportMutantRights #VoteYesForEquality

Everyone know why that's the title? We're all up to speed with what the X-Men are a metaphor for? Yes? Good. Moving on.

Many would say that the return of superhero movies can come down to two trillogies, potentially more, but most argue at least two. The Spider-Man trillogy, and the first three X-Men movies... even though many like to forget X-Men 3 even exists... along with Spider-Man 3.... could someone give me a list of every movie the internet wants to forget exists, I feel like there's a lot. Regardless of that, the point of these three weeks is to look at where Marvel has been with their movies before getting to the MCU, and what better way then Kevin Feige's first attempts at a crossover between two of Marvel's IP's on the big screen. While yes, the attempt was in Spider-Man, Wolverine had to come from somewhere right? Welcome to the start of the Mutant Revolution.

Spider-Man: No, I won't go into 9/11 here

That's not me saying that the 9/11 attacks don't play a role in how this movie was received, far from it actually. It's more that I am not the right person to go into something like that, the attacks happened when I was 5 after all. There are many, many, many other people who delve into how media has been affected, either in their creation or reception due to the attacks. Me? I'm going to do what I do, review the movie, but look at one other bit of the cultural landscape that this movie helped change. Because this was one of the movies that revived the superhero genre after Batman and Robbin almost killed it. You can trace back the Marvel Cinematic Universe if not many other superhero movies to this trilogy and the other trilogy of films this month taking up the Sunday slots, the X-Men. How well do they hold up by today's standards? One way to find out, starting with Spider-Man.

Mini Mega Man Marathon March Mania; Mega Man 4: What is all this... new stuff?

And so today, we bid farewell to the blue bomber for now. We shall return another day, but for now, let's finish this marathon with Mega Man 4.

Mini Mega Man Marathon March Mania; Mega Man 3: "We will show you our peaceful ways, with a giant heavily armed robot!"

With the success of Mega Man 2, Capcom saw that they had a successful franchise on their hand, and would start to suck it dry. Again, if I was doing all of these, I'd drive myself insane from all the Mega Man games. It's time though to make the jump to Mega Man 3 and see the new Mega Man Level Pack!

Dr. Wily's always watching!

Mini Mega Man Marathon March Mania; Mega Man 2: The Brentalfloss quoting is extremely tempting...

And the reason it is tempting is because of his "What if 'x' had lyrics" series was some of the first exposure I ever had to Mega Man (aside from the Smash 4 announcement trailer). I knew of him, but not enough to start playing the series. Now, why is this so late? Aside from the "I thought it was Monday" that I posted to Twitter, the other reasons were a project I was working on over the long weekend needing major reworking (Yes its on that trailer. Since when was Mediaholics ever punctual when it comes to these sorts of things?) and personal commitments taking up today. This started writing as soon as I finished dinner. We're going back to old school Mediaholics writing, where I had no idea I could schedule these!

Mini Mega Man Marathon March Mania; Mega Man 1 (NES): Yes, really, that's what we're calling this.

The blame for this name can be sent to @Keybug55 on Twitter.

Mega Man, the blue bomber, Jump and Shoot man, an icon that has gone through many names, many genres, and an insane amount of games (See here for why: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Mega_Man_video_games ). If I was to review all of them in a row, I'd be here for a few years reviewing Mega Man games. You don't want that do you? I know I don't want to be doing that. So, let's do them in bursts. Such as now, where I'll be looking at the first four Mega Man games that came out on the NES, cause those versions are the ones people actually care about and the version ported to oblivion (some more than others). Starting with Mega Man 1. Welcome to 200x kids.

Yes, this did need both Bad Box Art Mega Men. One worse than the other.

Super Smash Brothers Melee: Sorry to keep you waiting

As some of you might be aware and remember, back in December 2014, I reviewed all the Super Smash Brothers games I had, to celebrate Smash WiiU’s release. One that didn’t get a lot of attention, but I felt like I had to review due to its stature in the Smash Bros community is Super Smash Brothers Melee. I've never owned an actual Gamecube before, I've owned a Wii, but until recently I hadn't obtained all the parts I needed to play Gamecube games off of it... ok I say recently, it was last year. As to why I've been putting it off, well this is going to be a short review because there isn't much to say about it, mechanicly at least. You'll see what I mean in a bit though.

Fire Emblem Warriors: "It was successful" "It was successful" "It was successful", just cause you repeat that, doesn't make it true

Does anyone else think this game was sent out to die? I don't mean that as a hint of what I think of the game, I genuinely mean it. The reason why this game took so long to review was mostly due to the timing of its release, one week before Super Mario Odyssey came out. I didn't actually get the game until the new year, just after they announced that Hyrule Warriors was coming to the Switch. Combine that with Dynasty Warriors 9 being in development around the same time, and the best way to describe its development are things like "rushed", "potentially understaffed" and other similar words and phrases. What also didn't help was how the game was critiqued prior to release due to how it was handling its roster and DLC, and there's a strong chance this game underperformed. Did it deserve to underperform? Well, one way to find out.

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon; Gates to Infinity: Well this world's in trouble

WRITER'S NOTE: Most potential cold puns are unintentional

If there is one series that's easy to collaborate on for this site, its Pokemon, especially the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon games. Red and Blue Rescue Teams were the first ever video review in the site's history, followed by the three Explorers games, and we've had Super Mystery Dungeon waiting in the pipeline, clawing to get a review since it launched in the US (because they decided to delay the game here in Australia so I had to make Marissa bite her tongue every time she considered spoilers). However, neither of us were on board for reviewing Gates to Infinity, the third generation of the Mystery Dungeon series. Part of it could have been neither of us really jumped on the gen 5 bandwagon back when it was in its prime, part of it could have been we were more excited for Gen 6 and it flew under the radar. Part of it could have been (in my case at least) that I was in Year 12, and there were more important things for me to focus on then it. Regardless, it took a long time for me to get the game, and I'm pretty sure Marissa still doesn't have the game at all. Well, its time to give Gates to Infinity the chance it deserves. Now to see if there's more to why we were hesitant to get the game.

Captain Underpants; The First Epic Movie: Still a better Superman movie then Man of Steel

Yes, that joke is relished. Like it or not, the DCEU is not a good series of movies overall (and no conspiracy theorists, Marvel is not paying me to say that. That would require either Marissa or myself being paid at all).

You know how I said that I had next to no comic book experience, that Blackest Night was my first comic book? Well... that's a half-truth. You see, there was a series of comics I grew up with when I was younger, though I saw them more as books and not comic books. Captain Underpants, a parody of superhero comics by taking their ideas to the extreme... while keeping the stories grounded in an Elementary School (you have no idea how hard it was for me not to write Primary School). They were entertaining books to read, with some of the stupidest, yet somehow surprisingly awesome names for the books such as "Captain Underpants and the Invasion of the Incredibly Naughty Cafeteria Ladies from Outer Space (and the Subsequent Assault of the Equally Evil Lunchroom Zombie Nerds)". I am not kidding, that is the name of one of the books. In the era of Superhero movies dominating the box office (there are at least nine of these movies coming out this year alone), its still somewhat surprising that anyone would greenlight this movie, even if it had a budget that is still somehow smaller then any Illumination movie's budget. No joke, I was genuinely surprised when I learned that this movie existed and I was always curious to see how the end result would turn out. I saw it at the cinema, and did enjoy it, but how well does it hold up now that I know how the movie goes? One way to find out.

The story can be best summed up as a fusion of the first four Captain Underpants books. George and Harold hypnotizing Principle Krump into Captain Underpants in book 1, the giant killer toilet (and then the army of smaller human eating toilets right before the credits) in book 2, Captain Underpants getting his powers in book 3, and the main villain (or rather the Supervillain, as a trend these books go for is that "all adults are evil") of the movie, and no I am no kidding by this, I even got it quoted from the script of the movie, "Professor Pee-Pee Diarrheastein Poopypants Esquire" (who came from the forth book). If this was a youtube video, this would be deemed inappropriate for advertisers. The books themselves tell the story from George and Harold's perspective, two children with a strong sense of humor, overly large imaginations, and know each other so well they know what each other is thinking. As a result of that focus, the stories tended to be very simple, something that is translated well to the movies.

Krump and Poopypants are both deliciously evil in their own ways, such as Poopypants barely hiding his evil agenda, and Krump's love of crushing the souls of children, including getting rid of the entire arts and music program in order to buy a multi-layered steel door. Melvin's a traditional suck up, the rest of the student body is just crowd filler, but considering the focus of the story it works. As for the plot itself, Poopypants wants to rid the world of laughter because people keep laughing at his name. To achieve this, he makes a size alteration ray (I forget the in-universe name), turns a child's robotic toilet into a doomsday device and said child as the neurological power supply for a ray that destroys the part of the brain responsible for laughter. Cause if you're going to do it, you may as well go all in, especially when the event that started this was George and Harrold making a comic book about him. For the first half of the movie though, the plot is that George and Harrold don't want to be put into separate classes, so they hypnotize their cruel principle and turn him into a superhero that fights in nothing but a cape and his underwear. While the big problem of this is that there isn't much of a traditional structure, in that event A doesn't lead to event B which leads to even C etc. Don't get me wrong, those events are there, but they're kinda thrown in as an "oh yeah this is why/ Moving on". "Why did Poopypants come to the school?" Because they're looking for a new science teacher. "Why are they looking for a new science teacher?" Cause Krump fired the last one cause he wanted to be with his family on Saturday and not at school. Its the same kind of logic that says school cafeteria waste is so toxic it's on the level of radioactive material and it can power a giant toilet and give someone superpowers.

A lot of the story simplicity can come down to the tiny budget the movie has, which is something also shown in the animation as it is very basic, even too basic at times. Yet I don't find that a problem, in fact, I love it. While the main 3D animation style looks simple, it also looks like the characters have come right out of the books and the simple style means that they do a lot of movement in the movie. It's really bouncy, very cartoony, like a modern animation version of something like Animaniacs. At points in the movie, the style changes to things like 2D animation that looks like it was drawn with crayons, a jpeg of a tiger for a cutaway gag, sockpuppet animation at one point (which is as amazing as it sounds), even replicating a feature of the books, "Flip-O-Rama" which just alternates between two frames of what would be animated to show the effect of something like Captain Underpants being used as the ball of one of those Paddle ball toys among other moments. There's a genuine charm to these sorts of moments, even if its a way of masking how low the budget was. When the movie does go all out though, like in the final battle, it looks great and has a lot of great moments in it, such as Poopypants flying away on a bee which Captain Underpants (instead of catching him), flicks away. Like with the visuals, the music has an air of "done for cheap" to it, most of the music is predictable license songs but with an original score and an original theme by Weird Al Yankovic (which I've put below).

Is this a flawless movie? No, but a lot of the flaws are going to appear if you were looking for something more. This isn't a Marvel or DC movie, this isn't trying to do more then what a superhero movie is known for. To be fair though, the name of the movie is Captain Underpants The First Epic Movie. Why were you expecting something more? For what it's trying to do, it's a great movie and I am glad I enjoyed it. Next up on the Toy Box is Dinobot Swoop, and next up here is Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity

TMNT Marathon: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2012: The fandom must REALLY hate Venus

I'll explain that point later.

And so we come to the end of January, and the end of the TMNT marathon, while thankfully avoiding the Bay turtles for now. However, something tells me I might not be able to do that next time I try and tackle this franchise. We've gone to the 80's, we've seen the 2000's grit, and now we come to a point in time where the ones who own the franchise is... the house of the annoying sponge. I'm honestly kinda surprised it took this long to get back to Nickalodian, and that my next review of theirs wasn't going to be Spongebob Squarepants. But alas, t'was not meant to be, and the sponge's time is not today. Join with me as we go back to the sewers of New York one last time (for now) as we tackle the 2012 reboot of the Turtles.

TMNT Marathon; TMNT: Why are the turtles fighting Bulk Head alongside Captain America, Uncle Iroh and Captain Pickard?

I never thought I'd say that about this movie, or any movie for that matter.

Allow me to take you back to Autumn 2007. I was 11 turning 12,  my Uncle and Step Aunt were preparing to get married (in fact we saw this movie right before we went to look at the limo they were hiring for the event), my excitement for the first Transformers was growing as it would be out next school holidays, and myself, my parents, my sister, my cousins and aforementioned uncle and step-aunt went and saw TMNT 2007. Our reactions to it back then were... mixed at best, though I haven't gotten the opinions of most people who saw it with me. I'll admit that I wasn't a fan of the movie back then, but by the end of that year, I saw the first Transformers movie several times to take that with a grain of salt. I'll admit its one of the reasons I got out of the series, aside from going to High School in 2008 and last weeks review not really getting much air time of free tv. This is the first time in almost over 10 years I've seen this movie, and in that time many things have changed, for better or for worse. So, how does it hold up in the eyes of a 22-year-old compared to what it did in the eyes of an 11-year-old? One way to find out.

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.