Tuesday, May 29, 2007

DVD Review ( Full House: Season 2 )

[*] Indicates a "Season Great"

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Cutting It Close: 4.25/5 Stephanie accidentally cuts Jesse's hair and he wrecks his motorcycle. Stephanie feels bad, but Jesse assures her that it's okay.

[*]Tanner Vs. Gibbler: 4.5/5 Kimmy goes to her birthday party with older "friends" and DJ gets jealous. The two get mad at eachother.

It's Not My Job: 4.25/5 Jessie tells his dad he wants to leave his family business to pursue a career in music.

DJ's Very First Horse: 4.25/5 DJ and Kimmy decide to "buy" a horse without anyone knowing, and pay half of what the horse needs every week. Soon, they don't have the money to keep him, and they ask Danny for help.

[*]Jingle Hell: 4.5/5 Joey and Jessie fight over a song they wrote that bombed, and DJ and Stephanie fight over privacy.

[*]Beach Boy Bingo: 5/5 DJ wins tickets to a Beach Boy's concert, and doesn't know who to pick.

[*]Joey Gets Tough: 4.5/5 Joey lets the girls watch Tiffany: Live From Tokyo and stay up late. Danny tells him he should be "tougher", and sure enough he is.

[*]Triple Date: 4.5/5 Danny gets a date with a girl he met at the grocery store, and it turns out to be one of Jesse's ex-girlfriends.

[*]Our Very First Christmas: 4.5/5 Everyone gets snowed in at an airport in Colorado for Christmas.

[*]Middle Age Crazy: 4.5/5 Being caught in the middle of two sisters, Stephanie decides to propose to Harry to get attention.

A Little Romance: 4.25/5 Rebecca gets jealous at a charity bachelor auction when another woman bids on Jesse.

Fogged In: 4.25/5 Jesse gets steamed when Kimmy and DJ are in his room messing with stuff and tape over one of his commercial songs. He gets mad, and eventually buys a drum set to make up.

[*]Working Mothers: 4.5/5 Jesse and Joey get a job writing jingles, but don't know if it's a good or bad idea.

Little Shop Of Sweaters: 4.25/5 Stephanie takes a "Buy Now, Pay Later" sign too literal after she swipes a sweater from a store in place of one that DJ ruined at school.

Pal Joey: 4.25/5 Joey, Danny, and Jesse recall a friendship pact they all made when they were kids.

[*]Baby Love: 4.5/5 Michelle meets Rebecca's nephew Howie and doesn't want him to leave; Stephanie gets scared from the movie Wolfman.

El Problema Grande De DJ: 4.25/5 DJ wants Danny to get her grade changed in Spanish, but she gets upset when he finds him kissing her teacher.

Goodbye, Mr. Bear: 4.25/5: Stephanie loses Mr. Bear and fears Joey may have donated him; the family watches home videos of when Pam came home from the hospital.

Blast From The Past: 4/5 Joey gets a call from a girlfriend from 10 years ago.

[*]I'm There For You Babe: 4.5/5 Jesse has a very stressful birthday when everyone asks him to do stuff.

Luck Be A Lady ( 1 Hour Episode ): 4.25/5 Joey claims he won $100,000 from a slot machine, but security cameras find that Stephanie and DJ pulled it, and he doesn't get the money; Jesse and Becky attempt to get married at the Fabulous Ali Baba Hotel and Casino, but Becky says she has to get to know him better.

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Full House: Season 2 has its moments, but it's not the best season - there are better ones in the future.

4.5/5

Saturday, May 26, 2007

Game Review ( Viva Pinata - 360 )

Graphics: 4.5/5 Awesome to look at. The game is extremely colorful, and the water effects are nice too. The only problem is that since the game features auto-save, it hiccups now and then, but other than that, very good looking game.

Sound: 4.5/5 Not only does the game look great, it sounds fantastic too. Everything does - the voiceovers, the pinatas, and all the random sounds in the background. Sounds sweet.

Control: 4.25/5 May take awhile to get used to, say a half hour, but for kids it may take awhile. However, there are two control types. Viva Pinata controls nicely.

Fun: 4.5/5 Viva Pinata is a very fun and surprisingly deep game. You get garden upgrades to get your garden bigger, the pinatas only enter your garden under certain requirements, you can hire people to take care of your garden, and intruders can even make your pinatas sick. This game is just a lot of fun, but it's flawed. The game takes a lot of patience, and sometimes pinatas will eat other pinatas when you really don't want them too. Viva Pinata is definitely said to be a stupid little kid's game, but it's such a good game, you can't pass it up. Definitely a game that's looked over way too much.

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4.5/5

Achievement Difficulty: 4/10
People say the achievements for this game are an absolute sinch, but it really isn't that way. The achievements will come easily only after 5 hours or so into the game when you really start rolling. Before that though, you'll only be able to get a couple. But even so, this is a game that's so fun to play you won't even care if you get many achievements for. It's just a blast to play.

Game Review ( NBA Street: Homecourt - 360 )

Graphics: 3.75/5 The graphics look alright. Nothing "awesome" here. The dunks are cool, the game runs fine, but there are better looking games out there.

Sound: 4.5/5 The players talking on the court is a great idea, but they often repeat the same thing, and you'd think they have down syndrome when they ask the score after every basket.

Control: 4.5/5 Once again, NBA Street has some simple controls. Two buttons for tricks, and shoot and pass. That's about it. Simple, but good, controls.

Fun: 4/5 NBASHC isn't the best game ever - it's repetetive, you'll often do the same dunks, and the game isn't that fun. It's a good pick up and play game, but it could be better. Definitely a good game for achievement whores, though.

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3.75/5

Achievement Difficulty: 3/10
Near effortless. There are some online ones you may have trouble getting unless you can get someone to help you get them on purpose, but all the other ones are really simple and straightforward. Shouldn't have too much trouble getting at least 700-800 in this game.

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Game Review ( Boom Boom Rocket - 360 Arcade )

Graphics: 4.25/5 Vivid, interesting, and colorful. Very nice to the eye. The only real flaw is that you always play with the same city in the background, which is a little annoying, but it's okay.

Sound: 4.5/5 The game sounds good. There are 10 tracks, and the game costs $10. The songs for the most part are pretty fun and interesting, but where are the bonus track packs?

Control: 4.25/5 Takes time to get used to, but it's a very simple idea. Press the buttons on screen as the scroll past the line on top.

Fun: 4/5 Boom Boom Rocket is a game of potential. It's $10 for 10 songs, so it's not a BAD price, but it probably should be lower, and the game isn't very deep. A track pack would be great, and it'd be nice to see one available soon.

4/5

Achievement Difficulty: 5/10
Pretty easy achievements here. One of the few you'll likely struggle on would be to get an A on any song on hard. You can get 95% of the notes, use your power-ups, too, and still only get a B. Also another tough one to get, would be to unlock all the fireworks. 10 songs, 3 difficulties, means 30 fireworks. And some of the songs on hard are VERY tough. You'll still be able to get quite a few achievements.

Game Review ( Worms - 360 Arcade )

Graphics: 4.25/5 They're in HD, the game is really colorful, and it looks nice. Thing is though, there's only a few levels to play in ( 3 to be exact ) and you'll really only use a few different weapons over and over again.

Sound: 4/5 Same background musical score throughout the whole game. The worms say little words here and there, and you can even create your own team and choose the name of the team, name of the worms, and choose what language they speak.

Control: 4.25/5 Definitely takes time getting used to. The wind effects the direction of your bazooka shots, and it gets annoying, because the A.I. will get a dead on shot or near dead on shot 95% of the time, and it's sickening.

Fun: 4.5/5 Worms is an awesome game. Only 3 levels, but it's worth it. There are 20 challenges you can play through on single player, which get progressively tougher, and if you beat them all, you get an achievement. Also, the achievement list is great. There is also online multiplayer, so you can play on Xbox Live, which is pretty fun, too. For $10, some people may be skeptical, but this is a great game. Is it frustrating at times? Yes. Does it take patience? Yes. Is it for anyone? No. But this game is a lot of fun to play.

4.5/5

( Ideas for teams: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT) , and Seinfeld )

Achievement Difficulty: 3/10

Some of the achievements may take awhile - mainly Gold Damage, which you have to get 20,000 total point damage, which is basically the equivalent of killing 2,000 100 health worms, which would take a VERY long time. Other than that, most of the achievements are managable. It's a great achievement list.

Monday, May 14, 2007

DVD Review ( Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Volume 2 )

[*] Indicates a "Season Great"

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[*]Return of the Shredder: 4.5/5 Shredder is on his own when he learns Krang won't let him use Foot soldiers or Rock warriors. Shredder gives the turtles a bad rap by hiring goons to do bank robberies and the like. The turtles soon defeat Baxter's new rat catcher, but him and Shredder get away.

[*]The Incredible Shrinking Turtles: 4.5/5 The turtles rescue an alien pilot that fell into the Central Park pond who tells them to find the "Three Fragments of Zarnov" before they get into the wrong hands. The alien gives the turtles a Crystal Converger to help them locate the fragments. However, Shredder is over hearing and tries to find the fragments himself.

It Came From Beneath The Sewers: 4.25/5 Shredder gets the second fragment and manages to turn a big plant onto the turtles. The turtles stop it, but still have to get the second fragment, which Shredder now has.

[*]The Mean Machines: 4.5/5 Shredder turns construction vehicles on the turtles as they try to locate the second fragment, which Shredder is using to do so. Shredder tells Krang that the three fragments will give him unlimited power, but Krang doesn't believe him.

[*]Curse of the Evil Eye: 4.5/5 Shredder gets the final fragment while the turtles are still looking for it. While Baxter has Shredder's helemet for a brief time, he discovers that the powers do not work on gold. After the Crystal Converger came in contact with the three fragments, it began to self-destruct. Shredder throws it in the lake, and it makes a minor explosion.

[*]The Case of the Killer Pizzas: 4.5/5 Eggs from Dimension-X find their way onto 3 different pizzas from a Pizza Bake-Off in New York. The eggs hatch in the microwave, and it's up to the turtles to stop them. ( Who else would it be? )

[*]Enter The Fly: 4.5/5 Baxter gets turned into a fly in an accident in Dimension-X, and soon comes back to earth and gets back on Shredder's side to find the turtles.

Invasion of the Punk Frogs: 4.25/5 Shredder finds 4 mutant frogs and uses him to his advantage against the turtles.

[*]Splinter No More: 4.5/5 Splinter gets turned back into a human temporarily, but the spell fades off, and he also finds humans are jerks. Meanwhile, the turtles learn Shredder has the capability of joining any dimension, and they have to stop him.

New York's Shiniest: 4.25/5 April gets a robot named REX-1 attatched to her, and he is her "Server and protector". April finds him to be annoying, but he turns out to be a big help when Shredder makes himself a robot army.

Teenagers From Dimension-X: 4.25/5 The neutrinos visit earth yet again and tell the turtles about Shredder's next plan to kill them. Shredder finds out that the neutrinos know, and he sends Rocksteady and Bebop to find them.

The Catwoman From Channel 6: 3.75/5 April accidentally gets turned into a catwoman when she is trying to do a news story at a local lab.

Return Of The Technodrome: The Technodrome returns to earth after Krang tells Shredder to attach a device to the hydroelectric plant at Niagra Falls. Krang and Shredder have the turtles in a bad spot, and right as he's about to shoot them, Krang discovers that the Technodrome doesn't have enough energy to do so. An earthquake occurs from the Technodrome, and the whole thing falls down to the center of the earth. Are Krang and Shredder gone forever?

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TMNT: Season 2 is a pretty good season. It is solid almost all the way through, but a few not-so-hot episodes just fill the season up to 13 episodes. Still a good season, but I'm sure better ones are on the way.

4.5/5

Game Review ( Pacman - 360 Arcade )

Graphics: 2.75/5 Maybe dubbed up a little bit, but look just as they did back in the day.

Sound: 3.5/5 Still the same noises as before. The pellets being eaten, the power pellets sound, and the cut scenes.

Control: 3/5 Doesn't control well - since the D-Pad on the controller blows. However, this game still plays very will with the analog stick.

Fun: 3.25/5 It's just Pacman on the 360. Majority of people who purchase this will be in it for the achievement points. ( like me ) If you like the game, that's a bonus. Other then that, this is just another average 360 Arcade game.

3.25/5

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Achievement Difficulty: 2/10

11 of the 12 are all EASY to get within about a half hour to an hour. That all added up equals 170 points. The last achievement you have to get is called "Perfect", where you have to get all four of the ghosts with all four of the pellets. Seems easy, it's not. If you want to try this, go on level one. That reason alone is the only reason the difficulty gets a 2 and not a 1 out of 10.

Sunday, May 06, 2007

DVD Review ( Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Volume 1 )

Volume 1 features the five episodes from season 1, as well as 4 bonus episodes that are from season 10.

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[*] would normally indicate a "Season Great", but all of them are, so the [*]s aren't relevant.

Turtle Tracks: 5/5 In the pilot episode, news reporter April O'Neil investigates a recent break-in supposedly by ninjas. The turtles find April and take her back to their sewer, where she finds out that they aren't freakshows. We learn how the turtles were turned to mutants, and how Splinter became a rat. Shredder prevents the turtles from reaching the Technodrome by flooding the skyscraper it's connected to.

Enter the Shredder: 5/5 Shredder captures Splinter in the Technodrome, and the turtles enter. The turtles have to face Shredder and his newly created mutants Bebop and Rocksteady.

A Thing About Rats: 5/5 A scientist, Baxter Stockman, invents a rat cathing robot called a Mouser, and Shredder has him make more. Shredder has the Mousers find the turtles, Splinter, and April O'Neil, but the turtles are there to attack them. While Michelangelo encounters Krang, Krang tells him where to find the master control, who only does so because he's mad at Shredder for not giving him a new body. Michelangelo destroys the building, and all the Mousers.

Hot-Rodding Teenagers From Dimension-X: 4.5/5 Things called Neutrionos come through Dimension-X and run into the turtles. After a misunderstanding, they all realize they are on the same page and want the same things. Eventually, the turtles lure the Rock Warriors into the Technodrome, but can't capture Shredder.

Shredder and Splintered: 5/5 Krang gets a new body, and grows huge in New York City. Splinter sacrifices his only chance at becoming human again to save the turtles from being turned back into normal turtles. Soon after, Donatello reverses the suction of Dimension-X, resulting in the Technodrome, Shredder, and Krang, all being sucked into Dimension-X.

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Overall, this DVD is phenomenal. It has all 5 of the episodes in the first season, plus 4 bonus episodes - although they are pointless. The 4 bonus episodes are from the 10th season, and are completely random. It's hard to find out what's going on, and you'll find yourself very confused. Those four episodes are pretty much useless and pointless, but the first season was great. Short, but great. However, the DVD is straightforward. There are the five episodes, but no subtitles, commentary, chapter cuts in episodes, or even bonus features. Either way, TMNT: Volume 1 is absolutely great. It's cheap, but worth it. Definitely worth it.

5/5

Friday, May 04, 2007

Game Review ( Rayman Raving Rabbids - 360 )

Graphics: 3/5 Sharper, but not much better than the Wii version. The game also has some frequent loading times. Before and after everything you do, the game loads. Not for a long time, only for about 10 seconds, but it gets annoying after awhile. The game makes up for it somewhat by giving you a smooth running game.

Sound: 3.25/5 Same sound as the Wii verison, liked it there, you'd like it here. There are still the same music tracks, ( some good, some bad ) and the same annoying Rabbids screaming until you want to hang yourself.

Control: 3.75/5 Mixed bag. While the minigame where you play as Rayman on a dragon picking up pigs controls a billion times better than it did on the Wii, the main "boss" battles are absolutely annoying. The crosshairs move kind of funky-like, and it's very repetetive.

Fun: 3/5 Rayman Raving Rabbids, overall, is a completely pointless port from the Wii version. You can use your Xbox Live Vision Camera for this game, but all that would only make this a crappy new Eyetoy game. The game is just useless, unless you're an achievement whore. If you are just that, you will get at least 400 points out of this game, if you dare to play the entire repetetive story mode. After every four mini-games, ( One of which is always a press-to-the-beat-of-the-song type game ) you go into a door where you just end up using plungers to shoot at the Rabbids - just about every single time. These minigames aren't very gun, and they can take between 5 and 10 minutes. This may not seem long, but it sure does when you're playing it. Basically, this game is only for hardcore Rayman fans ( I don't know if I've ever heard of such a thing ) or achievement whores. ( Like me )

3/5

Achievement Difficulty: 5/10 The achievements are easy to get, since the minigames are so simple, but some of them would take some times outside of the story mode. However, you'll still be able to quite easily get 400 MSP. That is, if you're willing to play the whole story mode.

Game Review ( Gears of War: Map Pack 2 )

The new Gears of War (GoW) map pack was just released on May 4th. The pack includes 4 brand new maps, for 800 MSP, which is $10.

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Bullet Marsh: 5/5 The best new map. Bullet Marsh basically takes place in a swamp with a narrow river and a bridge. Still, there is more to the map than you'd think. You can flank around to the enemies spawn from under the central bridge, but beware of Kryll - get to far into the darker areas and Kryll will injure you, so have a teammate near-by. Also, there is a generator on this map that either team can use to turn out the lights on different areas on the map, so again, watch for Kryll. Bullet Marsh is a fantastic map - definitely the best of the four. The weapons on this map are the Boomshot ( Located on the bridge ), the Sniper ( Located by each spawn behind a sand bag ), and the Torque Bow.

Garden: 4.5/5 Fun map. The biggest thing that makes this map different than the rest is the green house gas that can kill you if you're futsing around in the greenhouse when an enemy, or possibly even a person on your team, turns the switches on. In the greenhouse is the sniper. The other weapons on this map are the Hammer of Dawn, which is on the far side of the map in the middle, and the Boomshot is also on this map, on the far side in the middle. Garden looks great, and it's a lot of fun. One of my favorite new maps.

Process: 4.25/5 A little above average. If you've played the story mode, the map takes place in the Locust's "city", with the cave and the bright yellowish lava. I always wished there would be a map like this in online play, but it doesn't turn out to be as fun as I thought it'd be. It's still a fun map, though. The Sniper, Torque Bow, and Boomshot can be found on this map, all opposite of eachother. Where the Sniper is, the Boomshot is directly in front of it on the other side of the map.

Subway: 4.75/5 A great map, albeit a cheap one. This map throws you in a city with an abandoned subway. This map has Grenades, a Sniper, a Torque Bow, and a Boomshot. Depending on what spawn you get, the one by the Sniper is freakishly cheap. If you get to it in time, you can easily camp around it without ever worrying about being flanked. Grenades can be thrown into your little hang-out, but if you have good reflexes, you should be able to move with no damage done. The Sniper overlooks into a blown up wall down into the subway, where the Boomshot is, as well as stairs to get outside the building - this is where just about all the action is at the beginning of the round. There is also an underground passage ( Underground railroad, essentially ) that you can take to walk to the opposing team's spawn. Subway is a great map, but the only real flaw is the rain. It downpours in this map, and it's sometimes hard to tell exactly where you're going.

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The new map pack for Gears of War isn't free like the previous pack was, but this is all worth it. Being 800 MSP/$10 is a pretty reasonable price. If you do the math, it only costs $2.50 per map, which is a great deal, because all four are a blast to play. Many people may be frustrated at the fact that the maps weren't available for free, but it's Microsoft... what do you want? Epic wanted to make the maps free, but Microsoft wouldn't let them. You should know though if you aren't willing to fork over the cash for the new maps, that in about 3-6 months the maps will be completely free. An exact date is unknown, but it will likely be at least 3 months. But why would you wait 3+ months for something as good as this? It's not even expensive! Any GoW fan would love these maps - definitely worth the price.

4.75/5