Look, I'm not American (nor am I particularly fond of what various parts of its government have done throughout its history), but I couldn't resist doing this theme. THE THEME: Since it's Fourth of July, I'm reading five more comics starring G.I. Joe, who at one point were billed as "real American heroes." I had a lot of fun with the last one (which I did only a few months ago at this point), so we're doing it again. THE COMICS: ![]() G.I. JOE (2008) #1 Publisher: IDW Writer: Chuck Dixon Artist: Robert Atkins In the debut issue of the IDW series, the Joes have yet to tackle a serious mission and Cobra remains a mystery, but with two incidents involving ships carrying dangerous goods going down, the latter may surface imminently. I like the idea of having Cobra be (for the time being) an organization that operates deep in the shadows as opposed to the usual out-in-the-open supervillain group, and I'm interested in how the Joes go about uncovering the threat. ![]() G.I. JOE #155 1/2 (FCBD 2010) Publisher: IDW Writer: Larry Hama Artist: Agustin Padilla This Cobra-focused issue sees Cobra Commander line up the pieces for his master plan (the goal of which, of course, is world domination), but it seems that there are those in his ranks that take issue with some of the methods he's using to keep the troops in check. It's pretty intriguing, and with the added implication that the Joes have disbanded, I'm interested to see how this story arc goes. ![]() G.I. JOE: COBRA #1 Publisher: IDW Writers: Mike Costa, Christos N. Gage Artist: Antonio Fuso In this issue, we follow the story of Chuckles, a mercenary working outside the Joes' usual haunts deep undercover to infiltrate various terrorist organizations. Here, he's recruited by a mysterious man, and after an impressive display that convinces the latter, Chuckles is officially brought into Cobra. This may easily be my favorite G.I. Joe comic I've read so far; Chuckles' experience in reading people is showcased well through his internal dialogue, and the whole concept of a Joe managing to infiltrate Cobra sounds cool as hell. ![]() G.I. JOE: SNAKE EYES #1 Publisher: IDW Writers: Kevin VanHook, Ray Park Artist: Lee Ferguson Co-written by renowned actor Ray Park (who plays Snake Eyes in the live-action movies but is probably most known for playing Darth Maul in Phantom Menace), this issue follows everyone's favorite silent badass ninja returning to his home to investigate a string of murders which are being made to look like he committed them. Indeed, he finds an impostor as he investigates the area, but not before reminiscing about his days training in the area alongside the boy who would become Storm Shadow, his nemesis. ![]() G.I. JOE: THE RISE OF COBRA (OFFICIAL MOVIE ADAPTATION) #1 Publisher: IDW Writer: Denton J. Tipton Artist: Casey Maloney Presumably following the story of the movie (I don't know for sure; I didn't watch it), the first issue features Duke and Ripcord (still regular soldiers for the US Army) get ambushed as Cobra tries to acquire dangerous nanotech weaponry being supplied to NATO. The two narrowly survive as G.I. Joe members intervene and help rout the enemy, setting up how Duke is folded into the team. Once again, I liked what I read here, and there are a few series here I'd definitely continue if I had the opportunity. It's becoming quite apparent that there's more to this series than just jingoistic nonsense that glorifies the military, but that's just me. PANEL(s) OF THE WEEK: - end -
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I'm halfway through the GB Mega Man games, and at this point, I think I know what to expect as I get through the rest of this series. BACKGROUND:
Judging by the similarities of the first two games, I'm fairly confident that I get the GB Mega Man formula, and I expect little different here. There's not much else to say that I haven't already, though I will mention that the original Mega Man 3 for the NES is my second favorite game in the classic series. SUMMARY: Once again, we're getting more of the classic Mega Man platforming goodness here. Not much has changed from the general gameplay, apart from one key addition: the Mega Buster now has a Charge Shot, giving you a reliable high-damage weapon at all times. I love charge weapons, so getting the full Mega Buster back made my playthrough more fun overall. The game's structure is largely the same from the previous game: take on the first four Robot Masters in any order, head into Wily Castle for a sort of interlude, play through the second set of bosses in whatever order you choose, then you're off to the endgame where you fight the game's unique boss and a two-phase Wily contraption. Going through this formula again, I definitely feel how Wily Castle doesn't feel as special or challenging as the NES iterations since there aren't as many bosses and there aren't as many levels (at least in terms of variety). I also think I prefer having all the Robot Master stages available as a choice at the start as opposed to having an intermission in the middle. For this game's set of bosses, you get the other four Robot Masters from Mega Man 3 who weren't in the previous GB game (Snake Man, Gemini Man, Shadow Man, Spark Man) plus four Robot Masters from Mega Man 4 (Dust Man, Skull Man, Dive Man, Drill Man). As usual, they behave exactly the same as their original versions, reward you with the exact same special weapon, and have the same weaknesses (except for Shadow Man, who gets a different one since Top Spin isn't a weapon in this game). At this point, the novelty of having bosses from two different games has kind of worn thin, as there's no real need to use weapons other than their original weaknesses. I feel like the idea of reusing bosses would be more fun if the roster were a mix of Robot Masters from more than two games; I mean, you could make five whole games where the six of the eight Robot Masters come from a different NES game. As amusing as it is to immediately know what order to fight bosses the second I see the stage select screen, I think I would have had more fun if nobody had their original weakness and they got new ones depending on the roster. That would mean that I have to figure out who was weak to what all over again despite knowing every single boss. Following in the steps of Enker and Quint from the previous games is Punk, who serves as the penultimate boss and rewards you with the Screw Crusher. I really enjoy the idea of getting weapons from bosses outside of the Robot Masters, but by the time you get these weapons, there's not much game left, and there's only one sensible place to use it. It'd be neat to have a few more levels so you at least get to use the weapon on regular enemies. The level design borrows plenty from the original Robot Master stages from the NES, though I didn't recognize that many sections that were copy-pasted from the originals this time around. I did notice that this game in particular is a bit more challenging since the layouts and enemy placement punished mindlessly plowing forward more, and I did appreciate that. In terms of visuals, the game once again reuses sprites from the NES, but what stood out to me more was how this game used more of the original music over having its own tracks. I have no complaints here, because Spark Man's stage theme is up there as one of my all-time favorite Mega Man tracks. Other notable elements include the removal of the Rush Marine; you only get Rush Coil and Rush Jet, which aren't used all that much for platforming outside of completely optional areas. Eddie also appears in this game to give you the occasional goodie, though I think you only see him two or three times. VERDICT: I'm starting to feel the fatigue with the GB Mega Man formula with Mega Man III. Again, it was fun for what it was (a familiar-feeling remix of a classic experience), but the fact that it's more of the same three games deep did leave me wanting for a more meaningful mashup of existing Mega Man elements as opposed to the established formula we see here. I feel like I'm not going to get my wish as I move onto the last two GB Mega Man games, but there may be a surprise in store for me for all I know. I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with this game, but as with Mega Man 2, I recommend playing the NES game before you touch this one. The original Mega Man 3 has way more levels and bosses, all of which offer a respectable challenge, and it's the first game to actually reuse old Robot Masters as boss fights. - end - Here's an interesting game I bought during a sale. BACKGROUND:
I don't recall where I first saw this game (it's likely one of the Nintendo indie presentations), but I certainly remember being interested in its card-based gameplay, its subject matter, and the fact that it was a video game adaptation of a tabletop game. I kind of forgot about the game at some point until I saw it on sale some time ago, at which point I bought it. PLOT: Although the tutorial is framed as the player working at a wildlife reserve to attract birds of many kinds, there really isn't much of a story beyond that. The birds that are featured here are absolutely real, though, so this can be an educational experience for some. PRESENTATION: Both the backgrounds and the art of the cards are beautiful, with everything having a realistic look and a distinct watercolor style. Coupled with the lovely music, the whole game captures quite the serene nature vibe. This game goes the extra mile by featuring the calls of every bird featured on the card, as well as narration sharing actual trivia about each bird. I wouldn't call Wingspan ornithology made easy, but you'll absolutely learn a thing or two about birds just by playing cards. GAMEPLAY: The goal of Wingspan is to have the most points out of every player. The main way to earn points is to have a lot of birds (which are cards that you play) on your board, though there are plenty of other ways to earn points. Alternate ways to earn points include storing resources on played birds, accomplishing the end-of-round goals of each round, and fulfilling bonus card requirements. You can keep tabs on some of the points you have throughout the game and look at the opponent's board at any point, so don't worry about keeping score too much. Wingspan's board is split into three zones corresponding to bird habitats: the forest, the grassland, the wetland. Just like in real life, birds live in a specific habitat, so you can only play them on their indicated habitat. In addition to this, habitats are where you perform specific player actions: the forest is where you gain food (a resource used to play birds), the grassland is where you can lay eggs (an additional resource that is stored in open egg slots of played birds), and the wetland is where you draw cards. In addition to the action of playing a bird, only one of the aforementioned actions can be taken per turn. A significant part of the strategy in this game is weighing which action is the most impactful one you can take in a turn, and that choice is influenced not only by your progress relative to your opponents but also by your progress in terms of achieving the end-of-round goal. You can only play a certain number of birds per habitat (with the egg cost escalating as you go), but the more birds making their home in a specific habitat, the more improved your player action in that given habitat will be. For example, you can only draw one food if the forest habitat has no birds in it, but as you play more, that number will increase. You'll even gain the ability to swap one resource for another thanks to this mechanic. I found the implementation of habitats super fun to play around overall, as I had to also think about how to play birds in order to maximize my benefit from each habitat. Every bird has stats like their nest type, their wingspan, their habitat, and their diet, all of which are taken into account in various ways (like as the basis for tracking objectives or used for various abilities). In addition, every bird has a card effect that takes effect based on certain conditions (e.g. performing a habitat action, when played, when opponents perform an action). There are literally hundreds of these effects, so I won't get too in-depth, but you'll have to take those into account as well when shooting for objectives. Each game goes for four rounds, each with a decreasing number of turns and random end-of-round objectives. These can range from highest number of birds in a single habitat, to something more specific like most birds with eggs who live in a specified nest type. It's generally a good idea to aim for these objectives just to ensure that your opponents don't get the points, but you must also take care to not neglect your other methods to earn points. I've definitely lost a few games against the CPU because I was beelining for these end-of-round goals. You can play the game locally with up to four players, play against the CPU, or play against others online. There's also an interesting online mode where you try your best against a fixed AI opponent, and there's a leaderboard element to it where the player who manages to earn the most points against it is named the player of the week. If the close to 200 bird cards aren't enough for you, the game has two expansions that add birds from Europe and Oceania respectively (for reference, the birds in the base game are from North America). The game lets you try these cards out for free in their respective expansion tutorials before you consider buying the DLC, and they add all sorts of new mechanics to an already deep game. VERDICT: I enjoyed messing around with Wingspan's card-based systems, which had you weighing where to play birds to maximize habitat actions, choosing when to take said actions so you can get the most points, and doing your best to make the most out of each bird's special effect. I also found quite the appreciation the game's subject matter; it's a delight to see a diverse variety of birds and learn something about them, and if I didn't live in the suburbs, I'd be even more inclined to go birdwatching. Perhaps my only gripe is that the game feels rather impersonal in a competitive sense since there's next to no player interaction, but that's not really a big deal since there's fun to be had just by seeing how many birds you can play (at least, it's fun for me). I'd wager that playing the actual board game with real people in a room is more fun than the video game version, but I think this is a game worth getting if you want a chill strategy game you can fire up for a few rounds. Wingspan is available on the following platforms: - end - |
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