March 2008 Archives

Demolition Man is a futuristic Sci-Fi Action Comedy from 1993. Sylvester Stallone stars as John Spartan, and Wesley Snipes as his nemesis, Simon Phoenix. The both of them are unleashed upon a non-violent society in the future, after being cryogenically frozen for several decades. In his time, Spartan was an L.A.P.D. officer, and Phoenix a known criminal. Phoenix escapes his parole hearing in the future, leaving the powerless police force (untrained in combat and hypersensitive to violence) with no choice but to reinstate Spartan (who was blamed for the death of hostages and thus frozen). The two are unacquainted with the moral standards and technology of the future and comedic pandemonium ensues.

The tone of the movie is far from serious, as evidenced by the appearance of actors like Rob Schneider (as Erwin). The comical nature of the movie is only reinforced by Sandra Bullock's character (Lt. Lenina Huxley) who yearns for "something interesting" to happen (the "utopian" society bores her). Her character comes off dense, because, among other things, she always gets 20th century sayings wrong ("He's finally matched his meet. You really licked his ass."). She has a fascination with the 20th century which makes her the perfect partner for Spartan.

The endless supply of one-liners and quotable moments make this a really fun movie. One of the running gags has to do with the "verbal morality code". In the future, apparently people don't swear, but Spartan and Phoenix are oblivious and unconcerned. This results in many "demerits", as indicated by machines on the wall ("Lenina Huxley, you are fined one-half credit for a sotto voce violation of the Verbal Morality Statute."). Also, all restaurants in the future are Pizza Hut. Hmm...

Of course, the so-called "utopia" is far from perfect. Those who refuse to be assimilated into modern society live underground, and have a community of their own. This community is lead by Edgar Friendly (as played by Denis Leary), who Phoenix has been programmed to kill. Spartan finds this community closer to home, and battles alongside these people.

There are a number of plot points that seem insignificant, like how Spartan was programmed to learn to knit while he was frozen (Phoenix was programmed with skills much more useful for his profession) and the mention of his daughter. I thought they were going to reveal that Huxley was his daughter, but she was already Spartan's established love interest in the movie, so the writers may have written themselves into a corner on that one.

The acting is nothing special, but that may have more to do with the goofy nature of the movie. You don't get the sense that Sandra Bullock is ever in "character", but it's not as though her character was a demanding part. Snipes' character was like a 6-year-old at a playground, having way too much fun, even for his own good. Spartan seems like the only "straight guy", but even that only adds to the comedic value.

All in all, I found the movie to be very enjoyable. You may think that I would have to have the intelligence of a peanut to enjoy something so inane, but it's one of the best movies I've watched in a long time. It's not meant to be serious, and I can appreciate that. My expectations weren't exactly high, so maybe "pleasantly surprised" is the best way to put it.

This article was originally published on March 30, 2008.

Unless you've been living under a rock, you already know that Mega Man is the notoriously difficult 1987 game published by Capcom for the Nintendo console. This game set the tone for the 5 sequels that followed on the NES platform, with subtle differences.

Mega Man featured 6 Robot Masters, as compared to the 8 that became the standard in subsequent Mega Mans. The game also had a score counter, which was dropped for the sequels. The look and feel of the game was different, but only in subtle ways. For example, the look of the items (dropped by enemies) was different than those that appeared in Mega Man 2 onward. Enemies also dropped point-based items in the original Mega Man, but these were removed - naturally - when the score counter was axed.

The Guts Man stage, Ice Man stage, and Fire Man stage were among the hardest levels in the game, each for different reasons. The Guts Man stage had instant-death platforms, the Ice Man stage had disappearing platforms, and the Fire Man stage had traps and enemies that were nearly impossible to avoid. Among them, the Guts Man stage is considered the most difficult, and I would have to agree. By contrast, the Cut Man and Elec Man stages were probably the easiest in the game.

The most challenging Robot Master, in my opinion, was Fire Man. His attacks were near impossible to avoid, and although he was vulnerable to Ice Slasher, the weapon wasn't so effective that you could knock him out with 3 hits (unlike some Robot Masters).

The Fortress Bosses were also tremendously challenging. The "Yellow Devil" (aka Rock Monster), in particular, was a tough battle. The monster would split into numerous hazardous pieces, fly to one side of the screen, and materialize in its complete form. You're only opportunity to get any damage in is while the Yellow Devil is in complete form. The boss will split into pieces again, this time flying to the other side of the screen, and these pieces are to be avoided if you're to evade damage. Fortunately, the flying fragments don't come at random, so it's possible to memorize the pattern. The other fortress battles are also challenges, but in most cases it's just a matter of learning a particular pattern to avoid damage. It should be noted that you will encounter all of the Robot Masters a second time, before the final encounter with Wily Machine. It's a good idea to remember the weakness of each Master.

Gameplay
There's nothing fancy or flashy about Mega Man's gameplay. A to jump, and B to shoot. The game was nevertheless extremely challenging, with many traps and enemies along the way. Check points are few and far between, so you must persevere.

Graphics
Mega Man doesn't have the most impressive graphics in the classic series, but Capcom always had a way with 8-bit graphics that other companies didn't seem to have. In this game, the backgrounds are extremely primitive, but the foregrounds are adequate enough to convey the "feel" of each stage.

Sound & Music
I always find Mega Man music to be well-orchestrated and stimulating. Mega Man does not have the best music in the series, but the Elec Man stage theme is fairly memorable. The Fortress Boss music just grinds on the nerves.

Overall 8/10
Mega Man is a classic. Many NES games are known to be extremely challenging, and among them Mega Man ranks high. As with any other game, it's a matter of practice and perseverance, and it's not impossible to beat. I found the game to be very entertaining, if frustrating at times.

This article was originally published on March 19, 2008.

Mega Man 6 was released towards the end of the NES's developmental lifespan. The Mega Man series was coming to an end of an era, with future releases taking a different direction (Mega Man X, for example). There were cohesive follow-ups to this line of the series, but Mega Man was never quite the same once it left the NES platform.

Mega Man 6 was essentially an extension of its predecessors, especially Mega Man 5. The overall gameplay experience was familiar, except with new levels and bosses (even in that respect it's somewhat familiar). The game was equally as challenging as any in the series, and if anything it was harder than Mega Man 5. Those who shelled out their hard-earned cash to buy this game were treated to a game packed to its rafters. Beating the 8 Robot Masters was only half the battle, with many fortress battles to follow.

In essence, that's why the game is so challenging. Some of the Robot Master stages contain alternate routes, and depending on which route you take you can obtain BEAT parts. Beat isn't especially useful in my opinion, but if you're obsessive about getting everything in the game then you need to take the harder route to the boss. Once you rub out the Robot Masters, the fortress battles begin. There are two stages to the fortress battles, each containing 4 - 5 stages and encounters. The last level involves knocking out each of the Robot Masters again so you don't want to be caught short on energy tanks or you could have a really tough time. It's a good idea to remember what weapon is most effective against each Robot Master (because you gain each of their abilities when you first defeat them). If you're like me and you can't be bothered with such things, then either write it down or print out a walkthrough in advance.

One of the things that seemed a bit unnecessary was the Rush and Mega Man fusion sequence. Every time you went to use one of the Rush powers (which was frequent, I might add), there was a little auto-sequence that depicted the fusion. Fortunately the sequence was skip-able, but it still seemed redundant to play it over and over.

Gameplay
The gameplay is simple and classic; one button for jumping and one button for shooting. The B button can be held to charge up your shot, and you can dash (slide) by holding down the down button on the D-pad while pushing the A button. This is nothing new to seasoned Mega Man players, but these abilities were not available to the player in the original Mega Man. Capcom usually made some attempt at gameplay innovation with each release, but there isn't really anything new to speak of in Mega Man 6. The game does have a fair bit of content, however, and the Plant Man (the springs), Flame Man (the oil) and Centaur Man (the inverted wave pool) stages are formidable attempts at innovation and are fun to play.

Graphics
Mega Man 6 looks fairly impressive for a NES game, although it should be noted that the SNES was already out by the time this game was released. Mega Man 6 is an otherwise ordinary 8-bit NES game.

Sound & Music
Although the primitive beeps-and-bloops may be less than appealing, Mega Man was a series with consistently good music, and Mega Man 6 was no exception. Sadly there aren't any memorable themes, but the music still shines and helps to create a fun gaming experience.

The sound effects are classic Mega Man, and for the sake of familiarity there would be no point in changing them. That's what I think, at least. Regardless, the sound effects are adequate auditory cues for the player.

Overall 7/10
For me this was a fun game to play in my spare time. The Blizzard Man and Plant Man stages did cause me some grief, and some of the fortress levels were also challenging, but not impossible. The reencounter with the 8 Robot Masters towards the end of the game was classic Mega Man, and seemed fitting (if difficult) for the last in the NES series. The game was essentially a rehash of the previous 5 Mega Man games, but that doesn't mean that it was any less satisfying.

This article was originally published on March 3, 2008.