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Blue's Room (2004)
The golden age of puppetry
When TV series featuring puppetry like Sesame Street and The Muppet Show rose to prominence, studios from all parts of the globe go on to make their own puppetry shows. Today, puppetry, along with traditional animation, seem to have faded from the media, probably as a result of the rise of computer animation. Nevertheless, the Sesame Street and Muppet franchises are still relevant.
In the mid-1990s, a series called Blue's Clues aired on the Nickelodeon channel. While the series was still running in the early 2000s, someone decided to make a different version of the series called Blue's Room. But unlike the first series which uses cutout animation, this later series uses Muppet style puppetry. I have a feeling puppetry was still in its heydey at the time.
As I am hardly a fan of the franchise, I never saw Blue's Room on television. However, I was able to watch two episodes online recently. Anyway, in the first series, Blue only barks. But in this show, Blue actually speaks which I find quite expressive (I also adore the bark-only Blue). This series centers on Blue who interacts with other puppet characters in her house. Also included is Joe who is the host the of the first series at the time. Besides interacting with the show's new characters, Blue and Joe would at times play a classic Blue's Clues game of finding clues indicated by canine paw prints. When the show entered its second season, we are introduced to Blue's baby brother Sprinkles who, to date, is Blue's only known relation. I wonder what it would be like if he (Sprinkles) were to return in a later series?
Upon watching the show online, I felt like I travelled by back in time to when some things were still common, namely puppetry. I can also tell the whoever designed this show did a find job in giving the Blue franchise a more realistic feel.
Jikiru hakase no homa ga toki (1988)
It's not that hard if you know how to play
Some reviewer at some video-sharing site describes this as one of the hardest games ever made. If you ask me, I do find it a little tricky. But I don't find the game that hard after playing it numerous times, and coming up with ways to get around the obstacles. I am writing this review because a few days ago, I played the game, got the best ending, and done so without using a single continue.
In the game, the player controls Dr. Jekyll whose goal is to walk through six places to reach the church where he would wed his lady. But if you think the journey would be smooth and peaceful, various obstacles and dangers await along the away which the doc must avoid. If Jekyll gets stressed too much, he will transform into the hideous Mr. Hyde who must destroy a number of beasts before being able to revert back to Jekyll. The game is mostly original, though Hyde's energy ball move appears to be inspired by Mario's fireball attack.
One complaint some gamers have about the game is that Jekyll walks rather slow which makes it challenging to dodge things like falling birds or bad musical notes. When getting struck a lot by those things, don't get frustrated. Instead you should be thankful, especially if getting stressed and taken to Hyde's world is a chance to restore your life gauge and removing some of the nuisances on screen.
Another complaint some gamers have is that Jekyll's cane does not do anything other than removing bees. Well, it is believed that Jekyll is designed to be a peace lover who should not attack anyone (a total opposite of his Hyde character). But to not make Jekyll completely defenseless, the designers made the cane usable against the insects.
What do I like about the game? The music fit the worlds of Jekyll and Hyde. The cat and dog really sound like a cat and dog. And best of all, the game has two endings which is rare for an NES game.
Abby Hatcher (2018)
A fun series of colorful creatures
Following the success of the Pokémon series of Japan in the late 1990s, various studios started making shows about creatures with special abilities to rival it. We got Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends, Monster Rancher, Digimon (and its many spiritual successors), and the Lilo & Stich series.
As the Pokémon series is still relevant today (not to mention that Pikachu has a film which will be released later this year), some studio working for Nick probably decided to make a show as an answer to it. Thus we have this show Abby Hatcher which happens to be made by the same people behind the successful Paw Patrol series.
The show Abby Hatcher centers on the eponymous character who's tasks involve rescuing unique creatures called Fuzzlies whenever they're in distress. When I say the Fuzzlies are unique creatures, I mean we have a blue rabbit that could fly, a raspberry with long flexible arms, two felines with extendable bodies, etc.
At a glance, the show looks a little feminine in style. But because the characters are balanced, I'm sure both boys and girls would appreciate it.
Peter Rabbit (2012)
Where are the shoes? Are the animators blind?
Looking back at the original illustrations by Beatrix Potter, you'll notice that Peter not only wears a jacket but also a pair of shoes. After Potter's book became such a hit, various versions of the tale where made. Some very faithful to the original, and some not so much. While the creators of this show did a good job in giving the rabbit his iconic blue jacket, I was disappointed that they (probably) forgot to give him shoes. Where are the shoes? This obscene flaw is something that has been done in a number of renditions of the tale. I suppose those who made those renditions have bad eyesight, and didn't notice Peter has shoes in the original story. It also doesn't get any better in this generation as Sony will release a feature film depicting Peter Rabbit but also following a similarly obscene direction.
Bubsy in Claws Encounters of the Furred Kind (1993)
The Ultimate Test Of Skill In Platform Video Gaming
Platform video games are games where a player controls a character to move from one surface to another. The controlled character attacks enemies either by jumping on them or attacking them in some other ways. Anyway, if there's a platform game that really test a player's skill to the limit, that would be Bubsy in Claws Encounters of the Furred Kind. Why do I think that? Well, because a single hit will cost you a life, this means you'll need masterful maneuverability and reaction for this game. Memorization is also required as enemy projectiles can come unexpectedly. While this may sound too challenging, it's not that hard once you get accustom to it after taking it slow and doing things one step at a time. As an advice I would like to give to those interested in playing this game, the glide isn't just for going down slowly or reaching places that are too high to jump but for a number of things (too many to say). And as to what I can say about the graphics and sound, it really good for games of its time.
PS: I once finished the last four levels of this game without using a continue which is why I wrote this review.
The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends (1993)
The NES Game
Before Rocky and Bullwinkle enter the 16-bet era through Genesis and SNES, they made their video game debut in the 8-bit period through NES. Despite sharing the same title as the Genesis and SNES versions, the NES version has different gameplay and different storyline.
In the NES game, the story starts where Bullwinkle finds out that some late rich relative of his has cash waiting for him to collect. As he sets off with his buddy Rocky to collect his cash, obstacles on the way include some villainous couple who will try to steal it. In playing the game, the player controls Bullwinkle but can also switch to Rocky. Both playable characters attack enemies by hurling bombs.
I for one am not a fan of the Rocky and Bullwinkle TV series. I don't think I'm interested in seeing any of the episodes either. While Rocky has a voice that isn't very authentic due to being played by some old trollop, I'm so happy that I don't get to hear it in this game which lacks voices. While I have played a few NES consoles in the past, I played this game online. During the early times I played this game, things were tricky, and I had to do a lot of saving. Though I completed it, I continued to play the game a few more times. But as I got better over several weeks, I managed to complete the game again but without doing any saving. With regards to the game, it's not perfect, but I do find it enjoyable.
Sonic the Hedgehog (2006)
The Beginning Of When Some Childhoods Became Permanently Ruined
After displaying greatness in the fourth generation and sixth generation of video games, the game makers of the Sonic franchise went on to create a Sonic game for the seventh generation. Bizarrely, they used a title that was used by an early 1990s Sega game. Well, it's amazing that the new game didn't cause any confusion.
Although this is just another 3d Sonic game, the game also marked the beginning when certain things are changed forever. And that change certainly isn't a favorable one.
When Tails started speaking in early Sonic TV series and games, his speaking role was done by young boys. It's really traditional and best to use boys to play boys to reflect them. But when Sega took the absurd step in using old bimbos to be Tails, it was never the same. And that absurdity started in this rubbish. Once a bimbo took over, more bimbos took over to this day.
As a gamer who adores Tails, it's really disheartening to know that Tails, who is a boy, will have his speaking role done by undesirables who aren't boys seemingly to no end. Oh Sega, why are you doing this?
Conker: Live and Reloaded (2005)
Gamers Will Never Adore This Mangled Character
Conker used to be a very decent character, and was featured in games for all ages. But for some irrational reasons, his creators corrupted and turned him into a demented freak. Perhaps turning that rodent to how he is in Conker's Bad Fur Day was a mistake. Perhaps the sales would have been far different had the programmers stuck to the more family-friendly Twelve Tales: Conker 64.
A few years later, the programmers created a remake of the dirty game and titled it Conker: Live and Reloaded. Here they try to clean things up by censoring the ugliness from the early game. I'm not sure if any of that helped as the remake did not achieve best-seller status (selling 1,000,000+ units). The remake didn't even achieved Platinum Hit status (selling 400,000+ units within its first 3 quarters of release.
I guess all these show that the idea of turning a nice decent critter into a dirty psychotic is nothing more than a disgusting travesty.