First appearing on television screens in 1981 the Care Bears are a group of colourful bears that live in the clouds, each bear is named after a trait and each bear has a symbol on their belly representing this trait.
The Care Bears originally started their debut through TV specials airing between 1983 till 1985. In 1985 the Care Bears were given their own television series which was very popular amongst young children but before the television series was released we were given a movie based completely on the Care Bears toy line.
The movie starts in an orphanage where one of the staff voiced by Mickey Rooney is reading the story of the Care Bears to the children.
The Care Bears live in a land of clouds called Carealot, The Care Bears have the ability to travel to earth to help those who don’t care any more, the reason they do this is because the stability of Carealot depends on people on earth caring about each other, while visiting Earth the Care Bears try to befriend two young siblings called Kim and Jason.
Kim and Jason have given up about caring for people because both of their Parents left them at an orphanage at a young age, the Care bears want to befriend Kim and Jason to show them that they will not always be alone and to hopefully get them to care again.
Not much later and we are introduced to some new characters a magician and his apprentice Nicholas.
Nicholas is a young boy who has never had a friend in his entire life, this has made him very depressed and angry at the world, an evil spirit trapped inside a book encourages Nicholas to set it free and in exchange it will teach Nicholas how to be more recognised.
A desperate Nicholas agrees to the deal and he uses a key to unlock the book releasing the spirit inside.
The evil spirit starts teaching Nicholas dark magic which Nicholas uses to turn people against each other and eventually taking all of the care out of the world.
Of course this has massive effects on the stability and the well being of Carealot so the Care Bears quickly investigate and learn about Nicholas and the reasons he is angry at everyone, after quickly realising that all three of these children need people to care about they all decide to head to earth to find Nicholas, but just as they start to transport the transporter is destroyed sending the children and the two Care Bears to a land between worlds.
The remaining Care Bears decide to get aboard a boat and travel down a river in the clouds in the hopes that they will find the children and the missing Care Bears, they eventually find the children and the other two Care Bears in a new land called the Forest of Feelings, here they meet some new animal friends including Brave Heart Lion, Swift Heart Rabbit, Playful Heart Monkey and Lotsa Heart Elephant.
The animals join the children and the Care Bears in their quest and they all head out together on a big adventure to save Nicholas from the evil spirit.
The animation is basic to say the least, it looks more like a direct to VHS release than it does a movie that got released into theatres, it’s not terrible though the animation plays very smoothly and the movies use of shadows and shading is very impressive, the only real problem I had with the animation is that most of the time the characters lips don’t sync with what they are saying and this can be very distracting.
The songs in this movie are just awful, they are all very forgetful and genuinely annoying with lyrics that make very little sense, every song in the movie honestly feels like it’s just there for filler and I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s the case.
The Care Bears Movie is not one of the best children’s movies I have ever had to sit through, the plot is not very interesting, the animation is fairly basic with the exception of the films use of shadows and shading, the songs are not fun to listen too in the slightest and apart from a pretty cool villain the movie is really bad.
I suggest skipping this one unless you have very young children who you want to keep quiet for an hour.
I hope you enjoyed this review of The Care Bears Movie
If you respect my opinion, I will respect yours
By Padawan
Want me to review a specific game/movie/product or do you have a general question you would like me to answer? if so please email me at ragglefragglereviews@gmail.com
You can find me on Miiverse by searching for draskafer
Marble Madness may be one of the most bizarre video games that I own, you play as a marble and the objective of the game is to roll the marble through six different obstacle courses.
You may think that this seems really easy, but believe me it’s not because the controls are very sensitive, one tap on the d-pad can get your marble rolling and then its up to you to carefully traverse past any obstacles,it genuinely feels like you are controlling a marble and because of that reason the game is immensely difficult, anything can happen you can fall into a dip in the course and then you will need to roll around to build up momentum and speed in order to push yourself back to the flat area, you can roll into acid and melt, you can be eaten by a snake, you can be blown off of the course by powerful gusts of air and you can even spin out of control and smash, and while all of this madness is happening you have a time limit!!
depending on how quickly you finish a course will determine how much time you will be given for the next course and once you hit zero seconds its game over and back to course 1.
You have six courses to get through and each course has its own specific design and theme.
Course 1 Practise
This is literally the practise stage, no obstacles just a good way to get used to the controls by rolling to the goal while trying to avoid falling off of the course.
Course 2 Beginner
Things start to get a little more challenging here, you will now need to travel through a bigger course than before while avoiding those green snakes who will eat you and also staying clear of the mean black marble that will try to knock you off of the edge.
Course 3 Intermediate
This course isn’t too difficult but it does introduce a new hazard, puddles of acid are now in the game and if your marble touches any of these puddles it will immediately melt, also introduced is a really tough section of the course that requires you to avoid a green wave that will push you off of the edge of the map.
This course also brings back those annoying green snakes and the course in general has many high slopes for you to climb in order for you to reach the goal.
Course 4 Aerial
This is where the game gets really tough, in the aerial course you will need to use fast speeds and patience in order to survive, while trying to build up speed to jump large gaps you will be greeted by many air blowers, the air blowers will blast heavy gusts of air at the marble attempting to knock it off course, also some areas of this course will have floors that will raise very quickly often throwing your marble into the depths below
Course 5 Silly
When you first start the silly course you are made to traverse up some rather steep hills, this is not too difficult to do but it can cause you to lose quite a lot of seconds if your not quick, you are again having to deal with the green snakes and the black marbles but now they are tiny and because of this they are much less dangerous and you shouldn’t have any trouble avoiding them, a new enemy introduced here is the purple birds, these birds are a pain they show up in a flock right at the end of the course and it is your job to try to avoid them while quickly making your way to the goal, it took me lots of practise before I could finish this level.
Course 6 Ultimate
This is the final level of the game and so as you may expect it is really hard, you need to patience, good timing, fast reflexes and constant movement in order to make it to the goal. You will need to get past puddles of acid, the black marble, and an extremely annoying final section that requires you to carefully travel across many disappearing and reappearing sections of a dangerous path and if you fall your marble will smash.
Marble Madness does in fact have a multiplayer mode, if 2 player mode is selected on the main menu, you will need to go through the same six courses from the single player mode, the only difference is that now there are two marbles on the screen instead of just one, Player one (Blue Marble) will need to race Player two (Pink Marble) to the goal, both players will be given the usual time bonus upon starting each course but whoever wins the race will be given extra time on top of the usual starting bonus.
The overall winner is whoever makes the most points at the end of the game
Once you select either singleplayer or multiplayer you will be given a choice of either playing the game in 90 degrees mode or 45 degrees mode.
In 90 degrees mode you hold the NES game pad vertically and you control the marble with all four of the D-PAD buttons
In 45 degrees mode you use all four of the D-PAD buttons but in this mode you need to rotate the NES controller so that the D-PAD looks like an X, some players find this mode easier because while playing the game you will be moving diagonally more often than you will be moving horizontally or vertically.
When I played through the game I realised just how brilliant the soundtrack is not only because the music if super fun to listen too but because of how it evolves throughout each course. In the early stages of the game the music is really fun and happy but when you go to the later stages the music starts to get more intense and crazy as if its warning you of the dangers lurking in the later sections of the game.
Final Verdict
Due to the sensitive controls this game can prove to be very difficult, I see this as positive thing because in reality marbles are round which means that they are very difficult to have control over once they start rolling and also due to their round shape the slightest touch can get marbles moving quite a distance before they come to stop, Marble Madness follows these rules and so it may surprise you that this game is actually quite realistic, its not just the physics based game play that’s impressive its also the way that the music changes with the atmosphere it really helps you feel immersed in the experience and it only goes to show just how special this little game about marbles really is.
Marble Madness is literally Madness, its a fantastic little game which uses realistic physics, has a surprisingly immerserive soundtrack, the game is challenging but still really fun to play I only wish there was a few more levels and maybe some more options such as changing the colour of your marble and being able to play with more than 2 players on multiplayer mode.
Marbles have never been so much fun 8.9/10
Thank you for reading my review of Marble Madness for the NES
By Padawan
Want me to review a specific game/movie/product or do you have a general question you would like me to answer? if so please email me at ragglefragglereviews@gmail.com
You can find me on Miiverse by searching for draskafer
The blue blur is back and this time he’s brought a friend
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is very similar to the first game and there is a high possibility that it’s a direct sequel.
Doctor Robotnik (Egg man) has again turned the wildlife inhabitants of South Island into to robot’s and it’s up to Sonic and his friend Miles (Tails) Prowler to adventure across some new areas of South Island in order to find and Defeat Dr Robotnik and to save the Island from his Evil Antics.
the only really big change in game play is the introduction of Tails, a two tailed fox who has the ability to fly which makes up for his lack in speed.
Tails is a very useful mechanic in the game not only because he can fly but also because he can defeat enemies, collect rings and he can even help by dealing damage during boss fights.
Tails biggest downfall is his lack in speed, the problem is that because Sonic is so fast Tails will often get left behind leaving Sonic to get through the the majority of the stages alone, this isn’t as much of an issue during single player because as much as Tails can help with rings and boss fights it is possible to beat the game without him, but on the other hand if you want to play the single player with a friend, Player 2 (Tails) wont be able to keep up with Player 1 (Sonic), this makes playing the single player with a friend pointless which is a shame because they could have fixed this by making single player split screen when a second player joins.
On the bright side Sonic 2 does have another Multiplayer mode, if you select 2 players from the main menu, you will be able to select specific levels from the game which Player 1 (sonic) and Player 2 (Tails) will be able to race each other to the goal and the best part is that this mode does use split screen which makes the game fair for both players to have a good time.
The games visuals are stunning, again everything is animated amazingly well the environments and backgrounds scroll with the player and some background objects such as clouds, lava and water move by themselves. The only complaint I have regarding the level design is that sometimes its really difficult to tell what is in the background and what will hurt you.
For example it may seem that the flames here can hurt you but they are actually harmless.
Every zone in the game has its own unique theme, level design and enemies for Sonic and Tails to defeat.
Sonic 2 has 11 zones and provides a total of 22 levels
Emerald Hill Zone
Very similar to Green Hill Zone, Emerald Hill Zone has a tropical theme and provides plenty of loops, slopes and multiple pathways for Sonic and Tails to run through. This zone is super fun and super easy so you shouldn’t have much trouble with it.
Chemical Plant Zone
Going straight from a nice tropical vacation spot to the dangers of a factory filled with lots of enemies and toxic water which can kill you very quickly, this zone has multiple pathways and high speed game play which makes it very challenging and it shows that Sonic Team isn’t messing around.
Aquatic Ruins Zone
A fun little zone based around some ancient ruins surrounded by a lake, this zone is one of my favorites because you are able to change how to traverse through the zone every time you play it, for example if you stay near the top of the level you will have to adventure across the top of the ruins to reach the goal, but if you head downwards you will have to adventure across the bottom of the ruins and through the lake in order to reach the goal.
Casino Night Zone
A definite upgrade to Spring Yard Zone from the first game, Casino Night is awesome Sonic and Tails will need to run, fling themselves, shoot themselves and gamble in order to survive this crazy stage, Casino Nights is loads of fun.
Hill Top Zone
Sonic and Tails will be running above the clouds in this zone, Hill top zone requires you to take your time as you will have hills to climb, lava to avoid and lots of caves to explore, this zone is definitely for the explorative types.
Mystic Cave Zone
Sonic and Tails will need to explore some dark caves filled with old abandoned mine cart tracks, but don’t relax just yet because it is also filled with lots of traps, spikes and switches, this zone will definitely keep you on your toes.
Oil Ocean Zone
Literally an Ocean of Oil, this zone is very difficult as it has a lot of environmental hazards and obstacles, players will need to try to avoid falling off of oily slides and will need to use Green furnace flames to help propel themselves onto small platforms in order for them to traverse further through the zone.
Metropolis Zone
In my opinion the most difficult zone in the game, this Giant factory is filled to the brim with enemies, environmental hazards, large pits of boiling chemicals and the worst part is that the entire zone is like one big maze, this is one maze that I never want to get lost in again
Sky Chase Zone
During a short plane ride Sonic and Tails need to chase down Dr Robotnik while he retreats to his air ship, during this stage players will need to avoid robotic flying turtles and collect rings, at the end of the stage Sonic needs to jump out of the plane to take on the air ship solo.
Wing Fortress Zone
Based in Dr Robotnik’s air ship there are plenty of opportunities for you to fall to your doom due to the many platforms and thin ledges. While avoiding Dr Robotnik’s most dangerous robots yet players will need lots of patience and good timing in order to survive.
Death Egg Zone
Again similar to Sonic 1 this is just the final boss and get ready for one tough final boss battle because unlike the first game now you have to face two bosses in a row. You will need to defeat Metal Sonic and once you beat him you then need to beat Dr Robotnik in his giant space armour, but if you die you will need to take on Metal Sonic again and you will need to keep repeating this pattern until you can defeat both bosses in a row without dying.
Players have the ability to choose to play the single player mode as Sonic with Tails, Sonic alone or Tails Alone.
Beating the game with different characters does very slightly change the ending of the game but it so slight that it does not really count as an alternative ending as the final outcome is the same.
Bonus Stages are back but with a big difference, this time Sonic and Tails will need to collect 50 rings and once they reach a checkpoint they need to jump into the sparkly portal that appears above.
Once they enter the Bonus Stage the player will see Sonic and Tails looking slightly 3D, they will be running through a tunnel filled with rings that they need to collect, if they collect enough rings they will be rewarded with a Chaos Emerald. This may sound easy but it can be very difficult because this time Sonic and Tails are running forward with the camera following behind, also there are many obstacles such as bombs and spikes that if Sonic or Tails hit they will lose some rings.
Warning: If you enter a Bonus stage when you leave your ring count will be Zero.
Getting all 7 Chaos Emeralds will allow Sonic to transform into Super Sonic once he collects 50 rings in a stage you transform by jumping , Super Sonic is invincible, the only downfall is that you lose a ring for every second super sonic is on screen and once you run out of rings you will lose the super sonic ability until you collect some more.
Sonic 2 is an amazing game, it has some really creative levels, the bonus stages are more fun and rewarding, the soundtrack is so good that every time I listen to it I want to dance, the visuals and general game design is beautiful and apart from the pretty bad multiplayer and the fact that sometimes background objects seem dangerous, the game is near perfect.
One of the best games that Sonic Team has ever made 9.3/10
Thank you for reading my review of Sonic the Hedgehog 2
By Padawan
Want me to review a specific game/movie/product or do you have a general question you would like me to answer? if so please email me at ragglefragglereviews@gmail.com
You can find me on Miiverse by searching for draskafer
How often have you heard the phrase “Bacon is a mans meat” or “only boys can play with Transformers”
This is a form of forced gender roles and I am sure that everyone has heard a phrase or a saying similar to these at some point during their lifetime.
In this blog I am going to try and analyse why we have gender roles and my thoughts on the subject
The most common form of forced gender roles is found in toy stores, when you go into a toy store the two most common colours you will see are Pink and Blue.
The reason for this is because Pink is often considered to be a girls colour while Blue is often considered to be a boys colour, the Pink section of a toys store will be filled with Barbies, My little Pony and Disney Princess while the blue section will be filled with G.I. Joe’s, Transformers and Hot wheels.
This would be a flawless idea if all girls liked girls things and all boys liked boys things, but what happens when a girl wants a Teenage mutant ninja turtle action figure or when a boy wants a My little pony doll?
You may think whats the big deal they can buy whatever they want, but how can they when society has told them that those toys are only for the other gender to play with.
This wasn’t as much of an issue until bronies hit the scene, bronies (A combination of bro and pony) are male fan’s of the show My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic a show targeted at girls but surprisingly has a large male audience.
So what happens in this situation because My little pony is Pink but the majority of its audience are males, which is something that I don’t think anyone saw coming.
you will often see bronies in the Pink section looking for my little pony stuff and people who see them will often look disgusted and pull their children closer to them, or if its a child who’s a brony then its usually the parents that will receive this treatment.
Toy stores are not the only thing that are very heavily genderized, the same can be said for TV shows, Movies, Music,magazines, shampoos, and pretty much everything.
A prime example would Pop Princesses, a CD series that is heavily advertised that it is for a female audience
Another example would be any gaming magazine which are genuinely targeted towards a male audience with very few exceptions such as Girl Gamer (a gaming magazine for girls).
something that makes me really happy is when I see a female who’s a plumber, builder or a mechanic all jobs which are often associated with men, the same goes when I see male receptionist, nurse, hairdresser and stay at home dad.
Bringing gender roles into food and beverage is just stupid, anyone should be able to eat or drink what they want and I honestly don’t understand why people try to genderize food in the first place.
Women can eat Steak and men can drink wine, we should not be told what we should eat and drink just because we are a certain gender.
Some people may look at gender roles as a good thing and I understand why some people believe that each gender should do as society says, personally I think that having gender roles is genuinely a bad idea not only because it limits the consumer to what they should buy depending on their gender, but I also feel that it affects the companies that produce the goods because limiting their products to specific genders does in some way limit the amount of money those companies can gain from sales.
Gender roles are something that we will always have, I don’t personally see it as good thing but I understand that it helps companies identify what gender they are targeting their products at and in that sense it does help benefit the companies in some way or form.
I think we need to draw the line when having gender roles becomes a brick wall built by society trying to prevent someone from taking on certain careers or purchasing gender specific products without them looking weird or strange in the eyes of the general public.
Whats your opinion on Gender Roles?
Do you agree with my opinions on the subject?
Thank you for reading this blog
By Padawan
Want me to review a specific game/movie/product or do you have a general question you would like me to answer? if so please email me at ragglefragglereviews@gmail.com
You can find me on Miiverse by searching for draskafer
I think every Pokemon fan has wondered what the Pokemon games would look like if you played them with a first person perspective, instead of playing them with the common birds eye view that is presented in the majority of the games.
If you happen to be one of these fans, then you will be pleased to know that a 3D Pokemon game now exists and it is simply titled Pokemon 3D.
Pokemon 3D is a recreation of Pokemon Gold and Pokemon Silver which were released on the Gameboy Colour in 1999.
But even though Pokemon 3D has been created around these games, it is a very different experience as it has new characters, mostly different dialogue and it even has its own twists and changes to the original games plot, not to mention that the entire game has had a massive graphical upgrade compared to the original game that could only run in 8 bits.
Pokemon Gold/Silver Original
Pokemon 3D
This is a Pokemon game and so the objective is very similar to original series, you are a Pokemon trainer and it is your mission to catch and train as many Pokemon as you can, you will then need to retrieve the 8 gym badges before making your way to the Pokemon championships to take on the elite 4 and too finally defeat the Pokemon Champion of the world.
The game play is also very similar to an actual Pokemon game and the only major difference this time around is that you are using a keyboard and mouse. I found the controls to be a little awkward but I think that’s just because I am so use to playing Pokemon on an actual game boy, so it was little difficult for my mind to adjust to these new controls.
Personally I was getting quite a bit of lag when I was walking from place to place, the reason for this is because the game requires a lot of power from your CPU, I have a fairly powerful PC and I can run my fair share of games that require high performance so I believe that this issue is just a problem with the game currently and its an aspect that I hope the developers fix.
The battle system is really cool, it reminds me of the new latest Pokemon battle systems from X/Y and Alpha/Omega. The Pokemon themselves are in 3D and you get to see them fight. At the moment you are not able to see the Pokemon perform the attacks but I am sure that this feature will appear in a later update.
You will also be pleased to know that all of the original music and audio from Pokemon Gold and Silver is in the game, the audio is loud, crisp and full of nostalgia and having the original audio is a really nice feature especially for people who grew up playing these games.
You can even have a Pokemon adventure online with other players, but I really struggled to connect to the server but after a while I managed to connect and it was pretty sweet, I cant wait to play this game online with my friends so we can go on Pokemon adventures together.
Pros
Fantastic Graphics and Imagery
Music and Audio from the Original Game
Plays and feels like a real Pokemon Game
Cons
The controls are a little complicated
Experienced quite a bit of Lag
You will need a powerful CPU
Sometimes you may struggle to connect to the online server
Pokemon 3D is still in development and the developers are working on improving the game every single day, If your a Pokemon fan I highly recommend that you check this game out.
Want me to review a specific game/movie/product or do you have a general question you would like me to answer? if so please email me at ragglefragglereviews@gmail.com
You can find me on Miiverse by searching for draskafer
Makoto Konno is an ordinary teenager, she goes to high school, hates her little sister, her emotions are all over the place and she loves hanging out with her two best friends Chiaki and Kosuke
Apart from the fact that Makoto is extremely clumsy and a bit of goof ball her life is fairly normal for a girl of her age, but that all changes when she is asked to return some books too one of classrooms in her school, when she arrives the class room appears to be completely empty, she discovers a message on the blackboard which reads “Time waits for no one”
She thinks nothing of this and she returns the books to their proper place but being the klutz she is, she falls on a walnut and crushes it. On her way home she is racing down a steep hill on her bike, she hears a railroad crossing ahead as it is bleeping warning pedestrians of an incoming train, Makoto tries to use the brakes but they wont work, she hits the rail and flies off her bike straight into the oncoming train and presumably dies.
A few Seconds later she is back on top of the hill and is in pain after falling off her bike and she hears the rail road crossing warn passers by of the same train that hit her previously.
Obviously she gets very confused by this and she goes to visit her Auntie Witch
She Explains to Makoto that she had peformed a time leap which means that she leapt through time and time traveled. We also learn that time leaps can be peformed by a lot of teenagers her age, but not many know that they have this ability.
As you may expect like any person who discovers that they can time travel Makoso starts time leaping whenever she can, she starts time leaping to get what she wants, to change how she deals with situations because if she does screw up anything she can reverse time and start again, she even time leaps so she can keep redoing her maths test until she has a perfect grade.
Makoso starts to get very selfish knowing that she can now have multiple chances at any thing that life throws at her and that nothing in her life will ever go wrong again.
At least that’s what she thought because later on in the movie Makoso notices a Tattoo of the number 9 on her arm, at first she thinks nothing of it and she carry’s on time leaping only to realise that the 9 is now a 6, this number represents the amount of time leaps Makoso has left,.
Makoso starts to feel foolish that she wasted almost of all of her time leaps and with only one left she decides that would be a great idea to time leap back to the begging of the movie so that she can get her friend Kosuke in a relationship with a girl who has a crush on him, but by doing this she ends up managing to sprain the girls ankle, since Makoso just walked away not realising what had happened Kosuke borrows Makoso’s bike and starts rushing to his house to get the girls ankle fixed but little does he know that he is heading towards the same train from the beginning of the movie.
Makoso Realises this and with no time leaps left she runs to try and stop her friend before it is too late.
The films plot is very impressive considering that a lot of anime’s are full of action, have an antagonist of some sort and are genuinely un-realistic, but with this anime its not the case at all because these teenagers act like normal teenagers, the high school looks and feels like a normal high school and even when Makoso starts time leaping she uses her new ability for non important things such as redoing karaoke over and over again, going back in time so she can eat her meals for a second time and to just genuinely avoid awkward situations, the reason I bring this up is because when I was a teenager if I this ability I would be using it in a similar manner.
The icing on the cake is the animation, this movie is beautiful every scene is hand drawn and its amazing. What may surprise a lot of people is that the animation and designs of the characters are quite simple but the backgrounds have had so much effort and time put into them that they really stand out, I don’t see this as a bad thing because its actually quite a nice change of pace considering that with most animated films and animes its the characters them selves which stand out the most compared the the rest of the imagery the film has offer, this film is a complete reversal of the usual formula and it works really well because it allows the viewer to really soak in the animation and ultimately 9 times out of ten they will appreciate the animation a lot more as well as the time and effort that went into making the film.
The girl who leapt through time is an amazing film it has top notch animation, a wonderful cast of characters, a brilliant plot and writing and it some heart warming and heart breaking moments which are bound to bring out some emotions in any who watches it.
If you haven’t yet seen this movie, I highly recommend giving it a watch
I hope you enjoyed this review
If you repect my opinion, I will respect yours
By Padawan
Want me to review a specific game/movie/product or do you have a general question you would like me to answer? if so please email me at ragglefragglereviews@gmail.com
You can find me on Miiverse by searching for draskafer
Big thanks to Michael Elvidge for sending in Wave Race
Wave Race on the Nintendo Game Boy is one of the very few Game Boy games that I owned when I was a child, I remember that I would always bring this game to the playground and me and my friends would often challenge each other to see who was the fastest racer.
Back then I thought that Wave Race was a fantastic game, but how does it hold up today?If you haven’t figured it out yet,Wave Race is a Jet Ski racing game, you and three other players which can either be CPU’s or your friends who you have the ability to race against by connecting via the Game Boy Link Cables.
If you decide to play alone you will be have the ability to select one of three options
Practice- Selecting this option allows the player to select any course they desire, they can then race through the selected course alone with no other players or CPU’s, this option can be extremely useful as some of the tracks later on in the game have been built for more advanced players as they contain more obstacles such as whirl pools and strong currents of water which slow down the racers, also these later courses have a more complicated and challenging layout compared to the earlier courses.
All Courses for Circuit mode
All Courses for Slalom
Record- This mode shows the player their best times for every track in circuit mode and it also shows them the total amount of time they have spent on each track, this is a really useful feature that any competitive players will enjoy using for bragging rights it is also really cool to see this kind of feature on such an old game.
and finally 1P aka the single player mode, as soon as you select this option you will be greeted to another screen which will give the option of playing Circuit Mode or Slalom.
Circuit Mode is essentially just a Grand Prix of the four available courses, the player will have to race three CPU’s through out each course while trying to avoid being bashed by the other racers while also steering away from any obstacles in their path to victory, depending on what place you finish at the end of each course you will be given a set amount of points and once the Grand Prix is over all of the points will be added up and the player with the most points will be crowned the winner.
Slalom is similar to Circuit mode as you are still racing three CPU’s in all four of the Slalom Courses, the big difference is that now instead of racing to a finish line the main objective is to race through marked flags in a set order, again depending on how long this takes you will determine what place you will finish, once all of the courses are complete every players points will be added up and the one with the most points will become the winner.
The overall look and sound of the game is mediocre to say the least, even though we are given two different game modes I wish that a larger selection of courses were available because 8 courses isn’t enough to keep bringing people back.
I also cant say much for the music as again there really isn’t a lot of it, during the different selection screens and menu’s we are presented with some catchy little tunes, but during the racing segments there is no music at all and the only sound you can hear is the penetrating sound of the jet ski’s motor and this gets very annoying. very quickly.
Overall Wave Race is nothing special but that in no way makes it a bad game,it has tight and simple controls and even though we are not given much variety in course selection or music the game it self is still fun to play especially with friends, I don’t recommend this game if you plan to play it alone though as I can see most people getting bored with it rather quickly, but if you plan to buy the game I suggest either playing it in short bursts or competitively with friends, as long play sessions did tend to give me a headache due to the annoying buzzing you hear during races.
Wave Race for the Nintendo Game Boy is an ok game but sadly that’s about it 5.4/10
I hope you enjoyed this review of Wave Race
If you respect my opinion, I will respect yours
By Padawan
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I remember when Nintendo Land first got announced at E3 back in 2012, I couldnt believe my eyes a Nintendo Theme Park with Attractions based on all of my favourite Nintendo IP’s, I was so excited and even though I didn’t own a Wii U at the time I couldn’t wait to watch people play it on YouTube.
Nintendo Land E3 Announcement
Nintendo Land was a genius idea but I couldn’t help being just a little sceptical because I remembered how excited I was for Wii Sports a game I thought I would love but instead I was bored of it after a week.
so how was Nintendo Land?
Nintendo Land does not really have a plot and I don’t see this as a bad thing because unlike other Nintendo Series such as Metroid and Zelda which have timelines connecting each game in the series, very interesting and epic character developments and some really in depth and well detailed story lines, the story in Nintendo Land is just that you are Mii visiting the theme park for fun and I personally think that as simplistic as this is it works perfectly considering where the game takes place.
There are 12 attractions in Nintendo Land and each one is themed around a specific Nintendo Character or a Series and has a unique objective and playing style. I will now talk about each attraction briefly while explaining my personal opinion and reasons why I may like or dislike certain attractions
The Attractions I don’t enjoy
Balloon Trip Breeze
I like the idea of this game, you play as your Mii travelling across the ocean via the transportation of floating balloons, the idea of the game is to draw on the Wii U game pad to create a breeze of wind to help blow your Mii out of the way of obstacles. I understand why a lot of people will enjoy this attraction, it’s slow paced and at times it can be very gripping but personally I found it a bit boring and it’s one of the games I play the least often.
Octopus Dance
Is it just me or does anyone else find this game to be a bit dull?
The idea of Octopus Dance is to copy the dance moves performed by the scuba diver by using the Game Pad’s two analogue sticks and that’s it. This is my least favourite attraction because compared to the other attractions I think its fair to say that its the most unoriginal, also sometimes the Game doesn’t recognise me copy the dance move and I lose a life which is really annoying.
Is anyone else having this issue?
Captain Falcons Twister Race
I was really excited for this attraction when I first saw it in Nintendo Land because the last F-zero game came out on the Game Cube so we haven’t seen a new F-zero game in a long time, I only have one problem with this and its not even the game it’s self, I hate that I have to look at the game pad while playing and all I can see is a birds eye view of myself and the track, while on the TV it looks like an F-zero game. I do enjoy playing this attraction but it’s the fact that I am forced to look at the game from a different perspective than what is shown on the TV and this factor really helps me too form a not so positive opinion.
The Attractions I enjoy
Animal Crossing: Sweet Day
This attraction is a lot of fun especially when you have a bunch of friends over, any players using wii remotes will need to collect as many sweets as they can and drop the sweets into one of the many bowls located on the map, the player using the game pad must control the two guards, controlling one guard with the left analogue stick and the other guard with the right analogue stick. I had a lot of fun playing animal crossing sweet day with my brothers when they visited over the holidays.
Luigi’s Ghost Mansion
The idea of this attraction is that Luigi is hunting down an escaped ghost in his mansion, all players using the wii remotes will play has the ghost hunters and the player using the game pad plays as the ghost, in order to win the game either the ghost hunters need to drain all 100 of the ghosts health hitting the ghost with the beam of light shining from the flash light or the ghost needs to catch the hunters 3 times. This attraction is really fun especially if you like games which require a bit of strategic thinking in order to catch the enemy when they least expect it.
Yoshi’s Fruit Cart
In this attraction you need to guide the Yoshi cart to all of the fruit and then to the exit door, you do this by drawing a single route to all of fruit and the exit, the only catch is that on the game pad all of the fruit is invisible so you really need to plan out your route carefully. Later the game gets really tough as it starts adding holes you fall through and by making you collect fruit in a specific order. If you are a fan of puzzle games then you will love this.
My Favourite Attractions
Metroid Blast
Metroid Blast is the only game on Nintendo Land that I have actually managed to finish, the idea of the game is that you and a friend need to complete an objective while taking on a barrage of alien foes, these objectives can be anything from defeating all of the enemies on the map, collecting all of the character tokens, protecting civilians or overcoming a challenging boss fight.
The mulitplayer aspect allows you and your friend to fight eachother, one person will take control of the spaceship with the Wii U game Pad while shooting their target from above land and the other players will remain on land and will work together to take down the space ship. Metroid Blast really is a Blast and it only makes me more excited for a future Metroid game on the Wii U.
Mario Chase
Mario Chase is very similar to the animal crossing game, the only difference is that this time the objective is to either avoid the Toads or catch Mario. The reason I enjoy this game more than Animal Crossing Sweet Day is because in my opinion Mario Chase has much better maps, the Animal Crossing maps were fun but the Mario Chase maps are much bigger, you are able to pick up power stars, they have obstacles and one of the maps has slides. freaking slides !!!. Mario Chase is a multiplayer only game but everytime you play it it’s going to be heaps of fun.
The Legend of Zelda Battle Quest
In The Legend of Zelda Battle Quest you and your friends take control over what appears to be the four link’s from the Legend of Zelda Four Swords. The idea of the game is to defeat all of the enemies quickly and strategically until the hero’s manage to reach the Triforce which is located at the end of each stage, the Triforce is sometimes guarded by a boss, the player with the game pad will need to use a bow and arrow for some long range attacks on oncoming foes and any players using the wii remotes will need to attack enemies at close range with their swords. This game is really awesome to play especially with friends, I personally don’t like that its on rails but I understand that this does add to the challenge and many players will appreciate this aspect of the attraction.
Donkey Kong’s Crash Course
Donkey Kong’s Crash Course seems to be a very popular attraction among many of the guests who visit Nintendo Land and I think the reason behind this is because the game is very challenging but its also very fun to play which is a perfect combination for gamers of all ages. The idea of the game is to guide a rickety cart through an obstacle course which is filled with many fun puzzles for players to solve. This game is so far the only reason I have had to blow into the microphone on my Wii U game pad, its a quirky little feature that I hope more Wii U titles will implement in the future.
Takamaru’s Ninja Castle
Is Takamaru a new IP or have I missed out on a past Nintendo Series?
In all seriousness I don’t know who Takamaru is but I do know that Takamaru’s ninja castle is wonderful. The player needs to turn the Wii U game pad vertically towards the tv, the player will then need to swipe the game pad in order to throw shurikens at paper ninjas who appear on the tv. This game really helps show the capabilities of the game pad and its so intense its bound to get your heart pounding.
Pikmin Adventure
This is by far my favourite attraction in Nintendo Land, one player will use the Wii U game pad and will take control of Captain Olimar and any players using Wii remotes will play as Big pikmin, The idea of the game is to destroy blocks and defeat enemies in order to collect nectar, the nectar will give your character experience points and after collecting a certain amount of nectar that players character will level up. Leveling up is important as it will make your character more powerful, if you are playing as pikmin your objective is to use your fists to beat up the enemies but the player controlling Captain olimar will need to tap on enemies in order to hurl their pikmin at them (real pikmin not the other players). The goal is to reach the end of stage alive but be warned once all players are defeated its back to the beginning of the stage. I have never played a pikmin game before and after playing this I am detertimed too one day to at least play Pikmin 3.
A small side mission you can do in the game is to use a pachinko machine in order to try and win prizes for your park, these prizes can be any thing from music you can play on the juke box, buttons which can do really cool things such as changing it from day to night and bits of memorabilia from the attractions.
while playing all of these attractions you will notice that everything in the game is formed from some sort of hand made material for example in Mario chase the Yoshi Carts are made out of wood and appear to be wind up toys, in The Legend of Zelda Battle Quests everything is made of a cloth like material and you can even see the stitching and in the Pikmin game all of the creatures are robotic and also appear to be wind up toys. I believe this feature helps give Nintendo Land its own charm and it also helps show that all of the games are just attractions and that the player is in no real danger just like in an amusement park.
The Music isn’t all that memorable but I think this is fine considering the purpose of the game, the idea of Nintendo Land is to help player get use to using the Wii U game pad while at the same time showing off some of its key features, so there is no need for epic orchestral masterpieces which you may find in The Legend of Zelda, Metroid and Super Mario Galaxy. The Music in Nintendo Land may not be that memorable but it is nice to listen too and for me that’s good enough.
Nintendo Land is a fantastic game which definitely outlived my expectations, there were some attractions that I personally didn’t enjoy but I had a lot of fun with the attractions I did like. I am really happy that we didn’t get a sports game to show off the Wii U game pad as that was one of my biggest fears as Sports games are not everyone’s cup of tea but luckily Nintendo Land provides a variety of game play styles and challenges and I am certain that everyone will find something they enjoy.
Nintendo Land is a great game for all the family 9.0/10
I hope you enjoyed my review of Nintendo Land
If you respect my opinion, I will respect yours
By Padawan
Want me to review a specific game/movie/product or do you have a general question you would like me to answer? if so please email me at ragglefragglereviews@gmail.com
You can find me on Miiverse by searching for draskafer
Last night (December 30th) I read a TMZ article which told of the passing of the legendary voice actress Christine Cavanaugh
If you grew up in the 90’s chances are that you watched some of the shows that Christine provided her voice talents too such as Darkwing Duck, Dexters lab and The Rugrats.
Some of Christine’s roles include
Chucky from the Rugrats
Dexter from Dexters Lab
Oblina from Ahh real Monsters
Gosalyn from Darkwing Duck
She also voiced Babe
Being a voice actor/actress is a fantastic job but it does have its down sides one of the biggest being that a lot of the time people don’t realise who is providing the voice of those characters, because usually every voice acting role an actor/actress takes on will need a unique voice so its very difficult to recognise who is behind the microphone.
I feel that this is the reason why everyone knows who Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, kristen bell and Angelina Jolie are but not many people know who Tara Strong, Christine Cavanaugh, Mel Blanc and Frank Welker are and that makes me very sad.
Christine Cavanaugh was an extremely talented voice actress, even though she retired back in 2001 some of the characters she voiced became some of the most memorable cartoon characters of all time.
Christine’s death I am sure will hit a lot of people hard, its very sad that we have lost her but even though she is gone she will never be forgotten.
How the Grinch Stole Christmas might be one of the greatest Christmas specials of all time.
The special is based on the book of the same name written by none other than the legendary Dr Seuss.
The story follows the Grouchy old Grinch who hates everything about Christmas, He lives in a cave in a snowy mountain above the Town of Whoville. The Grinch hates the Who’s of Whoville because they love Christmas, The Grinch decides that he has had enough of Christmas and decides that he will dress up as Santa Claus and will take away all of the presents, the Christmas trees and all of the roast beast from every Who in town.
After taking away everything Christmas related from the town, The Grinch waits and listens for the angry parent’s and the weeping children but instead he is surprised to hear the sound of the Who’s coming together and singing.
After thinking long and hard about what happened the Grinch realises that maybe Christmas is not about the presents and the magnificent feasts but is instead about bringing people together and appreciating each others company.
The Grinch is voiced by none other than Boris Karloff who is most famous for playing the role of Frankensteins Monster in Frankenstein (1931).
No one could have done this role any better than Karloff did, he really helps show how evil the Grinch really is by providing the Grinch with a very sinister but angry voice, Karloff also narrated the entire movie and again he did a fantastic job.
The animation is very interesting because most children’s cartoons adapted from books tend to have an animation style which is more traditional and popular for that era but surprisingly this movie does not do that and instead the animation looks just like the book but with a little more polish, I think this works really well because it helps show that no changes needed to be made to the original illustrations and it helps give more life to the story the book is telling.
Here are some images from the book compared to some still shots from the special.
Book
special
I wasn’t super impressed with a lot of the songs in this special, I just didn’t enjoy them enough that I wanted to sing along, but one song I absolutely loved and that song was of course “Your’e a mean one Mr Grinch” which was sang by the amazing Thurl Ravenscroft, This song is so famous everyone from your little sister to your Great Grandmother probably knows some of the words.
To wrap things up (not an intended Christmas pun XD) How the Grinch Stole Christmas is a wonderful Christmas Special, It’s especially great for children as it helps show them the meaning of Christmas without shoving it down their throats and I really appreciate this
Its a fun and interesting 25 minute special that the whole family can enjoy
The animals join the children and the Care Bears in their quest and they all head out together on a big adventure to save Nicholas from the evil spirit.
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