AnotherFuture Reviews

Apocalypse Pooh (1987 Video)

"Oh Bother!"

[5/10 · 26 July 2005]

This may have been the benchmark of all the Flash-animated film parodies on the Internet (although Flash nor the Internet did not exist back in 1987), but it still is terrible. Made in 1987, this is made by a nerd who matched up random Winnie-the-Pooh scenes with dialogue from Apocalypse Now. Nothing more, nothing less. Also, the video quality was terrible, as if this was bootlegged, home-recorded or something like that. I don't recommend this to people who like animated Internet film parodies such as "One Ring to Rule Them All" or "The Matrix Has You", as all this is is dialogue from one movie thrown into Pooh cartoons. This is interesting for those who want to see the primordial soup from where Internet film-based cartoons came from, although "Apocalypse Pooh" was not made through the Internet (you can see it on IFILM). Not recommended for kids because of "S___" thrown in a couple times. The only interesting part is the "Satisfaction" scene matched with Pooh getting carried away by the kite.

5/10

Memories (1995)

A good anthology of Anime shorts, different in their own way (MILD SPOILERS)

[10/10 · 18 March 2005]

I rented this movie one day and this anthology was very good. All of the shorts are based on manga by Katsuhiro Otomo and Otomo directs one short and the two others are directed by different people. Here are summaries of the shorts. If you want to see for yourself, you should not read these summaries: Magnetic Rose- This is the most thought-provoking short. Directed by Koji Morimoto (Animatrix), this short is about astronauts, answering a mysterious SOS signal, landing on an asteroid. The asteroid is actually an amalgamation of holograms, based on the memories of a mysterious opera singer named Eva Friedel, whose life went to turmoil after she lost her voice. Chaos ensues.

Stink Bomb- This is the funny short, although the subject matter is not funny. It is directed by Tensai Okamura (Wolf's Rain, Neon Genesis Evangelion). A stupid scientist has a bad fever and a friend suggests to sneak to his boss's office to take a prototype medicine that could cure him (the friend says that it's a blue pill in a red capsule). Instead of taking the "blue pill in the red capsule", our idiot hero takes the "red pill in the blue capsule", and as a result, he not only is cured of his fever, but he also becomes a walking, talking bio-weapon that kills millions of people and wreaks havoc in Japan. Chaos also ensues, and the ending is funny.

Cannon Fodder- This is the satire short. It is directed by Katsuhiro Otomo (the writer of the stories in the movie and the director of Akira and Steamboy). It is about a day in the life of a family that lives in an eerie country where cannons are fired at an unknown enemy. A little boy goes to a school where the teacher subliminally shoves war and glory into examples of work (physics of firing a cannon, cannons in math problems, etc.) The boy's mother works in a factory where they make the cannon shells. The boy's father helps load the shell into a cannon. As everybody else does hard work (fueled by jingoism such as "There Is No Conquest Without Labor"), some fat ugly person people call a ruler just walks to the cannon in pretentious uniform and fires the cannon. He just pushes a damn button, and he just walks there in a blaze of glory, pushing a button. He may fire at the enemy, but the workers did a more gutsy job than the ruler. Obviously, this is meant to be satire, as you'll find out in the ending. Usually, people might say this is the worst of the shorts, but if you go beyond the surface, you'll discover the message: War is not only bad, but it is a stupid/simple way for people to keep their minds off of reality by relying on imaginations of the enemy when they do not know who the enemy is, and those that question that might wind up dead.

I love these shorts, but the only problem (though small) is that all of these shorts are from the imagination of one person. Sure different people directed, but they were all manga by one person. I'd like to see completely different people writing stories when it comes to anthologies. It is a small problem and I don't care. Nevertheless, these shorts are great and they are different ("Rose" is thought-provoking, "Stink Bomb" is darkly comic, and "Cannon" makes fun of reality). ' I give this anthology of anime a 10/10

Halo 2 (2004 Video Game)

Good in its own way, but not for everybody (SPOILERS)

[4 January 2005]

I have waited a long time for Halo 2 to arrive. It was to come out on my birthday, but it was delayed right when Spring came around. I waited and waited for Halo 2, and finally, it arrived. I played it and the game was spectacular, but many people were disappointed at the story and the cliffhanger ending. I don't care of the story as much as the game itself. I admit that the game is poorly marketed (for instance, ads say you save earth from the aliens, but you are only there for a few levels and take off to another planet and work with The Arbiter and right when Chief comes back, it's over.). However, people should've known right before the game came out that there was meant to be more to it. Bungie did not want people to learn of the story before the game came out, so they wanted to fool people so they can shut up. Also, single-player was short, but it was so good that it should be played over and over in the harder modes. What Halo 2 lacks everywhere else it makes up for in game-play and multi-player. It's different and revolutionary. It's bigger and better. You can steal vehicles, fire rockets that home in on vehicles, and lunge at someone with a sword. The multi-player is faster-paced and balls-out fun. I LOVE MIDSHIP WITH SWORDS. Halo 2 is more revolutionary than the first one. The first Halo was good because of story and multi-player. The one thing good about the first one was the use of vehicles, but there were some games where that was done before. The first Halo had game problems such as The Flood. Halo 2 does not (except for story). The Flood levels in Halo 2 were better and cool balls-out fun. Remember, a FPS game is not always about the story, but it's about killing stuff and multi-player, as it is true in "DOOM".

Score: 10/10

Metroid: Zero Mission (2004 Video Game)

A good game, but it is a "Twin Snakes"-like rehash of the original game

[28 September 2004]

I played all of the Metroids (except the SNES one). Metroid Prime was a spectacular game, and as a result, I began to play the older Metroid games. In early 2004, the "Zero Mission" game was released and it was alright. You must defeat Kraid, Ridley, and other monsters and get new items, just like in the original. However, you get some elements introduced in games after, such as speed boost and all that stuff. It is like "Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes", which was a rehash of the original with mechanics featured in "Sons of Liberty" and "Substance". The most disappointing thing was that it was too short. I completed it in a week, whereas in "Prime", I completed it in the course of a few months. Even "Fusion" was a bit longer, even without those cut scenes. The only thing really new is that level with the suit less Samus and her pistol. Once you beat the game, you get the original Metroid, password system and all, but you start at the beginning even if you type the right password.

Score: 8/10

Metroid Prime (2002 Video Game)

Halo + Myst = Metroid Prime, One of the Best Games Ever!

[31 August 2004]

I never thought I would actually get Metroid Prime back in 2002. I thought I would get Super Mario Sunshine or Wind Waker (which was released the next year). I gave it a rent and it really sucked. I never played any of the Metroid games before Prime, nor did I ever hear of Metroid in the first place. One day, I went to the EB store in the Falls in Florida. I played Metroid Prime, which was on a Gamecube demo disc, wondering "what the hell is 'Metroid'?" before playing it, and BEHOLD! I played what may be the BEST GAME EVER! I was awestruck by how beautiful the graphics were, how innovative the gameplay was, how beautiful the soundtrack, the sound, everything. I HAD to get that game. Luckily, I got it as a holiday gift in around November-December, and it was good.

You play Samus Aran, a female bounty hunter who must investigate the "Great Poison" released throughout Chozo Ruins, which is among four different planets connected to Tallon Overworld through elevators. You defeat Flaagra (a giant plant creature that grew from the Great Poison) and you get rid of the Great Poison but you stumble across information of Space Pirates mining for Phazon and a creature known as "Metroid Prime". Then you must backtrack and find the twelve Artifacts scattered everywhere to get to Impact Crater and kill Metroid Prime.

Your travels take you to a Space Station (which crashes after you defeat the Parasite Queen), Tallon Overworld (which is a hub connecting four different planets through elevators; it is also the site of the Artifact Temple and the crashed Space Pirate Frigate), Chozo Ruins (where the Great Poison was released; home to the Chozo Ghosts, who were ghosts of the warriors of Chozo [they slowly get annoying as you backtrack through Chozo {at least you don't do it a lot}]), Magmoor Caverns (which is a giant group of caves with lava and flames; it is the home of the Magmoor, which is a series of fire-breathing dragons living in the lava), Phendrana Drifts (a snowing, freezing area which is home to the Sheegoths and its children, which were one of the greatest monsters in any game), The Crashed Space Pirate Frigate (a crashed spaceship crashed to water, which serves as a quick route from Tallon to Phazon Mines; it is accompanied with the best music of the soundtrack), Phazon Mines (a bleak, industrial area where Space Pirates are mining Phazon; is home to the Metroids [the jellyfish-like creatures that suck energy and play a major part to the story]), and the Impact Crater (home of the great Metroid Prime).

I liked the gameplay, which was a rare case of innovation in a new era. It fused the action of a first-person-shooter game with the depth and exploration of point-and-click adventure games such as Myst. You shoot a bunch of aliens ambushing you and then you put on your Scan Visor and you walk around all the rooms and you scan certain areas of importance. There are other visors, such as the Thermal Visor (you see things through heat) and the X-Ray Visor (where you see in the dark). That is how you learn the story in the game. There are no cutscenes (except when you approach an area or access an elevator), and you learn a story through whatever you scan (especially from the Space Pirate Data [which details what the Space Pirates are doing] and the Chozo Lore [which details what happened to the Chozo ruins]). You use the Morph Ball ability to go through small areas and solve puzzles. There are many suits and beams. There is the regular Power Suit (which you start off with in the game), the Varia Suit (which protects you from heat), the Gravity Suit (which lets you walk in water), and the Phazon Suit (which protects you from Phazon). There is the Power Beam (the normal beam you start off with in the beginning), the Charge Beam (a charged shot from any beam, the Wave Beam (which attracts and kills Bombus), the Ice Beam (which freezes enemies. You must use an Ice Beam and a Missile to kill a Metroid), the Plasma Beam (which melts frozen ice and is the most powerful regular beam), and the Phazon Beam (where you stand in a pool of Phazon in a Phazon Suit and you use your Plasma Beam to suck in Phazon and shoot powerful spurts of energy). There is also the self-explanatory Missile. You then get missile combos for each regular beam (the Super Missile for the Power Beam, the Wave Buster for the Wave Beam, the Ice Missile for the Ice Beam, and the Flame Thrower for the Plasma Beam). You can change beams and visors on the fly by pressing in the D-Pad or in the C-Joystick. This may pose as a problem to those used to the controls in Halo where you change camera with the C-Joystick in the Xbox, as you turn around completely. There is also a lock-on system with the L and R buttons.

The soundtrack and sound was good. I liked the screams and groans of the aliens you kill in the game. The music is very good. It is the best in Phendrana Drifts and in the Space Pirate Frigate. The only part where it may pose a problem is in the fight with Mecha-Ridley. It is cheesy 80's-ish rock in the fight with Mecha-Ridley. It does pose a problem to few people while I consider it as a tribute to the cheesy soundtracks of older Nintendo games (I played some old Nintendo games after Prime). There is no spoken-word dialogue (except for the "EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY" voice heard in the Space Station level and Samus's scream if she dies), but alien speak and soundtrack.

Value-wise, the game had to end somewhere. There is no avoiding it. There is no multiplayer (whether it is split-screen or online, it is good without multiplayer), there is no downloadable content. It must end, which is why the game is absolutely long and vast. You can take multiple paths through. It is still very good if there is no multiplayer or downloadable content, and it won't kill in ratings. To top that off, there is no slowdown at all. Sheer beauty and detail is crammed into one disc, and there is no slowdown. Usually, games that high of caliber are crammed into two or three disks with bits of slowdown. It does the impossible. Ironically, Gamecube does not have as much graphics as the others, yet they can cram that big a game into one disc. If you beat the game, if you link it with Metroid Fusion, you will play the original NES Metroid game (I played it. It was alright but you must get used to the password system). You play Prime with the Fusion suit if you do vice-versa.

When the game was released, it existed in the shadow of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. As a result, the game did not sell very well until in 2003, when GTA began to cool down. It went from sleeper to cult-favorite to smash hit in a long course of months. I am very happy it sold enough copies to be a Player's Choice title, which sealed the deal as a smash hit.

I can't wait to get Metroid Prime 2: Echoes. It will have a different story. It will have multiplayer (I'm split on the bizarre choice of adding multiplayer to #2). I hope it will duplicate the smash hit Metroid Prime was. However, it will exist in the shadow of Halo 2, which is a sequel to a game that has been a chart best-seller for three years. Hopefully, MP2 will have a good chance at the spotlight.

MP is the best game on Gamecube and one of the greatest games of all-time. I even played the older games (I played all of 'em except Super Metroid. I liked Prime better than the 2D games, although they still are great [I sort of consider M2 for Game Boy the black sheep although it is decent]).

My Score: 10/10

Super Mario World (1990 Video Game)

Among the best of the Mario Games!

[26 August 2004]

Each Mario is an experiment from the other, whether good or bad. It is always "Save-The-Princess-From-Bowser" in every game but the hook of each one is that the mechanics are different.

This time, You go through colorful levels with a big cape and Mario's dinosaur friend Yoshi is introduced to help Mario on his quest. He eats enemies, but he gets a different effect depending on the Koopa shell he eats. He eats a green shell and nothing happens except you roll it back. Eat a yellow shell he kills all ground enemies near him when he stomps on the ground. Eat a red shell and Yoshi shoots fireballs at enemies. Eat a blue shell and he flies in the sky.

To top that off, once you go to Star World, you will be introduced to Multi-Colored Yoshis. The Yellow Yoshis stomp groups of enemies if you eat any shell. The Red Yoshis shoot fireballs if he eats any shell. The Blue Yoshis (my favorite) fly using any shells.

Also, this game is the biggest and longest of all the Mario Games. There are big secrets that lead to different levels and switches (where you flip a switch of a color and blocks of that color appear, occasionally leading to another secret level). The secret system in this game is the hook of this game. You must defeat all of the levels and find the secrets to unlock a different version of the game (where the Koopas have big heads and Piranha Plants are pumpkin heads). Some secrets are easy while others are a bit hard. You also have to determine whether you will approach Bowser through the Front Door or the Back Door. Either way, you will throw wind-up Bowser dolls at Bowser flying in a clown copter.

The game is bigger than the games before it. The flight mechanics are more refined than in Super Mario Bros. 3. There are secrets. Yoshi is introduced.

This game gets a 10 out of 10.

PS: If you think that this game is very difficult, you ain't seen nothing' until you play Super Mario Bros. 3, which has a crooked save system, cheap enemies, big obstacles, and a bit of a bleak tone compared to the others.

Also, get the Game Boy version of Super Mario World. It has better graphics, sound, and a guide of what levels you completed (handy for finding out where secrets are).

Watership Down (1978)

"The World May Be Your Enemy Prince of A Thousand Enemies. When They Catch You, They Will Kill You...but First, They Must Catch You"

[9/10 · 24 May 2004]

Let me start off by saying that this film is NOT for little children, which was the reason why that this film was not an initial success back in 1978. However, this film is still a good film. The story is that a rabbit named Fiver sees a disturbing vision of the warren that he and his fellow rabbit friends live in will be smothered in blood as human construction workers work there. His friend Hazel is the only rabbit to believe in Fiver, and when they ask the chief of the warren for a mass evacuation, the chief says no, since it is too dangerous. Bigwig, assistant of the chief, helps the warren evacuate behind the chief's back. As they go along, they encounter many dangers, such as dogs, hunters, traps, cars as they cross the street, among other things. After a long quest, the rabbits find salvation in a hill called Watership Down. However, the Efrafa warren, led by the evil General Woundwart ("Get away, you damn white bird!"), is the one thing standing in their way. The annoying, screechy bird Kehaar (Zero Mostel in his last role) helps the good rabbits defy the evil Woundwart and brings some comic relief. This film is not for little kids, and when I mean hunters and rabbits, I do NOT mean Bugs Bunny-like confrontations, with anvils and dynamite and stuff. Rabbits bite other rabbits' ears off. There is blood. Characters DIE. I learned three things from this film: 1.) I will never look at a rabbit warren the same way again. 2.) This film is not for kids. 3.) Even a rabbit such as Woundwart can be the most evil character in any movie. So there you have it. This film was the most powerful and ahead-of-its-time film I ever seen. 10/10

Panzer Dragoon Orta (2002 Video Game)

A very simple and original Xbox game

[17 May 2004]

Games these days, although they are terrific and better, are being increasingly complex to some people. Along comes "Panzer Dragoon Orta", combining a good saga of a story with simple, "Raiden Fighters"-like gameplay. In other words, it plays like an old-school, top-down rail shooter such as "Raiden Fighters" or "1942", except the point of view is behind the dragon instead of above it and you use the trigger buttons to turn around 90 degrees to kill the enemies surrounding you in the left or right or behind you. People may say that I should compare this more to "Star Fox", but, in actuality, you home on to enemies, use berzerker attacks, and get increasingly powerful as you level up. Also, in a stroke of originality, the dragon you control can change form with a touch of the Y button (either regular form, which is a basic dragon that can fire decent beams and have a decent glide gauge, or heavy form, which fires powerful beams but doesn't glide, or glide form, which has a longer glide gauge but does not home on to enemies but guides you to the nearby enemies). The story is that you play a girl who is captured in a prison but freed by a dragon and you befriend it and have it help you defeat the enemies. In other words, this game is very original and simple. 10/10

Super Mario 64 (1996 Video Game)

Mario: In 3D

[14 April 2004]

Every single Mario game stands out against their significant others, whether it is in a positive or a negative way, and Mario 64, which brought the series to 3D, was indeed one of them.

Although the save-the-princess plot is bland and off-putting, Mario flies with a winged hat, gets invisible to walk through walls with the invisibility cap, and protects himself from attacks with a metal cap. Mario pursues the Eight Red Coins, gets in races with Koopa the Quick, beats bosses such as Bob-Omb King or Whomp Brick to get the stars needed to go to various levels. Of course, he has to face Bowser, and he does by repeatedly getting a hold of him by the tail and swinging him to the edges. However, Yoshi does not tag along to help Mario out like he did in the Super Mario World games but he just simply gives you 99 lives and an improved triple-jump if you get all 120 stars. Also, the game is sort of easy once you get the hang of it. Everything has an end and you play the game once and play it again to get all 120 stars.

Although there are some flaws, it truly was an innovative game at its time and is a treat for regular gamers and Mario fans.

Rating: 9/10

PS: Don't play "Mario Sunshine" for Gamecube, since it sucks (see my comment for why).

Super Mario Sunshine (2002 Video Game)

Black Sheep of the Family

[10 April 2004]

Yes folks, it's Mario, and don't get me wrong, I like Mario games (the best ones are Mario 3, Mario World, and Mario 64), but Sunshine SUCKS!! In the game, Mario goes to a tropical island paradise but gets accused of vandalizing the place and Mario must clean it up. Yes, the developers experiment with different concepts in Mario games, but these ones are horrible. It's just not Mario going around the place, attacking with a hose and cleaning with it. It says on there that you don;t have to waste time saving the princess in this game, but guess what, you have to waste time saving another. First, you like it, but then the repetition of the gameplay prevents you from liking it anymore.

BOTTOM LINE: Not as good as the other Marios (I played the new Mario and Luigi game for Game Boy, and it was pretty good). If you want Mario, get any Mario game except this, and I hope "Mario 128" is not crap.

Rating: 4/10

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)

Holy Crap! A great movie based on a bad Disney ride!

[12 October 2003]

As competing companies such as Dreamworks and Warner Bros. are laying down some new law on the animation frontier, what used to be the king daddy of all animation, Disney, is starting to be a mere shell of its former self, because of the focus on money and selling out rather than quality entertainment. The real success of Disney nowadays is from Pixar (which might defect from Disney) and some live action movies, especially "Pirates". This is a review on Pirates, so on with the review. Since about everybody saw the movie, I won't tell the story. I love the story (which goes beyond the damsel-in-distress quabble that may offset moviegoers at first). I love the effects (especially the skeletons). It blends my favorite genres (action and comedy) in a very good way. I like the acting. There are references to the retched Disney ride that the movie is based on (like the song young Elizabeth sings in the flashback in the beginning ["Yo Ho! Yo Ho! A pirate's life for me!"]). The only sort of problem is that the movie is a bit too overbudget, but that's no big deal, since that does not affect the movie in a negative way. I give this movie a 10 out of 10. I give the ride a 0 out of 10.