Retro Review: King’s Quest IV: The Perils of Rosella

Introduction

Back in the hey day of point and click games Sierra was king. They brought notable series such as Police Quest, Leisure Suit Larry, and King’s Quest to gamers everywhere. I, sadly, was not able to play the series from the beginning due to a lack of a computer with good enough specs to run it and I was a bit too young. I started with the fourth installment in the King Quest series, The Perils of Rosella, which quickly became one of my favorite PC games of all time.

Story

The basic story is that King Graham, the protagonist of the previous three King's Quest games, lies dying. Princess Rosella, his daughter  feels incredibly sad and gets sucked into a mirror which pulls her into another world. In this strange world you can find a fruit that will save your father, good thing you go sucked through that mirror huh?  However the fairy that brought you here through the mirror is ALSO dying. So you're going to have try and save her too, otherwise you will never get back to your world.  Stupid fairy. 

Manga Review: Return to Labyrinth

So I know that only three volumes of this manga have been released thus far (as of when I read it), so this isn't technically a completed manga review, but given my love for Labyrinth I felt the needed to give this a proper looking at. First thing that I want to get off my chest is this is NOT a manga. With a few small exceptions, Americans do comics, not manga. It just irks me that they need to call this American comic a manga to get it to sell. Anyway, moving on.

I enjoy sequels to my favorite things as long as they are treated like sequels. This seems to me that the writer obviously loved the story of labyrinth and wanted to write a continuation. He seemed to have a few interesting ideas however seemed to get stuck quite often and reverted to reminding the reader of how much it was still trying to connect to the original movie. Which would have been fine of that connection was based on researching the original story, locations and character backgrounds instead of relying on quotes and irrelevant cameos.

This book was written by Jake T. Forbes, illustrated by Chris Lie, with the first three volume covers done by Kouyu Shurei. I felt compelled to pick this book up at some point as I love Labyrinth and this cover art actually does David Bowie a bit of justice ( in my sick Jareth loving little fan girl heart anyway). Now, I was highly disappointed to find that the cover art is just that. The art within the rest of the book looks nothing like this. I'm not sure how you get from

This to this

What is sad is this is one of the nicest shots of Jareth in the whole story and he's probably the best drawn character in the book. The rest of them look like they were done with the help of one of those scholastic "How to Draw Manga" books, you know the kind drawn by people who have never in their lives seen a manga. Had the art been done by the same person who did the cover, I wouldn't have felt so compelled to stab out my eyes. Thankfully they grew back in time for me to write this review.  They also went on to ruin one of the best characters from the movie! What did they do to the worm?!

(credits for this image go to ToughPigs.com)

I have to agree with everything I have seen about this. The worm turned into a soul eating zombie! Seriously. One of the nicest goblin/muppet characters gets turned into this. I understand that he may have gotten a little older, but this is ridiculous. Anyway, getting beyond my hate for sub-par "manga" art, lets move on.

CHARACTERS:

Toby(Sarah's baby brother) - Toby is a rather unlikeable character. He has very little personality, is incredibly selfish, and has very little in the way of redemption. If you were like me you didn't like him in the movie either, but then again I have very little patience for babies, especially in movies. That being said whiny baby Toby is approximately 100 trillion times better than angsty teen Toby.

Sarah - She has turned into the adult every kid is scared they will grow up to be. She has forgotten anything and everything fun and become rather bland and uninspiring. I realize this is part of the story, but it still doesn't help me to like her or feel bad for her. Additionally her character desgn has degraded in to your basic sidekick quality nerd girl. A far cry from the Sarah every girl in the 80's aspired to be.

Jareth - Poor poor Jareth is a pathetic excuse for the witty and sly goblin king he once was. The author tries to portray him as just as cunning as he was before, but failed to capture the feeling of what made him Jareth. Now he's just a generic "sexy" bad guy type character with all the personality of a bowl of pudding who's become he's a whining, sniveling little emo boy because Sarah didn't want to stay in his incredibly awesome castle.

Mizumi -  She is one of the more interesting characters. I thought her addition into the story was one of the few things that actually make this feel like a sequel and not just a poorly written rehash of the first story.

Hana - The usual sidekick. Not much to say about her. She is not exactly likable but not hate-able either. She is just kind of there.In spite of having a stock character personality, she's at least sort of a new creation.

There are others, but these are your main annoyances characters.

As the storyline goes, it was a relatively unique concept that could have been very interesting. Toby  has grown up and has been sucked into the same Labyrinth his sister went through many years before. Jareth tricks Toby into tthe labyrinth because he wants him to become his successor as Goblin King. Toby has only mild weak whiny objections before agreeing. He then prepares to become the gobline King by spending a good deal of time within the Goblin City learning of it's history and the way of Goblin culture. Which honestly could have been made really interesting as there's a wealth of Goblin society underpinnings that were never discussed in the original movie. The author could have really ran with things here, but instead choose to stick with the bland mediocrity that characterizes the "manga". 

I honestly wish this could have been if not a good book a least enjoyable one if more time was on the present  than constantly and needlessly rehashing what  happened 18 years ago. Surely in a society that's exisited for at least the last 1300 years, there'd be at least a few other things to discuss. Instead we get random quotes from the first movie that have no real bearing on anything, and what amount to walk on cameos of characters that were annoying and unimportant the first time. That almost completely lack of any original contents just reminds you that this is just some fan-boys' poorly thought out fan fiction.

Overall this is a poor excuse for $10 a book. The art inside is pathetic, the storyline might be interesting but relies too heavily on retelling the original story rather than expanding on it like it was supposed to.The whole thing has a high school notebook doodle feeling to it. If you have any love for this movie don't break your childhood memories with this poor excuse for writing.

~Jen

Freezepop concert preview

Today is the big day. Well for me anyway. It is the day Freezepop has found their way back to Duluth. This will be time number three that I have been able to catch one of their shows. I am a little sad I won't be able to follow them to their Mankato show tomorrow, but life comes first.

We have been trying to hit every show we can when they are in the Minnesota area. How awesome is it to be able to see your favorite band three times in the part two years? Not only that but to still be able to meet and talk to them.

Last time when they were in the Twin Cities I was able to get a signed CD from them. We talked about it in an earlier entry here. This time around I'm hoping to get a signed poster out of the deal. The last time they were at UMD people ended up taking the posters down from the walls and having the band sign them. This time I got one early so I won't miss out. I also am going to bring my camera and hopefully get a couple pictures of the band. Both times before I forgot the camera.

This entry is going to be cut short due to the fact we are going to have to fly out the door to make it in time. Hopefully my next entry will be filled with stories and pictures of another wonderful Freezepop show.

~Jen

Retro review Tuesday: Toejam and Earl: Panic on Funkatron

Toe Jam & Earl: Panic on Funkatron is one of those games you either love or hate. If you were a big fan of the original, then chances are pretty good that you won't like the format that was chosen for the second game. However, if you're like me and an unabashed fan of platformers, this is a great one.

-Overview-
The basic concept of this game is that when Toe Jam & Earl came back from Earth from the first game, they brought a bunch of earthlings back to their home planet of Funktron by mistake. Now their job is to capture all the invaders and send them back home. This is done by using special capture jars which you toss onto the earthing capturing them like bugs. unlike bugs though you don't scoop them up with nets or anything, you just through a bunch of glowing jars until they get squished into one (unless you've got a superjars powerup in which case as soon as a jar hits them they're in it). About midway through the game you also get a subquest to bring the funkapotomus, Lamont, out of hiding by locating all his favorite things which are hidden in secret areas.

The controls are simple and quite responsive, especially if you have a six button genesis controller. C jumps and controls the swimming speed while underwater, B throws the capture jars, and A uses your "funk". With a six button controller, X is your funk scan, Y is your panic button, and Z is your funkVac. If you have a standard three button controller, all you have to do is press start then your a,b,c buttons will fill in. Those are just the defaults, you can to change them to anything you like in the menu screen.

Graphically it's a bright and colorful with large fluid sprites. The character designs for TJ and E are pretty much the same as in the first though they're quite a bit larger this time around. The designs for the denizens of Funkatron are unique, interesting and memorable. The earthling cast features some from the fist game, like the boogeyman and some absolute insane newcomers like a duck on a flying carpet and a ghost cow. The background landscape of Funktron is a mix of dr.suess type landcapes with the sort of questionable structures that only appear in platform games and as a nice bonus especially for the time period is quite interactive. You can, and will often be forced to, shake trees and search bushes.

Sounds wise is an area where it really excels, as one would expect with a planet name like Funkatron, the music is most certainly funk. Much more the your standard game beeps and boops it's got rich layering and sounds more like the background track to a 70's pimp flick than a video game made in the early 90's. The other sounds are just as appropriate, with the earthlings having annoying catchphrases and words of encouragement such as "awesome" and "funk that" when you pick up power-ups.

-Difficulty-

This game has two difficulty settings, normal setting or kid mode. Kid mode only allows you to go through the first seven levels, but it allows you to play the game in an invincibility mode which allows you to get a good grasp of how the game is played and an opportunity to find secret areas without worrying about being killed by the pesky earthlings.

On normal difficulty the game can get pretty challenging. It is very easy to get hurt, but there are a large number of "food" items around to heal yourself. Like in most games though, it always seems plentiful when you don't need it and scarce when you do. The underwater areas can be a total deathtrap, there's not much to hurt you down there, but your oxygen meter runs out fairly quickly and when you're stuck in one of the maze like areas you can forget finding a "kissy fish" in enough time.

In playing in two player mode you can share health, when of you is low you can just give each other a high five to set both health meters to middle. Unlike older games where you can really screw your friends, both players have to consent to this health swapping by pressing down on the control pad. Though since you're sharing health (and lives for that matter) it can be much easier to die. So if you're on tow different skill level you may find yourself at the continue screen more often than you'd like. Luckily for every human you jar, every power up or secret you find, you get points and you get another extra life at every 10,000 points, so once you've got a grasp on the game and the point earning system it's pretty easy to earn enough lives to keep you safe.


-Gameplay-

When you first start the game assuming you're playing alone you get the option to choose how you want to play. You can be Toejam and Earl , if you're playing two player mode. In one player mode, you can be just Earl, he's much slower than Toejam, but stronger and can move items faster and takes more damage or, just Toejam, he's quick but gets hurt easily and takes longer to move heavy items. Once you've made your character choice, you start in the games early levels with the basic task of finding the earthlings and capturing them. You do this by tracking them down and tossing jars on them. There's a convenient sensor at the bottom of the screen that lets you know which direction you should be headed in, in order to find them. Once you grab them all you head to the end of the level and toss them on a rocket headed back to earth. With that patch of earthlings cleared out you get launched into to space and fall back into a new human infested area of Funkatron where you do it all over again.

Once you hit level eight or so, you start hearing from the
other aliens you encounter (either via bonus stages or ringing their doorbells) about how the great "funkapotomus" aka Lamont is hiding and won't come out
due to the earthlings. So while continuing to round up all the earthlings your additional mission becomes to find his favorite things to help coax him out of hiding. The aliens give you clues throughout the levels as to where to find the hidden doors and the objects, but it will still take quite a bit of searching and "funk scanning".

Meanwhile the earthling searches get more and more difficult with earthlings appearing in bigger groups and with attacks that are harder to avoid. These dark times are when you should use your power ups. Your funk vac will suck up any earthlings you can see on the screen. The panic button causes your character to throw out a barrage of jars as you run around flapping your arms. They're both rather imperfect methods of capture, but can really save your butt. And at around level 14 once you've used all your power ups and been "flashed" by numerous tourists and nibbled on by an endless barrage of poodles you start to really enjoy the rough and careless tossing of the jars full of earthlings into the rocket.

To break up some of monotony of constantly catching annoying earthlings, scattered throughout the levels there are several mini games, which are some of my favorite parts of the game. These are usually accessed by putting a coin into one of the numerous parking meters spread through out the levels or pushing one of the lighted "push me" buttons. There are the rap sessions "jam out", "hyper funk zones" bonus point collecting areas, and the "Fungus Olympics" where you bounce on sponge like fungus and get points and items from the judges. It's also worth mentioning that the parking meters and buttons can make all manner of secret snacks, platforms and other fun stuff appear as well as a couple of not so nice things, but it's usually worth the coin, or the few seconds it takes to push them to find out.

After 17 long levels of this nonsense, not including bonus levels, you've finally rounded up all the earthlings, hopefully found all Lamont's favorite stuff and coaxed him out of hiding, making Funkatron the peaceful patch of funkiness it once was.

-Conclusion-

Overall this game is a standard platformer though longer and more fun than most. It's uniqueness in terms of concept and characters makes it a games that will stay with you for years to come. Since I first played this years ago, I have beaten it numerous times and find a new hidden door or super jar power-up every time, it never gets old. Every vintage gaming fan should give it a try.

~Jen


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Retro Review Tuesday: Earthworm Jim

Earthworm Jim is one of the most popular platform games ever made. It spawned a line of toys, a cartoon show, and bunches of rereleases, remakes and sequels. It was released in 1994 on both the Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis. Unlike most games released on both systems during this period, the Sega Genesis version of the game is widely considered to be the superior version and is the version this review covers. Besides, I proudly admit my status as a Genesis fan girl. :)

-Overview-
When you open the instruction booklet you find a well drawn mini comic which introduces you to the basic concept of the game:Jim is just a normal earthworm when fate steps in to change his life forever. One day a space suits falls from the sky, once inside this suit he finds himself able to move and act in ways no worm would ever dream of. He finds himself running, jumping and blasting his enemies (and his face occasionally) to smithereens. Unfortunately, he also pissed of PsyCrow who was in pursuit of the suit. Jim spends the rest of the game running away from PsyCrow and searching for Queen pulsating, bloated, festering, sweaty, pus-filled, malformed-slug-for-a-butt and her lovely sister, Princess What's-her-name.

You can tell just from that basic description that Earthworm Jim is a level of craziness you rarely find in modern American produced games. With the over abundance of cows (well, really one cow that gets around), the ridiculous settings of the levels and really the entire concept of an earthworm running around in a space suit, you're guaranteed raised eyebrows and fits of giggles and fits of giggles are exactly what you're going to get. Jim's silly sayings and idle animations(my personal favorite is when he drops his pants) are guaranteed to get you to crack a smile if somehow anthropomorphic brains and giant hamsters don't.

Graphically the game has held up very well over the years. The animation is bright, crisp, smooth and fluid. Character sprites are detailed without excessive pixelation and the backgrounds are big and colorful without being distracting. It also is rare instances of a "3d" graphic that was mind blowing and innovative at the time and still looks good today.

Sound wise it's pretty basic. Sounds and voices are clear and the music is memorable and quite appropriate, but nothing special compared to other classic games.

-Difficulty-

The game on every difficulty level ranges quite a bit from easy, silly, fun to rage inciting, controller throwing, impossibilities. When you start the game you can choose one of three difficulty choices: Practice, normal, and difficult. Practice mode even though it seems easy in the beginning still presents a challenge in the later levels, Buttville in particular can be ridiculous when you don't know what's coming. The harder difficulty levels render some portions neigh on impossible as you move on.

-Gameplay-

The controls are smooth and responsive. Like most older games they're pretty basic: A shoots your gun, either the normal or super plasma depending on what you've picked up recently. B whips Jim around which is good for things like killing crow and swinging across large chasms. C when standing still or running is good old fashioned jump, when falling it's used for the helicopter head move which slows Jim's fall, allows him to maneuver into different space and saves your butt more often than most of us would like to admit.

Like you'd expect for a platformer you spend the majority of your game eliminating or avoiding enemies, collecting items, and working towards hitting a continue or a boss. However, there are several levels that break from the mold and give you a bit of a different gaming experience, like riding a mini rocket, bungee jumping, piloting an airless and extremely fragile submarine and keeping an adorable little puppy out of harms way.

You start off the game in "New Junk City",a junkyard guarded by Chuck the fish retching overseer and Fifi his loyal worm hating canine companion. They aren't the only problems for poor Jim as he presses on in his quest, there's is also a steady stream of crows that are delighted with the sight of a giant worm and if given a chance they will grab poor Jim's head and not want to let go. Not to mention the numerous spike pits that dot the landscape.(which does beg the question as to why would a junkyard want or need spike pits...) After beating the area boss Jim pulls out his trusty pocket sized rocket ship and heads into space for a little race with PsyCrow you'll become all to familiar with as the game progresses (AKA Andy Asteroids). If Jim wins the race he heads to "What the Heck" a reimagining of hell where elevator music floats through the air and a cat named evil reigns supreme. If Jim loses the race he has to fight PsyCrow beforehand but still ends up in "heck".

The rest of the game proceeds in an equally as absurd and improbable manner culminating in an epic battle with the Queen, Queen slug-for-a-butt for short, so that Jim can finally meet with the lovely princess..and a cow.

-Conclusion-

Overall Earthworm Jim is a game that just about everyone in my generation played and remembers fondly. It's a game easily beat in one sitting but one that sticks with you whether because of it's comic genius, it's almost infinite playability, or just for nostalgia. It is easily one of most memorable games ever made and possibly the most influential game in the platformer genre. This game ranks among my top favorites and as an owner of hundreds of video games spanning a dozen systems that's no easy feat, even if I were liquidate the majority of most of our gaming collection this would be one worth keeping forever.

~ Jen

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Jen's Introduction

Well, I guess an introduction is in order. My name is Jen, I am 27 and am the quiet part of the team.I am currently working a full-time job overnights and working towards an accounting degree during the day. My main collecting interests are cels, video games, sailor moon oddities, and all things cats. In my humble beginnings I started out with about five games for the NES, the Genesis, and the Playstation. Now our combined collection is well into the hundreds for almost every system. I don't know if it is a good thing or a bad thing but because of the anality that comes with being a collector, most of our games are in perfect condition. I can't buy anything less these days.

At this point in my life I would call myself a gamer. Yeah, I haven't played and beat every game in our collection, but that is due to having too many games and not enough time. However, I have been playing since I was old enough to hold a controller. I still have very fond memories of playing Pitfall on the Atari 2600 when it was still relatively new. I can also remember the release of the Genesis system and how I saved up all my Christmas money one year to buy myself one. My parents are not the gamer sorts.

When it comes to my other main collection, I have Stephanie to thank. It all started one Christmas with a present of a cel of Prince Diamond from Sailor Moon. It was then I realized that I could own something from my favorite show that no one else had. It started so simply and has grow into something so great. It is a fun hobby but not for the weak of heart. I can't tell you how many times I had to watch that dream cel walk away due to lack of funds, or someone got to it first. It isn't for everyone, but once you get hooked, it's almost impossible to walk away for good.

Now, Stephanie is to blame for my third main collection which are the Sailor Moon Oddities. These are things that should have never seen the light of day. They are things that said "Sailor Moon" but honestly shouldn't have. Since everyone collects the toys/wands/brooches, why not collect something a little stranger? One of my favorites it the pancake maker. Sadly we have no pictures up of that right now, but one day we will. If nothing else, they make for interesting conversation pieces.

If it isn't evident by the fact that I run a separate cel gallery for it, I love cats. We currently have seven running around our house, and hope NOT to get any more. All of our cats were shelter or strays. Ever since I was a child I have love cats and if you look around my house, this is still very true. I collect figures, blankets, pillows (I have a love to flat animal pillows), plushies, ect. I'm not sure of what draws me to the furry little devils but my life would incomplete without them.

So there you go. You know a little bit more about the girl who refuses to do anything but a Genesis game review. I unfortunately don't get time to post much, but hopefully that will change in the future.