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Release Date: March 21, 1999 Developer: HAL Laboratory, Inc.; Nintendo Co., Ltd. Publisher: Nintendo Co., Ltd. When Pokemon Snap was announced for the Wii U Virtual Console, there were some smiles among fans of the series. The game, originally released on the Nintendo 64 in 1999, was already available on the Wii’s Virtual Console, and that version is compatible with the Wii U. The new version merely adds Game Pad support. Still, enough people were pleased that it warranted some news coverage. I was among the few who questioned why Nintendo would choose to release this game on a lame-duck system that doesn’t have that large a user base. The people who would have wanted to play this game would most likely have purchased the Wii version by now. More importantly, why did it take Nintendo so long to release the game if Game Pad support was important enough to merit a Wii U-specific version? The Wii U has been out in the States since 2012; wouldn’t a port of the most popular Pokemon spinoff be justified early on? As much as I’d like to rail on Nintendo for their decision, I won’t. I promised in my end-of-year rant article that I’d lay off them. Jim Sterling did a good enough job knocking Nintendo down a few pegs that I can simply point to his video and say, “what he said!” Besides, this is a Retro Review of the original game, not a Grumpy Old Gamer article. I first experienced Pokemon Snap with my son a few months after its US release. The concept behind the game was odd to me, so I didn’t jump on it right away. After a few play sessions, though, my son and I were enraptured. In the game, you play as Todd Snap, a budding Pokemon photographer. Professor Oak summons you to an island he’s on and asks you to take pictures of Pokemon for him so he can include them in his PKMN report. You do so by climbing into a vehicle he invented, the ZERO-ONE, and taking photos of wild Pokemon in several areas as the vehicle travels along by rail. The areas of the island include a beach, a cave, a volcano, and even outer space. After the ride ends, you will take your freshly-snapped photos of Pokemon to Professor Oak. He will then rate the pictures you show him based on size, pose, and technique and award you points. He also adds points if two or more of the same Pokemon are in one shot. As you take great photos and rack up your score, Professor Oak gives you new items to help you take better photos. You start off with an apple, which you can use to get a Pokemon’s attention and get him or her in frame better. You will eventually unlock other items like a Pester Ball or a Poke Flute. You can then replay previously visited areas in order to unearth Pokemon that are obscured or get them to face you, resulting in a better picture and more points. Only 63 of the original 151 Pokemon made it onto Pokemon Snap. Fan favorites like Pikachu, Eevee, and Charizard are obviously represented, but other more obscure 1st Gen Pokemon appear as well. One thing I appreciate about this game is that the Pokemon use the actual voices used in the cartoon series instead of the rasps and tweets that were found in the Game Boy games. They also exhibit quite a bit of personality here. Seeing Meowth chase a Pidgey out of some tall grass or spotting Snorlax’s body and belly as he sleeps are just two of dozens of nice character touches in the game. Different areas house different Pokemon, so expect to see more fire-type Pokemon in the volcano and more water-type Pokemon at the beach. The areas have some detail but are mostly blocky and drab. To be fair, that was par for the course with the first-generation 3D consoles. For the time, Pokemon Snap’s visuals were very lush. They just don’t hold up as well today in my opinion. The Pokemon and their animations take up most of the detail, and I’m okay with that. As mentioned above, the Pokemon show a lot of character. Credit has to be given to the animation team for their work here. Sound-wise, there is some light, atmospheric music playing during the ride in all areas. The light amount of sound effects are muted but accurate. The most prominent sound, of course is the clicking of the camera. Taken together, all the elements of the game make for a nice experience. It’s amazing just how engrossed you become in the game as you try to get the Pokemon in just the right pose. I distinctly remember my son sitting beside me, all of 5 years old, oohing and aahing with each new Pokemon discovered. When he took over the controls, I’d just sit next to him and watch as he snapped away. It’s a pretty relaxing game and a great one to play with children. The game does a bit old quick, however. There are only six distinct areas; a seventh is unlocked if you take photos of mysterious signs that are located in each area. Since you travel on a rail, the paths become repetitive quickly. The backtracking required to snap all the Pokemon will start to grate on you soon enough as you pass the same terrain over and over again. The game is also rather short. You can snap photos of all 63 Pokemon in less than 20 hours if you’re persistent. Don’t let any of that dissuade you from getting Pokemon Snap if you haven’t tried it out. The experience is great the first time around, and kids will love seeing the Pokemon as more than static sprites on screen. The Wii and Wii U Virtual Console versions are available now. For those that want the true retro experience, the N64 cart is available in the secondhand market and will run you about $17-25 for a loose cart. Although I question Nintendo’s logic in releasing this it so late in the game for a lame-duck system, Pokemon Snap is still a great purchase for Wii U owners. Though short, it is still full of charm and fun. I recently tried the game out with my four-year-old great nephew, and he was just as enthralled as my son was 17 years ago. That’s as good an endorsement as I can give a game. Good: Fun gameplay; Pokemon are very emotive and use their cartoon voices; excellent animation Bad: Short game; dated visuals; lots of backtracking Final score: 7.5/10

When Nintendo announced the NES Classic Edition in July, retro gaming enthusiasts and Nintendo fans collectively peed on themselves. I admit to having some moisture issues with my tidy-whities. Discussions among the Digital Crack crew about the news were spirited. Thirty classic Nintendo games, all in one miniature package, seemed like a good idea to most. Even the price point seemed right. We agreed that this would be a great thing. We also agreed that Nintendo would fuck this up like they do everything else. Visions of the Wii and amiibo paraded before our eyes. They weren’t gonna make enough of the blasted things, guaranteed. As I write this, it is 1:23PM EST. Punisher is waiting nervously for 5PM EST, when Amazon will open its storefront to the barrage of consumers looking to buy an NES Classic Edition at its actual retail price. For now, it’s their last hope. Everyone else is sold out. The NES Classic Edition was announced four months ago. The announcement sent tons of people into a frenzy. You would think Nintendo would have noticed. At the very least, you would think Nintendo would want to avoid a repeat of the amiibo shortages that pissed off so many people. You would be incorrect in thinking that. The GameStop nearest to my house is a small store that doesn’t see too much traffic. I go there whenever I want to bolster my PS3 or Xbox 360 collection. The people that work there are cool, and I can spend up to half an hour talking to them without a customer coming in. Today, they sold out of the NES Classic edition the moment they opened the store. They only had four. GameStop decided to decline offering pre-orders for the NES Classic Edition. That should tell you something right there: GameStop, a company that announces pre-orders for games that haven’t been officially announced, declined to offer a pre-order for something people wanted. Every other retailer selling it is out of stock. My son works at a Toys ‘R Us near me. He said there was no chance to get one; they were essentially gone before the store even opened. The Nintendo Store in Manhattan, the video game equivalent of an Apple Store, had exactly 250 NES Classic Editions available for people who attended their 80’s event. Of course, approximately 837,700 showed up. Of course, eBay has plenty up for auction. And, of course, none of them are for the suggested retail price. Many of them are straight auctions, many of them have over 40 bids, and ALL of them have blown past $200. I’m actually staring at a “Buy it Now” listing that has a price of $10,000! If I didn’t know better, I would swear that Nintendo either has tons of sock-puppet eBay accounts they use to gouge consumers, or they own a share in eBay itself. I understand that sometimes, there will not be enough supply of a product that has overwhelming demand. It happens every Christmas season; I still recall the run on Cabbage Patch Kids when my sister was young and mom feared she may want one. That usually happens when a product is suddenly and unexpectedly the “it” product that everyone MUST have. It’s even possible for a company to try everything possible to meet anticipated demand but still be outstripped. That happened to Nintendo itself in 1988, when a chip shortage caused games like Super Mario Bros. 3 and Zelda II: The Adventures of Link to experience shortages and delays. Or Nintendo is just artificially limiting supply in order to drive up hype and visibility for the product. It wouldn’t be the first time they’ve been accused of artificially limiting stock to drive hype. Think of it this way: it can’t be any harder to make an amiibo that it is to make a Disney Infinity or Skylanders figure. Activision only had issues initially with supplying Skylanders figures due to unexpected demand; Disney never did with Infinity. Shit, Activision has managed to sell over 250 million figures as of June 2015. Yet Nintendo still managed to bungle the supply of amiibos, despite all the data that said the figures would be hotter than the surface of the sun. I call bullshit. I say Nintendo likes to artificially limit its product on release. And that is an absolutely shitty thing to do to your customers. It’s not a trivial thing to call out a company like this. But when you have known for FOUR MONTHS that you will be selling something that everyone wants and you meet demand as poorly as Nintendo has, your business acumen needs to be questioned. And when you have done it as consistently as Nintendo has, it’s shouldn’t be questioned; it should be obvious. At the very least, Nintendo has proven to be the most incompetent video game company on the planet. At worst, Nintendo is an anti-consumer company that likes to limit its customers’ purchasing ability artificially in order to sate its own thirst for press and attention. The truth is somewhere in between, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was closer to one extreme or the other. It may sound harsh to state this, but what else can anyone say to defend them? When a company has so many people willing to throw their money at them – AND THEY KNOW IT! – and they make sure only a tenth of them get to do so, it is either incompetent or a dick to its clientele. Or maybe they’re allergic to money. I’m finishing this article at 2:36PM EST. Punisher is confident he can snag a NES Classic Edition when Amazon offers them up at 5PM EST. He’s always been the upbeat, glass-half-full member of the bunch. His confidence is actually refreshing, and I envy his ability to be that way. I, however, am the cynic and feel that the only Nintendo hardware he’ll be able to buy today is the Wii U. UPDATE: As soon as I published this article, I received an email from Nintendo. The subject line was hilarious to me: “The NES Classic Edition is here – with 30 of the best retro games ever.” Yea, Nintendo, it may be there where you are; it sure as hell ain’t here!”

Release Date: January 25, 2007 Director: Mike Judge Starring: Luke Wilson, Maya Rudolph, Terry Crews, Dax Shepard, Anthony Campos, David Herman, Justin Long Favorite quote: “The years passed, mankind became stupider at a frightening rate. Some had high hopes the genetic engineering would correct this trend in evolution, but sadly the greatest minds and resources where focused on conquering hair loss and prolonging erections.”– Narrator Look at the above quote. Are we sure we’re still talking about a movie? It doesn’t seem like real life to anyone? It’s Election Day in the States, folks, and I join millions of people in hoping that today marks the end of a long, national nightmare! Normally, I don’t delve into politics, but today I feel like I absolutely have to. Because I am hoping that today, I can help sway my fellow Americans toward the only candidate that makes sense this election. Today, I hope I can make you all understand that only ONE person can lead this great nation. Today, I hope to make you see that only ONE individual can represent every one of us, because he IS one of us! I wish we could vote for Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho! He is our ONLY HOAP! I mean, can you think of anyone better? You think that’s a joke. But in Florida, our ballots allow a person to write in a candidate for president. You have no idea how strong my urge to write “President Camacho” in was. I actually had to STOP DRINKING VODKA AND SOBER UP just to vote seriously! That’s how bad it is! (Then I think of the other people in Florida who didn’t stop drinking and seriously want to write in “David Duke.” Then I hit the bottle harder.) Mike Judge, he of Beavis and Butthead and Office Space fame, penned Idiocracy along with Etan Cohen. The premise – a man wakes up after 500 years to find that humanity has become stupider – is nothing new. Author Cyril M. Kornbluth explored the premise in a short story entitled “The Marching Morons”, all the way back in 1951. Thing is, that premise is resonating much more now with the passage of time. In 2006, Idiocracy was sheepishly released to only 6 markets, utterly bereft of marketing. Fox felt hosed after disastrous test screenings and sat on the movie for a year. They didn’t want to release the movie, partly because of the biting commentary and nasty depictions of several recognizable corporate entities (including Fox News!). Fox hoped to just make it a straight-to-DVD release; they were contractually obligated to give it a theatrical release. They did, in the most half-ass way possible. Now, ten years later, many consider this movie to be less a satire and more a “future documentary.” Even Etan Cohen himself said as much, reversing almost ten years of denial that this was a satire of modern life. I never expected #idiocracy to become a documentary. — Etan Cohen (@etanjc) February 24, 2016 I don’t care. The movie is still a laugh riot for all of the stupidest reasons. The man out of time in Idiocracy is Joe Bauers (Luke Wilson), a sub-standard Army librarian in 2005. He becomes a test mule for a top secret experimental program that seeks to preserve their best soldiers cryogenically. He is partnered with Rita (Maya Rudolph), a prostitute, for this experiment and put into cryogenic hibernation. But, due to scandal at the Army base where the experiment is being held, they are both forgotten. They awake 500 years later to a world that is much different…and much stupider! Suddenly, Joe and Rita are the smartest people on the planet. Cousin Jose was the person who introduced me to this movie, and I watched it about 17 times in a row after he did. The premise is so silly, so utterly insane, that I couldn’t stop laughing at it. Idiocracy takes the basest, most deplorable aspects of humanity and amps it up to eleven. Except that it doesn’t seem that funny anymore when juxtaposed with current events. This movie – once shunned by its distributor – has become a focal point to many in social media spaces. Some argue that it is one of “the most elitist and anti-social movies ever”; others wonder if one of our candidates is the herald that brings this movie’s events about. No one exemplifies the sheer lunacy of the premise better than THE ONLY PERSON WHO MAKES SENSE TO LEAD OUR COUNTRY!!! Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho (Terry Crews) is the icing on this horribly hilarious cake. After tests prove Joe is the smartest person in 2505, President Camacho sends for him, anointing him Secretary of the Interior and tasking him with solving all of the world’s problems. Personally, I don’t care. You can call it a “celebration of eugenics” or a “little but misunderstood” all you want. I think the movie is funny as shit, and that’s all it needs to be for me! For those that want to turn Idiocracy into some kind of case study or political message, I think you need to sit down and chill. Sometimes, it’s okay to poke fun at something, even if it’s a little too close to home. For those who have not watched Idiocracy, I sincerely hope that you remedy this. Sorry…it’s HOAP!

Punisher (Video Editor/Podcast Personality) Let’s start off by advising that there will be spoilers in this review. If you have not seen this movie yet, please don’t keep reading. I do suggest that you should see it. Also if you please comment we would love to hear your thoughts on the movie or anything. This movie was great! There is no down time and also for people not familiar with Doctor Strange comics, you get a kind of crash course on his persona and how he treats people. I have a small problem with Doctor Strange, but I’ll explain a little more later. During this movie we see how careless he gets seeing a text message while driving high speeds on a cliff. (Kids, don’t text and drive!!!) In the middle of the accident, you see his hands get crushed by the dashboard of his car. I felt every impact on that crash. The visuals in this movie were just simply amazing! If I was on acid or smoking weed I know this would have blown my fucking mind. This movie doesn’t really have a slowdown moment, and the cameos are not as heavy. I do love it when it shows the Avengers tower in NY and also Stan “The Man” Lee. What I also enjoy is our villain has meaning to why he is doing this. In one part of the movie, he tells you why he is doing this while shedding some tears. I felt bad for him to the point I almost agreed with him. You actually feel his pain in losing everything but also knowing a secret where Strange had to see for himself. I felt Strange needed a montage for his training like in the Rocky movies. The characters were great in this movie. I was worried about seeing Dormammu on the screen, but seeing him kill Doctor Strange countless times was awesome. Not only does Dr Strange fuck with him, but we get to see his power and how fast he kills Strange all those times and also how. He would use spikes from the floor, lasers beam, and slamming him. All I know some people wished they would see him like in the comics or in Marvel vs Capcom 3, but we get what we get and fuck it. It was still better than Galactus in the Fantastic Four movie. But I want to end this on a good note and say this movie was worth to watch and easy to follow. Also, the mid-roll and end credits scenes were awesome. We now know we are going to have Strange in Thor: Ragnarok. We also see Mordo stealing powers because, and I quote, “There are too many Sorcerers.” I’d like to hear your thoughts and also comments about Doctor Strange. Uncle Willy (Editor/Old-School Gaming Specialist/Podcast Personality) No spoilers here, which is silly coming after a spoiler-filled review, but I’m just looking to convey my feelings about this movie. Back when I started writing for this troupe of mentally-unstable degenerates, I wrote an article detailing what I wanted from 2016’s slate of superhero movies and what scared me about them. In the entry for Doctor Strange, I wrote this bit: “I have long stopped doubting Marvel Studios and their ability to make movie gold out of anything they touch. Hell, if they can make everyone care about talking Raccoon and tree buddies, they’re good at this! But the Sorcerer Supreme may be a tough sell for the average moviegoer. This movie is most likely going to dig deep into the occult, and even the great Benedict Cumberbatch might not be able to rescue this project if the story loses the audience. Yes, I know that moviegoers are savvier than most people give them credit for, but movies like generally succeed because of phenomenal screenwriting and a director who knew how to convey it. Please let the script and direction be airtight and easy enough to follow that the average person doesn’t get lost.” After seeing the movie over the weekend, I can happily say that Doctor Strange was pretty airtight and very easy to follow. But something about it still doesn’t sit right with me. Let’s get the superlatives out of the way first: this is a visually brilliant movie. I went with Punisher to a special 15-minute IMAX 3D screening of this movie a month ago, and I almost got a nosebleed from the clarity and sheer awesomeness of what I saw. Many have said that this movie brought Steve Ditko’s original artwork for the comics to life, and I have to agree. This movie looks stunning. Benedict Cumberbatch as Dr. Stephen Strange is also an unqualified home run. He doesn’t resonate with me as completely as Robert Downey, Jr. as Tony Stark, but I can’t see a better choice to play the brilliant but egotistical Doctor. It helps that the writing nailed his boorish personality well, to the point that there are times where you really want to loathe the man. His American accent, which has rankled some people, wasn’t that bothersome to me. Overall, he was spot-on. Chiwetel Ejiofor was great as Mordo. Honestly, I’m tired of heaping superlatives on this man; he is a phenomenal actor. Here, he gives Mordo a tinge of the unbending acolyte, similar to his role as The Operative in Serenity (a movie Punisher STILL has not seen!) In fact, pretty much every casting choice was great. Tilda Swinton’s Ancient One, the most controversial casting in the movie, was well done, as was my favorite character, Benedict Wong’s character…uhh, Wong. Mads Mikkelsen, everyone’s favorite bad guy, turns in another good – not great – performance as Kaecilius. He is at least more menacing than clowns like Ronin the Accuser and Zemo. Rachel McAdams as Christine Palmer, the Night Nurse, was seldom used, but she did help sell one particularly emotional scene with Strange very well. So everything about the movie was great. So why do I feel like something was off? It’s the whole tone of the movie. To me, it felt like I was watching a re-telling of Iron Man, but with less hubris and more mysticism. In Iron Man, Stark sees the consequences his egocentricity and lack of accountability. We actually SEE him want to do better, and we FEEL his desire to correct his mistakes. In Doctor Strange, we don’t see that. It’s all about Strange and how he sees himself, until it just isn’t anymore. Sure, there’s a moment when he’s confronted with having to care for someone other than himself, but I never felt the struggle. That lack of feeling carries out into the battles with Kaecilius and his goons. The battles are visually spectacular, but they don’t show much in the way of weight. In the most visually spectacular fight, the one in New York where buildings are folding into each other Inception-style, Mordo and Strange almost seem bored. Maybe I didn’t have enough vodka to appreciate what I was seeing. Still, the movie was very entertaining. It established the Sorcerer Supreme in a simple yet effective way, something I appreciate greatly. Having Strange in the MCU going forward will definitely ramp up the stakes, which is what we should expect as we head towards Infinity War. Marvel Studios definitely has another hit on its hands. UPDATE: Punisher is watching Serenity now. The lesson, as always: peer pressure is a bitch!

For BlizzCon 2016, Blizzard played a new animated short that finally introduced Overwatch’s much-hyped hero, Sombra. The short interrupted a retrospective of Overwatch’s launch day, glitching out the video in true Sombra style. It follows the stealthy hacker on a mission alongside Widowmaker and Reaper. She looks exactly like she does in the most recent leaked image. Judging by her moves, she looks like she will be fun to play as. Check out her role and abilities here. Watch the animated short below.

More than 30 years ago, a young, upcoming designer by the name of Shigeru Miyamoto was employed by Nintendo to ‘Americanize’ a space shooter that had received poor feedback from test audiences. Rather than redesign the game, he used the hardware to create what has become one of the most iconic and beloved video game characters (and game series) in the industry. You can forget your Master Chief or Felix whateverhisnameis (and countless others for that matter) and go bananas for a true legend. Donkey Kong In 1980, an arcade game was released which involved a giant ape, a princess and a portly Italian plumber with a ‘stache. The idea was to avoid barrels being lobbed by said ape to rescue said princess. It was as simple as that. The game, both in the arcades and as various Game and Watch incarnations became massively successful, but when it came to the home console market, Mario was flying the flag with another adversary to save his ever kidnap prone princess from. When the ape and the plumber went their separate ways between 1984 and 1994 (although regularly meeting up again, but I will get to that) the ape needed a bit of a reinvention to cater for the advancement in technology and consumers desire for more than arcade goodness. 1990-1994. Sega’s Mega Drive (or Genesis if you are in North America) had a head start on the Super Nintendo but interest was slow until a game was released involving a speedy blue hedgehog and suddenly, the Mega Drive went from struggling in unchartered territory, to counter anticipation for the SNES, to genuine parent botherer. 1994: Return of the Kong The Super Nintendo has had some of the greatest games ever made (sorry Sony and Microsoft fan boys). The system was launched with one of the most beloved games of the era (if not of all time) Super Mario World. But 2 years on once the Mega Drive had gained a bit of momentum and a more ‘mature’ image. But after the potential of Pilotwings and Star Fox, it was time to see what Nintendo’s 16-bit beast could really do. A small British based company called Rare produced the perfect mixture, developing a series of loveable characters from a much loved game of yesteryear, with (at the time) revolutionary pre-rendered and detailed character models, parallax-scrolling backgrounds, lighting and weather effects together with a great (though not quite perfect) platform engine. The result was Donkey Kong Country. Not only was DKC a system seller, it put the character right back in the frame to make subsequent sequels and spin-offs. 2 more games were made for the SNES before 1996 and the N64 came to take over. 1997-2004: Round Two With the release of the N64 (and Super Mario 64), Kong had a sense of deja-vu on his mind. As with the SNES, DKC had been technically a superior game to Super Mario World, but never quite matched the perfect balance, and it was the same when Donkey Kong 64 was released. An absolute behemoth of a platform game, it REQUIRED the 4MBexpansion pack to show off the beautiful, expansive 3D worlds and no less than 5 playable characters. Add weapons and musical instruments to the mix and it was no weekend rental job. Not only was Mario 64 a landmark game, but Rare had almost made the task impossible for themselves by making Banjo-Kazooie a year earlier. As great a game as DK64 is, it felt like more of the same. 2003: Konga Time I spent a lot of time at University playing a rhythm action game that went by the name of Donkey Konga. It involved a set of plastic bongos, catchy party songs to try and beat in time to, and usually a lot of beer and sore hands in the morning! I will leave it there, because if you haven’t played this (or decent rhythm games – Guitar Hero and Rock Band do NOT count) then you probably won’t understand. It was great fun though! There was also a (largely overlooked) platform game ‘Donkey Kong’s Jungle Beat’, which used the bongos to control Kong through a small number of levels, but that really isn’t the main aim. It’s all about smashing the hell out of the bongos to get ‘beats’ or pummel the great looking bosses to progress. Mario vs. Donkey Kong series were great little platform/puzzle games, similar to Lemmings, and involving getting all the little Marios to a goal, avoiding various enemies and traps. The level designer in the second game also was a very successful time killer. Towards the end of its life, the Wii was granted an old school, proper 2D Donkey Kong game. Together with Metroid Other M, Retro Studios made Nintendo fans very happy indeed by making a (sometimes mentally) difficult, amazing looking nod to the good old days. With New Super Mario Bros. Wii already released, fears were ‘Here we go- round three’… But I think DK might have had this one. The Wii U was a similarly predictable story. While Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze carried on from where DKC returns left off, Super Mario 3D World took the framework of the immensely popular (and some might say the consoles savior) 3D Land and added a more refined version of the co-op/competitive multiplayer introduced in NSMB. If I have one criticism of Super Mario 64 (and Donkey Kong 64), it’s that they were arguably too ahead of their time. I’ve always thought that the logical progression from super Mario World on the SNES was the 3D Land/World type formula, and it hurt DK64, turning into a visually gorgeous and technically impressive but a grinding collect-a-thon of a game. The Galaxy games were absolute masterclasses in variation and imagination, from level size, themes and characters to visuals and mechanics. As stunning as DKC Returns and Tropical Freeze were, it seems like Kong needs an energy boost. The Future Mario Kart 8 has proved that Nintendo games can look absolutely stunning in HD, with comparatively less power than the competition – using lush forests, glistening ice worlds and sun drenched beaches in a racing game that would be a perfect fit for these play forming icons. With the recent reveal of the Switch (and frenzy-creating snippets of footage), Nintendo will once again be turning to its heritage and mascots to direct and steady the ship while third parties consider their options. The hybrid nature and controllers of the console shows some exciting potential – both in terms of social functionality as well as level design. The tiny fragment of Mario footage implies the plumber is entering a blend of 3D World and the GameCube hit Super Mario Sunshine, which will surely be embraced fully by older fans. After experimenting with the ‘minis’ and ‘Konga/Jungle Beat’ games, what Retro and Nintendo feel is best for Donkey Kong, as well as a number of Nintendo mascots, remains to be seen. Nintendo fans will buy the Switch regardless, but whether they (myself included) will ever get the true sequels to games like F Zero, Metroid, or even another 3D DKC game is only, yet dubiously, a matter of time.

Oh, boy! This is the Episode everyone has been waiting for: the origin of how Robbie became the Ghost Rider! Warning, there will be slight spoilers on the plot. So since Episode 1, Robbie has said that he has made a deal with the devil himself. In Episode 3, we get to meet Robbie’s uncle Eli for the first time. We know very little of his involvement with the “ghosts” that causes paranoia, which we later find out were former co-workers of his. Now, why am I mentioning something that happened in previous episodes when I should be talking about Robbie’ Ghost Rider origin? Well, this episode provided more backstory about Eli and his time within Momentum and how Robbie became Ghost Rider. There are some twists within the episode that I really do not want to mention, but it’s worth the watch. While getting the origins and backstory for Eli and Robbie, we also see what is going on in present time. The Director is not happy that Colson and his team have Robbie, who is a “murderer” (see last Episode to see why) and never even mentioned to him about the whole situation. Robbie’s brother finally gets told what really happened the day of the accident, and we also get to see the “Good Samaritan” who resembles another flame skulled rider on a bike. I enjoyed this episode a lot for different reasons. From seeing what really happened within Momentum on the day that Eli’s co-workers turned into the spirits they have become, to Robbie’s Ghost Rider origin with the special guest that made him the deal that provided him his powers. We also get a call back to Peggy Carter’s Season Two with the Roxxon Corporation and the Zero Matter, which is used for the Momentum machine to be able to get power. The pacing was a little slow, but did pick up a little towards the end. The ending does leave you with questions, which will be answered in the next episode most likely, but with the truth that Robbie has found, what will he do?