REVIEW - SONIC THE HEDGEHOG (2006)

Okay, I'm not going to write a normal introduction for this game like I would any other review. I'm going to say this right now: There are way, way worse Sonic games than Sonic '06. The fanbase don't seem to realize that since 2006 there has been an onslaught of poor Sonic games, such as Sonic and the Secret Rings, Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood and the Sonic Boom games. So, why do people STILL think that 2006's SONIC THE HEDGEHOG (yes all caps) is not only the worst Sonic game, but one of the worst games ever made? Simple: It was overhyped.

This game....this game is the template for how a game should not be rushed to meet a 15th Anniversary. I still find it funny how people blame Microsoft for the games rushed release, when it was SEGA and SEGA alone to blame. Going into the games developmental history, Sonic '06 was announced at the Tokyo Game Show in 2005 with a pretty fine trailer showing off the sense of speed the game would have and the art style. It would be released on the upcoming Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 consoles. E3 2005 had a demo that was played behind closed doors, showing off the Physics engine. E3 2006 came about and people started to get both pretty damn hyped and slightly worried, particularly when they saw Dr. Eggman's redesign. The game was going to look photo-realistic, something strange for Sonic the Hedgehog standards, although with the series already becoming more 'serious' after 1998, SEGA then made the decision to split Sonic Team in two. Half would work on this game and another Sonic game for the Wii. The game was released in November 2006 on Xbox 360 and March 2007 on PlayStation 3.

And boy, did people hate it.

Sonic '06's story is probably the only part of the game that SEGA couldn't fix if they had actually tried doing what they originally wanted to. The writing and characterization in this game is bastardized beyond belief and it's one of the most confusing and poorly written things to have ever have come out. For fucks sake I'm not even going to properly go into it but basically, there's a girl called Elise who's the princess of a place called Soleanna. She possesses some shit called the Flames of Disaster which Dr.Eggman wants to rule the world. And so Sonic being the do-gooder decides to help protect Elise and by doing this the girl develops a ROMANTIC INTEREST IN A THREE FOOT TALL TALKING BLUE HEDGEHOG. It angers me to no end that SEGA actually thought bestiality was a good thing to put in a goddamn Sonic game. The story is the worst I've experience in a video game and considering the shit I've seen in some games that's saying a lot.

The gameplay varies on what character you play as, but the physics engine glitches out a lot. This leads to the game causing some deaths that you can't control. Sonic runs 'fast' (I use quotations because he doesn't really go fast) and has all his trademark moves along with a few broken upgrades (which enhance the fun to be honest.). He has special sections of certain levels which allow him to go at Mach Speed, and these sections, while thrilling in a sense, are completely broken. The control is stiff, you can't stop and the collision detection is so goddamn picky. The other characters are all weird but the worst is poor poor Knuckles, who ain't chuckling anymore. The engine allows him to get stuck on walls, leading to innocuous amounts of frustration and annoyance. The bland hub world and severe load time issues really defile the experience, but I have to say....Sonic's levels are actually a guilty pleasure, to me. The levels are wide and open to explore and it isn't really that bad minus the speed sections. I'd replay the levels if I were bored.

Grpahically, the game is alright for an early 7th generation game. Apart from a bland looking hub, the environments in this game have good colour schemes and are detailed to a good degree. it's nothing amazing, but the game does run at 60 FPS....Mostly. The game does framedrop a bit which does annoy me but it's nothing too bad.

The soundtrack is fucking amazing. Legit one of the best soundtracks to any game ever. His World, All Hail Shadow, Dream of an Absolution, Solaris Phase 2, Wave Ocean, White Acropolis, Kingdom Valley....so many good songs on this OST and I love them all so goddamn much.

Overall, Sonic '06 is a very mediocre video game that I would barely call playable. The story is shit, the gameplay is bad-okay at best, the graphics are okay and the soundtrack is eargasmic. It's a mixed shitty bag, but there are way...WAY worse Sonic games, trust me.

STORY: 0

GAMEPLAY: 5

GRAPHICS: 6

SOUNDTRACK: 10

PERSONAL ENJOYMENT: 3

FINAL SCORE FOR SONIC THE HEDGEHOG (2006): 4.8/10

REVIEW - Death Note (2006)

Well, it's time to do an anime review, and it has certainly been a long time since I did one. Rather than look at something more contemporary and modern, I decided to go into my list of anime that i needed to watch and I found one particular anime that's nothing short of a legend in the community. It's one anime that if you find an anime website or fan page on something like Facebook or Twitter, you're bound to hear about it very soon. Which anime am I talking about?

MADHouse's Death Note.

Death Note's story spans a whole seven years, beginning in 2006 and ending in 2013. Light Yagami - our main protagonist- is a genius schoolboy who despises Evil. Unfortunately for Light, there's not much he can really do about it, so he's pretty damn bored. One day, out of sheer luck, he sees a black Notebook falling from the sky (why no one else notices this is beyond me). After his afternoon classes, he goes outside and picks up the notebook, which is entitled "Death Note". Inside the front cover, he sees rules, the most striking of which is "The humans whose names are written in this note shall die" Light, like any normal person, doubts the books power until he tests it on a robbery being aired live on the evening news. To his honest surprise, the notebook actually causes a heart attack towards it's victims 40 seconds after their names are written into the notebook. Light then makes it his mission to rid he world of evil and "become the God of a new world".  Light can now also see the notebooks real owner, an apple loving God of Death known as Ryuk. Unfortunately for Light, to do that, he has to kill people, and of course as we all know, Murder is a crime. The UN Notices all of Light's killings but have no idea what's causing them or who. They realize that they are all not a coincidence and that something must be done. However, with a case of this nature, the police force can't do much, so they turn to the world's greatest detective, someone who's never lost a Case before: L. L is an unusual genius who finds out the region where Light is almost instantly. This starts a game of cat and mouse between Light and L, with Light being determined to kill L as he is "defying the God of the new world". The story is great at times and then average at others. The highlights of the whole show are definitely when L is just being so damn weird that you can't help but think he's broken, but he's not. It's just the way the characters work. I've heard a lot of negative things about this shows later episodes, and let me try to clear this up now: Episodes 26-37 aren't that bad, they're just inferior to the rest of the show, and for good reason but for the sake of spoilers I'd rather not say why.

The characters are easily the highlight of Death Note. As per usual, I'll talk about the main character and my personal favourite (who I think is also everyone's favourite)

Light Yagami (AKA Kira)
Light was  a normal teenage boy heading into his final year of high school on a low. He was getting great grades sure, but he was also extremely bored of the same things happening every day of his life, until of course, the Death Note is dropped into the realm of the humans. Light's motivations are as clear as day: he wants to rid the world of evil. I personally can't blame him for this I mean I'd want to live in a world where I feel safe no matter where I went. However, as smart as he can be (trust me he thinks ahead like nothing else), he can also be kinda arrogant towards others, especially women and members of his team later on in the show. I actually like Light a lot, but there's one character that stands out more than Light in Death Note.

L (AKA Ryuzaki)
Where do I even begin with the world's greatest yet most unconventional detective? L is an odd character that's for sure. The way he sits, reads books, talks on the phone and deals with people is extremely different and odd, but it's one of the reasons he's so likable. The way L can figure out what Kira (Light) is doing is just extra-ordinary. He'll take no prisoners apart from the man he wants (unless they're needed to get the man he wants). The way he speaks is also really funny, and for an anime character, I have to admit I like the way he's designed (well, technically he's a manga character but let's forget about the Manga for a few minutes). He's funny, methodical and just an overall likable character and it's a shame that he's not in the entire show.

On the animation side of things, for something drawn in 2006 Death Note is pretty good, even if it's animation is it's shortcoming. It's very detailed, stylized and the expressions are hyper-realistic at times like Higurashi no Naku Koro ni (was 2006 the year of hyper-expressiveness in anime?) however, there are times when characters are speaking and their lips aren't moving or the lip movements don't match the voice over (I watched the Japanese version just for clarification). The animation's not bad but there were some scenes that were definitely over looked. The characters are well drawn however, and are true to the manga source.

Sound wise, I personally think that the soundtrack to Death Note is probably my second favourite behind Shingeki no Kyojin. I can remember every one of the songs and how well they are used. The soundtrack is extremely diverse and well done. As regards openings and endings, they're all great - minus the Second Opening. the WORLD by Nightmare is an amazing song and works really well with the first opening animation, and while What's up People? is well timed with it's animation, I personally find the Death Metal and screaming vocalist a bit too much.

Overall, I think Death Note is a brilliant anime that just falls short of being a masterpiece. A Great story, brilliant characters and soundtrack are marred by a questionable later half and some animation issues. Death Note is not flawed, but rather skewered away from it's potential of being the best anime ever made. You should all definitely check this one out, in English or Japanese since both dubs are excellent.

Story: 9.5
Characters: 10
Animation: 9
Soundtrack: 10
Personal Enjoyment: 10

FINAL SCORE FOR DEATH NOTE: 9.7/10

REVIEW - The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (2006)

Ahh the Nintendo GameCube, the home of my youth, well, sort of (I also had a PS1, N64 and PS2 at the time, so I was in a diverse family). Without a doubt the best third place console ever made, with it's amazing controller and third-party support. What about those first party games tough? Well, while a tonne of them are amazing (Like the ever so popular Super Smash Bros. Melee and the absolutely stunning Metroid Prime), none of them have the scope, grandeur or satisfaction of today's game.

Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (also on Wii)

Twilight Princess takes place on the "Young Era" of the ever so lovely and confusing Zelda Timeline, taking place after Majora's Mask and before Four Swords Adventures. In the land of Hyrule, darkness is on the rise. Being's known as the Twili are converging on the land, and the Princess is being held captive in her own castle. Pretty dark stuff.

Meanwhile in Ordon, a Village nation which is technically independent from Hyrule, a young boy get's told that he has been chosen to deliver a package to the royal castle in Hyrule. This boy is the ever omnipresent and silent Link, the hero of the series (albeit a different version of Link). On the day he is due to leave, Twili attack the Faron province and they kidnap Link's friends Colin and Ilia. Link, out of stupidity really, follows them into the Twilight. As soon as he enters, he undergoes a transformation into a wolf (that's TWO games I know that have Wolf powers....huh), which is different from other humans who simply disappear into a flame. As he is the descendant of the legendary Hero of Time from Ocarina of Time, Link is the holder of the Triforce of Courage, which is what allowed him to just transform into a wolf. Link is brought to a dungeon underneath Hyrule Castle, where he meets Midna, an imp girl. Midna tells Link that she knows about his friends and how to change Hyrule back to the way it was. The journey Link and Midna undertake is one of strength, hardship and conquering the beast inside. It's one of the better plots in the Zelda series, and that's no easy feat to accomplish.

In the gameplay department, Twilight Princess runs off of Wind Waker's gameplay engine, so a lot of elements are similar between both games. What set's the two game apart are the wolf sections and the fact that Twilight Princess takes place on dry land rather than the open ocean. As Human Link, you go through the traditional Legend of Zelda experience. You traverse a huge overworld full of monsters and colourful locations, tackle dungeons, gain new items and abilities and make huge bosses fall (seriously, the scale of the bosses in this game are only topped by those in Skyward Sword). Sword combat is fast paced and satisfying as hell, using items to solve puzzles can be unique and the dungeons are well laid out.

On the flip side of things, there are the Wolf Link sections. Wolf Link cannot use a sword, or any items for that matter. He has 3 abilities: Biting, Sensing and Digging. Biting is the default way of attacking enemies. Sensing is used to gather a scent of a person or object and Digging is just that, digging. Later, you gain an abilities to attack multiple enemies at once, and it's satisfying as hell. However this comes at a price: The sections you play as Wolf Link in are nothing more than a scavenger hunt (well, at least until you get the Master Sword). Your objective is to simply go around a province and collect tears of light to fill a vessel so that you can become human and defeat the dungeon. It's just very slow and tedious and ruins what is a perfectly sound formula.

Graphically, for a Nintendo GameCube game, this is stunning. The environments are massive and expansive, creating a huge living, breathing world unmatched by any Zelda game to date. The character models are quite nicely detailed, and the areas in the Twilight sections all have this distinct glow that make it stand out. In the Wii version, the game runs in a native 16:9 aspect ratio (WideScreen for those who don't know their TV Ratios) whereas the GameCube version runs at 4:3, and the map is flipped between the two versions.

The music is very hit and miss. On one hand, you have the absolutely stunning homage to the original Legend of Zelda which is one of the all time best songs in the franchise, but then you got boring MIDI crap ike the main battle theme which is really jarring coming off of Wind Waker's amazing battle theme. It's more positive than negative, but still, i'm left wanting more.

Overall, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess is a fitting swansong to one of the best video game consoles in history. it's plot is great, characters memorable, gameplay is tight and has a decent enough soundtrack. You can get this game for dirt cheap on the Nintendo Wii which is the same game but with a flipped world map, widescreen support and motion controls. One of the all time greatest games, and one of the best Nintendo has ever produced.

Story: 8

Gameplay: 8
Graphics: 10

Sound: 8
Personal Enjoyment: 10

FINAL SCORE FOR THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: TWILIGHT PRINCESS: 9/10

REVIEW - Higurashi no Naku Koro ni (2006)

There are some anime that always hit the mark no matter what they do when it comes to the plot. Whether it's extremely well thought out plot lines, characters that are deep, introcrate and memorable or anime that rely solely on atmosphere they never seem to miss the mark. For some reason, today's anime hits every single ball you throw at it out of the park and then some.

The anime adaptation of Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, ladies and gentlemen.

Visceral, bloody, brutal and tragic. Higurashi is a goreophob's nightmare. With the exception of very few, every episode of this anime is filled to the brim with blood, guts and estranged deaths. So be forewarned before I begin: 

THE FOLLOWING ANIME CONTAINS GRAPHIC IMAGERY THAT WAS UNCENSORED FOR IT'S RELEASE. IF YOU ARE UPSET BY GORE/CHILDREN DYING, PLEASE LEAVE NOW.

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni takes place in the month of June, 1983 in the Japanese village of Hinamizawa. The main character - for season one at least - is Keiichi Maebara, a transfer student new to the village. He meets a host of colourful yet mysterious people, such as the shy but vicious Rena Ryuguu, the Loud and arrogant Mion Sonozaki, the cute and adorable Rika Furude and the annoyingly funny Satoko Houjou. They normally mess about in their school club and just act the fools, but one day, Keiichi notices that some time ago, there was a murder in Hinamizawa and his friends keep denying it happening and start to act strange around him. All of a sudden Keiichi begins to become Paranoid and starts to think his friends are out for his blood, due to the recent deaths at the Watanagashi festival, where another series of strange events has been occouring for 5 years in a row now: someone dies and someone goes missing. This is the set up of the first of many arcs in the plot line of this series. You see, Higurashi was originally a visual novel released in 2002 that was split into multiple arcs.

And none of them ended very well.

In Higurashi, near the end of an arc most people have been killed due to the circumstances of the arc, since most arcs have a different focal character. It's a great set up to an anime and I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. The plot is visceral and unique, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

The characters are the Highlight of the series, but for the sake of keeping this review short (I have to go asleep soon </3) I'll talk about the main character and my favourite character.

Maebara Keiichi (AKA Kei-chan)

Keiichi is the innocent protagonist of Arcs 1 (Onikakushi), 2 (Watanagashi) and 3 (Totorakori). He's recently moved to Hinamizawa and has no real idea what the town is about. It's this lack of knowledge and the strange happenings in the town that combine to make Keiichi's paranoid side come out. He's constantly questioning others, wanting to know what the hell is going on in Hinamizawa. Although he is paranoid, he's humourous, clever and determined to help others any way he can, even if he only helps a little. He's brave and while he's not the most memorable lead in the world, he does a good job at what he's supposed to do.

Shion Sonozaki (AKA Shii-Chan)

*ahem*

Shion Sonozaki is the twin of Mion Sonozaki and is a daughter of Hinamizawa's most powerful family. Shion is smart, funny, athletic and pretty too. Shion is only the main character in one arc, although it is the longest one by far (Arc 5).

But she's not my favourite for that. She's my favourite for being bat-shit insane. I only need this picture to sum her up really:

She's evil when she's pushed to the limit, going as far as killing her friends in order to find her loved one. It may sound very Gasai Yuno-ish,, but Shion's kill count ranks far higher than Yuno's. She's despicable, but she is without a doubt my favourite anime character of all time. Her depth and trauma amaze me still to this day.

Animation wise, Higurashi is not perfect, but it's fitting. The show's high contrast works well when the mood is all happy and moe and it's suitable for the more...shall we say, disturbing parts of the show. It's medium quality sure and it's not very detailed but it still does the job quite well, and it has one hell of a striking opening.

She's too happy about this.

The sound is great, but again not perfect. Not a lot of tracks were memorable, but the soundtrack was very diverse and fitting to the show's cute and scary parts. The show's main theme is haunting and has a sense of hopelessness and dread tto it, and it's a brilliant piece that will make your spine tingle. The opening is very catchy and fits the shows somewhat supernatural element to a tee. It's a very well done soundtrack, but again not as memorable as it could've been.

Overall, Higurashi is just short of being a masterpiece. It's amazing in almost every single way possible. It's brilliantly paced, extremely well written and has an amazing cast of characters. If you're planning on watching it, watch the fansub by We Are In Denial subs, since this show's English dub is complete shit.

Story: 10
Characters:10
Animation: 9.7
Music: 9.9
Personal Enjoyment: 10

FINAL SCORE FOR HIGURASHI NO NAKU KORO NI (WHEN THEY CRY): 10/10

Yes. I did just give it a 10.

REVIEW - Shadow of the Colossus (2006/2011)

Japan can certainly come up with some really evoking stuff. They make some of the best pieces of fiction for all sorts of reasons, but the reason today's game is so great is not because of it's gripping plot or intense combat...

Isolation is what makes Shadow of the Colossus by Team ICO (Japan Studio) an amazing game.

When it was released on the PlayStation 2 in 2006, Shadow of the Colossus broke new ground in the way we play games. The world is stunning, yet in Shadow of the Colossus, apart from your horse you are alone. There is no help, no one else here to assist you. Just your and your faithful horse. And an amazing world to explore.

Shadow of the Colossus takes place in a fictional fantasy world. Prior to the events of the game, the love of the protagonist was sacrificed as it's believed she was cursed. The hero - who goes by the name of Wander - is outraged by this. One day, he hears of a distant land where it is said you can raise the dead. Wander brings the dead girl to this land, where he meets the Demon Lord Dormahn, who promises to bring his lover back to life if he can defeat 16 enormous known as Colossi (plural for Colossus). Wander makes it his mission to defeat the 16 giant being no matter the cost. He sets off to destroy them with only a magical sword, a bow and a horse to his name. Each time Wander defeats a Colossus, he gets attacked by black trails. As the story unfolds, we see what the true meaning of this is. Shadow of the Colossus' story was praised for being a literal David and Goliath story, about someone overcoming impossible odds to bring back the one he loves. It is my favourite video game story without a doubt.

Gameplay in Shadow of the Colossus is minimalistic when you break it down. At face value, all you do is explore a vast open world and defeat 16 giant monsters, but the guys at Team ICO did a fantastic job at making both of these things interesting. You are rewarded for exploring the vast world of the game with health and grip upgrades (in the form of Shiny Lizards and fruit.). In combat, the game becomes something else. You have to scale a giant Colossus and find it's weak spot by pointing your sword at it. You have limited grip but you have unlimited bow ammo so it works both ways. The controls are fluent although mounting the horse is a bit finnicky at times since Triangle is the jump button rather than the traditional X.

Graphically, the game is Stunning on both the PS2 and PS3. the world is vast and gives you a sense of grandure and isolation. The monsters are highly detailed and everything is distinct from one another. Environments are beautifully detailled and vaired giving us one of the best worlds in any game for a long long time.

In the music department....wow. The music in this game is some of the best ever composed. The main theme, Revived Power which is played in a few boss fights when you are getting an advantage is a stunningly bombastic piece of music and is one of the all time greats. The overall soundtrack is the best on the PS2 by far.

In conclusion, this game should not be passed out by anyone. It is without a doubt one of the best - if not THE best - games of all time. The scope and atmosphere of the world is unrivaled even by Skyrim or Grand Theft Auto V. The music and story are great and the gameplay is fast and beautiful. The closest we'll ever get to a perfect game is here, available on PS2 or in HD on the PS3 with trophy support.

Story: 10
Gameplay: 9.5
Graphics: 9.5
Music: 10
Personal Enjoyment: 10

FINAL SCORE FOR SHADOW OF THE COLOSSUS (2006/2011): 9.7/10

REVIEW - Clannad (Anime, 2006)

Once in a while, you come across something that's hard to talk about without bringing up some personal memories. For some people, they simply can't because what they find in the story they've seen is too familiar to them, and therefore could hurt them emotionally or make them feel uncomfortable.

That's how I felt about the anime version of Clannad by Key Visual Arts.

Clannad takes place in Modern day Japan. The main character, Tomoya Okazaki is a bored delinquent who has given up on everything he's ever dreamed of and has lost all care for his own family. One day on the way to school, he meets a girl who goes by the name Nagisa Furukawa, a girl who's repeating her final year of school due to illness. Tomoya also meets a host of other colourful characters, such as Fuko Ibuki, Kyou Fujibayashii, Kotomi Ichinose and Youhei Sunohara. The main focus of the show is bonding between characters, and the way they all deal with their pasts. They all have some sort of sad incident that happened in the past, and Tomoya feels it's his duties to help them overcome what happened before. While it may not be he best set up in the world, I think that the plot itself is pretty competent and it get's across what it needs to just fine.

The characters of Clannad are easily the shows highlight. The tragic backstories of some of these characters is truly a sight to behold. The way that Tomoya has to deal with some of these is really complex and drawn out at times, but it's worth it. For the sake of spoilers, I'm only going to talk about the show's main characters here, so don't be upset please if I left out any of your favourites. Trust me, it was very hard to not talk about how funny Fuko and Sunohara are!

Tomoya Okazaki

Tomoya has lived a very difficult life. His mother tragically died when he was small, and that made his father turn to drink and become depressed. As a result of this, Tomoya and his father often got in fights, and one day, his father dislocated his shoulder in a rage. Tomoya couldn't raise his arm past his shoulder anymore, and thus this led him to his delinquent life. His father becomes a recluse and Tomoya starts to hate everything around him, his father especially. He spends most of his time outside of school at his friend Sunohara's house. One day, he meets a girl splurting random foods out of her mouth, and decides to walk to school with her. And thus, the story of Clannad begins.

Nagisa Furukawa

Nagisa - since a very young age - has been extremely weak. Her body is frail and she's vulnerable to illness for God knows what reason, since her condition is never explained to us. All we know is that, when she was young, her parents used to be out all the time. One time, Nagisa fell very ill, but her parents still had to go to work due to very important jobs. Nagisa - with all her strength - got up, went outside and waited for them. Due to the harsh snowstorms, she barely lasted a minute before feinting in front of her door. Her parent came over after someone called in the accident, and Nagisa's parents both quit their jobs to become bakers to be closer with their daughter. Nagisa has the ambition of becoming a stage actress, but lacks the confidence to do so...until she meets a boy on the hill to school....

In the animation department, Clannad loves to use it's backgrounds to impress you and they certainly are impressive, right from the get go the backgrounds are just absolutely flawless, even in the opening. It's extremely well done and detailed. The characters are pretty good, although sometimes their eyes annoy me. Yes I know that's a nit pick but there's just something about them that tick me off and since I'm the most critical person in the world when it comes to this kind of thing well I have to say something about it. Overall, very nice to look at with nothing TOO Major to complain about.

The soundtrack to Clannad is quite different, in that it focuses a lot on one type of instrument - that being the piano - and mainly uses that for most of the soundtrack. The soundtrack is very good, and I'm a fan of the piano version of Dango Daikazoku. The ending theme is my favourite one in all of anime, as it's sad but happy at the same time and it really get's the image of the anime down just right. Seriously, go check it out:

 Overall, I could only reccommend a show like Clannad to those who really like drama. For those looking for a full on Comedy, Clannad is not for you. However, if you love drama, tension and emotional finale's, you can't get an better than Clannad. I'm not sure if it's available for legal streaming or not, so a fan sub would be okay for this one. Clannad is a journey of heart, friendship, feelings and love. Do NOT miss out on this.

Story: 8
Characters: 10
Animation: 8
Sound: 9
Personal Enjoyment: 8.5

OVERALL SCORE FOR CLANNAD (ANIME): 8.2/10