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The Adventures Of Tintin Remastered Review

Kyle Moore
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The Adventures Of Tintin Remastered 
Studio: Nelvana
Publisher: Madman
Platform: DVD(reviewed) Blu-Ray
Release: November 30th, 2011
Price: $49.95 – Available Here

Overview

I have fond memories of being a young boy and coming home from school, sitting on the couch and watching the ABC until the nightly news came on. One of my favourite cartoons of this era, in fact it still is one of my favourtie, is The Adventures of Tintin. Now thanks to Madman, I can enjoy all 21 adventures in remastered high quality for years to come.

Story

For those of you who don’t know, The Adventures of Tintin is a cartoon series based on the comics of artist Herge. The story follows a young reporter by the name of Tintin, who finds his way into adventures across the globe. The series, with the exception of a few comments and perhaps the first episode, doesn’t have much to do with reporting. Rather, Tintin is out to foil crooks across the globe due to his Boy Scout ethics. With his faithful dog Snowy by his side, Tintin makes new friends on the travels across the road. The captain on the Karaboudjan, Captain Haddock is the first to help Tintin on his adventures. Alongside somewhat minor characters, such as the Thomson twins and Professor Calculus, recurring villains pop up around the world – all of whom are far too familiar with our young friend Tintin.

To describe the stories in detail would be an act in futility. There are 21 adventures across the animated series, with often links bridging across episodes. Not to mention a cast of recurring characters and backstories to delve into. But, this is one of the things that make The Adventures of Tintin great and will keep you wanting to watch again and again. The stories all come in parts, which are played together to make a 40-minute story with a beginning and end. Sometimes, they will end with a bit of a cliffhanger such as in The Secret of the Unicorn, which continues the story in Red Rackham’s Treasure. The stories have all become classics in their own right thanks to the widespread publications of Herge’s work, and the animated series should be praised for their accurate adaptation of his work.

Visuals

Herge has a unique style of drawing. The characters all have minimalistic features and often reuse facial expressions that perhaps aren’t the most emotive or fitting for the dialogue they are attempting to emphasis. Yet, this is the style Tintin fans have come to know and love. It has been what Tintin has looked like since the 1930’s, and luckily The Adventures of Tintin remastered collection continues this style. Of course remastered doesn’t mean redrawn, so the characters maintain their comic book style. The main difference to note would be the improvement in colour. Where as the original series, on both television and the original DVD releases, was a little washed out, the remastered version boasts a vivid range of colours – making a nice addition to any Tintin collection.

Audio

Theme songs are often an annoyance. I sit there clicking next until the button wears off when watching television series on DVD just so I don’t have to hear that annoying theme song one more time. Not Tintin though. Every time the DVD starts, or an episode starts, the theme song booms out of my speakers and I get excited for the on coming adventure. The music within the show is a little more subdued, yet perfectly fitting – mostly consisting of small pieces performed at ideal moments. A few times the theme song will emerge again to heighten tension and really push forward the sense of adventure. The sound of the remastered series seems to also be revamped to some degree, while maintaining the essence of the original animated series – such as same scores and voice acting.

Extras

I was a little surprised about the lack of bonus content on this DVD collection. My original DVD box set of The Adventures of Tintin had very few special features, none of which were actually worth viewing. I was expecting a little more from a box set boasting to be ‘remastered’ but found myself disappointed. The one feature I did enjoy was the revamping of the DVD menu, which now includes a play all function, but seems to not allow you to choose between part one or two of the episode inside the scene selection function. I would have hoped for a little behind the scenes footage, or for some extra Tintin information – but maybe that will appear in the re-remastered version.

Overall

Everything about The Adventures of Tintin as a series is perfect. The stories, the way that Herge’s classic minimalistic style has been captured and not to mention that amazing theme song. What I take issue with here is the term ‘remastered’. Apart from a little boost to the audio and the revamping of the colour, there isn’t much different to The Adventures of Tintin remastered to the original DVD series that was released a while back. If you don’t own any of the animated adventures of Tintin, I implore you to purchase this remastered series. It’s cheaper and has a lot less packaging than the original box set (could be a con if you actually like box sets, but my shelf is full already!) and has been updated to a higher quality. However, if you’ve already invested your money in The Adventures of Tintin in another DVD format, perhaps this isn’t really worth the extra purchase. Alternately there is the Blu-Ray version of the series, which may actually be worth picking up if you believe Blu-Ray is the way of the future and will provide anything extra. In short, Tintin is Tintin and if you don’t have it, you should.

8-0-capsules-out-of-10

Kuroko no Basuke Anime Trailer

Luke Halliday
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Kuroko no Basuke (lit. Kuroko’s Basketball) was previously announced to be getting an anime adaptation in Spring 2012 along with it’s Weekly Jump partner Medaka Box.

A promotional trailer for the forthcoming sports anime has recently made it’s way online and can be seen below.

Kuroko no Basuke follows the ‘Generation of Miracles’ High School Basketball team as they try to make it to the Inter-High School Championships. So if you like sports anime your in for a treat; the same general plot you have seen in the past, but different sort of… I guess?

The anime series launches in April 2012 with Production I.G. handling the animation on the series. Let us know what you think of the trailer in the comments section below.

Puma: After Hours Athletes Review

Joshua Spudic
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Puma: After Hours Athletes
Developers: SCE Studios San Diego — Team Ramrod (High Velocity Bowling), VooFoo Studios (Hustle Kings), Devil’s Details (Top Darts)
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Platform: Playstation 3 (Move Required)
Release Date: Out Now
Price: AU$44.00

Overview
After Hour Athletes is a game for those who just want to have fun with a group of friends or family. It offers three previously released games on one disk: Hustle Kings, Top Darts and High Velocity Bowling. Sponsored by athletic apparel company Puma, these three games offer a decent party experience. However, it isn’t without flaws, as it doesn’t add anything new to the games on show. So, how does it fare then as a compilation?

Gameplay
After Hour Athletes is a compilation of three previously released Playstation Network releases: Hustle Kings, which is pool, Top Darts, which is darts and High Velocity Bowling, which is ten-pin bowling. So, it does beg the following question: what does Puma have to do with any of these games? I see no Puma branding in any of these games and they were not commissioned by Puma themselves, rather they are first party games released on the PSN. The only mention of the athletics apparel company is on the cover itself. Maybe Puma signed a deal to sponsor this compilation by the sounds of things.

Hustle Kings takes care of the pool side of things in After Hour Athletes. This is the second release of the game, the first being on the PSN back in 2009. It offers four modes of play: offline, where players can enter a tournament, one off match or just mess about, online, which includes leaderboards, quick matches and even allows players to create and join online rooms, training, which the player must complete when they first start the game and career, where the player must complete a set of tasks. Players can play different pool games such as 8-ball and snooker. Players can also pull of trick shots for credit, which is used to unlock extra stuff in the Hustle Shop.

High Velocity Bowling takes players to the bowling alley. Like Hustle Kings, it offers several modes of gameplay, including online play, tournaments and exhibition modes. Players will choose characters with their own stats and bowl in themed bowling lanes. Outside of the regular modes of gameplay, High Velocity Bowling offers a Challenge Mode. It is divided into three sections. A first place is required in order to successfully progress within the mode. There is also Head 2 Head mode, where, by winning it, each character will gain extra points towards their stats.

Top Darts turns that classic pub game darts into a party experience without the possible brawling. It offers the usual modes of play, like exhibition and online play, with official games and rules, like the popular 501, where the players must exactly reach 0 points from 501 points, which must include a double or triple during the last rounds of throwing to win the game. However, Top darts also adds a few interesting mini-games to keep the party going. One such mini-game is Stack Up, which involves the player hitting the numbers on the dart board that corresponds with blocks on the right hand side. It is a mix of darts and Tetris one could say.

The Playstation Move works very well with all three games. With Hustle Kings, the player holds down the T button and motions pulling back and pushing forward a cue, like they would in the real game. With High Velocity Bowling, one has to set themselves up before actually bowling. When the player is ready to bowl, players hold the T button and just bowl, similar to that of Wii Bowling. Spin is added by twisting the wrist. For Top Darts, a target appears on the screen, which is where the player wants to throw the dart. Then, with the T button, they throw. The power and arc of the throw is measured and that affects the final position of the dart. It is quite accurate and responsive. However, High Velocity Bowling may scare off the more casual players as it does require more time to master than the other two games.

However, the compilation does lack one thing. Although it offers all of the downloadable content that has already seen a release, it does not offer any new content, instead, it is straight to disk with already released content. This may detract any potential consumers who are looking for some extra excuse to pick up the games. In saying that, this compilation is much cheaper to purchase than buying the games and its DLC separately on the PSN. Also, playing it with the Playstation 3 controller is out of the question this time around. The Playstation Move is a must, despite previous releases having support for the Playstation 3 controller. This pushes aside another set of potential customers who are not ready or have no desire to purchase the Playstation Move just yet.

Visuals and Audio
The visuals for all three games are quite impressive, considering they are all over a year old. Hustle Kings is well polished in terms of their pool tables and balls. In High Velocity Bowling, the cartoonish look of the characters show this is a game with a light hearted approach. In saying that, can the lanes actually be more polished? The oil coating alone can become a new mirror. Top Darts also offers fantastic visuals. The boards are designed well. The more far out designs are visually spectacular.

The audio of the games are average at best. Hustle Kings offers a variety of sounds to accompany those battles on the pool table. These range from jazz to lounge. It offers a great atmosphere, but don’t expect to whistle these tunes anytime soon. High Velocity Bowling mixed some of that jazz music with some 50’s rock and the result isn’t that impressive, more often annoying than enjoyable. Top Darts offers some commentary in the form of the “Voice of Darts” Sid Waddell, as well as some background noise. However, expect your fellow players and observers to be your true Top Darts soundtrack.

Overall
For those who missed out on these three games the first time around, this isn’t a bad package. It is an offer of three games which use the Playstation Move. However, it is a big ask for those who already have at least one of these games. The motion control is quite accurate and responsive, like most Move games, but only offers the basics of gameplay, creating a repetitive experience. The visuals and the audio are average at best. What it does offer, however, is fun for everyone when one has to entertain their friends.

6-5-capsules-out-of-10

Uprising44: The Silent Shadows Set to Launch Q2 2012

G Dino
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Uprising44: The Silent Shadows Set to Launch Q2 2012

Upstart independent game development company DMD Enterprises recently informed Capsule Computers that their first game, Uprising44: The Silent Shadows, will be released late in the second quarter of 2012. Game publisher Cenega will be launching the game in PC, Mac, and Xbox platforms across Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and Hungary initially.

Uprising44 is a third person shooter that incorporates tactical real time strategy in its gameplay, which sets players as commanding officers of a squad of Poland resistance fighters during the momentous Warsaw Uprising of 1944. Among the few tactical aspects of the game include dealing with munitions shortages, logistics issues, and constant safety concerns for the player’s squad during the fighting.

Uprising44 is the first WWII game to revolve around the failed 1944 Warsaw Uprising, where the Polish resistance Home Army rose to meet German forces occupying Poland in light of an imminent Red Army invasion. The game focuses on sabotage and firefight missions for the players, all the while highlighting the struggles and hardships of the Polish resistance fighters in historically accurate representations of actual events and locations in the Warsaw Uprising.

Check out behind-the-scenes footage of the live-action trailer shoot for the upcoming title and images below.

 

Beyblade: Metal Masters Review

Luke Halliday
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Beyblade: Metal Masters
Developer: Hudson
Publisher: Konami
Platform: Nintendo DS
Release Date: November 14th, 2011
Price: $42.95 Available Here

Overview:
‘Let it rip!’ – That iconic phrase echoes in the memory of thousands who grew up watching the Beyblade anime and it resonates true with the entire premise of the series. That being fast paced action with an addictive game at the core of it all.

That addictive game is Beyblades, a spin on the classic spin top style game, with players challenging each other to see whose Beyblade will be the last standing. In classic anime fashion, the Beyblades of course contain magical monsters that can battle one another.

Kids nation-wide enjoy the Beyblades series and addictively collect the physical Beyblade spin top merchandise. While the real life Beyblades may be addictive, does that addictive nature carry over to this video-game, Beyblade: Metal Masters?

Story:
Fans of the Beyblade: Metal Masters anime series will be sure to enjoy this games story which focuses on the ‘Nightmare Rex’ story arc. Characters battle in a Beyblade tournament at a cemetery of all places.

It works well for the arcade mode in which it features, but unfortunately once the arcade mode is completed (which can take about an hour at most) there is literally no other story to continue playing, it’s just over.

I was disappointed to say the very least, but fans of the show should have enough fun playing against all their favourite characters from the anime series. However one major gripe I stumbled upon is that, the majority of the characters speak in broken English most of the time, due to a clearly poor job done by the translator. In the end though it is more humorous than damaging to the game.

Gameplay:
Let me start off by saying this; there was a lot of potential in Beyblade: Metal Masters. As you can imagine I say that because it never achieves what it’s potential promises. Instead the gameplay turns out to be an inconsistent mess with a control system that makes little to no sense and necessitates the instruction manual in order to know how to play.

The haphazard control system is a good place to start. It’s biggest problem is it’s lack of common sense. The very fact that it is pretty much impossible to play without consulting the instruction manual (an action the game actually asks you to take) for contols, is a red flag right there. Put simply, the controls are overly complicated and ultimately require the player to button mash and hope that they win.

This control issue, creates another problem – there is no strategy. You essentially win matches by seeing how fast you can mash the buttons (an action that is also required to launch your Beyblade funnily enough). If you go into the game thinking that there would be some more strategy to the control system and gameplay mechanics, you are quickly proven wrong once you figure out how to actually play.

Thankfully it’s not all doom and gloom, while the actual battles are monotonous and control terribly, there is actually an in depth Beyblade customization system that redeems a lot of the games poorer qualities. The system is deep and allows a great deal of choice in how a player wants to craft their Beyblade. It would certainly be a nice treat for fans, wanting to recreate their real life Beyblade in game.

Visuals and Audio:
From a visual standpoint, Beyblade: Metal Masters is exactly what you’d expect, a largely 2D game with semi-3D battles. Sure it is true to the series, but it just makes up an overall boring aesthetic design for the title. Which is really disappointing given the visual delight that the anime series can be.

If the game’s graphics and presentation could support the action and energy of the anime then it would’ve been a much more better visual product in the end. Sadly it ends up being bland, in every sense of the word.

Thankfully there is a silver lining, that being the games soundtrack, which is a pleasure to listen to during gameplay. It provides a well suited backing for the game and makes up for the majority of the excitement and atmosphere of the game.

All in all, like the rest of the story and gameplay, there is just as much inconsistency here, which really lets down something that had so much potential.

Overall:
In the end, this is a Beyblades game for the Nintendo DS, it was never going to be a gaming masterpiece. It could have at the very least however been a great game. Especially when you take into account how much potential a franchise such as this has to make a great video game.

That is why it is a very sad thing to say, that Hudson has made a grave misstep in the production of this game. It simply required so much more polish and attention to the finer details. All things that Hudson seemed to have completely overlooked when they were constructing this incredibly ill-conceived anime tie-in.

If you are a fan of the anime series, there have been better Beyblade games in the past that you would probably enjoy more than this. But there is enough here for fans to garner some level of enjoyment from. Just don’t expect to not notice the glaring problems that plague the title from the minute it starts.

6--capsules-out-of-10

Vivec Entertainment Reveal First Game

Gavin Baracz
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New in Vivec Entertainment news is their revealing of their first game Shadow of a Soul: Chapter 1.  This game is a first person-survival horror game whose story is rich in riddles, enigmas and horrors. This is the first in a planned trilogy, set in a traditional adventure paradigm; players are required to solve puzzles, search for clues and uncover the mysteries locked within the story.

Chapter 1 of this trilogy revolves around the protagonist Jack, a thief who is on an industrial espionage mission to steal blueprints of a new product. Yet once Jack finds his way into the office complex he starts to realize his mission is more than he had bargained for. Unnatural sounds and horrifying visions begin to unravel before his eyes; he has become the target of a malevolent presence and is refused to leave. This frightening journey will lead him through terrifying events and encounters which will haunt him until the end of his days. The first trailer, The Room, illustrates the confusion and horror as seen through a man as he experiences his final moments on tape, which can be seen below.

Shadow of a Soul: Chapter 1 has been in development for over a year and contains between 12-16 hours of game play. The game will retail at $19.99. It has been developed primarily for Windows and Macintosh platforms, however, a PS3 version of the game will be released in 2013. 

 

Senran Kagura may hit 80,000 sold mark; still not being localized

Travis Bruno
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Out of all of the titles developed and released for the Nintendo 3DS so far in Japan that most gamers wanted to see released in the West, one of them stood above the rest. Although no announcement has been made by any company about the title, there is always the hope that it may some day be localized in English. The title I speak of is the full breasted ninja 3DS title, Senran Kagura.

Still, despite its uniqueness, Senran Kagura has done quite well for itself in Japan, as the producer of the title Kenichiro Takagi has made a post on the Senran Kagura official blog saying that the series has a very good chance of crossing their 80,000 sold mark before this year is up. Some companies may be disappointed by this number, but Marvelous AQL and Takagi believe that this is actually quite a good sales result being that the title is a complete original. Perhaps the larger than expected sales in Japan may give Senran Kagura a chance in North America…

Metal Gear Solid 3DS System given teaser image

Travis Bruno
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Earlier today we learned that Kojima Productions would be having a special 3DS hardware bundle released alongside Metal Gear Solid Snake Eater 3D but they did not go into any specifications as to what fans could expect the handheld would look like. Would it be just a simple new color for the Nintendo 3DS? Some type of logo?

Well Hideo Kojima himself has decided to shed a little light on those questions. Kojima revealed on his Twitter that the system will indeed have a unique design and went so far as to take a teaser image which can be seen below in full resolution. The Nintendo 3DS will have a snake skin pattern embossed on the cover, which I dare say looks very amazing looking. Expect to hear more on January 20th when the company plans on revealing more information about this bundle.

Gears of War 3 demo available now

Travis Bruno
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Being able to demo a game is the best way to find out whether or not you should spend your hard earned money on buying the full title when it comes out. On the other hand, sometimes demos come out quite late and at the most inopportune times. For example today the demo for Gears of War 3 has gone live on the Xbox Live system, it is exclusive to only Gold subscribers.

The strange thing about this demo release is that not only is it coming out a few months after Gears of War 3 has already come out, but it also has completely missed the holiday season window where it may have enticed some to pick up the title for Christmas. Alas, the chances have been missed and the demo can be acquired here. The demo will take place on the level “Shipwreck” which is the first chapter in Act II of the full Gears of War 3 game.

Nippon Ichi aiming to release at least one more PlayStation Vita title in 2012

Travis Bruno
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When the PlayStation Vita was officially revealed Nippon Ichi was quick to bring news that they were going to be releasing Disgaea 3: Absence of Detention on the title at launch in Japan. This also includes NIS America who is set to launch the title somewhere around the PlayStation Vita release in North America. Disgaea fans need not despair about this remake however, as the Disgaea team is aiming to release at least one more title on the Vita sometime before 2012.

During a Q&A session at the Akihabara Denkigai Festival, CEO Sohei Shinkawa was asked about Nippon Inchi’s plans for the Vita and he responded to the question saying that the company would like to release at least one title next year. What this title could possibly be however was not even hinted at. Any potential guesses? A new title completely or another entry in the long running and popular Disgaea series?

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