Updates and Game Reviews

The latest edition of my "Spoiling the Illusion" column is up. Also some thoughts on IWGP Champion Hiroyoshi Tenzan's upcoming title defences and ZERO-ONE's HUSTLE-2 show. Check it out and let me know what you guys think.

PS2 Game Review: The Simpsons - Hit and Run
The latest GTA3 rip-off and probably the best Simpsons game ever. Springfield is in trouble and it's up to the Simpsons family (and Apu) to save the day! You play through 7 levels with 7 missions in each. You get to play as either Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa or Kwik-E-Mart owner Apu throughout the game as you race around to accomplish the objectives set before you.
The game itself is easy to pick up and play. Most missions find you dashing back and forth from location to location to complete various objectives. I found the missions for each level are actually just repeats of the previous with a few small twists (Like the challenges on every season of Survivor). The difficulty of the game starts out easy enough, but progresses to annoyingly difficult levels. I really hate it in any game where when your racing the clock, traffic on the road has a tendancy to either just cut into your lane, or come to a dead-halt right in front of you!
Most missions can be finished in a few tries, others might take longer.
So I finished the game. Should I play through it again? Only if you want to unlock all the hidden stuff in the game and get 100% game completion. On the other hand, some might not want to play through the more difficult missions again, cause they really can get annoying. Me? I'm moving on to something else.
Ratings:
Graphics - 8
Sound - 7
Gameplay - 7
Lifespan - 6
Overall - 7

PS2 Game Review: Hyper Street Fighter II: Anniversary Edition
Anybody who knows fighting games, knows it was all started by Capcom's Street Fighter II. Now, on it's 15-year anniversary, Capcom is releasing a collection said to have every version of SFII ever released all in one game. This can be one big misinterpretation as the game is really just Super Street Fighter II X: Grand Master Challenge, but with the option to play as Street Fighters from the previous games with their previous abilities, against the SF2X game! Like many others probably were, I was hoping that there actually were different game modes where I could re-live the glory of old Street Fighter 2 classics like Turbo or the original World Warrior game. Instead, I'm stuck using a very limited Ryu against a combo cheap Ken that has a super-meter! They should have done what they did with the original Street Fighter Collection that came out on the original Playstation and Sega Saturn, it gave you the choice of either playing Super Street Fighter or Super Street Fighter 2 X. This is what should have been done here instead of lumping it all into one game.
The real big plus here is that in the bonus section of the game, it includes the COMPLETE Street Fighter II Animated Movie! However, I did notice that Chun Li's shower scene was cut out XO
This game would most probably appeal to die-hard Street Fighter fans and fans of old-school 2D fighters like myself. When I first read the review for the original Street Fighter 2 game for SNES in Mean Machines magazine over a decade ago, they said this was a game that people would still be playing 10-years after it was released. Now more than a decade later, that still seems to be the case.
Ratings:
Graphics - 7
Sound - 9
Gameplay - 6
Lifespan - 6
Overall - 7

Nothing gothic about Gothika

This evening me and Trish went to the Star Cineplex to watch the Horror/Thriller flick, Gothika. This was a cool movie that really makes you think from the start why the ghost of the dead girl would posess Dr. Miranda Grey (Halle Berry) just to kill her husband, and at some points you wonder if the spirit is really trying to help her or kill her! They also use alot of simple, but effective, scare techniques (Dr.Grey turns around and the spirit is right in her face etc). Heck, the scene when Dr. Grey was trying to escape the asylum was very reminiscent to the PS2 game, Manhunt, that I was playing awhile back!
This was a really enjoyable movie, though the ending became predictable as I was able to piece everything together before the end climax. Then again, a hobby of mine also happens to be studying criminology and serial killers, so maybe it was that little bit of extra knowledge I had that spoilt it a bit for me. I highly recommend checking this movie out.

This morning I watched a MMA DVD for King of the Cage 2. I was expecting something like the UFC, but what I got was alot of quick fights. About 20 fights in 2 hours?!? The only fighters I knew in this event was Ken Shamrock, Mark Kerr and Gary Goodridge. Unfortunately, the 3 of them were only there to do guest commentary with host Don 'The Dragon' Wilson! Bas Rutten also makes an appearance as a cornerman for one of his trainees. The only actual fighter I knew that took part in a fight was John Matua, who was best remembered as the guy Tank Abbott destroyed in his UFC debut. There really isn't anything special about this DVD. Why did I buy it? It was in the bargain bin and only cost five bucks!

RAW report and a NOAH review

Two big posts this today as I've put up my usual look at WWE RAW, which really couldn't keep my attention for long due to all the yacking they were doing as they continue to build the road to WrestleMania XX. The show also produced some fuel for my 'Spoilling the Illusion' column later this week.

The second big post is my review of the NOAH 6/6/03 tape. This was an overall awesome Pay Per View quality show packed full of great action and two MUST SEE main events! It's also voted by many as one of the best overall puroresu shows of 2003, and I can't agree more!

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Today is my mom's birthday. Thing is, she already celebrated it last night with a small family gathering here in the house. Being the cheapskate I am, I only bought her a birthday card XD
Weird thing now is, today my parents were talking about getting another house. I then suggested they look for an apartment instead. Now I'm wondering if they plan on kicking me out into my own pad, or are they gonna dump me here to look after this joint?

Anyways, day turns to night, and I bring Trish out since we couldn't go anywhere during the weekend cause she was suffering from a headache due to overwork. We went to see the movie Jeepers Creepers 2. I had watched the first movie a few years back with my good buddy Sherene, and we both agreed that the first movie was too predictable.
So what did I think of the 2nd movie? More of the same. I did think it was fun that the family of one of the victims came back to hunt down the creature. The guy went psycho, and it worked to his advantage. Overall, I thought it was descent. But seriously, it's very hard to find an American made horror movie that can really scare me anymore. Maybe it's all those survival horror games I played? The only truly scary movie I saw last year was the Japanese flick, Ju-On. Now THAT was a movie that made me have a little trouble sleeping for a few nights!

Puroresu updates

Two big puroresu shows took place this weekend, first was the Osaka Pro hosted Super-J Cup: The 4th Stage this past saturday at the Osaka Castle Hall. The showed featured Jr heavyweights from every promotion in Japan and was aired live on PPV. The show however still came up a bit short as the recorded attendance for the show was 6,800 in a venue that could house 16,000 (Ouch!).

Next was All Japan Pro Wrestling's final big Nippon Budokan Show ever that was aired live on PPV just this afternoon. This show marked the end of 29 years of history as AJPW had been running shows in the Nippon Budokan since 1975. The only other show planned to be held there now by AJPW is their big Giant Baba Memorial Show next year.

Interested to work for NOAH?

Hey yo.
To find out what pissed me off this week in the pro-wrestling world, check out the latest edition of my Spoiling The Illusion column.
I've also got information on how you can stand a chance of working for Pro-Wrestling NOAH in Japan!

I've also posted a my review of the NOAH Di Colosseo 4/13/03. Good show featuring Kenta Kobashi's V1 GHC World Title defence Vs Tamon Honda.

GAME REVIEW: Castlevania: Lament of Innocence
The prelude to the whole Castlevania series and one of the best Castlevania games in a long time according to many sources. I bought this game last November but only got around to playing it last week! And would you believe it only took me a couple of days to complete it?!? From the start, the game is easy to get into.
You play as Leon Belmont, out to rescue his girlfriend who was kidnapped by the evil vampire, Walter. As the game begins, Leon runs into Rinaldo, an old man who also has a score to settle against Walter, but is now too old to battle the evil one. He instead awards his special whip made with alchemy to Leon to use to battle the evil of the night.
You than enter Walter's castle and must battle through five different chambers before you can gain access to Walter's final chamber. Each chamber takes on a different environment, a theatre, a sewer, a lab etc. Most of the rooms require lots of running around and clearing a room of enemies to unlock to next room. And some rooms require certain keys to gain access too that you have to search out for in other chambers, as well as the usual puzzles to solve to advance.
Gameplay is your standard weak attack, strong attack, jump and secondar weapon attack. You also get a magic relic attack, which works when you acquire relics. And as you defeat bosses, you gain orbs that power up your secondary weapon attack.
Playing the game, the only complaints I have are that some areas require precision jumping, but having no control over the camera can some times make this an annoying task. Another matter is all the running back and forth between chambers you are required to do just to either complete a certain chamber, or just to unlock a hidden item.
The game can be quite easy since I finished it within a week. Just about all the bosses have an all too easy to decipher attack pattern. The only bosses I truly had trouble fighting were the hidden boss, Forgotten One (You gotta see this guy to believe it!) and the final boss in the game (It's NOT Walter!). A little patience is usually all thats required to beat the bosses.
So I've finished the game. Is there any reason to replay it? Yes! There are two hidden characters you can play as. When you beat the game, it will give you the code required to unlock them. One of them is Jochim, the cool vampire boss of the Castle of Dark Waterfalls chamber. The other I have yet to unlock, but from the net, have found out he's called Pumpkin (!?). I also got a code for the Crazy Mode.
Overall, Castlevania: Lament Of Innocence is a fun, though sometimes repeatative and easy game. Highly recommended if your a fan of the Castlevania series, otherwise, rent or borrow it off someone who has it. If you play long enough, you can have it back to them by the end of the week! My official finish time was just under 11 hours!
Ratings:
Graphics - 7
Music - 8
Gameplay - 7
Lifespan - 7
Overall - 7

FINALLY!

Today I FINALLY received my NOAH tape from japantapes.com. Supposedly this is the 3rd tape the guy tried to send me as it was post marked 2/9/04. So whatever happened to the other two tapes he sent? Somewhere a lucky stiff is getting free puroresu!

Anyways, the tape covers NOAH's big 9/4/03 show main evented by Kenta Kobashi's GHC Title defence vs New Japan's Yuji Nagata, and also features Mike Modest defending the GHC Jr Title Vs Takashi Suguira, KENTA & Naomichi Marufuji VS Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Makoto Hashi for the GHC Jr Tag titles and Ron Harris defends his WLW title against Takeshi Morishima. I'll post the full match list and a show review when I get around to watching it later, so check back frequently.

I've also posted some music video reviews for you guys to check out.

A bad edition of WWE RAW

Last night seemed like an almost total dud edition of WWE RAW. WWE's continued insults to it's viewers intelligence and so forth. Check out my thoughts.
And big thanks to my buddy TenzanTeam2K for showing me how to post pics on my blogs! Dude, you rule!

I sat for my TWI Visual Welding Inspector's test today. I have all the confidence in the world that I'll pass, but I'll only know for sure when I get the results back in about a month. Now I'm free to get back to watching and reviewing my puroresu tapes! Expect a NOAH review up soon. On that note, I'll be sending out a new order for tapes soon. More puroresu love!

NEW WWE Champion Crowned!

Latino Heat Eddie Guerrero was on FIRE at No Way Out as he won a spectacular 30-minute classic with Brock Lesnar to become the new WWE Champion! Check out the full report and my thoughts on the show. My PPV predictions for No Way Out are 5-1-1 (The one draw being the last minute announced Holly/Rhyno match I didn't know about), bringing the current total record for 2004 to 10-1-2.

Also, for those of you interested to purchase puroresu tapes, I've got two 2nd generation puroresu tapes for sale. Check out the my puroresu collection page for details.

Tomorrow will be my exam for Level 1 Visual Welding Inspector course. I had to take an eye examination this afternoon cause I need to produce a valid certicate to prove I have 20/20 vision. The doc said I had a little short sightedness, but nothing serious. Wish me luck for tomorrow, kiddies.

NEW IWGP Champion Crowned!

After being pushed to the back of the line for the past few months, New Japan's Fighting Spirit 2004 tour came to a close in dramatic fashion as Hiroyoshi Tenzan began his 2nd reign as IWGP Champion. Check out my report, and credit to Strong Style Spirit for the results.

Today is also the day of WWE SmackDown's No Way Out PPV, but I wasn't around to watch the live telecast. I'll catch the replay later and put up a report by tomorrow.

So how did my Valentine's Night went? Quite simple. Had a romantic dinner at 'Dave's Deli', cause everywhere else was booked up. Then we went to watch the movie 'Anna In Kung-Fu Land'. A really fun movie I highly recommend. Very good use of special effects for the many fight scenes, and some of the jokes and gags were real funny. The perfect kind of movie to bring a date too.

St.Valentine's Day Massacre!

Well, not really. I just thought it would make a cool title. Happy Valentine's Day to everybody out there who've found true love. And if anybody is wondering, the actual St. Valetine's Day Massacre was the name given to a mob hit orchestrated by Al Capone where members of his gang dressed up like cops to ambush a rival mob gang. Needless to say it took place on St. Valentine's Day, though which year escapes me at this moment.

On to business. I finally finished watching the New Japan Complete Collection Vol.2 tape. The sixty minute draw between Nagata and Nakanishi was truly and interesting encounter, and one has to wonder what the two will do to each other now that they are enemies! Also on the tape was an excellant IWGP Jr. Title match between Kanemoto and AKIRA. Unlike the other title bout, the pace in this one was lightning quick!
The only thing that bothers me about this tape is why name it 'Complete Collection' when just about all the matches were clipped down?

Next up I'll try to watch the NOAH Di Colosseo 4/13/03 event featuring Kenta Kobashi's V1 defence of the GHC World Title against Tamon Honda. Not sure when I'll get around to it as I'll be a bit busy this coming week, since I'm resuming my TWI Welding Inspector's course on Monday and will span a few days.

So now if you'll excuse me, I gotta get going. Got a big Valentine's date tonight with my girl Trish. Hope everyone else enjoys their Valentine's Day.

Some Updates
It's Friday the 13th and hopefully no one has been struck by any form of bad luck.

Just watched the first half of the NWA:TNA hosted Super-X Tournament and it was just awesome! The downside is I'll have to wait till tomorrow to catch the finals of the tournament as well as th War Games match. I can't wait and will definately be setting my VCR for it!

I appologise for not posting up any puroresu tape reviews today as I haven't finished watching the New Japan Complete Collection Vol.2 tape yet. I'll try and watch it finish so I can post it as soon as I can. I'll be a bit busy tomorrow and the following week, so I won't have much time to watch finish my tapes yet. Which is not really a bad thing as I won't deplete my new Puroresu tape supply too soon.

Big post in the Extreme Puroresu blog, the latest edition of Spoiling the Illusion, My predictions for this weekend's WWE No Way Out PPV, an interesting method in predicting the IWGP World Title Tournament, and a short view on the possible demise of Major League Wrestling.

World Japan is average at best...

Listening to the Stone Temple Pilots greatest hits CD. It's good to mellow out every now and then.

After a long hiatus, I finally got around to playing King of Colosseum on PS2 again and completed the Trial Road with both discs combined, using Shinjiro Ohtani taking the Zero-One route. I was rewarded all the hidden goodies in the game instantly being unlocked! Now I can get on with the business of simulating matches in this awesome game.

Put up my review of the World Japan 'World Strongest Tournament'. An average but Ok show. Next up will either be New Japan Complete Collection Vol.2 or NOAH Di Colloseo 4/13/03 featuring Kenta Kobashi's V1 defense of the GHC title vs Tamon Honda.

Also put up some short thoughts on the NWA:TNA hosted America's X-Cup show and a small personal note to AJPW at the Puroresu section.

RAW and Osaka Pro

Currently listening to 'Liquid' by Mnemic, I predict big things for these guys.

Updated my thoughts on last nights edition of WWE RAW ,which was an ok show dragged down by too many non-wrestling segments as they build towards WrestleMania XX and this weekend's SmackDown brand No Way Out PPV.

Also put up my review of the Osaka Pro 'Osaka Hurricane' tape I watched yesterday. Fun overall show. Next up I'll either review the World Japan 'World's Strongest Tournament', or the New Japan 'Complete Collection' Vol.2 featuring the full 60-min IWGP title match between then-champion Yuji Nagata and challenger Manabu Nakanishi.

Live to fight another day...

After stumbling through another day of not knowing a Butt-Weld from a Butt-Crack, I decided to call it quits with my welding inspector's course. No, I did not give up entirely, I merely decided to do what's best and take the beginners course next week to save myself any further embarassment. Say what you want, but every good general knows when to call a strategic retreat.

Now that that's out of the way, check out My review of Noah Di Colosseo "Navigate For Evolution '03" in the My Puroresu Collection page. This is the event that features the incredible Misawa Vs Kobashi GHC World Title match.

Check back tomorrow for my thoughts on this weeks edition of WWE RAW (which I am watching as I type this), and I'll also put up my thoughts on the Osaka Pro "Osaka Hurricane" tape I just finished watching today. Tell you this now, it was a fun event!

What a day XP

Christ, what a way to start the week!
First day of my TWI Welding Inspector's course and I find out I had accidentally signed up for the Level 3.1 (Intermidiate Level) course when I was suppose to take the Level 3.0 (Beginner's Level) course! Wouldn't you know that ment I was the only guy that had no idea what was going on or being said. At least the class was made up of grown adults and there was no one there to jeer me or point at me and go 'Ha Ha' like Nelson from the Simpsons.
Luckilly my lecturer, Mr. Rogers (huh?), said I could just continue on, and he would help me out so I could take the Level 3.0 exam instead of the 3.1. So next time I wouldn't have to take this course again and go straight for the 3.1 exam once I meet the experiance requirement. Cool. The homework assignment still gave me a big headache though.

The only real good news today was that I managed to get my Osaka Pro and NOAH tape fixed. Sent them to the video store and they changed the smashed tape casings for new ones. Only cost me six bucks too! Like I mentioned the other day, I'll put up a tape and match listing soon. I'll say this though, The Misawa/Kobashi GHC Title match truly was outstanding and much deserving of its Match Of The Year award!

I also want to congratulate Evanescence on winning two Grammy Awards today for Best New Artist and Best Hard Rock Performance (Bring Me Back To Life). Eventhough I'm not a big Metallica fan, congrats to them for winning Best Metal Performance (St. Anger). The White Stripes also won two awards, for Best Rock Song (Seven Nation Army) and Best Alternative Music Album (Elephant), the Foo Fighters won for Best Rock Album (One By One) and 'Weird' Al Yankovic won for Best Comedy Album (Poodle Hat).

Puroresu time again! But...

The good news today is that I've finally received some new Japanese Puroresu tapes to watch! Eight tapes total, covering seven events (one is a two-tape set) from Pro Wrestling NOAH (3 Events), New Japan (2 Events), World Japan and Osaka Pro. However, upon receiving the tapes and opening up the packaging, I found that one of the NOAH tapes and the Osaka Pro tape casings were crushed! And when I brought them home to try and play 'em, they wouldn't even fit in the VCR slot! So now I'm trying to see about getting replacements from the site that I originally ordered the tapes from. I'll post the tape and match list for each show on the My Puroresu Collection page soon.

Also in the Puroresu section, after some delay, I've finally put up this week's edition of 'Spoilling The Illusion" as well as some other news bits from the past week. Check it out and let me know what you guys think.

Some updates and GAMERA 3!

Hey yo everyone.
I've added a tape review to the Puroresu Tapes page since I don't update that page much, All Japan's New Year's Giant Series '99. The first full Japanese Puroresu tape I ever bought and watched.
Also added a short rant in the Extreme Metal section about Revolver magazine's picks for top 20 albums of 2003.

Movie Review: GAMERA III (or Gamera 1999)

Still high on Japanese giant monster movies after watching Godzilla the other day, I decided to finally watch the Gamera III VCD I had sitting around. The movie came out in 1999, I bought it sometime last year and only now have opened the wrapping paper it came in and watched it!

Having no sense of Gamera's history, It was a bit hard to watch this movie as it was an immediate continuation of the previous two movies. We don't even see Gamera till about 25minutes into the movie! For what I can tell, there was this girl named Ayana who blames Gamera for killing her parents in a battle four years earlier. Since then she has found and cared for a giant egg she found in a cave, hoping whatever comes out of it will help her gain her revenge on our giant turtle hero.
What hatches out is a giant squid in a turtle shell. The Japanese really have a thing for girls and weird monsters with lots of tentacles...
When we finally do see Gamera, he's in the middle of a mid-air battle with two giant dragon-like monsters, from the previous films. Gamera defeats the monsters but at the same time does alot of damage to the city, which raises the question, is he REALLY the defender of mankind?
He almost stepped on a kid, but stopped to take a shot at one of the flying dragons. The kid than says Gamera saved him! Weird.
As you can probably guess, Ayana's pet squid, now named Iris, goes out of control and it's up to Gamera to stop her/it. There is ALOT of dialogue in this movie and at times I felt like forwarding to the parts that involve the monsters. But the special effects were REALLY good! Even better dare I say than the latest Godzilla installment. Gamera also showed he had some brains when battling Iris in the end.
Overall, if you can get past the slow pace of most of the human involved scenes, Gamera III is a pretty fun ride.
I Rate It: 2/5

RAW rambling and a mullet sighting

Currently watching Godzilla X Mega-Godzilla 2003. I'll put up a review later when I'm done.

I've posted my thoughts on this weeks edition of RAW. An ok show which continues to build toward WrestleManiaXX.

Went to the barber yesterday for my first haircut in five months. Had to spruce myself up a bit since I'll be attending a training course soon which wields good paying employment opportunities. I'm still hesitant about shaving off my goatee though. Wouldn't you believe while I was waiting my turn, the guy before me gets himself a mullet?!? Who says we ain't got no white thrash 'round these here parts?

I've also just started playing the excellent PC version of Halo. Which is a breath of fresh air to my PC gaming since most of the other PC games I've bought recently can't work. This is because my PC isn't strong enough to handle most of the new games that come out, like Call Of Duty (which I was really looking forward too) and Armed And Dangerous.

UPDATE!
Watched finish Godzilla VS Mega-Godzilla already. Fun movie that once again sees the giant monster rain terror on Japan.

Movie starts in 1999 and Akane Yashiro and her laser tank team are trying to stop Godzilla's rampage. It ends in grief as the whole team is killed except Akane. Fast forward 4 years and Japan has come up with yet another plan to stop the rampaging giant. They decide to create a mechanized Godzilla over the bone structure of the original Godzilla!
The new Mecha-Godzilla is named Kiryu (don't know why) and Akane is part of the new team controlling him. And wouldn't you know when he battles Godzilla, Godzilla no-sells his attacks and suddenly the DNA in Kiryu's bone-structure would have flashback memories? Kiryu almost goes heel for awhile.
The special effects in the movie were quite good, though some scenes you could obviously tell were digital or blue screened. But I still enjoyed the monster battle scenes between the two behemoths. You could see a bit of Sumo influence...
Ending was a bit weird though. But I won't spoil if for you guys.
I recommend checking it out if your a fan of Godzilla or giant monster movies (no, you don't have to be a kid).
I rate it a 3/5.

Puroresu News Update

Put up a big news and thoughts update on the current goings-on in Japanese puroresu. Check it out and let me know what you guys think.

Switched on TPI Digital last night (Satelite TV channel) to watch K-1, but low and behold, they replaced it with the Ultimate Fighting Championship! My first look at the new modern era UFC and was quite impressed with the 2 fights they aired from UFC XXXVII (Ain't that a mouthfull?). Can't remember the fighther's names, but the fights were good as they incorporated more stand-up striking as oppose to the take downs and submissions. Josh Barnett was also in the corner of one of the fighters.

Monday was a public holiday, but for me it was just another boring day. Last minute I decided to switch on the SuperBowl and caught the last NINE SECONDS of the game which was stretched about 10 minutes due to time outs. It was a draw game at that moment, then the New England Patriots won with a last second 40-yard field goal to win the game. It was said to be the greatest SuperBowl game ever. And Janet Jackson flashed a boob during the half-time show...

I'll be back tomorrow with my RAW thoughts so check back then.

CD Reviews

First update for the month of February and I put up 3 CD reviews in the Extreme Metal section for Downthesun, Dope and DevilDriver.
Check it out and let me know what you think.

Currently experimenting with putting up links as I plan on adding a links page soon.