This is it . . . the final Bill 69 entry of all time! It has been nearly 12 years since we started this quest (December of 2012) and of course we had no idea at all it would take this long, but with various life events along the way and all of the other things that tend to come up, it has indeed taken well over a decade. Which just makes it all the sweeter! So what did the Pie Man and I do for this last trio of games . . . well, we saved three absolute beauties for the finale is what we did! First on the docket is . . .

Bionic Commando!! This title was released by Capcom in 1988 for the NES, and was based on a Japanese arcade game that was published the year prior. The story of the game takes place in the late 1980's, in a fictional timeline where there are two different factions duking it out. The Federation (the good guys) are continually repelling the advances of the Empire (the bad guys, basically a version of the Nazis), and we have reached the ultimate showdown between these groups! You take control of a Federation operative named Ladd, who has been tasked with two objectives. A fellow operative, the best of the best named Super Joe, has gone behind enemy lines but has not been heard from since. You are to follow in his footsteps and track Super Joe down, along the way gaining intel on the Empire's latest scheme to take over the world, a mysterious project dubbed the "Albatros". Can you brave the expansive territory of the Empire all alone, rescue Super Joe, and bring the Empire to it's knees by destroying their latest doomsday project as well as the Empire's leader, Generalissimo Killt? I'll be impressed if you do!!

There are 19 total stages in Bionic Commando, which can be viewed via an overhead map you traverse by helicopter in order to reach each area. Twelve of these stages are story based levels that showcase the main action of the game and push the plot forward. The other seven stages are quick stops at enemy depots in order to supply Ladd with certain items or weapons, and these stages always take on the same format that contain two different rooms to visit while avoiding slight resistance. The stages in Bionic Commando don't need to be visited in order, you can choose to play any stage at any time, but some may not be available until you have met certain requirements first, but more on that later. During gameplay the enemies you'll face are mostly various types of soldiers from the Empire, just armed with different weapons and tech. You will also run in to various types of automated death dealers, like turrets and such. There are plenty of items to watch out for during your journey, the most common are these bullets that remain regularly after you defeat your enemies. By collecting enough of them you will increase your life gauge dramatically. You will also encounter communicator devices (four different types), a 1-UP icon of Ladd (gives you an extra life), a POW item (a protective shield will surround you for a short time), a bulletproof vest (repels a certain percentage of enemy bullets), a charm (repels just one enemy bullet), a helmet (repels three enemy bullets), a rapid fire device for Ladd's default gun, a medicine vial (replenishes your entire health gauge), iron boots (you can kick your enemies), a permit (used to access a certain area), and various types of alternative weapons (rocket launcher, 3-way, bazooka, etc.). In the story based stages it is key that you also look out for the communication sheds that are tucked away in each area. There are two things you can do at the computer terminals that are contained in said sheds. You can communicate with your allies and receive valuable intel and instruction, plus you can also wire tap and eavesdrop on your enemies, gaining even more valuable intel! You must access these computer terminals in order to unlock the boss fight that takes place at the end of each stage (which consist of various soldiers and then destroying the computer system contained in the boss chamber). However, you must have the proper communicator device equipped in order to access the computer terminal in any given stage. If you have the wrong one equipped it won't work and you'll have to restart the stage and come back with another! This is just one of the few reasons that prevent you from visiting certain stages before you are properly equipped, and it can also happen if you don't have the right weapon in your posession. As for Ladd, he has two devices at his disposal that take care of all the action against the Empire. He is equipped with a gun he uses to shoot his enemies (which as stated above can be changed/upgraded), and he also has a grappling hook that Ladd uses to swing from walls, ceilings and other objects. If you can master the grappling hook, but more importantly map out the correct path and obtain the correct items along the way to help you blaze said path, you may just have what it takes to rescue your hero and destroy both the Albatros and Generalissimo Killt!!

We were so happy to beat Bionic Commando, as it is a game we played a ton when we were young, but back then we just had no clue really as to the exact process on how to complete it. So this victory is very exciting simply because it was such a long time in coming! On top of that Bionic Commando is simply an excellent game. Of course being made by Capcom you knew it was going to have all the Capcom staples. A great story, amazing graphics and sound, near perfect gameplay, and some very unique and visionary characteristics. For example, this is one of the very few platforming games in which your character cannot jump! Ludicrous, right? Ladd's grappling hook is his primary means of navigating his environment, and it definitely takes an adjustment to get used to that scenario. Also unique is the "open world" aspect of the game, how you can bypass areas and not necessarily do the stages in order, as well as needing to visit the communication sheds in order to advance in each stage. Overall this game is just so unique and distinctive, and so much fun to play. An absolute classic for the first of our final three!!

The penultimate entry in our longstanding Bill 69 journey is an absolute doozy . . .

The esteemed Battletoads!! Released in 1991 on the NES by Tradewest, the same company that brought us the original Double Dragon port on the NES, Battletoads is a highly recognizable game that is held in the highest regard by most fans of the era and the genre. The story focuses on a trio of humanoid mutant toad warriors dubbed the Battletoads, consisting of Rash, Zitz and Pimple. These three, along with Professor T. Bird and Princess Angelica, are in the midst of traveling to meet up with Angelica's father. However, during their space flight on their ship, the Vulture, Pimple and Angelica decide to take a side trip in Pimple's personal spacecraft, proceeding to get themselves kidnapped by the Dark Queen. Since a recent defeat she has suffered on her mission of galactic conquest, the queen has been lying in wait for the right time to strike, and she has decided to take her rage out on the Battletoads! Your mission is to take Rash and Zitz in to action and fight your way towards the Dark Queen, bring her to her knees, in the process rescuing both your brother Pimple and Princess Angelica . . .

Battletoads is comprised of a total of 12 levels, and although the game presents itself as a side-scrolling beat 'em up . . . that is far, far from the truth!! There are a few levels that are side scrollers including levels one (rocky canyons), four (arctic themed) and seven (fire/lava themed, which ends as a vehicle level, seeing you pilot a small jet). Level two sees you make a deep descent down a cavern on your grappling cables, using the walls to spring off of and engineer special attacks on your enemies. A couple levels (levels three five) witness your toads mount either a hoverbike or a jet ski type of vehicle, and navigate a fast moving course full of many tough jumps and fast approaching environmental objects that you need to avoid crashing in to. One level (level six) sees you move up and down through the environment by jumping and climbing amongst these massive snakes that enter and exit the screen via holes in the walls. Level eight is a long climb up an elevator shaft, navigating all sorts of traps and mechanical enemies. Another level (level ten) sees you descend through long caverns with all sorts of platforms, rushing to beat your enemy to the bottom of each section in order to prevent him from detonating the TNT that lies at the bottom. Yet another level (level nine) combines a whole bunch of different gameplay aspects as you must race through a maze as an enemy orb chases you thorough tunnels that are sometimes filled with water, then you must descend through trap filled areas using these little personal flyer devices, finishing the level by swimming your way through some trap filled underwater areas. Level eleven is an absolute beast, seeing you have to pilot this weird, wheeled contraption through an extensively twisting track as an evil orb chases you the whole way and is just that little bit faster than you. The twelfth and final level is another beast, seeing you have to climb the Dark Queen's tower headquarters, which is absolutely massive, and it throws tons of traps, enemies, and instances where perfect timing is needed in order to reach the top. Manage to make it this far and you'll square off against the game's antagonist in the final fight! There are some bosses along the way, but most levels do not end with a boss fight. The enemies you'll face in the game feature a lot of mutant animal enemies, some regular animals, as well as many types of mechanical contraptions. If you can master these levels and the varied types of challenges they throw at you, you will accomplish something so many others cannot claim, and that is having beaten one of the most difficult games in the history of games!

Battletoads is a bit of an anomaly in a certain sort of way, and let me explain just what I mean by that. First of all, everything about this game is 99% amazing! The look, the sound, the colour, the gameplay, the fun factor . . . all top drawer!! Mix in the fact that they built in so much variety and so many unique and interesting gameplay aspects to the levels, and it only makes the game that much better. The one downside to the game, and it is a big one, is the extreme level of difficulty behind it. This is easily one of the hardest games we've every played, and considered widely as one of the most difficult games of all time. The first level is pretty easy, but after that it escalates in a hurry and continues to do so as the game evolves. The sheer length of some of the levels, and how far back you respawn after you die is very trying. The quick reactions needed, especially on the vehicle levels, presents a big challenge. Very tight timing is needed in some sequences, especially when you have disappearing and reappearing series of platforms and the like. It's easier on single player, but with two players the timing and needing to do things in harmony with each other just multiplies the difficulty even more! Oh, and also, when you initiate attacks you need to be careful because you can cause damage to each other when playing a two player game. Without a save function on Sieve's machine we never, EVER would have completed this game, it is that hard. To beat it back in the day on a cartridge with no save points, and just three continues to be had, you would have had to be a friggin' wizard. But despite these difficulties Battletoads is and forever will be considered as one of the best games of it's era, no question!

The moment has finally arrived, the final entry in our gruelingly beautiful Bill 69 quest is here . . . a quest that took us about 12 years to complete, give or take!! And boy did we save a monster for our last conquest, the game in question being . . .

Gauntlet!!! This title was originally released as a four player arcade cabinet by Atari in 1985, and is one of the earliest examples of the dungeon crawler style of game. Fun fact, we originally discovered Gauntlet as an arcade game on a ferry ride to Prince Edward Island back when we were around 11 years old, give or take (myself, Simon who I am on this Bill 69 quest with, and his older brother Josh). So when Tengen released a port of Gauntlet for the NES in 1988, naturally we were all in! The story behind Gauntlet is that an evil demon sorcerer type named Morak has poisoned the lands of Rendar with his dubious machinations and is attempting to take over the realm. To aid his plan Morak has stashed the Sacred Orb deep in a gauntlet filled with traps, all of his henchman, not to mention all of his various treasures. Your task is to enter said gauntlet (either solo or with a friend) and hack and slash your way through it's multitude of levels, eventually defeating the three headed dragon and liberating the Sacred Orb, ultimately freeing Rendar of this scourge. Are you up to the challenge? Careful what you answer!!

Gauntlet is a huge game, consisting of 100 total levels across five different worlds including The Castle, The Dark Forest, The Lost Caverns, The Unseen and Volcana. The NES version of the game does not allow you to compete with four players, just two, but you have a choice between four different characters to play with. These characters include the warrior, valkyrie, wizard and elf. Each of these characters have different ratings amongst various categories which include health, health gain, armour, hit power, magic and speed. As you are out amongst the levels of the game there are many items to watch out for, and they include a couple of different food items that contribute to replenishing your health. Potion vials can be stockpiled and used to unleash magic on your enemies. Keys are important to stockpile as there are many locked doors and chests that need opening amongst your wanderings. There are a number of more rare items that provide your character with temporary abilities including invisibility, repulsiveness, invulnerability, reflective shots, and super shots (for your respective weapon). One of the most important types of items to obtain though are the permanent upgrade items. These grant you permanent boosts to your armour, hit power, magic and speed. Lastly, there is lots of treasure scattered throughout the game levels, and by obtaining certain amounts of treasure you will upgrade the total capacity of your health meter, which is a huge aspect of this game. Speaking of treasure, there are also handfuls of treasure rooms spread throughout each world, showing up every 3-5 levels or so. These are important because if you find the exit in these treasure rooms within the time limit, your health meter will be totally restored as you head in to the next level. The only other type of special room to mention are the clue rooms, which show up once or twice per world. You need to visit these rooms and obtain the clues, because if you don't have the information they contain when you reach the final level, Morak won't let you in to square off against the dragon and end the game! Lastly, let's talk about the dangers this game throws at you. There are many types of enemies that will be gunning for you including ogres, orcs, ghosts, sorcerers, balrogs, amongst many others. There are also traps to be wary of like stun tiles that freeze you for a time, magic tiles that open up secret areas (and potentially release unseen enemies), destructible walls, movable walls, as well as teleportation portals. If you can hold your shit together, navigate these immense amounts of perils, collect all the clues and upgrade your character as much as possible, you may have a shot . . . mind you just a shot . . . at completing this relentless masterpiece!

How do I sum this game up? Well, on one hand it's an absolute masterpiece. An OG dungeon crawler featuring a top down view (one of our fave game styles), you can compete with two players, the soundtrack is sick, it has so many original gameplay elements and themes, it's just a complete package in all aspects. On the other hand . . . this game is relentlessly, freakishly, pull out your hair level of difficult! Why do I say this? Well, there are many reasons. The relentless amount of enemies. The fact that your health meter is always counting down like a timer is a savage move, and it only depletes faster when you start getting clobbered by enemies. The fact that the treasure rooms are timed so if you don't find the exit in time you are left with depleted health going forward. The fact that if you don't hit the clue rooms before reaching the end of the game you will have to restart what is definitely not a short game in the least. The mazelike quality of the levels with multiples exits, exits that potentially even send you backwards to rooms you've already completed. And the list goes on and on. But what does it all add up to? A game that felt hella good to complete after multiple restarts, a game that we were never ever getting close to completing back when we were kids . . . what a way to end Bill 69!!! This is an outstanding game, but I warn anyone wanting to attempt to beat it . . . be prepared for a debacle to say the least.

This is almost it, our second last trio of games . . . and it began with none other than . . .

Bayou Billy!! Released by Konami in 1989 for the NES, Bayou Billy was a highly touted and widely recognized game for many of those from our generation. The story behind this game focuses on our hero, Billy West, also known as Bayou Billy. He has a checkered past, former military man turned mercenary, who hails from New Orleans. One of the people Billy has crossed paths with in his previous adventures is a local crime boss named Gordon. In retaliation for Billy's meddling in Gordon's dubious affairs, the crime boss kidnaps Billy's girlfriend Annabelle in an attempt to lure Billy in to one final, fateful encounter . . .

This game consists of nine total stages, but the unique thing is that for an earlier game in the NES library, it features varied gameplay that instantly set Bayou Billy apart from other games. This varied gameplay I mention is the fact that there are three different types of play styles going on. Most of the stages are typcial, side scrolling beat 'em up stages. But it also features stages where you use a targeting reticle on the screen to point and shoot at your enemies, and these stages can be played either with the regular controller or with the NES zapper gun (think Operation Wolf). And then there are also some racing style stages where you need to pilot a jeep style vehicle through various hazards to reach your end destination. The stages in question are: the swamp (side-scroller), the swamp (shooter), the swamp (side-scroller), the swamp (racer), the highway (racer), Bourbon Street (side-scroller), Bourbon Street (shooter), Gordon's base (side-scroller) and Gordon's base (side-scroller). Some of the side-scroller stages feature a boss fight at the end, as do both of the shooter stages, but for the racing stages you just need to reach your end destination intact. The enemies you'll find in the game include various types of goons that Gordon sends after you, many of which carry different types of weapons. There are also animals like dogs that you'll have to put up with. In the racer stages you simply must avoid the other vehicles on the road, as well as the helicopters that are trying to drop bombs on you. There are lots of items to look out for during your journey. In the side-scrolling stages there are many types of weapons you can use against your enemies, which are typically obtained from your enemies after you initiate a successful attack. Said weapons include a whip, pistol, wooden board, knife, and maybe some others I'm forgetting about. You can also obtain an armoured vest from your enemies, which will help you sustain less damage during combat. Food pickups are key, as they help restore your health, and this food pickup takes the form of a cooked turkey. There are no pickups to be had in the racing stages, but for the shooting stages there are a few to watch out for. The little icon of a man is a free life. A bullet gives your ammo count a boost. An armoured vest gives you temporary invulnerability. And a medpac gives a boost to your health gauge. If you can navigate these dangerous environments and destroy all of Gordon's minions along the way, you'll earn yourself a final boss fight against Gordon and his two stooge bodyguards in an attempt to at long last free your lovely Annabelle from imprisonment!

Titles released by the most classic game developers have a distinct look, feel and sound to them and are almost instantly recognizable as coming from said developer. Capcom comes to mind as maybe the most recoginzable of these, but not far behind them comes Konami. And Bayou Billy is definitely a Konami game, which is a huge plus, absolutely fantastic! The varied gameplay is another huge feature, as is the likeability of the characters and the story in general. The most distinct feature of this game though, whether you consider it a pro or a con, is the insane difficulty level it features. This game is so hard it drives you absolutely up the wall! But on the flip side, it also makes it that much the sweeter when you finally defeat it . . .

The middle completion of this trifecta is a game I was personally unfamiliar with, but Sieve enjoyed quite a bit back in the day . . .

Super Turrican!!! This title was released for the Super Nintendo back in 1993 (great year!), by Factor 5 (never heard of 'em). Despite not being familiar with Factor 5, they developed one hell of a game! The Turrican series is a somewhat extensive affair, with Super Turrican being the fifth game in the series. The story behind it is that you are a soldier in the United Planets Freedom Forces, tasked with taking on a malevolent being known as "The Machine", who has set up shop in the orbit of planet Katakis and is causing all sorts of mayhem. Your job is to don a powerful armoured "Turrican" suit and take the fight to the forces of this Machine, ridding Katakis of this menace and in the process restoring peace . . .

There are four stages (planet surface, factory, frozen tundra and alien hive) that comprise Super Turrican, each stage being divided up in to three areas. This game is a side-scrolling run and gun affair, with some of the areas encompassing the theme of having to climb or descend large areas as opposed to going just from side to side. There is also a very maze like quality to many of the areas. The enemies you encounter early in the game are mostly robotic types, some of them being anthropomorphic while others take on the form of insects and animals. Later the in the game the creatures become more organic including animals, mutants and eventually aliens! And of course there are large bosses at the end of these stages, again the earlier ones being more robotic in nature, while later in the game they become more organic. Throughout your adventure there are many items to look out for. Glowing orange tokens increase your score, while heart icons refill your health gauge should it be depleted. There are three different coloured orbs that are pretty prevalent thrughout the game, which are your weapon pickups. The red orb gives you a spreader gun, the blue orb provides a laser type weapon, while the yellow orb equips you with a fire blast weapon that bounces off walls. The pickup that looks like a blue wave contributes to your special weapon, which is a double wave of energy that moves across the screen and takes out all enemies. There is a yellow pickup that I'm not really sure what it's supposed to look like, but it provides you with a temporary shield that repels all damage. And finally a miniature icon of your character gifts you a free life should you pick it up. If you can master your suit as well as your usage of all these pickups, you may just be able to run, jump, duck and blast your way across the planet of Katakis and save it's inhabitants from this alien threat!

Super Turrican is a very fun game, probably underrated since I never really heard much about it and I am a huge fan of this genre of game, and always have been. This title looks amazing graphically, it plays well, and it's a side-scrolling platformer which again I am a huge fan of. It's a bit like the Contra games in some ways, including the different types of weapon pickups you can obtain, as well as the fact that you can just hold the shoot button down and rapid fire your enemies to death! And adding even more awesomeness to the mix, the last levels in the alien hive look like they came right out of the Aliens movie! Face huggers, a queen, it's got it all! Most of our Bill 69 game choices I know what to expect, but this was one of the rare titles where I went in blind, and I was all the richer afterwards for having experienced an awesome retro classic for the first time!

The third and final game of this penultimate hat trick of Bill 69 games is something a little different, and it is . . .Double Dragon 4!!

The thing that makes this game different isn't the fact that it is a Double Dragon game, far from it, we've already got at least a couple Double Dragon titles in our completion list. What makes this game different is that it was developed and released by Arc System Works . . . in 2017! So it's not a retro game in terms of the year it was released, but it was designed and presented in a retro style, fitting right in with the other games in the series. In terms of canon, it picks up after Double Dragon 2. Billy and Jimmy Lee have recently defeated the Black Warriors and are spreading their martial arts philosophy, Sosetsuken, across the country. While traveling during this journey they are attacked by a pursuing vehicle. As events transpire they learn their attackers are a gang called the Renegades, led by a couple of fiends known as the Okada sisters . . . and of course they have taken Billy's girlfriend Marian hostage! Why mess with tradition? It's up to you (and a friend if you have one) to take control of the Lee brothers and bring the battle to this new gang, tracking down the Okada sisters and ending this threat before it can get rolling . . .

Double Dragon 4 consists of 12 total stages and as with the other games in the series it is a side-scrolling beat 'em up of epic quality. The first stage begins in the San Francisco area and the story eventually ends in Japan, as the Lee brothers are finally able to track down the Okada sisters. The enemies you face are all members of both the Black Warriors and the Renegades gangs, who have teamed up for this latest assault on the Lee brothers, so many of them are quite familiar. Abobo, Chin, Will, Rowper, Linda, among others, and then of course some new faces from the Renegades. Not every level ends with a boss fight, but there are some you must face along the way, and of course it all ends with a double boss finale when you have to face the Okadas. There aren't really any items to look out for during your journey, nothing to replenish your health or anything like that. But there are some things to watch out for, and those are weapons. As with the other Double Dragon titles there are tons of different weapons to utilize that will help you dispatch your enemies a little quicker than your usual attacks. Baseball bats, explosives, crates, rocks, tires . . . that deadly cardboard box, among others. Double Dragon 4 ups the ante with the Lee brothers' moves, of course they have their usual punch, kick, and jump kick attacks, but they also have a few special moves that you can use whenever you want that really helps flesh out your arsenal and make the action extra fun. If you can master your use of Sosetsuken and take advantage of all those weapons, you may have what it takes to track down the Okadas, save your woman, and dispatch yet another gang of ne'er do wells that are for some reason out for you asses!

I downloaded this game on my Nintendo Switch a while back and had no idea it was a newer game, I thought it was legit a game from the early 90's or something that I for some reason just missed along the way! The best part about Double Dragon 4 is just how much they nailed it. It looks, feels, sounds and plays just like a Double Dragon title from back in the day on the NES. And to boot they added a couple of different modes you can play outside of the game's main story. There is a two player duel mode where you go one on one using many different characters from the game (a great many of which you unlock by playing through the story mode), as well as a tower challenge mode, which is basically like a survival mode. So not only did they develop for us a great retro experience amongst one of the best gaming franchises of all time, but they added in a bunch of extras making the game even deeper. In my mind, this game is a can't miss download . . . go do it right now!

The first game of our latest trio is a massive, epic completion 30 years in the making . . .

Jurassic Park!!! Now, you may or may not remember that we have already completed a Jurassic Park game during our Bill 69 adventures, but that was for the Sega Genesis. The game in question this time around was released in 1993 for the Super Nintendo, by Ocean. And let me tell you this game is a much different, way more difficult ball of wax than it's counterpart on the Genesis is! The two games do follow the same premise though. Taking control of paleontologist Alan Grant you are tasked with escaping your woe begotten tour of Jurassic Park after everything goes all to hell . . .

Now, this game is much different than the Genesis edition, which is a side-scrolling level based game. The SNES version of Jurassic Park is a top down adventure with the entire park laid out on one large map. You traipse around the jungle island, falling prey to all sorts of dinosaurs like Procompsognathus, Dilophosaurus, Velociraptor, Pachycephalosaurus, Triceratops and yes, of course . . . Tyrannosaurus Rex! However, when you encounter one of the buildings scattered around Jurassic Park you can enter these structures, where the scene then shifts to a first person shooter mode reminiscent of the original Doom. There are seven locations you can visit (and revisit . . . so much revisiting!) including the Visitor's Center, Nublar Utility Shed, Beach Utility Shed, North Utility Shed, Raptor Pen, Ship (docked in the harbour) and the Raptor Nest. Like I said your objective is to escape the island, but in order to do so you must complete a long series of tasks like turning the generator back on, using computer consoles to reestablish control of the park in numerous types of ways, exterminating the raptor's nest, and eventually escaping by helicopter at the heli-pad. There are a few types of items you can pick up along the way, both out amidst the park and inside the various buildings. These items include various types of ammunition for your dinosaur repelling weapons (shotgun shells, smoke grenades, snare rifle rounds, rockets, etc.), medkits and food items to replenish your health gauge to varying degrees, rogue dinosaur eggs you need to entirely collect in order to complete the game (these are only found out amongst the park, not in the buildings), dropped ID cards from various park denizens that allow you in to certain locked areas, and also night vision goggles in each building that will allow you to access darkened rooms. If you can perform all of the steps necessary, collect all required items, eliminate the raptor nest and more, then you have a good chance of escaping this game with your virtual life!

This game is unbelievably fun to play! I've never owned many titles developed by Ocean, but the small selection I have played I've found to be consistently good. Jurassic Park looks fantastic (classic Super Nintendo graphics) and plays just as well. However, the only downside is just how poorly developed it is in guiding the player through all of the various steps you need to complete in order to beat the game. You are given very infrequent and extremely vague hints throughout the game by the other main characters from the original Jurassic Park story, but for how useful these hints are they may as well just have left them out of the game entirely. To complete Jurassic Park you need to cross steps off of a very long and grueling list, and they must be done in one certain order. The only reason we were able to get the job done is because we looked all of these steps up online, and even with that knowledge it took us many attempts to finally put the whole process together and finally climb aboard that wonderful helicopter! Looking back to when we were kids I remember having so much fun playing this game, but I bet we never even got 1% of the game completed. If you love Super Nintendo and/or Jurassic Park I really recommend trying this game, but take my advice and look up the steps online, use maps, etc., because you'll drive yourself crazy otherwise . . .

The second game of this outstanding triple play is another tough one, a little title known as . . .

True Lies!!! Based on the movie of the same name, starring the great Arnold Schwarzenegger, this game was released for the Super Nintendo in 1995 by LJN, although it was available on other platforms as well. The story keeps pretty consistent with the movie, in that you play as a secret U.S. government agent named Harry Tasker, who is known to his family simply as a computer salesman. However, in actuality he is much more of course, and Harry's latest mission pits him against a terrorist group known as the Crimson Jihad. They are threatening to detonate stolen nuclear warheads on the U.S., unless their demands are met. Taking control of Harry you are then tasked with tracking down their leader, a douche named Salim, and taking him out. Do you have what it takes to destroy these terrorists and save your nation?!

True Lies consists of nine total stages and the environments are pretty consistent with the events from the film, at least from what I remember (I'm due for a rewatch!). The game starts at a chateau (which includes the downhill skiing scene), then moves to a shopping mall, a park, a subway system, some docks, a city in China, a refinery, a vehicle level where you fly a jet, and then finally an office building that eventually leads to the final confrontation aboard a harrier jet. Harry's moves are pretty simple. He cannot jump at all, but he can do a forwards diving roll. Other than that his main action is to shoot his weapons, which you can also lock in with a strafe when the situation calls for it. The enemies you'll face in the game are all human, just various types of goons and thugs employed by the Crimson Jihad. The complication is that in some of the levels there are also civilians around, and if you accidentally shoot too many of them you lose a life and have to start over. As for items, there are a number of pickups to watch out for, most of them related to your weaponry. Harry comes equipped with a pistol that never runs out of ammo but there are other weapons you can find, and then subsequently once you've gained these additional weapons you can then look out for their ammo pickups. These additional weapons include a shotgun, an uzi, a flamethrower, grenades and land mines. If you can master Harry's moves, put all of these weapons to good use, and exercise good judgement in your trail of carnage, you may just be able to lead Harry to success and save the day!

I can't speak for the other versions, but the Super Nintendo edition of True Lies is an absolute pleasure to play! Sieve had this game when we were kids and we always loved playing it, but I think we never really made it that far, or at least as far as we thought we did when we were young and stupid. And do you know why? Because this game is pretty damn hard!! But that's about the only "downside" to it, as otherwise it is pretty close to being a masterpiece. In our experience we haven't had much luck with games developed by LJN, but this is a scenario where they got it right and produced an excellent gaming experience. Sieve and I both really love the True Lies movie and so it follows that we would love a game based on said movie, providing it isn't a piece of shit. And boy this title delivers! The gameplay is great, it controls well, captures the fun of the movie, and best of all it is a top-down view run and gun shooter. Sieve and I both love top-down games!!

The final game of this trio is one we were aware of as kids but for some reason never got around to playing, which may have been a good thing at the time . . . and it is . . .

Batman!! This title was released for the NES by Sunsoft in 1989 and was based on the movie of the same name, although rather loosely, and was released that very same year. I do own the version of this game for the GameBoy, and I played it relentlessly as a kid. Anyways, Gotham City is preparing for it's 200^th anniversary celebration and the city is excited in planning said celebration, although a pall has fallen over the occasion. And that pall is . . . the Joker!! The maniacal clown has enacted a plan to take Gotham over and rule it's inhabitants, and the only person who can possibly stop him is our hero . . . the Batman! Are you up to the challenge of donning the suit of the caped crusader, facing down this madman and his legion of minions, and saving Gotham in the process?

This game unravels over a total of five stages but don't let that small number fool you, it is quite a trek to complete this journey! These stages include the streets of Gotham, Axis Chemical Factory, the sewers, an abandoned lab, and of course the infamous cathedral/clock tower. As you traipse through these environs the enemies you'll face include a random assortment of Joker's goons, as well as some contraptions of a more robotic nature. In order to defeat them Batman has a couple different methods. First he can use straight up fists and punch the bejesus out of his enemies. Or, you can switch to one of three different types of weapons Batman carries. He is armed with the batarang, a missile launcher, and some weird type of energy weapon that splits in to three shots. As for item pickups, there are three to be had. The first is a B icon, which when obtained gifts you with bonus points . . . although I'm not sure if points in this game are useful or not. The second item is an ammo pickup and all three of your weapons share the same ammo, so it is a universal ammo pickup. The last item is a heart icon, which refills one section of Batman's health meter. At the end of each stage you'll have to do battle with a boss, the bosses in the game are Killer Moth, a room filled with a machine that blasts you with turrets and what not, a guy that slashes at you with electricity attacks, and another room, this one containing a couple of strange containers that shoot at you as they rotate through the area. In the last stage there are two bosses, first what looks to be a fire shooting man bat, followed by . . . why The Joker, of course! If you can master the moves of everybody's favourite crime fighting vigilante you may just have what it takes to oust the Joker, save Gotham, and beat this game . . .

Batman is an absolute masterpiece for the NES, a wonder to behold! I didn't own many Sunsoft games but the ones I did were excellent, take Blaster Master for example, arguably my favourite video game of all time! The look and sound of this game are both amazing. The controls are different, a little stiff let's say, but once you get used to them the problem disappears. My favourite part of the game though is just how they capture the mood of those late 80's/early 90's Batman movies. Lots of darkness, moody, with splashes of vibrant colours here and there, they really did a good job of making it feel like you are within the Batman universe. Also, this may have been one of the earliest games to use such a feature, but Batman features a wall jump function that helps Batman stay out of trouble. Very groundbreaking! The only downside to this game is that it is super hard, especially the last couple stages and those final two bosses . . . so frustrating! This is what I was hinting at when I said maybe it was a good thing we didn't own this game as kids, because it would have destroyed us. Either way though it's a masterpiece of a game, one we're definitely proud to have added to our list!

The first game of this latest triple play of completions is one that was new to us . . .

Knights of the Round! This title was released for the Super Nintendo back in 1991, by . . . wait for it . . . Capcom!! We had never heard of it, but when Sieve was looking at various lists of top retro games it consistently showed up. And so we thought to give it a try, which ended up being a great decision. We personally describe the game as Super Nintendo's answer to the Sega Genesis' Golden Axe series. Knights of the Round is based on the legend of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. I'm not sure if it is "historically accurate" or not, but the story behind the game is that after pulling the infamous sword Excalibur from the rock, Arthur is tasked by Merlin to face down the evil tyrant Garibaldi and free those under his oppression. Aiding Arthur on his adventure are his chums Lancelot and Percival, which actually makes this game capable of being a three player adventure. A side-scrolling, hack and slash Super Nintendo adventure in the same vein as Golden Axe . . . made by Capcom? How can you NOT love this game!

There are seven total stages that comprise Knights of the Round, and they all take place amongst a medieval themed England including grassy plains, rocky shores, muddy battlefields, bustling villages, castles, and so on. The enemies you face along the way are mostly other types of human warriors who are minions of Garibaldi. They come in many different shapes and sizes, equipped with various weapons like bow and arrows, axes, swords, and more. At the end of each stage is a boss, and the bosses are usually much bigger and more fierce than the enemies you'll face leading up to said boss encounters. These beefcakes include savages named Scorn, Braford, Arlon, Phantom, Balbars, Muramasa and finally Garibaldi himself! There is also a machine sub-boss along the way dubbed the Iron Golem. Of the three playable characters in the game both Arthur and Lancelot come equipped with swords, while Percival carries a large axe. There are three types of items you can pick up during your adventuring, the most common of which are various types of treasure, as well as food items. Treasure gives your point total a boost to various degrees, and while the food also boosts your points more so it helps replenish your health meter and keeps you from dying so soon. Points are important in this game because the more you get, the quicker you upgrade your character to his next level, which increases your abilities. The third item are these weird pedestal objects that kill all enemies on screen and provide you with a large number of points, often times automatically increasing your level upon claiming it. As for your character's abilities, you can move around and jump, block, and of course use your melee attack. There is also a special, more powerful attack you can employ, but doing so drains your health meter so it is more of a desperation situation. Are you Knight enough to engage Garibaldi's minions, increase your abilities, and then test your mettle against the big, evil boss himself?

There are so many things to like about Knights of the Round. First of all it's a Capcom game, so basically that means it both looks and sounds amazing, controls perfectly, and is a ton of fun. Also, it's hard to beat the game style it encompasses in the side-scrolling, hack n' slash genre, which is arguably my favourite style and easily one of the greatest game styles of all time. I also enjoyed how it was based on something from history. Again I'm not sure how accurate the game is, if at all, but it's neat to see something like King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table featured in a video game . . . especially after I gained more interest in the subject years ago after that one Transformers movie (The Last Knight, I think it was)! And lastly, the fact that we had never even heard of this game before made it so enjoyable when we discovered how much fun it was. It was like a surprising diamond in the rough!

This second game was a staple of my collection growing up, and it is . . .

Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island!! Released in 1995 on the Super Nintendo, by Nintendo, this game follows the adventures of a clan of Yoshi's as they help reunite two babies (tiny versions of Mario and Luigi) who have been separated under nefarious circumstances. Baby Bowser, under the care of the evil . . . witch? . . . Kamek, has kidnapped poor little Luigi. So of course baby Mario is distraught as he misses his twin brother, and the Yoshi clan will not take this affront lyying down. Mario hops on the backs of a series of Yoshi's as they traipse across Yoshi Island, facing down all opposition Baby Bowser has to throw their way, culminating in a confrontation with the ultimate brat!

Yoshi's Island contains 6 different worlds, each consisting of 10 total levels, with the tenth and final level of each world ending in a boss fight (usually some oversized freak of nature). At the beginning of each level Mario will jump on the back of a new Yoshi and it will be that particular Yoshi who will do all of the heavy lifting for that specific level. The levels themselves encompass many different types of environments like grassy plains, dense forest, mountain tops, oceans, underground environs, castles and more. As for the enemies you'll face, some are familiar from previous Mario games like Goombas, Koopas, Bullet Bills, Boos and the like, whereas others aren't so familiar like Goonies, Kamek's minions, Bandits and such. The thing that makes this game truly unique though is how the main characters cooperate and utilize "health". This game doesn't feature a traditional hit point meter or anything, instead if Yoshi gets hit by an enemy or hazard Mario gets jarred from his back and floats up in to the air in a bubble. A countdown then begins, letting you know how much time remains before Kamek's minions come and take Mario away, effectively ending your turn and costing you a life. There are many items to look out for during your travels on Yoshi Island. First, eggs play an important role as Yoshi can fire them at enemies and objects (there are different coloured and different sized eggs, which feature different properties). Eggs can be gained by hitting egg generator blocks, finding and egg generating plant, or by eating your enemies and "crapping" them out as eggs. Keys are sometimes needed to access different areas of a level. Various types of watermelons, when swallowed, allow Yoshi to spit different types of ammunition. Golden coins can be collected and when you gain 100 you'll be awarded an extra life. There are 20 red coins in each level, and collecting all of them adds to your total points at the end of each level. The same goes with the 5 flowers you'll be able to collect in each level, which in addition will also offer you an extra life if you obtain all five. And then of course there are little stars, which when collected will add the corresponding number of seconds to Mario's countdown timer. Lastly, there are certain types of vehicle icons to make use of, like Yoshi trains, cars, helicopters, etc. These temporarily grant him special abilities, usually to access a difficult area of a level and collect some goodies. At the end of each level, if your progress is good enough and you've gained enough points, you'll be allowed to partake in one of the handful of bonus games, which if executed correctly can help you obtain additional lives. If you are able to master the prehistoric wonder that is a Yoshi and steer the vulnerable baby Mario through these 60 levels of madness, you'll earn yourself a showdown with Baby Bowser and a chance to recover your beloved brother Luigi!

Yoshi's Island is excellent, absolutely a masterpiece! I read that they used a chip in this game that only 3 other Super Nintendo titles feature, allowing for more detailed graphics, and boy it sure shows. Yoshi's Island is a colourful, cartoonish delight, just an absolute feast for the eyes and ears. Not to mention the controls are perfect, it's a nice long game with 60 total levels, and although not insanely hard it is definitely a challenge to defeat this game especially as you get in to it's latter stages. Factor in the unique aspect of how the main character rides on another character's back to compose their alternative type of health system, and you've got on your hands a really well executed, unique and engaging game that any type of gamer can enjoy. A modern reboot of this type of Yoshi game seems like a great idea to me!

The third game of this trio is one we rented a lot as kids, but never managed to get too far on . . .

and it is called Adventure Island!! Released for the NES by Hudson Soft in 1988, this game is a very similar type of platformer as Super Mario Bros. In this title you control our hero, a chap named Master Higgins. He travels to Adventure Island because, of course, an evil witch doctor has taken captive Higgins' woman, the lovely Tina! Many games of this era centered on a quest to reclaim a kidnapped female, it was quite a popular theme. Anyways, your task is to quest across Adventure Island, facing down all of it's enemies and pitfalls, and ultimately square off against the game's protagonist, freeing Tina in the process!

Adventure Island consists of eight worlds, with each world divided up in to four levels, or "areas". Furthermore each level is made up of four checkpoints, when you die Higgins will respawn at the most recently achieved checkpoint. As you make your way through each level there are many different hazards to watch out for. Jumping is a very key element to this game as you'll have to jump across many platforms, some of which are moving and some of which will drop away after you land on them. There are rocks, fire, boulders, etc. that can cause Higgins damage . . . and then of course there are the living creatures that are out to get him. Most of them are animalistic in nature and include critters like spiders, cobras, badgers, bats and many more. The fourth area of each world will end with a boss fight against the witch doctor. The witch doctor always has the same body, but amongst the eight times you have to fight him his head will be different with each incarnation. The head is always animal in nature, featuring eight different types of creatures. The health system in this game is a little different. You start each level with a full health gauge, but it naturally depletes as you make your way through the level, and will take extra damage if you get hit by an enemy or take environmental damage. To combat this issue you must rely on picking up health to keep your gauge as topped up as possible. The items you use to do this are various types of fruit you'll find scattered throughout each level. If you find a milk jug that is even better, as it will completely top up your health gauge! Other items you'll encounter are eggs, which will release an object upon being broken. Within these eggs you'll find your weapon (you start the game weaponless), which is a stone axe. Once you have the axe you can then upgrade to fireballs. You may also encounter an eggplant creature within these eggs, which upon release will hover around Higgins and quickly deplete your health gauge. The other item you can obtain from eggs is a skateboard! This item is tricky as once you hop on it you'll always be pushed forward, there is no going backwards. But the bonus is that you can go faster and jump farther, plus it gives you the ability to take a hit from an environmental object and not die right away, you simply lose the skateboard. There are other types of items available which will give you additional points (different point levels earn you extra lives), temporarily invincibility, among others. If you have the wherewithal to navigate Adventure Island's dangerous topography, defeat it's hordes of enemies and square off successfully against the evil witch doctor, you'll complete the game and save the luscious Tina!

Adventure Island is one of the earliest games I remember playing as a kid that wasn't a part of either of our collections. Sieve and I loved this game but neither of us owned it, so we ended up renting it repeatedly. Hudson Soft for us wasn't a staple company in terms of the games we collected, but in this particular instance they hit a home run. The sound, the graphics, the overall vibe to the game is amazing, it is an instantly recognizable title. However, that being said this game is not easy. It is quite difficult as the sequences of enemies and jumping are so cleverly mixed together as to almost be impossible, but not quite. Also, the controls aren't glitchy per se, they are just . . . temperamental let's say, which only adds to the difficulty of the experience. But the overall quality of the game and the extreme fun factor it offers makes you keep on playing it, no matter how frustrated and how stuck you get!

The first game of the latest triple we banged out is an absolute beauty, one we never finished as kids because it’s hard as F . . . none other than . . .

Super Star Wars!! Released by JVC for the Super Nintendo back in 1992, this game follows the adventures of Luke Skywalker and crew as they battle through the events of the original Star Wars: A New Hope movie from way back in 1977. You take control of Luke at his farmstead on Tatooine and are then forced to battle your way off planet and on to the Death Star, before escaping with the captured Princess Leia . . . later returning in your X-Wing to blow the space station to kingdom come! Pretty straightforward really, just a 16 bit re-telling of the original Star Wars movie, with a few embellishments here and there of course.

Overall there are fourteen total levels that make up Super Star Wars. The first ten all take place on Tatooine and include Dune Sea, landspeeder level one, Outside Sandcrawler, Inside Sandcrawler, Land of the Sand People, Land of the Banthas, landspeeder level two, Mos Eisley, Cantina Fight, and Escape from Mos Eisley. The next three take place inside the Death Star and include Death Star Hangar Bay, Rescue of the Princess, and Tractor Beam Core. And then the final level takes place outside the Death Star, called The Death Star, as you attempt to blow it up using your X-Wing. All of the levels are side-scrolling platformers except three vehicle levels, which are the two landspeeder levels and of course the Death Star trench run. The enemies you’ll face throughout the game include some you actually see in the movie like Stormtroopers, Tusken Raiders, Jawas, etc. But they really embellish some of the other enemies, where you’ll square off against creatures you may hear mentioned but never actually see in the movies, like womp rats and the like. There isn’t a boss at the end of every level, but you do encounter a handful along the way and they include the likes of the Sarlaac Pit, a mutant womp rat, a hover bomb carrier, Imperial defense droid, among others. To finish the game off you need to survive the trench run, fight off Darth Vader’s TIE Advanced, before stuffing a pair of proton torpedoes down the station’s ventilation shaft. There are a good number of items in this game to be on the lookout for. A small heart replenishes a minimal amount of your health bar, while of course the more rare large heart restores a much higher amount of health. A Darth Vader icon temporarily doubles the value of any of your earned points, while a disc extends the amount of time you have in which to complete a given level. An icon of your own character serves as an extra life, while an icon of shields grants you temporary invulnerability. A thermal detonator allows you, for a very brief amount of time, to destroy all enemies on screen. And finally, a lightsaber temporarily increases the length of your health bar, while a blaster increases the damage level of your blaster weapon. If you can master the use of these items and unleash them on the hordes of enemies you’ll square off against you may just have a shot at bringing balance to the Force and peace to the galaxy!

Super Star Wars is a personal favourite of mine, even though I never had a snowball’s chance in hell of completing it! This game was executed so well, they really captured the magic of Star Wars within it. The look, sound, and feel of the game are all spot on, and the controls are great too. The only downside to it is that it is really, really difficult, I can’t stress that enough. If we weren’t able to play it all these years later with save points, we probably still never would have beaten it! A cool feature of this game I didn’t mention above is that along the way you unlock the use of two extra characters that have different attributes from Luke, and they are Chewbacca and Han Solo. This game did so well and was so much fun that it spawned the two obvious sequels, Super Empire Strikes Back and Super Return of the Jedi of course. Those ones I did beat because they came with a password function! Such good games, all of them, I highly recommend.

The next game up is quite possibly my favourite game of all time . . .

Blaster Master!!!!!!! This was released for the NES, by Sunsoft, in the year 1988 and is absolutely fantastic! It came out of nowhere, and if not my favourite game of all time it is at least my favourite game that is not part of an ongoing series, like Mega Man and the like. Blaster Master did see some reboots but not for many years, well in to the 2000’s before that happened. Anyways, in this game you control the main character who is a young man named Jason. One day while out frolicking in the yard with his pet frog Fred, his beloved amphibian falls down some sort of hole in the ground and naturally Jason goes looking for him. What Jason discovers deep underground though is instead a highly sophisticated vehicle dubbed the Sophia. He soon learns that the purpose of this vehicle is to fight off the legions of mutants that apparently inhabit Earth’s underworld! Hopping in to the Sophia Jason is determined to find his missing Fred, any mutant that stands in his way be damned!

There are eight total stages or worlds that make up Blaster Master, with there being some sort of large creature at the end of each world acting as said world’s boss. One of the game’s coolest features is that you don’t only play while piloting the Sophia. At any given time you can press Select and pop Jason out of the cockpit, forging ahead on foot. However, it’s only wise to do so when you reach certain chambers scattered throughout each world that can fit only Jason, one of which will contain the world’s boss. The enemies you’ll face along the way are all mutant in nature, but not always organic, as there are a lot of robotic/mechanical types of enemies you’ll also square off against. The enemies vary depending if you are in the Sophia, or if you are in one of the chambers utilizing Jason. The enemies will also, to a certain degree, follow the theme of each world. The worlds in this game feature one that is just a regular, nature filled environment with forests and lakes, a world of ice and snow, one of lava, a techno world, among others. The bosses of these worlds are all organic in nature and are large sized, including a brain, huge crab, and even a mutated Fred! Each time you complete a world you will receive an upgrade for the Sophia. These upgrades will eventually increase the power of your cannon, let you climb walls, allow you to hover, let you “swim” in water, etc. After beating a boss you then have to find the gateway to the next world and the path is not always linear. Once you get in to the game a ways you will have to go back to previous worlds you’ve already completed to move on to the next world. As for items to watch out for, there are many and again they vary depending on whether you are piloting Sophia or on foot with Jason. The one that is common between this is an icon with the letter P. Grabbing one of these will restore either Sophia or Jason’s power gauge by one block. A flashing P will refill the gauges by half. For the Sophia you can also find H or flashing H icons, which does what the P’s do, but for the vehicle’s hover gauge instead. The Sophia is equipped with three different secondary weapons including homing missiles, multi missiles, and a ground lightning weapon, each of which has it’s own icon you can grab to help refill your ammo. As for Jason, other than the P’s the main one to grab for him is an icon of . . . I don’t know what it looks like, to be honest! But it is a gun upgrade. With each one of these you grab you will increase his gun’s level by one, which can be done up to 8 times. The better your gun the quicker and easier them bosses will fall! However, when you get hit you not only lose power but also one of your gun upgrades, so you have to be careful. It’s a lot to wrap your head around, but if you can master the Sophia and all it has to offer, and face down these vile mutant bosses with just your blaster at your side, then you may just have a chance to complete the masterpiece that is . . . Blaster Master!

I can’t say enough about this game! I don’t even know why I bought it as a kid, as the cover of Blaster Master is kinda weird, but something drew me to it and I’m glad it did, because it is literally perfect in every way. Such a cool story, great features with being able to play in two different kinds of ways, excellent graphics, sound, gameplay and controls, and a really good length too. What’s also nice is that Blaster Master is hard, but not hard enough that you’ll never beat it. It is a tall task, trust me, I only beat it once or twice as a kid, but it is possible if you put the work in and figure the game out. It being more of an independent thing too, not part of a pre-existing series or based on a movie or TV show or anything also really upped it’s value to me, making it such a quirky and unique release. If you are a fan of 8-bit gaming in general and have never played this, please do so, you’ll love it. And then go out and buy Blaster Master Zero 1, 2 and 3, which are recent games made based on this original game, but kept in an 8-bit format. It’s a magical time to be alive!!

The third game we completed was one I've always been curious about . . .

The original Castlevania! This classic was released for the NES way back in 1987, by Konami, and it's a game that is super recognizable and carries a very positive reputation. The story behind it is pretty simple (as most good things are). The protagonist of the game, Simon Belmont (who you control), is attempting to save the citizens of Transylvania by eliminating the undead scourge that is menacing them . . . the infamous Count Dracula! So you travel to Dracula's castle, dubbed Castlevania, on a quest to kill a beast that is already dead and end his brand of madness . . .

There are 20 total stages in Castlevania and the game takes place entirely in and around Dracula's castle. The enemies you face are all beastly in nature like bats, monkeys, jungle cats, large ass birds, many types of ghouls and ghosts and such, and the list goes on. Scattered throughout these stages are a half dozen bosses you must square off against and raise your game on, and they include a large vampire bat, Medusa, mummies, Frankenstein, the Grim Reaper, and of course . . . Vlad the Impaler (one of Dracula's alternate names)! Many items are scattered throughout the game's stages and are usually accessed by destroying the multitude of candlesticks you'll encounter in your travels. There are a number of items that are weapon related. Your main weapon is a whip, and if you pick up whip icons they will increase the power of your preferred killing tool. There are also many secondary weapons Simon can equip himself with, and these are gained by picking up each weapon's icon. Said secondary weapons include an axe, holy water, dagger, cross, and a stop watch (used for freezing time and sneaking past enemies). Hearts are another main pickup and come in two sizes, big and small. Hearts are the currency you use to enable use of your secondary weapons, so your utilization of these weapons is not unlimited like your whip is. Bags of money and other treasures earn you points, and points are important as they earn you extra lives at various intervals. Other more random pickups include a rosary (destroys all enemies on screen), meat (replenishes Simon's health), potion (offers you temporary invincibility), and icons that have a II and a III on them (allow Simon to have either two or three, respectively, of his sub-weapons fired on screen at any given time instead of just one at a time). Do you have what it takes to journey in to the lair of the beast, armed only with a whip, and tangle with this twisted creature of the night . . . ? Yeah, you do!

I'm so glad we kept this game on our Bill 69 list, because somehow neither of us had ever played it despite Castlevania being an absolute classic and having a huge following! I think it's a classic for a number of reasons. First and foremost it was produced by Konami, so the game has their trademark look, sound and feel stamped all over it. Also, it's got a very cool and classic type of story, going after an old school villain like Count Dracula with a monster hunter armed only with a whip. And what else . . . it's hard as shit! The controls aren't bad, but they are tricky to get used to and can be a bit sticky. Also, the enemies are relentless (and they regenerate if you go somewhere and come back) and they always seem to come at you at your weakest spot, taking much effort to eliminate. It all adds up to construct a classic NES game, one of the originals!

The first game Sieve and I finished of this latest batch is an absolute NES classic . . . .

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!! Released by Ultra Games (some sort of Konami subsidiary) in 1989, this game was a staple of my personal collection as a kid, and boy was it awesome . . . and hard! The story behind the game is that the fearsome foursome are after Shredder as the villain is in possession of a certain device . . . a device that is capable of turning their Master Splinter back to his human form! Oh, and also, the fiend has kidnapped their best human friend, reporter April O'Neil. If you can battle through the six terrifying stages the game encompasses and win an ultimate boss fight against the evil Shredder you'll have done it, won the game and restored your master's honour!

As I mentioned this title is divided up in to six levels. As you traipse through these environments you'll head down in to the sewers, inside of various buildings, underwater as you attempt to defuse bombs, across rooftops, underground as you approach the Technodrome, and of course inside the Technodrome when you confront Shredder. Along the way there will be boss fights to engage in, including Bebop and Rocksteady, a robot turtle, a giant mouser and obviously Shredder, as well as one or two I may have forgotten about. The game is mostly a side-scroller, but at various points throughout the game there are sections where it takes a top down view as your turtle character sets out on foot, or as you pilot the turtle van around the region, which is capable of shooting bullets and firing missiles. There are many items to be on the lookout for, the most popular of which are either weapon or health pickups. Each turtle is armed with their default weapon, but you can pick up throwing stars (single or triple options), boomerangs, explosive scrolls, and then missiles for the van. Health pickups include three different options of pizzas, including a single slice, half a pizza or a full pizza. Other pickups include ropes (to get across rooftops) and temporary invincibility. As for the turtles, each one can jump, and attack with their default or picked up weapon, so pretty simple. During the game you can switch between all four turtles at any time, barring any that have already been defeated and captured.

Overall Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is a fantastic NES title, and although it's not particularly long it is insanely hard. It is instantly recognizable in terms of it's look and sound, both of which are fantastic. Each turtle has unique capabilities in terms of weapon range, power and speed of use. They execute differently against the various enemies in the game (most of which are either evil mutants or some sort of robotic creations), so it's important to memorize each level's sequence of foes and swap turtles as necessary to maximize your performance and make sure nobody gets captured. If you can memorize said sequences, maximize your execution, and face down that bungling fool Shredder you'll have defeated this gem of a game!

Second up was a step forward to the Super Nintendo, where we wrapped up the original . . .

Donkey Kong Country!! Released in 1994 by Rare, Donkey Kong Country was a revival of the Donkey Kong series in a new kind of format. The story behind this new title is that the original Donkey Kong has grown old and is now living on a tropical island under the name Cranky Kong. Cranky's grandson is now known as Donkey Kong, and his task is to confront the villainous crocodile King K. Rool, who has stolen the Kong family's banana hoard! With his nephew Diddy Kong by his side, Donkey sets out to conquer the dangerous environments he finds himself in, as well as King K. Rool's army of Kremlings, before facing off against the head baddy himself and liberating those delicious bananas!

This game is made up of forty total levels spread amongst six different map areas, with each area ending in a boss fight. Level forty is it's own final stage where you face off against King K. Rool, with the fate of your banana hoard hanging in the balance. The enemies you face in the game are all animal or insect in nature including other monkeys, armadillos, beavers, snakes, bees, and the list goes on. Donkey and Diddy can defeat most of these enemies by either throwing barrels at them, or by jumping on top of them (with the exception of the spike laden bees). There are a number of items to look out for while making your way through Donkey Kong Country, the most plentiful of which are bananas. When you collect 100 of them you earn an extra life. There are also letters in each level that spell out K-O-N-G, and if you manage to collect all four you will earn another extra life. Red balloons earn you an extra life automatically. And then there are golden animals you can collect that will take you to bonus levels, where you have a chance to earn even more extra lives! There are a few animal allies that will show up along the way, which you can utilize to make it through the action a little easier, including a rhino and a swordfish (for the swimming levels), amongst others. The last thing to look out for are barrels. Standard ones you can use to throw at enemies, whereas barrels that are labelled DK contain Diddy Kong, who will join Donkey for the game action upon being freed. When Donkey takes a hit and dies, Diddy will then be able to take over. Plus you have the ability to tag in and out between the two characters at any time when they are both available. If you can master these levels, putting the pitfalls and enemies they throw at you in your rearview mirror, then you may just have a shot at defeating Donkey Kong Country!

Donkey Kong Country was a pretty groundbreaking title for the Super Nintendo back in the day, reigniting the Donkey Kong franchise, which continues to roll along to this day. It is a side-scrolling masterpiece with great gameplay and sound, and it is no easy feat to complete. The challenge this game presents is no joke, as there are a lot of hard jumping sequences throughout, amongst other difficult situations mainly to do with the crazy waves of enemies you must memorize. If you are a fan of classic side-scrolling Nintendo games, Donkey Kong Country is a must.

The final game in this trio issssssssss . . .

The Revenge of Shinobi!! This title was released for the Sega Genesis in 1989, and is the third game in the Shinobi franchise. We never owned any Shinobi games growing up but had a bit of experience playing some of them at other friends’ places. The reason we picked this game in particular is because we researched the Shinobi franchise online, and it is said that The Revenge of Shinobi is widely regarded as the best in the series. The story backing this title is that you star as a ninja named Joe Musashi. In previous adventures (this story takes place about 3 years after the original) Joe foiled the nefarious plans of a criminal outfit dubbed Zeed, but they are back at it again in this installment, now under the moniker Neo Zeed. The Neo Zeed have their revenge on Joe and his clan by staging an attack and killing Joe’s master, not to mention kidnapping Joe’s lady. With his last breath Joe’s master lets him know who is responsible for these transgressions, and so the stage is set. You must take control of Joe and his ninja abilities and bring the fight to the Neo Zeed, exacting vengeance for your fallen master and rescuing your wife!

The Revenge of Shinobi is comprised of eight stages, with each stage being broken down in to three acts. The first two acts of each stage are the side-scrolling, action packed platforming levels that get you to your ultimate destination in said stage. And then the third act of each stage is simply a boss fight, and boy do they get bizarre! The environments are quite varied in this game including a bamboo forest, waterfalls, city streets/alleys, a military base, cargo plane, junkyard, automotive factory, skyscrapers, highways, trains, a seaport, among a handful of others. The enemies you’ll face in this game are primarily humans, both men and women, and take on the appearance of various types of ninjas, samurais, etc. I do believe you also come up against some dogs at one point as well. As for the bosses, they start off pretty normal, basically just beefier versions of the types of enemies you face throughout the platforming levels. But as the game gets long in the tooth you come in to contact with a brain, a Terminator type looking enemy, Spider-Man . . . and Godzilla! That’s right . . . Godzilla. The end boss is the leader of the organization, Zeed. As for Joe’s abilities, he is able to crouch, jump (and of course double jump if the situation calls for it), and he has a few different attacks he can utilize. If you are not near an enemy pressing the attack button will throw a shuriken, but when next to an enemy it will initiate a shuriken strike instead. When crouching, attack will initiate a leg kick. If you have the sword powerup you can hack and slash with it instead of a shuriken. When jumping the attack button will initiate a shuriken throw, but when double jumping it will initiate a shuriken spread attack where Joe throws eight shuriken towards his enemies on the ground. The final ability is Joe’s ninjitsu attacks, which he can only use once per level. There are four different types that can be equipped, three of which are weapons and consist of electricity, fire and a devastating sword based ground pound attack. The fourth ninjitsu ability is an enhanced jumping capability. There are a few pickups to be had in The Revenge of Shinobi and they are stashed inside of wooden crates that you must break open to access. A single shuriken icon gives you 5 shuriken, while a double icon gifts you 20. The flame icon enhances the power of your shuriken. A small heart icon refills your health gauge partially, while a large heart icon replenishes it in full. The ninja icon allows you to use your ninjitsu power one more time per level, while just the ninja head icon grants you an extra life. Don’t be fooled by the time bombs that can sometimes come out of the wooden crates, as they will blow up and deal Joe damage he doesn’t need! If you can master Joe’s plethora of skills and brave these daunting environments, you may have a chance to face down Zeed and take your woman back from him.

Overall The Revenge of Shinobi is a fun, frustrating and ultimately very challenging game. The look, sound and feel of the game are all very sweet. We often remark to each other that certain games can be identified to a system just by firing it up and starting to play it. Like, oh this was definitely a Super Nintendo game, or this was definitely a Sega Genesis game. The Revenge of Shinobi is very much a classic Sega Genesis style video game, the overall vibe simply screams that system, which is awesome. The only downside to the game is that the controls can be a bit wonky, especially when trying to execute the double jump. Now, I don’t think this is a glitch or oversight in the game per se, I think it’s just the way it was designed and one of the aspects that make the game so challenging. The Revenge of Shinobi is definitely worth the effort, and for me personally it’s made me want to go and check out the earlier games in the series!! Just what I need . . . more games to play and not enough time in which to play them . . .

Sieve and I recently finished banging out another trio of games, the first of these to fall is an NES classic called . . .

Metroid!! This is a title that was developed by Nintendo and released for the NES in North America in 1987. Along with Mario Bros., Mega Man, Zelda and the like, Metroid became an instantly recognizable Nintendo staple franchise, spawning several sequels across numerous platforms. In this original iteration of the game it is some time in the future, and mankind has spread outwards to the stars. Many planets are inhabited, space travel is commonplace, and the whole shebang is watched over by an organization called the Galactic Federation. However, space pirates have become a problem, and recently they have raided a deep space lab containing a lifeform held in suspended animation, which was taken from a planet known as SR388. This lifeform, which is believed to have eradicated all life on the unknown planet, is capable of rapidly multiplying given the right circumstances. If the space pirates are able to meet these requirements and then weaponize the creatures, it could mean disaster for the whole galaxy! Enter Samus Aran, the best of a group of soldiers dubbed "space hunters". The Galactic Federation calls on her to raid the space pirates' fortress world known as Zebes and make sure this situation does not come to fruition. Are you up to the challenge?

Metroid doesn't contain levels per se, which makes it a very interesting game, especially for such an early title in the evolution of video games. The action all takes place on Zebes, as I mentioned above, which is broken down into five different regions (which I suppose would count as the game's "levels"). The main difference though is that you can pass from region to region as you please, revisiting areas you've already been to as many times as is required. So the game is not linear at all, and because of this it can seem very maze-like at times. You begin play in the Brinstar region and end it in the Tourian region when you fight the game's ultimate boss, Mother Brain. In between come the Norfair, Ridley's Hideout and Kraid's Hideout regions. The enemies you'll face in the game are mostly smaller types of alien creatures, but do not take them lightly. There are three big bosses in the game including Ridley, Kraid and of course, Mother Brain. There are a number of items to acquire in Metroid, and they fall under two different types in my opinion. The first are one time only items (or otherwise very limited in some cases) and they have to do with increasing Samus' abilities, which is essential to completing this adventure. Three of these items have to do with Samus' laser weapon, and they are called Long Beam, Ice Beam and Wave Beam, which upgrade said laser weapon in different ways. Another item is the power ball upgrade, which allows Samus to fold up into a little ball and access areas she otherwise wouldn't be able to. Another allows Samus to then drop bombs while in power ball mode. There is an item that increases the height of Samus' jump, and another that allows Samus to spin in mid-air while jumping, which becomes a deadly maneuver known as the "screw attack". The Varia item is useful as it permanently halves all damage Samus receives from enemy attacks upon obtaining it. Energy tanks and missile upgrades are the two most common types of these items. Your health bar goes up to 99 and once it runs out it's game over. What an energy tank does is give you another 99 health, so it's basically like acquiring an additional life (which is permanent) upon picking an energy tank up. The missile upgrade allows Samus to fire missiles as an alternative to her laser weapon (locked doors require missiles be fired at them in order to unlock, so many pathways are closed to Samus until she gains this ability). Every missile upgrade she gains after the original one then permanently increases her overall missile capacity. The other types of items that are more commonplace are twofold, the first being small health orbs that replenish a small portion of your health bar. The other item is missiles, which replenishes a small number of your missile inventory should it not be completely full. Can you brave the maze, locate all of the upgrades, and then face down the savage Mother Brain in order to save the cosmos? Good luck trying!!

Metroid is one of those staple NES games that you can't help but associate as being heavily influential during that early era of gaming. Despite that though, I never owned the original Metroid game until I finally downloaded it to my Wii U a handful of years ago! My first experience with the Metroid franchise was actually Metroid: Prime for the GameCube, which I fell in love with and it piqued my interest in then playing the other games in the series. I have completed a handful of the selection that has come since Metroid: Prime, but this was my first crack at playing the original . . . and us completing the game was no simple feat. Being developed by Nintendo you knew this game was going to be spot on in terms of look, sound, controls, gameplay, etc., but it's revolutionary aspects are what really set it apart from other games in my opinion. The fact that the game was non-linear and you could revisit older areas was a really neat feature of it's design. And the fact that you had to upgrade your character along the way, sometimes out of necessity, other times by choice, was a real before it's time type of scheme. Overall, when you look at the five areas of the game it doesn't seem like the game should be that long. But with the amount of backtracking and revisiting you have to do it is actually much longer than you would think. Metroid is somewhat difficult, to boot. A lot of that has to do with the backtracking and how the planet of Zebes just seems to be one big maze. But the other aspect of it's difficulty is just how annoyingly effective your alien enemies are! Most of them are not very big, but they are feisty and they are hard to kill. My suggestion is, if you don't want to cheat and look up maps on the internet, do it authentic 1980's style . . . draw your own map as you go! It adds to the fun and sense of accomplishment when you do complete the game. But either way you'd better have your shit together, as navigating this maze and facing down Mother Brain in her lair is a fairly tall order! An excellent game . . .

The second game we dismantled was one I played a ton of back in high school but could never complete for some reason . . .

Jurassic Park!! This is the version that was released for the Sega Genesis back in 1993, by Sega, and not to be confused with the version that was released for the Super Nintendo, which differs vastly from this incarnation. The story behind it is exactly the same as the movie. You control paleontologist Alan Grant, who has been invited down to Costa Rica by Ingen in order to give your thoughts on a park that contains real live dinosaurs, brought back to life by using the latest groundbreaking technology in genetic engineering. However, events spiral out of control when a massive storm hits the island, in conjunction with the skeevy activities of the park's corrupt computer programmer. The game picks up just as disaster hits, putting you in control of Dr. Grant as he is forced to survive reams of dinosaur filled adventure in order to save his skin and make it off the island alive. Are you up to the challenge of facing off against Rex and her crew of bloodthirsty carnivores?

Jurassic Park consists of seven total levels, including the jungle, power station, pumping station, river, canyon, volcano and visitor's center. All but one of these levels are side scrollers, the exception being the river, which sees Dr. Grant pilot a small boat along Jurassic Park's waterways. There are seven types of dinosaur you will encounter including Brachiosaurus, Pterodactyl, Procompsognathus, Dilophosaurus, Triceratops, Velociraptor, and of course the Tyrannosaurus Rex. Only the Brachiosaurus' are friendly and won't do you any damage, but the rest of them are out to end your journey right quick if they have it their way. The controls for Grant are pretty simple, as he is capable of movement of course including grabbing ledges, crouching, hitting switches and buttons, going up and down ladders, climbing on chains and other objects, etc. The C button makes him jump, the B button shoots his equipped weapon, while the A button allows you to cycle through the various weapons Grant has at his disposal (which include two different kinds of sedative darts, a taser, gas grenades, flash grenades, explosive grenades, and rockets). There are three different types of items to watch out for while playing through the game. The first are ammo icons, which replenish inventory for the respective weapon. In the river level only there are gas canisters, which are key in order to keep your boat operational. And finally there are first aid kits, which replenish Grant's health bar if he has taken any damage. If you are able to master Dr. Grant's abilities and use all of these items to your advantage, you just may be capable of reaching the visitor's center and putting this weekend trip nightmare behind you!

Like I said, I played this game a ton as a teenager as I fell in love with Jurassic Park after reading the book. But like I also said I was never capable of completing the game back then because I didn't understand what I was supposed to do at the end of the final level . . . Sieve and I have now rectified that problem! We both played the Super Nintendo version of the game back in the day and loved it, but this was Sieve's first introduction to the Genesis version and he really enjoyed it. The game looks and sounds fantastic, but it is not without a flaw, and that flaw in my opinion is the controls. The game just doesn't control as well as it should, it seems a bit sensitive and pernickety in that respect. Not enough to ruin the game by any means, but enough that your journey isn't quite as smooth as it could be. But other than that the game is just super fun, varied, and has an amazing vibe to it. And on top of all that it features a secondary mode that allows you to see things from the other side of the coin and play through the game as a Velociraptor! There are only five levels for this mode (the river and volcano levels are removed) and the only pickup to worry about are turkey legs to keep your raptor up and running, but it's an excellent addition to the game that only increases it's appeal. This is a really big game from my childhood, I absolutely adore it, and I'm so happy we were able to add it's name to this grand quest of ours!

The third game we knocked down this time was a doozy, it took us a good long while, one of the most iconic Super Nintendo games of all time . . .The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past!!

Released in North America in 1992, of course this was a Nintendo direct title and actually served as a prequel to the first two Zelda games on the NES. The story behind the game is that the player of course controls Link, last of the descendants of the Knights of Hyrule, who is living with his uncle. One day he receives a mystical message from Zelda, herself a descendant of the seven sages, indicating that she's been imprisoned by an evil wizard named Agahnim. This is all a scheme to bring about the release of Agahnim's master Ganon, who was locked away in the dark realm during events previous to this game. After Link rescues Zelda and learns of this plot the real journey begins to unfold, sending you on a back and forth trek across Hyrule in an effort to squash Ganon's attempt at escape and ultimately, domination. Can you brave the dangers involved in said journey and save Hyrule from an age of darkness?

This game isn't composed of levels, it is actually an example of one of the earliest open world games on a console, at least as far as I know. Similar to the original Legend of Zelda it features a top down view, and as I mentioned above as your journey unfolds your trek becomes a very back and forth affair as many regions you will visit numerous times. Although there aren't levels there are certain tasks you must complete along the way, such as obtaining seven crystals from different palaces, at the end of which you must square off against a boss. Other tasks include upgrading both your sword and your bow and arrows to a degree high enough to challenge Ganon at the end of the game. There are many items to be on the lookout for during game action including a number of jars you can fill with potions that refill your health and/or magic. Heart fragments are rare items that, once you collect four of them, add an additional heart to your health meter. Many items you will acquire are equipment that aid you on your journey, including weapons like a boomerang, bombs, and your sword and shield. Other items help you navigate objects you'll come up against in the game and include a lamp, flippers (for swimming), a grappling hook, a net, hammer, fire and ice rods, a book for translating languages, shovel, flute for summoning a bird of transportation, a couple of different magical canes, a magical mirror (which helps you switch between the light and dark worlds), among others. There are too many enemies to list in this extensive game, most of which are a little off the board in terms of being mystical and/or mutant in nature. If you brave Ganon's minions, obtain the crystals and upgrade your weapons, you'll earn your chance to square off against Ganon. Defeat him and you'll have done it, you'll have saved Hyrule from a dark and evil fate!

A Link to the Past is an excellent game, which I had no doubt it would be. Being one of Nintendo's flagship series and developed directly by the company I was not surprised at all that the graphics, controls, sound, and all other aspects of gameplay were spot on. The only downside to the game is how outlandishly challenging it is. You have the concept of switching between the light and dark worlds to access different areas and items, which throws a major wrinkle in to the action from the outset. But then you also have many items to cross off your to do list before you are ready to challenge Ganon, which is what causes you to traipse across the entire map numerous times, and the guidance along the way is minimal. We found ourselves lost many, many times, not knowing what we needed to do next in order to advance. But, all of this meant that upon completing the game our sense of both relief and satisfaction were perhaps much higher than it was upon completing many other games! This is a fantastic game, but be forewarned that if you choose to embark on this quest the way ahead is very long, and beyond challenging.

Well, thanks to “Covid 19” and our forced lockdowns, Simon and I’s latest batch of game completions took us much longer to get around to than they should have. But we managed to kick things off with a beauty, by finishing the esteemed . . .

Cobra Triangle!! This game was released in 1989 I believe, by Nintendo and developed by Rare. With what I assume has to be a take on the mysterious, legendary theme of the Bermuda Triangle, this game puts you behind the wheel of a powerful speedboat and tasks you with charting your way through some very dangerous waters. If you can master your vessel’s controls and weaponry, and face down the various types of hazards along the way you may just manage to escape the Triangle with your life!

Cobra Triangle consists of 25 total levels, and the path is not necessarily linear. Depending on which direction you choose to take in certain levels, the order in which the rest of them come can be altered. Among these 25 levels there are different objectives to achieve. In some levels you must race to the finish against platoons of enemy speedboats, in others you must race to the finish and the obstacles you’ll face are various elements of nature (logs, whirlpools, etc.), in some you need to dispose of a certain number of mines within the time limit, in others you need to protect a handful of stranded swimmers from being kidnapped by enemy vessels, then there are the collect the pods (more on that soon) and shoot the targets levels (both of which are types of bonus levels that allow you to earn points, lives and upgrades), some levels you’ll have to jump a series of waterfalls, and then of course there are a handful of boss levels (bosses include a giant crab, squid, shark, sea serpent, etc.). In terms of pickups there are only really two worth mentioning, the first being 1-ups, which of course grant you an extra life. And the second are these numbered pods you’ll find scattered around the environment from time to time. These are upgrade pods, and upon collecting them they will make an item on your dashboard flash. These items include Turbo (increased acceleration), Fire (increases your main weapon capability), Speed (increased top speed), Missile (gives you the ability to fire missiles) and Force (grants you a temporary force field). Just press Select to lock in the upgrade when your dash cycles to the item you want to improve. If you can upgrade your rig enough to get the drop on your enemies and navigate these 25 gruelling levels then congratulations, you have completed Cobra Triangle!

This game is amazing, one of my favourites of all time . . . but it is impossibly difficult! The game controls well, it looks and sounds great, it’s such an iconic title for the NES. But like I said it is hard. With just a few continues available and a steep learning curve, there is a lot of memorizing involved on many of the levels to boot. And then on top of that you have to execute almost flawlessly, as ruin can come upon you very swiftly. You not only have your enemies to worry about, but environmental objects and even the walls of your environment cause damage to your ship. I still remember the day we first rented this game as kids and went absolutely berserk when we played it. It’s been quite satisfying to finally put it to bed all these years later!!

The second game in this completion sequence is one of the best selling, most recognizable, absolutely most fun and revolutionary games to ever be released on the NES . . .

Super Mario Bros. 3!!! The release dates on this title were varied, but it debuted for home NES consoles here in North American in the year 1990, released by Nintendo of course. We've completed both the original Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario Bros. 2 over the course of our Bill 69 journey so far, and you know how different those two games are from each other if you indeed read those respective entries I made for them. Well, in Super Mario Bros. 3, although they wander back more towards the formula from the original game, Nintendo added a ton of new features which took this game completely over the top at the time. The story in Super Mario Bros. 3 is that Bowser, King of the Koopas, has commanded his seven children (the Koopalings) to invade the Mushroom World, which consists of the seven kingdoms that surround Princess Toadstool in her Mushroom Kingdom. Each Koopaling has used magic to turn the rulers of said kingdoms into various types of animals, leaving these lands in disarray and ripe for the conquering! And that is where Mario and Luigi come in! Urged on by Princess Toadstool, who lends the brothers aid along the way as they work through each kingdom, you are tasked with saving these seven kingdoms from a doomed fate, and setting the Mushroom World back to rights!

Super Mario Bros. 3 consists of eight total worlds (grass, desert, water, giant, sky, ice, pipe and dark) which contain between 8 to 14 levels per, depending on what you classify as a "level". One of the biggest differences in this game is that these eight worlds (the eighth world being Bowser's land, where you have to go to rescue Princess Toadstool after he kidnaps her near the end of the game) are all laid out via a world map. You can access the levels in not necessarily a linear order, as sometimes you can skip levels and pull other such map shenanigans. Also spawning on the maps are various aids like toad houses and games of chance, which help add items to your inventory and earn you extra lives (more on items soon). The enemies you'll face in this game are both familiar and different. Bowser of course is back as the main villain and is the one ultimately causing all of your headaches. Staple minor enemies like goombas, koopa troopas, bullet bills and the like are all back as well. However, there are a number of new enemies that made their debut in this game (over and above the seven Koopaling children). These enemies include thwomp, dry bones, boo, amongst many many others. The other big difference in this game is the number and type of items you can collect. Of course there are still coins, mushrooms, fire flowers, 1-Up mushrooms and the like, but there are tons of new additions that really enhance the gameplay and strategy as you work your way through this adventure. There are a few suits you can obtain, including a raccoon suit (allows you to clobber enemies with your tail as well as fly for brief periods of time), a frog suit (greatly enhances your underwater abilities) and a hammer brother suit (allows you to chuck dangerous hammers). New items include the magic whistle (allows you to travel to "world 9" and use warps to skip other worlds of the game), magic wing (grants you unlimited flight in a level so you can just fly over it and skip all the action), hammer (allows you to break a rock on the map, granting you a potential shortcut), among various others. If you can master all of these new features and enemies you may just have what it takes to defeat all eight worlds, stare down your arch nemesis and save the day for a third time!

When I think of the best NES games ever released, Super Mario Bros. 3 is right around the top of the list . . . hell, when I think about the best games ever released period, it is also hovering in and around the top spot! This game just raised the bar SO MUCH at the time. Everybody knew about it, everybody played the bejesus out of it (even if they didn't own it, chances are one or more buddies did!) and it remains completely relevant to this day. The graphics are unbelievable, the sound and music awesome and super addictive (especially on the new and amazing flying airship levels, where you face down a Koopaling boss at the end of each world), and like I mentioned above all of the new additions and innovations added to the game just put it right over the top. Sliding down a slope and taking out all of the enemies as you did so, that is another new addition to this game that I just thought of. The list goes on and on! Super Mario Bros. 3 is an easy 10, perhaps even an 11. For those who have never played it before . . . what the hell have you been doing with your life!?

The third and final completion of this go-round is a relatively unknown title for the Sega Genesis . . .

Rocket Knight Adventures!! This game was released in 1993, by Konami, and I've heard basically nobody I know ever mention it besides myself. But it's amazing, such an under the radar release that is immensely fun to play. As for the story, it's a single player game and you star as a possum named Sparkster. In the kingdom of Zebulos an immensely powerful ship known as the Pig Star has been hidden away safely for generations, so that nobody could ever seize said power and use it for nefarious purposes. In charge of safekeeping the secret whereabouts of the ship and the magical protection that seals the vessel are the Rocket Knights, a group of noble warriors armed with swords, jet packs, and specialized training. Sparkster, an orphan, was taken in by the Rocket Knights and showed great potential. When one day in the future a corrupt Rocket Knight named Axel Gear went rogue and turned on the leader of the Rocket Knights, the being who originally took Sparkster in, it is then up to said orphan to step up and take control of the Knights. Are you up to the challenge, to take Sparkster on a journey to fend off attacks from Axel Gear and all of the neighbouring countries who lust for the power of the Pig Star? It won't be easy!!

There are seven total stages that comprise Rocket Knight Adventures, with each stage being divided up in to different sections at the end of which is a boss. There are so many bosses in this adventure! You start your journey in the kingdom of Zebulon, then head to a watery canyon type area, underground to the planet's magma core, aboard some sort of blimp like battleship, then to the kingdom of the Devotindos (the region of the planet that is thirsting most for the power of the Pig Star), up in to deep space, and then finally aboard the Pig Star itself. The enemies you face in the game are a hybrid between machines and the biological and feature other types of animals, mainly pigs. The bulk of the bosses in the game however are almost entirely purely mechanical and include things like a robotic sea monster, centipede, train tank, and more. Of course Axel Gear is the one biological boss you'll have to face down near the end of the game, as you get closer to the Pig Star. Sparkster's moves are pretty limited, as he can do a basic jump and then also attack, which is a basic slash with his sword. However, if you hold down the attack button for a short while you can charge up Sparkster's rocket pack, which can then be used for a couple purposes. If released while standing in place Sparkster will perform a high damage spin attack. If pressing the directional button in any of the 8 directions though it will launch him in a short burst, and if there are any enemies in his path Sparkster will cause them damage. This move is also very helpful when making your way through levels where you have to climb or time is of the essence. Most of the game's stages are side-scrolling platformers, but there are a few sections that see Sparkster take to the skies with a permanent rocket boost, and all of his fighting is done while airborne. There aren't too many items to worry about in this game, but they are important. There are red diamonds scattered about, which offer you bonus points. Collecting enough points helps earn extra lives, which is nice. You can also find 1-ups lying around, giving you that free life without the hassle of rounding up all the points! And then there are two types of fruit, with apples restoring a small portion of your health gauge, while bananas offer a much more substantial increase. If you can master Sparkster's moves and face down hordes of fiendish bosses, you will have a chance at keeping the Pig Star in safe hands and saving the kingdom of Zebulos!

Like I mentioned initially Rocket Knight Adventures is just a fantastic under the radar game! I simply got lucky one day many, many years ago when the cover caught my eye and it was priced well as a second hand game. I chose to add it to my collection and have played the crap out of it over the years, managing to get pretty far in to it but never beating it. Until now, that is! Being a Konami game it has outstanding graphics, sound and gameplay, and I found the storyline was pretty fresh too. Unique. I read that one of the people who developed this title also worked on some of Konami's Contra titles, like Hard Corps and Alien Wars. Those were fantastic games also. Rocket Knight Adventures is just the perfect amount of challenging, too. You really have to buckle down and learn the levels and then eventually execute them all really well in order to win, but it's not downright impossible. This is just such a perfect game all around that I've got to go out and get me a copy of it's sequel, called Sparkster!!

The first game of this installment is one I've been aware of for a while, as I love the series it spawned from, but it is actually the one game from the franchise that I have yet to play . . . up until now that is! And said game is . . .

Contra III: The Alien Wars!! This is the third game in the Contra series, released by Konami in 1992 for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. The previous two games, both Contra and Super C, were released for the Nintendo Entertainment System. Sieve and I have already beaten both of those games, and they feature in earlier installments of our Bill 69 series. The story behind this edition of the game is that the year is 2636 and the alien forces led by Red Falcon have had enough, suffering two previous defeats while trying to invade Earth. And so they decide to launch a full scale invasion this time, holding nothing back, kicking off The Alien Wars! Our heroes from the previous two games are no longer our noble defenders but a pair of their descendants are, in two men named Jimbo and Sully. Time to save the world one more time!!

The game consists of six total levels, so a little less than the usual for a Contra game. Four of them are the typical side scrolling style of levels, but two feature a top down view, which is not uncommon for Contra. But being the first Contra game released on the Super Nintendo the nature of these two top down levels are a little different than what came before them (more on that later). As for the side scrolling levels, they feature a ruined urban landscape, some sort of industrial facility that is raised up in the air, the open highway aboard a hoverbike (followed by a trip in to the sky while hanging from the bottom of a helicopter), and finally inside the belly of the beast in the heart of the alien lair. The enemies you'll face on your journey include various types of soldiers (whether human, alien or android I don't know), dogs, different styles of gun turrets, varioustypes of oversized mutant insects,tanks and other vehicular technology like drones and such, and of course all sorts of different alien abominations. The side scrolling levels feature mid bosses quite a bit (including little bases as well as different types of bigger, more aggressive alien creatures), and of course they all feature a big boss at the end of the level. These bosses include what look like a massive mutant turtle, a duo of bulked up android/alien humanoids (leading to an even bigger one that looks like a Terminator!), a flying battleship, and then a hulking alien behemoth which after you defeat the first time, you then have to battle it's oversized brain that ends up bouncing around the chamber. As for the two top down levels, they are levels two and five respectively and feature a ruined urban landscape as well as a sandy, mountainous type area. The goal in each of these levels is to destroy the various portals spread around the map, which spawn all of the enemies you encounter, and then once they are out of the way you move on to face the boss of the level. These two bosses include a drone with all of these tentacle type things sprouting from it, as well as a large round alien blob with an eye in the middle, which shoots these grasping claws at you. There are a number of pickups you can grab during gameplay, primarily weapon related. You start the game with the machine gun and default back to it every time you die. But over the course of play you can shoot down these flying orbs in the sky (as usual) and they will drop various types of gun upgrades that include spreader, laser, fire, homing missile and crush bomb. One of the other pickups is a bomb, which when you choose to use it blows up all enemies on the screen (or choose to use it against a boss and increase the damage dealt). The final pickup you can grab is a shield, which will grant you temporary invulnerability. Master your weapons, your jumping skills and your nerve, and you may just have a shot at getting through these six levels and turning back Red Falcon and his evil aliens yet again!

Contra III: The Alien Wars is a great game as the look, feel and sound of it just screams Contra. There are a few changes, but they are good changes and help evolve the series without veering off from what made Contra so successful in the first place. The biggest difference is in the top down levels, as with the L and R buttons on the Super Nintendo controller you can use them to rotate the environment and help orient yourself during the action. This can actually be a bit disorienting at first, but once you get on to it it's quite easy to manage. The other big difference is that you can actually have two weapons equipped and switch between them at will. So if there is a certain weapon you really like and you want to make sure you have it for a level boss or other certain situation, you can acquire it and then flip over to your other weapon in order to keep it safe and protected. The only downside to this game is that it does seem a lot shorter than it'd predecessors, not that it's a huge downside, but I would have liked to get a bit more game out of this one. Either way though, with Contra III Konami entered another fantastic entry in the long and wonderful history of gaming!The second game is one we came upon recently, after Sieve got his new machine . . .

And it is Bucky O'Hare!! This title was released for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1992, by Konami, and is based on the comic book/television series of the same name. I used to watch this short lived series back in the 90's when I was in high school and absolutely loved it! Bucky's story takes place within an animorphic (is that a word?) universe where animals walk on two legs and talk just like humans do. Bucky O'Hare, a walking rabbit, leads a small force of freedom fighters against the Sky Marshall and his army of evil toad soldiers, who are intent on ruling the universe. As this game opens up we learn that the Air Marshall has attacked Bucky's ship, the Righteous Indignation, scattering his crew mates across various planets in the system. Your task is to take Bucky in to the thick of things and recover your allies before regrouping and taking the fight to the Air Marshall and his numerous minions, ending this epic struggle once and for all!

Bucky O'Hare features four different levels to start off with, containing between 6-10 acts per. These levels take place on blue, red, green and yellow planets, each of which house one of your lost crew members. The blue planet is an ice planet and hides Jenny, the red planet is a lava planet and hides Deadeye Duck, the green planet is a forest planet and hides Blinky, while the yellow planet is a technologically futuristic planet and hides Willy DuWitt. The enemies you'll face along the way are mostly animal in nature, some machine based, others live in the flesh, with of course a lot of them belonging to the Toad army. At the end of these levels you'll face a boss, which include Al Negator, a Toad Sentinel, Toadborg, and a Toad Battletank respectively. As you clear each planet the character that was trapped on said planet will then join your roster, who you can swap Bucky out for when the need arises, as each character has their own unique abilities that will help you circumvent different gameplay aspects throughout your adventure. There are just a few pickups to be on the lookout for during this game, all of which come in the form of a green orb/circle icon. The one with 1-Up in the middle of it provides you with an extra life, the one with an L in it refills your healthy gauge while also increasing it's overall size slightly, the one with nothing inside of it gives you a point boost, while the one with a P in it gives your charge gauge a boost (this gauge is what powers your character's jump/special ability). Your journey is not over once you rescue all of your friends however . . . far from it! As Bucky attempts to steer the Indignation towards home, a Toad battleship comes on the scene and captures Bucky and his friends! Bucky and Blinky are imprisoned, while Jenny, Deadeye and Willy are taken away for experimentation. You then have to escape captivity and, using Bucky and Blinky, move through 32 more game acts as you reclaim your friends once again (who you now have to fight against during boss battles, as they were brainwashed by the Toads upon being captured), before finding a way off the ship in order to finally return home. The game culminates in 7 final acts as you escape the wreckage of the Toad battleship and square off against their big cheese, the Sky Marshall himself! If you can defeat this fiend you'll have done it, you'll have saved your friends . . . and saved the universe!

Overall this game is just kind of a hidden gem. We didn't know it existed until just recently, and with both Sieve and I being fans of the Bucky O'Hare cartoon when we were younger, it was very cool to discover that a video game based on the series that we could explore had somehow actually been produced! Making it even better is that it was released by Konami, who after Capcom is probably the best video game developer of that era. Add in some great graphics, sound, gameplay, and cool features like being able to switch between characters and utilize their special powers, and you've got one hell of a gaming experience. And Bucky O'Hare is challenging, to boot!The third and final game of this trifecta is one we had never played before, or knew existed, called . . .

Brawl Brothers!! This title was released on the Super Nintendo in the year 1992, by Jaleco, and was apparently a sequel to a game called Rival Turf! . . . which we also had no idea existed. It is a side scrolling beat 'em up style of game with a 2 player option, and very much looks and feels like a Capcom game, which in our books is a huge compliment. The story behind it is that two martial arts fighters named Rick and Doug (aka Hack and Slash, carry overs from the original game) have noticed people going missing all over Bayside City, most notably three of their buddies from the dojo they belong to. Rumour has it that there is some sort of sinister secret cloning experiment going on, which is behind all of these disappearances. Can you mobilize our two heroes, hit the streets and track down this mysterious enemy, saving Bayside's residents from becoming pawns in his gambit? Or will this fiend continue to have his way with your fair city unchecked?

Brawl Brothers is relatively brief, yet also challenging, so you do get some bang for your buck from a game that is on the shorter side. It features just four stages, but they are each pretty lengthy overall. The first stage takes place in Bayside City, as you make your way through it's streets, over a bridge, and then through the sewers. The second stage sees you move in to a military type installation, where you traipse through it's gym and training field, before taking a large elevator up to it's air terminal. The third stage sees you move along to the facility where they store aircraft, ultimately working your way up to the rooftops. And the final stage takes place up in the sky, aboard your mysterious enemy's aircraft, dubbed the "Adler". In each stage you will battle against various types, shapes and sizes of enemy troops, some sporting weapons and some not . . . some even sporting mech suits. At the end of each stage comes a final battle against an overpowered boss, which is when you'll want to take advantage of your special move! The moves are pretty simple in this game and are personal to each character, but basically you can punch/kick, dash, jump (and execute your attacks while dashing or jumping), perform a couple of different throw moves, and then of course your special move, which actually depletes your health bar when utilized (so make it count). There are lots of pickups to be had throughout the course of Brawl Brothers, the first being food items that restore your health bar to various degrees, items like chicken, cheese, chocolate, etc. (also a medkit, while not technically food). The other pickups to look out for are weapons that will be lying around the environment, or that your enemies will drop when pounded upon. These items include things like a shotgun, knife, steel pipe, barbed baseball bat, dumbbell, and the list goes on. If you can put your moves to good use, be advantageous when it comes to weapons and manage your health pickups well, you may have a chance at facing down the game's head villain, Dieter, and saving the citizens of Bayside City from certain doom!

Overall Brawl Brothers is a pretty good game. Nothing too complicated, just hack and slash as you move through the adventure, with lots of interactive weapons to keep things interesting along the way. Another cool aspect is that you can start the game with any two characters (or one if you are playing just solo) out of the main five playable characters (Rick and Doug, and then of course their three friends that went missing from the gym). You will then rescue each of the other three characters that were not chosen with each stage you complete. These rescued characters will then also become playable characters from that point onwards. Like I mentioned above although this game was produced by Jaleco it very much feels like a Capcom game, which is a big compliment of course, at least in my books. Good sound, graphics, gameplay, and of course just a whole lot of fun to play. A solid output from one of the lesser known developers of the era!

The next film Jimmer and I watched was a classic comedy I viewed dozens of times in my youth, but haven't seen in some time as I only had it on VHS until I recently upgraded it . . . and that would be Wayne's World!! Based on the Saturday Night Live characters of yore made famous by Mike Myers and Dana Carvey, this movie follows the adventures of best friends Wayne Campbell and Garth Algar. The pair live in Aurora, Illinois, still with their parents, and don't really have all that much going for them. The one thing they do have though, is a TV show they star in on the local public access television channel, called Wayne's World. On it the pair just goof off and be themselves, bringing all sorts of nonsense to the masses. The show is gaining traction and Wayne hopes to do it for a living at some point, but that is only a pipe dream. The movie starts off on a Friday night as Wayne and Garth wrap up a show and then go out with their friends for a night on the town. First stopping by Stan Mikita's donuts the group then heads to the Gasworks, a local heavy metal venue. There the duo witness a band called Crucial Taunt lay down a set, and Wayne falls in love with the lead singer/bassist Cassandra. He then approaches her after the set and begins an awkward courtship. While all of this is happening a TV executive named Benjamin stumbles upon the recent episode of Wayne's World and thinks it would be the perfect solution for a current problem he has. A man named Noah, who owns a chain dubbed Noah's Arcade, is looking for a way to connect with his young clientele and inform them of all of the new machines in his arcade and keep them up to date. Benjamin tells Noah of this Wayne's World show, a platform he could use to relay this information to what Benjamin believes would be his target audience, and after Noah "agrees", Benjamin and his assistant Russell head to Aurora to purchase Wayne's World. Wayne especially is thrilled at the offer, although Garth has his trepidations, but ultimately the contract is signed! As the days go by all sorts of stuff begins to happen. Wayne and Garth spend the initial sum of money they've received from Benjamin on some cool stuff, most notably a Fender Stratocaster Wayne has had his eyes on for some time. But as the pair revel in their recent success, Benjamin is also intent on signing Crucial Taunt and producing a music video for them, all with the intent for Benjamin to steal Cassandra out from under Wayne. Also, Benjamin and Russell begin to make massive changes to the show that Wayne and Garth don't appreciate, but it was all in the contract. So heads butt on the next episode of Wayne's World and Wayne is fired from his own show! With Cassandra going to shoot her video with Benjamin, Wayne losing his show and also having a falling out with Garth, all seems lost. However, Wayne halts the pity party he's throwing himself, makes up with Garth, and then the pair (with all of their friends) put together a plan to right all of the wrongs Benjamin has perpetrated on them and put their world back to rights. Can this rag tag group pull off such a feat though, or will Benjamin have the last laugh? This is just a classic, classic 90's comedy, so many laughs with such iconic characters. And on top of the starring duo there is lots of other great talent involved including Tia Carrere, Rob Lowe, Lara Flynn Boyle, Brian Doyle-Murray and Kurt Fuller. There are even cameos from Alice Cooper and his band, Chris Farley, and Ed O'Neill!!

The next movie Jimmer and I watched was one that, somehow, I had never seen before although I very much have always wanted to. UHF, from the mind of the great Weird Al Yankovic!! This movie stars Weird Al as a young dreamer named George Newman. He has an overactive imagination and always gets caught up in his own fantasies, leading him and his best friend and roommate Bob, on a revolving door of menial jobs, as George's absence of mind always ends up getting them fired. George's aloofness is also causing a bit of stress on the relationship with his lady friend Teri. However, one day George's uncle Harvey acquires the rights to a crappy old TV station called Channel 62, which is bleeding money and on it's last leg. Harvey's wife Esther strong-arms him in to giving the station to George and letting him run with it, and so George visits the station with Teri, which is in a dilapidated old structure on the edge of town. On his first day in the office a package arrives that should actually have gone to Channel 8, their network affiliate. However, when George attempts to deliver the package to this station's CEO, a douche named R.J., he gets cussed out and retreats with haste. Along the way George meets an eccentric janitor named Stanley, who had just been fired by R.J., and offers him a job at Channel 62. George attempts to find a way to institute new programming at Channel 62 and bump up their ratings, in an effort to keep the station afloat, but it's not going all that well. When George basically calls it quits one day and leaves the station, telling Stanley he can take over the show George was in the process of airing, he is chagrined to soon find out that Stanley is a big hit with the kids! Stanley soon has his own show and it is bringing Channel 62 back to respectability. George is buoyed by this success and comes up with even more ideas, and soon Channel 62 is the talk of the town. Not only that, they are now number one in the ratings, even ahead of Channel 8! This doesn't sit well with R.J. of course, and so he plans some subterfuge to eliminate George and his cast of characters from this ratings race. Along the way George's involvement with the station, which has taken over his life, interferes with his relationship with Teri and she breaks up with him. So very suddenly, after briefly being on top of the world with the most successful TV station in the region, George's reality comes crashing back down as the station is ripped out from under him, as is his girlfriend. Will George wallow in despair and roll over, or will he put that imagination to work and come up with a scheme that will set things back to rights and put R.J. in his place? This movie was hilarious, so bizarre and weird, just what you'd expect from a mastermind like Al Yankovic. It starred some other great actors too, like Victoria Jackson of SNL fame, Fran Drescher, and the great Michael Richards, who plays a very Kramer-esque character in Stanley the janitor. So glad I finally got around to witnessing this masterpiece!

The first inside summer book I finished reading was the second entry in The Broken Earth trilogy, called The Obelisk Gate. As this story picks up the season instigated by Essun's discovery of her son Uche murdered at the hands of her husband, Jija, is well under way, causing various amounts of spreading destruction across the continent. Essun has been settling in to some manner of routine at the comm she discovered in her travels called Castrima, a society of people who live underground amongst these mystical crystals. Most importantly they are more tolerant of Orogenes than other communities, plus her ex-lover and 10 ring Orogene Alabaster is there, and he is in his death throes. A stone eater named Antimony is caring for him as Alabaster slowly turns to stone himself. But before he is fully gone Alabaster desires to pass all of his knowledge on to Essun, so she can do what has to be done. He explains that there has been a war going on for ages on this continent, for father Earth is angry. There used to be a moon in orbit around the world, but a long time ago it was knocked off course, resulting in all of the harsh seasons that arise and cause the land's inhabitants such hardships. The various obelisks that hover in the sky over the Earth, which nobody seems to understand, are the keys to setting things rights, and can be manipulated by Orogeny to wield great power. Essun settles in with Alabaster to learn as much as possible about the relationship between Earth and moon, who and what the stone eaters are, and many other multitudes of secrets. She has all but given up pursuing her wayward daughter, Nassun. In the meantime many miles away, in the Antarctic region, Nassun and her father Jija have been taken in by a community who have been relatively unaffected by the season, although the changes are coming. The person responsible for finding them is named Schaffa . . . a man who used to train Essun many moons ago at the Fulcrum! At this community Schaffa takes her in amongst the other Orogene children and gives her training, in the process severing her from her vile father, Jija, who after killing Uche is just one fit of rage away from killing Nassun as well, for what she represents. Nassun learns a lot from Schaffa, not only in terms of her abilities but also how her and Schaffa came to be in their positions, the relationships between Stills, Orogenes, Guardians, stone eaters and the like, and how everything can be put to rights. As the book comes to a conclusion a comm from the north invades the territory of Castrima and in order to defend her people against a much superior opponent, Essun finally attempts to access the series of Obelisks and tap in to their limitless power, and hopefully not destroy herself along the way! This process not only helps Essun defend her comm, but it also awakens Nassun to her presence and some clues as to what she's been up to, setting the scene for an exciting third and final volume in this mysterious and violent series. Can't wait!

Jimmer and I got around to watching the most recent entry in the John Wick series, called John Wick 3: Parabellum! This movie picks up right after the second one closed off, with John having less than an hour to go before the entire world of assassins are after him for the massive 14 million dollar bounty on his head, after having been deemed ex-communicado for killing Santino D'Antonio on hotel grounds. John's first stop is the New York Public Library, where hidden within a fake book he takes a couple of hidden items, including a crucifix and a marker. Dispatching a massive Russian assassin who attempts to go after John before his hour is up, John then escapes in to the streets and goes to visit Doc, a diminutive Asian man who attempts to patch up John's injuries before the hour is up and he can no longer offer any assistance. John ends up having to finish the job himself and then hits the streets once more. After dealing with a gang of assassins in an antique store John's next stop is a theatre of Russian ballet, where John uses the crucifix to cash in a favour with the Director. Here we learn John is of Belarus descent, and trained in the past at this very facility. The Director, going against her instincts, knowing that she may pay dearly for helping John, gives him one last favour, which is passage to Casablanca. While John is in transit an adjudicator from the High Table visits Winston at the Continental Hotel, as well as the Bowery King, and lets them know that for aiding John Wick in this recent killing spree they are being relieved of their duties, which does not sit well with either of them. Soon after the adjudicator recruits an assassin named Zero to aid her in ultimately dealing with Wick, and she also visits the Director, to punish her for her role in John's recent escape from the country. As for John, in Casablanca he goes to visit an old friend named Sofia, who is now the manager of the Continental Hotel in that region. She is not receptive to him, but John cashes in a marker he has on her, and what he wants is for her to take him to her boss, Berrada, as John wants some information from the man. Their visit does not go well and the pair have to fight their way out of Berrada's compound, but John ultimately gains the info he needs. He learns how to find the Elder, the man who rules over the High Table and can potentially absolve John of his recent transgressions. Sofia dumps John in the desert and takes off, leaving him to search for the Elder all alone. Ultimately he is successful and upon conversing with this man, discovers that the only way to set things right is to go back and kill his friend Winston. Oh, and he must also lop off his own finger! John agrees, and soon finds himself back in New York, where he goes to confront Winston. However, upon meeting with his friend and the adjudicator, the pair reveal the fact that John has no intention of killing Winston, and that Winston has no intention of relinquishing his control of the Continental Hotel, setting up a final bloodbath that will have it's share of twists and turns along the way, setting up yet another cliffhanger ending leading up to a fourth movie in the series!! I love it, this series is so fresh and so violent, and so funny in certain spots, that these movies are a joy to behold. Keanu rules, yo!!

The second outside book I completed reading was Gulliver's Travels, by Jonathan Swift. Published back in the year 1726, this story is a chronicle of the adventures of one Lemuel Gulliver. Born in to a tough childhood in England, with his father passing away when he was just a baby, his mother raised him on her own but was eventually able to to apprentice him with a physician. Although Gulliver was eventually certified as a physician himself, his true passion was traveling, and to this extent he learned the craft of navigation and other such essential aspects of sailing the high seas. Leaving his wife and family behind he was finally able to make this dream come true, serving as a ship's physician on his maiden voyage. But as his skills at captaining a vessel became more obvious, Gulliver was eventually able to spearhead his own missions abroad. This book includes the tales of these various bouts of travel Gulliver partook in, and is broken down in to four parts. The first part is when he is shipwrecked in a land dubbed Lilliput . . . where the inhabitants are but a wee fraction of the size of Gulliver! The second part is when he is stranded in a place called Brobdingnag, where the inhabitants are just the opposite of what they were in Lilliput, the size of monstrous giants! In the third part Gulliver is captured by pirates and shuffled off to the land of Laputa, a collection of territories that is overseen by a flying island that is controlled by Laputa's ruler. And finally, in the fourth part Gulliver suffers a mutiny on his ship and drifts to a place inhabited by the Houyhnhnms, a race of smart and reasonable horse beings whom Gulliver develops a great fondness for. During all four of his stops Gulliver describes the nature of his comings and goings to each land, how it's inhabitants lived, and his relation back to them on the nature of his own homeland. Throughout all of these conversations Gulliver makes many observations on the subjects of government and politics, human nature, and much more, coming off in a very satirical manner. One of my favourite instances of this is when two kingdoms are divided and have been at war for ages based on them preferring to crack eggs at the large end versus the small end! This book was very entertaining, a bit hard to understand at times due to the old English, but not at bad as the Classic Tales of Horror book. I got the gist of this book much easier than I did the prior. Now I want to watch the movie with Jack Black, but I can't seem to find it on Netflix or anywhere else . . . 'da Hell!?!

I finally completed my viewing of the next series of Power Rangers, called Power Rangers: Lost Galaxy! Airing originally in 1999, Lost Galaxy encompassed the seventh season of Power Rangers, and basically the sixth incarnation of the Rangers after the originals, Alien Rangers, Zeo, Turbo, and Rangers in Space. All of the previous seasons fit together in one kind of story arc, so Lost Galaxy is where things kind of reboot and start anew. As the series kicks off the Earth has fallen in to disrepair and the GSA (Galactic Space Alliance) is sending a colony ship (the Terraventure) out in to the galaxy to find a new home for it's multitudes of inhabitants. However, there is only so much space aboard the Terraventure, so tickets to ride are very valuable and sought after. Eventually the ship sets off though, and there is smooth sailing at first. However, that is not to last very long. A villainous fiend named Scorpius, who resembles a fat cockroach or some such insect, has destruction and domination on his mind. His forces (including his much more attractive daughter Trakeena) have set their sights on the world of Mirinoi, where he plans to claim a set of powerful swords dubbed the Quasar Sabers! Terraventure gets unwittingly caught up in this battle, and a number of young adults come to the forefront of the battle that unfolds on Mirinoi. Mike, Kai and Kendrix, who are all officers aboard the Terraventure. Damon, a mechanic aboard Terraventure. Leo, who is Mike's younger brother and a stowaway on the mighty ship. And finally Maya, a native of Mirinoi. Although Mike is seemingly lost during the battle, the remaining five take the fight back to Scorpius' forces, including his general Furio and all of their Stingwinger foot soldiers, and ultimately claim the Quasar Sabers themselves . . . in the process becoming the newest team of Power Rangers! Eventually the Rangers escape Mirinoi, but not before the rest of it's inhabitants are turned to stone, resuming the journey aboard Terraventure. The rest of the series unfolds as Scorpius and Trakeena repeatedly attempts to destroy Terraventure and the Power Rangers, via various fiendish schemes. The Power Rangers in the meantime have many things to worry about. First and foremost is the protection of Terraventure and it's many citizens, but they also want to find out what happened to Mike, and figure out how to reverse the damage that was done to the inhabitants of Mirinoi. The action culminates in a three part finale, just after Terraventure escapes a region of space known as the Lost Galaxy, and finds a planet suitable for colonization. But before they can set down the Rangers must square off against an overpowered Trakeena and dispatch her forces once and for all! This was another great series, my favourite episodes include a one off that was a spoof on the Aliens movie, so good! And then the others were a two parter I believe, that saw the Power Rangers Lost in Space crew return for a cameo. In the process the Rangers suffer their first casualty when Kendrix is killed in action, with Andros' sister Karone then taking her place. Pretty heavy. On to the next series!!

I received some good stuff for Father's Day, and amongst the stash was the Joker movie on Blu-Ray! This film serves as somewhat of a prequel to the whole Batman franchise, setting up how his biggest enemy came to be. It's the early 1980's and Gotham City is a disaster. Crime, poverty, mental illness and the like is everywhere. To try and save the city the esteemed Thomas Wayne has announced plans to run for mayor and clean the place up. The main character in this film though is one Arthur Fleck, who lives in a dingy apartment with his mother, Penny. He is an aspiring comedian and works as a clown for hire, but he's not without his share of problems. He has some mental issues, including a propensity to laugh uncontrollably whenever he is uncomfortable. He relies on a public social worker who councils him a bit through his life, and who also deals out his multitude of medications. Arthur is living on a knife's edge, existing right on the line of poverty, where one little misfortune may send him and his mother tipping in to the abyss. Unfortunately for Arthur he soon experiences a number of such circumstances! On the job while promoting a going out of business sale one day, he gets jumped by some young punks who kick the crap out of him. One of his fellow clowns gives Arthur a gun to protect himself with, which Arthur takes with great reluctance. Around this same time he finds out that the office he gets his counselling and medication from is being cut due to funding reasons, leaving Arthur out in the cold. At Arthur's next gig, at a children's hospital, his gun accidentally falls out of his pant leg, which leads to him being fired. Later that day on a subway a group of three entitled men, who were first harassing a young woman, then turn their sights on the laughing clown! Having the crap kicked out of him once more Arthur takes matters in to his own hands and shoots them all dead! Escaping in to the night his actions are received by Gotham with two vastly different opinions. These men were employees of Wayne Enterprises and so Gotham's entitled view this crime as a brutal execution that must not go unpunished. Whereas Gotham's downtrodden, people like Arthur, view this instance as a heroic act, something long overdue! Although the police do question Arthur on the crime, as it was reported the perpetrator was a clown, they don't have anything concrete. Going through life afterwards, witnessing how his actions have been received, spurs Arthur on a bit and lighten his mood. But soon more disaster will hit. First, his mother, who used to be an employee of Thomas Wayne and has been desperately waiting and hoping that the millionaire will help him and Arthur out, lets some information slip which causes Arthur to investigate her history. He soon finds out that she had been a delusional patient at Arkham Asylum in the past, and had adopted Arthur as a young boy, who suffered much abuse while living with her as a child (he discovers this truth after first pursuing a rumour that he was actually the son of Penny and Thomas Wayne, leading him to a brief run in with a young Bruce Wayne). The other circumstance is that Arthur, after performing a brutal set of stand up comedy at a local club, gets invited for an appearance on a local late night talk show called Late Night with Murray Franklin, a man who Arthur has idolized for a long, long time! However, as his appearance on the show looms closer he begins to realize that Murray is having him on the show not as a fellow comedian, but more as a novelty and a roast. The action all concludes on the set of this show, when Arthur admits to the triple homicide and goes in to a long speech about why it was not a bad thing, and why Gotham is being left to rot with people like Arthur trampled upon by the likes of Thomas Wayne and the three douchebags Arthur murdered. He then executes Murray Franklin live on air, causing pandemonium not only in the TV studio, but across the entire city. Soon enough people donning clown masks are looting and rioting in the streets of Gotham, looking towards Arthur as their figurehead . . . behold the birth of the Joker!!! This movie was one of those slow moving, thoughtful kind of pieces, but it went by so quickly as it was so engaging to see how Joker was birthed. Joaquin Phoenix did an excellent job as Joker, and I hear that there is a sequel in the works, which I will go see in the theatre for sure after witnessing how good this film was. One of the best DC movies of all time, hands down!!

The third outside book I completed was Mary Shelley's Frankenstein! Taking place back in the 1700's this tale starts off with some correspondence between a man named R. Walton and his sister, Margaret. Walton is an explorer and has finally realized a dream of blazing a trail to northern Russia. However, as he and his crew encounter some adverse weather including a lot of encroaching ice, they witness two separate beings out on the tundra in sledges. The first being escapes their hails, but the second is brought on board and is near death. As Walton nurses this man back to health, who goes by the name of Victor Frankenstein, he tells Walton a tale unlike any other, for they get on well and seem to be kindred spirits. As a young boy Frankenstein grew up around Geneva in Switzerland, and led a pretty comfortable and secluded life with this parents. As the years went by his family grew, including his beloved adopted sister Elizabeth, and eventually two younger brothers. He had a best friend at school as well, named Henry, but eventually his father endeavoured for him to see more of the world, and so Frankenstein eventually departed to attend university at Ingolstadt. Frankenstein was a very cerebral fellow who loved to learn, and was very interested in the physical world, what made things work so to speak. And so his studies and interests led him to embark on a bold, secret project . . . to construct a being and imbue this patched together vessel with life!! As Frankenstein's endeavours increased, his physical and mental countenances fizzled away, he became sullen, withdrawn, and sickly. But eventually his project reached fruition and the creature he had worked so hard on was completed . . . and it indeed lived! However, upon witnessing this creature's first stirrings, the grotesque size of it and it's supreme ugliness, Frankenstein fled the scene in horror! When Frankenstein is out and about after this flight he discovers that his best friend Henry has come to study at Ingolstadt, and is elated for the good company. He reluctantly returns to his abode with Henry, to be pleasantly surprised that the monster has since departed. Frankenstein then shifts his area of study so that he and Henry can spend time together, and the monster is virtually forgotten by it's creator. Eventually Frankenstein receives a letter from home though, informing him that one of his younger brothers, William, has been murdered. What's worse is that an adopted cousin of theirs named Justine is to be tried for the crime based on the evidence available! Frankenstein races home to reunite with his family, knowing that Justine is not to blame, but the monster of his own creation has performed this fiendish deed. He and the rest of his family vouch for Justine and try to prove her innocence, but it is not to be and soon after she is hung. Frankenstein's monster then reveals itself to his creator, admitting to the murder of William and laying out his own life story upon his awakening. How at first he was full of wonder and innocence, but upon being spurned by his own creator as well as every other human he encountered, it soon turned his soul to vengeance and violence. The monster vows that he will continue Frankenstein's misery by murdering the rest of his family unless Frankenstein consents to build his monster a female companion to share his life with, and at first Frankenstein consents. Traveling to England and then Scotland in order to perform this deed, Frankenstein eventually changes his mind. For he doesn't wish to release another evil in to the world, no matter the cost! After the monster then murders Henry and Elizabeth for this decision, Frankenstein devotes the rest of his life to pursuing this fiend wherever it may go, and dispatching it once and for all, which is what leads him to being discovered by Walton and setting up the story's final scene. This was a good read, and it's cool to finally take in the original version of this story. I'd always heard over the years that the whole image of Frankenstein creating his monster in a castle, with the lightning and all, and a hunchbacked assistant, was always an embellished interpretation on this original story, but I wasn't sure by how much. Well it turns out it's quite a lot!

The next indoor book I finished was a good, quick read, the second book in the Dragonwatch series, called Wrath of the Dragon King. As this instalment opens, Seth and Kendra Sorenson, after having defied Celebrant, the king of the dragons in the opening book of the series, are put in a precarious position. Once a year Celebrant is able to hold a soiree called the Feast of Welcome, to celebrate the caretakers of Wyrmroost Sanctuary, with the leaders of all other factions located within the sanctuary also attending. With the Soaring Cliffs Sanctuary already having fallen due to a dragon insurrection, Seth and Kendra know this is most certainly a trap, but they have to attend or their position will be weakened. What makes it even worse is that the feast is taking place on a festival night. Four times a year, on the solstices, the sanctuary's boundaries fall and all creatures are allowed to roam free and do what they wish within the sanctuary, making it an even more dangerous place than usual. But caretakers gotta do what caretakers gotta do! So Seth, Kendra, the potion master Tanu, and the little nipsie Calvin head to Skyhold Castle to attend said feast. Celebrant's scheme ins't long in coming when, after all of the various leaders finish eating he declares that the dragons are officially declaring war on the caretakers of dragon sanctuaries all over the world to gain their freedom and, most likely, attempt to take over the world! Seth and Kendra are protected by magical enchantments that will hold out for a couple more days, so long as they stick to the road home. However, Celebrant has had their mounts killed, and there is also some obstructions to said road in place, forcing our heroes to deviate from their path and put themselves in danger. Not long in to their homeward journey Seth and Kendra are ultimately split up. Kendra is abducted by one of Celebrant's lieutenants and brought back to Skyhold Castle. Seth is also pursued by dragons but is saved by the Somber Knight, dragon slayer extraordinaire! When Seth informs this fellow of what went down at Skyhold Castle the Somber Knight is enraged that Celebrant has declared war, and informs Seth that this act is enough to revoke Celebrant's own status as a partial caretaker of Wyrmroost. So the knight heads to Skyhold to inform Celebrant of this fact. Seth, who has been traveling with Eve, daughter of Dalgorel, ruler of the Fair Folk, ends up fleeing to her home territory and they inform the Fair Folk of what has happened since the feast, but the Fair Folk choose to retain their status of neutrality. This doesn't stop Seth, Tanu, Calvin and another member of the Fair Folk named Lomo from engineering an escape plan. Back to Kendra, the Somber Knight shows up and reprimands Celebrant, who is enraged at his announcement. A brouhaha breaks out and in the confusion Celebrant's son, Raxtus, helps free Kendra, eventually dropping her off in a territory that is ruled over by talking animals. Eventually Seth's party escape their own situation and are reunited with Kendra, and a plan to end Celebrant's insurrection is soon worked out. There is a haunted castle called Stormguard Castle within Wyrmroost Sanctuary. It's been haunted for hundreds of years, and anybody who ever goes in never comes out. But our heroes have learned that within the castle lays an object called the Wizenstone which, if claimed, could be used to easily put down Celebrant and his dragon insurrection. However, Celebrant has also learned of this fact, and so the culmination of this story takes place within Stormguard Castle, as the two factions race against the other, and solve the various riddles, to obtain this powerful talisman. The castle strips all of it's occupants of their magical powers upon entering so everybody is on equal footing. Can the Sorenson siblings and their few allies outsmart the dragons, or will this be the beginning of the end for them, and the world? This is another great read from Brandon Mull, this guy knows how to weave an intriguing, fast paced tale! I'm not sure if volume three is out yet, but I've got it on my list . . .

Jimmer and I finally finished watching the first season of Star Wars: Resistance, and it was pretty awesome! This season contains 21 episodes across a 4 disc DVD set, and focuses on a character named Kazuda Xiono. Kaz is a New Republic pilot who one day gets caught up in an adventure with Poe Dameron, helping the brash Resistance pilot out of a jam. Poe sees something in Kaz and recruits him to the Resistance, taking him to a floating station called the Colossus, on the ocean planet of Castilon. The Resistance has uncovered some First Order activity going down on the Colossus, and so Poe wants Kaz to go undercover as a spy and ferret these First Order agents out. Poe sets Kaz up under the guidance of one Jarek Yaeger, who owns a repair shop on the station and has a mysterious past that Kaz is curious about. While working for Yaeger, Kaz has a few things on his mind. First, obviously to act as an efficient spy and uncover the First Order presence on the station. Second, to ingratiate himself with Yaeger and his crew, which include mechanics Tam Ryvora and Neeku Vozo, as well as Yaeger's temperamental droid, Bucket. And third, as an up and coming pilot, Kaz wants to join the Flying Aces, a group of pilots on the station who serve partially as entertainment when they fly against each other for sport, but who are also the station's first line of defense against outside attack. Kaz's start on the station is a rough one, as he gets himself in to a lot of jams, and Tam especially is suspicious of his comings and goings. But as time goes by Kaz takes his tasks a bit more seriously and also gets much better at them. He attempts to infiltrate the Flying Aces, whose roster includes an ex-Imperial, and in the process befriends one of the pilots, a young lady named Torra Doza (who is also the daughter of the station's captain). Using this connection Kaz is also able to get a bit of a spy session in on Captain Doza, who Kaz discovers is also an ex-Imperial! Kaz gets caught up with a pirate named Synara, who he is quite fond of, although she is secretly working against Kaz on behalf of the pirate group she is affiliated with. Over time the pirate attacks on the Colossus increase in frequency and intensity, and so Captain Doza finally pulls the trigger on a bad decision . . . bringing the First Order to the station for security measures. Soon enough there is a Stormtrooper presence on the Colossus, one that seems to increase with each passing day. This presence gives Kaz more opportunity to find out exactly what's going on, but it also makes his job way more dangerous. As time goes by Kaz has contact with more and more beings on the station and begins to piece it all together, with the season culminating as the First Order takes hold of the Colossus in a full on occupation! With communications locked down and the Flying Aces grounded, Kaz works on coming up with a desperate plan to save the Colossus and it's occupants. Together with his friends they work towards sinking the station, and during the resulting confusion access the communications array in order to get a message to General Leia Organa. They are successful, but are dismayed when a return communication comes back to them informing Kaz that the Resistance cannot help, as their forces are spread too thin already. This means Kaz has to take matters in to his own hands and free the station from First Order control himself. During this action the First Order fires those fateful blasts from Starkiller Base that destroys a number of worlds, including Kaz's home planet of Hosnian Prime, leading this series right in to the events of The Force Awakens movie! This is an excellent show, meaning that the folks at Lucasfilm/Disney have iced three great series in a row with Clone Wars, Rebels, and now Resistance. At first I wasn't sure about the type of animation they used for this show, but it really grew on me. A number of great new characters were introduced with this show, and there of course were lots of funny, light-hearted moments sprinkled throughout. One of my favourite aspects of this was the interplay with the droids, featuring Bucket, BB-8, and eventually CB-23 when she replaces BB-8. I can't wait until season two is released!!

The fourth and final book of The Map to Everywhere series was the next indoor book I completed, and it is called Iron Tide Rising. As this final adventure kicks off Fin, Marrill and the rest of the crew of the Enterprising Kraken are in dire straits. In the last adventure their old, beloved wizard friend Ardent assumed the mantle of the Iron Master, giving in to his darkest urges and continuing to consume the Pirate Stream with the Iron Tide, turning everything he passes in to unforgiving metal. Fin and Marrill, now allied with the evil wizard Serth (who was previously the Iron Master before Ardent took the mantle from him), are desperate to get their friend back. However, this is an uneasy alliance and the two friends are unsure just what Serth's intentions are, after having worked against him for so long. The first step is to head to Flight-of-Thorns Citadel, where the keepers of the Meressian Prophecy abide. Stored there is a weapon called the Evershear Blade, the only object capable of penetrating the shell of the Iron Master, which has the potential to end the threat and save the stream. However, a debate rages between Fin and Marrill about the Evershear Blade, as Fin believes Ardent is lost and although he doesn't want to kill him, sees it as the only sure way to save the day. Marrill on the other hand wants to use the Evershear Blade only as a last resort, preferring to find a way to save Ardent and of course the stream in the process. The next stop for the Kraken is to talk with the Dawn Wizard, a powerful wizard who had a hand in setting off all of the events that have happened to Fin and Marrill since they met all that time ago. He says a visit to the heart of the Map to Everywhere is what they should plan next, to a place called the Mirrorweb. In the Mirrorweb all future possibilities are held, including one of course where everything works out just fine . . . along with all other possibilities in between. But can they trust the Dawn Wizard? He is known as a trickster, after all. And will Marrill's desire to find a potential future that ensures her mom (who is very sick) ends up healthy influence their final battle one way or another? The action culminates in the heart of the Mirrorweb, when the Iron Master pursues Fin and Marrill (who are the last of their party, after Remy and Serth were consumed by the tide and the Naysayer went missing), cornering them in to a final confrontation. Can Fin and Marrill come up with a last ditch solution and ensure the continuance of their existence, or are they (and the entire Pirate Stream) about to be wiped off the map? No pun intended. This was a pretty good conclusion to this very entertaining and imaginative series. It seemed to meander a bit at times I felt, but overall it was a pretty solid read and finishes off a funtastic series. I'd be curious to see if this husband/wife duo comes up with any other stories in the future . . .

The fourth outside book I finished off was the tale of classic literature I was looking forward to most, Bram Stoker's Dracula!! The story begins with the adventures of one Jonathan Harker, an upcoming real estate agent in London, England, who is traveling to Transylvania on behalf of his boss. He is to visit a castle owned by one Count Dracula, a man who is interested in purchasing an estate in the London area. However, as Jonathan approaches the castle things start to get weird, including a frantic journey by coach to the castle, surrounded by bloodthirsty wolves the entire time, and a driver who has red eyes and seems able to control said wolves. When Jonathan finally meets Dracula things get even weirder. The man lives alone in a huge castle and attends to Jonathan's needs personally, doesn't seem to eat anything, and is only ever up and active in the evenings and during the night. Jonathan gets on as best he can, but the longer he stays the more he realizes that things are beyond his realm of understanding. Many doors within the castle are locked, including all of the ones that would allow him to leave the property, and one night when he doesn't sleep in the room assigned to him, three females that seemingly materialize out of nowhere seem intent on smothering him before the Count arrives and gives them a mysterious offering. Jonathan begins to spy on Dracula and tracks his comings and goings to a certain area of that castle, and manages to sneak down there during the day . . . finding Dracula lying within an Earth filled box! Jonathan chronicles all of these adventures in an ongoing journal he hopes his soon to be wife, Mina, will read, for he doesn't know if he will survive. Jonathan does eventually manage to engineer an escape from Castle Dracula, but the road home will be long and gruelling. The scene then shifts to Jonathan's beloved Mina, who is corresponding with her childhood friend Lucy, who explains that she has recently received three marriage proposals! One from Arthur, a well respected lord and her true love. Dr. Seward, who runs an insane asylum. And Quincy Morris, an intriguing American chap. Lucy accepts Arthur's proposal, although she remains friends with the other two men. Mina and Lucy then decide to go to Whitby for a spell and spend some time together. However, one day a massive storm rolls in and amongst this raging bout of weather a mysterious ship slides in to harbour with the dead body of it's captain lashed to the wheel. A large dog runs from the ship upon it's landing, and for days and weeks it's all the town can talk about. As Mina and Lucy spend more time together Lucy starts to relapse in to bouts of sleepwalking, which she suffered as a youngster. One night Mina wakes up and has to go searching for Lucy, finding her outside at their favourite hang out spot. From a distance Mina believes she sees some sort of man standing over her, but as she approaches finds nobody. Mina brings Lucy back home, but over the next number of days Lucy's health begins to worsen. Mina makes this known to Arthur, who can't come to her aid as his father is also not well. So Dr. Seward comes to her aid instead, and upon seeing how bad she is, writes to a long time friend in Amsterdam named Dr. Van Helsing. When Van Helsing arrives he is quite concerned, but seemingly has an idea of what's going on . . . although he won't be all that forthcoming with the details. After a couple trips back to Amsterdam, leaving Dr. Seward in charge of poor Lucy, he leads Dr. Seward along on a number of clues, as he needs his friend to keep an open mind on what manner of beast has done this to Lucy. Turns out it's a blood sucking vampire, that's what, and eventually Van Helsing provides Seward with all the proof he needs! They are unfortunately not in time to save Lucy though, other than to free her from becoming one of the undead. When Mina is also infected a line is drawn and five brave men (Van Helsing, Dr. Seward, Arthur, Quincy and eventually Jonathan Harker) decide to hunt this monster, Count Dracula, pursuing him to the ends of the earth until they can destroy the beast and prevent him from claiming any more victims! But can they outsmart this mysterious and fiendish foe, or will they soon all be joining his ranks themselves?! This was a great book, full of action, intrigue and suspense. It was also the easiest book to understand of the bunch. Hard to believe this story gave birth to all of the modern day vampire adventures we see on screen . . . thank you, Mr. Stoker!!

I shifted gears for my next outdoor book, going from classic literature back to some Canadiana/hockey, which was a major theme from last summer. Anyways, the title of this book is Stories of the Game . . . by Wayne Gretzky! This is not a biography but a collection of stories over the last 99 years of professional hockey, explained in Wayne's own words. Although things have changed over the years, equipment, rules, etc., the heart of the game and the players that ply it's trade have not. And it's the stories of these players, as well as they game's builders, that help make the sport so great. Over the course of this book the subjects Wayne touches on include the game's first superstar, the rise of the professional game (remember the whole amateur vs. professional war that I touched on a while back, when I reviewed that other book?), the origins of each of the original six teams and thoughts on that whole era, the origins of some of hockey's greatest hardware including the Vezina trophy, Lady Byng trophy and of course the Stanley Cup, the origins of the All-Star game, the first player to score 50 goals, of course a chapter on Wayne's own hero Gordie Howe, the pioneering Willie O'Ree, the 1967 expansion with detailed origins of the new teams that came with it, the WHA's influence on the NHL's growth back in the 70's, lots of international hockey competitions (including the Olympics, '72 summit series, Canada Cups and World Cups), Wayne's thoughts on his own playing days (including his days with the Oilers, which he believes will be the last hockey dynasty, what with how hard it is to win the Cup nowadays with all of the parity, salary cap, etc.), and more. Throughout all of these tales Wayne weighs in with how he was influenced him, and weaves in his own personal tales in relation, which leads him on paths to explore even more stories with lots of different hockey personalities involved in the mix. This is an excellent read, and I would expect nothing less coming from the greatest hockey player to ever live. I really should read his biography though, I've got to put that on my list!

The next outdoor book I knocked off was a gift from my parents a while back, called Bear Town. It takes place in a small Swedish town, called Bear Town of course, and revolves around a junior hockey team full of seventeen year olds. With the world continuing to evolve and advance this small hamlet is being left behind, with jobs being lost and people moving away, although most of the people who remain are as proud as can be that they are hanging in there. There isn't much to Bear Town besides the blistering cold, coffee, booze, and of course hockey! And with the dwindling population of an already small town, their hockey program hasn't been all that competitive in a long, long time. However, they are currently on the brink of something special. Their junior team has overachieved and are set to play in a semifinal game against a much stronger opponent in the very near future. A lot more rests on the fate of this team than many people think. If they can win the championship a new hockey academy that is in the works would probably end up being installed in Bear Town, leading to even more infrastructure like a new mall, etc., bringing people, jobs and prosperity to a town that desperately needs it. There are many individuals involved in the club that are trying to pull it in different directions. The team president, the various sponsors, the GM, the coach, etc., and it all leads to a bit of drama. However, the majority of the drama is yet to come, and it revolves more around the players than anyone else! After a big performance in the semi-final that sees Bear Town eek out a win, the players all attend a party that evening to celebrate their milestone. However, at said party the team's superstar (Kevin) ends up raping the GM's daughter (Maya), with a couple other members of the team witnessing the crime. But in a backwards place like Bear Town going public with such a story may not fly, so Maya stays quiet . . . at least at first. On the afternoon of the day the juniors are to play in the finals, Maya finally tells her parents about the situation and they go to the police. Kevin is pulled off the bus and not allowed to play in the final, which Bear Town almost wins, but eventually fall just short in overtime. After the final, when the news becomes public, the town lashes out at Maya, as she expected. Nobody believes their beloved Kevin could have perpetrated such an act, and the sponsors of the team believe it is some sick plot by the GM (Peter) to sabotage his own team by getting Kevin pulled off the bus. The theories and accusations fly, everybody in town has their own thoughts an opinion on the situation, but said opinions are overwhelmingly in favour of Kevin, and denounce Maya in all sorts of vile ways. Will the witnesses eventually come forward and state their claims, will Maya and her family ultimately receive justice? Even if they do, will the stubborn residents of Bear Town be able to admit their mistake and swallow their pride? This was an excellent story. The way it was written promoted a lot of mystery and intrigue, all against the backdrop of the wonderful game of hockey! I believe there may be a sequel to this book, so I might have to pick it up and see what it's all about.

The next indoor book I completed was one from the Marvel Universe, called Black Widow: Red Vengeance. The story unfolds in between interview sessions held by agent Phil Coulson, as he grills Natasha Romanoff, or the Black Widow if you will, over some recent events. The story begins in New York City, at Rockefeller Center, as Black Widow and Ava Orlova (or the Red Widow, if you must) are tracking down some sort of unseen threat. The scene then shifts back a number of weeks to Brazil, where Natasha and Ava are chasing a lead, one that will help lead them towards the forces that remain in control of the "Red Room", the Russian organization that basically tortured people like Natasha and Ava and turned them in to the hard women they are. The pair have already dealt with the Red Room partially, killing the man in charge of it named Ivan Somodorov, but in the process Natasha's brother Alexei was killed, who was also Ava's boyfriend. During this previous adventure Ava gained her special powers, which are electricity based, and also formed a quantum link with Natasha which allows them to experience each other's senses and remain in communication even when they are far apart. Soon enough contact is made with a mysterious woman who they believe may be linked to the Red Room, and events begin to spiral out of control, leading them on a chase both physical and cyber-based, to track down a lead that can help steer the pair in the right direction. After successfully gaining some intel the pair penetrate deeper in to the Brazilian landscape, eventually discovering a facility in the middle of the jungle that contains a number of nuclear missiles as well as some sort of new drug that the Widows are unfamiliar with. As they escape this compound Natasha is able to kill Ivan's brother Yuri, weakening the Red Room's leadership even further, but when Natasha and Ava later return to New York, events only start speed up. Nuclear missiles begin to launch, targeting some bizarre areas. A new drug hits the streets of New York that almost seems to have a mind control aspect to it. And things only spiral out of control from there. Natasha brings Tony Stark and Captain Marvel in to the mix, and while they figure out a plan of action Ava goes to visit her friend Oksana, as well as Alexei's best friend, Dante. They get caught up in the action and the story all culminates at Tony Stark's annual Parade of Heroes, as the mysterious femme from Brazil weaponizes a trio of the balloons in said parade with this drug dubbed "Faith", set to wreak all sorts of havoc in the streets of New York. Can our small cast of heroes figure this plot out in time and save thousands of innocents, or will the Red Room continue to torment these Widows, even on their home turf? This was a pretty good, fast paced, action packed story. My favourite part of it was being introduced to a new character in Ava Orlova, as I didn't realize there was more than one Widow in the Marvel Universe. I think there is a book that came before this one, so I'd be very interested to read it also.

On the overnight I spent at my friends Johnny and Megan's, my first trip outside of home in a long, long time, we ended up watching a movie the morning after we watched all of that hockey. It was the recent remake of Pet Sematary! As the film kicks off we see a young family arrive in a small town called Ludlow, Maine. They have moved there from Boston so that they can slow life down a bit, as the father Louis was an ER doctor, which had him away from home a lot and stressed out to the max. With him is his wife Rachel, and their kids Ellie and Gage. The property their new home is on comes with a lot of land, and on this land is a small pet cemetery, which Ellie discovers while out on an adventure one day. She also meets their neighbour, a kindly old man named Judd. Life settles in to somewhat of a routine, but then one day Judd discovers Ellie's beloved cat Church, who has been hit by one of the big fuel trucks that zip through the area on a regular basis. Louis and Rachel hide the truth from Ellie, and late at night Judd takes Louis to a special place beyond the pet cemetery in order to bury Church. The next day . . . Church returns none worse for the wear! Although he is not quite the same cat. Louis confronts Judd about this development, and Judd explains to Louis that he doesn't quite know how it works, but there is something special about the land where they buried Church, and he only wanted to stop Ellie's hurting by bringing Church back. Eventually it gets so bad that Louis has to take Church far out in to the woods and leave him there, as the cat has become something of a danger, especially to their youngest, Gage. Ellie is despondent at her birthday party, upon realizing the cat has run away. But when Church trots home under his own power Ellie and then Gage rush out to meet him at the road, while at the same time another fuel truck is barrelling down the road! In the aftermath Ellie is killed and both Louis and Rachel are heartbroken. Rachel takes Gage to her parents' house as she can't stand being around their home, and that leaves Louis all on his own, where he comes to a momentous decision. He goes and digs Ellie's body up and takes her out to that magical spit of land. Later that night Ellie returns, but as with what happened to Church, she is not the same . . . as in now a homicidal maniac!! The film culminates in a gruesome bit of action in and around the farmhouse, when Louis must confront the monster he has created. Does he have what it takes to off his own daughter, though? Or will the new Ellie be able to take advantage of Louis' indecision and take the rest of her family down with her? This was a great film, based on a great story. I just figured it was going to be a straight reboot of the original film, but they actually switched up a few of the major details, which gave this new version a fresh and interesting take. Good stuff!

My next indoor reading adventure was to start a series of books I found at Dollarama a while back, the Enchanted Emporium series! The first book is called Suitcase of Stars, and is written by an Italian author I had read a previous series from which I loved, so these books were a no brainer. It follows the adventures of Finley McPhee, a young boy who lives in a small Scottish town called Applecross. Finley is a bit of a dreamer, not fond of school, and to that end he takes many days off of school in favour of going down to a local stream and spending his days fishing. However, his absences catch up with Finley and the school's head administrator soon pays his parents a visit, notifying them of his habit of skipping class. As a penance Finley must visit the Reverend Prospero, who puts the boy to work doing a number of jobs, but the one he sticks with the longest is to become a substitute mailman as the town's regular mailman has suffered an injury on the job. Finley actually enjoys his time covering this route, as he is able to spend a lot of time outside with his beloved dog, Patches, riding around town on a bike while he delivers said mail. However, one day Finley is tasked with delivering a letter to an establishment called the Enchanted Emporium, in a region of Applecross he's never heard of. He investigates knowledge of this area with a number of the adults in town and is finally able to deliver the letter, along the way meeting a captivating young girl named Aiby Lily. As time goes by his encounters with this young woman increase and things start to get strange. For Aiby is hiding some secrets, magical secrets that Finley will have a hard time believing until he sees the proof before his very eyes. Along the way Finley learns the Lily family secret, protectors of the Enchanted Emporium, a place that buys and sells magical items. And Finley knows Aiby is not putting him on when the pair of them, along with the local dress maker, must face down a gibberish spouting madman who summons a real life giant! Will Finley find a way to survive this encounter? And if so, will he still want anything to do with such a magical but potentially dangerous family? This was a great, fast read, full of wonder and adventure. I can't wait to read the next three in the series!

The next outdoor book I completed was one that was given to me by a family friend, called DeathDay, by William C. Dietz. On February 28, 2020 the Earth is invaded without warning by a race of aliens known as Saurons. Their attacks are coordinated, their strikes swift and precise, and it doesn't take long before most of the human race is either enslaved, or dead. A man named Alexander Franklin, a former governor from Washington, is asked to be the liason between the Saurons and the humans although most humans see him as a traitor, as a collaborator with the Saurons. The story the humans are given is that the Saurons are on a pilgrimage through the universe, and Earth is just their latest stop. All they require are human slaves to complete construction of a number of Sauron temples before the aliens can move on to the next world in their path. The aliens' own situation is a bit complicated though, as they exist in a caste system. The lead Saurons are the Zin, which are dark, insect like creatures that are the cream of the alien crop. Then come the Kan (dark insects like the Saurons, but with limited memory and no skills in reading and writing), and then the Fon (same as the Kan except they are light in colour). At the very end of this chain of command come the Ra'Na, furry skinned aliens who act as servants to all of the Saurons. It is quite apparent that the Saurons prize the darker coloured members of their species over the lighter ones, and this is reflected in the way they treat their human slaves, with darker skinned humans getting preferential treatment. As the days and months roll by in the Pacific Northwest of the United States, certain groups of humans begin to unroll their own plans, a resistance is born! Or should I say, resistances. Among these groups is a sect of white supremacists, a small collection of ex-Army Rangers, not to mention the forces of the guy left in charge of Franklin's personal security, among others. The kicker though is when a member of one of the lower alien castes, a being known as Fra Pol, discovers the Zin's real intentions for building these "temples" and the horrible truth is revealed! Soon enough these groups of humans are working with certain groups of their alien tormentors in order to bring down the Zin and gain freedom for all. However, just how fragile are these alliances? Unfortunately this book doesn't come to a conclusion as it is just the first book in some sort of series, although that is not actually mentioned on the book, so it came as a bit of a surprise. Not a bad read though, certainly an interesting take on an alien invasion of Earth, what with the racism aspect to it and what not.

I finally got around to watching the last of the Marvel Knights productions that I'd picked up from Dollarama over the last couple years, this one a double feature that includes two stories, the first of which is called Astonishing X-Men: Torn. As this story kicks off the X-Men are in a bit of disarray after previous events surrounding Genosha. The students are upset after recently finding one of their own members killed in the very halls of the mansion, and so Wolverine seeks to distract them with some extra intense training. Kitty Pryde is spending all of her time with Colossus, but is experiencing nightmares of her father, and during this process she begins to be able to phase shift. As for Scott Summers, he is being tormented by Emma Frost, who is attempting to seduce him physically while reminding him of his deceased former lover all the while, Jean Grey. There are two outside parties involved that are monitoring these events. First, a woman named Nova and the Hellfire Club are working with Emma Frost to create some of these disruptions and eventually invade the mansion and cause even more trouble, attacking the recruits, mentally turning Wolverine in to an innocent little boy, stripping away Hank McCoy's humanity and leaving only the Beast behind, among many other transgressions. The other party is a team overseen by agent Brand and her offshoot of S.H.I.E.LD., dubbed S.W.O.R.D. She is at odds with Maria Hill in the absence of Nick Fury and is highly interested in what is going on with the X-Men, specifically in relation to one of it's members who is apparently destined to destroy the world! The action all culminates in and around the mansion when all three of these parties come head to head in an action packed conclusion to this interesting storyline.

The second feature is called Astonishing X-Men: Unstoppable, and picks up not long after the events of Torn. Agent Brand has basically commandeered the X-Men and is flying them towards a planet known as the Breakworld. For one of the X-Men, Colossus, has been prophesized to destroy this world, and that is the issue that has kind of led events up to this current point in time. The aliens that inhabit Breakworld have mobilized and sent forces to intercept the X-Men and destroy them before they can reach the planet, and so our heroes' forces are divided up in to two teams as they are just barely able to reach the surface. On the mission are Agent Brand, Beast, Wolverine, Armour, Cyclops, Emma Frost, Kitty Pryde and of course Colossus. Being chased by the natives, who are ruled over by a being named Kruun, the X-Men are in for a desperate fight for their lives. However, they are intercepted and aided by someone named Aghanne, whose sect of followers don't necessarily believe in the prophecy. Moving forward there are other questions to be asked, like what exactly is Agent Brand up to, what are her true motivations? And as evidence grows to debunk this whole "prophesy" business, what is the real truth behind Colossus being heralded as the destroyer of the Breakworld? The action culminates when a massive bullet is launched from the Breakworld, a world destroyer with the target being planet Earth. Back on Earth it's mightiest heroes are mobilized, including Spider-Man, Iron Man, Doctor Strange, amongst many others. But it will be one of the X-Men on Breakworld who will have to make the ultimate sacrifice in order to save her home planet. This was a real cool story, bringing the action that took place in Torn to an even higher crescendo. I loved the story, I loved the action, and I'd be interested to know where things went after this arc . . .

The next indoor book I finished was the novelization of Star Wars: The Last Jedi. That is Episode 8, for anybody who has lost count at this point. I won't go too deep in to it because I have already reviewed the movie on my blog and this is just a rehash. As this story kicks off Starkiller Base has just been destroyed and in the process the Resistance has revealed itself to the First Order. Thus Leia Organa is in the process of leading a withdrawal from their secret base on D'Qar, but it's going to be close. In the meantime Rey has just made contact with Luke Skywalker on his secret planet of Ach'To, but he apparently has no interest in training her in the Jedi arts, or even just conversing with her in general . . . although she is not about to give up. Back with the Resistance they manage to escape before the First Order can pin them down on D'Qar, and escape to hyperspace not long after. However, when they revert to realspace the First Order shows up on their tail just afterwards . . . somehow they tracked the Resistance through hyperspace!! The problem with this is that the fleet is very low on fuel, so low that they only have enough juice for one more jump. But if the First Order can follow them through hyperspace, what's the point? So a drawn out chase at sublight speed ensues, with the First Order picking off ships one by one as they run out of fuel. A desperate plan is hatched, for Finn and an engineer/mechanic name Rose (who meet somewhat dubiously at first) to travel to the casino world of Canto Bight and meet up with a master slicer (whom Maz Kanata recommends to them). Once they have him on their side the duo plan on infiltrating the First Order's lead Star Destroyer and disabling the device that allows them to track the fleet so easily. As they are off on their mission Kylo Ren leads a detachment of starfighters to attack the Resistance fleet's flagship, the Raddus, and Leia is almost killed in the process, slipping in to a coma. Amilyn Holdo, one of Leia's oldest friends, takes over command of the Resistance and her lack of disclosure to her forces causes Poe to stage an uprising . . . one that is quenched when Leia comes to and shuts Poe down. Soon enough Finn and Rose, along with BB-8 and the slicer known as DJ, return to the fleet and slip aboard the Star Destroyer. They are ultimately caught and slated for execution. While this is happening Rey also makes it back to the fleet, after having finally befriended Luke and having him teach her as best as possible in the limited time they have together. She boards the Destroyer as well and goes to confront Kylo Ren, who brings her before Supreme Leader Snoke. In the meantime the Resistance have begun their final gambit, escaping in transports to the surface of a planet named Crait, where the Alliance have an old base they plan on holing up in, to plan their final stand and broadcast to the rest of the galaxy that they require assistance. Up in space Kylo and Rey get caught up in a battle against Snoke, where the apprentice kills the master and then invites Rey to join him in ruling the galaxy. At the same time, to buy the Resistance safety in their plunge towards Crait, Holdo, the lone person left on the Raddus, makes the ultimate sacrifice by running her ship through the First Order fleet when she goes to hyperspace and destroys a number of their ships. Finn and Rose take advantage of this distraction to get loose, and off Captain Phasma in the process, a dose of revenge best served hot in this situation! The final battle takes place on the surface of Crait, as the First Order advances on the secret base, all hope seemingly lost for the Resistance. However, a certain Jedi master just might show up and square off against Kylo Ren, buying the remnants of the Resistance the time they need to find a way out of their precarious situation. Looking back on this story, it's a lot better than I remember it being the first few times I watched the movie. I'm not a fan of how they decided to lock Luke away in isolation for all that time based on his failure with Ben Solo, but it is what it is. At least he gets a good final hurrah in this story. The reason I like reading the novelizations of the Star Wars movies is that they give more insights in to the characters and their motivations that you might not get in the films. Like for example in this book Luke's motivations for finally helping Rey, and also a dream premonition he has at the beginning of the story, sending him tidings of what was to come are all disclosed. Rey's motivations for leaving Kylo alive after their heated battle against Snoke's elite guards. Poe's connections to the Alliance as a youngster, and his motivations for becoming a rebel himself. Leia's insights on the secret base on Crait, which includes a bit of Rebellion lore from the past. And many more. Now I just need to pick up the Rise of Skywalker and I'll be up to date!

The next indoor book I completed was the second volume in The Enchanted Emporium series, called Compass of Dreams. As this story kicks off Finley McPhee hasn't seen Aiby Lily in a week or so, and on top of that he soon discovers that he is no longer going to be employed as the town mailman, which bums him out even more. Finley visits Reverend Prospero once again, to find out what his new form of employment will take, discovering he'll be working for a man named Mr. Everett. Mr. Everett operates a small tourist shop and he needs somebody to test and measure aspects of Applecross's various beaches, so as to attract surfer clientele. Finley and his faithful dog Patches settle in to their work and enjoy it, but there are dark tidings going on in Applecross in the meantime. Sheep are mysteriously disappearing, Aiby's father seems to be on some sort of strange quest, and Aiby greets a client named Adele Babele to the Enchanted Emporium. This woman takes a liking to the precious Big Book of Magical Objects, which is not for sale, and she really rubs Finley the wrong way. As time goes by the sheep situation intensifies and late one night when Finley can't sleep, he peers out his bedroom window to see a strange being watching him from the fringe of the forest. Finley goes out to confront this person, but his dad rushes out to intervene and the stranger slips silently away. The next day Finley relates this story to Aiby and they begin some research, realizing that this fellow is probably a magical being named Green Jack. He's a fellow who shows up in an area for 21 days, each week claiming a victim during a devious game of chance he likes to play with these unfortunate souls. But why is he in Applecross, and is he working with somebody to cause all of this trouble? With the death of a beloved elderly woman in town Green Jack apparently still has two victims to claim, and with the events of the night before is Finley on his list? Finley and Aiby's research leads them to go on the hunt for an object called the Sherwood Compass, an object that will allow them to ferret out Green Jack's location and figure the whole situation out. But can Finley, Aiby, Finley's brother Doug and their friend Meb stand against a magical being who considers murder a matter of routine? Or will figuring this mystery out be that last thing they ever do? This was a great story, even better than the opening book, full of mystery and magic and also full of pace. I'm excited to see how the last two books wrap things up!

The next outdoor book I completed was Battlefield Earth: A Saga of the Year 3000! Don't lump it in with the abomination of a movie starring John Travolta, as the book is absolutely unbelievable, a true science fiction masterpiece. Anyways, as stated it takes place around the year 3000, seeing a violent alien race called Psychlos having ruled Earth for the past 1000+ years or so. They are tall and heavy furred beasts armed with destructive talons, and they specialize in mining. They have decimated Earth so much that there are only pockets of humanity holed up across the globe in mountain ranges and such, places where radiation abounds, which the Psychlos can't abide as it causes an explosive reaction with their special breathe-gas. In one of these human settlements outside what used to be Denver, Colorado, a powerful man named Johnny Goodboy Tyler longs for more for his people. And after his father dies he finally decides to set out and see what's out there, to find a healthier place for his people to live (for they don't know what radiation is, but it's causing all sorts of health issues amongst his tribe). While out on this adventure Johnny is captured by a Psychlo named Terl, who serves as the security officer for a nearby Psychlo mine. Terl is a dubious sort and has a plan to mine a nearby gold deposit he has discovered (for gold is very valuable on Psychlo), but he needs to do it discreetly and so he plans to have the "animal" take care of it for him. While Johnny is in captivity he listens, watches and learns all he can about Psychlo behaviour, technology, and anything else he can get an inside track on. Eventually Terl admits he needs more people so they head to Scotland, where Johnny recruits over 50 Scots to come back with him, promising them an attempt at taking down their oppressors although it will be highly risky and dangerous. The Scots are raring to go, and so when Terl transports the newcomers back to Denver, Johnny's planning goes in to overtime. After many months the day finally comes when Johnny's scheme is to be set loose, and on the day of a firing (when the Psychlos use teleportation to send material and personnel between Earth and Psychlo), the shit hits the fan and the humans' attack is unleashed. Having trained these Scots on all of the Psychlo equipment, including their battleplanes, attacks are coordinated at all minesites across the world . . . and the humans emerge victorious!! However, the work does not stop there. For although they had a plan to destroy the Psychlo home world worked in to their day of resistance, they don't know for sure if that part of their plan went off successfully and they fear an eventual counter attack. So Johnny's next task is to unite the remaining people of Earth in coming together even more, training them, and getting them working on reinforcing their various bases around the world, to prepare for this possible strike. As time goes by the feared attack never comes, but other situations arise that need to be dealt with. Situations like a member of Johnny's former tribe rising up against him after scheming with the captive Terl. Many other races of aliens showing up in the atmosphere above Earth and waging their own attack on the planet. Not to mention dealing with a couple of alien bankers who claim to own Earth and are owed billions of galactic credits in order for the humans to gain their independence. After overcoming the impossible and ousting the Psychlos from planet Earth, does Johnny have more miracles within him, or will his planet's independence be cut short by these other events? This book was amazing, over 1100 pages but it flew by in such a hurry because it's so full of action, suspense and intrigue. The planning and details involved in Johnny's long festering insurrection against the Psychlos was so carefully planned, the plot interweaving with these various details, it was just so interesting from start to finish. It really is a beautiful story. Now that movie technology is what it is I think they should do a film for it now, and do it right. It could be fantastic . . .

I finally managed to get a hold of a copy of Sonic the Hedgehog, which I was really looking forward to seeing since I first heard it was being made. It starts off with a brief cutscene from the past, in a strange world, where we are introduced to a young blue hedgehog named Sonic who has the amazing ability of running insanely fast. Sonic is watched over by a large owl creature and when his power is eventually discovered and a pack of other strange creatures come gunning for him, this owl lady uses magical rings to whisk him away to another world. Fast forward a few years and Sonic is now a bit older of course, and we find out the world he was whisked away to is Earth!! The area in particular Sonic winds up in is Green Hills, Montana, where he finds a cave to live in, spending his time spying on the town's population. His main subject of interest is a couple named Tom and Maddie Wachowski, he a town sheriff and she a veterinarian. Sonic idolizes the pair of them, especially Tom, and unbeknownst to the couple he sits in on their movie nights from outside their living room window. However, one night after watching the conclusion of a little league game Sonic plays out his own fantasy on the base paths. Upon realizing how utterly alone he is though, Sonic goes a little berserk and causes a huge energy blast that blacks out a great portion of the Pacific Northwest. The U.S. brass decide to bring in an eccentric and arrogant specialist name Dr. Robotnik to help determine what caused this phenomenon, and not long afterwards his drones have a bead on Sonic and his little hideout. This leads him to retreat to the Wachowski residence, where Sonic hides in their garage and ends up being discovered by Tom, who is beyond surprised to discover a talking, blue hedgehog! In their initial exchange Tom ends up tranquilizing Sonic who then proceeds to drop his bag of rings, opening a portal to San Francisco, and his bag of rings proceeds to fall through said portal. When Sonic eventually comes to the pair resume their conversation but are cut short as Dr. Robotnik is right behind them, throwing the situation in to chaos. A race then begins, a race for Tom and Sonic to get away from Robotnik and his army of technologically advanced gadgets, arrive in San Francisco and reclaim Sonic's lost rings, before whisking him off to the safety of another world. But with Tom being branded a fugitive and enemy of the United States for his apparent involvement in this "threat to national security", not to mention Robotnik's persistence, the pair are up against some tall odds. Can this pair, who eventually become a threesome when Maddie joins the chase, rise to the occasion, or will Robotnik have his way and destroy Tom's new blue little friend? I loved this movie, which is a light hearted, fun and exciting family romp featuring one of the most beloved game characters of all time! Jim Carrey's performance as Dr. Robotnik was hilarious, and I also really loved the title and and credit 16-bit style animations. This is a movie that is just so far up my alley for so many different reasons. And it looks like there will be a sequel too, judging how this one ended!

My final outdoor book of the season was called Black House, co-written by Stephen King and Peter Straub. This story is a follow-up to The Talisman, which they also co-wrote, and also ties in to The Dark Tower. This story kicks off in a small community on the western reaches of Wisconsin, a town named French Landing. They are in the middle of a crisis as a serial killer dubbed "The Fisherman" has killed (and partially eaten) two children, and a third has just gone missing. The town's chief of police, one Dale Gilbertson, feels as though he is in over his head and so he calls on a dear friend to try and help him out. A few years ago Jack "Hollywood" Sawyer, a homocide detective from Los Angeles, came to French Landing to help with another violent case that plagued the town, and while working the murders the two became friends. Jack, having since retired from police work, ended up settling in French Landing after taking such a shine to the place. However, he has some demons (literally, perhaps?) and these prevent him from wanting to get involved. But when a fourth child goes missing, a young boy named Tyler Marshall, Jack is dragged in to the case when Tyler's father (Fred) pleads for Jack to listen to him. Many things begin to happen at this point, including a package showing up at Jack's door which contains the severed foot of the third missing child, Irma Freneau. Then, Jack and Fred go to visit Fred's wife Judy, who is now in the insane asylum. She started losing her mind apparently long before Tyler was taken, and when Jack sees her and talks to her, he basically falls in love. The language she uses . . . Fred realizes that something otherwordly is going on, and that Jack and Judy have some sort of inside track, a link they share, regarding these circumstances. Suddenly Jack finds himself deep in the thick of the Fisherman case, and Dale is thrilled. For although Dale has been bungling the case to a certain degree, it's not really his fault. The Fisherman has been manipulating events so that they spiral out of control on the chief, and Dale receives no help from some of French Landing's citizens, including one of his own officers, not to mention a sleazy reporter. Throughout these events Jack and Judy are certain that Tyler hasn't suffered the same fate as these other children, that he is currently safe and stashed away somewhere by his tormentor. Jack is determined to bring him back, and to help him along the way he of course has Dale and his entire police department at his disposal. He also has his good friend (and Dale's uncle) Henry Leyden, a blind man who maintains a few different radio personalities and whose heightened senses defy belief. And lastly a posse of five bikers, the leader of whom's young daughter was one of the Fisherman's first victims. But Jack is the only one who knows the supernatural truth behind the Fisherman, and who he truly works for. Will these allies of Jack's be able to cope with the horrible truths they are going to be confronted with, or will it be up to Jack alone to "crack the case" and bring Tyler home? This was a great book, it kind of reminded me of the From Dusk Till Dawn movie, in the fact that it kind of starts off all normal and such, and then makes this big left turn when the supernatural element enter the fray. Lots of action and suspense, some great characters, I love how it's tied in to a couple of King's other books, and also how it's left wide open for future developments.

My next indoor book was a good sized read and the seventh installment in The Expanse series, called Persepolis Rising. As this story starts off a significant amount of time has passed since the last adventures of the crew of the Rocinante, a few decades in fact. It has been a time of relative peace, with Earth getting back on it's feet after suffering so badly in past events, but soon developments will arrive that will set off more disastrous circumstances. It starts off relatively innocently though, when a ship headed for a newer world called Freehold bursts through the ring gates and heads home without getting the proper authorization for said passage. The Transport Union, which regulates traffic through said ring gates, tasks James Holden and his crew of the Rocinante to head to Freehold and lay it on the line for this colony. That because of their transgression Freehold is going to be cut off from the ring gates, leaving them stranded on their world which is not yet self sufficient. So basically it's a death sentence! Holden being Holden, when they reach Freehold and speak to the man who jumped through the ring gates, a chap named Houston, he alters Drummer's (the president of said Transport Union) orders. Holden doesn't want to doom the whole colony for one man's transgression, so instead he offers them the option of offering up Houston for trial and ultimately they acquiesce, and so the Rocinante heads back to Medina Station with a lone captive on board. When Drummer hears of Holden's action she is not impressed, but soon there are bigger fish to fry. For through the gate that leads to the world of Laconia a ship emerges and descends on Medina station. This ship is led by the sect of Martians that disappeared through the gates a long, long time ago (while Marco Inaros and his "Free Navy" stayed behind to wage war on Earth and friends). Somehow these people have been biding their time all these years, waiting for their chance to return and impose Laconian rule on the rest of the universe. In order to do so they have a new kind of technology, for their massive warship is unlike anytning anybody has ever seen, seeming to be almost organic in nature and assumedly having sprung from study of the protomolecule. The ships in and around Medina station, as well as the station itself, fight back against this threat but are swiftly put down and have to submit to Laconian control. A Laconian administrator, Santiago Singh, takes control of the station and attempts to win the citizens over as the Laconians submit their terms for control of the galaxy. But humankind of course, at least a good portion of it, don't take too kindly to being told what to do and don't want to blindly submit to what they see as a group of well armed bullies. And so Holden (who with his love Naomi were going to retire after bringing Houston in, and pass control of the ship to Bobbie Draper) and the crew of the Rocinante help spearhead an underground movement on the station to attempt an escape, allowing them all to flee, lay low, and try and think of a plan of action to take towards these Laconians. With so many adventures under their belt already will their luck continue to hold out? Will they escape Medina and if so, will all of them make it out alive? This was another fun, fast paced adventure but with a very different taste from many of the volumes that preceded it. The dramatic shift in timing really helped establish this difference, in my opinion. And the fact that Holden and Naomi were on their way out of the action also helped push the point that the landscape is really starting to change in this series. But of course they were dragged right back in to the heart of the action and forced to face down a new type of threat, which also helped keep the story fresh and interesting. On to number eight!

The next book I finished was a short but sweet adventure, the third book in the Enchanted Emporium series, called Map of the Passages. This story picks up right after the last one left off, with Finley McPhee and many of Applecross' other men attending the funeral for old lady Cumai. She was one of the victims during Finley's last adventure, when he was pursued by the green man. Anyhow, at the funeral Aiby shows up for a brief spell and gifts Fin a magical Second Chance Watch, which will allow him to travel back in time and redo life events, although it will work just once. The funeral party returns to the pub afterwards, and when Fin eventually decides to head home he hears a voice coming from McBlack's van (McBlack is a dour man whom Fin and Aiby have suspected of unsavoury activities in the past). Looking inside the van all Fin sees is a small plant . . . and that is indeed what is talking to him! McBlack's daughter Somerled, a green skinned magical being whom Fin spied during a previous adventure at McBlack castle, can talk via plant life. Somerled informs Fin to meet him the next morning, as she has some vital intel to pass along. When he does hook up with Somerled the next day she informs him that Cumai is one of the Others, a magical group of beings who are supremely pissed about her death and will be soon coming to exact a toll for it, and Somerled also tells Fin that Cumai was murdered! Fin wastes no time in relaying these details to his confidants at the Emporium in Aiby, Mr. Lily and Meb, and so Aiby forms a plan to head to Cumai's home, the old mill, and search for clues. Soon enough Fin, Aiby and Fin's brother Doug are at the mill, but it proves a challenge just to gain admittance to the building in the first place! But when they eventually do gain entry the group searches for clues and via magical means discover that Cumai was murdered by Semueld Askell, a mysterious citizen of Applecross who is relatively new to the region and lives down at the campground. Askell also happens to belong to one of the families who are the keepers of the Enchanted Emporium, and the Askells are next in line after the Lily's term is over. Ultimately this party, including Mr. Everett, who was a friend of Cumai's and wants to help out, go to confront Askell at the campground. Events spiral out of control though, and soon enough Askell has taken Aiby, Doug, Mr. Everett, and even Fin's dog Patches captive! Askell is after something called the Map of the Passages, which he believes lies within the Emporium somewhere, but he can only search for it if Fin willingly gives Askell his key. What's more important, the safe return of his friends and family, or Fin's duty to protect the Emporium and the magical objects within? Whatever will Fin do!? Well, there is that snazzy little watch he now has in his possession. This was a great, fast read, the best book in the series so far. Full of suspense and mystery, and of course developments regarding the growing romance between Fin and Aiby. One more book to go!

It took me a while to get through this next book, as it was the one I had started when I went back to work, but it was excellent once I got through it! And the book in question is called Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge; Black Spire. As the story kicks off a Resistance spy named Vi Moradi is assigned a new mission from her leader, the esteemed General Leia Organa. Vi's assignment is to head to a backwater planet on the edges of the outer rim called Batuu, and infiltrate an outpost named Black Spire. Once on site Vi is to establish a new base of operations for the Resistance, where she can recruit people to the cause and give the Resistance a new hideaway to rest up, refuel, and perform all of the other tasks it takes to continue the fight against the First Order. There is only one complication . . . her former First Order tormentor, Cardinal (also known as Archex), is to accompany her! The events that established their relationship all happened in a previous adventure, when Vi was able to convince Archex of the First Order's evil and turn him towards the Resistance instead. They both have wounds, and they both have ghosts, but they try to make the best of it. Their mission doesn't go well right off the get go however, when upon arriving in the system they get caught up in a space battle between a couple of pirates, then crash land on the surface of Batuu! When the pair comes to they discover all of the supplies they were to use in building this new Resistance outpost have been looted. Vi soon makes a local friend named Salju, who informs her that the theft of her goods was probably performed by minions of Black Spire's local crime boss, Oga Garra. Salju helps Vi settle in as best she can, helping her look more like a local so as to not draw any unwanted attention to herself, and Salju even gives Vi tips on getting a job to help make some money to survive and possibly even buy back some of her gear. Vi settles in and even begins to enjoy life in Black Spire, feeling like she belongs to this community, and finding work with a local scrap dealer named Savi . . . who has some roots to the Force. Vi gains an audience with Oga and finds a way to try and win back some of her gear, although the task Oga gives her is quite dangerous. Vi even manages to continue to develop a more friendly relationship with Archex, also gaining a couple of new recruits along the way. However, soon the hammer falls when a First Order ship arrives in atmosphere, tipped off that there is a Resistance spy in Black Spire's works! That is when this small and underequipped band of freedom fighters must come together and buckle down to try and find a way to eject this threat from Batuu. But can they strike back successfully against such a powerful foe? How many more will die? And how many more scars will the survivors add to their psyches in the process? This was a great story, lots of pleasant moments full of normality and warmth, mixed in with violent and nasty excursions against the faceless First Order. And also some mystery with the links to the Jedi and such. The story keeps on going too, I can't wait for the next installment in the series!!

I finished another book in quick fashion, the fourth and final installment in the Enchanted Emporium series, called The Thief of Mirrors. As this story picks up Finley is pissed at his brother Doug, who still hasn't given him back the key to the Enchanted Emporium, which Finley was forced to give Doug during their last adventure. Because of this his jealousy has prevented Finley from visiting Aiby, and he is feeling quite frustrated. When Doug tells Finley that he is going to the meeting of all of the magical families who oversee the Enchanted Emporium with Aiby in place of Finley, it's the last straw. Finley takes off on his own in to the countryside, but eventually a flock of seagulls (the ones who look over the Emporium) come to him and herd Finley back towards town . . . something is wrong. Once back Finley finds some clues that point towards the kind of trouble that Doug and Aiby may be in. Combining his efforts with his fellow guardian, Meb, the pair decipher the information that's been left to them and soon enough Finley is packing a pair of magical suitcases before boarding a strange bus . . . a bus that takes Finley on a nightmarish adventure inside his own mind! When Finley reaches his final destination though, he discovers it's all just a trap that's been sprung by his arch enemy Semueld Askell. And so Finley must find a way to escape his newfound imprisonment and race back to Applecross, hopefully in time to save his brother, the love of his life, and many other citizens from his home town. Along the way Finley discovers some disturbing truths about himself, which he may not be entirely comfortable with. Can Finley overcome these issues, overcome these odds, turn the tables on the fiendish Semueld Askell and save the day? He is a little scamp, so I wouldn't bet against him!! This was a great finish to a short but exciting series from a pretty engaging author. Still can't believe I picked up most of these books at Dollorama!!

I had a couple of albums in rotation when I'd hit the basement during Covid, the first being Megadeth's tenth studio album, what is 2004's The System Has Failed. We had heard some different looks on a couple of the albums that preceded this one, in both Risk and Youthanasia, but The System Has Failed goes back to some straight up metal/thrash, at least in my opinion. The riffin', the solos, and boy oh boy are they tiiigghttttt!! This album deals with a lot of social commentary, as is usually the way with a Megadeth album, and in this instance a lot of it has to do with world security, terrorism and the like. Also personal relationships and in particular the breakdown of said relationships, not to mention what seems to be a bit of self reflection. It's not their best work, but a really good album regardless! My favourite tracks on the album ended up being Blackmail the Universe, Die Dead Enough, The Scorpion, Back in the Day & Of Mice and Men.

The other album in rotation was Green Day's twelfth studio album, pretty recently from 2016, called Revolution Radio. This is my favourite of the more modern Green Day albums, by far! It features many changes of pace, alternating between slower and faster. While some songs seem like the band has matured and their sound has reached a long journeyed stage of evolution, other songs go back to their earliest roots in fast paced, short lived punk rocking gems. My overall impression of the album is that of going on a journey of self discovery, a coming of age, of self reflection and figuring out just who they are. And the journey along the way isn't necessarily the smoothest of sailing. I can't pinpoint it, it's just this overarching feeling I get when I listen to the album as a whole. And of course, as with Megadeth, there is definitely a little smattering of social commentary mixed in, mostly to do with how ridiculously crazy and violent this modern world has become. My favourite tracks include Somewhere Now, Bouncing Off the Wall, Youngblood, Too Dumb to Die & Forever Now. Great release!!

During Covid I came across my old VHS tapes, and instead of selling them or throwing them out I decided to find a place to store them, and so Jimmer and I have actually been going through and watching some of them. I'm not sure if I've reviewed any of these films on Gamespot over the years or not, so I thought I would just mention them in passing. They include Gone in 60 Seconds, Wayne's World 2, The Perfect Storm, So I Married an Axe Murderer, Deep Blue Sea, Clueless, Urban Legend, Scary Movie, I Know What You Did Last Summer & Airheads.

Finally, with my switch to a brand new career, one that takes me out of an office environment and in to a job that is much more physical and removed from technology, I have decided to call these regular blog posts quits. They are just too much work and I no longer have the time to handle them as easily as I used to. I still plan on posting the rest of my Bill 69 blogs though, and possibly some other smaller blogs that may flit through my mind from time to time. But this is pretty much it. Everything I get up to will still be posted to my YouTube channel though, for anybody who is interested, so this isn't actually the end of the line per se. Aloha!!