Crashlands Launch Trailer, My Thoughts

In 2016, Butterscotch Shenanigans developed and published a game called Crashlands. Originally released for mobile devices and PC, it was an RPG that told the tale of a being that crashed on an alien world and had to craft things to survive. The game would get critical acclaim, and now, it's coming to the Nintendo Switch. Let's take a look at the launch trailer!

Wow. That's a lot of awards.

Basically, this world is like the world in Minecraft, but it is alien, and has hints of a civilization. Sounds appealing.

This voiceover is funny.

This also reminds me a bit of Stardew Valley. I have that game. It's fun, but it can be a bit overwhelming.

REAL MEN FISH. LIKE MEN.

I like the idea of hatching and raising beasts. I hope there's a wide variety of beasts to raise, and they each have a different benefit.

...I don't wanna kill my monster. We're friends, dagnabit! YOU KNOW HOW MANY TIMES HE PULLED MY FAT OUT OF THE FRYER, CRAZY VOICE?! DO YOU?!

Yay, playing with a friend. And the friend is a droid that shoots lasers. That'll be very handy against bosses.

Well, this game sounds right up my alley. Making stuff, fighting monsters, raising your own monsters. This sounds fun! I can't wait to try this!

The Bug Butcher Launch Trailer, My Thoughts.

Bugs. People hate them. Some collect them. But most people want them gone. When you got a ton of bugs infesting a place, you gotta call in a specialist. You need an exterminator. But sometimes, the bugs can get big. Get ugly. And just be plain ol' unpleasant. For those bugs, you'll need...the Bug Butcher. Let's take a look at the launch trailer for this game from Awfully Nice Studios!

I like to imagine Harry is the descendant of Stanley from Donkey Kong 3.

Ah, the voices are rather Banjo-Kazooie-esque.

Weak and helpless scientist, eh? Sigma Force would laugh at that guy. Seriously, read James Rollins's Sigma Force books. They're really good.

Yeah, the Sigma Force gang would be eating these bugs for breakfast.

My God, this game is like Donkey Kong 3! I wonder if it inspired this game.

Eww, that bug eats too much too fast. At least, I think that's why it pukes all the time.

This game makes me think of a space shooter for some reason.

...why would the game designers think we'd want to see Harry in his underwear?

In space, no one can hear Harry die.

So, if the main character of the game is Harry, what is the player two character named? I say his name is Larry.

Well, this looks like a fun little time-killer. I do enjoy a good shooter game, and this looks right up my alley.

Diablo III: Eternal Collection Launch Trailer, My Thoughts

Back in August, I gave my thoughts on the announcement of Diablo III coming to the Switch. I remember being excited for it. As I said, I have the X-Box 360 version of the game. I enjoyed it, but I found the dungeons a bit dull. You tended to spend a LOT of time in the dungeons.

Despite that, the game is fun, and I recommend it. And now that it's on the Switch, there's a launch trailer! Let's take a look!

Is that wood...boiling?

Ooh, that crack on the wall is going to be expensive to fix...

Man, I think this is what happens when you let demons party in your house. If there's still any food in that fridge, I would be surprised.

Heh heh, there's a portal to hell, a giant demon lord staring you down. But hey, you got a Switch. You can take him, lady! I believe in you!

I hope that Ganondorf armor has some good benefits. I also like that Legend of Zelda ring. The cucco is funny. I think it would be pretty awesome if we got special items based on other Nintendo games as DLC in the future.

Not much to say here, honestly. The trailer is actually pretty short. I was surprised by that. I was kind of expecting it to incorporate some gameplay footage or something like that. I know the game is six years old, but still. It would be nice to see some footage. Anyway, I'm excited for this! I love the ides of playing these games on the go. I can handle the dungeons on a plane ride!

Mutant Football League: Dynasty Edition Launch Trailer, My Thoughts

In 1993, Electronic Arts released the game Mutant League Football for the Sega Genesis. Based on the Madden football video games, the game focused on teams of mutants and monsters fighting in a more war-like version of football in a post-apocalyptic world. The game would get a spin off called Mutant League Hockey, and a basketball game was in development, but never released. There would even be a cartoon based on the game.

In 2017, Digital Dreams Entertainment released a "spiritual successor" to these two games called...Mutant Football League. Yeah, not an imaginative name, I know. The game was originally released for Microsoft Windows. Over the year, it would eventually come to the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. But now, it's also going to hit the Nintendo Switch! Let's take a look at the launch trailer for the Dynasty Edition!

Look at that arena. I think that's what you get if you ask the Hell's Angels to design a football stadium.

You know, I'm no expert, but I think skeletons would be rather fragile football players.

I do like that everything isn't all gray and gringy.

Well, one advantage of having buzzsaws in the arena is that if the arena needs repairs, you have a convenient power saw available.

And if the field and players don't kill you, you just get stronger. That's how the phrase goes, right?

So, you can bring guns on the field? I'm sure Billy Cole from The Last Boy Scout would love to get signed to this league.

Mutant Football League. The game so explosive, the game balls will blow you away!

Sand worms? Did they get those from the planet Arrakis?! Or maybe they knew Beetlejuice?!

I imagine football nuts will love these features.

Well, this looks like a ton of fun. I'm not really a sports game guy, but this still seems appealing to me. I think if you enjoyed the original Sega Genesis game, you'll like this spiritual successor. I hope there's a demo. I'd love to try it myself.

Final Smash Ultimate Pre-Launch Direct, My Thoughts.

Yesterday, Nintendo released what is intended to be the final Direct about Super Smash Bros. Ultimate before the game's release next month. As such, it's got a lot of announcements to make, so let's take a looksee!

It's still cool to finally see Simon Belmont in a Smash game.

The final new fighters, huh? Let's see who they got.

Ken Masters from Street Fighter was a surprise. I thought they'd go with Chun-Li. And him being an echo fighter for Ryu would make a lot of sense, since they're the "starter" characters.

Wow. Mac dodged that Shoryuken.

That is one resilient scoreboard.

Incineroar! Awesome! They often do like to include Pokémon from the latest games in Smash, and since Incineroar is basically a Pokémon pro wrestler, it's a perfect fit for this game. I also love using my Incineroar in Pokémon Sun. He's a beast.

Poor wrestler kitty. Always having to deal with fools who want a piece.

I like that Ken has an attack called Hell Wheel. That is funny.

I think Incineroar just snapped Lucas's neck.

That's not a moonsault.

I'm not really an amiibo collector, but these new ones look very nice.

Shame they're ditching the trophies. I always had fun collecting them in the games.

Spirits are a clever way to have many more characters appearing in the game. And I can imagine the variety of boosts they bring will make gameplay much more unpredictable. This whole boosting thing reminds me of the boosting system in the Wii U/3DS Smash game.

Oh, I am going to HATE the invisible fighter challenge.

Rock-paper-scissors with the spirit types. Always works.

Spirits can be leveled up, huh? That's neat.

That treasure hunting feature reminds me of Poke Pelago in Pokémon Sun/Moon.

YOSHI STAMPEEEEEDE!

I like the idea of making your own unique standard set of rules. Makes things easier.

Some of the new Assist Trophies are neat. Where is Takaharu from?

Do not mess with Yuri Kozukata. She has an evil camera, and she is not afraid to use it.

Nice to see Golden Sun getting love with Isaac here.

THWOMP! THWOMP RULES!

Hey, with Mega Man as a fighter in Smash, makes sense Dr. Wily will show up in some way.

Careful of that Mario Paint flyswatter!

Vince from Art Academy is scary in this game.

Hey, Guile! Nice to see you here as an assist!

Wow! A Virtua Fighter character here! I love that they kept Akira's original blocky look.

The balance control is a nice way to make fights more fair.

Yiga Clan? Is that a Legend of Zelda reference?

Heh heh, Toy-Con set. Gotta promote that Nintendo LABO.

Figured there would be DLC in the works.

So, a fighter, a stage, and some more music tracks for about six bucks each? That's neat. Maybe the Fighter Pass will offer a discount.

You know that Nintendo is RIDICULOUSLY confident that people will buy this Pass without knowing what's in it. But then again, people probably will. It's Smash Brothers.

I wonder of Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is any good. I heard good things about the last one.

A free fighter, huh?

OH MY GOD, THAT IS HILARIOUS! PIRAHNA PLANT IS FED UP WITH GETTING STOMPED ON! HE'S STOMPING BACK!

And his final Smash is Petey Pirahna. Wait...does that mean this Pirahna Plant is Petey as a young Plant? Hope he can still be obtained after the game is launched.

Adventure Mode, huh? Awesome. I enjoyed the Subspace Emissary in Brawl.

That's...a LOT of Master Hands. And what is that wing thing, Sephiroth after LSD?

...OH MY GOD, THEY'RE ALL GETTING THANOSED!

No Snake, the cardboard box will not protect you.

Fly, Kirby! FLY!

Makes sense Kirby escaped. Masahiro Sakurai, the creator of the Smash Bros. series, also created Kirby.

It's strange hearing a Smash theme with actual English lyrics. And what is happening to Mario? Is that an evil version of him being made?

Well, this is certainly one heck of a Direct! We learned quite a lot about the upcoming Smash game, the Adventure Mode looks to be insanely cool, and there's a TON of new features! Sakurai has wavered back and forth on whether he plans to retire from game-making over the years, and if this is his final Smash game, it looks like he's going out on a high note. I can't wait to try the new characters, I'm excited for the future DLC, and I am just excited in general! December can't come soon enough!

1st of November!

Hey there, readers!

Man, the first of November. It's November already. Time can really fly when one is having fun, huh? Well, I just want to say that it's been great having you all reading and enjoying this blog. I'm collecting my thoughts on the latest Smash Direct, so I will be writing about that pretty soon. Also, I am working on a review of a Captain America comic, so expect that next week. I have also been working on my next Text Play entry for Pokémon Mega Adventure. I think once that one is done, I'll tackle Pokémon Zeta next.

I hope you all had a fun and safe Halloween, and the same to this upcoming Thanksgiving. Also, I hope you all enjoyed my review of Spectacular Spider-Man #147! Keep on rockin', everyone!

Spectacular Spider-Man #147 (February 1989)

Last week, for Halloween, I took a look at Spectacular Spider-Man #148 (March 1989). It was a nice character piece exploring Flash Thompson and Betty Brant overcoming their own demons, both literally and figuratively. I wondered where Spider-Man himself was during all of this. Well, we did see him deal with a wild factory in my review of Spectacular Spider-Man #146 (January 1989). But that was not the only trouble the Web-Slinger found himself in. As a nice Halloween bonus, I thought it would be awesome to show how the Daily Bugle staff were dealing with this crisis. So, let's take a look at Spectacular Spider-Man #147!

The cover is awesome, depicting J. Jonah Jameson and Spider-Man fighting demons together. If you know these two characters and their traditional relationship, this gives the idea that something really serious must be going down if these two are actually joining forces for something.

"When the Bugle Blows"
Writer: Gerry Conway
Penciler: Sal Buscema
Inker: Sal Buscema
Colorist: Bob Sharen & Wilcox
Letterer: Rick Parker
Editor: Jim Salicrup
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco

The story begins with the Hobgoblin (the Jason Macendale Jr. one), flying around New York City, grumbling about how unfair things are.

You see, in Amazing Spider-Man #312, he got beaten by Spider-Man teaming up with Harry Osborn, who was using his father's Green Goblin equipment. Hobgoblin is furious about it as...well...his equipment and experience as the Hobgoblin was superior to Harry. He sees himself as the true heir to the Goblin legacy, not Harry Osborn. However, the Hobgoblin has other problems.

Yup, a bunch of demons erupt from a billboard and attack the Hobgoblin. I can imagine they're also not happy about this guy running around dressed like one of them. An angry Hobgoblin blasts them away and basically hands them their butts. He rants that he doesn't care about the demonic madness of Inferno as long as he's left alone. He grumbles about the demons taking umbrage to him dressing as one, but then he gets hit by a bolt of inspiration as he glances at the demonically-mutated Empire State Building...

Across town, Spider-Man is witnessing the demon invasion in shock. Last issue, he dealt with a living fan vent and Osborn's factory trying to kill him. He swings towards the Daily Bugle so he can check on his co-workers. He also plans to visit Mary Jane who is doing a photo shoot at a studio. A strange wind blows out of nowhere. Spider-Man's Spider-Sense couldn't detect the dangerous wind, so it's able to catch the web-slinger and slam him into the a building hard. A groggy Spider-Man is able to catch a gargoyle. But the gargoyle turns into a monster and instead of taking a bite out of crime, it decides to take a bite out of the crimefighter.

Spidey falls to the ground and goes unconscious. He wakes up and finds himself near the Daily Bugle building, so he staggers towards it. Inside, J. Jonah Jameson has got the Daily Bugle staff preparing the building for another demon attack. He's got Kate Cushing making barricades, and Ben Urich putting out fires. Heh. Just last issue, he was going on about how all the reports of the craziness of Inferno was all just cranks looking for attention. Life comes at you fast, JJ.

JJ orders Joy Mercado to organize a first aid group to help any injured, as it could be a while before they could get anyone to a hospital. Jonah is turning out to be a surprisingly good leader when the Bugle staff need one, but he's also trying to cover up his own fears. After all, he's not dealing with criminals or corrupt politicians here. However, JJ's fear gets replaced with rage when he sees Spider-Man stagger in. However, he calls for Mercado when the injured webhead collapses in front of him.

Back in Manhattan, Mary Jane Watson is affected by the chaos, too. The photography crew are barricading the door. Despite this, a demon bursts in. He attacks one of the crew, but MJ is able to fight it off by beating it with a pipe. She notes that the demon seemed to be fragile, as it shattered under a single blow, like it was made of glass. She and the crew get back to work rebuilding the barricade, but she worries about Peter.

In the skies over New York, Harry Osborn, having once more donned the gear of the Green Goblin, is heading home to his family. He's amazed that he managed to beat the Hobgoblin. A water demon erupts from the ocean to attack Harry, but he's able to easily destroy it. He then decides to take a detour to May Parker's house to check on her.

In Queens, the streets are running with madness, as people are fighting demons...and each other. A crazed man with a chainsaw attacks Joe Robertson.

Robertson is able to dodge, which makes the man drop his chainsaw. The weaponized tool then shatters when it hits a wall. Joe feels something is rotten in the state of New York, and it makes his own legal troubles seem unimportant. His son Randy and daughter-in-law Amanda arrive. They want to take Joe and Martha home so they'll be safe with them during this craziness. However, Joe refuses. He's done running. There's a mob coming, and he's going to fight back. Yeah, maybe now is not the best time, Joe.

In the city, the Hobgoblin approaches the eldritch-mutated Empire State Building. He tries to sneak into this building, but the sidewalk demons have something to say about that.

They think the Hobgoblin will make a tasty little snack. However, he is able to convince them to let him see their master. He wants to make a little deal. The demons agree, as their master N'astirh will find this amusing. And the man...or more appropriately, the demon of the hour arrives. Hobgoblin offers his soul for the power of a demon. The sidewalk demons' prediction turns out to be dead on, as N'astirh bursts out laughing. What would he want with the Hobgoblin's soul? Keep in mind, Jason Macendale Jr. is the Hobgoblin at this point. He was an amoral man with a violent nature. He was a mercenary who also previously operated as the supervillain known as the Jack O'Lantern. His soul is not exactly pure.

However, the Hobgoblin did manage to make N'astirh laugh, so he figures that the former mercenary should be given something. He blasts the Hobgoblin, sending him flying. Back at the Daily Bugle, some demons burst their way into the building, and the Daily Bugle staff valiantly try to fight them off. One demon tries to attack Ben Urich, but a waking and injured Spider-Man is able to save him with some webbing and a Mighty Punch.

Spidey is able to get up to see J. Jonah Jameson fighting off some demons. Spidey is able to even the odds for the old man, and this does lead to a rather funny moment when JJ is forced to team-up with the Wall-Crawler.

Spidey and the Daily Bugle staff are able to fight the monsters off. It helps that the demons are very fragile. Spidey jokingly asks if they won. The veteran newsman looks like he's trying to keep every blood vessel in his body from undergoing rage-inducing explosions. Jonah notices that Spidey's wound is bleeding, and the Webhead faints.

Meanwhile, the Hobgoblin wakes up from his little trip, and notices something is wrong. His eyes seem to be screwed up. He can barely see, and what he can see looks all wrong. The story ends with the Hobgoblin's face revealed.

Yeah, all the plastic surgery in the world isn't going to make you pretty again, Jason. The Hobgoblin has paid a price for his little deal with the devilish N'astirh. He got the power of a demon, alright. He actually ended up merged with a demon, who would eventually get separated from the Hobgoblin and become the Demogoblin.

This issue is pretty good. I loved seeing the Daily Bugle gang fighting demons. It was also neat seeing Hobgoblin attempting to make a deal with N'astirh, and paying for it. The demons that the Bugle staff were fighting did seem awfully fragile, though. I mean, Spider-Man has superhuman strength, so his being able to shatter a demon with one punch is more believable. To be fair, it can be argued these demons aren't meant for combat. I also wish that we did get a scene of the aftermath with MJ. Sal Buscema's art is spectacular, and he's very good at making the demons look freaky. I also loved that full page of the Hobgoblin's demonic face. I highly recommend this comic for Halloween!

Hope you all enjoyed this little Halloween bonus! Next time, we see Captain America being forced to give up the shield...