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warriorsredux · 3 years

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RE: Feedback for the Redux.

(I wanted to give you really in-depth feedback. Unfortunately, it ended up being way longer than I anticipated. I figured it would be easier to send this as a submission rather than breaking it up into a million smaller asks. I hope that’s all right!)

Note: I put this under a readmore to save space, but I have read it all and thoroughly agree with it. Thank you so much for the feedback, man!

Before I get into the nitty-gritty, I want to briefly talk about my personal relationship with Warriors - not because I want to talk about myself necessarily, but because I want to provide some relevant context. You see, I was first introduced to these books in 2004, about when I was nine years old. You could argue, in some ways, that these books defined a large part of my childhood, and were extremely influential into my teenage years and early adulthood. When I wasn’t fantasizing about colonies of talking feral cats, I was gleefully writing fanfics and roleplaying online. Those were my first tentative forays into writing, and would ultimately set me on the path to refine and hone those skills in the years to come. I was obsessed with the mythology and lore of this world, with the sprawling cast of characters, with the steady publication of new entries into the series.

Now, kids tend to not have the best critical thinking skills. Which is why it took until my late teenage years to realize that my cherished books were really, really not that great. The mythology and lore that I’d praised were starved of any creativity, steeped in the cliches of the fantasy genre, and prone to collapsing under their own weight when subjected to even the smallest amount of scrutiny. The characters that I adored? They were blighted with similar cliches, lacking in any sort of growth or development or depth; sustained only by archetypes and whatever retcons the authors thought would sell the most books, either through hype, drama, or fanservice. Exacerbating all of this was the publisher’s insistence on milking the franchise for whatever profit nostalgia could still yield. They weren’t writing more books because they had new, interesting ideas they wanted to explore - they did it because this series was (and still is) fucking lucrative. As I thought about these things more critically, and became more informed on social issues, it became impossible to unsee the uglier aspects of the franchise - the ableism, the queerbaiting and lack of representation, the depiction of minors and adults (Dustpelt and Ferncloud, Thistleclaw and Spottedleaf) having romantic or sexual relationships, the blind nationalism and eugenics/persecution of minorities (non-Clanborn cats) and characters of mixed descent (half-Clan cats). People far more informed and far more eloquent than myself have discussed those issues in-depth elsewhere, but suffice to say, I was understandably upset by these things. No amount of nostalgia could blind me to those flaws.

And yet, for some reason, I never really stopped loving Warriors. Or put more accurately - I never stopped loving the potential of Warriors. That was the thing that I kept coming back to. The wasted potential of a series depicting the lives of feral cats, and their brutal struggle to survive in the wilderness, all the while deeply immersed in their own complex societies and cultures. It became painfully clear to me that the thing I loved about Warriors was the sandbox nature of the franchise, and all the ways fans were able to explore that untapped potential. With that realization now achieved, Warriors slipped into the back of my mind, accruing cobwebs as the years passed. Occasionally those dormant thoughts stirred whenever I saw a piece of fanart on my dashboard, or I passed a new release while browsing the local Barnes & Noble. Sometimes I even entertained the fleeting thought of writing AU fics again. But by and large, Warriors had been retired from my thoughts.

And then, in 2017, I found the Redux.

While writing this segment I had several false starts, in no small part because I didn’t know what to talk about first. It was like someone had gone through my thoughts with a steel-toothed comb, and took every disappointment, every what if, and turned it into a reality. Holy shit, look at this blog! Look at the meta commentary! Look at all of the worldbuilding! I could clearly see just how much passion and attention to detail was put into developing the plot and the characters. How many hundreds of hours went into correcting the broken genetics of the canon characters. Suddenly, the Clans had culture - real, living, breathing culture! There was a pantheon of deities and demigods. A deliberate intention behind the naming tradition beyond slapping two words together because they sounded pretty or made for a trite pun. This. This was the story Warriors should have been. This lone blog managed to conceive an original lore for the Clans, while further developing the canon plots beyond their base elements. What three authors failed to do, one person achieved on their own.

You made forgettable characters interesting. And you made interesting characters unforgettable.

I lived for every scrap of content you created - the asks, the deconstructions, the amendment posts, the art, even the fucking shitposts (because they were just genuinely wholesome and funny). The Redux wasn’t just a source of entertainment, either - it introduced me to the idea of writing an AU that was sustained by meta-analysis, and grounded in critical reception of the series’ flaws (both technical and social). Your work eventually inspired me to create my own Redux-style worldbuilding/AU blog for a series that has similar issues to canon Warriors.

The Redux deserves all the praise it gets, and you should be extremely proud of what you’ve accomplished. Even if the Third Arc wasn’t finished or the Fourth started, it was still a helluva ride, one that I’m so glad I got to participate in.

But, of course, you asked for feedback, so I can’t spend the entirety of this post throwing roses at your feet. So, onto the constructive feedback.

I think a lot of my thoughts are going to echo what other people have previously said, but for me, the biggest setbacks in the Redux were the following:

[1] Pacing. This is going to sound weird, but this isn’t a criticism of the Redux’s length. Rather, it’s more about how that time was spent. While I really like how you adjusted aspects of the Redux’s plot in order to still tangentially align with the books’, it sometimes felt like the chapters were there just to connect points A and B. I knew this was a retelling of the original series, so I already had a vague idea of what the general storybeats would be. What appealed to me was how the story would get to those points. Let me give you an example: in Arc 1, we’re told in chapter 10 that Murkpelt is roaming the territories, and poses a threat to the Clans. Immediately in chapter 11 we’re taken to the scene where Firepaw finds her while escorting Spottedleaf. We’re told about ThunderClan’s efforts to track her prior, and about the looming tension in the wake of this invisible threat. But that’s the thing - we’re told that by the narration in just a paragraph or two. We’re not shown what that looks like. The setup is supposed to be everyone being on edge, but Bluestar’s lounging by the stump when the scene begins. It’s a little dissonant, and it has the unfortunate problem of contradicting the narration. It would’ve been so cool to see a chapter or two where Firepaw’s still trying to immerse himself into Clan life, and his questions are met with terse answers or impatience. Undercut his (and the reader’s) learning with other characters being brusque with him, or short-tempered, or something. And then that could lead into Greypaw or Ravenpaw consoling him and explaining why the situation is so serious. Then Firepaw could ask something like, “Have there ever been instances like this before with rogues?” Which could organically lead to a conversation where Greypaw or Ravenpaw bring up relevant lore/worldbuilding. It’s little stuff like that which would’ve helped with immersion and pacing. I think it would have balanced the two out, by providing pseudo-downtime where the audience experiences the world as the characters do. (If that makes sense.) Or, to provide another example: we never get to see Tres Idiots mentoring Snowpaw. In chapters 5 and 6 of Arc 3, we see Raventhroat struggling to develop a signing system he can use with his apprentice; and then, after a few chapters he’s perfectly narrating the Bright-Eyed Crow to Snowpaw. I think that showing us scenes where the two were actually working out the kinks would have done more to develop Raventhroat’s character arc. He went from being a meek, timid apprentice to an eloquent warrior, and him becoming a mentor is supposed to be a definite part of that journey. It would’ve have been so cool to have plot-relevant scenes broken up by smaller ones where we watch Raventhroat gain confidence through each small success he makes with his apprentice. I’m not sure if I’m conveying exactly what I want to say, but I guess the TL;DR would be something like - I would’ve gladly welcomed either more chapters, or longer ones, if it meant we got more scenes like this.

[2] Utilization of the worldbuilding. You mentioned this already in response to another ask, but if you could go back and change anything, it would be incorporating more lore/adhering the Redux to its lore more strongly. Your worldbuilding is perhaps the strongest part of the Redux by far. You gave us a conlang, traditions, folk stories, Clan stereotypes - so much fascinating material - but it feels like its integration was based solely on whether or not it was relevant to the plot at hand. Unless there was a reason why it was brought up, then we’d never get to see a ThunderClan cat freaking out near a ShadowClan seer and refusing to approach them at a Gathering. Or listen to Mistfoot share a poem with Greystripe and Fireheart (after being goaded into it by Silverstream). Or watch as Redtail politely interrupts the elders and asks for their opinion on an important matter. Or listen to the Clan getting together after a loved one dies and share stories about their life. Or watch as Sandpaw/Dustpaw use their age and seniority over Firepaw to terrorize him with stories of Yrrun and Terror. On one hand, I absolutely understand why a lot of lore was relegated exclusively to the Amendment section - it’s important to strike a balance between what’s interesting versus what’s relevant. You don’t wanna just throw worldbuilding trivia at the audience apropos of nothing. On the other hand, I really wish I’d seen a much larger integration of your worldbuilding into the story, because it’s so fascinating and so god damn good.

[3] Utilization of the characters. One of the things you tweaked, that I absolutely loved, was choosing to introduce Silverpaw in Arc 1 at a Gathering. Not only does it create a realistic basis for her friendship with Tres Idiots, but it fixes the canon’s issue of her saving Greystripe out of nowhere and then developing a relationship on that alone. That was fucking great! Same thing with Rainpath - it was so awesome for Fireheart to get a friend in another Clan (ShadowClan, of all Clans). It broke the mold, and their interactions were just delightful. But outside of those examples, sometimes it kinda felt like the side characters didn’t really exist? I remember an old piece of writing advice, but I can’t recall who it’s attributed to: “Treat your side characters like they think they’re the main characters.” Because they absolutely are. I might be some passing stranger in another person’s life, barely a blip on their radar, but I have my own vibrant story. Everyone does. In the Redux, it sometimes felt like minor or side characters weren’t living their own lives outside of their interactions with Fireheart and his friends. Mousefur’s the most fluent speaker of Fang in ThunderClan? Cool. How did she learn that skill? Who taught her? Does she have a friend in WindClan who’s been teaching her new words at Gatherings, or whenever they happen to cross paths while on border patrols near Four Trees? Not only is that character trivia interesting, but it could provide foreshadowing/become relevant later on. When the Clans meet to discuss how to deal with the dogs in Arc 3, perhaps someone suggests having their most fluent Fang speakers act as interpreters/diplomats, and try to broker some sort of peace/understanding with the dogs. Things like that. Basically, it would’ve been nice if Fireheart’s life intersected more with the goings-on of his Clanmates, or if his own goals/agenda were sometimes inconvenienced by the goals/agenda of others.

I think those are my major criticisms. More integration of lore, a slower/steadier pace that accommodates showing over telling, and finding ways to have the personal lives of minor characters interact with the story. Maybe adding in some additional subplots that are congruent with the main plots, and occur simultaneously, in order to keep chapters busy. That sort of thing. I hope what I provided wasn’t overwhelming in any way, and ends up being useful for either the Redux or any of your other writing projects.

As an aside, thank you. For creating this humble niche community within an even larger fandom. For asking for feedback from your readers. For being someone who makes mistakes, but eventually endeavors to learn from them, and ultimately, become a better person. I know this sounds kinda sappy, but I really do mean it. <3

(For the record I wrote this at like five in the morning, so if there are any grammatical errors I’ll be kicking myself in the ass for those.)

#silvokrent #submission #i speak #kind of #textwall #readmore

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fanbun · 4 years

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Seuss Tales: From Page To Screen

Below the cut is an essay I wrote about Dr. Seuss adaptations after I was inspired by watching Green Eggs and Ham on Netflix. In the essay I examine the changes that adaptations have made to the original stories and how they have evolved over time. If you’re interested, please give it a read! :D

The tone of a Dr. Seuss book has proven particularly difficult to reproduce in any lengthened retelling. It is much like attempting to expand a poem into a novel. Somewhere during development, the original form will fall away to fit the new medium. And while artifacts of the original may still be present in the final product, such as a line or two, it is likely that those artifacts will feel disconnected from the product as a whole. In terms of Seuss, this is usually classic rhymes from the original stories that the audience expects to be included in the adaptation. Even if an audience member has had little exposure to the source material, they can usually identify these moments when a character starts rhyming for no particular reason. Of course, it must be said that some adaptations mimic the original tone better than others, and in those cases the product feels much more cohesive.

Since it is so difficult to expand a short story, the safest decision when making an adaptation is simply to be faithful. In the past, Seuss adaptations stuck much closer to the source material. How The Grinch Stole Christmas (1966) set the standard for the many Seuss TV specials that came after it. These specials utilized a narrator that would read the book nearly word-for-word and had an animation style that stuck as close to the original illustrations as possible. Where padding was necessary to extend the run-time, it was usually done by including songs and extra animation sequences. This form of padding didn’t typically disrupt the flow of the story since the songs featured rhyming in them as well, and the added animations were used to bring Seuss’s world to life. Dr. Seuss himself even wrote the lyrics to many of the songs. Thus these first Seuss TV specials were as close to direct adaptations as the public was ever given.

So when did the trend change? Well Seuss died in 1991 and in the year 2000, a live action comedy film starring Jim Carrey was released based off of How The Grinch Stole Christmas. Ironically, the very same title that started the initial animated Seuss renaissance. It was not only the first feature length film based on a Dr. Seuss property, but it was also a major financial success as it offered a new take on the familiar story. After all, the original animated special was already so beloved. The producers had to try something new to entice people to go see it. So what was created was a movie about the character of the Grinch, that followed the general story of the Grinch, but was entirely divorced from the classic tone and presentation of a Dr. Seuss book. Additionally, it made alterations to the characters and plot in an attempt to add depth and expand upon the story. This live action Seuss trend didn’t last for long, however, and it came to an end after The Cat in The Hat (2003) left a poor taste in the public’s mouth.

Jim Carrey would later return to voice the quirky titular elephant of Blue Sky’s Horton Hears a Who in 2008. This time animation was back in the form of trendy CG. The humor was modern but not quite as edgy as in the live action movies, and the trailers promised a more authentic Seuss experience for the youth at the time. Though the age of CG animated movies was an attempt to return to form, they couldn’t escape the adaptational dilemma of trying to stretch short stories into full movies. Horton Hears a Who (2008) remained faithful to the book’s plot but was padded with plenty of gags that tended to outstay their welcome. In contrast, Illumination’s The Lorax (2012) padded its run-time by expanding on the Onceler’s character and introducing new characters, including an all new antagonist. This, although showing clear ambition, ended up being a controversial decision as many viewed it as obscuring the book’s intended message.

Interestingly, Netflix’s Green Eggs and Ham series (2019) is mostly padding. In fact, there is hardly anything in the show that resembles the original book aside from the two main characters, Sam-I-Am and “Guy”, and the aforementioned Sam’s affinity for green eggs and ham. And yet it manages to feel more like a Seuss story than many of the adaptations that have come before it. No doubt this is partly due to its traditional 2D animation style, though the inclusion of many Seussian creatures and contraptions should not be overlooked as an important factor. It is terrible as a direct adaptation, but as an expanded retelling it is brilliant. The writers were given a book so simplistic, with such a straightforward moral, that they only needed to follow it loosely to deliver on its message. They took a couple characters, a handful of words, and rewrote it almost entirely. And really, that was the only smart choice for a series that spans 6 1/2 hours in total.

One of the most drastic departures from the book was the decision to make the plot revolve around Guy and Sam smuggling an exotic animal (named Mr. Jenkins) in a briefcase to return it to the wild. This concept alone turns it into a completely different story. So much so that I’d argue the title of “Green Eggs and Ham” hardly fits as a descriptor. Still, the theme of animal protection is entirely in line with the types of morals found in Dr. Seuss books. This recurring message is made even more evident since the villains work for a serial animal abuser who keeps live animals on display as status symbols. I could have easily imagined that a separate Dr. Seuss story existed with this same plot.

But what is perhaps most interesting to me about the rewrite is that, along with convincingly portraying a story based on Dr. Seuss, it also adds its own modern sensibilities into the mix. Not merely by way of adding humor and references like some adaptations before it, but through the story’s structure itself. First of all, it is a multi-episode animated series with emphasis on continuity. Secondly, it fleshes out the personalities and backstories of the characters over time. And thirdly, it at once represents and transforms the source material in something of a metatextual exercise. The narrator’s tendency of breaking the fourth wall is a perfect example of this. He even acts as an audience stand-in at times, commenting that he wasn’t expecting to see the events that occur during the opening scene from a Seuss adaptation. Or at another point humorously asking “Was this in the book?” This brand of meta comedy made me take note of the more daring writing choices like the shocking reveals about Sam and the B.A.D.G.U.Y.S. toward the end of the season. Once again, the writers deliberately added complexity where there was originally very little.

Crucially for fans of the book, the rewrite doesn’t betray the original moral of Green Eggs and Ham. Rather it adds a layer of depth to that moral’s execution. In the book, the plate of green eggs and ham represents the characters’ willingness to try new things. It is the same in the series, however the unexpected journey the two leads embark on is what is given the most narrative focus. After leaving his comfort zone, Guy’s emotional attachment to Sam is what makes him finally try the green eggs and ham. It is a symbolic gesture of how far his character has come from the beginning of the show. He initially wanted nothing to do with Sam or Mr. Jenkins, but then he got to know them and discovered how much he cared.

So although it is risky to create an adaptation that changes much of the source material, it can absolutely be worth the risk. There is boundless creative potential to be found in transformative works, and that potential may be realized if given the right amount of passion and dedication. Sure, it might upset the purist in us, but the original already exists. Why not make something new out of it? Cut up pieces of the poem. Rearrange the words and add a new perspective. Some people will always consider doing so to be ruining a classic, but others might view it as a masterpiece all on its own. In the end it is up to personal opinion whether an adaptation is good or not, but nonetheless I think we should celebrate the cultural significance of these stories that leads us to recreate and retell them time and time again.

#Dr Seuss #Green Eggs and Ham #geah #The Lorax #The Grinch #dr. seuss #analysis #essay #my writing

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fma2003-fmab-stuff · 4 years

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I feel like descent against the 2003 adaptation comes from two feelings. First, those who've seen Brotherhood are put off by the VAST divergences that the first Anime takes in the story. They're use to Brotherhood's course of events, their FMA, so something so radically different feels like a disservice to what they enjoyed about the original. It's the basis of all discourse regarding "page to screen" adaptations be it for TV or movies.

(2/2) The second comes from how the idea of an adaptation taking such a radical turn after following the Manga for the most part... comes off as a red flag. Many Anime fans have been burned by titles that couldn't stick the landing, the contributing factor being how the adaptation created its own ending that was nowhere near as satisfying as what the ongoing source material would've given. Humans are sensitive to this when engaging with any Anime of this kind. Alright I’m going to be up front with you, as somebody who finished brotherhood first myself and as somebody who has numerous friends who like both Brotherhood and 2003 and say that, unlike with anime like Bleach or Naruto or Durarara!!, or especially Tokyo Ghoul, FMA 2003 wasn’t meant to be a faithful adaptation. It’s much like the 2018 version of She-Ra which is loosely based of the 1985 version, but vastly differs in too many ways to count. Some people don’t like how the story is different and how the characters are way different, or even how it’s “anime style”, but most don’t care at all, many I know prefer the 2018 version. From the beginning things were different.. It did have similarities, but only in the universe and the characters slightly, but everything took its own route from the first couple episodes even, and to me, FMA 2003 is its own story just like She-ra 2018 is. Lust for instance, was clearly set up in 03 to be different, to be more mysterious and was often seen acting on her own, Trisha’s transmutation looked like an actual human being. Just like with She-ra 2018, FMA 2003 has the same key idea and plot base in the beginning but sets up its story and characters far differently. So source material is not an issue, since Arakawa intentionally left it up to them to come up with their own plot, and enjoyed looking forward to new episodes each week. She made little comics with the 03 homunculi, Dante and Hohenheim, so the matter of disrespecting the source material is mute since there wasn’t much source material to go off of and had no full idea of what she was going to be doing with her own story yet(although she gave them the plot base which they followed). The scene where Edward got impaled by the pole was inspired by Ed getting stabbed by Envy in 2003. So if major events like that were influenced by 2003, there’s a high chance that Brotherhood/the manga wouldn’t be nearly anything like it would have been without 03 having been created. Arakawa also said that she got “creative energy” while watching the show and that often they even came to the same ideas on things. It was a collaborative work, but also something Arakawa clearly was okay with being different. With that said, I again, just consider 03 its own universe and characters. In no way do I hold it to the standards of the manga(when the manga creator didn’t even do so herself), and nor did I expect it to be like the manga. There was no point in having two different adaptations if they’re both the same. I’m glad 2003 is different. I’m glad it took it’s own route. I’m glad it portrayed characters differently. It’s basically an alternate universe and I’m fine with that. I love both Brotherhood and 2003 and for me I’m completely content with both series. I don’t even have an issue with the ending of fma 2003, minus a bit for how rushed it is. Its bittersweet ending went along perfectly with the themes of the 2003 series, so I’m not mad at all. For me, FMA 2003 and FMAB are two completely different series with their own characters and stories. They’re similar in some sense, but they’re still different. Other things that do this too are movies like The Little Mermaid, a story which gets told a lot but changed a bit depending on the adaptation. Heck in the disney version the main character gets her happy ending unlike in the original where she turns to sea fizz. Or what about Devil Man Crybaby? Numerous stories differ from their influence or the original source material. This kind of thing has been going on for ages. I think people are too hung up on comparisons when FMA 2003 and the FMA Manga’s purpose IS to be different. While with Tokyo Ghoul or Naruto, or Durarara!! the studios just disrespected source material that was already there to work with and changed things, added tons of filler for no reason and ruined character development. Unlike FMA 2003 or She-ra 2018, those series were supposed to be faithful to the source material yet they weren’t.

That’s where the difference lies. What about Dragon Ball? I don’t even like the Dragon Ball franchise, but it too has a lot of different versions of the storyline, yet it’s super popular. Or, heck, even Devil Man Crybaby, which is also a mere lose retelling of the original story. Soul Eater is an instance where the ending differed from the source material’s ending and some people liked it, some people didn’t. And I could see an issue because if the entire story is actually loyal up to near the end, that’s where an issue could fall in. Or like what happened with that one series, I think it was The Game of Thrones? Anyway, my point is, if a story isn’t meant to be the same, then I’ll just take it as its own completely different universe.

#fma #fma 2003 #fmab #Fullmetal Alchemist #fullmetal alchemist brotherhood #Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood #fullmetal alchemist 2003

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aion-rsa · 4 years

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10 Best Fighting Game Movies

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Once upon a time, Bruce Lee, Jim Kelly, and John Saxon visited a crime boss’ private island to compete in a fighting tournament and it was awesome. The 1973 movie Enter the Dragon is basically the prototype for the fighting games like Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter. And when those fighting games became popular, they inspired their own movies that either tried to emulate Enter the Dragon or do something completely new.

The ‘90s gave us the cheesy live-action fighting game movies from Hollywood and the animated movies from Japan. There have been several live-action Mortal Kombat movies as well as a few animated ones. There have also been multiple Street Fighter movies, four attempts at Tekken, a trilogy of Fatal Fury films, and more.

Are most of them bad? Yes. But did we pick our 10 favorite fighting game movies anyway? You bet. Here are our picks:

10. ART OF FIGHTING (1993)

Eh…it’s harmless.

The Art of Fighting series is mostly defined by the twist that the first game’s final boss is the main character’s father and the second game’s final boss is a younger incarnation of the villain from Fatal Fury. Take away those aspects and you’re left with a rather lowkey storyline for a fighting game where a teenage girl is kidnapped by a mobster and is rescued by her brother and her boyfriend.

Wait, I said that weird. It’s two different people, I swear! Except in Capcom, where Dan Hibiki is literally both of them merged into one character.

In the 45-minute Art of Fighting movie about Ryo and Robert, who are like chiller and dopier versions of Ryu and Ken, we watch as the duo gets sucked into a plot about stolen diamonds, martial arts criminals, and angry police lieutenants. It doesn’t take itself seriously and it’s a fine, breezy watch.

Ryo’s incorrect hair color kind of irks me, though.

9. STREET FIGHTER ALPHA: THE ANIMATION (1999)

This movie suffers from the same problem as Fatal Fury: The Motion Picture. It features a cast of heroes from a fighting game taking on a villain created for the movie instead of the villains we actually give a shit about. But the movie does also have some brief but awesome cameos (Kim Kaphwan and Geese Howard from Fatal Fury and Dan Hibiki and Akuma from Street Fighter Alpha) to brighten up a less-than-stellar plot.

Street Fighter Alpha: The Animation does at least get by because the original characters play up Ryu’s whole fear about being overcome by “the Dark Hadou.” This leads to some cool animations where Evil Ryu looks like a mindless, shambling zombie but also an unstoppable fighting machine.

The movie’s main storyline is about a kid named Shun who claims that he’s Ryu’s long-lost brother. He too is a fighter cursed with an inner dark side, which is used as a red herring to suggest that Shun’s father (and presumably Ryu’s father) is actually Akuma. That ends up being bupkis and Shun is just linked to some scheme by a mad scientist or whatever.

Probably the funniest thing about this movie is the directors’ infatuation with Chun-Li’s midsection. She’s wearing her form-fitting Street Fighter Alpha costume and there are dozens upon dozens of random close-ups to her lower torso from the front and back. If this were a drinking game, it would kill you.

8. FATAL FURY 2: THE NEW BATTLE (1993)

Of the Fatal Fury movie trilogy, this one is easily the best, even if it makes all the good guys seem like a bunch of overly-serious crybabies. The basic story is that after having avenged his father’s death, Terry hits rock bottom, dusts himself off, and comes out the other end stronger. Good, good. Going Rocky III is the perfect direction for a follow-up.

The problem is that Terry comes off as a bit of a whiner and the other heroes try way too hard to vilify the movie’s main antagonist, who hasn’t actually done anything that terrible. Krauser shows up one day, challenges Terry to a fight, wins, and says, “Okay, when you get better, train and fight me again.” Krauser isn’t trying to take over the world or murder orphans or whatever. He’s just a dude with huge shoulder armor who wants a good fight.

But everyone acts like Krauser’s the absolute worst. Terry starts drinking and falls to pieces while his buddies hope to get revenge. What a bunch of jerks.

While a fun romp, the worst thing about this sequel is how they redesigned Krauser. Gone is his mustache and forehead scar for the sake of making him seem younger. Kind of a bullshit move, considering he’s supposed to be the half-brother to middle-aged Geese Howard.

7. TEKKEN: THE MOTION PICTURE (1998)

This hour-long anime is almost great but just can’t stick the landing. It runs into the same problem as Mortal Kombat: Annihilation where the game series tells a specific overall story but the movie cuts corners to tell the same story. Tekken: The Motion Picture covers the first Tekken while setting up Tekken 3 and skipping Tekken 2 completely.

It means that everything’s well and good until the confusing and rushed finale. Otherwise, the movie is a fine use of the Enter the Dragon formula. Heihachi Mishima has a special island fighting tournament and the entrants include his vengeful son, a couple of cops investigating the situation, a gigantic robot, an angry Native American girl, two feuding assassin sisters, and a bunch of awesome characters who only get about three full frames of appearances each. Really would have liked to see something from Paul, King, and Yoshimitsu, though.

Other than Kazuya being pissed at everything, the best scenes are the over-the-top ones. When Jack does crazy robot stuff, when dinosaurs show up and start eating people, and that memorable sequence where Heihachi catches a hatchet with his mouth and then shatters it with his jaw.

6. STREET FIGHTER (1994)

I know this movie is just a GI Joe script with Street Fighter names pasted over it. I know it’s a cheesefest of dopey ideas and Belgian accents. I’ve long accepted that. Thing is, the movie is still a total blast to watch. What it lacks in faithfulness to the source material, it makes up for with pure camp and ham.

The 16 characters from Super Street Fighter II are represented here, except Fei Long is replaced with the forgettable Captain Sawada. How ironic that the movie star character isn’t even in the movie!

In general, the movie features some head-scratching depictions of classic Street Fighter characters. All-American Guile is played by Jean Claude Van Damme, Charlie Nash and Blanka are the same character, Dee Jay is an evil hacker, Ryu and Ken are comedic conmen, and Dhalsim is a frumpy scientist.

It’s Raul Julia’s M. Bison who keeps this guilty pleasure afloat. He’s to Street Fighter what Frank Langella’s Skeletor was to Masters of the Universe. He gives 110% and his performance is easily the best reason to watch this movie. It’s truly a wonder to behold.

Games

The Forgotten Fighting Games of the 1990s

By Gavin Jasper

Games

King of Fighters: Ranking All the Characters

By Gavin Jasper

The movie is infamous for inspiring a fighting game based on it, but you know what nobody ever talks about? The Double Dragon movie also had a fighting game based on it made by Technos and released on the Neo Geo. And Double Dragon wasn’t even a one-on-one fighter to begin with!

Anyway, if you intend to sit back and watch Street Fighter, make sure to add in the RiffTrax commentary.

5. DOA: DEAD OR ALIVE (2006)

Enter the Dragon meets Charlie’s Angels is a heck of a concept, but DOA: Dead or Alive is so confidently tongue-in-cheek that it succeeds as an action comedy that’s way better than it has any right to be. Part of why it works is that Dead or Alive has never had much of an overarching storyline, but is more defined by the individual characters (plus, you know, all the cheesecake). Enough of those characters appear in what’s your regular “fighting tournament on a mysterious island” setup.

The whole thing moves with such energy that it’s easy to get sucked in. It’s the opposite of the live-action Tekken movie, where even though the film features accurate versions of all the characters, everything is so drab and lifeless that you just can’t wait for it to be over. In DOA, the combatants spend their downtime playing cartoony action volleyball with Fake Dennis Rodman on commentary, while in Tekken everyone mopes about dystopian capitalism.

Other than Helena’s character being “important dead guy’s daughter,” most of the main characters are charismatic enough to keep your attention during the 3% of the movie when fights aren’t happening. It must suck for Ninja Gaiden fans that Hayabusa is depicted as a total dweeb, but he at least gets to do some cool stuff here and there.

The movie also has Kevin Nash playing a character based on Hollywood Hogan and he’s so likeable that I’m genuinely bummed that he peaces out about halfway into the movie. Luckily, the movie is entertaining enough that I didn’t even notice until after it was over. It helps that during that time, we get more of Eric Roberts, his amazing hair, and his special sunglasses that turn him into the ultimate martial arts master.

Spoiler alert, but the secret to defeating him is, get this, removing his sunglasses!

4. MORTAL KOMBAT LEGENDS: SCORPION’S REVENGE (2020)

It took a while, but Warner Bros. Animation is on fire these days. After that Batman vs. TMNT movie and Teen Titans Go vs. Teen Titans, the studio appears to be hitting more than they miss. That’s exactly the kind of team needed to put together the latest animated Mortal Kombat movie.

This is the umpteenth retelling of the first game’s story. Not only does it have to compete with the first live-action movie, but also the events of Mortal Kombat 9, which depicts the tournament in cutscene format. Fortunately, Scorpion’s Revenge has a few tricks up its sleeve. First, it puts Scorpion in the forefront as the protagonist. He was barely a character in the original movie and the game just had him kill Sub-Zero and feel bad about it for the rest of the story mode. Now he feels like a character in a crossover, making a mark on the original story instead of being put in the sidelines.

We also have the wonderful stunt casting of Joel McHale as Johnny Cage. More importantly, Jennifer Carpenter plays Sonya Blade, which is such a step up from Ronda Rousey’s voice acting in Mortal Kombat 11.

This cartoon has a very hard R when it comes to violence. From the very beginning, Scorpion’s origins are gruesome and grisly. Once Jax is introduced, it doesn’t take long until we realize, “Oh, that’s how they’re dealing with THAT plot point in this continuity.” Then there’s a surprise villain death late in the movie that not only comes as a shocking development, but it’s so graphic and nasty that you can’t help but be taken aback.

Scorpion’s Revenge is a fantastic first chapter of what is hopefully a series of animated movies, but it does have its pacing issues. Scorpion being the protagonist may be a welcome change, but at times it does feel like a square peg being crammed into a round hole.

3. TEKKEN: BLOOD VENGEANCE (2011)

One of the best things about the Tekken series is the endings. While the cutscenes from the first couple games haven’t exactly aged well, these CGI epilogues have become a staple in nearly every installment. What better reward for your time and success than watching a rocking action sequence with Yoshimitsu and Bryan Fury killing each other in the jungle?

And so, to play to the series’ strengths, Bandai Entertainment released a Tekken movie that’s really just one big ending cutscene. It’s not canon, but it feels at home with the games.

Since Tekken’s main conflict is with two ruthless megalomaniacs (Heihachi and Kazuya) and a disgruntled nihilist (Jin), it’s hard to treat any of them as a real protagonist here. Instead, they go with Ling Xiaoyu, who is portrayed as the person who sees the good in Jin and wants him to see the light. She’s given a robotic BFF in Alisa Bosconovitch because Xiaoyu is kind of a tame character and needs someone with chainsaw arms and a jetpack to liven things up.

The first hour or so is good enough to keep your attention and its lightened up by a couple appearances by Tekken’s best character, Lee. But once it gets to the third act, it just becomes a completely awesome Heihachi vs. Kazuya vs. Jin fight, with Xiaoyu taking a backseat to watch all the crazy shit going on. It’s a full-on fireworks factory, as we not only see Devil forms of Kazuya and Jin but a very special final form for Heihachi that’s a true delight for Tekken fans.

2. STREET FIGHTER II: THE ANIMATED MOVIE (1994)

Let it be said that for someone who grew up in the ‘80s and ‘90s, finding a faithful cartoon adaptation of a video game property was not easy. Link and Simon Belmont were unlikable sexual harassers. Mega Man was a more annoying sidekick than Scrappy Doo. Mario and Luigi teamed up with Milli Vanilli. Power Team was…a thing. When we got an animated movie based on Street Fighter II, it was mind-blowing. This was a movie where the very first scene was Ryu tearing Sagat’s chest into a bloody gash thanks to a well-animated Shoryuken.

There’s a lot going on in this movie, but at the same time, nothing is going on. By this point, there were 17 characters in the various Street Fighter II games, and outside of a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it Akuma cameo, it feels the need to include every single one of them. Some get minor roles, like Cammy and Dee Jay. Then there’s Zangief and Blanka, who fight each other for no reason other than for the sake of giving them something to do. Even Ryu vanishes for a huge chunk of the runtime.

Once everything funnels into the third act, this movie is great. And the earlier fight scenes are straight fire too, including the memorable Chun-Li vs. Vega brawl. Even though the movie already feels true to Street Fighter II, it’s even better when you realize that it’s all supposed to be a prequel to the game itself.

Or at least I hope so. Otherwise, all Sagat gets to do is get his ass kicked by Ryu and get chewed out by Bison.

1. MORTAL KOMBAT (1995)

The stars truly aligned for this one. Mortal Kombat Mania was at its peak, so it makes sense that this movie was a retelling of the first game’s story with added aspects from the second game, all while hyping up the arcade release of the third game. CGI was such a novelty in Hollywood in the ’90s that even if it looked primitive, it still looked cutting edge at the time. It was the perfect time to release this movie.

But Mortal Kombat isn’t perfect. Reptile is embarrassing. Scorpion and Sub-Zero being relegated to goons still stings. I still roll my eyes at the part towards the end where Sonya is suddenly the damsel in distress and Raiden flat-out verbally buries her by saying she couldn’t beat Shang Tsung in a million years. Otherwise, it’s the perfect storm of ‘90s action garbage.

There are so many over-the-top and charismatic performances here. Johnny Cage, Raiden, Shang Tsung, Kano, and even Goro are a blast to watch. All 10 characters from the original game are given something to do and, most importantly, they realize how uniquely weird the game’s story is and actually dive headfirst into it. The movie isn’t embarrassed to be a Mortal Kombat movie but handles itself well enough that we aren’t embarrassed to be watching a Mortal Kombat movie.

Even with a PG-13 rating, the movie was violent enough. Kano talked up seeing a pile of frozen guts in the wake of a Sub-Zero fight, Scorpion got his skull sliced apart with demon brain goo spewing all over the place, and Shang Tsung got impaled to death.

With the reboot being rated R, going for the gore could very well be the right route to go, but for the love of the Elder Gods, don’t forget to have FUN. All I’m saying is, if even Johnny Cage isn’t hamming it up, then what’s the point?

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traincat · 5 years

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Hi! I've been thinking a lot about this and was curious about your opinion- I've seen people online be critical of getting another fantastic four origin story potentially in the movies, similar to how people didn't want another 'uncle Ben sob story' for spidey, in the event of another FF movie would you want to see their origin explored again or would you prefer the story beginning after the fact? Would it make a big difference w their characters like not having uncle Ben to reference did?

So I’ve got a couple of different thoughts on this, but the biggest one is that we need origin stories in our superhero comics and in our adaptations because without them, we are missing a crucial building block in the foundation of characterization. Superman and the destruction of Krypton and his arrival on earth as a baby. Batman and the death of his parents. Spider-Man and the spider’s bite, the decision not to stop the burglar, and the subsequent death of Uncle Ben. I don’t think a lot of people who argue against even referencing the death of Uncle Ben realize the narrative weight involved here, or maybe the absolutely ordinariness of the scenario makes people uncomfortable: there’s no planet to be destroyed, and the fate of Batman’s parents have a certain dramatic quality about it, with the image of the wealthy Waynes, of Martha’s pearls, and young Bruce being made to witness these acts. Peter never sees Uncle Ben get killed. He’s shot by an ordinary thug. This action comes about through Peter’s inaction. It’s not the kind of crime that would make the front page of a paper if not for Spider-Man’s involvement in the capture of the criminal. It is actually, when you look at it, a painfully average sort of crime: an old man shot by another man with a gun during a bungled home invasion. And I don’t know if the aversion to seeing it again comes from a lack of empathy -- the audience refuses to feel for Peter because of the lack of superhero flair contained within the scene -- or from an abundance of this -- they “don’t want to see another Uncle Ben sob fest” because, in that there’s no superhero drama in it, it’s too easy to imagine the same sort of thing happening to someone in your life. But the thing that makes Spider-Man extraordinary has always been taking the ordinary and applying that to a superhero. It’s why he worries about bills. And it’s why his uncle dies in a way that has no flair to it. Peter’s not the lone survivor of an alien planet. He’s not the scion of a made up city’s elite and wealthy family. He’s an ordinary guy from a real city, and his uncle gets killed and that’s it: it’s mundane and terrible and like many people who experience a loss, he rationalizes that if he had taken different actions he could have prevented it, imposing his own responsibility on an event he couldn’t have foreseen. Beyond cementing responsibility in Peter and painting him with a certain down to Earth brush, though, Ben’s death serves another narrative function: without it, we don’t know how Peter functions as a crimefighter. Most Peters, including and originated with 616 Peter, when left to his own devices and without supervillain intervention, target street crime: muggings, drug dealers, assaults in the night, gun crime, illegal weapons. He also doesn’t use guns. Noir Peter, on the other hand, has a Ben who wasn’t shot as a means of murder, and that shows: he believes the mob murdered his uncle, so he cracks down on organized crime. His Ben wasn’t shot, so he has no problem using guns. You don’t have to spend the 40 minutes The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) took to set up Ben’s death, but without even referencing it or letting us know how Peter feels in response to it, there’s something vitally missing from the story and from our understanding of Peter as a character. Origin stories are important because they let us know what set the characters on this path, and people who are impatient with them need to consider that even if they know the story, a new movie will always be someone’s introduction to a character, and those new fans deserve to know that character’s origin story to its fullest. This might not be your first time watching an origin story, but it will definitely be somebody else’s. This isn’t to say the origin always has to be done in full, but I do think it has to be respected within a new piece, and it’s weird to me that some characters get this respect and others don’t.

On the other hand, we have to look at the Fantastic Four’s original origin and its execution within Fantastic Four #1. This is one of those origins that we have to adapt for the times -- and obviously comics have had to do this too as the sliding timescale moves along -- because there’s a big problem in that we can’t have the Fantastic Four steal a rocket because they want to beat to Russians to space. Fantastic Four itself is a little weird about the origin story: Fantastic Four #1 doesn’t open with it itself. Instead we’re introduced to a faceless “strange man” who monologues to himself that he’d hoped he’d never have to fire the signal to summon the mysterious Fantastic Four and prays it will be the last time. We’re then introduced to three individuals who display strange powers -- a woman running out on a society friend by turning invisible; a huge man who is having trouble being fitted for new clothes reveals a monstrous form; a teenager tinkering with an engine bursts into flame. We’re introduced to the Fantastic Four in their already powered state before a flashback takes us through how the cosmic rays transformed them, meeting them in their transformed state before we learn what it was exactly that transformed them. So in a way I do think you could make an argument that they’re suited for fast-forwarding through the origin story and perhaps revisiting it later, but there’s a few things about the origin story that inform the Fantastic Four in very important ways. First of all, the audience needs to understand that these are people who thought of and followed through with a plan to steal a space mission. Making it a planned space mission they’re all legally along for the ride on ala Fantastic Four 2005 automatically undermines the fact that the Fantastic Four are hugely independent free thinkers who don’t let little things like “canceled missions” keep them from breaking into government property and taking a couple billion dollars for a joyride just to prove a point. They’re rule breakers -- more than that, they invent new rules. The audience has to realize that these are people who will defy the government in favor of breaking ground and the discovering the new. Fant4stic (2015) did this better -- Reed, Ben, Doom, and Johnny very much do take an unsanctioned trip to another dimension just so they can be the first -- but it’s very Ultimate-inspired as origin retellings go, and I don’t like that Doom took Sue’s place in the original government property stealing lineup. Second, we need the origin to make it clear that Reed feels very guilty about the fact that the shielding wasn’t good enough and that he is responsible for the transformation of the three people he loved the most.

(Fantastic Four v3 #60)

We also need the origin story for the Ben angle. Now this is a thing I love about Fant4stic (I know, I know, but you all should know who I am -- a Fant4stic apologist -- at this point), and I think it’s actually a good thing about the fact that, going in, much of the viewing audience might already know the origin story: you can use that knowledge of the origin story to build up a lot of tension. If we know something has to happen within the story -- the transformation of the Fantastic Four, the spider biting Peter Parker -- then we have to be waiting for it. The shotgun, so to speak, is on the wall. The first Captain America film did this: obviously, I as a person who was familiar with Bucky Barnes knew he had to “die”, and I remember being on the edge of my seat waiting for it. Fant4stic does this with Ben: we know what happens to Ben, especially, out of all of the Fantastic Four. We know how monstrous his transformation is. We know he can’t turn back. And we know how that makes him feel. So we’re waiting for this horrible thing to happen to him and I don’t think that has to be a drudge -- I think it can be really quite exciting. It’s all in how confidently the creators embrace their source material and their skill as storytellers.

If there’s one thing I think fans should be advocating being left out of a brand new Fantastic Four movie, it’s Doom. The Doom Trap is a huge Fantastic Four adaptation problem; they need to stop writing him into the origin story alongside them when it erases his own origin, and makes a film that has to introduce four main characters all with complex relationships with each other too crowded when they’re trying to do the Ultimate Big Bad of the Fantastic Four right off the bat. Personally, I’d kill to do another little origin -- the first bad guy the Fantastic Four ever faced -- and have a new film feature the Mole Man as the main antagonist.

#traincat talks comics #fantastic four #*replies #Anonymous

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just-a-thought29-blog · 5 years

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You Can’t Top Pigs With Pigs...Unless It’s Live Action Pigs...

When Walt Disney was interviewed after receiving an Academy Award for The Three Little Pigs, he was asked was he going to create another Three Little Pigs short? A sequel if you will? Walt famously told the reporter “You can’t top pigs with pigs.” What one could interpret Walt meaning by this is that you can't keep creating the same thing. The story has been told, so one moves on to the next story to tell. Something Disney has done and did very well for generations. But lately things have begun to change. The company who’s whole source of income thrives on imagination seems to have, ironically, run out. One might suggest they take a trip to EPCOT and ask Figment if he could help out a bit getting that little spark of inspiration back. But there’s a bigger problem than a lack of imagination at this point. How do you go about trying to get that spark back...when you don’t even realize it’s gone?

The Disney Company is seeing some of the highest box office success in it’s history. Nearly every movie the company released this year in 2019 has crossed over the 1 billion dollar mark. One of them crossing over the 2 billion mark, and making it the highest grossing movie of all time. So as you’re reading this, you’re probably asking yourself “how can this guy think that Disney has lost it’s imagination?” Lets look shall we? If you take a moment to do some googling, you can easily find a list of the feature films Disney has released over its time. For the purpose of this, lets only go back about two years. From 2017 to currently now August of 2019 the only “original” animated feature Disney has released is Coco. And that was under the Pixar portion of the company. Any other major box office release, has either been a sequel or a live action remake of some kind. Nothing new. Nothing different. Nothing really imaginative. Oh but wait, there were two...somewhat...original movies released in that time frame. They were live action. A Wrinkle in Time and The Nutcracker and the Four Realms. Both technically not a sequel or really a live action remake. But...those didn’t do well...at all. And if I had to guess, I’d say that sequels are highly unlikely at this point. And this is where my thought on there’s a much bigger problem than just the lack of imagination. This problem didn’t happen overnight. It wasn't as if suddenly the House of Mouse just threw in the magic carpet and said it ran out of pixie dust. And if anyone has the same view I do, I’m sure we can argue exactly when (if) this problem started to form. All I can do is give my thoughts on where I think the problem started to take shape. And my honest opinion on that? I’m kind of blaming Marvel for this.

Now before you go and grab the mob from Beauty and Beast and hunt me down, just hear me out. Yes, Marvel Studios and it’s Cinematic Universe at this point seems unstoppable. 10 years worth of movies and story telling finally coming to a conclusion this year is something that has never been done in the movie industry. And the whole idea of a “universe” has sparked other companies to try and replicate that magic. So why am I looking at Marvel to blame for this? Because Disney, in my opinion, is one of those companies trying to replicate the success of Marvel Studios. Almost any interview you watch when it comes to a Marvel Studios movie, someone will bring up the “source material.” Meaning the comic books. Iron Man, Spider-Man, Black Panther, none of these characters just appeared within the last 10 years. They’re not new or original. And what the movies do is reimagine these characters, and bring them to life in ways super hero fans never dreamed of. But the comics are still used as the basic structure of this universe. Directors, writers, actors and actresses are all going back to the pages to get the inspiration and ideas for what to do next from these comics. And Disney is taking notice of this. Only problem for Disney is, they don’t have a source material to go by. At least...not really any more. Granted they did back in the day. The Little Mermaid Peter Pan, Cinderella, these are stories that were reimagined by Disney. You can’t retell the same story over and over. That’d just be crazy. Sadly I think Mickey and friends would disagree.

Disney may not have new source material to retell for the big screen, but they have probably one of the biggest back catalogs of stories they can...reimagine...all over again. When it comes to new or original, as of late, Disney has been hit hard. Oz the Great and Powerful, The Lone Ranger, Tomorrow Land, A Wrinkle In Time, these are just a few of the original ideas that the company put a lot of effort and, more importantly, a lot of money into to get that success it was seeing from Marvel and their other movies. With, potentially, the hope of creating another “universe” with any of those properties. But none of them took off. Which is why I personally believe we’re in the new Reimagined Remake era of Disney. If taking notes and ideas from the source material works for Marvel, then it has to work for them as well. And to be fair, it pretty much is. Even though some critics and fans disagree to an extent here and there, the box office numbers are telling them otherwise. Disney has found its new source for ideas: itself. And you’re probably screaming right now saying, “They’re doing what they’ve always done. Taking stories and retelling them.” You’re not wrong. I’m not disagreeing. But I go back to the beginning of this post with what Walt said: “You can’t top pigs with pigs.” Is Disney seriously going to go through every single movie and redo it? 20 years from now are we going to get a live action version of Anna and Elsa? Will Moana and Maui come to life 25 years from now? Sure it’d be awesome to see live, but when do you stop and take a step back to realize this “reimagining” and nostalgia will eventually get old and die out. And by that time is it too late? When does Disney put it’s faith and trust again back in the Pixie Dust?

No one is denying that some of these remakes are good, if not really good. The technology used for The Jungle and now The Lion King is truly amazing. But it’s changing every day. The technology that made the fur on Simba seem so life like, could potentially be even better a year from now. And almost definitely will be better 20 years from now. So does that mean cause the technology is better we’re going to get another remake of The Lion King? It’s being tossed around as one of the reasons we’re getting most of these remakes now. Because CGI and computer animation has come so far, they’re able to do so much more. And that’s great! But I don’t want to see what happened to Sonic happen to Stitch. If anything pick and choose which stories to tell again. Or go back and pick those movies that didn’t so well and give them the live action treatment, like Treasure Planet or Atlantis. Maybe animation wasn’t the way to go with them. Maybe those would be perfect for a live action remake? Give it a shot. But don’t go into the office every day, spin a wheel and wherever it stops that’s what you’re announcing at the next earnings call till you run out of movies. That’s going to get boring at some point, right? It’s got to. But as long as those box office numbers tell them it’s not old yet, Disney won’t see itself as having a shortage on imagination. The company is doing what it’s always done. Retelling and reimagining stories. But I think sooner or later we’re all going to get tired of hearing the same story over and over again.

#disney #walt disney #marvel #walt disney classics #walt disney studios #the walt disney company

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sjrresearch · 4 years

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Playing the Battlefield: Exploring World War II and Video Games

How many times have you disembarked from an Allied LCVP and scrambled up the blood-soaked beaches of Normandy? We’ve joined the fight in Europe, flew over Pacific waters, and navigated warships through the Atlantic, all to revisit the global conflict of World War II. While video games may seem an odd source for information regarding the Second World War, developers have proven time and time again that it’s not an outlandish concept. Digital adventures are often used to recreate the conflicts of yesteryear. While the education they offer may be surface-level, these games make people interested in history in a way a textbook cannot.

World War II is undoubtedly the most popular historical event in the video game industry. Since the 1980s, developers have been utilizing the conflict of the 40s as a backdrop for their adventures. Games like Eastern Front (Atari, 1981) and Castle Wolfenstein (Muse Software, 1981) launched an entire genre of games that is still being expanded upon today. From first-person shooters to real-time strategy titles, the Second World War has been digitized more times than anyone should care to count.

Before we dig too deep into the notable World War II games that best retell the events of the global battle, let’s look at the first question that may be on your mind.

Why is World War II So Popular in Gaming?

You can probably name several dozen World War II-specific games off the top of your head without thinking. How far can you get with World War I? Or even the Vietnam War? Chances are nowhere near as close. It’s not because all World War I or Vietnam War games are bad. The conflicts simply don’t have as big a spotlight on them.

According to author Frank Cottrell Boyce in Andrew Pulver’s “Why are we so obsessed with films about the Second World War” piece (The Guardian), “The war has become a metaphor, not just history. You can map on to it any way you want. We’re attracted to it because of its moral certainties.” With the public atrocities carried out by Germany and Japan, there are clear “villains” and “heroes” in World War II material. There is no moral ambiguity as you mow down Nazis or sink ships of the Imperial Navy.

The history of World War II has also become propaganda of a sort, inspiring brotherhood and patriotism even more than 75 years after its end. Games like Brothers in Arms highlight the comradery of World War II soldiers right in the title while games like Call of Duty and Battlefield align you with a squad of likable and relatable soldiers.

But still, why not World War I? The line between “good” and “bad” was clearly drawn, and soldiers banded together with the same fervor to fight for their country. For that, you have to look at the United States’ role in both conflicts. Video games have become so westernized that many stories are told through the eyes of American soldiers. When the nation entered World War I, the conflict was already on the downswing. Within one year and seven months, it was over. Compare that to World War II, where the United States was fighting a two-front conflict for nearly four years. The whole nation became invested. Roles in the household changed, and men willingly enlisted to battle the Nazis and the Japanese. The attack on Pearl Harbor ultimately solidified that the Second World War would become the most important conflict in history - at least to the United States.

Vice’s Corey Milne’s says it best in his article “Video Games Have Sapped the Spirit Out of World War II.” In it, he states, “World War II was great PR and the biggest games on it have cemented America’s reputation as a powerful and noble entity.”

That, of course, is not to say World War II video games should not be played. There are many worth diving into.

The World War II Games All Should Play

Since the library of World War II games is so large, it’s worth breaking it down into a shortlist of some of the most influential, important, and entertaining video games featuring the global war. While the first-person shooter genre is most prevalent, strategy games have been a suitable medium for scaling combat and showing the tactical side of the European and Pacific Theaters.

Castle Wolfenstein (Muse Software, 1981)

Though Castle Wolfenstein was among the first games to utilize stealth mechanics, it really only received notoriety when id Software retooled the concept into an action-packed first-person shooter in 1992. As an Allied spy, players maneuver through the titular castle, evading or killing German soldiers during their escape. The gameplay was simple, but the game did make historical references to the Mauser C96 pistol and Hitler’s SS unit.

Axis & Allies (Meyer/Glass Interactive, 1998)

Based on a very popular board game, Axis & Allies allows players to choose which side they’ll fight for in the large-scale conflict. The RTS turn-based format cycles through the major world powers across multiple phases, from research to combat, as they vie for control of a world map. When a capital city falls, that nation is taken out of battle until their ally can liberate them. It’s a unique way of depicting the joint effort that was required during World War II - though Japan as Germany’s close ally puts a unique spin on the dual-front war. Combat plays out in an RTS format that uses authentic units, from battleships to general infantry.

Medal of Honor: Allied Assault (2015, Inc, 2002)

Though it’s the third Medal of Honor game, Allied Assault is more memorable than its predecessors. It was one of the first games to depict a horrifying recreation of D-Day. Soldiers drop around you as you storm the beach, evading German machine-gun fire and mortars in what feels like a futile attempt of claiming the beachhead. Beyond Omaha Beach, Allied Assault spanned real locations to retain historical accuracy. Players cross into German-occupied France to liberate comrades and rush into the Nazi bases of Algiers to cripple Hitler’s forces. Allied Assault set the bar for World War II shooters and is often praised for its strides in capturing the horrors of war.

Battlefield 1942 (Digital Illusions CE, 2002)

Whereas Medal of Honor was known for crafting deep stories that painted a grim war speckled with moments of hope, Battlefield 1942 was all about the large-scale combat. Digital Illusions CE wanted to focus on more than just the human side of war. So, it opened up the battlefield, added functional aircraft and ground vehicles, and threw players into massive engagements. Up to 64 players could join the fray as Medic, Scout, Anti-Tank, Engineer, or Assault class infantry, all with unique skills and load-outs. It may have depersonalized World War II, but it helped show its scope.

Call of Duty 2 (Infinity Ward, 2005)

For four years, Medal of Honor enjoyed being the pinnacle of World War II video gaming. Even when Battlefield 1942 released, Medal of Honor remained on the throne. Then a new studio came along, stocked with 22 developers that originally worked on Allied Assault. Infinity Ward introduced a new competitor into the budding war video game market with Call of Duty, but it was Call of Duty 2 that ultimately changed the face of war games. If anything was going to dethrone Medal of Honor, it was Infinity Ward’s Xbox 360 launch title. The game introduced “post-war effects,” from raging fires to smoke and dust that blocks the screen. Call of Duty 2 elevated video game warfare to a level of realism that had yet to be touched on.

Silent Hunter III (Ubisoft, 2005)

So many war games feature sprawling battles across cities and open plains. Aeon Electronic Entertainment took a different approach and put players in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Silent Hunter (1996) filled the player’s screen with information, from the different dials and computers of a submarine to details about the World War II vessels. Silent Hunter III improved upon the concept that the first game laid out with improved visuals, deeper gameplay, and more intuitive mechanics.

Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30 (Gearbox Software, 2005)

Capturing the spirit of camaraderie, Brothers in Arms is based on the true story of the 101st Airborne Paratroopers. Unlike many World War II first-person shooters, Brothers in Arms wasn’t about the action. It put strategy and tactics first to retell the harrowing tale of the paratroopers that became scattered across the French countryside before the Normandy invasion. The game is impressively realistic, from the details of the battlefields to the equipment. Gearbox Software used eyewitness accounts to flesh out what happened to the paratroopers and create a game that’s less about winning a war and more about protecting your squadron.

Call of Duty: World at War (Treyarch, 2008)

After having developed Call of Duty 3, Treyarch was back with World at War. It may not have fared as well with reviewers, but World at War is equally as important as previous titles as it shifted focus to the Pacific Theater. World War II games were mostly inclined to take the battle to Europe against the German threat, leaving the Pacific conflict off the table entirely. World at War explores the Pacific Theater with a gritty realism that added limb dismemberment and accurate burn injuries. Treyarch’s development team also kicked off one of Call of Duty’s biggest trends with the Nazi Zombies mode.

Company of Heroes (Relic Entertainment, 2006)

Company of Heroes blends the units and tech of World War II with solid RTS mechanics. Players engage the Germans across notable battles like the Invasion of Normandy, using the staples of the RTS genre that we’ve become accustomed to. Company of Heroes makes you think about every move as if you’re a general formulating the best plan to take a vantage point and crush the opposition. On top of being a good looking game, Company of Heroes plays really well and offers deep gameplay that you can’t rush through. Make the wrong move, and your opposition will emerge victoriously. Much like in real war.

Regardless of which of these games you’re booting up first, be sure to pay attention to the history. Just because they’re forms of entertainment doesn’t mean there isn’t valuable information about World War II scattered throughout these titles.

At SJR Research, we specialize in creating compelling narratives and provide research to give your game the kind of details that engage your players and create a resonant world they want to spend time in. If you are interested in learning more about our gaming research services, you can browse SJR Research’s service on our site at SJR Research.

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the-evil-twin · 7 years

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The Legendary Warrior that Inspired Disney's Mulan Is Pretty Badass [x] (By Kristin Lai) (with some excerpt from Disneyfied)

We all know the story of Disney's 1998 animated classic, Mulan. Girl goes to war in place of her father, overcomes adversity, kicks ass, takes names, becomes a hero and falls in love. It's a beautiful tale, and a pretty open and shut case.

But did you know that Mulan is rumored to be based on a real person?

The original story of Mulan comes from the Chinese tale the Ballad of Mulan. While the real-life Mulan was speculated to have lived during the Northern Wei dynasty (386CE – 536CE), her story was first transcribed in the 6th century. Although the poem is great in itself, it's also pretty short and lacking in detail.

Since Mulan's story has become one of epic and near-mythical proportions, there have been countless retellings and additions to her story. The version we are most familiar with today, and the model for Disney's version, likely stems from Xu Wei's play The Heroine Mulan Joins the Army in Place of her Father (1368 - 1644).

While Disney's version of the young warrior was awesome and empowering for girls everywhere - myself included - the original story of Hua Mulan (by which I mean the play) shows that she was even cooler than Disney let on. 1. She was a highly skilled warrior

Probably the biggest difference between the Disney movie and the Wei version of the tale is that Mulan had to learn to fight. A large portion of the Disney film was spent showing Shang Li teaching Mulan how not to die on the battlefield. How could anyone forget that lovely training montage set to "I'll Make a Man Out of You?"

In the play, Mulan grew up as a tomboy with her father teaching her to fight at a young age. By the time she enlisted in the Chinese army, she already knew martial arts, how to wield a sword, and how to competently use a bow and arrow. Sorry, Shang Li, but maybe she could teach you a thing or two about how to be a man.

2. Her family dynamic was totally different

In the Disney film, Mulan isn't really great at anything when we first meet her. She's deemed undatable by the town matchmaker because she lacks the skills that would make her marriage material. Her family is visibly disappointed by this fact, which causes Mulan to basically hate the person she is and the woman she can't seem to become. Part of the reason why Mulan goes to war in the first place is to prove her worth and redeem herself to her seemingly dishonored family. If she can't make it as a woman, then maybe she can as a man.

In the poem, Mulan is honest with her parents about wanting to go to war. She puts down her womanly duty of weaving, goes out and buys a horse, saddle, and bridle and off she goes! Although her parents are bummed that Mulan will be away fighting in the war, it just seems like the most natural decision for her to go in place of her father or little brother (yes, she has a little brother in the poem as well, not just a dog named "Little Brother"). They're kind of like, "Bye, we'll miss you!", but there's definitely no dramatic scene of her leaving in the dead of night.

She does have some self-doubt at the very end of the play for completely non-war related reasons, but we'll get to that later.

3. She didn't have any sidekicks

Sorry, Disney fans, while we all loved the addition of her sassy horse and "lucky" cricket pals, Mulan didn't have any anthropomorphic animal friends helping her along the way. Sadly, there also isn't a peanut gallery of goofy, spectral ancestors. And as for Mushu, there was no small, red dragon sent by her ancestors for protection and comic relief. Although I doubt that any of this will come as a huge shock to any of you.

This Mulan also has soldier buddies, which are lovingly referred to as “SOLDIERS” throughout the play. They are nothing more than stage hands really, and serve only to lead Mulan to and from the army camp at the beginning and end of the tale. There is no love interest among this motley crew, in fact Mulan is married off to her next-door neighbour as soon as she gets home.

Wei’s play version is more heavily focused on Mulan, and the other characters are only really used to set the scene and represent her actions. The lack of supernatural elements makes the story more realistic, and this was probably the author’s intention – there is nothing particularly special about Mulan, and she could be pretty much anyone going to war.

The Disney film tries to paint a broader picture about life as a soldier, and also introduce western audiences to some aspects of Chinese culture. The fact that her ancestors are involved gives her more of an aura of “the chosen one” and highlights the importance of her actions, in that she is breaking free of her restrictive society.

By this point in the story, both Mulans have shown their figurative balls by becoming lauded soldiers and war heroes. However, their lack of literal balls can’t remain a secret forever.

4. There was no big gender reveal

Just when our movie Mulan is fitting in with her fellow soldiers and everything seems to be going well, she becomes injured and it's revealed that she was a woman the whole time *gasp*!

It's not until she saves the whole damn empire that everyone accepts her for the awesome person she's been the whole time.

In the play, Mulan's only request upon returning from battle was to go home to be with her family. It wasn't until she was home that she voluntarily revealed her gender to her brothers in arms. Actually, nonchalantly is nearer the mark. After the war, she invites her soldier buddies back to her home village, and then disappears into the house to greet her parents and put some slap on. Her soldiers march in after her and happen to notice she is suddenly female.

Instead of baring their swords, shouting about dishonour and threatening to rend her into tiny pieces, they gasp and shout with elation, saying this is the greatest miracle of all time and pretty much slapping each other on the back in wonder. Then they go home.

So, in a play that was actually written in medieval China, and includes misogynistic anachronisms such as foot-binding, the Chinese army are totally okay with the fact that Mulan is a woman by the time it is revealed.

(Jenya's note: It is still an important part of the tale that she had to keep her true gender identity a secret, so it's very possible that the real-life Mulan could have been killed if it had been discovered - especially early on, but the truth is that the reason for her secrecy is never explicitly stated in either the play or the ballad. By the time she reveals the truth in the play, her heroics over the course of a decade have already garnered great respect, which I'd wager would make all the difference in the reception).

5. Mulan was in the army much longer than we thought

How long do you think the war took in the movie? Maybe a year or two? They don't really make it clear, but whatever the timeline, it doesn't even come close to the play and the original ballad - in which Mulan spent 12 YEARS away from home. Believe it or not, Mulan was able to fight in the army for over a decade without anyone ever finding out she was a woman.

Although Disney took a lot of creative liberties with Mulan's story, I think their adaptation of the legend was still fantastic. They found a way to make it resonate with young audiences and empower its viewers. With news that Disney will be making a live-action version of Mulan's story, I hope that they rely less on the success of the animated feature and pull more from Xu Wei's play. This could be the perfect opportunity for Disney to show us a more accurate and badass version of Mulan. Would you rather see a rebooted live-action version of the 1998 Mulan, or one that stays closer to the source material?

P.S. - I highly recommend reading Disneyfied's blog article on the subject for a more in-depth compare / contrast evaluation of Disney’s and Wei's Mulan, it's excellent.

P.P.S. - If you're interested in a live-adaptation of Wei's Mulan, check out the Chinese 2009 film Mulan (here, with English subtitles).

P.P.P.S. - Happy International Women's Day!

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ciathyzareposts · 5 years

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Game 109: Batman Returns (1992) – Introduction

Written by Joe Pranevich

I grew up loving comic books. My parents wouldn’t let me buy them, but I still had a tiny little suitcase of issues that I had managed to snag at flea markets with my own money. Looking back on it now, it’s adorable just how much I loved the idea of comics even as I barely owned any and didn’t even understand the difference between Marvel and DC. My big break came in high school when I bought boxes and boxes of them off of one of my mother’s boyfriends, no doubt getting a huge discount as he both tried to look mature enough to date my mother while also trying to be nice to me. Contained within the boxes– most of which still sit in my basement twenty-five years later– were a treasure trove of 70s and 80s heroes, especially Doctor Strange and a nearly-complete run of the original Defenders. Even more important than the books were the times that he and I spent together; I grilled him for hours about the histories of major characters and he was always kind enough to humor me. He even took me to my first comic book store. I kept in touch with him long after he and my mother split up. He was an adult geek, the first I had ever known, and that was amazing.

One of the characters that he helped me to love was Batman. I remember how shocked I was to learn that the Robin I knew from TV reruns wasn’t even Robin anymore and that there had been two more since then. In large part because of his collection, I was more a Marvel kid than a DC one, but Batman and his rotating team of whiz-kids was someone I could get into. Bruce Timm and his series sealed the deal and I’ve been a Bat-fan ever sense. Twenty-five years later, I am excited to look at Subway Software & Spirit of Discovery’s Batman Returns (1992), the first ever adventure game featuring the Dark Knight. As this is also the 80th anniversary of the character, I can’t imagine a more fitting time to delve into the history of Batman and Batman-related games, before plunging into our topic at hand. It’s a huge story, but I’ll be brief.

Sixty-four pages of action, only seven of which featured Batman.

You don’t need to be told that Batman is one of the most popular comic book characters in the world, one of the “trinity” of Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman that underlies the DC comics universe. Batman (or the “Bat-Man” as he was initially called) was created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger for the #27 (May 1939) issue of Detective Comics, an anthology magazine featuring mystery stories solved by recurring and non-recurring detective characters. (DC’s name came from this comic, although the reason has more to do with business spin-offs and acquisitions than it does a desire to place Batman above his Action Comics counterpart, Superman.) Kane and Finger borrowed generously from their pulp predecessors when designing Batman, drawing inspiration from the Shadow, Zorro, the Lone Ranger, and other crime fighters of the period. Like them, Batman had a secret identity: Bruce Wayne, a socialite and millionaire driven to protect the weak. It is difficult for us today to know what the industry practices and expectations were around plagiarism in the 1930s, but it is unfortunate in retrospect that Batman’s debut story is essentially an uncredited seven-page retelling of “The Partners of Peril”, a short story by Theodore Tinsley featuring “The Shadow” from three years earlier. It’s an ignoble start to an amazing character, but new stories would quickly be written that set Batman apart from other pulp heroes of the era.

Batman from his initial appearance in May 1939.

Robin first appeared in April 1940.

The biggest change to the status quo came a year after publication, in Detective Comics #38 (April 1940): the introduction of Robin, his youthful side-kick. This “dynamic duo” would remain central to the character in almost all incarnations to the present day, barring a few swaps of who exactly was wearing the cowl and domino masks. In subsequent years, more characters were added to the family including Ace the Bat-Hound (in 1955), Batwoman (1956), Batgirl (1961), and many others. Just diagraming all of the Robins and their alternate identities would take all day; we’re on our fifth or sixth now depending on how you count. We even have a Bat-Cow, introduced in 2009!

We’re getting ahead of ourselves. The backdrop for Batman’s introduction is what is today referred to as the “golden age” of comics. From 1938 to the end of the 1940s, superhero comics thrived. This period saw tremendous innovation in the types of stories that could be told as well as the types of characters they could feature. Many of the most popular DC characters today got their start during this golden age, including Superman, Shazam, Green Lantern, Flash, and the Green Arrow. (In contrast, nearly all of the popular Marvel characters originate in the 1960s “silver age”. Of the gigantic cast of Avengers: Endgame, only Captain America and Bucky were created as early.) After World War II, superhero sales declined and one-by-one comics were shuttered or repurposed for Westerns or war stories. Only Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman managed to (barely) hold onto their titles during the lean times.

Depending on whether you are a Marvel or DC fan, the start of the rebirth came either with the publication of DC’s Showcase #4 (introducing Barry Allen as the Flash) in October 1956 or Marvel’s Fantastic Four #1 in November 1961. For DC, this period saw a gradual relaunch of many golden age titles with new science fiction spins, such as Green Lantern’s ring being powered by extra-terrestrial science rather than magic. Batman and Superman were largely unaffected by this change except that many of their previous adventures were retconned as happening in a different universe, called “Earth-2”. At Marvel, the silver age meant a deconstruction of the super-hero formula with more focus placed on the social lives and problems of their heroes, made most famous by Spider-man and his inability to juggle his great responsibility with his social life. Bruce Wayne never had those kinds of problems!

Cliffhangers were more to Batman’s taste.

Although Batman had starred in two movie serials (in 1943 and 1949), his real pop-culture moment came in 1966 with the launch of a Batman series on ABC. This series starred Adam West (as Batman) and Burt Ward (as Robin) and featured a campy, humorous take on the characters. Despite its camp, it was true to the source material with fantastic depictions of key Batman antagonists such as the Joker, Penguin, Catwoman, and the Riddler. (Frank Gorshin will always be “my” Riddler.) The series was successful enough that it spawned a theatrical film (shot after the first season), plus two more seasons for a total of 120 episodes. For better or worse, this depiction of the character was lodged in the public imagination for decades. This Batman was right at home joking with Ed McMahon, living it up with his “Super Friends”, and solving mysteries with the Scooby-Doo gang.

Yes, this happened. More than once.

Throughout the 70s and 80s, Batman comics began to focus on the darker aspects of the Bat-mythos. This was also a period where status quo-defying events became surprisingly commonplace, as if to underscore the break between the “now” and what came before. The original Robin, Dick Grayson, quit in 1984. The new Robin, Jason Todd, was killed by the Joker (and a reader poll) in 1988. Batgirl was shot in the back and paralyzed. This darker turn on the character was epitomized in 1986 by the amazing The Dark Knight Returns miniseries by Frank Miller, depicting an older and worn down Batman who faces off against an authoritarian Superman in a Reaganesque hellscape. A few brief words are insufficient to describe this book and its impact, but the world was ready for a serious Batman again. Enter Tim Burton and his 1989 Batman film.

You ever dance with the devil in the pale moonlight?

Featuring Michael Keaton and Jack Nicholson at Batman and the Joker respectively, the film brought a mature Batman to the public consciousness for the first time. It was far from perfect, but it brought to the fore aspects that I consider essential: Gotham City’s 1930s/Art Deco aesthetic, the Danny Elfman score, and Batman as a detective first and a fighter second. He was no ninja; Keaton could barely move in the Batsuit! Nicholson’s Joker is fun (and receives top billing over the hero), but his scheme doesn’t make a ton of sense and his death at the end (spoiler!) robs the nascent series of the potential for an ongoing antagonist. Plot threads started in this film, such as Billy Dee Williams’s pre-Two-Face Harvey Dent character, were abandoned before the sequel. Nonetheless, the movie was one of the cultural events of 1989, bringing comics and cinema fans their first look at what a “serious” Batman could be. It was exciting! With a massive box office haul, a sequel was inevitable. Burton and Keaton would be on board again, but the series needed new villains: Penguin and Catwoman.

Keaton got top billing this time!

For all that the first film was Tim Burton doing a Batman movie, the second is Batman occasionally appearing in a Tim Burton film. Everything feels dialed-up to eleven, with less of the gangland realism that pervaded the first film, replaced with a surreal dreamland. Batman barely appears, giving Burton more time to focus on Selina Kyle’s transformation into Catwoman, and the delicate dance that the Penguide does between eliciting sympathy and demonstrating animalistic cruelty. It’s only when you get to mind-controlled penguins wielding rocket launchers that you realize how completely bananas everything became when you weren’t looking. Adam West would have been right at home against that sort of threat! In the end, Batman saves the city, Catwoman survives to purr another day, and we will never see what kind of third movie Burton would have brought us. I’m okay with that.

Incidentally, the only character that does not “Return” in this movie is Batman. Penguin returns from being abandoned to the sewers. Catwoman returns from the dead for vengeance against the man who killed her. Batman spent the time between films fighting crime and brooding over the loss of his girlfriend.

Batman’s first game.

Batman in Video Games

The history of Batman video games starts in 1986 with a pair of games from Ocean Software, a UK firm that specialized in licensed games, usually action-platformers. These two games, Batman (1986) and Batman: The Caped Crusader (1988) were each experimental in their own ways. The 1986 Batman game is almost an adventure and features the protagonist exploring a house and battling foes in an isometric perspective. The second became the template for most of the side-scrolling beat-em-up style of Batman games to come, although it at least used unique framing to resemble comic book art.

The 1989 movie saw an explosion of game tie-ins to the film. Ocean Software wrote a third one, but Sunsoft alone released five different but similar games, plus there was an arcade exclusive, and even a Pac-Man clone. This pattern of allowing many developers to all produce different games for the same tie-in “event” was common during this period and we’ve seen it before with Hook, Star Trek: 25th Anniversary, and others. As a man who sees games as art, I find these practices distasteful. Every one of those games deserves individual recognition or scorn, but since much of the point was to drum up excitement and sales for the films they represented, the common branding makes sense. In 1991, Sunsoft produced a sequel to their movie tie-ins, Batman: Return of the Joker. None of these games highlighted the “detective” portion of the World’s Greatest Detective, a gap that we’ll get to shortly.

I had Batman Returns for the NES when I was a kid.

And that leads us to the 1992 sequel, Batman Returns. Eight separate games were commissioned by Konami for the occasion, nearly all picked up by separate development firms. None of them offer much originality or plot: Batman travels through a level, beats up bad guys, throws Batarangs, eventually defeats a boss, then repeat. Having not played any of them recently, I can’t say whether any of them rose above their limited mechanics, but I’m going to guess not. You already know because you are reading this post that the one “different” game in the set was the adventure game that we will be covering in the next few posts.

Developing Batman Returns

The development of Batman Returns was an emotional rollercoaster for Bill Kunkel, one that he described in a pair of columns in the “Kunkel Report” for Digital Press. (If you haven’t read my introduction to him and his work, I recommend you jump over to do so now.) In many ways, this was the perfect project for his background: he had written comic books, tackled a Superman game, plus he had four good adventures under his belt. When news broke that Konami was shopping out developers for games based on the Batman sequel, Kunkel played his contacts and discovered that the gig for the DOS version of the game had been given to a development house that he had connections to, Park Place. He pitched himself and his firm to design the game, a pitch that he landed based on his excellent resume for the job. Bill sums up his elation best:

And now I was getting my shot at Batman! At THE Batman! The rest of the process was a marvelous blur, full of contract signings, fat checks, and even a trip to the Hollywood studio where the film was being made. It was during my visit to the vast soundstage that I got to walk across the wintry rooftops of Tim Burton’s ultra-noir Gotham City. Of course, this being Hollywood, the rooftops were constructed about a foot-and-a-half off the ground, but still, it just… looked… great! […] My long-time prayer was being answered – I was going to design the greatest Batman game the world had ever seen! We would take an entirely different approach, let the player become the Caped Crusader as never before!

Kunkel’s trip to the sets to see the movie being made was followed by being given a copy of the script. That is when, he claims, his love for this project ceased. He called the script a “disgrace” and claims that he “wept openly” by the end, seeing his vision of his childhood hero shattered. I’m not sure that I buy that hyperbole as the Batman comics of his youth were not Shakespeare either, although he likely was reading an earlier draft of the screenplay than what made it to the screen. (Several working drafts have been leaked over the years, but I could not identify which of them Kunkel would have seen.)

Now that he was designing a game that he wasn’t thrilled about, the stress started to affect his health. Worse, the developers, Park Place (and their “Spirit of Discovery” imprint) were having financial trouble. The final nail in the coffin, in his view, was that Warner Brothers started making design requests, locking the plot of the game into the narrow confines of the movie and away from the celebration of Batman that Kunkel hoped for. And yet, Kunkel completed his design, Park Place completed their game, and the movie did well enough to land three sequels (two Batman films and a Catwoman). So angered by the process, Kunkel never even played the game that he had designed. This is, as far as I can tell, the last game his “Subway Software” ever worked on. Was it the stress of producing what he felt was a “bad” game that turned him away from the industry? Was it the promise of a new life for his Electronic Games magazine? Both? I have no idea. I’ll briefly recap the rest of Kunkel’s projects when we get to the final rating.

Despite everything he wrote, I’m still looking forward to this game. Even if it wasn’t what he imagined, the best art shines through adversity. Will his vision shine through? Or am I about to wade through several weeks of Batman-themed garbage?

My copy of the manual is black, but otherwise similar to the above.

The Manual

Before we can play the game, there is one final detail to cover: the manual. I was unable to locate any copies online and eventually resorted to buying the game from a second-hand store for more than I care to admit. I am glad I bought it because the game appears complicated. I’ll go over it briefly now and explain it better as I understand the mechanics. The key point to the interface (as explained by the manual) is that we do not control Batman directly. If he gets into a fight, we can provide recommendations, but he’ll fight the criminal on his own. All we have is a single mouse cursor and single mouse button to direct Batman where to go and what to do.

It may be easiest to explain the rest as bullet points:

The goal is to prevent Penguin from becoming mayor or destroying the city. This is done over nine timed nights where Batman can operate from 6 PM to 6 AM.

Batman’s base is the Batcave where he can swap suits that are damaged and select what to put in his utility belt. There’s also a computer that we can use to analyze evidence, watch the news, and search a database of Gotham citizens.

The utility belt is the closest we get to an icon interface for this game. We can select what tools go in our belt before we leave the Batcave. Tools include multiple types of Batarangs, grappling guns, and even a portable document scanner. As a fan of the 1960s series, I am saddened by the lack of Bat-shark repellent.

There are also two sets of interfaces while Batman is out and about: a “searching” interface that allows him to look for clues, and a “combat” interface where Batman fights his enemies. Batman does all the fighting himself, but we can specify how hard we want him to battle (“Easy”, “Normal” or “Fierce”). Both modes let us use items from his utility belt.

That all sounds pretty reasonable, but we’ll see how it all works out in practice soon.

The Bat-signal goes out!

And it is time to play the game!

Don’t forget that this is an introductory post and so you can bet on the score. My only help is that Borrowed Time, Kunkel’s first game, scored a respectable 38. That was six years ago, plus you read Kunkel’s feelings on the game above. Do you want to gamble that it sucks? Or maybe he was too harsh? I’m looking forward to your guesses and to find out for myself.

This week, I want to shout out to Keith Decando and his “4-Color to 35-Milimeter” series over on Tor.com. He has a great write-up on the first two Batman movies in his rewatch, but his column is one that I look forward to reading every Friday.

Note Regarding Spoilers and Companion Assist Points: There’s a set of rules regarding spoilers and companion assist points. Please read it here before making any comments that could be considered a spoiler in any way. The short of it is that no CAPs will be given for hints or spoilers given in advance of me requiring one. As this is an introduction post, it’s an opportunity for readers to bet 10 CAPs (only if they already have them) that I won’t be able to solve a puzzle without putting in an official Request for Assistance: remember to use ROT13 for betting. If you get it right, you will be rewarded with 20 CAPs in return. It’s also your chance to predict what the final rating will be for the game. Voters can predict whatever score they want, regardless of whether someone else has already chosen it. All correct (or nearest) votes will go into a draw.

source http://reposts.ciathyza.com/game-109-batman-returns-1992-introduction/

#retro games #dos games #retro #crpg #adventure #amiga #oldcomputers #8bit #16bit #blog #repost

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