The Last Guardian (2016)

The Last Guardian (2016)

Genre: Adventure / Puzzle / 3D Platformer  |  Players: 1  |  Developer: Team Ico / genDESIGN / SIE Japan Studio

The many delays and behind the scenes troubles that plagued the game's development are well-documented elsewhere, so I'll skip all of that. My stance can be summed up with a familiar phrase, 'better late than never.' And in a strange way the delay makes TLG more special to me because it delivers today the kind of daring character-driven one-player PS2-era experience that is becoming rare in titles on modern consoles.

But, subjective silver lining aside, there's a drawback to deal with. While not much of a problem at the beginning, what's required of you as you progress deeper into the game's world causes the camera mechanic to feel outdated. Because it has to acknowledge both the boy and the giant cat-bird-dog creature (named Trico) featured on the cover art, it can choose to favour one when you need it to favour the other.

Nekogahara: Stray Cat Samurai: Vol 01 (2016)

Nekogahara: Stray Cat Samurai: Vol 01 (2016)

Author + Illustrator: Hiroyuki Takei  |  Page Count: 180

"A cat carves his own path..."

Norachiyo, a one-eyed cat with a mean disposition, travels across Japan in search of something personal.

A bell fashioned around a cat's neck signifies that it has a master, that it's a "kept cat" and should be afforded all the privileges that such status brings. Norachiyo's bell is attached to his deadly katana, an indicator that he's a rōnin, a masterless samurai.

It's clearly influenced by Kazuo Koike, both in style and in how the societal aspect of the era plays a key role in the story's standing. If Ogami Ittō was to get his son a cat for company, it'd be Norachiyo.

The action is furious, bloody and violent, although it's sometimes difficult to make out what exactly is going on - but if you've ever witnessed an actual cat fight, then you'll see the parallels make a kind of sense.

Masters of the Universe (1987)

Masters of the Universe (1987)

Dir. Gary Goddard

I suspect that prior to helming MotU director Gary Goddard had nurtured a lifelong dream of making a Star Wars film, or perhaps he was under instruction by the studio to do his best to secretly emulate it. Either way, the result is the same.

If you’re wondering how those two franchises could ever fit together... they don’t, and yet the plot, camera angles, costumes and music are all painfully reminiscent of Star Wars. (There’s some of Williams’ Superman in there that’s even more ill-fitting). I'm not a lover of Lucas' light space opera, so the similarities didn't make me smile.

It's fitting that they dropped the ‘He-Man’ name from the title, because he’s hardly in it. If that wasn't bad enough, most of the story doesn't even take place on Eternia! Insult to injury.

Assassin's Creed Chronicles (2015-16)

Assassin's Creed Chronicles (2015-16)

Genre: Platform / Stealth | Developer: Climax Studios

Considering how much of a spiritual debt the Ass franchise owes to Prince of Persia, it's fitting that it should return to a similar format with the smaller games. Ass Chronicles does just that.

It takes place within a 2.5D environment, a peculiar term that I'm guessing most gamers will already be familiar with. But if not, it's somewhere between a 2D and 3D environment; i.e., you move from left to right or right to left as you would in a traditional 2D side-scrolling video game adventure, but you can move into and out of more than one plane or layer from time to time, giving the illusion of depth. Functionally it enables you to hide or traverse past obstacles or enemies that would otherwise block your path.

To date, there have been three games in the Chronicles series, each with its own unique protagonist. Each one is available to buy separately, or collected together as a Trilogy Pack. However you acquire them, if you play them in the order they were originally released, then your first port of call is China in the year 1526.

Judge Anderson: The PSI Files: Volume 05 (2016)

Judge Anderson: The PSI Files: Volume 05 (2016)

Author: Alan Grant  |  Illustrators: Arthur Ranson / Dave Taylor / Boo Cook / Robin Smith / Darren Douglas  |  Page Count: 320

"Best thing you can do is shoot me full of synthi-caf an' point me at the streets!"

The bulk of the content in Volume 5 first appeared in the Judge Dredd Megazine; the two bonus entries at the end of the book are the only exception.

The opening story is excellent. A single dialogue bubble adorns the page because it's all that's needed. It's as if Alan Grant was setting a renewed precedent for himself that everything afterwards attempts to equal, with varying degrees of success.

That same story is also the only one in the collection to be drawn by series regular Arthur Ranson. Most of the artwork thereafter is handled by Boo Cook.

I wasn't familiar with Boo's art prior to reading, but have since discovered that, like many 2000 AD artists, he started out by illustrating Future Shocks. They must have impressed Tharg, because Boo quickly moved onto ABC Warriors! Not long after he was drawing for Dredd and now Anderson.

The Poseidon Adventure (1972)

The Poseidon Adventure (1972)

Dirs. Ronald Neame / Irwin Allen (uncredited)

Revellers on board the luxury cruise liner Poseidon enjoy their New Year's Eve party oblivious to the giant party-pooping wave that's thundering toward them... until it hits!

Produced by master of disaster flicks Irwin Allen, Poseidon is a thoroughly enjoyable but admittedly pretty awful journey from the bowels of hell to the light of day for a small and varied collection of individuals who realise that they must band together if they're to have any hope of escape.

With plenty of rationalising and moralising along the way the ensemble cast do their best with the material, and by the end we know exactly why each character was included and what basic emotion they were required to appeal to, a task that most of them do rather well, I'm happy to say.

I know that it's basically trash given the big screen treatment, but I love it. Ernest Borgnine, Gene Hackman, Shelley Winters and Roddy McDowall all together on a sinking ship? Hell, yes.

Star Trek: The Next Generation: Season 1 (1987-88)

Star Trek: TNG: Season 1 (1987-88)

26 episodes, approx 44 minutes each.

I remember people saying it was a ridiculous idea making a new Trek, that it was an insult to The Original Series (TOS), but I think having Gene Roddenberry as creator helped smooth the transition for a lot of them. I was too young to feel the nostalgia burn (I was only 11), so I embraced The Next Generation one hundred percent.

The pilot episode is recognisably Roddenberry. It's easy to imagine TOS crew in place of TNG crew.

However, from episode two things begin to change. It's amazing how quickly it settled into a new and unique identity. The actors seemed to bond and a very real sense of camaraderie surfaced. It still paid homage to TOS (Deanna Troi in her "cosmic cheerleader" outfit, and orange skies on alien worlds, etc) but at heart it became a series of quality sci-fi scripts wrapped in a shiny new Trek aesthetic.