Site and Health Update

I figured this was well overdue, so a quick update on what has been going on. So obviously my mental health has not been great, with the Christmas period hitting it quite hard. However, it is the physical health that has taken a big hit, with a nasal/sinus condition I've had for a few years taking a sudden deterioration around the September/October time and it causing all sorts of frustrating problems for me. Luckily I get to see a specialist on Monday, so with luck they can figure out all the problems and we can work on fixing it.

So where does this leave all those planned projects?

Eeerrrr......

So my housing situation hasn't changed, so as such I still don't have the space to work on any of the puppets and puppet based projects, so sadly they are still on the storage and wait status. Very disappointing for my, but this limitation is a real motivation killer. I'll still work on putting ideas together, I just can't do anything with them.

Miniatures are in a similar boat, with some of the larger models being unsuitable to work on just now, while the recent Warcry faction books have really been a massive let down and so working on new warbands has halted as such (I'll most likely review one such book to explain why I'm so disappointed). Many of the Moonstone, Malifaux and Burrows & Badgers miniatures have been based and undercoated, but not much else.

Painting has been problematic. With the recent medications for nasal along with my usual Asthma ones, the shaking in my hands has gotten bad at times. As such fine detail work like highlights, patterns, eyes etc. have been difficult, if not frustrating, to do. So I've been needing something to do that didn't need me to be too neat.

So I've gone back to a batch of models I did previously and have chosen to expand on them. These are the Warhammer 40K Death Guard. So back in......oh wow, July 2019 (just looked back on the Blog history to find a post on it, no idea why the pictures are gone though) I put in for the local paining comp using a Pox Walker and a Myphitic Blight-Hauler for two of the categories. I found Death Guard are painted to look too clean, so I wanted a messy bunch. At that time I got a few more Pox Walkers and a few Plague Marines done. Though I don't remember the exact paints and techniques I used back then, I still plan on finishing more of them off. As such, these will be what I focus on, paining the base colours on a bunch of different ones at once, then focusing one each one separately to focus on washes, rusts and other effects. Will also give my thoughts on the Codex and the game in general in the future too.

As such, this is the current plan. Sorry I've been gone for a bit, but hopefully I can do better this year.

October Thoughts 6/10/2020

So in the last thoughts in September, I talked about different generations and their views of cartoons and what some considered weird cartoons. Since then I decided to watch a bunch of compilation videos featuring the intro's to cartoons of the 80's and 90's (which I did over a number of days as they took up quite a few hours to watch and look up). I must say, there are a number more that I would now consider weird, but more so that I would like to actually watch.

So there are a bunch I now want to track down and watch. Some are ones I do remember watching and would like to see again, while others are ones I had never heard of and am just interested to see. Of course, that's easier said then done as beyond the shows intros, much of the actual content is extremely difficult and some almost impossible to find (so far Charlie Chalk is the only one I've found as a full series). This is rather frustrating, as you can't get them on DVD or anything and with very few online videos, it feels like a big loss. That said, feel like I've got a better chance of finding episodes for most of those shows then I have of finding a single episode of Commander Crumbcake online.

If I find some I may actually do a few Animated Reflections on them, given that I'm trying hard to return to doing that series again.

October 2020 Projects

Just an overall update on all projects, with most now on hold while I sort some stuff out. If things do happen then I'll certainly do an update, but for the moment I'm just keeping things on hold and hopefully they'll start back up soon, though it might not be in this month.

My Crash Bandicoot 4 Opinions

So finally beat the final boss and have had some time to process my thoughts. As such, I felt the need to write this since everyone else seems to be voicing their views, though I feel mine might infuriate most fans of the game (I don't mean too, it is just an opinion after all). Also, my history with Crash games is mostly limited to the N.Sane Trilogy and CTR: Nitro Fueled and beyond that I've played like one level from the first crash game on the original Playstation, so I don't have the long term nostalgic history to have a full on discussion about the franchise (though I have seen the cutscenes and gameplay of other Crash games). As such, I'll break down my thoughts in sections and yes, I'll put in a light Spoiler Warning just in case.

Gameplay:

So since this is where most of my problems lay, this is where I'll start. Most of the mechanics are the same as the previous games, though I don't feel the slide-jump is really used as well like in said games (except in the Flashback levels). I'm also not sure if there are any response time differences in the various versions as there was in the N.Sane Trilogy, though that's because this time I only got the Xbox One version. Perhaps down the road someone will have a comparison out, simply cause at times I felt the Xbox version didn't respond quickly enough to my actions.

I did have some issue with Tawna's wall jumping ability in a few spots, but I feel the biggest issue I had was with depth perception. Certain parts of levels became unnecessarily difficult for jumps and landings plus some of the obstacles on the rail sections, but at least the side scrolling sections were great (though that last level was such a pain). While I did expect the game to be very difficult (they did say it would be harder then Crash game), some of the levels were just really annoying, particularly the second half of The Crate Escape and the last level Cortex Castle.

I did enjoy Dingodiles gameplay and felt it was the most fun to play out of the three addition characters and feel he should have had more levels. I do feel the level design was alright for the most part, though I felt there needed a few shorter levels thrown in as some of these levels go on for far too long. I feel they went for a more epic scale at times. The masks and their abilities were great for the most part, but they become less fun or interesting towards the late game (also, Akano is the least interesting of the mask powers). Bosses are a mixed bag. Thought both the N.Gin and the final boss were the most creative and fun to battle while some others were more annoying.

There is some multiplayer aspects, but considering the difficulty, I don't think anyone I know would want to play it. As such, I can't comment on it. Gems are also a thing, with each level having six (one for getting 40%/60%/80% of total Wampa fruit in level, all boxes, dying no more then three times and a hidden gem) and once you unlock N.Verted Mode, there are the same six gems in each levels N.Verted stage. Each level has a skin to unlock with a number of gems needed to unlock them. The first few worlds only require six gems, but once you pass the point in which you unlock N.Verted mode, those levels going forward require more gems to unlock the skins (with the final level requiring all twelve to get). There are also Flashback Tapes in certain levels which you need to get too without dying in order to collect and unlock the Flashback level (basically, challenge levels themed as Cortex experiment chambers). So as far as unlocks go, there are plenty.

Visuals & Sound:

People seemed to have mixed opinions on both the character designs and the art style. For me, I place the character designs below those of N.Sane Trilogy and CTR:Nitro Fueled, but above everything else (especially that of the Titans/Mutants game). As far as the visuals for the levels go, I think they're amazing. Very creative and imaginative, with so many smaller details that really add to design. One of the games biggest positives for me.

Music was alright, still going to need more time on this one as I'm going over the tracks to find a few that will stand out to me. Mostly don't remember really any beyond the first two levels, but that might be just personal taste, so I'm still considering this a positive. Voice work is also great, though once again we have a few characters who have had their voice actors recast again, but Cortex is still the same so I'm happy (though the ending does have an In Memory of Mel Winkler who was Aku Aku's original voice actor, which I'll be honest, I was unaware he passed away so I'm very glad they put this in).

There are references galore in this game. This can be things like the letters on the fridge in the first level that spell Crunch, to pictures of characters from various games scattered about to even box placement in parts of levels that are placed in the same way from levels from previous games. They really put a lot of work into these references and easter eggs and it'll be interesting to see how many will show up on people's lists.

Story:

Oh boy, so for the most part the story is alright, though honestly I feel there was some missed opportunities with this. Taking place after the Crash 3 Warped, the villains of Uka Uka, N.Tropy and Cortex are stuck in their time prison and their conversation does state that many years have passes for them (so did they just age normally or did they transform back because of something is still unclear). Uka Uka exhausts his power to tear open a portal in time and space, with the villains abandoning him to go through. This leads to Aku Aku sensing something serious and sending Crash on his way. 

This game decides to make it a Crash and Coco team story, though it seems Coco has the more prominent roll when dealing with other characters, particularly with Tawna (I think I was on to something when I said she may have seen Tawna as a big sister figure). At least the game confirms what happened to Tawna's world version of Crash and Coco, though what dimension is hers I still don't know as the world map indicated she emerges from a rip in reality instead of just being on a world and getting involved like Dingodile does.

However, they could have done a lot more with this multiverse/timeline theme. Perhaps have levels, music and bosses from the other sequel games to show off how they still exist in alternate dimensions (guess I really just love to have a Twinsanity level with a comedic Cortex escort level with A cappella music track). I mean, they even use time travel towards the end and don't have any conflict with the heroes wanting to use it to prevent certain events from happening. Perhaps down the road I'll look into this plot line and what I would prefer to have seen happened. Overall, still more in the story then in the original trilogy, so a positive I guess.

The humour is absolutely perfect (though that one part from the 100% ending is just dark). I think the moment it fully won me over was when the games credits kicked in and that voice over began. My frustration just washed away with the joy of that comedy piece. It's obviously toned down from Twinsanity, but is stronger then most other games in the series. Oh yeah, there are bonus endings for 100% completion and 106% completion of the game.

Overall:

If you found the challenge of the first Crash Bandicoot game to be fine or easy, then you'll no doubt enjoy the challenge of this game. Trying to get all the gems feels harder then it did in Crash 1 and I wish people would stop comparing games to Dark Souls when it comes to difficulty (I find trying to get all the gems to be a lot harder then playing Dark Souls anyway). While I love the visuals and the references, I just didn't enjoy some of the levels and I doubt I'll play them again. I'd probably have more to say on this game, but for the life of me I just don't know how to word it right. 

So overall, I think most people will love this game for various reasons and if you feel like a challenge then certainly give this game a go.

Animated Reflections: Attack of the Killer Tomatoes Cartoon

Ah, Killer Tomatoes. I must admit that it was this cartoon that eventually lead me to seek out the movies. This cartoon was based on the first two movies from what I can see and came out the same year as the third movie (Killer Tomatoes Strike Back), but from what I've seen the third movie has no influence on the cartoon, unlike the first two. Actually, I think the cartoon had some influence on the fourth movie (Killer Tomatoes Eat France) as we see the three tomato characters of Zoltan, Fang and Ketchup being incorporated into it with some minor design alterations and both Fang and Ketchup getting name changes.

So what is this show about? Well, when I said it was based on the first two movies, it really is more a collection of characters and ideas from those movies re-imagined in a cartoon setting. It certainly feels like a different take on the second movie, but with alterations to characters for whatever reason that they decided for these changes. The characters themselves are very much aware that this is a cartoon and will point out things as a result of this. It ran for around two seasons, but never got a storyline finish (but I'll get to that later). It's theme song is also based on the second movies take of the original theme (though still not as good as the second movies theme).

So first off we have the good guys. These consist of Tomato War veteran Wilbur Finletter and the Tomato Taskforce who are an alternate version of the team from originated in the first movie, with Floyd being an alternate take on Greg (both are underwater experts) while Mary Jo is the alternate take on Gretta. Sam still seems to be the same in that he is a 'disguise expert'. This lot are more of a joke team for the most part, with them more likely to get into trouble then to solve it. Wilbur has the most time of the group and runs a pizza shop, always trying to create more outlandish dishes that no one wants to eat.

No, the real heroes are Chad, Tara and F.T. Unlike their movie counterparts, Chad is much younger, but is still Wilbur's nephew. F.T (Fuzzy Tomato) is more active, though more so that it's a cartoon and he's not just a live-action prop, and apart from Chad, Tara and the Villains, most think he's just an ugly dog. He also ends up being forced to taste Wilbur's latest pizza's, much to his disliking. Tara is still one of Gangreen's experiments, but instead of music, it's salt that turns her back into a tomato and pepper that turns her into a human. Tara is also the main reason I remember this show, mostly from her scenes from a season 2 episode that was a sort of Phantom of the Opera parody. Looking through the episodes, I think there may have been more to the character that would have made her memorable to a young boy's mind and it's unclear why in some episodes (I'm looking at you Tomato of the Black Lagoon) there wasn't a gag with the censor lady showing up to protest the more 'mature' style of particular scenes.

Speaking of which, the other characters on the side of good are Whitely White, a television reporter who seems to be everywhere and reports everything. The Censor Lady who is responsible for showing up to censor things as her running gag and finally Tomato Guy. Tomato Guy is more interesting as he is basically that one guy from the first movie who says the word 'Tomato' and causes everyone to flee and while that still is his gimmick for parts of the first season, they do tend to expand on him and give him a much bigger role in some episodes. So credit where credit is due, they took a one gag character and expanded on it, which is a nice change to see. 

Once again, John Astin returns to provide the voice for an animated character he also preformed the live version of. The alteration is that instead of Professor Mortimer Gangreen, he is now Dr Putrid T Gangreen and now has a greenish skin colour to match the look. In season two, he claims to be the first cartoon villain to have conquered the world in a single non-multipart episode and not be defeated. Whether that claim is true I am unable to confirm. One interesting thing to note is that he claims he is not a mad scientist, just an angry one, which got me thinking; Sheep in the Big City also did this gag, but that show was made later on and I have no doubt that this show didn't create that gag, so who first created the 'not mad, angry scientist' gag? Point is, I'm a big John Astin fan and I need to move on.

His minions consist of his Igor, a rather dim surfer dude stereotype who wants to be a T.V personality and it often getting into trouble with the Doctor. Finally we have the tomatoes Zoltan and the gang of five (which strangely, throughout season one only shows four tomatoes). Zoltan and his gang are much of the same joke minions, with Zoltan being the one with any real speaking part. This would change in season two where they are transformed into mutant tomatoes and each one gains it's own unique look and personality. They would successfully take over the world in the second season, though how they manage to keep control of it is a mystery to me. This would ultimately force Gangreen and Igor to team up with the Tomato Task Force (who is now an underground resistance) in an attempt to stop the tomatoes.

Ah yes, the second season. Looking back on my Blazing Dragons reflection, I should never have separated the seasons (mostly cause trying to write the second one up is much harder then I thought), so instead I'll address the issues I have with the second season of Killer Tomatoes here. 

There was a massive change between the first and second seasons of the show, with the most obvious being the animation. It became computer animated and it really does show. Personally, it wasn't for me and looked more like it should have been cutscenes for an early 90's video game instead of a show.

Then there was the intro song. While it remains the same for the most part, they added kids to it both visually and to sing along to it. I'm wondering if it was meant to tone down some of the 'scariness' factor of killer tomatoes, but to me it just feels like a toy ad every time and it's really off putting. The story structure also changed, instead of one off episodes it was now it was a continuous story. I'm still not sure how I feel about that. Some of the humour took a hit and wasn't as good as the first season. Also, Tara also got an outfit change and is now active in tomato form and I believe everyone knows about Tara and F.T being tomatoes, which is very weird.

Seriously? This is the guy who conquered Australia? How?

Ultimately, the show was cancelled before resolving the tomato world dominating plot, which was a bit of a shame. My guess is season two wasn't as popular as beyond the first four episodes, finding any other ones after that is near impossible. I was at least able to find most of season one online and after re-watching most of the show again, I can say I did enjoy it. It is very much your generic Saturday morning cartoon and its main theme of killer tomatoes isn't going to be for everyone, so I can see why most would have given it a pass. Given how critical people are these days, I think most will prefer this over the movies. I certainly found some of the gags of the first season funny and the show was entertaining enough for me to watch for the most part. If you can, check out a few of season ones episodes if your curios.

September 2020 Projects Part 2

 So a quick update on things:

Puppets:

Been put on hold temporary while I figure out what to do space wise. See, the thing is, I did get a lot of the fleece for the head done, but I didn't have the inner mouth. I also didn't have the proper space so I learned that just towards the final part of the mouth stitching, I had too much material. Unfortunately, I obviously panicked and tried to fix it, which made it worse and the more I tried fixing, the worse it got. It hit me fairly badly emotionally and so have had to halt working further on it. Due to space issues (I'm a lodger and so have nearly no personal space to work on such things), I'm having to spend some time trying to plan around it. Since all the stuff to work on props is packed in boxes, it mean the project is now on hold until a solution can be found. This is distressing and frustrating for me, but there really isn't much I can do at the moment.

Miniatures:

While I'm still working on the same models from my previous part, I'm also adding two Hucksters into the mix to finish rounding out The Wild Ones crew. Am also waiting for the next White Dwarf for their Warcry rules for Cities of Sigmar. Going to see if I can look at the possibility of making a Warband for that.

September Thoughts 25/09/2020

Cartoon Era Point of Views?

One thing I've learnt recently is to not delve into videos that talk about 'weird' cartoon series from a particular era. I recently watched one talking about shows from the 80's, yet apart from a couple, I wouldn't call most of them weird compared to other shows from that time. Heck, they even ignored Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, yet put Denver the Last Dinosaur on the list. Then it sort of occurred to me why. See, these people making the list clearly were younger then me and were more familiar with shows from the 2000's then anything else. By this time TNMT was considered a normal, popular franchise and that influence may have lead to the feeling of the show not being considered weird. As someone more familiar with 80's cartoons, I certainly would have placed TNMT on the list as compared to Denver, there are a number of the Turtles' episodes that were more weird then the Denver show itself.

I didn't comment on such videos as I find that it is difficult to have a discussion on such matters, mostly cause I don't know how people will react and if a civilized discussion about animation and cartoons can even be a thing in the current state of the community. I just felt like making a note here so I may one day expand on this thought in a more informed article.

Cross-overs:

Just a quick one here. A few years back I tweeted wondering why we never had a cross over between The Tick and Freakazoid and thinking about it recently, I wondered what other characters I'd love to see a cross over with. While there are plenty, a recent post I'm working on gave me another two I'd like to see together in a cross over: Dr Drakken from Kim Possible and Dr Doofenshmirtz from Phineas & Ferb. Both a the evil scientist stereotype and both are comedic in what they do. That said, I would have them start off trying to out do each other before they are put into a position where they are forced to team up against a greater evil to save the world. Seems like it could work as a one off piece anyway, just a thought.  

Scooby-Doo and the Curse of the 13th Ghost:

As someone who saw the 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo, this was one of the few Scooby related material that I did want to check out and having now watched it, I thought it was good. I liked it at least. It tried to remain faithful to the original while still going for the modern style that always seems the way they go with the franchise.

And there lies they problem, it 'tried', but still fell somewhat flat. Sure they brought back Flim-Flam, but they didn't bring back Scrappy, Weerd and Bogel. I know Scrappy has a bit of a reputation, but I feel the main problem with that character is that no one knows how to redeem or make him likable and this was a failed opportunity (also, they brought back this plotline yet have Fred and Velma not know who Scrappy is? Are they just picking and choosing what they want to acknowledge in this franchise at this point). Then we have the two ghosts of Weerd and Bogel, who were the catalyst for the events of the show and were always trying to get the heroes. The fact that they never appear in this feels like they were trying to make it more serious, yet a lot of the humour in this movie was still reminiscent of the original Scooby cartoons, so this one makes no sense to me. Also, the Chest backstory is also confusing. Like there are two running parts with Vince and Mortifer finding the Chest for the first time in Egypt, yet the second is that the 13th Ghost is actually Vincent's ancestor? Even the ancestor is dressed similar to Vincent in the flashback, so how did he end up in the Chest and sealed away in an Ancient Egypt vault? Confusing.

As I said, I liked it (Van Ghoul in particular, voiced by the great Maurice LaMarche), but this was another attempt to use something from the past for classic fans and then missing important points for some strange reason. Check it out if you're a Scooby fan or if you're just general interested to see what it's like.