Guest Post -James M's Review and Retrospective of Archie Sonic Part 2

Welcome back, folks. James M here and today we will be continuing and concluding our review and retrospective of the well-known Archie Sonic the Hedgehog comic series...

Timeline/Plot:

A long time ago, before the Mobius/world of Sonic we knew came to be, it was once Planet Earth. This version of Earth's history was most likely the same, the creation, beginning of civilization, birth of America, World War I, rise of Hitler, World War II, the Cold War and the fall of the Soviet Union. Things eventually changed in the 21st century when an alien race known as the Xorda came to offer an alliance with the population of Earth, unfortunately, everything went south when the Xorda ambassador was captured and dissected. The result? The Xorda declared war and began bombing the earth with the Gene Bombs, destroying the planet and nearly wiping out all life.

While many people did not survive, a handful of humans survived and built hidden cities, including the one that would become known as Station Square.

As for Earth itself, the gene bombs changed everything forever, paving the way for Mobius to begin, as it resulted in the creation of the Chaos Emeralds and the rapid and altering evolution of all life on the planet that had been Earth as the animals of the animal kingdom eventually evolved into anthropomorphic animals known as Mobians. As for the humans who were not lucky and affected by the Gene bomb, they eventually became four-fingered beings known as Overlanders. As the centuries passed, Earth definitively became Mobius. But well before the Mobians and Overlanders fully became the dominant species on the planet, the Mobosaurs, actually Dinosaurs, ruled it all. That all changed when, like the dinosaurs before them, the Mobosaurs became extinct.

  The remaining Mobosaurs who survived? Thats a different story but I will say they became entities known as... The Ancient Walkers, who would play a role in Mobius' history in later years.

Around the time of the Mobosaurs destruction, a caveman by the name of Mammoth Mogul discovered a Chaos Emerald which became infused with him, granting Mogul immense power and immortality. As time went on, Mogul would attempt to conquer the world while using this power and forming the Order of Ixis but he was thwarted by the Echidna race, whom had become far more advanced than the other races on Mobius, starting civilization. After his defeat, Mogul went into hiding. Sometime afterwards, Alexander Acorn (Sally Acorn's ancestor) founded Mobotroplis and began the Kingdom of Acorn. As for the Overlanders? We'll be back to them in a while.

But what about the Echidnas, the ones who were more advanced than other races on Mobius? They all branched off into different sects, the technologically advanced group and the warrior cast. There were several other groups, but that is a different story. However, long story short, the Knuckles Clan (Knuckles warrior ancestors) settled in Soumerica (formerly South America) and found themselves at war with the cat people for a time and eventually got wiped out when they provoked their god Chaos. As for the Echidnas who settled in Downunda (which was once Australia), things changed when a huge comet approached on a collision course with Mobius, forcing the entire population of Echidnaopolis to uproot the land mass with their city, making it airborne using the Chaos Emeralds. As for the new floating island, it would become the Floating Island aka Angel Island as time passed.

A few years later, the echidna race faced its greatest challenge when Dimitri, a scientist, became the Chaos-powered god Enerjak, who planned on conquering the world. Enerjak was thankfully defeated when his own stronghold collapsed on him, he survived and would return years later to fight his great-nephew Knuckes before losing his powers to Mammoth Mogul. In the aftermath of Enerjak's defeat at Mount Fate, the next big threat would come in the form of the Dark Legion, founded by Dimitri's son who sought to finish what his old man started. They would be beaten and sent to the Twilight Zone where they would stay for centuries until they got out.

A long time passed before anything major in Mobius' history happened again, save for some conflicts and events here and there, until eventually, war broke out between the Mobians and the Overlanders after years and years of tension between the two sides. This conflict became known as the Great War, nothing like the other Great War we all know as World War I but was still long, costly and brutal with both sides suffering major casualties. But towards the end of the war, Julian Kintobor of the House of Ivo defected to the Mobian side and the tide shifted, the war ended with the Overlanders defeat. But the peace would not last for long...

In 3225, Julian, now known as Doctor Ivo Robotnik, and his nephew Snively, launched a coup against the Kingdom of Acorn and exiled King Max Acorn to the Zone of Silence. With the kingdom all his, Robotnik began his campaign to conquer the world. Within years, all of Mobius had just about fallen to him.To cement and enforce his rule, Robotnik used hordes of Swatbots and Badniks as well as Robians, Mobians who fell victim to the roboticizer which was the creation of Sir Charles Hedgehog until Robotnik sabotaged it.

 But, like with all villains and dictators in fiction and real life, Robotnik's reign did not go unopposed...

In the years following Robotnik's rise to power, the resistance emerged. First came the original Freedom Fighters, consisting of Great War veterans and old guards, then the Freedom Fighters we all know and love. Lead by Princess Sally Acorn and backed up by Sonic the Hedgehog, the Freedom Fighters struck out at Robotnik's empire, thwarting his plans and destroying robots here and there. The mad doctor, infuriated by the resistance, hatched many schemes to destroy them, ranging from using the Krudzu to roboticizing Sonic. The war came to a head in 3235 with Operation Endgame where Robotnik tried to wipe out his enemies for good, he and Sonic had one last battle for the fate of Mobius and by the end of it, Robotnik was destroyed by his own weapon the Ultimate Annihilator, thanks to the treachery of Snively. Just like that, the war was over..

But it was not the end of the comic! As time passed, peace was restored to Mobius but that did not mean there would not be any challenges for Sonic and company. In the aftermath of Endgame, the firing of Robotnik's Ultimate Annihilator created/opened many zones and pocket dimensions, causing many changes to Mobius and Knuckles the Echidna's life.
Meanwhile, one of Sonic's biggest tasks was to stop Ixis Naugus, a crazy wizard, from taking over the world. After a lengthy chase across the world, Sonic defeated Naugus and saved Mobius. But even before dealing with Naugus and during the world tour, Sonic and friends dealt with Mammoth Mogul, who took another shot at world domination, and the Iron Queen along with her nutcase husband the Iron King. Eventually, things took a twisted turn when...

Dun-dun-dun! Robotnik returned. Only, it wasn't the original Robotnik who was wiped out by the Ultimate Annihilator, Sonic and friends' "new" challenger was Robo Robotnik, an alternate universe Robotnik who roboticized himself to defeat his version of Sonic. Robo Robotnik learned of the original Robotnik's demise and decided to come on over to Mobius Prime so he could fill in the void left in both his and Sonic Prime's life. 

  Robotnik II had a near identical history to the original Robotnik and still had his hatred for Sonic. During the first encounter with this guy, Sonic and friends blew up the space station he was on, also destroying Robo Robotnik's body. Being A.I and not easy to actually destroy, the roboticized dictator transfered his mind into a new body, one that looked like an egg with glasses, allowing the character of Doctor Robotnik to become... DOCTOR EGGMAN! 

As for Mobotroplis/Robotroplis? It became Eggman's city and capital for his empire. Again. It would later be destroyed by a nuclear strike while Eggman himself would eventually become flesh and blood. However, Doctor Eggman's arrival/return set up the events of the Sonic Adventure adaption where Sonic and friends would visit Station Square and save the day when Chaos, the water monster, attacked. Afterwards, the Freedom Fighters would have a lot of crazy adventures, some good and some bad. Eggman was still in the picture though and fighting him was no easy task.

Some time later, all of Mobius would be threatened when the Xorda returned to check on Earth only to find it full of life. Feeling that this planet had not changed a bit, the Xorda attacked and the whole planet had to team up, friends and foes alike, to fight this threat. During the fight, Sonic seemingly sacrificed himself to stop the Quantum Dial and save the world. While the planet mourned and Eggman began his total conquest, for the most part, it turned out Sonic was not gone for good and had actually been thrown into space. It took a while but he eventually returned to Mobius in the year 3237, just almost a year after his demise and the Xorda attack. After thwarting Eggman's latest scheme, involving atomics, Sonic had a break up with Sally, its a long story but it involved Sally slapping him.

Sometime afterwards, the heroes would face many more challenges besides Eggman, ranging from the villain known as Anonymous, to alternate reality evil counterparts, a nanite city and much more. Eventually, Eggman, who'd had enough, finally launched his most devestating attack yet which saw the destruction of Knothole village. Sonic, who tried to defeat Eggman as usual, got his butt whopped. Don't worry, he bounced back and everything crashed down on Eggman when he saved his friends, who'd been captured by the mad doctor. Remember the nanite city we mentioned earlier? Guess what, Nicole, Sally's computer, converted it into the former Knothole residents new home and named it New Mobotroplis.

After that one, Sonic and friends would experience a few changes and faced many more challenges. The most notable one was when Knuckles became ANOTHER Enerjak, thanks to the machinations of a mad scientist named Doctor Finitevus, who was way worse than Eggman. The next challenge involved Mammoth Mogul again, not long after, Sonic ended up dealing with his evil alternate universe self Scourge aka Anti-Sonic, who'd conquered Moebius. Following the conflict with the Supression Squard and neutralizing Scourge, Sonic and friends attacked the Egg Dome in what remained of Eggman's city of New Megaoplis. During the conflict, Sonic fought Eggman and defeated him again, Eggman's latest defeat caused the mad doctor to lose his sanity.

Following Eggman's descent into madness, Sonic and the Freedom Fighter's next challenge came when an old enemy took over the Eggman Empire; The Iron Queen. After a long struggle, which saw the loss of New Mobotroplis for a time, the Iron Dominion was defeated. During the chaos of the battle between Sonic and the Iron Queen, Eggman seemingly figured out why he couldn't beat Sonic and retreated into the shadows. Sometime afterwards, as they took a breather from recent events (including the betrayal of Geoffery St. John to Ixis Naugus), Sonic and Sally finally rekindled their relationship and were once again a couple, everything was happy and the future seemed to be bright until...

BOOM! Naugus returned and, just like before, he was out to claim the Acorn throne for himself. Sonic and the Freedom Fighters teamed up to try and take him down. But during the chaos of the battle, things went south double time when Eggman returned and with his newest invention to date... THE DEATH EGG MARK II! That's right, the Egg Dome was actually ANOTHER Death Egg. Sonic and Sally boarded the flying battle station to try and stop Eggman, as usual, only to be met with a great challenge as Sonic fought a Silver Sonic. As for Sally? She ended up getting gunned down as Eggman pressed a button and the whole world was enveloped in a white flash of light now known as THE GENESIS WAVE, which altered the whole world.

Sonic and friends, on the other side of it in a whole new world, still thwarted Eggman's plans. But eventually, memories of the old reality resurfaced and Sonic, who confronted Eggman on board the Death Egg, tapped into the power of Chaos Control as Super Sonic and successfully restored reality to normal, he even managed to save Sally before she got gunned down. The two of them faced Eggman and destroyed his new world roboticizer but not before Sally got turned into a robot. In the end, the day was saved, but it came at a terrible price.

Not only did Sally get turned into a robot, but Naugus, who helped save New Mobotroplis, was crowned king in the process. Bunnie Rabbot, Antoine's wife, lost her cybernetics and was flesh and blood again. Some time later, during another Eggman battle, things mega went south when Antoine got knocked into a coma by an exploding Metal Sonic while trying to save Elias Acorn, Sally's brother and Max's son, from the mad doctor. Bunnie, feeling guilty for everything, left the team. With the Freedom Fighters practically done for and the Kingdom of Acorn controlled by a mad wizard, it seemed all hope was lost and that Eggman was about to finally conquer the world unopposed.

But even in the dark, there is a shinning light...

Sonic and his friends, Tails and Amy, formed Team Fighters and took the fight to Eggman as the doctor terrorized the world, showing that nothing can beat Sonic and the power of heroics and team work. Meanwhile, Rotor, who stayed behind in New Mobotroplis, formed Team Freedom to defend the city from anything. Sonic and Team Fighters' main goal? Save Sally! Their goose chase after Eggman lead them to Furvill, Soumerica, to a village, one where Elias stayed for a time, to an encounter with the Krudzu Hybrid Hydra and then, finally, Albion, the homeland of the Echidnas.

In Albion, things went south as Sonic and friends tried to help the populace fight off Eggman's forces when Thrash, a Tasmanian Tiger, attacked and banished all of the echidnas (except Knuckles) to an unknown location. This greatly infuriated Knuckles who attacked and beat the ever-living crap out of Thrash all the way back to Floating Island where the battle ended with Thrash vanishing.

*Side note: This was due to behind the scenes issues at the time.

Leaving Albion, Team Sonic finally caught up with Eggman in the arctic where the doctor was refueling his Death Egg. Teaming up with the local freedom fighter group, the gang attacked the station, with help from Silver the Hedgehog, and defeated Sally Acorn. Before they could rejoice and get out of there, that was when the Genesis Wave went off again, setting up the Worlds Collide crossover between Sonic and Mega Man...

Worlds Collide & The Reboot:

Following Operation Clean Sweep, a blue Chaos Emerald, one Eggman was using at the time, went missing. Eggman sent his forces to look high and low for the emerald, but however, it turned out that the emerald had actually ended up in another world, Mega Man's world, in the hands of Mega Man's arch nemesis Doctor Wily. Eggman and Wily contacted each other and the two teamed up to take over their worlds, leading them to activating the Genesis Wave which rewrote the whole universe.

Sonic and Mega Man, who fought briefly, teamed up with each other and their friends to stop the mad doctors in the Skull Egg Zone. After a lengthy battle, Eggman and Wily were defeated. But while Mega Man was successful in restoring his world, Sonic's attempts to restore HIS went south when Eggman interfered and fired a lazer that wrecked the universe...

In the aftermath of the crossover, Sonic woke up in a whole new world, one that was similar to that of the game world, but was similar to the old world. Figuring out what was going on, Sonic and Tails reunited the Freedom Fighters all before the planet shattered, setting up the Shattered World Crisis and the Sonic Unleashed adaption. It took a while for the heroes (which included a de-roboticized Sally, a still half-robot Bunnie and a no-longer comatose Antoine) to figure out how to repair everything and so they set off to find the Gaia Keys as well as the Chaos Emeralds, not to mention actually finding the Gaia Temples themselves.

After a long scavenger quest and another crossover with Mega Man, where they had to deal with the threat of Sigma, Sonic and friends got all the emeralds and all of the keys, setting up the finale of the Shattered World Crisis. As they got ready to fix the world, Eggman attacked and caught the Freedom Fighters off guard, actually getting his hands on the Gaia Keys and the Emeralds. The Freedom Fighters recovered from their defeat and went after Eggman, taking the fight to him. During the battle, Dark Gaia appeared at full power and was ready to destroy the world. Sonic defeated him and the day was saved, with the world restored to normal. Unless you count the Genesis of a Hero arc, this is where the comic comes to an end...

Legacy/Final Thoughts:

As I said before, Archie Sonic has a lasting legacy that will never be forgotten as an awesome piece of Sonic history. It has over decades worth of incredible and weird stories that is unforgettable. Fans have come together to honor this legacy through fan art and many of them have gone on to actually write fan comics like Archie Sonic Online and Sonic Retold that continue the story of the pre-reboot timeline and resolve those unfinished plot threads. Even Archie Sonic Restoration, a fan comic which serves as a continuation of the post-reboot story-line, is in the works.

Archie Sonic will be long remembered in years to come, the impact it has left behind can be felt and seen in IDW and various cartoons. As for the popular fan favorite characters in pre-reboot and the characters post-reboot? Their legacies will live on in spiritual successors and fan-fiction. I am honored to have been on board this comic, given the fact I started reading this in 2011, just 6 years before the comic ended and just a few years before the reboot happened. I vow to collect every last issue of this comic I never had and I will read the series over and over again.

I give this series a 9/10 for awesomeness and, just like that, I close out.

Bye ya'll!

-James M

Guest Post -James M's Review and Retrospective of Archie Sonic Part 1

Hey there fellow media geeks, CrazyGamerHistorian1999 here and we will be taking another look at a piece of Sonic The Hedgehog history, the famous comic book published by Archie comics, Archie Sonic the Hedgehog and its many spin offs...

History/Background:

By the time 1993 rolled along, Sonic was at the height of his popularity, his first video game was a success and his second game had just come out. Given his growing popularity and the fact that he would soon be getting his own cartoons and tons of other merch, it was only a matter of time until he got his own comic book series, right?

Well, to be honest, Sonic was already getting the comic book treatment. In 1991, the same year his first game dropped, SEGA of America produced a Sonic comic to promote the game. Despite its nowadays canon-gray status, this comic laid the groundwork for many elements that would later be featured in Fleetway's Sonic the Comic such as Eggman/Robotnik once being a kindly scientist named Kintobor and Sonic once being brown until he turned blue due to an accident. But we are not here to discuss those, we're talking about Archie Sonic.

SEGA reached out to anybody interested in picking up the Sonic licence and writing a Sonic comic, well guess what, Archie answered.

In February 1993, Archie published and released its very first Sonic comic issue, which was actually the first issue in a four part miniseries that would later lead into the long running Sonic comic. After issue three of the miniseries, the comic officially started with issue one in April of 1993. Over time, the comic became a big success, gaining popularity among the fans, even becoming distinguishable from the games and cartoons in terms of the setting and characters. However, like all successful comics in the eyes of some, the comic eventually entered a dork age which lasted for a few years until a new head writer by the name of Ian Flynn took over and the comic was great once again, things were fine for quite a while...

-The beginning of the end-

In 2008, SEGA released Sonic Chronicles The Dark Brotherhood, an RPG Sonic game for the Nintendo DS, which borrowed and used elements from Archie Sonic, involving a story line that revolved around Sonic and friends dealing with the Nocturnus Clan: An advanced technological group of Echidnas who'd been rivals to Knuckles ancestors. The game was very good, I played it and beat it once but have yet to beat it again.

But anyways, given its borrowed Archie elements and the characters similarities to Archie, things eventually went south. Within a few short years after the game's release, from 2009 all the way up to 2012 and 2013, a former head writer filed a lawsuit against Archie and SEGA for "unauthorized use" of his characters and creations. While the lawsuit had no effect on Archie for a while, things definately went south in late 2012 and early 2013 when the former writer got the upper hand and copyrighted his own creations, the results: The writer's creations could not be used for Archie Sonic.

This eventually led to a cosmic retcon/reboot at the end of the very popular Sonic & Mega Man Worlds Collide, erasing all old reality elements and paving the way for a new continuity in the Sonic comic, one that was similar to that of the games. In the aftermath of the lawsuit, SEGA became more involved and things got a bit complicated as the higher-ups enforced mandates and restrictions on the comic. Those happened to be...

1. SEGA characters cannot have relatives (with some exceptions)*

*Note: Sonic was allowed to have parents and an uncle, even siblings, in Underground and other media at one point

2. Sonic cannot be defeated

3. There can be only one Metal Sonic, no multiples*

*Side note: Archie Metal Sonic was originally a series of robots, that has since changed...

4. Classic versions of SEGA characters cannot be seen, used or implied to be younger versions of said characters. (This mandate was later lifted)

5. Archie is forbidden from referencing Sonic Underground, Sonic OVA or Sonic X

6. Sonic's home-world cannot be referred to as Mobius as that name has been banned.

7. Except Eggman, male characters cannot wear pants

8. None of the cast members can change their wardrobe

9. SEGA characters cannot show emotion

10. With the exception of Bunnie and Antoine, SEGA characters are forbidden from having romantic relationships. (Sonic must be single + Sonic and Amy can't date or they'll lose their dynamic)*

*Side Note (again): Before things changed when it came to Sonic media outside the games, Sonic was allowed to be a romantic guy and Sonally (Sonic x Sally) was a thing. Sonic romance can still happen, but mostly in fan-fiction

11. Characters like Black Doom are off-limits

12. The pre-reboot timeline memories are to fade and be rendered irreverent

13. (Possibly) Sonic is forbidden from meeting alternate versions of himself

14. SEGA characters cannot be killed-off

15. Characters from the old reality, such as those made by "anonymous writer", cannot be used unless special permission is granted from Sega

-The End Of An Era-

While the Archie Sonic comic continued to chug along, the fun still there, things eventually went downhill (again) when Scott Fulop, another former writer for Archie Sonic, filed a lawsuit against Archie Sonic for "unauthorized" use of Mammoth Mogul and his characters in reprints. To make things worse, the licencing fees were getting expensive and Archie Sonic (after the end of the Shattered World Saga) ended up going on hiatus for a loooooooong time.

Finally, in summer of 2017, fans received shocking news from SEGA and Archie...

After 24 years of memorable storytelling, SEGA of America will conclude their Sonic the Hedgehog publishing partnership program with Archie Comics. This does not mark the end of Sonic in comics, but signifies SEGA of America's decision to take a different direction for the series that will be announced later. SEGA would like to thank Sonic's amazing fans for their loyalty over all years. SEGA looks forward to providing more information soon.

But you know what they say, "All good things must come to an end", that includes Archie Sonic, the book had a good run and we must honor its legacy in both the old pre-reboot continuity, that lasted from issue 1 all the way up to 247 and the first crossover with Mega Man, and the post-reboot continuity that went on from issue 252 all the way to 290 when it was cancelled.

During its lifetime, Archie Sonic was more than just the main book, we had Sonic Universe (which was canon to the main series) and the Knuckles comic, which covered Knuckles' adventures on The Floating Island and stopped at 32 issues, the Sonic X comic and the 11-issue long Sonic Boom. Over nearly 25 years of its life, Archie Sonic left a lasting legacy and told great stories beyond the games, introducing characters from beyond the games, it even used unused ideas from the Sonic games and the Sonic cartoons. Enough rambling, lets discuss the main timeline and story of the comic...

-To be continued-

Guest Post -James M's Review of Sonic's Space Adventure Against Hitler

Sup guys, I'm back and here to review another piece of Sonic content. The subject? A fanfic animation series! The series? Sonic's Space Adventures Against Hitler by AvidSonicFan1991 aka Russel Freymuth. Ten episodes long, each twenty something minutes and running at 4 hours, this series, which serves as a crossover between the world of Sonic the Hedgehog and the universe of Downfall Hitler Parodies, focuses on Sonic and his friends as they travel across the stars on a spaceship built by Tails to stop the Nazis before they attack their world.

When it comes to the cast, well, you got the characters in the Downfall movie and parodies. On the Sonic side, you got Sonic himself, Tails, Knuckles, the Chaotix, Silver, Blaze, Honey the Cat (from Sonic the Fighters) and Sally Acorn. You could say the prelude to this series is basically that video where Hitler phones up Sonic. The video? Hitler Phones Sonic the Hedgehog. Avid Sonic Fan is brilliant and puts things together splendidly so much, the series is worth watching from start to finish. I discovered this almost by accident one day when I was looking at various videos, months later, I started watching them all with my pop and hardly stopped, even though we did briefly after Ep 1.

While Hitler is the main villain of this saga, there's more than him the gang has to worry about such as Xenomorphs, dragons, curses, supply problems and giant bugs. The Sonic characters and most of the minor characters are all voiced by AvidSonicFan himself. Awkward? Yes, but at least he tries to do a good job. Episode one kicks off the series just fine with the start of the adventure and episode two is where we get an Alien/Aliens parody. Episode three is... a weird one. Four? Well, things go fine for the gang. Five and six are a bit creepy. Episode seven shakes things up a bit as Sonic not only has to deal with a Ben Drowned curse, but help a medieval planet's inhabitants fight a dragon. Episode eight is a strange one... Allow me to explain!

At the start of the episode, Sonic is playing a crazy nuts video game to help himself prepare for battle, but during that, a pipsqueak known as the Angry German Kid starts playing it and screams like nuts, spouting off all kinds of bad words and, because the volume is loud, the shouting hurts Sonic's ears. Herman Fegelein's antics cause the ship to crash on a moon base and, after getting some assistance from people working there, Sonic and friends find the last Chaos Emerald and head to their destination. Episode 9 is the beginning of the end of the series and ends on a cliffhanger with Hitler seemingly defeating Sonic and friends with the Pencil of Doom.

Episode 10 is a solid finale, starting off with suspense, it goes all out as the final battle really happens and near the end, Hitler is defeated and the day is saved. After the credits, which talk about the fate of many characters, we end on a little Sonic/Sally scene where they're relaxing together. Overall, as I said before, Sonic's Space Adventures Against Hitler is a really fun web-series and is quite enjoyable. If you are curious, go ahead and watch it either on YouTube or Dailymotion.

The links are here:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfqaZA3IKd0LVl5dAnf6jlVWM76DU-b_9
https://vimeo.com/105579003

Just like that, I take my leave and see you next time...
-James M

Guest Post -Top 8 Video Game Movies

Video Games based on movies can be interesting, but what about movies based on video games? James M the Crazy Video Game Wizard aka CrazyGamerHistorian1999 here and today we will be going over the best video game movies ever. Before we begin, I will let you know we will be discussing movies that involve video games, movies based on video games or video game fan films.

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8. Pixels
This 2015 sci-fi comedy is a video game-themed movie at heart. When aliens mistake footage of video games from the 1980s as a declaration of war, they attack Earth using Pac-Man, Centipede and Galaga as well as who knows how many others. When that happens, its up to the President of the United States and his best pals from childhood to stop these space freaks before the world is destroyed. Starring Josh Gad and Kevin James, running at 1 hour and 46 minutes, this movie is something you should see again and again. Heck, Mario makes a cameo at one point. Too bad this movie wasn't a huge success to a point where it got a sequel, though.



7. Ready Player One
Based on the book of the same name and directed by Steven Spielberg, this 2 hr and 19 min science fiction movie technically counts as a video game movie as it includes tons of video game-related stuff and has Easter eggs related to many fan favorite video games. Featuring incredible actors, a compelling plot and epic soundtrack, this video game movie sells it home pretty well.



6. The Angry Birds Movie
Who could've thought when the Angry Birds franchise kicked off years ago that an animated movie would be possible? Heck, who asked for this movie? The answer, nobody. Either way, released in 2016, this movie does its best to impress as it partially adapts the Angry Birds video game and tells its own story. Overall, when its good its real good, despite being panned by critics and being a box office bomb (get it), this movie scored itself a sequel very recently.



5. Wreck It Ralph
Pixar has always taken the world by storm with its awesome movies, but in all the years they made stuff like Toy Story or The Incredibles, who could've expected Wreck it Ralph. Released in 2012 and spawning a sequel years later, this film earned over hundreds of fans with its amazing narrative, colorful characters and tons of video game Easter eggs. Heck, Sonic the Hedgehog makes multiple cameos throughout the movie and thats amazing.



4. Detective Pikachu
Come on, you all love Pokemon, they're adorable and you can't deny it. Detective Pikachu is an epic video game movie with an incredible cast and great action scenes that deserves a watch and to be seen again and again. This film is considered by many to be the best video game movie ever, I agree with that as its nothing short of awesomeness.



3. Sonic Travels To Jurassic Park
I know this is a fan film, but its still a video game movie and a crossover between Sonic and the Jurassic Park franchise. Made by Great White Studios and published on YouTube and running at an hour and a half, this film is epic and amazing. Who could have expected this one to happen in Sonic's nearly three decade long history and when Jurassic Park kicked off waaaaaay back in 1993 with the very first movie? Its not everyday when you see Sonic fight dinosaurs.
If you want to see this movie, the link is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cG_WzQ396II



2. Super Mario Bros movie
This one's my favorite. Back in the 1980s when the first Mario game hit the NES, who could've thought this would be a reality, a live action Mario movie completely different from the source material, starring Bob Hoskins, John Leguizano and Dennis Hopper? Even though this film wasn't popular among a handful of people when it dropped in 1993, its still a good movie either way. I suggest you check this out if you have time.

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-Honorable Mentions-

-Sonic the Hedgehog (by Blue Core Studios)


-Ralph Breaks The Internet


-Mega Man by Blue Core Studios


-Godzilla vs Koopzilla -Part 1

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1. Lara Croft Tomb Raider (2001)
Now we come to something super interesting. Released in 2001 and starring Angelina Jolie as the main character of the franchise, Lara Croft Tomb Raider is on par with Indiana Jones as Lara is practically Indy except he's a she and Lara's not looking for an Ark of the Covenant or a Crystal Skull, she's looking for a talisman with the power to control time and space. The writers and crew poured all their heart and soul into making this movie a reality and it shows, the movie is amazing and worth seeing again and again along with its sequel Lara Croft Tomb Raider Cradle of Life.

Do you like this? If so, be sure to stay tuned for more.
James M, signing off...

Guest Post -IDW Sonic Tangle & Whisper miniseries review

Whats up, comic lovers, James M here and we're talking about the Sonic the Hedgehog Tangle and Whisper miniseries by IDW comics starring, well, Tangle and Whisper...
In 2018, during year one of the main series, we were introduced to two new characters, Tangle the Lemur and Whisper the Wolf. The two bonded during the Battle For The Floating Island against Neo Metal Sonic and became popular among the fans, eventually, they were popular enough to get their own spin off limited miniseries comic which has spanned over four issues.



Now, this is not the first time Sonic characters have gotten their own comic miniseries neither is it the last time a comic miniseries has happened nor has anybody gotten their own four part story. Back in 1995, during Archie Sonic's second year, Princess Sally Acorn and Tails got their own miniseries that spanned three issues. Heck, the Sonic comics started off with a limited miniseries at one point in 1992. The last known miniseries by Archie was Sonic Quest, which was the Death Egg saga. Years later, in Sonic Universe (well before the reboot), a character named Scourge, who was an evil doppelganger of Sonic, had his own story arc after becoming more popular than ever.



You could say the Archie Sonic Boom comic, which ran for 11 issues (8 if you don't count the issues that were part of Worlds Unite), was also a miniseries. But thats not important. We're talking about IDW, Archie is a thing of the past despite its popularity.

So whats the plot of the comic, you ask...

The miniseries takes place during the exact same time as the Metal Virus crisis is starting up, between IDW Sonic #16 and IDW Sonic #17. Tangle is relaxing in her village when Whisper comes by, chasing down somebody who looks like Sonic. Only, its not Sonic, its actually a shapeshifter named Mimic who was once a friend of Whisper before he sided with Doctor Eggman and betrayed the Diamond Cutters. Tangle and Whisper team up to go after Mimic, after Tangle persuades Whisper that is. While scoping out an old Eggman bunker and hunting for Mimic, the girls fall victim to some of his traps and they narrowly survive when Mimic blows up the bunker.

Whisper tells Tangle to go home, saying she doesn't want to lose another friend. But Tangle, who wants to help, asks Whisper whats going on. We then get Whisper's backstory and learn about the Diamond Cutters fully. The Diamond Cutters were once an anti-Eggman mercenary group that struck out at Eggman bases on a regular bases, Whisper was a part of that team as a scout and Mimic was the team's infiltrator given his shape-shifting powers. Eventually, things went south for the team during a mission into an Eggman base during the time-frame of Eggman's conquest of the world, the group's members (except for Whisper, who was outside, and Mimic, who was with Eggman) became locked in a room with Shadow Androids and were taken out.

Devastated by what happened, Whisper became a lone wolf hero and she would eventually go after Mimic. Issue three, where we learn the backstory, ends with the set up for the finale in issue four as the girls prepare for the final battle with the traitorous shape shifting mercenary and Mimic gets their message drawn in sand that its time for the final battle. As of this review, issue four has not released yet, this is just a rundown of the first three issues.

Overall, the series is fun, Ian Flynn does a great job as writer and Evan Stanley does a fine job drawing the characters, making Whisper look good in some scenes. If you have time, go ahead and read this amazing comic book. I give this an 8/10 and close out this review.

-James M.

Guest Post -James M's Godzilla 65th Anniversary Retrospective

Hey there people, James M here and today is something special...
65 years ago, in 1954, with the horrors of the Second World War still fresh in the minds of many people, a giant monster appeared on movie screens and made himself an icon and has remained strong after all these years despite his ups and downs. The beast's name? GODZILLA!



SKREEEEEEEEEEE-OOOOOONNNNK! GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!
AYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEE-OOOOONNNNK!

That's right, we're talking about Godzilla, the King of the Monsters who has been the embodiment of nuclear weaponry, a hero, a monster and everything else in between. This guy has evolved over the years and has stood the tests of time. Nothing can defeat him, even if you find a way, he will always be back to either wreck havoc or face off against other Kaiju. Pit him up against an enemy like King Kong or Biollante or a robot version of himself and I bet you anything he will emerge victorious or will be forced to retreat and then come back to fight and then he will emerge the champion.

When Gojira first hit in 1954, nobody expected this one movie to spawn a franchise. But lo and behold, within a few years, Godzilla was popular and there were not just even more movies, but there were comic books, a few TV shows and, yes, video games. Godzilla isn't just an icon or a warning against nuclear weaponry, he's a staple of science fiction too and has been important in all our lives, including my life too. Allow me to share with you a story of my Godzilla fandom.

It all started in 2006 when I was just a young boy, my pop had just introduced me to science fiction I.E an episode of the Outer Limits and I said that I would love to see a science fiction movie. So, guess what happened? My parents went on Netflix to find a sci-fi movie to watch and their ultimate suggestion was... Godzilla. But not just any Godzilla movie, it was the very first movie albeit the 1956 Americanized version known as Godzilla King Of The Monsters starring Raymond Burr. I remember asking my mum if Godzilla could talk and she told me that he only roared.

About a day or two later, Godzilla King of the Monsters came in the mail and we popped in the DVD and turned it on. The opening scene was really mind-blowing, showing the ruins of Tokyo and I will never forget Raymond Burr's narration: This is Tokyo, once a city full of six million people. What has happened here was caused by a force that, up until a few days ago, was beyond the scope of man's imagination. Tokyo, a smoldering memorial to the unknown, an unknown which at this very moment still prevails and could lash out anywhere in the world with its destructive power. I will never forget seeing Steve Martin, injured but alive in the rubble of that one building.

The hospital scene was thought invoking too, even though it was fiction, I still take pity on those who lost their loved ones to Godzilla. Even that poor crying girl who lost her mum. At one point during that scene, my mum offered to turn off the movie if it gets too scary. This came at a time when I was a bit sensitive, bursting into tears and crying whenever something scary happened on TV that wasn't really real. However, we pushed through and watched the whole movie. Since that day, I was a Godzilla fan and, soon, not only did we watch the 1954 Japanese version, we also got to see the other movies, including all the Showa films, the Heisei films, the Millennium movies and the 1998 film.

I will never forget the day I wrote to Toho when I was 7 years old during my second year as a Godzilla fan. Yes 2006 was my first year and 2007 was my second year, this technically makes 2019 my 13th year. Anyways, I wrote a letter to Toho studios and it went like this:

Dear Toho Productions,

I am a big Godzilla Fan and would like to be involved in making a Godzilla film when I get older. What would I have to do to become a member of your production team. I would like to see more Godzilla movies made. May I visit your studio sometime when we come to Japan?

Thank you,

James



The letter did go through quite an edit since I brought up the idea of a Godzilla-Herbie crossover, this came at a time when I was just watching the Herbie the Love Bug movies and they were awesome. Either way, I eventually got a response from Toho and, as a bonus, I got my hands on some Godzilla brochures, they were fantastic. 



As I watched Godzilla more and more, I became more into the monster genre and soon, I ended up watching another popular monster; Gamera. I remember that day at Tower Records, mum and I were looking at DVDs and we came across Gamera the Invincible. Being curious, we got it and it was really good. However, it would be a while before we got our hands on most of the other Gamera movies. That didn't end my Godzilla fandom though. Despite enjoying all the movies, I did become a bit disconnected from the franchise but I would sooner or later reconnect with Godzilla.

I loved the Big G so much it kinda became my favorite subject and I talked about it a lot, if I was obsessed with Godzilla, it was in a good way. I have never been obsessed in a bad way. For a while, dad once told me that he thought it was a mistake to introduce me to Godzilla at a young age, when I talked to mum about it, she said it was not and its never a mistake to introduce me to anything. Sometime later into my Godzilla fandom, I would start a blog known as James Godzilla Page where I would kinda write stories about the Big G, you can check it out in the link here:
https://jamesgodzillapage.blogspot.com/

Godzilla has been an important part of my life and I will never let it all go, I've seen so many of the movies and I have tons of fond memories of the franchise that I will never forget it. The Big G has been awesome and will never be bad. There is a lot to look forward too (as of this post) such as Godzilla's upcoming rematch with King Kong or Toho's World of Godzilla, not to mention so many other great monster movies I've not yet seen.

Thank you Godzilla, for being a part of my life and happy 65th Birthday...



SKREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNK!

was caused by a force...
which, up until a few days ago,
was entirely...
beyond the scope
of man's imagination.
Tokyo - a smoldering memorial
to the unknown...
an unknown which,
at this very moment, still prevails...
and could at any time lash out
with its terrible destruction...
anywhere else in the world.

Read more: https://www.springfieldspringfield.co.uk/movie_script.php?movie=godzilla-king-of-the-monsters