Tag Archive: review


Shredding on the World Stage

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May 11, 2010

Originally Published: November 20, 2009, on 1050ESPN.com (Now ESPNNewYork.com) and later re-published in the Nintendo Wii archives of ClassicGameRoom.com

Olympic Snowboarder Shaun White with Ray Carsillo
Video by Jared Bodden

I’m the first to admit that I know little to nothing about snowboarding. The only shredding I know about has to deal with a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles character and the only carving I generally do concerns next week’s turkey. The one time in my life I did hit the slopes, I looked more like a Looney Tunes character rolling down the mountainside as the snow collected around my body. But when Olympic gold medalist snowboarder Shaun White comes out with a sequel to his hit video game franchise and wants to sit down for a few minutes (check out the video!), I’m more than happy to brush back up on the subject.

After sitting down with man the game is named after, I grabbed myself a copy of Shaun White Snowboarding: World Stage (a Wii exclusive), turned my Wii Balance Board sideways, and geared up for one of the most fun gaming experiences I’ve had all year.

The game opens with a cut scene featuring Shaun and several of his friends as they head to their central base of operations, an airport (so they could have quick access to some of the worlds most premiere courses), as they prepare to move up the international snowboarding rankings and try to make a run at the World Championships. Of course, the higher your rank becomes, the harder it is to keep moving up as the competition and the courses increase in difficulty accordingly.

The boarders are a little cartoony looking, as is typical with many of the Wii’s best games, but aside from that, the game looks beautiful. From snow covering your boarder if you fall flat on your face (which I am very accustomed to) to detailed designs of all the courses used, the game surprisingly delivers big-time on the visuals.

The audio is pretty average. It has a few sweet tracks from Kiss and Andrew W.K. as you shred, but it needs a larger selection to keep me entertained as I perform barrel rolls down the half-pipe. Shaun and the other boarders who lend their voices do a pretty good job at sounding natural and enthusiastic, which was a nice surprise. There isn’t a lot to expect in terms of SFX aside from generic crowd noise so the audio mixers weren’t exactly strained as this game was being put together.

The best part of this game is clearly the gameplay. Using the Wii balance board, you feel like you’re actually on the slopes as you apply pressure to different quadrants on the board to perform a plethora of tricks from tail grabs to indies to gorillas. I don’t recommend playing the game for extended periods of time though because if you play for four or five hours straight, like I did after getting addicted to the game, you’re sure to break a sweat and maybe give yourself a stiff neck from straining your neck left or right constantly as you grind over the always fresh powder.

A real downside for the game is that it’ll probably only take you 10 hours of gameplay to blow through the 100 world ranks and to challenge Shaun as the top dog, but to help bolster the replay value, the game is online capable and there is a new feature where you can design your own tricks to only add to the last version of this game’s awesome customization features.

Shaun White Snowboarding: World Stage successfully avoids a sophomore slump and comes out strong with seamless gameplay and awesome additions like new courses, boarders, and online vs. modes. Even if you are not a fan of snowboarding, this is a ridiculously fun game and you can very easily find yourself addicted to it.

Shaun White Snowboarding: World Stage is out now exclusively for the Nintendo Wii.

Ratings are based on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the best.

Graphics: 8.0: Although I’m not a tremendous fan of the cartoony look, I understand the limitations of the Wii and it actually works well with the atmosphere the game looks to create. Add-in some sweet effects like snow covering your boarder when you screw up a trick and I can walk away content with the looks.

Audio: 7.0: Solid voice acting bolsters the game, but not enough music tracks and generic SFX drop the score into a more average range.

Plot/Plot Development: N/A: It’s a sports sim…

Gameplay: 10.0: I used the balance board when playing the game, and although there is a mode where you can only use the wiimote and nunchuck, using the balance board is the ultimate way to experience this game. Also consider that the board flawlessly responds to every shift in weight and movement you make and there isn’t a glitch in the game to speak of.

Replay Value: 8.0: Online vs. modes, create-a-trick mode, and a campaign that will take you probably around 10 hours to get through and this is a good amount to bring you back to this game, especially if you are a shred-head.

Overall (not an average): 9.0: The game wasn’t perfect. But it was so much fun. I really enjoyed every aspect of the game and only a couple of rough edges keep this from being perfect. I can’t wait to see how Shaun tries to top this year’s version in the future and I applaud the move of moving the game from other consoles to a Wii exclusive because I believe being able to focus on the Wii balance board and their control set helped them correct a few of last year’s flaws. The new features and seamless gameplay make this game a sleeper must-have for the holiday season.

-Ray Carsillo

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Never Saw It Coming

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Originally Published: November 18, 2009, on 1050ESPN.com (now ESPNNewYork.com) and Lundberg.me

As a Giants fan, the first person who comes to my mind when speaking of defensive greatness is Lawrence Taylor, the one and only man who should be referred to as LT. When I think of LT, the first things that come to mind are the hundreds of great plays he made over his career, the MVP, and the two Super Bowl Championships. Many other football fans, though, instantly think of him snapping Joe Theismann’s leg like a twig and ending his career instantly.

LT changed the game forever that day as the position of left tackle (which fittingly is also LT on the stats sheet) had a spotlight shone on it like never before. The position was now seen as needing to be filled by someone just as talented as the quarterbacks they were hired to protect. Men like Orlando Pace, Tony Boselli, David Diehl (maybe my Giants bias comes through with that one), Walter Jones, and many others in their position have been lauded as the rocks of many franchises over the years.

This unquestioned importance for the position makes the true story of Michael Oher, the current rookie left tackle for the Baltimore Ravens (1st round, 23rd pick), something of a modern day fairytale (along with the whole rags-to-riches and inner-city struggles thing wrapped in football pads) as he did not have the most traditional of paths to the NFL.

The Blind Side, presented by Warner Bros. and based on the best-selling novel The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game, is the telling of Michael’s incredible tale that is still unfolding as we speak.

Growing up without a real family or home, Michael (played by newcomer Quinton Aaron) survived a difficult childhood in the poverty stricken projects of Memphis only to be taken in by the well-to-do Tuohy family, spearheaded by the unstoppable force that is Leigh Anne Tuohy (Sandra Bullock). With the help of the Tuohy family, specifically Leigh Anne, Michael is able to reach his full potential, both on and off the field, and help the Tuohy family find something they didn’t realize they were missing until Michael entered their lives.

We all know that this tale has a happy ending, but this is still a spectacular movie, even if you are not a football fan or familiar with the story. Everyone involved gives fantastic performances and Sandra Bullock could be up for an Oscar nomination for this role. The movie has you laughing one instant and tugs on your heart strings the next, all the while telling this amazing story in a way the whole family can enjoy.

But this isn’t just a football movie. Football is simply the catalyst for this tremendous story of how one man’s journey was forever altered by the love and generosity of complete strangers and how he was able to reach his fullest potential because of it.

I almost felt that the story, which took 2 hours and 5 minutes to tell, was actually a little too perfect, even with me knowing it’s true. There was clear adversity that Michael had to overcome, but I don’t think it was shown as much as it could’ve been, possibly just to maintain a PG-13 rating. How much he struggled adapting to a new school, these strangers who took him in, these teachers who didn’t want to teach him, I just needed something more. There just seemed to be a lot of help for Michael wherever he turned and that ever-present aid will keep this movie from being an all-time great sports movie like Rudy. Still, it’s a very enjoyable watch and a must-see film for any sports fan.

The Blind Side will be released nationwide on Friday, November 20, 2009, and gets 4 out of 5.

-Ray Carsillo

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Video Games Live!

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Originally Published: November 9, 2009, on Lundberg.me and 1050ESPN.com (now ESPNNewYork.com)

Since the video game revolution really started plowing forward back in the mid 80s, one of the most underrated aspects of the aspects has been the music. The 8 and 16-bit processors that the Nintendo, Super Nintendo, and Sega Genesis systems could produce were not much more than melodic beeps and pings made to sound like a catchy tune.

Of course, times have changed. Now, many of the best and brightest games have scores composed by full orchestras or big time, main-stream bands, but those original compositions still bring back childhood memories of simpler times to go along with our simpler games. The themes from Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda, Mega Man, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Castlevania, are still lovingly talked about alongside the newcomers from Metal Gear Solid, Halo, and Kingdom Hearts.

The music from these games and the feelings of nostalgia they conjure up are only now starting to get the respect they deserve on a scale worthy of the sales of these monolithic franchises. In that vein, I present to you Video Games Live.

Video Games Live was founded back in 2002 by celebrated game composers Jack Wall and Tommy Tallarico and has been a tour de force ever since. With a full orchestra and choir in tow, Wall and Tallarico have put together a show that needs to be seen to be believed. Fortunately, I saw it about two weeks ago. With musical selections from over 20 video games played, and 40 more waiting in the wings ensuring that an audience will never see the same show twice, Wall and Tallarico mix in geek-based humor with a light show, scenes from the greatest games ever created, and musical acumen that rivals the best and brightest out there.

The show I went to at the Beacon Theatre was the most fun I’ve had in a long time. You had a costume contest for people dressed as video game characters, a Guitar Hero competition, and a random drawing for a Nintendo DSi. You had special messages from Hideo Kojima, the creator of the Metal Gear series, as he gave a special recorded greeting before the playing of the Metal Gear music, and Koji Kondo, the composer of the Mario Bros. and Legend of Zelda themes, give a special message as well.

There was a live Q & A with Ralph Baer, the man credited with inventing video games (he is also credited with inventing the light gun, the first video game system peripheral, and the popular kids’ game Simon in the 70s), over Skype and it was impressive to see this legendary inventor at the ripe age of 87 still smiling at how his invention has changed and influenced the lives of so many people across the world.

You had YouTube sensations, pianist Martin Leung and Laura “Flute Link” Intravia, come on and do what made them famous on the stage. Martin is best known for playing the Mario theme on piano blindfolded and Laura plays a stunning rendition of the Ocarina of Time music on flute, in full green tunic like the Hero of Time. Both would accompany the orchestra on several songs over the course of the night, usually to standing ovations (I nearly leapt out of my seat when Martin started playing the Super Mario World theme).

There was a request portion (where I nearly lost my voice screaming for the Mega Man theme and starting a Mega Man chant in my section of the Beacon Theatre; I was pleasantly surprised to find it was incorporated later into the show) where everything many fans called for was played and many were pleasantly surprised when Martin broke into the original Tetris theme, just because.

There were classics played from Mega Man and Chrono Trigger to more recent games like Halo and Shadow of the Colossus, but no matter if you were young or old, newbie or wily old veteran, there was something to make every geek and video game fan smile and laugh.

Video Games Live is now on their fourth world tour, and much like the game music they play, are just beginning to receive the respect and recognition they deserve. Playing to sold-out shows all over the world and constantly adding new and beloved video game music all the time (including the one I went to at the Beacon Theatre), Video Games Live is an ever-evolving entity much like the games off of which they are based. It is with the utmost praise that I recommend that every video game fan should see this show when they come to your town.

-Ray Carsillo

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Not So Happily Ever After

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Originally Published: November 6, 2009, on 1050ESPN.com (now ESPNNewYork.com) and Examiner.com

Fairytales. We all know them and all grew up with various incarnations of them. Capitalizing on this ingrained popularity, the folks at Playlogic have created a twisted, sadistic, bloody vision incorporating some of our favorite characters for their new game, Fairytale Fights.

Little Red Riding Hood, Snow White, The Naked Emperor (from the Emperor’s New Clothes), and Jack (from Jack and the Beanstalk) have teamed up after a mysterious stranger has come to steal their fame away from them. And in their fairytale world, fame is everything. Without fame, their stories will be lost forever, and their purpose will then cease to exist.

It is an interesting concept for a story. And the universal recognition of these characters will probably sell push a few units, especially when you consider the sadistic amount of violence in this game. To see these cute, cuddly, little creatures chopping each other up in one of the most blatantly bloody games (even if it’s very cartoony blood) to have come out in a long while was a very unexpected surprise.

Little Red Riding Hood chopping up lumberjacks with axes, Jack impaling gingerbread men with swords, and Snow White bashing toy soldiers with frying pans are just some of the examples of the carnage that can be inflicted during your adventures through fairytale land as you try to reclaim your fame in the most violent ways possible.

Unfortunately, this great concept falls flat in its execution. The cartoony graphics and effects give it a feel as if the game is torn between being an E-rated game and a M-rated game instead of just going full-tilt in one direction of the other. The senseless violence is great, but the goofy faces of the cartoon characters and the loose execution of the plot really take away from the overall theme of the game.

Add in that the controls are absolutely abysmal in that you attack with the second control stick instead of just assigning the attack mechanism to a button, there’s no way to lock onto enemies, and an impossible to kill number of enemies that are thrown at you over ridiculously long levels really makes this game a bore that no amount of blood and guts splashed on the screen could save.

I loved these characters while growing up. The Abbot and Costello version of Jack and the Beanstalk is still the defining version of the story in my mind. I think part of my dislike for this game might be its perversion of these classic characters. However, even when I put my personal biases aside, the execution of the game is still abysmal. The game is a glitchy button masher with little to no variety over the course of its 13 levels. Even the four playable fairytale characters have no variety besides their looks. Snow White has no different abilities from the Naked Emperor. Jack is no different from Little Red Riding Hood. Why have four different characters if they all play exactly the same?

This game is a perfect example of wasted potential, a solid premise that falls flat on its face due to cut corners and poor execution. The blood and guts might appeal to a few players out there, but I would recommend that if you are tempted to even look at this game, rent it before looking to buy it, especially for the listed $59.99.

Ratings are based on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the highest.

Graphics: 7.0: The graphics are cartoony and goofy as to be expected with a game based on fairy tales. Still, the look of this game is a perfect example of corners that were cut as the characters look a little too blocky for a modern console game.

Audio: 6.0: No voice acting in the game automatically docks the game points. The SFX are repetitive and bland. The only saving grace is that the background music actually sounds like something that would be fitting for a fairytale.

Plot/Plot Development: 7.5: A solid plot concept that falls flat on its face due to poor execution. This is a great example of where this game did not know if it wanted to be a mature game or a kids game because the plot was too simple and too simply explained to be geared towards a more mature audience.

Gameplay: 3.0: Lots of glitches over the course of the game made an already horribly handling game come off as even worse. The attack mechanism should have been assigned to a button and not the second control stick, each character should have had their own individual powers or abilities, and the levels were easily twice as long as they needed to be and got repetitive much too quickly.

Replay Value: 7.0: The game does have a co-op feature, which could make it better since misery loves company, and playing this game might make you miserable. Add in a simple arena vs. mode and the game has decent replay value.

Overall (not an average): 4.0: If you are thinking about getting this game, rent it first. The game disappointed me because it was such a wonderful concept but had absolutely no polish to it whatsoever. The glitches were too numerous to count and the game lost itself about halfway through.

I would not recommend this game, but if you’re curious it is out now for Xbox 360 and PS3.

-Ray Carsillo

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The Life You Wish You Lived

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Originally Published: October 28, 2009, 1050ESPN.com (Now ESPNNewYork.com) and Lundberg.me

As mentioned in my article on the new South Park video game, there is also a new season of South Park going on now. Unfortunately, Comedy Central’s show to bridge the gap for last season between the foul-mouth youths of South Park and the satirical wit of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart was Krod Mandoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire, and as predicted by yours truly, sputtered out after only a season as they burned through the same jokes over and over again.

Well, you can’t have a gap in your strongest block of programming, so Comedy Central has taken their chances this time with an even raunchier comedy, Secret Girlfriend.

The basic premise is that this sitcom revolves around YOU. At least, it is supposed to. Shot in a first-person perspective, you live somewhere in California where the sun is always shining and the ladies are always wearing something skimpy. Along with your two roommates/best friends, the sitcom follows you as you attempt to attain all that most guys in their 20s think about: booze and babes. All the while you also try to keep your hot, but bat-guano insane, ex-girlfriend from mucking up your life. You also find a meaningful relationship early on, but must keep her hidden from your ex-girlfriend to protect hers and your safety (hence the title of the show).

The show follows you to parties, clubs, strip clubs, and your apartment complex as your roommates try to use get rich quick schemes and viral videos to help them on their quest for their ultimate one-night stand where as you don’t have that difficulty due to your natural good looks and charm. You are thrown into constantly sexually provocative situations with random girls at bars, the yoga practitioner across the hall, and even on the car ride to wherever you are headed that day. All in all, you live a pretty sweet life.

I’ve watched the first three episodes of Secret Girlfriend because I wanted to see if there is more to it than just potty humor and hot women. There is not. And that might just make it a success. Of course, there is also a more probable chance, much like it’s time-slot predecessors, that it will burn through these jokes much too quickly and grow old in the minds of its viewers. That’s probably why the hot women are there, to help cover up the quickly aged jokes and situations. Then again, many of us have cable modems at this point and can see much more than what this show gives us for free.

So there really isn’t a lot of substance in Secret Girlfriend. In fact, Secret Girlfriend makes me frustrated in many ways. For example, I am not handsome and I am not charming and, in fact, most women find me kind of creepy (“Mua ha ha ha ha” seems to be a bad pick-up line). It really ticks me off seeing guys like the guy you’re supposed to be in the show, who have no job, loser friends, and no life, chasing every piece of tail they see and succeeding. Especially since I know guys like that in real life. I don’t want to see that on my TV!

Also, none of my neighbors practice yoga. And if they do, I sure don’t want to see it because I am surrounded by geriatrics in my neighborhood. They’re sweet people, but there isn’t a single, hot, 20-year-old in spandex among them. And don’t even get me started on the hot chick who just wants to hang around, eat pizza, and play GTA 4.

Since I believe most guys fall in-between the “playa” you are in this show and my own relationship-challenged category, I don’t see a lot guys being able to relate at all to the character we are supposed to be in this show.

I see a lot of guys turning Secret Girlfriend off and heading over to their broadband PCs for their hot chick fix. The jokes will get tired very quickly and the insane situations the characters find themselves in will run out faster than the writers can come up with them and so my official prediction is that I don’t see Secret Girlfriend lasting more than a season or two.

New episodes of Secret Girlfriend can be seen (for now) at 10:30 PM every Wednesday night after South Park on Comedy Central.

-Ray Carsillo

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Where Dreams Are Driven

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Originally Published: October 26, 2009, on 1050ESPN.com (now ESPNNewYork.com), Examiner.com, Collider.com, and Lundberg.me

It is the slogan for one of the most anticipated racing games to come out in a long time. The Forza series is the premiere racing game for the Xbox 360 and is constantly in the discussion for best racing game available, period. Two years since their last installment, the folks at Turn 10 and Microsoft have kicked this franchise into another gear now (pun admittedly intended) with Forza Motorsport 3.

With now well over 400 cars featured in the game from over 50 different manufactures, you would think “options” is what Forza means (it really stands for “power” in Italian and that makes more sense, I think). Each and every car is also completely customizable from interior designs and colors to rims to the air pressure in your tires.

You think it’s great to drive a lot of cars? Well, how about driving them on 100 different race tracks from all over the world from Sebring to Nürburgring and even the Circuit de la Sarthe, which is used for the world-famous Le Mans 24 hour race. Yeah…options.

So far, I’ve thrown out a lot of numbers. Impressive numbers, but still, just numbers. Let’s talk about looks. The cars are built with 10 times the amount of polygons from the last installation of Forza and that has allowed for more finely detailed visible damage to your car from scratched paint all the way to tire wear over the course of a race. You can almost see the flies splatter across your windshield this game looks so good.

Speaking of damage, how about the fact that a brand new physics engine now might make you think twice about trying to smack an opponent out of your way as you might just flip your own car over and take yourself out of the race (I know, I’ve done it. It is fun for like three seconds until you realize you’ve definitely lost the race now).

Of course, a severely improved A.I. could make contact all but impossible as your opponents react to your actions like real drivers now. Some cars might try to floor it to put some distance between you if you act aggressive while others might just let you pass in the hopes your righteous fury will just glide by them (I only know how to drive aggressive so I’ve only seen the A.I. act to my anger fueled actions). The A.I. might try to pull the same tricks on you, though, if you’re not careful, by bumping you in turns or veering back and forth to prevent you from cleanly passing.

Along with the classic racing game modes like vs., time trials, and online vs., there is also the inclusion of a brand new single-player season mode that insures that no player will have the same racing experience as you play through six years in the life of a driver as you try to win races with a plethora of cars in various classes. From one-on-one heats, to drift events, to drag, to circuit races, each calendar has more than 200 events on it and will test every aspect of your skills as a driver.

This sounds like a gearhead’s dream for sure. But what if you are a more casual racing gamer? What if you don’t know how to tune your car or when to brake going into a turn? The fine folks at Turn 10 took that into consideration. There are a bevy of options that can be tuned to your liking depending on your ability and even an automatic “Quick Upgrade” feature that will tune your car to its maximum ability without you having to look through valves and fuses trying to figure out which ones will be the best for your car. You can ease up the opponent’s A.I., you can lessen the wear and tear on your car during a race, and you can even turn on the one-button auto-brake assists or you can paint a line on the track telling you where to turn and how fast you should be going. All of these are great for beginning racing gamers as you attempt to not only learn the tracks, but improve your skills over time.

The ultimate assist though is probably the best. Similar to the “flashback” feature from Grid, Forza Motorsport 3 has no limits to the amount of times it’s “rewind” feature can be used in a single-player race as it allows you to stop play and go back in time instantaneously to re-do a poor turn or maybe getting spun out by an opponent’s car. The “rewind” feature is so extensive, that the opponent might even rethink how they go into a turn.

While playing, I specifically remember two cars colliding on a hairpin turn that caused a pileup that ended up taking me and several other cars out. I rewound the accident and, on the very next try, the cars avoided each other and the race continued. I didn’t have to worry about restarting the entire race or trying to comeback from a ridiculous deficit because of a mistake the computer made and that makes playing this game so much more enjoyable.

With all the compliments I am paying the game, mind you, there are flaws. Firstly, the soundtrack is beyond limited and you might just turn the music off after a while because by the second year of your single-player career, every song has been played to death.

Another problem is that once you have a solid lead in a race, even on the hardest difficulty level, the A.I., although great in many other aspects, has trouble making a play back on your position if it falls too far behind. This means that a lot of races that might be five or six laps, could be over by the third or fourth a lot of times if you can make the right moves. Also, since in many series you’ll face the same cars, the cars do not make adjustments between races like you can and you’ll often be competing with the same two or three cars while the other four or five will simply fall out of contention. The A.I. is very good, but it still has its drawbacks.

These small complaints aside, this is still probably the best racing game out there because hands-down it is the most fun to play. It has successfully removed all the frustrations for those rookie racers out there while having enough options to keep the hardcore of the hardcore more than happy. Forza Motorsport 3 is available for the Xbox 360 on October 27th, 2009.

Ratings are based on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the best.

Graphics: 9.5: From skid marks staying new and fresh throughout the entire race to bumpers flying off in high speed collisions, this game looks gorgeous. Maybe if rims and side-mirrors started flying off in collisions, too, it would be completely perfect looking.

Audio 8.0: The soundtrack gets tired quickly and is really the only audio complaint I could find. The hum of the engines and how they vary from tune-up to tune-up is impressive.

Plot/Plot Development: N/A: It’s a simulation and therefore really doesn’t have a plot…

Gameplay: 8.5: The A.I. is light years ahead of the competition in many aspects, but does seem simple if you can pull out to a big lead.

Replay Value: 8.5: With 200 events per single-player calendar and online and offline vs. and time-trial modes and the Forza community will be happy for a long time with this installment. The only problem is that the single-player campaign can become repetitive after a while with only so many tracks and opponent strategies, making for a more simple racing experience.

Overall (not an average): 9.0: Easily the most fun racing game I’ve ever played, it still isn’t quite perfect. More audio tracks would be nice and the A.I. has lapses at times, but this is still probably the best racing game out there. Now, we just have to wait for all the track and car DLC that is sure to be coming.

-Ray Carsillo

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The Ultimate Team-Up

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April 24, 2010

Originally Published: October 23, 2009, on 1050ESPN.com (now ESPNNewYork.com)

I had promised this a while ago, but due to unforeseen circumstances, breaking news, and surprise interviews, this review has been pushed back for weeks. Now, finally, without further ado, here is my review of Batman/Superman: Public Enemies.

It is one of the best titles to come out from DC in a long time and it gives a fresh look into the psyches of their two heavy lifters, Batman and Superman. Aptly titled Batman/Superman (or Superman/Batman, not really sure since they use a Superman symbol inside a giant bat), this series, started by comic book veterans Jeph Loeb and Ed McGuinness five years ago, has seen some of the most interesting situations the Dark Knight and Man of Steel have ever been thrown in. From alternative universes to Lex Luthor’s presidency, Batman/Superman never has a dull moment while the limits of the DC Universe’s logic are always pushed to the limits.

Because of the success of this series’ run, DC Animation felt it would be prudent to strike while the iron was hot. Considering that the storyboards were already in place for the most part since this story was to have been done on Cartoon Network before the Justice League series was cancelled, it only needed minor tweaking to turn what would have been a two or three episode arc for the half hour cartoon into a full 67-minute feature.

Thus, we have Batman/Superman: Public Enemies. Following the story arc where Lex Luthor is president and puts a bounty out on the heads of our two favorite heroes, Public Enemies is a testament to DC Animation when they get it right.

This cartoon was the comic come to life. There were some parts cut out like the Superman from Earth-2’s visit, but they were all for the sake of keeping the story crisp and free of clutter. I understand that, but when the movie is only 67 minutes, would 10 more minutes of animated story straight from the comic killed you? The animation style looked just like the drawings from the comic and having veteran voice actors reprise their roles from previous DC cartoons like Kevin Conroy as Batman, Tim Daly as Superman, and Clancy Brown as Lex Luthor made fanboys everywhere jump for joy.

The only real problem I had with the cartoon was that it didn’t depict the motivations of our heroes nor did it say why they interact with each other the way they do like in the comics. Of course, the lack of thought bubbles is a problem when taking something from a comic, but it is such an integral part of the comic that Public Enemies doesn’t feel as deep as it should. With the uniqueness of the relationship between Batman and Superman being a large part of the book, it made the cartoon feel a little empty without being able to properly depict that.

Also, the scene that was added where Luthor makes out with Amanda Waller was grossly unnecessary. With everything else that was cut to keep the story as streamlined as possible, that addition made no sense.

When you consider the awesome special features for the 2-disc special addition (that also comes with a sweet Batman figurine!) including a sit down with Andrea Romano (casting director for DC Animation), Bruce Timm (executive producer), and Kevin Conroy (voice of Batman), and two Adventures of Superman cartoon episodes from the late 90s and the $19.99 price tag seems well worth it.

Minor character development problems aside, this was an awesome movie and the special features make it all the more worth it. Include the great voice acting and animation and this is a must buy for any DC Comics fan.

Batman/Superman: Public Enemies gets a 4 out of 5.

-Ray Carsillo

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Double Dose of Winter Sports

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Originally Published: October 9, 2009, on 1050ESPN.com (now ESPNNewYork.com), Examiner.com, and Lundberg.me

Many people know that I’m a sports fan, and being a video game fan, I love all sports video games as well. In that vein, I’m providing you fine folks with a double shot of sports games with reviews for both NHL 10 and NBA LIVE 10, both from EA Sports.

We will begin with NBA LIVE 10 since there were a lot of questions coming into this season for this game. Usually, the best way to answer questions about a game is to go to the source. I had a chance to speak with NBA LIVE 10 Lead Producer Sean O’ Brien, Dynamic Season feature producer Garreth Reeder, and Lead Gameplay Designer Mike Wang about all the new features in this year’s game and improvements over last year’s version considering the entire game was rebuilt from scratch.


CLICK HERE – to listen to my interview with NBA LIVE 10 Producers Sean O’ Brien and Garreth Reeder and Gameplay Designer Mike Wang.

Since I didn’t have the time to wait for basketball season to actually start, I’m going to have to take Garreth’s word on it, but it sounds phenomenal. From what I did play in Dynasty Mode, I can say that this is the premiere basketball game out there right now and this game model, closer to what the NHL series has used the past few years, is the top of the line format for sports games.

The only knocks I have against the game is that the graphics aren’t as sharp as I would like, especially when you look at other sports games from EA Sports like Madden and NHL, and the A.I. isn’t that great for your teammates. I know I put myself at a natural disadvantage by playing with the Knicks, but when there are lanes to the basket and I am looking for guys to pass to, instead of running up those lanes, my A.I. controlled guys run to the corner or right into a double team. Very frustrating, but that’s the life of a Knicks fan, I suppose.

From what I’ve seen and heard, NBA LIVE 10 is the must have basketball game of the season.

Ratings are based on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the best.

Graphics: 8.0: The looks of the game are average. Maybe the Dynamic Season takes up a lot of space on the disc so the graphics aren’t as sharp as they could be, but not the most best looking game from EA Sports.

Audio 10.0: The soundtrack of the game gets your blood pumping, and authentic cheers and boos from the Garden crowd (more boos than cheers considering the Knicks’ performance the past couple of years) are awesome. Add in Marv Albert and Steve Kerr providing authentic play-by-play and color commentary and the sound cannot get any better.

Plot/Plot Development: N/A: It’s a sports sim…

Gameplay: 8.0: Garreth might be looking for a perfect score, but the A.I. could use a little more tweaking before I give this a perfect score. No lag though, a great free throw system, and basketball as authentic as it can get on a video game console still gives this a good score.

Replay Value: 10.0: If you love basketball, the Dynamic Season and Dynasty modes will keep you happy throughout the entire season and keep you playing this game for a long time.

Overall (not an average): 8.0: With the addition of Dynamic Season and the rebuilding of the game engine from the ground up, this game is just scratching the tip of its potential. It needs a little further tweaking, but this is ready to be the premiere NBA gaming franchise, starting right now.

From the hardwood we move to the ice as we look at NHL 10. Considering how in-depth NHL 09 was and how many awards it took away last year for it, all EA Sports had to do was make minor tweaks to improve on their already dominate product.

The graphics are even sharper than last year and the way the ice gets worn down as the game progresses is a beautiful thing to see.

The sound is authentic to the point that “Henrik! Henrik!” chants rise up from the Garden whenever the King makes a spectacular save and Gary Thorne and Bill Clement’s commentary are always spot on.

The most impressive thing is that the gameplay and A.I. is even sharper than last year. The puck movement and passing is more realistic and accurate than ever before and the defense reacts like a real team. If a defenseman gets beat for a breakaway, he might try to catch up now for the back check and dive and flail with his stick to try to knock the puck away.

Add in the return of all your favorite features like Dynasty Mode and Be a Pro and the inclusion of first person fist fights now and this is the greatest hockey game of all time.

Ratings are based on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the best.

Graphics: 10.0: I don’t know how this game could look any better than it does. From the real-time degrading of the ice to movement of the players’ jerseys and this game is gorgeous.

Audio 10.0: The soundtrack of the game is an awesome array as always from EA Sports and Bill Clement and Gary Thorne doing an authentic feeling broadcast makes you want to jump up and shout like you’re in the Garden cheering along with a capacity crowd.

Plot/Plot Development: N/A: It’s a sports sim…

Gameplay: 10.0: The best A.I. system to date combined with the best puck physics I have ever witnessed makes this game as smooth and flawless as if you were watching a game on TV.

Replay Value: 10.0: If you love hockey, there is no reason for you not to immerse yourself in the returning Dynasty or Be a Pro modes.

Overall (not an average): 10.0: What can I say? As a diehard hockey fan, I just can’t find a flaw with this game. If you love hockey, you NEED this game.

So there is your double dose of winter sports. Both of these games are sure winners if you are a fan of these sports.

-Ray Carsillo

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I’m Going Down to South Park…

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Originally Published: October 7, 2009, to 1050ESPN.com (now ESPNNewYork.com), Lundberg.me, and Examiner.com

It is one of the funniest and longest running programs on television and has permeated the pop culture like few shows do, especially ones that reside primarily on basic cable. But the four foul-mouthed youths from South Park on Comedy Central are still going strong and are once again attempting to invade the digital realm.

South Park Let’s Go Tower Defense Play takes this hugely popular franchise and sticks it in a tower defense game (hence the title). What is amazing is that South Park’s cast of characters makes this straightforward, lackluster genre somewhat fun.

The basic plot is that a mysterious force is sending some of the boys’ most nefarious foes from the past towards the heart of South Park in order to destroy the town once and for all! Homeless people, terrorists, ginger kids, demons, and old people just scratch the surface of the mindless hordes bent on destroying South Park as the boys must set up specially designed towers ranging from fast pitch baseball machines to magnifying glass powered lasers to cherry bomb launchers and fireworks to repel the invading forces over 11 levels from all over South Park and the surrounding area.

Cut scenes between each level help forward the plot (done in the style from the forever classic episode “Good Times With Weapons”) as the boys desperately try to unravel the mystery of who has brought together all of these clearly evil forces (I’m focusing in on you old people!) bent on destroying their peaceful little town and the end revelation will shock you into hysterics.

The best part of the game though is the scrapbook (inspired by the “Cartman Sucks” episode) in which you not only collect images of the foes you defeat along the way, but unlock over 80 original clips from the show highlighting the first appearances of these infamous villains ranging all the way back to Season 1.

Being downloadable content, don’t expect the graphics to be crystal clear, but considering the animation style of South Park, it is more than forgivable. The audio though is top notch with the entire voice cast coming on to do voices and record thousands of original lines for this game.

The game is not perfect though, as the gameplay is a little glitchy. I found it difficult for my characters to run around a lot of times without freezing a little and it was difficult to select which specific tower I wanted to build many times. Add in that it would have been so much easier to set the boys to the four directions of the d-pad instead of constantly having to rotate through them with the right bumper.

The bottom line is that if you are a fan of South Park, you are going to want this game because it is hysterical, but I don’t see it appealing to people otherwise. There are four difficulties to the game and they threw in five challenge maps for when you beat the 8-10 hour campaign, but aside from that there isn’t a lot to bring you back to this except for a couple of classic laughs you might want to replay.

South Park Let’s Go Tower Defense Play is an Xbox Live exclusive, available tonight (which just so happens to coincide with the new season premiere) for 800 Microsoft Points (roughly $10) and considering the content you get, the price is well worth it if you are a South Park fan.

Ratings are based on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the best.

Graphics: 8.0: You might download this and gawk at the high graphics score I gave it, but you have to take into consideration the style of animation that South Park is done in, so the game’s actual graphics are close to watching the actual cartoon and the cut scenes, although done in the old school comic book panel by panel style, look awesome.

Audio: 9.0: The game opens with the theme song and the entire cast came on board to voice over thousands of lines of dialogue so I can’t give the audio a poor score. Generic SFX and background music in the levels though docks the overall score a point.

Plot/Plot Development: 9.0: Fans of the show will already be familiar with the surroundings and characters so since this is clearly marketed to the already established fan base (myself included) there wasn’t a need to go into background details. The game starts off like an episode of the sitcom and continues over the course of the day. The mystery is developed well through the cut scenes and the surprise ending fit perfectly into what South Park is all about.

Gameplay: 6.0: Passable, but barely. The gameplay is a bit glitchy and I thought the switching between characters and selecting towers tool was difficult to use at best. The whole game, even with the challenge maps, is probably about 12 hours overall and doesn’t get more straightforward than build towers, delay and kill enemies, don’t die yourself.

Replay Value: 5.0: It is nice that you can do online co-op and play with lots of characters like Jimmy or Pip if you get tired of the boys, but there just isn’t enough here that appeals to me to play through the campaign mode repeatedly on different difficulties to try to unlock all the various clips of episodes I’ve already seen countless times.

Overall (not an average): 8.0: If you love South Park, you will love this game because there is just enough polish to make you try to work through the entire campaign. If you don’t like South Park, then you are going to want to avoid this game, but who doesn’t like South Park? This game is sweeeeeeet.

-Ray Carsillo

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When Heroes Collide

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Originally Published: October 5, 2009, to 1050ESPN.com (now ESPNNewYork.com), Lundberg.me, and Comicvine.com

Marvel, a while ago, had put out a series of action RPGs involving four-person teams of some of your favorite heroes. Two X-men games, a couple of Fantastic Four titles, and the crème de le crème that culminated in the title that was Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, a joining of many of the heroes from the Marvel Universe, that did extraordinarily well with an original plot line and the game allowed you to mix and match your favorite heroes in any way you saw fit.

The best part of MUA was that it left itself wide open for a sequel involving Galactus, maybe the Silver Surfer, and an even larger array of heroes that encompassed the whole of the Marvel Universe.

But when MUA 2 came out, instead, it looked like the folks at Activision and Vicarious Visions who took over this series of games got lazy and didn’t feel like coming up with an entirely new script again. They took two of the biggest Marvel story arcs in recent history with Nick Fury’s Secret War and the Superhero Civil War and changed the ending so that if they ever decide to be original again, then they can.

Incase you are unfamiliar with these plots I will give you a quick summary: basically Fury’s War was a private attack on Dr. Doom’s Latveria (in this case after the events of MUA 1) as the new governess was also a weapons trafficker and designer. The Civil War pitted hero against hero as the government tried to make superheroes reveal their secret identities by registering with the government to make them liable for collateral damage after the New Warriors underestimated a group of villains in Stamford, CT, and 612 people were killed in the ensuing battle.

I’ll give credit where it is due in that Activision and Vicarious Visions stayed as true to the original comic arcs as they could before trying to get cute in bringing everyone together, but considering they had a plot for a sequel already lined up, it boggles my mind that they would put it on the backburner for something that die-hards spent far too long reading about to begin with.

Aside from my frustrations over the lack of a truly original plot though, this game is just as good as the first MUA in every other aspect. The cut scenes look beautiful and the voice acting is top-notch although I could’ve had a few more lines recorded for each character during the actual gameplay (how many times can you hear “HULK SMASH ALL THERE IS!” before it becomes tiresome?).

The gameplay is everything you would expect from an action RPG with some characters being much better than others and the new Fusion feature makes for some awesome team up moves like the classic “Fastball Special”. Since Colossus isn’t a playable character though, the Hulk, Thing, or Juggernaut (GameStop pre-orders only) stand-in for Wolverine’s X-men tin can teammate. There are a few minor glitches with your characters or enemies sometimes becoming trapped in corners and force you to switch characters to get them out, but aside from that, the game is relatively smooth.

The replay value is also very strong for the game because the only way to unlock everything would be to play through at least twice, once pro-registration and once anti-registration. Of course, the course you choose also affects the characters you can play with. Anyone familiar with the story arcs shouldn’t be surprised that only by choosing anti-registration can they get Luke Cage, Captain America, and Iron Fist and that only by choosing pro-registration can they get Iron Man, Songbird, and Mr. Fantastic.

Of course, once you beat the game one time through, you can play the second time through with any of the 25 playable characters as well as unlock the hardest difficulty. The best team to do that in the least amount of time would be Wolverine, Deadpool, Hulk, and Iron Fist. I don’t know why Iron Fist is as strong as he is, but he’s one of the best characters in the game because he can heal your entire team and Wolverine and Deadpool have healing factors, which makes the trio nearly impossible to kill. And then there is the Hulk (only available at the beginning if you get the game from Best Buy) and like I said before: HULK SMASH ALL THERE IS. Enough said.

In the end, anyone who is a comics fan and followed these story arcs should get this game because it is awesome to see the comics come to life and to see the various personalities of the Marvel Universe mix and mingle on your TV. I’m looking forward to MUA 3 even more now because I still want to see Galactus!

Ratings are based on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the best.

Graphics: 8.0: This gets a slightly better than average score because the cut scenes are awesome, but the regular gameplay graphics are okay at best because of having so many enemies on screen at one time to prevent lag. Typical of these games, but I still have to call them on it.

Audio: 9.0: Great voice acting mixed in with great sound effects make this a strong score, but the music was generic for the most part. The MUA 2 theme for the game was really good though so the audio gets a great score overall.

Plot/Plot Development: 6.5: MUA 2 gets a barely passing score on plot because two-thirds of the game isn’t original whatsoever. They then made up an ending that was so far from the comics it is ridiculous, just to bring everyone together so that they can make a third game with a plot they hinted at in the first game should the opportunity present itself. It passes though because at least they stayed relatively true to the parts they did steal straight from the comics.

Gameplay: 7.0: This game is a button masher, plain and simple. You press the same couple of buttons to attack and occasionally team up with your pals to do it, but overall there isn’t a lot of depth to the gameplay. Add in a couple of glitches and it is okay at best.

Replay Value: 10.0: Needing to play through the game twice to unlock everyone and everything, along with 4 play online co-op and more collectibles than I can remember and there is a lot to bring you back to this game. It will take you probably 25-30 hours to find everything in the game if you play through it twice.

Overall (not an average): 7.5: Even though it isn’t the prettiest game, or the most original, the game is still good. Not great and definitely not ground-breaking, but if you are a fan of the Marvel universe, you will definitely enjoy this game. Add in some great surprises at the end and you will walk away with a smile on your face.

-Ray Carsillo

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