Monster Rancher DS Review

So I picked up Monster Rancher DS not too long ago in an attempt to relive some of my childhood gaming habits. The basic setup has not changed over the years and only a few things have actually been updated for the newer system. In the original for the Playstation you had to swap out different CDs to obtain monsters and it was a very unique idea and had me scrambling for every CD in the house. This time around they are playing to the strengths of the DS and allow you to either say a word or phrase or you can draw a picture onto a grid to obtain a monster. I really enjoy this and spent a good amount of time trying to figure out what monsters I could get.

You can store up to 30 monsters in a "cryo" chamber and for the first part of playing I did nothing but draw pictures and store the monsters I wanted. After creating your monster you can take it back to your ranch. The ranch is made up of a stable for your creature and a house. You can upgrade 1 of these every year. The larger the stable you have determines the size of monsters you can have. The larger the house you have determines how many items you can have. From there you can train your monster through different tasks that will raise it's stats. You also later on in the game can take your monster to a location and train it's stats up much more than usual. This will cost a good chunk of money but also will save you lots of time. These area's are set up like a board game and can raise stats, lower stats, generate a random wild monster, and raise and lower the amount of rolls you have. There are also areas that you can search with your monster but I never got into these so I don't have much to say on them.

Once you train up your monsters you can take it to battle. You can only battle in the level you are in starting at D and working your way up. I prefer to train my monster up a lot before I enter these so that I can have the monster make it's own moves and I can just watch the battle. I have yet to finish the game and I don't think I have ever finished a Monster Rancher game. I like to just do the everyday training and see what all monsters I can get. I like to look at these games as a less in depth Pokemon. You get your monster, raise it's stats, and battle in tournaments. There are no RPG elements beyond that. You don't have to walk around and there aren't any random battles. In this way I think it is more accessible.

Based on what I have played so far and the amount of enjoyment and nostalgia I can honestly say the games hasn't needed to change much to still be fun. I'm giving this one a...

9 out of 10

Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World - video game review

So I just sunk about 3 hours into playing all the way through the new Scott Pilgrim game and I can only say that it was time well spent. The game plays much like an old school beat-em-up such as Streets of Rage. There is however a level system and based on your level you acquire certain moves you use to fight. Along with that you earn money and with the money you go into shops to buy items to raise your other skills such as strength, defense, and speed.

The games art is done by Paul Robertson, known for his work with the Drawn to Life games and his film Pirate Baby's Cabana Battle Street Fight 2006. His art tends to be on the chibi side with all his characters looking like little pixelated people. The music is all done in midi format so it sounds like a retro game. The music in the game was composed by Anamanaguchi which is a chiptune punk band. Everything about the games art and music style lends it back to retro games and it fits perfectly with the comic.

The game has 4 playable characters and you can play up to 4 player similar to a Castle Crashers type play. The game is filled to the brim with charm from the comic and I have never seen a licensed game live up to my expectations. It isn't too say my expectations are low, most licensed games just aren't very good. It just goes to show what a good art style, music choice, and source material can do for a game. As I said earlier the game is a beat-em-up. You go through each level based on an evil ex, fighting henchman and collecting cash to power up. At the end of each level you face off against an ex. These fights are great and the animations on them are stunning. I replayed most of them just to see them again.

There are online leaderboards for scores but nothing too major and I don't believe there is any online co-op to speak of. Minor complaint on an otherwise amazing game. At only $9.99 you owe it to yourself and your friends to get this game.

9.5 out of 10

Shit My Dad Says

So as far as I am aware everyone who spends any time on the internet is at least partially aware of the Twitter of Justin Halpern...also called Shit My Dad Says. The basic premise is that a 28 year old is dumped by his girlfriend and he moves back in with his parents, of which his retired father is 73, and in my opinion one of the great philosophers of our day.

From the Twitter page Justin expanded out and actually put out a memoir style book of the same title, Shit My Dad Says. I picked the book up a few days ago and in just a couple hours had flown through it. I could not put the book down. The intro explains the whole premise of the book, the Twitter page, and from there we have stories from Justin's youth that he and his family had sat down to reminisce about.

The book is broken up into a series of 3 to 5 page stories with 4 to 5 pages of quotes from his dad in between. This form fits the book perfectly as I had read a bit of the Twitter and having the little backgrounds behind some of the quotes really lets you learn how he grew up and a lot about the father/son bond. I read this book in 1 sitting. At 159 pages the book isn't too long but I feel it is honestly the perfect size for someone who is busy but still would like to read a great book full of funny stories and once going through it actually feel that deep down there was a lot of love put into this book in both the writing and also in the father/son bond that you learn about.

Seriously if you haven't heard about this, get it. If you have it, read it. Bottom line...it's amazing and it deserves to be read by everyone...

10 out of 10