Wario Land II

Ah, Wario Land II. The Game Boy Color was such an amazing era. . . . Most people I know don't want to try this game because (1) they hate Wario or (2) they've played Wario Land 4 and think it must be a lot better. It's not. In fact, Wario Land 4 is a total piece of crap compared to the rest of the series.

In Wario Land II, you play as, no duh, Wario. Yes, that same character who nowadays is always acting like a total moron and acting inappropriately. That is the Wario that I hate. This is the Wario that I love.

You travel through five worlds, each consisting of five levels, to get to the lair of the evil Captain Syrup, so you can steal back the treasure that she stole from you. Yes, over the years Wario has stayed just as greedy as he was back when this game was made, but it's one of the few parts of his personality that have carried over time.

There are enemies, and they can do different things to Wario. Enemies sometimes cripple Wario in some ways, and other times it seems like they give him a power-up. Sometimes you can get to other places that otherwise couldn't from being "crippled" by certain enemies' attacks.

Wario Land II is long, challenging, and literally jam-packed with secrets. There are as many secret levels are there are normal levels, and the secret exits and passageways aren't easy to find at all. For an unexperienced player, you could spend literally months trying to find all of the secrets in this game. This is why it is one of my favorite games ever made for any system ever. Nothing, no Wario Land 4, no Call of Duty: Black Ops, can beat this game in my standards, unless there's another 2D platformer that goes even deeper.

==Pros==
-Very long game, all secrets included
-Jam-packed with hard-to-find secrets
-Super addicting gameplay
-One of the best games ever made

==Cons==
-If you've 100% completed the game too many times, it's not quite as awesome (but it's still awesome nonetheless)
-Some enemies can get pretty annoying
-Sometimes you spend forever trying to get to a secret passage, and then you finally do, and find out you're not suppose to get there that way (but oh well, you got there anyway!)

~Reuben/Arkatox~

Happy Late Legend of Zelda Day!

Twenty-five years ago, minus one day. That was when The Legend of Zelda was first released on the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). I wish I had found out yesterday, when it was the day.



The fact that yesterday was also President's Day alluded me as well. Probably because I don't care. Anyway, for celebration, here's a medley composed by Casper Smit featuring all of the ocarina warp songs in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, metal style!



Anyway, Mountain Dew Voltage for everyone! Have a nice day!

~Reuben/Arkatox~

They Need To Be Fed

It's been a while since I've written a game review, and that is simply because recently I have not finished any games. I've played plenty, though. Long games are good games, and most of the games I'm currently playing are long.

They Need To Be Fed is a game I played and beat a while ago, but never got around to reviewing. It's one of those 2D versions of Super Mario Galaxy-styled gravity platformers. You can walk completely around objects, as every platform has it's own strong gravitational pull.

The story is that a certain race of beings is going to go extinct if you don't feed them—with the very characters that you control! The goal of each level is to find the end, which is one of the beings from the dying race, and get eaten by it. It's all in a good cause, which is to keep this noble race alive! But is there something strange afoot, with this dying race?

They Need To Be Fed is a fun, good-paced game that will amusingly occupy enough time to satisfy you. It's not a terribly long game, but it's a terribly fun game. I'd recommend it.

==Pros==

-Very fun and addicting

-Perfect length

-Well-made and professional

==Cons==

-It's not very hard to unlock everything

Download They Need To Be Fed on YoYo Games

Buy They Need To Be Fed for the iPhone ($1)

Buy They Need To Be Fed for the iPad ($2)

~Reuben/Arkatox~

The Crush

Seriously, when I first saw this book on the library shelf, I thought it was a romance novel. It had to be. From the title and cover, what else could it be? I opened the book and flipped through the pages, and somehow it seemed interesting to me. That's why I read it.

I can tell you, this is not a romance novel. It's a psychopathic thriller about a serial killer and someone who's part of the police force (well, he'd argue otherwise) who's trying to stop the killer. Sounds like a normal novel to me.

The serial killer is not actually a serial killer. Well, I'd say part-time. His main focus is paid killing. "Give me a hundred thousand bucks and I'll kill so-and-so for you" killing. His name is Ricky Roy Lozada, and he's well-known for being a contract killer. Why hasn't he ever been thrown in jail? Nobody's ever found evidence that he's a killer. Everyone just knows it, except for the people who have say.

This story was surprisingly well-written, and I loved it. I wouldn't recommend it to many people I know, though, due to frequent swearing, many inappropriate jokes, and all-too-descriptive sex scenes. The main character, Wick Threadgill, happens to have a very annoying personality and also happens to be the one who swears the most and makes the most crude jokes. I sort of started to like him a little bit by the end, but he was still far too annoying.

The plot was what I thought made the novel worth-while to me. It was very thought-out and presented just perfectly. It ran at just the perfect pace, and had an ending that made you happy.

This book, I'll say, was great. Just be cautious about reading it. I guess you can skip through the sex scenes, if all else fails.

Anyway, have a nice day, and goodbye. Wasn't I going to start writing shorter reviews?

~Reuben/Arkatox~

Afterlife: The Resurrection Chronicles

The first time I ever heard of Merrie Destefano is when she added me as a friend on FaceBook. My first reaction was to send her a message asking who the heck she was (as I do for all other people who I have no clue who the heck they are). She simply replied saying she was a new Christian author who had a book coming out soon.

So I guess I just shrugged and sort of reluctantly accepted. Several times afterward I've heard things about her novel, Afterlife, but I had no clue what it was about. From the title and the cover, I didn't feel too interested. I might someday get around to reading it, but for that time being I certainly had enough to read.

Later I read Merrie's description of her own novel, and I got slightly interested. Then later I entered a sweepstakes on a website to win a signed copy of the book. After that, I practically forgot about the book. Still remembered it every once in a while, but never got too interested.

Well, that was until a week or two ago when I found out that I won that sweeptakes. One out of five winners, not including the grand prize winner who won a $100 Amazon gift card (unless that was included with one of the people who won a signed book). This was a few months after the sweepstakes ended.

It was right then, after I read the email from the website, that I realized that if I hadn't won, I might never get around to reading the book.

I started the novel. It takes place in a strange world. It's actually our world, in the far future. The book never gives a date, which I believe is intentional. These days the hottest products and stuff you can buy are electronics, computers, video games, awesome things from ThinkGeek, et cetera. In this strange future, the hottest item you can acquire is not exactly an item. It's a longer life.

Every time you die, you have a chance to resurrect again. You can live up to nine lives, having a lifespan of around 500 years. Every time you die and resurrect, you can a new body and a new life. You lose many memories, but you remember many as well. Dying and resurrecting is a good way to escape your current life, whether due to depression, or being chased by the government.

There are many rules to follow, though, and one of them being that after resurrection, you must be looked after by a "Babysitter" for a week until you become stable.

Enter Chaz Dominguez, long-time Babysitter and descendant of the man who "invented" resurrection. His brother owns the resurrection company, Fresh Start, but he is just a plain old Babysitter.

But there's nothing really boring about being a Babysitter. You can break more laws than anyone otherwise would guess, and use many strange weapons, as long as you do not abuse your authority and powers.

Chaz was recently given another "Newbie" to look after for their first week of new life, and she seems like just another normal Newbie. But after a while, Chaz starts to believe there's something else about her. Something's not right about her, and his is just nagging him to find out what.

Alas, an adventure starts. An adventure of mystery, suspense, and trial. A government plot is discovered, a top secret organization arises, and guess what I'm going to say. Like I've said for almost all of the rest of my book reviews, the main character is thrown into it all. Chaz, his brother Russel, his Newbie Angelique, and some mysterious space-police dude.

Actually there is no mentioned space travel. That was a joke. The last character mentioned is a high-ranking officer in the current law-enforcement system on earth. His name is and was Skellar. He was not trustworthy or too bright. No wonder the characters didn't trust him.

The story overall blew my mind. I do say that a lot too, and it's true. It was one of those novels that drew me in and didn't let go unless I forced it. By the awesome ending, I'll say the book is really amazing.

There's an occasional "damn" or "hell" in the book, but I don't mind it much. People swear a lot worse in modern-day television and movies. Besides, I don't even consider "hell" a swear word (don't see how it is).

The book took me a while for me to stop saying "huh?" This was a very strange future. There was technology such as resurrection, amazing virtual reality technology, a strange and extremely powerful weapon called "liquid light", and even more. I was having trouble thinking of this as an actual world.

Well, until I thought of it in Star Wars terms. This story isn't any more wacko than our old favorite science fiction TV and movies. It's almost more believable, the way it's written.

Anyway, I thoroughly loved this book. If you're into science fiction and/or thrillers, you'll love this book too.

Strange enough, in the amount of time it took me to write this review, I had enough time to read another whole 400-500 page novel (it takes a long time for me to write, I guess), so expect another review in the next several days. I might start it today. Maybe finish it too, but I don't know.

Anyway, see ya around!
~Reuben/Arkatox~

Apologies

My book reviews are just getting longer and longer. It took me a few days to write the review of Left Behind, and I'm currently around halfway, or less, through my review of Afterlife. I'll probably finish the review on Monday, due to my weekend being full. (I'm going to Winter Jam, baby! Ten bands for ten dollars!)

Just saying, I'm not really less active on my blog. It just takes a long time to write stuff. :)

~Reuben/Arkatox~

Left Behind

You have no clue how many times my brother has nagged at me to read this book and start the series. That along with Harry Potter and The Hobbit (that latter of which I'm about halfway through, reading on-and-off). It has paid off well.

I actually won this book and the next seven books in the sixteen-book series (in great condition!) in a white elephant gift exchange several years ago. I did some calculating, and the first eight books in the series, when in new-like condition (which they're in) are worth about $112. Holy moley!

The Left Behind series as a whole has sold over 65 million copies, and also has spurred three film adaptions of books in the series (along with a full blockbuster-budget remake coming soon!), three video games, four spin-off series, several non-fiction books, graphic novels, and even a compilation album by several different bands that were inspired by the series.

I'd seen the first Left Behind movie at least five to seven years ago, so I knew a bit about it. I knew it had a cool story and that it was well-written. (I knew the latter from reviews from other people.)

I wasn't completely prepared for the book. It's a drama full of action and adventure. Love and repentance. Hate and lust. Grief and hope. This book indeed scared me.

In one terrible moment, millions of people across the globe vanish from existence. Everything they owned, including their clothes, were still on earth. Everything but their bodies and souls. This obviously caused a great havoc, as due to lack of drivers in vehicles and such, and thousands of other people were injured.

This must be one of the worst events in earth's history, because not a single person on the planet knew what happened. Loved ones were suddenly gone before their eyes, and every single child, even unborn babies, all disappeared seemingly into thin air.

There are two totally different people who the novel focuses on. A captain of an airplane, Rayford Steele, and a internationally famous journalist, Cameron Williams. They don't know each other, but somehow they're connected in a way the readers can't figure out. At least not at first.

There are all sorts of rumors about what happened to make millions of people disappear. From space aliens to the rapture. But after some strange discoveries, Captain Steele starts leaning towards the rapture. Maybe something spiritual really took those millions of people away to Heaven. Maybe.

Filled with action and excitement, this novel is a must-read. I say that for a lot of books, and I mean it for every one of them. I've never read a better drama in my life, and it's just the first of sixteen novels. It had an almost cliffhanger ending that made me start just the beginning of the second book, Tribulation Force, so I could settle down. This book is a fun ride.

~Reuben/Arkatox~