After a successful reboot on the Wii, Nintendo’s prime primates are back in Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze. A new set of enemies have frozen Donkey Kong Island, and its up to the Donkey, Diddy, Dixie and Cranky Kong to put a stop to their shenanigans.
Since starting this comic book adventure with the All New X-Men, I’ve been reading a lot of other stuff, mostly from the DC and Marvel relaunch omnibuses I purchased. Some of them were really good, others were alright, and there were a handful that I couldn’t even get through. Still, everything I’d read to date fell short of the high bar that All New X-Men set. Maybe it’s the short-term nostalgia setting in, but I thought that first book read beautifully, was an interesting take on the X-Men universe and also featured great art.
Now that I’ve run myself through a crash course in comics, I come into Vol. 2: Here to Stay with what I think is a keener eye to what I think a good comic book should be. Was I wowed by the first one just because it was my first book? Or is this old/new X-Men crew really worthy of high praise?
After a strong debut, I really felt like the Suicide Squad series fell off a cliff in Vol. 2 with an uninteresting story arc and a focus on characters that don’t bring much flavour to the table. In particular, having Harley Quinn sit out much of this set of comics really sucked the life out of this set. This time, Harley’s back, but how will the team cope without Deadshot, who sacrificed his life for the good of the last mission?
Originally released in 1988, Batman: The Killing Joke is widely considered to be a classic. It’s also considered to be one of the most important, as there are events that take place here that had ramifications in the DC universe for decades. Having finally gotten around to reading it, I see what the hype was all about.
Micro games have become a hot trend in the board game scene, but Iota takes it to the next level. Standing at about two inches tall, two inches wide and an inch thick, it’s hard to imagine putting much of anything in there. Once you crack that tin open, you’ll get 66 cards that are part of an interesting abstract strategy game.
In the Wolverine: Logan mini-series, the X-Men’s adamantium warrior travels to Japan to settle an old score. As much as I love the character, my first attempts at reading some of his Marvel Now solo outings have been busts. This one however, is really well done.
By the time I started reading comics, Carol Danvers had already left her Ms. Marvel persona behind to become Captain Marvel. I have no preconceived notions for what that character should be beyond her signature lightning bolt bathing suit, but the new Ms. Marvel definitely caught my eye. Not only for the fact that Muslim characters are rarely featured in western comics, but because it’s something I can empathize with. I’m not of Muslim descent myself, but many of my friends are, as I grew up a community with a large Muslim population. With issue #1 having recently hit store shelves, Steff picked up Kamala Kamal’s debut outing and I gave it a read.
In Forbidden Island, you and your team of adventures set forth on this island in search of mystical treasure. The problem is, the island decides to sink whenever punks like you try and make off with the goods. The game starts with you and your group scattered across this place that is already flooded in spots. Your goal is to collect all four treasures and return to the helicopter pad before one many calamities permanently halts your progress.
Just in case you were wondering, yes, this is the precursor of Forbidden Desert, which I’ve previously reviewed. That game was one that made a lukewarm first impression but when it clicked, it really wowed us with how exciting of an adventure it turned out to be. Due to my enjoyment of that game, I decided to take a stab at the game that spawned the franchise.
Volume 1 of the Suicide Squad caught me off guard. This ragtag group of B-level villains forced to work together made a great first impression on me with an entertaining story line and stand-out appearances from Harley Quinn and Deadshot. This time, the team is after a supervillain whose powers change each time he dies and comes back to life.
I’ve been buying board games on iOS since the launch of the app store. However, my collection of board games consists of mainstream titles like Monopoly, Scrabble and Trivial Pursuit. Now that I’ve expanded my horizons when it comes to physical board games, it’s about time that I revamp my iOS collection as well. First on my new list is Ticket to Ride; a personal favourite of mine.
In Third Person 