RUSH: Beyond the Lighted Stage

There is no reason why I should not like Rush.  The guys in this power trio are consummate musicians, staunch individualists, honest, intelligent, and far enough from the mainstream to be unaffected by the tide of commercial music.  More than just that, Rush was a huge inspiration for me growing up.  The music and lyrics meant something significant to me.  Supposedly, a lot of people feel the same way, because Rush has been considered the world's largest cult band.

With that said, it's kind of strange that their entire story hasn't been told until now.  Last year, a documentary came out, Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage, that goes in depth with the history, dynamics, influence, trials, tribulations, and musical evolution of the group.  It's a thoughtful and well-crafted film that gives the band its due time in the limelight (pun intended)

For Rush fans, it's a smorgasbord of footage, especially old footage that featured founding drummer John Rutsey, most probably never before seen by most people.  Along with the band reminiscing their career, a lot of interviews with other rock stars, solidifying the fact that Rush is one of the biggest bands that musicians listen to.

While there is a lot for the Rush fan to love, there really is something that even those who aren't so attuned to Rush's music can appreciate.  Whether or not you're a Rush geek, this movie will give you a newfound respect for the guys in the band, as individuals and musicians.  If you're a Rush fan and you don't own this, get this movie, now.



Next week, I'm doing a video (gasp).  Yeah, I know, you get to see how homely I am, you unfortunate bastards.  I'm gonna showcase my new toy, the Retron3, and give you my impressions.

Games You Should Know About... Little Red Riding Hood's Zombie BBQ

Before I begin, there's another awesome game that came out today, though you may already know about it.  Hard Corps: Uprising came out today on XBOX Live.  It's the prequel to the classic Contra: Hard Corps on the Genesis.  It was created in a joint production between Konami and Arc System Works (the guys who made the Guilty Gear series, among other things).  If you love heavy metal run 'n' gun action, do not hesitate to pick this one up.

Well, February is halfway over.  Punxsutawney Phil predicted an early end to winter, this year.  Easter decorations and candy are being displayed in local stores everywhere.  Today, the temperature is a pleasant 68 degrees.  Spring is starting to stir from its lengthy slumber.  What a perfect time for a barbecue.  But we don't need no stinking Weber grill for the BBQ I have in mind.  Forget the coleslaw and the corn on the cob.  Today, we're going to sear the flesh off the bones of the undead, 'cause there ain't no BBQ like Little Red Riding Hood's Zombie BBQ.

This little vertical scrolling shmup (as in "shoot 'em up) was released in 2008 for the Nintendo DS and everything about it screams "ridiculously awesome."  When I first saw this at a local GameStop, three things made me want to buy it immediately (which I did): the name, the price, and the boobs.  First off, just look at the title; how can something called Little Red Riding Hood's Zombie BBQ be anything but fun?  It tells you everything you need to know about the game.

Of course, you play as Little Red Riding Hood, but she's not the little girl you remember from the storybooks.  For starters, just look at her bod.  Seriously, I would dress up like a sick grandmother just to have her pay me a visit.

My, Red, what big, um... pigtails you have.

Yeah, that's it.

Red, however, is more than just some idle T&A -- she's packin' some serious heat.  Her basket of "goodies" is packed with enough machine guns, flamethrowers, shotguns, and grenades to take out a whole nation of undead.  If you think she can't kick ass and chew bubble gum, just ask the Big Bad Wolf, if you can find all of his pieces and put him back together.

KABOOM, mothafucka!

To add some variety, you can also play as Momotaro (from Japanese folklore), who wields a shuriken launching machine gun.  Let's be honest, though, Momotaro doesn't have a pair of ginormous knockers, sexy legs, or a great ass, so who cares?

You may ask, "What's the story behind this game?  Why is Little Red Riding Hood shooting zombies?"  Do you seriously need a reason?  Your questions are frivolous and unecessary.  ...Okay, fine, I'll tell you.  Red fought in this climactic battle with the Big Bad Wolf and obliterated his ass to kingdom come.  Such victory, however, comes with a price, as The Woodsman died in the battle.  As Red paid her last respects to her mentor, millions of graves in Fairy Tale Land stirred.  The dead rose from their eternal rest to wreak havoc on the living.  It is up to Red and her new ally, Momotaro to put an end to the undead chaos.

Gameplay-wise, this game is has an interesting twist to your standard vertical shoot 'em up fare.  At the bottom of the screen, there's a row of seven squares, which you character moves between.  You use the D-pad (or the Y and A buttons, if you're left-handed) to move left or right.  Everything else is done with the stylus: point your stylus at enemies to aim your fire, double-tap your target to launch a grenade, touch the weapon icons to change weapons, or touch a square on the movement row to dash to that square.  You can even duck projectiles by touching your character.  The level scrolls down as you decimate zombies and clear obstacles.

Each level is modeled after popular fairy tales, such as Hansel and Gretel and Pinocchio, and are typically divided into three areas.  The third area has you pounding on undead bosses, such as Red's Grandmother (tied to her bed, Exorcist style) and Santa Claus.  These bosses are actually pretty tough and take some trial and error to get their pattern down.

While this game is great fun, it's not without its drawbacks.  The difficulty does get pretty high the further you go, but the biggest flaw is your own hand.  As I said before, you use the stylus to do just about everything.  As the game gets harder, you really need to have some serious stylus-fu.  With your hand moving and breakneck speeds across the screen, it sometimes gets in the way of seeing what you're doing.  Also, I can only play this game in short spurts, as my hand starts cramping if I play for too long.  It does suffer from some slowdown, as well, but only a pampered wuss would complain about that.

One of the guys who made Zombie BBQ created his own company, Akaoni, and made a spiritual successor to the title, Zombie Panic in Wonderland.  While the game does have similar premise and art style (Momotaro, Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz, and a very sexy Snow White, join forces to fight zombies) and plays a lot like the arcade classic Cabal, it does suffer from its short length, uneven difficulty, and a really dumb story (a plague of amorous zombies are created by, get this, scented dwarves).

If you want to barbecue the dead, you can't go wrong with Little Red Riding Hood.  Even though places like Amazon sell the game for $23 (it was under $20 when it first came out, so this is bullshit), you can find it for cheaper.  I remember finding fifty copies available at WalMart for only $10 each.  However, if you own a Nintendo DSi, buying the game is as easy as going to your DSiWare store for the low, low price of $8.

With an awesome title, a fun premise, and a cheap price, the only excuse you have not to get Zombie BBQ is that you don't like cool games.  In that case, what the hell is wrong with you?

Kaiju Rampage

 Welcome to the next "big" thing on Geek Streak (or Time is a Spiral..., if you follow me there) and the destruction of civilization as we know it.  For almost 60 years, giant monsters have risen from beneath the Earth's surface to wreak havoc on humanity and each other.  These nigh unstoppable forces have awed audiences all around the world.

But what if you know little to nothing about these behemoths of the silver screen?  That's what I'm here for.  Now, I may not be the definitive expert on all things daikaiju, but I have studied these creatures in their natural habitat and observed their behaviors and decided that I should share my findings with the world.  So, without any further ado, this is Kaiju Rampage.

Let's start with a short primer on the subject.  In Japan, a genre of film and television was created called tokusatsu, which means "special effects," as these were live action films and television shows that heavily relied on scaled models, pyrotechnics, and men in rubber costumes as well as other special effects.  The genre originated with the use of action scenes and puppetry in early Japanese theater, but came into its own in the early 1950s.  Generally, tokusatsu focuses on sci-fi, fantasy, and supernatural horror and, in the early days, were very similar to American movies such as King Kong, The Day the Earth Stood Still, and Plan 9 From Outer Space.  This genre also includes Japanese super hero shows, such as Kamen Rider, Ultraman, and many of the shows that would be transported to the US as the Power Rangers series (most of these, you will notice, also mixes kaiju with their superhero action).

 The Power Rangers series (known, in Japan, as Super Sentai)

has been a longstanding staple of tokusatsu in television.

Of course, the most popular sub-genre in tokusatsu is kaiju, which heralded the birth of the genre with the release of Toho's 1954 film, Gojira (Godzilla).  The movie became such a huge hit, that it spawned a dynasty that has lasted over half a century; producing numerous sequels, spin-offs, and copycats.  The word kaiju means "strange monster," which doesn't, necessarily, denote a giant monster.  Daikaiju, "giant monster," is a more literal term, but kaiju is almost universally accepted to describe these radioactive titans.

Unlike King Kong, who was a naturally big ape in an island of primordial giants, a lot of kaiju tend to be radioactive mutations of animals that grew to monstrous size, the creations of ancient civilizations or alien invaders, or mystical guardians that rose from their slumber to heed the call for help.  While King Kong mostly fought dinosaurs and, in the fateful ending, a squadron of bi-planes, kaiju like to beat the crap out of the JDF (Japanese Defense Force) and each other in brutal, destructive battles.  A lot of times, kaiju die, only to be reborn or rebooted in another movie.  Only the original Gojira and a few other movies, including the original Gamera, featured only one kaiju.  Usually, the more kaiju you put in a movie, the better (from what I hear, Destroy All Monsters is a battle royale of epic proportions).

The movie that started it all.

However, I do feel that some kaiju movies do try to convey a similar message to King Kong, just in a different way.  In King Kong, mankind was meddling with one of the last great wonders left on Earth.  They made Kong a captive in a world that he cannot survive in.  By keeping this overgrown ape in their grasp, the magnificently savage beast dies and the promise of adventure in an ancient lost world dies with him.

With Gojira, it is something else that mankind is meddling with, as the 1950's were the dawn of the atomic age.  It was a cautionary tale of trying to harness destructive powers that mankind may not be able to contain (something that Japan was the only nation to completely witness firsthand at the end of World War II).  Godzilla is not a ferocious, but fragile beast that cannot survive in our world.  To the contrary, it is humanity who cannot survive in Godzilla's world.  Mankind has opened Pandora's Box and must deal with the impending age of destructive giants.  Humans must either subdue or placate the titanic reptile in order to survive.

Even Gamera, the "Friend of All Children,"

won't put up with your crap.

To posit one of my theories, Godzilla and other kaiju have become post-WWII kami, which is a catch-all term for spirits and forces of nature in Shintoism.  As America crushed the notion of a divine emperor in the wake of the war, Shinto beliefs dwindled. Japan had to find a new medium to convey the powerful and aloof personifications of nature that have been an integral part of Japanese culture throughout their recorded history.  Kaiju rose to fill that void, not only as "gods" of primordial nature, but as vengeful spirits, seeking to punish humanity for toying with things they cannot understand - a punishment that humans are foolish enough to lash out against.

This is just the tip of the iceberg, though.  Aliens have threatened the planet with slavery and destruction, which Godzilla, along with other kaiju, such as Mothra and Gamera, to name a few, have come to Earth's defense.  Kaiju is more than just the struggles of giant beasts played by men in rubber suits.  It's an ongoing war to prove who is master of Earth.  Humans may use and abuse the planet, aliens may bring violence and devastation to conquer it, but the world belongs to the kaiju, and they are not pleased.

When the Kaiju Rampage returns, we'll get into the different eras of tokusatsu and what each one brings to the table.

Games You Should Know About... Jam City Rollergirls

Before I begin, I want to mention a few things, in typical Geek Streak style.

First, I want to wish a Happy Birthday to one of the most awesome people in the world: Me. Yeah, I know, I'm awesome. Today, I'm also 32. Of course, fellow "Streaker" Stranger turned 27 a couple days ago, so happy belated B-Day to him.

Also, I would like to honor the passing of Edith Jeter. Ms. Jeter once wrote in Nintendo Power magazine that she wanted to see Enix bring Dragon Quest VI to the States before she passed away.  That was 15 years ago, about the time that Enix was shutting down before Squaresoft merged with them.  Now, Dragon Quest VI will be reaching American shores on Valentines Day.  Sadly, Ms. Jeter will never see its release, since she passed away on Jan. 3, just over a month before its release.  If you want to see more details on this story, start with this article on Destructoid.  Seriously, this story brought a tear to my eye.  I never knew Ms. Jeter, but she seemed like the coolest grandmother ever.  A lot of Dragon Quest fans have expressed their sympathies and bemoaned the extremely long time SquareEnix took to release this game in the US.  When I get my copy of DQVI, I'm going to name my main character Jeter, in honor of Edith.

Anyway, on to business.  Roller Derby has been around, in one form or another, since the late 1800s.  Back then, the sport was more of an endurance race, similar to something like the Indy 500, but with skates.  After the 1930s, roller derby was retooled into a point-based contact sport, which has evolved to this day.  The sport went MIA after being turned more into sports entertainment, with shows such as Rollergames, in the '70s and '80s.  Recently, the sport has seen a grass roots resurgence in the last few years and is steadily gaining in popularity.

I, myself, got interested in roller derby in the past year.  A friend of mine from Iowa joined her local derby team, the Old Capitol City Roller Girls, based in the Coralville/Iowa City area.  When my wife and I went to Iowa, she invited us to a bout.  I've been enjoying the sport ever since.  My friend's (derby) name is GigaHurtz, number 404.  I've seen her play in a few jams and she's pretty good.

Gigahurtz, a name that follows the classic formula:

 combining wordplay with violence.

Since then, I've watched quite a few bouts, including some from the local team in St. Louis, the Arch Rival Roller Girls.  Then again, this is Games You Should Know About - I'm here to talk about video games.  Last week, a WiiWare game came out that tries to showcase the action of roller derby by those with a love for the sport.  The game is called Jam City Rollergirls and is the only roller derby video game of any substance (unless you count the NES and arcade versions of Rollergames, which you shouldn't).  I will say, it is the only video game licensed and endorsed by the Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA), which is one of the foremost associations in roller derby (incidentally, the Old Capitol City Roller Girls are under an apprenticeship with the WFTDA).  The game includes five popular teams from the association to play: New York's Gotham City Roller Girls, Seattle's Rat City Rollergirls, Milwaukee's Brewcity Bruisers, Austin's Texecutioners, and Madison's Dairlyland Dolls (now the Mad Rollin' Dolls).

Jam City Rollergirls is not exactly a sports simulation, like any of the EA Sports or 2K Sports titles.  It has more of an arcade feel.  More to the point, it's like roller derby meets Mario Kart, complete with power-ups, dash arrows, ramps, shortcuts, etc.  Two of the five courses are like your typical roller derby courses: one being a flat track, while the other is more of a banked track, where the track inclines upwards toward the edge.  The other three tracks are a bit more... interesting?  They involve jump ramps, shortcuts, sharp twists and turns, and obstacles.

Personally, I don't like these "kartesque" courses.  They wouldn't be so bad if the controls were a bit tighter, but it's hard to make sharp turns, much less make them while avoiding all the obstructions, like barrels, rats, and tractors.  Speaking of controls, while they are serviceable, I wish they could be better.  You have to use the Wiimote/Nunchuk combo, which is not my favorite control method.  I would like to have seen some support for the Classic Controller.  You also have to shake the Wiimote and Nunchuk to jump and perform tricks.  The jumping may be useful for dodging the blockers, but I don't see any point in using the stunts (other than getting extra cash for each bout in season mode).

 As far as music is concerned, there's only about one minute of uninspired punk music that constantly loops throughout the entire thing: main menu, selection screens, gameplay - this music plays through all of them.  Fortunately, you can turn the sound down.  The voices and sound effects aren't bad, though.

The AI, while mostly acceptable, does suffer from some problems.  On the easiest difficulty, you can beat the pants (well, at least the hot pants and fishnet stockings) off the opposing team.  There's more of a challenge on harder difficulties and in multiplayer.  The most glaring problem with AI is your own teammates.  While you can order your blockers to help pull you through the pack, block the other jammer, or keep the opposing blockers busy, they can get in the way, sometimes.  Sure, you can waggle the Wiimote to have them whip you forward, but that slows you, at first.  Not only that, but your blockers sometimes just whip you into the wall.  At times, it's better to just dash through the pack without having your blockers get in the way.

One last complaint: Honestly, I think the Mario Kart type gameplay detracts from the roller derby action.  Things like the dash arrows aren't too bad, but some of the power-ups are a bit of overkill.  Mario Kart wasn't really known for exactly being a fair game and the power-ups were the reason why.  Fortunately, Jam City Rollergirls isn't about racing, but about scoring points.  If you happen to be lead jammer, you can just call off the jam if the opposing jammer throws a wrench in your scoring run with an offensive power-up.

With all these grievances I've had with the game, you may wonder why I'm even bothering talking about it in a "Games You Should Know About..." segment?  Well, for one thing, none of these issues are what I would call game-breaking.  They're all pretty minor, if you ask me.  And, despite these problems, there's actually a core gameplay that's really fun.  One of my favorite things is the season mode, which lets you create your own custom skater.  While skater creation isn't very deep, it does allow you to outfit your skater with different gear, which can increase your stats and make you faster, stronger, etc.  You can even use your custom skater in single player quick matches (but not in multiplayer).  Speaking of multiplayer, I think that mode is the best one, as it allows for some tense competition with your friends, which is much more fun.  Needless to say, this really is best as a party game, where you can have friends battle each other.  Each bout lasts about ten minutes, which really isn't that long, so you could easily set up a tournament night with your pals.  I would recommend sticking with the flat and banked tracks and outlawing the use of power-ups.

I think a lot of these minor problems with the game stem from Nintendo's stringent limitations on the file size of WiiWare games.  The guys who made the game, Frozen Codebase, seemed to have a lot of ideas that may not have been fully realized.  Despite it being a little sparse in some spots, there is definitely some fun to be had from this game.  Is it worth the $10 asking price?  That depends - if you love roller derby and can get past the game's minor flaws, I can see getting every penny worth of fun out of it.  It may not be everyone's thing, but there's a lot of potential to this game.  That's why these are Games You Should Know About... (But Probably Don't).

Video courtesy of NintendoLife.com

If you want to find out more about the game, go to their website.  If you're interested in knowing more about roller derby and the WFTDA, check out their site.  If you want to know more about the Old Capitol City Roller Girls, click here.

Next week, prepare to run for your lives.  The Kaiju Rampage is coming...