subhumanzoids

Hopefully those of you who follow this blog also follow Slamm Dunk, the most amazing intergalactic basketball superhero of all time. I’ve been planning to make installments of the series’ legendary covers more regular, and I posted the first new ones in a while just a couple weeks ago.

I’m working on another one right now, but you don’t have to wait until I’m done to get more SLAMM! Eternal Friend of the JLR Lardy Revenger whipped up his very own cover, marking just the second guest contribution in Slamm Dunk history! Head to his blarg or the Slamm Dunk tumblr to check it out.

I’ve been meaning to post this here for a while, but I’m SO busy and SO important I just couldn’t find the time. If you follow stuff I write over at Crunchyroll, 90% of this list won’t be news to you, but nevertheless I feel the need to deliver my top games of 2012 here while that year is still somewhat visible in the rearview mirror.

As a bonus, however, I’ve added a game! Yes, that’s right. I’m delivering an exclusive addition to my very own blog. It’s at the bottom of the list. It’s Journey. I spoiled it, sorry.

Asura’s Wrath- I normally don’t love QTE-heavy games, but CyberConnect2’s buck-rowdy, anime-structured actioner made even the simple act of spreading your arms more exciting than most games’ grandest set pieces. The fight on the Moon alone is worth the ever-dwindling price of admission.

Kid Icarus: Uprising– The design here was not considerate to the way the 3DS is set up. That said, it’s the best time I had with the portable, unfriendly controls and all, and the rousing music perfectly complements Pit’s grandiose adventure.

The Walking Dead- If I had to pick the most emotional, memorable experience of 2012, this would probably be it. The Walking Dead made me care about someone other than myself more than any game has before it, and it also made me second guess even the most seemingly inconsequential decisions. What a punch to the gut.

Lollipop Chainsaw- Probably Suda51’s most welcoming game, and thanks to the writing of James Gunn, Lollipop Chainsaw manages to subvert a few glaring gaming stereotypes in the midst of truly addictive action. Could have done without a few mini-games, though. Baseball, begone forever!

Spelunky- It’s so hard! It’s so fun! Spelunky still has me coming back trying to best my previous runs, and that’s the essence of classic gaming right there. Sure, this actually came out on PC years ago, but dig the Xbox Live Arcade version if it’s new to you.

Sleeping Dogs- A stunning trip through the seedy Hong Kong underbelly that out-GTAs GTA.

Double Dragon Neon- Didn’t click with me until I initiated couch bro-op with a true bro. Dude, this game is so damn fun! Hits all the right nostalgic notes, but what a lot of folks overlooked is the replayability and the fun of maxing out powers and crafting the best bone-breakin’ bro possible. Killer tunes, too!

Retro City Rampage- Some of the jokes don’t stick, and some of the missions don’t fit, but overall no one could have asked for a more thorough and exciting love letter to video games past.

Fez- What I love about Fez is it felt imposingly mysterious from the very beginning. It’s 2013 now and I finished the main quest a long time ago, and it still feels imposingly mysterious.

Journey – I didn’t include this on my original list because I hadn’t played it yet. While there are still a few games I need to check out from 2012, I can’t imagine any matching the emotional highs of thatgamecompany’s sublime exploration of life and death.

More incredibly timely best of 2012 madness to come, probably!

I recently read through The Strange Talent of Luther Strode, a pretty fun six-issue series that basically boils down to a scrawny wimp suddenly blessed with absurd strength and what he chooses to do with said strength. Like a lot of vigilante stories, Luther quickly finds himself in situations where he can prevent crime through violence and impressively athletic feats. From there it spirals into a hyperviolent showcase barreling toward a final showdown with someone whose power exceeds even the quick-learning Luther’s.

There aren’t really any spoilers there or anything. It’s a straight forward story, and as much as it recalls other kid-turned-hero stories like Kick-Ass, it also kind of reminded me of a shonen manga, structurally speaking. It’s just too bad Luther Strode was ultimately held back by the understandably cautious borders of a six-issue run.

Actually, to keep things kind of current, it reminded me of this really cool Shonen Jump series Takama-ga-hara, which unfortunately didn’t prove popular enough to last  more than a handful of chapters. It was especially disappointing because Viz Media ran it in their digital magazine, known until recently as Shonen Jump Alpha, so even in the west we were treated to a story that was just getting started before being prematurely cut from the lineup.

To boil it down, Takama-ga-hara  is about a dude who unlocks his latent potential, despite only wanting to sit around and work on manga. He resists fighting, but once people realize he can essentially knock folks into the stratosphere with a single punch, he’s thrown into a world where bizarre powers collide on a regular basis. It sounds like pretty standard shonen fare, but it’s the execution that made it special, along with creator Juuzou Kawai’s stated goal to “draw battles between those who have awakened to the powers of gods in a fresh way that’s never been seen before.”

In many ways, the fact that Kawai had to scramble to resolve what would have otherwise been a long-running saga closely mirrors how I felt about Luther Strode.

It’s really entertaining. The art is great. But when it ends there’s a distinct feeling that we’re essentially missing the bulk of the story’s potential. If a character gets a really cool car that fires down the highway at a concrete-blazing clip, the audience would probably prefer some time to enjoy seeing it in action before it inevitably explodes in spectacular fashion. Were Luther Strode at least 12 or so issues it would have had a much more satisfying build to its bone-crunching climax. It’s kind of like leaving the movie theater for most of the second act and being told you “didn’t miss much.”

Maybe that’s why I’m not too bothered by the direction the follow-up series, The Legend of Luther Strode, is taking so far. It plays more on the superpowered vigilante as slasher angle, and, well, it’s really just more hyperviolent action. The point is, it’s disappointing when a story is limited because of risk, or because it’s not a tremendous success right out the gate. While I’ll totally buy the fact that the six-issue arc was all they had in mind for The Strange Talent of Luther Strode, I can’t help but wonder what could have been if it had more room to breathe. 

And I really don’t want to think about Takama-ga-hara any more. That series was rad! It had a guy who turned people into kanji!

And splash pages like this!

Being home means there’s plenty of time to dig through crap I’ve had sitting around this house since I first emerged from its underbelly circa three decades ago. This could just as easily be called an Instagram Roundup, but I understand not everyone is bold enough to follow every single dumb thing I’m a member of.

Here are some goodies I’ve unearthed while home for the holidays. I’ll try to get more in before I vamoose to MAGFest on Thursday.

I would like to read this to you all in person, from beginning to end. For now, here are the opening two paragraphs:

He was a cop.
A good cop.

Jeff Rovin was the expert on everything back in the day, including but obviously not limited to The Simpsons. Unfortunately for Rovin, his guide would forever remain unofficial, thus offering children like myself an entire book on The Simpsons with nary a single image of the characters.

This is the kind of stuff Rovin was really good for. If you had any of his How to Win at Nintendo Games books, you no doubt won at Nintendo games. You prob both owned them and owned them, if you catch my dual meaning.

Diehard Gamefan magazine was rad. It was also the source of much unnecessary hype and overspending amongst me and select peers. Above is one of many results: Shining Force III on Sega Saturn. Yes, I have a Saturn, and sure I could play imports. But can I read enough Japanese to play a strategy RPG? Uh, no, dude.

One of the best parts about being back home is going to sleep watching TV. I don’t have cable in my room in my apartment. Except wait, the cable no longer works in my room at home either, so it’s up to my trusty ‘n crusty VCR to play klassik kassettes like the one pictured above.

Whoa! Or should I say, “HA!” The only person who could possibly appreciate the above embarrassment of riches more than me would have to be…

HA!

And so I ended 2012 by giving birth to Baby New Year. Good night.