MONTHLY 5 - March 2024

March is the months of movies, and not just because the Oscars came about at the beginning of it. It is also the time the Collection Chamber specifically looks at movie-licenses and this time it's a doozy.

I recently saw Ghostbusters: Frozen Kingdom and I think I enjoyed it a little more than Afterlife, even though I'm still disappointed by the lack of city-wide chaos such a concept can bring. The originals did that perfectly. You'll get to try out the 40-odd entries in the Ghostbusters Collection (1984-2009 Various) to see how well they fare. Putting this together was task as gargantuan as a rampaging marshmallow man, so forgive me if I rank it my pick of the month even if includes that sucky NES port. New Ghostbusters II for that same system more than makes up for it though.

Earlier on, Denis Villeneuve finally gave us the epic Dune II in multiplexes, and it easily jumped to the top of my yearly list and I can't see it changing for a while. As the movie was delayed due to the ongoing effects of Covid and the union strikes, so was my package for Emperor: Battle for Dune (2001 Electronic Arts), Westwood Studios exceptional swansong to the franchise. I didn't have the foresight to pre-write the review so that may come a bit later depending on how I wrangle my increasingly limited time. Possibly the real pick of the month if I'm honest.

Another contender for that spot is Peter Jackson's King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie (2005 Universal Studios & Ubisoft Entertainment) in both of its forms. The special Signature Edition was the version I owned back in the day on PC and was a port of the PS2 version. The Enhanced Gamer's Edition originally only came with select graphics cards, but being a port of the X-Box 360 version, it included all of the graphical enhancements that made that game stand out.

To round out the month we have a couple of interesting time wasters. The Land Before Time: Animated MovieBook (1998 Universal City Studios, Inc, Sound Source Interactive & MCA Music Publishing) takes what Disney did with their Animated Storybook series and tacks it onto the classic Don Bluth property. Lastly, a slew of movie and TV franchises take part in Sci-Fi Pinball (1998 Fox Interactive). Aliens, Predator, The Fly and Buffy the Vampire Slayer all have their own table.

Check these bad boys out by clicking on the links below. There's no massive compilation package (or Easter holiday) next month so hopefully I can get all of the reviews in on time. Until then, enjoy this bumper crop.

MONTHLY 5 - FEBRUARY 2024

So, it seems life got in the way of January's monthly five, so I've made sure I wouldn't miss out on the short month of February. It's a Leap Year so there's an extra day after all!

Coming at ya with some underrated games including Z.P.C. Zero Population Count (1996 Zombie LLC) which marks my pick of the month. It's an uber-violent first-person shooter with a cool comic-book style and a dystopian sci-fi storyline. Continuing on from this theme is ARA NGC 6397 (1998 I. Hoffmann + associates Inc & Artech Digital Entertainment), a good-looking pre-rendered actioner with some adventure elements that remind me a lot of the on-ground segments of Star Wars: Rebel Assault II. If you want a straight-up adventure try Gord@k (1997 I. Hoffmann + associates Inc) which has you hack into a virtual reality security system that just so happens to look a lot like Myst. Us Brits will surely get a kick out of Only Fools and Horses: Comedy Pack (1999 BBC Worldwide Ltd), a multimedia CD-ROM that contains a GTA clone as a mini-game; Grand Theft Peckham if you will. Lastly, the guy behind Tetris provides the handsomely produced puzzle game that is Pandora's Box (1999 Microsoft Corporation). It's probably the best digital jigsaw game out there.

That's it for this additional day. Join me at the end of March for a quintet of movie-themed games. Adios!

TOP 10 GAMES OF 2023

 

 

Finally, it's time to rank the recent games I've played this year. And boy, has it been a good one. There's been so many big release that I'm sure there are many to catch up on. Funnily enough, the best game of the year according to many publications is not mine. And it's not like I don't think that modern classic is terrible by any stretch of the imagination. It's just so massive I don't think I've yet to get a grasp on it (those who know which game I'm on about will know). So, read on to find out what I consider to be the cream of the crop of interactive media in 2023...

TOP 10 TV SHOWS OF 2023

 

 

I'm doing something new! A separate rundown of my TV-watching year. Like with the movies, I kept up with what I've been watching in far greater detail than I ever have before, and because I've been reviewing them as I went along - for the most part - I thought it deserved its own post more than I deserve a good night's sleep. I'll be rating seasons of shows that concluded in 2023, not begun so those that I'm currently in the middle of will not be here. I've seen a surprising amount, which has freaked me out a little, but most has been pretty darn good. Again, I'll be adding my newly-appreciated star system which consists of an inconsistent mix of extreme bias and perceived objectivity but feel free to give your take in the comments. Carry on to find out more...

TOP 10 MOVIES OF 2023

 

 

This year, I've been doing my best to keep track of all the movies I've seen as I've seen them. It's become a great way to get a good idea about how this past year in cinema has fared. And compared to last year, it hasn't exactly fared the best. Blockbusters bumbled and streamers were stripped. It says a lot that a couple on my Top 10 - and many worthy titles in my honourable mentions - came out in 2022 in other territories. That doesn't mean there hasn't been some stellar trips to the cinema, but not as many as last year. I'll actually give my star rating this time too, just to provoke angry (or politely worded) messages in the comments section. Here's my full rundown...

CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN COLLATED

The end of 2023 has arrived like a flash, so before I get to my annual rundown of modern movies and games I've been playing this past year I thought I'd rundown those fourteen old games I revisited in the past month. As hectic as is it, I do enjoy putting together 12 days of retro PC gaming for the Christmas Countdown. Read on after the jump for the full list and see if you may have missed any. 

See you next year!

CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN - THE FESTIVE FINALE

At this point, Lemmings and Christmas go hand in hand. This is the fourth year in a row where I've celebrated those green-haired rapscallions on Christmas Day, so I'm continuing that tradition with Lemmings Revolution (2000 Psygnosis Ltd). It's one of the lesser known entries, only ever being released on Windows PCs, but it is one of the better ones. After the experimentation of Lemmings 3D and Paintball, it's nice to come back to a more traditional approach. Cosy even. In my eyes, it's the perfect gift for Christmas!

I'll be back in the New Year with my annual retrospectives on the one just passed. It's been a good year for both movies and games, so check out my Top 10s whenever it is I get around to posting them. Beyond that, the Monthly 5 games will return on the last day January as normal but I'm sure you've got enough to be playing with until then.

Merry Christmas everybody!!!!