Media Consumption Round Up - Jan. 25'
Starting the new year off with old games!
The month of January was a bit of a big one for me. As you all know, I got a Retroid Pocket 5 this month which opened up a whole world of video game possibilities. That’s reflected in this list as there were a lot of old, short, games that I really enjoyed this month!
There’s a lot to get into so, grab a snack and drink, and let’s get into it.
Movies
Wicked
First off, I had to leave the theatre to throw up during the One Short Day sequence. Not because the movie was that bad, but because I ate too much Applebee’s and Twizlers. Vomiting in a public restroom and then returning for the last half of defying gravity may have tainted my enjoyment.
This movie did not need to be 2 hours and 40 minutes. When the title screen showed up I turned to my wife and said “This is so good”. By the time that scene in Dancing Through Life happened, I was having a very hard time keeping my eyes open and by the time I'm Not That Girl started playing I was not only bored but practically falling asleep.
It felt like the additional run time from the Broadway show was just lingering shots and added dialogue that happened during the musical numbers. Also, I’m pretty sure some of the songs were slowed down significantly.
I liked this movie quite a bit, and my nitpicks tell me that I cared enough to want it to be better. I really do want to see it again and maybe skip the mozzarella sticks.
Video Games
Super Mario Land
When I set up my Retroid Pocket 5 Pro I was fully expected to jump into games like Rez, LOTR: Two Towers, or Star Fox Adventure. However, when I tested out my Game Boy emulator I booted up Super Mario Land and fell in love.
This game has 12 levels and does not have save states. Older games are like this, you have to play through the whole game or get a game over, before being able to put the game down.
Thanks to the RP5, I was able to use save states, and that made the game MUCH easier. I ended up playing through this game in 1 day by just pulling it out, loading up my save, and getting a little farther.
This game is so cozy and cute. Instead of mushrooms for lives, it’s hearts, and when you pause there are little hearts around the PAUSED button.
Sonic Adventure 2: Battle
Good LORD this game really sucked me in.
Sonic Adventure 2: Battle was my favorite game as a kid. I never actually owned it, but my friend Josh would let me borrow it all the time. I remember the case wreaked of cigarettes.
I never realized just how much this game sets up. I wasn’t a super fast reader as a kid and all the cutscenes in this are horribly mixed so the music drowns out most dialogue. This is the first appearance of Shadow and it sets up the really wild and weird origin story of who he is and… Maria.
I really did enjoy my time with this game, but boy howdy did it get annoying. Missing rails, falling off rails instead of jumping off them, getting launched by the level only to land directly on spikes, and the boss fights that essentially came down to spamming b and cornering them.
Honestly, this game lived up to my childhood memories. It’s fun! And I’m not even talking about the Chao Garden.
Star Fox64
Again, another game I used to test an emulator and ended up falling full in.
My intro to Star Fox was Star Fox: Assault. Fans of the series will know that this game is very different from the traditional Star Fox formula.
I was surprised while going back to the 64 entry that it’s surprisingly modern. The gameplay itself feels very arcadey. Similar to Super Mario Land, there are no saves. It’s just one big game you’re supposed to play all at once. The thing that feels modern to me is the writing.
The characters spend the time between missions talking with one another and, from what I can tell, say things that are contextualized by what happened during the last mission - a very cool addition. These sequences feel very Top Gun and make the experience super engaging and fun!
Advance Wars
This was on my 2025 gaming queue and I’ve been interested in it for a while now. My immediate thoughts are that I love the look and feel of this game! It’s so pretty on the Retroid Pocket 5 and it really holds up!
The first couple hours of the game are dedicated to onboarding player. It takes a while to get into the game-game, but there’s still enough there to enjoy beyond learning the game.
Advance Wars has a board game feel to it; move a piece here, and attack that unit, this unit is strong against x+y but weak against z, etc., etc.
I’ll be playing this for a while!
Burnout Legends
This list is getting too long, and honestly, I almost didn’t include this game. However, it’s such a fun little game to pick up and play while passing time. This game was originally released for the PSP and it’s all about going fast and crashing cars - that’s it.
One of my favorite things about it is the crash tour mode where you just go to different locations and crash your car into oncoming traffic. After you’ve crashed you get to watch more cars pile up and if you do “good enough” you’ll appear in the local paper.
Honestly, it’s kind of a wild concept in general, but the wild punk music really sells it as a campy fun time. Just don’t think about it.
Honorable Mentions/No Comment At This Time
Legends of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom
Severance Season 2 - I will mention this later
Silo