Sonic Chronicles Review

For Christmas, my brother-in-law got me a copy of Sonic Chronicles for the Nintendo DS. As a ridiculous fan of Sonic the Hedgehog games, and owner of each Sonic collection for the Gamecube, the Sonic Adventure series, and a strong proponent of Sonic and the Secret Rings, this seemed like a good choice for me. It was.

Sonic Chronicles is an RPG created by BioWare. BioWare were the creators of such RPGs as Knights of the Old Republic, Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, and Mass Effect. Sonic Chronicles is a quasi-serious RPG about Sonic the Hedgehog taking plot elements and world setting elements from the Sonic Adventure series and Sonic Heroes. The game begins with Sonic in the Green Hill Zone with Tails getting in touch with him. Tails tells him that Knuckles has been kidnapped by some alien creatures who were going after the chaos emeralds and the master emerald. Sonic is then led on a quest to try to save Knuckles and figure out the agenda of these invaders.

The gameplay is entirely done using the stylus. Pointing and dragging the stylus around moves Sonic around the level. Combat sequences are fun, if not the most challenging. Super moves are interesting in that you follow a pattern sequence to complete them in Elite Beat Agent-esque format. It adds a level of challenge to make sure you can pull off the interesting attack maneuvers. The learning curve felt large when I first tried the game, but turned out to be much easier than anticipated.

The story is actually interesting and characters are developed better than one would expect from a video game based on a character such as Sonic the Hedgehog. Shadow is the most developed I've seen him in any game he's been in, and I've played Shadow the Hedgehog. Big the Cat is a lumox, but enjoyable. Amy and Cream are even amusing. Eggman's introduction into the game is also wonderfully crafted as far as I've seen thus far, I'm currently halfway through the game. The dialogue is cleverly written. One fun option is that Sonic is occasionally given options beyond the standard in conversation - being allowed to make snarky comments and those he's mocking act accordingly leading to some fun interactions.

All in all, if you like simple RPGs and Sonic the Hedgehog, try the game. It's a lot of fun and I'm looking for someone else to trade Chao with.

Huron Carol

I've been listening a great deal to the Crash Test Dummies Christmas album, Jingle all the way..., and it's great. A Christmas carol I had never heard of ends the album, it's entitled The Huron Carol. The music is beautiful and the vocals of Ellen Reid with backup by lead singer Brad Roberts makes for an amazing melody that I had never heard before. The Huron Carol is a traditional Canadian Christmas hymn according to Wikipedia it was "...written in 1643 by Jean de Brébeuf, a Jesuit missionary at Sainte-Marie among the Hurons in Canada." He wrote the lyrics to a traditional French song in the native tongue of the Huron/Wendat people he was living with. Also, instead of using traditional Christian terminology to discuss the nativity, Brébeuf used imagery and words which would make sense to the people he was preaching. In the early 1900s, the lyrics were translated into English in 1926 by Jesse Edgar Middleton. The lyrics weren't so much translated as they were altered to use early 1900s imagery to discuss the nativity. The Crash Test Dummies used the 1926 lyrics, which is traditionally sung in Canada.

One of the striking aspects of the song, besides the imagery of Jesus wrapped in rabbits skin and pelts brought by the wise men, is the use of the traditional Algonquian name for God, Gitchi Manitou. If you are interested in a new Christmas carol that most Americans have never heard before, check out The Huron Carol. It's filled with an interesting history and a beautiful tune.

Garfield Minus Garfield

In one of the greatest advances in comic strip history, a man decided to create a comic...that took Garfield comics and removed Garfield, the character. What remains is an esoteric look at single life from the perspective of lonely and mildly depressed John Arbuckle. It also makes you realize that Garfield was always thinking his responses to John Arbuckle...so John was always talking to himself anyway...

Measured Out with Coffee Spoons

Lately, I've been listening to a lot of Crash Test Dummies...well, just the album God Shuffled His Feet, and I've got to say...it's great.

The music is very well composed and no one sings quite like Brad Roberts. The songs are interesting and altogether creative. I find myself thinking about the oddities of the music as I sing along. If you, like me, remember the album from the early nineties and like many, only remember Mmmm Mmmm Mmmm Mmmm...pick the album up again and give it another listen. From Afternoons and Coffee Spoons to the thought provoking The Psychic to the sexual confusion of Swimming in You Ocean. Try it out the album again, it's worth another listen...

Katy Perry's Ridiculous

Katy Perry doesn't want to be one of the boys, despite her current album title. The album I was able to pick up for $3.20. People will say a lot of things about this album. They will call it ridiculous, they will call it modestly homophobic, they will call it crazy pop. They will be right...ish.

The entire album feels like a crude satire on modern teen culture, making fun of slang, attitudes, actions, partying, etc. The songs range from the pop sensation "I Kissed a Girl" to the reflective "One of the Boys," which almost serves as a tomboy anthem. The album hits all aspects of pop music with Perry writing or co-writing every single song. It's one part Alanis Morissette, one part Avril Lavigne, one part Britney Spears (pre-"Britney's Back, Bitch"), three parts extreme satire.

Many of the songs can be taken as offensive, but I'm of the mindset that the album is satirizing all that's wrong with this next generation of teenagers. Perhaps Katy Perry isn't as clever as I give her and her production staff credit for. Perhaps she's just a little crude and just as bad as all those fools who use "Gay" to mean stupid/lame instead of it's true definition...happy or homosexual. If you want to enjoy some great pop music, check out some of the less than well known songs on the album like "Hot N Cold" or "Fingerprints." Will she ever get a second album? Who knows, but I do know that this album is fun...if not amazing. If Kelly Clarkson went ridiculous in her lyrics on My December, I could imagine it fitting in alongside this album...

Darius Rucker Does Country?

Hootie and the Blowfish frontman Darius Rucker had tried to go solo before...as an R&B artist, which flopped. Well, apparently he's trying again...this time with country music. The verdict? Listen for yourself on his MySpace page. I heard the song on country radio and said to my wife, "Have you heard this before, it's pretty good. I wonder who sings it." Then came the credits...Darius Rucker.

I can't wait to hear what else comes from this guy.

5 Funniest Buffy Episodes

Comedy Central points out the top 5 funniest Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes. All great episodes, especially The Zeppo. Check it out.