Forums > Contributor Zone > RotW: Nov. 15-21 -- Pre-holiday edition because I actually had time to do it now!

Site's done a great job of keeping that dastardly VACANT from winning any points. Looked like he might have his foot in the door this time, but lo! Two reviews came up on Sunday to give us three. Good job, vgc and EmP!

The usual movie stuff: Death Race 2000 was great 70s action-satire. Sly Stallone as a Chi-town mobster racer with a hair-trigger temper? Sign me up! He was awesome in his role. Hot chicks not shy about nudity, people getting run over by cars and comical media personalities commenting on the death race in a 1984-esque world where Mr. President had no qualms about using the anti-race resistance as a means to drum up support for a war against France. Why the hell hadn't I watched this one ages ago?!? Devil in the Brain was a really good Italian giallo/mystery. Doubt it'd hold up for multiple viewings, as Italians really REALLY aren't all that good at making those subtle "re-watch reward" moments that allow a knowledgable viewer to catch the foreshadowing, but it was fun to catch once. Just Before Dawn was a quality backwoods slasher. Main cool aspect of it was how the characters came off as more realistic and relatable than the average annoying slasher trope ones. Zombie (or Zombi, or any number of other names) is a classic Fulci zombie flick that's an essential watch for fans of those movies. Unless eye trauma is your trigger warning or whatever the hell people are calling that stuff nowadays. In which case…ah, still watch it. I'm eye-sensitive and I only cringed a bit. At least using my "no one saw me, so I'm saying 'a bit'" definition.

To the reviews!


THIRD PLACE

vgc2000's Action 52 (Genesis)

Been a long while since I've seen a review of Action 52! I remember really getting into them, especially the video ones that went through them game by game. Which is probably the biggest weakness of this review -- only a tiny handful of games are mentioned and, then, only as brief asides. However, you do a good job of providing an overview of this game, its history and some differences between this version and the NES version. Could use a bit of cleaning up, as far as grammar and punctuation go, but this is a pretty serviceable review for one of gaming's weirder little bits of history.

SECOND PLACE

EmP's Chronicles of cyberpunk (PC)

A short, sweet review for a weird game where you use the most of your four paragraphs to exhibit some of that weirdness. I mean, this is a dense review for only being four paragraphs long, just loaded with descriptions of stuff you'll see. You don't really need to talk about gameplay all that much because you sum it up with those dreaded, hateful words: Walking Sim. So, yeah, I'm not touching this, but it does seem like a neat experience…at least once. At least, I enjoyed reading this review and its window into the game's strange world.

REVIEW OF THE WEEK (aka: Overdrive Place)

mariner's Metroid Dread (Switch)

I was really happy to win an RotW last week. Good thing this review came a few days late to make the cut or it'd be Runner Up #38 of the year for me, in all likelihood. This is a long and dense review and, right above the picture, you could change "you new game" to "your new game". And while I'm thinking of it, it's been ages since I've played Super Metroid, but I sure as hell don't remember Ridley being easy when you fight it late in the action! But anyway, you do a GREAT sell job for how eschewing all the exploration in favor of a more action-oriented and challenging game is a good idea. Utilizing the "Dread" part of the title and how you're going up to your ship to show how all the tough foes and setbacks that seem to take you farther from your goal add to that sense of dread where you're a lone, totally overmatched, hero going against really tough odds led to a really enjoyable review for me to read. And bonus points for the Dread..."And Loving It" tagline work. As far as cutesy wordplay on these things goes, that's top shelf!


Yeah, Thanksgiving and stuff, yo! Have fun, don't OD on turkey (or drugs, whatever your pleasure) and I'll be back in a few weeks with a new RotW. And in a few minutes with a new review, if you're into that kind of thing.

I'm not afraid to die because I am invincible
Viva la muerte, that's my goddamn principle

Thanks for the win, it was a fun review to write and a fun game to dissect. I play way too many sidescrollers, so it was fun really diving into the design philosophy here, so much so that I skipped out on a bunch of other items (the review was long enough)! Also, I tend to have a ton of energy tanks when I get to Ridley, so it's just spamming super missiles, then missiles and powerbombs until he is dead. At least that's my recollection.

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