Tag Archives: Review

Games & Competitions, Transformatorium

Exclusive Card Reveal: Electro-Optical Visor. Transformers: TCG

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Thanks to Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast, BigAngryTrev.com has once again been given an exclusive reveal for the Transformers: Trading Card Game to share with the world! Rather than a new character, this card is an Upgrade – Armour card from the new Titan Master packs that will be available later in the year.

Note: Neither Hasbro nor WOTC have paid for this reveal and have in no way tried to dictate the content of this review. BigAngryTrev would like to thank both companies for the continuing opportunities to share facets of this card game with the public.

 

So let’s have a look at the Action Card Electro-Optical Visor. 

 

Using the card in game

The usefulness of the card will rely heavily on what cards you and your opponent are sporting. If you are sporting a team of all Autobots, when you place this on a character and it adds 1 Defence point via an Armour Upgrade to its stats and the cards usefulness stops there.

However, if you have any Decepticons in your team, putting this card on one of them will not only add 1 Armor Upgrade point, but also:

*Makes your opponent reveal their hand

*Your opponent must scrap an Autobot card of their choosing from their hand

Of course, your opponent could quite easily have no Autobot cards in their hand, which means they don’t have to scrap any card at all. But even if this is the case, it still means that you get to have a good look at their hand, see what cards they are sporting and prepare yourself accordingly.

 

The Artwork

The artwork is lovely, showing Soundwave wearing what one assumes to be an Electro-Optical visor. Oddly I don’t recognise the origin of the artwork, so I am making the assumption it is from the IDW Transformers comics reboot, as I have not read all of them yet. If I am in error, or you know which exact comic, please pop it in the comments section below and I will be sure to credit you.

Note: According to reader ‘Flip Flip Bang Bang’ this is probably new artwork as WOTC no longer uses IDW comic art.

 

So all in all, depending on the cards you and your opponent have, this could prove to be either an average or a very useful card to pick up. I look forward to getting a physical copy in my hands and trying it out in gameplay.

The new Titan Master Packs for Transformers: TCG are slated for a release on the 17th of April, 2020.

  

Related Articles:

*Exclusive Card Reveal: Private Stakeout

*Exclusive Cards Reveal: Dirge and Defensive Driving

Games & Competitions, Transformatorium

Devastator Pack Review: Part 1 – Transformers TCG

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With the Rise of the Combiner Booster Packs hitting shelves all over the country, it is nearly time for the first dedicated ROTC Box Pack to hit the shelves.  Due for release on March 29, this pack will have arguably the most popular and recognizable of all the Transformer Combiners – Devastator!  And once again bigangrytrev.com had been lucky enough to be given a pack in advance so as to bring you all the goss regarding these new cards.

Before we continue, the usual spiel: This pack has been given to bigangrytrev.com for review purposes by Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast.  Neither company has paid for this review or tried to dictate the content of this blog.  Bigangrytrev.com would like to thank both companies for their ongoing generosity.

Despite the average rate of finding a Combiner Character card to be 1 in 2, a lot of people have been struggling to make their first combiner, even when purchasing a whole box of the Booster Packs.  Personally I was able to make Menasor and Dreadwing right off the bat but many others have not been so fortunate.  So with the release of the Devastator Pack, it is going to bring a lot of joy to those yet to make one of these colossal characters!  In the Devastator Pack you will find not only all the cards to go with it, but all the characters you will need.  So no endless searching – all your Constructicons can be found in the same place – right here!  Lets take a look at them:

Oh and another note, like when looking at the Combiner Booster Packs, there is SO MUCH information to be shared here, this will most likely be another 2-part Blog, with part one being information and the second one gameplay.

 

Constructicon Character Cards

Scrapper

Leader, Melee

5 Stars

Hook

Surgical Engineer, Ranged

4 Stars

Mixmaster

Materials Fabrication, Melee

4 Stars

Bonecrusher

Demolitions, Melee

4 Stars

Long Haul

Transport, Melee

4 Stars

Scavenger

Mining & Salvage, Melee

4 Stars

So we are noticing a few things straight off the bat.  Firstly Scrapper as the leader has 5 stars but the rest only have four.  Whilst this makes them fairly weak characters, it does mean you get to have all 6 Constructicons on the board at once.  Also you will only have one ranged character, Hook, whilst the rest are melee.  All characters have the same amount of damage, health and shield points in both their modes, making no difference in stats whether you be rocking a robot or construction vehicle.

Now to their special abilities.  Again, nothing staggering either offensively or defensively.  Bonecrusher has the best offense capability with Pierce 2 in his Robot Mode, with Hook sporting Pierce 1 and Long Haul Bold 1.  The only character to be sporting anything defensively is Scavenger with Tough 1 in his robot mode.   So what are nearly all the other special ablitities geared towards?  Towards your Tower Card, which is going to be crucial when playing as Devastator.

 

The Tower Card

This seemingly innocent little card is going to dictate so much of your gameplay when playing with the Devastator Deck.  It has made me extra glad that this is the first Transformers TCG pack that has come with instructions included.  Unique among the Combiner Characters, Devastator’s abilities are tied directly to the height of his tower.  And your individual Constructicon’s abilities are aimed towards building that tower as much as possible before combining.  As well as powering up Devestator, the height of your Tower will also affect the strength of some other cards which we shall look at a bit later.

Scrapper’s abilities are both directly tied to the Tower.  His alt-mode means you put your tower into the KO area at the start of the game (which you get to do anyway) and having him in robot mode means that every time a Constructicon gets KO’ed, you get to add another height counter to the tower.

All 5 other Constructicons have the same ability for their Alt-Mode

So this makes your individual Constructicons geared primarily towards construction, making that tower as big as possible!  Of course there are other cards to assist them offensively and defensively, several of them exclusive to the Devestator Pack, and some of these too are geared towards your tower.

 

Exclusive Cards

Note: The pack contains 3 of each card.

Builders Tools

Can be used by Constructicons only.  Gives you an extra counter on your Tower whenever a character sporting the card attacks.  This makes this card very good to put on Bonecrusher in particular, as well as being one of only two cards that you can use to build your Tower further after combining.

Reclaim

Lets you access the scrap pile for upgrades, but if your Tower is 3 or higher then you get an extra card as well.

Heavy Landing

Gives you an extra point of damage to deal, but if your Tower is 6 or higher then you do 3 damage instead.

Work Overtime

The only exclusive card that does not involve the Tower, it allows you to draw extra cards until you have four in your hand.  This makes this card very useful for most any deck you construct!

Constructicon Enigma

Like the Enigma cards for the other Combiners, you need this card to form Devestator and all your Consturcticons need to be in Bot Mode.  Unlike the other Enigma cards however,  this card does not immediately become redundant after combining.  If played when you already have Devestator on the battlefield, you get to Repair 1 damage to him, as well as putting a height counter on your Tower.

 

Devastator

Towering Warrior, Melee

25 Stars

Here he is, the big guy!  No searching through endless booster packs, you get him in one shot!  His stats are similar to the likes of Metroplex and Menasor.

As you can see, his special abilities are directly related to his tower:

* When you first combine him you get to remove an amount of damage from him equal to the height of your tower.  This means that you can allow your individual Constructicons to get pummelled to a certain extent, because as long as you keep that tower going higher and higher, by the time you form Devastator a lot of that damage will disappear!

* If your tower is 6 or higher you get Bold 2

* If your Tower is 10 or higher, your attack rating goes up from 6 to a whopping 10!

It is for the above abilities I highly recommend you do not combine Devestator until you have a minimum of 6 height on your Tower, because once Devestator is formed you cant make it any higher, unless employing another enigma card.

 

Other Cards

This pack comes with 9 other types of card, both common & uncommon and ones we have already seen before.  The one of most use to you will definitely be Rapid Conversion, since you have 6 separate characters you need to get into bot mode.  I find it funny we got Scrapper Gauntlets, since it doesn’t seem to be Scrapper sporting them.  You get two to three of each of these 9 cards.

 

So is the Devestator Pack worth getting?

Yes, oh my yes!  Not only do you get to make a Combiner Character in one go without having to search through endless Booster Packs, but it comes with a ton of exclusive cards that you cannot purchase anywhere else.  Add to that the unique playstyle the Tower brings to the game and this really is a purchase that I can’t see any big Transformers TCG players bypassing.  I highly recommend going out and picking yourself up a pack when they come out at the end of this month!

 

Related Articles:

Rise of the Combiner Booster Packs Part 1 and Part 2

Metroplex Pack Review

Meaty Goodness!

Meat Review: Pepino’s Mexican Restaurant in Rylstone

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It has been a long lament of mine that I have been unable to find a good Mexican restaurant in this country. Not having been to Mexico itself and sadly with no current overseas plans for the future, I have had to rely on what Australia has to offer.

I had fantastic Mexican when living in Edinburgh in Scotland, but that was a good 15 years ago. Every Mexican restaurant I have been to so far in this country has been a disappointment. There was one half-decent one in Melbourne, but also a slew of sub-par ones. The Tex-Mex venue in Bathurst is not what one would call proper Mexican cuisine and The Cactus Jam in Waarnambool was simply atrocious. Was I to never again sample good Mexican food?

When news got around that a Mexican restaurant was opening up in Rylstone, a town where you can count the places to go out for dinner on the fingers of a blind butcher, I was cautiously optimistic but couldn’t silence that little voice in my head that was saying ‘It’s just going to be another crappy gimmicky place with food that makes an Old El’Paso kit look good’. So along I took my family with my hopes not high.

Sometimes it’s nice to be wrong.

Subtle fashion sense

 

The food was excellent! Really great stuff! Not since eating at The Kings Hotel in Bathurst have I encountered a restaurant where you get such a high level of quantity AND quality combined! Let’s have a look at what’s on offer:

As you can see from the menu pics, there are a solid seven different starters one can have, along with 5 mains and 1 salad. While 5 different mains doesn’t sound like a lot, each one can be customised to your personal tastes with a variety of fillings ranging from several meat options to those for vegetarians.   Add to that over a dozen different sides and you have a lot of customisation options for your meal.

 

The Starter

Even casual readers of this Blog know I have a fondness for hot spicy foods, even when like the God Slayer Hot Sauce they nearly kill me! So I couldn’t bypass the chance to try a plate of the Jalapeno Poppers (heat rating 2 out of 3) which I shared with my somewhat reluctant wife. Easily the best I have ever had! Stuffed with cream cheese and cheddar, then beer battered and deep fried! Yeah boi! The great thing about these were there was a good bit of heat to them, but what you tasted primarily was the excellent flavours of the food. Even my wife who is not a spice fan loved these, attesting to their quality.

 

The Mains

El Pepino

My wife had hers stuffed with chicken and it was damn tasty. She quite enjoyed the salsa fresca it came with too. Her plate runneth over to the point that she could not even finish her meal, as tasty as she found it.

 

Burrito el Grande

Fun to eat, even more fun to say!

Being a Deadpool fan I was tempted to go the Chimichangas route, but couldn’t resist the sound of this giant Burrito. I had mine filled ground beef and blended beans. Given this meal already came with beans, I can attest that at 4am that morning they ganged up together to produce a wind that would challenge Cyclone Trevor that is currently threatening the top of the Northern Territory. So take a word from the wise, if the meal already comes with beans, don’t add more!

This meal came with plenty of sides such as rice, sour cream, guacamole and I made sure to sample everything separately before it all became one big mixed up mess. But both individually and combined this all tasted excellent and by the time I ate the last grain of rice from my plate my gut was groaning and my belt was under more tension than a Technobot at a Combaticon Convention.

 

Kids Meals

There are 3 different kids meals on offer. We ordered two and two extra plates so that the kids could have a Fajita each and share the Nachos.

The Fajitas were very good, but the toppings came out in tiny little shallow bowls you were supposed to tip on to your food. Given sour cream and guacamole don’t pour too well (and neither does our 4 year old) we asked for some spoons so the kids could serve themselves, like they do at home when we have tacos. Upon this request we were given two giant dessert spoons instead of teaspoons. So my wife and I ended up making the kids Fajitas for them which wasn’t a big hassle, though little spoons for kids in the future would be appreciated.

Since the kids were having beef with their Fajitas we ordered them chicken on their Nachos. At first we were taken aback by how plain the nachos looked, only having melted cheese and shredded chicken on them. But given that my kids, the little buggers, picked off all the melted cheese and chicken and just ate the corn chips underneath, more toppings would have proven a waste anyway.

 

Desserts

Watch this space. We had fully intended to order some Churros for dessert but all four of us were so full (again, my wife couldn’t even finish her whole meal) that none of us had space in our bellies for something sweet. So next time I hope to get a bead on what the desserts are like.

 

Drinks

Fruit in the glass = classy… or extra inebriating.

My wife had a couple of Sangrias which she quite enjoyed, and I tried two different Mexican beers – a Pacifico and a Negra Modelo. And these were nice Mexican beers too, actually brewed and bottled in Mexico rather than in Hobart and given a Mexican name, very tasty! Not like the ones you buy at your local Bottle-O.

 

Worth going?

Indeed! To feed four of us and have a few drinks for the adults it came to around $100, which is quite reasonable in this day and age. The food was great tasting and pletniful, the atmosphere was nice, there were novelty hats to wear (so commonly overlooked by eating establishments these days one finds) – all good! I had opportunity to chat with the owner before leaving and he informed me they used to run a similar restaurant in Sydney for 12 years and the experience certainly shows. So if you find yourself in the position to will be visiting the little township of Rylstone, book a table ahead of time (they seemed very busy!) and tell’em Big Angry Trev sent ya.

 

Have you eaten here and have anything to say? Pop it in the comments section below!

 

Related Articles:

*Meat review: Rump & Ribs in Rylstone

*Meat Recipe #6 – Chimichangas: The Easy, Healthy & Family Friendly Way

*Meat Review: Cactus Jam in Warrnambool

Games & Competitions, Transformatorium

Review – Metroplex Pack: Transformers TCG

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A few months ago the Transformers: Trading Card Game was released.  Much like Magic: The Gathering, this game focuses on using different characters whom you instil with different defences, attacks and upgrades, to take out the opposing team, all whilst taking advantage of their own unique abilities.

Now, not long after it’s release, we have the first committed deck since the Starter Pack – the Metroplex Deck.  Due for international release on November 16th, this deck appears to offer a whole new element to what is quickly becoming a popular and addictive game.

Wizards of the Coast and Hasbro have been kind enough to send me for free both the Starter Pack as well as the new Metroplex Deck so as to do a review on this blog.  It should be noted that I have received no financial remuneration to write this, nor have either company tried to dictate the content of my review.  So I’d like to thank Wizards of the Coast and Hasbro for their generosity.

Luckily for them, I’m pretty taken with these packs so their generosity might just get rewarded through subsequent honesty.

This review is focused primarily on the Metroplex Deck, and in writing this I make the assumption that in reading it you are already familiar with Transformers: TCG and the various gameplay strategies it entails.  If not then by all means check out the official website to see how the game works, then come back to get all the new extra information here.

 

The Metroplex Deck offers the following:

*1 Titan Character Card: METROPLEX

*3 Character Cards: SCAMPER, SIX-GUN and SLAMMER

*Ready to play Battle Deck of 40 Cards

 

New Characters

Now the first thing you will notice is the Metroplex Card.  It is HUGE!  19.5cm x 14cm.  Like the Transformers character it is based on, it dwarfs the regular character cards.  And so do some of his stats:

Robot Mode – 6 Attack, 35 Health, 1 Defense

City mode – 4 Attack, 35 Health, 2 Defence

Now these Attack and Defence stats are pretty common but his Health is MASSIVE!  The most a character has had up to this date has been 21 with Cosmos, and Metroplex outshines him by a full 14 points!

The other is his Stars.  Each team can have a total of 25 Stars spread over their character cards, which usually dictates a team of 2 to 4 characters.  However Metroplex has 25 on his own!  This makes him a team unto himself.  A team of one… or so it would seem.

Anyone familiar with the G1 cartoon and toy representations of Metroplex will remember he had 3 sidekicks.  First Scamper who turned into a Cybertronian Battle Car, Six-Gun who would disassemble his robot form into Weapons useable by Metroplex, and Slammer who was a drone tank.  All three are represented here.  And all three are subordinate to Metroplex in a way we will examine shortly.  However before doing so it is worth noting that these characters are useable in regular teams.  With their relatively low 4 Star ratings, if you have a team made of 21 Stars, one of these guys is perfect to round up the numbers.

 

Character Abilities

Metroplex differs from other character cards in many respects, and not just by his size.  Hidden underneath Metroplex are the three sidekick cards.  Whenever you flip your Metroplex card from Robot to City side, he is able to deploy one of these characters.  This makes flipping every opportunity you get essential, as you need to get him to robot mode and back again in order to deploy another character.  This in of itself is perhaps more important than the almost inconsequential differences between the Attack and Defence stats of his two modes.

Each sidekick has different abilities.  Slammer for instance, being a drone, has no robot mode and will deal out 1 Attack Damage to every enemy bot when first released.  This makes him a favourite to bring out first in order to hurt as many enemy bots as possible before you KO any of them.

Scamper and Six-Gun’s various abilities rely on Metroplex still being on the board as they mainly power up his abilities.  Whilst this makes them a boon to your main Metroplex card, it lessens their value considerably when being used in a team which does not contain the Titan.

 

Dedicated Battle Deck Cards

The Metroplex Deck is designed to be used by a single player against an opponent.  As such it has dedicated cards that are of no use in a regular deck, but are very advantageous when using with this dedicated team.

Rally The City allows an extra card per character you have out (if you still have Metro on the board).

Height Advantage gives Bold 4 so when you use Metroplex to attack you get to flip 4 extra cards.

Protected by Metroplex means that you can transfer any damage being inflicted on your sidekick characters to Metroplex instead.  Out of the three cards I found this one to be the most useful.  Given Metroplex’s huge Health and the extremely poor Health of his Sidekicks (all pretty easy to knock out in a single round) it helps to keep these little guys on the playing field for an extra turn or two.

 

In Gameplay

I wont go into all the technicalities and ins and outs of using this deck against an opponent as there are just too many scenario’s to cover.  However I can point out some trends I found when pitting the Metroplex Deck against a team made up of the Starter Pack:

*When playing the Basic Game (not using special abilities etc) which I played with my 5 year old son, the advantage tends to lean slightly in favour of Metroplex, even without his ability to deploy the smaller bots.  His Health is just so massive, and combined with a 6 Attack Rating in robot mode, means you are able to withstand the onslaught he receives from being the only target on the board as you KO your opponent’s cards one by one.  He is by no means invincible, but he is definitely hard to beat.

*When playing the Advanced Game which I played with a bunch of my nerd peers, surprisingly the advantage tends to lean slightly towards the opponent, even with you being able to deploy Scamper, Slammer and Six-Gun.  Your opponent using the Special Abilities of cards means that your three smaller bots are often KO’ed as soon as they hit the board, with only a Protected by Metroplex card having a hope of saving them.  You may find that your opponent often uses this strategy, going after the little guys as soon as they are able before focusing back on the big guy.

Also with more bots being on the opposing team, the opposition has the chance to have more Upgrade, Attack and Defence boosts in play as well as having a greater range of opportunities to use their characters synergistically with each other.  Once again, it is by no means impossible to defeat your opponent, but it can be a hard road with a bit of luck required to take the win.

 

So is this Pack worth buying?

If you are a Transformers: TCG player then it is a most definite yes!  The introduction of a Titan Card adds a whole new element of gameplay, and the pack comes with 4 characters and three action cards that you cannot purchase anywhere else.  It would have been nice to see Trypticon released first (as I’m sure he eventually will be) as it means the two dedicated packs released thus far have all Autobots in them (the Starter Pack containing Bumblebee, Optimus Prime, Red Alert and Ironhide).  Part of the fun of anything remotely Transformers is pitting Autobot against Decepticon and I actually went out and purchased some Booster Packs just so I could play out some of these scenarios (luckily for me I scored both Starscream and Megatron).  I would also have liked to see Scamper and Six-Gun have at least one inherent ability each which would be useful within a regular team that does not involve Metroplex, giving these characters more scope for play.

However despite the onus still being on the Autobot side, this pack is definitely worth picking up.  I look forward to its general release in a week in the hopes one of my friends picks one up so that I can battle Metroplex Deck against Metroplex Deck – now that truly will be a clash of the titans!

Got anything to say about this Expansion Pack?  Would love to read it in the comments section below!

 

Related Article:

Game App Review: Bumblebee Overdrive

Transformatorium, Transformer Toy Reviews

Toy Review – POTP Punch/Counterpunch

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The original G1 Punch/Counterpunch was a very cool toy with a very cool concept!  Whereas all Triple-Changers in the past had two vehicle modes this toy had two robot modes.  He was an Autobot that could not only turn into a Pontiac Fiero , but also transform into a Decepticon in order to act as a spy!  Despite his abysmal appearance in Season 4 of the cartoon, the toy was so cool that it proved extremely popular, and lead to Doubledealer expanding upon the concept the following year.

We have only had one new version of this character since then, the Timelines version that was released several years ago (I don’t count the subsequent Counterpunch based on a CW mold since he only had one robot mode).  While that toy was good, it was let down primarily by a small and weird looking head and of course a very limited release.  Fans have been awaiting a new toy that could do this unique character justice.

Well wait no more, for now we have the Amazon exclusive Power of the Primes Punch/Counterpunch.  Let’s take a look and see if it was worth the wait.

Not available in stores

Vehicle Mode

Sexy… as long as my doors don’t pop off

One of the appeals of Punch is he was one of the very few Transformers released in 1987 that had an Earth alt-mode (the others being the Throttlebots and new Decepticon Cassettes) when the line was moving heavily into Cybertronian and/or Creature modes.  The vehicle mode has been faithfully redone here, down to the red hubcaps.

The arms/shoulder come misassembled which means that the arms don’t tab properly when you are folding the doors over to make his car mode.  This is apparently easily repaired though I haven’t gotten around to it yet, I’ve found with sufficient (yet carefully applied) force that you can tab the doors properly, though they come back loose with the slightest knock.  When I get around to making the repair I will post the method here, much like I did with the problem regarding Trypticons hip.

 

Punch Mode

I’m a heroic Autobot – check out my orange chest!

Excellent colours, well proportioned, good articulation, an orange gun – what more could one ask for!  Well, perhaps some feet.  But he balances quite well all the same and really puts the Timelines version to shame.  You can fold down a tab on his back to hide the Decepticon symbol located there.

 

Counterpunch

I’m an evil Decepticon – check out my purple kneepads!

Like the original toy, you turn this figure around, adjust the set of the shoulders, flip the helmet and viola – instant Decepticon!  Like his Autobot version you can flip a tab on his back to hide the other factions symbol and he also lacks feet.  Additionally what he lacks is a blaster of his own.  In my opinion it helped differentiate the two robot modes with the original toy by each having its own gun.  Since Counterpunch looks weird holding Punch’s gun, I give him the otherwise useless combiner appendage (since this toy does NOT combine) as a sort of black shield.  Still on the whole he looks excellent, you can even flip the hands around so they are different colours!

Prima Prime

I am the leader of the Original 13 Primes! Check out the power contained in my tiny, tiny body!

You can turn him into a box and stick him in the shield – that’s all I can say about this figure, except perhaps he has some cool pipelighting from the back the other POTP Primes lack.  But I don’t like the concept as a whole and find them mostly useless little figures just waiting to get lost – give us some proper figures of the Original 13 more than just the likes of Alpha Trion and Megatronus.

 

So is this figure worth getting?

As long as you can afford the bigger (but not gigantic) price tag I’d say definitely yes, especially if you are a G1 fan!  3 great modes, a few accessories and a cool collectors box – he is good quality and a lot of fun!  Now we can simply hope this toy prompts the character appearance in the upcoming IDW reboot of the Transformers universe.

 

Got anything to say about this figure?  Would love to read it in the comments section below!

 

Related Articles:

POTP Terrorcons – Wave 1

POTP Unicronus and Primal

POTP Dinobots

 

Random Reviews

Movie Review – Teen Titans Go!

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In the latest cartoon show to be translated to the big screen, we have been presented with Teen Titans Go! To the Movies.  The cartoon show had a very polarizing effect on fans of this particular team from the DC universe.  Some fans love the off-kilter zaniness, constant 80’s references and dashes of potty humour.  Other fans hated what they called a bastardization of a classic team, the childish antics and the low quality animation.  Personally I have been in the first group and found the show very funny to watch on Saturday mornings with my son – even if it has left him with a penchant to constantly ‘Do the Booty Scooty’.

This movie could be said to be DC’s response to Marvel’s Deadpool.  The Deadpool Movies have been immensely popular, made fun of the whole Super Hero Movie franchise, constantly broke the fourth wall and demonstrated that super heroes can be funny!  DC movies have been accused of being too dark, too overly dramatic and frankly not much fun.  This is what Teen Titans Go! attempts to rectify.

 

The plot of this movie is simple – every serious super hero is getting their own movie and the Teen Titans, particularly Robin, want one too so they and he can be considered real super heroes.  The problem is they are a bunch of goofballs that spend more time eating waffles and singing songs than actually fighting crime.

So off they go to get themselves an arch nemesis in order to be taken seriously and are provided with Slade, the main antagonist from the Teen Titans cartoon from the late 90’s.  They are summarily trounced by him, so decide they need to come up with another plan.

The pacing of the first half of the movie runs a bit too slow.  In fact nearing the half way point I was actually getting bored, which is saying a lot considering how much I love animated movies.  It lacked the banter that makes the cartoon show so much fun – instead of constantly arguing with each other and the team as a whole picking on Robin, they act as one unit and they always follow Robins lead without complaint.  Much like the My Little Pony Movie, they have removed one of the key elements that made the cartoon show as popular as it is.

 

Thankfully the second half picks up the pace.  The heroes time travel to get rid of all the other heroes so that they are the only ones to make a movie about, leading to some funny scenes where they alter other heroes origin stories.  When that fails they end up actually having a decent fight scene with Slade which leads to getting a movie.  Of course by now the audience starts to twig that the movie producer is actually Slade in disguise and uses this to break the Teen Titans up so that he can get back a crystal they stole and take over the world.

The final act of the movie is all the regular super heroes, now mind controlled, hunting the heroes and then the Teen Titans facing off against Slade in a giant robot.  Another good fight scene ensues and they naturally save the day, earning the respect of all the other heroes in the process.

 

This isn’t a bad movie on the whole, but it isn’t great.  As mentioned, it lacks a lot of the humour that the cartoon show does.  There are a few funny bits, such as the Titans all using a prop toilet that doesn’t work, the references to the Back to the Future movies and Robins final line of the film.  The movie even references Deadpool from which it draws inspiration – they mix up Slade with Deadpool, talk to the camera, lampoon the whole super hero genre and have cross-universe gags such as Stan Lee making a cameo even though it is a DC movie.  However much of the humour falls flat and lacks that certain spark, the Batman LEGO Movie delivered far more chuckles.  Besides Robin there is zero character development with the other Titans and Slade is an OK villain at best.

If your kid is a massive Teen Titans fan such as mine is, it’s worth taking them to see it on the big screen in the short time it will still be in the cinemas.  However if you and/or your kids simply like the show and not love it, you can wait for the movie to come to DVD before watching.

 

Got something to say about this movie?  Would love to read it in the comments section below!

 

Related Articles:

Movie Review – Deadpool 2

Movie Review – My Little Pony

Movie Review – The LEGO Batman Movie

 

 

Games & Competitions, Transformatorium

Game App Review – Transformers Bumblebee Overdrive

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There have been a ton of Transformer gaming apps in recent years on both Android and iPhone; a few have retired and several are still chugging along.  In anticipation of the new Bumblebee Movie coming out later this year, we have a new game (currently only available through Apple) based on everyone’s favorite little yellow bot in Transformers Bumblebee Overdrive.

Pretty much every app has been based on either the Movieverse or Generation 1.  This is most definitely G1 with a bit of Generations thrown in.  And like G1, this game is 80’s arcade all the way baby!

You start the game as Bumblebee and work your way through 4 main stages over and over, gathering crystals and coins in order to unlock new characters.  Once you reach a certain points level, you then take on a boss character, the defeat of which will unlock new weapons and bonuses within game.

Lets fight!

The four main stages consist of Highway, Canyon, another Canyon and Decepticon bases.

Highway

Like the run to Brisbane Airport

Lots of innofensive traffic which you need to dodge, the only real enemy you encounter and flying Decepticon Drones that fire off missiles, one hit of which can kill.  It is during these highway drives that you can try to earn bonuses from completing events, such as destroying a certain amount of Phone Booths or Fire Hydrants.

 

Canyon – style 1.

Who takes a sports car that expensive offroading?

Lots of swerving required here.  Surprise spike pits pop up, silver mines are laid about, more flying Missile Drones and as you progress Laser Cannons.  Ironically the main thing you need to avoid are rock columns, crashing into one kills you instantly.

 

Canyon – style 2.

Air Time!

Nothing to crash into here, but you are being pursued!  Here we get some G1 goodness with you being chased by Stunticons  Dead End & Breakdown as well as other G1 Cons Ruckus and Ground Hog.  There is also the Stunticon Offroad from Combiner Wars and Slice(r) from Timelines thrown in.  Taking out these other cars is probably the easiest of the levels, though as it gets harder sometimes you find ones parked in your way as you fight the others.

Subtle hints are provided

 

Decepticon Bases

Here is the only part of the game where you get to fight as robot mode and a plethora of different dangers get in your way.  Laser Canons in different configurations, barriers both physical and electric and purple flying Conheads who resemble the same ones found in Transformers: Devestation.  These levels are also the ones were you get to test out the different weapons you have unlocked by defeating bosses, in particular I like the laser beam you get for defeating Acid Storm.

The laser kicks ass!

 

Bosses

Nearly all G1 based (apart from Generations Battleslash) and they are a lot of fun!  You only get to fight these when you have reached a certain amount of points.  In the classic 80’s arcade style, these bosses throw different energy weapon patterns at you and as long as you avoid the obvious patterns the bosses are easy to defeat.  Quite an enjoyable part of the game, it’s a shame that they come along so rarely.

And you only get to fight them once

 

Character Unlocks

You start as Bumblebee and, much like any toy isle you go down, the easiest other character to get is another version of Bumblebee, this one resembling in part his look from TF: AOE.  The other characters to get at this stage are Sideswipe, Arcee and Optimus – Optimus requiring a whopping 500 crystals!  When you obtain a character you use your coins to increase their armor and firepower, then use crystals to ungrade them to the next level to start all over again.  I just got Arcee this morning and she is quite fun in robot mode since she has two guns, which means double the firepower when you use the upgrades like lasers and homing missiles.

‘Freedom is the right of all sentient beings – as long as they pay through the nose with crystally goodness’

 

In-Game Purchases

Guess the game companies need to make their money somehow

What app doesn’t have these.  Personally I’d never buy even the cheap ones but maybe there is someone out there willing to spend over a hundred bucks on the big pack.

Yeah, good luck selling these!

 

Is the game worth playing?

In short doses yes.  It’s lots of fun!  In big doses no.  Your finger gets tired after a while and to be honest when I was most of the way to the points total for Battleslash I was hoping I would crash as I had had my fill.  Also despite the minor variations you get each run through, having only 4 stages to work through over and over again gets understandingly repetitive.

Will I still be playing this game in a months time?

I doubt it.  I’ll unlocked Arcee a few hours ago but no way could I be bothered saving enough crystals for Optimus.  Also as mentioned before, the amount of points you need to gain increases exponentially to reach bosses.  The first three (Tracer, Quake and Acid Storm) are not too onerous but then suddenly you find Battlelslash to be a whopping 256,000 points and that takes forever to reach.

So should you download it?

If you are a TF fan sure, why not!  It’s a bit of cheesy 80’s arcade fun but it really doesn’t have anything to keep you there for the long haul.

 

Got something to say about this App?  Put it in the comments section below!

Transformer Toy Reviews

Toys Review – Street Fighter Transformers

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I’ll put my hand up to not being a massive Transformers Crossover toy fan.  Oh I’ve got a few token ones – a couple from Star Wars, a couple from Marvel, heck – even one from My Little Kitty.  So I was kind of bemused when I saw they were making to celebrate it’s 30 year anniversary Street Fighter II Transformer figures.

But then I saw some pics and knew I had to have some!

Nerd Nirvana!

The Bison/Ryu set didn’t hold much appeal.  I thought the reuse of an Optimus mold as Ryu to be particularly poor (I mean really, Ryu has a faceplate now?) but the Chun-Li/Ken set looked great!  The only way it could have appealed to me more was for it to have Vega instead of Ken so I could recreate that awesome fight seen between him and Chunners from the great animated movie from the 90’s.

The whole gang

So today I received the figures.  Now, unlike other reviews I write, I’ll be going from a purely aesthetic viewpoint as I intend to keep these figures relatively MIB.  That means no transforming and minimal removal from packaging.  I’ll be including a marketing pic at the very end from Google Search but otherwise all the pics are mine.  And I invite anyone who has opened and transformed their figures to pop in a review in the comments section – if good enough I might even add it to the review and credit you!

I… I just cant bring myself to play with toys these, though by Primus I want to!

To be honest, I think this is a set you would want to keep MISB, especially given the price tag for what is a couple of Deluxe figures. Chances are you already have these molds as other characters anyway.  Ken is redone from Rodimus and Chun-Li is redone from Arcee.  I’ve got a couple of each mold (including the fantastic Legends Nightbird) so am able to restrain myself, though I am sorely tempted to see how Chun-Li looks in vehicle mode.

Just so friggin well done!

The paintjobs are fantastic, though Ken’s eyebrows look even more ridiculous than in the video game which is no mean feat.  Chun-Li is most definitely the stand-out of the two, all the little details and changes in colour work surprisingly well on many levels – just superb!

The box-art is very good, showing the SFII origins of these two.  It also shows how each character can be put into one of their special moves, and indeed they are packaged with Ken throwing a Dragon Punch and Chun-Li performing a Spinning Bird Kick, a testament to how artciulated the Arcee mold is.

Do you need these toys?  No.  But will you want these toys?  If you are of my age, you may remember just what a huge deal SFII was, it was a revolutionary game and many of us bought a SNES just so we could play it!  I’ve been a rabid SF fan for most of my life, though kinda lost track after Street Fighter Alpha.  This set will sit with pride within my display case for years to come.

 

Got something to add, or actually bit the bullet and played with these toys yourself?  Would love to read about it in the comments section below! 

 

 

Above image courtesy of Google
Meaty Goodness!

Burger Review #6: The E-I-E-I-O Burger

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I am a total fan of combining meats.  Despite my rather disastrous ’14 meats stew’ I tried to make a decade ago, I persevere with trying different combos to see what fleshes of what animals will complement each other on the palette.

Given this carnivorous mindset, I was therefore very happy in my wanderings to come across the E-I-E-I-O Burger.

The meats that dreams are made of…

 

That’s right – deep-fried chicken, double beef patties, double bacon and triple cheese!   These people don’t muck about! Old McDonald’s farm must be looking pretty sparse after they made a few of these babies! The ingredients were all done to perfection: the deep-fried chicken was not oily like it had just come out of a KFC or something, the patties were big and juicy and definitely home made in the good way, the bacon was plentiful, the onions was grilled excellently, the lettuce was thankfully negligible and the tomato was, due to special request, non-existent.

I was very pleased that they remembered to leave the tomato off as so many places either refuse, or otherwise forget, to make any alterations one asks for (I’m looking at you BAB Burger makers).  I’m not sure what the special sauce was except that it certainly shat all over whatever it is they use for a Big Mac.  It had a slightly smoky flavour with just the right amount of bite and it was that plentiful that I found myself having to use a napkin on both my hands and mouth after each bite.  Some may see that as a negative – I see it as a sign of a chef who isn’t stingy!

You magnificent Frankenstien’s Monster of a burger you!

What can I say – to quote Mr Jackson This was a damn tasty burger!  I mean it was REALLY friggin good!  Unfortunately I didn’t have time to savor it properly as we were running late for Transformers 5 so had to gobble it.  Given its size (much bigger than it appears in the above photo) this still took me 5 minutes of solid mastication.  At $18 and considering it does not come with any sides whatsoever its not the cheapest burger but it’s that good I would happily lay out the cash again.  If you find yourself in Greensborough Plaza in Melbourne then stop by Flame 400 near the cinema and gorge your tastebuds on a burger that has cow, chook and pig all under the same bun –  you deserve it!

 

Eaten this burger before or have another one you think worthy of mention?  Would love to hear about it in the comments section below!

 

OTHER BURGER REVIEWS:

The BAB Burger

Pulled BBQ Wagyu Burger

Cheeseword Cheeseburger

Tradie Burger & Truckie Burger

The TNT Burger

Random Reviews, Transformatorium

Movie Review – Transformers: The Last Knight

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Here we are – the fifth installment of the live-action Transformers movie franchise.

These movies have caused a lot of debate over the years.  Many of the critics and your more traditional Transformer fans have hated them – citing such things as poor plots, juvenile jokes and lack of characterization.  However the general public has loved them – all four previous movies still remaining in the top 100 highest grossing movies of all time.

So will Transformers: The Last Knight fare any better than the previous four with the die-hards?  Let’s find out!

Oh, and SPOILER ALERT!  This is a movie review – so if you haven’t seen the flick yet and don’t want to know what happens, read no further (but please do come back after watching I implore you).

 

This movie picks up not long after the events of Transformers 4, and unlike that movie brings back a lot of what happened in Transformers 3 as well.  The Transformers are still all hated and hunted by the human governments, yet they keep arriving.  Most of the Autobots are living in a junkyard which they periodically leave as they try to find more of their lost brethren with the help of Cade.  Megatron (Galvatron being just a phase he was going through) is enacting plans with the help of his henchman Barricade and Optimus Prime is off in space trying to find the creators of his race so he can put the smack down.  Oh, and the new plot has flashbacks of Merlin dealing with a bunch of Cybertronian knights that can combine into a 3-headed space dragon – now there is a twist that not a lot of movies can boast eh!

The first half of this movie advances these plot lines.  Megatron does a hostage swap of some humans in order to get some of his captured crew back from the military.  Cade and the Autobots hiding out unwillingly adopt a 14 year old orphan girl and Optimus lands on Cybertron to meet Quintessa, his creator.  Soon conflict (and Bayesque explosions) come into play.  Megatron (tracked by the military) finds the Autobots and has a scrap, most of his henchmen we had only just met being killed in the process.  Quintessa brainwashes Optimus into becoming Nemesis Prime and sets the broken planet of Cybertron (which got royally f’ed up at the end of TF3 by a spacebridge explosion) on a course to Earth to siphon its energy to make the metallic husk pull itself back together.  We also get introduced to two new plot lines: The first is that Anthony Hopkins rocks and has a bunch of old Autobots at his disposal (including a quite psychotic character named Cogman) and is trying to figure out the whole Merlin angle.  The second is that, like the TFPrime cartoon, Earth actually is Unicron and he is extending his horns out through various parts of the planet!

Phew – that’s a lot going on eh?

To prevent this they…..

…you know what, bugger it – if I list the 8 millions plot twists this review is going to become a novel!  Chances are if you are reading this you have seen the movie and know what happens!  So how about I save us all a bit of time and go on a few pro’s and cons eh?

PRO’S

*Lots of explosions

*Tons of action

*Nice boobs for the boys, nice ab’s for the girls

*Anthony Hopkins was awesome

*Cogman was funny

*A good variety of different robots

*Great fight scenes

*Expanded the movie lore

*Genuinely funny moments

*At least some characterization of Decepticons

*The action was not too close up and frenzied so you could actually tell what was going on most of the time

*Cullen and Welker reprised their roles as Optimus and Megatron respectively

*A Transformer clock killed Hitler

*Autobots, Decepticons, Quintessons, Combiners, Cybertron and Unicron!

 

CON’S (no, not those Cons)

*Bumblebee coming apart and coming back together contradicted a lot of TF deaths from the previous movies

*So many Transformers didn’t actually transform!  Grimlock, Slag Slug, the baby Dino’s, Cogman, Wheelie, Sqweeks,  whoever the female submarine was etc.  It was like reading an IDW comic!

*A lot of the Transformers that did transform never did it on screen, such as Optimus himself.

*Contradictions in plot

*Too much human focus

*Hot Rod is french?!

 

So overall, is this movie worth watching?  Well I’d have to say yes.  All the people that complain about the Transformer movies would do well to remember that these flicks are based on a cartoon from the 80’s about shape-changing alien robots fighting a civil war.  It’s not supposed to move you and make you cry – it’s supposed to entertain you!  In that regard Transformers: The Last Knight certainly delivers the goods!  It (like all the others) is a long movie but I can’t say there was any point where I was bored and frankly I found the whole movie quite fun!  It’s not a movie you are supposed to take too seriously and I think some of the critics and die-hard fans need to remember that sometimes.  Overall I’d say that this was not as good as TF1, about on par or slightly better than 3 & 4 and much better than 2.  I had a great time watching it with a half dozen mates and I can’t wait to see what happens with the Unicron angle in number 6!

 

This movie gets 4 out of 5 energon cubes.

Got something to say about the movie?  Would love to read it in the comments section below!