Twin Destinies

 DVD, Stargate Universe S2 (Twin Destinies)

Just about everything you could want from this series, and while it could be faulted for ending so pat and conveniently, getting there was a rollercoaster! Before anything, and this isn't usually that much of a priority for me, especially when compared with story and character, but in this case both of those are fully covered so I will remark on the technical qualities: you really know you're watching a good one when you notice the effects work despite how good the story is. This just complimented the quality all round with some beautiful shots of Destiny (the other one), framed by the seething flames of a star as the ship hangs there in the balance like a butterfly caught in a lightning strike, the flash seeming longer than the split second it would take to annihilate such an insignificant, fragile little creature. But it doesn't take place in a split second in reality, there's time for a desperate salvage mission, or more precisely, a strip mine it and run (literally), as members of the crew pour onto this doomed and empty hulk (shades of 'Empok Nor' from 'DS9' - once again demonstrating you can reuse existing sets and still create compelling drama), which contains all that is necessary for the original Destiny to carry on. It's fraught, exciting, superbly lit with an apocalyptic red burning that fills the halls with the hellish light of impending death. You see how poetic this episode made me! I was inspired by it, moved, excited, and not merely from the ultimate dash and grab mission.

Right from the opening where we have all the main characters in a room together discussing their situation, all systems at critical status after the previous episode's encounter with the enemies that had all but crippled them. They need spare parts, they can't build them, they can't fix them, there seems no other option than to try a plan Eli and Gin had come up with to create a stable wormhole in a star and get back to Earth through the Stargate (remember it's called 'Stargate'?). It's a huge wrench, but not one most people are going to mind, they just want to get home, waiting in anticipation in the main room, quietly expectant, hungry for home, a major personal moment in all their lives as much as when they first came aboard. All except Rush who's intent on carrying out Destiny's mission to the extent he's willing to stay behind if twelve just men (or girlies), will stay behind with him. I'm not sure what he was going to do for spare parts, it sounded like everyone who agreed to remain would be likely signing their own death warrant since the ship is just about holding together! But that's beside the point - before anything can happen another Rush contacts them. From the future...

Back to the technical achievement of this episode: it's not just the visuals, nor the well choreographed moments where people career down hallways in one last desperate effort to escape (or in puppyish exuberance in Brody's case - he runs excitedly to the Bridge before someone points out he could have simply used a radio!), it's the ability to have two of Rush on screen at the same time, and sometimes in moving shots, the camera swaying as they seem to like it to, but knowing that had to be motion-captured, or at least I assume it did, maybe they didn't even have to do that by the point this was made (almost fifteen years ago, gulp! Where did the time go?), but however it was done, it's flawless, there's no question how far effects had advanced, and for once 'Stargate' does something better than Trek had been able to do (and they did a lot of doubles over the years!). Even Rush doesn't entirely trust Rush (loved that when he storms off after his wish to continue Destiny's mission is refused and you just know he's going to lock them out or make it impossible for them to try Eli's plan some other way, but Young has Greer and his men stationed to prevent that - good thinking!), as someone pointed out during the episode, I think it was Telford. Speaking of whom, I forgot there was another version of him from the original timeline a little in the future who'd made it back to Earth. If that was the case why didn't he contact Destiny? Or he did, but it was a Destiny in the future of our Destiny, wasn't it? It does fry the brain a bit.

I will say the image of him as the man Rush switched with through the use of the communication stones, in Rush's clothes, looking bewildered and horrified as he charges to the 'gate room amid that apocalyptic colour palette, was fantastic. But how can he be on Earth of our Destiny's time, again I ask? Best not to think of it. More to the point, why would other Rush jump in the Ancient chair? Did he think because he'd accidentally killed Telford, who was really getting in his face and was as much to blame for his demise as he was, he couldn't go back? So he went all in and tried to get the knowledge of the Ancients before the ship blew up? That's why it was so pat, we got rid of the two duplicates and it would have been much more dramatic to keep them (as they did on 'Farscape' which I've been watching recently). But the other Destiny was a perfect store of necessary supplies. There is rather a lot of dashing around madly, when cool heads should have prevailed, but it was much more about coordinated pillaging than madcap panic-grabbing, in fairness. Even when they first see this alternate ship coming into view there was a haunting quality to it, knowing how a version of every one of those witnessing it had died, and making it some kind of crypt to their memory, or perhaps a tombstone hanging over the surviving crew. Again, such a strong sense of the poetic in this one!

It had it all, too. There was the action and split second escapes, there was the horror of death, but there was also the trademark wry humour that hasn't been as evident in this iteration of 'Stargate,' and a comfortable knowing of the characters so well: Brody with his embarrassment over calling Eli the cleverest man he'd ever known, or being so excited as to run to the Bridge, or Greer reacting to Telford's aggressive threat that he might have to force everyone to leave the ship, by retorting 'good luck with that,' and Telford clearly seeing his bluff's been called - even that bit where Brody talks them through what they need to salvage and calls the items 'things to make it go,' which I do hope was a deliberate, if obscure reference to a Trek race, the Pakleds, who said something very similar in 'TNG.' It was even quite affecting as we see flashbacks to how the plan first played out and most of the main characters backed Rush up, if sometimes reluctantly, and showed that if they had a choice they would choose to continue the mission. It really cemented their friendships in my eyes, that even with a chance of going home we now know many of them would choose the unknown with each other.

I would just say it was surprising to see the remaining Lucian Alliance people allowed to take part in the salvage because if there were any other secret dissenters they could have gained weapons and all sorts. Of course with Simeon gone we know there isn't a threat, but it gave me pause for thought. I was also surprised with how collaborative Young was, taking suggestions from people, going along with what they wished, even surprising Rush by showing he was willing to stay aboard if they found ten other people - I'm not sure if Rush was so happy about that, I'm sure he'd have liked to have been the main man, or whether it was merely relief and surprise that he was getting what he wanted, but it showed a dedication between characters that was heartening to see. I also liked the idea that some of them would want to meet up regularly if they had gone back to Earth, and they even threw in references to Dr. Jackson, Colonel Carter and McKay, just more nice little spices to a simmering, bubbling pot of highly nutritious story stew! And I almost forgot a very brief, but fun cameo for Dr. Lee in Eli's outfit - funny. If they keep this level up for the remainder of the season not only am I going to miss this series, I'm really going to miss it!

***

Deliverance

 DVD, Stargate Universe S2 (Deliverance)

An exciting opening and conclusion, with a happy ending isn't enough to disguise a confused narrative. It was like a 'Voyager' story except without the structure. There are three groups other than Destiny and I wasn't sure exactly what the relation was to each other - we have the Ursini, which I was under the impression got us into this mess; the drones, which are the mess we're in; and the aliens from the previous galaxy whom have somehow found their way to this one and are on the way to... help? I mean what was the point of all that stuff with them desperate to retrieve Chloe after what they'd done to her to make her change into, presumably, one of them? They make a deal with Destiny to take on the drones until they're both sufficiently restored to escape, and the price is that we let them take Chloe, but then they'll give her back as good as new? Where did that all come from? It was such a muddle! Then the Ursini themselves who I thought were the double-crossing bad guys in all of this turn out to be self-sacrificial enough to go on a suicide run in order that Destiny will survive because they feel bad for getting them into the scrape in the first place? I don't know about all this...

The B-story is all about putting an idea from Eli into practice where they capture one of the dormant drones and try to find its weakness. That made sense although at first I wasn't sure why Dr. Parke shows up for the mission with Scott and Greer simply because it's 'her turn' when surely she'd have been better used elsewhere, like, I don't know, helping them get the all-important shields back online so they can go to FTL and get out of there! But then I thought if the others are handling it, it makes sense they have a scientist along in the retrieval process although I'm not sure her expertise ever came into play as she was merely there to direct the shuttle into picking up the drone. Handy they were able to find one that was tiny enough to fit in the back of the shuttle, eh? They're successful in programming the drone to turn the other drones (that's not these drones, this is another group of drones, so I suppose there was a fourth party in the story - see what I mean about confusing?), into enemies, and then the second drones fight the first drones and Destiny can escape (it would have been very beneficial to have hoovered up as many of these reprogrammed drones as possible to use in future, but they hardly had the time for that as they barely escaped as it was). In the meantime the aliens with no name, or Other-Galaxy aliens as we could call them (as opposed to the Ursini, who are conveniently completely wiped out by the drone enemy so we don't have to ever think of them again!), also escape the drones, but there's the impression the truce was only temporary and they still want Destiny. Okay.

For all the confused messing about, the characters were all nicely played - we get people like Brody and Volker doing their thing with the shields, and Lieutenant James gets put in the pilot seat, or some such important position, even though she'd had a mere hour's training, but it was nice to see her doing something. Parke, as I mentioned, has plenty, but it was Chloe who really stood out as this accepting soul, allowing Young to do with her as he will, not holding any grudge and either stoically sitting in her prison cell or bravely going over to the Other-Galaxy aliens for who knows what surgical procedure that could just as easily have made her worse or killed her for all she knew. So it was a very good episode for her, her nature really shines through and it was especially nice at the end when Rush pays her a visit and shows concern about her throughout. Of course with him you never know if it's genuine concern or a pragmatic, self-seeking big picture view that believes she still has untold depths of alien knowledge within that will assist in his motive of learning more about the secret of the Destiny's mission, and succeeding at it. You can never quite trust him again. But the crew all being friends, there being no simmering tension, everything reset back to normal, or as normal as it can be, makes it a relatively positive instalment. Who knows what the last half season will bring, I didn't even remember the Other-Galaxy aliens showed up again. Still such a tragedy the series didn't last longer.

**

Collective (2)

 DVD, Voyager S6 (Collective) (2)

Fresh from watching the third season of 'Picard' in a relatively short period I can only assume I reacted so positively to this episode in reaction to that, because I've never liked the Borg children, thought it was a bad idea to introduce them, especially as they hadn't used the existing people groups they'd been presented with in the past very well (the Maquis crew-members we'd met, almost never seen again; the recent addition of the Equinox remnants, never seen again...), and they didn't seem interested in developing any recurring characters to any great degree! 'Picard,' for all its joy of giving us one last roundup of the 'TNG' crew, together again (even Data, [sniff!]), reminded me how many bad Borg stories there were, how many silly ideas they threw at them on 'Voyager,' but even as far back as 'TNG' (I didn't used to like Hugh in 'I, Borg' though I've come round to him, but 'Descent' was certainly the weakest story), so to see a Borg story 'out of the norm' (which isn't really true because those kinds of stories became the norm over the typical and superior 'Borg are an impossible threat to handle' types, as in 'Q Who,' 'The Best of Both Worlds,' 'Scorpion,' 'Dark Frontier,' 'Regeneration'), but which was actually displaying the best natures of our characters really struck home, and while I still wouldn't rate it a classic I was surprised at how strong it was!

It's lovely coming home again and seeing Seven of Nine when she was portrayed as a fascinating, repressed, strident, flawed but learning character compared with how Jeri Ryan played her in 'Picard.' So many things about this episode were a clear and obvious antidote to the still generally negative impression of even the best of modern Treks, and again, while I'd say 'Picard' Season 3 is the best of that series and even the best live action stuff they've done in the current era, it still fell quite short of even the standard level of old Trek. This is far from perfect, admittedly: I was all up for an adventure starring Chakotay, Neelix, Tom and Harry, but after a strong start the former disappear from the story, literally! We see them a bit later as hostages, but in gradual increase of the criticism of the last couple of seasons (which hasn't played out yet to any large degree), it switches to being a Seven of Nine story with Janeway prominent. If this had been now-Trek they could have had space for a few extra scenes with the running time bumped up to over fifty minutes if need be, but while 'Picard' often squandered its comfortable running time with too much reiteration and repetitiveness, then-Trek was so tight and economical with its running time, though as in this case it could be to the detriment sometimes: we could have done with a much-needed scene where Torres meets Paris after the ordeal to show her concern (she spends any time in the episode covering Harry's station and could just as easily have been played by a guest extra); Neelix meeting the Borg children, considering how good he is with youngsters (though they may have been saving that); an ending with Chakotay discussing the events of the episode with his Captain; and Harry, well he gets to play partially assimilated and almost saves the day, so he was accounted for.

Other than the shift into a typical Seven story I have few complaints. Sure, that whole teaser with the four previously mentioned playing poker had its issues (would Chakotay sanction gambling, especially over the 'real stakes' of a morning off for whoever wins - in the past he always seemed quite disciplinarian about such things, perhaps he's mellowed a bit now he's well established as First Officer and the crew have all settled down. Even so, if other members of the crew heard about it they might think it unfair...), not least being that they have no warning of a gigantic Borg Cube bearing down on the little Delta Flyer until they notice it through the porthole! Shouldn't the computer give warning? In the episode's favour they do explain the ship masked its approach to sensors, but even then, once in visual range the ship should be throwing every alarm its got into a frenzy. But then we wouldn't have had the excitement of them reacting to such a shocking appearance in the middle of a fun moment of relaxation, and it was certainly a very effective way to kick off the episode. What is fascinating about the story is how the Borg don't follow the predetermined route they always do - we'd expect captives' immediate assimilation (I never wondered before, but why do they have assimilation chambers since all they need do is inject victims with nanoprobes and that does the rest - maybe it's for observation or more invasive procedures?), they're willing to negotiate with Voyager when they come a-calling, and behave erratically - it all adds up to a deliciously unexpected encounter and because Trek schooled us so well and so closely on exactly what to expect with each race it makes a much greater contrast.

Nowadays, when most Trek aliens sound and act like humans with makeup on a lot of the time because the human characters are so overly emotional, you lose the ability to tell this kind of story and revel in the differences to expectations, and it really speaks to the Trek style up until the modern age that they were able to take advantage of having everything so carefully tied down to specific behaviour and motivations. All the characters are true to how they should behave: Janeway is willing to consider all alternatives when it comes to the safety of her crew, not shutting down the idea of a pathogen that would 'neutralise' the surviving Borg that Tuvok, in his role as Security, advises. It's a shocking thought that they could kill children, even children totally assimilated by the Borg, but if they'd all been like First, aggressive, refusing to listen to any alternative viewpoint because it goes against their very nature (sounds like a lot of people today!), then perhaps they'd have been forced to go to it as a last resort. But that's not (wasn't then, anyway), the Trek way: they use intelligence and cunning, feel out the situation, talk where they can with their enemies. Seven even makes gestures of good faith simply because it's the right thing to do: when they introduced Icheb with a malfunction in his vocal processor you think it's just there to sound 'cool,' because why not, it emphasises the alienness of Borg? Yet it becomes a plot point with Seven able to show the nature of Starfleet, fixing him for no other reward than because she can help. The same with the Borg baby where she demonstrates to the whole clan the same ethics. And even at the end when First is fatally electrocuted, she rushes over to see if she can help him and when all she can do is comfort him as he dies, she does that!

It's inspiring and rewarding, the way Trek should be, leaving you with positive feelings rather than reliant on whatever the next terrible thing is to leave us with a cliffhanger so we come back for the next part of the serial. It is wrapped up rather too quickly and easily, again I say it's not perfect - it would have been better to show some of the transition of the Borg gang from Borgified to practically normal, full heads of hair, etc, as we see them at the end, because you lose the impression of the scope of the invasive and all-pervasive intrusiveness of Borg technology infesting an organic body and how hard it is to overcome and recover from it. So it does have the effect of belittling the conversion they had to go through. But I can see why they wouldn't want to give over too much time to this little group, they might not even have planned them being as big a part of the series as they became and so they needed to wrap up the story, I suppose. At least it ends on a well-judged, sensitive note as Seven wishes them goodnight as they all step into the regeneration chambers in her Cargo Bay (handy there are four, but what happens if she needs to regenerate, too?), taking one last look back at them as if to remember the similarities with her own history, then the door closing on her, closing out the episode effectively and beautifully with a deft touch.

The Doctor doesn't have a lot of exposure, but I like that the moral issue at hand of whether they should deal with these children as they would any other Borg, is placed firmly at his door - he's the one that develops the pathogen for use, but he orchestrates an environment in which to present it to his Captain in the most contrasting way possible: getting her to hold the Borg baby, saying she just wanted to be held, and only then producing the deadly vial by the baby's side. Janeway isn't to be swayed so easily, it's not that she's cold or heartless, I don't believe she has any intention of using the pathogen unless there is no other option, but the Doctor wants to put his point of view across and does it with great care and planning. I like that we're seeing different points of view, but the Doctor isn't refusing to follow orders or expressing how he feels about the ethics of the situation, blowing up at his Captain, it's all very well worked out and is about as far from how the conflicts, both in Trek and the real world, are portrayed now, as can be. In this case both have a valid argument, not that Janeway is arguing for the murder of children, but even the possibility she could use such a weapon is a silent assent for a drastic course of action, exactly the kind of dilemma Trek was (was!), so good at. It's not even a big part of the story, but far from taking a backseat to unnecessary action scenes, the core of the story is in Seven's attempts to gain the trust of the children, or maybe not even that, to simply show that they are in the wrong.

I was struck by the parallel of the guys playing poker at the start and the situation between Voyager and the Cube - it's the same, they're both playing poker, not really knowing what the other's hand holds and that cat and mouse, give and take was compelling as we see how a starship Captain has to deal with an opponent without quite knowing what the result will be in any eventuality. Janeway is great in this, but Chakotay was too, in the brief screen time he was given - I like that when they're captured he's the one who still has hope when Paris basically panics and thinks it's all over, there's no chance of escaping assimilation, and the First Officer gives them a task to do, to escape from the chamber. It's a shame Neelix was so muted, and even in the poker game when they suspect he's kidding them when being so simple about the game I was expecting his old shrewdness to come to the fore and he really was leading them on - when you think what he was like when we first met him and in the early scenes, by comparison he has become a little too soft. I did feel for Harry Kim who has to traverse the inside of the Cube (all Borg ships are graveyards, but this really was one), to help Voyager help him, though he ultimately fails (great sense of scale to the internal shots). When he was so nervous and Tuvok asks if he's thinking of a previous time on a Cube I was expecting him to talk about the horrors he experienced in 'Scorpion,' but he doesn't. Otherwise the episode was good at using backstory, such as Seven talking about her own assimilation.

It didn't make much sense Harry leaving a trail of playing cards in case he needed to find his way back since Janeway had already specifically told him he'd only have to make the journey TO the shield generator, and if I'm being pedantic it was too dark to be able to see those little cards anyway, especially if he had to find his way back in a hurry! I suppose the little girl, Mezoti, was supposed to be playing the usual trope of creepy child when she comes upon him having gathered the cards, but either from the performance itself or the directing of the scene, I didn't get an undertone of threat from it, especially when she picks out the Queen card and says she prefers this one. I liked that it wasn't what you'd expect, nothing to do with the Borg Queen, but because the likeness reminds her of Seven! So it came across as more cutesy than anything until you think back to it in retrospect when we later find Harry was partially assimilated. It's all left to the imagination, and while modern Trek would undoubtedly have had a scene where the girl comes over to him and digs her tubules in as he screams, brutality wouldn't have fitted with the story, especially from her as we're supposed to be sympathetic to the younger ones who are being bullied by First. Still, it does make you wonder whether she attacked Harry or was merely a diversion so First could come up behind him. Overall I really liked the performances of the gang. The twins have nothing to say and are only there to make up the numbers, but the gradual shift away from First as protector and leader, to Seven, was beautifully done.

The only note of concern is the baby. Did they use a real baby because if not it looked very lifelike - not when it was in the maturation chamber, but when Janeway or Seven hold it, it was so realistic and yet they usually have strict rules about what can be put on a baby, as we saw previously with the very basic horns on baby Naomi. My concern is what happened to the little tyke? They mention the four children at the end, but nothing is said of the baby. I can see why they wouldn't want to be saddled with a baby from a production standpoint because it's difficult to include one, and equally I can see why they wouldn't have wanted a pall over the ending by suggesting it had died as that would have been a very sad way to finish out the episode, but at the same time you need to say something, you can't just ignore it! Unfortunately, that's how the series often went, not giving plots or characters the development or wrap-up they needed. It would also have been good for the series to have babies be a central part of it since for all they knew it would take more than one generation to return home and they should have been birthing replacements, but that's just one of the underlying flaws of a series that was generally so good, but could also miss major details of importance.

In this episode's case I was impressed with how it laid everything out logically, believably, providing a realistic and grounded base upon which to build the story, in complete opposition to the way modern Trek does it, first creating a story full of mysteries and suspense, but not having a good base to lay it on, reliant on shock or narrative devices rather than good storytelling and depth of character. The Borg in this episode are an excellent example: they behave as adolescents would, and though it's something of a familiar theme of children running their own little world ('Lord of The Flies'), and something covered in Trek before ('And The Children Shall Lead,' etc), it was done very well here. Tuvok calls attention to their contemptuousness toward authority, conviction of their own superiority and that this is typical adolescent behaviour for any species (though I wished he'd excepted Vulcans, though this was yet another reminder of the diminishing of the race in the Berman era's latter years). When they don't get their way they try to rip Voyager's Deflector right off its hull with a Tractor beam, and when Seven breaks the news the Borg don't want them any more (which struck a false note since we know they come back even for their dead, as far as I remember, to harvest the tech, so it didn't make sense that any being would be considered expendable - to the Borg they're just resources, so why waste them, and especially the Cube itself which could have been repaired, I'm sure!), First rebels against reality saying they'll prove themselves worthy by assimilating more races, failing to understand the nature of the Borg, that it's impossible to win their approval.

It's actually a very tragic story of abandoned children, tied up in the Trek world with all the alien trimmings, but that's what it is at heart and in that respect it's not really different to any other story of children in that position who have built something of a society based on mistakes or lack of mature understanding simply to survive ('Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome' came to mind). Perhaps the moment when I had the most sympathy was Icheb not even understanding what the term childhood means and tying it in to Seven's own being cut short makes it ever more poignant. I never really liked Icheb that much originally because I always wanted the Borg to be tough, unstoppable and impossible to deal with in any way, just the name should strike terror. But that image and ability was worn down through so many episodes, particularly of 'Voyager,' and one big reason why I felt the series didn't reach its full potential overall, but over the years I came to like him more as I accepted what the series became and you just enjoy what's there rather than anticipating what might be (and he certainly didn't deserve the horrific treatment given to him in 'Picard'). Perhaps in the same way I'll come to appreciate modern Trek more in that light, though I doubt it because it simply doesn't have the positive values and quality of writing and characterisation of the original 60s-2000s run. Maybe once they say there's not going to be any more it'll have more meaning, but not much - the truth is I'll always go back to 'Voyager' and its contemporaries because they knew how to tell Trek. There had been plenty of atypical Borg stories by this time (I think of 'Survival Instinct' earlier this very season!), but that's why this one holds up: they found a new angle and they made it work. A lesson for modern writers everywhere (but especially those writing Trek!).

***

Retrogaming Review of The Year 2023

 Retrogaming Review of The Year 2023

Gaming Archeology
After several years of wanting to bring it down from the loft, this was The Year of The Amiga at last! The 1500 came down and I experienced so much. Disappointments ('Batman: The Movie' wouldn't load beyond the first level), frustration ('The Kristal'), joys ('Flashback,' 'Lotus 2'), challenges ('Aunt Arctic Adventure'), but most interesting of all something hit me when I was testing 'Fire and Ice' - most games didn't save high scores to the game disk, but this one did and as I looked at them I suddenly realised the guy we got the game from (and gave us our first Amiga, the 500 - if you're out there John Farwell, good on yer, mate!), his initials were in the table. After almost thirty years something still existed of another time (even sweeter, my own scores were above his!). That's why I don't like deleting old saved games, or in this case, high scores: because they represent history. Artificial, fantasy as they are, games held a place in life that is part of that life and personal history and when so much is ephemeral and passing it's great to go back and play with so many Amiga memories that have stuck in my mind for decades. And so many games still to replay!

Visual Splendour
That wasn't the end of the delights however, as on bringing the N64 down for both my Christmas 'Zelda' and multiplayer, I stumbled upon a way to vastly improve the visuals: I was already splitting the VGA lead through which I play N64 on my Dell FP2007 monitor, partly to reduce the over-brightness, but also to connect my Amiga Scandoubler so I didn't have to keep switching between VGA connectors. I found if I plugged the splitter to the Scandoubler into the other port the N64 picture was basically as good as when I used Amiga monitors up until a few years ago. I wish I'd discovered that long ago!

Awards:
Surprise of The Year: Lotus 2
Disappointment of The Year: The Kristal

[Ratings reflect total, historical experience, not just the enjoyment level I got out of them this time.]


January - March: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (2011, Wii) - The tradition of the Christmas 'Zelda' reached as far into the series as I own with this Wii entry (only followed by two on the Switch since, I believe). It wasn't the most comfortable to play with Wii controls rather than a traditional Controller, but I still have happy memories, even if it took a long time to get through. I appreciate certain things about it in retrospect thanks to playing the original 3D 'Zelda' this last Christmas: the ability to run at top speed for one, and speed through text quickly without skipping it all! ***

January - December: WSC Real 08 (2008, Wii) - I had a go at an exhibition without any aids whatsoever and was completely and utterly humbled by the game. Snooker is a Very Tough Game. On the positives, I finally made it to number one in the world, beating out Ronnie O'Sullivan. If I continue next year (and no reason why I wouldn't since this is my second favourite game on the console!), should I stick with it, basking in my status and continuing to sweep up all (or most), trophies before me, or switch to a Pool career? ****

January - December: UFO: Enemy Unknown (1993, Amiga 1200) - The old stalwart keeps on going. Nothing new to report, other than in game time I've made it to 2016! I did see if I could play it on the 1500, but I seem to remember it didn't work on that machine. *****

February - December: Wii Sports (2006, Wii) - Along with 'WSCR' and 'UFO' this is my third game I keep going back to year after year, week after week. Well, probably month after month as I only generally get in a couple of sessions in a month dependent on work shifts and snooker on TV, that kind of thing. Yo-yoing in the boxing mode where I'd build my points up over the 2100 level, then get knocked down in one match and lose tens of points and have to build back up again. Still good exercise, however, and I continue to enjoy the target golf, tennis against a wall, and hitting home runs. ***

March - April: Splinter Cell (2002, GameCube) - 'Rick Dangerous' was the game which came to mind playing this: an Indiana Jones-type exploring underground environments where every few seconds you'd be killed by a trap and have to restart, a test of memory in order to survive each level. 'Splinter Cell' isn't that bad, but you often find yourself failing out of the blue because a strategy didn't work in a situation, or you thought you couldn't be seen, but you could. That was a big annoyance, not being clear on exactly which areas were dark enough to hide in - I heard back in the day the Xbox version had the best graphics, perhaps that would have made a difference. It wouldn't have solved the awkward controls and insistence on linearity, two aspects that drag the gameplay down, mainly because you're constantly in situations requiring precise, timely action, and with myriad controls, varied gadgets and weapons, and somewhat of a counterintuitive style, it could be irritating: my biggest complaint is no customisable controls, so you have to go without inverted sight or aiming. Push up to look... up? It doesn't make sense for those weaned on 'Goldeneye' and suchlike! Another game similar in style was 'Hitman 2,' also on 'Cube, but while that had the same control annoyances, it also had wide open levels where you could approach many missions as you saw fit rather than being directed down a predetermined path. There's also the usual gaming insistence on inconsistency: you can climb some things, but not others, you have all these moves, but no ability to lie flat on the ground or crawl... For all its faults, I still found it a fairly enjoyable diversion, though I'm undecided whether I'd play the many sequels. I'd probably go back to this game in a decade or so to complete on the hardest skill level, but it's not a priority. **

May - July: Perfect Dark (2000, N64) - What needs to be said? Simply the most technically accomplished game on the system, options coming at you like machine gun bullets, and a vast array of challenge on offer. I greatly enjoyed returning to one of my favourite games of all time and it didn't matter I hadn't worked out how to get the best picture for N64 games since this is one of the titles that has a high enough resolution to be played through the RCA lead that comes as standard with an N64, so I've never needed to go the VGA route with this. I achieved everything I had previously, as well as unlocking any cheats I hadn't originally, and what I'm most proud of: beating all thirty Combat Simulator Challenges, something I'd never quite achieved before, and which was a real tough course in the last couple. Best of all, I played it in the year (in fact even the month!), it's set in, the reason I'd held it in abeyance for so long. The only sad thing is it's almost the last great N64 game I hadn't revisited! *****

July - August: Lotus Turbo Challenge 2 (1991, Amiga 1500) - Why only three stars while giving it the accolade of Biggest Surprise of The Year? Simply because I wasn't expecting much from this and it surpassed expectations by proving to be just as enjoyable (and tough!), a racing game as most other titles I've played on N64, 'Cube and Wii. I was disappointed my 'Lotus III' disks weren't working any more as this made me want to play more 'Lotus,' but while it wasn't amazing, it did everything well and had so many details I appreciated. A game from so long ago in a genre that tends to rely on graphics and technical sophistication could have been at a major disadvantage, but it had great pick-up-and-play appeal, a strong difficulty curve and a certain beauty to its simplicity that took me back to the Old Days wonderfully and helped to justify me finally getting the 1500 down after many years of wanting to do so. It started the adventure off in a way that made me want to revisit as many old classics as I can and in that respect was the ideal first game to go back to. ***

August: Aunt Arctic Adventure (1988, Amiga 1500) -
- Not necessarily a game I could recommend, though as a tough, but achievable 2D platform game that I'd never got far on in the Nineties, I was thrilled to gradually build up to completing it. It's easy in the sense that you have infinite attempts at success, so then it's a matter of whether you have five or six hours to spare to work your way around each of the fifty levels' environments. The graphics were sparse, the sound effects and music limited. But nevertheless this had a charm from its simplicity that I appreciated. It took more than one day off (playing morning and afternoon), to finally beat it thanks to a cruel streak that saw you get irrevocably trapped in a couple of later levels with no way to die, no way to restart except from the beginning, but if the game laughed at me I had the last laugh and there probably wasn't a greater feeling of satisfaction I had in gaming this year. ***

August: The Kristal (1989, Amiga 1500) - Oh dear. Not all old games welcome with open arms and this was the one that truly frustrated and upset me. It's just too obscure in its sequence of events and you're left too open to narrow down what you have to do since you can type anything to speak to characters, yet need to say the right thing. I can feel somewhat superior to modern gamers sometimes when I think how easy games became, all encouraging, so many ways to make playing more comfortable with saved games, ergonomic controls, logical developments, etc, and I can take on plenty of toughness in the wilderness of older games (see the previous two above), but this must be where my particular generation bows to the previous one since I would not be able to stand text adventures. This was disguised with lovely graphics and animation, but at heart this is like one of those unforgiving text-based games that taxes even my patience. I know it's a black mark against me that I couldn't take it, but I couldn't, and there are far too many games to play to sit puzzling over what to do for hours, and I couldn't go down the walkthrough route of looking up what to do as that isn't playing a game in my book. Would I ever go back to it? I don't know, there are so many Amiga games to play, let alone on other systems and I'm not getting any younger! *

August - September: APB (1989, Amiga 1500) - Very much a conversion of a coin-op, so no saving, but it had an addictive quality. You choose one of the first eight days to begin on, which decides your quotas, either ramming offenders or driving into people that need help or are hitch-hiking (doesn't sound quite right!). The animations were fun, though graphics in general very basic. It did provide a sense of freedom as you can drive down any road, even if the town all looks similar and you couldn't really plan that well - pickups in the form of money bags were random, so you might return to a spot that previously gave you an instant quota fulfilment and it may well be a booby trap. There was no way to remove demerits (other than rare pickups that took one away), and once at twelve it was game over. The controls were the real issue, awkward because the single fire button was used to keep your siren on - it may as well have been on all the time since without it you're much more vulnerable to collisions - even if other cars drive into you, you get a demerit! You push forward to go faster, pull back to slow, and turn with left and right, but this made it harder to control than it should've been, another of those games hard on the hands thanks to the necessity of gripping the Joystick hard and keeping the button depressed. The side objective was to capture certain criminals on specific days, and on returning to HQ you'd interrogate them by wiggling the 'stick as hard as possible before the boss enters the room! It was fun, but also very limited and I could barely get past Day 10 as you're suddenly given so little time to achieve your quota. Like many Eighties games it felt unfair, takes more effort than is rewarded, but also paved the way for top-down free-roaming car games after it. Knockabout fun for a few hours, but eventually palls. "Reorayreorayreoray,thanguverymuchwelldone." **

September: Flashback (1992, Amiga 1500) - If 'Aunt Arctic' wasn't a game I'd necessarily recommend, this is one that is fixed in my mind as one of my most revolutionary gaming experiences ever, up there with my first 'Zelda' ('Link's Awakening'), my first 3D 'Zelda' ('Ocarina of Time'), and many other BIG games that have meant the most to me over the years ('Settlers,' 'UFO,' 'Dune II,' 'Age of Empires'... the list goes on). It couldn't possibly live up to the memories inextricably linked with the late-Nineties; playing it at Easter; one of the few games I could actually complete; the impression of an entire world in a game thanks to the large second level with its various tasks... Of course that art style which is as beautiful as ever, perhaps the greatest example of the pixel genre. There wasn't as much music as I remembered and it was used fleetingly. The cutscenes are no longer a revolution in themselves, and... but no, the controls remained superb, the animation wondrous - again, it's simplicity that works so well. I can't honestly say I loved it as I loved it back then, but I've been waiting many years for the chance to replay it, in fact the main reason for getting the 1500 down was for this game, and I was so glad to be able to revisit it at last, an absolute classic and a sign of the cinematic direction that would come after it. *****

September - October: Nitro (1990, Amiga 1500) - Good, fun plan-view racer set in a 'Mad Max'-type post-apocalyptic future world with cyborg people, but importantly you can collect money, fuel and other things to bolster your racing quality so it was a bit like a simple roleplaying game where you can level up, plus three different types of vehicle. The only reason I didn't play it more was because it was a bit glitchy and would too often crash or freeze. Maybe it needed to be played on an Amiga 500, but I'll always have a soft spot for it (my main memory of it is that it had an extremely rare three-player option and when we had a French exchange student staying with us we played it with her!). I'd love to play it properly and get to know it because it had a certain verve and immediacy. You can't go too wrong with a top-down racer (or almost any racer for that matter), and I'm giving it a relatively high mark more for its potential and that I wish I could have had a proper go at it than for the actual enjoyment gleaned due to the instability of the disk. ***

October: The Chaos Engine (1992, Amiga 1500/1200) - I'm amazed I never played this on my 1200 before, I felt like it hadn't worked previously. Either way, this time I was able to and quite enjoyed it. Never having been much of a shoot'em-up guy I nevertheless appreciated the graphics and sound and found it somewhat easier than the similar 'Alien Breed II' which I'd played a lot in the past (and completed in the last decade or so). I had no prior connection to this game other than seeing it on lists of the best Amiga games in the many magazines I read over the years so I certainly felt it warranted exploration. In no way anything special to me, though I suppose the various options to upgrade your character give it more depth than some games. It showed the development of AI since you have a computer player accompanying you all the time and he does acquit himself pretty well most of the time. It was really designed to be a two-player experience, something difficult for me to arrange as who would play old Amiga games these days, but as a single-player adventure I was pleased to conquer it, though it was much smaller than I expected. Started it on 1500, but found it easier to stay on 1200 so I didn't have to switch between machines for this and 'UFO.' ***

October - December: Metroid Prime (2003, GameCube) - Dingy, backtracking as a way of life, enemies continually regenerating... I can come up with plenty of negatives, but that's because the game's punching down from above. It was a technical achievement for its machine and began a series that ended on the successor. Always one I'd wanted to replay, though I didn't realise how long ago I'd first played it! It's a sprawling shooting adventure that took me a good number of hours to beat, not least because I was playing on Hard Mode and really trying to get every scan and achieve 100%. Sadly it was not to be for me on this occasion, I don't know how possible that even is as I scratched around in every nook and cranny and still didn't even find everything there was to find. I certainly enjoyed it, though not perhaps as much as I'd expected - I really thought I'd be giving it four stars having that number in mind for its sequels. I expect if you'd never played a 'Metroid' before this would come across better, it is basically a 'Zelda' game that all takes place in one huge dungeon of various sectors and environments, without the character interaction, trading or any other sub-quests, plus added combat within the mix of exploration and scanning. It did make me want to revisit the first sequel, but as that's one of the few games which is 60hz only, and my monitor doesn't seem to like that, I'd have to find a way to connect a Wii to VGA, which so far hasn't been successful. ***

December: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1998, N64) - Truly a legend, 'PD' wasn't the last top title on the system I hadn't revisited, this is literally the only great I had yet to return to, and to keep up my Christmas tradition started in 2019 (or 2018 if you count playing 'Wind Waker' into December!). The only remaining 3D entry in the series (that I own), I hadn't gone back to, though also the one I've revisited the most overall since I played it a couple of times originally in '99 and the early 2000s, first on N64, then on 'Cube, and watched or helped other family members - I'd have preferred the harder 'Master Quest' version which I've never played, but it'd have required getting down the last remaining Amiga monitor (like 'Metroid Prime 2' it only plays in 60hz), which is not in the best condition and it also gave me the excuse to bring the N64 downstairs for post-Christmas fun which I haven't done in many years, so going back to the roots, though the graphics are relatively muddied, it takes me to student days of yore. Not the first 'Zelda' I ever played, but certainly one of the most enduring, whether playing or watching relatives. Fortunately I found one of the three files was started by a cousin (calling himself 'LINK' - original!), who'd only reached the second dungeon and a mere five Golden Skulltulas, so I had fewer qualms about deleting gaming history on this occasion! As it was I only managed to fit in the first five dungeons, reaching the Ice Cavern, pre-Water Temple by the end of the year, so roughly halfway, maybe a little more. It's benefited from the enhanced connection I discovered (wish I'd found that out for 'Majora's Mask'!), and has been lovely to revisit. Yes, it looks smaller, more basic with minor annoyances like taking time to get places or accidentally skipping text because you want it to appear quicker, but I've never got stuck because I know the types of puzzles so well. And in many ways it's been superseded by subsequent iterations, but there's still that spark of originality and cinematic portrayal of this land and its peoples that shows they didn't merely advance from 2D to 3D, but also brought the storytelling to a new and vibrant level. I'm paying particular attention to finding all the Heart Pieces and Golden Skulltulas this time since I didn't get every one, and I expect it to last a few more weeks yet... *****

Honourable mentions: 'Burnout 2' for traditional Christmas leftovers multiplayer (*****, Jan), and the same for 'MarioKart: Double Dash (*****, Jan), 'Star Wars: Rogue Squadron' a brief play in July that I wasn't encouraged to pursue (***), partly because there were no free files and I didn't want to delete one, 'Batman,' the Amiga platformer based on the 1989 film (**), which wouldn't load the second level, this Christmas' multiplayer fun with 'WWF Wrestlemania 2000 (****), 'The World Is Not Enough' (*****), Perfect Dark (***** - I rose to Elite:4 ranking!), Snowboard Kids (*****), Mario Kart 64 (*****), and 'Top Gear Rally 2' (**** - not for the multiplayer, but for the game overall).


Next Year - I've played so many of the great games or the ones I really wanted to replay, succeeded in 'PD,' 'Metroid,' 'Splinter Cell' and of course the Amiga 1500, not to mention getting back into reading NGamer Magazine as I found pdfs online for issues I didn't have, which in turn gives me more perspective on the Wii, but still in 2024 I'd like to:

- Get the Amiga down...  no, hang on I've done that already: plenty more Amiga games to complete, most likely 'Fire & Ice,' and 'Soccer Kid,' maybe 'Desert Strike,' and 'Simulcra'

- Seeing N64 games the way they should be seen means my hunger to get into that system, too, has increased and with purchases last year of 'Wipeout 64,' 'Blast Corps,' 'Operation Winback' and 'Lylat Wars,' I have a good selection of new experiences to choose from

- Don't want to forget the Wii, specifically longer games like 'Pirates' or 'Bully,' plus another 'Need For Speed'

- Ought to allow time for one, at least, of another title on 'Cube ('Starsky & Hutch' in honour of David Soul's recent death, perhaps?)

- 'Age of Empires III'? As the only version I can still play and my Father playing it so much in 2023 made me think about it again

- Christmas 'Zelda' will have to be either 'Link's Awakening' or 'Oracle of Ages,' or both (unless I get a Switch or 'Minish Cap' for GBA), or unless I can find a way to play 'Metroid Prime 2' since that's very similar...

Happy New Year!