Reflections

DVD, Lower Decks S3 (Reflections)

Was I watching Trek or 'Smallville'? Is Mike McMahan a secret fan of the young Superman series? Look at the evidence: Rutherford, the boy scout of Starfleet turns into an evil, cooler version of himself, complete with red eye and proceeds to mess around with Rutherford's life, pushing Tendi over and upsetting Barnes. Then at the end we have Mariner with a computer visual showing her choice whether to delete the 'contact' with a new character, yes or no. Okay, so that's about it for 'Smallville,' but the central theme was very like Clark Kent's descent into Kal in certain episodes of that series. Not that it's uncommon in sci-fi/fantasy, and even red being the colour of evil is standard stuff. Actually, the episode had more in common with the seventh season 'Voyager' episode 'Drive,' which in turn was seemingly inspired by the pod-race in 'Star Wars Episode I,' so everything feeds on everything else, I suppose. It was nice to see the Delta Flyer return, even if it was only in Rutherford's mind, and when he and his friends were all wearing the white-shouldered racing uniform (as ridiculous as it was even on 'Voyager'), and working together to beat evil Rutherford, there was a part of me that warmed to it all. But only a part because I didn't find this to be a particularly appealing episode.

The Rutherford who's ten years younger than the one we know was just some nasty, unpleasant rebel, I didn't understand how someone like that could get into Starfleet, or was it meant to be when he was at the Academy - even then I don't believe someone like that would get in, or even exist in the 24th Century world where there's no lack of anything. Why would he be so rebellious, it makes no sense? He talked in typically annoying yoof speak and was all angry and bitter. Are they saying Rutherford only became Rutherford due to an implant which changed his personality? I know this plays into the series' arc, so that gives it a slight lift of importance, and continues the mystery of his flashbacks, but it's a bit messy. I didn't feel there was a particularly strong theme, nor really any connection between the two storylines, unless you count seeing Boimler acting rebelliously, enraged by the criticism of, and insults towards Starfleet, finally blowing his top when his prized pip is tossed away like nothing. I wonder if McMahan had a bet to prove he could get the most swearwords in a single episode, because it was full of it, albeit mostly bleeped out, but when the guy in charge of a series wants to write it that way you have to wonder at Trek's place now and whether it has a shred of itself left any more.

It'd been a few weeks since I last watched a modern Trek episode (other than the child-friendly 'Prodigy'), so maybe I forgot what the content was like, but it did seem excessive even for what we've seen in recent years. Other than that, content was fine, a bit of blood (young Rutherford dying in our Rutherford's arms, bloody and bruised was a reflection of Badgey in Season 1), we see Rutherford's accident (in memory, so how can he see himself?! I preferred it when they kept the flashback scenes to his POV), skin all scarred and burned, but there wasn't any grossness or gore, for which I am thankful. Of course if the story had been stronger it would have taken my thoughts away from content anyway. This time they don't have the draw of a returning character/actor to divert attention (unless you count Palor Toff of the Collector's Guild, but it wasn't the same actor so I can't count that), but they certainly filled the screen chockablock with mainly visual callbacks and Trekferences, too many to keep track of. I enjoyed the dialogue mentions more, such as Boimler ranting at the Wadi booth for trapping people in games (before they'd bring them back for that in Season 4!), during his violent tantrum - that happened to me once: at work a colleague, out of the blue, got so irritated by me he ripped by name badge off and threw it on the floor. Fortunately I didn't react like Boimler and calmly picked it up, but it was funny!

The brief argument between non-Starfleet personnel about whether the organisation is or isn't military was fun, as was the reference to them changing their uniforms so much (the outpost scientist even holds up two PADDs, one with the original 'TNG' outfit complete with 'speed' stripe, and the other featuring a dress uniform of the kind Picard would wear - again, it's fun he has a separate PADD for each image!). Boimler even begins to give us some information on the current state of the uniform, saying the style worn on the Cerritos aren't across the whole fleet, as we know, since the grey-shouldered 'DS9' variety are still in use, but he's cut off before he can go into any more depth, which is a shame! Then there are the aliens questioning what happened to Sisko, something many people want to know about ever since 'Picard' brought back that era's characters in live action (though it will either never be resolved as Trek turns more towards teen-pleasing varieties of itself, or not until Avery Brooks is dead and gone - I can certainly imagine them recasting the character then, but I'd hate that), so McMahan certainly knows his audience in that respect (even mentioning the parasite aliens from 'Conspiracy' as a conspiracy!). Not sure how well he knows the wider universe, though, as young Rutherford claims he 'funded' the building of racers by winning races, which suggests he needed money, which the Federation doesn't use.

Too often modern Trek wants to get in on the detail and flesh out specifics, not seeming to realise there was a reason certain things were left vague (such as the bit with Stamets brushing his teeth in 'DSC' - the link to this episode being he sees an alternate version of himself in the mirror, the same way Rutherford sees his real self in a reflection of the viewing port). It's too difficult to plan out how they'd work, and the economics of the future is something to avoid or else you just make it like now and you're trampling established canon. I never much cared for space races (the pod-race was terrific, but that was on land - in space it's difficult to create a sense of speed and distance travelled since the vastness of emptiness is so all-engulfing), and a race without even reality outside of someone's brain has even less meaning. If they could imagine whatever they wanted then why even have a fair race anyway? Who imagined the Romulan Warbird? For that matter evil Rutherford was just as likely to cheat, or maybe the whole thing was an elaborate trick to get his older self to rescue him. Maybe he's not even dead. I don't think the intent was to suggest anything of the sort, but when you're dealing with bad guys you can never be sure. The other thing is, even though it's all happening in Rutherford's head, his younger self's racer doesn't look anywhere near as sleek and attractive as the Flyer! Couldn't they come up with anything better?

The "Remember..." moment was good, cleverly advancing the flashback arc, but I can't say this was one of my favourite episodes and I'm really struggling to remember why I thought so highly of the season unless the second half is all top-notch stuff! But I always find some things to like, and in this case little details like Ransom's threatening attitude to Mariner's bad attitude to manning the Starfleet recruitment booth was appreciated (especially when he calls Starbase 80, 'SB80,' the same naming convention as DS9!), the plant with the mind control pollen from Omicron Ceti III (as seen on 'TOS' in 'This Side of Paradise'), even the detail that Rutherford transferred aboard the Cerritos from Douglas Station (although I thought that was a previously established location from old Trek, but apparently not), but at the same time it falls into the trap of thinking all Trek is equal and the same. For example, as much as I love Kirk and Spock, I don't believe a 24th Century recruitment booth would feature a silly camera-posing standup where you put your head in the hole over the famous officers' bodies - they're even wearing the 2260s uniforms rather than the later, film-era versions! It's purely aimed at fans rather than thinking what the reality would be. I suppose it's a bit late to be complaining about such things two-and-a-half seasons in, but the series is at its best when it brings that sense of reality back into modern Trek. For which modern Trek is in dire need.

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Super Mario Galaxy 2

 Wii, Super Mario Galaxy 2 (2010) game

I didn't expect to be playing this game for four months, especially as it was my Christmas replacement for 'Zelda,' but it seems to exist purely to counter the claims that Wii titles were too short and simple. It's really two games in one: complete the standard 120 stars of a Mario adventure and then you're 'rewarded' by having another 122 stars to add to your collection before you can call it completed! I use quotes around 'rewarded' because I was pleased to have finished the game at 120 stars and ready to move onto something new, but felt obligated to beat this whole new challenge the game plopped in my lap. It was simultaneously gratifying to find such an intense game extension, while also being a massive chore heaped on my shoulders just when I'd reached the top of the mountain. What didn't help is that I got the wrong end of the stick on the very first green star, the opening level, Sky Station Galaxy, where you're supposed to follow Luigi who will lead you around the level - I wasn't sure if it was a race to the finish, merely leading you along, or something else. The something else was assuming I had to duplicate everything Mario's brother did, and since he ends up floating above a rotating platform near the end of the level I thought I had to get up there myself and spent far too many hours trying to master the triple jump in restricted space on the platform to reach him. I even succeeded, but nothing happened so I thought I was doing something wrong and eventually moved on to other stars (although the second in that Galaxy was the same 'follow Luigi' jaunt!), leaving these initial challenges to come back to.

I did come back, but not till the end, once I'd picked up almost all the other green stars and had learned the game's language and tone. In the case of those first two stars it was as simple as looking out for them along the route Luigi leads you on, nothing more complicated than that, yet not realising that caused me so much early frustration it made me want to leave the game (more than the annoyance it wasn't finished when I thought it was). My fault, of course, but it suggests the game isn't entirely obvious in how it plays. I soon realised these new stars weren't going to be ridiculously tough puzzles to solve or would require hours of practice to hone the necessary movement skills, even if a number of them were tricky enough challenges of hunting through the levels, or in other cases, performing daring leaps and precise moves in order to succeed. This is where the game could feel unfair, sometimes like you were actively fighting the controls and camera - the usual complaints about Wii control were there for me: not having that immediacy of a digital button press in exchange for the fuzzy lack of precision in analogue movements that don't do the hands and wrists any favours, especially in long play sessions. It shows the Wii was more suited to short, minigame experiences rather than the epic adventures of yore, or the use of a conventional controller, thus negating the system's USP in the first place!

The camera was the other obstacle to precision and control, often denying you the freedom to look where you wanted or position the camera out far enough. This meant sometimes a requirement to leap into the unknown, never a recommended course of action in my eyes as it's leaving too much to chance rather than skill, especially when searching for those more difficult green stars - you had to rely on the twinkling sounds that gave a clue to their nearness, or the rays sparkling off it. But the overriding feeling was of unfairness. It was a challenge, I'll give it that, and if you dedicate yourself to tracking down and winning every star of the 242 in the game, it is a great achievement - in that sense it's particularly old-school compared to the average Wii game, and I do like a challenge. If you want that, it's there in spades: if you collected every yellow star, including the ones unlocked by Comet Medals, and every green star, including the special World, you then get one final Galaxy within it, with two runs: first just to get to the end, then to do the same sequences with the caveat you only have one piece of life, so one mistake and you're right back to the beginning again, the most old-fashioned style you can get, reminding you how hard games used to be. 2D platformers were never that big a draw to me, being so restrictive and requiring leaps of faith, pixel-perfect jumps, all those cardinal sins of the past. 3D platforming gave us huge worlds of exploration, still retaining the need for expertise in movement, but not all the time. The 'Galaxy' games have relied too much on the old 2D aesthetic for my taste, as much fun as they can often be, instant plummets to death all over the place reducing the sense of freedom.

Indeed, some levels or parts of levels were unashamedly 2D travels from left to right, up and down, and while the idea of levels being obstacle courses to get through is one approach, I've always preferred the scope and encouragement to explore a world where you're not in danger of plummeting to those instant deaths every few moments. If you take the game on its own terms, deal with its draconian camera, and ignore the fact that the language of galaxies and worlds suggests something much grander than what you actually experience, there's a lot of satisfaction to be had. But it remains something where you're generally meant to get through it as quickly as possible rather than interacting with the environment or building a connection with the inhabitants. There wasn't even the usual coin tally for each level (there are coins, but they're there to recover health and be spent on Luma shops), which would have provided much more replayability - not that the game doesn't use repeated visits to its levels, the idea of the Comet Medals and then the green stars was exactly that: creating reasons for you to redo levels in your search, or challenging you in a new way within the familiar. And there are some levels which are more traditional, such as Starshine Beach Galaxy, or the lovingly included Throwback Galaxy which brings in one of the ancient levels of 'Super Mario 64.' That also reminds you why those older levels were more enjoyable in a lot of cases: less obstacle course and more celebration of freedom of movement and experimentation, even while often being compact.

The central premise of the series, the movement around levels unhindered by gravity, is a bit of a gimmick. It doesn't make the experience all that different, but I can see why they would try and add something that looks quite dramatic. It's just that you don't really have that sense of planets, systems and galaxies, they tend to be little rocks to bounce from one to the other, then the main chunks of level, some of which can be traversed spherically, others not. What I was less keen on is the changing configuration of the controls as you move to different planes as it can get confusing, and again, you don't always feel in control as you have to adjust your thinking and convert movements into actual direction - you may be running left, but the perspective changes and now you're running upwards, and it only adds to the sense of punishment as you battle for control of Mario. The failure in the controls to always do exactly as you attempt is even worse when it comes to parts where you point directly at the screen, either as Yoshi tongue-grappling his way between flowers, or Mario grabbing the gravity 'Pull Stars' to float around in space where there is no gravity - if there's any flaw with the connection between Wii and Remote it can cost you your life!

Different transformations in the Mario tradition create other control issues. For example, Spring Mario can leap high into the air, but he's an absolute pain to control. Again, it's challenge created by being forced to deal with uncomfortable or erratic movement in order to progress. Maybe it's my problem for looking at the game through the lens of 'traditional' 3D platforming and if I accepted the game on its own terms I'd be happier with it, but taste is subjective and it simply isn't as much to my taste, I've always preferred perfect precision in control of a character, be it a racing car, a first-person shooter or a third-person adventure so having to battle the system itself to progress rather than issues within the game world always bring me back to that inherent unfairness and discomfort! I will say I did enjoy most of the transformations, my favourite being Cloud Mario with his white overalls and floppy cap, a mix of chef's hat and Mr. Whippy ice cream. Partly it was the jauntiness of the getup, but also it was the addition of a safety net since you have three clouds who follow you around and when the Remote is shaken, become temporary floating platforms, so it appealed on all levels! Rock Mario's good fun rolling around as a boulder and smashing into things (and there were certainly plenty of innovative uses for these disguises, such as a series of skittles alleys or tricky runs through narrow platforms), and Bee Mario for the ability to fly short distances, but others, such as Fire Mario were too hard on the wrist - you have to shake the Remote each time you want to launch a fireball.

Though I say the game was a huge challenge in the best tradition of such things, there were plenty of handholding assistances, whether that be videos showing how to use the necessary techniques, or, most shameful of all, when the Force Ghost version of Princess Rosalina appears after you've mucked up a sequence so many times the game decides you need to be shown how to do it! How embarrassing... Having Yoshi along for the ride in a lot of levels gave things a new spin, and he does at least have a backup with his Flutter Jump, but even there, you're confined by physics to travelling in one direction, you can't turn midair as you'd expect to in most games - another unfairness. It's also awkward having to control Yoshi with the Nunchuk in 3D space, while also aiming the Remote at the screen to grab things with his tongue, shoot out enemies or lick up fruit and once again doesn't impress thanks to the controls. As much as I like having Yoshi along! I don't want to sound too critical as much of the game is very enjoyable, the physics I complain about can also be impressive (take the levels where Mario perches atop a 'Star Ball' like some giant ball-bearing/log rolling stunt, where it becomes very 'Super Monkey Ball,' except with the 'monkey' on the outside, even if it'd been copied over from the first 'SMG'), and there are a host of varied tasks and approaches - I certainly wouldn't suggest this isn't a good game, but it didn't do enough to rise higher than that. I probably want something more akin to 'Zelda' which has that deeper connection to the world - popping in and out of so many little environments doesn't have the same pleasure.

When first sitting down to play it, it almost immediately reminded me why I was relatively cool on the original 'SMG,' being mostly A-to-B obstacle courses, too much linear progression and repetition - even the admittedly pleasing World Map, a recreation of the old 2D game maps (I think of 'Super Mario Land 2' on the Game Boy, for example). The levels don't really stand out very strongly in the memory - I couldn't tell you what my favourite was, they were all a little too samey, too bitty, and while the music wasn't bad, even the standout music from 'Gusty Garden Galaxy' in 'SMG,' which was so terrific, they felt they had to keep reusing in various places throughout, nor was there anything equivalent to the greatness of that piece. If a game was judged by value for money then this would score very highly, but taken as a whole I find it's a cruel game that frustrates as much as it rewards, once again in large part due to the level of responsiveness from the controls.

Still, after the toughie of the first star in Stone Cyclone Galaxy I went on to clear the rest of 'World S' ('S' for Special, I assume), but still had five previously abandoned stars to go back for in other galaxies: the one where you're flying Fluzzard over the rocket, Fleet Glide Galaxy, was easy enough to find with a fresh perspective, then the spooky swamp of Boo Moon Galaxy was as simple as following Luigi to the end and it was just off to the left. As I said, the big surprise was how easy the first two green stars in the game actually were, as would make sense for that point in the game. Going back to them I'd since learned the game's 'language,' its expectations, and understood what I was meant to be looking or listening out for. That left the 'final' star on the cliff face of Yoshi Star Galaxy where Yoshi can't quite get enough height even using the tongue flowers to propel upwards, but I realised Mario could leap off his back in midair and was relieved to have solved every puzzle without resorting to the coward's way (internet help), but it was a hard taskmaster of a game, no more so than that final Grandmaster Galaxy. If this had been 'Super Mario 64' and I was granted leave to go back for another 122 stars after the main game was finished I'd have been thrilled, but this game did somewhat outstay its welcome, though I would concede that it's better to be too long a game than too short. It represents the Wii well, both in its flaws and its imaginative delights, and since Mario is Nintendo's mascot, that's only fitting (and yes, if there'd been a 'Super Mario Galaxy 3' of course I'd have eventually played that, too!).

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