Tag Archives: Review

Visual Memory #1 – ‘The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap’

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The Legend of Zelda celebrates its 26th anniversary next week but Christopher Bell is looking back, not forward, in the first edition of Visual Memory – a brand new monthly column exploring classic games on extinct systems…

Legend has it that the kingdom of Hyrule is protected from an ancient darkness by the Picori Blade, a sacred sword entrusted to the royal family by the Minish – a race of Borrower-sized folk who can only be seen by children. Every century, the people of Hyrule celebrate their victory over the forces of evil by holding a royal tournament, at which the winner is allowed to touch the sacred blade. It just so happens that this year’s winner is an evil sorcerer by the name of Vaati, who shatters the sword, unleashing a tide of monsters on the land. To make matters worse, he turns the young princess Zelda to stone. It’s up to her young friend Link to track down the mysterious Minish, re-forge the Picori Blade and restore the princess…

 

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Trials & Triumphs – A Review of the SFX Weekender 3 Event

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The dust has settled, the hangovers faded and the cosplay has been packed away for another year. But was this year’s SFX Weekender – one of Britain’s biggest sci-fi and fantasy conventions – worth the trip?

It’s safe to say that not everything went according to plan, but did the stellar guest list make up for the freezing temperatures and interminable queues? P.G. Bell shares the high and low points with Caleb Woodbridge and Sarah Burrow. PLUS! a report on the inaugural cosplay competition and interviews with a few of the participants. Click on the jump below to find photos of some of the people we spoke to, but head on over to our Facebook page to see a complete gallery of the weekend’s events!

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 45:15 — 41.4MB)

(right click and “Save Target/Link As…”)

P.S. The excellent ‘Transdimensional Mix’ of the Doctor Who theme music comes courtesy of HardWire.

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Video Game Review – ‘Doctor Who: Worlds in Time’

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For such a diverse show, Doctor Who has always stuggled when it comes to video games. Could Worlds in Time be the one to buck the trend? Olivia Cottrell takes her virtual TARDIS for a spin…

Pity the Doctor Who fan who also happens to be a video game geek. While the Doctor might initially seem a perfect fit for the video game world – his universe of strange aliens, dramatic stories and quirky characters is already one with a touch of the virtual about it – the franchise’s attempts to cross into video games have so far been decidedly lacklustre. While perfectly decent for free titles, a clunky control system and broken AI meant that the recent range of downloadable 3D Adventure Games were frequently frustrating experiences.  As someone who considers herself both a video games nerd (I’ve spent too many hours shouting at dragons over the past month to successfully argue otherwise) and a Doctor Who fan, I was ready for something more satisfying.

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Book Review – ‘The Whisper Jar’ – Carole Lanham

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Some secrets are kept in jars – others, in books.

It’s book review time again, so join P.G. Bell and Olivia Cottrell as they tackle a collection of short fantasy tales from acclaimed author Carole Lanham. In The Whisper Jar, you will encounter a Blood Digger who bonds two children irrevocably together; a young woman who learns of her destiny through the random selection of a Bible verse; and a boy whose life begins to reflect the stories he reads…

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 13:38 — 12.5MB)

Sherlock – Review and Discussion

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There’s more to Moffat than Doctor Who but is Sherlock really the series that “puts the ‘sexy’ in sexist?”

As the second series of Moffat’s award winning adaptation draws to a close, Caleb Woodbridge, Sarah Burrow, Olivia Cottrell and James Willets put their heads together to examine the latest run of episodes. They also share their thoughts on the sexism furore and Moffat’s response, how the series fares against other adaptations (Robert Downey Jr, take a bow) and the show’s unique visual style.

This was our first attempt at recording an all-Skype discussion, so the sound quality does vary in places, but shouldn’t be too distracting.

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 52:58 — 48.5MB)

Points of Who #2: Doctor Who movie rumours and series 6 DVD review

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In the second Points of Who, we go beyond our commentaries to catch up on the Doctor Who news and rumours.

In this episode:

  • Caleb and Sarah discuss David Yates’ original comments on making a Doctor Who film.
  • Swithun and James discuss Steven Moffat’s response and what they’d like to see from a Doctor Who movie.
  • Caleb and Sarah discuss the Night and the Doctor mini-episodes.
  • Caleb gives his in-depth review of series 6 as a whole.

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 40:18 — 18.5MB)

Should Doctor Who go to Hollywood, or is it better suited for the small-screen? How does series 6 hold up now it’s out as a box-set? Let us know your thoughts below!