April 16, 2007
By KRIS AUMILLER
Staff Reporter
KRASOIB@PSU.EDU
Blades of Glory
Before I get into anything, I would
like to state how much I despise Jon
Heder. He was a one - hit wonder
with Napoleon Dynamite and has
done nothing but ruin what could be
seen as decent movies since then. I
almost didn’t see Blades of Glory
just due to the fact that he was in it.
However, my love for Will Ferrell’s
humor and trying to woo a first date
with dinner and a movie took me to
Regal 14 to see it. 1 swallowed my
pride and willingly gave Jon Heder
one more chance to impress me. It did
help however that 1 went on opening
night, so I got to see the movie with a
few “spaceship people.’’
The film is about two rival male
figure skaters, Chazz Michael
PS2's last TMN
By OLVER EISLER
Staff Reporter
OPESOOO@PSU.EDU
Welcome back gamers! In this
issue, we will examine TMNT , the
latest videogame incarnation of
the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
franchise that follows alongside the
new movie of the same name.
For those of you who spent your
childhoods living under a rock, the
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are
a team of four genetically mutated
turtles who were trained in the ways
of ninjitsu by their Sensei, a mutated
rat named Splinter.
Emerging every night from their
home in the sewers of Manhattan,
the TMNT protect New York City
from a wide array of villains, from
mobsters and robots to monsters and
aliens. Yet amongst all this chaos,
they always find time to chow down
a slice of pizza!
TMNT the videogame takes the
turtles into a darker, grittier world.
Whether facing abusive officials in
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Michaels (Ferrell) and Jimmy
Mac Elroy (Heder), who get into a
fight during the medal ceremony at the
Olympics, are stripped of their medals
and become banned from male figure
skating. After that, a male stalker fan
of MacElory’s find a loophole in the
rules that would allow him to compete
in pairs skating. When Mac Elroy
is looking for a partner, he runs into
Michaels and they get into a fight after
a few choice words. Mac Elro y’s old
Coach (Craig T. Nelson) is watching
the news and sees the two fight. He
watches closely as they display
“perfect” form for partners skating,
as they throw each other around. He
gets the wild idea to put the two rivals
together so that they can return to the
top of the skating world.
Blades is your typical Ferrell/
Vaughn/Stiller comedy. Ferrell leads
and has quotable punch lines (Such as,
when Michaels runs into Mac Elroy
and says, “You still look like a 15-
year-old girl, but not hot), he has a
big name co-star with him (Heder),
and then there is an out of place actor
who fills a big role, which happens
to be “Coach” Craig T. Nelson. The
actors all work well together and have
Central America or the murderous
gangsters of New York, the turtles
have their amphibian hands full
throughout the game’s sixteen levels.
Each turtle has his own unique style of
fighting. For example, Michelangelo
is fast, but doesn’t have much range,
while Donatello is slow, but his
range is incredible and very useful
for clearing obstacles at a distance.
Each turtle also has his own special
move, such as Raphael’s ability to
climb walls with his Sais.
The graphics are a definite strong
point for this game. Using the PS2’s
abilities to its limits, the ' game
developers managed to get the dying
console to produce one of the finest
visual gems of its career.
The whole game looks like it has
been ripped out of the movie theater
and transferred to your home console;
and as a matter of fact, that is exactly
what was done at some points, where
cut-scenes from the movie were
seamlessly integrated into the game.
The extras in this game are terrific.
If you are dedicated and want to
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Part-time positions
available for:
THE CAPITAL TIMES
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Full and
- Hosts
- Food Runners
nothing in common. They don’t look
like they belong on the same screen at
the same time, but they seem to make
it work.
1 was impressed with the ice skating
factor of the movie. Obviously, the
actors did not do ALL of their own
skating. However, in the parts where
you can definitely see it is them the
whole time, 1 was shocked that they
could actually skate. Ferrell and
Heder have some serious grace in the
“training sessions.”
This is a hysterical movie. Jon
Heder scored on his last chance with
me. He had his gross/painful comedy
moment that I respect him for (Like
taking a paintball to the groin in
School for Scoundrels), and he didn’t
have as many punch lines. Therefore,
he didn’t bother me as much this time
around. It ranks, in my mind, as my
favorite comedy since Anchorman. If
you love Will Ferrell, this is definitely
a movie that you have to see.
RATING: 4 out of 5. I can’t give it
a 5 out of 5 because it isn’t quite Old
School funny.
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T release power
unlock all 208 coins in the game,
then you will have
to play through
each level over and
over again until you
get a perfect score.
You can use these
coins to purchase
various in-game
bonus rewards such
as: artwork, video
trailers, challenge
modes and special
modes (big-head
mode is absolutely
hilarious!). The
game also keeps
track of several stats,
including total time
played, enemies
killed, total number
of times you have
fallen to your doom,
and even some odd
ones such as total
airtime
All of the above
makes it feel as ifthe game developers making, which is always pleasing to is nothing special, but it isn’t bad
Who didn’t love the turtles as a
kid? 1 had every action figure they
designed from 1988-1992. I owned
every home video tape that came
out. I know I went as a homemade
(not store bought, 1 didn’t mess
around) Raphael for Halloween three
years in a row. With my plastic Sais
and muscles sewn into my costume
(1 was scrawny), 1 was geared to
rock the foot clan and get free candy.
Whether you were a Raphael,
Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo,
or even an April O’Neil fan growing
up, everyone at Penn State knows of
or watched the turtles. Thev were
the icon cartoon of our generation
and have been around for 23 years
First of all, at least this w (sn’t
the “real life” actors in suits turtle
movies. They started as a cartoon
and it’s good to see they are still a
actually cared about what they were
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are not only popular on the silver screen. This movie-based video
game for the Playstation 2 is now available in stores and closely follows the movie plot.
ITS
TMNT
Apply Within...
800 Eisenhower Blvd
Harrisburg, PA 17111
cartoon. However, the characters
in this movie are awfully out of
proportion. Where are my steroid
freak turtles that look like they
work out 12 hours a day? They’re
scrawny! Where is a person that
isn’t broad shouldered and has
bigger than a 20 inch waist?
TMNT picks up from the old
storyline of the “human” turtles.
The Shredder is gone, and the whole
team sensed that they were built on
is all but gone. Leonardo went to
train in Central America, Raphael
got sick of waiting around for Leo
and started a career in being a
vigilante, Donatello became a tech
nerd, and Michelangelo is essentially
Bozo the Clown. Max Winters, a
strange rich guy, hires April O’Neil
to help him find an ancient relic.
April takes the opportunity so she
can try and find all of her old friends
and reunite them as a team once
again. When they all come back
to New York, and with the help of
Jason look alike Casey Jones, they
try to figure out what Winters really
wants to do with this relic.
The CGI makes the turtles what
they should be. The fighting is as
hits the
a true fan. The sound in this game
(717) 939-2279
“real” as it should be with some
mutated freaks kicking each other
around. They aren’t restrained
martial artists in rubber suits. They
are, dare I say it, “lean, mean fightin’
machines” (RIP John Candy). The
choreographed fighting is clean and
quick.
In my opinion, I was impressed
that they kept the personalities as
they were meant to be. Leo remains
elegant, Raph is still a bad ass,
Donny is a genius, and Mikey is,
well, Mikey. They didn’t soften up
the turtles I grew up with for the
younger generation.
It was impressive. It was clean. It
even held up some of my childhood
memories, but it wasn’t for me. I
walked out of the theatre only
satisfied with the popcorn and coke I
paid $lO for.
RATING: 2 out of 5. One for
making a new turtle movie, one for
kind of keeping it the same, but I
can’t give it anything more.
shelves
either. Unlike a great deal of movie
based games, TMNTs voices
are indistinguishable from
their movie counterparts.
Speaking of which, it should
be noted that, as is often the
case with movie-based games,
there are major differences
between the game’s story and
the movie’s story. According
to the game’s lead developer,
“While the general story is the
same, the game deviates from
the movie, and adds in a lot of
things that aren’t in the movie,
and omits things that are.”
Overall, however, the game
stays true to the movie, and
certainty to'the spirit of' the
original Teenage Mutant Ninja
Turtles by Kevin Eastman and
Peter Laird. It is not perfect,
but it is a great game.
So, whether you rent it or
buy it, make sure that you
find time at some point to
experience this final gift of the
PS2 to the TMNT franchise.
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