Dragon's Boneknapper Bonus

Just finished watching How To Train Your Dragon on DVD (someday, Blu-Ray….someday…). I hoped it would be as good as I remembered. I was not disappointed.

The film rocks on home video. Its astounding fantasy world—with all its beautiful color, detail and texture—roars to life even on my humble DVD player and ancient television. And the story, of course, is just as sharp, funny and near-perfect as always.

The Double-DVD set and Blu-Ray contain a terrific animated bonus short: The Legend of the Boneknapper Dragon.
Taking place after the feature’s events, it opens with a nighttime emergency, mirroring the original’s opening dragon attack, but now with the dragons in use as the tribe’s fire department/rescue squad. The film then focuses on a journey to confront a legendary beast which may or may not be a figment of Gobber’s imagination.Surprisingly (and awesomely), this story involves several tall-tale sequences narrated by Gobber which take place entirely in wonderful, classic-style 2-D animation!
If you've ever wondered what the feature’s Viking world would look like hand-drawn, the answer is: Terrific! These bits are beautifully designed and great fun. Overall, the 14-minute film is an entertaining, light, funny little bonus tale--Exactly as intended.
What a great day for home video! If you haven't yet discovered the Island of Berk, and found why it's joining Hogwarts, Oz and Middle Earth on the list of all-time best fantasy locales, pick up this gem; You're in for a great ride.

Punchout Returns in Style

The Wii remake of the classic Nintendo game Punchout!! blends frantic, addictive gameplay with some of the funniest character animation ever to grace a game.

My favorite games usually involve the chance to interact with memorable, well-animated characters. Punchout delivers this experience at a level of polish, intensity and charm that can only be matched by Nintendo's own Super Smash Brothers Brawl.

Punchout's a different animal, though. While Brawl revels in chaos and on-the-fly strategy, Punchout works almost like a quick-reflex puzzle game. Each fighter has his own mannerisms and attacks: Some punches cannot be countered, and some leave the character wide open to a fist in the face or belly. Visual and audible clues in the character's taunts and windups give you a split-second reveal of the incoming attack. If you can react quickly enough, and keep your attention sharp as the fight increases in speed and complexity, you will win.

Most likely, winning will take a while, with later fights needing to be repeated over and over as you:

1) Figure out the fighter's patterns and clues
2) Practice until you can respond quickly enough

That second point is the kicker, as Punchout is brutally unforgiving: Badly-timed moves lead to merciless pummelings for your character, Little Mac. Persistence, alertness, and lots of trial and error lead to victory.

Fortunately, Punchout is incredibly fun to play. The Thirteen opponents (plus one hidden cameo) form the most entertaining gaggle of pompous, egotistical meatheads to ever grace a game. As they strut, preen, boast and taunt, you can't help but smile. You'll chuckle later as they panic and lose their composure once you've discovered their weaknesses. Along the way, you'll find yourself involuntarily laughing and shouting out loud: Punchout truly becomes an immersive, emotion-grabbing thrill ride.

At its best, Nintendo delivers games that "click" on a level of sheer entertainment rarely matched by other companies. Bravo to Next Level Games (whose talented crew brilliantly crafted this remake for the big "N"), and welcome back, Punchout!!