We revisit Sony’s take on Coppola’s take on Dracula by reviewing the lesser SNES version of the same game we played on Sega Genesis… which turned out not quite as dire as I was lead to believing. Still, why play this when Super Castlevania IV exists on the same platform?
TNA Bound For Glory 2020
Ah, yes. The Bound For Glory show with zero fans in attendance due to prevailing circumstances… although one could make the mistaken assumption that people just gave up on TNA and Anthem decided, “Fuck it. We’ll run the show even if no one wants to watch it.” In some strange, perverse fashion, if one were to watch this show under that specific mindset, it gets to be slightly more palatable.
If only that were truly the case and not just for the humorous memes…
So WWE had their 2-night Wrestlemania in April, I believe. AEW did their Double Or Nothing show in May. Both had generally good cards with some fun stuff – Mania’s Boneyard match and DoN’s Stadium Stampede were highlights. Can Impact achieve that leave of splendor with Bound For Glory?
The short answer is not really. The long answer is after the break.
Bathwater
I recently read an interview with Bob Picardo (he played Voyager’s Doctor in Star Trek Voyager and came back for the recent Starfleet Academy) who lamented the cancellation of Starfleet Academy, saying that it’s akin to tossing the baby with the bathwater. He brings up a very valid point that most people tend to overlook; that the first season is usually rough around the edges and it takes a show a good year or two before it eventually hits its stride.
There’s truth in that statement. People who watched TNG may recall that the show didn’t get good until the third season when they upgraded the uniforms and got a firm grip on who everyone was and what everyone was all about. TOS was all over the place in its first season, undecided on what to call their space patrol agency or how far into the future it took place in. Going beyond Trek, I can recall Home Improvement’s first season being something of a work in progress before the show got good.
Here’s the thing, though; not every show survives beyond its first season. People may recall that Firefly show that got a bit of fans, but was cancelled due to low viewership. And that was a good show from the getgo. And while it’s true that the first season is often the “rough draft” of a show, it still has to attract an audience. And if that audience isn’t buying into what you’re selling, no guarantee it moves beyond season 1. Now I cannot speak to the overall quality of Starfleet Academy because I haven’t seen it and honestly, don’t care to because it’s a teen drama thing that I wasn’t a fan of when I was the target audience for that kind of show and even less so nowadays. So I’m not in a position to tell you whether that show is good or not, nor can I tell whether it would eventually get better after a season or two. But if that show didn’t attract the numbers that would make it feasible to continue, then it wouldn’t surprise me that it’s getting axed. A show like that is expensive to make. It needs to make money.
Besides, the thing about the show getting better over time doesn’t exactly ring true all of the time. Strange New Worlds started off with a solid first season and subsequently got worse over time. The fact that it gets to finish its story next year is a blessing. Starfleet Academy doesn’t even get that much and that’s a unfortunate situation, regardless of how you feel about the show… unless you’re one of those people dancing over its open grave, then you’re having a luau.
Oh well… that was my random morning brain fart.
New review tomorrow. Feeling shit.
Dodged A Bullet
Source: https://bleedingcool.com/tv/rtd-moffat-tried-to-make-doctor-who-star-trek-crossover-a-reality/
So word broke that there were plans for a Doctor Who/Strange New Worlds crossover to happen… and then there weren’t. And I’m reading this thinking that maybe we dodged a bullet here.
Star Trek and Doctor Who did have a crossover event in the past in comic book form, back when both franchises were in better shape for the most part and back when the material was treated with a little more care and circumstance than it is these days. Strange New Worlds did have one character who made references to a certain Doctor one time or another and you’d even spot a certain Blue Police Box once or twice if you were eagle-eyed enough.
Under the right circumstances, such a crossover could have potential. But given that Doctor Who has its terrible run as of late and Strange New Worlds is more concerned about BIG SWINGS than any cohesive storytelling, rewarding poor products with a crossover of this magnitude might have appeased someone out there, but it would have been a mess of things.
Maybe someday, we’ll get that crossover when both franchises are in better shape. I’m not ruling out the possibility. I’m just ruling out the possibility of THESE versions getting the crossover.
“Get better writers and we’ll talk” is all I want to hear.
Sunday Gimmick Table #66 – Game Boy Micro
I wish I had the box. You’ll have to settle for the leftovers.
Didn’t occur to me until just as I was uploading this thing that I used the old SGT intro with dearly departed Sacha rather than the new intro with still sleeping Maya. Miss the ol’ girl.
Sunday Gimmick Table #65 – Squirrel
Even our lovely park critters can be a caricature and this one intrigued me enough to turn into a video… and potential B-roll for future videos.
Before anyone asks, yes, this was going to be last week’s episode, but there would have been something extra on there. Now it’s its own thing. Bonus “proper” episode coming later tonight.
AEW Dynamite (Oct. 14th, 2026) – Hangman Doesn’t Get It
In case Hangman needed a reminder as to why Swerve has beef with him to this day. This is something that doesn’t go away, bro.
Apparently, there is/was an AEW PPV yesterday/tonight. To be honest, I haven’t been keeping up. That’s on me. Not enough snowflakes to keep me interested, I guess… also been busy with other stuff.
In other news, Kurt Angle still hasn’t got his 5-star match. Might I suggest a run at the Tokyo Dome?
Review #1380 – Fester’s Quest (NES)
Technical issues, last minute edits… such is the folly of doing yet another video on everyone’s favorite punching bag, Fester’s Quest.
To be honest, I’m not quite sure how I feel about this one. I didn’t quite like playing the game all that much and yet didn’t dislike it as much as I feared. There’s ideas that I like and yet the execution is rubbish… typical licensed fare this is not, but no hidden gem, either. Eh.
So if things go according to plan, no more NES games this year. I’m saving those for next year and that’s when some notable games on the bucket list finally get the spotlight. In the meantime, we’ve got other crap from other consoles to visit. What fun.
Formally Ended My Antstream Subscription
Well, a day before it was set to renew, I ended my year-long relationship with Antstream… by which I mean, the annual subscription is not being renewed.
The reasoning was quite simple; I simply wasn’t using it as often as I would have liked and while I’ve gotten some mileage out of it, the simple truth was that there were a lot of games on there that either didn’t interest me. And with all the recent news surrounding Antstream’s recent controversies, as it were, I felt as though maybe we should walk away for a bit and figure things out.
Maybe some day, I’ll hop on that train again… but for now, it won’t be happening.
New review later tonight… and it’ll take an old punching bag for some retro enthusiasts or something.
Why Is This Still A Thing?
Apparently someone on Twitter was bitching about ol’ Kurt Angel never getting the coveted five snowflakes from Uncle Dave and true to form, Meltzer popped up and blamed Chris Van Vliet… that charming fellow who interviews a bunch of wrestling people as well as a fellow Canadian. (He’s a Toronto native. We won’t hold that against him.)
Anyway, this stems from a clip from years ago that featured Vliet asking Meltzer about this very issue, to which Dave gives a gaslighting bullshit non-answer… and CVV pushed the issue further. And to compound this stupidity further, Meltzer claims that interview was done minutes after his son’s dog passed away… yes, Dave. Not only blame Vliet for asking a question people have been asking for years, but also blame the dog for dying. I guess the dog wasn’t a fan of AEW.
No, seriously… why do people still care about whether Kurt Angle has five stars or not? Doesn’t the scale go up to infinity? Does five stars mean anything when you can go up to infinity?
Besides, he’s no Will Ospreay and his eighteen-star matches… meh.
New review tomorrow night.