GamerOfTime Reviews

SpongeBob SquarePants: Operation Krabby Patty (2001 Video Game)

Not too bad for the first Spongebob game

[6/10 · 17 April 2014]

Operation krabby patty has two stories which are the right side and wrong side of the bed. On the right side, Plankton hires sea ants to steal krabby patties in a robot Mr Krabs. Spongebob needs to warn the real Mr Krabs before Plankton can get the patties. On the wrong side, Plankton has kidnapped Gary and Spongebob needs to collect specific items to get Gary back.

The objective of the game is to complete three levels of six mini games on one side of a bed to complete one of the stories. Both sides have the same mini games but they are played in a different order, have different music and some have different playable characters. The games are short and have a simple goal which can be fun for the younger fans but may seem repetitive for the older fans.

The voice acting is top notch as it features most of the original cast except Mr Krabs. His actor in this game is not bad but he doesn't sound like Clancy Browns Mr Krabs and that may disappoint some fans.

Since this is a game from 2001 and one based on a TV series, it does not have the best graphics. In the cutscenes before and after the mini games, the mouth movements can look awkward and sometimes don't match what the character is saying. In a few instances, a character talks but their mouths remain closed or unchanged.

Overall, this is game that will probably appeal more to the younger Spongebob crowd than the older fans. Some may enjoy it but most will likely find it boring.

The Christmas Tree (1991 TV Movie)

A Christmas special with a lack of Christmas...

[1/10 · 22 January 2014]

In The Christmas Tree, a family moves into a town and the wife named Judy and her two children are offered to stay at an orphanage where Judy will work as an assistant for Mrs Mavilda. Unlike Mrs Mavilda, who is strict, cruel and keeps donation money for herself, Judy is kind and caring and gets a lot of respect from the orphans. Mrs Mavilda feels that Judy is getting too much respect and hatches a plan to get rid of her and the children decide to get help from Santa Claus.

The tree the title refers to is a pine tree named Mrs Hopewell but she is hardly involved in the plot as she is used a few times at the beginning but she doesn't become important until near the end.

The voice acting for the film is extremely wooden, especially the acting from the child actors as the children. It makes you wonder if they actually auditioned or if they only got the parts because they may have been the crews children. The voice acting from the adult characters is just as bad, particularly Judy's husband who sounds very monotone.

The animation is lazy and hardly anything moves. In most cases when a character is speaking, the only moving body parts are their lips and their blinking eyes. Little effort was put into the mouth movement as they usually do not match what the characters are saying. In fact, the first time I saw this, I thought it was a dub. The majority of the characters have the exact same faces and it is pretty creepy when they smile.

Despite being marketed as a Christmas special, Christmas is hardly ever mentioned at all. The movie also has a moral at the end where Mrs Mavilda becomes nice and learns that "you always win when you're good." Instead of getting punished for her mistreatment of the orphans, she goes back to working at the orphanage as an assistant. This is a horrible moral as being good does not automatically pardon terrible things someone may have done in the past. Instead, the moral should have been about why Christmas is one of the happiest times of the year and the fact that it is better to give than to receive.

Overall, this is definitely one of the worst holiday specials of all time and I do not recommend it for anyone.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)

The first of many Disney classics

[10/10 · 7 January 2014]

Disney's "Snow White" was the very first full length animated film and without it, we most likely would have never had the classics that came years after.

Snow White lives in a castle with her stepmother who is jealous of her stepdaughter's beauty and wishes to kill her so she will become "the fairest of them all." Snow White runs away into the forest and comes across the cottage of the seven Dwarfs and they agree to let her stay but the Queen decides to take care of Snow White herself upon discovering that she is still alive and living with the seven dwarfs.

For starters, the animation is fantastic and you can only imagine how long it must have taken the animators to draw out one frame alone. The studio was also used to animating characters in a silly style like Mickey Mouse at the time and the training they went through shows how determined Walt Disney was to make this film happen especially considering he put a mortgage on his house to get the money to make the film and would have ended up homeless if it failed.

The voice cast is also fantastic, especially upon learning that this was Adrianna Caselotti's first role in a motion picture. Most modern Disney fans criticise her voice for Snow White and label it "annoying" but I feel the voice fits the character perfectly since Snow White is 14 years old in the film. Lucille La Verne is also great as the Queen and captures the wicked nature of her cruel intentions perfectly.

Many also complain about the changes from the source material despite the fact that not everything from a book can be adapted into a film. I feel that making Snow White 14 in the film instead of 7 like in the original tale was a better choice as seeing a child go through certain events in the film such as the forest scene may have been traumatising.

Overall, this is one of the studios best animated features with impressive animation, a great cast of voices and is the reason why we have the classics we know and love today.

At Jesus' Side (2008 Video)

From the perspective of a non-religious person

[4/10 · 11 November 2013]

Although I do not have religious beliefs, this movie doesn't really teach much regarding the miracles of Jesus.

Despite his name being in the title, Jesus is a pretty minor character. The plot focuses on four animals which consists of two dogs named Jericho and Ulysses, a hedgehog named Petra and a Chameleon named Miguel. While traveling, they find a baby puppy and decide to try to return her to her home but Jericho is against this idea because of his hatred of humans. After arriving in Jerusalem, they meet another dog named Maya who offers to help them and Jesus who Jericho begins to befriend. While they are in town, they need to avoid a man named Psychosis who hates dogs and loves killing them.

One problem with this movie is that it has quite a few plot holes. For example, the movie begins with the animals traveling but we are not told much about where they came from and Phycosis lacks a back story as it is never explained why he has such a huge hatred for dogs.

The voice acting for this film ranges from average to poor. Lucas Grabeel sounds like he is extremely bored here and Roma Downey sounds like she wants to go to sleep. Lee Tockar, despite being one of the better voice actors, constantly switches between different accents for Miguel despite the fact that he is supposed to be a Spanish speaking animal.

There are a couple of positives to this movie. The animation is actually pretty good for a direct-to-video movie. Some of the voice actors are definitely better than others such as Kathleen Barr and Blu Mankuma.

Overall, this is definitely a Christian based movie I do not recommend. It could have been a good movie if it only focused on Jesus and did not have any talking animals because I think kids would be able to handle some of the things that happen to Jesus that are not shown here.

Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Movie - Pyramid of Light (2004)

Just an extended episode of the anime

[1/10 · 2 November 2013]

Yu gi oh was an anime I watched from time to time but I was never really that big of a fan. I was actually expecting the movie to be decent at the very least but, boy, was I wrong.

In the movie, Kaiba defeats Peagsus in a duel and wins two new cards to help him defeat Yugi's god cards, one of them being the pyramid of light which prevents Yugi from summoning the god cards and Yugi, Joey and Tristans souls are sucked inside Yugi's Egyptian god puzzle. While Kaiba and the Pharoah are in the pyramid of light, any life points they lose will affect their physical life force.

One problem with this movie is that It is the usual "Kaibi wants to defeat Yugi" plot that has been seen plenty of times in the show. It would have been a lot more interesting if they went in a similar direction to the Pokemon movies where team rocket are not the main villains but still somewhat relevant to the plot. Because of this direction, the outcome is pretty predictable.

I normally prefer dubs over subs but the dialogue in this movie is pretty cringe-worthy. In one scene inside the Egyptian god puzzle, Joey says "I believe we're not in Kansas anymore" which just felt forced and unnecessary.

The biggest problem with the movie is the main villain, Anibus who doesn't appear until near the end of the movie and by this point, you just know that the pharaoh is going to make quick work of him.

If you are a hardcore fan of the anime, you may enjoy this movie but otherwise I do not recommend it.

Back to the Future (1991–1993)

A decent adaptation of a film series

[6/10 · 9 September 2013]

In the animated series of Back To The Future, the brown family has moved back to present day Hill Valley and have settled in quite well. Along with Marty, the family often go in trips in time through the use of the delorean and steam train.

This is definitely one of the better cartoon adaptations of a film series as it often uses time travel to teach different morals to kids but it can also teach them small bits about history such as the fact that the Pilgrims would sentence people they accused of being witches without hearing their side of the argument.

Despite being a decent adaptation, it suffers through its characterisation of Marty. He is not the same as he was in the films and is reduced to the idiot friend of the main character. Although Marty had his silly moments in the films, the cartoon goes overboard with this which makes him too dumb to live.

Another problem with Marty is his hypocrisy. In an early season 1 episode, he gets mad at Jennifer when he jumps to the conclusion that she is going on a date with another guy, but he flirts with multiple women from the different time periods.

One thing that may disappoint some viewers is the lack of episodes that just focus on Marty and Doc Brown who were the focus of all three films and the majority of the episodes focus on the Brown children, Jules and Verne despite the fact that they don't appear in the trilogy until near the end of the third film.

Overall, an okay adaption of a film series with good lessons and history facts but suffers from dumbing down Marty's character and focusing on minor characters that did not appear until the end of the trilogy.