Cheap Cheevos #4 - Some Good, Some Bad, Some Ugly.

G'day, fellow AchieveMates *Cracks whip*. Kaiser-Sensei here with another batch of games with achievements and trophies that are so easy to get, your dog would be able unlock them. Just be warned. Most of this week's offerings are so bad that you'll have to be a sadist in order to enjoy. That's why I'm wearing this very sexy and slimming dominatrix gear. MEEEOOOOWWWW! Now squirm, like the worm that you are! *Cracks whip even harder*... I mean, enjoy this week's issue of Cheap Cheevos. (Click on "Read More" to read the full article).

Green Phoenix - Encanto Review

Holy shit! He is doing another review of a relatively recent released film? I can hear you all saying. Well, I really want to commit to the new year with fresher content, and new releases seem like the perfect opportunity for that. And don't worry, the next three articles won't be film reviews but a much more varied variety of articles that many of my readers have become accustomed to, including the return of my favorite editorial series Building Better Backstories.

But until those articles are released, allow me to hold you all over with a look at Disney's latest animated feature Encanto. Available both in theaters and on Disney+, Encanto was a highly anticipated film upon its release and has in the weeks since become a massive presence on the internet due to its very poignant and emotional themes and fantastic music, both of which will be discussed in greater detail below. But is the film deserving of this sudden up swell of popularity that I haven't seen in a film since Frozen, or is the lack of new animated content from Disney artificially increasing the positive input? And how does this film standup compared to Disney films of the past, both distant and more recent?

As soon as I saw this film, I knew that I needed to talk about on Emerald Rangers, as one of the latest "new release" articles that I want to make more prevalent. So be sure to continue reading below to see how I answer these questions.

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Sonic Adventure 2 Battle! Summer Stream. Night 4 | 20/1/22 | Twitch Stream Replay | Retrokaiser

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Sonic Adventure 2 Battle! Summer Stream. Night 3 | 18/1/21 | Twitch Stream Replay | Retrokaiser

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Degrees of Separation Co-Op with Mathyno Part 2 | 24/1/22 | Twitch Repeat | Retrokaiser

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Ghost Ranger - Top 5 Black Ranger Zords

 

Black Rangers are one of the less common ranger colors and most of the memorable ones fall into the 6th/extra ranger category. So, pickings for this list are slimmer than normal, but still a fair enough to fill 5. Simple rules, core rangers only, only 1 Zord per ranger, and Zords that belong to Black Rangers only, not any Zord that happens to be black. So, click "read more" and let's get this going.

Cheap Cheevos #3 - Go, Ninja. Go, Ninja, Go!

I smell a theme coming on for this weeks edition of Cheap Cheevos. A very silent, but deadly one.  That's right! This week's issue is all about ninja games. Why? Because ninjas are very awesome. It's that simple and so are the achievement/trophy sets for these games. Enjoy. (Click on "Read More" to read the full article).

Green Phoenix - ClueFinders 4th Grade Retrospective

 

A few weeks back, I did a retrospective on the very first ClueFinders game, The Quest for Mathra. ClueFinders was a computer game released by The Learning Company during the late 1990s and early 2000s. Intended as a continuation of the widely successful Reader Rabbit series, this time focused on kinds from ages 8-12, The ClueFinders franchise became a staple in my household as a result of my school offering the games as part of a summer supplemental retention program during elementary school.

Essentially my teachers didn't want everything my sister and I would learn to completely atrophy over the summer and it allowed us to get a heads up on our peers by enabling us to access the types of math, science, and history that we would be learning once summer finally ended. And so they set up a program where my parent's could buy educational computer games to assist and entertain us throughout elementary and early middle school. And for the most part, these were a tremendous success and deeply enjoyable for me to play; with many fond memories attached to them.

However, there was one game that, for whatever reason, I never really got all that into or remember playing with great frequency, and that would be ClueFinders 4th Grade Adventures: Puzzle of the Pyramid. Unlike The Mystery of Mathra or Secret of the Living Volcano, I never really remember playing this game; which is doubly odd given my love of ancient Egypt and memories playing Pharaoh/Cleopatra by Sierra Games (another video game I will have to do a retrospective on).

So I think its definitely time for me to make up for my lack of nostalgia factor by taking a look at ClueFinders 4th Grade Adventures: Puzzle of the Pyramid and see how it stacks next to the rest of the franchise.

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Degrees of Separation Co-Op with Mathyno Part 1 | 19/1/2022 | Twitch Repeat | Retrokaiser

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Ghost Ranger - Top 5 Green Ranger Zords

Green, there is a color with a lot of fans. The Green Ranger has been everything from a 6th Ranger, to second in command, the comic relief, and sometimes just another ranger of the core team. Their Zords often reflect these roles and have some variety to pick from. Now, with this list I have to stress the rules, no 6th or Extra Rangers and the Zords have to belong to Green Rangers, not Zords that are colored green. Anyway, let's click "read more" and let's get the list started.

Sonic Adventure 2 Battle! Summer Stream. Night 2 | 17/1/21 | Twitch Stream Replay | Retrokaiser

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Cheap Cheevos #2 - Meme Hell Edition

If you thought that mastering some of the games from last weeks article made you feel dirty. Well, get ready to be completely covered in thick mud. This second helping of Cheap Cheevos highlights some very novel games that will make you feel like that you should check yourself into Cheevo Rehab. Okay, I've thrown in one good game into the mix to help keep your sanity at bay. What horrors will you find in this article? Click on "Read More" and find out the hard way.

Green Phoenix - Spider-Man: No Way Home Review

Welcome to 2022 everybody!

Let's start the new year reviews with a (comparatively) new release. Released December 17th and therefore in the very middle of my Holiday break, Spider-Man: No Way Home is the 27th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the 3rd Tom Holland Spider-Man film after Spider-Man: Homecoming & Spider-Man: Far From Home, and the 8th Spider-Man film ever made.

This film was highly anticipated upon its release, not only because of its place as one of the earliest Phase Four films, but also due to rumors surrounding its cast, the inclusion of villains and characters from previous iterations of Spider-Man, and the rumors around this being the last Tom Holland Spider-Man film (the reality of this is, as of writing this, unknown to me).

I knew for a fact that I wanted to watch this film, however I initially believed I would be unable to see it due to work with TrotCon until much later in the month. Thankfully, due to the intervention of some friends, I was able to hitch a ride and enjoy what may very well be a historical film in the history of the superhero genre.

And with that introduction complete, let's take a look at Spider-Man: No Way Home.

Thankfully, I was dead wrong as I think Spider-Man: No Way Home might be the single greatest love-letter to the Spider-Man franchise ever made.Over the course of nearly 2 and a half hours, we see an emotional exploration of what it precisely means to be Spider-Man, a culmination of Tom Holland's story arc in fully actualizing himself as a superhero independent of the likes of Tony Stark, as well as managing to merge all previous iterations of Spider-Man into the Marvel Cinematic Universe in such a brilliantly written way that ensured the preservation of their status as films to be independently watched whilst at the same time allowed a secondary place within the greater canon of the MCU; a model I genuinely hope the producers take into account when adapting the X-Men and the Fantastic Four when they come around to working on those films.

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Ghost Ranger - My Top 5 Pink Ranger Zords

 

Pink Rangers are notorious for getting the short end of cool Zord designs. Looking through the list, it is honestly upsetting to see how many of them don't look like anything more than a piece of a Megazord or a generic vehicle. Needless to say, don't expect many to have any solo action highlights. Regardless, let's count down my personal top 5.

Cheap Cheevos #1 - Easy and (mostly) Quick Games to Master!

Feeling down? Haven't scored in awhile? Need a quick boost to make you feel better? Don't worry fam.  Us here at Emerald Rangers have got all of you trophy and achievement hunters covered.

A lot of us gamers like unlocking stuff. It's just human nature. Sadly, not everything is easy to unlock, leaving us a little bit desperate for some satisfaction in our gaming lives.  Thankfully, there are a lot of games that have easy to master achievement and trophy sets. You just have to know where to look.  Well, you're looking at the right place.

This new column will teach you all about the easy stuff to 'cheeve.  From consoles such as the Xbox systems, the PlayStation systems, to PC based stuff like Steam, GOG, and even Retro Achievements.  If it has achievements that are all easy to unlock, you can read about them here. 

I'll be showing off five games with each article.  All of the games in this series have all been personally achieved by me, giving this more of a personal touch. So if I've missed something obvious such as Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Burning Earth, it's because I haven't played it. Yeah, I know. It's sad that I've played a lot of easy to master games, but hey, it makes for great articles.  Now let's get scratchin'. (Click on "Read More" to read the full article). 

Green Phoenix - 2021 in Review

HAPPY NEW YEARS!

And what a shit year we are leaving, huh? In some ways, it was much better than 2020 and yet...in other ways.

Anywho, I don't I really want to go into much detail about the ways in which this year was terrible. I'd much rather focus upon the supreme amounts of change and transformation that this year represented for myself and my body of work. Because 2021 was truly a transformative year for me. A year of many firsts and returns to normal.

I say this because as I write this article, I am in the process of moving my furniture and property into my very first apartment. From 2022 onward, I will be living on my own and dependent upon my own needs. I will speak further about my intentions for the new year in the conclusions segment but rest assured, I have many plans.

This year also saw the return of live meetups for conventions and the likes, at least in terms of my capacity to attend TrotCon in person, with hopes that next July will be in person as well. I can certainly hope so.

2021 saw a slow shift back into a world vaguely similar to our own pre-COVID, yet forever transformed by the experience. I know that the stresses of this past year have been shown in my writing and it is analyzing that writing that brings us to the main point of this beginning of year editorial.

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Ghost Ranger - My Top 5 Megazords

It's my first article of 2022, happy New Year. I'm gonna count down my top 5 favorite Megazords. This is going to be based purely on the design and will say nothing about the quality of the season attacked to them. Two rules, only one Megazord/combination per Ranger team, and no more than a 5 Zord combination, no Ultra or special Megazords. Click "read more" and let the countdown begin.

Obscure Anime English Dubs From Singapore and Malaysia: School Girls, Robots, Genderbending Dinosaurs, and Champion Crabs.

When we think of English dubs, we automatically think that they come from the good ol' US of A.  However you can have a show (like Dragon Ball Z for example) having multiple English dubs from different countries.  This also goes for live action tokusatsu.  While it's not as common to see tokusatsu dubbed into English, they do exist.  Ultraman Tiga got one in the USA. It aired on Fox Box back in 2002.  

If you found that fact interesting, you're gonna like this. Today we've got something special.  We're taking a look at some obscure English dubs from countries that you wouldn't expect to produce them.  Today, we're going to Malaysia and Singapore to take a look at some of the shows that they've dubbed into English.  (Click on "Read More" to read the full article).