Date: Tue, 12 Sep 95 18:40:43 EDT From: mbg84022@pegasus.cc.ucf.edu (Matthew Gerber) To: superchat@awenet.com Reply-To: superchat@awenet.com Errors-To: postmaster@awenet.com Precedence: bulk X-Mailer: PMMail v1.1 UNREGISTERED SHAREWARE Subject: 000REVIEWS Complete spoilers for: Rush #3 Sentries #10 Team M.E.C.H.A. Journal #7 Marie #19 Sentries #11 Preteen Patrol #14 Jackson Six #4 Bat Vamp (The Dark Night) #8 The Adventures Of Nifty Gadget Man #3 The Adventures Of Nifty Gadget Man #4 Nifty Tales Starring Nifty Gadget Man #1 Fortunate Force #2 Bat Vamp (The Dark Night) #9 The "review crew" consists of myself, Mason Kramer, Jon Lennox and Rick Rechowicz. Mason and Rick do not review episodes they're affiliated with and anyone can choose to abstain from any review. I want Mind Trekker back. At present, I write all capsules. Story type scale: 1: Full-tilt wacko 2: Generally humorous with serious elements 3: Equal balance of seriousness and humor 4: Generally serious with humorous elements 5: Lethal serious, perhaps with flashes of humor Rating scale: 0: Abysmal (As bad as it gets.) 1: Very Bad (Thoroughly wretched, few life signs.) 2: Bad (Still thoroughly bad, but less so.) 3: Very Poor (Might have potential, but needs a lot of work.) 4: Poor (_Does_ have potential, but needs work.) 5: Mediocre ("Eh." Okay, not bad, but not good either.) 6: Good (Genuinely good read. Basic Superguyage.) 7: Very Good (High basic Superguyage. The difference between 6 and 7 is fairly slim.) 8: Excellent (Very high quality writing.) 9: Exceptional (Really excellent, even for Superguy. Can have no serious flaws.) 10: Perfect (The kind of thing that leaves you sitting there in front of the screen going "whoa...." for a while. These are VERY, VERY RARE.) /// RUSH #3 (Rick Rechowicz) /// A somewhat rapid end to the series' first villain, but well done--even if two of the main characters _are_ left dead.... Nice action sequence, although the setup could have been a bit less straightforward. __ Rush #3: Type 4, 7.33 flaming shuriken Matt: 7 Mason: 8 Jon: 7 /// SENTRIES #10 (Jon Robertson) /// Three plots running at once, and fairly well handled. Nice if generic background characterization on Julie and Christie. Sentries #10: Type 3, 6.5 ruined vacations Matt: 7 Mason: 7 Rick: 6 Jon: 6 /// TEAM M.E.C.H.A. JOURNAL #7 (Chris Meadows, Lawrence Brown) /// A very, VERY long exposition episode, but a necessary and well-done one. EXCELLENT characterization for Spectrum. Team M.E.C.H.A. Journal #7: Type 5, 7.00 pencil erasers (paid for by....) Matt: 8 Rick: 7 Jon: 6 /// MARIE #19 (Jesse Taylor) /// My my. Now THIS is interesting. Most readers have already guessed that Wayne's more clueful than he lets on, but it's basically outright stated here. Nice characterization, too. Marie #19: Type 2, 7.75 bits of hangar Matt: 8 Mason: 8 Rick: 8 Jon: 7 /// SENTRIES #11 (Jon Robertson) /// Yup, the vacation's toast. Meanwhile, more decent (and this time amusing) characterization for our three travellers. __ Sentries #11: Type 3, 6.66 exploding household appliances Matt: 7 Mason: 7 Rick: 6 /// PRETEEN PATROL #14 (Greg Fishbone) /// The "Sal, Ruler of the Earth" plotline moves forward. Nice little characterization scene between Sal and Jeanie. Preteen Patrol #14: Type 3, 7.25 sensations of deja vu Matt: 7 Mason: 8 Rick: 7 Jon: 7 /// JACKSON SIX #4 (Roger Christman) /// Another nice episode in a genuinely different series. The plot's advancing steadily and enjoyably. Jackson Six #4: Type 4, 7.00 painfully obvious musical group jokes Matt: 7 Mason: 7 Jon: 7 /// BAT VAMP #8 (Kenneth Cooney) /// Um. Considering that Ken Cooney is the author who brought us Mind Trekker, I'd really like to say something good about this episode. Unfortunately, I can't. There is no trace of Mind Trekker's quality here. The humor is strictly low-brow, mechanics and storyline are roundly awful, and characterization is nonexistent. Rick went as far as to call this the worst thing he's ever seen from Cooney--"no merit whatsoever." I'm not sure I'd go that far, but there is no kind word to say about this episode. I want Mind Trekker back. Bat Vamp #8: Type 1, 2.00 plastic fangs Matt: 1 Mason: 4 Rick: 0 Jon: 3 /// THE ADVENTURES OF NIFTY GADGET MAN #3 (Kenneth Cooney) /// Well, there are at least signs of life here. One almost genuinely amusing scene involving Elvis impersonators and juggling implements. I _still_ want Mind Trekker back. Nifty Gadget Man #3: Type 1, 2.25 pieces of lethal chewing gum Matt: 3 Mason: 3 Rick: 1 Jon: 2 /// THE ADVENTURES OF NIFTY GADGET MAN #4 (Kenneth Cooney) /// Well, there went most of the signs of life. Jon commented that it seems like Ken is writing a bad imitation of _Airplane_ style humor. I want Mind Trekker Back. Nifty Gadget Man #4: Type 1, 2.00 exploding Peruvian buses Matt: 2 Mason: 3 Rick: 1 Jon: 2 /// NIFTY TALES STARRING NIFTY GADGET MAN #1 (Kenneth Cooney) /// Well, it's better than The Adventures of Nifty Gadget Man. Unfortunately, that doesn't say much. The Maxwell Smart appearance almost works this time, though. I want Mind Trekker back. Nifty Tales #1: Type 1, 2.50 packages of hologram bubblegum Matt: 3 Mason: 3 Rick: 1 Jon: 3 /// FORTUNATE FORCE #2 (Ben Rawluk) /// Sigh. Again, there _are_ signs of life in Ben's writing, but they're even less apparent here than they were before. Characterization, plotting, writing and (especially) dialogue all need work. Fortunate Force #2: Type 1, 1.5 Ambiguous Figures(tm) Matt: 1 Mason: 3 Rick: 1 Jon: 1 /// BAT VAMP (THE DARK NIGHT) #9 /// I want Mind Trekker back. Bat Vamp #9: Type 1, 1.75 theme song parodies Matt: 1 Mason: 3 Rick: 1 Jon: 2 -- Matthew Gerber - mbg84022@pegasus.cc.ucf.edu http://pegasus.cc.ucf.edu/~mbg84022/ (currently out of order)