Bookish Wednesday: Holes by Louis Sachar

I’m back for this week’s Bookish Wednesday with another classic novel I read when I was a kid. It’s Holes by Louis Sachar!

Plot: The plot is a mix of interconnected stories with characters from the 18th century to the present day. It’s all pretty interesting, although a younger kid, who isn’t like me, would most likely be confused by the constant timeline changes that take place over the course of the book. Still it was a good story and I enjoyed it as a kid despite not meeting the “advised” age. Of course considering I’d read books like War and Peace, The Stand and Stranger in a Strange Land by the time I was 12 that isn’t too surprising.

Characters: The entire cast is pretty good, although my favorite character was Stanley the protagonist. Still every character is unique and has their own “charm” so I don’t dislike them all that much, though when I was younger I definitely had some characters I wouldn’t mind tossing into a few holes myself.

Overall: A solid book, and definitely worth a read if you never read it before, this is a book for almost anyone of any age, except maybe kids younger than 8, unless they are oddballs like myself.

For those who like: Triparite Storylines, Great Plot, Good Cast of Characters.

Not for those who don’t like: Any of the above.

Retro Game Friday: Mega Man Zero

This week for Retro Game Friday I’m covering a favorite GBA game of mine. It’s Mega Man Zero!

Plot Synopsis: The storyline takes place about a century after the events of the Mega Man X saga of games. This earlier series entails a world inhabited by intelligent, self-aware androids called “Reploids” and their struggle to coexist with their human creators. After stopping the efforts of the evil “Maverick” leader Sigma from wiping out humanity, the heroic Maverick Hunters Mega Man X and Zero have long since vanished. The story of Mega Man Zero begins with a human scientist named Ciel and her Reploid companions being chased through an underground lab. Their relentless pursuers are mass-produced androids called Pantheons, among other terrible machines. After heavy losses, Ciel and the remaining resistance troops arrive at a sealed chamber containing Zero, who has been powered down for 100 years. Zero is awakened from his century-long slumber to a world where Reploids are constantly accused of being Mavericks and systematically “retired”, apparently under the direction of the once-famed Hunter X.

Plot: The plot is fairly standard for Mega Man Games, although the twists in this game are enough to make it worth playing through for the story alone.

Gameplay: The gameplay is a lot like Mega Man X, but a bit more faster paced, and a little less difficult. Also it introduces concepts that aren’t standard to Mega Man games, like the Cyber Elf system.

Art: The art for this game is pretty standard Mega Man Fare, but it was updated just a bit to reflect the changes in the plotline.

Music: It was pretty good, although I didn’t listen to much of it due to it being a portable game and me only really playing them on my various traveling trips.

Overall: If you have a GBA or a Nintendo DS hanging around you should give this game a try. (The DS has a collection of all 4 Mega Man Zero games that is worth playing)

For those who like: Difficult Games, Mega Man games, Excellent Sidescrollers, Decent Plots.

Not for those who don’t like: Any of the above.