Dan Green

Yu-Gi-Oh! Review

OK

For those unfamiliar with Yu-Gi-Oh!, it means "King of Games" in Japanese, and the game it refers to is Duel Monsters, a card game in which two players compete to subtract the most life points from their opponent. Little monsters appear on each card, and when the game begins, the monsters come to life and duke it out until one player's life points reach zero. Of course, there really is a card game called Yu-Gi-Oh!, but if you decide to start playing, don't expect the monster to come alive like they do on the anime television show.

While I am not a Yu-Gi-Oh! connoisseur, I am more educated in it than most film journalists. I have a younger brother who has succumbed to the Yu-Gi-Oh! craze (just as he succumbed to the Pokemon craze a few years ago), therefore, I am familiar with both the anime cartoon and trading card game. I am not sure which came first, the TV show or the cards, but both are quite complicated for their preteen target audience. Parents should delight in how the game familiarizes kids with elements of ancient history, religious philosophy, and basic mathematics. Kids who understand the game in its philosophical entirety should have no problem understanding similar subjects in school.

Continue reading: Yu-Gi-Oh! Review

Yu-Gi-Oh! Review

By Blake French

OK

For those unfamiliar with Yu-Gi-Oh!, it means "King of Games" in Japanese, and the game it refers to is Duel Monsters, a card game in which two players compete to subtract the most life points from their opponent. Little monsters appear on each card, and when the game begins, the monsters come to life and duke it out until one player's life points reach zero. Of course, there really is a card game called Yu-Gi-Oh!, but if you decide to start playing, don't expect the monster to come alive like they do on the anime television show.

While I am not a Yu-Gi-Oh! connoisseur, I am more educated in it than most film journalists. I have a younger brother who has succumbed to the Yu-Gi-Oh! craze (just as he succumbed to the Pokemon craze a few years ago), therefore, I am familiar with both the anime cartoon and trading card game. I am not sure which came first, the TV show or the cards, but both are quite complicated for their preteen target audience. Parents should delight in how the game familiarizes kids with elements of ancient history, religious philosophy, and basic mathematics. Kids who understand the game in its philosophical entirety should have no problem understanding similar subjects in school.

Continue reading: Yu-Gi-Oh! Review

Pokemon 3 Review

By Rob Blackwelder

Weak

Next verse, same as the first.

There may be more computer-rendered effects animation in "Pokemon 3." The plot -- centered around supernatural goings-on generated by a little girl's out-of-control imagination -- may be somewhat more coherent than the last two "Pokemon" pictures. But like its predecessors, fleecing parents of their money is the singular purpose of this automated, assembly-line sequel. Making a worthwhile, entertaining children's film? Not so much.

In their usual half-assed animation style, Ash, Pikachu, et al. battle undefeatable Pokemon spawn from the lonely girl's dreams. Her father, some kind of Pokemon archeologist discovered ancient Pokemon runes etched with Pokemon hieroglyphics while on a dig. The hieroglyphics come alive and suck him into some parallel universe populated by beings called "the Unown" (that's right, "unown," not "unknown").

Continue reading: Pokemon 3 Review