JavaScript Oddities

 Sometimes I could choke someone - if not everyone - who worked on the creation process of JavaScript! [...]
(show me)(don't show me)

I was searching again for a long time to find an error in my code. But even after I (quickly) managed to find the line in err I couldn't understand the wrongness in it. I tried different possibilities, different improbable possibilities but simply could not find an answer. Then - it was only a matter of statistics and time after all - I found the improbable way to alter my code.

Long story short: don't write "If" in your JavaScript code with a capital "I". It may work for most of the time or most of your codes / programs but if you use a certain function, doom is certain. (I surely don't know which - there're probably more than one anyway).

*shiver*

Here's an example of code not working because of "If":
<<
// checks if an object is a string
function Is_String()
{
If ( typeof arguments[0] == "string" ) return true;
else If ( typeof arguments[0] != "object" ) return false;
else return ( arguments[0].constructor.toString().toLowerCase().indexOf( "string" ) != -1 );
}
>> # top # | Q (original code): Planet PDF.com

Confessionada Fetishismo

I have a confession to make. I don't know if I should really psot it here because as most confessions usually tend to be this is rather personal but .. as this is a place for void receptions anyway I think it's more or less safe to say that ... [...]
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... I am a shoulder fetishist. I didn't know that this fetish existed and I didn't find any companion fetishists out there in the whole weird wasteful world wide web - or "sixle U" - but this is a part of me. It always has been, I guess. Not that it would change anything ...

Sequelling: "2nd"-Sequels

 I was bored once, so I thought about which "part two"s of any series, be it movie or videogame or whatever, actually are better than its predecessors, very much unlike how it is nowadays. Staying in the comparison between "one" and "two" I always ignored all further parts, even if the series is longer and the "threequels" or other continuations are better, and also I only considered those that I've experienced myself (read, seen or played - both part one and two). And by "better" I mean "far better", not just "slightly better" or "almost the same" as in the "Back To The Future"-Trilogy or the "Die Hard"-Quadrilogy. Besides, I love listing things ;^)

Of course, these reflect merely my humble opinion.

Also look forward to another upcoming blog psoting (slightly related to this one) where I'm going to reveal another pack of new movies mixed with old movies that I didn't know so far. Movie information retrieval can be so much fun! ;^) [...]
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//---- WHITELIST ----//

[1987] Beverly Hills Cop 2 ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   >   Beverly Hills Cop ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   (Movie)

The sequel had a great story and an incredibly well "investigative thread" which is extremely interesting, if not exciting for detective wannabes like me. Not surprising after I found out that there have been at least 6 writers involved!

[1991/1992] Street Fighter II ^{[Wiki] [IGN]}   >   Street Fighter ^{[Wiki] [IGN]}   (Videogame)

Great gameplay and balancing, plus characters who became the trademark of the game, like Chun-Li or Guile.

[1954/1955] Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers ^[Wiki]   >   Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring ^[Wiki]   (Book)

I really had to fight my way through the first book for which I needed about half a year but I only needed a few weeks or months for the second book of the trilogy. That one really sucked me into the universe.

[1984] Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   >   Raiders Of The Lost Ark ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   (Movie)

Somehow I always thought the first Indiana Jones movie to be the worst one. This sequel was a major improvement in the franchise.

[1986] Aliens ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   >   Alien ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   (Movie)

This is what a sequel should look like if you're going for "more". More horror, more creepiness, more thrill - more of what defines Alien.

[1989] Back To The Future Part II ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   >   Back To The Future ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   (Movie)

Lives more up to its name than its predecessor because of the funny future sequence. It was also very hilarious how the predecessor was re-used or rather remade and somehow made fun of. The most consistent time traveling story yet.

[1991] Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge ^{[Wiki] [IGN]}   >   The Secret of Monkey Island ^{[Wiki] [IGN]}   (Videogame)

I absolutely love both games but the second part was not only better by a small pint but by an oversized monkey head. The gameplay felt as if it was expanded in every way - at least in my eyes.

[1991] Terminator 2: Judgement Day ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   >   The Terminator ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   (Movie)

Bigger explosions, more impressive visuals .. even funnier.

[1993] Maniac Mansion: Day of the Tentacle ^{[Wiki] [IGN]}   >   Maniac Mansion ^{[Wiki] [IGN]}   (Videogame)

This was a true ascend from the LastGen to the NextGen of that time. Better graphics while containing the essence of the predecessor.

[1993] Secret of Mana (Seiken Densetsu 2) ^{[Wiki] [IGN]}   >   Mystic Quest ("Seiken Densetsu: Final Fantasy Gaiden" aka "Final Fantasy Adventure") ^{[Wiki] [IGN]}   (Videogame)

Actually I've never played the predecessor so right now I'm doing the worst thing a journalist could do, but as you can see here "Secret Of Mana" is my most favourite game of all conditions and I can't imagine that a game with only two colors and no multiplayer support is actually any better than this.

[1994] Drunken Master II ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   >   Drunken Master ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   (Movie)

It was more serious and also darker. Darker is always better.

[1994] Super Metroid ^{[Wiki] [IGN]}   >   Metroid ^{[Wiki] [IGN]}   (Videogame)

Actually I never played the first part (*).

[1995] Desperado ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   >   El Mariachi ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   (Movie)

Apart from the better cast it was realized more professionally as a whole than its predecessor.

[1998] Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets ^[Wiki]   >   Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone ^[Wiki]   (Book)

All sevens books are great and with every single one I'd say they top the previous one. This is the case with this pair why it's written here.

[2oo1] Aliens versus Predator 2 ^{[Wiki] [IGN]}   >   Aliens vs. Predator ^{[Wiki] [IGN]}   (Videogame)

This sequel had absolutely more multiplayer gameplay value. Both games are better MP- than single-player-games if you ask me, but hunting humans or fleeing from the predators while jumping from tree to tree in the sequel was hell fun, yeah! x^D

[2oo2] Star Wars: Episode II - Attack Of The Clones ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   >   Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   (Movie)

I don't know for sure here. Maybe I'm wrong and ep.1 is better but actually I don't care .. they are both pretty low for Star Wars movies, each seen as a whole. I think I liked the Kamino species a lot and I didn't like young Anakin .. but on the other hand the so-called "love story" is even more thick-layered than in Dirty Dancing ...

[2oo3] X2: X-Men United ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   >   X-Men ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   (Movie)

More interesting characters and more background info on Wolverine.

[2oo3] Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner ^{[Wiki] [IGN]}   >   Zone of the Enders ^{[Wiki] [IGN]}   (Videogame)

More style, more exciting battles, impressive visuals. But definitely awesomely more style ;^D

[2oo4] Ghost In The Shell 2: Innocence ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   >   Ghost In The Shell ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   (Movie)

A successful fusion of the old and still interesting universe and the updated looks of the characters and philosphies from the series.

[2oo4] Half-Life 2 ^{[Wiki] [IGN]}   >   Half-Life ^{[Wiki] [IGN]}   (Videogame)

Again, this is how you ascend fomr LastGen to NextGen. Better graphics and especially physics.

[2oo6] Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   >   Pirates Of The Caribbean: The Curse Of The Black Pearl ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   (Movie)

More effectively copied from the Monkey Island series even if the filmmakers don't admit that, stunning visuals and with Davy Jones one of the best and imposing characters on the big screen since the new Batman played by Christian Bale.

(*) And this is when I realized that I've overdone the fun with this list. "Overkill" you might call it (^^ ) But I didn't want to waste all my effort so here's the rest of the list - handled a lot more roughly. Also I think there are some doubles ...

Hm, just as I thought there're more "bad"s than "good"s.

[ Woody's Checkpoint: # top # ]


//---- BLACKLIST ----//
Not better / blocked from that list / disappointments:

[1963] From Russia With Love ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   <   Dr. No ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   (Movie)

From Russia is .. different than any other James Bond-movie imho. He doesn't do very much spy work here.

[198o] Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   <   Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   (Movie)

I always thought Tatooine was more attractive than Dagobah and Bespin together. But still, this is one of the movies I definitely don't want to miss.

[1982] Airplane II: The Sequel ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   <   Airplane! ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   (Movie)

Just a weak attempt to ride the wave of sequels.

[1982] La Boum 2 ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   <   La Boum ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   (Movie)

Sometimes I really don't like how girls grow up ...

[1983] Psycho II ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   <   Psycho ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   (Movie)

I've only seen the first twenty/thirty minutes of this sequel but it was everything but being close to building up suspense.

[1985] Rambo: First Blood Part II ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   <   First Blood ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   (Movie)

They were both aweful but back in the days I had quite a good time laughing about Stallone's quirky face at the end of Rambo 2 x^D

[1986] Count Zero ^[Wiki]   <   Neuromancer ^[Wiki]   (Book)

Neuromancer alone is so gorgeous it could be made into a film while Count Zero somehow needs the whole Sprawl Trilogy to be understood fully.

[1987] Teen Wolf Too ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   <   Teen Wolf ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   (Movie)

I barely can't remember the sequel which means that I already disliked it when I watched it for the first time over 1o years ago when I was so small.

[1988] Crocodile Dundee II ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   <   Crocodile Dundee ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   (Movie)

"Wildsman in the city" - interesting concept but in the end his first appearance was more entertaining.

[1988] Powaqqatsi: Life In Transition ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   <   Koyaanisqatsi: Life Out Of Balance ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   (Movie)

I learned something about myself when I watched this sequel: I not only like to observe people, I even prefer observing people of the city over people "under the sun".

[1989] The Fly II ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   <   The Fly ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   (Movie)

No question, Eric Stoltz was no match for Jeff Goldblum. Also it's this horror expectation thing again.

[199o] Gremlins 2: The New Batch ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   <   Gremlins ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   (Movie)

It works better in a small village than in a skyscraper. It really does. Just look at how many horror movies take place in a skyscraper to see what I mean.

[199o] Predator 2 ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   <   Predator ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   (Movie)

It was like a B-movie for the action genre, this type of bad. Unprofessional, no mentionable story, much too bright for a Predator movie. Nah.

[1991] Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret Of The Ooze ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   <   Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   (Movie)

Tokka and Rahzar were just too much, but IIRC apart from those two annoying characters the sequel was actually better than the predecessor. So you see? Never underestimate the shadowy power of annoying characters. Greetings from Chibiusa.

[1992] Batman Returns ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   <   Batman ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   (Movie)

No Offense, Mr. De Vito, but no one can beat the Joker - especially the one played by Jack Nicholson ;^) Kim Basinger may be partly responsible for this decision, too ;^)

[1992] Home Alone 2: Lost In New York ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   <   Home Alone ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   (Movie)

The same robbers meeting the same boy from the first movie in a totally different city - I could never buy that.

[1994] My Girl 2 ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   <   My Girl ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   (Movie)

Did I mention I have a deep antipathy to Bishônen

[1994] The Land Before Time II: The Great Valley Adventure ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   <   The Land Before Time ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   (Movie)

The first movie was so beautiful that there was no need for a sequel - especially not twelve sequels.

[1995] Ave Ventura: When Nature Calls ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   <   Ace Ventura: Pet Detective ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   (Movie)

This one is fairly obvious, I think. The story of the sequel is so weak that no Jim Carrey can hide it.

[1997] Mortal Kombat: Annihilation ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   <   Mortal Kombat ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   (Movie)

Okay, the first movie was already pretty bad but the second one was so bad that I only endured watching it while fast forwarding the tape ... now how bad is that?

[1997] Speed 2: Cruise Control ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   <   Speed ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   (Movie)

Like with Home Alone if it happens to the same person I just can't buy it.

[1997] The Lost World: Jurassic Park ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   <   Jurassic Park ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   (Movie)

A sequel to Jurassic Park could have worked but unfortunately, the they did it, it didn't work. All the more when they entered San Diego, it just was too much. It didn't fit at all, imho.

[1998] Turok 2: Seeds of Evil ^{[Wiki] [IGN]}   <   Turok: Dinosaur Hunter ^{[Wiki] [IGN]}   (Videogame)

This sequel was definitely far too twisted to be good. Besides that, it didn't deliver the tech improvements it claimed to do, IIRC.

[1998] U.S. Marshals ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   <   The Fugitive ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   (Movie)

The first movie is a classical. It's not hard to fail here, we understand that.

[1999] Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   <   Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   (Movie)

Both- in fact the whole trilogy is hilarious but I didn't like Heather Graham in that role very much. Too Barbie-like. Brunette is rather my type anyway.

[1999] From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   <   From Dusk Till Dawn ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   (Movie)

This movie - very much unlike its predecessor - is a perfect example of why I don't like zombie movies in general: the story is just so damn stupid that it even tops the stupid characters. And what's with the weird camera angles? From in between a spiral telephone cord?! *shakes head* (-.- ) ( -.-)

[1999] Gran Turismo 2 ^{[Wiki] [IGN]}   <   Gran Turismo ^{[Wiki] [IGN]}   (Videogame)

Honestly, after the very first part of the series each following piece of software became less and less attractive to me. It's beacause I'm not such a automobile freak as the games target at. After all, the first part played very differently than the very last one, "Gran Turismo 5 Prologue". Besides, I don't like the fucking concept of adding a Prologue game in the game queue so that they have more time to develop their games. That's pretty shitty for the players' point of view, IMHO.

[1999] Grand Theft Auto 2 ^{[Wiki] [IGN]}   <   Grand Theft Auto ^{[Wiki] [IGN]}   (Videogame)

The sequel had slightly better graphics but this game series wasn't about graphics after all, at least at the times when it was still played from the bird's-eye view. And so it was just another clone, in the end.

[2ooo] Mission: Impossible II ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   <   Mission: Impossible ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   (Movie)

Somehow this sequel missed its point. And me too - it was so visually overloaded that I didn't follow the story much.

[2ooo] Perfect Dark ^{[Wiki] [IGN]}   <   GoldenEye 007 ^{[Wiki] [IGN]}   (Videogame)

Being not an official but merely a spritual sequel "GoldenEye 007" was one of the best games available for this console, the Nintendo 64™, even the best first-person-shooter of all consoles, IMHO. So, it was a hard time trying to top that game. And, naturally, the developers failed with that one. But it still had great gameplay value.

[2ooo] Taxi 2 ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   <   Taxi ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   (Movie)

I didn't like the story at all. And the humour. Plainly bad writing - although it's penned by Luc Besson! I guess there's too much "french" in this one. But don't get me wrong. Both movies are great, the sequel's just not better.

[ Woody's Checkpoint: # top # ]

[2oo1] Rush Hour 2 ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   <   Rush Hour ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   (Movie)

I can only repeat myself here (s. Shanghai Knights).

[2oo1] The Mummy Returns ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   <   The Mummy ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   (Movie)

This sequel was the first movie where I could predict almost the half of the movie during the course of it. Boring. Waste of money.

[2oo2] Blade II ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   <   Blade ^[IMDB]   (Movie)

I didn't like the distinguishment of the vampires into further species.

[2oo2] Cube 2: Hypercube ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   <   Cube ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   (Movie)

The characters became weirder and the story was added by an unnecessary excursion into science. Probably a incoherent one, too.

[2oo2] Men In Black II ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   <   Men In Black ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   (Movie)

The cash cow again. Understandable that this sequel came out but just as understandable that this sequel sucked. It's always the same. When will they ever learn it ...?

[2oo3] Bad Boys II ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   <   Bad Boys ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   (Movie)

In Bad Boys II there was too much emphasis on cars, action & special effects instead of character development which I think was wrong. Bad Boys is all about Marcus and Mike being detectives and not action heros.

[2oo3] Final Destination 2 ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   <   Final Destination ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   (Movie)

Because of the aforementioned horror expectation of sequels, imho, the purpose of the predecessor was to shock while the purpose of the second movie was to impress. And actually I want to watch horror movies to be shocked and not to be impressed.

[2oo3] Final Fantasy X-2 ^{[Wiki] [IGN]}   <   Final Fantasy X ^{[Wiki] [IGN]}   (Videogame)

How bizarre to list this one ... anyway, the linear story was for just as troublesome as it was to many other players. Also there were these many jobs. It's something the old Final Fantasies have done but it's nothing I like particularly.

[2oo3] Infernal Affairs II - Abstieg In Die Achte Hölle ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   <   Infernal Affairs - Die Achte Hölle ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   (Movie)

You can't top a story like the one of the predecessor, so the mere attempt is already an insult.

[2oo3] Jak II ^{[Wiki] [IGN]}   <   Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy ^{[Wiki] [IGN]}   (Videogame)

Now, this sequel was a real let-down. Instead of continuing what made the prequel so much fun - the jump'n'run aspect - a whole new aspect is added destroying the whole atmosphere of the game's universe: weaponry. Yuck.

[2oo3] Shanghai Knights ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   <   Shanghai Noon ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   (Movie)

Shanghai Noon was probably the last big worldwide hit of Jackie Chan while everything after it was either only in some regions more or less successful (like New Police Story) or - like this sequel - pretty disappointing for a Jackie Chan movie.

[2oo3] The Matrix Reloaded ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   <   The Matrix ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   (Movie)

Though the "Burly Brawl" scene from Reloaded is one of my favourite scenes of the whole trilogy the first movie wasn't that .. "weird". It was plain awesome cyberpunk like it was supposed to be, no matter how heavily it was stolen from Dark City.

[2oo4] Kill Bill: Vol. 2 ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   <   Kill Bill: Vol. 1 ^[IMDB]   (Movie)

Although it was one movie, actually, I assimilate to everybody else and treat it as two separate films. Of which I liked the first one more, although both are undoubtly great. Must be the higher japanese influence.

[2oo4] Shrek 2 ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   <   Shrek ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   (Movie)

There was no other reason to pull a sequel than to milk the cash cow. Abominable.

[2oo4] The Bourne Supremacy ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   <   The Bourne Identity ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   (Movie)

The first movie was quite okay - but where the hell did the demand for a sequel come from?! Stupid cash cow marketing strategy ...

[2oo5] Saw II ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   <   Saw ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   (Movie)

There have been some equally shocking scenes like in the predecessor but on the whole it felt more like a teeny horror movie. Bad director of photography maybe ...

[2oo5] The Ring Two ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   <   The Ring ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   (Movie)

Horror sequels are always harder to make because the audience now knows the parameters, knows what to expect. That was the case with this one, too, I think.

[2oo6] Basic Instinct 2: Risk Addiction ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   <   Basic Instinct ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   (Movie)

Although I'm glad there's no Michael Douglas nudity in this one (no offense ;^) at the same time I'm disappointed that the movie lacks so much erotic. Well, maybe I've just grown up a bit ...

[2oo6] Kingdom Hearts II ^{[Wiki] [IGN]}   <   Kingdom Hearts ^{[Wiki] [IGN]}   (Videogame)

I already explained it before, so, in short, I think it was even more oriented for kids than its predecessor, storywise. I mean the way how the game delivered the story. It was very repetetive ... I dunno, I just think I grew out of it.

[2oo6] The Butterfly Effect 2 ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   <   The Butterfly Effect ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   (Movie)

The only good thing about the sequel were the se- oh, err nude scenes. Besides it totally abandoned the road its predecessor has carved in.

[2oo7] 4: Rise Of The Silver Surfer ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   <   Fantastic Four ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   (Movie)

The original movie had Jessica Alba being more nude (hehe) buuuut actually the sequel was really bad compared to it so it's more than just a cock-driven decision. At least mostly. This series is just right for watchion on DVD but definitely too much for the big screen imho. Sadly! I really would have liked it to be more successful but ... just look at this shit!

[2oo7] AVPR: Aliens vs. Predator - Reqiuem ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   <   AVP: Alien vs. Predator ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   (Movie)

Oh come on, that was such a waste of money ...

[2oo7] God Of War II ^{[Wiki] [IGN]}   <   God Of War ^{[Wiki] [IGN]}   (Videogame)

This sequel was very disappointing to me. I was thrilled when I played the first game and I was thrilled to hear of a sequel after I played the first game, but I wasn't thrilled at all when I played the sequel. It was pretty much the same as the first one, just different in terms of story / lvl- and monster-design. That's sad.

[ Woody's Checkpoint: # top # ]


//---- GRAYLIST ----//
Can't decide which is better --(slightly better / almost the same):

[1983] Mad Mission 2: Aces Go Places (Aces Go Places 2) ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   =   Mad Mission (Aces Go Places) ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   (Movie)

By now I was too tired to add a reason.

[1988] Police Story 2 ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   =   Police Story ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   (Movie)

By now I was too tired to add a reason.

[199o] Die Hard 2 (Die Harder) ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   =   Die Hard ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   (Movie)

By now I was too tired to add a reason.

[1995] Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest ^{[Wiki] [IGN]}   =   Donkey Kong Country ^{[Wiki] [IGN]}   (Videogame)

This one was actually not that bad but definitely not as good as the first part. But at least it was trying to be different very much unlike the sequels of today with a new character (actually two!) instead of the old character with a new "story" hiding the same or very similar gameplay.

[1995] Earthworm Jim 2 ^{[Wiki] [IGN]}   =   Earthworm Jim ^{[Wiki] [IGN]}   (Videogame)

Actually they were both great.

[2oo1] Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty ^{[Wiki] [IGN]}   =   Metal Gear Solid ^{[Wiki] [IGN]}   (Videogame)

It's hard to say why I like the predecessor of the sequel a tiny little bit better. It could be the fact that it came out first, it could be the fact that it was not as exaggerated yet. I can't tell. But who cares at this point, right?

[2oo2] Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast ^{[Wiki] [IGN]}   =   Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II ^{[Wiki] [IGN]}   (Videogame)

By now I was too tired to add a reason. this is a hard one as the second part of the series was the first game with "Jedi Knight" in the title.

[2oo4] Metroid Prime 2: Echoes ^{[Wiki] [IGN]}   =   Metroid Prime ^{[Wiki] [IGN]}   (Videogame)

By now I was too tired to add a reason.

[2oo4] Ocean's Twelve ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   =   Ocean's Eleven ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   (Movie)

By now I was too tired to add a reason.

[2oo4] Prince of Persia: Warrior Within ^{[Wiki] [IGN]}   =   Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time ^{[Wiki] [IGN]}   (Videogame)

Similar to "God Of War II" this sequel was just a continuation, except that the gameplay was hardened by a more complex combat system. But unlike "God Of War II" it did the story-telling still interesting enough. Or maybe it's jus more my type of game, as it is more jumping and less hacking'n'slaying. Although this sequel did go more into this direction, more than its predecessor.

[2oo4] Spider-Man 2 ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   =   Spider-Man ^{[Wiki] [IMDB]}   (Movie)

By now I was too tired to add a reason.

Those are the remaining items that I was too lazy to add the URL to. Basically every single item in this "Graylist" has the reason "I really liked both" ...

Ice Age 2
Naked Gun 2½
Leathal Weapon 2
ICO 2 aka Shadow Of The Colossus
Analyze That
Bill & Ted
Bridget Jones 2
Ghostbusters 2
Hot Shots 2
Transporter 2
Wayne's World 2
Onimusha 2


btw: have a look at this. Wikipedia sure can be useful sometimes. Well, most of the time, actually ...
Film crossovers
Film series
Character-based movie franchises
Film decologies and larger series

And dbl-btw: Five Reasons Game Trilogies Suck (PC)

Now, I'm exhausted ... ;^p
# top #

Sequelling: A tale about turtles and burning birds

 A little while ago I finished Phoenix Wright - Ace Attorney: Justice For All which is the second game in the Phoenix-franchise, following a wonderful visual novel, and more recently I finished Runaway 2 which I blindly bought because I liked the first part. The first game wasn't awesome, it was merely good. But it's a click'n'point adventure so I liked to save this sagging old genre from extinction. Now ... was it worth it? [...]
(show me)(don't show me)

I'll start with "Phoenix 2". My expectations for this game were quite high because of its predecessor Phoenix Wright - Ace Attorney which I really liked. The link of my review is up there in my introduction. An astounding game. But how was the sequel?

The visuals were pretty much the same which isn't bad at all. The anime style did suit right from the beginning and so there's nothing to complain about. The music was a shock at first because my favourite gorgeous tune that always kicked in when the protagonist Phoenix got the upper hand in court seemed to be replaced by another, in comparison horrible unfitting piece of music. But I was quite relieved to hear my beloved track later on realizing that the old soundtrack was just enhanced a bit.

And talking about enhancements of old things: didn't I predict "material recycling" to occur? Let's have a look: "And I expect worse from the sequels of Phoenix, with which I mean that characters of the first game might occur in the sequels." There, didn't I? ;^p Although, I feared it would be worse: apart from one annoying old character only those who fit well into the universe around Phoenix made it to the sequel. And those were added by new wonderful opponents and fellows. So I can somewhat ignore the material recycling because I expteced it early on.

I've heard other players complain about the stories - apart from the last case - being worse than in the first game which I can't quite agree with. I actually enjoyed all of those cases, especially the very first one. Of course, it was smaller one, in comparison to the other cases. Just like in the first game. After all, it's thought to be a tutorial for those players who didn't play the first game. And I really liked the idea of letting the protagonist suffer from amnesia so that everything needs to be explained to him once more. It is a nice balance between satisfying the core players and new players, IMHO. And about the last case ... I can imagine how hardcore Phoenix fans liked that one. Without spoiling it, I must say that I, too, liked the twist of "rules" ;^)

Finally, I have to say a few things about a new feature of the game I haven't told about yet, although it was a rather big new feature: the "physical blockades". During the investigation sequences certain characters might be confronted with a secret they obviously don't want to talk about and which is denied even if Phoenix dug in their histories and found out about it - unless you can proof the connection. Actually that's nothing new to the old model of just talking to NPCs and occasionally showing them an item - but it seems more real this way, I think.

Oh, and before I forget it: in the first game there was one thing I was a little bit unhappy with and that was how easy the game was. You could accuse someone falsely in court or show the wrong proof when needed, thus losing a life. The next day all lives were returned, or renewed. But now this has changed a little bit, as the lives are replaced by a "health gauge" - which is rather untypical, or let's better say "unfitting" for a visual novel, in my humble opinion. This life gauge also depleats and is refilled but under other conditions which makes the game much harder. And sadly more frustrating but with this I know that's just me being dumb ;^)

Anyway, Phoenix Wright - Ace Attorney: Justice For All gets a 9.1 out of 1o from me. I was much more frustrated compared to the predecessor. Because of the harder difficulty which I actually asked for in my last review (>< )


Now, the other game I played, Runaway 2, ... I'm gonna say it straight: this game was a big disappointment. But let me explain why I think so.

The graphics style is not NextGen but if you consider that this is a C&P-adventure you might agree how comparably well it is. Its bright colors are all the more suitable in the beautiful environment of a jungle. The music did its part to guide the player through some more or less rich puzzling and dialogue digging. The atmosphere was nothing to complain about, really.

What did get on my nerves though was the - at times - horrible voice acting. Some voice actors never seem to get the intonation right, so that, for example, the character who's always high sounds as if his voice actor didn't know what "being high" actually means. Even the main character Brian was voiced badly, luckily not the whole time but here and there. Which can destroy everything in a game that is based so badly on story and voice acting. Although, in the earlier days of the genre I didn't miss the voices at all. Maybe I should have turned the voices off for this game. Well, there's always another time.

The story continued more or less where the first part ended, namely during the protagonist's vacation. The game sets the player in a crashed plane on a journey to find his lost girlfriend and lots of trouble accompanying her. I really liked the game so far. The first two, or let's say two and a half chapters of the game made me laugh in joy and anticipate the rest of the game. But then this game that focused so much on realism since the very first riddle of the very first game, this game turned into a fantasy novel which I could have never seen coming. And at some points - although that is rather typical for the genre itself - I just couldn't progress for crying out loud. Because I didn't do the correct dialog sequence! Uh, never mind ... I mean, I was stuck there for weeks. Literally for weeks. But as I said: never mind ...

It was nice how the developers kind of payed homage to Indiana Jones and even to the Monkey Island series late in the game but the way it was realized - which is rather bad - actually insulted "MI" in my eyes. The quality of the riddles was shattered and didn't make much sense to me, and this only to have a minor connection to Monkey Island - which I'm sure was not recognized by many who played the game. And the end ... well, of course I won't spoil anything but let's just say that I didn't like the end :^/

And because of all this Runaway 2 gets a 4.7 out of 1o from me. Believe me, it would have been a worse rating if it wasn't for the first two chapters ...
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Pictures of Failure

  Schadenfreude is a concept everybody can be amused by easily. Because of it we love to see other people fail. Just like in these genericly funny pictures.

Sometimes I can't quite agree with the "failure", but they're still mostly funny. [...]
(show me)(don't show me)

Failure is not an option! By: Michael · Jan 1, 2008 at 7:23

The pics:

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Btw: if you ask yourself why these blog psotings take so long I have four excuses: Wii Fit, Plasma television, PS3™ and GTA IV ... ;^)