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The Angry Video Game Nerd: AVGN Ready 4 Revenge
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray ALL - America - Cinemassacre/Screenwave Media Review written by and copyright: James-Masaki Ryan (9th December 2017). |
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The Show
 “AVGN Ready 4 Revenge”: Episodes 141-147 (2016-2017) Ten years and more than 140 episodes with no signs of bad video games emerging to the limelight, there is no stopping the Angry Video Game Nerd. Creator/star/all round one-man show James Rolfe has slowed down the output of the series to concentrate on other works such as movie reviews, the James & Mike Mondays lets play series, and the board game based series Board James, but as more video games are being published, the onslaught of bad games will continue. In the early days Rolfe concentrated on NES games. Later it expanded to other consoles such as Sega Genesis and Super NES. In more recent years he has even played games that were released after the AVGN series started. But whether it is an old game from the 80s or a newer game from the 2000s, bad is bad and that means the foul mouthed Nerd will spit vile insults into the camera to express his horror. Bad controls, ugly graphics, torturous music, game breaking glitches, and rules that don't make sense - these are many of the frustrations that gamers have come to face and it's up to the Nerd to warn them of the terrible games. But for the most part that has backfired as the rise in retro gaming has increased the prices of the good games as well as the games featured in his series. The irony... “AVGN Ready 4 Revenge” is the fourth Blu-ray set of the series, collecting episodes 141-147. The following episodes are available, with a "Play All" function, with a total runtime of 109:41. - "Beavis and Butthead" (14:18) The rude and crude Beavis and Butthead meet the rude crude Nerd as he plays the Sega Genesis and Super NES games. Graphically speaking both games look quite good with the visuals faithfully matching the show's primitive animation. But difficult controls, confusing password screens, cryptic rules and an unforgiving continue system make the Genesis game a very frustrating experience. - "Berenstain Bears" (19:41) Is it BerenSTAIN_Bears or BerenSTEIN Bears? That is a question even faced by the Nerd who is convinced that the spelling is BerenSTEIN, and as he delves into the various video games he finds there is much more to the confusion stemming from the Mandela effect rabbit hole... This is closer to Rolfe's horror shorts rather than a standard gaming episode, and one of the best. - "Sega Activator" (10:58) For Christmas the Nerd is joined by Keith Apicary who is a big Sega Nerd himself. Under the Christmas tree are a bunch of Sega accessories, including the Aura Interactor, TeeVGolf, Stuntmaster, the Menacer, and other accessories which barely work. The episode has tons of destruction, with tables, bottles, and everything else getting destroyed in an insane slapstick style. - "Power Rangers" (20:07) With the 2017 "Power Rangers" movie, it was only fitting that the Nerd would cover the Power Rangers games. Rolfe admitted that even though he loves kaiju films and series, he missed the prime of the TV series when it took off in America and decided to play catch up to prepare for this episode. It can be seen on YouTube with Power Rangers - A noob's review PART 1 and >Power Rangers - A noob's review PART 2 which are hilarious essential viewings. For the episode the Nerd goes through some of the Japan only Famicom games, the Super NES games, GameBoy game, and more. Excellent pronunciation of the Japanese "Zyuranger" theme song! - "Sonic 06" (15:47) The Nerd reviews for the first time an XBox 360 title, breaking from the "retro" standard of the series, but bad games are bad games and he is ready to experience the terror that is "Sonic the Hedgehog". Extremely long loading screens, terrible controls, glitchy gameplay, and confusing settings make the game one of the most controversial in the Sonic series. The Nerd would later revisit the game in episode 152, which is not available in this set. - "Planet of the Apes" (12:33) When the Nerd takes a bunch of bad games to dispose in outer space with his spaceship, he crash lands on another planet, and what must he do? Play the PlayStation game "Planet of the Apes" based on the 2001 "Planet of the Apes" movie. Many homages to the movie series and an unforgettable and fitting ending to this episode. - "GameBoy Accessories" (16:15) The Nerd gives a brief history to Nintendo's groundbreaking handheld GameBoy console, but this is not about the games but the various accessories that could be used with it. He explores some of the good official releases while criticizing some of the questionably bizarre attachments, from heavy lights, oversized speakers, and even the slightly rare GameBoy Printer. The episode count is very few compared the other Blu-rays, but the seven episodes are still as strong as ever with the writing, editing, and music choices for the shorts. Rolfe's creation of the character and series has inspired many additional gaming YouTubers worldwide and gladly he is still continuing to do so with ever creative content using the bottom of the barrel games for the basis. Keep them coming! Note this is a region ALL Blu-ray which can be played back on any Blu-ray player worldwide
Video
Cinemassacre/Screenwave Media presents the episodes in 1080i 60hz in the MPEG-2 codec, in the original 1.78:1 aspect ratio. The high definition picture looks very good, with colors being accurately reproduced in comparison to the YouTube upload counterparts. Some of the previous Blu-rays and DVDs had some issues with compression but for this set there are no serious compression artifacts, presenting a fairly detailed image. There are no major problematic issues to be said about the video transfer.
Audio
English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo The original stereo audio track is offered in lossy Dolby Digital. It may not be a lossless audio track even though this is a Blu-ray disc, the sound is fairly good. Like the previous Blu-rays, the music sounds great using left/right separation while dialogue is always clear and mixed well with the music and the game’s soundtracks. There are no issues of hisses or distortion and that goes for the screams and cursing. There are no subtitles provided for the episodes.
Extras
The extras and the episodes are all on a single Blu-ray disc. The extras are as follows: Extras (with Play All) (66:00) - Outtakes (5:04) A series of flubs, mistakes, behind the scenes antics, and laughs are all here. in 1080i 60hz MPEG-2, in 1.78:1, in English Dolby Digital 2.0 with no subtitles "Gilligan's Island" episode for NES Charity Marathon (5:36) It may start as an advertisement for Pac-Man shaped Pork Roll (whatever that is!), the mini-episode created for Pat the NES Punk's annual NES charity marathon features the Nerd playing "The Adventures of Gilligan's Island", which is not that terrible, but a frustrating experience nonetheless. in 1080i 60hz MPEG-2, in 1.78:1, in English Dolby Digital 2.0 with no subtitles - AVGN Prop Charity Auction Montage (1:53) In May 2016, Cinemassacre had an auction of props, scripts, and other memorabilia to raise funds to go to the Shriners Hospital for Children. The auction raised a staggering $20,200 and this featurette is a montage of many of the items sold plus a shot of Rolfe giving the large sum check to the hospital staff. in 1080i 60hz MPEG-2, in 1.78:1, in English Dolby Digital 2.0 with no subtitles - "Flying Fuckernauts vs. The Astro Bastards" trailer (4:22) The Nerd introduces a "lost" film trailer entitled "Flying Fuckernauts vs. The Astro Bastards" - a black and white 1950's science fiction sex comedy. Though it should be obviously noted that the film itself does not exist. in 1080p MPEG-2, in 1.78:1, in English Dolby Digital 2.0 with no subtitles - "The Making of Fuckernauts vs. The Astro Bastards" featurette (7:58) This featurette is for the making of the trailer which took a two year period of working on and off with Rolfe and various friends and contributors. The featurette includes behind the scenes footage and photos, some insight into the genesis of the trailer, and behind the scenes tidbits. in 1080i 60hz MPEG-2, in 1.78:1, in English Dolby Digital 2.0 with no subtitles - "Pop This Fucker In" featurette (2:26) How easy is it to get a shot of a cartridge or disc to go into a console? Much harder than one would think, as Rolfe demonstrates in this featurette. in 1080i 60hz MPEG-2, in 1.78:1, in English Dolby Digital 2.0 with no subtitles - Audio commentary on "Sega Activator" by James Rolfe (12:19) This is a full length commentary for the episode, with Rolfe discussion how it was the most expensive episode to date at $3,600 due to the entire set having to be built, the cost of breakaway glass, and having a multiple camera setup for the show. in 1080i 60hz MPEG-2, in 1.78:1, in English Dolby Digital 2.0 with no subtitles - "Commentary Late 2016 - Early 2017" featurette (9:32) This is not a standard audio commentary by Rolfe but one that covers all the episodes from "Paperboy" which was the last video on the previous Blu-ray (as Rolfe did not have time to comment on the previous release) all the way up to the GameBoy episode. He spills the details such as how the "Berenstain Bears" took more than 89 hours to make, how the attic scenes had to be completely redubbed, and much more. At the time of this writing, this featurette is a Blu-ray exclusive (as he points out in the introduction) and has not been uploaded to YouTube like the other extras. in 1080i 60hz MPEG-2, in 1.78:1, in English Dolby Digital 2.0 with no subtitles - "Top 10 AVGN - Picked in 2017" clips (9:51) Rolfe gives his all time top ten favorite episodes with short commentaries on each. in 1080i 60hz MPEG-2, in 1.78:1, in English Dolby Digital 2.0 with no subtitles - "MIMAL" short (6:55) The MIMAL the Elf urban legend has terrorized Americans for generations... or has it? This mockumentary short looks like it came off an old VHS tape which even features channel flipping, tape errors, and terrible color which was all intentional. There are various easter eggs referencing Rolfe's other work and the only major thing that gives it away that this was NOT a vintage TV special from the 1980s was the fact one of the people in the re-creation video say "Google" for a bit of anachronism. in 480i MPEG-2, in 1.33:1, in English Dolby Digital 2.0 with no subtitles
Overall
“AVGN Ready 4 Revenge” may only be the next seven episodes of the series, but the quality of the episode contents and the fun in the extras is very well worth the time. The Blu-ray offers very good picture and sound for the episodes and people looking to have the AVGN series on their shelf should have no problem picking this set up to align with the previous Blu-rays. While it may not carry the "X" on the title and spine like the previous entries, it still comes as recommended!
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