To save your game, you have to enter certain overhead dungeons, which are colored green on your map, and use the save point at the beginning of the dungeon. One time I was trying to save in the ice area, and the only save point in the whole Area that I could find was a dungeon on a platform no wider than the entrance. But when I got out of SOPHIA I was too far to the right to enter the dungeon. I took one step to the left, slid on the ice and off the platform, and died. It was actually kind of funny in retrospect, but bloody annoying when it happened.
I'm not sure how I forgot to mention how awful Area 4 is. Aside from all the glare in the background, it's full of these really cheaply placed ceiling turrets. And towards the end of the area, you have to go through a room full of these bastards and the Giger alien head on legs enemies, turn around and climb some platforms in the next room, come back through only at a higher level, jump across some platforms, and eventually reach a part it took me forever to figure out how to pass. You're supposed to jump off a platform, hover a little to the left, and grapple upwards to this barely noticeable strip of ceiling that is just barely on screen that would still be difficult to see even if it wasn't the same color as the background. And even when you know it's there, half the time you'll miss anyway and have to go back through the hall of ceiling turrets.
At first I was going to say the only new tank upgrade was the grappling hook, then I realized no other Blaster Master had a powerup to let you drive on spikes, so I didn't mention it. Well, as it turns out, the first game had it, just didn't use it (thanks for the link, FO!).
This is actually something I didn't realize until after I'd posted the review:
I mean, would you look at the size of his hands? He could totally crush his wife and kid's heads like a couple of paper cups, or his kid's whole body for that matter. And I realize he's still wearing the suit, but it can't be that thick unless he's Rayman or a giraffe with shoulders that stick out half a foot from his torso, not to mention how thin it is on his neck. Plus, check the guns he's wielding on the title screen, so all that upper body mass has gotta be... just... damn...
Great, after that Futurama sound clip about the were-car, and now realizing he could totally slug it out with Marcus Fenix, I can't help but imagine Alexander sounding like John DiMaggio. Although, if Overdrive 2 features Alexander beatboxing, I will totally forgive Overdrive 1's lameass ending.
Regarding if this is Alex Bufoni, I seriously doubt Alexander's name is coincidence, but I also don't think it's the same individual. If this was part of the existing storyline it would have to be, but Overdrive seems to be occuring on a seperate reality. Sunsoft or the localization team probably just picked the name as a nudge-nudge-wink-wink to the people who read the book.
There was originally more to the image of Alex scaring Jason with the frog costume (which is a scene from the end of the book, for those who were wondering): Eve was turning to CK and asking "This is supposed to explain the frog?" while CK responds "Nah, I just think it's funny." But due to space constraints, a poorly drawn Eve, and my eraser being a jerk and mucking up the pencil drawing, I canned it. For what it's worth, here's the digitized and colorized CK I did before I cut that half of the picture.
I should probably take this moment to clarify that I really don't believe you were supposed to lose to Enemy Below. First of all, a game you weren't supposed to win would be pretty lame. Also, the situations of Enemy Below and Blasting Again don't line up. Enemy Below was Jason cleaning after some dipshits who got the bright idea to clone the Plutonium Boss. If he was killed in that mission, Roddy would be taking care of that instead of crazy uncle Kaiser. And Jason's cross is out in the middle of nowhere near the entrance to the Kaiser's domain, which tells me he was killed on the first attack on the Kaiser. It was just an amusing thought, because the final area is just so cruel.
