V Is For...Voltron! Defender Of The Universe!

If Power Rangers was an anime then this would be it. I knew little of this old one from the 80's until my friend in work told me about it and lent me the first season to try. It's good but not my favourite anime.

The similarities to Power Rangers are undeniable though. The Voltron Force consists of five pilots sent to protect planet Arus from alien forces. They each command a robot lion which then combine together to create a giant robot known as Voltron. Didn't guess that did you? The Japanese love their robots after all. Each pilot also wears a different colour uniform just like the Power Rangers costumes.

U Is For...Ultros!

There are many classic Final Fantasy characters but a purple talking octopus named Ultros is definitely in my top 10 of all time! Ultros is a recurring character in FFVI, often turning up to cause trouble for the heroes. He's seen more as a comedy act rather than a truly evil villain although he does think very highly of himself.

T Is For...Team Rocket!

Prepare for trouble,

Make it double,

To protect the world from devastation,

To unite all peoples within our nation,

To denounce the evils of truth and love,

To extend our reach to the stars above,

Jessie!

James!

Team Rocket blast off at the speed of light,

Surrender now or prepare to fight,

Meowth! That's right!

If you've watched Pokemon then it's likely that Team Rocket are fan favourites of yours because they certainly are mine! Jessie and James are just class and have provided many entertaining moments from the anime. Hired to steal strong Pokemon and aided by Meowth, the bumbling trio turn their attention to Ash and pals and attempt to capture Pikachu on many, many occasions. However they almost always fail and end up being blasted off into the far distance!

S Is For...Sticker Books!

If you grew up in the 90s like moi then it is likely you would have owned at least one sticker book and spent your pocket money on packs of stickers at your local newsagents. I owned several and probably spent a good amount of my parents money on them too.

S was originally going to be Sword Art Online but Lovefilm didn't have the next disc I required so I haven't finished watching the series yet.

Fortunately one of my friends brought up the topic of sticker books in work and bingo! Here we are. I don't know how the conversation started but it brought back some good memories.

R Is For...Racing Hero!

I don't think I've covered a racing game on this blog yet so thought this game would be apt after playing it in the Tubers High Score Challenge a few weeks ago.

For those of you who don't know, THSC, is a group of YouTubers who participate in weekly high score challenges on arcade and retro classics. Myself and my good friend Steve started it and now have our own Facebook group for it too. I'll explain more in a future post.

Q Is For...The Queen's Nose!

Wouldn't life be so much simpler if you could make a wish? One that was destined to come true. Or maybe 10. With just one rub of the Queen's nose? Yeah that would be great! I...wait....what???

No, no, no, that's not what I meant! Don't go rubbing her Majesty's nose!

That wouldn't end well!

Use a 50p coin instead!

P Is For...Prince Planet!

No one can compare,

To the prince who wears,

A medallion on his chest!

Here's another 60's japanimation and unlike Marine Boy this one was aired all in classic black & white. After discovering MB several years ago and going through my 60's phase I discovered this series online and set about trying to obtain a copy. I was successful although 4 episodes of the collection are missing and I don't think there's many full sets out there.

O Is For...Once Upon A Time!

Could you imagine if you lived across the road from Rumplestiltskin or if your teacher was Snow White? Well that's what this TV show is all about. Fairy tale characters living amongst us in reality.

I wrote briefly about this is an earlier post pondering what character myself or my friends would be. I still don't think there's a character like me out there yet though, I'm just too unique ;)

N Is For...Noein

How do you pronounce this title? No-een? No-ine? Well apparently it's no-ay-een...

....moving on! I discovered this anime after finding a leaflet in my Naurto DVD advertising it. I was still new to the world of anime so figured if it's promoted with Naruto then it's worth a shot! After all I only chose Naruto because it contained ninjas...yeah...

M Is For...Matropolis! The First Anniversary!

This is crazy. Matropolis is now 1 years old! Wow! I can't believe it's been a year since I began this blog. Happy birthday Matropolis! Have a good one :)

It was when I was in Magic Kingdom, Orlando, last year that I decided to create my own blog. I was watching the 'Celebrate A Dream Come True' parade and as all of my Disney childhood memories passed by in floods I started thinking of those good old days. My first friends, cartoons, video games. I thought to myself that I could write a book on it. Then a few seconds later I had decided...I'm going to create my own blog!

L Is For...Lara Croft!

Do you remember your first time with Miss Croft? I do! I was over a friend's who had recently picked up a copy of Tomb Raider 2 for PC and he said I'd love it and I did. 

This was a game like none I'd ever seen and you just had to love those blocky graphics! We all know the story of Lara and the Tomb Raider series (the clue is in the title) and I'm guessing most of us are fans of at least one of her adventures.

K Is For...Kiki's Delivery Service!

Have you ever had your mail delivered by a witch? No, me neither. However, this is the plot for this animated film from Studio Ghibli back in 1989.

Kiki is a thirteen year old girl who leaves her home to train as a witch along with her faithful black cat Jiji. Instead of taking a train, bus or plane she uses her broomstick to fly across the world. How easier would that be? Personally I can't see myself doing it mind.

J Is For...Jurassic park!

The theme music is playing in my head now as I write this. I love that music and this was a classic! I first saw Jurassic Park in the cinema with my parents when I was a kid and thought it was great!

In fact I am now literally listening to the soundtrack! Thanks Spotify! 

So yeah everyone knows what this film is about- dinosaurs! Basically scientists find a way to breed dinosaurs and plan to open a park for tourists to visit. Dr. Alan Grant and Dr. Ellie Sattler take a small group to visit the park to make sure it's safe and of course find out it isn't quite so easy to contain dinosaurs especially the T-Rex! Queue much screaming, running and being devoured on the toilet! Did anyone else find that scene amusing? Anyhow these unlucky individuals attempt to escape the island. 

I Is For...Infamous!

If you had super powers would you save the world or destroy it? This is the choice you have to make from this video game released back in 2009 for the PS3.

The character you play is Cole MacGraph, who becomes caught in an explosion that grants him with electricity based powers.

So the explosion has destroyed a lot of the city and peace needs to be restored but it's up to you how you do it. Do you become it's saviour or conqueror? Tough choices eh? Certain missions offer you a path to choose- good or evil? Each path grants you with additional powers that you can upgrade along the way with experience points.

H Is For...Halfway Across The Galaxy And Turn Left!

This was an Australian kids TV show back in the 90's and my favourite ever to come out of the country. I was hooked on this after viewing just the intro, love that music! I even missed the first so many episodes but still went back every morning during the school summer holidays to watch it. I even managed to hook my friends on the show.

G Is For...The Goonies!

Don't be one of those awkward people who will say that 'The Goonies' begins with a T, you drop 'the' from the title ok?

Now that's out of the way...

Are the Goonies good enough?

Well Cyndi Lauper thinks so and so do I!

F Is For...Fullmetal Alchemist!

Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return,

To obtain,

Something of equal value must be lost.

That is alchemy's first law of equivalent exchange.

 In those days, we really believed that to be the world's one, and only truth.

Fullmetal Alchemist is one of, if the not 'the best' anime out there! The story focuses on two brothers who suffer a tragedy when attempting to bring their dead mother back to life using alchemy and a technique called human transmutation. However it goes horribly wrong and Alphonse Elric loses his body. Edward Elric,the older brother, loses his left leg and then sacrifices his right arm to attach Alphonse's soul to a suit of armour so he can stay alive.

E Is For...Evan Bonifant!

Tum Tum grew up

Or more precisely an interview with Evan Bonifant! For those of you who don't know him, Evan is an actor best known for his role as Tum Tum in 3 Ninjas Kick Back and as Buster in the Blues Brothers 2000. These are two of my favourite childhood films so I decided to message Evan and ask for an interview. He kindly agreed and here it is!
  



Evan, you are best known for your roles in the films listed above. What was it that influenced you in becoming an actor?

Evan: My Brother Adam. He was hired to be in a film called Toy Soldiers and I followed him to New York with my mother as I was only 4 years old and he was not old enough to chase the dream without my mother's assistance.

D Is For...Dead Space!

In space no one can hear you scream...but they can in your bedroom hiding beneath the quilt while you try to escape the Necromorphs attempting to tear you apart limb by limb.


When I first saw a preview for Dead Space in a playstation magazine I thought it was just a trashy gorefest that wouldn't gather much attention. Just killing aliens on a spaceship by dismembering them? Yeah great fun. Just trashy.

Well I was wrong as Dead Space is survival horror at its best and the dismembering is actually quite clever and fun.

C Is For...Chip 'N Dale Rescue Rangers!

Sometimes some crimes,

Go slipping through the cracks,

But these two,

Gumshoes,

Are picking up the slack,

There's no case too big,

No case too small,

When you need help just call,

Ch-ch-ch-Chip 'N Dale Rescue Rangers!

How catchy is that song? It's one of my favourite cartoon themes of all time and another childhood favourite that I used to watch on the weekends and I even owned some of the episodes on VHS.