Slope's Game Room: Cult Movies, Shows and Classic Comics

In my previous review for Slope's Game Room: Sega The Complete History Vol 1 (we're still waiting for Vol 2!), I mentioned how I found DJ Slope AKA Daniel Ibbertson’s YouTube channel and it’s great stuff. Each episode should be considered a short film or a mini-documentary exhaustively detailing the history and current status of the game franchise. For this Blu-ray set, DJ Slope dives into one of my favorite video game sub-genres, the movie tie-in game! 

Growing up in the 80s and 90s as a scrappy 8-bit and 16-bit gamer, there was nothing quite like seeing a hit movie invade theaters and then go to the game store or Toys R Us and snag the tie-in game. And there wouldn’t be just one game; each console would have its own game and often the gameplay would vary wildly - Genesis Jurassic Park versus SNES Jurassic Park anyone?  For this set, Friday the 13th, RoboCop vs Terminator, Beavis and Butt-head, The Mask, Saw, The Evil Dead, Scott Pilgrim, and Alien vs Predator come under Slope’s microscope. 

If you’ve seen anything on his YouTube channel or the previous Blu-ray set, you know these are deep, deep dives. Each video covers everything from the films to the comic books to the cartoons and each game release along the way. Of all these, I was most surprised by The Evil Dead - there was a game made in the early 80s I had no idea even existed! What’s really fun is how he tries to make sense of continuity and where the games may - or may not - fall inside the franchise canon. 

My favorite of these was Alien vs Predator simply because I was a nutcase about those comics and games as a kid. I devoured the Dark Horse comics. I endlessly played the SNES game. I smashed through the Game Boy game in record time. I begged for an Atari Jaguar (sadly didn’t get that) just to play that first-person shooter. Most of all I got so good at the Capcom coin-op game I could beat it on a single quarter! But Slope doesn’t just highlight the great comics and games, he gives the films a thorough going over and dives into the PSP and Java games that came along. 

Of course, the Friday the 13th is naturally an excellent episode as well. Not only because the movies get more daffy, but the early attempts to tie in a video game were downright laughable. You think purple and blue Jason on NES was bad? There were a lot worse before! A big highlight of the segment is the look into the excellent but now sadly defunct next-gen co-op game. On that scale, entries like The Mask, Beavis and Butt-Head, and Saw are just as entertaining. 

Given how prevalent the video game tie-in was during the 90s, I hope we get another disc dedicated to this unique gaming sub-genre. Obviously, there’s a lot to cover out there, but then you have games like the previously mentioned Jurassic Park that were more interesting and elaborate from one system to the next, it's worth expanding. Likewise, Terminator 2: Judgement Day, Rambo, Predator and Predator 2, or even Star Wars would all be titles worth spending several hours dissecting. Hell, I’d love a rundown on that wild NES Jaws game where you swim around collecting conch shells and then try to ram the shark with your boat! I burned a lot of childhood time on that game!  

Vital Disc Stats: The Blu-ray
Slope's Game Room: Cult Movies, Shows & Classic Comics is the latest from ETR Media and OCN Distribution. Pressed on a Region Free BD-50 disc, the disc is housed in a clear case with reversible insert artwork. If you order direct from Vinegar Syndrome you can score an exclusive limited edition slipcover. The disc loads to an animated main menu letting you select each individual title but also a very cool maze game that unlocks additional content.

Given that each of these episodes was sourced from Slope’s YouTube channel, the overall quality can vary but they’re pretty solid. Bright and colorful, each episode showcases segments from relative films (again of varying quality) as well as game footage and stills. In between segments of the films and the games, Slopes himself pops up to discuss and segue into the next part of the story. Colors are bright and clear. Details can fluctuate from one episode to the next but that’s largely determined by the quality of the games. Overall they’re clean and stable and each segment looks great.

Each episode rides in with a fine DTS-HD MA 2.0 audio mix - and that’s perfect for this sort of series. Film clips aren’t long enough to get too wrapped into that you’d need a big surround statement. Likewise game audio covers a range of eras and gaming capabilities so for the segments we do hear anything of the games it’s not long enough we need a big wide soundscape. Key audio for each episode is Slope himself narrating and his gravely energetic voice keeps each segment engaging and entertaining. Especially for The Evil Dead his reoccurring “Thanks, Mary!” gag plays well.

And just like the last set, there are hours of extra features to dig into. Audio Commentaries for each episode, on top of new interviews! Then you have the Slope’s Maze Game (see the Easter Eggs section for more detail) that unlocks that “Classified” additional content. I'm factoring that maze game and the classified content in the overall bonus features score. 

• Howard the Duck Audio Commentary 
• Evil Dead Audio Commentary 
• Friday the 13th Audio Commentary 
• Scott Pilgrim vs The World Audio Commentary 
• RoboCop vs The Terminator Audio Commentary 
• Beavis and Butt-Head Audio Commentary 
• Alien vs Predator Audio Commentary
• The Mast Audio Commentary
• Saw Audio Commentary
• Interview with Chris Neary Evil Dead ZX Spectrum Home Computer Interview (Audio Only 1:11:39)
• Interview with Richard Leinfellner Evil Dead ZX Spectrum Home Computer Interview (Audio Only 25:56)
• Slopes Game Room YouTube Channel Trailer 
• Slopes Game Room Best of Sega Blu-ray Trailer

Now for the Easter Eggs, we have the Slope's Maze Game. It’s based on the old click-through maze games of long, long ago. The reason you do this is you need a code to unlock the classified content (No, I won’t spoil what it is for you). You have to click through the maze to find nine themed “bosses” from the various films and series covered on this disc. Each boss reveals a piece of the code so have a pen and paper ready! At first it seemed like it’d take a long while to get through, but I solved it inside of 20 minutes and I admit it was a good bit of nostalgic fun with entertaining animations for each title. One hint I will give, when the background animation of the screen changes, that means you're getting close to another "boss"

Now the Classified Content, I won’t tell you the title, but it’s an interesting dive into a comic series that spawned one hell of a film making a game seem like a no-brainer. However, the games kept getting canceled! Slope digs into the various iterations that were in development and details of gameplay and storyline of each and what went wrong. Considering how some of those games were going, it may be best they never materialized. Remember The Crow: City of Angels game? That never should have been released. 

• Slopes’ Maze Game
• Classified Content (HD 28:15)

The breadth of movie tie-in videogames is expansive. An entire era of film marketing was dedicated to punching out a video game (often on every console available) to maximize market saturation. If they weren’t going to make money at the box office, they’d get it back on all those video game sales! DJ Slopes dives into a variety of film and television properties and the multimedia they spawned and it’s a great selection of titles! As a kid gamer, I loved the movie tie-in games and there are so many out there I hope Slope's Game Room and ETR do another volume in this series. Like their disc dedicated to the history of famous Sega games, ETR delivers an excellent disc with solid A/V and great bonus features including a rather fun maze game that helps you unlock some interesting secret content! Highly Recommended 

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