Xena: The Game for Playstation

Xena: Warrior Princess



This has been a review long time coming. I've had this game for ages now. Since last Anime Boston? 2009?

And I've been playing the game since then. I truly am a pathetic gamer. But that's alright and I DID finish the game without glitching it out too badly and that's got to count for something.

This game was more fun than it probably should have been. Original Playstation, terrible graphics, and weirdly wonky directional controls- I'm pretty sure most hardcore gamers would find this game tedious and old. The plot is pretty nonexistent (rescue Gabrielle and fight monsters- that’s it) and none of the levels are impossibly difficult if you have any sort of skill.

I mean, I don't. I did resort to the invincibility cheat by the lava level, but it was in the last quarter of the game so I don't feel bad about it. Plus, I still fell off a lot of things and died that way. I didn't exactly coast through this.

But the appeal of this game from the moment I picked it up at the used game stand until the last of the credits is that this is XENA. There's kicking and flipping and throwing the chakram around in ridiculous ways. It's a fun game because you're playing as Xena.

So, for Xena fans who don't mind the datedness of the game, find yourself a copy. It'll probably be cheap, which is always a plus. I'm not sure anyone else will enjoy this game quite as much, but it's always worth a try, methinks.

Hercules and Xena

Here’s another obligatory I Have Finished A Television Series And Must Now Talk About It post. This one’s about Hercules: The Legendary Journeys.

And also Xena: Warrior Princess because I apparently didn’t talk about that when I finished it. I don’t know how I managed it, but I did.

So, where to begin?

I grew up with these shows. There were episodes on every Saturday morning and, because I wasn’t allowed to watch the conventional Saturday morning shows like Power Rangers, I spent my Saturdays watching Hercules and Xena. I loved it then and I loved them again when I rewatched both this year.

As you might have guessed from my disclaimer above, I watched Xena again first. I remembered Xena more clearly and, let’s be honest, Xena is a hot warrior chick. Most folks would go for the hot warrior chick first.

But I enjoyed both series just as much. I understand more of the references now that I’m an adult and I can appreciate the humor that would have gone right over my head as a kid. I loved going back and watching all the odd episodes that somehow became commonplace in the 90s.

You know, the obligatory musical episodes, the amnesia episodes, the time travel episodes, the episodes that take place in the future that look back on the main characters…

Also, there was the fun “modern-ness” of the shows. They never really aimed for historical accurateness, but you can’t help but laugh when markets have department store clothes racks or gambling dens have showgirls or when one of the characters uses an altered modern phrase.

And, of course, both the shows were constantly crossing over each other, so you would see Autolycus and Salmoneus switch between the two heroic pairs and Xena, Gabrielle, Hercules, and Iolaus rush to the others’ help. Both shows recognized that they owed their popularity and continued fandom to each other.

The shows’ creators knew what the fans wanted, which is something that is lacking in today’s television. Part of the fun of watching these shows is that they know what you think of the characters and they will throw in lines or situations just to get you to laugh. Like the episode where a journalist was trying to find out if Xena and Gabrielle were lovers the entire time, or the “partner” jokes that Aphrodite makes at Iolaus and Hercules’ expense. They knew which characters should make repeat appearances and which ones weren’t well received. The days of clever fanservice are past, which is a shame.

I know some people would be reluctant to watch these series again because of the cheesey 90s-ness and the terrible effects and over the top acting, but I love that kind of stuff. I’m sure some of it is nostalgia, but I genuinely enjoy series that are unapologetically goofy and fun. That was the point to these shows and I love them for it.