Jam's Pick(s) of the Week

Double-feature time! Like a classic drive-in, two fun features for the price of... well, free!

My first selection is this week's free digital entertainment, the game that put Newgrounds.com on the map: Alien Hominid.

Created in 2004 by The Behemoth (creators of the multiplayer hack 'n slash fest Castle Crashers for Xbox Live), Alien Hominid is a shoot 'em up in the vain of SNK's Metal Slug. In the game you play as a nameless, stout yellow alien whose crashed ship leaves him stranded on Earth with no way home. To make matters suck, the FBI decides they're going to kill you for some weird reason, and send wave after wave of their own men after you. Your response? SHOOT SHOOT SHOOT!

When it released it became THE game to play, and fans of the old style games (aka anything that reminds them of Contra) applauded the thought and effort that went into creating it. While it wasn't a very long game, it had the appropriate amount of content and style to satisfy, and 2 years later The Behemoth had their very first console game out the door.

Hand-drawn vector graphics in HD. That's good soup.

For people that like to have a game ready to play when someone is physically in the room with you (and doesn't have the money to shell out for a full fake plastic rock studio setup), Alien Hominid is a pretty solid choice for your library. It released and can still be found on PS2, Gamecube and Xbox (with Alien Hominid HD available on Xbox Live in the marketplace). With a bit of looking you may also find it on Gameboy Advance (as an import). Between this and Metal Slug, you definitely get your fix of shooty bullety goodness. You can decide for yourself if this is a game you'd like to play.

Just ask yourself this: do you enjoy jumping on the head of evil FBI agents and biting them until they fall over dead, digging a hole in the ground, pulling one of those evil men in black down into the hole with you where they meet their grisly demise, and then going along your merry way?

If the answer is no, go back to playing Barbie Horse Adventures.

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My second pick of the week, and something I've been waiting on since... shoot, since I first heard about it last year, is the latest episode of the BBC series Doctor Who!


I only talk about it every opportunity that I get, why wouldn't I choose it? :) The newest season of Doctor Who premiered on Saturday, April 3rd to skeptical audiences. The previous Doctor (David Tennant) was so iconic and wonderful that fans around the world were sad to see him go. But after seeing the new Doctor (Matt Smith) in action, I think it's safe to say that the upcoming season is going to be something spectactular. If their intention with the newest episode was to create a universe that new audiences might find interesting enough to stick with, I think they succeeded. The season premiere finds the Doctor in trouble as the TARDIS crash lands back on Earth, taking such a massive fall that it has to spend most of the episode rebuilding itself. Before it does, the Doctor has to deal with an escaped prisoner that found his way to Earth, one so terrible that an alien race decides it would be easier to destroy the planet than to let the prisoner run around free. Can the Doctor get his head straight in time to save the planet without the use of any of his futuristic tools?

New Doctor, new companion, new screwdriver and new TARDIS (which looks incredible!). I can't wait to see more. If you carry BBC America, tune in April 17th for the domestic release of this great series. Or set your DVR because we'll be right smack in the middle of Kawaii Kon 2010!!! Keep an eye out for me, I won't be hard to spot. ;)

That's all from me, I hope you guys have a great week and we'll be back with some more entertainment for your brain.

- Jam

You can park a DeLorean in a TARDIS!