Tribes: Hyde and Phantom

Plot Synopsis
People must think MegaMan's real name is RepairMan because he runs off to fix a virus infested soda machine. Unfortunately, his Thunder Zerker form keeps going off against his will, and he doesn't seemingly have any control over it. Geo then gets a call from Dr. Orihime telling him to look in the pyramids for the next OOPArt.

Someone else is already there looking though, as Hyde and his EM-Being Phantom reminisce about how they met. Hyde was a struggling painter, whose "genius" had yet to be recognized by the world, and he is searching for enternal life through the OOPArts, so that he may enjoy the luxuries of being a renowned artists before he dies. Phantom enjoys Hyde's dark and twisted paintings, so he joins up with him.

The two of them are already well underway exploring the pyramids when MegaMan finally arrives, and we find out Geo is not so keen on exploring potentially cursed mummy tombs. When Phantom disguises himself as a ghostly snake, Geo flips the fuck out and runs away screaming! Omega-Xis gets Geo back under control, and they realize they were tricked. MegaMan goes and meets Dark Phantom in the pyramid and they begin fighting. MegaMan's Thunder Zerker form goes off again, but he can't control it at all, and his body and the sword move out of control as the episode comes to a close!

Critique
There's a new running gag lately that Mega Man is afraid of ghosts. It started in NT Warrior, and even though it didn't carry into the Battle Network games, it was briefly touched upon in Star Force 2. Personally, I find it hysterical in both NT Warrior and this episode of Star Force, even though it might be just a tad out of character. Although if you want to see some real hilarious stuff, try to find the episode of Rockman.exe Beast, where MegaMan is watching a horror movie, fantastic episode.

This episode also introduces the rewrite for Hyde. In the games, Hyde considers himself an artist of the films, and constantly talks about scripts and screenplays and actors and junk. In this show, he's a painter. I guess they just felt it was easier to work with in their scripts or something. I also like the way Phantom speaks in this show, in kind of a low, subdued, but really creepy voice.

If there was anything I think this show lost by halving the season length, it would have to be the struggles between MegaMan and the OOPArt. In the game, the struggle goes back and forth for a good chunk of the game, as Geo tries to fight being consumed by the ancients trying to take his body. In this show, the conflict is introduced this episode, and resolved in the next one. It's too bad they didn't have time to work more of it in, but at least they got something down.

As far as this episode goes, it's pretty funny, and worth a watch.

Rating: Thumbs up!