In a world much like our own. . .except with magic and aliens and way more ninjas. . .war is beginning. Thus begins Press Start, a movie celebration of old school video games created by Ed Glaser of Dark Maze Studios. The natural evolution of countless YouTube gaming parodies, it's the story of a young man with spiky blond hair recruited by a ninja and a secretly female space warrior named Sam to help save the world from Count Nefarious Vile - so evil he killed Tetris. It sounds hokey, and in a way it is. Made on a budget that could buy half a shoestring, the production values are terrible, but taken as a fan-made film the whole thing is just an amazing accomplishment. It even features cameos from Carlos and Daniel Pesina of Mortal Kombat fame.

Dark Maze sent me a copy of the DVD, which I just finished watching after beating Halo 3 and having nothing else to do. If I had to do it again, I would have watched the movie first. At several points the writing had me literally laughing out loud. I was a little unsure about it at the beginning, but when the main character had to push a bookcase in front of a switch to get the bathroom door to open, I was hooked.

The DVD includes two commentaries, the flash cartoon shorts that appeared on Newgrounds, and a making of commentary that looks like it had a much larger budget than the movie itself. They sell the DVD on the official website for only $12.99, which is a steal.

Littered with hilarious video game humor and references, it is a movie gamers everywhere should see at least once, hopefully with friends, helpfully drunk. You really need to check this movie out. A cult classic in the making.

Press Start Movie Website [Dark Maze Studios]

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