I'm gonna wreck it!

If you are a video gamer like me and grew up playing video games in the arcade, on the Nintendo Entertainment System, or any other system, stop what you're doing right now and go see the movie Wreck-It Ralph.

Right now.

Because this movie is cleverly written, touching at times, humorous, and full of nostalgia. It's a crazy ride, but not cheesy at all. Think of it like a Toy Story of arcade games, where the game characters themselves have actual lives. (There, that's my mini-review. I'm a video game blogger, not a movie reviewer, and I don't want to spoil too much.)

Anyway, the movie focuses mostly on the "games" that were created just for this movie:

• Fix-It Felix Jr., the 8-bit platformer from yesteryear. Of course, this is where the main character of the movie plays as the underappreciated villain.
• Heroes' Duty, the metaphoric ultra-violent first-person shooter. Like Halo. Even Ralph is shaken by the action as he asks, "When did video games get so violent and scary?!?"
• Sugar Rush, the go-kart racing game that just shouts Japanese style Harajuku. Clearly based on Mario Kart.

Most of the characters from actual video games like Zangief, M.Bison, Sonic, and Q*Bert just have cameos to varying degrees. Watching them make their appearances is just part of the fun.

Now if you don't mind me, I'm going to start up my arcade nostalgia application MAME and play the following games from the movie:

• Q*Bert
• (Root Beer) Tapper
• Pac-Man

One more thing. The movie also had a reference to Metal Gear. Come on, now you HAVE to go watch it!

P.S. - By the way, this movie also reminds me of an old cartoon series from the 90's called ReBoot, which was also set in the virtual world of video games. That cartoon was groundbreaking in that it was one of the first to be animated with 3D CGI.