One of the biggest successes in gaming that you don’t hear about much anymore is Deer Hunter.  Back in the late 90’s, this game was huge and I reviewed a ton of its sequels and imitators back at The Dallas Morning News.  In fact, there were so many hunting games back then that I had to tell my editor to stop sending them to me, because I was getting tired of reviewing them!  And you know I hate turning down a game to review!  Heck, even my grandmother on my dad’s side played the Deer Hunter games back then.  And she was really good at them, too, and got the highest scores in our family!  And now Deer Hunter is back with Reloaded, available on the PS4, Xbox One, PC, and mobile devices (reviewed on PS4 here).

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Tags: Game Reviews

The Mummy is one of Universal Studios’ most popular movie franchises.  There have been several sequels and spinoffs, a ride at their theme parks, and I think there was even a cartoon at one point.  Recently they’ve remade the movie and WayForward published a game based on it called The Mummy Demastered.  The reason for that title is because they made the game to look like a movie tie-in from the 16-bit era, and it’s available to download for nearly all the current game consoles and PC (reviewed on PS4 here). It’s a 2-D platforming run and gun exploration type of game, similar to Metroid.  With all those good things going for it, could anything go wrong?  You’ll just have to read on to find out!

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Tags: Game Reviews, Movies with Children, Television

Spelunker was an 8-bit 2-D platformer game where you explored caves, avoided obstacles, and gathered treasures.  It came out in the US, but gained more popularity in Japan, probably because it was one of those easy to play yet hard to master games, and it came out when the Famicom (Japanese NES) was big.  You can even find Spelunker references in other Japanese media, like anime cartoons and video games like Taiko no Tatsujin (Taiko Drum Master).  There’s even been a few remakes and rereleases of the game, and I’ve reviewed a few of them.  Such as Spelunker HD, which was one of the first games I reviewed on the PS3, and Everyday Spelunker, a mobile version of the original game.  Now cave exploring is back as a downloadable title on the Switch with Spelunker Party!

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Tags: Game Reviews

Over the past year or two, there’s been a free-to-play fighting game that’s taken the PC world by storm.  I know because I’ve seen it at recent PAX shows I’ve been to.  And now it’s available on PS4 and Steam as well!  All are still free-to-play and supposedly cross-platform online as well.  Brawhalla is a cartoony four player fighting game that resembles Super Smash Bros. quite a bit (reviewed on PS4 here).

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Tags: Game Reviews

Last year, Nintendo released the NES Classic Edition, a smaller sized 8-bit NES shaped console with 30 classic games.  It’s been notoriously hard to find, and I’ve been a bit bummed that I haven’t been able to get one.  But I wasn’t TOO upset because most of the games I played on the NES were from Capcom, not Nintendo (Mega Man and Disney games).  But the 16-bit Super Nintendo is my all-time favorite console ever.  It was the gaming console that really cemented my preference for console games, and the system just clicked for me for some reason.  So when Nintendo released the SNES Classic Edition in the same vein this year, I REALLY wanted to get it.  Luckily, my family got it for me for my birthday!  Nintendo DID say they were making more of the SNES Classic Edition, and I don’t know if that’s really true or not, or if we were just more prepared this time.  But not only was I able to get one, but three of my brothers got one, too!  So to celebrate me getting a SNES Classic Edition, here’s a blog about all the games on it!

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Tags: Misc

Last year around this time, I reviewed a book from Prima about NES classic games.  I think they released it to coincide with the NES Classic Edition (sadly I still don’t have one).  You can read that article by clicking here.  This year they did the same thing with Super Nintendo games.  I didn’t get a review copy of it like I did the NES book, but luckily I did get the SNES book for my birthday instead (along with the SNES Classic Edition…yay!).  So here’s a review of the book before I post my article on the SNES Classic Edition itself.

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Tags: Misc

AmericanGirl is a popular line of dolls for girls, and now there is a spinoff series called WellieWishers.  The WellieWishers are a group of young girls who enjoy playing in their garden, taking care of animals, putting on shows and tea parties, and being kind to one another.  And now your girls can join in on the fun with a free-to-play mobile app for iOS and Android (reviewed on iPad here).

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Tags: Game Reviews

Super Mario Odyssey is Nintendo’s new hit Mario game on the Switch.  So of course they released some amiibo figures to go with it, and they’re all dressed up for the occasion.  In the game, Bowser’s trying to marry Princess Peach, so the amiibo figures have a wedding theme.  Let’s crash the ceremony and check out these new figures!

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Tags: Misc

An apocalyptic event has left the Earth 96 percent covered in water.  Machines have evolved into sea-like creatures and it’s up to you to hop into your submarine and destroy them.  Why?  Who knows?  But that’s just what you do in Earth Atlantis, a 2-D shooter with elements of exploration and strikingly unique visuals.  It’s available to download on Nintendo Switch and PC, but reviewed on Switch here.

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Tags: Game Reviews

Beach Buggy Racing is a kart racer where a bunch of crazy drivers and their dune buggies compete in a tropical setting.  It’s available to download on nearly all current game consoles, mobile, and PC, but reviewed here on the Switch.

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Tags: Game Reviews