Strange fissures have appeared in the Sonic Boom world, and while trying to seal them up, Sonic and Amy discover that the radiation from the fissures has affected their armband communicators, and now allows the team to have fire and ice attacks.  Using their new abilities, Sonic and Co. must track down the source of the fissures (most likely Dr. Eggman), and save their world from strange weather anomalies in this 2-D platforming adventure based on the computer animated TV show.

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Tags: Game Reviews, Television

The first Mission Impossible movie came out way back in 1996.  I remember watching it, and it was a decent action flick, but it didn’t compel me to watch any of the sequels.  Plus, even though the TV show it was based on was a little before my time, I seem to remember it focusing more on teamwork between the agents, while the movie was just “Tom Cruise Does Everything.”  But the movie was certainly popular enough to spawn sequels.  And now, your mission, if you choose to build it, is to check out the Mission Impossible Level Pack for LEGO Dimensions.  The game is available for nearly all current game consoles, but reviewed on Wii U here.

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Tags: Game Reviews, Movies with Children, Television

Thanks to the success of games like Shovel Knight, there are now many others out there trying to recreate the charm and look of older 8-bit titles.  But hardly any attention is given to the monochrome handheld look of what was on the original Game Boy.  That is until now, with Pirate Pop Plus.  It looks like something out of that era, and even the border looks like the sides of a handheld!  In the game, Pete Jr. finds that the Bubble Pirate has trapped villagers in bubbles, and it’s up to you to pop them with your anchor in this game that plays very similarly to arcade classic Buster Bros. (also called Pang in some parts of the world).  It’s available as a cross-buy for the Nintendo Wii U and 3DS, meaning if you buy it on one system, you can download it on the other without having to pay for it again.  Pirate Pop Plus is reviewed on the Wii U here.

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Tags: Game Reviews

When I was a kid (well I guess it was more like high school), I was really into role-playing video games.  I started playing them on the 8-bit Nintendo with titles like Dragon Warrior and Final Fantasy, but I didn’t really get into them until the 16-bit era.  And then I was hooked.  Games like Final Fantasy 4, Final Fantasy 6, Chrono Trigger, Secret of Mana, Super Mario RPG, Lufia 2, and many others took up most of my gaming time back then.  But when the 32-bit days came along, I kind of got out of the loop.  College and other commitments kept me from playing RPGs for long hours like I used to, but also the newer RPGs kind of grew up, but my tastes in games didn’t.  Sure I would find a few here and there that would interest me, like Final Fantasy 9, Tales of Legendia, and Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, but it’s definitely not like how it used to be.  That’s why World of Final Fantasy makes me so happy.  It’s like Square-Enix went back and made a Final Fantasy game just for me! (Vita version reviewed here)

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Tags: Game Reviews

This game may look cute and cuddly, but World of Final Fantasy can be quite challenging sometimes.  In this monster gathering and battling RPG, if you don’t go into the fight with the right strategy, you might find yourself toppled over—literally!  Luckily there’s the World of Final Fantasy Strategy Guide from Prima Games.  When I was a kid, I used to enjoy the older Final Fantasy games, and would pour over the printed guides when I wasn’t playing.  This guide made me feel like a kid again while reading it, so let’s take a look inside together!

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Tags: Misc

One of video game’s most popular female icons turns 20 this year.  Makes me feel old, how about you?  To celebrate, Prima Games has put together an awesome hardcover book with more than 300 pages featuring the Tomb Raider games, the fans, and Lara Croft herself.

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Tags: Misc

I played Dragon Quest Builders at PAX West this year and it was one of my favorite games of the show.  It’s basically a combination of Dragon Quest and Minecraft.  Those two game series are very robust, so you know you’ll need a comprehensive guide if you get stuck or don’t want to miss out on secrets.  Luckily Prima Games has you covered with the Dragon Quest Builders strategy guide!  Let’s take a look inside and see what’s all in there!

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Tags: Misc

Sony’s PSP was one of the few times (other than the Neo Geo Pocket Color), that I was lured away from Nintendo’s handheld juggernaut for a bit.  The PSP had a lot of great games, and my top five include Loco Roco 1 & 2, Mega Man Powered Up, Half-Minute Hero, Ys Seven, and Gurumin.  Fortunately, that last game on my list is now available as a downloadable title for the Nintendo 3DS.  Best of all, even ten years later the game is just as enjoyable as I remember it being.

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Tags: Game Reviews

When I was a little kid, The A-Team was a very popular TV show.  But I wasn’t really into it as I was more interested in shows like The Dukes of Hazzard and Knight Rider.  One show had a cool orange car that jumped over ramps, and the other had a TALKING car!  The A-Team just had a van with a red stripe.  (yeah you know where my priorities were as a little boy) Plus, I feel ashamed to admit it, but as a little kid, I was kind of scared of Mr. T, who was the star of the show.  But there’s no denying that The A-Team was super popular.  Heck, even Mr. Bean slept on A-Team sheets in one of his comedy skits, and a few years ago they made a movie remake of The A-Team (I rented it once and feel asleep about an hour in, unfortunately).  Mr. T was also popular in his own right, even getting his own Saturday morning cartoon and breakfast cereal back then (yes, really).  And now you can relive the action of the TV show in LEGO form with The A-Team Fun Pack for LEGO Dimensions.  The game is available for nearly all current home game consoles, but reviewed on Wii U here.

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Tags: Game Reviews, Movies with Children, Television

We all have guilty pleasures, whether we like to admit them or not.  One of my guilty pleasures is watching ghost shows on TV.  You know, the ones where people go to haunted places and try to investigate ghosts, or recount their own spooky happenstances.  You can usually watch them on cable channels like Discovery or the History Channel (more like Used to be About History Channel).  Anyway, I know most of the stuff on those ghost shows are probably exaggerated and not real, but they’re still entertaining to watch anyway and who doesn’t like a good ghost story every now and then, especially at this time of year.  I also find video games about ghosts rather interesting, heck, the first game I ever played, Pac-Man, had ghosts in it!  So that’s why I decided to review Tokyo Twilight Ghost Hunters Daybreak: Special Gigs.  It’s a game about ghost hunting and is a weird mix of a virtual novel and strategy RPG.  It’s available for all of Sony’s current systems, but reviewed on PS3 here.

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Tags: Game Reviews