A few years ago, game developer Renegade Kid released Mutant Mudds, a run-and-gun 2-D platformer about a kid armed with a water gun who zaps monsters made of mud who are trying to get you!  It featured classic 8-bit graphics and sound, as well as a challenge level similar to games of that era (meaning it was hard).  Well, if that game wasn’t difficult enough for you, now there’s Mutant Mudds Super Challenge.  It’s the same basic game, but the new levels are super tough!  You’ll be hard-pressed to get through Stage 1-1 unless you are a pro!  Mutant Mudds Super Challenge is available for download on most current consoles, but reviewed on PS Vita here.

more…

Tags: Game Reviews

The makers of popular mobile games like Crossy Road and Pac-Man 256 have roped in a new free-to-play downloadable title for iOS and Google Play (reviewed on iPad here).  In Rodeo Stampede, you must ride wild animals without getting thrown off, and jump and lasso the next critter in the stampede.  Keep on doing this for as long as you can, and you’ll even befriend these animals and invite them to live on your floating zeppelin zoo! 

more…

Tags: Game Reviews

For nearly a century, Disney has been synonymous with artistic animation and cartoons, and now they’ve teamed up with Nintendo for a new Art Academy game.  Nintendo has been teaching art lessons with their Art Academy franchise on multiple consoles, spanning the DS, 3DS, and even the Wii U.  So it only seems natural for them to feature art lessons with Disney characters on the 3DS.  I’ve wished that this series would get more recognition, and maybe now with the familiar Disney license, it might just do that.

more…

Tags: Game Reviews, Movies with Children, Television

What if whenever you go to sleep, you could dream about playing with your best friend, who happens to be a big, furry, yellow floppy-eared smiley dragon thing named Buddy.  Well that’s the premise behind Buddy & Me, a new downloadable game for Wii U.  I’m not sure what’s so different about the “Dream Edition” in the title, but I imagine at one point this was a mobile game.  It may be yet another continuous running 2-D platformer, but it’s certainly the most charming one I’ve ever played, as it combines the appeal of Dr. Seuss-like characters with a bit of My Neighbor Totoro for good measure.

more…

Tags: Game Reviews

I’m not sure how you pronounce it, but Shephy plays like one of those indie card games you buy at those fancy gaming and comic book stores.  In fact, while looking up pictures for this review, turns out that Shephy IS a real card game.  You can even buy it on Amazon.  It’s a Solitaire style game where you try to build your flock of sheep up to 1,000 by strategically playing cards that add and take away from your flock.  It’s a free-to-play downloadable title on iOS and Android, but reviewed on iPad here.

more…

Tags: Game Reviews, Unplugged

So there’s this new genre of mobile games called “Idle Clickers” or “Endless Clickers,” and all you do is tap on the screen repeatedly to make something happen.  Like build a town or whatever.  I’ve been getting countless press releases and announcements about these kinds of games, but so far I’ve refused to review them because I think the idea is stupid.  But when they made an Endless Clicker based on Katamari Damacy, one of my favorite video game series, I just had to try it, especially since I missed out on the other mobile Katamari offerings.  So here you go, a review of a game in a genre I probably won’t write about ever again.  Hopefully.  Tap My Katamari is available for free on iOS and Android, but reviewed on iPad here.

more…

Tags: Game Reviews

I love it when game titles describe what the game is like.  This free-to-play downloadable for iOS and Android (reviewed on iPad here), reminds me of other intense overhead shooters like Robotron, Smash TV, Geometry Wars, or Assault Android Cactus, but with single touch controls.

more…

Tags: Game Reviews

So I’ve played games that combine dungeon crawling with trivia games, Minesweeper, and lots of other crazy pairings.  But I’ve never played one that combines dungeons with…pachinko?  Pachinko is a kind of arcade machine where you drop balls that fall and bounce around pegs and you hope that they land in certain spots at the bottom.  It’s very popular in Japan.  Anyway, so in Dungeonballs you play as a group of anime styled characters who must venture into dungeons to battle monsters and earn money to rebuild their house that got burned down for some reason.  It’s available to download on iOS and Android devices, but reviewed on iPad here.

more…

Tags: Game Reviews

Hey folks, I’ve got a big announcement to make!  This August, I will have been writing video game reviews semi-professionally for 20 years!  Yup, it all started back in 1996.  I bet most game reviewers don’t even last that long!  So in honor of that, I decided to write an article about it, and share with you all how I got started, what I’ve done in the past 20 years, and some of my highlights and favorite memories.  Oh, and I’d like to apologize in advance if this article sounds a little too self-absorbed and ‘braggy,’ as it is all about me.  I promise I won’t be like this all the time in the future.  But I figured that 20 years really IS a reason to celebrate, so I hope you don’t mind this, just this once.

more…

Tags: Misc

Back in the 80s, computers like the Sinclair ZX Spectrum were popular for playing games in Europe, and especially the UK.  One type of game seen often on these computers were 3-D isometric viewed puzzle platformers.  Even well-known game developers like Rare made a few of these.  As a US gamer, that’s all I can tell you about that, but some of those types of games made it over to America.  Like Solstice on the NES and its SNES sequel Equinox.  I never played the sequel, but I did rent the first game a couple of times (mainly because the music was really good).  The only other game I can remember like that was Monster Max on the Game Boy.  Anyway, if you like those kinds of games, you’re in luck because a new game done in that style is out now and it’s called Lumo.  It’s available for most modern consoles and PC, but reviewed on PS Vita here.

more…

Tags: Game Reviews