Attack of the Friday Monsters! A Tokyo Tale (3DS)
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Posted on August 2nd, 2013 by
In the 1960’s and 1970’s, giant monster ‘Kaiju’ movies and TV shows were all the rage, not just in Japan, but all over the world. Guys in rubber Godzilla suits would tromp around city models while giant metallic Ultraman heroes would defend the people. But what if you lived in a town where the giant monsters and heroes seemed REAL? Well, in Attack of the Friday Mosnters! A Tokyo Tale, a downloadable title on 3DS, you play as Sohta, a Japanese 4th grader who just moved to a suburb outside of Tokyo in the early 70’s. In this little burb, you’ll meet new people, make friends, run errands, play monster card games and other childish shenanigans, and maybe even see a giant monster yourself!
Famicom 30th Anniversary 30 Cent Games
Posted on July 27th, 2013 by
This year marks the 30th Anniversary of the Famicom, the Japanese equivalent of the NES in the US. To celebrate, Nintendo has offered one Virtual Console Wii U game each month for only 30 cents! They’ve done this for a few months now, and the last 30 cent game was just released. I’ve bought them all, as it was such a great deal. So in this blog, I thought I’d take a quick run through of the games in this promotion. Now, keep in mind that most of these games you can’t get for 30 cents anymore, as each game sale only lasts for a month. But I’m going to take a look at each one anyway!
Asterix: Megaslap! (iPad)
Posted on July 26th, 2013 by
Asterix is a very popular European comic book series that has spawned several animated movies and even video games over the years. But it’s not very well known here in the US. Asterix and his large friend Obelix are Gauls who defend their small village from the Roman army by using their wits and their magical super strength potion. I don’t know much about it myself, but from what I can tell, it looks like the European equivalent of Popeye. And now you can help Asterix sock some Romans in Asterix: Megaslap! for iOS devices (iPad version reviewed here).
Mamorukun Curse! (PS3)
Posted on July 25th, 2013 by
Mamorukun Curse! is a 2-D top-down classic styled arcade shooter, downloadable from the PSN store for PS3. Choose from a selection of cute but deadly anime type characters as they save the netherworld by mowing down demons and dodging an endless supply of bullets and projectiles. Because of the Asian settings and enemies based on monsters from Japanese folklore, it kind of reminds me of Taito’s classic shooter Kiki Kaikai, or better known as Pocky and Rocky when its sequels were brought to the Super Nintendo in the US.
Time and Eternity (PS3)
Posted on July 23rd, 2013 by
Time and Eternity is a Japanese RPG on the PlayStation 3. In it, you are a royal knight about to marry a beautiful princess. But just as you are about to seal the deal with a kiss, enemies barge through the church door and assassinate you! As you lie bleeding, the last thing you see is your beloved princess, but she’s not who she was before. Now she’s a ruthless, killing machine, beating up all the assassins and invaders ruining her wedding. Turns out the princess shares two souls in one body. The sweet princess Toki and the rough and tough Towa. Also, since she’s a princess, she has the power to magically travel back in time. So Toki/Towa use their power to go into the past to prevent the wedding assassination. And you go back in time, too, but you are stuck in the body of the princess’ pet dragon! Now it’s up to you and the princess to go on a quest to stop the wedding disaster, six months before it happens!
Turbo: Super Stunt Squad (Wii, Wii U, DS, 3DS, PS3, 360)
Posted on July 22nd, 2013 by
In the new DreamWorks computer animated summer movie Turbo, a snail gets infused with nitro from a race car and now is the fastest snail in the world. Now you can play as Turbo and his friends in the new game based on the movie. Surprise! Turbo: Super Stunt Squad is a racing game! (Nintendo Wii and 3DS versions reviewed here)
Touch and Sing Along Picture Book (iPad)
Posted on July 20th, 2013 by
Touch and Sing Along Picture Book, or Touch & Sing for short, is an activity center app for iOS devices and will be available later for other smartphones and tablets later on (iPad version reviewed here). Developed by two Japanese moms, Touch & Sing combines learning activities with familiar tunes. Two songs are available for free, with a third free song available for a limited time. You can buy others for 99 cents each, or get a group in a value pack. The free songs are Hokey Pokey and the ABC song, with Twinkle Twinkle Little Star for free until the end of July. Other songs include Ten Little Indians, The Wheels on the Bus, The Muffin Man, Old MacDonald’s Farm, and more! Over a dozen in all. Let’s take a look at the free songs.
Smooth Operators (iPad)
Posted on July 17th, 2013 by
If you’ve ever wanted to own, build, and manage your own call center office, now’s your chance! Smooth Operators is a downloadable simulation game where you design an office building, create facilities, and hire staff to run a call center and make money. You can buy it on iPhone and iPad (iPad version reviewed here). Is it more fun than work? Read on to find out.
Garfield’s Wild Ride (iPad)
Posted on July 15th, 2013 by
The fat orange cat of newspaper comic strip fame now has his own game for various smartphones and tablets (iPad version reviewed here). Garfield takes a nap in an easy chair and dreams of something he’d never do while awake: run as far as he can. Not to mention flying to collect coins and floating lasagna! That’s right; Garfield’s Wild Ride is clearly inspired by other continuously running games, especially Jetpack Joyride!
Motorbike (PS3)
Posted on July 10th, 2013 by
Motorbike is a downloadable physics-based motorcycle obstacle course game that plays very similar to Trials HD on the Xbox 360. But if you own a PS3 and not a 360, you’ve been out of luck if you wanted to play that. So is Motorbike even close to being the next best thing? Read on to find out.
