The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance Tactics (PS4, Switch, Xbox One, PC)
I was a child of the 80’s, and Jim Henson stuff was a big part of my childhood. I watched TV shows like Sesame Street, The Muppet Show, and Fraggle Rock. I saw films like The Dark Crystal, Labyrinth, and heck, the very first movie I ever remember seeing in a theater was the first Muppet Movie. So I was very interested in seeing the new Netflix series The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance. And I LOVED it! I don’t normally binge watch things, but one day when I was off work, I watched two episodes of it in the morning and two more in the evening. It was so good. I’d watch it again if I had time. So I was excited when I heard they were making a video game out of it, but I was disappointed that it was a tactics strategy RPG game. I don’t like those. Could my love of the series and Jim Henson stuff in general save this game for me? Well you’ll just have to read this review and find out! The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance Tactics is available to download on all current consoles and PC, but reviewed on PS4 here.
Ice Age: Scrat’s Nutty Adventure (Switch, PS4, Xbox One, PC)
Ice Age is one of the longest running computer animated movie series, and it stars a group of prehistoric animals like saber tooth tigers and woolly mammoths. But clearly the crowd favorite has to be Scrat the saber toothed squirrel and his constant chase for his beloved acorn nut. And now Scrat gets his very own game with Ice Age: Scrat’s Nutty Adventure. While chasing his acorn, Scrat stumbles across a hidden temple of the Scratazons, an ancient advanced race of saber toothed squirrels. Now in order to get his nut back, he must collect special purple crystal acorns across the land. Scrat’s Nutty Adventure is a 3-D platformer available for all current game consoles and PC, but reviewed on Switch here.
Pokémon Rumble Rush (iOS, Android)
One of the most revisited Pokémon spin-offs has been Pokémon Rumble. In the game you play with toy Pokémon as you bash into other toy Pokémon in real time. The Rumble game on the Wii U even let you buy real toys you could scan, which would become the prototypes for amiibo figures! Now that Pokémon has found new popularity on mobile devices thanks to Pokémon GO, now the Rumble series is on mobile as well with Pokémon Rumble Rush (reviewed on iPad here). It’s basically an endless clicker in disguise, but it’s certainly one of the better ones I’ve come across.
Moad Racing (iOS, Android)
How would you like to play a racing game where you can drive the A-Team van, Back to the Future DeLorean, Flintstones car, Jetsons ship, Simpsons car, Batmobile, and more? If it sounds too good to be true, well it kind of is, but you can sort of do that in Moad Racing. It’s a new free to play game for mobile devices (reviewed on iPad here).
The Worlds of Kingdom Hearts 3
Well I FINALLY beat Kingdom Hearts 3. It’s getting harder and harder to get into these long games anymore! Anyway, I was impressed with the Disney worlds you tromp around in the game, so much so that I decided to write a blog about them. I will give a spoiler warning now, but don’t worry, I won’t spoil the plot for you as I think the storyline in Kingdom Hearts games are garbage and I don’t really play the games for the story anyway. I just like beating up baddies in Disney worlds. So if you haven’t played Kingdom Hearts 3 yet and want the worlds you explore to be a surprise, then don’t read this blog. Otherwise, have fun reading my opinions and observations of the Kingdom Hearts 3 worlds!
Spring Movie Mystery Case Files
Crystal Crisis (Switch)
About a year ago, I wrote about a fighting game called Blade Strangers, which featured characters from various indie games like Cave Story, Code of Princess, The Binding of Isaac, and more. And now many of these characters, plus some new ones, are starring in a new puzzle game for Nintendo Switch. Two cool things about this game: One, it plays just like Super Puzzle Fighter 2 Turbo, which is one of my top favorite puzzle games ever. And two, one of the new characters you can play as is FREAKING ASTRO BOY!!!
Unplugged: The Pokémon Card Game Featuring Detective Pikachu
When I was in college and writing game reviews for The Dallas Morning News, the first E3 I went to was when Nintendo was going to release Pokémon in the US for the first time. I knew it would be a big hit, so I requested to my editor that I be in charge of covering everything Pokémon related for the newspaper. He was like, “yeah sure, whatever,” but he did keep his promise for at least a couple of years. I even learned how to play the Pokémon card game so I could cover events and competitions revolved around it. I like to say that Pokémon helped pay my way through college as I was writing tons of Pokémon articles then! It’s amazing to me that Pokémon is still super popular after all this time, even the card game. And now there is a new live action movie out in theaters called Detective Pikachu. To celebrate, the makers of the card game have released a wide selection of Detective Pikachu cards and packages, so today we’re going to look at all of them!
Cartoon Network Arcade (iOS, Android)
Now you can play simple mini-games starring your favorite Cartoon Network stars all in one place with Cartoon Network Arcade. It’s available free to download on iOS and Android, but reviewed on iPad here. You can select games to play in a hub, as well as earn virtual mini-figurines. But you have to set up an account to do that last part so I didn’t mess with it. In each game you can earn coins to buy new characters and power-ups, and view ads to continue your progress. Let’s take a look at the games you can play. They may add more or take away some later, but AS OF THIS WRITING, here’s what they’ve got.
Thomas and Friends Adventures (iOS, Android)
Thomas the train wasn’t around yet when I was a kid, but if he was, I probably would’ve been really into that, as I loved reading about trains when I was little (although their faces kind of creep me out). In fact, two of my favorite Little Golden Books were The Little Engine that Could and The Little Red Caboose. And now your little engineers can go on globetrotting adventures with Thomas and his train pals with Thomas and Friends Adventures. They’ll build railroad tracks and compete in train races, all the while learning about different cultures and countries, as well as relatable lessons like being scared, telling the truth, making friends, and more along the way! Thomas and Friends Adventures is a free to start app you can download on iOS and Android devices, but reviewed on iPad here.