The Pizza Pixel Podcast Episode 21: Saturday Morning Fever
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Posted on June 7th, 2024 by
Get a bowl of your favorite sugary cereal ready, because in this episode of The Pizza Pixel Podcast, my brother Jeff and I talk about our favorite Saturday Morning cartoons! Those are kind of a thing of the past thanks to streaming services and whatnot. But for a good long while, they sure were big with kids.
Bluey: The Video Game (Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, X/S, PC)
Posted on May 3rd, 2024 by
I freaking love the Bluey TV show! It’s a kids show but has so much to offer for adults, too. The show is set (and animated) in Australia, and stars a family of four cartoon Australian Cattle Dogs, or Blue Heelers for short. The family consists of Bluey, the titular playful and curious six year old, her younger sister Bingo, and their parents: Bandit and Chilli. They all learn lessons through play and imagination, and some of the topics are more serious things that only adults would truly understand. These can range from moving away, infertility, dealing with ADHD, and even death. The show strikes a balance between making things easy for kids to understand, but deep enough to keep adults interested. So when I heard last year they were making a Bluey video game, I tried to get a review copy of it. I wasn’t able to unfortunately. You win some, you lose some. But when I saw the game on sale recently, I decided to get it and review it. Bluey: The Videogame is available on all current consoles and PC, but reviewed on Switch here.
The Pizza Pixel Podcast Episode 20: Top Kids Shows
Posted on March 8th, 2024 by
It’s been a while, but we’re back with another episode of The Pizza Pixel Podcast! I haven’t had a new episode since last August, but since then I’ve moved to a new apartment, and then the holidays came, so this was the first time in a while that I’ve had a chance to do one! It’s a pretty important milestone, too, because it’s our 20th episode! Anyway, in this installment, my brother Ben and I talk about our favorite kids’ shows! I figured Ben would be appropriate for this one since he has three kids of his own. Anyway, I hope you get to listen to this one even though it’s two hours long! That’s our longest podcast yet. I try to not make them be so long, but we got carried away!
The Smurfs: Colorful Stories (Switch)
Posted on February 14th, 2024 by
In the distant past, long before streaming services and 24-hour cartoon channels, there was a thing called Saturday Morning Cartoons. Kids back then, me included, looked forward to this time because it was one of the only times TV was made just for kids. And as a child of the 80s, one of the most popular of these cartoons I remember was The Smurfs. Originally a European comic strip, The Smurfs gained popularity in the US from the Hanna-Barbera cartoon. I was never a super big fan of it, but I watched it anyway because, one, kids will watch pretty much anything. And two, it came on right before the Pac-Man cartoon. In recent years, The Smurfs have had a bit of a resurgence with a handful of computer animated movies and specials, and a new series on Nickelodeon. And there’s been a few Smurfs video games I’ve reviewed in the past couple of years, like a kart racer and two 3D platformers. And now the youngest players get their turn on the Switch with The Smurfs: Colorful Stories, a virtual coloring book on the Switch.
The Smurfs Learn and Play (Switch)
Posted on February 5th, 2024 by
In the distant past, long before streaming services and 24-hour cartoon channels, there was a thing called Saturday Morning Cartoons. Kids back then, me included, looked forward to this time because it was one of the only times TV was made just for kids. And as a child of the 80s, one of the most popular of these cartoons I remember was The Smurfs. Originally a European comic strip, The Smurfs gained popularity in the US from the Hanna-Barbera cartoon. I was never a super big fan of it, but I watched it anyway because, one, kids will watch pretty much anything. And two, it came on right before the Pac-Man cartoon. In recent years, The Smurfs have had a bit of a resurgence with a handful of computer animated movies and specials, and a new series on Nickelodeon. And there’s been a few Smurfs video games I’ve reviewed in the past couple of years, like a kart racer and two 3D platformers. And now the youngest players get their turn on the Switch with The Smurfs Learn and Play! There are four games on here, so let’s take a look at them!
Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 (PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, X/S, PC)
Posted on December 22nd, 2023 by
For several generations, youngsters have enjoyed watching shows on the Nickelodeon cable channel for kids. Heck, even when I was little back in the 80’s, I enjoyed watching Nick shows such as You Can’t Do that on Television, Danger Mouse, and Double Dare. Even more recently I’ve been known to watch shows on that channel like Invader ZIM and The Penguins of Madagascar. My younger brothers would watch shows on Nickelodeon, too, such as Rugrats and SpongeBob Squarepants. A couple of years ago we got a Smash Bros. clone featuring Nickelodeon characters from all generations, and now we get a sequel to that. It’s available on nearly all current game consoles and PC, but reviewed on PS4 here.
DreamWorks All-Star Kart Racing (PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, X/S, PC)
Posted on December 15th, 2023 by
Your favorite DreamWorks computer animated movie characters have come together to race each other in this kart game! Compete with characters and race on tracks based on all sorts of DreamWorks franchises like Shrek, Kung Fu Panda, Bad Guys, Madagascar, How to Train Your Dragon, Boss Baby, Trolls, and Megamind! The game is available on all current consoles and PC, but reviewed on PS4 here.
Dreamworks Trolls Remix Rescue (PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, X/S, PC)
Posted on December 8th, 2023 by
With a couple of musical movies, holiday specials, and a TV series, Trolls is one of DreamWorks most successful franchises. And now there’s a new video game! An evil troll has hypnotized everyone by playing smooth jazz from his magical clarinet, and now it’s up to Poppy, Branch, and others to stop him in this 3D platformer. You can even create your own troll character to play as! The game is available on current consoles and PC, but reviewed on PS4 here.
The Smurfs 2: The Prisoner of the Green Stone (PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, X/S, PC)
Posted on December 1st, 2023 by
In the distant past, long before streaming services and 24-hour cartoon channels, there was a thing called Saturday Morning Cartoons. Kids back then, me included, looked forward to this time because it was one of the only times TV was made just for kids. And as a child of the 80s, one of the most popular of these cartoons I remember was The Smurfs. Originally a European comic strip, The Smurfs gained popularity in the US from the Hanna-Barbera cartoon. I was never a super big fan of it, but I watched it anyway because, one, kids will watch pretty much anything. And two, it came on right before the Pac-Man cartoon. In recent years, The Smurfs have had a bit of a resurgence with a handful of computer animated movies and specials, and a new series on Nickelodeon. And that begat a few Smurfs games, too. Like a kart racer I reviewed last year, and a 3D platformer I reviewed the year before that called The Smurfs: Mission Vileaf. The Smurfs 2: The Prisoner of the Green Stone is the sequel to that game. In this installment, Handy Smurf has invented the Smurfomix, a gun that shoots out pastries and cakes. But he’s having trouble getting it to work right so he decides to sneak into Gargamel’s Lair to use a magic green stone to help improve it. But when Handy accidentally breaks the green stone, a mysterious being named Stolas is freed and wreaks havoc and scattered green crystals everywhere. Now Handy, Brainy, Storm, and the other Smurfs must make a temporary alliance with Gargamel to stop the chaos and save the day. It’s a bit of a shock, but this game is actually kind of good, and it’s available on all current consoles and PC, but reviewed on PS4 here.
Barbie Dreamhouse Adventures (Switch, Mobile)
Posted on November 22nd, 2023 by
For nearly every little girl who loves to play with Barbie dolls, the ultimate dream is to own Barbie’s Dreamhouse, a giant dollhouse for Barbie and her friends. And now your little girl can have that dreamhouse without having to put in a second mortgage and spend all night putting it together with Barbie Dreamhouse Adventure. It’s basically a virtual dollhouse for the Switch. When I first popped this review copy into my Switch, the game seemed vaguely familiar. Turns out I reviewed this game five years ago when it was just a mobile app. But this version takes out all the in-game purchase crap and adds a bunch of new things, so that’s good. As a 47 year old man, I don’t have any interest in Barbie, but the franchise sure did get a boost of popularity this past year with that new live action movie that just came out (never saw it myself). But let’s take a tour of Barbie’s Dreamhouse and see what all you can do!
