Parasol Stars (PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, X/S)
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Posted on July 19th, 2024 by
I freaking love Bubble Bobble. I have so many good memories renting the NES version and playing it with my best friend, and then later playing the arcade version on a PSOne collection with my brothers. And it was a very popular game with many sequels and spinoffs. In fact, one of the spinoffs, Puzzle Bobble, is probably more popular than the game it was based on. But back to the main game, it had many sequels and was kind of confusing. There are three games claiming to be Bubble Bobble 2, and three more claiming to be Bubble Bobble 3! We won’t go into it more than that here, as we’d be here all day. But Parasol Stars was one of the games claiming to be Bubble Bobble 3. In the game, two boys Bobby and Bubby (formerly the bubble blowing dragons Bub and Bob), they have just saved the Rainbow Islands with their rainbow making powers. As a reward, they get two magical parasols and go flying off to save some planets from other cute and cartoony enemies. Originally Parasol Stars was on consoles like the TG-16, NES, and Game Boy. But now you can play it on all modern consoles (reviewed on PS4 here). Luckily the version they ported here is the TG-16/PC Engine version, as that was the best one.
Unplugged: Sky Team (Boardgame)
Posted on July 18th, 2024 by
It looked like a scene from a bad TSA checkpoint at last year’s Gen Con when a long line of people queued up to demo the buzz-laden two player cooperative game, Sky Team. Sky Team has two players, a pilot and co-pilot, each place four dice on a central instrument board in an attempt to successfully land a plane. At the start of a round, players can discuss overall strategy, but once they’ve rolled their dice for the round no further talking is permitted. Players must manage the plane roll (tilt), fire the engines, lower the flaps, lower the landing gear, engage the brakes, and clear the path of other planes. Fail to do any of the above and the plane crashes. All this must be accomplished as the plane’s elevation ticks downward. If everything is set by the time the plane hits 0000, the plane lands successfully. Designed with heavy input from licensed pilots it should appeal to pilots, wannabe pilots, and anyone looking for a relatively short but solid two player co-op game.
Sky Team
Designer: Luc Remond
Publisher: Scorpion Masque
Players: 2
Age: 12+
Time: 15 minutes
Glyphs of Gitzan (PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, X/S, PC)
Posted on July 17th, 2024 by
Help an explorer discover the secrets of ancient ruins by pushing blocks around that light up glyphs when put in the right spots. Glyphs of Gitzan is a block pushing puzzle game and it’s available on all current consoles and PC, but reviewed on PS4 here.
Paper Trail (Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, X/S, PC, Mobile)
Posted on July 15th, 2024 by
Help a girl on a journey as she leaves home to follow her dreams in Paper Trail. You view the action in a top down fashion and each screen is a piece of paper. You must fold the paper in various ways to open paths and help her solve puzzles. Paper Trail is available on pretty much anything you can play a game on, but it’s reviewed on Switch here.
Cat Pipes (Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, X/S, PC)
Posted on July 10th, 2024 by
I’m not sure what this game has to do with cats or pipes. Sure the game plays similarly to titles like Pipe Dream, but the “pipes” here are just represented by dotted lines. And I THINK I saw a cat in the background of the stages, but I’m not sure. But it’s still a serviceable puzzler and available on all current consoles and PC, but reviewed on Switch here.
Fit My Zoo (Switch)
Posted on July 8th, 2024 by
A bunch of wild animals in all different shapes and sizes are at a pool party, and they all want to get on the pool float. Help them all fit by arranging them on the float in this Switch game that reminds me of tanogram puzzles. It’s also exactly the same as another game I reviewed a few months ago called Fit My Cat.
Pool Party (Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, X/S, PC)
Posted on July 3rd, 2024 by
This isn’t the kind of pool party you’re thinking of. Control a billiard ball as you roll and bounce other players in sports themed mini-games, including pool of course. This madcap, pick up and play multiplayer game for up to four is available on all current consoles and PC, but reviewed on Switch here.
Roxy Raccoon’s Pinball Panic (PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, X/S, PC)
Posted on July 1st, 2024 by
Many popular video game franchises and characters eventually get their own video pinball game. Mario, Kirby, Sonic, Pac-Man, even Metroid! But Roxy Raccoon? Who the heck is that? Apparently it’s a 3D platformer that was released a few years ago. I think it was just on PC so that’s probably why I never heard of it. But now you can play a pinball adventure based on that game. It’s available on all current consoles and PC, but reviewed on PS4 here.
Rider’s Spirits (PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, X/S)
Posted on June 28th, 2024 by
Back when they were more popular and more relevant, I used to love reading video game magazines. I liked them so much it’s even what helped me choose my major in college (not such a good idea now, but that’s a 20/20 hindsight kind of thing). Some of my favorites included Nintendo Power, Next Generation, and Electronic Gaming Monthly. One of the cool things EGM would do sometimes was cover games from Japan that we’d never see over here. One of them I remember was TwinBee Rainbow Bell Adventure for Super Famicom, a cutesy 2D pastel platformer with characters from the TwinBee shooter series. Another Super Famicom one I remember was a motorcycle racing game that caught my eye because it looked similar to Super Mario Kart, one of my top favorite games of all time. And now you can play that game on all modern consoles (reviewed on PS4 here). In Japan the game was originally called Bike Daisuki! Hashiriya Kon. I think EGM called it “We Love Motorcycles,” which is probably a more direct translation of the first part of the title. But here it’s called Rider’s Spirits, which I think is more like the last part of the title.
Ginger the Tooth Fairy (PS4, PS5, Switch, PC)
Posted on June 26th, 2024 by
Help a tooth fairy named Ginger, who also happens to be a rabbit for some reason, collect all the teeth in this basic 2D platformer. It’s available on PlayStation consoles, Switch, and PC, but reviewed on PS4 here.
