Doraemon: Story of Seasons (Switch, PC)
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Posted on November 13th, 2019 by
This is a crossover game but the two properties featured here may not be so familiar to many Americans. Especially Doraemon. Doraemon is a cartoon blue robot cat with no ears who is especially popular in Japan. You may have even seen him and not realized it. He’s been a star of manga comic books and anime cartoons and movies for decades, and is sometimes even called “Japan’s Mickey Mouse.” Some of his comic books have been translated into English, and Disney brought some of the newest iterations of the Doraemon cartoons to the US under the Disney XD channel a few years back (good on them), but other than that, Doraemon has stayed relatively unknown in the States. Some US gamers may be more familiar with Story of Seasons, though, as it’s a farming sim series that used to go under the name of Harvest Moon. And now the two franchises are together in quite the unexpected crossover game you can download on Switch and PC, but reviewed on Switch here.
Ice Age: Scrat’s Nutty Adventure (Switch, PS4, Xbox One, PC)
Posted on November 6th, 2019 by
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)
Posted on August 9th, 2019 by
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)
Posted on July 31st, 2019 by
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
Posted on July 5th, 2019 by
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!
Crystal Crisis (Switch)
Posted on June 19th, 2019 by
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!!!
Captain Planet: Gaia Guardians (iOS, Android)
Posted on May 24th, 2019 by
When I was a kid, I remember a cartoon called Captain Planet. It was made in the late 80’s/early 90’s and was all about saving the environment, which was a common theme at the time. But I thought the cartoon was dumb. But then, I was probably at that age where I thought everything was dumb. No, no, I still think that cartoon is dumb. Anyway, in the show, an Earth guardian spirit named Gaia gives five multicultural kids each a power ring based on one of the four elements (Earth, Wind, Fire, and Water), and the fifth kid gets a ring with the power of “Heart.” I don’t know about you, but I’d feel cheated if I were that fifth kid. Anyway, the kids then use their new powers to stop “Eco-Villains” and when the going gets tough, they can summon a super powerful hero named Captain Planet. As much as I disliked the cartoon, I remember it being heavily promoted at the time. And references to the show crop up from time to time, even now. I remember reviewing a Cartoon Network fighting game where Captain Planet was a secret character, and a new cartoon called O.K. K.O. had a Captain Planet episode. And now there is a mobile game based on the franchise, too! And it’s an…endless clicker?!? Oh no! Captain Planet: Gaia Guardians is free-to-play on iOS and Android devices, but reviewed on iPad here.
Unplugged: The Pokémon Card Game Featuring Detective Pikachu
Posted on May 17th, 2019 by
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)
Posted on April 26th, 2019 by
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.
American Ninja Warrior Challenge (Switch, PS4, Xbox One)
Posted on April 17th, 2019 by
American Ninja Warrior is a long-running obstacle course TV game show, and it’s been very popular. So much so that now there is a video game based on it! Create and train an athlete in career mode, challenge other players, and even design your own obstacle courses. It’s available on nearly all current game consoles, but reviewed on Switch here.
