I would like to play Sim City. I was into it as a kid, and it WAS very addictive. But I don't feel comfortable buying this one now. Maybe when it drops down in price.
April Review Showers
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 On 04/05/2013 at 05:23 AM by Cary Woodham See More From This User » |
It’s that time again. Another batch of links to games I’ve reviewed in the past month or so at GamerDad.com. Please read them if you can, post a comment or two, you know the drill.
Really though, I’d like to thank you all for reading my reviews and posting comments on them. That really means a lot to me. As an update, I sent in my final request to go to E3 this year, and was still denied, so I won’t be at this year’s show unfortunately. But because I’m so stubborn and bullheaded and maybe a little dense, I’m still going to try again next year. Maybe by then I’ll have enough hits on the site, since that seemed to be the deciding factor this time. So if you all could please click on my reviews if you can, maybe it’ll help when I try for a press pass for E3 next year!
On a related note, ever since 1up.com announced it would be no more, I’ve been posting my blogs at both IGN and PixlBit (and 1up, too, until it officially pulls the plug). Well I think this will be my last time to post blogs at IGN. Don’t get me wrong, IGN is a great site for news and such, and I’ll still visit there regularly. But as a blog and social site, I think it needs a little work. I don’t know if anyone reads my blogs there, they certainly don’t comment on them. And it’s hard for me to know when others post blogs. PixlBit does the community social thing so much better, so that’s what I’ll focus on for the time being. But at least I gave IGN a try! Oh one more thing, after this blog, I don’t really have any other ideas for blog topics at the moment. So if you want to make any suggestions, please do so in the comments section. Anyway, here are my reviews:
The first SimCity game came out when I was in Middle School or beginning High School (can’t remember), and it was REALLY popular. I even remember what the box art to the PC version looked like! One of my friends would print out his cities on printer paper, and then bring them to school to show me what his city looked like! Many years later, when the Wii came out, one of the first Virtual Console games I bought for it was the SNES version of SimCity, because I remember how addicting it was when I rented it way back in the day. I then had my younger brother Jeff try SNES SimCity on the Wii, and he loved it. So much so that within days, he had bought SimCity 4 and played it tons on his PC. So, when the opportunity came up for me to review the new SimCity game, I let Jeff take a swing at it.
What’s interesting is that it seems that the online-only thing about this new SimCity game didn’t seem to bother Jeff that much. I think it’s a generation thing. For most of his life, Jeff has always been around the Internet and online games, so I think he’s used to this. It’s probably a good thing he reviewed it instead of me, because I think it would’ve bothered me more. When I buy a game, I want to be able to play it whenever I want to, and not have to wait 20 minutes so I can maybe have a chance to connect to a server so I can play. Online modes are important in games nowadays, but I think offline modes are still needed as well, because we’re not always connected when we want to play a game. But I don’t think EA should get all the blame for this. What about Maxis or Origin or whoever made this game? They agreed to make it like this, too. But then, what do I know? I just play games for fun. And usually on consoles so I don’t have to deal with that junk.
Darkstalkers: Resurrection (PS3)
It’s just a collection of Darkstalkers 2 and 3, and is presented in much the same way that Marvel vs. Capcom Origins was done. Even though I’m not as big of a fan of Darkstalkers, I have to say that these games have aged quite well, and I understand why so many people like the games and characters. My favorite Darkstalkers character is Hsien-Ko. I’m not really a big fan of Morrigan, believe it or not. Her green hair is cool, but she’s just too creepy, and reminds me of a vampire and I don’t like those. In the comments section, tell me your favorite Darkstalkers characters. And speaking of Darkstalkers, a good friend of mine just wrote a big ol’ blog series on that, and you can, and should, read it here.
Tomb Raider: The Art of Survival (Book)
I haven’t played the game, but I did get a chance to review the art book based on the new title that just came out. I do like video game art books. I’m not a big fan of Tomb Raider games, but Lara Croft CAN be a neat character sometimes. When she’s being a smart, resourceful female Indiana Jones, she’s pretty cool. When she’s being a sex symbol, mostly during the mid to late 90’s, eh, not so much. I’d probably like the Tomb Raider games more if they weren’t so serious and were more cheerful and colorful. The new Tomb Raider game looks interesting, but I swear in every screenshot and picture of her, Lara is covered in mud and grime from head to toe! Yeah I know she’s been shipwrecked and all, but the makers of the game could’ve been nice enough to give her a bathtub or sink to freshen up in! Take a bath, dirty Lara! Poor lady!
Originally a 3DS eShop downloadable game, I reviewed the iPad version that came out a few weeks ago. I imagine the 3DS version is better, but the iPad one isn’t too shabby either. Gameplay reminds me of the lock on and shoot mechanics of the robot stages of Sonic Adventure, or Tails and Robotnik’s stages from the sequel. Except here you are flying. Pretty good quality for an iPad title, plus the main character is a tough as nails, take charge anime lady. My kind of woman! Ha ha! Just joking!
Atelier Ayesha: The Alchemist of Dusk (PS3)
This one’s a JRPG with heavy emphasis on item management. I reviewed the previous Atelier game before this as well and thought it was better than this latest one. And it certainly pales in comparison to Ni no Kuni. That is one fantastic RPG.
Cling! reminds me of a cross between DK Jungle Climber/King of Swing and a weird iPad game I reviewed a while back called Tentacles: Enter the Dolphin. You play as a one eyed tentacled monster who also happens to be a capsule toy in a vending machine. But when your capsule gets stuck, you have to make your way through the vending machine to reach your new owner. It’s a cute enough concept, but it’s actually really hard!
This is a really odd bird for a PSN downloadable title. It presents itself like a Brain Age training title, but all the activities are psychology test related. If you studied psychology in school or have an interest in this topic, check out the review and see if this would be a game that would interest you.
This is a cute little cross between bumper pool and a game I reviewed on the GBC back in the day called Metal Walker. I don’t know if anyone here has ever heard of Metal Walker, but it was made by Capcom and was definitely riding the coattails of the initial popularity of Pokemon. But in Metal Walker you battled robots and you fought by making your bots bounce around in an arena. Dojo Danger is like that except you play as either ninjas or zombies and try to defeat the other team by bouncing into them. Simple, but kind of neat.
Abalone is a board game that looks like a cross between Othello and Chinese Checkers, but it’s actually totally different. These kind of chess-like strategy board games make my brain hurt, but if you like board games than you might enjoy this one.
Super Black Bass Fishing 3D (3DS)
All right, we’re getting to the bottom of the barrel now, as these last two games aren’t very good. I’ve never played a fishing game on the 3DS, but I’ve reviewed plenty on the Wii and other consoles. Due to the nature of the sport, fishing games to tend to be a bit slower-paced, but at least the good ones try to be exciting. But not this one. It’s incredibly boring and hard and the graphics look like the N64 era. It’s sad when the fishing mini-games in Zelda titles are better than this. I’d like to try the GBC River King game that just came out on Virtual Console on 3DS.
The Croods: Prehistoric Party (DS)
Last and definitely least is this multiplayer party game featuring characters from the new CG movie that I have no desire to see. For the life of me I don’t know why they sent me the least superior of the bunch to review, as the DS version has no multiplayer mode to speak of. It’s all single player against the CPU. You’d think they would’ve wanted me to review the Wii U version or something. Oh well, their loss.
Blog Ideas Wanted!
And that’s all for now! Again, thanks for reading and commenting on my reviews, and please don’t forget to send me any blog ideas you might like for me to write about since I’m running on empty for the moment. Later! --Cary
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