PixlBit

Hey folks.  I’ve got another batch of game reviews for you all to read.  These reviews are chock full of vegetables and nutrients and vitamins and they’ll build up your muscles and make you big and strong like me.  Well, not really.  But if you could read as many as you can and maybe even post a comment or two, I’d appreciate it.  Thanks, and on to the reviews!

VeggieTales Appisode: 3 Builders (iPad)

I LOVE VeggieTales.  If I had little kids around the house, we’d have all the VeggieTales DVDs for them to watch.  They’re really funny and have good Bible-based lessons and morals.  You don’t even have to be a Christian to appreciate them (but it sure helps).  This “Appisode” plays just like a regular VeggieTales cartoon, but every so often it gives kids a chance to play an interactive preschool-level mini-game.  The story is just a retelling of Three Little Pigs, but the lesson is that no matter what your house is made of, it’ll never last without a good foundation.  Not sure if this lesson is quite as applicable to preschoolers who can’t read yet, but it’s still a good lesson anyway.  Spoiler Alert: the brick house doesn’t win. It also has a lot of funny jokes, many even made me laugh out loud.  One of the characters is named Bob the Tomato, and at one point someone says, “Bob…the Builder?  That’ll never stick!”  And Larry the Cucumber, who builds the hay houses, he said that he just installed a hay fireplace in his house.  The others were like, “Uh, that’s not such a good idea!”  So if you have kids and iPads around the house, and you love VeggieTales, you may want to download this.

Double Dragon (PS3)

Double Dragon has had a big impact on the video games and entertainment industries.  It has several arcade sequels and ports on the home consoles, crossover games, a cartoon and live action movie.  And a couple of years ago there was even a remake with silly 80’s references called Double Dragon Neon (I even reviewed it).  But this Double Dragon game is an import title you can download to your PS3, and it’s actually a PSOne one-on-one fighter.  I didn’t even know there was a Double Dragon fighting game!  What’s even more surprising is that this is very loosely based on the live action movie!  It has grainy footage of the film at the intro and credits, and some of the backgrounds and characters are based on the flick, too.  But it’s still very anime-inspired.  Surprisingly, the game really isn’t that bad.  It’s a decent 2-D fighter with quick and easy controls.  My favorite characters to play as are Rebecca, Marian, and Abobo.  I hear it was also one of Technos’ last games, which is kind of sad. And about that live action Double Dragon movie?  Yes, it is pretty awful, but I didn’t think it was THAT bad.  I sat through all of it and I couldn’t sit through the live action Super Mario Bros. movie, if that tells you anything.  Plus, I was watching the DD film with B-movie “MST3K” eyes, so that may explain things.  There’s another good thing about the Double Dragon movie, but I’m not going to say what it is.

Reader Review: Long Live the Queen (PC)

Thanks goodness my friend reviewed this one, as it’s one of those princess sims that are more popular and prevalent in Japan.  In the game, you train a princess so she can become a good queen.  One cool thing is that the princess has pink hair.  If I were playing the game, I’d train the princess to be a tough and strong fighter, and who could defeat bad guys with one punch!  That would be cool.

AntiSquad (iPad)

A gun-toting, militant vigilante group must infiltrate and destroy a Mexican drug cartel.  With a premise like that, you’d think this was a first person shooter action game.  But it’s not!  It’s actually a strategy game!  I wasn’t too good at it, but then, I don’t like strategy games or games that have a more serious premise.  I do like the lady character on the team, though.  She was cool.

Alph and Betty’s Topsy Turvy World (iPad)

This is an interactive alphabet storybook.  But it also has some platforming elements and mini-games, too.  The controls aren’t very good and it’s a bit complicated for an alphabet book.  But it does have a “Wallace and Gromit” British charm to it, as you are reading a story about two doddering inventors who live in a crazy house.

Give My Ball Back (iPad)

This is a really unique puzzle game where you play as a boy who is trying to get his ball back from a monster who steals it from him at night.  You alternate levels playing as the boy and the monster trying to sneak into the other kid’s room to take the ball.  If you tap on the ball, you’ll usually wake the other kid up, but by tapping other objects in the room in sequence; you can sneak past without making any noise.  For instance, in a room with a dog, lamp, and cactus; tap the cactus first to move it in front of the lamp, then turn the lamp on so it casts a scary shadow with the cactus.  Then the dog will hide under the bed and you can get the ball. It’s a great puzzle game for kids and kids at heart.  I just wish at the end of the game, the boy and monster could learn to SHARE that ball!

Jetbee (iPad)

This is a free-to-play racing game where you play as a bee and race to the top of a vertically scrolling level while avoiding obstacles.  Normally the quibbles you find in free-to-play games don’t bother me too much, but here they’re annoying.  Ads are more bombarding than usual, and the game gets hard fast.  It’s a shame, too, because I really like the cute and cartoony graphics and themes.

Jewel Galaxy (iPad)

Another free-to-play game that is trying to ride the coattails of titles like Bejeweled and Candy Crush.  It gets way too hard, too fast, though.  Plus I already have a Bejeweled clone that has Pac-Man in it, called Pac-Chomp, and it’s actually pretty good and all I need for a puzzle fix on my iPad.

Candy Crush Fruit Snacks

I saw these at the store and decided to write about them just for fun since these kinds of things crack me up.  Just another example on how popular this game is.  I think the fruit snacks are made by the same folks who did the Angry Birds ones, because they taste the same.  Is it just me, or do fruit snacks not taste as good as they did when I was a kid?  What kind of video game fruit snacks would you like to see?  I’m surprised they never made Pac-Man fruit snacks.  That would fit perfectly, don’t you think?

Conclusions

And that’s all for now!  Thanks for reading and commenting on my reviews!  I’ve noticed recently that it’s hard for me to talk about games with people, even ‘normal’ gamers, because the conversion usually goes like this:  “Well I just got finished playing a game where you’re a lawyer, and in the last case I had an orca whale as a defendant.  And now I’m playing a game where you’re a tiny robot who takes pictures of toilet paper (Chibi Robo! Photo Finder).”  You know, I once took a personality test and the results said I was too weird for my own good.  Oh well.  Anyway, I can’t think of anything that you folks can post in the comments section, so just post something that you think I would like.  Later!  --Cary