PixlBit

It’s getting to be the hottest part of summer (at least here in Texas anyway), so here’s a batch of sizzling hot summer reviews for everyone!  Read these reviews and smoke will come out of your ears, a fire will burn in your belly, and it’ll put hair on your chest.  Unless you’re a lady, then you’ll just get really strong.  I dunno.  Anyway, this blog is just another batch of reviews I’ve written lately over at GamerDad.com.  Please read as many as you can and maybe even leave a comment or two.  I’d appreciate it.  Spicy!

Guacamelee! Super Turbo Championship Edition (360)

Would it be considered politically incorrect if I called this game “Mexican Metroid?”  Because I certainly don’t mean any harm or ill will by saying that.  It is what it is.  In this game you play as Juan, a humble Mexican farmer helping to get ready for his village’s Day of the Dead festivities.  But all of a sudden, a group of skeletons kidnap his childhood lady friend and when he tries to save her, they kill him!  Stuck in the land of the dead, Juan finds a magical mask and when he puts it on, he transforms into a strong and powerful Luchador.  He now has the power to go back to the real world and save his friend and stop the bad guys from merging the worlds of the living and dead together.  The game plays like a 2-D Metroid title with combo-style fighting game mechanics.  There is a lot of humor in the game and they poke fun of lots of other video games, too.  The game is a little hard, especially if you aren’t good at fighting games like me, but I still managed to beat it so it’s not TOO bad.  I don’t know what’s different about the Super Turbo etc. edition, but I do like how a second player can join in at any time and play as Tostada, the guardian of the mask.  I wish you could play as Tostada in single player mode, as I think she’s way cooler even though she has the same moves set.  At any rate, this is a great game and you should download it.

Mario Kart 8 Toys in McDonald’s Happy Meals

Since it was video game and kid related, I decided to write a quick article about the Mario Kart toys you can get in McDonald’s Happy Meals.  I don’t know if you can still get them, but after I wrote the article I did manage to get the rest of the characters for my collection.  It tells you just how big Mario Kart is if they did Happy Meal toys of it.  Click on the review link if you want to see pics. 

Rusty’s Real Deal Baseball (3DS)

A couple of weeks ago I decided to feature some free-to-play games on the site, mostly just for filler to keep continuous content flowing (probably the biggest challenge when you write on a web site, am I right?).  I was curious about this free-to-play game from Nintendo, since that’s not something they usually do.  They had that and a free-to-play version of their Steel Diver game, but I didn’t have any interest in that.  I do like how the Steel Diver submarine is an assist trophy in the new Smash game, and how one of the Mario Kart 8 chassis is shaped like a submarine and is called “Steel Driver.” 

Anyway, in the game you meet Rusty Slugger, a dog who used to be a baseball star, but now just runs a fledgling sporting goods store.  To get business from a younger crowd, he’s started to sell baseball themed mini-games from “Nontendo.”  They make fun of Nintendo a lot here, and you play these baseball games on a 4DS, which lets you jump inside the games.  Man, if I could do that, I’d get a copy of Dead or Alive Volleyball and…JUST JOKING!  These mini-games cost real money, though, and you only get a demo of one of them to try for free.

Here’s the thing, though.  Rusty is down on his luck and is willing to haggle the price down on these games, so that’s part of the gameplay right there.  If you give him the right items and listen to his sob stories, he’ll lower the prices of the games for you.  I only wish they wouldn’t play on your heartstrings so much, though.  Rusty might’ve well say, “Cary if you don’t buy these games, Zelda will hate your guts, Toad will be sad, and Kirby will die!”  I didn’t buy any of the games, though, because I don’t like how they nickel and dime you with this title, and I don’t want Nintendo to think that’s an OK thing to do regularly.  Plus, if you haggle the price and then leave the store without buying, the price goes back up.  So make sure you know you plan to buy and are connected to the Internet.  It’s a shame that I didn’t get into this game because the baseball mini-games have that Wario Ware feel and the Nintendo style of quality, too.  If you’re curious, though, please click on the link and read the review.

Photos With Mario (3DS)

The other free 3DS game I ‘reviewed’ is an application you can download for free that lets you take pictures of Mario characters using AR cards.  It works similarly to the AR Games already included on your 3DS.  To get the Photos With Mario cards, though, you have to buy special Nintendo $10 eShop points cards that are only available at Target.  I bought the set because I needed some points anyway so I can download stuff like Shovel Knight (a very good game, by the way).  Similar to the Kid Icarus: Uprising cards (the only part of that game I liked), the Mario cards will react to each other when you set them next to one another.  I figured that not too many people would know about this, so that’s why I wrote a little article about it.

Moshling Rescue (iPad)

The last free game I reviewed that week was this iPad match three puzzle game that features characters from the popular online virtual pet game Moshi Monsters.  It’s a lot like Candy Crush and has most everything that annoys me about free-to-play games.

Marvel Pinball: Deadpool (360)

The latest Marvel table from Zen Studios for Pinball FX2 and Zen Pinball is based on Deadpool.  I didn’t really like the table as much, though, and Deadpool certainly could’ve been funnier.  But my brother Jeff really liked it, though, but that’s mainly because Deadpool is his favorite Marvel character.  I don’t really have a favorite Marvel character.  Maybe one of you could pick one out for me?

Reader Review: Electronic Super Joy: Groove City (PC)

My good friend Leroy reviewed a couple of games for me recently.  This first one is an add-on to a game he previously reviewed.  Looks like a mix of music and platforming.

Reader Review: Monsters Ate My Birthday Cake (PC)

You might’ve seen commercials for this game if you watch Cartoon Network.  I kind of wish I would’ve asked for an iOS review code instead of having my friend review it on PC because this silly puzzle game looks right up my alley!

LetterHero (iPad)

And finally is this word spelling action game for iOS devices.  It’s all right, but I’ve seen this kind of game done before, and better.  Plus it looks a bit amateurish.  I gave it a bit of an educational spin, though, what with kids going back to school soon and all.

Conclusions

And that’s all for now!  Thanks so much for reading my blogs and reviews and posting comments.  I really appreciate it.  This month I have a couple of blogs planned out, like my summer movie list and my favorite Tekken characters!  Until next time, later!  --Cary