PixlBit

Hey folks, in a couple of days, I’ll be attending PAX Prime!  But before I go, I wanted to leave you with some reviews I’ve been working on at GamerDad.com while I’m gone.  Please read as many as you can and maybe even post a comment or two.  I’d really appreciate it.  Thanks!

Battle Princess of Arcadias (PS3)

Visually, this game takes inspiration from VanillaWare games like Odin Sphere and Dragon’s Crown.  But this isn’t a VanillaWare game.  It is a 2-D side scrolling action game starring a princess and her friends who battle and defend their kingdom.  You’d think with a name like “Battle Princess,” the main character would look all tough and strong.  But nope, everyone in this game looks like they came out of a Strawberry Shortcake cartoon!  Unfortunately, this game has two other types of modes besides the fun 2-D action stages.  In some modes you control both your character and an army to battle bosses or other armies.  And these two modes get way too complicated for their own good.  If they would’ve just stuck to just 2-D side-scrolling action stages, I would’ve liked this game MUCH better.  Sometimes less is more.  Too bad NIS doesn’t realize that most of the time.

Armillo (Wii U)

This downloadable Wii U indie title is like a cross between several other games.  You play as a cute cartoon mascot like Sonic the Hedgehog.  You travel on spherical planetoids like Mario Galaxy.  You roll around obstacles like Marble Madness and Super Monkey Ball.  And you run around mazes collecting things like Pac-Man!  This game ended up being a lot better than what I thought it would be.  It reminds me of games that you’d play back on the N64 or GameCube (better graphically of course).  It’s cute and colorful, not too short or too long, and doesn’t try to be too big for its britches like a lot of other games of today do.  Plus there’s a really cool Shovel Knight cameo!

Ultra Street Fighter IV Official Bible (Book)

This strategy guide was written by pros, for pros.  It covers advanced techniques and tells you the speeds of all the characters and their hitboxes and hurtboxes for each move.  And tons of other stuff.  And the guide is twice as thick as most other strategy guides!  If you’re a pro or want to become a pro at this game, you should get this guide.  As for me, I’ll just continue to mash buttons and hope for the best.  Hey, let’s play a little game.  If you can guess my favorite Street Fighter character in the comments section, you win a power pellet!  If you read this review, it’ll be really easy to answer (although some of you may know it already).

The Great Prank War (iPad)

Regular Show on Cartoon Network is one of my favorite new cartoons, and this tablet game is based on one of the episodes where a rival park starts a prank war and the whole show parodies war movies like Rambo and Terminator.  The Great Prank War is like a reverse tower defense game.  Instead of making towers to slow down an approaching army, you are trying to avoid enemy towers and armies and destroy them to make your own towers so you can reach the base in each level and destroy it.  The graphics do a good job of reflecting the feel of the show, and it’s a bit more creative than most tower defense games.  Some may have a problem with the game being too easy, though.  Normally I have a hard time with tower defense style games, but I breezed through this one without even losing!  (there were some close shaves, though)  But this is a Cartoon Network game geared towards kids so that’s OK.  Regular Show used to be my top favorite new modern cartoon, but it has since been replaced with Disney XD’s Gravity Falls.  Have you ever seen that show?  You should, it’s good.  I think TellTale should make a Gravity Falls point and click adventure.  I think that would work really well.  I miss when TellTale used to make whimsical games like Sam & Max and Wallace & Gromit.  Now all they do is The Walking Dead.  Bleh!

Adventure Time Presents: Time Tangle (iPad)

This is yet another continuously running 2-D platformer, but they make good use of the license so it feels better than most.  If you like Adventure Time, you may want to try this out.  I’m not a big fan of the show, but I don’t hate it either.  My favorite character is BMO.  Unfortunately he’s not in this game.  One cool thing is that when I go to PAX, one of the companies I’m meeting with is Cartoon Network!

Reader Review: The Last Tinker: City of Colors (PC)

This was a PC game I had one of my brothers review.  I hear it’s out for PS3, too.  It looks right up my alley as it is a colorful 3-D platformer, and you don’t see too many of those anymore.  My brother really liked it, anyway.

LEGO Ninjago Nindroids (3DS)

It’s based on the LEGO Ninjago toy line and cartoon show, but plays like any other LEGO game.  It’s not great, but not bad either.  Kids who enjoy the Ninjago stuff would like it.

Mighty Adventure (iPad)

And last is yet another 2-D platforming continuous runner for tablets.  You switch between three monsters to use their skills (double jumping, dashing, etc.).  Nothing special here, but the cartoony graphics are nice.

Conclusions

And that’s all for now.  Thanks so much for reading my reviews and blogs and posting comments.  I really do appreciate it.  And please keep me in your thoughts and prayers that I have a safe trip to and from PAX, and a fruitful one as well.  After I get back and post my PAX articles at GamerDad.com, I’ll post links here in a blog as well.  Later!  --Cary