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All right, folks.  I’ve cooked up another batch of recent game reviews I’ve written recently over at GamerDad.com.  They’re really yummy and packed with nutrients and they’ll make you big and strong so I hope you can all read as many as you can and maybe even post a comment or two.  I’d appreciate it.  Bon Appetit!

Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric (Wii U)

After writing my review, I looked at a lot of other people’s opinions and reviews on this game and it was rather grim.  True, this game does have some problems, like choppy framerate and bad camera angles sometimes.  And die-hard Sonic fans may not like it, because they changed the gameplay so much.  But personally, I didn’t think the game was THAT bad.  It’s like a cross between a Sonic game and the first Jak & Daxter.  And since there aren’t as many of those kinds of colorful 3-D adventures around anymore like there used to be in the N64, PS2, and GameCube days, Sonic Boom was kind of a welcome change for me.  Granted, the game is still not that great, but I just think that SOME Sonic fans need to get over themselves and realize that many classic Sonic games were not that great in the first place either.  Can’t you tell that I’m not a big Sonic fan myself?  I’m sure a Sonic fan mob is charging over to my house right now.

But seriously, Sonic fans, I do feel your pain.  I, too, have had a beloved favorite video game character ruined by a crappy computer animated cartoon (Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures).  But when it came time to review the games based on the franchise, I took them at face value and reviewed them as games, not what they were before and what they are based on.  When I looked at things that way, the new Pac-Man games aren’t so bad.  So maybe some Sonic fans need to do that with Sonic Boom.

I haven’t seen the Sonic Boom cartoon yet, myself.  But luckily, Dish Network has started carrying Cartoon Network again (guess they worked out the contract) so now I just need to find when it comes on.  Some of the changes they made in Sonic Boom just crack me up.  Knuckles is so buff now, and Dr.Robotnik kind of is, too.  I guess they opened a 24-Hour Fitness in SEGA Land.  And they also made Knuckles really stupid.  Not Big the Cat stupid (although I do like that character).  But at one point in the game, Sonic says he’ll go right and Knuckles can go left.  Then Knuckles made the L shape with both hands and looked at his left hand and said, “Got it!”  Tails isn’t much better either.  When Dr. Robotnik said, “You know what’s better than an ambush?” Tails says, “An ambush with ice cream?”  Then the doctor muttered “That does sound delicious…”  So yeah, goofy Saturday morning shenanigans right there.  Next time I do a review list on this blog, I’ll also have a review of the 3DS Sonic Boom game.

Digimon: All-Star Rumble (360)

I actually liked the first two or three seasons of the Digimon cartoon, and I reviewed a lot of the games back in the day, so this game was kind of nostalgic for me.  It kind of plays like Power Stone.  It’s a bit slow and clunky and probably something that could’ve been done on the PS2.  But I still liked it anyway.  Maybe I should be more picky about my games since I’m a game reviewer.  I don’t know.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Danger of the Ooze (360)

At first glance, this game has two good things going for it right off the bat.  One, it was developed by WayForward.  Two, it plays like a classic 2-D Metroid game!  The sewers, streets, and buildings of New York serve as the mazes you’ll explore, and you get items like ninja throwing stars (think Samus’ missiles) and a double jump to help you reach new areas.  Unfortunately, some gameplay choices keep this game from being fun, and instead make it annoying.  Similar to the first NES game (which I never really liked), you can switch between each turtle on the fly, but if one loses all their energy, you have to go find them somewhere on the map to rescue them.  And backtracking isn’t as much fun in this game.  Plus, if you’re the only turtle left and you die, you won’t lose your items but you’ll start back at one of the random capture locations, not at your last save point.  Those things really annoyed me.  The game is based on the computer animated Turtles cartoon on Nickelodeon, which I could never get into because it has too much of a ‘Teen Titans’ feel and I couldn’t stand that cartoon.

Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Strategy Guide (Book)

I’ve never played the game and don’t plan to, but that won’t stop me from reviewing the strategy guide!  I was actually impressed by the level of detail that went into it.  They talk about every single weapon and its rate of fire and recoil and all sorts of other details.  I hate it when people complain about Call of Duty, though.  Sure they may be all the same, but a lot of people really like the games and have fun playing them, and they certainly look really good.  And lots of other games are the same, too.  Even my favorite game, Pac-Man, its sequels are pretty much the same.  So that’s why I don’t complain too much about Call of Duty. 

The Counting Kingdom (iPad)

This neat little educational game is kind of like Plants vs. Zombies, but with math!  Monsters approach from the right side, and if they make it past your barricades to the left, you lose.  The monsters have numbers on their bellies, and if you tap multiple monsters and then pick a magic spell page with a number that their bellies add up to, you’ll zap them away.  It’s a cute little game for elementary school kids, and adults can even have fun with it to keep their brain sharp.

Planes: Fire & Rescue (3DS)

I saw the first Planes movie and it wasn’t very good, so I never bothered to see the second one.  I may catch it on Netflix someday, maybe.  The game reminds me of the 16-bit Desert, Jungle, and Urban Strike games, except you put out fires instead of shoot people.  Unfortunately, the game isn’t very much fun because it’s pretty hard and the camera is too close to your character for you to see anything and putting out fires can be tedious.  We need more good firefighting games, though.

Tetrobot & Co. (Wii U)

This is a neat (yet REALLY HARD) maze puzzler and block manipulation game.  You use the touch screen on the Wii U gamepad to move a little robot around.  And the red-headed female scientist in the game is cute, too.

Skylanders Balloon to Appear at this Year’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade

By the time this blog gets posted, this will be old news.  But a couple of days before Thanksgiving, I posted this at GamerDad.com because I thought people would like to know there was a Skylanders balloon at this year’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.  Too bad they didn’t pick Spyro.  Can you believe how popular Skylanders has gotten?  It’s amazing.

Now you all should be stuffed!

And that’s all the reviews for now!  You all should have nice fat little bellies now after such a big game review feast.  Thanks for reading my blogs and reviews and posting comments.  I really appreciate it!  Later!  --Cary