Month: June 2016

Hidden Gems – Pinball Quest

Genre:  Arcade/Pinball
Platform:  NES

My parents bought this game for me for Christmas one year.  I loved every new game that I got, but I really loved this one.  It wasn’t until much later that I realized how unique this game was.  Since this is my second post about a pinball game, you could assume, correctly, that I really like pinball.  I’d love to have my own real table one day.

Anyway, this game has three traditional tables – Pop!  Pop!, bowling/pool table; Viva! Golf, a golf table; and Circus, a circus-themed table.  Each had unique elements to them and had some bonus games, which was rare for the time.  All three were very fun and I spent plenty of time on each.

This game really became unique when you played in RPG mode.  This took you to a table that was really a story mode.  When you hit certain characters, text boxes would pop up.  As you played through, you went to new and more difficult tables.  It was a very unique way to present a pinball game and I’ve rarely heard anyone talk about this one.  This is why it’s a hidden gem.  Check it out if you can!

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Chey’s Top 25 – #19 – Word Whomp

Genre:  Word
Platform:  PC

Let’s discuss “casual” gaming for a bit.  It’s a term that has always held negative connotations in the gaming community.  These are quick, easy games that are usually played in a browser or on a mobile device.  People who play these games are often thought of as non-gamers.  Screw that.  I’m a gamer and I love casual games.  These games are great for the times when you just want something light which doesn’t involve a lot of thought.

The web site www.pogo.com has tons of these games, and this is my favorite of them.  I talked about using replayability and time spent playing as a criteria for my list, and this game definitely fits that.  I’m actually including three games in this post – Word Whomp, Word Whomp Whackdown and Word Whomp Underground.  My mom started my love of word games pretty much from the time I could talk and I’ve never looked back.  We always make time for a game of Scrabble every time I go back home.  She also enjoys these games a lot, so it’s a rare gaming moment that we can share.

The games themselves are quite simple.  Word Whomp is a standard anagrams game.  Find all of the words hidden in the letters listed and you win.  Whackdown arranges them differently and is a bit tougher.  It has a bonus round.  Underground is original Word Whomp with a slight story behind it.  Once you start playing, I dare you to stop!  The “one more game…” monster will definitely get you with these.

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Oldies but Goodies – Combat

Genre – Shoot ’em Up
Platform – Atari 2600

We’re going way back today, folks.  Most everyone who had an Atari 2600 played Combat at some point because it was the game that came with it.  It is a collection of 27 “different” games, although it’s really only different versions of two main modes – tanks and planes.  As expected from such an early console game – it was simple, but this one was a lot of fun.  Let’s call it World of Tanks 1.0.

My grandma actually had an Atari 2600 and we would play this game together when I would spend the weekend there.  I had a cool grandma.  We would laugh for minutes on end while we played the tank mode where the bullets ricocheted off the walls and made funny noises.  We didn’t care about actually shooting each other, it was more about the funny noise and I guess a time and place thing.  I will forever have fond memories of this game because of that.

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Stinkers – Kabuki Warriors

Genre – Fighting
Platform – XBox

There was no other game that I could put as my first Stinkers post.  This. game. is. just. awful.  So true story.  A friend and I were in Best Buy one day, back when Best Buy was still cool and had a lot of video games and not full of stupid phone accessories, shortly after I had gotten the original XBox (launch day!).  We were looking at games and were looking for another fighting game.  I already had Dead or Alive 3, so why we weren’t content with that, I’ll never know.  This game was in a bargain bin (hint #1) and he picked it up and said “Get this!  It looks like Mortal Kombat but Japanese!”.  I am a fan of MK, so I bought it.

We took it back to my place and played it for about 10 minutes before we put it away.  I then assumed we missed something and played the single-player campaign.  I played it most of the way through.  I guess I was a glutton for punishment back then.

Let me sum up this game – you start out as an almost shapeless clay figure and fight with a curtain rod.  This isn’t what the game thinks you are doing, but that’s EXACTLY what it looks like.  Seriously, these beginning minions look like the developers just didn’t have time to render them and left them as-is.    You kill other generic grey things for several levels until you meet the one interesting guy in town, who happens to be a cross-dressing weirdo fighting with something as exciting as an umbrella.  To get money, you have to stop in the middle of your fighting and pose.  Your spectators then throw money on the stage.   Wait.  Guys in drag posing on a stage and having money thrown at them.  OMG it’s a game about strippers and must be a joke, right?  Wrong.  This game isn’t even close to being humorous, outside of its horribleness.

The graphics are ok and a few of the stages look pretty good.  There is also one immediately annoying sound effect through the entire game – EEEEOOOOOO – which will have you ready to shoot your TV.  The game play is as terrible as the characters.  My two-year old nephew would be able to get through this game simply by pressing the A button for a while.  That’s right, you have one button to press to fight and there doesn’t seem to be any need for strategy – or even thinking, for that matter.  This game is so bad that I would recommend playing it just so you can experience it and put it on your own Stinkers list.

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Mugshot

In the gaming community, I am what is known as an achievement whore.  This sounds worse than it is.  This just means that I like to collect as many achievements as I can in each game.

Every developer for the XBox 360 and XBone is required, by Microsoft, to put achievements in their games.  Steam also has achievements now, but I don’t think developers are required to have them as not all games do.

What are they?  Things of great joy!  Many gamers will say that they are a waste of time, but I see them as little guides from the developers to help you find parts of the game that you might not otherwise.  The achievements themselves are just little badges that pop up on your screen when you complete certain criteria.  Each achievement has a score attached to it.  As you play more games and get more achievements, your “gamer score” goes up.  It’s kind of a status thing for all to see.

Some achievements also have new accessories and gear for your avatar.  This was a bigger deal in XBox 360 and isn’t used near as much in XBone.  I thought it was cool when I unlocked a Portal hat for my little toon to wear after unlocking a big achievement in the game.

There’s a third-party website, www.trueachievements.com, which let you create an account for free and compare yourself to other achievement whores.  They put some weight on the achievements as well and make the more challenging achievements worth more points.  So yeah, call me what you will, but I love my achievements.

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Today is Tetris’ 32nd birthday.  Oh, the hours and hours I’ve spent on you.  I’ve watched you grow and develop through the years, but the simpler you are, the better.  I love Tetris so much that Matt made me shelves made of Tetriminos !  I also have a Tetris board game, given to me as a gift.  I’ve also long though about getting a Tetris tattoo.

And happy 32nd birthday to my sister-in-law, Barb, as well!

Tetris birthday

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Chey’s Top 25 – #20 – Peggle

Genre:  Puzzle/Arcade
Platform:  Pretty much all; I have it for PC, Nintendo DS, XBox 360 and XBone (Peggle 2).  It’s on iOS (Apple phones) and Android as well.

Peggle was another one of those games that I instantly said “YES MORE PLEASE” and played for hours until I realized that a lack of sleep will, in fact, make you insane.  This is a highly addictive game.  It’s also a fairly simple one.  Simply clear all of the orange pegs from the board by bouncing a metal ball off of them.  It’s not too difficult, but it is if you take into account some of the additional challenges for each level.

There are different “masters” to unlock as you play.  Each has a special ability to help you complete the levels in new and fun ways.  For example, there’s one that gives you a multiball and another that gives you pinball-like flippers at the bottom.  Each character has their own personality and the game can be funny at times.

There is no learning curve at all with this game, either.  You will instantly know how to play it, so there’s no excuse for not picking it up (I’m looking at you, Mom!).  There was an expansion for Peggle – Peggle Nights – which is more of the same, but there is a slightly different twist on the story.  Totally worth it.

One of the things that I like most about this game is how it makes a big deal if you succeed.  You’ll be treated to fireworks on the screen, loud “Hallelujah” music and flashy text.  You’re awesome, and it lets you know it!  The other sounds effects are playful and fun as well.

There’s also Peggle 2, which I’m going to bundle right in here as well.  It has different masters, except two.  My favorite is the homage to The Big Lebowski.  The game play is the same basic concept.  Aim ball, shoot at pegs, get high score.

Everyone should play this game.  It’s fun, funny and will keep you entertained for hours!


 

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Hidden Gems – Pic Pic for the DS

PicPicNintendoDS698_f

Genre:  Puzzle
Platform:  Nintendo DS

I only first learned about Pic Pic about a year ago while looking for good Picross games.  This is not a picross game, but a collection of three different puzzle game modes.  It’s got a whopping 400 puzzles for each mode, so you’ll be busy for a while.  This game kept me enthralled for hours and hours and I’m sure I’ll play it more in the future.

The first game mode is Maze Paint.  In this mode, you complete a maze to draw a picture.  The modes all start easy and get harder as you go.  This was a fun mode to play, especially once I got to the later modes.

Pic Pic Maze

The second mode is Drawing.  I had played this type of game before and really enjoyed it.  You paint a picture by drawing lines between two numbers.  The number tells you how many squares that line will use.  It can get challenging, but it is rewarding when you finally figure out that section you’ve been working on for five minutes.

Pic Pic Link-a-Pix

The final mode is my favorite, Magipic.  You are given a set of numbers telling you how many squares around it are filled in.  This creates a picture.  It was also the hardest of the modes and had the steepest learning curve.  However, it’s very rewarding once you “get it”.

Pic Pic Magic Number

This game is really hard to find.  I got mine off of Ebay for around $30, but it’s tough to find now.  It’s a Europe- or Japan-only game and was never released in the US.  Fortunately, the Nintendo DS is not region locked (but the 3DS is), meaning you can play any game from any region on any device.  The 3DS can play any region’s DS game, just not 3DS games.  If you can find it and like puzzle games, I strongly recommend it.

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