Kid-Friendly

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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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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Chey’s Top 25 – #21 – SSX Tricky

Genre:  Sports
Platform:  XBox Original

I want to stop writing this and go play SSX Tricky right now.  This game is a snowboarding game, which normally I really don’t care about.  It’s got your standard snowboarding/skateboarding elements – tricks, grinds, racing – but there’s something really special about this game.

I remember this game so fondly that I recently went out and found an original XBox console just so I could play this again.  What sets this game apart is how outrageous it is.  It doesn’t really take snowboarding seriously.  This is not an accurate representation of shredding down a course.  This is over-the-top drops, allowing you to string together lots of moves that a real person could never do.

As you play and do tricks, you build up your “tricky” meter.  Once it’s full, wait for your next big jump and activate it.  Each character has their own special trick, and they are BIG.  Your character will twist and twirl around the screen and leave you smiling.  There are two modes – race and style.  In race mode, your goal is to win a race.  You can knock down your opponents to get an advantage.  Be careful, though, because you need to keep a few friends as you progress.  In style mode, it’s all about the points.

The graphics are decent, but the soundtrack is awesome.  Be prepared to hear “It’s Tricky” by Run DMC A LOT.  The announcer also sings your praises as you play with comments such as “bronze those thumbs!” and “call your mamma into the room and show her how good you are!”.  It all adds to the fun.

This game was also on the Gamecube and Playstation 2.  If you can find it, get it and be ready for some big-time fun.

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Oldies but Goodies – McKids

Genre – Platformer
Platform – NES

I wouldn’t be surprised if you’ve never heard of McKids on the Nintendo Entertainment System.  This was a game inspired by McDonald’s, which may have turned a lot of potential gamers away.  Underneath the advertising, however, was a pretty solid game.

My parents rented this for us and my sisters and I played it a lot.  We really had a lot of fun with it.  This is a fairly standard platformer, but it did offer a couple of fun elements like the ability to walk upside down.  The gameplay was fluid and intuitive enough for three kids aged 12, 8 and 7 to figure out.  I’m sure there were a few parts that I had to get through for them, as seems to be the way when playing with younger siblings.

I have very fond memories of this game and the time spent with my sisters.  I have it on my GCW Zero and have played it within the last year or so.  It still holds up after all these years.  Check it out if you can!

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Chey’s Top 25 – #22 – Legend of Zelda II

Genre – RPG
Platform – Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)

I can hear fans of the Legend of Zelda series yelling at me already.  But again, this list is about personal preference, not what critics and other fans widely agree upon.  I enjoyed The Legend of Zelda II – The Adventures of Link more than the first Legend of Zelda.  There, I said it.  I feel like I’ve had that on my chest for thirty years.  This game just made more sense to me and I had a lot more fun playing it.

In typical Zelda fashion, you play as Link, a young hero out to save the pricess, Zelda.  While this sounds Mario-ish, it is far different.  In Zelda, your character levels up and allows you to upgrade different aspects of them such as health or magic.  This allows you to move to different parts of the map and fight stronger creatures.  This type of game is called a role-playing game (RPG).

This game introduced me to a part of RPGs that I hadn’t seen before – the grind.  I spent hours walking around simply killing mobs (gamer for enemies) to get experience to level up.  If a bag of experience dropped, it was like the gaming god shined upon me as it was worth 50 experience points.

This game also got difficult.  Like most games, the boss mobs had a weakness, but it took some trial and error to find it.  This was the first game that I remember playing that let you save your progress, so there was no more keeping the Nintendo powered on while at school and praying that Mom didn’t turn it off.

I currently have this game downloaded on my Nintendo 3DS and I do still play it from time to time.  This is a big reason it made my top 25.

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