Kid-Friendly

Genre:  Word
Platform:  Nintendo 3DS

For many of us word game enthusiasts, word searches are what we start on when we are just starting to learn to read.  I was certainly no different.  While they are not typically the most challenging of games, they are great for letting your brain idle and wasting some time.  I personally play these when I’m watching something on TV that isn’t particularly enthralling.

I discovered Epic Word Search on the 3DS store about a year ago and was captivated.  This isn’t your grandma’s word search.  Instead, it consists of five boards, all containing 9 separate sections of word searches containing a category of the big board.  In Epic Word Search 1, the categories are Rock and Roll, Movies, Food, TV and Sports.  Each sub-category as somewhere in the area of 60 words, so each board has over 350 words to find.  It’s challenging and fun and will take you hours to do.  The categories for Epic Word Search 2 are Animals, Journeys, Ancient, America and Shakespeare.

If you like small games that can take up a lot of your time, like word games and have a Nintendo 3DS, then this one is for you!

epic-word-search-collection2

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Oldies but Goodies – Simpsons Road Rage

Genre:  Arcade
Platform:  XBox Original

I was a long-time fan of the Simpsons, although I haven’t really watched much of it the last 10 years or so.  So when Road Rage came out, I picked it up and really enjoyed it.  If you’ve ever played Crazy Taxi, it’s basically that with the Simpsons crew.  You select one of the cast to play and drive around Springfield acting as a taxi.  The faster you get people to their destination, the more money you get and the more time you have to play.

You only start with maybe 5 characters to play with and can purchase the rest as you earn money.  This really adds to the replayability of the game as you’ll enjoy playing the different characters.  Here’s everyone you can play:

Simsons RR characters

I have always been a big Lisa fan, so that’s usually who I played.  I also enjoyed Homer and Mr. Plow a lot, too.  You can destroy just about everything in this game.  Springfield is fairly large, so there is a lot of territory to cover.  There are shortcuts everywhere, so once you find them, the game becomes even more fun.  I just picked this one up again and I’m looking forward to replaying it.  I would recommend it if you’re looking for a fast-paced racing type of game and you are a fan of the Simpsons.

Simpsons

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Chey’s Top 25 Games – #8 – Rock Band 3

My love affair with music games was immediate and heavy.  I had heard of Guitar Hero back in the Playstation 2 days, when I was an XBox owner, and was intrigued.  Alas, it was not released for the XBox.  When I was visiting my brother, I wanted to play it so much that I bought him a PS2 with Guitar Hero.  I was in love.  I then went home and got my own PS2 with Guitar Hero.

Guitar Hero 2 came out not too long after that and I sold the PS2.  I was just immediately good at the game, having a music background and strong rhythm skills, and enjoyed the game immensely.  I have every single Guitar Hero or Rock Band game and have played through them many times.  It was hard to pick a single favorite game for my list, but Rock Band 3 wins out.

Rock Band 3 allows you to import any songs that you purchased through their store into the game, even if you purchased them for other games.  It also allows you to bring in songs from Rock Band 1, 2, AC/DC and Greenday.  The Beatles songs were not importable.  It introduced harmonies on vocals and a keyboard controller.  It also has pro modes for all instruments, so you can basically learn a real instrument as you play.  The keyboard controller is good for this, although it’s a mini keyboard with just over an octave to play with.  I bought a real electric guitar to plug in, but the pro modes take a lot of work, which I wasn’t up to at the time.

What really makes this game fun, though, are the songs.  I have spent a gross amount of money on the songs, so I have quite a list to pick from.  This makes it a fantastic party games.  When we lived in Daytona, we were somewhat known for our Rock Band parties, and we’re starting to rebuild that here in Houston.  Everybody has fun at these parties.  It’s amazing who you can get to sing, even if they are adamantly against it at the beginning.  Add a bit of liquid courage and even the most staunch person is singing their heart out.

I haven’t seriously played these games in a long time and I’m really rusty.  They are still a lot of fun and definitely have an air of nostalgia about them.  I’m undecided on whether I want to touch Rock Band 4, but Rock Band 3 will always have a special place on my shelf and heart.

DSC00062

Who’s ready to ROCK?!?

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Look at what I found at Target for $40 tonight!  It’s an Atgames Sega Genesis mini console.  It comes loaded with 80 games and can actually play Sega Genesis cartridges!  It has ports for original controllers, but comes with two IR consoles (wireless).  I’m looking forward to playing it.  The reviews are pretty mixed on it, so we’ll see how those games stand up.  I’ll let you know more as I play.

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Oldies but Goodies – Titus the Fox

Genre:  Platformer
Platform:  PC

Titus the Fox was a platformer from way back in 1991.  We had it on our Windows 3.1 computer when I was a kid and I think this was my sisters’ favorite.  At least, I hope so, because when I tried to copy it for a friend and rendered the disk useless due to some copyright code, they almost killed me.  Let’s discuss why.

Titus was a cute game and took place somewhere in the middle east where magic carpets are the norm.  You play as the fox and are trying to get to the end of each level in search of your female counterpart.  But she’s always in another castle somewhere else and you need to keep running through a gauntlet of baddies.  If I recall, your primary mode of attack is picking things up and throwing them – including the bad guys.  If you could approach them from behind, you could throw them.  There was usually some sort of stacking puzzle in the level as well.

It was a fairly standard platformer, but the graphics were pretty good for a 1991 computer game running on 3.1.  The soundtrack was cutesy as well.  I can see why my younger sisters liked the game and I would like to formally apologize for destroying it.  I’m glad you’ve grown up without too much mental scarring as a result of my technical ignorance.

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Hidden Gems – Mario Golf World Tour

Genre:  Sports
Platform:  3DS

I don’t really like golf.  But I do seem to like golf video games for some reason.  You probably can’t really call any game with Mario in the title “hidden”, but this one was off my radar for a while.  I popped it in my 3DS one day before a several-hour flight and played for several hours.

The golf game itself is solid.  It’s not too challenging and is easy to learn.  There are subtleties which will make you a better player overall, but it’s not completely necessary to play the game well.  The act of driving the ball is fun and you get rewarding graphics and sounds when you make a solid hit.  Putting is a little tricky at first, but once you figure it out, you’re on your way to birdie after birdie.  You will have to contend with environmental factors such as wind and your typical golf hazards.

While Mario is on the cover (as usual), you can play with any of the major Nintendo characters.  I typically pick Luigi as he is always in Mario’s shadow and is a bit goofier than his famous brother.  And I like green.  (Have you ever noticed that it’s the Mario brothers, indicating Mario is their last name?  So are they Mario Mario and Luigi Mario?)  There are many different courses to play on and they increase in difficulty.

As you play through, you earn coins which you can spend in the pro-shop for better items such as clubs.  Mario golf has been around since the NES days with a game simply titled “Golf”.  He’s come a long way and has improved dramatically.  If you like golf games, check this one out.

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Oldies but Goodies – Summer Games

Genre:  Sports
Platform:  Commodore 64

It’s that time again!  The Olympics started this weekend and I thought it a good idea to showcase one of my favorite Olympic video games – Summer Games on the Commodore 64.  This was a decent compilation and looks pretty good considering it was released in 1984.  My cousin had a Commodore and we used to play this there.

You have a decent selection of events to play.  There’s pole vault, running relay, running single event, swimming relay, swimming single, diving, skeet shooting, gymnastics and rowing.  My favorite was pole vault and I remember it being quite challenging.

You had maybe 8 countries to choose from.  I always picked Brazil because my 8 year-old self thought they had the coolest flag.  There were opening ceremonies to watch and medal ceremonies.  Each country had its national anthem represented.  For its time, it was a comprehensive game and the graphics were quite good.  If you’re looking for an Olympic game to play, look this one up!

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Oldies but Goodies – Slalom

Genre:  Sports
Platform:  NES

I am heading on vacation for a few days in Colorado, so I thought a fitting last post for a few days to be Slalom for the NES.  I’m not going to be skiing, of course, but it’s the first mountain-themed game I thought of. There are a lot of new things to talk about in the video game world and I’ll discuss them when I get back.

I played this at a friend’s house in middle school and thought it was a lot of fun.  The idea is pretty simple – you are a skiier going down the slopes in the mountains.  You need to fly down the hill and weave your way between poles, trees, other skiiers and sledders. Whoever keeps these tracks should be fired because there are so many things that get in your way.  When you finish, your guy gives a victorious, although somewhat pained-looking celebration.

The thing I remember most about this game is that it was HARD, just like so many old games.  There weren’t any continues, so you just had to start over each time.  The graphics were pretty good but static.  The background never moves, but that’s probably good here because you really need to focus on the course.  There was no story or anything, you are just a dude skiing down a hill.

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