PixlBit

OK detectives!  The mystery is afoot!  To solve the case, read these reviews I’ve recently written at GamerDad.com, and maybe even post a comment or ‘like’ or two.  Read them all to solve the mystery!  What is the mystery?  Well I don’t know yet.  I hadn’t thought that far.  But read as many reviews as you can anyway, please.

Unplugged: The Pokemon Card Game Featuring Detective Pikachu

When I was in college and writing game reviews for The Dallas Morning News, the first E3 I went to was when Nintendo was going to release Pokémon in the US for the first time.  I knew it would be a big hit, so I requested to my editor that I be in charge of covering everything Pokémon related for the newspaper.  He was like, “yeah sure, whatever,” but he did keep his promise for at least a couple of years.  I even learned how to play the Pokémon card game so I could cover events and competitions revolved around it.  I like to say that Pokémon helped pay my way through college as I was writing tons of Pokémon articles then!  It’s amazing to me that Pokémon is still super popular after all this time, even the card game.  And now there is a new live action movie out in theaters called Detective Pikachu.  To celebrate, the makers of the card game have released a wide selection of Detective Pikachu cards and packages, so they sent them to me and I took a look at all of them!  I have seen the Detective Pikachu movie, but I plan to talk more about it later when I write my spring movie blog (probably the next one I write).  But in the meantime, I will say the Detective Pikachu movie is very good. Probably one of the best video game movies since the first Wreck-It Ralph.

Captain Planet: Gaia Guardians (iPad)

When I was a kid, I remember a cartoon called Captain Planet.  It was made in the late 80’s/early 90’s and was all about saving the environment, which was a common theme at the time.  But I thought the cartoon was dumb.  But then, I was probably at that age where I thought everything was dumb.  No, no, I still think that cartoon is dumb.  Anyway, in the show, an Earth guardian spirit named Gaia gives five multicultural kids each a power ring based on one of the four elements (Earth, Wind, Fire, and Water), and the fifth kid gets a ring with the power of “Heart.”  I don’t know about you, but I’d feel cheated if I were that fifth kid.  Anyway, the kids then use their new powers to stop “Eco-Villains” and when the going gets tough, they can summon a super powerful hero named Captain Planet.  As much as I disliked the cartoon, I remember it being heavily promoted at the time.  And references to the show crop up from time to time, even now.  I remember reviewing a Cartoon Network fighting game where Captain Planet was a secret character, and a new cartoon called O.K. K.O. had a Captain Planet episode.  And now there is a mobile game based on the franchise, too!  And it’s an…endless clicker?!?  Oh no! 

Duck Game (Switch)

Every year when I go to PAX or E3, I almost always visit Adult Swim Games’ booth.  And every year they show off Duck Game, which has been on PC for a while.  And even though it’s not a new title, Duck Game always draws a crowd of both adults and kids at these events.  Just goes to show you that just because they’re called Adult Swim Games, it doesn’t mean that all their games are for adults only.  When I heard that Duck Game was going to appear on the Switch, I knew I had to review it!  Anyway, Duck Game is a silly 8-bit styled multiplayer-centric battle-fest where you play as a duck and pick up weapons to shoot the other ducks. 

Super Mario Bros. Encyclopedia

For Christmas last year I got this book.  It covers all the games in the Super Mario series up until the first Mario Maker.  So no Odyssey, unfortunately.  It also doesn’t cover the spin-offs, like the Kart games, Mario RPGs, etc.  Just anything with Super Mario in the title.  But then, I can kind of understand why they couldn’t do EVERYTHING, as then the book would be a million pages and be ten volumes long.  It kind of reminds me of a book I read a lot as a kid called Mario Mania.  It was basically a strategy guide for Super Mario World, but the first third of the book was about the history of Mario up until that point in time.  It was very cool.  Anyone else remember it?

Foodgod’s Food Truck Frenzy (iPad)

When I got the press release for this game, it said it paid homage to Atari’s classic arcade game Food Fight.  Well that got me hooked right there.  Unfortunately this game has nothing to do with Food Fight, as it’s just another free-to-play match three puzzle game, and not a very good one either.  But I already downloaded it so I figured I’d might as well review it.  It’s also endorsed by an internet celebrity named Foodgod, who I’ve never heard of.  Design your avatar, pick a food truck, and match food items to serve to customers.

Marblelous Animals (iPad)

The press release for this title said the animals in this game got fat and round from eating too much fast food, but you don’t see that in the game at all.  It’s just a game where you tilt the mobile device around to roll round animals around a maze into a hole.  So yeah, a marble maze game.  It’s very hard, though, and the controls don’t work too well.

Furiends (iPad)

And last is this Nintendogs clone that uses AR (augmented reality) to make it look like the dogs are in your space.  I first saw it at PAX South, but since it was a free-to-play game, I didn’t put as much priority on reviewing it.  It’s pretty buggy and not very good, though.

And that’s all for now!  Thanks for reading my reviews and posting ‘likes’ and comments.  If all goes according to plan, my next blog will be about the movies I saw this spring.  Later!  --Cary