PixlBit

Got a new batch of game reviews blooming over at GamerDad.com.  Please click on the links and read as many as you can, and maybe even post a ‘like’ or comment or two.  I’d appreciate it.  OK let’s begin!

Monster Hunter Rise amiibo

For the first week of May, I featured some amiibo figures and cards I had gotten recently. I guess you could call it “A-May-bo” month.  Sorry, that was bad.  Anyway, first up is some amiibo figures based on Monster Hunter Rise, the newest game in the series that was just released recently. I’ve never played a Monster Hunter game before, so this should be quick!

A Terry, a Bear-y, and a Blythe

Next up on ‘amiibo week’ I got the next set of Smash Bros. amiibo.  We have SNK’s Terry Bogard, Banjo-Kazooie, and Blythe from Fire Emblem.  Let’s take a look at them!

Animal Crossing Sanrio amiibo Cards

And last on ‘amiibo week,’ here are some amiibo cards I recently got of a crossover with Animal Crossing and Sanrio.  You know, the folks who make Hello Kitty.  Out of all the amiibo things I’ve wrote about this week, these cards were probably the hardest things to get!  So let’s take a look at them!

Arby’s Kids Meals Have…Shovel Knight?!?

Now for a couple of fast food gaming related items.  So I’ve written about fast food chains doing kids meal toys based on video games in the past.  Burger King or McDonald’s doing Mario or Pokémon toys, for instance.  Heck, I’ve even wrote about Arby’s doing Sonic the Hedgehog toys in a past kids meal promo.  But those aren’t much of a surprise since all those games are in the public eye forefront.  So when I saw that Arby’s was now doing Shovel Knight toys in their kids meals, I was like, “WHAT?!?”  I mean, Shovel Knight is a very popular indie game.  But it’s still just an indie game.  Didn’t think it was something kids were into.  But as a Shovel Knight fan, you know I had to take a look at this, so let’s dig into Arby’s latest crazy kids meal promo!

Play Pac-Man…on a Pizza Box?!?

Pac-Man is one of the most popular video games of all time, and you can play the game on pretty much anything.  Nearly every game console has a version of it, and you can even play it on your smart phone.  And now you can play it on the top of your pizza box?!?  What a world we live in!  Seems kind of ironic since Pac-Man was said to be conceived when the creator took a slice out of a pizza (although that’s not the full story).  But here in the US, Pizza Hut is doing a promotion with Pac-Man where you can use your phone to play an AR game of Pac-Man on the top of your pizza box!  How does that work?  Well you’ll just have to read on to find out!

Bladed Fury (Switch)

In ancient China lives a princess named Qi, who is also very skilled with swords.  One day she battles a demon in her father’s quarters, but gets tricked and ends up being accused of killing her father herself.  While fleeing from her palace, Qi notices some people who shouldn’t be there, and decides that something isn’t right.  Now in exile, Qi must battle warriors and demons to prove her innocence and find out what’s really going on in her kingdom.  Bladed Fury is a 2-D platform hack and slash with fast action and a unique visual style.  I liked this game a lot more than I thought I would, and the graphics kind of remind me of those found in VanillaWare games like Odin Sphere or especially Muramasa: The Demon Blade (a hidden Wii gem).  The main character Princess Qi is also tough and strong and acts like she just ate a can of spinach.  My kind of woman!

Pureya (Mobile)

Now for a couple of mobile games.  In this one, a little girl is playing with a pachinko machine in her room.  Pachinko is kind of like pinball, except you shoot marbles to the top of a field full of notches, and the marbles roll down and you hope they land in spaces that give you points.  Not sure why she has one in her room, but when she runs out of marbles, she reaches on a high shelf for a bowl with more marbles so she can keep playing.  But when the bowl spills and the marbles roll around amongst her other toys, the girl uses her imagination (presumably), and plays mini-games related to her toys to get her marbles back.  Either that or she lost her marbles both literally and figuratively.  Anyway, Pureya is a mini-game collection where you play a series of ten second games to earn marbles, then you use those marbles in the pachinko machine to unlock more games and other goodies.  I liked the 8-bit graphics and WarioWare style gameplay, but the luck based way you unlock stuff, slow progression, and small selection of mini-games kept me from staying interested.

Inked (Mobile)

You are the nameless hero, a retired warrior who lives with his companion Aiko.  Not sure if they are husband and wife, but they live in a world made up of hand-drawn black and white sketches.  Like what you’d see in an artist’s notebook.  Their world kind of has an Asian theme, with Japanese shrine gates and whatnot, but there are also futuristic Stargate looking portals at the end of each level for some reason.  Anything is possible in sketches I guess.  Anyway, one day the hero and Aiko discover a bird with a broken wing, and set out on a journey to find out what happened to it.  This is a block pushing and switch flipping puzzler, but the bad touch screen controls kept me from staying interested.

Sir Lovelot (PS4)

Sir Lovelot is a knight who just wants to climb a tower using the hair of the captive princess inside, and fall in love.  But he gets kicked out the next morning, and has to do the process over again the next day, and there are all sorts of obstacles in his way.  He’s a persistent little knight!  Anyway, Sir Lovelot is a super challenging 2-D platformer that’s pretty hard, but isn’t too bad otherwise.  Super Meat Boy fans would like this one.

And that’s all for now!  Thanks for reading my reviews and posting ‘likes’ and comments and such.  I do really appreciate it.  Later!  --Cary