PixlBit

Well here’s another blog with links to game reviews I’ve written recently over at GamerDad.com.  Please click on and read as many as you can, and post comments, too!  I’d really appreciate it.  And if you’re wondering what the HECK kind of weirdo nonsense does my blog title mean, well, you’ll just have to keep on reading.

Rune Factory 4 (3DS)

This one is pretty much like the others in the series.  You farm like in Harvest Moon but can also venture into dungeons and fight (and befriend) monsters.  The new twist in this one is that the townsfolk have mistaken you as the prince or princess when you first arrive, so you can use your power to help the town grow.  Kind of reminds me of the mayor duties from Animal Crossing: New Leaf.  And just like in the other Rune Factory and Harvest Moon games, you can make friends with the townsfolk and eventually date and marry one of the eligible bachelors or bachelorettes.  Farmer Prince Cary is leaning toward either the narcoleptic pink-haired butler lady, or the tough and strong female knight.  What do you think? (See, now you know where my blog title came from.)  At any rate, it’s a pretty good game and one of the best action RPGs on the 3DS.

Type:Rider (iPad)

I love playing games on my iPad, but rarely do I say afterward, “Wow, that was a GREAT game!”  But Type:Rider was an exception.  In the game, you play as a colon (you know, the punctuation mark), as you roll along like two wheels of a car through 2-D obstacles.  Kind of reminds me of Loco Roco, my favorite PSP game (maybe that’s why I like this one so much).  The obstacles you’ll roll around include giant letters of the alphabet as well as items and objects from the time period you’re in.  You see, the game is also a visual history of typography and fonts.  You can even unlock pages in a book to read up on this stuff.  You could almost use this game as a source if you had to write a research paper on this topic!  In college I had to take classes about this stuff for my Magazine Journalism major, so maybe I’m the only one who found this stuff kind of interesting.  At any rate, if you like artsy fartsy games like Journey, you should check this one out, too.  It’s definitely one of the best iPad games I’ve played this year!

Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams (Wii U)

Giana Sisters has an interesting history behind it.  It was originally a PC game in Europe back in the mid to late 80’s.  But it played and looked SO much like the original Super Mario Bros. that it’s rumored that Nintendo requested they cease production of it (which is why it’s not as well-known in the US).  But Nintendo didn’t have a problem with them making a Giana Sisters DS game a few years ago (it’s actually a pretty rare game, but I have it).  But this new one is a game all its own.  The gimmick is that you can seamlessly twist the world from a bright and green dream world to a dark and creepy nightmare world to bypass obstacles and defeat tough bosses.  The graphics are really awesome and it makes me wish Namco would make another Klonoa game, as that’s what this 2-D platformer reminds me of.  I hear it was a kickstarter success, so if you can, check it out!

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2 (3DS)

This game based on the new movie is basically Fruit Ninja.  Not a bad game, but not very original either.  The original movie is kind of a cult favorite around our household, though.  I don’t know why, but my brother Jeff just LOVED the first movie when it came out.  I think it has to do with the fact that it’s all about food, and Jeff loves food.  So I knew we’d have to see the sequel.  But I was worried that Jeff would get ravenous with hunger while in the theater, but Jeff had a good idea.  We’d go see the movie at one of those places where you can eat in the theater (there’s a chain of them here in Dallas called Studio Movie Grill, but we went to the AMC version which is better).  That way Jeff can eat during the movie, and he could order food just by pointing at the screen and saying “I want that.” (Jeff made up that joke)  Anyway, that’s what we did and it was a lot of fun.  The Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs movies aren’t the best in the world, but they do have little tidbits of humor that you’ll only get if you pay attention, and I like that kind of stuff.

Paint Me a Butterfly (iPad)

Kids love butterflies, and kids love to paint, so this seems like a natural.  I don’t know if it’ll hold their interest for long, but the graphics are nice and it’s a cute concept.

A.R.E.S. Extinction Agenda EX (360)

This successful PC Steam game is now on 360 with added enhancements.  It’s a run and gun 2-D platformer that reminds me of games like Contra and Mega Man X.  So if you like those you may want to check this one out.  The pink-haired girl in it is cool at least.

Disgaea D2: A Brighter Darkness (PS3)

You can tell this review was kind of phoned in (hey, they can’t all be masterpieces).  I didn’t really want to review it, but NIS America just kind of dumped it on me.  But they’ve been supportive of me since, well, their existence, so I felt compelled to do it anyway.  Most of their games aren’t my cup of tea, but the folks who work there are super nice.  If you like games like Final Fantasy Tactics, you may want to check this one out.

Reader Preview: Assault Android Cactus (PC)

The last three game reviews listed here were actually written by one of my good friends who has been writing Steam PC game reviews for me lately.  But this one’s really more of a preview, as it’s not out yet.  It has a strange name, but it’s a fun little twin stick shooter like Robotron or Smash TV.  You play as cute little female androids who look like Cabbage Patch Kids.  The game looks really promising so far, though.  I helped my friend play the co-op mode.

Reader Review: Soundodger+ (PC)

This one is like a mix of a music game and bullet hell shooter, apparently.  And that’s all I know!

Reader Review: Legend of Dungeon (PC)

And the last one is a retro-styled random dungeon crawler.  I helped my friend play the two-player co-op mode.  It was kind of clunky, so I wasn’t very impressed.

Conclusions

And that’s all for now!  Thanks for reading my reviews and posting comments.  I really do appreciate it.  Next time on my blog, I MIGHT write about my top five favorite Phoenix Wright characters, since the new game comes out next week.  Can you guess who they are?  Later!  --Cary