An Alien, Bigfoot and Frankenstein’s Monster on ‘Tiger Eye: Curse of the Riddle Box’

I’ve posted about Tiger Eye: Curse of the Riddle Box and about The Game Composer’s Blog before, and today’s post over at the Game Composer’s Blog was just awesome. Sayre’s latest post transcribes a podcast he did about Tiger Eye, with an alien, Bigfoot and Frankenstein’s monster.

ALIEN: Welcome back, humans. One of your kind is now with us. Behold Matt Sayre!

MATT: Thank you, Alien. I’m happy to be here.

BIGFOOT: (English accent) Welcome, Mr. Sayre.

FRANKENSTEIN: Urrrgh!!

MATT: Hi, Bigfoot and Frankenstein’s monster.

BIGFOOT: Oh, go ahead and call him “Frankenstein”. He’s grown accustomed to that particular appellation.

MATT: Great. I will, thanks.

FRANKENSTEIN: Gyee.

ALIEN: Begin this interrogation by giving us the history of your project and the human faction that has created it.

MATT: Tiger Eye: Curse of the Riddle Box is a new hidden object puzzle adventure game based on the paranormal romance novel Tiger Eye by Marjorie M. Liu. The game basically covers the first half of the book. You play as Dela Reese, a young woman traveling in China. She finds a mysterious riddle box and once she opens it she discovers an ancient warrior, Hari, who has been trapped within for centuries. He is cursed to serve as a slave to whomever possesses the box. You try to rid him of the curse and deal with the Magi, the antagonist who is responsible for the curse and who wants his riddle box back.

Our team, PassionFruit Games, was formed specifically to make this game and, we hope, all its sequels. Tiger Eye is the first in the Dirk & Steele (the psychic detective group Dela belongs to) series of books and it’s an exciting series, perfect for video games. The members of PassionFruit Games previously worked at Her Interactive (I did contract work for them, the rest were full-time), where they worked on the Nancy Drew Dossier series. Unfortunately, the Dossier series did not pan out (even though Resorting to Danger won Yahoo’s 2009 Hidden Object Game of the Year award) so the team was laid off. The day after being laid off, however, we were already planning this new venture. And last month we shipped TE: CotRB!

I kind of want to quote the whole thing, actually. And also I want to subscribe to the Alien, Bigfoot and Frankenstein podcast.

Via Tiger Eye: Curse of the Riddle Box Postnatal « The Game Composer’s Blog

Popularity: 1% [?]

Tiger Eye: Curse of the Riddle Box Released

I mentioned Passionfruit Games‘ new paranormal-romance-novel-turned-adventure-game Tiger Eye: Curse of the Riddle Box last month, when I helped with the Tiger Eye beta. The final game is released for PC today (the Mac version will be out in May).

The game is available on Passionfruit’s website, at three different price points. A $6.99 version is just the game download, $9.99 includes the game, strategy guide, Tiger Eye wallpaper and a seven-minute song from the game, and a $12.99 platinum collector’s edition includes all of that, plus more music and the sheet music for the Tiger Eye theme.

Related:

On composing Tiger Eye’s music
Tiger Eye Beta
Tiger Eye: Riddle Box Game Review
Game launch press release

Popularity: 2% [?]

‘Tiger Eye: Curse of the Riddle Box’ Game Music

I mentioned Passionfruit Games’ upcoming game Tiger Eye: Curse of the Riddle Box the other day. I’m pretty excited about this game (Disclosure: If I haven’t already mentioned it, I was in the Tiger Eye beta), and when I stumbled across this blog post, I realized I’m not the only one.

Well, I am positively giddy about working on this game. All shackles have been removed and I have free reign to make a soundtrack worthy of Marjorie [Liu]’s story. All told, the game will have between 50 and 60 minutes of music. Every cut scene requiring music will have its own unique music, as will each hidden object scene. The puzzle games will also have their own music. Bye bye, minute loops! I am genuinely excited that this game will be able to avoid the aural repetition so prevalent in even the best of today’s casual games. The size of Tiger Eye: Curse of the Riddle Box’s soundtrack would consume too much budget for most casual game companies, but this being our own company, we can do what we want! The main menu music alone is over 7 minutes long. Many casual games are lucky to have 7 minutes of music in the entire game.

You can hear the game’s music (which should help with getting Eye Of The Tiger unstuck from your head) on this blog, too.

Via Tiger Eye: Curse of the Riddle Box « The Game Composer’s Blog

Edit 5/5:  Tiger Eye: Curse of the Riddle Box reviewed.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Flash Game: Music Catch

If you’ve ever zoned out watching your iTunes visually represent your favorite songs, this game is for you.

Music Catch is a game the way Frisbee is a game. You’re really enjoying the good weather and time with friends, as you toss the Frisbee and half-heartedly keep count. With Music Catch, you’re doing the same thing, enjoying relaxing music and images.

This isn’t a hardcore game by any stretch of the imagination, but it is a fantastic mental vacation. Shapes drift across the screen, changing color, size and flow to match the music. You idly try to scoop up yellow shape and avoid red ones, but no stress. This is one of the least copetitive games I’ve ever seen.

I’ve played a lot of games that claim to be different, but are really just a pretty version of match-3 or hidden objects. Music Catch really is different.

Bookmark this for a relaxing break on a busy day!

Via Reflexive Arcade: Music Catch.

Popularity: 16% [?]

Monkey Island Returns

Ok, so when I posted about LEGO Rock Band, I was pretty excited. But this is even better!

Monkey Island is back, both as a remake of the original game AND as a new series in the Monkey Island world.

LucasArts and Telltale Reveal Series of New Monkey Island Adventures Coming Soon!
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif – June 1, 2009 – LucasArts today announced that the original hilarious pirate adventure is back, with two new projects underway based on the classic Monkey Island franchise. Beginning in just a few short weeks, Telltale will premiere the Tales of Monkey Island™ game series, delivering a completely new epic storyline and swashbuckling flair that will unfold across five monthly episodes on PC and WiiWare™. The Monkey Island celebration continues later in the summer when LucasArts publishes The Secret of Monkey Island™: Special Edition, a completely re-imagined version of the first game in the series that adds updated high definition graphics, a re-mastered musical score, and full voiceover to the classic adventure game originally launched in 1990. The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition will be made available on Xbox LIVE® Arcade for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, and PC.

Can’t wait to see what kind of insults the Swordmaster has for GuyBrush Threepwood this time!

Popularity: 14% [?]

Game Review: Faerie Solitaire

I’m a bit late posting this because every time I went to get another screenshot or check a fact, I got sucked into playing a few hands of Faerie Solitaire.

Faerie Solitaire from SubSoap is a new casual game, mixing a cute fantasy story with basic solitaire. I’ve said before that the best games have simple rules, with many variations and strategies. In Faerie Solitaire, you are given a foundation card, and you can either play one card higher or one card lower than the foundation card. A played card becomes the new foundation card, and you do it again. You could easily teach a child to look for a number one higher or one lower than the selected card.

As you play more hands, different hands have a different card layout, including special layouts with unavailable  cards in thorn patches or ice. Special cards and events pop us randomly as well, offering bonuses and minigames. The random element made the solid solitaire game that much more addictive for me.

Because the hidden object games have a finite pool of backgrounds and items, it soon became more of a memory game than a hidden objects game. Which is great because I think hidden objects are overdone, they start to feel like filler because they’re the default of the casual games genre.

I sometimes find it annoying when there’s a lot of game to be unlocked. In some cases, it seems like a tacit aknowledgement from the developers that some parts of the game are good and some parts are lame, and to make the game longer, you’ve got to grind through the lame to get to the good bits. When I reviewed GardenParty World, I talked about how  not needing a game for the system of working at a dull minigame to earn spending points. GardenParty World is hardly the only offender here, I was also frustrated by unlocking the chance to play indentical levels in Fashion Solitaire. But Faerie Solitaire had a system of power-ups and unlockable features that kept me excited about the next add-on without leaving me feeling like the developers had greyed out most of the game.

In their Faerie Solitaire press release, Subsoap promised strong production values. They delivered, there are no awkward cutscenes or grammatically painful instructions, the usual hallmarks of an indie studio. But what really ties it together is the movie-score music.

This is not an all-encompassing story game but I don’t think it’s meant to be. You won’t be daydreaming at work, thinking about getting home to play Faerie Solitaire.  This is a quality solitaire game that had my boyfriend looking over my shoulder. Drawing  in other people to kibbutz  is a mark of a great solitaire game!

Popularity: 16% [?]

Game Review: Don’t Look Back

Don’t Look Back is a new game on Kongregate based on the story of Orpheus and Eurydice. This Greek myth tells the story of the lovers Orpheus and Eurydice, who are tragically parted when Eurydice dies. Unable to live without her, Orpheus journeys to Hades to bring back his lost love. Hades, the god of the underworld, and his wife Persephone are so moved by Orpheus’ love and his musical gifts, that they agree to let Eurydice follow him out of the underworld… on one condition. He can’t turn around and look at Eurydice until they leave the underworld.

As they are leaving, Orpheus is overcome with love for Eurydice (in some versions he hears her breathing or her footsteps) and glances back. Eurydice fades away and returns to the underworld, never to see him again.

I really love that tragic love story. In college, I majored in classics, which has greatly helped in my career path of being freakishly well-read. Just a few days ago, I reviewed Electric Box, another Kongregate game and really liked it, so I expected the combination of classical myth and Kongregate to be great.

No.

Don’t Look Back is an arcade platformer, which means jumping, shooting and, in my case, dying. I’m not good at jump-on-the-platform games, and since I don’t really like them, I doubt I’ll ever get good. I’m willing to try platformers with cool slants — I made an exception for the cute jumping game Momo — but they’re not really my thing.

The game opens with a blocky figure standing next to a grave, but there’s no text or explanation to tell you what’s going on. Thank goodness I have my classics degree for moments like this! Don’t Look Back was much better about telling you to use the arrows to move or spacebar to shoot than it was about telling the story.

I found that Don’t Look Back had lots of jumping and landing on platforms, but not a lot of pretty things to look at while you’re doing this. Each new screen is a surprise, with creepy crawlies set to attack Orpheus on entry, so I spent a lot of time dying.

The graphics are cutely retro, in gothy colors, but that just wasn’t enough to distract me from the problems I had with gameplay.

I really wanted to see how the developer interpreted this myth, and when I’m going to write a review, I usually play games to the end. But, even sondiering those, I never made it to rescuing Eurydice.  After repetive scenes of shooting blocky bugs and hopping over obstacles, I just wasn’t having a good time at all.

I hope that other players really liked Don’t Look Back, and that it inspires a whole trend of classical games! And I hope they’re more fun.

Popularity: 21% [?]

Press Release: Mahjong Solitaire

Some new casual games to play on your iPhone:

Budapest, Hungary, January 29, 2009 – Artex Studios, Inc., the owner of CasualGameStore.com is scheduled to release the iPhone and WiiWare version of Mahjong Zodiac and Str33t Racing.

Mahjong Zodiac
———————-
Mahjong Zodiac is a unique combination of the classic mahjong and the three matching games. The classic mahjong gameplay with the intriguing twist, guaranteed to challenge anyone looking for a brain workout. Embark on a journey through ancient China and Buddha’s life in this story-filled mahjong game. As you progress from level to level, a beautifully illustrated story is revealed, immersing you in a great gaming experience.

- 96 well balanced level
- unique hand drawn graphics
- particular mahjong tile set
- beautiful particle system
- authentic background music and sound effects

Mahjong Zodiac sounds a bit like Liong:The Lost Amulets for a blend of mahjong solitaire and a story, don’t you think?

Str33t Racing is due out later in 2009.

Popularity: 9% [?]

Free Casual Games From Big Fish!

Click on this link to a Big Fish Games coupon, and you’ll get 2 free games. The full versions, not the usual one-hour trial version.

You’ll be able choose two (2) free games from the selection of games listed below.
1) Atlantis Atlantis: Visually stunning and absolutely addictive, Atlantis takes you on a trip to the 19th century. As the head of a team of explorers on a classified mission, you unlock the secrets of the long-lost city in 81 challenging levels of pure fun. If you succeed, fame, fortune, and world-changing technology from Atlantis will be yours!

2) Fairies Game: Fairies takes you to a world where legends are true and magic is real. As the most powerful wizard ever, you are the only hope for a once peaceful land where fairies have been captured by an unknown evil. Complete 100 mesmerizing levels, break the magical spell that traps the fairies inside pictures, and restore justice to this world in need. Succeed and you’ll be a hero, granted the ultimate power; use it wisely!

3) Top Ten Solitaire Game: The world’s 10 most popular solitaire card games combined into one incredible game! With amazing graphics, animated cards, soothing music, great features and polished game play, it is no exaggeration to say that Top Ten Solitaire is the best solitaire game ever! Play Klondike, Pyramid, Scorpion, Accordion, Penguin, Canfield, Golf, Monte Carlo, Free Cell, and Yukon all in one collection.

4) Word Search Deluxe Game: It’s the master of all word search games! Thousands of word groups, numerous game types, a puzzle editor, and much more make this a must have for anyone who currently enjoys word search games or has ever enjoyed playing them. There is a kid’s option complete with animated characters and an easy to read large grid of characters.

5) Slot Words Game: Get ready for some good ‘ol word scrambling madness! Place your bet, spin the reels and prepare to do some quick thinking to unscramble the letters that the slots reveal. The more you bet, the longer the word and the bigger the payout. Progress through the levels, each giving out greater payouts but allowing less time to solve the puzzles. How many levels can you survive before you start losing your hard earned cash?

I’m downloading mine right now. What about you?

Via Free Samples: Big Fish – 2 Games Downloads

Popularity: 7% [?]

Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock Review

Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock is a music game that was released by Red Octane, Activision in Oct 2007 and Its ESRB rating is Teen. I bought this game a long time ago and I still love to play it as I am a huge fan of music. Guitar Hero 3 comes up with new and challenging game modes and offers an addictive gameplay and it is sure to stick with you for a long time. The major advancement of this game is its huge and spectacular songs lineup. The track list is better than any other Guitar Hero Game. There are a lot of intense and extraordinarily good tracks from original bands in this game. To keep experienced players engaged in the game, a higher difficulty mode has been introduced. Boss battles are also a good addition to the game. However, Guitar Hero 3 is not without its flaws. First of all there is no online play in Guitar Hero 3. Secondly, the expert difficulty level is harder than it should be. Overall the game is good and I will give it 7.8 out of 10.

Popularity: 9% [?]

Gears Of War 2 Topping The Charts

I saw this today on Gears of War 2 Tops Sales Chart on PlayGirlz:

Nintendo might be sitting pretty at the top in the console wars, but when it comes to software, Microsoft’s got the lead. The economic crisis seems to be hitting everyone but the world of video games. Anxious shoppers tossed games into their carts like they were Halloween candy. And the results are in.

*
Gears of War 2 (Epic, Xbox 360) – 1.56 million units
*
Call of Duty: World at War (Treyarch, Xbox 360) – 1.41 million units
*
Wii Play (Nintendo, Wii) – 796,000 units
*
Wii Fit (Nintendo, Wii) – 697,000 units
*
Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo, Wii) – 637,000 units
*
Call of Duty: World at War (Treyarch, PS3) – 597,000 units
*
Guitar Hero World Tour (Vicarious Visions, Wii) – 475,000 units
*
Left 4 Dead (Valve, Xbox 360) – 410,000 units
*
Resistance 2 (Insomniac, PS3) – 385,000 units
*
Wii Music (Nintendo, Wii) – 297,000 units

The Xbox 360 managed to get 3 out of the 10 spots, including the number 1 and 2 positions, thanks to Gears of War 2 and Call of Duty. But Nintendo dominated in numbers once again, picking up half the slots. And that leaves only 2 slots for the PS3, with Call of Duty and Resistance 2. Alas, Resistance 2 was the only PS3 exclusive to make it on the list. Sorry, Sony.

I was pleased about this because someone who lives in my house works for Epic on GoW2 so it’s nice to see his work rewarded.

Via Gears of War 2 Tops Sales Chart

Popularity: 8% [?]

Tropical Nightmare

From Simpson’s Paradox on Tropical Nightmare

I recently got the chance to beta Tropical Dream: Underwater Odyssey by Digital Chocolate. I usually love betatesting new games, I get a sneak preview and the chance to run my mouth to the developers. Before I say anything else, I should make it clear that I played the beta, and things may change for the final version.

I thought the premise of Underwater Odyssey was perfect: Young Megan leaves her boring job for expat adventures in exotic locations! But things are not quite as advertised, and she must rely on her wits and creativity to survive! Could it be any better?

At the end of the introductory sequence, Megan decides to become an underwater photographer, which is when the game starts to go downhill.

It’s about as fun as watching the old Windows fishtank screensaver, and taking a screen capture of pretty fish. No, really. That’s the game. If you get it right, the fish smile at you. Then you come up for air. If you got the right fishy photos, you can hang up your best pictures in your house, and then do it all over again. I almost cried when I saw space on my wall for seventy-odd photos. If you didn’t get the right photos before you ran out of air, you go back down and try again. (You can’t drown yourself. I tried.)

I started to think it was a joke, like you play this repetitive “game” for a few moments and then you surface and realize that aliens have landed! And Megan has to save the world!

But that didn’t happen. The break in the fish-photo action was a Bejeweled-type minigame with Roman and Chinese coins. Sounds like a recipe for an awesome Meggish minigame, but it was completely overdone which went from cute to annoying in about three musically-accompanied, over-animated clicks.

I’d been wondering what I’d do if I played a game I really didn’t like. Not write about it? Take, for once in my life, the old advice about what to do if you can’t say anything nice? Say something politely bland about it not being quite my style? And then I remembered that I’m the editor and publisher here, so I assigned myself to write an honest editorial. Simpson’s Paradox: Your source for hard-hitting journalism in the world of casual games.

Via Simpson’s Paradox » Blog Archive » Tropical Nightmare

Popularity: 3% [?]

Guitar Hero World Tour Review

Guitar Hero is one of my favorite games. I have been playing it for centuries but, never get bored of it. The game is suitable for all of audiences. Whether you are a grandfather or a child you will love this game. Guitar Hero World Tour was released on Oct 26, 2008 and was hit like its predecessors. Guitar Hero world Tour offers more than 80 songs. You can now sing and even play drums in the game. You can create your own music or songs and share it with your friends. New downloads are always available over the Xbox Live. Guitar Hero allows you to take the role of a guitarist or drummer or even a singer. If you want to take the most out of this game then you should buy the drums and guitar separately. However, you can always play the game with the joystick but, that won’t be fun. Overall Guitar Hero is a great game but, there are not much enhancements in the game and if you have played the previous versions you might not find it very interesting. But, if you haven’t played the previous Guitar Hero games then this is a must buy for you. Overall I will give it 8.0 out of 10.

Popularity: 2% [?]

The Godfather Review

God Father is one of the greatest English movies of all times and the game is a great addition to the movie. You should have seen the movie so there is no need of telling the story over here. I will just talk about the game play. Playing the game feels like playing a character in the movie. There are a lot of challenging and engaging missions that are enough to keep you busy for hours. The combat system is great and a lot of fun. The landscape is huge and there are plenty of places to explore. The map shows a great image of the 1940s New York City. The in game music is also good. However The Godfather is not without its flaws. There are some glitches in the game and the AI is lousy and unpleasant. The frame rate is also not constant and is fickle. Overall it is a great game and it will give you hours of fun gameplay. I will give it 8.5 out of 10.

Popularity: 5% [?]

Fable 2 Review

Fable was a huge success on Xbox. It was selected as the Xbox game of the year 2004. Fable offers a massive magical world that we can explore. We start as a child and as the game progresses we grow up, do jobs, get married, learn magic and fight against evil spirits. Fable 2 came out on the Xbox 360 on October 21 and was a huge success. Fable 2 features a massive world with an extraordinary amount of detail. In Fable 2 you also have a pet dog that helps you in your quests. There are a lot of different quests to choose from. You can either choose the good path or the evil path. The game is extraordinary in terms of graphics and the in-game music is also very good. However there are some problems in Fable 2 too. First of all earning money in the game is very easy. The story is not too deep either. The map is miserably poor and not very useful for navigation. But, overall it is a great game and you should definitely try it out. I will give it 8.7 out of 10.

Popularity: 5% [?]

Little Big Planet

Ever since I saw the first glimpse of this game, I immediately fell in love with it. Little Big Planet is a great game that allows you to create your own 2d levels and characters and play online or offline with your friends. The motto of this game is play, create and share and it stick to it. After playing the game and having an idea of the physics engine you can create your own levels with the easy to use in-game level build and share them online with others. It is a highly imaginative game and it all depends upon your imagination how you play the game. The character that we control is called Sack boy or Sack girl which can be fully customized. You can choose from variety of different costumes and outfits. You can also unlock new outfits that are hidden in the game. The story mode is not too long. There are more than 50 pre-maid levels that you can play but, you can always build your own. The in-game music is excellent and the game has a great replayability. Overall, it is a great game that is a must have for all PS3 owners.

Popularity: 10% [?]

WII Music

Very soon we will be able to play the new game of Nintendo WII Music on which a lot of different types of instruments are available for us to develop our hidden talent !!!
There are more and less 66 instruments from the piano, going through the guitar to the trumpet, and even playing an old japanese guitar !!! By having such more choices, WII will not only make us discover instruments but let us the choice to practice even the less famous one.
WII Music will include around 100 music partition which include like “Chariots of Fire” – Vangelis, “Daydream Believer” – The Monkees, “Every Breath You Take” – Sting, “I’ll Be There” – Jackson 5, “I’ve Never Been to Me” – Charlene…
Meanwhile to dream to be a new famous artist, we will have to wait until next month to be able to play it !!!!

Popularity: 4% [?]

Little Big Planet ON PSP?

I am sure that you all have heard about Little Big Planet. Little Big Planet is one of the best PS3 exclusive games i have seen so far. In this game one can create a whole world by yourself in this game including the backgrounds, trees, obstacles and everything that one can imagine. This game has changed the way people used to look at games. And now Media Molecule is planning to bring LBP to PSP. The news are not confirmed but it is said that they are planning to bring out a PSP version. Rumors are that they will allow PSP users to import there own music in the game. If it comes out on PSP, i think it will help Sony to get ahead from its rival Nintendo DS.

Popularity: 2% [?]

Wii Music Coming October 20

Great news for all those Wii users out there. Did you feel yourself left behind by Guitar Hero World Tour and Rock Band 2? Well don’t worry because, Wii music is rolling into town. According to Nintendo, Wii Music is the game for those who “think learning an instrument is too difficult.” Just wave the Wii remote and the nunchunk and you have got the music. In this game you can improvise with everything from the trumpet and the saxophone to the steel drums and the sitar.
I cannot wait to get my hands on this game. It’s so cute!!!. I can assure you that Wii music will sell by the buckets. Keep your eyes on Thumbgods for more news on this one.

Popularity: 1% [?]

For Musical Geeks

Play your own ocarina music!

Zelda fans who happen to be musically inclined may want to stop by ThinkGeek. The popular online store is now stocking blue, glazed earthenware ocarinas. Each ocarina has the triforce insignia in gold on the mouthpiece and comes with a songbook filled with Legend of Zelda sheet music.

They’re a bit expensive though – each ocarina is $39.99. However, you also earn 425 Geek Points if you buy one, which you can put towards discounts on store items or free items. So if you buy an ocarina, you could get Singing Monkey Balls free.

Via ThinkGeek promotes music with ocarinas – Gamertell

Popularity: 2% [?]

Will Xbox Live and Playstation Network become new iTunes?

Recently the band Motley Crue accomplished an unbelievable- and herculean – feat when their latest track Saints of Los Angeles registered more downloads on Xbox Live and PSN, as a Rock Band dlc, than iTunes. The band had deliberately released the track as a Rock Band dlc after research showed that gamers made up a sizable chunk of their fans. This might just be the precursor of things to come, though all tracks might not be more popular on online game services. This also gives a dekko into the digital world of the future when storage media will be tossed out of the window and digital downloads will reign.

Popularity: 6% [?]

Zelda: A Link to the Past

Zelda: A Link to the Past is one of the great classic SNES games in the Zelda series. The third installment in the “Legend of Zelda” series, it was released in North America in 1991. Though many games at that time were coming out with the now popular “Third Person” 3d perspective, this Zelda installment stayed with the favorite “Birds Eye” top down perspective that had worked for it so far. The battle system stays true as well, your sword and shield being all you ever need.

The game play is very similar to the other Link installments made before this, the only thing that’s changed is that the graphics got a bit prettier, the bosses got far more dangerous, and the world and storyline is much more involved.

I’ve played and re-played this game so many times, but it still offers challenges and pleasant surprises for me.

If you’re looking for this game to play again (and you don’t want to visit eBay and dig out your old SNES), it was re-released again recently for the Game Boy Advanced in a dual-game cartridge with The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords.

Graphics: 4 (could have used a bit more work, they’re a bit jumpy sometimes)
Sound: 3 (music is still the same, but still wonderful)
Gameplay: 5 (always fun, always challenging)
Storyline: 4 (surprisingly deep for a Zelda game)

(Note: All ratings are on a 1-5 basis, with 5 being the highest)

Popularity: 9% [?]

Grow Cube!

Check out GrowCube, a frighteningly addictive little flash game.

Basically, you’re building your own cute lil world on a cube, and you’ve got to pick the “correct” order to add water, fire, people (not to mention springs and a bouncy ball) to your world. I’m using quote for “correct” because the items interact with each other in fun ways, so your cube-world changes based on what you pick. GrowCube really isn’t about beating the game, but about fooling around with fun toys.

Just make sure you turn the sound down… the music isn’t nearly as cute as the game.

Popularity: 3% [?]

wwe 2009

Everyone has to check out this game. If you are a wresling fan, then you will like this game. The graphics are awesome. Sometimes you actually feel like you are watching the actual shows. They got new tag team moves and story lines.
Do you want to feel the heat? Then you will want to try out the new inferno match. You will set the other player on fire.
I just don’t like how they did away with the general manager mode. I now that I might be the only one who feels that way, so I got to give this game an excellent review. I think people of all ages will get into this game.
Don’t miss your chance to lay the smackdown on your friends, in all new graphics and matches. You will even see some of the newer superstars. Create new entrances for tag teams. Great theme music to go with it.

Popularity: 5% [?]

Why We Game

I’m reluctant to link to anything GamerHelp publishes since their recent faux pas, calling a series of pictures of half-naked girls molesting their consoles a feature on girl gamers. Yeah, right, we doll up in lingerie to play WarCraft. Sure.

But Jason Fryers 11 Reasons We Play Games is brilliant. It’s a laugh for all gamers, but it’s so true!

#11: The Childhood Dream
Everyone had an ideal career picked out as a child. The majority of the time they are unrealistic goals that will likely be unmet. Kids want to be pro athletes, super heroes, secret agents, and music icons. Who hasn’t pretended to hit the game winning home run in the World Series, foil a super villain’s evil plot for world domination, sneak around the house as if they were on a top secret mission or play air guitar to their favorite song? These dream jobs are out of reach for the average person. Thus we find one of the reasons why gaming can be so damn satisfying; you can be whatever you want to be. Whether you want to be Joe Montana, Spider-Man, a double agent, or a member of the Black Sabbath there is a game for you.

Examples: Madden, Marvel Ultimate Alliance, X-Men Legends, Splinter Cell, Guitar Hero

Or # 7:

# 7: The “Eureka” Moment
We have all done it. At least, if you are honest with yourself, you will admit it. Link runs around Hyrule for days but can not be led into further progress in the game. Everything has been checked and double checked but still there is no way to continue forward in the dungeon. It is impossible. You think, ‘there’s a freaking glitch in my game.’ And then and calling on your problem solving skills you think, ‘oh, wait a minute. Why didn’t I see that before?’

Examples: The Legend of Zelda series, the God of War series

Or #6, or #4, oh, just read the whole thing!

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