Publisher:

The Scoop: LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars is a fun-filled game for any fan of Star Wars and/or LEGO games.

The Setup: Based upon the Cartoon Network CG series Star Wars: The Clone Wars, LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars focuses on the plotlines of seasons one and two—aka the events between Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones and Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ahsoka Tano… they’re all here in adorable LEGO form. Even if you’re not familiar with the television show, you’ll still love the missions, the slap-stick humor, and the improvements to the game’s formula. While I can’t say it’s definitely the best LEGO game ever, I can say it’s definitely my favorite!

Editor’s Note: This review is based off of the Xbox 360 version of the game. There will be a review for the Nintendo 3DS version coming soon!

What’s Hot: What isn’t?

The set-up isn’t any different from other LEGO Star Wars games. Play through the level, collect as many Lego studs as you can, collect the kits, unlock characters, smaller characters can use crawl spaces, Jedi can use the Force on any object glowing blue… If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. That also doesn’t mean LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars is the same old game with upgraded, HD graphics. There are enough improvements to the traditional formula that make it difficult to put the controller down. Plus, the cut scenes are hilarious! (You can check out one of the many cut scenes here.)

One of the improvements is with the Build Kits. Each level still contains ten hidden kits, but now there’s new incentive to collect them. Instead of old and busted incentive of collecting bits and pieces of a decorative starship, the kits build additional classic Star Wars characters. Want to go up against Count Dooku with Luke Skywalker and Starkiller from Star Wars: The Force Unleashed? Collect all the kits and build the characters!

Lego Obi-Wan is not amused

Another improvement is the space battles. Each battle is part ship-to-ship fighting, part assault. Sometimes you have to land on the enemy ship to sabotage a gun or communication tower before you can successfully blow up the fleet. Space battles are much more fun/easier to complete if you have two people playing.

And then there’s what I like to call the holding pen. In LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga, Mos Eisley’s cantina served as a sort of central hub. From there, players could select which levels they wanted to complete next, unlock extra characters, attack NPCs for studs, and generally wander around. The holding pen in LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars is Anakin Skywalker’s flagship, the Resolute. Characters start out on the bridge and as they progress through the game and collect gold bricks, other areas of the ship are unlocked: engineering, hanger bay, med bay… Each section of the Resolute features a hallmark of the original LEGO games, like building custom characters or unlocking vehicles. But these hallmarks have been revamped for the better! In no particular order:

• Custom characters: in the original LEGO Star Wars games, players could create two custom characters. Now you can create up to fifteen.
• Unlockable characters: gone are the days of approaching the Mos Eisley cantina bartender and buying new characters. Now various characters will wander around the Resolute as if it’s some sort of tourist trap. Find them and press B to buy them!
• Speaking of characters: Only Republic characters will wander around the Resolute. If you want any evil Separatist characters, like Count Dooku or a battle droid, grab a fighter from the Resolute’s hanger bay and fly over to General Grievious’s flagship, the Malevolence. You’ll also find bounty hunters such as Cad Bane and Jango Fett hanging out in the hanger bay. Just be careful: any Republic character on the Separatist ship will be attacked, and vice-versa. This is quite possibly my favorite improvement over its predecessor. (But that might just be the Star Wars nerd in me.)

Not everything in LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars is simply an improvement upon the original formula. New features have been added that help make the game more interesting and add to the replay value. One of the biggest new features is the addition of a real-time strategy (RTS) levels. Players get the chance to play war general, assigning troops to specific locations, invading bases, blowing up Separatist armies with tanks, the works. Since a lot of episodes in the television show center around ground battles, this is an awesome addition to the game. There’s even an unlockable RTS freeplay mode where you can play just the ground battles over and over again. Like with space battles, I recommend playing these with a friend. You can cover more ground that way.

Send in the clones!

Another one of my favorite improvements is the ability to complete two plotlines at once. For example, in one level Obi-Wan and Anakin are separated on board the Malevolence. Anakin goes one direction, heading towards the bridge to sabotage what he can, while Obi-Wan fights his way through the cargo bay and faces off against General Grevious. If two people are playing together, one will complete Anakin’s story at the same time the other completes Obi-Wan’s. But if you’re playing solo, you’ll have to keep jumping between the two.

Along that same vein: co-op is vastly improved upon. Similar to LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4, LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars features a dynamic split-screen mode, making co-op so much easier. In the original, both players had to move together due to the limitations of the camera; if one player moved to the edge of the map, the camera would stop until the other player caught up. In this co-op mode, the screen will split in two, allowing both players to go opposite directions instead of shouting, “GET OVER HERE!” to one another.

Ahsoka and Captain Rex figure out a strategy

What’s Not: That awesome co-op improvement I just talked about? It’s not available online! In fact, there’s no online co-op at all. Why eliminate it, especially when so much emphasis of the game was placed on teamwork? There were also some technical glitches that lead to reboots. During a space battle, I landed on an enemy ship and my fighter was destroyed. Another fighter did not respawn in its place, leaving me stuck and unable to complete the mission.

And don’t get me started on the random game freezes. (Hopefully a patch’ll fix that!)

If you’re only interested in slicing things with lightsabers, then this may not bother you as much. However, for players not familiar with Star Wars: The Clone Wars, plot-wise you’ll be lost. While the events in the game mirror the episodes, they don’t go in episodic order. They’re grouped according to which bad guy was the main villain. After the prologue, the three main villains—Count Dooku, General Grevious, and Asajj Ventress—split and go their separate ways. You have the option of completing all the levels attached to a specific villain in one foul swoop or manually jumping between the three. Think of this as Star Wars: Empire Strikes Back: Even though the events take place at the same time and are intertwined, you have to complete all of Luke Skywalker’s story—training with Yoda, facing off against Vader, losing his hand—before you can play Han Solo’s story.

Plus, when it comes to solving puzzles, fans of the show will have the advantage. Sometimes solving a level involves doing exactly what the characters did in that specific episode. While the puzzles are not impossible to figure out, it’ll save time if you already know how Ahsoka took out the droid super tank.

It was also disappointing that some show events were missing. While I’m all for excluding the riveting episodes revolving around Padme’s senate cabinet meetings, what happened to Death Watch? No navigating a stealth ship through Admiral Trench’s blockade? Where’s Obi-Wan’s girlfriend? Yes, the game would be impossibly long if all the episodes were incorporated, but they left out some of the good ones!

Final Verdict: LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars is a great game; it doesn’t mess with the winning formula and adds new features to mix things up. Fans of the show will appreciate it more, but it’s still a lot of fun for those who haven’t seen a single episode. Plus it’s not a bad deal at $50. Just be prepared for some plot confusion if you’ve never watched the show… and random game freezes.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go re-watch seasons one and two.

Publisher:

Developer: Sting

Platform: Playstation Portable (PSP), Nintendo DS

Genre: Action/Strategy RPG

Rating: T – Teen

ESRB Content Descriptors:  Alcohol and Tobacco Reference, Mild Fantasy Violence, Mild Language, Suggestive Themes

Official Website: http://www.atlus.com/knightspsp/

Purchase from: Amazon, GameStop

The Scoop: ATLUS and Sting deliver a Strategy-RPG with some interesting new twists. Coupled with an engaging story of tragedy and righteous vengeance, beautifully illustrated characters and stages, Knights in the Nightmare is a treat to experience.

The Setup: “Somewhere between heaven and the underworld-in the center of a quiet lake-stood an ancient castle known as Aventheim.  Without warning, denizens of the netherworld emerged and slaughtered the kingdom; nary a soul was left alive.

“Within an abandoned, long-forgotten church deep in the woods, the Wisp is set free.  Bereft of memory, it is drawn toward the monster-infested castle and re-awakens the souls of the vanquished knights, leading them back towards the fallen stronghold to confront the very forces of evil that took their lives.”

And so begins Knights in the Nightmare, an engaging Strategy-RPG with elements from the “bullet-hell” genre of scrolling shooters. You are the Wisp, the soul of the fallen king. Awakened in a church with no memory, you must battle monsters as you search for the one who awakened you, a mysterious Armored Maiden.

In this game you are not a character, per se. You play as the Wisp, which is essentially a glowing dot that you move around on screen like a cursor via the analog stick or D-Pad. Your means of attack are the souls of fallen Knights that you encounter on your journey. Some Knights are only present for a single encounter, but others can be given Key Items, objects that held special meaning for them in life. Giving such an object to the correct Knight recruits them into your army. There are seven classes in the game, and each has their own attack ranges and weapon types. Each map opens with at least two Knights on the field, sometimes more, along with Objects that can be broken or opened to obtain items. There are sometimes non-combatant NPCs as well. Like the Knights, they can be given a Key Item, however unlike the Knights, they do not join your cause. What they DO is give you an item, so it pays to keep an eye on the inventory.

Before each fight, you are given a chance to peruse the battlefield. Enemy statuses can be viewed, showing movement range and weaknesses, available Knights can be seen with their attack range and stats, and objects are also shown on the map, as some can obstruct attacks or are hazardous. Finally, up to four items can be chosen before battle each turn. Each item has a specific ability and use, so be very careful what you choose to bring with you each turn.

Speaking of items, a few factors need to be considered when outfitting Knights.  First, what classes are the available Knights? This will determine what weapons can be used. Second, what are the elemental-types of the enemies? Picking weapons of opposing elements will do greater damage. Third, do you have the Key Items for the Knights on the field (those that aren’t listed as Guest)?  And lastly, what Act Phase corresponds to that weapon?

Here’s a little more about the Knights. First, there are seven classes in the game, and each has their own attack ranges and weapon types. The classes are Duelist, Warrior, Hermit, Archer, Priestess, Wizard and Lance Knight. The Duelist wields a sword and can attack to their left and their back. In Chaos Phase, they also move one space with a leaping attack. The Warrior uses axes and attacks to their back or left as well. Hermits are what most people think of as thieves or rogues, and use daggers, attacking to the front and to the right. It’s pretty obvious what the Archer uses (at least, one would hope so). They have decent range, attacking the front and right. They’re also strong against giants.

If you wind up lucky enough to have a Priestess at your disposal, she’ll be able to wield maces, attacking front and right, as well as setting Grams. Grams are basically magic booby traps, triggered when a monster steps on the square you set it in. Much like the Priestess, a Wizard can set Grams and attacks front and right. However, they wield rods and have a very wide attack range. Finally, Lance Knights, like their name suggests, wield lances. They are mounted cavalry and can attack in any direction. Now that you know a little about the Knights, you need to know about the things that affect them.

For instance, there are two Act Phases – Law and Chaos. These Phases affect a Knight’s attack pattern, and are different in each. A Lance Knight in the Law Phase with a corresponding Law weapon will do a long reaching thrust attack, while a Chaos weapon in the Chaos Phase will cause the Knight to charge forward as he attacks. One more note when it comes to attacking – it is entirely possible to attack an enemy without using an item. That kind of attack will not damage the enemy; however, it DOES release MP crystals. MP is needed to use a weapon’s Skill Attack, which will damage an enemy or enemies.

All of this may sound rather much like common fare for the most part. But what about the afore-mentioned “bullet-hell” aspect? The term “bullet-hell” refers to a genre of scrolling shooters where the number of enemy projectiles on screen is massive – anyone who has ever played Ikaruga, Raiden Fighters or even Geometry Wars will have an idea of this shooter aspect. The enemies of Knights in the Nightmare all used different attacks that send projectiles around the screen. Some move in predictable patterns, others actually track the Wisp, often necessitating a change in speed (which is just a handy button press away). The more enemies on screen, the more projectiles there are to dodge. All is not lost, though, because these projectiles are not tiny bullets moving at the speed of sound. They are all brightly colored, resembling neon signs in most respects. I almost expected to start seeing “Eat at Joe’s” come shooting across the screen. The high visibility makes dodging much less stressful, even when the projectile count is moderate.

Another interesting twist on this game is a slot-machine style aspect called the Encounter Reels. At the end of a turn, before the next starts, you are taken to the Reels. Each reel (oftentimes three or four) will spin, pictures of monsters scrolling by. At the bottom  of the screen is a board with colored spaces, some of which are marked KILL. Those marks represent the monsters defeated in the first turn. As the Encounter Reels spin, different slots on the board will light with a color matching one of the reels. The object here is much like Tic-Tac-Toe  – to get a horizontal, vertical or diagonal line of KILL marks. By lining new marks up with current ones, fewer monsters need to be killed to complete the encounter. The colors don’t matter, though some colors will not show up in specific rows, so time your stops wisely.

I enjoyed this game immensely. I had some worries at first, like when I saw “bullet-hell”, knowing full well what that entailed. But I have been genuinely and pleasantly surprised at how easy this game is to just pick up and play. The tutorial section is available from the start (and is also integrated in the game; you can skip it if you’ve already done it), and the screens look overwhelmingly busy. Despite that, you really aren’t watching everything at once. There are a lot of sound cues, for example when a Knight is selected to charge their attack you hear, “The Warrior, Activated!” and then a charging sound, that crescendos at full power, for instance. Selecting an item does the same – “The Axe, attached,” and so forth.  So what your eyes don’t follow, your ears can.

One issue I have with the game is once you are in a fight, you are committed to it. There is no mid-battle save option or a way to back out of the fight. The saves are all between scenes, but since a scene usually consists of cut scene, info, battle, cut scene, this isn’t an issue. There are also times where you will find that the Knights you have available may not be able to hit the enemies you need to kill to progress. I ran into a problem where I had a Duelist get stuck where she couldn’t attack anything. In Chaos aspect, Duelists use a leap attack, the moves them forward and up, if the terrain ascends. However, since the can only attack to the front or the left, going back DOWN is not an option. Of course, upon retrying the level, I took some time to think up a better strategy, and was victorious.

All in all, a fun game that will appeal to strategy and RPG fans alike (and maybe to those who enjoy trying to dodge hordes of enemy bullets, too).

What’s Hot: Solid Strategy-RPG elements, an engaging story, surprisingly easy control scheme, and tutorials that are concise and helpful. The battles are self-paced, allowing for on-the-fly strategizing, and the ability to swap weapons between turns makes recruiting new Knights and keeping enemies at bay a cinch.

What’s Not: Can seem hectic to people unaccustomed to games that require some multi-tasking. You have to be able to watch AND listen and the “bullet-hell” aspect can be daunting to those new to the scene. You need to be on the ball when attacking, to keep the Wisp from getting hit a lot of the time.

Final Verdict: With an engaging story, a new twist on an old favorite style of gaming and three separate storylines to follow, Knights in the Nightmare is a marvelous offering. Anyone yearning for a fresh take on Strategy RPGs, or RPGs in general should definitely pick this one up.

Knights in the Nightmare Teaser Trailer

[Trailer video courtesy of ATLUS.]

Purchase Knights in the Nightmare from: Amazon, GameStop

Publisher:

The Scoop: Take control of the Lords of Earth, Sea, Air, and Fire and battle through the world of Gorm in order to save Earth from Magmion, the evil Lava Gormiti.

The Setup: Based off of the highly successful Gormiti toy brand and TV series, Gormiti: the Lords of Nature! plunges gamers right into the Island of Gorm where armies from the various elemental forces of nature are battling it out.

In the midst of the war stands the evil Lava Gormiti, Magmion, who discovers a tale of five sacred amulets spread across the Island of Gormiti. Once the five sacred amulets have been discovered and reunited an inter-dimensional portal to Earth will be opened, allowing Magmion to reign destruction in both worlds.

Fortunately for us earthlings Magmion will have his hands full, as the four lords of Nature plan to foil all his evil plans and save Earth.

What’s Hot: Gormiti: The Lords of Nature! is a game that blends puzzle and combat mechanics together in order to provide a pretty interactive adventure. Puzzle challenges, such as moving parts of a bridge around to connect two pieces of land together, aren’t too complicated or challenging and are definitely age appropriate for the current Gormiti fan base. Whether you’re fighting off lava men or solving a puzzle, there is always something going on.

Gormiti: The Lords of Nature is a very “team” based game in the sense that players are often required to switch between the different Lords and use their special abilities to overcome certain obstacles.  One section of a level may require you to control the Lord of Sea and swim across a river to activate a switch, while another section would need the Lord of Earth’s abilities to create a bridge made out of vines.  This is a really well designed feature as gamers will get to play as all the characters instead of just choosing one and leaving the other three to sit on the bench.

The game also features some bonus material in the form of a sliding jigsaw puzzle, which becomes unlocked as gamers collect up to 16 egg-like items in each level.  The puzzles represent different characters in the game and upon successful completion of the puzzle, gamers are treated to a fun little reward.

As a game based on a licensed toy brand and TV franchise, Gormiti: The Lords of Nature! is pretty darn accurate when it comes to recreating the characters and environments.  This is definitely something that would be more appreciated by fans of the toy brand and TV franchise, rather than the average gamer who hasn’t dabbled much in the Gormiti world.

The graphics aren’t anything earth shattering, but the characters, environments, and animations are very colorful and bright, just like you’d expect from a video game based off of toys and a TV series.  The added FMVs and animated cut scenes are a nice addition and are fairly well done.

What’s Not: The controls (at least on the DS version) were unreliable and didn’t always respond to my input.  Sometimes it would take a second or two for the characters to follow my stylus other times my stylus attacks didn’t register.

When controlling the group of Lords together, there were times where one of the Lords would get stuck in an entrance way or behind an object, and I would be force to just select that one character and navigate the Lord back up to the rest of the group.

Even though the blend of puzzles and combat work out nicely and keeps the game lively, both mechanics are watered down and straight forward.

In most cases of video games based off of licensed products the game is heavily geared towards pleasing the current fan base of the franchise, and Gormiti: The Lords of Nature! is no different.  Gormiti: The Lords of Nature! is targeted towards younger gamers and fans of the Gormiti toys and TV series, so anyone that doesn’t fit in either of those categories may have a hard time getting drawn into the game or sticking with it.

Since the game is really targeted towards the current Gormiti fan base, it never really explains any of the background or lore to the whole Gormiti universe.  Why do these four teenagers have the ability to transform into a Lord of Nature?  Who is this Razzle fellow and why is he here?  These are just some of the questions that you will ask yourself if you know nothing about the series prior to playing this game.

Final Verdict: For fans of the Gormiti toys and TV series, Gormiti: The Lords of Nature! will make a good addition to your growing Gormiti collection.  The characters and environment seem to stay pretty true to the franchise and gamers get to experience saving the world as all four Lords of Nature.  Younger gamers who don’t know much about the Gormiti series should still be able to enjoy Gormiti: The Lords of Nature! as it’s a very easy game to pick up and offers easy to follow tutorials.

Gormiti: The Lords of Nature! for the Nintendo Wii and DS is currently available from Amazon and Gamestop.

Publisher: DreamCatcher Games
Developer: JoWood Entertainment
Platform(s): Nintendo DS
Genre: Action, Platforming
Rating: E
ESRB Content Descriptors: Comic Relief, Mild Language, Use of Alcohol
Players: One

Publisher:

Rating: Everyone
ESRB Content Descriptors: Alcohol Reference, Mild Fantasy Violence, Mild Language

The Scoop: Retro Game Challenge might just appear to be another game pack with little to offer but small entertainment to pass the time, but in reality, RGC can capture the hearts of any gamer who grew up in the 80s and 90s. Instead of delivering old games in a single package, you get new games in the vein of classic s’mups, platformers, racers, and RPGs that’ll infuse you with a complete nostalgic feeling. With faux, yet realistic, game manuals and a magazine that will take you back to sitting in front of the screen with a best friend and the cheat section of Nintendo Power, Retro Game Challenge shows off what was great about video games in the 80s.

The Setup: The game actually is based on the Japanese show in which Shinya Arino tries to complete challenges in classic games. In RGC, Arino transports you to the 80′s and turns you into a child to play games with his younger self, in an attempt to make himself a better gamer. Through 8 classic themed games, you complete challenges, like achievements on the 360, such as double stomping enemies and attaining high scores to return to your normal self in your normal time.

What’s Hot:

• Each game feels like it was transported through time from a vault full of unreleased games from yesteryear, some of them even feel like a full fleshed out game. Gaudia Quest beats them all though, by providing hours of RPG awesomeness that’ll be sucked from your life.
• After beating the challenges for each game, you unlock free play mode for that game, and various stats are tracked, you can use this to set your own challenges for yourself.
• The “Game Fan Magazine” features personalities that reflect real people from the gaming industry. All I need to say is Dan Sock.
• Intentional Engrish can be found that will make you think of old badly localized games, which will give you a good chuckle.
• If you’re stuck on any particular challenge, “Game Fan Magazine” will offer tips, tricks, and cheats to get past anything, as well as offering short blurbs on reviews and upcoming games.
• With young Arino’s comments in between and during each challenge, you feel like one of your best friends is right there with you cheering you on as you take down a tough enemy, or letting out a yawn and taking a nap if you’re lolly-gagging about.

What’s Not:

• Rally King SP appears to be a joke on exclusive content, but it doesn’t differ much from the original Rally King, and felt like a real bore. Since I never liked old racers much, this could simply by my distaste for the genre seeping out. If it does the same for you, be sure to refer to the magazine.
• The biggest complaint stems from the final challenge in Gaudia Quest, where it will take some time and leveling up to find a dispatch of the boss you need to find. It broke up the pace of the story mode, but it just dragged on a little too much for my liking.

Final Verdict: If you’re even slightly interested in the game, go out and pick it up. As you’ll read from reviews from around the web, this game is a must have for any DS owner in their 20s or older. Though the theme of the game may be lost on younger generations, it can still provide hours of fun for gamers of any age and gets its own achievement for making older gamers happy to have grown up when games were in their infancy.

Publisher:

Rating: Everyone
ESRB Content Descriptors: Crude Humor, Mild Cartoon Violence

The Scoop: From farmhand to hero, Dreamcatcher Games delivers yet another fun handheld for fans of the Playmobil series!

The Setup: Players assume the role of a radish farmer named Brian who dreams of becoming a hero. His dreams soon become true when the evil magician Flimflam captures all of the King’s knights and sends the bad guys to ravage amongst an unprotected kingdom. The only way to defeat the evil Flimflam is to retrieve the Magical Sword of Legends.

An example of Knights combat

Along our journey, players will meet and befriend five different dragons, which can use as a means of transportation around the kingdom, as well as upgrading them to move faster and better attack enemy dragons. There are also loads of items to buy such as potions and weapons as well as new armor which is highly upgradeable to suite your battle needs.

All of this, along with 90 missions and the five minigames, add for a very fulfilling experience and should supply hours of gameplay.

What’s Hot:

• Fun and easy to pick up for anybody with a Nintendo DS
• Great visuals for a handheld
• Lots of exploration gives this game loads of replayability
• Five different minigames allowing for a change in pace during gameplay

What’s Not:

• A lot of the environments look similar after awhile
• Gameplay can become repetitive after awhile

Some very pleasing visuals on the Nintendo DS

Final Verdict: Playmobil Knights is a fun and addictive game for people of all ages and an easy way to get that nostalgic feeling we get when we play with our old Playmobil toys. A very decent competitor for the Lego games that have been released, and hard to pass up at the cheap price of only $19.99!

The Scoop: Though it’s a game targeted towards childrens enjoyment, Playmobil Pirates holds just as much action and adventure as what you’d expect from any other game in the adventure genre, and can be enjoyed by adults as well.

Or we’ll make you walk the plank?

The Setup: In Playmobil Pirates we assume the role of Captain One-Eye, a pirate who witnesses the kidnapping of the mermaid princess and vows to rescue her. Doing so will require One-Eye to go on a hunt for the missing pieces to Blackbeard’s treasure map which will reveal the location of Blackbeard’s treasure giving One-Eye enough money to afford a seacraft to take out the soldiers’ ship.

The main formula of the game revolves around that of a platformer with RPG elements as you can buy different ships to sail the sea and customize them to make them stronger, faster and even add cannons to fight off deadly sea monsters and other boats. Aside from these water sports, the main combat lies on dry land. You’ll often find yourself facing off against many other pirates who stand in your way as well as dodging different obstacles to keep your life meter up. None of the combat is at all violent in any way in my eyes and should be suitable for your children as it’s mainly general sword fighting with some pretty cool combos to add to the action.

With all this being really awesome and all, the best part to me were the missions. With about 50 missions at hand, you’ll have quite a few hours to burn but be warned, it does start to get a little bit repetitious after the first hour. This is why the mini-games give off a great change in pace as you can go throw dice or play cards at anytime during the game.

The main structure of combat showing One-Eye fighting a Soldier

What’s Hot:

• Beautiful scenery and cute character design
• Lots of neat upgrades to mess around with
• Six great mini-games to change the pace of game play
• Some education value includes teaching kids how to navigate a map as well as financial aspects such as buying and selling goods and increasing your hand-eye coordination

What’s Not:

• You’ll be getting deja vu a lot as most of the islands are identical to each other
• Starts to get repetitious after the first hour or so

Final Verdict: Though a little questionable for children, I’d target the product more towards teenagers as some of the subject matter may be a little heavy for ten-year-olds. With the smuggling of rum, the ability to gamble and some minor cartoon violence, I’d say that a teen rating would have been more suitable.

Though a little repetitious, the price is a great deal at only $19.99 and should leave for hours of enjoyment for the right age group.

Publisher:

Rating: Everyone

The Scoop: Mumbo Jumbo adds an ancient twist to the tried and true Bejeweled formula.  While there may not be much innovation, the highly addictive puzzle gameplay stays intact giving fans of the puzzle genre another reason to keep matching 3 gems.

The Setup: In 7 Wonders of the Ancient World, players are tasked with clearing puzzle boards filled with multi-colored runes in an effort to rebuild the 7 Wonders.  Anyone who has played Bejeweled or any of its clones will feel right at home with the gameplay as Mumbo Jumbo kept the match 3 puzzle mechanic made famous by Bejweled, which makes this  an easily pretty easy to pick up and play.

Each section of the puzzle board is filled with a stone tile which gets cleared when players make a match in that particular section.  A match consists of lining up at least 3 of the same colored rune in a row either vertically or horizontally.  Once a stone tile gets cleared it gets sent to the top screen of the DS where a “worker” retrieves the tile and uses it to build one of the 7 Wonders.  Once all stone tiles have been removed from the puzzle board and sent up to the workers the level is cleared and you’re one step closer to rebuilding a 7 Wonder.

Each level also has a cornerstone/capstone that players must get to the very bottom of the board and send it up to their workers. These stones will become uncovered as you clear stone tiles, and must be sent up to the workers before the level can be completed.

What’s Hot:

• Matching 4 or more gems in a row rewards players with runes that hold special powers, such as clearing a whole vertical or horizontal row.
• The backdrop and theme music change to match the location of each of the 7 Wonders.
• The match 3 puzzle mechanic makes this puzzle game easy to pick up and play.
• Perfect for short gaming sessions and on-the-go gaming.
• Different puzzle board shapes adds some challenge.
• Your workers will go on strike if they don’t receive any stones in a period of time, so you’re forced to keep a steady pace.

What’s Not:

• No multiplayer component.
• Can be completed in a few hours.
• Aside from the “Ancient” theme, 7 Wonders of the Ancient World doesn’t bring anything new or innovative to the table.
• Lack of depth and story

d

Publisher:

Rating: Everyone
ESRB Content Descriptors: Cartoon Violence

The Scoop: Take away the old guy with the sword and tea for a minute.  Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure is half platformer and half “match 3″ puzzle game.  The two genre’s by themselves can be pretty addicting, but this game mashes the two genres together to create twice the addiction and twice the fun.  Ok, bring back the old guy.

The Setup: Henry Hatsworth is a British chap (did I use that term right?) who is a member of the Pompous Adventurer’s Club, where his hobby is searching for treasures.  The latest treasure hunt Henry sets off for is in search of a legendary golden suit that grants the wearer special powers, but the pieces of the suit are spread over five different locations.  So let the treasure hunting begin!

While you take Henry on his adventure to find this mysterious golden suit, you’ll quickly notice that that your two DS screens serve different purposes.  The top screen is where all of your 2D platforming action takes place (along with the story progression), and the bottom screen is where the “match 3″ puzzle game comes into play.  Just like any true platformer, you progress vertically/horizontally through each level, hacking and slashing enemies, dodging ranged attacks, and maneuvering obstacles and hazardous traps.

As you play through each level, you have to switch down bottom screen to play in the Puzzle Realm, and you do this pretty frequently.  You move and switch blocks horizontally trying to make a match of at least 3 colored blocks vertically or horizontally, but most importantly you need to keep an eye out for both monster blocks and power-up blocks.  Monster blocks actually appear in the puzzle on the bottom screen as you defeat enemies on the top screen during your platforming adventures.  If you do not eliminate these monster blocks before they reach the very top, they will come back on the top screen to take their painful revenge on you.

To add to the challenge of balancing between the two screens, there is a puzzle meter that allows you to stay in the Puzzle Realm for a short period of time. It might not sound like a big deal at first, but if you run out of juice in your puzzle meter, you might run into some sticky situations where you find enemy blocks getting ready to pop out of the Puzzle Realm and back on the top screen. Luckily you will get to add more time to your puzzle meter as you kill enemies on the top screen, just remember to finish them off in the Puzzle Realm and not give them the chance to come back!

On top of all of that, there is one more meter that you will want to keep an eye on, and that’s your super meter.  As you clear puzzle pieces, energy in your super meter will increase, and you will get ammunition for special attacks and ranged attacks.  If you fill the super meter once, you will transform into a younger chap, granting extra health and a shiny gold outfit.  Fill it again and you can activate “Tea Time”, which allows Henry Hatsworth to dawn the mighty robot suit.  In this mighty, not so Gundam-like, robot suit, Henry can unleash some devastating attacks, but also lose energy in his super meter.

What’s Hot:

• 30 levels of puzzle and platforming gaming action.
• Both the puzzle and platforming gameplay is top notch and rates up there with the best in both genres.
• Colorful and charming presentation as well as a great cast of characters
• Addicting gameplay, perfect for the Nintendo DS.

What’s Not:

• Gameplay difficulty quickly increases, which is good news for hardcore gamers but can also be a turnoff for casual gamers.
• Switching between the top and bottom screens can be a bit frantic – good micromanagement comes into play.

Final Verdict: Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure takes a Bejeweled-style puzzle game, mixes in some classic platforming action, and blends the two together to create a refreshingly fantastic experience. The crazy concoction created by the two different styles of gameplay offered some enjoyably addicting gaming that surprised many DS gamers, including myself. And on top of that, who knew that sipping a cup of tea would give you a pretty awesome golden robot suit!

Publisher: PopCap Games, Sony Online Entertainment (SEO), Valve Corporation (Steam)
Developer: PopCap Games, Q Entertainment (Nintendo DS)
Platform(s): PC, Playstation 3, Xbox 360, iPod, Web Games, Macintosh, Nintendo DS, Wireless
Genre: Puzzle

The Scoop: I started to play video games at a very young age. I mainly grew up on those old school penny arcade games that you found in everyone’s home. Games like Pac-Man, Dig Dug and Mr. Do! remain as priceless gems in my collection, as games of those caliber aren’t often created in nowadays generation. Recently I have discovered through Level Up News’ familiar face, Abe Arceo, PopCap Games addictive title, Peggle. A title that bestows such addictiveness and arcade functionality, it’s hard not to play for hours on end without getting that fuzzy nostalgic feeling.

The Setup: Peggle is sort of a sort of like pinball except you don’t have pins to knock your ball around. The basic point behind the game is to clear the screen of any and all red pegs that are scattered around the level. You have ten balls to try with and also can gain different power-ups along the way to help you achieve victory. So when playing Peggle, just remember to conquer the red pegs, hit the green pegs for power-ups and knock into the purple pegs for some awesome bonus points. Sounds simple, but it’s a very testy game and you’ll find yourself restarting levels if you’re not patient enough to line up your shots and to have a game plan.

What’s Hot: I can sit here and name several different things that make Peggle a must buy game for any arcade gamer.

• Gameplay: Gameplay is probably the strongest point in Peggle as this game will prove to be a very addictive experience that’ll keep bringing you back for more.
• Level Designs: The level designs really add a lot to the game. Their smart and each level gives it’s own advantage to the player.
• Wide Variety: A wide variety of things to do is available in Peggle as you can play it’s Adventure, which adds for a wide variety of levels, Duel Mode which allows you to play against a friend or the computer, Challenge Mode which allows you to play different challenges or you can just do the Quickplay Mode to play any level that you’ve already unlocked on the Adventure Mode.
• Available on many platforms, with the Playstation 3 being the latest.

What’s Not: Hmm? The fact that it’s so darn addicting I suppose? Peggle is an all around great game with very little to complain about.

Final Verdict: Definitely a great game for any style of gamer. Very addicting and very unique in the sense of originality and good clean fun for everyone to enjoy. I’d definitely recommend Peggle to anybody and everyone who might be interested in having a fun time.

Peggle is available for download from PopCap Games for $19.95.  If you end up loving Peggle like most do, then you can buy both Peggle and Peggle Nights for only $24.95!

Playstation 3 gamers can also download Peggle from the Playstation Network for $9.99.