Today Video Game Reviews

Bubble Town Game Review

2008-11-28T12:02:00.005-08:00

By Ruff Bismonte

Remember the bubbles you made from soap when you were a kid? It's so much fun popping them out, and now, you get to feel the same nostalgia in the Bubble Town game from I-play. But will popping bubbles be fun to play in terms of casual gaming too? Well, that's what we're here to find out in this review.

The setting of Bubble Town starts in the idyllic little town of Borb Bay, where hundreds of little bubble heads called borbs live. One day, however, aliens called Lumps arrived on this quiet little town and invaded the whole of Borb Bay, leaving tons of mess around the place. You have to help the borbs get back their freedom once again, because well, they are just too lazy to do this task for themselves. And besides, what can they possibly do since they are just small heads of bubble, right?

Anyway, the game plays like the famous marble popper game known as Puzzle Bubble where you are tasked to clear all the bubbles in the game field by matching 3 or more same colored bubbles. There are no time limits in this game but for a different challenge, you'll only have a limited number of ammunition in your arsenal to make all the borbs pop. Refill your ammo by freeing little borbs from their confinement. This means not popping them, mind, but freeing them by popping their attachments instead.

If your ammo is full, spilling borbs trying to fill it up will mean bonus points. Additional borbs will eventually replenish your ammo tube if you expend them all out while making matches; however, this also means that your playing area will shrink during every replenishment routine. And coupled with other obstacles hindering your objective, Bubble Town is really one challenging game to play.

Bubble Town is one of the many games featured and reviewed at Casualicious. Please visit our site to read more about Bubble Town and get to play hundreds of other games worth your time and enjoyment.

Alice Greenfingers 2 Game Review

2008-11-28T12:02:00.003-08:00

By Ruff Bismonte

We all agree that taking care of plants entails much dedication and hard work, but it seems that it takes a green thumb too for them to grow without much care. A perfect example would be the protagonist in the Alice Greenfingers 2 game, because in here, Alice earns money without ever worrying if produce will eventually grow in her farm.

Alice plant crops and takes care of farm animals, that's what she does best. Her lazy Uncle Berry knows this and thus keeps her in the farm to earn him some easy money. Alice doesn't mind at all, it seems, so she goes around each level doing all of her uncle's bidding. I know the story is kind of disturbing because it looks like Alice is just some sort of slave girl, but that's how the story goes, and in another sense, also sets up the mechanics of each level.

Alice Greenfingers 2 is categorized as a time management game, but actually, it's a free-flowing farm simulation without any time to consider whatsoever. In each level, you are given tasks by your Uncle Berry to complete, and you must do all that you can to budget your money and farm land to cater to his wishes. General examples of this include earning one hundred dollars or selling a set amount of crops, but sometimes, he asks you to do errands too like weeding out dandelions, giving the dog some exercise, or even digging some hidden treasure in the farm.

Buying seeds, animals and buildings, and selling produce and crops in the marketplace all take place simultaneously during the actual game screen. The marketplace and Paul's shop can be triggered by a single click from the game menu, and you can set and forget all your selling activities by just setting the number of crops you need to sell. Furthermore, you can also queue up Alice's activities in the farm while visiting the other windows, making you save time wisely in buying and selling stuff.

Alice Greenfingers 2 is one of the many games featured and reviewed at Casualicious. Please visit our site to read more about Alice Greenfingers 2 and get to play hundreds of other games worth your time and enjoyment.

Age of War Flash Game - Tips and Strategy

2008-11-28T12:02:00.001-08:00

By Pavel Anokhin

Age of War - is a great free online flash game, which combines elements of tower defense and anti-tower defense games. If you're tired of all the tower defense games which all look alike, then this game is for you! In Age of War, you can build your defenses by buying different turrets, and when you have no place to set the turret to, buying additional turret spots. At the same time, you can train your troops to attack your enemy. You have a choice of just 3 troops - direct combat unit, long-range unit, and heavy unit. There are multiple ages in the game - starting from cavemen and dinosaurs, and all the way to lasers, tanks and air machines.

Even though your options are limited (just 3 turret types and 3 unit types during each age), don't let this fool you - there is plenty of strategy in choosing the right battle plan - both long-term strategy and short-term tactics. Here are a few possible strategies:

1. Total defense. Forget about attacking your opponent - concentrate on defense. Spend most of your money on turrets and only train troops when the turrets are not fast enough to kill all the coming enemies. Since each side gets the most money for killing opponents troops, your opponent will get less money as he won't kill many of your troops. When you have a good defense, you can accumulate some big amount, and overwhelm your opponent with a quick and devastating raid.

2. Total offense. Forget about defenses - spend all your money on troops and overwhelm your opponent with your attacking force. This is somewhat hard to do on harder levels, so choose your troops wisely and plan ahead carefully.

3. Balanced defense and offense. Build some turrets, but don't forget about your troops - destroy coming wave of enemies with your troops and the help of the turrets, then let your troops attack your opponent to give you some time to accumulate the money for the next wave.

Choose your strategy based on your preferred style and on difficulty level. Besides strategy, plan the order of your troops: watch out for coming enemies and build your troops in the order which will most effectively destroy them. For example, the most powerful combination is the heavy unit followed by long range unit - they will both deal the damage to the 1st enemy unit. Also, do not forget about special abilities - using them is the key at the start and middle of the game. Choosing the right moment to use your special ability can be the difference between winning and losing.

Play age of war absolutely for free at the free online games portal!

Gundam Vs Gundam - PSP Review

2008-11-28T12:01:00.003-08:00

By Gabriel Chau

Past Gundam related games like Gundam Seed: Rengou vs. Z.A.F.T. Portable, Gundam Battle Royale and Gundam Battle Tactics were all great games, specially the Gundam Seed: Rengou vs. Z.A.F.T. Portable with the latest mobile suits from the Gundam Seed series. Gundam vs Gundam, the newest Gundam game released for the PlayStation Portable in Japan (no date for North American release yet). Is this one worth buying at all? Read on.....

For those that haven't played the games or even heard of Gundams before, they are basically transformers but only look 100x better. The games mentioned above basically put you in one of the mobile suits, not necessary Gundams because there are different robots in the series. You will be controlling and fighting against one of the other sides, usually two sides each with different mobile suits and mobile armor (these are not necessary robots but can be fighter planes etc). Its really a third person shooter, just replace human/monsters with robots.

If I remember correctly, this game was originally from the arcade and it was ported over to the PlayStation 2, then to the PSP. Gundam Seed: Rengou vs. Z.A.F.T. Portable was a great game that offered hours of play time and great replay value because you can upgrade many of your mobile suits' stats such as how fast the weapon can fire, more ammo, more fire power as well as more health, jump higher and more booster power etc. This is pretty much level grinding though, which I think was necessary in order to pass some of the harder levels.

Game play

Gundam vs Gundam is really just the arcade version ported over to the PSP. At first I thought there was a story mode just like Gundam Seed: Rengou vs. Z.A.F.T. Portable. I should have figured that out from the name of the game, stupid me. The controls are basically the same or really similar to the other games though - jump, boost, shoot, melee, shoot 2, special shot, special melee and special. The three specials are hard to execute because you have to hold triangle, plus either the shoot or melee. The special move is slightly easier and its executed by pressing triangle, square and cross (might as well press your right thumb onto all four buttons)

I have yet to even execute any of them. How did I even figure out how to execute these hard to do moves? They are actually mentioned in one of the game options. I will update once I figure out how to execute them. I have never had such frustration over special moves from previous Gundam games.

[Update: I have mentioned to execute the special attacks (only when your special gauge is full) by pressing.....most of the buttons]

Aside from the standards, now you can assign orders to your computer teammate, commands like attack, dodge and surprise attack. You can also call in support where an additional mobile suit for a second and throw in a few more shots at your current target, as usual, the calls for support can be recharged with time just like recharging your gun's ammo. I find the support useful because, if I remember correctly it was able to take the hits for me as well as acting as a decoy for a short time.

Enough with the controls, the game has three game modes - "normal" mode (I call it the normal mode, was going to say story mode but its not a story) where you fight through 8 stages with the last stage as boss stage, quick play and multiplayer that supports 2 on 2 battles. I think the 2 on 2 is the selling point here, just like the arcade version, the fun is from shooting and slashing other human piloted mobile suits. Once you have selected a mobile suit from the list with 20+ of them and more can be unlocked by completing the "normal" mode. They range from the oldest 0079 series all the way to the newest ones from the Gundam 00 series. The objective of any of these game mode is the same, you and your enemies both have a life bar, you will lose if your side's life bar reaches 0. When you and/or your teammate dies (same goes for enemies), the amount of life your team loses is based on the mobile suit you picked. The stronger the mobile suit, the higher points its worth, which means when it blows up, your team loses a bigger amount of life. So that means its not always better to pick the strongest from the list. I picked my favorite Freedom Gundam and its worth 3000GP, I lost one of the games once by dying only twice!

In "normal" mode, you will fight in random locations and you will have a random computer mobile suit to fight along side with you. There are a total of 8 stages with the last one being the boss stage. The boss is huge, relative to your mobile suit and it took me 2 tries to beat it, I was one hit away from losing the game for the second time! I guess I just need to practice more with the controls, a training mode would be a perfect game mode for this game.

Quick play is no brainer, you pick your mobile suit and pick up to 3 other computer to fight with or against you. You can modify options like how long the match lasts for, how fast your special gauge fills up or different stages/music.

Unfortunately I haven't had a chance to try out the multiplayer.

So as you can see, there isn't any level grinding here. Although you can still unlock more mobile suits, intro movies, endings and images for the multimedia galleries.

Graphics and audio

Graphics are again, PSP quality, the mobile suits are nicely detailed, environments are plain but the game is so fast paced you won't have time to appreciate or pay attention to, not that there is anything to appreciate here. Music is actually real sound tracks from the Gundam series, so based on which Gundam series' stage you are fighting in, you will be listening to that series' soundtrack. The soundtracks bring back a lot of memories by the way.

Final verdict

Overall I think this game is OK. I still prefer Gundam Seed: Rengou vs. Z.A.F.T. Portable because it has a story mode and level grinding although you can still unlock more mobile suits, maybe its just me. For those that are looking for fast paced arcade style game play, Gundam vs Gundam should suit your needs. Skills really matter in this game since there's no level grinding where you can easily overpower your enemies by powering up your mobile suits and weapons. If you have lots of Gundam loving friends with PSP, I suggest convincing them to get a copy so up to 4 of you and your friends can fight each other anytime without going to the arcade.

7.0/10

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Call of Duty - World at War Review

2008-11-28T12:01:00.001-08:00

By Aaron Bryenton

Probably no other game in the entire Call of Duty franchise has come up as much as a surprise as World at War has. There has been a reason. The game is developed by Treyarch, who also developed the abysmal Call of Duty 3, after which most fans of the franchise were totally put off the series. But then the original developers Infinity Ward stepped in and bailed the series out of imminent extinction with its splendid Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. However, when it was announced that Treyarch was developing World at War, the fifth installment in the series, there was a great deal of skepticism once again. However, to Treyarch's credit, World at War wins hands down in all respects! The game has already been highly acclaimed both by the players and the critics and it really deserves the praise.

First and foremost, it is the concept that is riveting. The game is based in the World War II premise. Activision has visited this premise before in Call of Duty, so this is a revisit. However, this time, the visit is awesomely shocking! If you play the game well, you will see that nothing else - game, book or film - has ever brought out the dastardliness of the War as well as Call of Duty: World at War has. You really get angry at the villainy of the Nazis when you see them perpetrating evil on innocent persons. And then, mowing them down with the glorious arsenal you have in hand becomes such as divine pleasure. The game has a knack of making you see red and then give you the gun. You know what you will do then!

Graphics are better than anything else seen in recent times. The engine used is of Modern Warfare, which was every bit as high-performing as it is now. You are taken to forests in Europe and in the South Pacific during the game. There is also a seemingly silly but a fantastically playable level with zombies (Nazi zombies!) which has been surprisingly well received by players. This is one of the tougher levels in the game but has taken the game several notches ahead.

No review of Call of Duty: World at War can be complete without a mention of its truly outstanding multiplayer feature which takes you to play the game again and again. You can pit yourself with anyone in the universe and have hours of grinding fun with them. There is also a co-player mode in which two persons can play on a simultaneous screen. Instead of being a bumpy ride, it is great fun.

There are almost no shortcomings in Call of Duty: World at War; it qualifies as a perfect game. But if you are one to pick at things, you will probably say that the AI of the enemies is not as good. However, it is their unexpected behavior that makes the game the great fun that it is.

This one will not have you reach the history textbooks to brush up on your World War II knowledge, but it will definitely give you great insight on the War. At the end of the day, you get the message that humans can be really evil when it comes to that, but then heroism and courage comes from humans too.

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Top Wii Games That You Should Own

2008-11-16T13:10:00.004-08:00

By Tony B. Smith

Having the top Wii games is a must for anyone who wants to play the best games. There are a ton of great Wii games that you should play. However, I will only list the top games that you should own. So, here is the Wii Games List.

Wii Games List

1. Super Smash Bros. Brawl. This is one of the best games for the Wii. If you have played any of the other Smash Bros. games, you will really have fun with this one. Make sure you play with other people, though. If you don't have anyone to play with, don't worry. You can play other people online.

2. Super Mario Galaxy. This is probably the best Mario game ever. The graphics are cool. If you love playing Mario Bros., you will love this game. This game is recommended by just about everyone who has played it on the Wii.

3. The Legend Of Zelda: Twilight Princess. In this version of Zelda, Link is all grown up. He isn't too cartoonish. Which makes it a lot better to me. If you have enjoyed playing other versions of Zelda, you will definitely like this one.

4. Mario Strikers Charged Football. This is a great game. It's another Mario game. So, if you like Mario or if you just want to play a great game, I recommend you play this one.

This is the Wii games list. This is only a few of the top games. There are a lot of games that fall under the top games. I only listed the ones that the majority of Wii players recommend everyone play. If you want to get the full list of Wii games that you should play, check out the link below.

To download these games and thousands of other top rated Wii games, click on the link below:

Download Wii Games Now

Fitness Dash Game Review

2008-11-16T13:10:00.003-08:00

By Ruff Bismonte

Dinertown, the imaginary world of the Dash games, may be teeming with delicious food and hungry citizens, but they have their sense of competition too. And in the Fitness Dash game, you get to exploit this competitive spirit of the Dinertown citizens by starting a fitness center of your own and whipping these tubby nerds back to shape.

The idea for Fitness Dash started after the competitors of Dinertown for the regional tug-of-war tournament lost their crown from the challenging Donutville. Realizing that all they did the whole year was to eat the sumptuous cooking of Flo from Diner Dash, the citizens are on a quest to get into tip-top shape. Good thing that Jo is around to witness the struggle, and therefore, aims to help in any way she can and starting off by beginning her own Dash fitness center.

Just like all Dash games, this game also falls into the time management genre, where you're supposed to serve customers and profit from making them exercise. The game employs a drag-and-drop mouse function as you designate your patrons to the machines that will satisfy their needs. Use the icons popping beside your customers' bodies to know what to serve them next. Do this for all of the levels until you train the Dinertown residents enough for them to readily face the Donutville champions.

Of course, there are also additional tasks you have to accomplish when your customers ask for them. These tasks include cleaning the equipment, handing them towels and water bottles, and even changing the channel of the center's TV according to their taste. To top it all off, various disasters strike too, like faulty plumbing on the showers and sneaky vendors trying to sell your customers some fat-producing ice cream. All in all making Fitness Dash quite a hectic game, but very balanced too with a steady difficulty curve over the course of the challenge.

Fitness Dash is one of the many games featured and reviewed at Casualicious. Please visit our site to read more about Fitness Dash and get to play hundreds of other games worth your time and enjoyment.

Best Rated Wii Games - List of the Best Rated Wii Games You Should Play

2008-11-16T13:10:00.001-08:00

By Tony B. Smith

Playing the best rated games for the Wii is a must. Especially if you want to have a ton of fun with your game system. So, what I'm going to do is share with you a list of the best rated Wii games you should play. That way, you will know which of the top games you should get next.

Best Rated Wii Games

1. Super Mario Galaxy. This is probably the best Mario game out right now. This game is great. If you are a fan of the Mario Bros., you will love this game.

2. The Legend Of Zelda: Twilight Princess. Another best rated Wii game. You will love playing this game, especially if you are a Zelda fan.

3. Super Smash Bros. Brawl. This game is awesome. I would suggest you play with multiple players, though. It's a lot more fun that way. If you don't have anyone to play with, you can play people online. Which is cool.

4. Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. Cool game. If you have played any of the other Metroid games before, you will probably think this one is much better.

5. No More Heroes. This is a great game. It's a bit gory, though. If you like playing those types of games, this is definitely for you.

This is a list of the best rated Wii games. There are a lot more games that are top rated. I just wanted to keep this list short. If you haven't played these games yet, I highly recommend you get them. Thousands of Wii players say that these games are awesome.

To download these games and many other top rated games for your Wii, click on the link below:

Best Rated Wii Games

Imagine - My Secret World

2008-11-16T13:09:00.000-08:00

By David Tube

Imagine: My Secret World is not a typical game. It is more of an interactive diary than a game. You can use it to track your mood and keep notes on day-to-day activities. Doing certain activities will unlock new activities for you to do within the game.

My 10 year old daughter has dozens of diaries. Not that she ever uses any of them other than for scribbling in. Still people keep buying them for her, probably just because they're cheap, and would be good value for money if they were ever used.

The latest diary she has been given is Imagine: My Secret World for the DS. This was a freebie that came with her new DS (after losing the last DS for several months, only for it to turn up two days after we bought her a new one). Maybe the extra interactivity included with this diary will actually encourage her to use it we thought. Well occasionally she has written "hello" on some of its pages, but not much else.

The first thing you notice when starting Imagine: My Secret World is the everything is sideway so you need to turn the DS around. This gives the title more of a physical diary feel and it is a nice touch. It's also nice that you require a passcode to use the diary, so you really can keep secrets on it. You can even put an extra password over a single page or, unusually, even a single word. That lets you show your diary to your friends without them seeing the name of your crush.

Strangely the avatars in the game can be created as male or female, but if it is your personal avatar, it can only be female. I understand that it is aimed at girls but it is as if they want to discourage boys from using it all together.

As we know young people often love customising their stuff. From mobile phone ring tones, to myspace pages, to bedroom walls. This is why customising your diary is one of the main purposes of Imagine: My Secret World. So even if the diary isn't used for writing about your boyfriend troubles, it will probably look nice (nice in the eyes of the person that customised it anyway). It can be customised with colours, design and by placing stickers everywhere and also creating a look for your avatar.

When you use Imagine: My Secret World for the first time you need to fill out your biography. What are your likes dislikes favourite animal and that sort of thing. This information can be shared with friends using the Wi-Fi connection (or by speaking to them if you prefer).

Once you do this you unlock the first quiz. The quiz is actually a personality test which asks probing questions about the likes of borrowing your sister's clothes or if you like to wear make-up. At the end of the test you are given a description of your personality.

Once this is done you can unlock the first mini-game. In this game the player must copy and imagine from one screen to the other by placing stickers in the correct places. It is a poorly thought out and dull challenge but completing it unlocks the next quiz, and the cycle continues until all 4 games have been unlocked.

As an adult male, I see it hard to understand the appeal of Imagine: My Secret World. When I saw how my 10 year old girl enjoyed the title however... I am still of the same opinion, as she gave up on it even quicker than I did. And three weeks later she hasn't used it since.

If this review hasn't put you off Imagine: My Secret World then we advise you shop around to avoid wasting more money than necessary on Imagine: My Secret World.

Top 10 Wii Games - The Top Rated Wii Games You Should Have

2008-11-14T11:45:00.001-08:00

By Tony B. Smith

The anticipation for Wii games continues to grow stronger. And pretty much every time, the games exceeds every gamers' expectation. So, what I'm going to share with you are the top 10 Wii games. That way, you will know which games are the best to play.

Top 10 Wii Games

1. The Legend Of Zelda: Twilight Princess. If you like Zelda, you will really enjoy this one. Link is all grown up. He doesn't look cartoonish. You will really like this game.

2. Super Mario Galaxy. This game is awesome, to say the least. The graphics alone will amaze you. I highly recommend this game to anyone who has a Wii.

3. Super Paper Mario. Another top 10 Wii game that's fun. You'll love this one.

4. No More Heroes. This game is a bit gory. If that's what you want, this is definitely the game for you.

5. Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. Awesome game. If you've ever played Metroid before, this game is 10 times better.

6. Guitar Hero III. Another great edition to the Guitar Hero games. If you love the other Guitar Hero games, this one is better. You'll love it.

7. Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Great game. You will have a lot of fun with this one. Make sure you play it with someone else, though. I give it an 8 if you play it alone. However, if you have someone to play with you, it's a 10 all the way. If you don't have anyone to play, don't worry. You can play online.

8. Wii Fit. Fun game. You will get plenty of exercise with this game.

9. Rock Band. Another great top 10 Wii game. If you enjoy the karaoke type games, this one is for you.

10. Mario Strikers Charged Football. This game is fun. And probably one of the underrated games. I give it a 10.

These are the top 10 Wii games. These games are rated highly amongst Wii players. They are exciting. And if you really want to get the most of out your Wii and fun for hours, you should get these games now for your Wii.

To download these Wii games and many other top rated games for your Wii, click on the link below:

Top 10 Wii Games

Best Wii Games - List of the Best Wii Games

2008-11-14T11:44:00.002-08:00

By Tony B. Smith

Having the best Wii games is a must for anyone looking to experience the most excitement from their Wii. These games I'm going to list for you are fun. And not to mention, they are rated highly by most Wii owners. So, what I'm going to do is share with you the best Wii games.

That way, you will be able to get the most out of your Wii and enjoy playing only the best games.

Best Wii Games

1. Super Mario Galaxy. This is probably the most anticipated game for the Wii. It exceeded almost every gamers expectation. If you love Mario Bros., you will love this game.

2. Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Another one of the best wii games. If you've played a previous Smash Bros. game, you will love this one. It's so much better.

3. Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. This game is awesome. I highly recommend this to anyone who has ever played the previous Metroid games before.

4. The Legend Of Zelda: Twilight Princess. Zelda lovers got to love this one. Link isn't as cartoonish in this game, which to many gamers who rate this high, is a plus.

5. Wii Fit. I recommend this to anyone. This game will get you active. You will definitely get a good exercise with this one.

6. Super Paper Mario. Great game. Another Mario game that exceeded everyone's expectation. Again, if you like any of the previous Mario Bros. games, you should get this one.

7. Guitar Hero III. Another great edition to the Guitar Hero games. This is a must-have for anyone who owns the previous Guitar Hero games.

8. Mario Strikers Charged Football. This is a really fun game. You will definitely enjoy it.

These are some of the best Wii games. If you really want to have fun, I highly recommend that you get these games. You will love everyone of them.

To download these Wii games and many other top rated games for your Wii, click on the link below:

Best Wii Games

Hawaiian Explorer 2 - Lost Island Game Review

2008-11-14T11:44:00.001-08:00

By Ruff Bismonte

As the name suggests for this game, Hawaiian Explorer 2: Lost Island is about an explorer off to find adventure in Hawaii, and this adventure is all about finding an island lost in Hawaii's history. But the game is about fulfilling a lifelong dream too and trying to enrich the people of Hawaii with their forgotten beliefs.

Hawaiian Explorer 2: Lost Island starts with the story of Hawaii's creation as Charlie Johnson, a famous explorer, narrates it. According to him, Hawaii was made by 4 gods who developed the country with 20 islands, having 1 hidden for the Hawaiians to find. Finding this lost island is supposedly a way for the people of Hawaii to remember their beliefs, and Charlie being an old guy that he is, wants to conclude his lifelong adventure with a possible discovery of this outstanding legend.

The mechanics of the game is for you to find hidden objects across many of the game's many beautiful sceneries. It's actually a classic hidden object game where items are listed on the top of the screen and you just have to find all the items within the time limit to beat each level.

Now, I did say that the sceneries are beautiful, but this doesn't mean that the objects are illustrated beautifully too. While it's no wonder why all the scenes are cluttered with random items not having to do anything with regards to the game's plot, the large amount of items however are just too ridiculous to ignore. Many of the items are even indistinguishable, even after successfully finding them. An example would be a pyramid that looks like a brown folded paper which isn't even shaped like a real pyramid.

On the other hand, Hawaiian Explorer 2: Lost Island also features fun mini-games to play like a mahjong game and a jigsaw puzzle. Mini-games mostly have nothing to do with the game's plot development, but are very interesting anyway, so you really have to give credit to the developers for giving you a break from all that tiresome hidden object activity.

Hawaiian Explorer 2 - Lost Island is one of the many games featured and reviewed at Casualicious. Please visit our site to read more about Hawaiian Explorer 2 - Lost Island and get to play hundreds of other games worth your time and enjoyment.

7 Wonders - Treasures of Seven Game Review

2008-11-14T11:43:00.001-08:00

By Ruff Bismonte

Mumbo Jumbo's hit match 3 franchise 7 Wonders is back yet again for the next installment in the series. The 7 Wonders: Treasures of Seven game puts you in charge of helping human workers build nine wonders of architecture scattered all around the world. But how does it fare as a puzzle game? Well, let's just see in this review.

In 7 Wonders: Treasures of Seven, you are invited to take part in the creation of nine structural wonders that are considered the greatest sights in the world. Legend has it that these structures are built upon mystic sites by the ancient builders, and together, the sites point to the City of Gods and the magnificent Treasures of Seven. You have to play through all nine sites, and complete the parts of three magical compasses, in order for you to have a chance in reaching these glorious rewards.

Each wonder you visit in the game is represented by a game cube where you have to play seven levels. Completing each cube face will mean completing six levels all in all, and afterwards, you move inside the cube in order to complete a final level. Each finished cube will reward you a one-third part of a compass, and you have to complete all three compasses in order to finish the game. Multiplying all of that means hours and hours of match 3 playing, and since you also have two objectives for each level you face, this definitely means an experience worth your money too if you chose to buy the game.

Anyway, let's just talk about 7 Wonders: Treasures of Seven in a single-level perspective.

As what was said earlier, each level of the game is comprised by two objectives. Your first task is to harvest blocks for the builders to carry on the site by clearing them off the game board. Matching three or more same colored runes will chip-off the blocks underneath them, and the builders waiting below will automatically gather all of the scattered blocks and bring it to the building site.

7 Wonders: Treasures of Seven is one of the many games featured and reviewed at Casualicious. Please visit our site to read more about 7 Wonders: Treasures of Seven and get to play hundreds of other games worth your time and enjoyment.

Wii Music - Guitar Hero For the Whole Family

2008-11-14T11:42:00.000-08:00

By Bradley E

The Wii game console has expanded console gaming to the entire family with accessible games, an intuitive motion sensitive controller and a lower price point. With the release of the Wii Music game, Nintendo opens up an entirely new genre, started by the Guitar Hero franchise, to a wider audience.

Wii Music Instruments

Utilizing the motion controller that Wii has become famous for, you can expand the number of possible instruments to well into the dozens - go well beyond Guitar Hero or even the complete band set with Rock Band to play nearly any instrument you can imagine: Wii Music allows you to play the Indian sitar, as well as a wide variety of Western instruments from genres ranging from classical to rock.

Wii Music Creation

Music fans will delight in their ability to interact and improvise with musical scales in an entirely new way; rather than following a dexterity test format of other guitar rock games, the game allows you to freely explore and to simulate the creative process of music creation.

Since the collaborative nature of music creation is at the core of the process for artists, Nintendo emulates the feel of a studio by allowing you to share, remix and collaborate with other players on new musical tracks through its online Wii Connect feature. In this way, you can explore new musical ideas as well as getting the same type of feedback that you would get from a true musical composition.

For fans of nearly every genre - ranging from improvisational jazz to modern techno pop - Wii Music raises the music simulation genre to a new level, and is highly recommended for introducing children to the creative process. When combined with genuine interaction with real instruments and lessons, Wii Music can help jog the creative vibe in children of all ages.

Read a more detailed Wii Music Review and explore Video Game Reviews at iRW.com

Tradewinds Classic Game Review

2008-11-10T13:00:00.001-08:00

By Ruff Bismonte

The art of trading among sailing merchants was already a thing of the past, but you really can't discount the fact that they did have many adventures of their own in those days. Good news that the Tradewinds Classic game lets you relive the glory of the 19th century Far East as you step into the shoes of merchants in search of riches in this trading adventure game.

Tradewinds Classic is all about you trying to aim for the top of the trading world by sailing the open seas in search of fortune and fame. At the beginning of the game, you get to choose between 4 adventurers each needing your help to make it big trading goods. Buying low priced goods and selling them high is just the tip of the iceberg. In this game, you earn money from collecting pirate bounties too. It's just up to you on which path to take, just be sure that you'll survive the whole adventure because the seas won't be forgiving either way.

Depending on which character you take will start you off on their respective homelands. Each character has a difficulty in handling too, with the easier ones having more money and mercenaries fighting for them, or if you want a challenge, go choose someone who doesn't even a single penny in him to start his journey. One thing's for sure - that this game is a real test of wits and cleverness, because all characters are definitely able to make the journey, it just depends on you on how you play them.

One thing I loved about Tradewinds Classic is how much freedom the game gives you on your actions toward your goals. Lending money and saving them on banks, buying and selling goods, getting tips from the alehouse and port authorities, or buying and equipping ships, it's your call on what to do. The main aim though is to make money doing all these things, and that's the main challenge presented by the game.

Tradewinds Classic is one of the many games featured and reviewed at Casualicious. Please visit our site to read more about Tradewinds Classic and get to play hundreds of other games worth your time and enjoyment.

New Wii Fitness is Not Just For Kids - People of All Ages Can Enjoy It!

2008-11-10T12:59:00.000-08:00

By Ian Pennington

Nintendo Wii is fighting against American obesity. The great thing is the new Wii fitness is not just for kids! This new video game technology is for people of all ages. Nintendo Wii has developed a method of gaming and exercise built into one fun activity. You can play fun sports or do aerobic activities while playing your favorite video games.

Nintendo Wii has developed technology that allows the games you play work with your movements. This means that you are the controller for your favorite video game characters. This helps eliminate the laziness of conventional video games. No more just sitting around with a controller and playing hours of your games. These games require you to get up and move! This helps fight the obesity issue in America by making you move while you play your games. The new Wii fitness is not just for kids because everyone can get involved with these great games. They have games that are dedicated to fitness and makes working out fun! It is getting America interested in staying healthy and adding an entertaining aspect to it as well.

Nintendo Wii also has sports games such as tennis, which really make you move and helps burn the calories that normally would not go anywhere by just sitting around. A game called Dance, Dance Revolution also creates a good cardio exercise by having you do the dance steps to your favorite songs. All of these games come with their own custom control or footpads for them. The new Wii fitness is not just for kids because they have exercises for adults that can be helpful in staying healthy. Exercises such as pilates and yoga that help stretch and exercise the muscles in ways ordinary video games could never do. This would also save tons of money since you would not have to go to yoga clubs or pay pilates instructors. You pay one price and get a permanent aerobics instructor inside your television.

You cannot deny that Nintendo Wii has developed a gaming technology that has taken America by storm. These types of games are going to be the future. Games that really make you interact and exercise at the same time. It is a beautiful thing to burn calories while doing something you enjoy at the same time. A huge problem with exercising is trying to find fun ways to do it and Nintendo Wii has cornered the market with this new technology. They even expanded their target market by not making the new Wii fitness just for kids. When parents and children can get along playing these healthy games it makes for a great atmosphere. With this technology growing you will begin to see children fighting to get their parents away from the video games.

Ian Pennington is an accomplished niche website developer and author. To learn more about new Wii fitness, please visit Sports Fitness Store for more discussions.

Mario Kart Wii

2008-11-08T02:02:00.000-08:00

By Robert A Lawrence

Mario Kart Wii is the latest addition of the Mario Kart series. Designed with the Wii in mind you could say it was designed for the Wii, So what do you get with Mario Kart Wii, well you get a Wii Wheel thrown in the package, giving you a more realistic driving experience. It is, however, compatible with other controllers as well. Mario Kart Wii still has its classic Mario Kart characters as well as additional characters.

Mario Kart Wii requires you to have 23 blocks on the player's Wii system so you can save game data. The game data can't be copied so don't bother waste your time trying. This feature prevents players from transfering game data from one wii to another. The Mario Kart Channel uses 78 blocks, but unlike the game data, players can actually copy the channel onto their SD cards.

The great thing about Mario Kart Wii is that up to 12 players can race against each other to the finish in multi-lap race around a given circuit, you can employ all sorts of tricks, shortcuts, horseplay to earn yourself first place. You can also select twelve types of vehicles, six karts, and six bikes, to compete in each of the three classes available. Your selected Vehicles will vary depending on your characters weight, as will your colour scheme, depending on which character is shown.

Tournaments

If you fancy your chances against other opponents online there is a list of tournaments available, there is a new mode in Mario Kart Wii called "Tournament Mode", the PAL version of this is called the "Competition Mode".

You can play the Tournaments on the Mario Kart Channel, but make sure the Mario Kart Wii disc is in the Wii. You will of course need an internet connection, and Wii Connect 24 to be turned on before they can be played. After a while, a tournament is archived to make room for a new one. However, you can still view the rankings of older tournaments on the ranking table.

Types of Tournaments available

VS. Race - A standard VS. race; however you will find the race courses are somewhat altered.

Time Trial - A standard Time Trial; race courses are somewhat altered.

Numbered Gates - You must drive through the gates in order, as fast as you possible can.

Coin Collecting - Here you must collect the coins on the stage as fast as you can.

Boss Battle - You must fight against a boss from Super Mario Galaxy or New Super Mario Bro.- These Tournaments are played on special stages.

There is a new feature called "Tricks" or "Stunts" and it is now a part of gameplay. When a player performs a trick, the player is able to gain a momentary boost of speed, which allows characters to do a few different things, such as grabbing an Item Box out of midair. One example of trick is pulling off acrobatics in air, which can be performed by shaking the Wii Wheel upward, but try not to shake your arms off, while doing this, ha ha ha!

Guess what, Mario Kart Wii also features a text chat in online multi-player Mode. You can send pre-written phrases to other players before the series of races starts. Unfortunately you cannot type your own message, because this facility is not available, however you can text when racing or battling against your friends or other competitors.

Robert Lawrence has written articles and game reviews on Nintendo wii games, you can get even more information on Mario Kart Wii as well as reviews of the games available for the Nintendo Wii.

Safari Island Deluxe Game Review

2008-11-07T13:04:00.005-08:00

By Ruff Bismonte

Mahjong will always be same old mahjong they say, and nothing can change that, but in Safari Island Deluxe, we get to see a new face in the same addictive mahjong gameplay. And yes, based from the name itself, this game features tons of wild animals and other safari-based stuff. But there's more to tackle in this game besides the theme, and that's what I aim to show you in this review.

Like what I had said earlier, Safari Island Deluxe actually plays like mahjong, but there's an outstanding twist to the gameplay. Instead of matching two tiles of the same design, you have to match tiles that combine to form a picture. For example, two tiles will separately illustrate the head and tail of a snake. You have to combine both tiles to eliminate them from the game. Eliminate all tiles and you get to move on to the next level.

Your aim is to reach the end of the island while unlocking animal clouds along the way. Each level you finish will be ranked according to how well you did on that particular game. Removing all tiles will only rank you a bronze check mark, removing all tiles within the time limit is worth a silver check mark, and beating the target score set in each level will earn a whopping gold check mark. Now, while all of that sounds good, one complaint I have on this ranking system is how impossible it is to earn a gold mark on many of the levels. The target score is just too big and you have to be god-like fast in order to attain it.

The unique gameplay of Safari Island Deluxe opens up a great deal of innovation in terms of challenge. Many of the items and animals illustrated on later levels are just too big to contain in only two tiles. This means that you'll have to contend with combining up to 5 tiles for just one picture, and if you're a seasoned mahjong player, you know that unlocking tile parts can really be such a pain.

Safari Island Deluxe is one of the many games featured and reviewed at Casualicious. Please visit our site to read more about Safari Island Deluxe and get to play hundreds of other games worth your time and enjoyment.

Redrum Game Review

2008-11-07T13:04:00.003-08:00

By Ruff Bismonte

Just when you thought that most of the mystery casual games you've been playing are scary, along comes Redrum from Anarchy Enterprises. This game is as weird as a casual game can be and that's why I sincerely suggest only mature audiences dare try out this surreal thriller.

Redrum, in a basic sense, is murder spelled backwards. This game is about a girl named Rose whose ability enables her to see, talk and interact with ghosts. Not only burdened by her parents' divorce, she was also sent to a psychological institute led by the money-hungry Dr. Sigmund Fraud by her father, blinded by the doctor's falsely administered diseases to Rose. Now, it seems that her only hope lies upon her detective uncle, whose mission is to get Rose out of the madhouse, and upon her friends, the ghosts that Rose interacts with mostly in her dreams.

This game is a hidden object installment where you're tasked to find clues listed on the bottom of the screen. Before any puzzles are to be solved though, a mystery will take place as narrated by the local newspaper. Playing as the detective, it now becomes your job to solve these murders by trying to crack the clues supplied by Rose, and while playing as Rose, your task is to interact with your ghostly friends and solve puzzles in your dreams, later to be written in Rose's diary.

With that said, the gameplay of Redrum is just like any other hidden object game. Lists are sometimes in a form of silhouettes or part of an image you have to find from the collective whole. The uniqueness of the game though comes from the disturbing images it presents. The scenes are most of the time gruesome and just plain weird, and really, all that green in the background successfully made by stomach very queasy.

Redrum is one of the many games featured and reviewed at Casualicious. Please visit our site to read more about Redrum and get to play hundreds of other games worth your time and enjoyment.

Pet Show Craze Review

2008-11-07T13:04:00.001-08:00

By Ruff Bismonte

After many a time management game already focused on selling pets for profit, Pet Show Craze proves that there is much to earn from just simple pet care too. Yes, this is a much higher form of pet love, but the market is still that big considering that this is also one frantic time management game.

In Pet Show Craze, you play as Maria after you learned from your Aunt Agatha that Petsville is about to be demolished to make way for a factory selling plastic toys. Armed only with their unparalleled love for animals, Petsville citizens are already on the verge of selling out realizing that they needed the money. But Maria is set to prove them wrong. Starting her own pet care shop, she aims to earn enough money to save Petsville and make all of Petsville's pets become show material in the process.

Being in the time management genre, the game's objective is much the same as most games as you try to satisfy customers and give their pets service for profit. The aim is to reach the target profit per level, and if you want to earn bonuses, do it within the challenge time limit. As the game progresses, a higher target profit will be set, but you'll have a chance to upgrade your services as well, owing from the money you earned coming from the last level.

Serving customers involve you seating them, taking their ordered service, servicing their pets and giving them additional items they may ask for. While you may earn combos from chaining service requests, there are also heart bonuses to be made after seating compatible customers with each other. In fact, they don't even want to be seated with their own kind. And all those clicking action comes very smooth while you constantly queue tasks for Maria and her assistants to do, making the game very comfortable when it comes to gameplay.

Pet Show Craze is one of the many games featured and reviewed at Casualicious. Please visit our site to read more about Pet Show Craze and get to play hundreds of other games worth your time and enjoyment.

Pet Pals - New Leash on Life Review

2008-11-07T13:03:00.004-08:00

By Ruff Bismonte

My sister would always ask me to play doctor with her when we were kids, and while mostly I found treating her dolls to be boring, I still loved the whole concept very much. Surprisingly, the whole concept in playing vet is much the same too, and the game Pet Pals: New Leash on Life lets you play vet as much as you want, and without those boring dolls too, I might add.

In Pet Pals: New Leash on Life, you take the role of a rookie vet stationed for your first assignment on a local animal shelter. Here, you're about to learn many things about caring for pets and keeping them healthy, alive and kicking. And with a little bit of help coming from the senior vet and from the team of veterinary technicians and an enrichment specialist, you're off to do wonders for these sickly animals, hoping to get them back on track and ready for adoption.

For each game week you'll play, you're given a list of all the tasks you need to fulfill. First tasks involve checking up on your animal patients and treating those with sickness and injuries, but afterwards, you have to do your part in enrichment activities too, wherein you play, train and groom the animals to get them ready for adoption.

The actual treatment interface enables you to harness a variety of tools and equipment necessary for any veterinary practice. From a simple palpitation glove to x-rays and an EKG monitor, you have to utilize them all depending when the need arises, to correctly diagnose and treat the patients. Furthermore, you're guided in every step of the way too, with the operation stopping once in a while to ask you for important decisions you have to make as the vet.

Clearly, Pet Pals: New Leash on Life is really one educational game. Even though the gameplay is very linear in nature, with you asking questions first then guided throughout the whole treatment, it's nice for the game to provide such great information on all the animals with additional knowledge provided about their ailment and its particular cure. Honestly, this game is just like Zoo Vet, and both coming from Legacy Interactive, that's really no surprise.

Pet Pals: New Leash on Life is one of the many games featured and reviewed at Casualicious. Please visit our site to read more about Pet Pals: New Leash on Life and get to play hundreds of other games worth your time and enjoyment.

Pakoombo Review

2008-11-07T13:03:00.003-08:00

By Ruff Bismonte

When I was a kid, I discovered that treasure hunting with your siblings isn't really a rewarding experience, after ending all your efforts with just more dirt in your hands. However, in the Pakoombo game, you're off to find real treasure in a small tropical island. How do I know it's real? Well, an authentic age old treasure map is involved, and we all know age old maps mean real treasure, right?

Anyway, Pakoombo is about the story of the brothers and sister tandem of Cathy, Stewart and Leo as they try to find lost treasure within their little tropical island. After their father, Opkins was informed that the resort he was working on will be closed for good; the family is at a lost on how to keep living their fun and simple lives. Luck struck good though after Leo found a part of a treasure map by accident, which may mean unimaginable riches if this map actually leads them to buried treasure.

The game plays just like your average match 3 puzzle where you have to swap tiles and match them with the same designed tiles to clear them off the board. During story mode, you are sometimes tasked to gather objects and clear a set amount of them before the game lets you continue on the rest of the story. However, the real gameplay comes when you're off challenging enemies and the island natives on a game of Pakoombo, which is basically a match 3 battle mode.

The Pakoombo game plays very much like Puzzle Quest where you take turns in draining the life out of your opponent before he gets a chance to drain yours. Your objective is to match skulls to reduce a point from your opponent's life and if you think it's more advantageous, use power-ups called gifts against your opponent too. Remember though that gifts are mostly limited, and your enemy is most likely to have gifts equipped too, so be ready for tougher enemies as you go along the game.

Pakoombo is one of the many games featured and reviewed at Casualicious. Please visit our site to read more about Pakoombo and get to play hundreds of other games worth your time and enjoyment.

Operation Mania Game Review

2008-11-07T13:03:00.001-08:00

By Ruff Bismonte

Filling in a doctor's shoes is real hard, especially when you are the only doctor running the whole hospital. That's not possible, you say? Well, in Operation Mania, everything seems to be possible as you try to help Dr. Humerus run the whole hospital in this wacky time management game.

Operation Mania is all about the story of Dr. Humerus as he tries to attain both wealth and fortune by being the best doctor in the whole world. Well, you might say that's certainly not a doctor-like trait, but the guy only has his skills, tools and word puns to go around with, so a little fame can be an impressive addition to his resume as well. Besides, if you're the only doctor in the world, you really won't settle for anything less, right?

Anyway, your primary objective in this game is to earn enough money for each level in order the reach your target profit per day. Reaching intern status will let you move on to the next level, but in case you want more money and prestige to come with all your efforts, try aiming a little higher for doctor or specialist status. All you got to do is to match patient colors and make service combos to reach ever higher on your career. But of course, that's easily said than done.

Funny thing about Operation Mania is the fact that Dr. Humerus is the only one available to do all hospital duties. From admission, to consultation, to even the actual operation, you'll have to manage your time effectively to see to all of your patient's illnesses. And during times of emergency or epidemic, brace yourself for more and more patients trying to get treated first in line.

Funnier still are the actual maladies that you'll confront during the course of patient operations. From actual butterflies in the stomach to a wrenched back, all the diseases are presented with their literal meanings, making the game much wackier still. Of course, you can optionally do manual operation yourself by playing mini-games, but keep in mind that mini-games get faster every time you play them, so it's just easier just to play them during emergency situations.

Operation Mania is one of the many games featured and reviewed at Casualicious. Please visit our site to read more about Operation Mania and get to play hundreds of other games worth your time and enjoyment.

Miss Teri Tale - Vote 4 Me Review

2008-11-07T13:02:00.004-08:00

By Ruff Bismonte

Miss Teri Tale, the New York novelist is back, and now, she's finally settled in her own little home at Peeking Town after solving the mystery of the missing dog named Jason. This time in Miss Teri Tale: Vote 4 Me, it's nearing election day, and what a great opportunity it is to come snooping around the town, learning for whom the neighborhood's alliances lie.

In Miss Teri Tale: Vote 4 Me, you again put the shoes of the sleuthing writer as you try to gather clues and hints on who will the town vote as their new mayor. After the former mayor left town, his seat immediately needed a successor, and from the local neighborhood stood up Tyron Douglass and Norman Montgomery, each wanting to claim the town's mayoral throne. But these candidates seem to have their own dirty little secrets too. And what if our own Miss Teri Tale joins the race? Will it spell another disaster waiting to happen?

Anyway, all will be answered once you play the game yourself. And speaking of playing, this hidden object installment employs a classic seek-and-find nature where you have to find all items listed on your notebook before time runs out in each level. Sometimes, items are also highlighted in green, meaning that instead of gathering them, you have to put these items in their proper places for completion.

While you may get tired eventually of all that stuff-finding, the real shine of Miss Teri Tale: Vote 4 Me is actually found on its unique mini-games. Examples of these games include a time management-like game where you get to wash dogs, a find-the-same game which is basically a twist to the old find-the-difference, and even a tower defense game where you're off to fight evil computer viruses. All in all, the mini-games are very addictive and fun, and are even enough to make you altogether buy this game.

Miss Teri Tale: Vote 4 Me is one of the many games featured and reviewed at Casualicious. Please visit our site to read more about Miss Teri Tale: Vote 4 Me and get to play hundreds of other games worth your time and enjoyment.

Interpol 2 - Most Wanted Review

2008-11-07T13:02:00.003-08:00

By Ruff Bismonte

After apprehending Dr. Chaos and letting him escape on the original game, the Interpol have their hands full of more missions to solve in Interpol 2: Most Wanted. In this hidden object game, you again have to exercise your item-finding skills in order to track down new bad guys coming from Interpol's Most Wanted list, and hopefully, keep them behind bars this time around.

Interpol 2: Most Wanted needs your help once again as you fulfill the role of an Interpol detective. The Troika, a mad group of criminals grazing the Most Wanted list is on a rampage throughout the whole world, and it is tasked upon you to find and put them behind bars. And since the game now pits you against three criminals - The Collector, Mr. Nobody and Siren, it's certainly going to be a tough ride traveling various locations while trying to outsmart your wily targets.

Coming from the original Interpol game, this sequel actually plays just like your average hidden object game. Items are listed for you to find, and in order to move on to the next installment of the game's story, you have to meet your quota of items before the time limit expires. You're also given a limited number of hints to use on your efforts, letting you manually select a hidden item not found yet on your list.

Hidden object mini-games are also available for you to play. Made famous by the original Interpol, listed items of the same type and spot the difference make up these in-game breaks. This is also just the same as the original, so I guess in conclusion, there's nothing really new about this installment aside from its new and improved storyline.

In terms of presentation, Interpol 2: Most Wanted still has that futuristic interface showing various scenes from around the world, and coupled with the engaging sound effects and music, you'll appreciate the classic hidden object fun presented by the game.

Interpol 2: Most Wanted is one of the many games featured and reviewed at Casualicious. Please visit our site to read more about Interpol 2: Most Wanted and get to play hundreds of other games worth your time and enjoyment.