RooGoo

Don’t let the rainbows and brightly-colored shapes fool you; this game is not just for kids. Sure, RooGoo may look like a title fit for pre-schoolers, but after playing a few rounds of this 3-D puzzle game, you AND the rest of your family will be hooked.

The RooGoo are cuddly, little creatures who need help stopping the evil, purple MeeMoos from taking over the world. To do this, players must guide colorful shapes through matching holes until they stack and fall through the lowest disc.

Sounds easy, right?

Well, try adding a time limit, spinning discs, and holes that close intermittently, and players have themselves quite a challenging game. Throw thieving butterflies and bats who steal your shapes, on top of pesky MeeMoos who won’t leave until their given a ‘headache,’ and you’ll be wondering why you thought this was just a kids game in the first place.  

Overall, RooGoo, which is ESRB rated ’E’ for ’Everyone,’ is a surprisingly fun and challenging game fit for the whole family. It is available for 800msp at the Xbox Live Marketplace, and with 45 levels of 3-D puzzle action, and lots of fun achievements, gamers will definitely get their money’s worth with this little gem.

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Club Penguin

Summer is here, and if parents are looking for a chilly place for their children to play this summer, then hop on over to Disney’s coolest MMO, ‘Club Penguin.’

Club Penguin is an icey virtual world which includes a whole host of fun activities for kids. Children choose and name their very own penguin, and can join the hundreds of other kids online to play games, earn coins, adopt pets, chat, shop, dance, and even customize their own igloo. 

Everyone can play the limited membership for free, which includes a multitude of games as well as the ability to chat and play with others. There is limited access to servers with free membership, so depending on the time of day, there may be some rooms that are full. However, there are three levels of paid membership that allows for full customization of characters and igloos, as well as greater access to servers.

As with all online Disney applications, Club Penguin is a safe place for kids to play. The site is live moderated, and parents choose the chatting restrictions on each account. 

Overall, Club Penguin is a ton of fun, and is a great way for children to familiarize themselves with online play. And with everything there is to do on this site, kids will be largely entertained this Summer for a very small price.

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Skate

By: Mommy DX

Birthday’s are a time for celebration, growing older, and eating cake for most families. However, if you are a gaming family, then birthdays probably include new game titles and/or gaming equipment. 

Incidentally, my son Knucklehead turned 8 last week, and it literally took seconds for him to feel the intense magnetic pull of the local game store down the street. Now, if you don’t know what this phenomena looks or sounds like, then just imagine Captain Kirk and his staccato commands channeling through your child:

‘Have.Money.In.Pocket…Must…Get.To.Gamestop.NOW!’

Needless to say, we ended up at the above game store, and after much deliberation, we purchased the game ‘Skate.’ Skate is an EA game that is rated ‘T’ for ‘Teen,’ and was actually nominated for E3’s ‘Best Sport’s Game’ at last year’s conference. And although Knucklehead had just turned 8, I allowed him to purchase this game, with the understanding that I got to watch (and play) the title with him.

Incidentally, it didn’t take long for the mommy-radar to go off, because the game began with a semi-gory hospital scene of an injured skater being prepped for surgery. Now, I understand that skaters get hurt, and get hurt quite often, but I found these scenes to be completely unecessary and slightly annoying. Let’s just say that close-up’s of bloody surgery scenes aren’t my idea of a good time.

Fortunately, once we moved past the movie scenes and into the tutorial, I found the new ‘Flickit‘ control technology to be quite fun, and we were able to master the skating moves quite easily. However, there were several things that bothered me about this game that I just couldn’t shrug away; there were no female skaters from which to choose, there were only two challenges that could be multi-played locally, and just as the ESRB rating promised – there was language, smoking references, and other behavior that definitely made this a TRUE ‘T’ for ‘Teen’ game.

Overall, Skate is a very nice-looking game, and it is probably a whole lot of fun for some people. However, for parents wondering if this game is o.k. for your pre-teen to play – I suggest you proceed with caution, as this will be the first time we will use Gamestop’s 7-day satisfaction return policy.

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Turok – Still a Dinosaur

 

(TRUE ‘M’ for ‘Mature’ - not for the kiddies, folks!)

Turok looked like it would be a great game, didn’t it? After visiting the website, I was very excited to play this title. Gorgeous graphics, powerful weapons, an interesting story, and of course the dinosaurs! Who wouldn’t want to battle the dinosaurs?!

Unfortunately, maybe my expectations were too high, (or the trailer a little too convincing), but I just.couldn’t.get.into.this.game. First of all, the beginning tutorial is almost non-existent. (Maybe the developers thought people would already be familiar with Turok from the last game?)

Secondly, as a new Turok player, I found that doing a few jumps and a climb up a ladder didn’t really give me enough time to get used to the character. Then, to make matters worse, Turok is put in a huge jungle with NO WEAPONS, and NO MELEE ability. I’m sure that the whole point of this was to kind of freak the gamer out a bit, but I found it very annoying. 

Unfortunately, the lack of achievements during local play was also discouraging. The majority of achievements are for online play; however, after participating in an online match, I was even more disappointed with the game than before. The visuals deteriorated significantly, and it was very hard to find anyone without some sort of radar.

Other features lacking in this game were clear story development and the absence of background music. Now, music may not be as important to some people, but for this game, there were large spans of silence between battles, and it was very obvious to me that something was missing.

Fortunately, Turok does have a few good features. The dinosaurs and scenery during local play are nothing short of amazing, and the characters are artistically well-defined. The weapons display was simple to use and I had no problem switching between guns, grenades, bow, or knife.

Overall, Turok has the potential of being a really good game, but unfortunately, this version didn’t live up to the hype. You might want to throw this one on your Gamefly queue, but don’t expect it to stay in your console for long.

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Shake your groove thang

 

It’s no secret – one of the biggest reasons why parents dislike gaming, is because their children sit for hours in front of their consoles and televisions. With childhood obesity hitting an all-time high, inactivity is certainly a valid concern.

Incidentally, the gaming industry has picked up on these parental cues and developers are now creating new and innovative ways  to incorporate real, physical activity into the games themselves. For example, the hit game, ‘Dance, Dance Revolution,’ (DDR) is not really new, but is still extremely popular with younger children and tweens.

Incidentally, our family received DDR as a gift a few months ago and it truly is a good workout. The best part about the game is that it is adjustable enough, so that anyone can play. Dancers can either take turns on the dance pad, or do like we did, and purchase two dance pads so two people can play together.

Don’t worry, you don’t have be as good as this little guy, because there are several dance modes from which one can choose. Even the most novice of dancers, (like me!), are able to play along, and the kids will get a kick out of mom/dad shakin’ their rump on the virtual dance floor. 

Other cool features of the game include a workout mode and calorie counter, so if Jr. needs to work off his after school snack, just adjust the settings accordingly and watch him bust a move. Or, if mom or dad missed their trip to the gym – don’t be afraid to hop on the dance pad yourself. Trust me, you will work up a sweat!

Now, don’t grab DDR expecting a whole lot in the way of graphics or design. In fact, for the next generation of DDR, we would really like to see customizable characters, current songs, and maybe even some downloadable song content on Xbox Live or the PS3.

Regardless, if your child’s time spent in front of the console is getting you down, ‘Dance, Dance Revolution’ is the perfect parental pick me up. 

Game is rated E10+, for children age 10 and up. However, I let my 7 year old play this game with confidence.

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Rock Band: How Do I Love Thee?

 Let me count the ways!

As a child, I was a music fanatic – my 8-track collection, (yes, I said 8-track),  ranged from Kenny Rogers to Kiss. My father tried to teach me how to play guitar on his 12-string Gibson, but I always had a fascination for drums. By the time I was 16, I was in an all-girl rock band, annoying my neighbors with the 8pc. kit I received for my 16th birthday. Although I was never any good, I still had one hell of a time making ‘music’ with my friends.

Now that i’m ‘all grown up,’ and have a child of my own, I have done my best to instill in him, the love of music that my father has instilled unto me. However, i’m sad to say that I have not been very successful in my quest:

I turn the radio on, my child wants the radio off.

I start finger-drumming on the desk, i’m urged to stop.

I offer my I-pod, but it’s too loud. 

*Sigh*

Just when I am about to give up, my husband brings home a present for the family. It is Rock Band. I hopped around like a giddy, little schoolgirl until I registered the marked disappointment on my son’s face. He’s more of the shoot-em-up type of gamer, but we promised him that if he tried Rock Band, he just.might.like.it.

And so it began – with DDX on vocals, MDX on drums, and KDX on guitar, the first song blew through our living room like a gushing, melodic tsunami! With the music in surround sound and visuals in 1080i; the sound was so good, the visuals were so clear, that we instantly felt as if we were the stars of our own, personal rock concert.

We played music, we made money, we earned fans, we got a manager, we bought costumes, we upgraded our equipment – heck, we even got ourselves a shiny, new tour bus! It wasn’t until hours later, when we were too tired to play another city, that I noticed that not.one.time. did our child complain of the choice of music-of too much drumming-or of anything being too loud. Could this be true? 

It wasn’t until the very next day that all my musical hopes and dreams would finally be realized.  As I am schlepping around the house doing all things mundane, my child bursts into the living room and finally says the words that I have always longed to hear:

‘Mom, can I play guitar?’

*****

Rock Band is a kit that includes the game, drumset, guitar, and microphone. The game can be played locally, or with others on Xbox Live. ESRB rating is ‘T’ for ‘Teen’ – however, I let my 7 year old play this game with confidence. New musical content is available for purchase every week, so expect this game to be in your 360 for a very, long time.

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Conan the Barbarian

This one’s not for the kiddies, folks! Conan the Barbarian is smartly rated ‘M’ for ‘Mature,’ and features all the juicy things that adult games should: blood, sex, and violence. Although playing the brutal barbarian was a lot of fun, I was instantly reminded of the old Crash Bandicoot games – you know, where you want to go off the beaten path, but the game won’t let you?

In fact, I was really surprised that for a 2007 release, that Conan was so old-school. With as much as game technology has advanced in the last 10 years, I have to admit, I was a little disappointed in the design of the game itself. Sure, the graphics were nice, and it was fun to sling a sword around for a while. However, I want the ability to roam freely around the maps, and this game just doesn’t let you do that.

Additionally, I found the game to be quite glitchy, especially when fighting the bosses. Attacks didn’t always work as they should, bosses didn’t always act quite right, and the button sequences didn’t always show up on the screen.  Trust me, the glitchiness is maddening when you’re trying to kill a zombie elephant, but you’re not sure what the hell it’s doing, or what you’re supposed to do to it.

Next time, I would like to see a smoother gameplay, the ability to roam the maps, and the option to go back to the different Acts in order to work on leftover achievements.

Overall, even with all the kinks, Conan was still a fun game to play. Who wouldn’t have fun rescuing maidens and fighting lions? So, if you’re into the older-style gaming experience, pick up Conan, it’s definitely worth the rental.

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