Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter Review: Heeeee’s Baaaaack

Releasing a remake of a game is always a tricky situation for a developer. What may seem like a simple concept of offering an updated versions of someone’s favorite game really boils down to how can you sell virtually the same product to someone twice. Such is the case for Majesco Game’s latest XBLA release, “Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter.” Based on the 2001 release “Serious Sam: The First Encounter,” this new release updates a handful of features, as well as adds a shiny new coat of paint to the original. But is that enough to get you to pick up this “classic”? [Continue Reading]

Pizza Delivery Boy Trailer Makes Me Nostalgic … And Hungry

Maybe it’s because my first job was working at a Pizza Hut, maybe it’s because I overuse food delivery living in NYC, maybe it’s because “Crazy Taxi” was a solid game, maybe it’s because I love pizza, but for some reason I’m drawn to “Pizza Delivery Boy.” High expectations aside, I can totally relate to the pizza creation aspect of the game as The Hut has pretty strict standards on how to build a pie, and it looks like the other half plays out like “The Simpsons Hit and Run,” which was really the same thing as the aforementioned “Crazy Taxi,” both of which were fun games. I can’t say I miss those days of putting exactly 36 slices of pepperoni on a large thin crust, but it did teach me some lessons about eating good pizza (hint: you can’t get it at Pizza Hut). Check out the trailer: [Continue Reading]

E3 ‘09: A Boy and His Blob Preview Interview

Remember David Crane’s completely original NES title, “A Boy and His Blob”? It was pretty amazing wasn’t it? Well, someone at Majesco had the amazing idea to bring it back for a new generation of gamers. And then they went one step further, and got the retro-game-loving WayForward (”Shantae,” “Contra 4″) to to make it, and from what we saw at E3, it’s coming along quite well. In fact, it looked to be one of the best looking games at E3 for the Wii, next to Ignition’s “Muramasa.” All in all, games like this are really making me think there are some really interesting third party titles coming for the Wii this year… and that makes me smile. But, I digress, check out Sir-G’s interview with Majesco Entertainment to find out a bit more about this revived classic. [Continue Reading]

Major Minor’s Majestic March Review: One Time, At Band Camp…

There is absolutely something to be said about innovation, especially in the world of video games. It’s not something that comes along every day, and when it does, there’s always a level of trepidation on the game publisher’s behalf over how well it is going to be received by the always-hard-to-impress gaming public. “Major Minor’s Majestic March” is one of those titles that offers a taste of innovation, but, overall may fail to wow a lot of gamers.

“Major Minor” is basically a new take on what is becoming a very saturated corner of the market – rhythm games. However, it is less like your more traditional games in the genre, your “Rock Band”s or “Guitar Hero”s and more like the video game version of a metronome. While that may not sound as appealing as rocking out to covers of Black Sabbath, keep in mind the creative vision behind Majesco’s latest Wii title is the same one that really introduced the entire rhythm genre to the mainstream over twelve years ago, with a rapping dog, and an onion. [Continue Reading]

Gardening Mama Review: Electronic Martha Stewart Meets Home & Gardens

Okay, okay, okay, before we go anywhere with this “Gardening Mama” review, I want to quell some fires right off the bat. First, I’ve never watched Home and Garden (HGTV), but if it was anywhere remotely as cartoony, or cute as this game is, I’d be a fan. Especially if the humor translated to the real world; not to mention the sparkles and delightful gold medals that pretty up a room with prettiness and sparkles… wait, this doesn’t sound right. I’d better just start the review.

Majesco’s “Gardening Mama” comes courtesy of Japanese developer Cooking Mama Ltd, who has supposedly earned enough street cred from Mama’s original DS game, as well as the subsequent successors for the Wii, to build a company and branch out as a franchise. Much like the first games series, the aptly named, cooking-centric “Cooking Mama,” “Gardening Mama” includes several minigames involved with planting, germinating, and growing flowers and produce to progress through the game. The gameplay is completely controlled by the stylus as well as the DS’s microphone, and the player is asked to follow the onscreen instructions to complete tiny tasks, which are relayed by simplistic, colorful arrows within a surprisingly small time limit. [Continue Reading]