You are here: Home / Archives for handheld games

Petz Fantasy: Sunshine Magic for Nintendo DS

February 3, 2011 By

Petz Fantasy: Sunshine Magic is one of two games for the Nintendo DS that follow the huge success of Ubisoft’s original Petz line of games. In Petz Fantasy, players enter a dream world and discover eggs that hatch into cute fantasy creatures like unicorns and dragons. There are 20 Petz to discover and collect in this game, and 20 more in the companion game Petz Fantasy: Moonlight Magic.

Thanks to Collective Bias, we received Petz Fantasy: Sunshine Magic to review, and it was a fun game for Kaitlyn and I to play together. After each pet hatches, it has to be fed, played with, dressed, and trained. Kaitlyn’s favorite part is the 20 different costumes and the tons of accessories!

Petz also have to be trained by playing mini-games. Fantasy Petz can have four types of powers: Flight, Ice, Fire or Speed. Players guide their Petz through tunnels, through gold rings in the air, earning points that unlock more items as they go. This part requires a good sense of hand/eye coordination and was the hardest for Kaitlyn at age five.

We haven’t gotten to this part of the game yet, but apparently in Petz Fantasy: Sunshine Magic players can teach their fantasy Petz to morph into household objects like toaster ovens or lamps, to keep them “secret” from parents!  I can just imagine Kaitlyn handing me her DS and saying “Mom, can you find my pet on the screen?” and me just seeing a lamp or whatever. Clever!  Suggested retail price: $29.99 Rated “E” for everyone.

Filed Under: Games Tagged With: , , , , ,

Guitar Hero Rocks the Nintendo DS

July 9, 2009 By

Thanks to Mom Central, we recently reviewed Guitar Hero On Tour: Modern Hits for the Nintendo DS. My 10 year old son Nathan has been the most enthusiastic tester, racking up game points and showing it to his friends.

GHOTModernHitsBundleContents If you are familiar with Guitar Hero, you know it uses a guitar-shaped controller with buttons to push instead of strings, right? Well, the Guitar Hero game for the DS uses a hand grip/fret board that plugs into the game slot, and a pick-shaped stylus for “strumming”. It’s really clever!

The 28 songs on the game are radio-edits of music by bands I’ve heard of (Coldplay, Lenny Kravitz, The Offspring, Franz Ferdinand, Foo Fighters, Tenacious D), and some that I was not at all familiar with (The Bravery, The Duke Spirit, Atreyu, 12 Stones) because I am old and out of touch :P    There are two other Guitar Hero games for the DS, and the songs can be streamed wirelessly between the games.

Single players can challenge themselves with Quickplay mode that lets you jump right to any song, or Career mode with “Fan Requests”, challenges, and unlocking new venues and songs as the game proceeds.

Two or more players can synch up their games and play cooperatively or in a face-off, and during Guitar Duels, challenges come up that must be dealt with before the game can continue-like having to drag the ends of a broken “string” together, or having to sign an autograph for a fan. I didn’t get very far in the game to get to do that, but for a dedicated player like my son, it just amps up the challenge level.

BUY IT:  You can get Guitar Hero On Tour: Modern Hits at Best Buy for $49.99. It comes with the Guitar Grip controller and the pick stylus, plus stickers for customizing the DS. Don’t be surprised if you find yourself playing it as much as your kids do!

Thank you Nintendo and Mom Central for this fun review opportunity!

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]
Filed Under: Games, MomCentral Tagged With: , , ,

GIVEAWAY-Win handheld games for the Kid at Heart!

June 10, 2008 By

Every year we Moms go through the same ritual-trying to figure out what to buy our husbands for Father’s Day! Because when we ask them what we want for a gift, they usually say something like:

1. “A day of peace and quiet! That’s all I want!”

2. “Don’t buy me anything.”

3. “We can’t afford to buy the thing I really want.”

Aaarrrgh! They are so frustrating sometimes! Just like KIDS, right? Well then, this Father’s Day, buy your kid-at-heart husband something FUN- hot new handheld games from Techno Source. Rubik’s Revolution is a new, fast-paced game based on a classic he’ll remember, the Rubik’s Revolution! Or, test his knowledge of trivia with the handheld version of the hit game show “Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?” These games would also make excellent gifts for a high school graduation! Before I announce the awesome giveaway gift packages I have, here’s some info on the games.

Rubik’s Revolution is like a combination of the classic Rubik’s Cube and the game Simon. There are 6 different games to play, and each level unlocks the next one, so it’s always a challenge! You can see a quick video of people playing the game on the Rubik’s Revolution site. It’s available at major retailers and suggested retail price is $19.99, so it’s way affordable. We received two of them for review and thank goodness they sent two, because my kids like playing it as much as Chris does!

This handheld game is fun, but darn it, it’s embarassing to not be correct on a 3rd Grade science question :=P Just like the TV show, the object is to answer 11 questions in a row from 13 elementary school subjects (1st through 5th grade). It includes over 2,500 questions. Just as in the show you partner up with classmates, use the peek (look at classmates’ answer), save (your classmate saves you with the answer) and copy (copy your classmates’ answer) features to help win a virtual one million dollars. The hand held game incorporates the TV show theme music and sounds, and comes with a pencil styled stylus to use on the easy to read, simple to use touch screen. The touch screen is fully illuminated with an adjustable volume control, screen contrast and text scrolling speed. It comes with 2 AAA batteries and retails for $19.99. And it’s fun!

*************************************
GIVEAWAY-Thanks to Techno Source, I have an amazing giveaway with FOUR WINNERS! Because I want each winner to get the game they prefer, I’m going to have you tell me in your comment which game you would like to be entered to win. These are the choices:

#1. The Rubik’s Revolution
#2. The Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader Touch Screen Game

I’ll choose two winners from those entries. I will also choose two winners for a PRIZE PACK:

#1. The Rubik’s Revolution PLUS a separate Rubik’s Revolution Keychain Game!
#2. The AYSTA5G Touch Screen Game PLUS a Rubik’s Revolution Keychain Game!

Woo hoo! Contest ends Tuesday June 17th at 9:00 AM, I will email the winners for their shipping addresses, please reply quickly so you can have it shipped before Father’s Day! Sorry, USA and Canada only. Not required but always appreciated: Stumbling the post, adding it to Digg or Kirtsy, Subscribing to my Feed or Faving the blog on Technorati, mentioning the giveaway on your blog. Good luck!

Filed Under: Giveaways, Products Tagged With: , , , ,