Flash Game: Hedgehog Launch

There are a lot of launch games out there, but one of the ones that I have enjoyed is hedgehog launch. This is a vertical launch platformer.

You have to get your hedgehog into outer space as part of the space program for some tiny Caribbean country. To help you along, you have platforms that can bounce you up, parachutes to bring you down slowly, booster rockets to give you a lift, and radar to show you where the platforms are. And you are launched in the air with a big slingshot.

The catch is you have to buy these things. You get money by going over coins that are fortunately floating in the air, and you get a multiplier for duration of flight and height achieved. You never have enough money to buy everything, so you have to budget your money for different things.

My son says that I play a lot of these games where you have to budget resources, and I guess I do. I find them more interesting than flat out shoot 'em ups, usually.

The goal is to get into space in the fewest days.

My record is 3 days - I have done it 3 or 4 times. I consider it pretty good if I can get into space in 8 days or less.

Give it a shot. You can find it at armor games - http://armorgames.com/play/1760/hedgehog-launch

A quick, fun diversion.

Flash Game - Warfare 1917

So I was introduced to another Flash Game - "Warfare 1917." It is a Flash Game where you manage troops during WWI (either German or English) and try to take over trenches and territory and eventually win the war. It is by the same guys that made "The Last Stand" and "The Last Stand 2" - 2 other really good zombie shooting games. I'll review them soon.

Warfare 1917 lets you use your resources to build different types of troops with different strengths and weaknesses, and different build times You also can direct artillery fire (and eventually tanks) in later scenarios. Like "The Last Stand 1 & 2" a bug part of this is managing your resources. But this game also includes some tactical needs like what troops to send and when.

There definitely is some strategy, as I have been able to improve my push to end the war, going from 9 wins and 27 losses, to 9 wins and 6 losses and finally to 9 wins and no losses.

It is amazing what can be done in Flash nowadays.

Now you can't play this in one sitting unless you have an hour or so, but if you play it at Armorgames, it lays a cookie on your browser and saves your progress.

So if you are interested in a bit more than a "twitch shoot 'em up," give Warfare 1917 a try, I think you might enjoy it.

Have fun!

Lyman

Dream Pinball 3-D - BAD!

As good as Williams Pinball for the Wii is, that is how bad Dream Pinball 3-D is.

Williams has compelling graphics and game play. Dream Pinball has terrible graphics - in fact, some of the tables look like the same table skinned. And the original table was not so hot in the first place. The tables have little personality, and the game play and ball physics never really seemed to gel.

Also, I could not really get the camera to give me a consistently useful table angle. If I could see the ball at the top of the table, it did not give me a good, useful view of the ball on the lower flippers. I kind of think this is important and the designers would have gotten this part correct. But for some reason, the just blew it off, or never bothered to actually play the game.

Now at least I got a decent deal from Amazon, and I was able to sell it to GameStop for a $5 loss, so it is not bad at all. I've returned games for less and taken a bath.

If you like Williams Pinball, keep playing it. Do not get Dream Pinball 3-D. It does nt compare, and it is a waste of money.

FLASH Game - Dino Run

As much as those of my generation (personal computer gaming pioneers) hate to admit, we have neither the time nor potentially the inclination to play games on our computers like we used to when we were young.

So what do we do for a quick game fix? I might play a quick FLASH game.

There are flash game depots all over the web, but I like Armorgames.com and Miniclip.com.

The nice part of Armorgames is that they rate the games and you can sort on rating.

Right now I am playing a FLASH game called Dino Run. It is a retro game where you have to race your dinosaur against the clock. The game puts all sorts of obstacles in your way, holes in the ground, bluffs to climb, other slower dinos, etc.

This game has a wonderfully retro feel - the dino is all pixelated, the soundtrack has a wonderful 8-bit boop-beep sound to it, and the controls are right, left and up. On a console, this would have had one of those non-ergonomic chrome joysticks with the round red ball on the end, and a jump button with a cigarette burn on it, and I would be smelling pizza from the counter.

For simple, entertaining, mindless fun, try Dino Run.

Web Sites Referenced:
http://armorgames.com
http://www.miniclip.com

Wii - Guitar Hero III

Another game that I dig on the Wii - Guitar Hero 3.

This game is particularly enjoyable because when I was younger - back in college, we used to do air guitar contests. Well GH3 is like an air guitar contest, but you have more control over the music. And you can still jump off the furniture.

As an added bonus, anyone my age (40's) probably has 30 years of rock riffs stuffed into their head, so it almost seems like part of your DNA. So this game, which is basically a rhythm game lie clapping to music, is easier for me than my son, who has been listening to crappy rap and does not have the historical background on these rhythms that I do.

The result is that without having to play as much as him, I can make the big scores. Or at least give him some competition.

The Good Part - loud, non-violent fun, and rockin' tunes.

The Bad Part - seems like a lot to pay for the guitar controller when all the real brains is in the wii-mote which you already paid for. Original game disk was non-surround mono. Had to send disk in to get updated version.

If you are willing to spend the bucks, this is a great game. You can play it for a tune or two and then put it down (maybe...) and the gaming experience is not altered significantly.

Gaming - Wii and PC (flash)

Like many of you with kids, I have succumbed to the pressure from the squirts and purchased a gaming console - a Wii (OK, it was not hard to convince me, I wanted one too).

But like many of you fathers, I don't have a ton of time to play. So I am constantly on the lookout for games for the Wii, or FLASH games on the PC that I can do in 5 or 10 minutes, or sometimes a little longer.

So here is what is on my hot rotation list right now:

Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection
This game is excellent!

Graphics are good, controls are good (you can bump the table by flicking the nunchuck or the Wii-mote), sound is suitably cheesy.

I think I am looking for games from my youth, and this one is exactly what i am looking for.

There are extensive reviews online, so google it and read them.

All I will say is that this brings back those wasted nights at the arcade. And I am laying some serious smack on my teenage son on the scores. He just does not know all the little tricks, like using the flipper buttons to change the rollover lights at the top of the table.

Hint: Williams always had great options for multi-ball. Learn how to make multi-ball happen and you are on the way to serious scoring.

This game is fun, pretty , uses the Wii controllers really well, and doesn't cost a bundle. And you can play one game or sink some serious time into it.

This is a BUY!

I have Dream Pinball 3D on order at Amazon, I'll review that when I get it in.