VIDEO GAME: Kirby’s Return to Dream Land (2011)

by benmweilertNo Comments
Kirby's Return to Dream LandYear: 2011Rating: E10+Time Played: ~6.50 hours While I'm all for franchises trying out new things, there's something about returning to the core mechanic that makes a great game. Kirby's Return to Dream Land took the fundamentals of a Kirby game and amped up the cool factor while still maintaining that classic Kirby feel. Granted, as Nintendo delved further into gimmicks on their consoles, their franchises had to adapt as well. Return to Dream Land is no exception, but at least the base game is the standard Kirby formula. Admittedly, one of the more "fun" aspects of this game is the super-powered abilities Kirby can use. While they do often require shaking the Wiimote to use, their increased power put a smile on my face. As far as couch co-op goes, this game is better than most. My daughter played a lot of this game with me as Meta Knight, and there wasn't much of an issue where she...
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VIDEO GAME: LEGO Batman – The Videogame (2008)

by benmweilertNo Comments
LEGO Batman: The Videogame Year: 2008 Rating: E10+ Time Played: ~30 hours LEGO Batman: The Videogame is a little bizarre because it came out well before The LEGO Movie (2014), where Will Arnett made LEGO Batman his own meme-able character (and eventually starred in his own movie spinoff). It also came out the same year as The Dark Knight (2008), which is arguably the best Batman movie in existence. However, this video game came early enough in the LEGO movie adaptation run in the late-2000s that it still had some of the rough edges that they hadn't smoothed out by later games in the series. This video game doesn't quite fit in the "movie adaptation" formula LEGO had created with hits like LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga. Instead, they seemed to pull from the iconic Batman the Animated Series for the game's episodic structure. We can all be grateful that the Tim Burton Batman films influenced this game much more than the Joel Schumacher...
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VIDEO GAME: Lego Star Wars – The Complete Saga (2007)

by benmweilertNo Comments
Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga Year: 2007 Rating: E10+ Time Played: ~40 hours Back in the day, this game was an intersection of many of my interests. Not only was it based on Lego, but it had a Star Wars theme and was a playable video game. The trifecta. My younger brother bought one of the earlier games in the series, which convinced me that I needed to buy it myself. Fortunately, I only had to wait a few years for Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga to be released since it contained gameplay from all six of the (at the time) Star Wars films in Lego video game style. Split into a handful of levels that represent the plot from each of the Original and Prequel trilogy films, most of the gameplay is fairly simple. Break blocks, build things, collect items, and overcome obstacles. It can get a little chaotic—but that's when it's the most fun. With an enormous roster of playable characters,...
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