Hey folks, guess what?  At the end of this week, I’ll be heading off to Seattle for PAX West!  I skipped last year because I went to E3 instead, but since I didn’t go to E3 this year, I’m back at PAX!  So please pray that I have a safe trip there and back, and a good and fruitful time at the show.  Anyway, to tide you over until I get back, here are some more game reviews I’ve written recently over at GamerDad.com.  Please click on the links and read as many as you can, and maybe post a ‘like’ or comment or two.  I’d appreciate it.  OK let’s go!

Office Dog, I Choose You!

I got a new batch of amiibo figures from Smash, so I thought I’d share them with you.  A couple of notable things, like this isn’t the first time Isabelle got an amiibo.  She actually has two already, one in her spring/summer outfit and one in her fall/winter outfit.  But I guess they had to have another one in Smash.  The picture in my review where she’s with Pichu and the Trainer makes it look like she’s a Pokémon!

And speaking of which, I’m surprised they didn’t package the Trainer with Squirtle and Ivysaur amiibo figures, since you can play as them separately in Smash Ultimate now.  They ARE releasing amiibo of those two Pokémon, but they’re releasing them in September, along with Solid Snake.  I have those pre-ordered, too, so be sure to check back then as I’m sure that’ll be an interesting group picture as well! 

Pokémon Rumble Rush (iPad)

The Pokémon Rumble games are some of the more prolific Pokémon spinoffs.  You play as toy Pokémon and ram into other toy Pokémon to defeat them.  It kind of reminds me of Gauntlet.  In the Wii U game, you could even scan real toy Pokémon you could buy, and these were kind of the predecessor to amiibo figures!  I hear they were really rare, though.  I never saw them in the wild, myself!

Anyway, as a mobile game, this Rumble title is downgraded to an endless clicker.  Granted it’s a cleverly disguised one with actual gameplay elements, but it’s still an endless clicker.  It is one of the better ones I’ve played, and it’s free.  But as a mobile game, it still didn’t hold my interest for very long.

Solo: Islands of the Heart (PS4)

This is a colorful 3-D game where you solve block puzzles to open up and advance to new islands.  They also add themes of love and relationships with questions you have to answer about how you view these things.  I know they put that stuff in there to try to make the game more thought provoking and artsy, but it just makes the game feel more pretentious and haughty.  I don’t know why indie game companies feel they need to do that.  The game would’ve been just fine without that part.

Gabbuchi (PS4)

This puzzle platformer has minimalist black and white graphics and a playable character that looks like BoxBoy with teeth like Domo.  The game reminds me of a reverse BoxBoy because instead of making blocks, you have to eat them.  But don’t eat too many blocks or you may not be able to reach the goal!  It’s not as good as BoxBoy, but still a fun little puzzler.

Psyvariar Delta (Switch)

Here’s a bullet hell shooter that was in arcades back in the early 2000s PS2 era.  And that’s really all it is.  Short but still has that arcade fun about it.

Pawarumi (Switch)

And speaking of bullet hell shooters, here’s another one.  In this one you can fire three different kinds of weapons, each a different color.  Each color can either defeat certain colored enemies easier or charge up your special weapons and shields.  So it kind of reminds me of a more complicated Ikaruga.  The game also uses elements from Mayan and South American mythology, but I would’ve never known that if I hadn’t read it in the press release first.

Switchy Road (Switch)

This game is as simple as it gets.  A shape travels along a path and you must press a button to change it so it can fit in upcoming holes.  Kind of reminds me of that Hole in the Wall/Human Tetris game show.

Tetsumo Party (Switch)

And speaking of that Hole in the Wall/Human Tetris game show, this game is even more just like that!  You must press buttons so your character can fit into upcoming body shaped holes before the wall hits you, and the characters you can play as are sumo wrestlers, ninjas, and other Japanese and Asian folks. It’s OK but there’s not much to it.

Super Mutant Alien Assault (Switch)

And last is this 2-D single screen arcade style run and gun game that kind of reminds me of another game I reviewed a while back called The Duck Game.  It’s OK, but kind of hard.

And that’s all for now!  Thanks for reading and posting ‘likes’ and comments on my reviews!  See you after PAX!  --Cary