Snowy Bear Review

Action, Adventure, Platform | Posted by musicaltrack
Feb 09 2010

snowy-bear
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Snowy the bear is the coolest little guy ever.  Your goal in this classic arcade platform Mac game is to get him back home safely from the myriads of monsters attacking him from all sides.  Is that too much to ask?

There are 3 modes to choose from in this challenging game of many levels.  The Kid’s mode will give you 100 (!) lives with fewer monsters.  Normal has 10 lives and double the monsters, and Hard is crazy with lots and lots of monsters and 10 lives.  You must bring your game face for this mode in order to beat it. 

This is your typical platform game where the monsters can come at you from all directions and all sizes, including the bosses.  You use your control key and arrow keys to throw snowballs and maneuver around.  I had trouble using the control button and arrows so I went into options and changed the control button to the space bar by clicking directly on control and changing it to any key.  I chose the space bar since it’s centrally located and it’s bigger than the other keys.  I use a MacBook Pro with Mac OS X, version 10.5.6.  If you do not change this key, your screen will disappear.  That was my only mishap I had with playing this Mac game.

The play is to move Snowy facing the enemies and clicking either your control or space bar to throw snowballs until the monster is completely covered and then kicking him out the game board.  Be careful though the snowball may come back and take Snowy down losing a life.

This game is fast and you must move even faster to either avoid the bad guys or by throwing the snowballs.  This action, shooter arcade play is more than awesome, it’s a challenging, strategic game with an upbeat music and happy character like Snowy.  What more do you need for an exciting and electrifying play?  Beat those monsters and get Snowy home.

I would definitely recommend this game to all the quick moving, coordinated (with practice) platform gamers who may enjoy a fun story about a fearless polar bear.  Also kids and inexperienced gamers can learn from the 100 lives you have to practice this awesome game.  The colors are so bright and intense and the artwork is imaginative.  I didn’t know you could do so much with platforms.  Don’t let the cuteness factor put you off.  Snowy is one tough bear.   

 

Features of Snowy the Bear’s Adventure:

-Tons of Snowballs and Levels

-Great Adventure

-4 Worlds

 

Rating: ★★★★☆

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The Magician’s Handbook II: Blacklore

Adventure, Hidden Object/I Spy, Puzzle, Seek and Find | Posted by Meg
Feb 08 2010


The Magician’s Handbook II: Blacklore is the exciting and fun Mac hidden object sequel to The Cursed Valley. In the first game you were the hero who with the help of the wise wizard found magic rune stones to remove the curse from the valley. However, since that happy day, life has been rather gloomy and unhappy for you. All traces of the glory days are gone, and the magic faded from the pages of the handbook. No one at home believed your wild stories, and the book was left abandoned. Maybe this was all a dream and you did not save the cursed valley?

After 2 years of mundane living, strange noises came out of the handbook. Corrigan, a fairy helper to the wise wizard tells you that the evil magician pirate Blacklore captured the beloved wizard and trapped all the fairies in the process. This wicked sorcerer is using the good magic for evil purposes. You job is to find and free the fairies hidden in the land before the next moonrise when Blacklore will come searching for you.

The play is to find enough enchanted objects to cast spells in order for you to conquer Blacklore. Use the map to visit different areas of the land. Any help you will need you click on the menu button on the right of the screen and choose the help option. The handbook is there for each chapter’s goals. At the end of each chapter you will be graded. If you should skip a puzzle, your grade will be lowered. There are hidden keys to open treasure chests and unlock magical power-ups as well as wands with special powers. The 1st spell is the power of wind. It will blow anything covering objects you may need. Another one is fire, and it will melt snow to uncover items.

The hidden object play is enjoyable to do with it’s many scenes and interesting objects. The story is intriguing and engaging for the player. The tale will draw you in to help the fairies and your wise wizard. Defeating Blacklore is only half the fun. There are many puzzles with great artwork. I had a pleasant time playing The Magician’s Handbook II: Blacklore with over 1000 hidden objects, treasures to open and story to unveil.

Features of The Magician’s Handbook II: Blacklore:
-Over 1000 Hidden Objects
-A Magical World
-Adventure Puzzles
-Keys to Unlock Secret Items

Rating: ★★★★☆

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Spirited Heart Review

Adventure, RPG | Posted by Meg
Feb 07 2010

Spirited Heart
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The town of Aravorn experiences stronger magic under the glow of a full moon and when you see a shooting star, a creature is born. It can be human, elf or demon. Each character will carry its own mysterious attributes. This is the setting for your new adventures in RPG Mac game Spirited Heart.

The play for Spirited Heart starts with you selecting your person for this play. If you choose a human, they are common in Aravorn with strength and toughness but lacking in charisma and dexterity. Sounds like a few humans I know. The Spirited Heart2elven race is thin and graceful, not suited for manual labor, but excels in concentration and dexterity. The demons are rare creatures with charisma and creativity but are shunned by the others so will try to hide their identity. Each character has their own advantages and disadvantages, and their destiny is different from each other. This game has a long playability factor due to the many choices. The decisions you choose will also determine the end result or fate of each girl. I chose the demon girl whose farmer parents found her under a tree and decided to raise her as their own. She spends her days with animals and nature, and her parents are worried about her personal growth and sends her to the next town, Triberg to find her own path. She is a strong person with faith, cooking and gardening skills.

You begin your tasks with a value of 5 in your skills, and it will change depending on the choices you make. Your attributes will be modified each week with the type of jobs you choose. Each month the rarely used attributes will decrease so be careful. If you pay someone to teach you a skill, the faster your attribute will increase. However, the cost will be higher, the higher the skill. From time to time you will have special events that can dramatically change your stats. Both your morale and health are very important for your well being. Taking breaks from work will help you in these 2 factors.

You must watch your budget for the money is needed for skills, and in addition, the triannual tribute to the king will tax your earnings. It can be as high as 44%! You must be in Europe because as high as taxes are here in the U.S., it’s not thatSpirited Heart5 high. You will have random encounters with men who may one day become your husband.

Spirited Heart is an engaging Mac game, and you get into the well-written storyline with its many options to vary your play. The game is similar to Cute Knight, but I think the anime-like graphics are much better in Spirited Heart. Also the game doesn’t abruptly end your play as it does in Cute Knight. However, the game comes to an end when you get married or 10 years passes. You will be 28. So under the full moonlight create some magic in the land of Aravorn.

Features of Spirited Heart:
-Many Storylines
-Choose Your Destiny
-Attributes and Skills

Rating: ★★★½☆

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Rainbow Web 2 Review

Match, Puzzle | Posted by Meg
Feb 06 2010

rainbow-web-2

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The tale of the wicked spider continues in Rainbow Web 2 at the royal palace. This time the play is varied with a mix of mini puzzles interspersed among the match plays. The match games are very similar to the first Rainbow Web where you click on an orb to match 3 or more of the same colored ones on the web. You are to match the balls with the letters to retrieve the names of magic things the spider has stolen from the castle.

The only blocks in this game comes when there is a break in the link of the web (same as the first game). This will interfere with you making a match. I noticed there are more chain reactions in this game and the sound effects when the orbs popped are better.

After each level you receive your statistics: # of balls you used, # of combos, score, time. This is a new feature to the game. I don’t know if it is needed, but it is interesting to note your scores. Also in between the plays are mini puzzles to breakup the matches. One is a puzzle where you slide the pieces to form a picture of a clue. Another was a hidden object game.

Whereas this Rainbow Web 2 game is much better than the first, I never felt challenged in doing the match games even in the timed ones. The 2 modes appear the same. It is a relaxing game to sit back and play, so if you need some R & R, try Rainbow Web 2.

Features of Rainbow Web 2:

-82 Levels

-7 Web Patterns

-Mini puzzles

-Fun Story Line

Rating: ★★★☆☆

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Gemini Lost Review

Adventure, Puzzle, Seek and Find, Sim | Posted by Meg
Feb 05 2010


A group of friends come across an ancient zodiac wheel on their way home and were transported through some teleporter to a strange land in Mac sim game Gemini Lost. Unfortunately for these 6 people the wheel exploded and spewed the zodiac signs across this mysterious region.

In order to return home, they must find all the keys to repair the wheel. However, life goes on and the 6 must start a village of sorts in order to survive. They must gather and grow foods, find wood and stones for building shelter, increase their knowledge to be able to perform many tasks, they must marry to increase and sustain their population and find all the zodiac keys to transport them back.

In addition to all that, there are puzzles and tasks to complete in order to teleport back home. In order to get across a river, someone needs to have the skills to build a bridge spanning the distance from your end to where the key is located. Labs will increase your knowledge level, working on the garden will increase your farming skills and the chapel will marry your couples so you can increase your village. Also after a time the older people will die off so raising the children is important. The kids however do not work until they are grown, but can pick up items for potions. The game is very good about giving you vital information and stats on each person. If someone is sick, they will be moving around slowly and will need to be healed. Potions can be made and the recipes are available in the log.

The game will allow you to choose how you want your villagers to proceed when you leave the game. If you want to be involved at all times you are on, you can do so or you can have the people go about their tasks even when you are not on the computer. This part of the game is different from other games of this nature.

The tutorial is easy to follow and will get you started on your village without any trouble. I did find it curious when I left the game with 2 skilled people building a bridge, and when I got back, no progress was made and the 2, nowhere to be found. I suggest you keep track of your people’s names because when they grow up while you are gone, they are like strange new person you’ve forgotten. It gets a little confusing.

For the most part I liked this sim develop your own village type game. This one seemed easier to train people, and they didn’t mind working very hard each day. When they get tired, they will rest in the hut, and when they get hungry they will feed themselves so you just need to watch the upper part of the screen to see how much supplies you have and will need. The computer will announce any changes such as a baby being born or someone who passes away. This game is appropriate for children because they take care of birth and dying in a discreet manner.

So create your own village full of people to your specifications and search for all the zodiac keys for your ticket back to civilization.

Features of Gemini Lost:
-Puzzles and Mini Games
-Zodiac Signs
-Your Own World
Similar games: My Tribe, Wild Tribe, Virtual Villagers 1 and 2

Rating: ★★★½☆
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