Galcon is a Mac game based loosely on Galactic Conquest, and is an exciting and challenging a play as any. Send your swarm of spaceships to other planets and conquer them. A risk game without countries but entire planets instead. How much fun is that to control many other orbs in the universe? The king of the galaxy!

The play is to send spaceships from your green (looks a lot like earth) planet to the other orbs (red, your enemies and gray, neutral planets) to conquer and take over outer space. To send your ships out left click on your planet and then right click on the planet you want to attack or drag and drop the cursor. Sounds easy, right? Wrong. You must also deal with the attacks from your enemy planets. They can take over your planets as well.

A possible help could be from changing the percentage of your fleet you are sending out to attack. This can be done by the number keys or the mouse wheel. The % can be viewed on the lower right side of the screen. The % and which planet you attack is very important strategy to acquire in order to win this game. Another good help to use is re-directing your swarm of ships when you need to have them go to another location. It may be going the wrong way for the most effective attack, and to re-route, you click on the fleet and then click where you want to change their course.

Another interesting move is the multi attacks. To activate an attack from multiple planets you drag a box around the orbs to select, then right click on the planet you want to send the fleet. Also you can reinforce your own planets by sending a fleet there. Since you cannot see how large a fleet your enemy (red) has, you need to try to take over the larger planets first, because they have a higher production level than the little planets.

The game allows for single player and multi player modes. The Classic play is you against the computer. The Beast is with you controlling only 2 planets, and in the Vacuum your goal is to get all the neutral planets before your time runs out. A different play is the 3-Way where it is a 3 player game, and one player will pick sides for a while, usually against the strongest planets. The difficulty comes in when this player attacks you when he gets a chance. The Stealth play is when you cannot see each other's ships until it is too late and you are captured. If all these plays are not exciting enough for you, try the Net which will bring a whole new level of action from the players online.

Galcon is such an exciting and action-packed, fast-paced play, not just from the actual game but also you get the same level of feeling with the great graphics (although simple orbs and triangular spaceships) deep, astro colors and the appropriate sound effects. What more can you ask for in a game? The smart play and intense strategy combined with your quick and nimble moves, that’s what! It’s easy to learn through the step-by-step tutorial and each game is so fast you automatically must play more so you can conquer the galaxy and rule the universe in this ultimate arcade, space strategy game.

Features of Galcon:
-Single or Multi Players
-Different Types of Play
-Action and Excitement
-Attack Online Players

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

If you like solitaire, cowboys and Indians, and funny cartoons, you’ll like Mac card game Gunslinger Solitaire. The cursor is a gun and your click shoots the weapon. Bang!

The object is to clear the screen of all the cards by shooting a card 1 lower or 1 higher than the card below. If the deck card faced up is a 4, then you look for a 3 or a 5 card on the game board. If you do not have either card, then click or shoot the deck faced down to deal another card. Making multiple matches will give you more points. Some of the cards will have bonus games like shoot the bags of money, aim your bow and shoot the target and more to break up your basic solitaire game. Some of the games will have you reloading your gun when you run out of bullets. Just click on the red reload button to continue on your game. These games will gain you more money to use at the country store for helps like the undo knife.

Gunslinger Solitaire is a basic solitaire game with just matching the card higher or lower, but in many instances if you plan your attack with some strategy, you can make the most matches. You’ll get stats on your cash, bonus, time and more. There are goldmines and treasures to find. The artwork is a cute, colorful cartoon and done well. The music is an easy strumming guitar appropriate for the western theme. If you like this type of card game (a similar one is Fairway Solitaire), you’ll enjoy this one with its sound effects of guns shooting and arrow sailing. This game is not difficult and makes for a relaxing time. Get your trigger finger ready and shoot away. I give it a 3 out of 5 for one great shootout.

Features of Gunslinger Solitaire:
-Western Solitaire
-Mini Action Shooter Games
-Colorful and Quirky Cartoon Characters

Similar game: Fairway Solitaire

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Fairy Treasure has it all—it is a breakout, action game, it has 120 levels, power-ups, magic, fairies and trolls. This Mac game is a good time no matter how you look at it.

Fairy treasure given to the good knights of Trollandia from the Fairy Queen upset the evil troll Dronk who raided the villages plundering food and precious items from the homes. He became bolder and invaded the castle for the fairy treasure. Knights and magicians were sought to recapture the royal gems. This is where you come in and save the day. You travel along the Fairy River fighting hags, goblins and evil things. Your only assistance is from the river fairies.

The play is to move the bat at the bottom of the screen left and right hitting the stone up to walls, power-ups and extras in order to pass the level. If the ball should fall into the water you lose a life. By hitting the rock up to the bricks the level will be completed when all the bricks are gone. By hitting the bat’s right side will move the orb to the right and hitting the bat on the left will move it to the left.

There are many bonuses to garner in the meantime. The extra bat either left or right, extra bat, 3 balls, fast balls, slow balls, extra life, strong balls and fire balls are among the few of the extras you’ll need to complete a level. In addition, there are magic bottles: the blue one is magnetic, red one is wacky and fire is explosive. Mushroom spores makes the ball sticky and the brown mushrooms explode when hit.

On top of all those bonuses there are more good and bad extras. The magic scroll if you get 8 you can enter the bonus level. The chain ball can be unlocked by collecting 5 keys, and be sure to get all the gold coins because 100 will get you an extra life. Frogs can be good or bad so beware, and fairies can be good if you release them from their bubble.

If you can believe it, there are more extras to discover in this action-packed fun game. All these bonuses and the fairy theme remind me of the Mac game Pixie. However, the 2 games are completely different, but both are fun to play. I enjoy playing this breakout arcade game with its flying bat breaking the brick walls. Moving the bat back and forth is reminiscent of the old time game Pong.  The graphics are good, but I can’t remember the sound effects or music due to the engrossing play of Fairy Treasure.

-Features of Fairy Treasure:
-Fairy Themed Breakout
-120 Levels
-Power-ups and Bonuses
-Bonus Levels

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Westward III: Gold Rush is a Mac sim game with a little RPG built into the play. Like its predecessor Westward II, this new game is also grand in scale and play. Most sim play will limit your environment to a certain area, but Westward III follows the story line and moves the main character from one scene to another in order to progress logically in the game.

After you choose your hero character from 3 available people (Polly Hatchet unlocks the ranch, General Amos Cutter unlocks the gun shop and Shawnee Longfeather the tannery), the action panel so vital to sim plays will open up giving you details of your person, your goals and different tools needed to complete your jobs. The map on the lower right will quickly locate where you are, and if you click on the picture of your hero will take you directly to that spot. You can also zoom in and out depending on what you are doing.

You begin your play by dragging your hero to where you want your person to work or talk to another character. If you need wood for building, you drag your person to the log, the cursor will show an axe, and your person will go to that spot and start chopping wood. She/he will continue with the same activity until you move them to another location. If someone needs to speak to you, there will appear a question mark above his/her head. You will drag your hero to that person to find out what they want. The beginning of your game starts off in a limited area marked off on the map, and you help ranchers rebuild their land by building the barn, growing plants, and putting up tents. In order to do these quests you must have adequate supplies, food, water and gold. You get gold by either finding it in the massive landscape or by doing people favors and they will pay you.

After you have helped the ranchers all you could, you move on to another environment. It will bring you and one of the ranchers’ son to a snow scene where you may encounter rough people and ferocious wolves. In order to shoot an animal in defense or for food, you must drag your hero toward the animal and the cursor will change to a gun. This will begin the hero in a shooting mode. Much like a rpg game, you must look for things along the way. Also if your hero is hurt, you may have to wait a while until he/she recovers. There are many upgrades that will unlock as you go along and will help you develop your countryside.

The only problem I found was that at times it was hard to find exactly the right place to get your hero moving and doing the quests needed. Also it was difficult occasionally to move your people around to do the chores or jobs like setting up the tents, but it is not as hard as some sim/rpg plays so newbies can master the game with practice.

Westward III: Gold Rush is an awesome game full of action and adventures. It has different scenes to keep you interested, many activities to interact with, and you meet a lot of colorful characters like the gunslinger and the crotchety miner. I like the play better than the sim plays where they make you change diapers over and over or deal with impatient customers. This game did not have the big hoopla movie music introduction like Westward II, but it still is a good sim/rpg play for casual and diehard gamers of any age, and it will not disappoint. It keeps you moseying along the great landscapes finding gold and helping people in need. Have an exciting time playing Westward III: Gold Rush.

Features of Westward III: Gold Rush:
-New Environments
-Upgrades
-Enemies
-Unlock Secret Hidden Items

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

The magical forest of Phantasia is under siege by the evil wizard who captured and encapsulated the peaceful nation of dwarves in bubbles in his ominous towers in his dark and dingy castle. Alas, one, lone dwarf managed to escape and find you to assist him in rescuing his fellow citizens. It is up to you to save the lives of these wonderful dwarves and bring them back to the land of Phantasia.

If you should accept the challenge, you will be shooting balls up to where the dwarves are encased. You shoot at 2 or more of the like color balls to pop the bubbles, release the dwarves and catch the gold and silver coins. The coins will boost your score. The dwarf who found and convinced you to help him will provide you with bubbles on the lower left of the screen. You will see the colors of the balls coming down the conveyor belt so you can strategize your next move. The castle is large and there are many levels to conquer in this game.

The power-ups are the bombs (will destroy the balls around the area you shoot), fireballs will shoot straight up and rid all the balls in its path, one color ball (changes color of one ball), change balls, one row destroyer. In addition to the bonuses, there are stone balls to block your successful rescue. Of course, the bubbles on the game board are continuously descending to prevent you from winning. This action is similar to the Mac game Abundante!

This arcade game is a fun way to spend a few hours in the afternoon with the kids or alone. Keep an eye out for the funny characters popping in and out of the top and bottom of the screen.  The play is easy enough for children and casual gamers, and the story line is amusing. I think the only thing that bothered me was the pleading of the dwarves in the bubble. You feel a little guilty when you do not save them fast enough because you are trying to figure out the best possible way to release the most balls. So shoot away and save the nation of dwarves in the land of Phantasia.

Features of Phantasia:
-Valuable Coins
-Bonuses
-30 Unique Levels
-Hall of Fame

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

What an appropriate name for a Mac sim, rpg, shooting game: Gunrox! This game is a free online turn based strategy game where you have a team of 3 soldiers against other opponents around the world. All you need to do is sign in as an user and you will be able to download easily onto your computer. Since the artwork is simple the loading is fast.

There are a lot of laws governing this play, but I’m sure most of the people did not read them. The laws are just your usual be a decent player or else get kicked off type of thing. The other long list of items is the weapons. This is where you might spend some money because they charge for the guns, bombs, rockets, traps, grenades and more. Each weapon or perk, as they refer to them, is rated as Action Points (AP) and will give data like damage, fire ranges in order for you to make up your mind to buy. There are over 30 different perks to use for different types of attacks. They get very creative with their guns: sawed off shotgun, sniper rifles, launchers. Some of the weapons will allow you to hit multiple units with an arc of fire. A tank would be helpful but I don’t think it’s available.

You take your troop of ragamuffins and make them into fierce fighting machines with an assortment of weapons to battle your enemies. There are many locales to explore from junkyards, city streets, snow covered places and tropical sites.

Your tactical skills will be challenged when you have to anticipate your enemies' every move and maneuver your troops to best beat the opposition. After each fight you get experience points that will move your soldiers to the next level. The more skills and perks you acquire will help you along in this game. The play is exciting because you do not know where your next attack will take place. The battles are fast and furious so you do not need a lot of time to block out. Whatever you do, do not quit out of the game when it is stressful or you will be branded as a quitter. Stick it out. All that can happen is you will be killed and float up to the heavens as an angel.

Well, that may not be all what happens because there are a lot of people on this game, and not all of them will be kind to you. They may be outright rude to newbies and the inexperienced if you try to join in on their game. If you fall in that category, try the game with a group of your friends to back you up. Create your own game with your buddies and have fun playing in this colorful environment. If you are good at this type of game, battle your way to the top and have an awesome time. Enkord has developed an all around action game with tournaments and artifact markets to enhance your play. Gunrox is a fun, fast and enjoyable play, and you will not need to have lots of time because the battles are full of action and are quick. Just choose your arms wisely, and you can keep the costs down, or if you have deep pockets, knock yourself out. Gunrox rocks! I give it a 3.5 for a good time.

Features of Gunrox:
-Over 30 Different Weapons
-Play Against People Around the World
-Free Game Download

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Take a blast from the past with Titan Attack, as Space Invaders returns revamped and more intense than ever. Instead of popping in quarters to a machine, now gamers can easily start up a crusade against the alien onslaught in the comfort of their own computers. The classic scrolling across the bottom of the screen shooter has the same feel as the classic Space Invaders but with an arsenal of new twists that has gamers gunning for more.

In Titan Attacks the fate of the world lies in the hands of a lonely tank left running back and forth trying hard to repel an alien barrage. That tank has slow left to right movement, a single laser beam, and 2 bars of health. Doesn't seem like a lot as the alien enemy seems to evolve and expand at every chance it gets. The solution to the dilemma: Upgradeable tank with the money from killing aliens. Simple yet an effective way to get me to play the game more and more. Each level I finish I see how much money I need for more shields, bombs, cannons, or lasers, or a faster moving tank. It's addicting. On top of the weapons shop a high score bulletin to top off a meticulously played game seals the deal for gamers to fight for the human race.

Titan Attack has a look that is new and sleek but a feel that is comfortable and recognizable. Game play-wise a score multiplier adds to the need to continue playing the game because it only increases if the tank does not take damage and kills aliens. As more aliens drop, reverse movement, and get a little faster someone is going to have to take the call for humanity. Titan Attack gets a 4.5 out of 5 because it makes me answer that call whenever I don't want to do anything else in the world but recall Space Invaders and destroy that last quickly flying alien.

Features of Titan Attack:
-100 levels of Frantic Shooter Action
-Upgrade with Cannons, Rockets and Lasers
-5 Giant Boss Motherships
-Prizes

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

The eighties are back again and better than ever with retro type arcade puzzle ThrowUp. Indie developer, Patrice Krysztofiak, at Mac Games and More is bringing this old school style game for both Mac and PC computers. In addition, it’s free! This original and clever puzzle will bring back memories of both Galaga and Tetris everyone played and enjoyed back then. In fact, keeping with the retro feel you only use the keyboard to maneuver your spaceship. Don’t use your mouse or trackpad.

Irregular shaped puzzles will float downward towards your fantastic looking spaceship. You shoot up or throw up burning blocks to fill in the spaces of the puzzles to make a rectangular shape. Do this quickly before the puzzles reach the bottom of the screen and ending the game. Once you lose the game, you must start all over again. Remember this is a tribute to the retro games; you only have 1 life. Use the right and left arrow keys to move the ship back and forth at the bottom of the screen. Sometimes the cursor will jump around a little but keeping your eye on this and moving it to the right place will keep you in this fast paced game. It starts out slowly but will quickly pick up in pace and number of odd shaped puzzles to figure out. The up arrow will speed the game up but be careful some of the pieces will come down 2 or more at a time. The letter P will pause the game so you can catch your breath.

Since the high score is what’s important make the rectangles bigger by placing extra blocks for more points while keeping your distance from the bottom. Also post your scores for ThrowUp on Facebook or Twitter. Challenge your friends, neighbors, family and co-workers. See how high you can go.

ThrowUp is a simple, colorful retro game for all ages with good music and sound effects. You will need to use 2 hands to play on the keyboard, but for all those who are not accustomed to this format, you’ll need to practice a little before becoming an expert. It’s not an easy game. You must work at it. However, with practice you will get better each time you play. The blocks are colorful and the background reminiscent of outer space with many stars. If you have played any of the developer’s other games like Doulber or Abracadabra!, you know the game will get harder and harder, but with due diligence you’ll manage to get good scores. Have fun out scoring your pals and enjoy this look back to the past.

Features of ThrowUp:
-Original Fun Arcade Puzzle
-Good Music and Sound Effects
-It’s Free
-Post your High Scores on Facebook and Twitter
-Source Code Available to Developers

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

While watching the Boston College Eagles win their first football game of the season, it reminded me that I need to write a review for Phelios’ action packed arcade game Kaijin. There are 3 modes to play: Way of the Eagle (see the connection?), Way of the Tiger (not that Tiger) and Way of the Dragon. Kaijin is a homage to Galaga where aliens are not in short demand as they come at you in rapid succession.

The year is 2546 on Planet Terria. The Terrians survived on their own wits growing their own foods not genetically modified. All others destroyed their central neuron system by eating bad flesh. These beings went to a dark place and turned into mutant insects. These demented beings are planning to take over Terria. Your job as the best Terrian fighter pilot must battle these evil forms and save the good people of Terria and their pure and happy way of life. Kaijin is your trusted ship. The Japanese connection is another salute to the Galaga link.

The way of the Eagle will allow your ship to go to every part of the screen. You are not limited to the bottom. The Way of Tiger is the classic play a la Galaga where the ship is at the bottom of the screen moving from back and forth. The way of the Dragon is full on action with 3 levels of craziness. Tiger and Dragon are locked for the demo version. It's like getting 3 games in one.

The enemy will come at your ship in wave patterns, and not only must you destroy them, you must be sure to get rid of the eggs laid by some of these creatures because if you do not, they will burst into more aliens. In addition, there are bosses that you need to contend with and you know how hard it is to annihilate them.

At the bottom of the screen you will see the shield guards. Every time you get hit by an alien, the gage will decrease, but every time you hit an enemy, it will increase. The more energy you get, the more firepower is available to you. There are bombs, shield recharges, extra points and more bonuses. Your weapons are based in the shield level and can include lasers, blasters, fireballs and more.

Just like in football, you are attacking and moving forward except in Kaijin it’s not that easy. There are so many aliens flying up and down, in circles, exploding into more mutants and never stopping. When you think you can catch your breath, more enemies come swooping down. Kaijin is an intense, solid arcade shooting Mac game for experienced gamers and gamers who are willing to practice and play until they are experienced. The scenery and is simple but you do not want to be distracted with background art when you are fighting these evil monsters. I was too busy to notice the sound effects, but I am sure it was fine because the whole experience was great. I give Kaijin a 4 out of 5 for an awesome Shump (shoot em up) play.

Features of Kaijin:
-20 Types of Mutants
-4 Worlds
-3 Modes
-146 Levels

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Keep the zombies out of your house no matter what or they’ll eat your brain! Plant vs Zombies, an unique play, is not only fun, but it will get very challenging as the levels go higher. The cartoon artwork will alleviate any blood and gore worries you may associate with walking zombies. The only concern for young kids may be when the zombies are beaten will lose their heads and body parts.

The play is to click on the available seed packet, drag it to the green sod, plant it to stop the zombies. Clicking on the suns will gain you more seed packets. When you plant sunflowers, it will produce more suns to click on. After a certain number of points, you will get different packets to stave off the monsters. The pea shooters can down the zombies, the sunflowers produce only suns (but are needed to increase your score to access more seed packets), cherry bombs will blow up your enemies, potato seeds only block and slow down the zombies, freeze shooters are similar to pea shooters but more effective, purple devourers will eat the zombies and more seed packets will become available as you pass each level. Some plants shoot, destroy zombies and others slow them down. You decide where to plant each type of seed depending on what they do.

The higher the level, more zombies will be lumbering towards your home. Some zombies with poles can vault over your barriers. If they should get passed all your blockades, the last form of defense is the lawnmower. It will mow down the zombies in that path.

One of the mini games is the bowling for zombies with potatoes. The potatoes will roll across the top of the screen. When you click on a potato, drag it to the sod path where a zombie is walking towards the house. It will roll down the grass and knock over the zombie. This is a fast action game and you must quickly grab a potato and use it appropriately. The red, hot potato will explode the zombies but they are few and far apart.

Plants vs Zombies is just a fun action packed game and nothing more. Well, maybe you would like to protect your brain from being eaten so it’s prudent of you to keep pace with destroying the dreaded zombies.

Features of Plants vs Zombies:
-5 Game Modes
-Crazy Dave’s Shop with Special Plants and Tools
-26 Types of Zombies

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

As in the first Miss Teri Tale mystery, Miss Teri Tale: Vote 4 Me is deep in mystery and political rivalry. Miss Teri after a successful run, with her latest novel, thanks to the kidnapped dog, Jason, is now fully immersed in her new life in Peeking Town and its suburban idiosyncrasies. She is helping her neighbors take care of their dog, filling in for the dog groomer, breaking in and searching homes. This time around she is more familiar with her neighbors but as in any small town there are always new people moving in.

Miss Teri Tale: Vote 4 Me is a hidden object Mac game with mini puzzles cleverly incorporated into the main play. You begin in Teri’s home searching for her notebook. The spiral notebook will list the hidden objects you must find in each scene. In every room there will be 3 clovers to find and use as hints. Next you will look for her cell phone. This will tell you how much time you have in your search. Then find the map and you can click on it to tell you where you are in the town. There is a set amount of time you have to search each scene, but this should not be a problem since you will have more than enough hints if you find the clovers.

A different seek and find play is not in a room, but on Teri’s computer desktop. You will need to find all the Jason files and put them away, and the emails will let you know what you need to do. The blue arrow in the lower right will take you to her diary. In addition, the ballot box will let you know who votes for whom.

There are a few action games in between the hidden object plays. When you get to Karma Pet Shop you are asked to take over the duties while the proprietor goes on an errand. You will need to bathe, dry, groom and feed the dogs. You must do it before they get impatient or you will be starting over again. As in the first game, you will be asked to figure out combinations on locks to enter someone’s home or locked room. There’s also a shooting game with anti virus nurses shooting computer “bugs” entering your computer one by one.

Miss Teri Tale: Vote 4 Me is a fun hidden object game with a lot of side puzzles very similar to the first version. The scenes are clear, almost like photographs, and the objects are not all easily visible, but always enjoyable to search for. This Mac game is lively and interesting to play. Take some time and get to know the wacky characters in Peeking Town, USA by searching their homes and getting their votes.

Features of Miss Teri Tale: Vote 4 Me:
-55 Scenes
-Mini Games
-Who will become Mayor?

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Would you like to own a battle droid? How about two or three? How about an armada of laser firing pillboxes of doom? In Droid Assault, the choice is yours, take a lone warrior bot into battle or bring the whole gang. Droid assault is an arcade-formatted shooter that allows players fight off numerous amounts of droids in a cybernetic world. Run around firing laser at the waves of enemies or better yet make some of those enemies your allies. The story line to Droid Assault is simple: make it through enemy droid levels of doom without losing all your droids and you succeed. The only other thing left to do is continue to survive the onslaught of more opposing droids and more obstacles in the way that just seem to never get any easier. Along with that the controls are not for the laidback type of gamer. In fact the multitude of shooting, aiming, and running around is tough to follow with keys and a mouse pad at first. However many experienced gamers will just relate the controls to a PS3 or Xbox controller and adapt to the funky feel over a few practice rounds.

Fear not readers, the game is not a fight to always progress past one difficult level with handicapped controls. Instead the farther one goes in Droid Assault is usually determined by their tactics at the start of the game. By utilizing your transfer power and taking a few hits to defeat everyone, the end result is the vaporization of anyone that stands in your way.

A key factor in succeeding in Droid Assault is the hacking power. By transferring a robot’s power into another robot, the hacking process allows control over any enemy as long as the player has more transfer abilities to spare. This lets players to rear an army of buddies that waddle around the screen getting into trouble or fighting the enemy. This seems infinite at first, but little did I realize that the power should be used sparingly. The essence of success comes with not only with the mass destruction of all the other bots, but with patience and wits on the machine battlefield the loss of your guys compared to the level makes the chances of winning that much more.

Overall Droid Assault has the feel of an arcade game that has me putting in more and more quarters to be able to grab a high score that I can brag about. The thrill of dodging lasers while hijacking foes is quite addictive and has me wanting more. Droid Assault gets 4 out of 5 stars for its break fast pace and boxy little death-bots.

 Features in Droid Assault include:

-50 Levels of mayhem
-48 Types of droids
-20 Different weapons of destruction
-17 Kinds of powerups
-4 Boss levels
-High Scores that are worth fighting for!

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Monster Town is under attack by evil monsters in Mac game Zak and Jack: Showdown at Monster Town. It is a colorful, fun shooter game full of action and speed. There are good monsters and bad monster in this comical play, and you must help Zak and Jack, two good monsters, defend their beloved Monster Town. The 2 of them are creative inventor types who can rig up shooting machines in order to beat down the massive invasion of the enemy.

The play is simple and straightforward with the crazy contraptions used to defend the town. Just click to shoot while you move Zak and Jack up and down on their invention. It’s not as easy as it sounds because the evil villains constantly at different positions keep coming at you until you shoot all the monsters. After each level the swarm of bad guys increases exponentially rising high and low.

In addition to this mega invasion there are the bosses who can cause much harm and havoc to the invention causing you to lose the level and restart. Don’t fret, keep at it and you’ll eventually beat the levels getting a high percentage of accuracy. This percentage is important to complete each level so don’t shoot willy-nilly at anything. You can always get good power-ups to assist your fight, but beware of the red ones. They are not helpful.

Zak and Jack: Showdown at Monster Town is an arcade, shooter Mac game with so much action you’ll need to take breaks after so many levels or you’ll get completely exhausted with finger cramps. You need to be able to think fast and act even faster in order to outsmart the countless invasion of evil monsters. Take the challenge and help Zak and Jack defend their Monster Town.

Features of Zak and Jack: Showdown at Monster Town
-5 Episodes
-Lots of Monsters and Bosses
-Power-ups

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

We, at Macgames.org, decided to change it up a bit, and videotape a blogger playing Mac game Atomic Cannon instead of writing about it. The variety and originality of the weapons are a strong draw in this army game, but the ultimate goal is to win your wars. In order to win, you take your knowledge of physics and aim your tank at the correct trajectory and power to hit your opponent. You take turns shooting at each other, but if you miss, you don't need to worry since it takes multiple times before you or your opponent can be destroyed.

The graphics although simple are impressive when large chunks of earth are destroyed by a bomb.  The landscapes are changed with the multiple bombings between you and the enemy.  Other weapons will build up land creating a high mountain. Some weapons will affect your enemy over time like the radioactive bomb.

The sound effects are terrific and authentic to the play. Atomic Cannon is an awesome play without the usual blood and gore. It's different but still loads of fun. Hope you enjoy the show.

Features of Atomic Cannon:
-85 Weapons
-26 Landscapes
-Multiplayer Mode

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Air Assault is a game that is really retro and really cool. This action-arcade helicopter shooter reminds me of the classic arcade shooters where you basically shoot at will to destroy everything in your path. Air Assault is very simple and easy to play, the only directions that are needed are given at the beginning of every game. You use the mouse to control the airplane, left click shoots bullets, and right click shoots missiles. I would recommend turning down the sensitivity of your mouse (if it is up too high) because the helicopter does fly around wherever you drag the mouse.

What makes the game interesting is the ten different types of power-ups that are provided. These include blue wrenches that fix your helicopter, blue shields that add strength to your hull, a yellow lightning that makes your guns more powerful, a yellow double gun that adds a second gun, orange rockets that add more rockets, purple squares that auto aim the guns, purple stealth bomber that gives you invisibility and a secret purple marker that you will have to play the game to find out what it does.

Gameplay is simple. Try to make it through the level as you destroy as many enemies and scenery (barracks, bridges, antennas, etc.) to gain as many points as possible. Like all arcade games, you have a certain amount of lives to make it through the level. You can see the damage to your helicopter in the lower left corner, as green means your ok and red means you are in bad shape. I thought this was a cool feature as most games like this would generally only have a gauge that calculates the amount of life. Air Assault tells you where and how bad certain parts of your aircraft are damaged. Just a neat little feature that enhances the game. Although I only played the demo, I thought it seemed a little easy, but I think it gets progressively harder as the game continues. Other than that, I had no other problems and give Air Assault four and a half stars out of five.

Features of Air Assault:
- Classic Arcade style Helicopter shooter
- 32 different enemy types
- 10 different upgrades

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

You are a rookie pilot sent to the outermost section of the galaxy known as Kenuriam. Everyone knows nothing good comes from that system. You are wary but take on this assignment for the good of planet Earth and mankind. You fight hard and furious against the invading alien Insectus race with your lone ship. They come at you in different waves of every formation known in outer space. Some move horizontally and vertically, while others will loop, stall, swoop and circle around the dark, starry sky in ominous patterns. They’ve also sent their biggest and baddest bosses to wipe you and earth out of the universe and beyond. Luckily there are power-ups galore and the weapons of mass destruction are available to you if you can catch them. They are missiles, mines, nuc bombs, 500 points, time and more to help aid you in your quest.

The game board is an overhead view of your space ship at the bottom of the screen. The never ending, spiraling enemy attackers will try to overcome your single ship and gain access to Earth. Be sure to post your highest score on the worldwide Hall of Fame.

Star Defender 3 may be similar to the old time arcade shooting games but with its fantastic graphics and more power-ups than you can imagine, the play is still intense, frantic, frenetic and just plain addictive. The only thing that will slow down your play is the hand cramps you get from shooting an infinite amount of alien devils.

Features of Star Defender 3:
-8 Huge Missions
-Progressive System of Bonuses
-Aliens to Blast

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Swarm Gold is an outerspace action shooter that puts you in the pilots seat! Take your little space ship and try to collect all the EZT coins in your sector of the galaxy. When you have collected all the blue EZTs you can go to the exit portal, which allows you to continue on to the next level. Along the way, you encounter all types of obstacles which try and stop you from completing your mission. These include asteroids (large and small) and many different alien creatures. The creates you encounter range from the small and manageable Clag Scouts to the dangerous Clag Bots. It would be wise to avoid these aliens and especially look out for the Death Worms which is the most vicious, intelligent and deadly creature in the game.

There are four different levels of difficulty in the game (Kids Mode, Normal, Hard, and Insane). After you choose your difficulty, you can proceed on your campaign and begin playing the more than 100 different levels that Swarm Gold has to offer. In addition to the multitude of levels, there are all kinds of power-ups scattered throughout the game. These include shields, free lives and of course, weapons upgrades. The initial gun that comes on your ship is useful, but is also slow and needs time to hit the targets. You can find all kinds of other guns, like assault rifles, shotguns, autoguns, flamethrowers and mines that will aid you in defending your ship. Additionally the game has a multiplayer mode that allows for up to eight players. I am not sure exactly how this works but it seems like a cool idea and definitely is something that enhances the replayability of Swarm Gold.

Personally, I really liked this game. It was a simple point and click shooter, where shift propelled you into space. This was a cool idea but one should definitely use a mouse because the pad on a keyboard is a little cumbersome. I also had some difficultly avoiding asteroids, which pop up in inconvenient places. It is nice to have some obstacles, but when I am taking more damage from inanimate objects instead of the enemies, I think something needs to be changed. Maybe it was just because I wasn't using a mouse, but that was a big problem for me. What I did like was the blue and red cursors that pointed your ship in the correct direction. The blue cursor led my ship to the nearest EZT and eventually the exit portal. The red cursor was equally as helpful, as it pointed out an enemy that was near. Overall, this was a solid game and I would give it four out of five stars.

Features of Swarm Gold:
-Over 100 Levels
-Enemy Aliens
-Lots of Weapons

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

With Easter and spring on the way it’s time to play Mac arcade shooter game Chicken Invaders 3: Revenge of the Yolk Easter Edition. Chicken Invaders 3: Revenge of the Yolk and Chicken Invaders 3: Revenge of the Yolk Christmas Edition are exactly the same play as the Easter edition but with different seasonal graphics. I’ve played all 3 and they are all fun to do. You can’t go wrong with any or all of the games. Shooting at chickens never gets old.

The story for those of you who have never played Chicken Invaders is about alien chickens who are sick and tired of their earth bound kin being taken for granted and eaten as chicken burgers. They are, to say the least, furious with you especially since you have defeated them in the past when they tried to attack earth and the planetary system. Now they are going for the entire enchilada and attacking the whole universe. They also have their secret weapon the Yolk Star.

The play is to take your tiny and lone spaceship using the arrow keys, mouse or pad to maneuver up and down and side to side to shoot at chickens and avoid deadly objects like the eggs, meteors and Easter baskets. In addition to the shooting you have to catch all the goodies that float down to the bottom of the screen. Catch if you can the drumsticks, chicken burgers, coins, roasts, power-ups and bonuses. If you catch enough chicken parts you will get a missile. You can use your missile by right clicking or using the spacebar.

The giant bunny takes a few rounds of ammunition to conquer but keep at it and you will defeat the rascally rabbit. There are other large enemies to defeat like the robotic space pods and bosses.

I never tire playing these type of shooter games with its big bosses, 13 medals, 12 star systems, great effects, funny cartoons and intergalactic story. The only negative I have with the Easter version is the green eggs the chickens drop with the green laser you are shooting got a little confusing and I lost a life because of that. Minor, but irritating. You have limited lives to play the game and you don’t want to lose them because the egg and laser look alike when you are in a fast pace frenzy. So shoot down your Easter chickens in their orderly formations and laugh your way through the Milky Way in Chicken Invaders 3: Revenge of the Yolk Easter Edition.

Features of Chicken Invaders3: Revenge of the Yolk Easter Edition:
-The Giant Bunny
-Bonus Rounds and Power-ups
-Funny Story

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Sweetopia is the perfect balance between an exciting story line and a great play. In this Mac game Kate Gainsborough is re-opening her grandfather’s old candy factory, but runs into many problems. One disturbing hurdle is the 2 sherbet sizzle candies if they should collide will blow up the building and destroy all of Kate’s hard work. Your job is to keep these 2 orbs away from each other by matching 3 or more like color candies to pop them with sphere launchers.

The play is the same 3 or more orbs to explode before the sizzles collide. This is a fun, action game with cartoon strips conveying the story between each level. There are blocks getting in your candy launcher’s way making it impossible to shoot the candies. In later levels there’s a second turret to use if you need it. Moving back and forth from one launcher to another is great fun. You feel like you are in control instead of shooting and ricocheting off of equipment haphazardly. A flashing orb will destroy any color for a while, more action is created from undulating blueberries, and orbs with question or explanation marks will provide surprising power-ups.

The music is very dramatic adding to the intense action and story going on all around you. You get involved in the fast action, frenetic pace of the moving candies snaking down the conveyor belts. The cartoon-like strip is an ideal way to move the story line along with its anxious and frantic characters. You can feel their concern and Kate’s confidence in their funny conversations. There’s an Arcade mode in case you just want to play the game without the story.

Sweetopia is like many other orb moving match plays like the Luxor series and Sparkle, but it has its own flair to its play and tale of Kate’s possible fateful ordeals. I like the candy shooting of this manic play and enjoy the peculiar individuals in this Mac game. The actual play is simple to learn, but as the levels go up, the challenging factor increases. Try this awesome game for some old fashion match 3 play.

Features of Sweetopia:
-7 Power-ups
-Bonuses
-14 Candy Types

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Fly away in the fast paced life of space and aliens in the intense shooter Warblades. Closely related to old arcade scrolling shooters, waves of enemies flow down the screen firing at your ship as you duck and fire while moving left and right. As levels progress, more enemies with more firearms along with more power-ups appear. Warblade takes Space Invaders also a little farther by giving the spaceship the ability to upgrade with money earned from certain dead enemies.

Warblade is a quality game with a lot of replay value. The high score system and fact that players can set high scores with only three lives makes the craving of the game all the better. Two-player mode also makes the player feel they are back in the arcade mashing buttons with their buddy all those years ago. Warblade takes a traditional style of games and does not go off so far as to ruining it.

Personally I would give Warblade a 4.5 out of 5 stars due to appreciation of similar games and the fact that it was down right fun. Warblade is a pure arcade game that deserves praise and status as a competitor for all the past scrolling shooters that have come and gone in the video game world.

Features of Warblade:
-100 Levels
-Uncover Secrets and Bonus Games
-Use Strategy
-Beat the Bosses

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars