Posts Tagged ‘Adventure’

Jasper’s Journey Review

Action, Adventure, Arcade, Platform, Puzzle | Posted by Zeke
Jul 06 2010

Jasper's Journey 2


Everyone knows cats are needed for evil witches’ brews so it should not have been a great surprise when Orlando, Jasper’s favorite pet, is snatched by a wicked hag on a lovely, sunny afternoon. Jasper may not be your typical hero type, and he may not be the smartest, swiftest or the bravest person in his small hamlet, but he is loyal to his friends and must go on a treacherous journey fighting and avoiding monsters of all sorts to save poor Orlando’s hide in Mac game Jasper’s Journey.

This is an old time scrolling platform play that everyone can enjoy. If you are new to this type of arcade play, use the easy mode until you get the hang of it. There are 3 modes for all levels of expertise. Initially the game is easy going and no problem accessing hidden areas for fruits, coins, stars, gems, golden orbs and shields. The game progresses quickly and your skill will be put to the test with the many high jumps you must make in order to get all your supplies, keys and treasures.

The blocks at first are also easy to handle especially the spikes where all you need to do is time the jump. The gnome-like guards can be shot down with ease using the X key and speed through the stone throwing birds overhead. After a couple of levels, it does get harder and more challenging. You will find that you must keep going back to search for all your objects. Nothing is too good for Orlando. Jasper is risking his life for him over and over again. There are also locked and secret areas you must explore. This is part of the enjoyment of platform games like Mario and Sonic.

The play is the fundamental platform maneuvers with the arrow keys managing your movements, Z is for jumping and X is for shooting. The fruits will give you energy and you’ll need it since shooting will drain your energy. Garner all the golden orbs, shields and treasures to keep going in the game. The gold can be used in the inns to buy supplies like fruit and shields. Remember saving a game will cost you 10 gold pieces and there are 6 different potions to help you.

Jasper’s Journey is full of items and objects to get in all the high or underground places. Mastering the jumps will advance your play by many folds because all the great and necessary things are usually placed way up high. The level ends when you reach the blue dragon. The purple dragon will take you to the island for more items.

Jasper’s Journey is a retro, side scrolling platform fun play similar to Bud Redhead. This type of game has loyal arcade followers who enjoy platform games. Even the music is retro and familiar with nice background graphics to enhance your play. Take a stroll back to the arcade era and help Jasper fend off the monsters and big bosses to save Orlando from the evil crone.

Features of Jasper’s Journey:
-Hidden Treasure Chambers and Secret Levels
-Battle Monsters
-Flying Potions
-Magic Butterfly

Rating: ★★★★☆

Styrateg Review

Adventure, RPG | Posted by musicaltrack
Jul 05 2010

strateg

Styrateg is a science fiction role player game that takes place in an ancient alternate world. In this world there are demons and other subhuman monsters that inhabit the world. It is your job as a knight to help the king vanquish these monsters and try to return the kingdom to its prior state. Choose one of four different starting characters: Beranus the skilled warrior, Clath the elvish huntress, Madame Ogg the intelligent sorceress, or Theodorick the helpful monk. Each is strong in their own way, but also have weaknesses.

The game opens when you receive a letter from an old friend in a distant kingdom. There has been a terrible plague in the country and it has infected and mutated many of the citizens. Currently the king is fighting a war against evil magic and terrible creatures. The city of Cannachdun was overtaken by the horrible disease which has turned many of the people into “cruel unholy animals who feed on the flesh of their neighbors.” No one has been able to figure out how or why this has been happening but it is your duty to help out your friend.

After reading this letter, you must go to the kingdom and find out the troubles that are plaguing the rest. The controls are easy, it is a point-and-click engine with controls on the side to determine which skill you plan on using. For example you can attack or heal depending on your skill set as well as many other options that become available as the game progresses. The game has more than sixty different quests to accomplish, and when you combine that with the different starting characters, the game provides for countless hours of gameplay.

I do like RPGs but would not classify myself as someone who plays a lot of them. This game reminded me of an old Final Fantasy, because it had a strong fantasy atmosphere. I like that idea of games like this and for me, story is one of the most important things when playing an RPG. The controls were sometimes a little confusing, as I wanted to enter a building and the character would not be able to. I also did not like how it operated in turns even when you weren’t in battle. This became a little bit of a hassle when you had more than one character in your posse and had to move them over great distances, individually. Styrateg was a solid game, but could use a little bit of a tune up. I would give the game three out of five stars.

Features of Styrateg:
- An excellent RPG
- More than 60 quests through 20 unique levels
- Countless magical items
- Strong Fantasy Atmosphere

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Mahjongg – Ancient Mayas Review

Adventure, Mah Jong, Puzzle | Posted by Zeke
Jun 30 2010

Mahjongg - Ancient Mayas 3

Whether you are a classic or adventure (story) player, you will not be disappointed with Mahjongg – Ancient Mayas Mac game. From choosing your tiles and background scenes, the game brings a relaxing and enjoyable play to your day.

The story starts dramatically with Dr. Deanfield’s recent Mayan discovery dropped to the floor by accident and revealing one of the reputed tiles of insight. There are 30 tiles in all and the professor and his colleague are immediately assigned to an expedition to recover the other tiles. This begins your exciting journey through the dense jungles of Central America from the famed Tikal temples and beyond. Mahjongg - Ancient Mayas 9

The play is to click on 2 free tiles. Tiles are free when there is no tile to the right or left. It also will be lit up with the unavailable tiles in the shadows. The object is to remove the tile that will reveal the most covered tiles. This will give you more options to match your tiles. The faster you play the more points you will garner so it behooves you to look ahead of each play to advance quickly. An addition to this game is you can match family tiles and not just identical ones. This mahjong game is a little different from many others because of its power-ups and bonus tiles assisting your play.

There is a joker tile where you are able to match it with any tile. An interesting bonus is the swapping tile where you can swap any 2 tiles’ positions. In swapping the tiles you must figure out the most strategic possible move to your advantage. The best tiles to use are the Mahjongg - Ancient Mayas 4ones with the lightning bolts. When you match these 2 tiles the level is complete. However most of the time these tiles are buried underneath all the other tiles and are unavailable until near the end of the level. There are many other pluses in this game and it is fun to discover all of them. The only minus I found with the power-up tiles is that it takes a while before you remember what each symbol represents and how to use them appropriately.

Mahjongg – Ancient Mayas is a good way to spend some relaxing time. Once you get into this play you want to continue, and if you play the adventure mode, you want to find out if Dr. Deanfield and his lovely assistant find all 30 insight tiles and how they use them. The music is appropriate to the Mayan theme and the graphics are good. Take some time and have fun with this mahjong game.

Features of Mahjongg – Ancient Mayas
–11 Variations
-3 Difficulty Settings
-Create Own Levels
-300 Layouts
-Choose Tile Sets and Music

Rating: ★★★½☆

3 Days: Zoo Mystery Review

Adventure, Hidden Object/I Spy, Puzzle, Seek and Find | Posted by Meg
Jun 23 2010

3-day-zoo-mystery

Ben is in trouble and is worried about his beloved family zoo. He contacts his favorite niece, Anna, to help solve the problem. Someone went in and stole 5 rare animals, including Anna’s favorite elephant. Uncle Ben is in China and cannot get back in time for an official inspection of the zoo by federal officers on Friday. They will surely close the facilities if they find that there are missing animals. It’s up to Anna to find the animals and resolve the mystery in 3 days. This Mac game is a seek and find/hidden object/I spy play with many side puzzles.

The main play is the seek and find/hidden object game. You go from the zoo administration building to other locations in the town like the police station and local bar. The zoo director tells Anna that the police will not do anything about the missing animals without proper documentation. Unfortunately the paperwork is in the safe and the key to the safe is in the bottom of the piranha tank. Before you can get to the fish tank, you have to search for supplies needed to get past the flesh eating fish. The hidden objects are in the director’s office. When the cursor turns into a question mark you click to get information. If your cursor turns into a hand, you can use it to move the object to one side in order to see behind the item. The hint button will help you locate items you are searching for.

Incorporated in the main play are many mini puzzles to conquer. Fishing for the key is one such game and others are finding cups and plates for the bartender, sliding numbers in numeric order and a lot more. Another interesting play zoo-2is the dinner plates with food outlined on it coming down a conveyor belt. You must select the food passing by at the bottom of the screen and click, drag the appropriate item to the platter before it reaches the customer. The plate must be full of food or the client is unhappy and you must start again. My favorite game is the donut hunt for the police chief. Some of the puzzles are simple and others are more difficult, but in any event you can skip some of the games and continue on the hidden object play.

3 Days: Zoo Mystery is not necessarily a hard game, but it is fun and I for one would like to find out what happened to the poor zoo animals. If you enjoy hidden object plays and a good mystery, try this game and solve the whodunit in 3 days and save the family zoo.

Features of 3 Days: Zoo Mystery:
-Detective Story Line
-27 Levels
-54 Mini Games
-Solve Mystery and Reveal the Criminal

Rating: ★★★½☆

Youda Farmer Review

Action, Puzzle, Sim | Posted by Zeke
Jun 21 2010

Youda Farmer 6

Mac game Youda Farmer is an extensive, moving (literally) sim play. The game encompasses not only your farm with multiple products to sell, but it also involves the village where you deliver to the local merchants. Keeping track of all your goods takes some doing but the challenge is so entertaining and the detailed artwork of the Youda series amazing, it will keep you playing for a long time.

The usual sim play will stay in one location and build their farm up on that spot. This is the case in Farm Mania and Fantastic Farm. Youda Farmer 4However, Youda Farmer moves in a truck (color of your choice) from each location on the farm to collect your produce and grains to the village full of shops and stores like the town bakery, pub and café. You may get a little dizzy from traveling throughout the countryside so be prepared. As you build up your farm with more crops and livestock, more shops will open up to support your farm. By doing so you earn more money to buy upgrades and improvements to your farm.

In addition to driving all over the farm and town, you need to click on the large eggs with party hats that appear magically throughout the countryside as quickly as you can so you can progress in the game. When you are delivering the goods to the vendors, you must also go to the Party Products to click on the eggs to finish pieces of a puzzle.

With each upgrade (chicken coop, pig sty, things to increase the speed of production, etc.) you have more actions to complete and more storekeepers to satisfy with your outstanding products. Although the play becomes quite intense, your curiosity is peeked and you can’t wait to see the next new product or the newest shop in the village. This Mac sim game is more involved in its play with you driving to many sites to work in order to meet the needs of the storeowners and still stay within your timeframe. Youda Farmer is a sophisticated sim play with you growing your produce clicking on the finished products such as flour or bacon, dragging them to the crates, loading your truck and then going to the village to deliver your goods. After arriving at the village you are still clicking on the storekeepers and delivering each product. In between all your maneuvers you must click on the party products.

Whew! This game will keep your interest and give you quite a workout both physically and visually. I didn’t think you could make a different sim farming play, but Youda Farmer succeeded. I don’t know how the Youda developers do it, but they come out with completely different plays each time. They do not do the cookie-cutter games that are all so easy to do, but they come out with original, creative plays whether sim, hidden object and others. If you are going to play a sim game, Youda Farmer is the one to do.

Features of Youda Farmer:
-Crops to Grow
-Upgrades
-Challenge Levels
-Bonus Games

Rating: ★★★★☆