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

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

Hit the grass courts and fire off an ace in a high speed match of Smashing Tennis. The game is clear: win sets to win matches. Now all you have to do put your own skills to the test and see if tennis is indeed your sport of choice. The key to this sports game in particular is skill.

Smashing Tennis requires skills with the use of two hands on different keys of the computer. If a gamer fails to play well on their first try and decides to just give up and complain about it on other people’s blogs, then they missed the whole concept of Smashing Tennis in the first place. Smashing Tennis is not supposed to be mastered when someone presses start, it evokes a determination to evolve in skill level as players and tournaments are conquered one by one. To rise to the top of the International Tennis Association, it takes a lot more than scrolling and clicking a mouse.

Tennis is personally not my favorite sport. However arcade games of tennis  are always amusing and tons of fun. Smashing Tennis in particular is pretty entertaining as it reminds me of a 2D version of Mario Tennis. Overall I would give Smashing Tennis a 4 out of 5 stars.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Even 1000 year old forest wizards need a break now and then. This is the case in Mac arcade game Youda Fairy where the wizard protecting the people in the village is ready for a vacation of sorts. You are to train as his assistant learning to cast spells, create fairies and such to ward off the evil witch and her henchmen.

The main play is situated in a marshy, wet pond where you need to catch fireflies to make fairies. Never knew that’s the way you create fairies. You click on the lily pad with the same color flower as the fireflies and click on the bug to catch them. The flower will shoot out and gobble up the firefly. Stay away from the spikey firefly or it will decommission your lily flower for a while. So you have a blue lily flower on a pad and that flower will catch only blue fireflies. Pretty straightforward, right? Well, as in all time management type of game, it gets crazy or at least, frustrating in higher levels. Different colors will start popping up in later levels and you have to alternate colors to catch your insects. After the pad has its fill, you click on the pad to release the like color fairy. You click on the fairy and drag her to the like color lantern down at the bottom of the screen. Make sure you click on the gecko and frogs to shoo them away. The frog will incapacitate your flower and the gecko will eat your fireflies. There are more natural barriers as you go higher in the levels. Fortunately, you have helps like the sneeze spell to create more fireflies, spiders when dragged will collect all the same color fireflies in one scoop and a shield for your lily pad to ward off the pests.

Once you meet your goals (# of fairies in each color), you go to village to protect the town’s people from the destructive witch. The villagers will let you know when they need a fairy of a certain color to help them. Each time a heart of the fairy color pops up above a home, you need to click on the lantern with the same color fairies and then click again on the home before the hearts disappear. In addition to being fast on your feet, you have to deal with the nasty bad guys (witches, goblins and trolls). This part of the game reminded me of the Mac sim time management game Sushi to Go Express.

Although the game sounds easy, it is not; especially when you get up in the higher levels. I found it frustrating when you did not have a sneeze spell to create more fireflies to meet your goals. I found sometimes I was waiting around for the bugs. The pests though distracting helped move the play along. Another distraction to the main play is the building of the village with your earned points you can buy a cottage, bridge and many more sections after unlocking the upgrades.

As always, Youda developed a beautifully drawn game with deep, rich colors, but the play, although original, missed the mark for me. I would rather play Peggle without much of a story line than catch fireflies. I guess I was expecting more action than time management play. It wasn’t for me but you may enjoy this type of game. I give it a 3.0 for great artwork and originality.

Features of Youda Fairy:
-Original Play
-Help the Villagers
-Create Fairies
-Challenging Levels

Rating: 3 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

Qwak is an awesome platform/puzzle action Mac game for all those old time arcade players and anyone who wants to have a good time. With myriad of upgrades, extras and baddies to beat, you can’t go wrong with playing 70 levels in 6 different worlds.

The object of Qwak is to collect gold keys to exit to the next level. Easy, huh? No way. Before you leave one level, you must collect fruits (either stationary or raining down from the top of the screen), gems, flowers (10 will get you an extra life), and more. At the end of the level the fruits convert to eggs, and you use them to shoot baddies. There are grey and purple potions and keys. The black keys open treasure chests and the gold keys open the exit gate.

There are a lot of baddies who can topple your duck over and send him to his demise. Qwak! Not only do you need to avoid the enemies, you need to make sure the duck does not get hit by a spike ball; both small and humongous. You have to time the bubbles to elevate you to higher platforms and at the same time avoiding all the bad things dropping down on your duck.

In addition to all that there are secret sections where you have to figure out how to enter this site. You may need to pull levers, collect the right keys to go through gates and in the right order. Good luck.

If all that is not enough, you can play as one player or 2. In the 2 player mode, this is the one I like, you play along side your buddy or against him and throw the eggs at him and let the baddies deal with him. Bye, bye friend.

Qwak, with its bright and cheery graphics and fun sounds, is a challenging, entertaining platform/puzzle play. You have to have quick reaction and nimble fingers in order to get through the many levels in this fast-paced Mac game, but it’s all worth it when you save the duck! Qwak!

Features of Qwak:
-70 Action-packed Levels
-6 Different Worlds
-Single Player or 2 Player Modes

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Pocmon is a suped up version of Pacman gone wild in Mac game format. A mega fast game with a bounty of bonuses and enemies to increase your power and to thwart your every move that can blast your fun level to the cosmos. How can you beat that?

Move your Pocmon through the crazy maze eating as many dots as fast as possible and search for the larger power pills, blue ghosts, fruits, and bonuses to get extra life, speed up, glue down ghosts and for multiple scores. Wait, there’s more. Pocmon drunk and moving funny is LOL hilarious, and dynamite will blast the ghosts to the outer most galaxies of your own fantasies. Heck, go further than that by grabbing one of the Bonus Rounds to enter the bonus level.

What more do you need, you ask? What about the Duel Mode for more fun and excitement against your best buds? If your buddy loses all his lives, he comes back as a ghost. Can you ever get rid of this guy? Use bombs, guns and lasers against your friend and beat him in the game by grabbing more pills.

The games are fast, furious and fun. If retro arcade games are your thing, Pocmon is for you. Try your hand at eating as much as you can, power-up, blast your way through the maze, and beat your pal at this awesome Mac game. I did!

Features of Pocmon:
-Fast-Paced Arcade Game
-Lots of Bonuses and Power-Ups
-Duel Mode

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Arcade games are usually not my favorite type of Mac game, but Aqua Park changed my mind with its colorful cartoons, 3 game modes, merits, screensavers and fun action. What more do you need?

The story is simple. You have invented a helium tank that can encapsulate fish in order to catch them for your new aquarium park. Your cursor is the tank and you click and point on a fish to send it up to the boat. You need enough points to earn a bronze star for you to continue on to the next level. The bar at the bottom of the screen will let you know how much more time you have until your next star and the end of the level. It’s fairly easy to reach the bronze star, but the silver and gold take a little doing.

As the levels increase, so does your challenges. Sometimes you will have 2 different types and colors of fish and 2 boats. You must match the color of the fish to the color of the boat. Other times you will have obstacles like the puffer fish or sunfish that will pop your captured fish. Another block in your game will be the helium tank. It will run out quickly. You can wait until it replenishes or you can click on the tanks floating down from the ships. Other things that float down from the top are the clocks (gives you extra time), the bubble nets (float it down to where there are a lot of fish and it will trap all of them and float them to the boat), cutie pie (will stop all the fish to look at her), disco ball (the fish will start dancing), cameras (the fish will stop to smile and have their picture taken) and speed boosters (will send the fish quickly to the top). There’s so many bonuses at the beginning that you wonder what will be next.

After a few levels you earn things for your aquariums. These aquarium scenes can be used as fun screensavers for your computer. Also you will unlock other modes and challenges.

This arcade game is fun because you can get past a few levels easily without getting discouraged. Of course, the levels will increase in difficulty, but you will be able to see different backgrounds, fish and complete your aquarium park. Even though the play is repetitive, you find yourself interested in the different types of fish and objects, they can conjure up for this Mac game. It is also challenging enough for gamers who wish to be tested. You can do this by reaching the gold star every time. Finally, this Aqua Park is just plain fun and different from the many sim and hidden object games that are out there. Give it a go and see if you agree with me that it is time for a change of pace.

Features of Aqua Park:
-3 Game Modes
-Fun and Challenging Levels
-Many Fish to Collect

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

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

Bud Redhead is an action-packed, side scrolling fun platform Mac game for all ages. Its story begins with Bud and Rachel strolling through a park, and a green creature appears through a light and kidnaps poor Rachel. Bud could only grab part of the creature’s arm before the two disappear through another light. Bud is then approached by 2 grey aliens who explain to him that the green monster is Feyatta, and they, from the Cosmic Federation, are chasing him for galactic evil deeds. The electronic piece Bud grabbed from Feyatta will prevent the creature from escaping to his space ship and leaving for the unknown. They could track Feyatta, but the 2 grey men cannot chase the criminal on earth due to galaxy restrictions in interfering with earthlings. It is up to Bud to help Rachel get back and put away this desperate galactic criminal.

Bud’s adventure will take him to 4 different locations and 4 different time periods. Music also changes in each location. The places vary from a forest over 8000 years ago to a spaceship orbiting Saturn way into the future with Medieval Castles and Ancient Egypt in between.

The play is easy to pick up using the arrow keys and jumping with the control button. There are helps in forms of monitors along the way. You can stop and view them or you can ignore them. There are thousands of coins (which you need to exit the portals), jewels and fruit to get for your score. This is your basic run and jump game where you will find secret areas in each land, moving platforms, many tiered trees, levers, ropes and the dreaded but fun slippery floors.

Bud Redhead is an awesome play in the style of the Mario games. The artwork and graphics were great, and some of it reminded me of Japanese anime. The backgrounds were drawn in detail and rich colors. The ending is a big surprise. So if you are looking for an excellent family fun, try Bud Redhead and venture out into the timeless unknown.

Features of Bud Redhead:
-20 Levels of Adventure and Fun
-5 Levels per Different Worlds
-Thousands of Coins, Jewels, and Fruit
-Secret Areas
-Big Boss Levels

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Jump into the big blue ocean and swim your way to the top of the food chain in the Mac game Feeding Frenzy. Andy the angel fish must eat smaller sized fish in order to grow and reach the top of the fish kingdom. When you are small you are eaten by the larger fish so it’s imperative for you to quickly work and eat as much as possible and grow larger while keeping away from the bigger predators.

There are 2 modes of play in Feeding Frenzy: New Game and Time Attack. New Game is easier way to the top, however has limited lives. Time Attack is more difficult with unlimited lives, but it is timed. You use the mouse to guide Andy through the blue waters of the sea. By using the left click you can speed the feeding action faster using the Fish Dash attack, but you must beware of the larger fish or Andy will get eaten very quickly. The bubble above Andy’s head will let you know when you are large enough to eat bigger fish. When going on to the next level, there are interesting and educational facts about the sea. You are so into the game, you have to scan these facts quickly so you can get to the next level faster.

The bonus stage allows Andy to eat all minnows before time runs out for points. The Frenzy Meter will fill up for double points. The starfish do not help him grow but will give you points. Watch out for the Lion Fish, it can chase Andy down. Pearl will give you extra points also, but the clam can clamp down on him for lunch. Eating a school of fish will garner you 500 points.

Although Feeding Frenzy is a very simple Mac game, it is darn fun. When you have a few moments to spare, play this game just for enjoyment. You only have to think when you have to avoid the big fish. I was so into this game I didn’t check out the screen savers. This game is fun and addictive for everyone.

Features of Feeding Frenzy:
-Eat to the Top of the Food Chain
-Many Levels
-Sea Life
-Power-ups
-Screen Savers

You may also like:
Tasty Planet

Rating: 4 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

Phelios the maker of Pixie, Doulber Gold, Kaijin and many more  Mac games made Abracadabra a few years ago. We are reviewing this simple but popular game for all those who may have missed it the first time around.

Abracadabra is an action packed arcade platform puzzle game. You take the little wizard through a magical trip finding gold, potions, keys and evil creatures. The wizard with his enchanted wand uses it to make or break bricks and can help save his life. You do not want to see him die. You use the arrow keys to direct him through all the mazes with many obstacles to prevent him from proceeding to the next level. Find the key and exit through the door. The space bar will let you use his wand, and use the arrows with the wand to direct the appropriate action to the right object or creature.

It takes a little practice for non-gamers to get used to the key movements but can grasp the play very quickly just by doing. It is a great starter game for all who are new to Mac games or video games, because the tutorials (in many languages) will take you step by step through the play. However, the higher levels are quite challenging and entertaining enough for even the seasoned gamers.

This game is reminiscent of the very first 2D Mario games, and you know they are always entertaining to revisit and play again. Abracadabra is just a fun play when you do not want to think too hard. I say too hard because there are some mazes you have to strategize to exit the platform. An added bonus is the easygoing jazzy music and colorful scenes to enhance your mood to play. So meet the spellbinding challenge with Abracadabra and spend some time playing this old time Mac game.

Features of Abracadabra:
-115 Levels
-Fun Arcade, Action Puzzles
-Wizards and Mystical Creatures
-Tutorials in Many Languages

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Peggle Nights is the second installment in the Peggle series, after the original Peggle Deluxe. Although not much has changed, the developers of Peggle have definitely done something right. This game is awesome and as much as it is luck, it takes a good amount of skill to complete this game. Peggle is at heart, a pachinko game but revolutionizes the genre. Instead of dropping the ball into the game, you shoot at your target and let the ball control the rest.

The goal of Peggle is to remove all the orange dots on the board. Once a pinball hits the peg, it disappears during the next turn. Once you hit the last orange peg (there is a cool Matrix-style bullet time) wherever the ball falls in the bonus, adds to your total. You can only complete the level if you get rid of all the orange before you run out of pinballs.

There are other colored pegs as well in Peggle. Green pegs have special powers, depending on who your character is. In the beginning, you start with an unicorn that has a special bounce vision that tells you where your ball will go after hitting the first peg. The next stage is a gopher who shoots a second ball out when you hit the green. There are about 10 different characters, each with his or her own special bonus. There are also purple pegs. These are not quite as interesting but give you a boost in points (when you hit a certain amount each shot, you get a free ball). Finally, there is a bumper at the bottom of the screen. If your ball falls into the middle hole, you get a free ball.

This was one of the best MacGames that I have ever played. It was both fun and interesting, as the gameplay was simple, yet absorbing. I could not stop playing once I had begun and even though it was easy at first, it got much more challenging as the game progressed. I would absolutely give Peggle Nights five out of five stars.

Rating: 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

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

How can you go wrong with a name like Pirate Poppers? Aaargh! With its pirate theme and music what else is left but a treasure map and riches? You need to piece together a map for the location of the legendary treasure of Isla Calabera.

There are 3 modes to play in this pirate game: Adventure, Puzzle, and Arcade. The Adventure mode has 77 levels of play. In the Puzzle mode you must clear the row of balls with only a limited number of cannons, so you must figure out exactly how and where you will place these balls on the rail. In the Arcade mode you get a number of lives before losing a level.

The play is to simply shoot cannon balls at groups of colorful balls rolling on a track towards a barrel. You must aim for like color balls and shoot while the chain of cannons continues to move forward. When the balls are blasted and disappear, the cannons on either side will come together and if they are the same color and are 3 or more, they may also explode and clear the game board.

There are a lot of power-ups in this game. Some of the extras will change the color of the balls to blasting a whole slew of cannons with an explosive one. With some of the other features, the balls will move backwards giving you extra time to figure out your strategy. There is a spyglass when you are able to shoot faster and more accurately. On top of all that there are many extras you can catch with your cannon. The many jewels and treasures will give you extra points and the skull medallions will increase the number of lives.

Pirate Poppers is very similar to Zuma, Sweetopia and Luxor where you shoot at orbs coming down a tube-like conveyor belt. This is an action packed arcade Mac game with pirate cannons, treasures (gold, silver and jewels) and much more. You’ll have fun just sitting back and shooting cannonballs out into the chains of multicolored spheres. This game takes some strategy and thinking, but on the most part it is just an enjoyable game to kick back and shoot.

Features of Pirate Poppers:
-Pirate Theme
-6 Power-ups
-Treasure
-77 Levels

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Pixie is a new, exciting Mac game produced by independent game developers, Phelios, Inc. and EMV Software. It was created with the PTK Game Engine. Phelios is a popular maker of PC and Mac games such as Doulber Gold, Kaijin, Abracadabra and many more. A couple of EMV Software’s best selling games include Warblade and Deluxe PocMon. The two developers collaborated and created Pixie, an exceptional and varied game play with sophisticated graphics and animation by Paul Conway, music and sound effects by William Lamy at audiobank.fm.

The game begins with Pixie, the main character, spending her day playing,  flying in the magical forest and meadows not realizing that nightfall has quickly befallen her. Not only is it dark and scary, there are a lot of ominous looking creatures following her. In order for Pixie to escape this dark and dreary environment and return to her lovely home and friends, she must use her magical beam to surround the creepy crawlers and buzzing flying insects in the maze and create a beautiful garden filled with flowers, butterflies, leaves, mushrooms and colorful patterns, and in turn, destroy the night bugs. After filling 85% or more of the maze with Pixie’s magical powers using her rays (the direction of the beams can be changed by right clicking the mouse or by pressing the space bar) she moves on to the next level/maze.

In the process of killing off the creepy crawlers and frantic insects, she can collect gold coins and different magical powers. If enough gold coins are collected, they can be used in the magic shop to purchase different levels of power. The shop is available at every 5th level if she has 3 or more gold coins. Hitting the return key will reveal the contents of the purchases from the shop. There are some great items in the store such as Extra Life, Smart Bomb, Shot Speed, Freeze, Ghost, Shield and Health potion. It’s really advantageous if you have a lot of coins to spend on these worthwhile helps. They can extend and add to your play.

In addition to the shop powers, there are bonuses flying all around, both good and bad, to enhance or hinder Pixie’s power. These bonuses can be extremely powerful, such as the smart bombs which will destroy many bugs in it’s path and turn them into gold coins, but she must be wary of the red bombs which will destroy all the good patterns that Pixie has already covered. Another great bonus is the reverse filler. When Pixie aims her beam to cover a small area, this bonus will cover the larger area or the opposite, bigger space. A good bonus is the fast shot, but Pixie must watch out for the bad bonus the slow shot or speed. When Pixie is moving in slow motion, it is extremely frustrating to avoid the insects or maneuver her shots so don’t get caught in that bonus, because it is not a good thing.

Another way to cover the dark game board is to aim Pixie’s beam to divide exactly 50% of the space and by doing so, the entire board will fill with the beautiful flowers and good things in life. This is a fast and rewarding way to finish one level. Only if all the levels were like that, but if they were, then the game would not be as challenging and exciting as it is with the different shaped (rectangles, circles, irregulars, houses, faces, etc.) game boards and the many and varied evil villains both crawling and flying. The developers have balanced the frenetic speed of the play in each level. Some will be fast paced and the speed of other levels will be almost relaxing, but you always need to be wary of the insects.

Each level becomes more and more difficult to beat the ever increasing and faster bugs. Yuck. When Pixie begins to get a rhythm and is avoiding the deadly flying insects, an insignificant caterpillar will come along and destroy her, or she will get entangled in the deadly spider webs making it almost impossible to collect the gold coins, or a nasty bug will undo all of Pixie’s beautiful work. Eventually she reaches 2 boss levels. This is when the fun is exponentially increased to a whole new level. All the gamers out there will be pleasantly surprised or dismayed, but will quickly get into the swing of things by trying to figure out your strategy. You will have to use all your past gaming knowledge in order to destroy the bad guys. I won’t go into it any further so as not to ruin your fun, but you’ll know when you get there what I’m talking about.

Pixie will become a classic game like Mario with all the expertise needed to conquer all the evil arthropods created by the manic game developers who have put together one awesome game. Don’t let the cute and petite Pixie fool you. She can be very powerful and deadly with her magical aim. Casual gamers and children will be able to go far in this game, and by doing so, will develop more skills in order to reach Pixie’s home, and hardcore gamers will find the challenge and difficulty levels as well as a fun, reminiscent and exciting play.

*As of 4/09 there are new upgrades: new bosses, new bonuses (incl. a 100% fill bonus!), new effects, more gold coins.

Pixie Features:
100 levels
2 Boss levels
Gold coins
Potion Shop
Good and bad bonuses
Online high scorers
Great graphics, sounds effects and music
Upgrades are free

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars