Video Game Mom

Wall-e is not so new anymore, but he is still so cute and fun to play. My youngest daughter was playing Wall-e, and she was having loads of fun with it. He is so cute with his funny faces, cute sayings and whining over Eve.   

Playing as Eve is fun, but you have to learn to control her. As my daughter was moving along with Wall-e, she jumped with him and Eve caught him to lift him up for a brief amount of time to take him to the designated area. Sometimes, this was a bit more trying for her, but she finally mastered it. Playing with Eve is fun, because you can use her arm to shoot your enemies, while Wall-e is moseying along his way - what teamwork!

Ratchet and Clank is a fun game that is full of colorful adventure, mayhem and all those intriguing and unique weapons. There was never a dull moment in the Ratchet and Clank games, that’s for sure!

Ratchet’s Weapons - So Cool!

One of the weapons allowed you to turn your enemy into a chicken - funny. Talk about taming the wild beast! Ratchet knew how to do that with the Morph-o-Ray. You could give the enemy a nice punch with the Walloper, which was a big punching glove. The Suck Cannon would allow you to suck up some of your enemies, depending on the size and shoot them back out. The Lava Gun was very effective and worked great, especially when battling the enemies in the fighting ring (quick way to earn bolts). Push the button on your controller and a rope of fire comes out for you to whip your enemies and mow them down. 

Collecting Bolts

Collecting the bolts to earn enough for upgrades to Ratchet’s weapons for an even more powerful impact on his enemies was time-consuming, but still so much fun. You couldn’t just go through the game in an hour and complete every thing there was to complete. The adventure story takes a while to go through, so make sure you have a memory card for your PS 2 or 3, the saves to the hard drive.

Nothing Like the R.Y.N.O.

The final weapon, which was my favorite was the R.Y.N.O. It would destroy the enemies much
quicker .. some with one blow. When you had to fight some of those nasty enemies, this is an important weapon to have.

Now, Xbox is bringing Ratchet and Clank to the Xbox 360 - and I cannot wait! That will help to ease my plans for getting a PS 3, for now. I can only imagine the achievements for that baby on the Xbox 360!

Oh … the memories of the confident Ratchet and his rhetorical sidekick, Clank. 

Photos by www.ign.com

In Super Mario 64 DS for the Nintendo DS, you have the option to play the mini games. The mini games offer a bit of a change for the game play, plus it gives you time to rest from the long journey to find Bowser and the kidnapped Princess Toadstool (Peach). 

Find the keys

Toad is responsible for the keys to the secret drawers in Princess Toadstool’s room. He seemed to have lost them for some reason or another, and he has asked Yoshi, Mario or whomever you are playing at that moment to find the missing keys, so he doesn’t get into trouble. The more keys you find for the drawers, the more of the mini games you will be able to play. 

Mini games

In one of the mini games, you match items (cards, sounds, pictures, etc.) to eliminate them - I like to play this one. I can sit there for the longest trying to match the mushrooms, stars and clouds.

Another one, you try to find hidden Luigi through the many faces on the screen. In another mini game, you have to match the heads of Mario and Yoshi to their other half on the ground below. You have to strategize with this one, because you have to figure out the best path to travel by drawing a line to help you get there. The more you complete, the more it can become quite the pain.

Watch those colors

My favorite mini game is the one with the Bob-ombs. Red and black bombs come out of two doors, and you have to drag them into the colored carpeted rooms where they belong. If you put the black one in the red room, your game will be over and vice-versa. If the red and black meets outside the rooms, boom! It’s a lot of fun to play!

I enjoy Super Mario 64 DS for the Nintendo DS, especially knowing we can take it anywhere we want to when we want to play Mario. There are no limitations, because it’s portable and can be taken anywhere - Mario to go!

Photo credit www.gamespot.com

My daughter plays Super Mario 64 DS, which is like the Nintendo 64 version. Except, you can play as Mario, Luigi, Wario and Yoshi.

The game starts out with Mario, Luigi and Wario heading to the castle, of course where Bowser is hiding, while Yoshi is snoozin’ with a big bubble coming out of his nose. Mario, Luigi and Wario don’t come back, so Yoshi has to go after them.

I was watching my daughter play Super Mario 64 DS the other night, and she was playing as the always adorable Yoshi. As I watched her maneuver Yoshi here and there to catch a rabbit, I started to laugh. It was funny to watch. 

Needless to say, she caught the rabbit. Yoshi has to stick his tongue out, not swallowing the rabbit but spitting him out. The rabbit bounces out of his mouth and begins to talk to Yoshi then gives him a key. When she kept going to the rabbit, he would tell Yoshi he wasn’t his lunch - to leave him alone.  

The Super Mario 64 for the Nintendo DS is cute and amusing. I like being able to play as Yoshi. I think he makes the game more fun, and so does my daughter.

My daughter just had a birthday, and she received her very own pink Nintendo DS. Along with the Nintendo DS, she was given several games, which she has enjoyed playing.

Playing Super Mario Bros 

Super Mario Bros is one of the games that was given to her. When she’s not playing it, I grab up that DS and play it for myself. It has been a long time since I played Super Mario Bros, and I’m enjoying it. 

Collecting the Goodies

My children and I used to play Super Mario Bros on the Nintendo and take turns going through the multiple stages and challenges, collecting the stars, coins, mushrooms and what is the funniest to me is the shrinking mushroom.

Mushrooms - Big or Small

The shrinking mushroom makes you so small you can go through the itty bitty tunnels. The giant mushroom does the opposite and allows you to grow, grow and grow as you stomp your way through and past your enemies.

Yea, Super Mario Bros. definitely brings back the memories of the simple gaming my family and I used to enjoy. I’m glad to know I can still play some of the many games I used to love to play.

Video games are for anyone, and anyone can learn to play — my sister can attest to that. You don’t have to have certain skills or an understanding of the “how to’s,” only the desire to play.

Parents Playing Video Games?

Video games seem to be increasing in popularity on a continual basis. Now, more than ever, I see parents buying video game consoles, such as the Wii, Xbox 360 or PS3 for themselves — the Wii being preferred among many of them.

Moms Love the Wii

The Wii has a way of attracting a lot of adults and parents because of the ability to physically participate in games like Dance Dance Revolution, fishing, bowling, baseball and others. Moms get right in there and have a blast playing those video games — they are so much fun!

My math instructor in college bought a Wii for herself and loves it. She said her husband prefers his Xbox 360, but she prefers the Wii with the Wii mote and Nunchuck.

Whatever or however you prefer playing a video game, there is something for everyone. You can play a hand-held video game, play on your PC or a video game console. If you don’t like the idea of sitting to play a video game, try the Wii and enjoy the challenge of participation. 

The other night, I was getting ready to play the Xbox 360 (shockingly) and saw a game I used to love to play — Bomberman. Out of all the games I’ve played, I almost forgot about this one.

Blast em’!

In Bomberman, you go through the levels blasting your way through walls, obstacles and enemies by laying down bombs (of course). As you blast them, there will be many walls, obstacles and enemies that leave a weapon behind. If they do, you can pick them up to increase your power, strength and abilities. The more you pick up, the more powerful the weapons. 

Grab the Weapons

Some of the weapons in Bomberman will the allow you to do specific things. Picking up a bomb will increase the amount of bombs you have to lay at one time, and you should collect as many as you can.

Fire causes the bombs to emit a fiery blast; a detonator will allow you to control when the bomb goes off, a life jacket/vest (silly, I know but sort of makes sense) and others. Don’t get caught, or you’ll have to begin collecting the power-ups and weapons all over again.

Bomberman not only allows you to play in adventure, but you can challenge others to see who is the last guy standing. You can play this game on basically any system or computer.  

As I was writing about the Atari 2600, I immediately went back to some of the games I played that were so much fun. Kaboom is one of them.

Simpler But Fun

Now, I know Kaboom is an older video game, but I don’t care! Some of the older games are simpler but lots of fun! Oh … the memories of Atari!

Catch the Bombs

I really enjoyed playing Kaboom, because it offered a challenge, while trying to go back and forth to try and catch the black bombs as they are dropped from above by a guy wearing stripes — watch out!

Don’t Miss!

The so-called striped villain who sits above you starts out dropping a few bombs at a time. The the more you catch, the more he drops at
a faster pace — look out! Whatever you do, don’t drop the bombs!

Kaboom is unique in its own way and is one video game I would love to find for myself to play again — and will. Kaboom, I look forward to another match!

Duck Hunt was a game my family played on the first Nintendo entertainment system. This game was a lot of fun to play and gave us plenty of laughs, especially with the snickering dog.

Super Mario Bros and Duck Hunt were two games in one. In Duck Hunt, you had to aim at the ducks that flew over you. You could choose to shoot one or two ducks at a time. When you missed, your very own hunting dog would laugh at you with the Mutley snicker. You could also choose the clay shooter, which I didn’t like. 

Video games have changed so much since the first Nintendo and Super Mario Bros/Duck Hunt, unfortunately. I wish the games could be simpler like they used to be and safer for kids but …

Mario is definitely a classic hero and one who needs a break. So, after he battling the big, bad and not so tough Bowser, Mario decides to take a nice vacation and get away from the stress of it all. Or, so he thinks.

Mario and the Island

Once Mario makes it to what he thinks is going to be peace on Delfino Island, he soon realizes he is not going to have the rest and relaxation he thought he would have. He learns he has been accused of being the one painting and vandalizing everything on the island in its entirety.

Mario’s to the Rescue

Now, we all know Mario is not the one responsible for such a thing, of course. So, he sets out to find out who is behind it all. There is a mysterious blue shadowed Mario who appears and takes the Princess (not surprising), so Mario has to venture out to rescue her as well.

Mario takes you through levels of adventure and action, as he not only rescues the Princess but discovers who the culprit is behind the painting throughout the island – Bowser’s son, Baby Bowser who is also the blue shadowed Mario.

Super Mario Sunshine is filled with drama and is fun. This game is for the Nintendo Gamecube, and who knows … we just might see it on the Xbox 360 or more likely, the Wii.