#4 TRANSFORMERS: Time to Roll Out and get some PRIME Cuts of Spectacular Sci-Fi Thrills and Rampaging Robo Action on your TV!!!

Guru's always been a HUGE fan of Giant Robos bashing the wiring outta each other while creating city-wide carnage on a mega-ton scale. That's why Transformers tops his list of Cult Robo Action, 'coz these bad-ass dudes morph from Robots into Cars, Trucks, Planes, even freakin' Robo-Dinosaurs... It just don't get better than that!!!

Earlier in the year we had some cool Transformers mayhem on our consoles with Activision's Transformers: Fall of Cybertron, which - in my opinion starred - those wicked Dino-Bots (part Dino, part Robo, all AWESOME!!!) in an explosive battle to save their planet. It was pretty cool stuff, too bad the same can't be said about the crop of Transformers blockbusters that pollute our cinema screens. Sure, they blow loads of stuff up and we get to see lots of big robots, but the battles are almost incomprehensible, flushing most of the fun down the toilet where they probably best belong...

The good news for Transformers fans, and for Giant Robo nuts in general, is that Guru has uncovered a lesser known Transformers gem that's spreading it's metal scraping, steel sparking, duco denting, building bashing, explodernating version of robo entertainment on both our TVs and videogame consoles.

It's called Transformers Prime, and if you haven't caught it yet, you don't know what you're missing out on! This unbelievably wicked anime TV series is released by the guys at MadMan and is available in a complete 'Season One Collection' on both Blu-Ray and DVD. Trust the Guru when he says that this series is freakin' awesome, or better still why not check out one of the Episode Collections (there are 5 Volumes & Volume 1: Darkness Rising is a great place to start) which are currently bargain priced and see for yourself...

Just to give you an idea of how much awesomer than the mega-budgeted Hollywood flicks this is, Darkness Rising not only has the Transformers and Decepticons we all love and hate, but also mashes in a gonzo storyline that involves giant Robo-Zombies. Un-freakin-believable!!! You'll never see that on a cinema screen... Still not sold?

Well how about WWE Legend Dwayne Johnson a.k.a. 'The Rock' voicing one of Optimus Prime's buddies? His name is Cliffjumper and his vehicle disguise is a pimped-out muscle car complete with Bull Horns over the grille. Plus he's brimmin' with The Rock's 'tude ready to take on the Decepticons all by his lonesome. Yep... this show's over-the-top in a really good way and should not be missed. With around 572 minutes of Transformer thrills spanning across 26 episodes in the Season One Collection, you won't be getting bored anytime soon - it gets Guru's BIG fat Stamp of Approval!!!

 

Now if you wanna get a bit more involved in your Transformers Prime adventure. That is, you wanna take control of your fave Transformers and cause all manner of destruction and smash 'n bash mayhem, Activision's Transformers Prime videogame is the way to go! Released on Wii, DS, 3DS, and on WiiU (Nintendo's latest console) players will have their hands full with the videogame based on the show.

Players will play as all their fave Autobots, from Optimus and Bumblebee, to Bulkhead and Ratchet. It's all about driving, brawling, and blasting as the Transformers battle against the evil Megatron and his Decepticon minions.

It's an epic campaign to save the Earth and a completely original story arc set in the Transformers Prime universe. But the icing on the cake is the Multiplayer Challenges which allow you to go 'toe to toe' against your family and friends to see who's the toughest Transformer of all, making this fantastic fun for everyone!

 

 

#3 - TENNIS: Wanna be a Tennis Hot Shot? Here's an App-tastic way to Slam Across the Galaxy and it's Totally FREE!!!

 

Hey there Dear Readers... Sorry about the delay on the Guru's Holiday Hits instalments, but like everyone else in this wild and woolly Universe, we discovered things going totally mental over X-mas and New Year!!! After all Guru's family commitments, eating an absolute ton of food, opening pressies, giving pressies (oh, did I mention falling over and spraining my wrist, so I wasn't allowed to type - Doctor's orders) and all that happy, happy, joy, joy stuff... this is my first lob back to the blog and we're in for a real treat!

 

 

Guru's never been a real fan of Sports videogames and to be honest finds watching the Tennis and Cricket about as exciting as watching paint dry (joking... sorta) on an overcast day. But when he discovered this Freebie iOS App (and doesn't everyone love a Freebie?)... Well, he had to eat his words because he actually had stacks of fun with it. In fact, he finished the whole first world and won the Jurassic Cup in one sitting, no mean feat, even for the 'Guru of Gaming'!

 

 

The name of the game is 'MLC Tennis Hot Shots Galaxy' and it's the uber-entertaining follow-up to last year's Tennis Hot Shots. The great thing about Hot Shots Galaxy is it tears a page outta the Mario Gaming Rule Book, adding awesome fantasy themed courts/worlds/tourneys. There are three of them: Jurassic, Spooky, and of course Galactic, each of them slowly turning up the difficulty as you progress and hone your Tennis skills.

 

In addition to the themed worlds, there are also cheeky little distractions to try and throw you off your game. In the Jurrassic Tourney it's a huge Brontosaurus that ambles by and a Pterodactyl that really peeved me off, pinching the ball whenever I'd set up the perfect shot... or at least, that's what I keep telling myself! Spooky has Lightning Flashes and ball pilfering Ghosts, while Galactic sports a floating Astro Dog and ball abducting Aliens, which - trust me - is definitely more fun than an anal probe... Not that I'd know from experience; just going on what I've been told, and what I've seen in too many re-runs of X-Files...

 

 

There are also some brilliant Special Moves/Power Ups to be pulled off, via activating a special touch button at critical points during the matches. Stuff like Mega Forehand, Sonic Boom, Lightning Lob, and Atomic Wedgie... er... I mean Atomic Smash, all of which can give you the edge to defeat your opponents if your fingers are nimble enough. These can be purchased with coins/points earned by playing the matches and are successfully pulled-off by touch-tracing special patterns on the screen as quickly as possible. Likewise, successfully returning a ball with this Special Move Mojo on it, involves successfully tracing a squiggle quickly and then slamming it back down the court - all of which makes this a hell of a lot more exciting than your typical game of Tennis.

 

 

Best of all, this puppy is made here in Melbourne, Australia (Guru's home town), by the guys at Millipede. That, and of course, the fact that you can pick it up for Free at the iTunes store. How freakin' humongously, AWESOMELY, AWESOME is that??!!! Oh, by the way, the game has been developed to promote the immensely popular MLC Tennis Hot Shots program run by Tennis Australia (http://hotshots.tennis.com.au/) and Guru's not the only fan of this fun App. Aussie tennis superstar Alicia Molik is the ambassador for both the program and the game, giving them her personal stamp of approval! So don't take Guru's word for it, listen to an Aussie Tennis Legend and download the game now!!!