The Blocky Brilliance of Minecraft Comes to XBL!!!

MINECRAFT: Xbox 360 Edition
Xbox 360 (XBL)
Single & Multiplayer
Rated: PG
Minecraft has taken the world by storm as one of the most addictive games ever made! Start playing and you’ll find it hard to put it down.

It’s a simple concept. A first-person game where you explore and build using what you find in the game world. It’s amazing! Looking at the blocky “el-chunko” retro visuals, you’d be forgiven for writing this one off. But if you did, you’d be missing out big time!

There’s little doubt that Minecraft’s mash-up of gameplay styles (including first-person adventure, creation, and exploration) just works. It’s got tons of charm too and a healthy dose of castle defense at night (watch out for those nasty Creepers!).

So now that this blockbuster has come to Xbox 360 as an XBL download, there’s no excuses for missing out on this brilliant game.  MineCraft is one of the great videogame experiences of the decade – download and play it now!!!

A FEZ-tastic Platformer That Twists Perception!!!

FEZ
Xbox 360 (XBL)
Single Player
Rated: G
Meet Gomez... a cute liitle, pixelated 2D guy, living in a flat 2D world. Or is he?

Gomez and his Fez (little red hat) must embark on a perception twisting journey hopping between 2D and 3D to overcome all manner of obstacles, in his quest to recover the lost cube fragments.

Players need to think outside of the box, shift between dimensions, experiment and explore, if they hope to discover the many hidden treasures of Gomez’s world. It’s brain-busting fun, jam-packed with humour and criss-crossed with alternate routes.

There is no right or wrong way to play. It’s all about discovery and learning from your mistakes. FEZ is easily one of the best XBL titles around!

Retro visuals, an innovative 2D/3D perspective switching mechanic (not unlike CRUSH3D), and absolutely truckloads of charm make this one a real winner – awesome stuff!!!

Freak Out!!! Your Creations Come Alive In 3D!

FREAKYFORMS: Your Creations, Alive!
3DS (Nintendo eShop)
Single Player
Rating: G
Taking inspiration from creative adventures like the innovative Drawn to Life and Spore, FreakyForms is the Nintendo 3DS take on the popular genre. This is another awesomely cool download from the Nintendo eShop which really delivers the goods.

The name of the game is to create a bizarre collection of crazy creatures called Formees and then use them to explore an obstacle filled game world. As you progress, more and more features become unlocked, allowing you to create new Formees and explore new areas.

The more Formees you create, the bigger your world becomes, making the possibilities endless. This is brilliant stuff for the creative at heart or anyone with a wild imagination. It’s stacks of fun and you can even send and receive new Formees via Street Pass and QR Code images. All in all, Freaky Forms totally rocks – wicked!!!

Awesome Algebraic Adventures With Finn & Jake!!!

ADVENTURE TIME [Collection 1]: My Two Favourite People
DVD
121 mins
Rated: PG
There’s little doubt that Adventure Time tops Guru’s list of fave cartoons of all time! If you’ve even got a passing interest in videogames, you’re sure to get a kick outta the crazy adventures of Finn and Jake in the marvellous land of Ooo. A weird fantasy world where magic is real and the Candy Kingdom (which is ruled over by Princess Bubblegum) has subjects which are walking and talking sweets of the edible kind. The show is jam-packed with lashings of bizarre humour, wacky characters, and crazed storylines.

Speaking of characters, we have the hyperactive hero of the tale Finn (a 12 year old boy who wears a Rabbid hoodie) who throws himself into every adventure without thinking and his adopted shape-shifting dog sibling, Jake, whose magical morphing abilities are only matched by his mischievous nature, as the stars of the show. You’ll also meet sweet Princess Bubblegum, Lady Rainicorn, Cinnamon Bun, Marceline the Vampire Queen, Tree Trunks, LSP (Lumpy Space Princess), and resident bad guy the Ice King who can’t help himself when it comes to kidnapping princesses. However, the most memorable has to be Jake and Finn’s roommate (they live in a Treehouse), the nerdy jack of all trades Beemo (BMO) who’s all gadgets and techno geekery. BMO is a walking talking Game Boy, mashed up with a retro Mac and a bunch of ancient videogame consoles – the coolest character by far!

Created by Pendleton “Pen” Ward, Adventure Time started out as a short, which after doing the rounds was picked up by Cartoon Network and became an instant cult hit with kids, teens, and even adults! This isn’t your typical kid’s cartoon, and as a result, it shouldn’t be missed! Hugely influenced by Videogames and Dungeon & Dragons, Adventure Time is overflowing with pop culture references and quirky humour. Even the stories play out like quests from an ancient 8-bit Role Playing Game (RPG) like The Legend of Zelda, or one of those “Choose Your Own Adventure” and “Fighting Fantasy” game books - only a little more twisted. Random events keep viewers on their toes and the adventures all have a lunatic logic that makes total sense if you go with the flow. When you’re finally hooked, you’ll find it almost impossible to sit through any episode without cracking a smile.

This is the first collection of episodes dubbed ‘My Two Favourite People’ and it contains 12 episodes on the DVD. Some of the Guru’s favourites make the cut including ‘Trouble in Lumpy Space’ where Jake gets accidently bitten by Lumpy Space Princess (LSP) and via Werewolf Rules catches the Lumps, ‘Slumber Party Panic’ where sugar craving zombies crash a castle slumber party and ‘Evicted’ which introduces us to resident goth-girl, Marceline the Vampire Queen. All in all, this is the perfect introduction to the exploits of Finn and Jake for the uninitiated and anyone who already knows the show, will probably want to add it to their DVD collection. Guru did – he just couldn’t help being a fanboy! In two words, Adventure Time is FREAKIN’ AWESOME!!! Be sure to check it out…

Also stay tuned in the coming weeks for Guru’s review of Adventure Time [Collection 2]: It Came From the Nightosphere.

A Cartoon Brawler That'll Blow Your Mind!

Cartoon Network: PUNCH TIME EXPLOSION
3DS
Single & Multiplayer
Rated: PG
CN Punch Time Explosion is an over-the-top brawler that brings all your fave Cartoon Network characters together in a smash ‘em, bash ‘em, battle to save their universes.

They’re all here and ready for action – Ben 10, Chowder, Dexter, Samurai Jack, and even the Powerpuff Girls.

You just know it’s gonna be a wild, wild ride! If you’re looking for some comic-book styled beat ‘em up action, this one’s for you!!!

Chill Out With Lumines - The Grooviest Of Puzzlers!

LUMINES Electronic Symphony
PS Vita
Single & Multiplayer
Rated: G
If you enjoy chilling-out to a bit of Electronica while solving Puzzles, the Lumines series of games will be right up your alley! Mixing some of the best electronic music from legendary artists like Underworld and The Chemical Brothers with addictive Tetris-inspired block-dropping puzzle action, this latest series instalment dubbed Electronic Syphony is gonna rock Sony’s latest handheld console, the PS Vita.

Sporting a bunch of cool new modes and features, players will now need to master fresh strategies by using the “Chain Block” and “Shuffle Block” to maximize their Combos and Block Clearing capabilities – all in all, it’s brilliant stuff! One of Guru’s fave launch titles on PS Vita, Lumines: Electronic Symphony totally rocks as a musical puzzler and is easily one of the best in the genre. Easy to pick up and play, but fiendishly difficult to master, this is an awesome, must-play Vita title!!!