MUST.EAT.BIRDS by Mediatonic Ltd.
August 4th, 2009 / Category: Addictive, Arcade, Read It, Simulation, Worth ItReview by Christopher Dambroso
One of my favorite internet memes to date is the “om nom nom” phrase, not sure exactly why but I just get a kick out of it. So when I came across the game MUST.EAT.BIRDS. and read that your character’s name is Nomster I decided to throw cation to the wind and download it solely due to the nom innuendo.
MUST.EAT.BIRDS is hailed per its iTunes store description as “the worlds first ever picnic defense simulator” and basically delivers as a casual, defense genre game. You “play” as the quirky, ball shaped monster appropriately named Nomster. The object is to defend Nomster’s delicious picnic deserts from parachuting birds of differing sizes. The game not only has a Mission Mode where you have to unlock stages one by one, but also has 4 unlockable Challenge stages too. Also, which I thought was a nice touch was that the developers added a “reset” button, which erases all scores and any achievements. I haven’t seen this feature on every game I’ve played, I do think it is an incremental positive to the replay factor.
Gameplay has you firing Nomster (technically multiple Nomsters) from a crude slingshot made from two giant forks and a rubber band. When one of your Nomsters flys into any of the incoming birds the cute little Nomster eats or shall I say noms up each bird, thus protecting the treats below. If you’re still confused or aren’t hip enough to wrap your mind around the Nom meme, gameplay for MUST.EAT.BIRDS. in it’s simplest form is Missle Command….on LSD. In Mission mode you have to either nom a certain amount of birds or score a certain amount of points, possibly both I’m still working through this mode. You can greatly increase your score by throwing two or more Nomsters into each other creating a bigger, fatter, and funnier Nomster which provides you with a score multiplier. My absolute favorite part of the gameplay is when you nom enough birds in a row without any misses, you reach a level of gaming zen called Maximum Bake. When Maximum Bake occurs every
Nomster you fire stays on the screen, usually creating a giant, hilarious Nomster that scores you a boat load of points. BUT, BUT…when you reach Maximum Bake did I forget to mention that your iPhone (in what sounds like a Japanese guy’s voice) screams “MAXIMUM BAKERY!” at you? Just building up to hear this phrase is a big hook that keeps me playing the game again and again.
The music and FX sounds are great and surprisingly fun to listen to. Once you play the game enough you find depth where some stages have only a certain number of Nomsters you are able to fire off, so timing & aiming is definitely important. I can only explain the feeling of achieving Maximum Bake to comparing it to the childhood feeling of stepping off the school bus
to start summer vacation off, yes it’s that fun and exciting.
Final thoughts…I present you with the titles of the first 2 stages in Mission Mode “To Nom a Mocking Bird” & “Close Encounters of the Nom Kind”. For that level of humor IMO MUST.EAT.BIRDS. is WORTH IT alone, along with the fun gameplay and great gaming music. So do yourself a favor if you’re on the fence about spending $0.99 for this game…put down the pack of gum or snack size bag of chips you were going to nom on and BUY THIS GAME. You can thank me in the comments section under this review later.
nom, nom, nom…WORTH IT.
*MUST.EAT.BIRDS. *was created by Mediatronic Ltd. Photos, videos, and iTunes Store link can be found by following this address: http://www.musteatbirds.com
Video: Zombie Pub Crawl by Orange Crane Games
July 30th, 2009 / Category: Adventure, Worth It, ZombiesReview by Tracy Gonzalez
If you are a fan of people in your life hating you, get this game. My 26 year old nephew turned me on to Peggle on July 4th weekend, and I haven’t seen my family since. They resent the lack of dinner-making, laundry-doing and general cleaning that used to take place P.P. (Pre-Peggle). Whatever. Peggle is my heroin and I will keep poking my skin until I can no longer find a vein.
For a mere $4.99 you too can become a Peggle addict. Brought to you by the geniuses at PopCap, this game, is well worth the cost. Even the loading screen is great. It brings to mind the famous line from Jerry McGuire, “You had me at hello…” but replace ‘hello’ with ‘loading screen’. Seriously. You’ll see.
On the surface it’s a simple game; shoot balls at pegs. Clear all the orange pegs and move on to the next level. Easy. But with each level comes new and exciting challenges. The peg patterns change and evolve until, eventually, you are trying to hit pegs within pegs within pegs – that are MOVING…and – oh no! – you’re running out of balls!
Each level has a ‘mascot’ who brings different powers. If your ball hits a green peg, those powers are activated. The dragon level gets you a fireball, the lobster level can give you claw pinball flippers and the owl level gets you “perfect Zen” (which, you will understand upon playing….it’s a great power!). Again, it makes each level different and interesting.
Peggle is never boring. The graphics are top notch, the controls are easy and simple, and the sounds are perfect! I don’t know about you, but if a game has satisfying sounds, it just puts it over the top for me. While I could play it sans headphones, I never do, because I am addicted to the little ping/pong/pang sounds each hit makes. Sooo satisfying…..
It has three modes: Adventure, Quick Play and Challenge. I’ve only played Adventure, but I’m looking forward to trying the others….
I can’t shout the praises of this game enough. I am a Peggle Master. You should be too.
