Woodle Tree Adventures (Xbox One, 2019)

Woodle Tree Adventures

Developed by Fabio Ferrara

Published by Chubby Pixel

Released for Xbox One (5/8/2019)

Also on Linux/Mac/PC/PS4/Switch

Woodle Tree Adventures was originally created by a single developer, Fabio Ferrara, and was released for PC back in  2014. The Xbox One version was ported and published by Chubby Pixel in May 2019. Woodle Tree Adventures bills itself as an old-school platformer that will take you back to good old days of Banjo Kazooie and Mario 64 with lots of jumping and collecting to be done. Without further ado, let's delve into Woodle Tree Adventures and see if it can deliver on its lofty promises of taking me back with a blast of nostalgia...

The story in Woodle Tree Adventures involves the great tree tasking you with finding 3 fairy tears on each stage in order to restore peace to the forest (or something like that). There are 6 worlds to explore, with 2 bonus levels that open up once you've collected enough berries, which act as the games collectibles. There's a decent amount of variety to the stages that no 2 feel alike, though they all feature the same task of finding the 3 tears and then taking them to the exit. In addition to the platforming and collecting, there's also some very basic combat that involves your tree character smacking enemies with his leaf. Initially, the combat feels clunky and you have to be practically on top of enemies before they drop. As you collect enough berries, you'll eventually unlock acceess to new leaves of a different color. These upgraded leaves will fire projectiles, which help make the combat more tolerable than trying to swing the default leaf right next to the enemies.

The Simpsons Game (Xbox 360, 2007)

The Simpsons Game
Developed by EA Redwood Shores
Published by EA Games
Released for Xbox 360 (10/2007)
Also on PS2/PS3/DS/Wii/PSP (11/2007)

The Simpsons franchise definitely has a checkered past when it comes to video games based on it. Other than the arcade hit from the early '90's, most of the games are regarded as mediocre or worse. I'm coming into this game as somebody who has always enjoyed the television series (earlier seasons at least) and would definitely love to play another good Simpsons title but I came into this one with low expectations, seeing as licensed properties tend to be quick cash-grabs with minimal effort put into them. I was initially very impressed at the quality of the cut-scenes, they look exactly like an episode of the show. As a matter of fact, there were several instances during these I almost forgot I was playing the game! The in-game characters look pretty rough in contrast to the superb cut-scenes, but I'm willing to cut the game a little slack due to it's old age and early release in the life-cycle of the console. I will give the developers credit for including the show's humor in the game and there were several moments throughout the Simpsons Game were quite funny.

The game-play in theory is acceptable, consisting of mostly platforming and single-button combat with some light puzzles thrown in here and there. The platforming isn't too bad and your characters have a double-jump that's easy to use. The single-button combat almost reminds me of the Simpsons arcade from the 90's with it's simplicity, but the hit detection and fighting is nowhere near as enjoyable. The puzzle segments will usually require one of the characters specific powers, sometimes requiring the use of both characters. I forgot to mention, you'll always have two characters, and if you don't have a second player then the computer will control whoever you're not using. This didn't cause too many issues for me, though the computer is rather worthless when it comes to defending themselves and will often die when left unattended if enemies are nearby. The problem with the game lies predominately with the camera controls. You will have to fight the erratic camera every step of the way, as it likes to swing about and give you terrible angles making the platforming segments a complete chore at times. The camera will go nuts if it hits a solid object and will give you problems just trying to get an angle to see what you're doing. The fact that the game made it to store shelves in this state and was never patched post-release goes to show how much EA's quality control dropped the ball on this game.

In between levels, you have an open-world Springfield that you can explore, with bus signs serving as a way to fast travel or change characters. This part of the game serves little purpose other than to pad the game out with collectibles since once you've completed the stages, you must use the main menu to go back and play them. Speaking of collectibles, there are 75 for all four characters scattered about Springfield. Whatever fun-factor the game had pretty much died completely after I beat the game and started scouring for collectibles. The camera-control issues will test every last nerve you have as you attempt to get some of the trickier collectibles.

In an effort to further pad out the Simpsons Game, the developers have included a par time to beat for each of the sixteen levels plus an additional time attack challenge for each level, in which you'll have to clear the various challenges within a given time limit. The events tend to be either item collecting or defeating a certain number of enemies. Some of these challenges are pretty decent and do an alright job of giving you some additional bang for your buck. However asking the player to beat a par time for each and every level has no place in a game of this nature, where most of the scenarios require use of both characters and speed is never really stressed throughout the game with the exception of maybe one or two timed segments. Just a completely unnecessary addition to and only the most dedicated gamers will persevere and earn that 50 gamerscore achievement for beating the times on all levels.

What could have been an above-average licensed game is brought down by one of the worst cameras I've experienced on the Xbox 360 game library. It's a shame, because there were many times throughout my time playing this game I enjoyed myself and the cutscenes are great, but the camera will prove too cumbersome for most gamers to stick it out til the end. The game has some very clever level ideas and the Simpsons humor made its transition into the game flawlessly, so fans of the show will still find something to like here. Just don't say I didn't warn you about the camera!

Final Verdict: Due to the abysmal camera, I find it hard to recommend the Simpsons Game to anybody except the die-hard fans of the show. The cut-scenes are a joy to watch, I just wish the gameplay was as good!

Purchase Links:
Search the Simpsons Game - eBay

Related Links:
The Simpsons Game - GameFAQs

Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures 2 (Xbox 360, 2014)

Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures 2
Developed by Vicious Cycle
Published by Namco Bandai Games
Released for Xbox 360 (10/14/2014)
Also on PS3/Wii U/3DS

Being a long-time fan of the old Pac-Man arcade games, I came in wanting to like the Ghostly Adventures series of games. Much like the first game, this one does not rank up with the best of them unfortunately. You can read the review of the original here and it pretty much all applies to this title since at a glance you can't tell one from the other. The game starts off in  a hub, which is one of the few areas this game actually improved on from the original. There's a bit more to see and explore, plus all of the games maps are accessed from this main hub. You're also able to view your stats on all levels which is a nice touch.

The levels themselves are pretty forgettable overall, but there are some pretty cool ideas here and there. Walking on the ceiling with the magnets can be pretty fun sometimes, but it's nothing that Lego Batman hasn't done better. The other power-ups are pretty standard fare, but I particularly hated Rubber Pac, whose intentionally bouncy controls led to quite a bit of frustration on a few stages. Trying to find all 3 of the fruits on each stage adds some replay value and is probably one of the better things going for the gameplay. It's hard to be precise with your chomping sometimes when trying to attack consecutive ghosts for a combo, which was also a problem encountered with the first game. I ran into some nasty technical issues on the Xbox 360 version, the worst of which was some really bad slowdown on a few stages in the "space world." Perhaps it runs smoothly on the Wii U, but here it seems like they hardly play-tested sections of this version. Much like the first game, Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures 2 is a decent 3D-platformer and despite the mostly uninspired level design and technical issues, there's still some fun to be had with this one if you can score it on the cheap.

Final Verdict: Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures 2 is a decent 3D-platformer that doesn't improve much from the first game, but provides more of the same. There are some technical issues with the framerate in sections, but it's still playable.

Purchase Links:
Buy Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures 2 (Digital) - Xbox Marketplace
Buy Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures 2 (Disc) - eBay

Related Links:
Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures - Xbox Overview
Bandai Namco Games - Official Site
Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures 2 - Metacritic
Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures 2 - GameFAQs
Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures 2 Achievement Guide - Xbox Achievements
Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures 2 - True Achievements

Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures (Xbox 360, 2013)

Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures
Developed by Monkey Bar Games
Published by Namco Bandai Games
Released for Xbox 360 (10/29/2013)
Also on 3DS/PC/PS3/Wii U

I've always liked the concept of Pac-Man expanding his adventures outside of the maze, which has been attempted many times over the decades of Pac's existence with success of varying degrees, but for the most part these titles are not the most fondly remembered entries of the franchise. So here we have Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures, which is based off of the children's cartoon show. I've never seen this show so I will be unable to tell you how faithful this remains to the source material, however I have been playing Pac-Man games for quite a long time so I know enough about the most important character at least.

The game plays pretty much like your standard 3D-platformer; you have a hub world where you can talk to your pals and select your stage. The levels themselves are laid out in differently themed worlds each ending with a boss battle, and they all pretty much match up to the standard cliche worlds in these type of games (ice world included!). There are a few stages that play differently, such as a side-scroller shmup type stage and one where you drive down a tunnel kind of like the bonus stages in Sonic the Hedgehog 2. These play competently enough to add a little variety to the affair.

There are a couple hidden fruits within each stage for you to find if you're into searching for collectables. The platforming aspect is above average though I feel the combat could've used some polish. It can be hard to gauge when Pac is close enough to eat the ghosts; sometimes he'll fly across the screen to eat an enemy and other times he can't get to the guy a few feet in front of him, ruining the combo streak he had going. The game has a point system and there are high scores to try to beat for every stage which could potentially add some replay value if you enjoy the gameplay enough. There are also power-ups scattered about that will change Pac's form and these are required to get past certain parts of the stage. There's ice, fire, chameleon, metal and granite ball variants of Pac-Man. The ice and fire versions can throw projectiles, while chameleon uses his tongue to swing to platforms and metal pac and stick to magnetic platforms for some upside-down action. Granite ball Pac has you rolling about and controls a bit like a poor-man's version of Katamari Damacy. All-in-all these definitely help to keep things from getting too repetitive but some of the platforming segments can be a bit annoying, particularly when metal Pac won't stick to a surface or the chameleon won't lick a platform.

That's pretty much a summary of Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures. As a fan of the Pac-Man character and the old-school arcade games, I'm not exactly crazy about some of the design choices in this one. I found Pac's voice a bit on the irritating side as he sounds like an overexcited child! There's no Ms. Pac-Man to be seen anywhere, which is a bit of a bummer considering she starred in one of the best titles of the franchise. While the game isn't bad and is an above average platformer, I didn't find anything about this game particularly memorable with exception to the multiplayer mode which has a 3D maze with one player controlling Pac-Man and up to three others playing the ghosts trying to catch him (complete with the overhead maze in the center!). I would say this game is not a bad choice for children 10 and under, though it will likely cause them some frustration and I'm not sure they'd see it through to the end without some help. The multiplayer mode can be a good time for kids and adults all the same however (Namco really should expand on this idea!). If you're itching for some old-school Pac-Man action, check out the XBLA store as there are several releases to scratch that itch.

The developer, Monkey Bar Games, was a division of the now defunct Vicious Cycle Software. They developed quite a few family-friendly games based on licensed properties for several different platforms, with Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures being considered one of their best efforts. The sequel, Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures 2 would be the final release from Monkey Bar Games. Vicious Cycle would continue to develop games up until 2015 and they would end up closing their doors in 2016.

Final Verdict: If you're looking for a decent platformer game for the kid, you could do worse than Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures. For adults, even Pac-Man diehard fans, you won't find much to hold your interest past a single playthrough. The multiplayer mode is a surprising good time as a bonus.

Purchase Links:
Buy Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures (Digital) - Xbox Marketplace
Buy Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures (Disc) - eBay

Related Links:
Monkey Bar Games - Wikipedia
Namco Bandai - Official Site
Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures - Metacritic
Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures - GameFAQs
Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures Achievement Guide - Xbox Achievements
Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures -True Achievements