Review: Marvel Pinball (Multi)

I am an admitted fan of pinball in whatever form readily available, so Marvel Pinball should be right up my alley. With that said, and a voice that mischievously alludes to disappointment, I absolutely love Marvel Pinball. It isn't perfect -- Iron Man says something inappropriate to a young lady other than "hi." -- but you get plenty of bang for your buck and the tables really utilize their video game format.

If you played any Pinball FX tables previously, you already know exactly how the Marvel tables feel, and now you are beginning to wonder why they're so special. Yes, the license is part of the fun and a Marvel fan will find more enjoyment than a Bizarro Marvel fan, a.k.a., a DC fan. Putting the license aside, the tables are simply designed in a way that could only work in a video game, creating unique tables full of memorable moments and elevated action -- a horrible attempt at a joke.

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Review: TNT Racers (Multi)

The first thing I noticed as I played TNT Racers was the lack of any TNT. There are many weapons of mass (and minor) destruction, but I was irrationally disappointed by the lack of trinitrotoluene. Now that I got the misleading title out of the way -- the 'TNT' actually stands for 'Tracks N Tricks' -- let me just say that TNT Racers is surprisingly good, while being expectedly unimpressive at the same time. That last sentence may be hard to judge, so let me elaborate in the form of a new paragraph.

TNT Racers is a racing game -- obviously -- and varies from pure races to battle races to solo, time-based races. This game came out of nowhere and I honestly didn't expect much, but I was, for the most part, pleasantly surprised. The vehicles control rather well, but they also control exactly the same. There is absolutely no variety in vehicle choice, other than cosmetic differences.  It isn't a huge deal, but the lack of variety takes away what could have been an added layer of depth and strategy. There are plenty of weapons/items to grab while racing, but even these never feel like enough.

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Quick Hit: Catherine

My impressions of Catherine will be very limited, as I am not capable of reading or understanding Japanese; however, I felt compelled to throw out some quick impressions from my time with the game. For those unaware, Catherine is the newest game from the team most recently responsible for the Persona games and if you know me, you know that I adore the Persona series.

I immediately fell in love with the visuals, which inevitably sent my imagination running towards the idea of Persona 5 in this engine. The game is not a technical masterpiece, but it has a beautiful style that feels closest to a midpoint between traditional cel-shading and the watercolor aesthetic of Valkyria Chronicles. The game sports the usual anime cut-scenes found in the Persona games, but the in-game visuals are, for lack of a more creative word, beautiful. There is no way I am not coming off overly exuberant, but the visuals were a pleasant surprise and screenshots fail to convey the game's beauty.

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Super Pixelated Meat Sausage Giveaway of Deliciousness

Updated on Sunday, February 20, 2011 at 4:30AM by Marc Kusnierz

Disclaimer: little Charile Blackmore is not included. (a.k.a., there is no more little Charlie Blackmore)

Hello ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Super Pixelated Meat Sausage Giveaway of Deliciousness! I have no idea as to what I just said, but I am holding a rather large giveaway/contest. This contest will be open from now [2/14/11] until March 3, 2011, and winners will be announced at the end -- a few prizes may go out randomly during the giveaway. Before I start talking prizes, let me give you the requirements for entree in this here event.

• 1. You must register HERE at Pixelated Sausage [dot] com.

In order to be part of this giveaway, you have to create an account. Don't worry, this site is only controlled by the man currently typing. I will not be giving out your information or any shady crap like that. I simply want to grow a user base and get some [not free for me] exposure. Also, I will be giving away games/prizes in the future -- just randomly here and there -- and I will be doing this exclusively through the site.(a.k.a., only members will be eligible to win.)

Click for the full details and, more importantly, the prizes!

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Review: Stacking (Multi)

Stacking is the latest game in Double Fine's recent foray into the downloadable space -- Costume Quest was their first. This has been one of my most anticipated games and while I do enjoy Stacking, I can't help but feel a tad disappointed. Keep in mind that my disappoint doesn't mean I dislike the game -- I actually rather enjoyed my experience -- I just didn't fall madly in love with it.

Right from the start, the art (unintentional rhyme) and style hit all the right notes. Stacking is a beautiful game and pulls off the Russian nesting doll look perfectly. The designs, animation, and overall feel  give off vibrations that this is a real world, filled with real, live nesting dolls. I don't know about you, but my mother owned quite a few sets of nesting dolls and I played the blackmore out of them. Yes, Charlie Blackmore is the main character and that was my pathetic attempt at humor. All I can say is that Stacking managed to transport me into my childhood and I never doubted that I was in a real world, which just happened to be inhabited by nesting dolls.

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A pixelated prelude to a mighty giveaway

Hello my loyal loyalists. Pixelated Sausage will be running a little giveaway soon in celebration of the recent updates and additions. This is primarily to help promote the site and get people to sign up for the newly implemented account system. So, why am I telling you this now? Because I want to give a better chance of "a winner is you" to my original fans/supporters (that's you).

This giveaway will be going full-on, promoted public soon -- I will probably start it up on the 14th because we all surely love the upcoming holiday -- but I will be taking all members who signed up before this happens into a special pool. This pool will have one (maybe two) prizes that only they are eligible for; you will also be eligible for everything else as well. This is my very small way of saying thank you and I hope you enjoy what the future holds for my sausage. So, what are you waiting for?

SIGN UP NOW! -- Clickity-click for full details.

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Toys R Us: the kid has grown up

This is ridiculous. This is crazy. This, this is utter nonsense. And no, this is most definitely not Sparta. For reasons unknown, I just mentioned a Killers' song. But what I meant to say, ADHD and all, is that I have been hearing this easy listening-ish rendition of the Toys R Us song for days now. It has been driving me so bat shit bonkers, that I decided to record a quick vocal demo. I am considering a future, full-blown version of this crap, but I can't help but laugh every time I think of it.

Keep in mind, what you are about to hear is short and ends with a whimper, which may be reminiscent of your penis. Sorry, I just had to get at least one insult cemented into the post. All this Toys R Us chatter has put me into a depression, leaving me wanting for the good ol' days of video game tickets and that magical room of what could only be an infinite number of games. Damn! I just realized something; I grew up. I am no longer a Toys R Us kid. I am a Toys R Fudging (censored) Us Man! On topic, the "song" is below.

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Selfish Sausage: stacking some nesting dolls

What, oh what could be behind the pink? Something awesome you say... but how?!

This post is completely selfish and I know that. I also know that I have the ability to not care and that is just what I am going to do. I received a package today (Bow-Chicka-Bow-Wow), and that package contained something that can only be described as Motherly, "Russianified" Awesomeness. I have fond memories of Russian nesting dolls as a child and I am so excited for Stacking that I actually signed up for PlayStation Plus this morning.

So, what do we have here? We have some nesting dolls from Stacking, which is from the equally awesome Double Fine. The dolls are beautiful, sexy, and I may or may not have had sex with them more than once already... Sorry, I just paused to have sex with them again. All I can say is that these little dolls look great alongside my Castle Crasher figures and my TMNT figures, and they will make for a great cocaine hiding place. Enough talking I say, check out my beautiful new friends below.

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Review: League of Evil (iOS)

You may have heard rumblings about some magical unicorn of a game, a game that is the closest thing to playing Super Meat Boy on your iPhone/iPod. Well, ladies and gentlemen, that game happens to be League of Evil. Funny thing is -- it's actually not that funny -- all of those comparisons are true and even more surprising, the game is actually a lot of fun. Now that I think about it, that's probably not too surprising either. I'm terrible at this, aren't I?

The secret of its success? Not a young Michael J. Fox, but the lack of a need for absolute perfection. A game with physical controls can allow for extreme precision, but a touch screen needs an openness for error. I am not saying the game is butterflies and double rainbows -- the controls are occasionally unresponsive -- but it was developed with its platform in mind and that is something to appreciate.

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Review: They Need To Be Fed (iOS)

They Need To Be Fed is a gravity-based platformer and a great example of how platforming should be done on a touch-only device. Not only do the controls work extremely well, the game matches this quality in all other departments. The visuals are lovingly stylistic and the level design gets progressively more challenging and constantly introduce new mechanics. It is you who needs to be fed; fed this game. I already know what you're going to say before you say it, so be kind, rewind, and shut up.

Now that I have insulted my few readers, let's get serious. The goal is to feed a monster located at the end of each level. Each level contains anywhere from one to three stars, with a certain number of stars needed to open each new world. The gameplay consists of jumping from object to object with a heavy focus on gravity. No matter what you do, you can never fall to your death; you always land on something. What They Need To Be Fed does better than most games is the addition of new elements at an almost perfect pace. I never got bored and the game never felt repetitive.

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