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Top Six Characters that Need to Come Out of Retirement

Pato Banton sang a song with UB40 -- Baby Come Back. There are plenty of video game characters who have been retired for one reason or another. Some of them we would like to see again. If absence makes the heart fonder, then I am as fond of these characters as I can be. So please join me as we explore the Top Six Characters that Need to Come Out of Retirement. Maybe just maybe someone out there reading can help bring these characters back. Part Two of this story is your choices for the Top Six Characters that Need to Come Out of Retirement. 

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The video game industry goes in trends. We have seen a variety of trends over the decades. Numerous companies tried to create an iconic character in 2D side scrolling adventures. The industry went crazy making 2D fighting games. There was a mad rush to create 3D fighting games. Many companies rushed to put out FPS games. Want to know what the latest trend in the video game industry is? Indie Games. Sony is talking about it, Nintendo is talking about, Microsoft is talking about it, and its all over Steam. 

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Fantastic Pets

 

 

SCORE: 90

 

Fantastic Pets 

 

When I heard about Fantastic Pets I instantly wanted to compare it to Kinectimals. On the surface it is similar, but under the hood it is drastically different. We are allowed to play with cats, dogs, ponies, and lizards. Lizards? Yes lizards. It will make more sense later. Just trust me. Have I ever lead ya'll astray?

I was very excited when I first turned Fantastic Pets on. The graphics of the house looked fantastic. Then the game decided to let me play with my pet. What pet did I pick? A winged unicorn. The thing is the pet was super imposed on my room. I have to admit the graphics were not that great. Things improved when I got to go to my first talent show. That used my face but only in a certain area. The animals animate nicely, but so much better in environments from the game.

The animals have fun and pleasant sounds. There is some educational materials in Fantastic Pets. The narrator does a decent job of explaining things. He tries to be humorous, but it fell flat in my opinion. I let children listen to his comments, and they did not find them funny either. The talent show voice is exceptional. I believe she has a real future in voice acting. She is very encouraging to the players.

The cool thing about Fantastic Pets is all the different animals that are included. I was also able to make adjustments. I could give a horse scales, or give a dog scales. These modifications can lead to some really freaky looking creatures. Players earn gyms while playing with their pet, and during the twelve mini games. These are spent on new content. Fantastic Pets includes a lot of different content. Most of it is good, but some is freaky.

Fantastic Pets is one of those games that is very easy to play. I found there is more of an emphasis on the mini games, and talent shows than playing with the pet. The voice commands work better than I expected them too. Doing a voice command with the physical body command almost always succeeded. I got a work out while I was playing Fantastic Pets. The feel is fun in Fantastic Pets, and there are a lot of different animals to play with. For some reason though I still like Kinectimals better.

Families will take note of a couple of issues in Fantastic Pets. The first is minor references to evolution. The second is the references to millions of years. This denotes an Old Earth belief over New Earth. These are both highly controversial topics that are feverishly debated. The high note in Fantastic Pets is getting exercise and getting to play with mythical animals. That brings up another strange aspect to Fantastic Pets. This Xbox 360 game talks about interesting aspects of real animals. It then treats the fake animals the same way. Parents may need to explain to their children that unicorns and dragons are not real.
- Sam

 

Graphics: 90%
Sound: 92%
Replay/Extras: 93%
Gameplay: 91%
Family Friendly Factor: 85%
System: Xbox 360(Kinect)
Publisher: THQ
ESRB Rating: 'E' for Everyone

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