Splatoon Video Game Review

Disclosure- We have received the below in order to facilitate this review.  All opinions are our own and honest.

In the world of gaming, there are a variety of genres and types of games including role playing, action, adventure, and shooters to name a few. The last one often times involving one team fighting another with violence and fun. This is all fine if you are into that type of thing, but let’s say you want a shooter with less violence. This is where Splatoon steps in.

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Splatoon is the newest franchise by Nintendo, and is a paint based shooter. Instead of simply shooting your enemies, you also paint the area around you in order to win the game. The main characters of Splatoon are Inklings, which can instantly change into squids and swim in ink.

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As an inkling, you can only swim in your color’s ink which not only allows you to hide from the enemy but also refill your ink. Ink is used to either splat the enemy into a puddle of paint or to cover the area in paint. Splatted players then respawn at their original spawning point.

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There are a few different online multiplayer modes which are broken up into two categories- regular battles, and ranked. Regular battles are just played for fun, and you can join any you wish. These are based on the Turf War game type. In Ranked mode, you are able to play Splat Zones and be ranked based on your winning and splatting. In Turf War, players try to cover the most area of the map in paint. Splat Zones is similar to king of the hill where a team tries to control a certain area by keeping it covered in paint.

Battle Dojo lets players play local multiplayer and compete in a balloon popping competition, by spraying the balloons with paint.

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Single player campaign is called Octo Valley and includes capturing Zapfish from the Octarians.
As you play more of the game, additional options open up to your player, like gaining clothing and accessories as well as  different weapons. Each piece of acquired clothing can boost a certain trait (as well the fact that it makes your Inkling looks spiffy).

My son thoroughly enjoys Splatoon because of the cute characters and fun multiplayer modes. He also loves the Amiibo support. There are three Amiibo’s available for use with Splatoon, each unlocking new portions of the game. One of the interesting characteristics of the game is that it will be constantly changing with new game modes, maps to explore, and customizations to equip. (So be sure to get in now and grab all the fun stuff

Splatoon is available now at fine retailers everywhere as well as the eShop. Splatoon retails for $59.99 and is for the Wii U.

LeapTV – Learning With Video Games

Disclosure- I revived the below in order to facilitate this review. All opinions are our own and honest.

LeapTV is the newest gaming console by LeapFrog. This console differs greatly from its bigger counter parts, Playstation 4 and Xbox One, in quite a few areas but most of all the LeapTv is geared toward little ones and learning. With fun characters and fun new ways to interact with them, learning is much less of a chore and much more a fun game time.

kids gaming systemLeapFrog have been making educational based games for years now and their most recent gaming console the LeapTV brings them a step further into the future. The console features three forms of input body motion, so that the kids can see themselves on TV moving around.  This is best for sports games where the user can block the soccer ball or kick a ball for examples. The second is turn, move, and twist the controller- this is much like other motion controllers, but it also includes twist capabilities which is perfect for puzzle solving or moving a character on the screen. The last way to input with the system is a classic controller, perfect for those who enjoy old school input, great for platforming games which have been classically played with a d0pad and buttons. An interesting fact about the controller is that the motion sensing and classic controller are the same controller, just in a different configuration.  Once your child is accustomed to using on controller they are used to both of them.
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Hot Wheels World’s Best Driver Video Game

Disclosure- The products below were provided to me in order to facilitate my review. All opinions are my own and honest. I am disclosing this in accordance to FTC Guidelines. Please see “Disclose” tab for more information.

Hot Wheels are known for their small cars and big fun.  With creativity, any location can become a road and or track for your little ones.  So now instead of having tiny tire tracks on the TV, Hot Wheels has made World’s Best Driver, a video game.

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Family Video Game

The game starts out with selecting a team, each team specializes in a certain driving style, red is for tricks, green is for speed, blue is for drifting and yellow is for off roading.   The interesting aspect of this game is when hopping from team to team, there is a clear difference in vehicles which can be felt in their handling and speed as well as vehicle types.  Multiplayer takes a ‘hand off the controller’ type competition where each player takes turns, which can be frustrating to little ones, but to older players can teach them by example on ho to master the more difficult challenges.  Little Man’s favorite team to play was yellow, yet when watching Daddy play his favorite to watch was blue.  The bright colors and futuristic feel of the cars were quite appealing, but the drifting was a bit beyond his driving skill at this point in time.
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Disney Infinity – A Family Video Game

Disclosure- The products below were provided to me in order to facilitate my review. All opinions are my own and honest. I am disclosing this in accordance to FTC Guidelines. Please see “Disclose” tab for more information.

Disney Infinity is the latest in Disney’s every growing library of video games.  This entry is a mashup of a bit of another toy/video game cross over,with some clever Disney characters and designs, sprinkled in with some Disney magic and player creativity.  The result is a fun family friendly game that child and parent can enjoy.

Disney Infinity is at its core a toy box.  This toy box has as few or as many pieces in it as you may like.  Starting with three characters and three play sets the fun begins.

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Each play set revolved around a popular Disney film included in the starter set are: Pirates of the Caribbean, Monsters University and The Incredibles.  The characters included are Sully from Monsters University, Captain Jack from Pirates and Mr Incredible from The Incredibles.  With character and setting in place the player can pick to play in the play set.  Lets say you’d like to play Pirates.  Grab Captain Jack and put him on the Inifinity base along with your play set then hop into the game.  As Captain Jack you explore a location from the film, Tortuga.  While there Jack finds himself rescuing, battling and exploring the battle ravaged city.  As Sully you explore the campus of Monsters U find tons of hidden items and a plethora of fun missions to clean up the campus after a rival Fear Tech trash it.  Last but not least we have Mr Incredible battling his way through the city of Metroville, protecting its citizens from the Omnidroids.    All three play sets are a blast to play in and are wonderfully more fun with a second player in co-operative play mode.  The second player having the ability to drop in and out of the game as they please, prefect for a younger sibling or a busy parent.  The biggest drawback of the play sets though is only characters from the play set can be used in it.  Sorry no Captain Jack visits to Monsters University.  This can be a pain on the first playing of the game with siblings, but is easily remedied with the addition of additional characters available everywhere the game itself is sold.
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