Chex Quest

Chex Quest?  Wait....  What?.....   CHEX QUEST????

Yes, it is a real thing, and yes, it is actually pretty good...

Chex quest was released in 1996 as a promotional game for Chex cereal. In it, you play as a warrior wearing Chex shaped armor who is on a quest to free his planet from slime monsters called "Flemoids." It is a first-person shooter geared towards children. Thus, it is very low in difficulty, and has some very muted violence. The Chex warrior uses zap guns to zap the Flemoids away, and for melee combat, he is equipped with a... spoon. 

A spoon.

The game is built upon the classic Doom engine by Id software, so the controls, graphics, and pretty much every other aspect of the game are very reminiscent of the mega-violent classic Doom games. But, like I said, it is very toned down and made to be quite family friendly. And, it promotes good nutrition!!!! Whenever the hero is low on health, you can regain it by eating bowls of fruit.

There are only a handful of levels, each growing in complexity and difficulty as the game goes on. Mostly, they are some form of maze, in which the player has to find various colored keys that open their corresponding doors. Scattered throughout the levels are various slimy Flemoids that range from mindless blobs, to half-robot slimy cyborgs.

Honestly, the game is decent for what it was, an obvious advertisement for Chex cereal. However, it spawned not one, but two sequels, as the game was successful because of it's target audience, children who eat Chex. The game is not mind-blowing in any way, but was good for an hour or so of fun, and a single playthrough.

Now, to go eat some cereal...

Until next time... Stand tall, breakfast nerds!!!

Bomberman Tournament

I love older and classic games. Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis, Game Boy... I enjoy them all. So, the next game that I set out to conquer is one from an older game generation: Bomberman Tournament, on the Game Boy Advance.

Originally published in North America in 2001, Bomberman Tournament is another installment in the well known Bomberman franchise. As such, it has a lot of the gameplay style of the older games, like running around square rooms that contain various traps and obstacles, all while planting bombs on the ground to lure enemies to their explosive doom. There is definitely a little strategy involved, as the rooms can be unforgivingly cluttered with traps and enemies, and a misplaced bomb can hurt the player as well.

This particular installment of Bomberman was unique in some new features of gameplay.It included a single player story campaign, which includes elements influenced by classic Legend of Zelda and Pokemon games. The player controls Bomberman through a complex world of mazes, forests, caves, towns, and dungeons. All the while, he is collecting items which can further the quest, and collecting animals with fighting abilities to be pitted against others in a coliseum.

In terms of gameplay, Bomberman Tournament was fairly fun. It can become a little repetitive at times, but the increasing difficulty and variation of the dungeons does keep player's interest afloat. The Legend of Zelda-style adventure gameplay is an interesting addition to the Bomberman series. It allows for a plethora of fresh environments and puzzles, and keeps the player questing for those certain items and collectible creatures that will unlock the next dungeon or area. As for those creatures, they are called Karabons, and are the game's version of Pokemon. They are used for upgrading Bomberman's bombs and for accessing new areas and for fighting in the games coliseum.

The sound effects and music had much to be desired. However, it was one of the first games for the Game Boy Advance system, so I give them a little slack for that. The environments were varied and colorful, and each were unique. The dungeons as well were colorful and each had a different theme, which also meant that each dungeon had its own unique set of traps and obstacles. Boss battles could be a little difficult if time wasn't taken to learn the patters each boss had. Once the patter was recognized, the battles became quite easy, even maybe a little too easy.

All in all, this was a fun game, and a good addition to the Bomberman franchise, a franchise I have enjoyed very much over the years.

As a side note, I didn't play any of the multiplayer features, as I played this on an emulator. But for the original Game Boy Advance, it was possible to play with up to four other players via Direct Link cables for the console. Hence, the "Tournament" in the title.


Until next time, stand tall Nintendo Nerds!