Reviews: Mac Games, Part I

Wondering what happened to this? Somehow, Part I of the reviews for Mac games never made it through the ether on first try. So, here it is!

By popular demand, I am reviewing some Mac-compatible games for those of you with the OS-X-dot-something-or-other operating system. I'm a Mac user myself, so I can relate.

We have a policy that we like to personally try out everything we review, so there will be more reviews once I have tested more games out personally. Through the magic of the ethernet, you'll see this review while I'm on vacation this week. (I'll tell you all about my vacation when I get back from--get ready to sigh with envy--beautiful Maui).

Okay, so back to the game reviews!

Bubble Bobble Nostalgie--If, like me, you are old enough to remember games like "Dig Dug", "Mr. Do", "PacMan" and "Donkey Kong," this game will charm you. It's suitable both for kids who like arcade games and for Moms who don't game a lot and prefer cheerful, happy music to the sound of gunshots and bombs dropping.

In this game, you are a cute (and it really is adorable, I love it) dragon who blows bubbles (Of course!). You blow bubbles because some not very nice blue creatures (you can tell they aren't nice because they have little frowns on them, while your dragon smiles all the time) are after you. All you have to do is blow a bubble at them, and they will be caught in the bubble. Then your little dragon can either jump on them or run into them to make them pop and disappear. It's a simple game to learn, and you only need the arrow keys and the spacebar to play. You can even play two player, with two cute dragons, along with your child!



The game reminds me of Mr. Do because letters randomly show up in bubbles, and if you pop them, you can spell out "extend" to get an extra man. It's like Donkey Kong because you have little platforms to jump over and across while you are catching the bad guys in your bubbles (what's nice is you can't lose a man just from falling off a platform).

And it is like PacMan because cute food shows up for your dragon to eat! I've seen hot dogs, fudgesicles, lots of bananas, oranges and apples, ice cream sundaes, and, for some strange reason, a butterfly(?!). Plus, there are bonuses, like sneakers that make your dragon go faster.

Bubble Bobble Nostalgie is suitable for kids who like arcade games (Moms, too). The full version, which has 200 levels(!) costs only $14.95. It's available to try or buy through this link: