Beach Buggy Racing (Xbox One) - Review

Beach Buggy Racing is available now on the Xbox One and is priced at £7.99.

My son is a HUGE fan of kart racing games, whether he's racing around in a helicopter as Wreck-It Ralph in Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed or whooping us all as Baby Mario in Mario Kart 8 (which he screams in Mario's voice every time it gets turned on). So when he noticed I'd been sent this game to review he was super excited to play it.

Beach Buggy Racing is a game that is available on mobile devices. I haven't played it on this format, but as I understand it the mobile version has a lot of in app purchases. The developers have taken these out of the Xbox One version so as to justify the £7.99 price tag. So what do you get for your money?

Whilst my family and I had fun with this game, it is clearly not in the same league as the games mentioned previously. I'm not saying it is trying to compete with those, I just mean that if you go into this game expecting the same level of customisation there is available in Mario Kart then prepared to be disappointed. There are a few pre-built characters and cars to pick between, and then some different paint jobs for the cars and that is it. For me it was enough to be honest, as I am starting to feel that the amount of customisation in Mario Kart 8 just takes away from actual play time. Then again I am playing with a six year old who delights in building a different vehicle for EVERY SINGLE RACE. He was fairly happy with the customisation available in Beach Buggy Racing, or at least he didn't complain anyway.

There is a small amount of customisation

The racing is GOOD too. Everyone pretty much knows what to expect from this type of game now, a race around a crazy track, with a few obstacles and some bubbles that give you power ups along the way. In Beach Buggy Racing you also have an in-built power up depending on your character and car which is a one use thing. The racing feels very responsive and it is fun to play in local multiplayer. The single player stuff suffers from what I feel is a pretty steep difficulty increase though, leaving Zach incredibly frustrated when he chose to play by himself. It does kinda feel like the odds are stacked against you.

Overall I'd say this game is a pretty fair price at £7.99. It isn't trying to reinvent the wheel, but really if you don't have a Wii U then you've not got many kart racers to choose from. I believe Sonic & All-Stars was released on the previous gen, so could be picked up pretty cheaply now if you still have your old console hanging around. But if you have £8 spare and a couple of young kids to entertain then I'd say pick this up.

6/10 TRY IT!

A code was provided for the purpose of this review.

#GamesMatter Blok Drop U and Armillo (Wii U) - Review

There is a revolution over on Twitter at the minute. Anyone following Indie Gamer Chick will be aware of it. For those that aren't let me tell you what #GamesMatter is all about...

Indie Gamer Chick decided that there was just too much negativity in the gaming world at the minute and launched #GamesMatter a few weekends ago. Indie devs sent in codes for her to distribute to ANYONE who asked for them, with the understanding that we would then talk about them on social media to show the good side of gaming - the reason we all do it - the FUN.

It took off better than I think anyone anticipated and now Indie Gamer Chick seemingly spends all of her time on Twitter doling out codes. There are plenty more to come too, so if you don't already (why not?!) get over to Twitter and follow her!

SO this weekend Indie Gamer Chick sent me Armillo and Blok Drop U for Wii U after I asked for them. Yeah, that's really all you have to do. And for the purpose of #GamesMatter I thought I'd write a little about them over here.


Blok Drop U is a very simplistic puzzle game out now on the Wii U. No bells and whistles, just simple cube drawings. The aim of the game is to land your little red cube on any of the black land by removing the grey cubes.

Now I played this with my 5 year old son and at first I was worried that he'd tire of it in five seconds wanting to play something a bit more visually appealing. But it's a testament to the fun to be had with this puzzler that he and I both stuck it out to the end of the 30 levels. Zach loved it! And I have to admit that it was me who tired of it easier and gave him the controller. Zach had no gripes with it whatsoever and to a certain extent I'd say that the graphical simplicity of this game HELPS. It certainly helped Zach to focus on what needed to be done to complete the level. When we got to the end (after just over an hour) Zach was pretty upset, he wanted to carry on. The game IS short, but apparently there will be some more levels coming out for it at some point.

I think Blok Drop U is a solid puzzler game that doesn't need to be graphically simulating. It takes it down to the bare bones, and I think it is all the better for doing so. Everyone can afford to have this in their Wii U game collection.

8/10 BUY IT!

Now on to Armillo. This game is, understandably, so different to Blok Drop U. It's bright, colourful and has a story. Armillo is a space-travelling armadillo that finds his home being attacked by the Robotic Darkbots, so obviously, Armillo has to set this right. 

Straight away upon loading it Zach shouted 'It's like Sonic!' and there are definite similarities. Armillo is clearly a mascot, much like the blue hedgehog everybody loves. Armillo also has a little boost attack, which does look a lot like Sonic's rolling attack. In Armillo this works to attack enemies and to clear routes. 

The game operates within the boundaries of corridor like paths through the landscape. It isn't completely linear, there are a few different ways to go to get to the objective. There are boost arrows that will send you off in a predefined direction, but with a little bit of thought you can easily explore the entirety of the levels. 

The game, at first, feels fairly tranquil. As much as you are fighting the bad guys to save your friends, it can all be done at quite a leisurely pace. Until you get to the Darkbot territory, where you will have to rush through as Armillo cannot breathe. These parts are pretty stressful (think if the underwater levels in Sonic and that horrible music you got!) but it keeps the game interesting and moving at a good pace.

It's very cutesy, which both my children loved. My daughter is too young to play herself yet, but she watched this game open-mouthed and QUIET - which is very rare. There must be a certain magic to it, as my son asked to keep playing this, rather than turning to his beloved Mario Kart 8.

It does feel a little budget, but I didn't mind that. I think that some people may struggle to accept this game, but for I think it is a solid entry into the Wii U's catalogue. If you've got kids definitely get it. If you're bored of the ten-a-penny shooters give it a whirl too.

6/10 TRY IT!