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Comment on 4 LEVEL PARKING GARAGE WITH UP & DOWN ELEVATOR W/ 3 FREE CARS INCL. by Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 09:38:22 +0000

Okay garage, August 31, 2011

Durability: Fun: Educational:

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This review is from: 4 LEVEL PARKING GARAGE WITH UP & DOWN ELEVATOR W/ 3 FREE CARS INCL. (Toy)

I bought this toy for my son's birthday b/c he loves parking garages. It's a nice idea, but the quality is not that great. It falls apart pretty easily and the flags and other attachments are not very durable.

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Comment on Mario Party 4 by "gamecubedfreak"

"gamecubedfreak" — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 02:59:57 +0000

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

Another 4-Player Funfest, December 8, 2002

"gamecubedfreak" -

This review is from: Mario Party 4 (Video Game)

Well what did we expect from the latest Mario Party game. There are many other games that tried to imitate these series' successful achievement of delivering an accessible fun and simple 4 player game has failed and this latest addition effortlessly beats the rest of the competition. Well technically it doesn't look very good at all by today's standards and sounds quite annoying but those points are quite irrelevant because this game is simply about multiplayer mayhem. Alone this game is OK but is so much better when there is 2-4 of you playing. I recommend this to anyone looking for a good multiplayer game which doesn't require so much skill but which still provides great entertainment for any kind of gamer.
Graphics:6
Sound:5
Gameplay-1 PLayer:8
Multiplayer:10
Value:10

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Comment on Mario Party 4 by Etc.

Etc. — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 02:36:39 +0000

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

Simply The Best., June 22, 2006

Etc. (Florida) -

Fun:

This review is from: Mario Party 4 (Video Game)

Ah, yes. Many years of playing Mario Party games, this one can only be dubbed Number 1 in the Mario Party series. I've played most of these games, let alone Mario Party 6 (Provided with the information from so many people that it sucks so much), and of all of them, THIS is the one to buy. We could go into detail on it, so I might. Mario Party, Mario party 2, and #5 are the only ones that may come close to this one. Trust me, 3 was really.......odd. 7 Is a great game, but let's face it folks, microphone games aren't everyone's thing. Now, Mario Party 4 has a few playable characters, but just in case you don't want that 'Ugly Gorilla', Donkey Kong, there might be something else for you. Then there is the 'Happenings (Question mark spaces, remember those?)' of the game. Building that little Koopa's cabana/resort is usually worth the money, he's cool. But what makes that thing a challenge is that if you land on a Question Mark space, bam. Gone.

Theres lots of great minigames in this particular Mario Party. If you're looking for fun, this game is for you.

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Comment on Mario Party 4 by Big Daniel McFoot

Big Daniel McFoot — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 02:01:26 +0000

58 of 66 people found the following review helpful:

mario party is back... more great multiplayer fun!, October 18, 2002

Big Daniel McFoot (NEW JERSEY) -

This review is from: Mario Party 4 (Video Game)

Generally speaking, a good party consists of loud music, obnoxious people you don't really know, copious amounts of cheap vodka, and a few loose women. While Nintendo's Mario Party 4 doesn't rely on any of the above, it does provide a digital alternative to raging hangovers and vague memories of the previous night's activities. Although it's the fourth title in the series, it's the first Mario Party game on the GameCube, and it packs a decent four-player punch.

Mario Party 4 goes a little above and beyond its previous incarnations, and thanks to some skillful development from Hudson Soft, eight of your favorite Nintendo characters are ready to do battle through over 50 nutty mini-games in order to win a juicy prize. Lending itself to a very simple gameplay premise, Mario Party 4 is best enjoyed with four human players -- the idea is to be guy that collects the most hidden stars and gold coins at the end of a party. Each party is played over a selectable number of turns (from between ten and 50 -- ten turns takes around 30 minutes to play) on one of five themed game boards.

Some familiar faces are on hand to meet and greet the party-players. Toad, Shy Guy, Koopa, Boo, and Goomba all offer a game board with themes such as the "Seaside Soiree," the "Haunted Bash," and the "Jungle Jam." There are eight Nintendo-friendly guys and gals to choose from at the player select screen: Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Wario, Donkey Kong, Daisy, and Waluigi. There are essentially two main modes of play in Mario Party 4.

Party mode is where the most fun occurs and involves between one to four human players getting jiggy on any of the game boards. Story mode is the single-player component of the game and pits you against three randomly selected CPU-controlled guys. If you win the game, you'll be awarded a prize, and depending on which character you were playing as, it'll be different each time (e.g. Playing as Waluigi, I won Waluigi's Shelf, which is one of many unique pieces of furniture that can be found for his mini-apartment -- viewable in the prize room).

One new feature to the series is the mini-mega system -- which manifests itself in the form of two different mushroom-based items. These items can be taken before you roll the die at the beginning of turn. A mini-mushroom will shrink you down, allowing you to access other areas of the board, but it'll limit your maximum die roll to five instead of six. Being mini will allow you to tackle some special "mini" mini-games too.

Going the other route and taking a mega-mushroom, will in contrast increase the size of your guy, and it'll give you a combined roll of two dice, increasing your ability to travel further around the board. You'll also squish any players that you travel past, causing them to hemorrhage value gold coins. Being large also means you'll be immune to any event spaces on the board. The mini-mega system is cool in theory, but in actuality, it doesn't really add that much to the gameplay.

There are a ton of new items, events, traps, and bonuses that are scattered through the game -- such as the Genie Lamp which costs 30 coins to buy -- but it'll warp you straight to the current star on the board. All these factors throw more uncertainty into the mix, with the final game experience getting more and more random compared to the first three games in the series. Is this a bad thing? It depends on your point of view, but it can be pretty frustrating to be on top for most of the game and then have it all snatched away at the last minute. There are a few constants; these arrive at the very end of the game in the form of stars awarded to the player that collected the most coins, won the most mini-games, and triggered the most event features.

There's no doubt that Mario Party 4 sports classic multiplayer fun and all of the mini-games are a blast in their own right, but there's one hugely annoying factor -- the CPU controlled characters. In the single-player mode, you'll be forced to watch the CPU guys take their individual turns.

This happens at a mind-numbingly slow pace, and after a few games you'll be begging to have bamboo shoots inserted under your fingernails to alleviate the tedium. Essentially, the single-player game exists to let you win the prizes -- something that becomes very unimportant all too quickly.

Huge Mario gets ready to squash the others. Putting those issues aside, Mario Party 4 as an actual party game, works really well. Teamwork, smack talk, and cajoling come heavily into play, and it's certainly the best in the series to date. The GameCube provides the graphical grunt to take Mario Party 4 to the next level and all of the characters, boards, and mini-games display slick animation, special effects, and a sweet bouncy-cartoony look and feel. Controls for the most part are extremely simplistic, but this really only adds to the pick-up-and-play nature of the game as a whole. There's a myriad of nice Nintendo-tastic tunes, voices,... Read more

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Comment on Sesame Street Water Fun Elmo – Cuddly Bath Buddy by Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 10:11:33 +0000

fun but expensive, September 19, 2010

Kerry E. Riper "fisherwoman" (Sunriver, Oregon United States) -

Durability: Fun: Educational:

Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)

This review is from: Sesame Street Water Fun Elmo - Cuddly Bath Buddy (Toy)

My special needs 6 year old had been playing with a similar item at a friend's house and at some point decided it was his. Because his issues do not allow him to understand that not all items belong to him! I searched for this in the stores and could not find it, but did find it here.

The Elmo Toy is very nice and durable but I felt that it was quite expensive for what it was. My child does play with it constantly and it won't wear out soon! I know this because the other toy has been around for several years and even though it has been abused and tortured, it is still unbroken (amazing, really!).

I gave it a lower mark for educational value because it doesn't do or teach anything. My child does love to play with it everywhere!

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Comment on Sesame Street Water Fun Elmo – Cuddly Bath Buddy by Bonnie G "Mother of Two Girls"

Bonnie G "Mother of Two Girls" — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 09:31:24 +0000

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

We love Elmo!, June 21, 2011

Bonnie G "Mother of Two Girls" (So. Cal) -

Durability: Fun: Educational:

This review is from: Sesame Street Water Fun Elmo - Cuddly Bath Buddy (Toy)

I am so glad I purchased this toy! (yes I bought it in a toyrus express for about $10 on impulse around the holidays) so glad I did, because I love it! My two kids love Elmo and love this toy! As a mom, the best thing is this is the ONLY bath toy we have that (live in a humid place) has not molded in any way!! No plastic yea!! We hang him up by his loop on the bathtub spout each time, and we even have taken him to the pool with us! Very durable, my toddler and grade schooler have been rough on him at times, and still looks like new after a year. Wish I had other characters since they will fight over him since he is too cute in his floaties and swim trunks! (clothes not removable)

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Comment on Lego Batman by Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 11:40:02 +0000

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

Very imaginative and fun for all!, November 2, 2008

Andrew Amend (Wichita, KS) -

Fun:

This review is from: Lego Batman (Video Game)

My kids love this game and play it constantly. There is so much to do and you never get bored with the same old thing like in half the games I own. I would recommend this game to anyone with little kids or older kids alike. It really engages my son to problem solve, which he had a hard time doing before. Great game highly recommended!

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Comment on Lego Batman by Andrew Amend

Andrew Amend — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 11:04:00 +0000

61 of 66 people found the following review helpful:

Dynamic Duo beat the blocks outta Arkham's evil doers, September 23, 2008

Kevin J. Loria (New Orleans, LA USA) -

Fun:

This review is from: Lego Batman (Video Game)

If you liked LEGO Star Wars and LEGO INDY, then LEGO BATMAN is already in your Wii....'nuff said. If you didn't like them...you won't like BATMAN...if you didn't try them, you should.

The LEGO games are fun for the whole family, young and old, the animated LEGO movie links to the gaming threads are wild & wicked and worth the purchase on their merits alone. The format for Batman is much like the Lucasfilm game sets, just not directly connected to any particular movies...although (thankfully) the Danny Elfman music (circa 1989) runs throughout the game, the style is generic Batman via LEGO LAND. The villains have teamed up to escape Arkham Asylum and the Dynamic Duo must stop them...each villain has a story arc to unlock, before free play is possible in the related locations...so like the previous installments, replay value is high, you can return to the story setting later as several optional characters including the villians themselves in order to find hidden "trophies" to build in Wayne Manor (part of the Batcave hub, where menus, story progress and unlockables lie). This way the same tales have many variations for players to explore, collecting the coin-like "studs" as currency for upgrades and unlockables. There's roughly about 30 separate levels to play, 15 in the hero chapters and 15 levels i the villain chapters.

LEGO BATMAN characters have individual moves, Batman for example can put baddies in a choke hold and throw them. An exciting addition to LEGO combat is the BATARANG, which will lock on targets for distance attacks. Introduced also, are special suits for Batman and Robin, these make certain combinations of characters a necessity for passing stages or solving puzzles...For example, in true comic book fashion,Robin can get a Magnetized-suit to scale metal walls, I can't explain the pleasure that came from watching Robin lumbering and buzzing up surfaces (sound fx here are classic) Other moves are standard for the LEGO games: grappling hooks for platforms and punching and kicking.

The character design is great and Gotham looks good...there are lest characters to be unlocked here than in any other LEGO game so far and lest upgrades as well. But as for the characters there are so good choices from the Batman Universe....Joker, Penguin, Catwoman, Two-Face, Poison IVY, Mr. Freeze, Riddler, Killer Croc, Scarecrow, The Mad Hatter, even Bane.Like the heroes, each villain has their own special weapons and moves...I bet you can guess Banes.

Another LEGO staple is the mix and match at the hub, where you can customize a character for free play by swapping the pieces around.

No major complaints, it just seems smaller than previous efforts, maybe because no direct movie-tie-in was done...like the Trilogy format.
I do miss the "character quirks" introduced for LEGO INDY, like the fear of snakes and rats, effecting character behavior. Admittedly it doesn't work well with the superhero genre. Also, since this is a Traveler's Tales project with Warner Bros. and not Lucasfilm, don't expect to find any hidden Star Wars characters this time....sorry.

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Comment on Lego Batman by Kevin J. Loria

Kevin J. Loria — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 10:30:24 +0000

70 of 76 people found the following review helpful:

Fun, but irritating, February 4, 2009

A Kid's Review

Fun:

This review is from: Lego Batman (Video Game)

I am a twelve year old who bought this game with high expectations. I figured I'd enjoy it because I loved the Lego Starwars and Indiana Jones. When I got it, I couldn't wait to play and started instantly. The first time you play it in story mode, it's throughly enjoyable. But when you get done with all the levels in story and go to freeplay, it loses some of its excitement. And by the time you have most of the levels done, it's just plain old bland. But before you get to this point, there are two sets of levels to get through, hero and villain. You do hero missions in the Batcave and Villain missions in Arkahm asylum. To unlock Arkham asylum, you must first play through five hero levels, (taking about an hour and a half) a feature I found annoying because I wanted to do villain missions. I didn't enjoy this game and wouldn't reccomend it at full price. But why don't you decide for yourself? Here are the pros and cons of the game.

Cons:
Bad camera angle, sometimes you can hardly see what you're doing.

Villains can't go in the Batcave, and heros can't go in Arkham asylum.

Your side kick is a half wit. Dense as a brick.

There is too much character switching involved. For example, you are the Joker and need to get a door open so you switch to Poison Ivy. You then switch back to the Joker only to find that you need Robin to climb a wall.

Enemy reinforcements are infinite. You are in perpetual battle and have a hard time achieving anything.

But wait! Don't get discouraged yet, here are the pros:

New and interesting puzzles to solve.

A variety of characters to choose from.

Flying, driving and sailing mission along with regular missions.

Two player.

A good mix of destruction and problem solving.

You can get good brawls in Arkham asylum.

All in all, I'd give this game about 2.5 or 3 stars. It's fun, not as much as Star Wars, but has lots of potential. Just don't pay $50 for it like I did.

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Comment on Mario Super Sluggers (Nintendo Selects) by Tommy Morais

Tommy Morais — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 07:40:38 +0000

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

Baseball, Mario-style, June 6, 2011

Tommy Morais (The Great White North) -

Fun:

This review is from: Mario Super Sluggers (Nintendo Selects) (Video Game)

Nintendo recently released a series of budget game with Nintendo selects which offers some fun Wii titles for a low price. Mario Supper Sluggers is one of those Nintendo select titles. I remember when the first Super Mario Baseball game came out on the Nintendo Gamecube and how much I liked it, now that they made another Mario baseball game for the Wii using the slick controls it was a no-brainer for me to pick up this game for my Wii. I'll tell you right away I wasn't disappointed one bit, I'm not a baseball fan at all and I even hesitated playing the first game so you don't really need to be a fan of baseball to enjoy Mario Supper Sluggers. It's very much like Mario Super Strikers, as long you like Mario there are strong chances you will like this game, no need to be a sports fan. If you liked the first baseball edition of Mario you're almost guaranteed to like this one with everything the Wii brings to this game.

The best mode of the game is obviously Challenge mode in which you pick as superstar (Mario, Luigi, Wario, Peach...) as you play in baseball kingdom and challenge other teams one by one and earn some of their players along the way in order the face Bowser's team, it's pretty much the same as the original Mario Baseball, the concept remains the same. There is exhibition mode if you just want to play with some friends for some fun, Mini-Game mode is entertaining and offers some cool mini-games like Bomb-Omb barrel, Toy Field was interesting but I didn't like it as much and of course there's the training mode to perfect your play. That's what's in the game right there, after you finished Challenge mode there is still some fun to be had.

The controls are what you would expect; you pitch and hit the ball with the Wiimote in the same way a baseball player would, without the same intensity of course but you get the point. The controls are very easy to figure out and comfortable playing with, you'll get used in no time and there are practices just in case. There are many things to consider while playing for instance the special moves and when you can use them, the chemistry of the players which will make them do special abilities and the stadiums you play in because they're all different and some could make you lose or win some points depending on your chances ex: tornado hits the other team's player and you can score a home run while he's dizzy.

The game looks very good, better than the first for sure. There isn't a huge improvement between the Wii and Gamecube graphics but it's certainly there and noticeable, after all I'd rather play a fun game with average graphics than one that isn't nearly as fun with great graphics. The colors are vivid in that Mario fashion and the stadiums look very good, nothing wrong at all.

Don't underestimate this game it's harder than it looks and got me very frustrated at times because of the way the CPU would make a bunch of points in a row and beat me at the very end, that would be my small issue with this game. It can be an issue to some and not for others, some like the fierce competition and will see it as a challenge, some like me get frustrated but it remains an excellent game Overall.Mario Supper Sluggers is a very fun game and is worth at least a rental, if you make an impulse buy you may find out that you wasted money on a game you never even tried. That would be my advice; unless you loved the Mario Baseball game you should rent it before you buy, if you're not interested in baseball or sports for that matter it's still worth checking out. Did Mario belt a home run with this one? Not totally but let's say he scored a few points for sure! I really ended up liking Mario Supper Sluggers and do not regret my purchase, 4 stars. At this price this is well worth a shot!

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