Body-Tracking Party Game Review: Happy Action Theater

The Double Fine Happy Action Theater Review was previously published at The International House of Mojo on February 21, 2012.

Double Fine has been making their latest games in easy-to-digest bite-sized chunks, but nothing they've made up to this point is as bite-sized or easily digestible as Double Fine Happy Action Theater.

The game is aptly named, as it plays out as separate set pieces setting you free to do whatever you want in each set. The default mode is theater mode, where the game automatically starts after the mandatory logos and then automatically chooses a new mini-game after a few minutes. This title was clearly designed with young children in mind, and this automatic system makes it perfect for even the youngest of children. All of the other Kinect games out there require some degree of precision, even those aimed at children. So, ultimately the under-3 set is left out. With everything automatic, you can just let your kids go at it and do whatever they want. You can also press start at any time to bring up a menu to choose any mini-game giving you all the time you want to play a particular stage. This makes it perfect if your child (or yourself) enjoys a particular mini-game and wants more time with it, or if you need some extra time to get an achievement on a particular mini-game.

Double Fine has made it so that the sensor tracks movement easier than most other Kinect games as well, since it is not absolutely necessary to have full-body tracking for the game. This makes Double Fine Happy Action Theater's best feature possible: Up to six players can play at a time. It also makes it possible for children (and impatient adults) to just hop into the game and play without having to worry if the sensor is tracking your body correctly.

Adults may also find the title fun, as my mother and myself did since there is a lot to discover in the mini-games. There are references to Double Fine games, and even characters from other Double Fine games and Action Comics to be found within. The games also have some unexpected things to be found, since the game uses every single feature of the Kinect at some point. My mom and I laughed out loud once we realized one of the things the microphone was used for.

I referred to the mini-games earlier as set pieces, and that's really the best way to describe them, as none of them are really a game, with the possible exception of the Breakout-style mini-game which has a score, albeit arbitrary, that resets to zero once you lose your last ball. The rest of the mini-games have no set goal, leaving you free to experiment with the game to try to find out the hidden things the designers put in each mini-game and to try to come up with weird things to do with the Kinect. The only real goal for gamers in the game is the achievements, which are actually helpful since most of them give hints towards fun hidden things that you might not have known were there otherwise. The achievements also gave me the inspiration to experiment with the Kinect sensor. In order to get the 6-pack achievement where you are supposed to have 6 friends, I used six chairs and myself. Since the game doesn't track full bodies for every player, I was able to duck down behind the chairs once I was recognized and sneak out to get another chair to try it again. I put a teddy bear in one chair and was surprised to see the Kinect recognize it as a player, complete with a tiny skeleton. It's quite amusing to just put the game on the dance stage and watch the teddy bear dance. It's also amusing to sit while on the dance stage, as it makes you look like you are short with tiny little legs. It's these kinds of things that make you come back to Kinect again, just to see what else you can do with a little imagination.

There are 18 mini-games, plus a credits screen which is a combination of another mini-game (the previously mentioned dance stage) with developer credits, complete with the dancing images of (most of) the development and production team at Double Fine and Microsoft. The balloon mini-game is the first game that starts once you start the game, which is perfect for my 1-year-old nephew who loves balloons. My personal favorites are the image manipulation stage, the dance stage, and the monster attack stage. In the image manipulation stage, images of people and objects in the room are captured and then frozen on the screen. You can then put yourself in front of or behind the objects captured on the screen, so you are in essence interacting with objects that are no longer there. It is quite fun to interact with yourself on screen. Five pictures are taken in total, and then the images reset. On the dance stage, you don't have to do anything, just sit there and watch yourself dance. This is where I did all of my experimenting with the chairs and bears with the Kinect sensor. Not only can you watch yourself and random objects dance, this is also the stage where many of the Double Fine's characters can be found from previous games ranging from Psychonauts to Stacking, as well as the Double Fine Action Comics available on Double Fine's website. In the monsters attack stage, you crush buildings and swat at planes, helicopters, and zeppelins and periodically a picture will be taken showing you attacking the city on the front page of a newspaper.

I can actually play all of these by myself, but the fun definitely comes in with multiple people. For me, the Breakout stage is the most fun to me with multiple people. This game is in the style of Atari's Breakout, where your body is the paddle and you have to bounce the ball up to hit the blocks above. If you bounce a ball that is the color of your paddle, the ball splits in two. As I mentioned above, this is the only stage where points matter, as the score resets after all the balls are lost. The score doesn't save, but it is fun to see how high of a score you can reach. The more players you have, the more balls you have to bounce off the paddles when it splits, making it pure chaos (and pure fun). There is also a Space Invaders stage, where you launch projectiles at incoming invaders using your arms. This one isn't as fun to me as an adult gamer, as there is no goal since the score keeps adding up.

The rest of the mini-games are fun to experience once or twice, but as an adult, I soon grew tired of them. I do have to say though that the disco music star stage is a bit of fun, even as an adult, since you control the speed of the music with the speed of your movements (although, sadly it's only possible to slow the music down. Wailing your arms around as fast as you can will not make the music change to hyper speed). The music in that mini-game, as well as the rest of the game, is excellent. Double Fine's games always have a fantastic score, and this game is no different. I found myself humming the music long after the game was over.

I can't conclude the review without mentioning what I'm sure is on everyone's mind. Ever since the game was announced, it has been stated that it's fun for kids or for a college frat party. There are definitely mini-games in here that are designed for the latter. The aforementioned disco music star stage is pretty trippy, since your body is shown in a star with neon colors all around it, and occasionally a shooting star with your picture on it shoots by. However, there are two stages in particular that are downright psychedelic. There is a stage where everyone is transplanted into a kaleidoscope, with their image bending, twisting, and blending into the colors of the kaleidoscope. But by far the most trippy mini-game is a stage where everyone in the room is shown in silhouette form and colors emanate out from them, slowly fading out with each movement.

Now that I got that out of the way, I can safely wrap this review up. If you have a young child, an Xbox 360, and a Kinect, this game is a must-buy. If you have an Xbox 360 with a Kinect and are looking for a trippy party game, this game is also a must-buy. For everyone else who has a Kinect-enabled Xbox 360, you should still be able to have fun with it. It's definitely one of the few games out there that make full use of the Kinect hardware. It's also priced 1/3 cheaper than Double Fine's other console games, which in my opinion, makes Double Fine Happy Action Theater well worth the price of admission.

Addendum April 7, 2023: It's old news by now, but the Kinect technology has a major drawback. It has trouble detecting dark colors, so make sure you don't have on a dark outfit so that the sensor has the best chance to detect your body. Unfortunately, this trouble with dark colors also is seen with hair and even skin color. I have natural jet-black hair, and I have played many Kinect games with my hair completely cut off. People with dark skin tones have reported even worse issues, with Kinect not detecting them or cutting off entire body parts.

Final Verdict:
4 out of 5

Run-and-Gun Game Review: Zombies Ate My Neighbors

The Zombies Ate My Neighbors review was previously published at Jupiter Beagle on October 16, 2008, as part of a 20 Days of Halloween segment.

Allow me to switch gears for today’s 20 Days of Halloween review with a video game. I present for you the horror spoof developed by LucasArts and published by Konami, Zombies Ate My Neighbors.

The game stars either Zeke or Julie (or both if the game is played with two players), as they scramble to save their neighbors from certain doom. The animations of the characters and enemies are well done, and still, even today look good, as they were presented in a pleasing cartoon style. The music suits the game quite well, although it wasn’t overly memorable. The gameplay, however, is a lot of fun. The game is a top-down run and gun game, where the player has to navigate around the neighborhood and fight various B-movie monsters such as vampires, werewolves, and of course, zombies. Zeke and Julie can pick up potions that will turn them into monsters for a short period of time, giving them more strength.

There are 48 standard levels and several bonus levels. As was standard for LucasArts for the time, quite a few in-jokes that only fans of LucasArts would get were included in the game. One of the bonus levels was themed after a point and click adventure game that was released at the same time as this game. Another bonus level was themed after the LucasArts office building and featured LucasArts employees of the time.

The game is a great spoof of horror B-movies, and it does things well to feel like a B-movie itself. It’s a fun arcade-style run and gun with great humor and pleasing graphics. It would be great if this game did get re-released for a modern audience because it is definitely well worth playing.

Final Verdict:
4 out of 5

Free Puzzle Platform Game Review: Tasha's Game

The Tasha’s Game review was previously published at Jupiter Beagle on October 1, 2008.

Tasha’s Game is available to play for free on Double Fine’s website.

Double Fine is best known as the creator of the game inspired by covers of Metal music covers, Brütal Legend, as well as the underappreciated but excellent platformer Psychonauts. But, they have also released a free flash game on their site that is actually fun and well worth your time.

Tasha’s Game is a puzzle platformer starring former Double Fine animator Tasha, who is also the star of her own webcomic. In the game, you must rescue Tasha’s co-workers from a mysterious captor. In each level, you must collect various blocks with different abilities in order to reach your colleague. The blocks are placed by Tasha’s helpful cat, who is controlled by the mouse, while Tasha is controlled with the keyboard. The blocks are either static, move back and forth, up and down, or act as a trampoline. The trick is using the blocks at the right time in order to get to the next part of the level.

The art style is the same as Tasha’s webcomic, and the music is done in an 8-bit style which fit the graphics and tone of the game very well. The game is short, it will probably take you less than an hour to complete, but it is worth playing just for the final boss battle. It completely took me by surprise, as that battle was really rather epic for a free, short flash game.

Final Verdict:
4 out of 5

Direct-Controlled Adventure Review: Dreamfall Chapters Book Two

Dreamfall Chapters continues from a solid start in book one into an engaging and truly satisfying experience in book two.

In book two, Zoe's story continues to entertain and the new characters she meets are all strange and interesting. I wasn't sold on Kian's story in the first book, but he's given a chance to shine here, and we're introduced to fantastic characters in his book as well. Both characters find themselves in the middle of a class war, with the government and corporations controlling the lives of the citizens in Stark and the militaristic Azadi forcing the magical folk out of the villages and into prison camps in Arcadia. Things soon get even grimmer, as both Zoe and Kian find themselves in the middle of conspiracies in their respective worlds.

The voice work is once again exceptional here, with the voice actors for both Zoe and Kian performing their roles admirably. The newly introduced characters are excellently written, but their voice performances are what truly make them memorable. This is especially true of the energetic, excitable young rebel named Eno and the tough, scarred rebel named Likho, the latter of whom had a troubled history with Kian before he changed sides and joined the rebels. The voice actor for the former gives her character a fast-talking yet cute persona, which reminded me a bit of the character of Six from the classic 90s American television sitcom, Blossom. Meanwhile, the voice actor for the latter provides his character with a gravitas that is matched only by his baritone voice, both of which are quite fitting for the battle-hardened warrior.

The music is also excellent, helping to give levity or amusement to the fantastically written story and working to help elevate the wonderful voice acting to even loftier heights.

The puzzles in this book are fantastic, especially the underground hatch puzzles that Zoe undertakes when she is directed toward a street gang by an enigmatic merchant who lives on a houseboat in the city's Asian district. The choices here don't seem to change much of the main story, but they do affect the way the characters react to you, much like the games by Telltale from The Walking Dead forward. This actually works quite well, as the story of the game is so emotional, and the characters are so well-written and acted, you can't help but feeling gut-punched when you make a choice that results in a negative reaction.

The city on the technologically-advanced Stark side is just as beautiful and fun to walk around as ever. On the Arcadia side, as it is themed akin to a medieval village, it's not quite as beautiful and it does get repetitive at times. However, the magical market, while quite a small part of the overall village, is quite lively and wonderfully designed. The same can't be said for the character models though, They are as stony-eyed as ever, encroaching on uncanny valley territory, and emotional moments are hampered a bit when characters go in for kiss, and their character models don't touch each other.

Book two has an excellent story, fantastic voice acting and music, a gorgeous art style in Stark, and fun engaging characters. It is only let down by the somewhat-repetitive art-style of Arcadia and the stiff character models and animation. However, any shortcomings are small in the grand scheme and don't hamper the overall enjoyment provided. Book two continues the threads created by book one, and strings them even deeper into an even more fantastic plot, leaving you wanting more.

Final verdict:
4½ out of 5

Open World Action Adventure RPG Review: Judgment

Judgment is an action-adventure game that is a spin-off of developer Ryū ga Gotoku Studio's Yakuza series. It has the fighting and open-world exploring of Yakuza as well as investigation and detective mechanics similar to Ace Attorney Investigations. Although it leans in very close to its Yakuza heritage, the investigation mechanics give it a feeling of freshness that's been lacking in the franchise since the first Yakuza game came out almost fifteen years ago. 

The game follows Takayuki Yagami, a former attorney who lives in Kamurocho, Ryo ga Gotaku Studio's fictionalized version of Tokyo's Kabukichō district. He was formerly his firm's golden boy, getting to handle almost all of the firm's clients after he got a man acquitted of murder charges in a country that has a conviction rate of over 99 percent. However, when the man kills his girlfriend and sets fire to her apartment, Yagami leaves his firm and becomes a private investigator. 

One of the investigation techniques he uses as a private investigator is called active search mode, which is used for investigating crime scenes, searching for evidence, or verifying information such as eyewitness sketches with the facial features and clothing of a suspect. Yagami also employs the tried and true method of tailing a suspect. While doing so, he sometimes has to hide behind items or blend in with a crowd to avoid being seen. It has to be said that this isn't realistic in the least, as the suspects turn straight around and begin craning their head and turning sharply left and right looking for someone who is trailing them. With these exaggerated head movements, there would not be ample time to hide in reality. However, in a franchise that is known for, and thrives on, exaggeration this actually fits right into the atmosphere of the game once you get used to it.

The most novel, and topical, of these investigation techniques is a flying drone named the pigeon. It is used to spy on targets below and those that are inside of buildings by looking in through the window. There is also a drone race mini-game that can be played, and the drone can be upgraded to better compete in these races.

This being the Yakuza universe, drone racing isn't the only way to pass the time. There are many other mini-games that can be played around Kamurocho. These include Sega arcade classics like Virtua Fighter 5, Fighting Vipers, and Puyo Puyo. There is also a unique Kamurocho-themed House of the Dead-style shooting game titled Kamurocho of the Dead. Throughout the city, there are also areas where you can play darts, western gambling games like poker and blackjack, and Japanese gambling games like koi-koi and oichu-kabu. Those who have played Yakuza 6 will find the layout of Kamurocho familiar, as it uses the same map, with some changes. The most obvious of these is that the bowling alley area now has a mini-game inside that is said to be a virtual reality board game of Kamurocho. Here, you roll dice and traverse around a game board. The spaces you land on could lead to several mini-games, from lockpicking or thumb turn bypass (using a thin wire to open a lock), fighting several enemies, or shooting using a drone. There are also spaces that add dice rolls or take them away, and spaces that simply give you a gift. Winning any of the minigames in these spaces will give you a prize, and they will be converted to cash upon successful completion of the board. Any extra dice at the end will also give you a cash prize. Because of this, it's one of the easiest ways to earn a lot of money, as long as you have enough game passes to play. These game passes can be found in gambling centers, or won from simply winning street fights when thugs around Kamurocho jump you.

The voice acting and motion capture in this game is excellent. The highlight is definitely Takuya Kimura as Takayuki Yagami. I enjoyed Yakuza's protagonist Kazama Kiryu as much as everyone else, but Kimura gave Yagami a much more emotional performance that was a nice change from the stoic performance of Takaya Kuroda as Kiryu. Another highlight was one of the game's main antagonists, Kyohei Hamura. There was a lot of press given to the fact that Pierre Taki was replaced in the role by Miou Tanaka after Taki was caught by police in possession of cocaine. Hamura's face was altered to no longer resemble Taki, but the motion performance is still there, and it is excellent. Throughout the story, Hamura almost becomes a sympathetic character, and a lot of that is down to the emotion given when the entire plot is revealed. That is a testament both to Tanaka's voice performance and Taki's motion-capture performance. In this game, unlike most games in the Yakuza universe, there is both a Japanese voice option and an English one. The excellent thing about this is that the English dub has an entirely new translation from the Japanese one. This makes it flow more naturally when spoken in English, preventing the game from having stilted dialogue as was the case with the Shenmue series or the original Yakuza on PlayStation 2. The English voice actors are equally as impressive, with the highlights once again being Yagami's voice actor Greg Chun and Fred Tatasciore as Hamura. Another standout in both English and Japanese versions is Yagami's best friend, former Yakuza Masaharu Kaito, performed by Shinshu Fuji in Japanese, and voiced by Crispin Freeman in English. I would love to see a game with Kaito as a playable character.

The game's art style is excellent, as is the case with all Yakuza titles. Kamurocho, the Yakuza universe's fictionalized version of the Kabukichō district of Tokyo, is almost a character all of its own. It is brimming with life, with recreations of famous Kabukichō landmarks and buildings as well as buildings unique to Kamurocho. The game pays tribute to Shenmue in many ways, more so than most Yakuza titles, with capsule toys that can be sold or displayed in Yagami's office, and quick-time event chase scenes. The quick-time events are never as punishing as Shenmue however, as you are given ample time to press the button, and failing to do so won't result in failure, just a reduction of the amount of time that Yagami has to catch the suspect. The latter is not a problem either, as Yagami is given ample time to catch up. Many of these scenes make the quick-time events worth it, as there are a lot of references to famous film action scenes, including everything from Jackie Chan films to Back to the Future.

The musical score is also top-notch, and while many themes should be familiar to fans of the Yakuza series, there are some standouts that are new to this game. There are also five vinyl records that can be collected throughout Kamurocho containing music that can be played in Yagami's office. These include everything from the traditional Irish tune "Londonderry Air" (commonly known with lyrics as "Danny Boy", although this game includes the song with no lyrics), to a song performed by one of Yagami's love interests in the game.

Judgment is an exceptional game. It has both Yakuza and Ace Attorney Investigations gameplay styles that work exceptionally well together, and the game's cast of characters are well voiced in both Japanese and English. The separate translation for the English dub is also a welcome change from previous efforts to translate games in the Yakuza franchise, resulting in dialogue that sounds natural when spoken in English. The game's fictionalized Tokyo district, Kamurocho, is bustling with life and energy, and there is much to do around the district as well. This game is one that I heartily recommend to anyone, whether you are a fan of the Yakuza series or not.

Final verdict:

5 out of 5

Judgment series

Lost Judgment Review

Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio's Like a Dragon oeuvre

Yakuza 6: The Song of Life Review

Like a Dragon: The Man Who Erased His Name Review

Microsoft Acquired Double Fine

Tim Schafer posted a video explaining that Microsoft has acquired Double Fine Productions.

Games already announced won't be affected, such as Psychonauts 2, which will still launch on Linux, macOS, Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One as planned, and crowdfunding backers will still get everything for which they pledged.

 However, the company will focus on Microsoft platforms going forward.

Open World Action RPG Review: Yakuza 0 (Director's Cut)

This review was originally posted on the McMurray Internet Channel website on December 6, 2018.

Yakuza 0 is a prequel to Sega’s popular Yakuza series, which follows the regular series protagonist Kazama Kiryu and the regular series minor antagonist Goro Majima near the beginning of their Yakuza careers in the late 1980s.

The game takes place in 1988 as both characters are expelled from the yakuza. Kiryu’s expulsion is done at his request to protect the man who ran the orphanage he grew up in, Shintaro Kazama, after being accused of a murder he didn’t commit. Majima’s expulsion, on the other hand, is involuntary and comes after being tortured for two years for not going against his oath-brother as demanded by his patriarch.

Although the two never interact directly in the game, both stories are intertwined with each other, with each character getting more playtime after the other’s story has been told in two chapters. Each character’s respective Yakuza family wants an empty lot in Kamurocho that is worth one billion yen.  Someone is using both characters to accomplish this, and it’s up to Kiryu and Majima to find out who is pulling the strings and why they are manipulating them to do so.

The story is held up by the excellent voice acting, which remains in Japanese with English subtitles, and the cinematic music that is used in the game’s many cutscenes.

As with most games in the Yakuza series, the game is an open-world action adventure that takes major cues from both the Shenmue series and the Streets of Rage series. The latter is apparent in the combat, which is accomplished in martial arts through hands, feet, and weapons, as well as from objects around the city which can be picked up and used as makeshift weapons against enemies. Both characters have four types of fighting styles, each of which can be leveled up by gaining experience from fighting, eating, and completing side-quests.

The game takes place in two cities, Kamurocho, a fictional district in Toyko based on the real-life Kabukicho, and Sotenbori, a fictional district in Osaka based on the real-life Dotenbori. Both cities are quite vast, detailed, and have a lot to do. This is where Yakuza 0 really shines. There are a bunch of events where the protagonists must do quests for people which more often than not resorts to the use of martial arts. However, there are also a bunch of mini-games that can be played, ranging from Sega arcade classics such as Space Harrier, Outrun, Super Hang-On, and Fantasy Zone, to UFO Catcher crane games, to parlor games such as darts, billiards, and bowling, to gambling games such as poker, baccarat, and blackjack. The localization team even went so far as to provide detailed games on how to play Japanese gambling games which are not as well known in the west such as koi-koi and oichu–kabu.

Yakuza 0 is not only one of the best games in the Yakuza series, but it is one of the best games that Sega has ever made. The story is fantastic, especially the half focusing on Majima, which gives a lot of depth to this usually two-dimensional character. The Japanese voice acting with English subtitles helps keep the uniquely Japanese feel of the game intact, and the cinematic music helps to set the story nicely. With tons of fun side-quests and mini-games, this is also a title that has tons of replay value even after the main story has been completed.

Update June 28, 2025: Yakuza 0: Director's Cut has been released. It includes additional cutscenes that weren't in the original release, adding extra context to the story.

Final verdict:

5 out of 5

Like a Dragon: Ishin! Kiwami review

Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise review