Naughty Bear

Also known as:  N/A

Developer: Artificial Mind and Movement

Don't get me wrong, Naughty Bear has a ton of flaws - the biggest flaw being that the controls don't work until you install a game update...so if you lack an internet connection, you're stuck with broken controls. But even with this game's flaws...I absolutely love Naughty Bear. It's just mindless, stupid, ridiculous fun. It’s one of my guilty pleasures in terms of bad video games that I can find plenty of fun in anyway. Basically, this is a slasher movie hidden behind adorable teddy bears and scenery, and you’re Jason Bearhees…yup, that’s the best pun I’ve got. Sorry if it was un-bearable....sometimes my use of puns makes me a pain in the ursa. Anyway, I almost get sadistic joy in wiping out my fellow teddy bears in horrific ways...Especially with the gentle, child show-like narrator voice telling me to kill or “defluff” them all. Imagine the game Manhunt, but with adorable teddy bears in the place of the gritty psychopaths of that game, and you've kind of got an idea of what to expect here. It's not a great game by any means, but I do find it quite fun from time to time. Even with its flaws, I have a feeling that others may find just as much fun here as I did.

Review added: 04/15/2020

Naughty Bear: Panic in Paradise

Also known as:  N/A

Developer: Behavior Interactive

When the original Naughty Bear was released, I fell in love with it, despite how poorly the game was made. With awful reviews, I was convinced that my original romp was the only time I’d ever get to defluff Daddles…but then a miracle happened – Panic in Paradise, a sequel to the original Naughty Bear, was released. Not only could I rip the stuffing out of Daddles again (and a huge variety of his pals, new and old) but I could do it in an island paradise. Further emphasizing stealth, Panic in Paradise allows you to steal the clothes of the other bears so that, in some cases, you can walk amongst them without alerting anyone that you’re actually there to paint the town white….the bears don’t bleed, they just lose stuffing, so the town gets painted white instead of red…What? Anyway, Panic in Paradise is an improvement on the original in pretty much every way and well worth downloading if you enjoyed the corny violence of the original like I did. While this is a better game overall, I do admit that I prefer the original...but I've also spent plenty of time defluffing the bears in this game, as well.

Review added: 04/15/2020

Nier

Also known as:  N/A

Developer: Cavia Inc.

Nier is a game that had been sitting on my shelf since shortly after it released, and I just never got around to playing it. Since I was planning on adding some PS3 games to this website again, I decided to give it a try…and I’m really disappointed that I waited this long to play it. Nier isn’t exactly the greatest game ever made, mind you - the gameplay has a few flaws that some may find annoying, like the combat, which often feels kind of bland…But what it lacks in that department, it more than makes up for with quirkiness and personality. For those that have never played it, Nier has you control a father who is doing everything in his power to find a cure for his sick daughter, who has seemingly contracted an incurable disease. This father is eventually joined by a talking book, a foul-mouthed girl that wears lingerie and likes to kick hiney, and a young, magic-wielding skeleton boy. The action-RPG then has you exploring nearby villages, farming, fishing, and beating up local wildlife and/or Shades, the main enemies of the game. I don’t know if Nier is for everyone, but I absolutely loved it. If you like a quirky story, but don’t mind having some dark moments between the quirkiness, then I think that you may love Nier, too. I highly recommend it.

Review added: 12/17/2021

Noby Noby Boy

Also known as:  N/A

Developer: Bandai Namco Games

I didn't realize how much some people loathed Noby Noby Boy until I started getting review scores for the average on this list. I was genuinely surprised to see some very, very low scores for this game….but I suppose I can see how that may happen. If you don't really make an effort to understand what the game is going for, or if you're expecting to put more than a few minutes into this game in a single sitting, then it's hard to see the point. Essentially, the goal of Noby Noby Boy was to control a little creature named BOY. The goal is to have BOY eat objects on the field to get larger, then to stretch BOY out as far as you're able to. The game will then take the measurement of your BOY and add it to the measurements that other players around the world have gotten, and that gets added to another creature named GIRL. GIRL eventually grows longer, stretching past planets and unlocking new maps for BOY to traverse and new items for BOY to eat. The ultimate goal was to have GIRL stretch from Earth, connect to every planet in the solar system, and eventually wrap back around to make it back to Earth. Unfortunately, if you feel like you want to help BOY and GIRL achieve this goal, it's already been done. Playing this game right now basically takes you right to the ending with GIRL reaching her goal. You can still eat stuff and stretch as much as your heart desires, but it no longer helps the original main goal of the game. Anyway, this game was designed to be played in small doses as something to help pass five minutes here and there…if you come in understanding that, and if you love bizarre games, then you'll probably appreciate Noby Noby Boy for what it is. If you come in wanting a game that will keep you busy during a rainy day, then you'll likely be disappointed.

Review added: 12/18/2024

Numblast

Also known as:  Qruton (Japan)

Developer: SCEI

Numblast is another Playstation Network game that I hadn’t played in over a decade before revisiting it for this website. Basically, Numblast is a match four puzzle game, with the catch being that four in a row won’t make the blocks disappear. Instead of matching the blocks in a row, you need to have all four in a box formation, then they’ll disappear. As you play, random blocks lose their color, and if you attempt to rotate four blocks that are sans color, you’ll be unable to. This essentially means that the goal is to keep matching these blocks so that they get replaced by blocks you can rotate. If too many blocks lose their color, you'll find that it's pretty much game over. The game 's concept is fine, but it’s a VERY slow-paced game. My first run for this review was 13 minutes long and I was already kinda bored about 5 minutes in. Anyway, if you like puzzle games, Numblast is unique enough to give it a try…but I don’t think most folks would put this on their “greatest puzzle games ever made” list.

Review added: 04/23/2020