Disney's Epic Mickey 2:The Power of Two Video game review

You could have heard the screams from miles away when we told my boys that we were selected to review Disney's new video game, Epic Mickey 2: The Power of 2. They already loved the first game, so they were excited to try out the sequel. I am by no means a gamer myself, but the boys in my household (hubby included) definitely are.  The boys were jumping up and down begging me to let them play the game already while I snapped this shot of the cover.

Epic Mickey 2 The Power of Two returns the gamer to the Wasteland which is an imaginary world

 based on classic Magic Kingdom attractions like Frontierland and Adventureland. After the Wasteland is torn up by earthquakes, Mickey is summoned to help restore it — and find out what caused the disaster.  Mickey has a magical paint brush at his disposal that can shoot paint or thinner. 

In the second game, Mickey is joined by Oswald the rabbit as he battles to save the Wasteland.  From what my boys tell me (and my observations) - a second player can control Oswald.  If you choose to play alone, the computer will automatically control Oswald.

All six of my boys (ages 6 to 19) were enthralled with the game for hours.

And so was my biggest kid (AKA the hubster)!

While I am not a video game fan, I am definitely a Disney fan, and I really enjoyed watching the boys play.  There is a storyline, Disney characters, references to the Amusment Parks, and great music.  A lot like watching a Disney movie.

One thing that I really loved about the game as a mom is that it really fosters cooperation.  Players have to work together to accomplish things in the game - and that is a skill that any siblings can definitely work on!

If this is not on your shopping list for your favorite gamers for Christmas, it definitely should be!

Epic Mickey 2 The Power of 2 is available on XBox 360, PS3, and Nintendo Wii to satisy any gamer preference.

 


Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Disney's Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two the video game. I received a copy of the game and additional compensation in order to facilitate the review, but all opinions are mine.

Number Ninjas From Imagine Toys - Review

What is a mom supposed to do when it is summertime, and her children are thinking of fun and games, but mom wants to make sure that they keep up on their math skills?  Bring out the Ninjas!  The Number Ninjas that is! 

Yes, my boys were BEGGING to do math when I pulled this out of the box from ImagineToys.com.  Beggin I tell you!  So, being the most awesome mom in the world (at least according to their pleas) I cracked open the box - ever so carefully, just like a true Ninja.  I fell in love the minute I opened it because it is extremely well made.  I am always nervous when I buy a game or toy that it might not be durable enough to last through 6 wild boys, but this game will definitely hold up!

And I was happy to see that there was even a Ninja mom piece for me to play along with them who looks exactly like me , well, sorta like me - ok nothing like me except that we both have curly hair!

 We quickly read the directions, set the board up, and started to play.

Each player takes turns rolling three dice, two have numbers and one has an operation sign. The player adds, subtracts, or multiplies to figure out how many spaces they get to move.  Players move around the board in search of tokens which they earn by solving fun word problems.  The goal is to collect 4 tokens and then the golden dragon.

On thing that I really love about this game (especially because my kiddos vary in age) is the fact that you can differentiate the level of play based on the dice that you use.  Younger kiddos like Luke who are just mastering addition and subtraction roll the red dice and answer easier questions, while older kiddos use blue dice which add the skill of multiplication.  Their questions are a bit trickier too.

Our verdict?  We loved it!  Number Ninjas is a must have game!  The boys love the ninjas, mom loves the numbers, and the whole family is happy with a fun game to play!

You can purchase your own Number Ninjas here.

Disclosure: I received a complimentary Number Ninjas game from Imagine Toys in order to facilitate the review. No other compensation was received, and the opinions are our own.