#malibu games

[split-pixel]

Time Trax, 1994

Malibu Interactive // Malibu Games // SNES

[snesaday]

Approximate Release Month: June 1993 Genre: Platformer Developer: Absolute Entertainment Publisher: Malibu Games

Family Dog isn’t as by-the-numbers as you might expect from a platformer based on a failed TV show, but inconsistent and imprecise controls make it impossible to enjoy.

When I say inconsistent, I mean that literally. Family Dog eats button inputs much like a family dog might eat a beloved slipper. Press B or A to jump and the dog you control will probably jump. Hold down right on the D-pad and it will probably run to the right. But sometimes the dog won’t jump, and sometimes it will stop moving even with the button pressed down.

Even when the controls work, they don’t feel good. The dog’s jump is unlike any I’ve seen in a platformer. Most platformers let you run to get extra height and distance with your jump. Family Dog doesn’t: a running horizontal jump and a standing horizontal jump are pretty much the same. If you want extra height, the game expects you to come to a full stop, hold up on the D-pad, and then jump. It doesn’t feel right.

There are only three short worlds in Family Dog: the house, the pound, and the woods. The house is a predictable left-to-right affair where you avoid cats and other household terrors. There’s a lot of verticality in these house levels that you can ignore if you want. If you want to get ammo for your bark attack for later, stock up now. There are also items you can find that let you play fetch minigames with the family’s son, but I’m not sure what you get out of it other than points. Once you reach the end of this part of the game, the family sends you to the pound.

Excuse me? The rest of Family Dog is the dog trying to get home. I don’t understand why the dog wants to get back to those jerks. It wasn’t a mistake. They put the dog in the car and drove it there!

Anyway, the second world has you escape from captivity. This is a more open area filled with some very light exploration and puzzle-solving. You rescue birds from cages who then flip switches or break windows for you to continue further into the level. It is a pleasant change of pace from the first level, but once you break out the game has you do more bad platforming. It’s not clear where to go, and it’s frustrating to play because of the bad controls. The final world, the woods outside the pound, reuses this open environment idea to have you bounce on tree limbs to find your way back home. At least the developers set up arrows to point you in the right direction.

Family Dog is a poor game that only has three levels but enough new ideas for barely one. Part of me wants to knock the game for being so short, but I don’t want to play more. Maybe it’s the perfect length?

Next week: Top-down racing returns to the Super Nintendo in Kawasaki Caribbean Challenge!

SNES A Day 205: Family Dog Approximate Release Month: June 1993 Genre: Platformer Developer: Absolute Entertainment Publisher: Malibu Games Family Dog isn’t as by-the-numbers as you might expect from a platformer based on a failed TV show, but inconsistent and imprecise controls make it impossible to enjoy.

[jonasbro]

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[nevergettinglaids]

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‘Family Dog’

[SNES] [USA] [MAGAZINE] [1993]

GamePro, June 1993 (#47)

Scanned by Phillyman, via RetroMags

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The full Synchronized Sink-Off dance battle. 🍍

The rules of the game are simple: stay afloat the longest. Watch as Nick Jonas and your favorite influencers battle it out on the Oobleck floor in this summer’s most thrilling dance event, the Malibu Synchronized Sink-Off!

[jobrosnews]

Nick Jonas reveals his favorite music artist of the summer

Nick Jonas has been a household name for years. From starring on Disney Channel to touring the world in a band with his two brothers, the singer and actor has done just about everything.

This summer, Nick was tasked with hosting the Malibu Games in Vietnam! The 3-day event is here to kick off summer with some of our favorite influencers taking part in everything from dance offs to water fights. We chatted with the star about what his experience was like and what's coming up next for him.

AOL: The Malibu Games sound like the perfect way to kick off the summer. What was it like for you hosting the Malibu Games?

Nick Jonas: Getting to host the games was a lot of fun! You know, I think it’s one of those things where you get asked to go to a part of the world you’ve never seen before and also to get to be enjoying summer in this way with so many interesting people, it's kind of a no brainer. Teaming up with Malibu, getting to host and create this great content was so much fun.

All of the events take place in a super unique location -- Vietnam. What was your favorite part about being there?

It is really unique — and not somewhere I’d ever been before. I just tried to soak it all up. The people are incredible, the food was so delicious, and to be able to have this really unique experience with Malibu Games was unforgettable. So I’m excited for another trip back to see even more and have some more fun.

Looking back on your trip, what would you say was the highlight?

There were so many unique moments and times I kind of had to pinch myself. I think that just getting the experience to see this great place and create some great content — it was all about celebrating summer time, the fun that can be had when you get a group of people together and compete in these different ways all without taking itself too seriously.

We have been obsessed with your new song with Mustard called "Anywhere." What's coming up next for your music?

Thank you! I’m very excited. This season I'm just staying really creative and just trying to not feel that pressure to release if I don’t feel like it's ready. We're in such an amazing time in the world today with how music is streamed and received in general that you can really not feel any pressure and just stay creative. So I’ve been trying to do that and I’m actually writing all of this week and have some things this weekend — appearances and other things and some again next week.

So staying creative and enjoying the ride. And also it goes beyond music for me at the moment with the acting side of things I'm doing as well. My mind's really been opened up to writing, but as a screenwriter and a playwright as well. So I’ve been enjoying that, just trying to continue to grow as a creative person.

We will definitely have an eye out for all of your new projects! What music have you really been into this summer? We loved hearing Post Malone give you and your brothers a shout out on his new album.

Yeah, I really love Post Malone’s new record — I’ve been blasting that for sure and the brothers reference is awesome. So thank you Post Malone! And then Kacey Musgraves for me -- that record is just phenomenal and I got the chance to see her play at Stagecoach which was great, she killed it. And I think she’s made a real sort of career album here, so I'm happy for her.

It definitely sounds like you have a ton coming up. What do the rest of your summer plans look like?

I’m gonna have a pretty busy schedule over the summer. Some different one off pop-up events, I'm going to Brazil to play some shows, which should be great and some other shows around the US. And in addition to that, you know, just again continuing to write and stay creative and be open to whatever happens in a sense. I want to just stay in that creative zone. That Mustard track for instance is a prime example of being open to things, and when I got the song sent to me I loved it right away and wanted to do something with it, and I'm glad that it all worked out.

Tune into the Malibu Games this summer and keep up with the games on Instagram.

Source: AOL Entertainment

[jobrosnews]

May 02: Nick on Marissa's instagram story (mnmachado).