Category: Doctor Who

Like Bow Ties, Doctor Who Legacy Is Cool

Doctor Who, Games, Smartphone/Tablet Apps

doctor_who_legacyWhat do you get when you combine Doctor Who, a gem matching game, and a role playing game?   If you package it all into a cool mobile app with nicely drawn images of the Doctors and his various companions, you get Doctor Who: Legacy.

The story is simple.  The Doctor is taking a trip with Madame Vastra (a reptile-lady from a species that pre-dated humans on Earth) when they meet up with some Sontarans (a clone race of warriors that bear a striking resemblance to potato-men).  You help the Doctor and Vastra fight them off, but the bigger problem is that the Sontarans shouldn’t be there.  They’ve figured out time travel and are messing around with history – trying to make every war a Sontaran victory.  The Doctor sets off to stop the Sontarans by visiting points along his timeline in reverse order.

doctor_who_legacy_2As each battle unfolds, you assist the Doctor and his companions by matching three or more gems of the same color.  These enable the Doctor and his companions to attack their enemies to heal from attacks they suffered from.  Sometimes, your matches will cause more gems to match which will enable more characters to join the fight.  Along the way, you can collect "time crystals" which can be used to buy new characters or upgrade existing ones,

The best part of the game, though, are the graphics and layout.  The games levels ("episodes") go in reverse order from more recent Doctor Who episodes to less recent ones – with a few additional confrontations tossed in for good measure.  Fans of the series will be treated to familiar scenes as whole episodes are reenacted in a turn-based RPG/puzzle game format.  Daleks from Asylum Of The Daleks must be fought against in "human-turned-into-Dalek-zombie" form, "broken down insane Dalek" form, and fully functioning Dalek form.  Cybermen from Nightmare in Silver appear in "Chess playing Cyberman", Cyberman, Cyber-mite, and even Cyberman-Doctor (aka "Mr. Clever") forms.

Many enemies will have unique attacks such as locking out gems (preventing you from moving them for a few turns), altering gem colors, or stealing all gems of a certain color.  Enemies also attack at different rates.  Some will attack every turn, others every two or three turns.  In addition, different companions can be more or less effective against certain enemies.  This leads to certain strategies as to which gems to match up and when or which companions to add to or remove from your party depending on the enemies you will be facing.

So far only seasons 7 and 6 of the new Doctor Who are included.  However, there are still many levels to play, many enemies to battle, many companions to collect, and even many different costumes for the companions and the Doctor to unlock.  (For example, I now have Doctor eleven in a Stetson because Stetsons are cool.  I can’t wait to unlock the fez, though.)  The developers have stated that they won’t be satisfied until they release a level for An Unearthly Child (the first Doctor Who episode that aired 50 years ago).  This means that there should be plenty of levels coming up.

Given the amount of new levels there are (either included in the game now or promised for later) and the fact that old levels can be replayed again and again (to help level up new characters or just to relive favorite battles), I don’t see this game getting old anytime soon.  This is a must-play for any Doctor Who fan, especially when the next episode seems oh so far away.

Doctor Who: Legacy is made by Tiny Rebel Games and is available for free on Android or iOS.  It is released under a freemium model:  It is free to play, but you can purchase time crystals using real money instead of waiting for them to randomly drop during battle.  One last tip:  Be sure to visit the Doctor Who: Legacy Facebook Page for some promo codes that unlock new characters and costumes.

NOTE: I did not receive compensation for this review.  In fact, I was not asked in any way to review this game.  I only reviewed this as a Doctor Who fan who loved playing the game.

Doctor Who Excitement Building

Doctor Who

The Doctor Who 50th anniversary special is a mere days away.  First, the TV trailer was released.  This showed us some wonderful scenes with David Tennant’s 10th Doctor alongside Matt Smith’s 11th Doctor.  It looks as though the two Doctors are going to have a bit of a friendly yet antagonistic relationship.  While one scene shows then sitting down, crossing their legs, and crossing their arms at the exact same pace (as if of one mind), other scenes show Ten and Eleven try to one up each other’s sonic screwdriver.  Then there’s the scene where Tennant notices that Smith "redecorated" the TARDIS – just before exclaiming (in that unique Tennant  Matt Smith and David Tennant manner – "I don’t like it."

If this got me jumping with joy, though, the next preview got me climbing the walls with anticipation.  While the 50th anniversary special is called "The Day of the Doctor", this preview is titled "The Night of the Doctor."

This prequel features the return of Peter McGann as the 8th Doctor.  Peter previously played the Doctor in a 1996 movie.  Fans have speculated for awhile about how McGann’s 8th Doctor transitioned into Eccleston’s war-scarred 9th Doctor.  Now we know part of the story and I have a feeling we’ll know the rest by November 23rd.

My boys have been feverishly catching up but seeing as how they are currently 17 episodes from the most recent episode, I doubt they’ll make it in time.  Of course, I’ll record the special to show to them when they catch up.  I did, however, show them the trailer and will show them the prequel as well.  They loved seeing the two Doctors together.  I can’t wait for them to be all caught up so we can watch new Doctor Who episodes together as they air.

A Halloween Story Starring The Doctor, Harry Potter, Captain America

Doctor Who, Harry Potter, Holidays

Once upon a time, the Doctor accompanied Harry Potter and Captain America.

costumes

(I wear a costume now.  Costumes are cool.)

They set off on a quest.  Now considering these three, you might think it was a quest to save the world, but actually they were just looking for some candy.

candy

(Peanut butter and chocolate.  Is there a better combination in this world?  I think not.)

It was a bit wet and cold, but they soldiered on and pretty soon they had quite a lot of candy.

lots-of-candy

(Sweet, sweet candy!)

Along the way, they braved some scary sights… such as Snoopy stuck into a pumpkin.

pumpkin-snoopy

(Don’t worry.  He sent Woodstock to get help.)

As they arrived home, they were greeted by a group of haunted pumpkins.

spooy-pumpkins

(Grim grinning pumpkins come out to socialize!)

Luckily, these were the ones they had carved earlier so everyone went in, warmed up, ate dinner, and then had a celebratory sugar cookie.

sugar-cookie

(The candy wasn’t eaten yet, but it would be.  It would be!)

Hope everyone had a happy and safe Halloween!

Doctor Who? Doctor TechyDad!

Doctor Who

After spending time sewing my fez and bowtie and hunting down some suspenders, it’s time to reveal my Doctor outfit.

TheDoctorTechyDad Sonic-Fez-And-Bow-Tie

In fact, I think I’ve found my new Twitter Avatar:

DoctorAvatar

Want to know how much it all cost?  Well, here’s the breakdown:

The shirt, jacket, pants, and shoes (not pictured) were essentially free as I already owned these.  Same for the sonic screwdriver which was a birthday present.  The suspenders came from Hot Topic and cost about $9.20.  I made the bow tie myself out of materials that cost me about $1.30.  I also made the fez myself from materials that cost about $2.  This means that the Doctor outfit only cost me about $12.50.  Not bad.

There’s one more piece to my costume, though.

TARDIS-Key

Yes, that’s a TARDIS key.  This was a very easy project.  Do you ever get junk mailings from car dealerships with keys?  The intent is that you go to the dealership, try out the key, and you win a car if it fits in the car’s lock.  Of course, the entire setup is a ploy to get you into a dealership so they can sell you a car (when your key inevitably fails to fit in a car).

Instead of going to the dealership or tossing the key, I simply cleaned it off and used my label maker to make a "POLICE BOX" label for it.  (Yes, I know the TARDIS key on the show is all silver and doesn’t say "POLICE BOX."  Artistic license.)  It’s a small detail that I’m sure nobody will see, but I liked making it.  Now if only I can remember where I parked my TARDIS.

Now I just need to wait one more day until Halloween so I can wear this costume while the boys go trick or treating.  Is it Halloween yet?  What about now?  Man, time sure does go slowly when you don’t have a time machine!

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