Toys & Games reviewed and tested
When I was in primary school, we had a programmable robot that looked a lot like a rumba. It was huge, heavy, and would move around the floor in different directions if you pressed the right series of buttons, but that was about it. It was exciting at first, but I remember wishing that it could do more.
Who doesn’t love lasers? If you grew up in the 80s and 90s (or the 50s and 60s, for that matter), you grew up with laser fights seeming like they were going to be a key feature of life. Of course, in Laser Tag, they are, as a painless answer to paintball that’s way more sci-fi – and that, with toys like these, can be played at home!
From surveillance right down to stocking fillers, everyone’s using drones! The Tello combines functionality and useful features with pure showmanship in an attempt to make the ultimate drone that’s both tool and toy. Trick stunts, VR capabilities and lessons in coding, the Tello offers an awful lot in a very small package.
The Dash is advertised as “A child’s first real robot friend”, which brings to mind questions of how prolific robots are going to be once our children are adults. Well, if the sci-fi future is approaching as quickly as it seems to be, it’s best to prepare kids early.
LittleBits strives to ensure the kids of today are empowered with the skills and confidence to becomes the chief change-makers and problem-solvers of the future, they aim to achieve this by getting them excited and interested about inventing from a young age.
Throw on some Lycra and back comb your hair; we are heading back to the 1981 when Dave Theurer and Atari combined to create Tempest. This iconic arcade game came along and smashed a few boundaries with a bunch of firsts. This game was one of the first games that used Atari's Colour-QuadraScan vector display technology. It allowed players to choose their starting level via the Atari "SkillStep" system, and was also the first system that allowed you to increase the maximum starting level depending on the player's performance in the previous game.
The Space Rover Inventor Kit has been designed to inspire creative kids and future astronauts to build and customise their very own Space Rover, then take it on missions inspired by NASA astronauts.
You could show this little car to some people and they might rightly assume it’s a matchbox car from the 50’s as it has that attention to detail and built to last quality that harks back to the toys of Christmas past, however, show it to anyone with a games console and they will recognise it as Fusion Flea, the vehicle from the Fallout series. This 1:18 scale die cast replica was the go-to vehicle for the folks in the Fallout universe, this scaled down version of the sweet little three-wheeler is manufactured by the Chryslus motoring company who gift it to
If Philip Schofield is happy to award this toy 'Best in Show' on 'How to spend it well at Christmas', there is probably no reason to look at it any further and just assume its awesome. But, as I get paid per review, I should probably write something!
These cute little games units are a must-have for arcade fans, collectors and retro hunters. They have all the playability and addictiveness of the originals and are the ultimate desk addition.
Let’s face it - owning an original, full-sized classic arcade unit is way beyond most of us. So, Micro Player have produced these mini games consoles to fulfil the fantasy, and Gadgethead were sent three units to try. If you’re an arcade fan, you’ll sure to remember all of these: