Top 5 game downloads

From...

by Linda L. Grubbs

(IDG) -- Looking for a good excuse to show off that new computer? Download one of these games and impress the relatives with your skills.

1. Santa's Secret Valley: Take part in an elf's quest to rescue Santa's magical items. Kids will love to help solve this mystery, told from a fairy-tale perspective; they'll help Santa find his missing boots, Christmas gifts, and other objects that he needs to begin his trip from the North Pole. The game takes players on an interactive journey through snow-filled mountains, secret passageways, and hidden caves to find the missing items. Players must figure out how to manipulate each obstacle in order to move forward in the game, and provided clues help players advance; for example, in one scene players must determine the combination for a locked door. This is a great game for parents to play with the young ones.

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2. MechWarrior 4: Vengeance: Feel the rush of commanding a fully armed, 40-foot, 100-ton war machine across the remote battlefields of a hostile world. You are the last of a family line fighting a desperate battle to avenge your father and retake the planet from those who seek to destroy it. This newest installment in the action series pits you against customizable enemy AI bots in a wave battle scenario. I felt like Jimmy Sparks controlling his powerful steel robot Gigantor. But instead of using a rocket-powered backpack to keep pace with evil-doers, the machine in this game rolls at 90 miles per hour over mountains -- clearing trees, crushing vehicles, and shooting laser blasts at the enemy along the way. This game has great sound effects and graphics, but I found the keyboard controls difficult to use, so you may want to use a joystick. This version features the Frostbite map and four MechWarriors (from which you can create many variations): Awesome, Catapult, Uziel, and Raven. The full version features 21 Mechs. DirectX is required, and multiplayer is not supported in this trial version.

3. Elf Bowling 2: Elves in Paradise: If you think you're good at shuffleboard, this funky little game will put your skills to the test. Elves serve as the "pucks" in a shuffleboard contest between Kris Kringle and his brother Dingle to see who gets to keep the title "Father of Christmas." The contest takes place aboard the S.S. Kringle, an island-bound cruise ship. The goal is to hurl the elves to the score zone at the other end of board. To complicate matters, the ship rocks back and forth, making it trickier for you to score points. A circular storm meter is positioned at the end of the board to provide assistance with navigation. This is one of the best free games that I've played in a long time. It's a game for all ages, and the elves offer a lot of banter that I found relatively innocent and funny -- but you may want to look the game over to see if you think it's appropriate for your kids.

4. American McGee's Alice Demo: Wonderland is not what it used to be, and Alice is not pleased. Join her on a trip back through the looking glass to take back Wonderland from the evil Queen of Hearts, who has enslaved the people. In this macabre version of the classic tale, Alice is guided by the Cheshire Cat and the White Rabbit. But their words of wisdom are sinister and foreboding, prompting Alice to take up arms to do battle against the Mad Hatter, Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, and the Jabberwocky. Her arsenal includes an exploding Jack-in-the-Box, nasty dice, an ice wand, and more. I navigated the game with relative ease, taking Alice through the Mushroom Forest, making her swim or leap to avoid trouble. The game features 3D graphics, great animation, and sound effects that truly make it a real adventure.

5. Mr. NFL 2000: Mr. NFL 2000 uses statistical wizardry to help you predict the outcome of NFL games. It's fun to use, but your results may vary. The tool displays statistics such as the average number of points, the passing yards, and the sacks for each team in an easily readable chart. You can make predictions based on formulas that you can create and edit, or give each team a power rating and rate their schedule strength. Mr. NFL 2000 can download new stats each week (a 1KB file) for free. I'm a Monday Night Football fan, so I used the single-game option and picked Dallas over Washington with a seven-point spread. The program predicted that Dallas would win, but foretold a greater point spread (11.3). I also tried the Smart Predict feature, which lets the computer do all the predictions for the week. The program didn't do a perfect job of predicting the wins, however, garnering eight wins and six losses. Mr. NFL 2000 is a slick little program, but I wouldn't bet the house on it.

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