'Light Rangers: Mending The Maniac Madness' Computer Game Zooms Into Christian Retail Stores.

Help Angel, Amos and A.J. Save the Minds of Angeltown's Kids From Maniac Brainiac in Ultimate Arcade-Style Adventure Game From Brethren Entertainment and Digital Praise.

FREMONT, Calif., Nov. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Brethren Entertainment Studios and publisher Digital Praise Inc., a leader in Christian themed, family-friendly entertainment software, today announced the retail availability of "Light Rangers: Mending The Maniac Madness," a power-packed, non-stop PC adventure game for kids that puts both fun and character values in the center of the action.

Set in the fictional town of Angeltown, "Light Rangers: Mending The Maniac Madness" is rendered in the ultra-popular Japanese Anime style. Players take on the roles of friends Angel, Amos and A.J. as they defend Angeltown from the influence of Maniac Brainiac who, through his evil minions Vanna Vanity, Fast Forward, Dr. Nono and Mimi Me, is leading kids toward lives of pride, impatience, disobedience and selfishness.

"Light Rangers: Mending The Maniac Madness" features the classic arcade style of play that made hits of such titles as Super Mario Brothers and Donkey Kong. The game, suitable for elementary aged children but popular with tweens and even teens, showcases the designs of Kevin McKenzie, former Cartoon Network artist and contributor to Power Puff Girls, Samurai Jack and Teen Titans.

"Our goal with 'Light Rangers' was to put fun, a great story, and great characters at the forefront of positive, Biblically-based entertainment," said Scott Wong, president of Brethren Entertainment Studios. "Most exciting for us was creating a game that both girls and boys will enjoy playing. Girls love computer action too, and 'Light Rangers: Mending The Maniac Madness' delivers on all counts. This is truly a game for the whole family."

Heroic Challenges

"Light Rangers" illustrates the power of God's word by transforming ordinary kids Angel, A.J. and Amos into heroes worthy of the task of defending Angeltown. The threesome are supported by their mild-mannered Sunday school teacher, Dr. Zachariah Goodman, who offers advice and encouragement as well as high-tech gadgets to help defeat the town's disruptive villains.

In the story, threats come from all sides of town. Vanna Vanity has peppered North Angeltown with billboards touting prideful messages of conceit; the Light Rangers must complete a series of challenges to remove the messages and clean up that side of town. In West Angeltown, Fast Forward has programmed his toys so kids will become spoiled and impatient, forcing Amos, Angel and A.J. to come to the rescue by shutting down Fast Forward's evil toy factory.

Across the city, the Light Rangers have their hands full stopping Dr. Nono from infecting East Angeltown with the Noma Virus that encourages kids to be disobedient to their parents. And if all this wasn't enough, South Angeltown kids have become selfish because Mimi Me has stolen their teddy bears. Our heroes must defeat the robotic Scare Bears guarding the pilfered plushies, return them to their rightful owners, and teach kids that sharing is the right way.

Structured Play

In order to stay the course in their missions, the Light Rangers require periodic energy refills. Energy is found in God's word by answering a series of trivia-style Bible questions presented on the handy Electronic All-Purpose Device, or EPAD 777. Players are given multiple tries to answer questions correctly, with greater points given for first-try successes.

Parents, educators or other involved adults can direct the play in "Light Rangers: Mending The Maniac Madness" in a number of valuable ways. Using the game's built-in Question Editor, adults can create their own topics and questions to reflect particular subject matter, or download periodic updates from the Light Rangers web site, http://www.light-rangers.com . Queries can even be created for mainstream educational subjects such as math, science or history.

To ensure reasonable gameplay durations are imposed, adults can also use the "Egg Timer" feature to set limits on individual play time.

Pricing, Availability

"Light Rangers: Mending The Maniac Madness," produced by Brethren Entertainment Studios and published by Digital Praise, is priced at $29.95. The game, suitable for both Windows (98 and later) and Macintosh (OS X) computers, is now available at many Christian retail stores across the U.S. as well as from Digital Praise or www.light-rangers.com . Light Rangers is trademark of Brethren Entertainment Studios.

SERENITY: Bad Girl in Town


Created by RealBuzz Studios
Barbour Publishing:
Price: $7.97 November 2005

“….a clean, inspiring Christian comic done in a hip, contemporary way. I think you’ve really got a winner.”

-Stan Lee, cocreator of Spider-Man, X-Men, and The Hulk

Uhrichsville, OH—This ain’t your mama’s comic book. This is SERENITY, America’s Premier Inspirational Manga (sm), a comedic teen soap opera about an unhappy girl who finds a happy ending. This ongoing series of graphic novels from Realbuzz Studios and Barbour Publishing kicks off with SERENITY: Bad Girl in Town (Barbour Publishing, November 2005, $7.97).

Created especially for ‘tween to teen girls, SERENITY tells the story of a lonely
girl from a broken family who desperately seeks acceptance, yet lashes out with angst, anger, and obnoxious sarcasm. In the SERENITY manga series, the prayer club at her new school takes Serenity on as a “pet project,” showing her friendship and love…but will even that be enough to crack her hard shell? With realistic and engrossing storylines and dialogue, Serenity tackles important topics and shares solid biblical values through humor and an art form that speaks to today’s young teens.

Manga (comics and graphic novels done in the Japanese style) is a publishing
phenomenon in the U.S. and is especially popular among ‘tween to teen girls.
SERENITY is an original English language manga created specifically for American readers, based on universally familiar themes and situations.

“Serenity stories are all about real life problems, temptations, and solutions from a faith-based moral and ethical point of view,” said Buzz Dixon, the animation and comic book veteran who is president of Realbuzz Studios. “One of Serenity’s main appeals to teen girls is that while the substance of the story reflects what they’re living right now, the distinct manga style heightens the emotions and relationships of the characters. As our readers follow teenage Serenity’s ups and down with her friends, family, and romance, it’s almost as if they’re experiencing it as one of the characters.”

SERENITY launched her own web site with additional art, games and continuing fun at www.SerenityBuzz.com while information on Realbuzz Studios may be found at www.RealbuzzStudios.com. Barbour has announced five additional books in the SERENITY series to be released every other month starting with volume two in January of 2006, as well as plans to continue and expand the series with other titles.

“Manga is not a fad—it is not a craze,” says Marlon Schulman, former VP of Bandai Entertainment and founder of AnimeVillage, now principal and partner at Realbuzz Studios. “It has firmly entrenched itself in the marketplace.”

Manga Facts:
· Manga is the Japanese style of comic storytelling, putting greater emphasis on
emotion and character than American-style comics.
· Manga imported to the U.S. is a swiftly growing $150-million-a-year business
with approximately 60% of its readership being female. Sales in United States and Canada last year of manga reached over $207 million dollars

· Realbuzz Studios, an international enterprise at the forefront of the new blend
of American and Asian talent in breakout contemporary media, creates exciting and original stories, art and video entertainment for family, ‘tween-to-teen, and
inspirational audiences.
· Buzz Dixon, a veteran writer/editor/producer of video games, comic books, and animation, previously worked on such cartoon hits as Tiny Toons, G.I. Joe,
Transformers, Jem, and the Precious Moments specials.
· Marlon Schulman, chief operating partner in of Realbuzz Studios, previously
served as creative executive producer for Disney as well as other studios and was a pioneering executive instrumental in starting the current wave of animation and manga imports from Japan.
· Min Kwon, principal artist on Serenity, is a young Korean-American woman steeped in Asian storytelling techniques yet immersed in American culture as well.

For more information, Click here.





Serenity: Bad Girl in Town Created by RealBuzz Studios
Barbour Publishing Publication date: November 2005
96 pages 5 1/2" x 8" ISBN 1-59310-941-5 Price: $7.97