Reviews

The Sugar Killerz was developed by Fun Hazard and released on March 8, 2011 and costs 400 Microsoft Points. A copy was provided by the developer for review purposes.

It seems the twin-stick shooter is back and The Sugar Killerz is the most recent iteration of this recently rejuvenated genre. Playing as one of four gun-toting killerz out for some sweet justice, players shoot away calorie-heavy hooligans pouring onto the screen.

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The 90’s were an amazing time for arcade games.  So many 2.5D beat em’ ups were released during that time — Final Fight, X-Men, The Simpsons, and and two installments from our half-shelled heroes, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.  Games like these defined the genre and made way for modern beat em’ ups like Castle Crashers.  When word was first leaked that Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles In Time was being remade in HD over at Ubisoft Singapore the teens of the 1990’s squealed like a teenage girl.  But so many games from yesteryear feel dated when dusted off and fired up.  Could Ubisoft’s HD remake, subtitled with Re-Shelled, stand the test of time?  Find out after the jump.

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Rush’n Attack: Ex-Patriot was developed by Vatra Games and published by Konami. It was released on March 30, 2011 and retails for 800 Microsoft Points. A copy of the game was provided by the publisher for review purposes.

It’s becoming more and more common for publishers to revisit their IPs of yesteryear, either giving them a new coat of paint or taking the franchise to new and exciting places. Bionic Commando Rearmed is a great example of bringing fresh looks to a classic. Rush’n Attack: Ex-Patriot aims to take the franchise elsewhere. Set 15 years after the Cold War between the United States and Russia, the game follows Sid Marrow and his team, sent to rescue an operative kept as a prisoner of war since the Cold War.

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Strania – The Stella Machina was developed and published by G.rev. It was released on March 30th, 2011 for 800MS points.

Strania is a vertical shmup where you control a mech trying to reach Vower, a distant star in the universe. The story is as generic as they come, but who cares? It’s a shmup. You shoot things and avoid crazy bullet patterns. The story is so irrelevant to this game that it is hidden in the 5^th and 6^th pages of text of the “How to Play” section in the Options menu. The true beauty in any shmup is the unique features that set it apart from the many shmups available on the Marketplace. Strania is neither a superior or a below average shooter. There is some potential shown with it’s unique features but there are also a few issues making it a tough recommendation for most gamers. Read More

Swarm was developed by Hothead Games and published by Ignition Entertainment. It was released March 23, 2011 for 1200MSP. A copy of the game was provided by the publisher for review purposes.

Swarm is a 2.5D side scrolling platformer in which you control a group 50 small, blue, clueless creatures. The goal of the game is to collect DNA for the “Momma” of the alien swarmites throughout twelve levels while making sure at least one of said swarmites stays alive. The game is not about story; it is about points. Swarm proves to be a fun and engaging gameplay experience once you get used to a few minor drawbacks.
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Castle Crashers was developed by The Behemoth and published by Microsoft Game Studios. It was released on August 27th 2008 for 1200MS points.

The Behemoth have quickly become a developer to watch. After starting life with the flash game Alien Hominid on Newgrounds they expanded the game to consoles and eventually to XBLA with Alien Hominid HD. The game had a unique and striking art style created by artist Dan Paladin, and breathed new life into the almost forgotten side-scrolling shooter (complete with punishing difficulty).

After Alien Hominid The Behemoth moved onto a completely new game in Castle Crashers. This time they decided to have a go at another classic genre, the side-scrolling brawler. Dan Paladin’s unique art style remains, but Castle Crashers is a much bigger and more ambitious game than Alien Hominid. The Behemoth took the basic 2D brawler gameplay and added a few things on top, with an RPG-like (or lite?) leveling system and a little more depth to the brawling itself.

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Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime was developed by Behaviour and published by Atari. It was released on March 23^rd, 2011 for 800MS points. A review code was provided by the publisher.

Editors Note: We have contacted both the publisher and the developer and we have been informed they are looking into some of the technical bugs we encountered. At this time, we feel there are too many problems with this game to recommend a purchase; however, should the game patch these issues we are willing to look back into it as we did with Hydrophobia: Pure.

Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime is a top-down/dual-stick shooter that places you in charge of a new rookie Ghostbusting squad. The goal is to venture through 12 levels in order to take down Dumazu the Destroyer who is causing ghosts everywhere to be nuisances. Most gamers probably don’t even care about the story though because let’s face it; it’s a Ghostbusters game. You rid the town of ghosts one at a time until society can start to function again. It should be an easy sell, right? Sadly, this game is far from an easy sell and it doesn’t even come close to living up to the hype it created. Read More

Battle: LA was developed by Live Action Studios and published by Konami. It was released March 11th, 2011 and retails for 800MSP. A copy of the game was provided by the publisher for review purposes.

Battle: LA continues a recent trend of movie license games coming to downloadable platforms. It’s a strategy that has been met with some success – Scott Pilgrim vs. The World took the spirit of the movie/comic it was based on and created a great game with it. Smaller downloadable games often have shorter development time and small budgets so it actually makes sense for publishers to target the market for these types of games.

With Battle: LA developer Live Action Studios appears to be trying to bring the big budget shooter experience, a la Call of Duty, to XBLA. It’s an idea that seems good in theory, most of said shooters have fairly short campaigns which would be well suited to an XBLA game, but does it work in practice?

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South Park Let’s Go Tower Defense Play was developed by Double Six and published by Microsoft Game Studios. It was released on October 7^th, 2009 for 800MS points.

South Park LGTDP is a tower defense game with twist. The twist is that you can control one of fifteen available characters from the South Park world as you build your defenses. This adds a very welcomed action element to the game making it much more than a strategic experience. South Park fans have waited a long time for a quality console game based off the show; there was quite a large amount of expectations with this title. Thankfully, South Park LGTDP delivers a great amount of fun, content, innuendos and laughs for a minimal fee. Read More

Torchlight was originally developed by Runic Games with the port co-developed with World Domination Industries Inc. and published by Microsoft. It was released March 9th, 2011 and retails for 1200MSP.

Torchlight is an interestingly charming game, but at first it can seem like any run of the mill Diablo clone. It has the same type of dungeon crawling with the thrill of finding as much loot as possible. It originally released on PC and Mac with point-and-click controls but the developers streamlined the controls for a console-based system.

Set in the town of Torchlight, you play one of three classes from Warrior to Mage to Ranger and alongside your pet, discover that the town is in danger of being taken over by the evil Alric. After a beginning tutorial mission, you’re free to take on any optional side-quests to get better items or continue on the main quest. It’s one of the best Xbox Live Arcade games of 2011 even though it’s near two years old but it still feels incredibly refreshing.

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