Reviews

The Micro Machines series has long been the standard for top-down arcade racing games.  Keen Games seeks to dethrone the series from its thrown with TNT Racers.  Released on February 9 for 800MSP it packs quite a punch for the price.  But is it better than a Micro Machines title, or just a dime a dozen clone?
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Bionic Commando Rearmed 2 is the sequel to Bionic Commando Rearmed, which itself remake of the 1988 NES game.  Critics generally loved the original Rearmed.  It was well received by us as well.  So the sequel has big shoes to fill.  The question is whether this game was more than a mustache and a new hairdo; could it stand against the scrutiny of its predecessor?

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A little over 3 years ago, Poker Smash was released on Xbox Live Arcade. At first glance, one might write it off as just another generic match-three game. Sure, the game can be played by simply matching 3-of-a-kind, but the depth that Poker Smash brings to the action/puzzle genre is unlike any other game on the marketplace.  Inspired by the SNES cult hit; Tetris Attack, Poker Smash is truly one of the hardest puzzle games to master.  But the true beauty of the game is that any gamer of any skill level can find an enjoyable experience in Poker Smash. Read More

Rotor was released February 20, 2011 via Xbox Live Indie Games.  It was developed by Pocket Starship and sells for 80MSP.  A copy of the game was given for review purposes.  All of the game’s aspects were explored.

Indie developers Pocket Starship have hit the XBLIG scene with their freshman release, Rotor. In the game players pilot a helicopter in a stylized open world and complete minigames which involve things such as collecting orbs or attempting to accurately fly down a specified path. Does it stand up to the basement price of 80MSP? Hit the jump to find out.

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Stacking was developed by Double Fine and published by THQ. It was released on XBLA on February 9th for 1200MS points.

Stacking is an adventure/puzzle game that places you in control of Charlie Blackmore, who is the smallest member in a family of Russian stacking dolls. The Blackmore family is being forced to work for a rich industrialists know as “The Baron” and it is up to Charlie to free them. Charlie must stack inside other dolls and use their special abilities in order to make his way through 4 areas and defeat the evil Baron.

Riding high on their October release of Costume Quest, Double Fine has found room for success on the XBLA platform. With that said, expectations for Stacking were extremely high considering it was from the minds of Tim Schafer and the team of hit-makers at Double Fine.  Luckily, Stacking surpassed most expectations and stands out as an early favorite for 2011 XBLA Game of the Year. Read More

Indie games often get a bad reputation; they’re viewed as poorly designed, as clones of existing games, or both.  The Indie Games section of the Xbox 360 dashboard has plenty of twin stick shooters and role playing games.  What they don’t have a lot of are 2.5D motorcycle games, and that’s where Toy Stunt Bike excels.

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Blocks: The Devilish Delivery Game is a casual puzzle game that was released by Darkwind Media January 29, 2011 for 240 Microsoft Points.  The object of the game is to deliver a box to the floating island. It sounds easy enough, but the delivery platform can only fire rockets on one side of the platform at a time.  Also, players must beat the clock to get it there through a maze of twists and turns.

The control scheme for the game is simple, right trigger or bumper controls the right side rockets, and the left trigger of bumper controls the left side rockets.   As stated players can only fire one set of rockets at a time.  The whole idea is to move the platform with the box to the island and keep things as balanced as possible.

The problem with Xbox Live Indie Games is that they often go overlooked.  Like the iTunes store, games are released so often that players can often miss the hidden gems in the crowd of releases.  Some games such as I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MBIES 1N IT!!!1 get media attention, but most slip away into obscurity, often without even a review from an indie gaming site.   Is Avatar Karting a game that should be overlooked, or a game that players just can’t pass up?  Find out after the jump.

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In May 1998 Luxoflux and Activision teamed up to create a major competitor to the Twisted Metal games;  Vigilante 8.  Set in an alternate 1970’s during an oil crisis, the game pitted the criminal Coyotes against the Vigilantes, a team of civilians who take the law into their own hands.  The game was a commercial success and sprouted a sequel, Vigilante 8: Second Offense.  The series sat dormant for eight years until Isopod Labs, a group of developers consisting of three members of the Vigilante 8 team, brought the series back to the forefront with Vigilante 8 Arcade.  But could this revival to the series live up to the fond memories players have of the original games?  Found out in today’s Rewind Review.

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Pixelbit Snooker and Pool is an Xbox Live Indie Game that was released on January 10, 2011 for 240 Microsoft Points.   It’s Pixelbit’s first offering and it doesn’t include avatars!  But how does the game fair as a pool simulator?  How does it stand up on it own?  How does it compare to other similar titles?  Find out after the jump.  Read More