Reviews

Afterburner Climax was developed and published by Sega. It was released April 21, 2010 and retails for 800MSP.

Afterburner Climax pits one sole fighter pilot against an entire air force of opposition. It’s classic, arcade style gameplay; players must down hundreds of planes in a matter of minutes. Far from being a simulation Climax takes the idea of dog fighting and pushes it far beyond the logical extreme. The end product is a super fast and beautiful experience that is over all too soon.

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Blacklight: Tango Down was developed by Zombie Studios and published by Ignition Entertainment and released on July 7, 2010 for 1200 MSP.

XBLA and the multiplayer FPS genre have a delicate relationship. Content, replayability, a large player base and something fun and interesting to weld it all together keeps a multiplayer FPS at the top of everyone’s mind and the front of everyone’s games played list. Retail FPS titles usually provide these flavors, as such XBLA titles have to ace them out in one of those categories to make the purchase worthwhile.

Blacklight: Tango Down provides a decent slew of game modes both solo and team oriented, 12 multiplayer maps, a robust customization system, and a an interesting mechanic that highlights enemies and points of interest at the expense of combat functionality. Last but not least Blacklight features a cooperative mode called Black Ops. A now-traditional FPS progression system is also in place to dole out unlocks at a steady pace.

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Yesterday Microsoft announced the official lineup for the 2011 Summer of Arcade and now we have an official trailer for the promotion showing off gameplay from each title. No …
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Braid was developed by Number None Inc. and published by Microsoft Game Studios. It was released on August 6, 2008 for 1200MSP. The price has since been permanently reduced to 800MS points.

Braid is a puzzle/platformer where you manipulate time in order to help main character; Tim, save the princess of his dreams from an evil monster. Tim’s motivations are hinted throughout the game with text passages in each world hub. In case you still haven’t played Braid, we’ll keep story elements vague to avoid spoiling the experience. Along your journey, time manipulation mechanics will build and evolve in each world making Braid and incredibly unique experience that stands out as one of those games that players will likely never forget.

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iCandy is developed and published by Dandysoft. It was released on the Xbox Live Marketplace May 3, 2011 and cost 80MSP. A copy of the game was provided by the developer for review purposes.

iCandy is a board based, puzzle style game. This concept is a little different and makes for quit a challenge, you must place a candy square on every block of the board. This sounds simple enough, but the challenge comes in when you have to start matching the color and candy style of all blocks. You can complete a straight line, which makes the whole row disappear, but you have to keep in mind to keep all colors on the board and playable. 25 levels, 9 pretty girls, and trophies await you in this candy packed puzzler.

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Soul Calibur was developed by Namco Bandai and retails for 800 MSP. It was released July 2, 2008.

The soul is always burning — burning for more swords and axes clashing, burning for ring outs. Soul Calibur is one of the best fighting games ever released for the Dreamcast and has had many sequels on various consoles. Some still regard the first game being the very best in the series and if you’re one of those, then Xbox Live Arcade is where you’ll be able to find it. But does the soul still burn or has the flame been extinguished?

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Alien Hominid HD was developed by The Behemoth and published by Newgrounds. It was released February 27, 2007 for 800MSP.

Alien Hominid HD follows the adventures of a kind alien who was forced to crash-land on Earth. When secret agent earthlings steal his ship, the alien goes on a grand adventure to find his ship and off this planet. Players venture through fifteen levels across three areas in this arcade-style shooter. Although this game is overshadowed by little brother Castle Crashers, it is a fun and creative game that deserves its own spotlight.

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Avatars Don’t Bleed was developed by SoGameSoftware and retails for 80 Microsoft Points.

Drawing upon the mechanics and minimalism of games like N+ and the floaty physics of Super Meat Boy, Avatars Don’t Bleed is a running, jumping, wall-clinging, avoid spike-based-deathing platformer. As with a growing number of solid XBLIG titles, Avatars Don’t Bleed features the player’s avatar as the main star of the action, and for only 80 Microsoft points.  For fans of the genre, it would appear that Avatars Don’t Bleed should be a no-brainer of a purchase. Alas, appearances often find themselves impaled, repeatedly, on the sharp spike walls of reality.

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Spyglass Board Games was developed by Freeverse Software and Strange Flavour and retails for 400 MSP.  It was released on August 1, 2007.

Before Xbox Live Arcade annexed the hearts and minds of hardcore gamers with an assortment of genres and titles, certain games were lauded simply because they were the only option for someone yearning for a particular genre not available elsewhere on the service — Spyglass Board Games was one of those titles because it contained a reasonable simulator of the game we know as chess. Although XBLA still only offers few options in that arena, Spyglass Board Games makes the same reoccurring moves and ends in a stalemate.

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Castlevania: Symphony of the Night was developed by Konami. It was ported by Digital Eclipse and published by Microsoft Game Studios. It was released on March 21, 2007 and costs 800MSP.

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night was originally released for the PlayStation in 1997 with everything we had grown to expect from the Castlevania series. You are Alucard and are slated to kill Dracula before he follows through with his evil plans. Pitted with this mission you will take on all kinds of enemies including giant wolves, skeletons and even death himself, the Grim Reaper. With a plethora of weapons, armor, magic and items at your disposal can you stop Dracula before it is to late.

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