12 years ago
BattleBlock Theater review (XBLA)
BattleBlock Theater was developed by The Behemoth and published by Microsoft Game Studios. It was released April 3, 2013 for 1200 MSP. A copy was provided for review purposes.
It’s hard to believe it’s been almost five years since the release of Castle Crashers, the side-scrolling brawler brainchild of The Behemoth that grew up to be an XBLA darling that still sits atop sales charts today. Needless to say, the next game made by The Behemoth would have big shoes to fill. Instead of playing it safe, The Behemoth dared to be unique with BattleBlock Theater. Not only did they dare to take on a whole new side-scrolling genre, they also dared to create one of the craziest premise in the history of gaming.
BattleBlock Theater puts you in the shoes of one of the hundreds of prisoners who, after a terrible boat crash, washed up on a mysterious island and were taken captive by giant cats. These cats love their theater, so they force their prisoners into deadly plays. The story mode revolves around platforming and puzzle solving, navigating death traps and fighting crazy animals. When you’re tired of exploring the theater, you can dive into a host of multiplayer modes. BattleBlock Theater is a wonderful platformer not meant to be taken seriously, and made even better when you play with friends.
12 years ago
Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams review (XBLA)
Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams is the rare platformer in today’s world that is simultaneously incredibly demanding and very satisfying. The game, ported to XBLA from the first batch of Steam Greenlight games, was originally part of a successful Kickstarter project. The game’s protagonist, Giana, derives her name from the original Great Giana Sisters of the 1980s which was most well known for being successfully sued by Nintendo for its close similarities to Super Mario Bros. The new game maintains the charm of an older era while demonstrating a keen awareness of how graphics and sound have improved in 25 years between the original and Twisted Dreams.
The game’s main mechanic involves Giana’s ability to shift between two different forms, which shifts the entire world’s graphics and music accordingly. Players will find themselves shifting back and forth between worlds extremely rapidly at times — it recalls the shifting of Ikaruga and Outcast, though with substantial changes to the environment also, not just the main character.
12 years ago
Terraria review (XBLA)
Terraria was originally developed by Re-Logic; 505 Games developed and published the Xbox 360 port. It was released March 27, 2013 for 1200 MSP. A copy was provided for review purposes.
At its heart, Terraria is a 2D side scrolling platform game which features a range of RPG, mining, crafting and world building mechanics. With such a unique mixture of gameplay styles and influences, one could be forgiven for thinking that Terraria should lack depth or substance. The reality is quite contrary however, and Terraria may actually be one of the deepest and most engaging titles within the Xbox Live Arcade catalog.
Terraria presents the player with such a huge range of activities to participate in, at such a variable pace, that it really is the ultimate sandbox game. Unlike Minecraft or Spelunky which respectively allow players to wander aimlessly in relative safety or punish them brutally along an increasingly difficult path, Terraria presents both options as slowly or as quickly as you can manage.
12 years ago
Phantom Breaker: Battle Grounds review (XBLA)
Phantom Breaker: Battle Grounds was developed by Release Universal Network and published by Mages. It was released February 27, 2013 for 800 MSP. A copy was provided for review purposes.
Phantom Breaker: Battle Grounds is a 2D, retro-styled, side-scrolling beat-em-up in a similar vein to 2010’s popular XBLA brawler, Scott Pilgrim vs The World. In Phantom Breaker: Battlegrounds, players take on the role of one of the four colorful starting characters: Mikoto, Waka, Itsuki and Yuzuha, and battle their way through the streets of Tokyo and finally to a Demonsphere universe in order to rescue Waka’s sister Nagi from the clutches of the evil Phantom.
The XBLA game is actually a spinoff of Phantom Breaker, a retail fighting game released in Japan by 5pb, however the presentation ensures no prior knowledge of the characters or story is required. The game is bundled with four modes including Story, Arcade, Co-op, and a PvP Battleground mode. Both multiplayer modes can be played online or offline but do not allow for you to bring your couch buddy into online territory. Read More
12 years ago
Dollar Dash review (XBLA)
Dollar Dash was developed by Candygun Games and published by Kalypso Media. It was released on March 6, 2013 for 800 MSP. A copy was provided for review purposes.
Every once in a while, a game comes along with a concept so brilliant you can’t believe no one’s thought of it before. Taking the idea of competitive thievery and applying a fun, cartoonish art style, Dollar Dash from Candygun Games and Kalypso Media seeks to offer a fresh twist on classic arcade gameplay.
Dollar Dash is a top-down action game pitting four thieves against each other in three different game modes with one simple goal: steal everything in sight. You’ll accomplish this task by running, shooting, laying traps, and creating all kinds of general mayhem to grab as much cash as possible and prevent your opponents from doing the same. Built primarily as a multiplayer game, Dollar Dash has no traditional single-player component, but offers four-player competitive modes both locally and over Xbox Live.
12 years ago
Star Wars Pinball FX 2 review (XBLA DLC)
The first Star Wars Pinball table pack for the Pinball FX 2 platform was developed by Zen Studios. It was released February 27, 2013 for 800 MSP. A copy was provided for review purposes.
Zen Studios, makers of Pinball FX 2, is releasing a trio of Star Wars pinball tables this Wednesday, in what will be the first group of many tables to come, much how the studio has released multiple packs of pinball tables from the Marvel comics universe. These Star Wars tables, which include a table for Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, a table designed around the Clone Wars cartoon show, and a table in honor of infamous bounty hunter Boba Fett, are all worthy additions to the ever-expanding body of content available for Pinball FX2. It’s worth pointing out that only one of the three tables is focused on a specific film — this strategy of utilizing both iconic characters (Fett) and Expanded Universe content (Clone Wars) leaves Zen Studios with a range of choices in developing future Star Wars pinball tables.
12 years ago
Special Forces: Team X review (XBLA)
Special Forces: Team X was developed by Zombie Studios and published by Atari, Inc. It was released February 6, 2013 for 1200 MSP. A copy was provided for review purposes.
It’s been nearly three years since Zombie Studios’ last crack at an XBLA shooter, Blacklight: Tango Down, and in that time, they’ve cultivated a hard-core PC following with its free-to-play successor Blacklight: Retribution. Now heralding the return of Zombie’s shooter-centric capability to Xbox Live Arcade, Special Forces: Team X delivers a mostly satisfying multiplayer fix with enough style to overlook the one-note experience. STX isn’t targeted at the ultra-competitive; it’s designed around ease of use, accessibility, and plucking enough chords to resonate with everyone in some way, even if it never particularly excels at any one of them.
It’s impossible not to see the reflection of other titles in the glossy presentation of Special Forces: Team X. The lean character bodies and cel-shaded visuals immediately drum up thoughts of Borderlands, while the handling, cover-system and gun mechanics are unabashedly lifted from the Gears of War series. This isn’t a slight on the title, to the contrary, there’s an admirable confidence in the way Zombie Studios has surveyed the landscape, imitating proven success, rather than trying to reinvent the wheel. The amalgamation of gaming’s giants makes for a beautiful creature both accessible and familiar, but there’s something missing behind the eyes, and it’s little more than the sum of its parts.
12 years ago
Serious Sam Double D XXL review (XBLA)
Serious Sam Double D XXL was developed by Mommy’s Best Games and published by Mastertronic Group Ltd. It was released on February 20, 2013 for 800 MSP. A copy was provided for review purposes.
After his success on PC, Serious Sam has been a frequent star in the Xbox Live Arcade. Each iteration is known for its signature crazy-mob-running-at-you chaos, with heavy emphasis on strafing and dodging. Now, in the surprisingly novel twist that is Serious Sam Double D XXL, this frantic formula is reimagined into a 2-dimensional side-scrolling twin-stick shooter, and manages to retain that signature panic of the previous games. With it, it introduces the surprisingly deep gun stacking mechanic that sets it apart as its own worthy entry in the series.
Originally released on PC in August 2011, this version on XBLA is an updated “XXL” version that adds challenge levels, two-player co-op, gun upgrades, and additional polish and tweaking to vastly improve the original game.
12 years ago
Skulls of the Shogun review (XBLA)
Skulls of the Shogun was developed by 17-BIT and published by Microsoft Studios. It was released January 30, 2013 for 1200 MSP. A copy was provided for review purposes.
Skulls of the Shogun is a samurai-themed, turn-based strategy game inspired by Nintendo’s Advance Wars series. Skulls players must guide the newly deceased General Akamoto and his band of undead warriors across the four seasons of the samurai afterlife. Along with a solid single-player campaign the game — which was simultaneously released on XBLA, Windows 8, Windows Phone and Windows Surface — comes bundled with the ability to play online and offline multiplayer skirmishes along with a much-hyped asynchronous mode, allowing matches to be played across all four platforms.
Throughout your journey through the afterlife, General Akamoto is assisted by a small team comprising of Archers (ranged attacks), Infantry (close-quarters combat) and Cavalry (scouts). Things may initially look bleak for our mustachioed hero, but further help can be gained by haunting shrines to summon extra resources in exchange for rice, or as the game progresses, by summoning elusive animal monks bringing advanced magic to your troop. You can also upgrade your comrades to a demon status by having them chow down on the skulls of the enemies they’ve slain.
12 years ago
The Cave review (XBLA)
The Cave will make you laugh. The Cave will make you curious. The Cave will make you confused. The Cave will make you think. Yes, The Cave will make you a lot of things as you solve puzzles that are only occasionally as frustratingly obtuse as they are clever. Unfortunately, one of those things Double Fine Production’s point-and-click-is-dead/long-live-point-and-click adventure game will make you is bored. Playing Double Fine’s adventure game will inspire in you feelings of pride and contentedness during your moments of puzzle-solving clarity, but it will also inspire you to go play something else when you’re (frequently) stuck shambling along its mostly lifeless halls for the umpteenth time.
You’ll uncover the shady pasts and green-eyed and avaricious desires of the game’s seven playable characters — if you’re willing to play through the game three separate times — as you explore ever deeper while the Cave itself plays the dual roles of court jester and adjudicator. These stories are intriguing despite their simplicity, and the game will have you smiling and chuckling a bit when the Cave is narrating proceedings or morbidly recounting a character’s past. The experience breaks down, however, when you’re hopelessly stuck on one of the more perplexing puzzles without the benefit of the titular narrator distracting you from the tedium of your aimless wandering.