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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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Dead Block takes the traditional zombie game and throws it out the window. Gone are the grotesque parts-hanging-off zombies, gone are the photorealistic graphics. In their place is an art style that’s reminiscent of the 2006 CGI film Monster House. It’s got that 3D comic look that was popularized by Team Fortress 2, and it looks great. The game is set as a campy classic TV show featuring characters from all different walks of life. The horrific sound of Rock ‘n Roll has caused the dead to rise from their graves. Now it’s up to the few remaining survivors to set traps in a tower defense like manner to stop the oncoming hordes.

It’s certainly a fresh take on a genre that, in our opinion, went stale long ago. Maybe comical tower defense is just what the zombie genre needs. We’ll find out this summer when Dead Block comes to XBLA. Check out our initial coverage of the game here and hit the jump for another trailer.

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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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Full House Poker just released another DLC pack for the Summer Season. The DLC is free and contains three new achievements for a total of 50 gamerscore. But beware; …
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Have you ever played a game before the HD revolution so beautiful that you considered it a work of art? Would you want that work of art remastered for the current generation of consoles? The debate will never cease, but memories of titles worthy of remastering keep pouring in.

Elemental Gimmick Gear is a hand-drawn action RPG that was originally destined for the Sega Saturn until publisher Hudson decided to switch gears and release it for the much more powerful Sega Dreamcast. Now, more than ten years from its original release, EGG deserves to reach a new audience of gamers.

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Here’s what games the staff at XBLAFans have been playing. What have you been playing?
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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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We’re starting yet another feature here at XBLAFans that will showcase any newly announced Xbox Live Arcade-based avatar awards from are friends over at AvatarAwards. They’re a great site that somehow gets news on avatar awards for all 360 games before they’re released. Be sure to check them out if you’re curious about any non-XBLA related avatar awards. For simplicity’s sake and so that we don’t leech from them, each of the links below will take you to their site. Remember, these are awards, so they’re given out to the player by completing criteria in each game. For more detail hit up the Avatar Awards site. You can also follow them on Twitter at @AvatarAwards360.

We’ve got a big backlog to fill between the AvatarAwards and things that pre-date their site, so this one’s a lot longer than usual. Hit the jump to see the list. Also, let us know if we missed one.

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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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