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One of the beauties of being an indie studio is the ability to experiment; there is a freedom to development as there are no true limitations. The game can become a total fan service to the developers themselves. Brian Provinciano of VBlank Entertainment took the time to sit down with us recently and discuss this very fact. His title Retro City Rampage is a culmination of various pop culture references and game design mash-ups that merge into a totally unique game. We were given the opportunity to test it out and loved what we saw.

For the uninitiated, Retro City Rampage parodies the open-world action genre combining dozens of game mechanics into an 8-bit game. The game has a beautiful sense of humor, lampooning an entire era of movies, games and pop culture. Players take on the role of THE PLAYER, an anti-hero, who signs up as a henchman for a local crime syndicate. But things go chronically awry and he must soon defeat the EVIL GOOD GUYS, who will stop at nothing to end his RAMPAGE OF DOOM.

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The Dishwasher: Vampire Smile was developed by Ska Studios and will be released on April 6, 2011 for 800 MSP. A copy of the game was provided for review purposes.

The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai was an indie success story if ever there was one. The Dishwasher: Vampire Smile is the much awaited sequel to that success story and it’s going far beyond the scope of its predecessor. A story mode, 50 levels of arcade- both single player and co-op, and a never-ended Dish Challenge mode for the masochists of the world that want to fight endless waves of baddies. Standard beat ’em up modes, but the variety of enemies, the two unique characters with their unique weapons and coherent story makes The Dishwasher: Vampire Smile into a fantastic experience. Read More

Small Arms was developed by Gastronaut Studios and released  by Microsoft Game Studios on November 22, 2006. It’s available on the XBLA Marketplace for 400MSP.

When the XBLA service was first introduced to me I felt like there wasn’t enough substance to keep me interested. Geometry Wars was there day one which was fantastic, but other than that most of the games really didn’t look too original or polished. Then I heard about Small Arms. It was released exactly a year after the release of the Xbox 360 and I was very excited to get my hands on it. Despite drawing from experiences like Super Smash Brothers on the various Nintendo consoles, the Small Arms formula feels unique and interesting which, when accompanied by the odd looking cyborg critters you get to play as, gave the game a strong sense of originality which the platform needed at the time. Read More

Hawken is a mech-based shooter from indie studio Adhesive Games. Set in a post-apocalyptic era, players pilot mechs in all out deathmatch. The Unreal Engine 3-powered game looks amazing, …
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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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It’s an invariable assumption that hype will build among certain games. Developers build their reputation through previous releases and deserve the attention; however, there are always those up-and-comers that …
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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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Some folks out there are currently pulling off insane combos and special moves against opponents in the recently released Marvel Vs. Capcom 3. One character in the game hasn’t been his own adventure in over five years; Viewtiful Joe.  His adventures combine the simplicity of a beat-em up with the powers of a superhero that could manipulate time. The story is very Last Action Hero — Joe’s girlfriend has been kidnapped and it’s up to Joe to learn to be a hero and rescue her.  It’s the perfect setting for an Xbox Live Arcade game.  To bring Viewtiful Joe back in HD  would bring in a whole new audience with to enjoy the great gameplay and beautiful, cel-shaded graphics.

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Saturday is the Most Wanted day around the XBLA Fans offices. Instead of dealing with our actual day jobs that actually pay our bills, we get to focus on …
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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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