Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012 review (XBLA)
The original Duels of the Planeswalkers was perhaps the best bad game one could play on XBLA. It launched with numerous bugs, many of which remain unfixed today. A small number of cards didn’t work as described in their text, it was inordinately difficult to arrange blocking if there were too many attackers, and certain design decisions crippled the strategic calculus normally found in a Magic game. And in many ways the first Duels game played like a giant teaser advertisement for the rest of the Magic universe, rather than as a game whole and complete unto itself. It was still hugely fun to play, because Magic is a fun game with great art and clever mechanics, but the game lacked a certain richness, that attention to detail and the player experience that marks a great game.
Thank Wizards and Stainless, then, for making the bold decision to leave behind the old game, warts and all, and concentrate on creating the game that the first Duels could have been. The new Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012 addresses many of the complaints about the first Duels, providing a smoother, faster game experience, a cleaner UI, vastly improved deck editing, a variety of online cooperative play formats, and a generally richer, better game experience.
An update on Monday Night Combat … err, updates
It’s a question we get fairly often: Why does the PC version of Monday Night Combat get all sorts of cool updates while 360 players are “stuck” with just the Spunky Cola Special? Well, to those who aren’t regulars on Uber Entertainment’s forums the answer to that question is shrouded in mystery. To bring it out more into the open we’ve summarized what Uber Entertainment’s Chandana Ekanayake (aka Ekanaut or Eka) had to say on the matter. He noted that the Xbox 360 version has more players than the Steam version, so why isn’t there new content? Simply put he said it’s about control and turnaround times.
Microsoft adds new measure to indie game ratings
Last month some indie developers suspected foul play in the XBLIG rating system when the developers of College Lacrosse 2011 urged fans to rate the game highly in an …
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Rewind Review: Ikaruga (XBLA)
Ikaruga is a vertical shooter developed by Treasure and released on Xbox Live Arcade April 9, 2008. The game is a port of the arcade original that was released 2001. It also received a Japan-only port to the Dreamcast and a much later port to the GameCube in the US. With so many versions, why should we be concerned about yet another one? The answer is simple – this is the definitive version of the game.
The Dishwasher: Vampire Smile Ghost Bead Guide
In The Dishwasher: Vampire Smile players collect ghost beads that modify their stats or gameplay experience in some way. Four may be equipped at any time. While some beads are easy to find and in fact the game leads you right to them, some of them are in hidden pathways or require backtracking to find. Still some are received as rewards for playing the musical challenges from amps scattered throughout the game.
Thanks to Laorik and an anonymous commenter, the guide is now complete! All 30 beads are accounted for and contained within as well as a guide to the Bleep Bloop! achievement.
If you’re not sure whether or not to purchase The Dishwasher: Vampire Smile check out our review of it.
XBLAFans Presents: The 2010 Game of the Year Awards
On behalf of the XBLAFans staff, welcome to the first annual XBLAFans 2010 Game of Year Awards!
2010 was a fantastic year for the Xbox Live Arcade, filled with surprises, letdowns, and, of course, great releases that will be remembered for years to come, like Limbo, Super Meat Boy and Monday Night Combat.
We even saw the triumphant return of some classic franchises, with games like Perfect Dark, Casltevania: Harmony of Despair, Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1, Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light and Hydro Thunder Hurricane lighting up friend lists everywhere.
Yes, it was a fine year for the XBLA indeed.
We at XBLAFans.com have spent countless hours playing, discussing and writing about our favorite games to come out on Microsoft’s digital store. We know you love the XBLA as much as we do, and nominating five titles for each of the categories below was difficult. Deciding the winners was even more difficult, as many great titles sadly did not make the cut.
In the end, only a few winners received our highest accolades, with an honorable mention given to the runner-up. Here are the winners for the 2010 Game of the Year Awards:
Harm’s Way/Doritos Crash Course Review (XBLA)
Harm’s Way was created by Justin Carpenter, developed by BongFish, and published Doritos/Microsoft Game Studios. Doritos Crash Course was developed by Wanako Studios, and published by Doritos/Microsoft Game Studios. They were released 12/8/10 on the XBLA Marketplace for $0.00
Every year we seem to get at least one free XBLA game. First it was Yaris, then Undertow, and then last year Doritos launched a game titled Dash of Destruction. It wasn’t the best game, but it was free and pretty fun. That was about a year ago, this year things have changed. Focusing on releasing quality games we get two titles for the Unlock Xbox contest, and both are definitely above the bar set by their predecessors.
MetaReview: Final Fight: Double Impact (XBLA)
Final Fight: Double Impact has been on Xbox Live Marketplace for a few days now. Our review is still pending, but in the meantime we’ve broken down …
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