Remember the wooden game Labyrinth?  Where you guided the small steel marble through the maze by tilting the board?  Well, if you’re old enough to remember – Balloon In a Box will have you going through the same motions.  You assume the role of a, you guessed it, helium filled balloon inside of a crazed maze full of obstacles to overcome.  What you may notice upon loading of the game is the Unity splash screen.  Unity is a game engine that’s capable of creating not only iPhone games, but 360 and PC games as well.  FYI, there’s a free version of this engine available if you’re aspiring to create your own games.

Balloon In a Box offers two unique modes of gameplay.  First is “Box” mode, which offers ten increasingly difficult levels per skill level.  The next mode is “Maze” and it’s simply just randomly created mazes with an option to select from small, medium, and large.  There are no obstacles in this mode, just make your way to the finish as fast as you can.  I began my BIAB journey with “Box” mode at the easy skill level.  You’ll have to work your way through 10 levels before you can unlock medium and the same goes for unlocking the hard.  You will effortlessly make your way through the first few levels with no problem at all.  I was thinking to myself that these mazes are a piece of cake! That was until they threw the obstacles into play.  In the latter levels of BIAB you’ll encounter fans that blow you off course, shooting arrows that want to prick and pop you, along with spiky nail walls to impede your progress.  The good news is that Balloon In a Box makes excellent use of the iPhone’s accelerometer, so the controls are very responsive and pretty accurate.  The more you tilt your iPhone, the faster you go in that direction.  If you level your device out, you’ll slow down the balloon and can even completely halt movement.  This comes in handy when you have to time your movements just right to ease by walls of nails and arrow riddled hallways.

Balloon In a Box is great for the casual gamer who wants to pick up and play right away.  On the other hand, it can be very frustrating when you encounter a difficult puzzle.  In addition to the many obstacles that hinder your progress you also have button switches that open and close different paths.  You never know if you’re opening or closing the correct path to the finish.  This makes it even more challenging because you may not have explored that area just yet.  Any area of a maze that you haven’t explored remains dark until you travel that path.  This can be annoying at times because some of the panels that make the wall of the maze are black and you can mistake it for a dead end.  No need to panic because BIAB offers a tantalizing classical musical score that seems to soothe your gaming woes.  It reminds me of a song that could’ve been part of the play The Nutcracker.  Even with such a great score to play to, I’ve come to learn that the best practice for repeatedly failed attempts at a level is to take a break from the game and try again later.  You’ll be glad you did.

Another thing you’ll notice about BIAB is that it isn’t the most polished iPhone game available.  That’s quite alright because Balloon In a Box makes up for it with casual and simplistic fun gameplay.  It’s a great way to kill time on a bus, train, or while traveling on a plane.  If you want a quick gaming fix that won’t require a great deal of time then Balloon In a Box is great for that.  Not to mention the game is great for those of all ages.  The concepts are easy to pickup and learn in just a short period of time.  I know quite a few people that allow their children to take advantage of their iPhone or iPod Touch and this game is sure to please.

Balloon In a Box at first glance may not be that appealing to the masses, but it’s worth a go.  It’s only $0.99 in the App Store and that’s definitely worth the enjoyment that you’ll receive trying to conquer all the levels.  If you’re into puzzle games and you’re the casual gamer that likes a quick fix then Balloon In a Box should satisfy your craving!

By TeLeKiNeSiS

You remember “Extreme Corn Nuts”? They weren’t your daddy’s corn nuts! Oh no they were TOO EXTREME!

Yeah.

Inferno Pool has that same “Extreme” branding that corporations try to wrap products in, ones often the complete opposite of “Extreme” like corn nuts or white bread. The announcer sounds like the guy who did the Mortal Kombat series (FINISH HIM!), but of course instead of a game based on beating people to a bloody mess where that type of announcing might make a bit more sense, this is a game about…billiards. That’s not all though, every menu is paint splatters and rusted chain link fencing.

I get it you’re “Extreme”, christ it’s a pool game!

Not a very good one either.  First off, when was the last time anyone ever wanted to play a pool game on a console? You already are making a game for like an audience of five people. On top of that “Inferno Pool”, the mode that the game is named after, isn’t the most innovative idea I’ve seen. The whole idea is that when you sink a ball it goes to the other player’s table.   I’ve tried for the past three days to get a game with anyone at all on different types of the day, but to no avail.   If you really want a cheap pool game to tool around with and you don’t mind the ridiculous theme, Inferno Pool could be your game.  You can play games of  8 ball and 9 ball with no real technical problems to speak of.

I can’t help but wonder though, if someone down the line might come up with a good idea for a pool game. I always thought it’d be a good idea to make a pool hustler game, almost a day in the life type of deal like they did with poker. Regardless of what they do, pool needs to have something around it other then just the core mechanic. It’s a tactile game, and it doesn’t really benefit from being translated to a video game. Inferno Pool started with a shaky premise, didn’t add anything new or innovative, and packaged it with a theme even even a cave man could see through. If you enjoy pool and would like to have the ability to play it on your console, I’d wait until someone comes out with something really interesting. My advice? Pass on this one.

As a kid we didn’t have much money, fortunately I knew enough people that if I wanted to play a specific console I could. I’ve played everything from the Atari to the original Playstation as soon as it came out and being born in such a way and at such a time is an advantage to this day I feel I’m lucky to have had. This wasn’t the case with PCs however and I lament not having had the experience of playing games like Zork and Bard’s Tale in their prime. This includes the series of Lucasarts games using the SCUMM engine like Day of the Tentacle, Monkey Island, and Sam and Max. Luckily the boys over at X-Box headquarters decided to give my kind another shot at checking out why these games were so good back in the day. I had purchased Monkey Island for 800 points and after playing through it I wasn’t that impressed. Thus, when it came time to check out Sam and Max, I didn’t have high expectations. The difference between the games was like night and day.

I don’t know your type of humor, but I really don’t care. Sam and Max is hilarious regardless. If you don’t laugh in the first ten minutes of playing you’re obviously a humorless, soulless, shell of a human and should probably go back to playing games like Myst. The giant robot that attacks the office while quoting old 80′s song lyrics, the little souvenirs throughout the office, there’s a writing quality here that you just don’t get in many games and it’s extremely refreshing. The visuals are great, and while I enjoyed the old voice actors (particularly Max’s VO) the new ones do the job very well.

The game play, for me, is where it gets a bit hazy. I never really enjoyed the point and click adventure style games. I think the puzzles are downright esoteric sometimes and I feel lucky I have that hint frequency adjuster in the options bar. Moving a little hand around the screen is a bit clunky too, it constantly reminds you this was originally designed for a PC. As much as I don’t really enjoy the type of game play, I find myself compelled to see what’s next, what odd character, interesting dialogue, or funny gag is unlocked after completing the puzzle they give you and progressing the story.

I’m definitely recommending buying it, and $20 for 5 episodes is a steal, but not for the game play. Buy Sam and Max only if you want to laugh your ass off and be thoroughly entertained.

By thebohemiangamer

Developer: Telltale Games

Publisher: Xbox LIVE Arcade

Genre: Action & Adventure, Puzzle & Trivia

Game Rating: T (Teen)

Cartoon Violence
Crude Humor
Drug Reference
Mild Language
Mild Suggestive Themes

Online Interactions
Not Rated by the ESRB

Originally an arcade release, this nine year old game is best known for its stellar Dreamcast port. While it was also released on the Xbox and PlayStation 2, but versions were fairly rare and something of a disappointment for those of us looking for added content. This Xbox 360 port plays it safe, denying us any new characters or single-player game modes. What it does offer is an online mode that may just be worth the $15 asking price.

As the name suggests, Marvel vs. Capcom 2 is a 2D fighting game that pits some of your favorite comic book superheroes (and super villains) against some of the greatest video game characters of all time. This is more than just a game with Street Fighter and X-Men characters, it manages to pull in dozens of characters you would never have imagined fitting in a fighting game. There are a whopping 56 characters, a staggering amount for any fighting game, especially one from Capcom. While not every character is balanced, the sheer variety should attract just about anybody that is even remotely interested in fighting games.

Each side is predictably split into two sets of 28, which by itself is more than most modern fighting games (in contrast, SNK’s recent The King of Fighters XII only has 22 playable characters). On the Marvel side you get some of the biggest comic book characters of all time, including Spider-Man, Wolverine, Captain America, Doctor Doom, the Incredible Hulk, Storm, Iron Man, Gambit and Magneto. You also get a good helping of comic book characters I’m only vaguely familiar with, such as Cable, Thanos and Shuma-Gorath.

As a fan of Capcom since the early 8-bit days, it’s the Capcom side that makes my heart start palpitating in weird patterns. Yes, you get many of the classic Street Fighter characters, including Ryu, Ken, Chun Li, Cammy, M. Bison and so on. But what’s exciting about this game is that you also get other classic characters, such as Jill from Resident Evil, Mega Man, Strider Hiryu, Servbot from Mega Man Legends, Captain Commando and Hayato from the little played Star Gladiator. There’s also a nice selection of characters from the Darkstalkers games, which overwhelms this Morrigan fanboy with excitement.

I promised myself I wouldn’t just spout out lists, but frankly with 56 characters it’s easy to fall into that trap. Needless to say, there is a character for just about everyone, be it a Tron Bonne, Doctor Doom, or just plain old Dan. Any way you slice it; there are a lot of characters to take into this intense three-on-three battle royale.

In an interesting move (that doesn’t feel as novel as it did nine years ago), Marvel vs. Capcom employs a three-on-three fighting style. This means that you select a three-person team, similar to how you play most of the classic King of Fighters games. However, unlike SNK’s long-running series, Marvel vs. Capcom 2 allows you to cycle through characters on the fly, allowing you to not only give your fighters some much needed rest, but also create multi-character combos. It’s an interesting style that can feel a little jarring at first; you can either tag out or simply bring one of your sideline characters in for a brief attack. What’s more, you can also bring all three characters in for a massive special attack that literally fills up the entire screen.

Breaking from a decade old tradition, Capcom has decided to only use four attack buttons instead of six. The moves haven’t been changed, so you will have no excuses this time. The game plays just like all the classic games this title is derived from, and feels even better with the PlayStation 2 control. This fighter has been optimized for the layout of the control, which has never felt more natural.

The game lacks any real story, which is probably a good thing, since I really don’t want to know why Felicia, the cat-woman from the Darkstalkers series, is fighting Iron Man. What surprises me, though, is the general lack of one player modes. Besides the arcade mode and a score attack mode, which is basically exactly the same as the arcade mode, this game has nothing else for you to do. It would have been nice if Capcom had included a Survival mode or something, but I guess Capcom didn’t feel like adding much to the original Dreamcast release.

The game is starting to show its age a little. Some of the characters look a tad rough, especially when put up against the beautifully 3D rendered backgrounds. The graphics don’t look bad, but they certainly could use some polishing. This is especially true when you play the game on a high definition television. There are definitely things about the game that pop out, but there’s also a fair amount of pixelization that can really damper the overall experience. The good news is that you can test out a couple of different filters that smooth out the graphics, but neither of them is ideal. It would have been nice to see a true HD update to this game, but that’s probably asking a bit too much.

Oddly enough I do have what sounds like a very minor complaint about this game. You see, in all of the other versions of the game you started with only a handful of characters, making you earn the rest of them. Each time you played a match (no matter if you won or lost) you would earn tokens that you could use to buy new characters, costumes and stages. This kept me playing both the Dreamcast and PlayStation 2 versions of the game long past the time I got bored simply fighting. It kept me engaged and coming back for more, even if it was only one or two matches a day. For whatever reason, all of that was stripped out in this Xbox Live Arcade version. Instead you get all of the characters unlocked from the get-go. While this is fine for the multiplayer mode, I miss having an incentive (other than achievement points) to keep coming back. In a lot of ways it makes this release feel like a bare bones package, even though it offers several dozen characters to choose from. It’s funny how something so small can make me view it in a negative way.

While I’m complaining, I would also like to spend a few seconds griping about the Xbox 360′s horrible D-pad. Yes, I know I mention it every time I review a game like this, but there’s really no excuse for how shoddy a product the Xbox 360 D-pad is. You can play the game with the analog stick, but it doesn’t feel right. Obviously the best way to play the game is with an arcade stick, so hopefully you already picked one of those up for Street Fighter IV. If not, maybe now is the time to do so.

The game more than makes up for these two problems with a solid online mode. Like Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix and Street Fighter IV, Marvel vs. Capcom 2 manages to give you exciting battles with a minimum amount of lag. That’s not to say that you won’t run into it from time to time, but my experience with the online mode was mostly positive. There aren’t a ton of online modes to choose from, but at the end of the day all you really need is a second player to fight.

While it may not wow the crowds like Street Fighter IV or BlazBlue, Marvel vs. Capcom 2 is absolutely one of the best fighting games on the Xbox Live Arcade. It’s different enough from all of the other releases on the platform to warrant the price, and I guarantee that you’ll get your $15 worth out of just trying out all 56 characters. Now that we have one of Capcom’s most successful fighters out of the way, it’s time to bring on Street Fighter III or Darkstalkers.

SUMMARY: Believe it or not, Marvel vs. Capcom 2 is different enough from all of the other fighting games on the Xbox Live Arcade to warrant a purchase. With 56 characters and a fun online component, it’s going to take a long time before you get sick of this must-own game!

By Cyril Lachel http://defucntgames.com

Fifteen years ago SNK had an idea, what if they took two of popular (albeit mediocre) franchises and turned them into one three-on-three fighting game for the ages. Believe it or not, the idea worked. Fatal Fury and Art of Fighting were reborn as The King of Fighters, which also included characters from Ikari Warriors and Psycho Soldier, two other SNK arcade games. Here we are 15 years later and we’re now 12 games into the series (15 if you include the Neowave and Maximum Impact spin-offs). In those years we’ve seen new characters added, new storylines told and some truly amazing fights. In a lot of ways The King of Fighters XII does a good job of keeping the spirit of the series alive.

The King of Fighters XII offers 22 different characters, including a number of fan favorites. You get Terry and Andy Bogard, Joe Higashi, Mature, Iori, Kyo, Ash, Goro and a number of other familiar faces. In fact, the only brand new character in the line-up is Raiden, the large wrestler from the original Fatal Fury and 3 Count Bout.

Interestingly enough, it’s not who is in the game that is worth mentioning, but rather who is NOT in the game. The most notable absents seems to be Mai Shiranui, easily the most popular female fighter in the SNK universe. Also missing are a few of my favorite characters, including the Garou Team (Gato, B. Jenet and Tizoc), the Geese Howard team (Billy Kane, Blue Mary, Mr. Big, etc.), Seth, Vanessa and Wolfgang Krauser. It’s not that they’ve been replaced with better characters, but rather that they are just missing in action.

I’ll admit that much of that last paragraph was the very definition of “geeky.” But by the time you’ve made it to the twelfth game isn’t that to be expected? The core audience for this series is largely made up of gamers like me who have played many (if not all) of the installments, finding teams and characters that kept you interested in the three-on-three battles. This game can’t seem to decide if it’s trying to cater to all of the old fans or trying to attract a bunch of new players. In either case, it doesn’t have enough of the beloved characters from the past to satisfy old timers like myself and it makes no attempt to bring new players in. And that’s the problem with The King of Fighters XII; it can’t decide what it wants to be.

Did I mention that The King of Fighters XII only has 22 characters? It’s true, you didn’t just imagine that. While two dozen may sound like a lot for some series, that’s nothing for The King of Fighters franchise. This is a series that routinely has three and four dozen characters to choose from, while this 2009 installment doesn’t even hit two dozen. In comparison, the last installment had more than 40 characters to choose from, many of which were brand new. Heck, even the game’s first installment had more characters than The King of Fighters XII. For a game that requires you to choose three characters at a time, 22 isn’t enough to truly satisfy the hardcore fan.

For the most part the game plays like many of the recent King of Fighters installments. You are still choosing a team of three characters and going against another team of equal size. Unlike Marvel vs. Capcom 2 (Capcom’s answer to the three-on-three fighting game), The King of Fighter XII doesn’t allow you to switch characters on the fly. That means that you will have to fight with one character at a time, only switching characters when one guy runs out of health. The good news is that you can choose your character order at the start of each match.

Fans of the series will notice a few changes to the way the game handles. For example, the Tactical Shift System from The King of Fighters 2003 is gone. However, the game does offer a brand new system called “critical counter,” which allows you to perform an impressive looking (and damaging) counter attack when your opponent tries to land a strong punch on you. This system can really turn the momentum of a match, because the player will go into a special mode where you can link a bunch of moves together seamlessly. There’s also a new “clash” system, which will trigger if two characters try and hit each other at the same time. The characters will actually generate a break effect and are pushed away from each other. It won’t change the momentum, but it is an interesting idea that you don’t see in a lot of 2D fighting games.

Beyond the new gimmicks, The King of Fighters XII really has a nice feel to it. The characters have never felt more natural than they do in this game, perhaps helped by the incredible animation and responsive controls. The special moves are (for the most part) easy to pull off and the game feels fine on the standard Xbox 360 game pad, though I would certainly recommend some sort of arcade stick if you plan on taking this game seriously. The game’s four button system works well with the standard four face button layout of the Xbox 360 controller, something I cannot say about every other fighting game on the market.

The big change to this 2009 installment is the presentation, which received a major overhaul. Not have all of the characters been redrawn, but the arenas you fight in are absolutely massive. Well … maybe they aren’t “massive,” but they are definitely the largest I’ve seen in a King of Fighters game. Not only are they big, but the backgrounds are also full of vibrant. In one level you are fighting in a giant sports arena, with a jumbo TV in the background showing your every move. The backgrounds are at their best when they are showing people watching, there’s something about the humanity looking on that contrasts perfectly with these violent three-on-three fights. The background graphics are easily the best looking aspect to this game.

For some strange reason I wasn’t as impressed with the characters as I was with the backgrounds. I can tell just from looking at these 22 characters that SNK Playmore spent a lot of time on the art. Without a doubt, these are the best looking characters I’ve seen in an SNK game. The problem is, depending on the kind of television you own, these characters may end up with a shocking amount of pixelation. Thankfully there’s an option to smooth out the graphics, but they’re nowhere near as satisfying as Capcom’s recent Super Street Fighter II HD Remix. However, don’t let this minor complaint give you the wrong impression, The King of Fighters XII is an amazing looking fighting game, and nobody is going to debate that.

The King of Fighters series has never been known for their vast quantities of extra modes. This is an arcade series, after all. But considering that this is a full price $60 release, I can’t help but notice the complete lack of things to do in The King of Fighters XII. The game gives you an arcade mode, which has you fighting through seven rounds as fast as possible (no really, it’s timed). Then there’s the practice mode, which lets you, well, practice your moves and combos. Outside of the multiplayer modes (which includes online), there’s really nothing else for you here. You can look at the replays and a picture gallery, but that’s just about it. This game is as bare bones as you could possibly get.

This might be fine if this was 194 and SNK was new to the fighting game franchise, but we’re talking about a company that has two decades experience making this kind of game. We’re talking about a series that has been around for 15 years, always adding new modes and extras to play around with. We’re talking about a console game here, not an arcade release. When you spend full price, you expect at least a few more modes to keep you interested. How difficult would it have been to add some sort of survival mode? Couple this lack of modes with the fact that the arcade mode is small and unsatisfying, and you have a 2D fighting game that comes up far short of what it should have been.

Thankfully the game has an online mode, but even that was marred by instability and lag issues. For what it’s worth, SNK Playmore did patch the online mode in the course of my review. This added patch seemed to fix many of the laggy online problems I was experiencing, but didn’t seem to resolve everything. For the most part this mode worked as promised, though it doesn’t have the bells and whistles found in other contemporary fighting games.

That seems to be a reoccurring theme when it comes to The King of Fighters XII. While there’s no doubt that SNK Playmore was on the right track with many of their changes, there just isn’t enough in this package to warrant the high price tag. There aren’t enough characters to choose from, the backgrounds repeat far too often, there’s really only one game mode for single-players and the online is as bare bones as it comes. There just isn’t enough here, which makes it hard to get on board with this product.

But I’ll admit, the more I played the game, the more it grew on me. Talking with other people who have been playing the game, it seems clear that the game has something of a slow burn. It definitely leaves a bad first impression, but as I played through it I couldn’t help but like what it was trying to do. I like many of the characters here, I think the graphics are the best they’ve ever been and I love the way the game handles. It makes me wonder if next year’s model will end up solving most of these problems, especially when it comes to the lack of characters.

Speaking of lack of characters, I noticed that there’s a marketplace tab right in the game’s main menu. Perhaps that suggests that the game will start charging people for individual characters and teams, milking even more money out of you over time. This might not have been a problem had SNK supplied us with more than 22 characters, but I have a hard time not looking at this as a cynical money grab. I hope I’m wrong.

The King of Fighter XII is a solid fighting game that is marred by several major problems. The game’s lack of content wouldn’t be a problem if the game was $20, but at $60 it’s hard to justify. I also have to take into account the fact that The King of Fighters ’98, a superior game by all accounts, is available on the Xbox Live Arcade for a mere $10. There is fun to be found in this newest SNK fighting game, but that fun is not worth the asking price.

SUMMARY: While there’s no doubt that SNK Playmore was on the right track with many of their changes to The King of Fighters XII, there just isn’t enough in this package to warrant the high price tag. There aren’t enough characters to choose from, the backgrounds repeat far too often, there’s really only one game mode for single-players and the online is as bare bones as it comes. Better luck with The King of Fighters XIII!

While there’s no doubt that SNK Playmore was on the right track with many of their changes to The King of Fighters XII, there just isn’t enough in this package to warrant the high price tag. There aren’t enough characters to choose from, the backgrounds repeat far too often, there’s really only one game mode for single-players and the online is as bare bones as it comes. Better luck with The King of Fighters XIII!

There aren’t enough characters to choose from, the backgrounds repeat far too often, there’s really only one game mode for single-players and the online is as bare bones as it comes. Better luck with The King of Fighters XIII!

Now, almost a year later, Taito has decided to port this exciting portable action game to a home console. Space Invaders Extreme on the Xbox Live Arcade retains all of the best elements from its PSP counterpart, all for the cheap price of $10. Unfortunately Taito decided not to add much new to the mix, so gamers who already own this game on another system need not apply. However, everybody that missed Space Invaders Extreme the first time around have no excuse not to pick up this fantastic (albeit disappointing) port.

Don’t be fooled by the stupid name and crazy backwards letters, Space Invaders Extreme [sic] is a phenomenal update to the 1978 game. Scratch that, Space Invaders Extreme may be the best retro resurrection since Pac-Man: Championship Edition (also on the Xbox Live Arcade). This is a game that takes the flavor of the original game and adds so many new concepts and ideas that I wouldn’t be surprised if other companies don’t start attempting similar updates. And best of all, for the first time ever I have played a Space Invaders game that doesn’t feel slow and repetitive.

Space Invaders Extreme starts out like any other classic shooter; you’re a small triangular space ship that sits at the bottom of the screen moving left and right. Above you (or rather, in front of you) are row after row of space aliens, all working their way to the bottom of the screen. If all this sounds familiar then you clearly remember the original Space Invaders, because for the first few minutes you’ll think that you’re playing that 30 year old game.

But it won’t take long before you see how much deeper this reboot is. Essentially you’re doing the same thing that you did 30 years ago, only this time around the rules have changes. There are a ton of different challenges, crazy new power-ups and end level bosses. And we haven’t even started talking about the aliens yet. While Taito could have drawn up some polygonal alien creatures that spew acid and explode into a pile of green goo when hit, but instead they chose to keep the simple design of the original game. But don’t be fooled by their appearance, because this time around these aliens come in all different colors and sizes. Before the end of the game you’ll run into gigantic aliens, tiny aliens, green aliens, red aliens, shielded aliens and more. The game is constantly throwing new types of aliens at you, all while you’re zipping around the bottom of the screen dodging fire and picking up power-ups.

Instead of just dropping power-ups randomly, Space Invaders Extreme rewards you for shooting aliens of the same color. If you are able to do that then a colored square will drop giving you one of the new powers. While these new powers will only last for a few seconds, there’s no denying how cool they are. There’s this feeling you get when you first pick up the blue laser (a giant, constant laser stream that shoots all the way to the top of the screen, killing everything it comes in contact with) that will remind you of how awesome a 2D shoot-em-up can be. And to toss in the wrinkle that you now have to actively plan on how to get power-ups is ingenious.

It’s not just the powerful power-ups that will impress; it’s the sheer amount of cool bonus stages that you will get warped into. These bonus stages are played for points, so you needn’t worry about dying or losing your power-up. While going into a bonus round the game will ask you to perform a task (shoot a certain amount of one color, pick up a certain amount of items, etc.) and then give you a time limit. If you can beat these challenges you’ll be given bonus points and an upgraded weapon, fail them and you’re back where you started. What’s cool about these bonus-stages is how they change up the gameplay, for example, some of the bonus level make the bottom surface slippery, forcing your space ship to move to the sides uncontrollably. It’s that sort of thing that plays on the Space Invader convention in a new and interesting way, some of these bonus stages are the highlights of this brand new game.

For me the most jarring aspect of this new Space Invaders is that it is actually split up into levels, very similar to a lot of the classic shooters that came after the 30 year old original. As you play the game you’ll start to notice that the game isn’t as random as it looks, there’s a rhyme and a reason to each level. There’s even a fun boss battle at the end of each stage. It may not have a story, but Space Invaders Extreme is definitely a more linear experience than what we saw in the original game and its sequels.

The one complaint against the arcade mode is the length, which is admittedly a bit on the short side. If you don’t worry about the bonus levels and just focus on completing the game’s five levels, then you should be able to shoot your way through this level in just around an hour. That’s right; the full single-player campaign is no longer than one hour. Sure I would have liked more, but at the same time I can’t help but gush over the content that is actually in that hour. And unlike story-driven games, you’ll actually want to go back through this game over and over again, so there is definitely replay value in this $10 game.

But don’t take the game’s short single-player campaign to mean that Space Invaders Extreme is easy. At first everything seems simple enough, but it won’t take more than a level or two before you begin having to work to survive. There is nothing worse than getting to the end level boss and then dying, only to be thrown all the way back to the beginning of the level and asked to do it all again. So many times I threw down my Xbox 360 control (gently, of course) and vowed I wouldn’t play it again. Yet there I was, no more than three minutes later, trying it again. Yes, the game can be frustrating, but somehow that anger and bitterness only last a few seconds, then you’re off trying these levels all over again.

When you’re done with the single-player mode there are a number of other things you can do with the game. For starters, you can try your luck at the harder difficulties. Not only will the enemies be harder, but you will also be privy to brand new levels. You can also go in and play all of the individual levels that you’ve unlocked, which can be fun … if you’re the kind of person who likes besting your hi score.

Perhaps the most exciting mode is the multiplayer mode, which allows you and another player to battle it out one on one. Although this mode is on the simple side, it’s hard to deny how addictive the two-player mode in Space Invaders Extreme is. Thankfully the Xbox Live Arcade offers full online play, something missing from the PSP original. On top of playing the game online, you can also play against a friend in a local match. On top of the online multiplayer, Space Invaders Extreme also supports leader boards, allowing you to compare your alien shooting abilities to people you know and don’t.

Thankfully Taito didn’t downgrade Space Invader Extreme’s presentation. The simple truth is that this game looks fantastic. It features a retro look, all while featuring a psychedelic background that is right out of a music video. All of the aliens look crystal clear, especially on a nice large high def monitor. Like Pac-Man: Championship Edition, Space Invaders Extreme manages to have a fantastic new look, all while retaining the classic motif of the original game. It’s a tightrope Taito had to walk, but they did it with absolute perfection. My only complaint is that this Xbox Live Arcade version doesn’t add a lot to the visuals. Sure they look good on the television, but they don’t look that much better than what we saw on the small screen. Still, the graphics on the PSP were second to none.

Sadly the music isn’t nearly as good as the visual presentation, but there’s no reason you need to keep the sound on. For a game that feels like it was influenced by Q Entertainment’s games, it’s a shame that Taito doesn’t have the same musical prowess of Tetsuya Mizuguchi. Maybe that’s why I’m so disappointed by the game’s generic beats, when a game looks like Lumines I expect it to have the same rockin’ soundtrack. But alas this game doesn’t, and so I played the game with the sound off and my music on.

Space Invaders Extreme is exactly what you think it is, a straight port of one of the PSP’s greatest 2D shooters. In a lot of ways this isn’t a bad thing; Space Invaders Extreme is good no matter where you play it. But part of me is a little disappointed that Taito didn’t do something to upgrade this year-old handheld game. I do think the price is right and there’s plenty of content, so I certainly recommend this. However, with a sequel in the works and so much time to work on this version, I expected something more from this game. If you somehow missed this game the first time around, then you owe it to yourself to pick up this incredible action game.

SUMMARY: Fans of last year’s excellent PSP game will feel right at home with this port. Unfortunately that’s because not much has changed since Space Invaders Extreme first hit the handhelds. Still, if you somehow missed this game last year, then there’s no excuse for you to not pick up this incredible $10 shooter!

Fans of last year’s excellent PSP game will feel right at home with this port. Unfortunately that’s because not much has changed since Space Invaders Extreme first hit the handhelds. Still, if you somehow missed this game last year, then there’s no excuse for you to not pick up this incredible $10 shooter!

By Cyril Lachel of http://DefunctGames.com

Released six months after the PC version, Fallen Angel attempts to mix two different adventure genres. On one hand it’s like your standard Diablo II-style hack-n-slash dungeon crawler. However, what Ascaron has done is mix this with the trappings of a massively multiplayer online role-playing game. You get an absolutely gigantic world to explore, all without having to worry about thousands of other people getting in your way. The game isn’t completely offline; it’s just not as dependent on having other players populate the world.

There’s a plot here, however it’s so loose that you may not even notice it at first. The story mainly involves you running errands for people and solving a lot of problems. Gamers expecting a coherent Final Fantasy-style story will no doubt be disappointed. You play one of six different characters, ranging from a Shadow Warrior, an Inquisitor, a Temple Guardian and more. I chose Seraphim, who is described as an angel-like figure who comes bearing deadly weapons. With her curvy figure (to put it mildly) and uncomfortable high heels, my warrior was ready to take on tens of thousands of bad guys and (hopefully) save the day.

The game starts you out with a traditional quest, it involves you talking to townspeople and then fighting a huge monster. However, at any time you can either choose to run through the story or sit back and take out the many, MANY side quests. In each town there are people with large question marks above their heads, you can talk to them to get quests that will earn you gold and experience once completed. There’s no rush on these quests, either. You can talk to a bunch of people and take on these missions whenever it’s convenient for you. All of the side quests are in white, while your main quest is denoted by orange.

It’s easy to get overwhelmed by the amount of side quests early on. I spend the first ten hours of my time doing nothing more than helping parents find their kids, killing monsters that are threatening the local crops and ridding caves of pirates. However, as much fun as these quests are, it’s not until you start taking on the main quest that you realize just how enormous the world is. In order to explore the rest of the massive world you are going to have to defeat bosses and advance the storyline.

The entire game takes place in Ancaria, a gigantic world full of diverse locations and plenty of out of the way areas to explore. While I don’t know exactly how large Ancaria really is, I can tell you that it’s significantly larger than the continent found in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. Not only is it larger, but it’s also a whole lot more interesting. While I loved Oblivion, I couldn’t help but notice how similar everything looked. That’s not the case here, in one part of the world you will be fighting through the forests, while in another part of the world you will be in the middle of a sandstorm. And that’s just the beginning, eventually you’ll make your way through the marshy wilderness, through volcanic tunnels and much, much more. If the game is good at anything, it’s taking you to far off lands that look nothing like where you came from.

Although this type of game is normally played with a mouse and keyboard, Ascaron managed to find a way to get the most out of the Xbox 360 control. Each of the game’s attacks are mapped to the four face buttons, so you can set it up in whatever way is most comfortable for you. At first you can do just about everything you want with the basic four face buttons, but after a few hours you will begin to amass special abilities, extra weapons and a few powerful magic spells. Because there are so many different spells and abilities to keep track of, the developers have added eight more face button slots. To access these you can hold either the right or left trigger, allowing for a total of twelve possible slots. What’s more, you are also able to map potions and other items to the D-pad.

All this may sound complicated at first, but it’s a breeze switching between slots and performing the right task. It may not be as sleek as just pushing a button on a keyboard, but this is about the best you can hope for when it comes to a console port. In fact, I would argue that this is the very best example of how to port a Diablo-style dungeon crawler to a home console. I can only hope that if Blizzard decides to port their upcoming Diablo III to a console, they pay close attention to what Ascaron was able to accomplish with this release.

For the most part the weapons and items are traditional fantasy fair. You are given swords, hammers, hatchets, spears, and a whole host of other items you would see in just about any game in the genre. The difference here is that you aren’t necessarily stuck using only one weapon at a time. In so many role-playing games you have to go into the menu and equip a new weapon when you want a change, in Sacred 2 you are able to switch weapons on the fly. This quick switch reminded me of what Fable II did last year, how you can go from hacking somebody up with a sword to shooting them with your gun. In my case I had highly advanced ninja throwing stars, a weapon that made taking out long distance enemies a breeze. However, if for some reason I missed the bad guys and they advanced, then I was ready with my sword to finish them off. All this is done at the touch of a button, making the control and feel of the game very streamlined.

Like the weaponry, the enemies and bosses you fight are straight out of every fantasy MMO you’ve ever played. Expect to hack and slash orcs, spiders, dragons, zombies, skeletons and a whole host of other baddies. In fact, outside of having a masterfully done control scheme, there really isn’t a lot that feels brand new about Sacred 2. Now granted, few adventure games are this large and of such quality when they hit the console, but it’s not like this game is breaking new ground or anything. Fans of the genre will feel right at home here and if you’re somebody who generally doesn’t like this kind of game, then chances are Sacred 2 isn’t going to change your mind. Still, there are very few adventure games as good as this on the Xbox 360, so it’s worth putting up with some genre cliches here and there.

Unlike something like Final Fantasy XI or World of Warcraft, Sacred 2 is a perfectly enjoyable experience for a solo player. There comes a time in most MMO games where you need a large group of people in order to beat a dungeon or particular boss. That’s not the case here. With the right weapons, armor and magic, you can kick just about any bad guy’s butt. And if you can’t, then don’t worry, because all it will take is you leveling up a few more times and buying better equipment. The bad guys scale to your experience level, but not in a way where you never feel very powerful. It was around my tenth hour that I realized that I’m a force to be reckoned with, and from then on I felt like I was able to take down any enemy that got in my way. Unfortunately that cocky attitude ultimately got me killed a few times, but even then I felt a sense of power that is missing in Oblivion and other similar games.

While you can go through the game by yourself, the real fun comes when you and a friend team up to take on Ancaria. Sacred 2 can be played co-op both online and off, with up to four players going through the quest at once. The game is clearly built around the communal nature of the game, since even when you’re playing by yourself you are still technically online. With friends the idea of having more than 600 quests to complete doesn’t feel as daunting. And if you’re the type of gamer who wants to get their money’s worth out of every game they buy, then you can’t go wrong with Fallen Angel. Completists will be hacking away at this game for months … if not longer. I cannot stress enough how much there is to do in this game; this is a massive, massive game that I feel like I only touched the tip of. Did I end up beating all 600 missions? Of course not, but I look forward to jumping back in and helping each and every person I find out.

In case you haven’t noticed, I really enjoyed my time with Sacred 2. But having said that, there are some major problems that keep this game from getting an even higher score. For one thing, the game has some severe technical problems. On my system I found the frame rate to be terribly inconsistent, sometimes slowing down to a crawl. Worse yet, the game has a tendency of crashing at some inappropriate times (as opposed to all of those times when you want your Xbox 360 to freeze up). Perhaps the biggest problem I’ve read about (but not experience firsthand, thank god) is the fact that from time to time your save data will become corrupted. Thankfully this did not happen to me, but I can imagine being irate if all my time in the game was erased because of some technical snafu. Your opinion of the game will no doubt have a lot to do with how well the game runs on your system, if you have limited problems (like me) then you’ll come away happy with your experience. However, if the game constantly freezes and you lose your data, then I have a hunch that Sacred 2 will sit on your shelf collecting dust while you curse its very existence.

There’s another problem, though for some people it may not be an issue. The problem is pausing … or rather, the lack of pausing. It’s been a long time since I played a console game where you couldn’t pause the action, and I can tell you right now that I don’t like it. I’m sure there are some gamers who won’t have a problem with this, they’ll just sit down and kick butt for hours on end. But I’m not that kind of gamer. I tend to have quite a few things going on at once, so from time to time I actually need to pause. The only respite you get is to teleport yourself to a town or find a nice hiding spot. This is doable, but even that is a pain. I found myself ignoring the phone and not answering the door because I was in the middle of heated battles, something that I shouldn’t have to put up with when playing a console game. This problem also plagued the PC version, however, after much complaining, the fans ended up getting a pause button with a patch. Yet despite seeing the outrage by the PC fans, Ascaron opted against adding it to this port. Hopefully Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 owners will get this issue patched, but it should have been something that was included from the get-go.

There are a few other minor complaints. For example, the world can be a little convoluted and hard to navigate. This isn’t a big deal in the wide-open areas, but when you’re dealing with mountains and forests it’s sometimes hard to see where you can and cannot go. The game has this weird thing about throwing up invisible walls, some of which don’t make a lot of sense. Why much my character walk all the way around a tiny foot-high hill, why not just jump down? Why can’t I seem to go through the forests? Is that really how close I can get to a mountain? These are questions I kept asking as I played through the game. These issues aren’t as important as not being able to pause or having the game freeze on you, but they are issues nonetheless.

The game’s graphics are deceiving. I wasn’t impressed by the visuals on the back of the box, but when I started playing the game I was blown away. Yes there are frame rate issues, however when the game is moving smoothly it looks about as good as this type of game can look. You’re seeing things from a slightly overhead perspective, one that you can zoom in and out of. The problem with this type of camera angle is that it’s kind of hard to see what’s directly ahead of you, so you don’t get the sense of grandeur that you did in Oblivion. I wish I could look out and see what was in front of me, but I can’t. Even with that limitation, the graphics are spectacular. The bosses are large and beautifully animated, the diverse locations are all incredibly detailed and everything looks as good as you would hope from this type of game.

With its amazing graphics, worthwhile online gameplay, enormous world and creatively implemented control scheme, Sacred 2: Fallen Angel is a real winner. In fact, the only things keeping this game from being a near perfect entry in the genre are the terrible technical issues, the lack of a pause button and a generic storyline. If you can get past those few small problems, then you and your friends are going to find a lot to like in Sacred 2. It may not have the impact of Diablo II, but Fallen Angel is a real gem worth tracking down. I love this game … and will love it even more when somebody makes a match that fixes the technical problems and adds a pause button.

SUMMARY: Sacred 2: Fallen Angel is a stunning accomplishment. Not only because it’s one of the few console ports to get the Diablo-style formula right, but also because of its size and scope. You may not care much for the story and will probably find a few technical problems along the way, but that shouldn’t deter you from having a great time with one of the best adventure games for the Xbox 360!

Lode Runner is a platformer in every sense of the word. The game is simple enough to learn; collect gold to advance to the next level. The game stays classic to the original, but with updated graphics and expanded modes. The levels are designed with enemies that chase you every direction you go.

Each level is structured to make you move, blast blocks, and evade your foes. The levels are designs are great, and provide a decent amount of thinking and time to complete.  One of the few things the game lacks is a jump feature. In platformers, a jump button is usually required, but Lode Runner pulls off a decent experience without one.

If anything, the lack of jumping allows players to think outside of the box, forcing quick reflexes and planning ahead. One of the more clever aspects of the game are the enviromental tiles, you’ll come across everything from magma tiles, to disappearing tiles.These blocks will play a crucial role in helping you complete a level. A large part of the game is the shooting experience. To collect gold, and halt your foes you use your blaster, firing in front or you,or backwards.

The blaster is your best friend when it comes to destroying blocks to get to the next area.Once you destroy a block you have to be quick, and evacuate the area so it doesn’t respawn, giving you a game over. A few of the levels will keep you on your toes as you dodge foes and make a beeline for the exit.

Some of the levels are very difficult to complete, leaving you a little frustrated if you don’t have the skill to overcome the obstacles. Included also is a multiplayer component. With players controlling lode runners, it’s a contest to see who can stay alive the longest by dodging the falling blocks. This provides players with an incentive to keep playing after the credits roll. When a player fails, they gain control of one of the robots that hunts the Runners. Playing online with friends can be a blast if you enjoy the platforming genere. If you like player created content, You get that as well. Players can create and share their very own levels with their friends, and others, although nothing to amazing has been created yet; the tools are easily learned, and some great things can come of the editor.

Some of the level designs can be quite challenging, forcing you to restart some levels. There is a varied style in each of the worlds you encounter,such as: The Mines, A volcano, and an icy world. Each world has a theme that ties into the special blocks you’ll encounter.

The character you control simply dubbed the “lode runner” has no real drive to complete the world he’s in. Sadly, there is no story, which is why the game falls short of a better score. I was expecting the typical “save the princess”, but I didn’t get it. For an arcade game Lode Runner delivers a fast paced experience that will keep you entertained for a decent amount of time.

By Rick

The controls for Rhythm Heaven couldn’t be easier to learn; you play the entire game by tapping, holding and flicking the touch screen according to a specified rhythm while holding your DS like a book (Ninja Gaiden Style), buttons are virtually useless here and there is the always welcome left-handed option for those of you worried about it. The structure of gameplay is actually well planned and executed; you have to play sets of 4 songs, each with their own rules, tricks and a very useful tutorial that you can skip but you really have to play in order to have a better chance to complete the songs.

Once you complete these games you are given a grade according to your skills and if you do well then you will access a remix song, which is a song combining all of the previous challenges forcing you to keep them fresh on your mind or suffering the consequences. After successfully completing the remix you can play the next set.

After 30 relatively easy games you earn your right to watch the credits but that is not all you will find here; the credits unlock 20 more songs consisting on harder and more challenging versions of some of the original games and remixes, these songs are the hardest you will find here as you pretty much have to re-learn some of the games to get used to the new beats. Don’t worry if you fail a song and start thinking about throwing your DS like I did because after 3 failed attempts you are given the option of skipping it. This is a very cool option because there are no such things as easy difficulty or cheat codes on this game here and it’s a good way to motivate the player to keep playing, keep in mind however you cannot do this on the levels unlocked after the credits, you have to complete them in order to advance to the very end.

Talking about the music itself, there is a wide variety of songs and rhythms here; everything from a crowd of clapping monkeys (Blade Loves Monkey’s) to a DJ apprentice is here on Rhythm Heaven. You are not only invited but practically forced to trust the sound and your rhythm sense more than your eyes.

The main difference between Rhythm Heaven and other musical games is that it is actually easier to play some songs with your eyes closed, and it definitely improves your rhythm. I let a couple friend try it out and found their basic guitar hero skills (those consisting on rhythm, not finger ability) improved considerably. I’m not saying you will become a rock god just by playing Rhythm Heaven, but I believe it can be useful for those learning music, especially kids because of its friendly approach.

Graphics are pretty neat. It is a very well made mix of 2D and 3D graphics with a fair user interface. Some games can be very confusing because of the animations but you eventually learn that they are not important for gameplay. Graphic styles are purely Japanese but the adaptation for the western market has been properly done.

Replay value is actually quite challenging and big for a DS game; you are challenged to complete a random game with a perfect score, giving you 3 chances to do this and rewarding you with some extra mini games and guitar lessons. These challenges are randomly generated and it will take you quite some time to complete every one of them, if you ail one you will have to wait for it to repeat and it may take weeks or even months. If you want to take a break and relax you can access the café, sit back and play your favorite unlocked songs on your DS.

The new map pack, available for 800 Microsoft Points, can be considered the second part of the most recent update that encourages us to come back to the multi-player part of this game. If you haven’t come back to Gears of War 2 in a while you’ll find a few needed improvements such as a shorter matchmaking time, new ranking system from 1 to 100 and bots for those ridiculous situations when you are alone against a 5 member team.

Talking about this update first, I have to say its pretty much ok except for the bots part. The Bots are very weak compared to the very competitive players found when playing Gears of War 2 online. Rankings are ok as you gain experience according to your match score. The more kills and recovers you have, the faster you’ll level up.

Now let’s get down to business. The snowblind map pack includes 4 now maps; 3 brand new and a very welcome remake of fuel depot, all of them available for traditional matchmaking and horde modes.
Grindyard was the first map I played. It is a big industrial junkyard place ideal for long matches. Grindyard is pretty symmetrical on the first floor and has an elevated bunker on each side and is perfect for being able to provide cover fire. Everything you need for attack and defense is here; flamethrower and grenades have proven to be a big part of strategy when trying to protect your meat flag.

Under Hill is a pretty cool exterior and interior map. The exterior part is pretty straightforward. It has a lot of covering so you will be pretty safe on your way to the central weapon (torque bow or sniper). The lateral part is underground and has narrow ways leading to a central area of the map where all the action takes place. This map is pretty fun and invites you to explore inside and out in order to find your best strategy.

Courtyard is another awesome addition to multi-player maps. Courtyard is fairly big with a good view of the horizon. Snipers, Boomshots and mortars are deadly in the right hands. There is a good elevated area where snipers are very valuable however be careful as there are 3 ways your foes can corner you. Great map for explosive matches.

Finally we have Fuel Depot, the long awaited remake of the same map of the first Gears of War. Winter arrived to the depot with no considerable in-game effects but definitely adds that elegant wintery touch to the game. This map is practically the same one we all know and love but gets the benefits of the new game mechanics like the weapon swap, making it even better. I could tell you more about this map, but you already know it, it is one of the strongest reasons to buy this map pack.

We also get new achievements with the Snowblind map pack. All the achievements invite you to play these new maps and some require you to reach a determined level according to the new ranking system.

Final words…
Overall I really enjoyed playing these maps. Epic knew its matchmaking was very poor compared to Halo 3 or World at War. However Epic has made the proper adjustments to make the multi-player experience more desirable. If you enjoyed Gears of War 2 try its new matchmaking system and if you like it I’ll suggest you download this map pack, it’s a lot of explosive, bloody fun.

This review by Reeve

Check out his work in Spanish Here:  http://alecker.blogspot.com