Batman: The Telltale Series (Xbox 360/One, 2016)

Batman: The Telltale Series
Developed by Telltale Games
Released for Xbox 360/Xbox One (9/2016)
Also on iOS/Mac/PC/PS3/PS4/Switch

Batman: The Telltale Series is one of many licensed franchises that were given the Telltale Games treatment. The game takes many liberties with the Batman universe and while fans of the comics will recognize many of the characters, many of the backstories are quite different than you might be accustomed to. Though to be honest I haven't really followed Batman comics since the early to mid-'90s, so I could be wrong here but it is quite the contrast to the Batman and company that I knew as a youngin. I can see this being an issue with purists, but if you look at it as like an Elseworlds style spin-off there is some enjoyment to be had from Batman: The Telltale Series.

There are going to be some spoilers in the following paragraph as we'll be discussing some basic details of the story, so if you don't want any of the plot revealed you might want to skip ahead to the next paragraph. The first big shocker drops when you find out that your now-deceased father, Thomas Wayne, was involved in some shady business and was a criminal. Oswald Cobblepot, aka the Penguin, was a childhood-friend of Bruce's in this strange version of Gotham City. Other classic characters you'll encounter include Selina Kyle/Catwoman, Two-Face and the Joker. The character actors all do a great job with the voice acting, as has been the standard with Telltale Games in the past. The story is the game's strong suit and I'll leave it up to you if you wish to look into further spoilers, but I will say there are lots of unexpected twists that will leave you scratching your head and wanting to see what the next chapter holds.

Super Contra (XBLA, 2007)

Super Contra
Developed by Konami/Backbone Entertainment
Published by Konami
Released for XBLA (7/25/2007)
Also on Arcade/Amiga/NES/PC
Backwards Compatible on Xbox One

Super Contra was released in arcades by Konami in 1988 and was the sequel to the popular Contra (1987). Super Contra takes the familiar run & gun formula and pumps up the excitement with 5 action-packed new levels and support for up to 2 players. Load up your firearms and prepare to shoot everything in sight as "the quest for freedom continues!" The XBLA port of Super Contra was released in late July 2007, around 7 months after the original was put up for download.

There are 5 levels in Super Contra and while the game is a bit shorter than Contra, the pacing is much quicker and the action more frenetic. The corridor sections that broke up the 2D platforming in the first game are gone, replaced with the new overhead shooter segments which play a bit like Capcom's Commando (1985). The game alternates between stage types, featuring a total of 3 side-scroller and 2 overhead-shooter stages. Regardless of how you feel about the overhead stages, the 3 side-scroller stages are top-notch and the bosses are menacing. The overhead levels can be fun once you become familiar with the layouts, but enemies love to quickly appear from the sides of the screen to wipe you out sometimes resulting in some cheap deaths. The biggest hurdle to clearing this game in a single credit are definitely going to be these overhead stages.

Konami Classics Vol. 1 (Xbox 360, 2009)

Konami Classics Vol. 1
Ports Developed by Digital Eclipse
Published by Konami
Released for Xbox 360 (12/15/2009)
Backwards Compatible on Xbox One

It wasn't very often you'd see games released for Xbox Live Arcade receive a retail-disc release, so Konami Classics Vol. 1 is worth a look for fans of physical media as it packs 3 of Konami's XBLA titles into one package. Released simultaneously with a second volume in mid-December 2019, this disc features Frogger, Super Contra and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. It's definitely an odd grouping, but each are classics in their own respect.

Each of these games have already been reviewed individually on this site, so be sure to check them out here at these links:

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (XBLA, 2007)
Frogger (XBLA, 2006)
Super Contra (XBLA, 2007)

Rush'n Attack (XBLA, 2007)

Rush'n Attack
Developed by Konami/Backbone Entertainment
Published by Konami
Released for XBLA (5/23/2007)
Also on Arcade/C64/CPC/MSX/NES/PC/ZX81

Rush'n Attack, also known as Green Beret, was originally developed by Konami and released to arcades in 1985 and is one of the earliest examples of a 2D side-scrolling run & gun action game. It may even be the first, but it's hard to make such an assumption when there's such a wide number of forgotten and unknown games out there. This XBLA port was handled by Backbone Entertainment, the same team that responsible for Konami's other classic titles that arrived on the service.

Rush'n Attack has you take control of a spec-ops solder who has been sent into enemy territory. Your mission is to infiltrate the hostile grounds, locate and rescue your fellow soldiers who are being held captive. Armed with only your combat knife, you'll have to stab or avoid oncoming enemies. A single hit from an enemy or a projectile spells instant death, at which point you'll be sent back to a checkpoint to try again until you run out of lives.

River City Ransom (Xbox One, 2020)

River City Ransom
Developed by Technos Japan/I.T.L., Inc.
Published by Arc System Works
Released for Xbox One (4/16/2020)
Also on GBA/NES/PS4/Switch/X68000

Before we look at the Xbox One port of River City Ransom, I'd like to take a look back at the history of the game and its various releases. River City Ransom, aka Downtown Nekketsu Monogatari in Japan or Street Gangs in PAL territories, was originally released for the Famicom in April 1989 and later for the NES in January 1990. Also in 1990, the Sharp X68000 (Japanese home-computer) would receive a port in taking advantage of the computers beefy hardware, featuring better graphics, improved music, more enemies on screen at once and various other improvements. There would be yet another enhanced port released in December 1993 for the PC-Engine CD, this one built from the ground up. The 4th port was released in May 2004 for the GameBoy Advance and was titled River City Ransom EX. This one packs enough new features that it's technically not a remake, with tons of new moves and animations to make the fighting more interesting. It's a bit of a bummer that the only version included is the NES/Famicom and they didn't include some of the other versions of the game, but I suppose this would have taken a lot of effort since only the NES and GameBoy Advance ports were translated to English. Enough about the ports of the past already, let's talk about the Xbox One port of the game...

The Xbox One port of River City Ransom contains the Famicom/NES version of the game, which was developed by Technos Japan. Technos has a rich history with the brawler genre, having also developed Renegade and Double Dragon, really helping to lay down the framework for games to come. River City Ransom feels like a natural progression of the genre, adding in the ability to explore, character stats with the ability to level up and shops where you can use money to purchase items. These features had all been seen in other types of games, but this was the first time we'd seen them in a beat 'em up before.

Life is Strange 2 (Xbox One, 2018)

Life is Strange 2
Developed by DONTNOD Entertainment
Published by Square Enix
Released for Xbox One (9/27/2018)
Also on Linux/Mac/PC/PS4

It took a little while, with a prequel and a demo coming out in the years between the first game and this one, but in 2018 DONTNOD Entertainment finally gave us a direct sequel to the original game in Life is Strange 2. The game was released episodically just like the previous entries in the series. There were a total of 5 episodes, with the first one released on September 27, 2018 and the final episode on December 3, 2019. All of the other episodes were of course released between those dates.

It took well over a year for the complete game to release, which is way too long for such a story-driven game. DONTNOD Entertainment has revealed that their next title will release with all episodes available from day one, which will hopefully become a standard practice for the company going forth. The release dates were far too spread apart, making it difficult to clearly recall previous events with so much time lapsing between episodes. While it took over a year for the final episode to release, Life is Strange 2 ended up as a well-polished product, so the developers should be commended for taking the time needed and not rushing out an unfinished product like some of Telltale's later efforts.

Agatha Christie - The ABC Murders (Xbox One, 2016)

Agatha Christie - The ABC Murders
Developed by Artefacts Studio
Published by Microids
Released for Xbox One (2/23/2016)
Also on Android/iOS/Linux/Mac/PC/PS4

Agatha Christie was a prolific author who specialized in crime novels, writing over 60 different books that spanned from the 1920s all the way into the '70s. The ABC Murders was but one of many crime novels she wrote and was originally released way back in 1936. One of her more well-known works, the ABC Murders was adapted into several forms of media over the years, including several video games based on her works. Before an Agatha Christie title ever made it home consoles, there were quite a few adaptations of her works on the PC from DreamCatcher Interactive, so if you're interested in Christie you might want to look into those. The first Agatha Christie title to release on a system other than the PC was the 2009 release for the Nintendo DS that shares the same title as this version, but they are very different games. The DS game is presented more like a visual-novel while the Xbox One game takes the point & click adventure approach. So without further ado let's take a look at Agatha Christie - The ABC Murders for the Xbox One and see how it fares...

The story begins with our detective being informed of a murder in Andover, the beginning of the alphabet-themed kills: the victim's names and the location they are killed both correspond to the alphabet and the killer intends to go down all of the letters. While attempting to solve the mystery you'll investigate murder scenes, interrogate suspects and witnesses on the scene, solve puzzles and use deduction in order to find answers. You'll control the renowned detective Hercule Poirot, who will often be assisted by his helping hand, Captain Arthur Hastings. It may sound like the game checks all the boxes for a great detective adventure, but there issues with the gameplay that drag it down.

Coffee Talk (Xbox One, 2020)

Coffee Talk
Developed by Toge Productions
Published by Chorus Worldwide
Released for Xbox One (1/31/2020)
Also on Mac/PC/PS4/Switch

Coffee Talk is a visual-novel game where you play as a barista at a coffee bar, serving up beverages to an interesting cast of characters. The setting is in Seattle, which grounds the game in reality somewhat, but the characters are completely far out. You'll encounter a vampire, werewolf, mermaid, and a cat-lady among other strange patrons, each with their own story to tell. I can't really say I've played anything quite like Coffee Talk on the Xbox One before, so if you're looking for something different this just might be it...

The bulk of your time with Coffee Talk will be spent playing the main story, which will last somewhere between 3-5 hours, depending on how fast you read and if you skip text or not. The majority of gameplay just consists of reading the dialogue between characters, with the occasional chance to brew a drink for your patron. This should inform you right off the bat if this is going to be a game for you, as I know how so many people can't stand reading, especially when it comes to video games. This alone makes Coffee Talk a niche title, but there's nothing wrong with that and there's more than enough room in the gaming marketplace for titles that cater to a smaller audience. The customers you'll serve are an interesting bunch and the writers did a great job giving each of them unique personalities. Occasionally you'll be requested to serve up a certain kind of drink and you'll have to select the proper ingredients to mix it. These sequences do a good job keeping the player involved without being too challenging.