Smash TV (XBLA, 2005)

Smash TV

Developed by Midway/Digital Eclipse

Published by Midway

Released for XBLA (11/24/2005)

Also on Arcade

 

Around a year after Xbox Live Arcade launched, Midway dropped a bunch of arcade classics as download-only titles onto the service and Smash TV was one such title. An arcade fondly remembered by those who played it back in the day, Smash TV is a twin-stick shooter with a game show theme heavily inspired by the Running Man. We'll go into a brief overview of the game to see if it's still worth playing all these years later... 

Smash TV is the textbook definition of an arcade quarter muncher, meaning that the game is excessively difficult and designed to empty out all of the quarters from your pockets. Death will come quick and frequently in Smash TV as you are constantly being swarmed from enemies in all directions. There are only 3 levels, but there are many screens within each. You'll get to choose your own path as you go, making for some nice replay value should you decide to come back for more. Each room is a screen where you'll have to fend off an onslaught of enemies while powerups and bonus prizes appear at random during the action. There's a nice array of weaponry to find here, each with their own strengths and weaknesses.

Renegade (Xbox One, 2020)

Renegade

Developed by Technos Japan/I.T.L.

Published by Arc System Works

Released for Xbox One (4/16/2020)

Also on PS4/Switch

Renegade holds an important place in gaming history, so before we delve into the Xbox One port I'd like to at least graze over this. Originally released in the arcades back in 1986, Renegade is the first beat 'em up game to add a plane that allows your character to move 8-ways. Kung Fu Master is technically the first beat 'em up, but Renegade is the original belt-scroller of the genre. Renegade was ported to the Famicom/NES in 1988 and for some reason this is the version that Arc System Works felt like bringing to us in this port. Right off the bat, I question why include the 8-bit port and not the arcade original, which looks and plays much better. Why not include both? Let's take a look into the Xbox port of the NES port of Renegade and see if it's still worth playing after all these years...

Considering that this is one of the first beat 'em ups ever made, there's an impressive array of fighting maneuvers at your disposal. You can punch, kick, run and jump kick. Running can be combined with kick or punch. Getting close to an enemy will allow you to grab them and from there you can either knee them or throw them over your shoulder. You can also sit on top of a downed opponent and punch them while down for some extra brutality. While it's cool that there's so many different moves, there's an issue with the control scheme which we'll get into next...

Freakout: Calamity TV Show (Xbox One, 2020)

Freakout: Calamity TV Show

Developed by Immaterial Studio

Published by JanduSoft

Released for Xbox One (4/17/2020)

Also on Linux/Mac/PC/PS4/Switch

 

Freakout: Calamity TV Show was developed by Immaterial Studio and would be their only release on the Xbox One (and the only game they've created as far as I can tell). Published in April 2020 for the Xbox One by JanduSoft, Freakout immediately gave me hopes for a Smash TV-style twin-stick shooter with its game show theme. In the game description, the developer promises "a juicy top-down dual-stick shooter inspired by old arcade games and more recent die & retry shooters." Basically, the game aspires to be a mix of Smash TV and Hotline Miami. It's a premise with a lot of promise, so let's look at Freakout and see how it fares...

Freakout starts off with you taking the place of a game-show contestant where you must fight for your life with a firearm, similar to the movie the Running Man or the game Smash TV. This premise alone is enough to build a game off of, but Freakout decided to take it a step further with the plot revolving around our contestant escaping from the game show with the assistance of an off-screen helper. You'll play a total of 3 stages with the game-show theme, at which point our character escapes out onto the city streets. It all sounds cool and it's a solid concept, but unfortunately it's all downhill from here...

Apocalipsis: The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil

Apocalipsis: The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil

Developed by Klabater

Published by Punch Punk Games

Released for Xbox One (9/6/2019)

Also on PC/PS4

 

Apocalipsis: The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil (could you have possibly made a longer title?) was released for the Xbox One in early September 2019. Brought to us by Poland-based developer and publisher Klabater, this version of Apocalipsis contains the bonus "One Night in the Woods" episode that was released as DLC for the original PC release. Featuring visuals inspired by 15th century engravings, Apocalipsis is a point & click adventure featuring several dark themes including heartbreak, redemption and the end of the world as we know it...

The story in Apocalipsis is heavily inspired by Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy and starts off showing our character, a young man named Harry, grieving as his girlfriend has been hung after being accused of witchcraft. Harry is desperate to bring his love back and will do whatever it takes to accomplish this. It won't take but a screen or two in before you realize that Harry is prepared to make a deal with the devil in order to be reunited with his lost love. Those offended by dark and occult imagery will probably want to avoid this game, as it obviously delves heavily into this subject matter.