Xbox Overview | Site Preface & Revival

The Return of Xbox Overview

It's been a long time coming, but the time is near for the revival of the site that has remained dormant for the latter part of 2022. To say this has been a tough year for me (and many of you I'm sure) would be an understatement and the lack of updates to the site are a direct result of this. 2023 will see an active effort to restore the site and continue to submit reviews and articles. Thanks for checking out the site and I hope you discover some cool new games to check out!

A Proper Site Intro/Welcome

With the planned resurrection of Xbox Overview, this is as good a time as any to do a proper introduction as well as a quick site history and author bio. Welcome to Xbox Overview, which is a back-to-basics, no-frills site delivering reviews of games and peripherals that released for Xbox hardware as well as the consoles themselves. We'll delve a bit more into what the site covers here shortly, but first let me get started by telling you a bit about me...

A Brief Bit About the Author

 

Greetings, my name is Lee and I love playing video games when I have some spare time to kill. I'm a bit of a gaming veteran at this point, having made it into my 40's. Rather than just dismiss these reviews as words from some old dude rambling I find it better to look at it from a different perspective: I've been a life-long gamer since the mid-80's, starting out on the Atari 2600 then onto the Nintendo Entertainment System and everything beyond that. Basically, I've been through my fair share of games so I have a ton of reference points when it comes to video games in general. 

 

While I love modern-gaming and modern 3D visuals continue to impress me, the old dude in me still loves old-school 2D pixel art as well. My favorite genres are first-person shooters, racers, beat 'em ups, shoot 'em ups and run & guns. You can expect extensive coverage when it comes to those genres, particularly indie titles and games with a retro flavor. I like to mix things up every now and then, so those will not be the only genres covered on the site and I like to play a little of everything. There's no type of bias and all of my games were purchased with my own money, so believe me I'll tell you straight up if a game sucks or not. If a game is ever provided by a publisher or developer for a review, this will be clearly stated in the review.

Xbox Overview Site History

Xbox Overview originally launched in May 2017 with the review of an Xbox Live Arcade game called Axel & Pixel. At the time of the creation of the blog, the shutdown of the Xbox Live Indie Games (XBLIG) storefront on the Xbox 360 had recently been announced. As someone who loved digging through the indie games looking for gems, the site was created as an effort to point out some of the better offerings on the service before the ability to purchase the games had been revoked. While a good chunk of these games saw a release on other platforms (usually PC), there were some rare instances where the game was only available on XBLIG and once the service shutdown those games would be gone for good. 

After doing some decent coverage of XBLIG titles, I found that I enjoyed doing game review write-ups and continued on by expanding into other Xbox 360 and Xbox One game reviews. Fast-forward several years later and I've decided to take on games from any Xbox platform. There's so many games now available across several generations of gaming and our time in this world is limited, so I'd like to be of some assistance in helping you recognize which games are more worthy of your precious time than others.

The Planned Xbox Overview Overhaul

In addition to expanding the game review library across all systems, I have some big plans for the site in the future. In addition to the normal game, controller/accessory and console reviews, I'd like to also look into more apps available and movies that can be watched within those apps. The movie reviews will mostly be video game related movies at first and if the reception is positive I'd like to branch out to other movies as well. In order to broaden the site's audience I'm going to make a concentrated effort to get the site out there via social media presence and other possible outlets. Updates will be sporadic but they will indeed happen, I'm not the best with schedules so I'll just post stuff as time allows.

Thanks for checking out the site! Happy holidays and let's make 2023 be a better year than the last one!!!

What's up with the site? | Xbox Overview August 2022 Update

 What's up with the site? | Xbox Overview August 2022 Update

So it's been a few months since the last review and just in case there's somebody out there who happens to care about the future of the site, I'm just here to assure you that while dormant at the moment, the site is not dead and will be making a return as I get caught up on life stuff over the coming months. In the meantime, I still love playing and writing about games and am looking forward to posting new material on the site. Thanks for checking the site out and please do check out some of the older reviews in the meantime! See you soon!

Xbox Overview Review Archive

The Future of Xbox Overview

Over the last few months my work/life balance has been atrocious. It's been hard even just finding time to play games, let alone write about those experiences. As a result of this I've had to take a step back from the site, but only temporarily. I'm inevitably about to face some stressful changes and will likely have to find a new primary source of income. I'll try to post here when I can in the meantime, but once I get that situation sorted out I'll be back to writing on the site much more frequently. Also, I'm abandoning the update every Friday concept for now. I tried it for a while and didn't like having yet another schedule to adhere to (we all know life provides no shortage of those already) so I'll just post updates when I get the time to do so, no promises on how frequently or what day those will be posted on. Thanks for reading and please take a look through some of the older reviews, I've covered some awesome games on the site over the years. Peace out and happy gaming!

An Interlude to Updates

 Just a quick heads up, the site will be on a quick hiatus for the next couple weeks while I revise and finish up some of the already published reviews. My full-time job as an overnight stocker is really wearing me out and been having trouble keeping up with the load. I'll return in mid-July with fresh updates. Thanks for visiting and have a nice day!

ACA NeoGeo: Samurai Shodown (Xbox One, 2017)

ACA NeoGeo: Samurai Shodown

Developed by SNK/Hamster

Published by Hamster

Released for Xbox One (5/2/2017)

Also on Arcade/NeoGeo/PC/PS4/Switch

PREFACE
While there were a few SNK titles released during the Xbox 360 era, I was always disappointed that SNK decided to release Samurai Showdown II on the Xbox Live Arcade while skipping the original game. Fast-forward to the next console generation and thanks to Hamster and the Arcade Classics Archive series, the original Samurai Showdown has now seen a release on just about everything out there.

CrushBorgs (Xbox One, 2022)

CrushBorgs

Developed/Published by Xitilon

Released for Xbox One (4/19/2022)

Also on PC

 

 

INTRO 

These retro-styled throwback games seem to be a dime a dozen these days, which can make it tough to pick out which ones are worth your time and money. Today we'll be delving into CrushBorgs, a run 'n gun developed by Xitilon using GameMaker Studio 2. Brought to us by Ukraine-based indie developer Xitilon, CrushBorgs pays homage and plays very similarly to the 8-bit Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) ports of Contra. Let's drop in and start blasting!

PRESENTATION

CrushBorgs does a decent job emulating the 8-bit aesthetic of the games it was inspired by, both in the graphics and sound departments. The graphics are composed of pixels that look just like something you would've seen on your NES just without the sprite flicker. While the graphics look true to 8-bit, the enemy designs are rather unimaginative, consisting mostly of boring robots and turrets. Stages suffer a similar fate of just being uninspired and forgettable. The music, much like the graphics, does a good job sounding true to the time period but fails to stand out in any way other than being background noise. The game looks true to its 8-bit inspirations, but lacks too much in originality to really stand out amongst the sea of retro-styled shooters that have come out in recent years.

Golf Peaks (Xbox One, 2021)

Golf Peaks

Developed by Afterburn

Published by 7Levels

Released for Xbox One (9/21/2021)

Also on iOS/Mac/PC/Switch

 

INTRO

Developed by small Poland-based studio Afterburn, Golf Peaks was originally released for the Nintendo Switch back in March 2019. Two years later the game would make its way onto the Xbox One thanks to publisher 7Levels. Don't be fooled by the name of the game, Golf Peaks is not your standard golf game. The goal is still to guide the ball into the hole, but it's done in a turn-based format using cards that represent the moves rather than hitting the ball with a club. Billing itself as a relaxing puzzler, let's take a look at Golf Peaks and see what it's all about...

PRESENTATION

Golf Peaks takes a minimalist approach, both when it comes to the menu layouts and the graphical presentation. While simple in design, everything looks nice and the game is easily accessible to players of all age and experiences ranges. The music does a good job staying in the background and what's hear does a good job matching the simple, laid-back pace of the game. The in-game graphics are well-drawn and easy to look at, making it easy to select which direction you'd like to launch the ball. Overall, Golf Peaks does a good job in the presentation department.

Many Faces: Console Edition (Xbox One, 2020)

Many Faces: Console Edition

Developed by WANZUNGDEV/EastAsiaSoft Limited

Published by EastAsiaSoft Limited

Released for Xbox One (5/26/2020)

Also on Linux/PC/PS4/PS5/Switch

 

INTRO

Developed using GameMaker Studio 2, Many Faces was originally created by Chicago-based WANZUNGDEV, which on his Twitter page states that he's just "an ordinary IT guy with a passion for retro and indie video games." It's hard not to admire games that were developed by a single person that manage to make it onto the storefronts of potentially millions of video game consoles. Many Faces was ported and published to home consoles thanks to EastAsiaSoft, a company which has released a steady stream of ports on the Xbox One over the last several years. Many Faces is a multi-directional shooter inspired by arcade classics, so right away this one had my interest on that alone. Let's take a look at the game and see if it's something worth investing your dollar & time into...

PRESENTATION

Let's just get it right out of the way: Many Faces is not easy on the eyes. The graphics attempt to mimic the look of an early 80's arcade game, but with this simplicity comes an appearance devoid of much charm, detail or personality. The menus are easy to use but bare-bones, but the option to turn on a cross hair to make aiming easier is appreciated. To accompany the retro graphic design, there is a chiptune soundtrack that sounds like something of the era. While the music works well enough with the graphic style, none of the compositions are memorable or stand out in any way. 

 

The main character design is uninspired to say the least: he's just simply a white circle with a basic face drawn on it. There's some decent variety when it comes to the enemy designs, the problem is that most of them are boring, coming in the form of simple shapes that are difficult to tell if they're supposed to represent something. There are nods to 80's culture, with one enemy looking like a Tie-Fighter ship from Star Wars and another that looks like Evil Otto from the arcade classic Berzerk. While the nostalgic throwbacks are cool, the majority of the enemy designs are just as immediately forgettable as the lackluster stage designs, which we'll get to shortly...

Eight Dragons (Xbox One, 2021)

Eight Dragons

Developed by Extend Mode

Published by JanduSoft

Released for Xbox One (5/27/2021)

Also on Linux/PC/PS5/Switch

 

Preface

Eight Dragons is a 2D beat 'em up that shoots for an old-school look and play style, paying homage to Technos arcade classics Renegade and Double Dragon. Brought to us by British-based developer Extend Mode, Eight Dragons was published by JanduSoft for the Xbox One in late May 2021. Advertising itself as a throwback to simpler times, let's hit the streets and bash some heads!

 

Gameplay

Eight Dragons features what is possibly the simplest control scheme in a brawler released on the Xbox One. The A button attacks, X jumps and B will pick up objects. That's all there is to it, making this an easy one for anybody to pick up and play, though it may take some time getting used to X jumping instead of A. There's no button configuration in the options menu, so you'll just have to get used to the default control scheme. 

Mighty Goose (Xbox Series, 2021)

Mighty Goose

Developed by Blastmode/MP2 Games

Published by PLAYISM

Released for Xbox One/Series (6/5/2021)

Optimized for Xbox Series X|S

Also on Linux/Mac/PC/PS4/PS5/Switch

INTRO

Just from taking a quick glance at the preview screenshots for Mighty Goose, it's obvious from the artwork of the tank vehicle that it was paying tribute to the run & gun classic series Metal Slug. Immediately intrigued and always on the lookout for a good new run & gun action experience, this one had been on my radar for some time now. Finally, close to a year after its release and after missing it's run on Game Pass, I finally got around to dedicating some time to play through Mighty Goose (brought to us from Netherlands-based developer Blastmode), so without further ado let's get right into it and see if it's worth your dollars & time...

PRESENTATION

Right off the bat, Mighty Goose impresses with some very colorful & detailed pixel graphics. The menus are simple and easy to navigate. The explosions look awesome and are quite the spectacle. The soundtrack, composed by Dominic Ninmark (Blazing Chrome), is a blend of rock/jazz music and is easily one of the highlights of the overall package. There's a decent variety of enemy designs and they're all fun to blow to smithereens. Unless you just really dislike pixel-art, there's little to complain about with Mighty Goose in regards to the overall presentation...everything looks and sounds good.

Iro Hero (Xbox One, 2019)

Iro Hero

Developed by Artax Games

Published by Eastasiasoft Limited

Released for Xbox One (12/18/2019)

Also on Linux/Mac/PC/PS4/Switch

 

 

Preface

Developed by Artax Games, a small indie studio based out of Madrid, Iro Hero is the first of many shmups that would be published to the Xbox One via Eastasiasoft Limited. Iro Hero takes heavy inspiration from genre classic Ikaruga, featuring a 2-color (blue/red) shot system which you'll have to alternate between on the fly to kill enemies of the respective color. Similar to the classic it was inspired by, Iro Hero plays like a mix of  the puzzle and shoot 'em up genres, which can be a tough duo to mix while maintaining a good fun-factor. Without further ado, let's take a look at the strangely named Iro Hero and see if it's worth your time and money...

Presentation

Iro Hero is a shmup of the vertical-scroller variety, featuring some nice-looking 2D sprites. The enemy projectiles all clearly stand out amidst the backgrounds. While the sprites are well-drawn, the ship design tends to be a bit bland and forgettable. The opening stage, which takes place over a sprawling city, looks promising but is easily the coolest of all the backgrounds featured in the game (at least out of the ones I witnessed, more on that in a bit...). The player ship is quite large, making it difficult to dodge enemy bullets, though you can switch the color of your ship to match the bullets and absorb them. This takes some quick timing and gets tough on some of the more crowded screens later in the game. Another positive aspect to note regarding the presentation is the excellent soundtrack, featuring some groovy upbeat techno music that helps make the game more enjoyable. There is some weird volume adjustment that happens with the in-game music, where it suddenly gets louder or quieter for some reason. It's not a game-breaking issue by any means, though it is slightly annoying.

Stellatum (Xbox One, 2019)

Stellatum

Developed by Satur Entertainment

Published by Sometimes You

Released for Xbox One (10/9/2019)

Also on PC/PS4/PS5/Switch

 

Prelude

Stellatum combines the control-layout of a twin-stick shooter with the level format of a standard vertically-scrolling shmup. It's a novel idea and a refreshing change from the constant arena-style approach that twin-stick shooters tend to use. Developed by Satur Entertainment and published by Sometimes You in October 2019, Stellatum promises to deliver an "exciting scroll shooter" so let's delve in and see if it can live up to the hype...

Presentation

While navigating the ship upgrade menu can be cumbersome, once you get into the actual shoot 'em up gameplay Stellatum makes a solid first impression. The visuals are super-detailed and initially the space backdrops look great, but once you realize that this is basically the same backdrop for every stage (of which there are 80!) the once impressive backgrounds start to become tedious. The sound design fails to make much of an impression, featuring standard sound effects that all sound stock and a soundtrack that didn't leave any mark. Overall, while Stellatum looks nice in the graphics department, the presentation is lacking when you put together all of the pieces.

Retro Highway (Xbox One, 2021)

Retro Highway

Developed/Published by Gearhead Games

Released for Xbox One (10/22/2021)

Also on Android/iOS/Switch

 

 

Intro

Originally released for Android mobile platforms back in April 2018, Retro Highway received a port to both the Xbox One and Nintendo Switch in late 2021. There are lots of gamers that instantly frown upon console ports of mobile games, but we're going into this one with an open mind so without using any more excess words let's get right into the review for Retro Highway...

Gameplay

Retro Highway draws heavy inspiration from classic clock-racing arcade-style driving games like Super Hang-On, Outrun and Rad Racer. While the time element has been removed in Retro Highway, much of what made those old games so great has made it into this game as well, mainly in the handling and dodging of obstacles and traffic. The game is basically an endless runner mixed with an old-school arcade motorcycle racer. As you progress through the game you'll unlock new stages, with a total of 6 different levels to see in the end. 

Xbox Overview Site Update | April 2022

Xbox Overview Site Update | April 2022

Xbox Overview has now officially been switched back to active status. Starting next week, a new review will now be posted on the main site every Friday. Setting a schedule will be necessary to ensure consistent updates on my part (which has been a struggle over the last year) and there may be weeks where I get several reviews up, but at the very least I'm shooting to get at least one new review up every week. There will also be 2 "sub-sites", one which will consist of games released in the arcades and the other will cover games released for consoles outside the Xbox platform. More on those in the near future as I work to put them together. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy the game reviews and articles!

2022 Site Update | Xbox Overview

 2022 Site Update

Greetings. The site has been dormant for several months now and was actually on the verge of being shut down at a few points, but is now with the new year there will be an effort to bring the site back into action. Life isn't the same as it was when the site began back in 2017 and I don't have near as much time to game and post about it here, so I can't make any promises about how frequent the updates will come, but I'll go out of my way to make sure I post at least a few reviews a month. Expect to see the reviews branch out to the new Series systems as well, since I was finally able to score one of those a few months back. If you're one of the select few who has found this site and is reading this, thanks for your time and I hope you enjoy the site.

 

A new section of reviews will be added as well, consisting of select old-school arcade games that are relevant to the site through the fact that they've been ported over to an Xbox platform at some point or another. There's been enough coverage in the past and more to come that fit this category, so expect to see this section expand quite fast as we begin to delve into the vast arcade and Neo-Geo offerings out there. The future will be fun as we expand the content here on Xbox Overview, so hopefully you'll come back periodically and check it out!