Murdered: Soul Suspect (Xbox 360, 2014)

Murdered: Soul Suspect
Developed by Airtight Games
Published by Square Enix
Released for Xbox 360 | Xbox One (6/3/2014)
Also on PC/PS3/PS4

For fans of supernatural thrillers, Murdered: Soul Suspect sounds like a dream come true. An interactive supernatural murder mystery, gameplay mostly consists of exploring your environment and collecting/examining stuff with a little stealth and some quick-time events here and there. Right off, let me advise you that the performance of this game on the 360 is very questionable. This game was released for the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 and as seems to have been optimized for those systems, being ported/released for the previous gen as an afterthought to possibly rake in some extra money.

The framerate on this game is insanely bad, especially when you're wandering around in the game's hub-world in the streets. I played this from the downloaded version yet it feels like it's loading off of a disc, constantly skipping frames especially bad in wide open areas. It's playable, but it's very unattractive and takes alot away from the overall experience. That said, the environments are detailed and everything looks nice, it's just a shame it runs so sloppily.

The game itself is a cool murder mystery from the perspective of a ghost. If you like collect-a-thons you're going to love this game as there are over 200 things to collect! The voice acting is quite good and the story, while kind of cheesy and cliche, is interesting enough to keep the player engaged until the end. It's pretty cool to play as a ghost, you can possess people, read their minds and walk through walls and such!  A little after halfway through the game, you get the ability to teleport which I ended up wishing the game would have made a little more use out of. Overall, Murdered: Soul Supsect is playable but very rough around the edges on the 360, but is an interesting game and worth a play if you have one of the newer systems.

Final Verdict: I really wish I would have played Murdered: Soul Suspect on either a next-gen system or PC, which is the only way I'd recommend you play this game. The game itself is alright it's just that this port was obviously not optimized at all for the aging 360 hardware.

Purchase Links:
Buy Murdered: Soul Suspect (Xbox One Digital) - Microsoft Store
Buy Murdered: Soul Suspect (Xbox 360 Digital) - Xbox Marketplace
Buy Murdered: Soul Suspect (Xbox One Disc) - eBay
Buy Murdered: Soul Suspect (Xbox 360 Disc) - eBay

Related Links:
Square Enix - Xbox Overview
Square Enix - Official Site
Murdered: Soul Suspect - Metacritic
Murdered: Soul Suspect - GameFAQs
Murdered: Soul Suspect Achievement Guide - Xbox Achievements
Murdered: Soul Suspect - True Achievements

Note that these screens are taken from the Xbox 360 store, but they are most certainly taken from one of the next-gen consoles. It's really tough to find screenshots of this game running on the older hardware and I lack the screen capture software/motivation to take my own shots. They still convey the general idea of what the game is just the same, just felt it was worth stating.

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Soul Calibur II HD Online (XBLA, 2013)

Soul Calibur II HD Online
Developed by Project Soul
Released by Namco Bandai Games
Released for XBLA (11/2013)
Also on Arcade/GameCube/PS2/PS3/Xbox
Backwards Compatible with Xbox One

As somebody who used to frequently play the arcade and PS2 versions of Soul Calibur II back in the day, I can safely say that this is indeed a very solid port of a Namco classic. If you're unfamiliar with the gameplay, Soul Calibur is a one-on-one versus fighter where every character has a different weapon.This is an update of the console port, so you get the wealth of extras that were included with that version. In addition to the standard arcade, versus (local or online), time attack and survival modes, you get the robust weapon master mode.

 In weapon master mode, you fight across a map through various challenges unlocking different weapons, new characters, costumes, new game modes and other various features like artwork as you go., adding a ton of replay value to the single player experience. The HD update to the graphics looks great and it has definitely aged alot more gracefully than many other titles from this era. Namco has also included online support, which seemed to function quite well in the couple instances I was able to find a match. Since the game has been out for years now, it's no surprise to find the online community a bit dead. As an added bonus you get Spawn (from Image Comics) who was exclusive to the Xbox home port back in the day and Heihachi (Tekken) who was on the PS2 version, but sadly no Link (for obvious reasons) who will remain a GameCube exclusive..

Final Verdict: If you were a fan of the original game or a fan of fighting games in general, I'd definitely recommend Soul Calibur II HD Online. The two-player versus modes are an absolute blast.

Related Links:
Buy Soul Calibur II HD Online - Microsoft Store
Namco Bandai Games - Official Site
Fighters - Xbox Overview
Soul Calibur II HD Online - Metacritic
Soul Calibur II HD Online - GameFAQs
Soul Calibur II HD Online Achievement Guide - Xbox Achievements
Soul Calibur II HD Online - True Achievements 

Zulu Hour (XBLIG, 2010)

Zulu Hour
Developed by Crying Monkey Studio
Released for Xbox Live Indie Games (3/2010)

Zulu Hour attempts to be a shoot-em-up in the old-school vein, but misses the mark by a bit. The game makes a good first impression, with a nice text intro and cool illustrations for the title and loading screens. Even the in-game visuals aren't too bad, featuring some decent 3D-rendered graphics. Your ship is viewed from a top-down perspective and the screen scrolls vertically as you shoot mechanical squid. There's a campaign mode and an arcade mode to choose from. Campaign mode has some story screens between stages and your ship starts out a lot weaker, acquiring upgrades along the way, while arcade mode throws you right into the action.

The problem with this game is that the gameplay just isn't very engaging and this is coming from a huge fan of the shmup genre. In arcade mode, enemies die far too easily, spray bullets too slow and pretty much every enemy you shoot drops a power-up of some sort. It's easy to the point of absolute boredom. I couldn't really get into campaign mode either, mostly due to the slow pacing of the action. There are too few enemies to shoot at and just not enough variety in them to keep things interesting. I will admit I didn't play too far into this game as it simply just felt uninspired. I honestly don't see the game evolving into something much better than its initial stage had to offer. It does appear to try some behind-the-ship perspective segments which I'm assuming is going to attempt to play like Starfox or Afterburner. Even if these segments were cool they still wouldn't make up for the lackluster vertical-scroller segments.

Final Verdict: At $2.99, which is roughly $2 more than your average indie game, I can't recommend Zulu Hour. Even the most hardcore shmup fans can skip this one.

Street Fighter II' Hyper Fighting (XBLA, 2006)

Street Fighter II' Hyper Fighting
Developed by Capcom/Sensory Sweep
Published by Capcom
Released for Xbox Live Arcade (8/2006)
Also on Arcade

As of this writing, Capcom has long since released Super Street Fighter II HD Remix, which remedies several of the things I'll be complaining about it this review, but that's another game for another review. Street Fighter II' Hyper Fighting, released August 2006, is a solid port of the arcade game, but I'm perplexed by the "now loading" screen that pops up before each battle. A minor complaint, I know, but it would appear Capcom is using the port of Street Fighter II that came out on the original PlayStation (they've done this before in their various Capcom Classics releases). While the gameplay and graphics look pretty much arcade-perfect, there's really no reason at all this game should have loading times on the Xbox 360 or the PS3.

A second complaint stems from the lack of options. The options menu is quite bare as there's no round select and very few video settings. The netcode for the online vs mode seems pretty decent, but it can be quite difficult to find an opponent online playing this version due to the age of the game, but there's always local vs. So, it's a very basic port of the 90's fighting game giant that does at least remain quite faithful to its arcade counterpart, but how well this game has aged will depend on whether or not you played it back in the day when it was hot. I also find it worth noting that when using the in-game menu to return to the dashboard the game would freeze my system. If I exited via the guide I could get around this issue but there were several times I forgot and froze my system up. I couldn't seem to find anything about anyone else having this issue so maybe it's just my 360.

Final Verdict: If you want a more robust game with more features plus updated graphics, you may want to check out the later released Super Street Fighter II HD Remix. If you prefer to play the game as it was in 1992 arcades, Street Fighter II' Hyper Fighting takes you back to the past on the 360.

Related Links:
Buy Street Fighter II' Hyper Fighting - Xbox Marketplace
Fighters - Xbox Overview
Capcom - Official Site
Street Fighter II' Hyper Fighting - Metacritic
Street Fighter II' Hyper Fighting -GameFAQs
Street Fighter II' Hyper Fighting Achievement Guide - Xbox Achievements
Street Fighter II' Hyper Fighting - True Achievements

BlackSite: Area 51 (Xbox 360, 2007)

BlackSite: Area 51
Developed by Midway Studios Austin
Published by Midway Games
Released for Xbox 360
Also on PC (11/2007)/PS3 (12/2007)

If you're at all familiar with the 1995 arcade hit Area 51 from Atari Games, then you'd do best to not build any expectations for this game based on its original source material. In fact, the only thing this and the old game really have in common is that they both take place in the location Area 51 and have you shooting aliens! This was not Midway's first effort at turning Area 51 into an FPS, as there was another game simply titled Area 51 that came out on Xbox/PS2/PC back in 2005, which was from the same developers.

Midway Studios Austin definitely had some ambition with this title. They tried to turn the simple rail-shooter arcade hit Area 51 into an FPS title with a cinematic presentation. To be honest, the lengthy and quite frequent dialogue-driven parts of the game bored me to pieces and I couldn't wait to just start shooting some aliens. These are peppered all throughout the campaign between action segments and are unfortunately unskippable. Also, in order to hear the dialogue you'll have to turn the volume way up as it's extremely quiet when compared to the gunfire and the developers neglected to include subtitles for those who would prefer to use that (I frequently use this option in dialogue-heavy games).

I can't help but reminisce about how action-packed the old Area 51 arcade game was, where you're shooting aliens within seconds and for the entire duration of your play-time whereas with BlackSite, there is a dedicated effort to build a story around the action and they play it as serious as possible. Personally I think had they applied the campy B-movie feel of the original game, this could have been much more entertaining and memorable.

The campaign features maps that at a glance may look expansive, which some of them are, but they are all navigated in an extremely linear fashion and are separated by lengthy loading screens. In certain parts you are allowed to drive your vehicle around, for some reason they decided to map the accelerate/brake button the left analog stick, which feels extremely clunky at first. One thing you'll notice about the boots-on-ground combat is that there is no run button. Also I wanted to note that the final battle in the game was quite a let-down as you just battle some alien soldier dude; I wanted a fight with some sort of gigantic alien beast but instead you fight a guy that looks pretty much like the grunt soldiers you're shooting through the entire game! Graphically the game looks a bit better than something that would have come out on the PS2, which is about what you would have to expect for a 360 game in 2007.

In addition to the single-player campaign the game also features online-multiplayer. While the servers have been shut down at this point, you would have struggled mightily to find a game on these even back in the day. There were just too many other, more popular options for FPS games even back in 2007. Given that this is a 10-year old game at this point, and one that nobody ever really talks about for that matter, I'm not at all surprised by the lack of online multiplayer. I also thought it would be worth mentioning that the game froze up on me on during the spore tower boss fight about halfway through the campaign.

In summary, BlackSite: Area 51 has some decent gunplay but the game drags on a bit longer than it needs to. While it may have been decent back in 2007, this one's not really worth your time these days. BlackSite reminded me of Duke Nukem Forever in a few ways, with its driving and turret segments mixed in with your standard alien-killing FPS action but without the humor, character or run button of that game. If you're really itching for some alien-blasting at the top-secret facility, then I'd recommend to go back and play the older but superior Area 51 game on the Xbox before messing with BlackSite.

Final Verdict: BlackSite features gameplay similar to Duke Nukem Forever in more than a few ways, with driving segments and helicopter turret areas mixed in with the traditional alien-killing FPS minus the humor, personality and run button. So, if you're one of the many who disliked Duke Nukem Forever, it's a safe bet you'd want to stay away from this title.

Purchase Links:
Buy BlackSite: Area 51 - eBay

Related Links:
BlackSite: Area 51 - Metacritic
BlackSite: Area 51 - GameFAQs
BlackSite: Area 51 Achievement Guide - Xbox Achievements
BlackSite: Area 51 - True Achievements

Bullet Soul (Xbox 360, 2011)

Bullet Soul
Developed by Tachyon Inc.
Published by 5pb.
Released for Xbox 360 (4/2011)
Also on PC
Backwards Compatible on Xbox One

Bullet Soul was brought to us by Tachyon Inc., the same crew that ported Ketsui: Kizuna Jigoku Tachi Extra over to the Japanese 360 crowd, which was a Cave game from the arcades, so they definitely had some experience programming shmup titles prior to this game. Bullet Soul happened when these guys decided it was time to make their own original shmup. Bullet Soul features a mechanic that will make you feel quite overpowered: when you destroy an enemy ship you also vanquish their bullets. So, in theory, as long as you destroy the enemies quick then you'll never even have a chance of dying. Clearing the first loop in the game is quite easy but the second loop will still challenge your average gamer while not quite being as ridiculously hard as many other shmups.

The vanilla game features 3 ships to choose from, each with a nice varied style of play. One of them has powerful forward focus shots, the other has a nice spread shot and the third character has homing attacks. Just like in Cave's shmup titles, while firing the regular shot your character moves fast and while using the focus shot your speed slows considerably. You also have bombs for emergency situations. The game does a nice job of keeping the enemies flooding in so there's rarely a dull moment. Throughout each stage there are hidden bonuses that can be shot and if you find them all in a stage without dying you'll receive the platinum medal (highest rank you can obtain). You can still obtain a medal if you die, but you'll be demoted a rank. If you rack up enough platinum and gold medals (I know for sure that at least 3 platinum and 2 gold) you will gain entry to the game's second loop and at the end you'll face the true boss. Bullet Soul is nothing ground-breaking, but presentation-wise it's definitely on par with Cave's titles. Overall, it's a fun game and the difficulty level is very low compared to your average shmup, so if you're usually intimidated by the high-challenge of these types of games, Bullet Soul will feel a bit more inviting.

Bullet Soul was originally a Japan-only release (region-free disc though!) and did see some DLC on the marketplace. Caravan mode is a timed mode where you try to rack up the highest score possible (think Star Soldier). It's definitely a very cool mode to play but unfortunately it seems to be just this one scenario. I suspect when the developer was still supporting the game they use to switch up the scenario for this mode and if that's the case it's a shame you can't select from the previous offerings if you missed them initially (if anybody can confirm this please let me know).

There was a second DLC release in the form of Bullet Soul B, which adds a new character to play as. If the other characters weren't already overpowered enough for you, this chick is incredible and can clear the screen out with ease! This is a fun mode and the new character is a beast, almost like using a cheat code! Within a year or so after the game was released on disc, it received a digital release in the Games on Demand section of the marketplace (at least in North America). If you purchase this version the DLC is included, which is a definitely a welcome surprise!

It's also worth noting that this title was exclusive to the 360 all the way up until April 2017 when it was finally released for PC. The game does also include the option to rotate the screen if you'd like to play in portrait mode which is always welcome in vertical shmups. If you're a collector looking to obtain the disc copy, which included a soundtrack, be prepared to pay high as this one's in decent demand. Luckily for those who just wish to play the game, the digital option is quite affordable.

Final Verdict: Bullet Soul is a highly polished shmup that is a bit on the easy side, but is still a blast to play through, making it an excellent jump-off point for those interested in the genre.

Purchase Links:
Buy Bullet Soul (Digital) - Xbox Marketplace
Buy Bullet Soul (Disc) - eBay

Related Links:
5pb. - Official Site (Japanese) 
5pb. - Official Site (English)
Bullet Soul - Metacritic
Bullet Soul - GameFAQs
Bullet Soul - Xbox Achievements
Bullet Soul - True Achievements

3D Ultra Minigolf Adventures (XBLA, 2007)

3D Ultra Minigolf Adventures
Developed by Wanako Studios
Published by Sierra Online
Released for Xbox Live Arcade (4/2007)
Also on PC
Backwards Compatible with Xbox One

3D Ultra Minigolf Adventures features a small variety of miniature golf courses. Rather than creating a realistic depiction of mini-golf, the developers have tried to inject some excitement with crazy courses and power-ups scattered about. There's a hole in outer space where you launch your ball off a ramp and onto a nearby planet containing the hole, so I'll definitely give the game credit for trying something new with the old mini-golf  formula. There are power-ups scattered about on some of the courses, which allow your ball to jump or even turn the hole into a vacuum which sucks your balls in (insert obligatory "what she said" joke here).

There are two game modes to select from: Tournament and Hole Editor. In tournament mode, you're given two different courses to choose from and whichever you select you will play through each hole on two different days. After you complete these two courses under par you unlock a third tournament that includes all holes from both courses. The hole editor allows you to create your own holes and if you enjoy this sort of thing can greatly increase the replay value of this title. Overall, the game plays decent if you don't mind some craziness in your golf courses. The golf aspect is easy to use and the pars for each hole are very reasonable.

While playing 3D Ultra Minigolf Adventures, I did notice some questionable behavior from the ball on a few occasions, particularly on the pinball hole. The ball physics just don't work well as a pinball and it either should've been tweaked or taken out. Other than that specific hole I didn't encounter too many other issues with the ball physics. The game is incredibly easy due to the fact you can back out to the menu and restart any hole at any time by loading your save file. I finished the last course with a score of -41! I wish they would've just had a quick restart button though, since backing in and out of the menus gets quite tedious quickly. There is also a downloadable course called Lost Island available for $4.99, but I'd had my fill of the 3D Ultra Minigolf Adventures by the time I'd finished the core game to be honest. If they would have at least bothered to add some additional gamerscore to gain from it I may have been tempted. Overall, if the minigolf theme appeals to you and you don't mind a short game then I'd say give it a go, but personally I think I would have enjoyed just a plain mini-golf simulation more (or just hitting a real putt-putt course).

On a related note, this game is part of the 3D Ultra Minigolf franchise and is the 4th entry. The original goes all the way back to 1997 was released on the PC. There were 2 more sequels that came out only on PC and then this entry which came out for the Xbox 360. There was also a sequel which was released for both PlayStation 3 and the Xbox Live Arcade. The Xbox 360 port has since been de-listed, so don't go looking for it, but the original is still up at the time of this writing.

Final Verdict: If a crazy mini-golf theme appeals to you, then there's a good chance you will find some enjoyment in 3D Ultra Minigolf Adventures. It's an older release that shows it age a bit and is on the short side but there's still fun to be had.

Related Links:
Buy 3D Ultra Minigolf Adventures - Xbox Marketplace
Sierra Games - Official Site
3D Ultra Minigolf Adventures - Metacritic
3D Ultra Minigolf Adventures - GameFAQs
3D Ultra Minigolf Adventures Achievement Guide - Xbox Achievements
3D Ultra Minigolf Adventures - True Achievements

007: Blood Stone (Xbox 360, 2010)

007: Blood Stone
Developed by Bizarre Creations
Published by Activision
Released for Xbox 360 (11/2/2010)
Also on PC/PS3/DS

007: Blood Stone was developed by Bizarre Creations and was released for multiple platforms in November 2010. The game creates an original Bond adventure starring the, at-the-time of its release, current cast of actors 3D-rendered likenesses and voices. They are quite recognizable and look pretty good considering when the game came out, but sometimes they appear to be staring off into space during the cut-scenes.  The voice acting sounds like it came from an authentic Bond film and the story serves its purpose well enough to give you some cool locations to shoot people in.

Presentation-wise, it's not quite as cinematic as the Call of Duty campaigns, but it's definitely steps ahead of your average shooter. The game's environments are highly-detailed and look very good, though the level designs are mostly linear. You have a cover system in place that will be instantly familiar to those who have played Gears of War. For the most part, it works pretty well though sometimes jumping between cover points can be a bit tricky, but once you get the hang of tapping versus holding A it's not too bad. Pressing down on the d-pad causes Bond's phone to reveal way-points and other things of interest, lifted right out of the Batman Arkham series' detective mode, right down to the distorted visuals while you use it.

The gun-play in 007: Blood Stone feels good and is similar to the Club, also from Bizarre Creations. Getting close to enemies allows you to use take-down maneuvers, which are a bit over-powered and it can be quite hilarious to watch Bond run into a group of guards armed with machine guns and beat them all down like he was Batman (at least on the lower difficulties). There's some minor stealth involved, mostly involving slowly walking up to unaware enemies and performing a take-down maneuver. I really do wish they would have included a way to make Bond crouch, and if it does exist then I guess I'm a fool because I couldn't figure it out.

To vary the action a bit there are several driving segments between missions. With Bizarre Creations having created the Project Gotham Racing series, they have a lot of experience with driving games so these segments are surprisingly competent although very linear like the rest of the game. There is also a stat tracker that shows your progress towards achievements and the intel screen clearly indicates which levels you've missed collectibles on. I always appreciate when the developer goes the extra mile like this and includes this sort of stuff. After you complete your first run of the campaign you unlock 007 difficulty, adding some nice replay value to the single-player side of things.

Overall I enjoyed my time with Blood Stone and I feel it's better than much of the negative criticism may have you believe. A multiplayer mode was originally included, but the servers have been long dead so I'm unable to assess that part of the game. 007: Blood Stone stands quite well on its own with the campaign. The campaign will only last you about 5-7 hours, but there is some incentive for replay. With that in mind, it's worth a look but just don't pay too much for it.

Final Verdict: If you enjoy third-person cover shooters or the Daniel Craig Bond flicks, it's worth taking a look at 007: Blood Stone. Just beware that the multiplayer portion is dead, so you'll only be able to play the single-player campaign.

Purchase Links:
Buy 007: Blood Stone - eBay

Related Links:
Bizarre Creations - Xbox Overview
Third-Person Shooters - Xbox Overview
Activision - Official Site
007: Blood Stone - Metacritic
007: Blood Stone - GameFAQs
007: Blood Stone Achievement Guide - Xbox Achievements
007: Blood Stone - True Achievements

Zombiez 8 My Cookiez (XBLIG, 2010)

Zombiez 8 My Cookiez
Developed by Fritz
Released for Xbox Live Indie Games (12/2010)

Zombiez 8 My Cookiez is another of around 40 or so games on the Indie Games marketplace containing the word 'zombie' in the title. Over the last decade or so, zombies have easily became one the most tired gaming cliches around. I figured I'd check this one out since it references an old favorite Zombies Ate My Neighbors (SNES/Genesis '93), even if only by the title. The game has a nice presentation, with a well drawn title screen and basic mode selection menu. You can't take simple things like a well-designed title screen for granted when it comes to XBLIG, trust me on that one.

When you load into a round you'll see that you play as a miniature tank that is on a dinner table. The games sound isn't too annoying and the in-game graphics are quite well done for what they are. One of the big differences in this game compared to others in the twin-stick shooter genre is that the enemies don't attack you (at least in the early waves). Instead they just shuffle towards the cookies in the middle of the table and attempt to drag them away. This is where you and your pint-sized tank come into play as you must shoot the zombies before they steal your food. Your tank also has the ability to push or pull the cookies to put them back towards the middle of the table if you wish. At the main menu you're given the option of tutorial, classic mode, frenzy mode, fitba mode, credits and exit. In classic mode you try to protect your cookies from waves of zombies and will rack up bonus points the longer you keep the food on the table. Frenzy mode is pretty much the same as classic but with massive amounts of zombies. Then there's a mode called fitba which I was unable to try because it is a local multiplayer mode. Speaking of which, the game supports 4-players so that would definitely increase the fun-factor to be had here. Overall, there's much worse ways to spend $1 than to snag this one off the Indie Marketplace. It's definitely not going to set the world on fire, but if the concept sounds fun to you then you may want to give it a go.

Final Verdict: If you're a fan of twin-stick shooters where you try to prevent zombies from stealing your food, then you've found your game! Seriously though, Zombiez 8 My Cookiez is an above-average indie game title so if you want a wrinkle on the twin-stick formula you may want to give this one a look.

Jumper: Griffin's Story (Xbox 360, 2008)

Jumper: Griffin's Story
Developed by Red Tribe
Published by Brash Entertainment
Released for Xbox 360 (2/12/2008)
Also on PS2/Wii

Based off the cinematic flop that was Jumper and developed by Red Tribe, the same folks that brought you the Space Chimps game, comes the video game adaptation to your home console. This game is very much a by-the-numbers brawler of the most boring variety. Beat up a few dudes, move to the next area, rinse and repeat. This could be said of most brawlers but good game designers are able to make it less redundant.

I recall a co-worker lent me this movie to watch back in the day, but I honestly can't remember a single detail from it other than it had sand-hating dude from the Star Wars prequel movies and Samuel L. Jackson in it. So with a completely forgettable movie, the story and characters of this game were obviously of no interest to me. The controls work good enough, and at first it is kind of cool teleporting all over the place but you can only use it while in combat and the novelty wears thin in quite the hurry; plus you can't help but wonder why the protagonist doesn't just teleport to whoever the head dude in charge is and take him out but I suppose there would be no game then.

The visuals are definitely sub-par for the Xbox 360, let's just say you can definitely tell this title was also designed with the PS2 and Wii in mind and didn't do much to advance the graphics beyond the levels of those consoles. It's rare that I find a game that I wouldn't really recommend to anybody, but this would have to be one of those. Jumper: Griffin's Story is just a completely forgettable attempt to cash in on a movie franchise.

Final Verdict: Unless you're looking to grab a quick and easy 1000 gamer score or you're a huge fan of the film there is really no reason to play Jumper: Griffin's Story as it's a very mediocre game.

Purchase Links:
Buy Jumper: Griffin's Story - eBay

Related Links:
Jumper: Griffin's Story - Metacritic
Jumper: Griffin's Story - GameFAQs
Jumper: Griffin's Story Achievement Guide - Xbox Achievements
Jumper: Griffin's Story - True Achievements

R-Type Dimensions (XBLA, 2009)

R-Type Dimensions
Developed by Tozai Games
Published by Southend Interactive
Released for Xbox Live Arcade (9/2009)
Also on PC/PS3/PS4/Switch
Backwards Compatible with Xbox One

What a treat this is for old-school shmup fans! R-Type Dimensions features arcade perfect ports of R-Type and R-Type II. The graphics have been uprgaded for HD, but you can switch to the original 2D graphics at anytime by hitting the right bumper. The R-Type games are classics and have always had their own feel compared to any other shmup of the era. The level design is challenging but not unfair. Some of the boss battles, particularly in the second game, are very difficult. In order to master this game or even clear it in its classic arcade form will require razor-sharp reflexes and monstrous memorization.

R-Type Dimensions also includes the new 'infinite mode' for people that don't like getting a game over and restarting after losing their ships. This way anybody will be able to see both games through to their completion, which can be rather difficult without infinite lives. Veterans will likely hate this mode but you are also able to select classic mode, so you don't have to use it if you don't want to. I really love the chunky, detailed sprites and everything looks great in widescreen (I normally play with the original 2D artwork, but the update is nice too!). They did a great job porting these classics over to Xbox Live Arcade where it remained an exclusive for over 4 years before finally releasing on Playstation Network. Shmup fans won't want to miss this one!

Final Verdict: If you're a fan of the original arcade games or you love shoot-em-ups, definitely give R-Type Dimensions one a go. Also for the gamer that likes a serious challenge.

Related Links:
Buy R-Type Dimensions - Xbox Marketplace
Shmups - Xbox Overview
Tozai Games - Official Site
R-Type Dimensions - Metacritic
R-Type Dimensions - GameFAQs
R-Type Dimensions Achievement Guide - Xbox Achievements
R-Type Dimensions - True Achievements

Aqua: Naval Warfare (XBLA, 2010)

Aqua: Naval Warfare
Developed by Games Distillery
Published by Microsoft Games Studio
Released for Xbox Live Arcade (5/2010)/PC (5/2011)
Backward compatible with Xbox One

Aqua: Naval Warfare is another one of those twin-stick shooters that came out in the wake after Geometry Wars' massive success. While it's definitely not as polished as its inspiration, Aqua can still be a fun time if you're in the mood for some twin-stick action. The game takes a more conventional approach, with stages laid out in a linear fashion and a story unraveling between and during stages. I found the story completely uninteresting and honestly can't even recall enough about it to even summarize it, but it's there for those who enjoy that in a shooter. Basically, you just need to know a bunch of ships are attacking and you need to blow them up.

Along the way you'll be able to upgrade your ship's firepower and attributes in addition to gaining a squadron that fights alongside you. Due to you commandeering a water vessel rather than a space ship you typically get in these titles, you're range of motion is hampered a bit and making sudden and precise dodging can be a little more difficult than it needs to be. Other than that issue, the controls work rather well. The music and sound production is there, and gets the job done well enough but nothing really particularly stands out in that department. Graphically the game looks pretty good with a mostly steady frame-rate and cool looking water effects. There were a few instances when the FPS would stutter, but backing out and restarting the game resolved the issue and it didn't happen again.

Aqua does support some multiplayer action but I was never able to find a soul online in my time with the game so I'm unable to really comment on how good or bad that feature was. After you complete the campaign there is also a skirmish mode where you survive as many waves of oncoming enemies as possible. The game will likely give you around 5-10 hours of twin-stick shooting goodness before you've cleared the campaign and likely tired of trying to finish the incredibly difficult skirmish mode. If you're okay with the short run-time of the game and enjoy a decent twin-stick shooter, I'd say give it a go!

Final Verdict: Aqua: Naval Warfare comes recommended to anybody who's played all the other twin-stick shooters and still craves more. If you simply just enjoy blowing up stuff you may dig this title as well.

Related Links:
Buy Aqua - Xbox Marketplace
Games Distillery - Official Site
Aqua - Metacritic
Aqua - GameFAQs
Aqua Achievement Guide - Xbox Achievements
Aqua - True Achievements

One Finger Death Punch (XBLIG, 2013)

One Finger Death Punch
Developed by Silver Dollar Games
Released for Xbox Live Indie Games (6/2013)
Also on iOS/PC

I recall seeing One Finger Death Punch in the XBLIG storefront when it was released, but I purposely went out of my way to avoid it due to the fact that I was less than impressed with Silver Dollar Games' previous offerings on the service. What a mistake that was as this ended up easily being the developers best (and last) offering. Silver Dollar Games released 10 titles in 2011 and from the trials I played they were standard fare XBLIG garbage. It looks like they took a year off and actually put some effort into One Finger Death Punch, which could honestly have been an XBLA title.

One Finger Death Punch is a kung-fu action title but with a twist. The game uses only 2 buttons, X to attack left and B to attack right. You stand on a 2D plane and enemies come from either side and you need to press the appropriate button before they get close enough to attack you. Enemy variety comes in the form of different colored enemies that react differently. Some need to be attacked multiple times, others from multiple angles and so on. The characters are all stick figures, which struck me as stupid at first but when the action is going down you don't even really notice. There is a giant world map for you to explore with a variety of scenarios for you to encounter. You are also able to unlock abilities to give you a slight boost, found by completing certain spots on the map. This is a very addictive title and stands high on any list of top Xbox Live Indie Games ever made!

Final Verdict: I'd recommend everybody give One Finger Death Punch a shot. There is a trial available (at the time of this writing at least) so there's really no excuse not to! Fans of old martial arts movies make sure to give this one a try!

Related Links:
One Finger Death Punch - Steam
One Finger Death Punch - GameFAQs