radiangames Crossfire (XBLIG, 2010)

radiangames Crossfire
Developed by Radiangames
Released for XBLIG (7/2010)

radiangames Crossfire is the developers' second release for XBLIG. Crossfire is an refreshing take on the coin-op arcade classic Space Invaders. It plays quite similar, with your ship locked and only able to move side to side while trying to clear out the enemies. The twist with Crossfire is that you are able to warp at any point, which will send your ship upside down on the top of the screen. It's an interesting mechanic and the game is built around it competently. Once you get the hang of it, it's good fun warping out of the bullet barrages you'll encounter while destroying the enemies. The graphic style is simple but works well for this style of game and reminds me of the kind of stuff you'd see on vector monitors back in the day. As you destroy the enemies they will drop ammo for your superweapon. Occasionally you'll find power capsules that boost your firepower or boost your speed. The infamous UFO that flew across the top of the screen in Space Invaders is here too, and when destroyed will drop either a slowdown or super-ammo power up. The enemy designs are unique and varied, some requiring a bit of strategy to defeat. There's around fifty stages to clear and the game never overstays its welcome. Two-player local is available as well. Retro gaming fanatics and Space Invaders fans should check this one out. radiangames Crossfire would later see an update titled Super Crossfire released for PC and Macintosh in 2011. It was also released as Super Crossfighter on iOS devices in 2014.

Final Verdict: radiangames Crossfire is a great update to the classic Space Invaders formula. Simple, original and a blast to play.

Related Links:
radiangames Crossfire - GameFAQs
radiangames - Official Site

Garden Gnome Carnage (XBLIG, 2010)

Garden Gnome Carnage
Developed by Ludosity Interactive
Released for XBLIG (11/2010)
Also on PC, Android & iOS

Garden Gnome Carnage is an arcade-style game with some pretty decent pixel artwork. You don't directly control the gnome in game, rather you control a building on wheels that the gnome is attached to via a rope on the top. I'm not sure exactly how one comes up with this stuff, but you have to give it points for being unique. You slide the building from side to side, guiding the gnome to smash into targets that are attempting to scale your building. If anybody makes it to the top, it's game over. The player is granted with three carpet bomb attacks that will clear out the screen if you're about to lose. You also have the ability to grab bricks as you fly past your building and can chunk them at your enemies causing an explosion. Amidst the mobs of people trying to climb up your building, there is a friendly cat that if you can manage to avoid knocking it off before it reaches the top will grant you a brick refill the first time and will initiate a quick mini-game if you manage it a second time. The mini-game is a simple side scroller which, if completed, will refill the players brick stock. Score multipliers can be gained for knocking multiple objects into each other, for instance knocking a bunch of helicopters into each other will rack up some big points. The game keeps tabs on your local high scores but due to issues with XBLIG the online leaderboards are a bit janky.

Overall, Garden Gnome Carnage was well worth the buck I spent for it and has served up some great quick game sessions over the years. If the other versions of the game have full functioning leaderboards, which I would think they will, I'd probably opt for getting it another platform of your choice, but it is fun to be able to play this right off your 360 as well. A second version of the game would see a release in December 2010, titled GGC X, which is basically the same game with the enemies changed to a Christmas theme rather than the military you're up against in the original.

Final Verdict: Garden Gnome Carnage is a fun, simple arcade style game that's easy to play and tough to master. Definitely worth the dollar asking price.

Related Links:
Garden Gnome Carnage - GameFAQs

Escape Goat (XBLIG, 2011)

Escape Goat
Developed by MagicalTimeBean
Released for XBLIG (11/2011)
Also on Linux/Mac/PC

Escape Goat is a 2D puzzle/platformer where you play as a goat. You must navigate platforms, manipulate switches, utilize fellow animal helper buddies, find keys and eventually work your way through an exit. You have a double-jump and the controls are tight enough that the platforming never becomes frustrating. The pixel-art is very well done, with a very authentic 8-bit feel to it. You have an over-world stage where you can choose which set of levels you'd like to tackle next, each represented by a door. There are nine doors to choose from and each one features five levels. Once you've completed all of those you'll go up against the final nine challenges for a total of 54 stages. This game originally retailed for a dollar on XBLIG, making Escape Goat quite the value for a buck! The game will offer up several hours of enjoyment to those who enjoy a nice puzzle/platform challenge, plus after you finish the main game the developers have included a level editor allowing you to create your own levels (local only). A sequel would come out for PS4, PC Linux and Mac in 2014, but the original must not have sold enough to convince them to publish the sequel for Xbox One. Microsoft should have promoted the original game into the Xbox Live Arcade back in 2011 to get it onto the screens of more gamers and it would have been possible to implement the option to share user made levels! As it is, Escape Goat stands tall among the best releases on the XBLIG platform.

Final Verdict: Escape Goat is a wonderfully crafted 2D puzzle/platformer that gamers should not sleep on!

Related Links:
Escape Goat - GameFAQs 
Escape Goat - MagicalTimeBean Official Site

radiangames Inferno (XBLIG, 2010)

radiangames Inferno
Developed by Radian Games
Released for XBLIG (9/2010)
Also on Ouya

radiangames Inferno is a twin-stick shooter where you are given maze-style levels you are allowed to explore as opposed to the common fixed screens of most other games in the genre. The best way to describe Inferno is a tribute to the arcade classic Gauntlet with twin-stick shooter controls. The maze-like levels will have areas locked off unless you've picked up a key to get through. Many of the levels reward the player for exploration with hidden areas to find. The graphics are a bit abstract, but the controls are so tight and the action so smooth it never bothered me that I was basically shooting at what look like bubbles and very strange looking ships. The threat level of each enemy can be easily assessed just by looking at their color. The explosions and particle effects when blowing your foes up are top notch. Defeated enemies will drop currency that can be used at shops to unlock upgrades for your ship or to buy power-ups. Every other level or so you'll gain an upgrade point that you can apply to the attribute of your choice. radiangames Inferno offers up thirty levels and once you've completed them the game offers a new game + mode where you can keep your unlocks and maximize your ships power. The game also supports up to four-players local. Highly recommended for fans of Gauntlet and/or twin-stick shooters!

Final Verdict: radiangames Inferno is a top-tier twin-stick shooter on XBLIG. It removes the quarter munching aspects of the arcade classic Gauntlet while maintaining the kind of action that made it so great!

Related Links:
radiangames Inferno - GameFAQs
radiangames Inferno - radiangames Official Site

Hurdle Turtle 2 (XBLIG, 2013)

Hurdle Turtle 2
Developed by Holmade Games
Released for XBLIG (10/2013)

Three years after Holmade Games released the original Hurdle Turtle and two level packs comes the sequel, which improves upon the original in many ways. First, they've added some nice digitized voice samples that add some extra personality to the game. The pixel count has been upped significantly and as a result the visuals look more appealing overall. Third and most important is that the gameplay has been refined a bit, now allowing you to switch between four tracks rather than freely moving up and down, making dodging the oncoming obstacles even simpler than before. The game now supports up to four players at a time (local of course). The levels are presented on an over-world map now and the game has added water levels. Hurdle Turtle 2 is an improvement over the original in just about every imaginable, though your enjoyment boils down to whether or not you like the concept of a game that plays like the infamous Turbo Tunnel segments from Battletoads.

Final Verdict: Holmade Games did excellent at keeping what was good about the first game and building on it with Hurdle Turtle 2. Recommended for fans of the original or if you just like dodge 'em up games!

Related Links:
Hurdle Turtle - Xbox Overview
Hurdle Turtle 2 - GameFAQs 
Hurdle Turtle 2 Official Announcement - Holmade Games Blog

Infinite Doodle (XBLIG, 2013)

Infinite Doodle
Developed by Smudged Cat Games
Released for XBLIG (2/2013)

Infinite Doodle is, as the title would suggest, a program that lets you doodle all over your screen. You have a generous amount of colors to select from and many of the features you'd expect from a program of this variety to have, such as the ability to draw lines, boxes, circles and the option to add text or stamps. Where Infinite Doodle varies from most other "Paint" style apps is the ability to zoom in and out at will, apparently to infinity or until the program crashes. It's definitely unique, and while I wasn't able to create anything that really looked even decent I had a fun time zooming in and out while doodling all over the place. The frame-rate does skip around a bit while the 360 processes the zooming at times, but for the most part it's a very visually appealing effect (though may be bad for those with motion sickness). Infinite Doodle retailed for only a buck and was good fun if you're in the mood to draw on your screen. I could imagine somebody with some art skills could probably make some pretty amazing stuff with this program!

Final Verdict: Infinite Doodle is more of a program or app then a game, but it can be fun to mess around doodling while zooming in and out on your art. The more intoxicated you are, the more enjoyable this one becomes.

Related Links:
Infinite Doodle - GameFAQs
Smudged Cat Games - Official Site

Ikaroids (XBLIG, 2009)

Ikaroids
Developed by John Wordsworth
Released for XBLIG (12/2009)

Ikaroids is a twin-stick shooter inspired by Atari's classic Asteroids, this one exclusive to the XBLIG platform. This one has a bunch of enemy ships firing at you in addition to the giant rocks floating about. One thing I noticed immediately is that this game has no problem spawning enemies right on top of you. They pretty much appear out of thin air, with only a quick "phasing-in" animation to indicate they're going to pop up. You'll need to be very quick on your toes to stay alive. The graphics are high-res sprites with some good detail. There is a campaign mode (complete with boss battles) for one or two players (local) and also a survival mode. The game doesn't keep seem to keep tabs on your high scores, which is a bummer in these kind of games (at least have a local leaderboard). Overall, Ikaroids is an above-average twin-stick shooter but is a bit overshadowed by some of the other Asteroids-inspired games on XBLIG.

Final Verdict: If you're an Asteroids nut, I'd recommend Echoes+ or Space Crüesader first, but if you still need more space rock blasting action Ikaroids will do.

Related Links:
Asteroids & Deluxe - Xbox Overview
Space Crüesader - Xbox Overview
Echoes+ - Xbox Overview
Ikaroids - GameFAQs

マイケルの不思議な冒険 (XBLIG, 2011)

マイケルの不思議な冒険
Developed by Hunters
Released for XBLIG (12/2011)

マイケルの不思議な冒険, which on the title card has the English subtitle Mysterious Adventure of Michael (so from here on out we'll refer to the game as that) is a Japanese-developed release for XBLIG. The game is an obvious Super Mario Bros rip-off and I found myself surprised to see that the first stage was actually kind of playable (though of course nowhere near as good as Mario). Similar to the Mario games it wants to imitate, the game has the coin blocks you can jump into, bricks you can smash and turtles you can send flying across the screen by jumping on top of them.

You play as Michael, a bear who is apparently asleep and dreaming all of this. My initial surprise of the quality of the game came to an abrupt halt once I made it to the second stage. Right at the beginning of the level you're required to jump across a large pit using a block that launches you higher than your normal jump would (these are comparable to the music notes in Super Mario Bros 3). The problem is that the blocks don't automatically launch you when you jump on them. As far as I can tell, you have to press up at the same time you land on the brick. Regardless, after several attempts to get across this gap I had to give up on the game in frustration. Mysterious Adventure of Michael is indeed a mysterious title & had the difficulty not ramped up so quick I may have been more obliged to see some more of what it had to offer, though something deep down inside tells me I'm not missing much.

Final Verdict: Mysterious Adventure of Michael is a poor-man's Super Mario Bros, so if you enjoy inferior knock-offs of more popular games you might get something out of this one.

Chester (XBLIG, 2011)

Chester
Developed by Brilliant Blue-G
Released for XBLIG (8/2011)
Also on PC

Chester is a 2D platformer with an interesting "style change" mechanic in it. As you play through the game, you'll unlock various styles that you can switch to on the fly. One style might make everything look as if it were drawn on paper while another will turn everything to blocks like an old primitive game. Everything looks different after changing the style and they all provide a little perk of some sort, for instance in the block style you fall a tad bit slower. Your character is armed with a projectile attack and a fireball. You can press the jump button twice for a double-jump. The platforming mechanics seem pretty sound, though I did have some issues jumping while sliding on walls at times. You'll also be able to unlock new characters as you progress, and like the styles you can switch them up on the fly. Certain characters do more damage against certain enemies. There's a lot going in Chester, every level has lots of stuff lying around to collect and the game features four difficulties. The game retailed for a buck on XBLIG and platforming fans would easily get their moneys' worth out of Chester. The game would see a re-mastered version for PC in February 2017, titled Chester One, which could be considered the definitive version of the game. I only had a chance to experience the trial version of the game, but perhaps in the future if/when I get the full game on PC I'll revisit this review.

Final Verdict: Chester is a solid 2D platformer with some interesting ideas that help it stand out. Recommended for platformer fans.

Related Links:
Chester - GameFAQs
Chester One - Steam

Mega Shooter 11 (XBLIG, 2011)

Mega Shooter 11
Developed by infiniteplay
Released for XBLIG (10/2011)

Mega Shooter 11 is a horizontal shmup that makes a great first impression. Upon booting the game up I was greeted with some nice NES-style pixel graphics and a game that instantly brought back memories of Life Force (or Salamander depending on where you reside). Unfortunately I quickly became rather bored by the uninspired level design, with the same couple of enemies coming at you over and over. Enemy bullets defy all logic and pass right through solid objects. There are several areas featuring the same assets just slightly mixed around, making for some very repetitive level design. I really wanted to like Mega Shooter 11 as it really looks the part of a retro shooter, unfortunately it lacked the gameplay to make me want to come back for more once the trial had ended.

Final Verdict: Mega Shooter 11 looks pretty awesome in screen shots, but the gameplay is lacking the polish that the best shooters on XBLIG have to offer for the same price. You can safely skip this one.

Related Links:
Mega Shooter 11 - GameFAQs

Colosseum (XBLIG, 2008)

Colosseum
Developed by Shortfuse Games
Released for XBLIG (11/2008)

Colosseum is a 3D arena fighter with support for up to four players locally. It's not too common to see a 3D game on XBLIG and Colosseum does a decent job with it. One thing different from most other fighters is that your attacks are mapped to the right analog stick rather than the face buttons. You also have dodge, block and run functions assigned to the top buttons. The face buttons on the pad are used for special features, such as a health restore or shield boost that uses a meter you build up while attacking your foes. The action moves along at a brisk pace, though there were a few instances I had trouble keeping tabs on which character I was. The trial limits your character selection to two, but in the full version there are seventeen different fighters to select from (at least the game claims, it looked like twelve on the character select screen to me). By completing in-game challenges, you can unlock new pieces of armor and weapons to customize your fighters, so this helps add some replay value. Colosseum is a competent fighter that retails for $2.99, which probably hurt sales for this game when there were so many other great games available for just $1 on XBLIG.

Final Verdict: Colosseum is a very playable arena fighter and you can tell the developer put some time into it, however the high price for an XBLIG title likely kept most away.

Related Links:
Colosseum - GameFAQs

Apple Jack 2 (XBLIG, 2012)

Apple Jack 2
Developed by My Owl Software
Released for XBLIG (6/2012)
Also on PC

Apple Jack 2 is more of the same goodness that the first game offered, this time with a much more polished overall presentation. There are now three difficulties to select from and also a new rewind feature to help minimize frustration. On easy you have unlimited rewinds, on normal you are granted one rewind per checkpoint and of course on hard you have no rewinds. The game features 61 levels and there are some pretty tough ones in here. Apple Jack 2 is a stellar title by XBLIG standards and is better than many XBLA titles. If you like 2D puzzle-platformers with a solid challenge then be sure to give Apple Jack 2 a look! I was initially drawn to this game by the Super Mario Bros 2 inspired title card and was not disappointed with the game I discovered!

Final Verdict: Developer My Owl Software managed to step it up a few notches for Apple Jack 2. A must-try for fans of 2D puzzle/platformer games!

Related Links:
Apple Jack - Xbox Overview
Apple Jack 2 - GameFAQs
Apple Jack 1&2 - Steam
My Owl Software Official Website

NYAN-TECH (XBLIG, 2011)

NYAN-TECH
Developed by Dot-Zo Games
Released for XBLIG (2/2011)

NYAN-TECH is a 2D platformer with a unique twist. There are blocks in each level that can be activated and turned off with the push of the corresponding button. This is definitely an interesting mechanic and it gives NYAN-TECH a feeling of freshness compared to other puzzle-platformers. The game features forty levels and the challenge factor ramps up as you go along. Stages feature a key you must collect before you're allowed to hit the exit door and you'll be required to juggle turning on/off the blocks as you navigate across platforms. It gets very tricky in the later stages but I never found myself frustrated at the game, probably because the controls are extremely tight and I always felt that I was at fault when I fell into a pit of spikes. NYAN-TECH features some great, simple pixel-art that packs some great animation. If you're a fan of retro 2D platformers, NYAN-TECH is only a buck and is worth every penny. Or it was, as unfortunately this was exclusive to the XBLIG and hasn't been released for anything else since.

Final Verdict: NYAN-TECH is a simple yet addicting 2D platformer and back when it was available on XBLIG it sold for $1. Definitely was worth every penny!

Related Links:
Ninja Bros - Xbox Overview
Ninja Escape - Xbox Overview
Ninja Train - Xbox Overview
Horse Race Starter - Xbox Overview
Nyan-Tech Review - XBLIG.co
Nyan-Tech Review - Indie Gamer Chick
Nyan-Tech - GameFAQs