Castle Crashers review

Castle Crashers is a new game from the team that brought you Alien Hominid in 2005 to X-Box and then early last year on Arcade. So it’s been almost four years since the last appearance of a game by The Behemoth. To be honest the game is well worth the wait with all the elements that are commonly found in Beat-em-Ups with the addition of RPG ingredients which adds to the already excellent résumé.



Like with all Beat-em-Ups there is very little story to speak of. This isn’t one of the big draws of this kind of game anyway. But really it doesn’t matter all that much at all with Castle Crashers as it is so simple and wonderfully designed that you don’t care too much about why you're hacking some guy’s head off but you just enjoy doing so. But what story there is goes a little something like this, the King’s four daughters have been kidnapped and as one of the bravest and most trusted of the King’s knights you are charged with bringing them back safely. One of the biggest reasons I didn’t care that much about the story was the continuous gags and the many cunning additions that appear throughout the game.

Of course there are the obvious levels with castles and mysterious forests to explore, and as you can guess it really can get a bit boring as the basic gameplay isn’t at all different throughout the game. But the key to Castle Crashers' success is that, as the game starts to take a tedious trend,a new little tweak is added to make the whole game feel like your first approach again. This could be anything from giving you a Golden Axe style lizard to ride on, an item to make your hero stronger for a short period or sending you on an awe-inspiring chase scene.

Possibly the best and, of course it should be, the easiest to get a handle on is the combat system. It is so simple to do with only two attack types, a heavy and a light attack. These can be chained together to get simple but effective combos, making the game actually beatable unlike the Alien Hominid, which was just plain impossible at times.


There are two issues that can cause small problems for you, but nothing that can cause your enjoyment to completely stop it's annoyance that you could have done without. Some points in the game there are sections that you just have a hell of a time getting through. This is due to the visuals not showing you all that you need to see, like being able to navigate the map as well as you should be able to, this mainly happens when you are caught in chase scenes which thankfully are few and far between.

This is a Hack and Slash style game with RPG elements,the weapons are collectible, but each one also affects your hero is a certain way. Collect a mallet and your strength is increased by two points but you are weighed down from the mallet and thus your agility is decreased by one. The only problem with this system is that you can only see the status affects of the new weapons that you collect at the Blacksmith shop,which can get very irksome if you discover a new weapon and want to use it but are unsure if it will benefit you over your current weapon.

There is one other modifier that can help you out in a squeeze, there are animal modifiers dotted around the levels which give you special benefits if collected, like if you collect the owlet then it will collect fruit from nearby trees to replenish your health.

No medieval based game would be complete without magic would it,and of course Castle Crashers comes up and trumps. The magic is mapped to the four face buttons but only if you hold down the trigger modifier to allow your spells to become active. At first you start with a single spell and as you level up you gain access to more powerful and useful spells.




Castle Crashers is a bundle of fun to play and although it can be completed in a matter of hours, there are tons of replay value in the new unlockable heroes and the seemingly endless slots for both your animal buddies and your collected weapons. There are two other modes other than the main adventure mode, one is an arena mode which sends waves after waves of enemies at you, this can be a laugh for a few minutes but you really get more satisfaction from replaying the levels of the main game. The other is a mini-game in which you have to tap X and Y continuously to eat as much food as you can against other competitors. This is really only worth a look once or twice no more. So the bottom line is,that Castle Crashers is a game that all 360 owners should have the enjoyment of.

Overall 9/10

Bionic Commando: Rearmed Review

Bionic Commando: Rearmed is nothing like an archetypal retro conversion, taking games like DIGDUG and putting them completely to shame. BC:R is how retro conversions should be done, not taking what was there in the first place and adding a little bit nicer graphics, but taking the original game and then building on it. This is exactly what has been done here, Capcom have given this old gun a new lease of life with one of the best face lifts ever!

Capcom has made the old 2D side-scroll into a brilliant 3D side-scroll, with the 3D visuals taking some major glory, each of the areas look amazing with vibrant colors and lush settings. One thing that has been changed quite a lot is the music, which now has been given a modern feel to it but even through the new soundtrack you can feel and hear the old chimes singing along side, adding to the wonderful feeling of nostalgia that the game gives off in tidal waves.

BC:R has some great new features as well as the new art style, some things that would never had been possible on the original NES carts with a split-screen co-op campaign mode and a four player versus mode, which of course add a new angle to the classic game. This is especially true with the co-op mode as you and a mate can battle through all the levels in the normal game helping each other out as the game goes along.

Along with the new features BC:R keeps a lot of the older features which sometimes are overlooked in the era of easy and casual gaming. One is the old adage of lives, something that isn’t generally seen nowadays making sure that a game is accessible to all skill levels, each of the levels in the game you only have three cracks at, with a chance to add more lives to your roster in special rooms that can be found at your side's camps dotted around the world map.




There is another angle for the avid gamer, which are the challenge rooms. These rooms are again dotted around at the different camps on the world map, and each one offers a different challenge. The idea of these rooms is to test your skills with the one and only Bionic Commando, each one is set against the clock, but there is not only the personal satisfaction of completing the challenge but each one has its own leaderboard to which your time will be added making the challenges a bit more rewarding.

It is a shame that there is no Live access for the multiplayer only local, which would have added some more depth to the game, but even so,the leaderboards do use Live so it is no different to most of the recent Arcade releases.
Overall I have to say that Bionic Commando is one of the best retro releases to come in recent years. Although, mainly thanks to the Arcade, there has been a flood of rehashed 80s titles but none really have the level of completion that BC:R has. But the big question really is whether the upcoming new third person shooter taking the same name as this series can live up to the dizzying heights this Arcade game has claimed.


OVERALL 8/10

Braid review

From creator Jonathan Blow and "Number None"comes the latest Xbox LIVE Arcade game that was released this past Wednesday,the unique puzzle platformer entitled "Braid". Braid,like I said,is a hybrid of sorts,it has a very unique time control element not seen in many games. But it is also a brain teaser puzzle game not seen since the likes of titles such as Portal which was included in Valve's "The Orange Box". Do not let the time control and puzzle elements scare you from enjoying this game however,it is very accessible and easy enough to play for most ages to enjoy. Control wise the premise is simple,it is a "go left" platformer,much from the style of the Mario Bros games. Holding down the X button executes the time rewind feature which will be used to solve the game's puzzles. The main goal of the game is to assemble each level's puzzle by reaching the various puzzle pieces found throughout the levels. The game is forgiving however,you do not have to worry about how many lives you have,if you die,simply rewind the time and try again. Braid is not about staying alive,but rather completing the puzzles to get past the levels and move on.

Graphically is where Braid really shines. The art style is truly amazing and unique. You really feel like you are inside of a story book. The backgrounds sport a beautiful watercolor painting look and your character is small but also detailed enough to not look out of place in comparison with the beautiful surroundings. The enemies are simple but they look fine for the style of the game as well. Overall Braid is a tue winner in the graphics department. This is one of those games that you feel like you need to show anyone,non-gamers included,to show off the art style of the visuals,yeah,they are that good.

The combat in this game is where the game shows off it's obvious respect to the Mario franchise. As you will definitely notice,there are alot of homages in the game to the Mario and Donkey Kong franchises. The combat takes after Mario with hopping on the heads of enemies to take them out and the level design of one level in particular is an almost exact replica of the levels found in the classic Donkey Kong arcade game. Some are calling this a "rip-off" made by the game's designer,but I see this as more of an homage being made to a revolutionary game franchise,simply a "tipping of the cap" toward the the creator of the Mario and Donkey Kong franchises,and I can respect that.

The sound of the game is top notch as well. The music ranges from piano to jazz to music that sounds like it is straight out of a music box. The music fits with the game's art style and furthermore makes you feel like you are having some kind of dream being inside of an art story book.

The game features no multiplayer modes but with Braid being the type of game that it is,a multiplayer mode would seem tacked on and out of place. Braid is simply about figuring out the puzzles and moving on to the next level,which only works in a single player environment. The price of the game is 1,200 Microsoft points ($15.00) and this is where the game is having a hard time being accepted. In a post that I made yesterday I explained that is ok for an Xbox LIVE Arcade game to be over 800 msp as long as it is worth it,and Braid is worth it. The game is an amazing achievement in art and overall game design,argue with this if you will,but what I say is the truth.

Braid is an interesting mixture,it sounds complicated on paper when you read about all of it's puzzle and time controlling elements but when you play it,you say "oh,ok this game is fun!". And that right there is a hard thing to achieve in videogames,but the creator of this game nailed it! Overall Braid has no faults,the closest thing to a fault on Braid's behalf is it's controversial price point,which is a shame becuase there are far more worse games out there for the Xbox 360 that cost anywhere from $40.00-$60.00. Gamers just need to look past the fact that the game is downloadable. I feel that if the game was available on disc noone would have a problem paying $15.00 or maybe even $20.00 for the game. Look past the fact that the game is an XBLA title and just see the game for what it is worth,a great and unique achievement in game design.

Graphics-9/10 (gorgeous for a 2d platformer,unique art.)
Sound-8/10
Control-9/10
Fun Factor-9/10
Overall-9/10 (a highly recommended game)

Geometry Wars Evolved 2 Review

Geometry Wars seems to go from strength to strength,first with the success of Galaxies on Wii and DS and then the original Evolved game on the XBLA. So it is little surprise that the newest addition to the franchise is as much of a smash hit.

From the first time that you start the game and, no matter how good or bad you are at multi-stick games, you'll manage to rack up over a hundred thousand points,you can feel that the game is different from that of the previous incarnations. Evolved 2 has had a massive gameplay revamp allowing for much easier gameplay access, now quite plainly in line with the new casual and family based gaming that has taken affect recently. One of the biggest is the fact that you can reach some amazing scores all thanks to one small gameplay change, for each enemy that you kill and collect crystal like items called geoms you gain a score multiplier, now in previous Geometry Wars these multipliers have been taken away from you if your craft is destroyed at all. All that is gone from Evolved 2,each time you die all the enemies are destroyed at the same time with no points awarded but also your multipliers stay with you. This means that if you can pilot well then you can gain some very impressive scores with the multipliers, at one point in my play-throughs I have had a 400x multiplier going and there has been a few on my Friends List that have had 1000x multipliers active. As you could guess all this multiplier action takes away some of the skill involved with the game but still if you are well versed in Geometry Wars games then you will be equally rewarded with the bigger multipliers.

Geometry Wars: Evolved 2 offers up quite a variety in terms of game modes, there are six modes in total with all but one locked at the start of the game. It is very easy open up the modes which just works on playing the previous mode until the percentage count that is overlaid on the next mode hits 100% and thus unlocks the mode, and then it’s a simple rinse and repeat game to unlock all of the game modes. Of the game modes they consist of; Deadline, which is a basic three minutes countdown to score as many points as possible. Next is King, this mode works a bit like King of the Hill, you have circles in which is the only place that you can fire from, but the twist is that the circles are degrading and only offer protection (as while you are inside the circle the enemy can not attack you) and firing opportunity for a short time before having to move onto another circle. Following King is Evolved, this works on the same idea as the original Live Arcade game, but the points scoring is much higher. Pacifism is the next mode, in which you have no weapons at all and have to fly through gates in order to defeat waves of enemies. Waves, works by throwing wave after wave of enemies at you but the twist is that they come from different angles any instead of having to destroy the entire wave you only have one pass to destroy as many as you can before the next wave comes. Finally we have Sequence, the mode offers up 16 different mini games to hunt through.

Geometry Wars has most definitely evolved but is it a move for the better or the worse? That’s one question I’ll have to leave up to you guys to decide but for all the fun the original game was the new version really does hold a ton of hours of unbelievable fun. Though the older game was aimed more for the hardcore gamer, Evolved 2 looks to have been made and aimed more squarely at the casual gamer and the non-gaming family members.

Overall:8/10 – Excellent game but the skill level has taken too much of a hit for some hardcore gamers.

REVIEW---1942 Joint Strike

The most recent title to hit the Xbox LIVE Arcade from Capcom and Backbone Entertainment (the same team that bought us the awesome WOTB-Commando 3) is a remake of the arcade classic 1942 Joint Strike. 1942 Joint Strike retains the same great pick-up-and-play feel as the arcade classic but you do not want to underestimate this Xbox LIVE Arcade title,the game can be difficult and demands the player to show some skill with the control stick.
Right from the start of the game you will notice the impressive visual quality going on during gameplay. The different planes you can control are small but that is not where alot of your attention will be,definitely what will be getting the most attention on screen is the overall scope of the environments and the action going on around you. You will find yourself getting bombarded with enemies in the air and on the ground as well. The ground where alot of your enemies are looks nice and has a good level of detail and the enemy planes,especially the boss planes (which are huge) look very nice with an obvious high attention to detail put into them. The clouds that you will be flying your little plane into and around look very real,and was really one of the graphical elements that made me say to myself,"wow!" honestly.

Like I said at the start of this review,the controls are easy enough for you to be able to pick up and play without having too much to remember,but that does not mean the game is easy by any means. 1942 Joint Strike demands a keen eye and quick reflexes for the player to dodge in and out of enemy fire and fly around to grab the various power-ups in the game without taking any damage. Up to 2 players can play co-op either locally or over Xbox LIVE and the game offers four difficulty levels "Penguin'","Slick Sleeve","Dragon Fly" and the hardest level "Wing King". All of these levels however are no "walk in the park".
The game starts you off with 3 planes to choose from,"The Lightning","The Mosquito" and "The Shinden" with each plane having their own advantage over the other. The planes have ratings in health,speed,power and missile categories. So make sure to choose an aircraft that matches your preference in ability. There really is no big problem with 1942 Joint Strike. The graphics are slick,the frame rate is solid and never skips a beat,the controls are easy enough to get the hang of pretty quickly. The amount of different weapons in the game is impressive. Of course your base weapon depends on what plane you choose but there will be power-ups for your weapons that you can find during gameplay.Some have basic machine gun types of shots and then some that I have found seemed almost like a laser type weapon,which of course takes away from the realism factor but I don't believe that was what the developers were aiming for and it works well that way.So let's say that you are shopping around the Xbox LIVE Arcade and you are wanting a challenging,fun and overall beautiful remake of an arcade classic,you really need to consider Capcom's 1942 Joint Strike. Capcom seems to be on a roll here lately with Wolf of the Battlefield,1942 Joint Strike and the upcoming Bionic Commando Rearmed. So you can pretty much place a safe bet that a Capcom Xbox LIVE Arcade title will be a winner,and 1942 Joint Strike is no exception. The title's graphics are impressive,the fun factor is intact,the controls are not at all complicated and the sound of the gun fire and explosions are loud and realistic enough to immerse you right into the action. The game costs 800 msp ($10.00) and for any action arcade game fan it is $10.00 well spent.

GRAPHICS-9/10
SOUND-8/10
CONTROLS-9/10
FUN FACTOR-8/10
OVERALL-8/10

REVIEW: Golf:Tee it Up

Golf:Tee it Up from Activision has been released today and I got the chance to download this Xbox Live Arcade title and hit the links with my customized character. Unfortunately at time of review nobody seemed to be playing this game online,so hopefully that picks up as more gamers and golf fans pick this game up. Right from the beginning you will notice this game's uncanny resemblance to Sony's Hot Shots Golf series,from the visual style right down to the play mechanics.

Visually this game is rather impressive looking,especially when considering the game's file size and with it being an XBLA title. The character models are very smooth and well made,not exactly realistic looking but obviously that is not what Golf:Tee it Up is aiming for. The environments are also well done with nice lighting and a very colorful and vibrant palate. The frame rate is rock solid and never skips a beat. Overall a very good performing game engine powers the game.

The sound in the game is good,but nothing spectacular. The characters don't seem to have any voices but the overall ambiance of the environments (birds and the sounds of the surrounding nature) is nice and well done. Sound effects like when the club whacks the ball are believable enough and the music is simple but not distracting.

In the game you can pick and design your own character,male or female and fit them with different styles of clothes and accessories from the collection in the game. For example I made a male character with a backwards cap,jean shorts,vest,sneakers and sunglasses. He also has a fingerless glove on one hand. Golf:Tee it Up will definitely let you flex your creative muscle with it's character designer.

Control wise the game is accessible enough for just about any level of gamer,the swing is meter based (just like in Hot Shots Golf) and the right club is preselected for you on each shot. You can control the spin of the ball in mid-air which is a nice touch and the putting is easy enough to get the hang of pretty quickly. There are only two courses in the game right now,Caribbean and parkland,18 holes each. Downloadable content is promised,I am just hoping it will be available sooner rather than later.

There really are no glaring problems in Golf:Tee it Up,it's an overall great title,especially for fans of the Hot Shots Golf series. It has already been called "a Hot Shots clone with achievements" on a number of sites. So,the overall package of 36 holes,12 achievements,customizable characters,online play and overall great looking graphics,Golf:Tee it Up is a sure bet that you will not be sorry for spending your 800 msp ($10.00) on the game. So enough talk,I gotta go hit the links!

8 out of 10 (great game just lacking content right now)

REVIEW: Xbox Live Arcade's Soul Calibur

Remember back in 1999-2000 going over to your new shiny system from Sega,the Dreamcast and firing up this fighting game called Soul Calibur?. Well do you remember how amazing of a fighting game it was? Well here we are around 8 years later and we finally have Soul Calibur available on the Xbox Live Arcade. For a great price of only 800 msp ($10.00) you can download one of the best looking XBLA games available.

Graphically Soul Calibur has pretty much survived the transition to HD without many glaring problems. One of my only gripes with the visuals in this game is that the menus and pretty much all of the text in this game is pixelated and blurry,BUT during gameplay the character models and surroundings all look great and sharp,sporting obvious improvements to the textures over the Dreamcast version. In the first options menu when you first turn the game on you can elect to either have the screen small with surrounding borders,or bigger with borders just on the sides,but unfortunately there is no setting that will allow you to go completely full screen.

Other obvious Xbox 360 improvements made to the game include 12 achievements totalling 200 gamerscore as with all XBLA games and the addition of leaderboards (60 of them to be exact). Unfortunately there is NO XBOX LIVE MULTIPLAYER,so definitely keep that in mind if you are thinking about purchasing this title.

Soul Calibur retains the quality of the Dreamcast champ and adds some online functionality with the inclusion of online leaderboards along with the achievements and visual upgrades. So you should definitely pick this one up if you are one of the following........... A fan of the original and no longer have a Dreamcast............or a fan of 3D weapons based fighting games and you don't care about no online multiplayer,if you are neither of those types however,you should avoid this game.

GRAPHICS- 8 out of 10 (improved over the DC version,but blurry/pixelated text and menus)

CONTROL-9 out of 10 (controls just as good as the DC version,it just feels better with the superior 360 controller)

SOUND- 7 out of 10 (no noticeable improvements made here,everything sounds the same as the DC version on my setup)

OVERALL- 8 out of 10 (A first of it's kind in the XBLA,hopefully we will now see more 3D fighters come to the arcade,like I said earlier,this is a must have for fans or anyone else looking for a high quality but cheap offline fighting game)