Xbox 360 Reviews

Radiant Silvergun is for crazy people.

Or at least it used to be. It's a punishing shooter that's tough to master and, until now, could set you back upwards of $200 to import from Japan (not including a special cartridge or a Japanese Sega Saturn). You tell us that ain’t a bit crazy.

But underneath the madness is a well-made game that deserves all the praise it's received and, remarkably, still holds up after all these years. Good thing it’s finally available on Xbox Live Arcade so everyone can be crazy without breaking the bank.

Crimson Alliance draws in dungeon crawler fans with its Diablo-inspired cabalistic visuals and the promise of monster butchering coupled with arcane loot; what they’ll actually get is a reasonably competent hack-n-slasher that’s more akin to the classic Gauntlet arcade series. Which is okay, actually. While the deflated RPG mechanics of the game won’t keep hardened Diablo fans interested, its bite-sized chunks of arcadey action will keep the less-grizzled grinders satisfied between triple-A role-playing sessions. 

For a lot of us, SNK’s fighting games were usually followed up with a slice of pizza and a romp in the ball pit, mostly because our cheap-o parents weren’t interested in spending thousands on a Neo Geo and games. Jerks. While the SNK of old has dissolved, their fighting games have carried on, getting a little better with every incarnation. Their latest King of Fighters won’t set the gaming world on fire, but if you’re looking for a vintage taste of the old-school, look no further.

When science goes wrong, things blow up. It’s all part of the cycle of life – at least for ‘Splosion Man. Accidentally spawned from the experimental tinkering of his fellow lab coat-adorned scientists, the titular protagonist of this inventive 2.5D platformer takes psychotic glee in his newfound ability to explode himself at will. His fiery enthusiasm is infectious.

Joint Strike works. The gameplay hasn’t changed since 1984 and this is a good thing, if you’re making a 1942 game. This is a classic vertical shooter, waves of planes swirl and spin from all areas of the screen, red planes offer powerups, bombs and health; standard planes offer points, lots of points.

EA’s World Cup games used to suffer from a lack of effort; now they’re built to look effortless. 2010 FIFA World Cup exudes the confidence of a development team at the top of their game – orchestrating the bigger picture with myriad subtle prods and pokes, like Zinedine Zidane in his majestic, late 90s pomp – rather than relying on showy gimmicks to deflect attention from fundamental weaknesses...

There are no real sound effects in this game. Kind of. Instead of the harsh clank of puck on ice you now get the noise of a bored EA developer sat at his desk making swoosh noises. And ‘Hup’, ‘Oip’ and ‘Florp!’ Oh dear.