In the long history of video games, the act of frantically rolling balls around multileveled tangles of track has a proven appeal. From Marble Madness to Super Monkey Ball, navigating your orb through a ridiculous obstacle course in record time is the pinnacle of arcade satisfaction. Marble Blast Ultra is the high definition realization of this time-honored ...
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19 Apr 2006

Hardwood Spades - Xbox Live Arcade

360 Review

Spades is simple: bid for a certain amount of tricks, then take them with your partner while avoiding unwanted bags and feel free to pass when bidding nil. Yeah, we didn't get it either, but the tutorial built into Hardwood Spades tells you exactly how to play this classic trump card game in about 10 minutes. Guess what? It's ...
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18 Apr 2006

Wik: Fable of Souls - Xbox Live Arcade

360 Review

An odd mix of platforming action and goody-collecting/puzzle-solving, Wik: Fable of Souls balances frantic pacing and thought-provoking strategy. It's not often that we're stricken with the desire to swing by our tongues, but Wik has altered our ...
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18 Apr 2006

Mutant Storm Reloaded - Xbox Live Arcade

360 Review

Few games can still launch you into "the zone" - that magical place where the real world melts away and all you see, hear and perceive is the game in front of you. Mutant Storm Reloaded easily brings that trancelike state by surrounding your tiny, floating ship with relentless waves of morphing mutant ...
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18 Apr 2006

Joust - Xbox Live Arcade

360 Review

Joust is a lot like a game of chess. The basic idea can be explained very quickly, but mastering the technique required to pop evil buzzards out of the sky takes forever. As an ostrich-riding knight, all you have to do is fly around your one-screen domain and pounce on the other guys' heads. If they land on yours, you die instead. That's it. No super weapons, no time-slowing devices, nothing. Just jam on the flight button to keep your wings flappin' and never let the buzzards, pterodactyls or ...
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17 Apr 2006

Hardwood Backgammon - Xbox Live Arcade

360 Review

It's not easy to improve on an age-old standard, so when we downloaded Hardwood Backgammon from the Xbox Live Arcade, our expectations were measured. To achieve greatness in its class, Hardwood Backgammon would have to not only play brilliantly on Xbox Live, but also dazzle us with some cool graphics, nifty animations and clever online innovations. And it did that. Sort ...
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17 Apr 2006

Jewel Quest - Xbox Live Arcade

360 Review

The concept behind the puzzle game Jewel Quest is a basic one: arrange a grid of jewels of varying shapes and colors and into rows or columns of three or more. If you've played Bejeweled, the mechanics won't surprise you. What separates Jewel Quest is that you must make a row or column of jewels that intersects every square of the grid. No camping one spot here - you'll need to burst jewels all over the board in a limited amount of time (though not all at ...
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17 Apr 2006

Hexic HD - Xbox Live Arcade

360 Review

When the man who created Tetris comes up with a new idea, it's worth hearing. When that idea turns out to be a puzzle game that rivals his claim to fame, well, that's worth even more. Ironic, then, that the incredibly valuable Hexic HD is yours ...
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17 Apr 2006

Robotron 2084 - Xbox Live Arcade

360 Review

Brutal. Relentless. Gorgeous. Well, two out of three ain't bad. The old quarter-gobbling shooter Robotron 2084 still has plenty of nerve-damaging gameplay to offer as an Xbox Live Arcade download, but even a few upgrades can't help it from looking and playing like a bit of a relic. Mind you, Robotron's twin-joystick assault made it the hardcore gamer's choice for years. Move with the left hand, shoot in all directions with the right, and try to rescue suburban humans wandering aimlessly in a ...
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13 Apr 2006

Battlefield 2 Modern Combat

360 Review

Its just about time for this better-late-than-never porting business to stop on the Xbox 360. Battlefield 2: Modern Combat is nothing more than a slightly-tweaked version of the (admittedly cool) military shooter we were all playing on the Xbox and PlayStation 2 last year. So if you already played the heck out of it then, you can probably stop reading the review at this point. Modern Combats major tweak is obviously the graphics. While Battlefield isnt the most impressive looking game on the ...
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