XBLA Review - Invincible Tiger

I'm a huge fan of cheesy entertainment when it's done right. For example, Nathan Fillion in Dr. Horrible and Castle. Don't get me wrong, he's a great actor. But he plays the hero with the big ego like it was his calling. Another example would be the old and horribly cheesy martial arts films. The plots and acting are so bad you can't HELP but love them. I'm also a pretty large fan of beating things up in video games, from the one-on-one competitive fighter to the arcade-style beat-'em-up that has you and a few friends smacking an endless supply of henchmen and their bosses. So, when Invincible Tiger: The Legend of Han Tao was announced and released, I was intrigued. A game that combined kung-fu flicks with brainless button-mashing sounded like something up my alley and, eventually, I caved in and purchased it. What I got was something a little different and definitely not prepared for.

XBLA Review -- After Burner Climax

Disclaimer: I might be slightly biased in favor of this game. I watched Top Gun RIGHT before I started playing it. Let it be known that there's no actual PROOF that I said "talk to me Goose" or "negative Ghost Rider the pattern is full" during any part of playing After Burner Climax...and you know I'd just deny it anyway if there was.

XBLA Review -- Toy Soldiers

As I've said in previous reviews, I don't get along well with tower defense. I hate the pacing and the lack of control over what's happening. Previously reviewed Soulcaster fixed this by adding in elements from dungeon exploration games like Gauntlet and, holy crap, this turned the genre from something I avoid into one of my favorite games on XBLIG. WWI-themed Toy Soldiers by Signal Studios tries to do something similar where it mixes the tower defense style we've all grown used to with the ability to control any of the units on the front from the machine gunners and howitzers to, on some levels, biplanes and snipers and tanks (oh my). Interesting in theory, but how does it perform on the battlefield?

XBLA Review -- Chime

A little over three years ago I bought Lumines Plus for the PS2 and probably put more hours into that game than nearly any other single player game I've purchased. Yes, the game had multiplayer, but it didn't hold a candle to the zone-out-for-an-hour gameplay of the single player mode. The depth of the seemingly simple game paired with the way your play affected the soundtrack provided the most entertaining and rewarding puzzle game I've ever played. So when Zoe Mode's Chime was being compared to Lumines I couldn't resist.

XBLA Review -- Trials HD

This week's review cost me some sanity and nearly a controller, something few games have done. The first one that did this since I was little was Ninja Gaiden on the original XBox roughly six years ago. Playing mostly competitive games, I don't get the opportunity to get frustrated with the game as much as I do with myself or my opponent. However, I've still encountered a few since then. Geometry Wars, Pilotwings, and a small handful of others have taxed my patience. Some of these I come back to and others I leave behind. The difference between the good games that do this and the bad ones is whether or not you think continuing on is worth the risk of chucking a controller and the frustration of retrying something hundreds of times. RedLynx's Trials HD definitely fits the description of a game with that risk and frustraion but, thankfully, rewards and entertains as much as it infuriates.