Xbox Indie Games News and Reviews

Xbox Live Arcade Game 1200 MS Points Website Xbox Live Marketplace Page Developer- Sega Twitter By: Daizoren Sega makes another attempt to bring classic Sonic back from the dead after many failed installments in the franchise (with an exceptional entry in Sonic Generations) but does this sequel episode make improvements from that last? We’ve been [...]

An over-the-top, 2D side-scrolling action shooter ala Contra, “Invasion” brings big vehicles, big boss fights, and big explosions to the indie games channel for 80 Microsoft Points. It looks good, plays pretty tight, and oozes a great mix of nostalgia and newness. Whether it’s a jetpack level that scrolls horizontally, or a boss fight where [...]

Looks like Minecraft has not changed this up as much as I thought it might. At least not yet.

I’m sure there are games out there similar to Pendulous, where the idea is to swing from pendulum to pendulum trying to reach a goal in the shortest time possible.  I already had someone tell me that it’s not all that different from Jungle Hunt, a game I never played.  Jungle Hunt was a product [...]

Gears when not at war, Pendulous combines steampunk and web-slinging puzzle traversal.

“Fishing Girl” is an amazingly cute Xbox Live Indie Game, something far better than I would have dreamed it could be. I had been traumatised once playing as “Big the Cat” in Sonic Adventure. Though I beat the game with every other character, I was unable to beat Sonic Adventure with Big the Cat (despite [...]

Some of you may know that I recently decided on doing a review of the upcoming XBLA title "JAM Live Music Arcade". The game is scheduled for release this week. If you've ever played those DJ style games with instrument controllers, and liked them then this game will be something you'll want to look into. Since I have no instrument controllers of any kind I'll be playing the game with a standard controller. That is another story for another time though. Below you will find the interview between me, and Zivix producer Matt Cannon. I hope the Q & A session gives you some insight on what the game is about. I definitely tried to come up with some significant questions for the interview.

I absolutely believe in trying different things. It's a philosophy that I not only apply to gaming, but to life as well. Limiting one's self to particular things in life only keeps one from experiencing everything else that is available. If you don't try other things you could miss out on something great. With that being said I often times try things/games out that I'm not particularly fond of. It doesn't mean that the said things are bad, but simply that they're not to my liking. In the case of 'Growing Pains' I found myself rather frustrated by the difficulty that the game presented. It's what I like to call an "Impossible Game". If you don't know what I mean let me explain. There are is a sub-genre of platformers in the XBLIG library that exceed in the hardcore difficulty category. These games feature frustrating puzzles/requirements that will have you repeating levels/stages over, and over again. Most gamers end up ragequitting on such games, and in turn never finish them. I have been guilty of this in the past, and once again I find myself repeating that reaction. I will be able to give you the usual game description, and details, so you don't have to worry about that.

Second from the top at the end of the Indie Games Summer Uprising, “Redd: The Lost Temple” is a great top-down, exploration, action adventure game that’s heavy on the puzzle elements. No Gauntlet-style combat grind through a dungeon, here you have no way to attack most of the time, rather you march through the levels [...]

Hi Guys & Girls! I know you're probably wondering if I'm going to post some more reviews. The answer to that is "Definitely". I'm just on a little break/vacation between reviews. I'm currently waiting on my 'JAM Live Music Arcade' review code as well as my review copy of 'Akai Katana'. I have been searching for new games to review in the meantime, but haven't found anything I'm really interested in. When it comes to reviewing I like to cover the games that have substance to them, not clones or games that have been reviewed several times over. You likely noticed that I removed 'Fez' from my "Future Reviews" section. I've decided I won't be reviewing it simply because there are already a lot of reviews, and playthroughs of the game out there already. I don't think it's necessary for me to tell you what you've already heard about the game. With that being said 'Fez' is definitely worth buying. As far as the glitches that were found in the game go I have no clue if they have been patched yet or not. If the glitches are still present that could make the game a little less worth buying, but hopefully the developer has sorted things out by now.

Milkstone Studios is a pretty reliable Xbox Live Indie Games developer for me, I’ve now bought and reviewed quite a lot of their games, including “Avatar Ninja!” (Day 516), “Inflamous” (Day 337), “Wool” (Day 213), “Infinity Danger” (Day 166), “MotorHEAT” (Day 76), and (one of my all-time favourites) “Little Racers” (way back on Day 60). [...]

Note: Click each boxart to be brought to marketlink Robofish This title is absolutely gorgeous.  But with it being so flash and gorgeous makes it hard to actually play the game.  As a bullet hell shmup, it is certainly hell.  At some points you will not be able to know the difference between a bullet [...]

SEAL Team 12 comes to us via Social Loner Studios, the nutjobs behind the hilariously absurd Bird Assassin.  I have to admit, I didn’t think SEAL would be any good.  I think my exact words to Brian were “oh great, another TwickS on XBLIG that tries to ape some 80s shooter I never played.”   [...]

Bringing together the precision pathfinding and dodging of one of my all-time favourite Xbox Live Indie Games, “Soul”, with the pellet collecting of Pac Man, “48 Chambers” has also recently received a title update that brought a new casual difficulty level (for those who weren’t suited to the default hardcore difficulty). It’s with a degree [...]

Long considered (somewhat unfairly) the most overpriced game in the Indie Games channel, “Hypno Vol. 1″ has dropped from 400 Microsoft Points down to 80 points. That makes this experimental, innovative, and genuinely creepy game an absolute must buy. The game suffered, particularly at its original price point, in the public eye due to its [...]

Do you know what the key to critical acclaim is on Xbox Live Indie Games?  No, it’s not having a good game.  Don’t be silly.  It’s having a retro-style graphics and gameplay that borrows mechanics from a popular 80s NES hit.  If you have that, you have a game that will have more praise dumped [...]

Well, we'll see in another week what the massive XBLA sales for Minecraft do to this list. 

I was a fan of Blood Wake, a title that came out shortly after the launch of the original Xbox. “Blood Tempest” brings back some of that magic, and adds a few tricks of its own. This isn’t the first game I’ve reviewed where “Blood Wake” came up, that honour goes to “Modern Pirate Hunter: [...]

“Oozi: Earth Adventure Ep. 1″ is a top-flight Xbox Live Indie Games (XBLIG) platformer. Have you played it? No? Then go buy it now, it’s absolutely awesome. We’ll wait here for you. Welcome back. Now, that was fantastic, wasn’t it? Did you love the long levels, the hand-drawn art, the top-notch presentation? Well, “Oozi: Earth [...]

Murdering animals is fun!!!!!!

Droppin’ Ballz is one of those “fall as far as you can” games.  My gut tells me it was designed with tilt-controls in mind.  Because Microsoft opted to not go with a motion-controller like everyone and their mom and instead decided to create a device that plays like Minority Report as invented by the chronically [...]

In what has been a bit of a theme recently, we have a game that is a solid game with an oversexualised veneer. “ADVENTURES of CAPTAIN Becky” is actually a pretty decent platformer, but with a plethora of options for you to modify your character, and unlockable suits that fit into a variety of fantasy [...]

Well, it turns out that the update I found might have actually been a result of me clearing my Xbox 360 cache. I had my hopes that it was actually the update that Autumn Games had promised, but after testing out everything I discovered otherwise. Peacock's AI is still the same, and she still spams the hell out of projectiles while playing keep away. For some odd reason the AI did seem to be toned down a bit. This confuses me a little. As for the gamertags being present in online matches that still has not happened. I wish Autumn Games would hurry up with that update before gamers get tired of playing Skullgirls.

Microsoft Paint + Human Gun Sounds + 240 MSP = Cuddle Bear. That's bad math. Not wrong, just bad.

In order for Cuddle Bear to be as bad as it looks, it would have to walk around kicking puppies and luring children into discarded refrigerators.  I’m not sure if it does those things, but I can’t swear it doesn’t.  This is one of the worst Xbox Live Indie Games of the year.  It didn’t [...]