Wow, what a week we have had around here with Trials Evolution, from ground breaking gameplay to record breaking sales. We brought you the incredible news about Trials Evo selling over 100,000 units on day one, though it seems now it has moved that impressive number up to almost 350,000. This massive number comes from Roger Carpenter, lead XBLA producer for Microsoft Studios Europe, who tweeted that there were 346,404 people on the leaderboards.
If you’re one of the few who has been holding out and still not sure after seeing these numbers, then read our review where it receives a strong Buy It. If you have already picked it up, then don’t forget about Trials Tuesday, a weekly feature where we will be bringing you the best tracks we find. The first one is already up bringing you three must have tracks this week, which you can find here.
Source: Twitter
FarSight Studios released The Pinball Arcade for XBLA just a few weeks back and have already announced the next two tables coming out. These tables according to FarSight, are just the beginning in what they plan to be a long line of classic tables coming to the game. These two new tables are expected to be released starting in May, although no word on cost or if they will be released as a combo pack or single tables has been confirmed yet. What we do know is which tables they are, Cirqus Voltaire, which features a dot-matrix display in the middle of the playing field and a rising bumper. The next up is Funhouse, which contains Rudy–a ventriloquist looking doll head–that is sure to get under your skin as he taunts you during your gameplay.
Source: The Pinball Arcade Facebook
Trine 2 is an action, adventure, puzzler, mixed up with breath taking backdrops and three well developed characters. Each of the puzzles you encounter are designed to be solved using the special abilities of every character. This is handled by allowing you to switch through all three characters at the press of a button in single player or play in co-op allowing each one to be controlled by another live person, which has it’s ups and downs as we said back in December. That has not stopped the game from creating an almost cult like fan base, and Frozenbyte Games has definitely taken notice to this.
Since February we have been teased with news of DLC coming our way this summer for Trine 2. Making sure to keep fans enthralled Frozenbyte Games, have made sure to slowly release information through interviews and video about the upcoming expansion. In this new making of video we get a glimpse at some of the concept art, from Juhani Jokinen, in several stages of development. We also get a brief description as to what role concept art plays and why it’s so important.
World Gone Sour was developed by Playbrains Studios and published by Capcom. It was released on April 11, 2012 for 400 MSP. A copy was provided for review purposes.
World Gone Sour is a fun and sweet little platformer with a weird story to tell. What we find is a dangerous world that exists for Sour Patch Kids as they journey toward their ultimate goal: The human stomach. During your journey you’ll find lots of lost friends who will help you along your way. Like any good platformer there are bosses, and in World Gone Sour they are integral to the story. Many aspects of World Gone Sour will immediately feel and look like games you know and love.
Feeling like games of the past isn’t always a good thing, but for the most part World Gone Sour keeps things simple and sweet. Double-jumping and wall bouncing are an absolute joy. You’ll find additional Sour Patch Kids who will follow you on your journey. They can help you swing, Indiana Jones-style, or sacrifice themselves to help you complete the level. The first time you impale yourself or throw one or your little minions into a fan blade and he is chopped to pieces, you can’t help but laugh. It’ll put a smile on your face that will stay with you the whole game.
The Splatters was developed by SpikySnail and published by Microsoft Studios. It was released on April 11, 2012 for 800 MSP. A copy was provided for review purposes.
The Splatters is a bright and lively twist on the puzzle genre. The object is to use blobs of paint to smash into “bombs” of the same color. Getting to all these bombs is where things start becoming tricky. You’re forced to slide, bounce, rewind and splatter you blob around each level. In each stage you start with a specific number of colored blobs and bombs all spread around the board, making you have to think two, three, or even four steps ahead of yourself at times. One of the major focuses during each level is combos; combos are how you will complete a level within said amount of moves (blobs) as well as how to increase your score. The Splatters will feel familiar on many levels like control, but is definitely designed to stand out on its own.
Recently we had a chance to speak with 7sixty Games about their upcoming new age beat’em up, Kung Fu Strike. In this interview we talk about the games origins, graphics style, even a little tidbit about DLC. So put on your favorite kung fu themed fighting music and dive in to the rest of this interview.
XBLA Fans: Tell us a little bit about 7sixty games.
Rob Burman: 7sixty is a relatively new publisher set up in 2011 with an aim to release great digital games. Many of us play games at the company and over the years it’s become more apparent that a lot of the more creative and imaginative titles are released digitally, so we thought it would be great to focus on this aspect of gaming. Kung Fu Strike will be our first XBLA release and we’re more excited than a black belt in judo who has just smashed his hand through a pile of bricks.
XBLA Fans: How did the idea of Kung Fu Strike originally come about?
Rob Burman: We are action game fans and we are Kung Fu lovers. However if you want to be a Kung Fu master you have to work very hard for years and years. As a result we wanted to create a similar experience in a video game, so you can do all kinds of incredible Kung Fu moves without ever leaving your sofa! Therefore it’s a title for hardcore gamers but it’s also for casual Kung Fu fans.
If you’re a fan of comic books or pinball, then you probably already know about the huge success that Zen Studios and Marvel have had together. In their upcoming DLC table pack, Avengers Chronicles, we finally get a table dedicated to the Jade Giant himself, Hulk. Although this isn’t just any iteration of Hulk, this is World War Hulk. In this story line Hulk has just gotten back to earth from an involuntary trip to space and he is mad and out for revenge. Stopping at nothing, Hulk took on heroes and villains alike to achieve the justice he felt was owed. In this new trailer we get a chance to see that Zen Studios will be holding nothing back, as they deliver this hectic adventure as only their digital pinball table can. And just in case that wasn’t enough, you can always take a closer look at the new World War Hulk table via screenshots we have just after the break.
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater took the gaming community by surprise when it launched over a decade ago. Offering simple controls that anyone could pick up and play, yet were still deep enough to take hours of dedication to master. Robomodo has given Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater a full HD overhaul, not just the simple face lift most games receive. Rebuilding the game from the ground up, Robomodo is attempting to deliver the experience that technology hindered so many years ago and thanks to Actinidia Pictures, we finally get a glimpse of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater HD in action. In this new video we get side by side comparison of THPS2 and THPSHD, giving old fans and new fans alike a chance to see exactly how it has changed.
In 2003 Microsoft was doing everything they could to keep their the infant console afloat. One of the ways they attempted this was with exclusive titles of every genre and type, from classic names we recognized like Conker and Toe Jam & Earl, to supplying the market with original titles like Blinx and Blood Wake. Many of these titles, especially the rebirths, were major failures, but some of them were just amazing. Among those is Amped 2, originally released October 28, 2003 (NA) one week behind SSX 3. The two were pitted directly against each other in a snowy race to the top of the charts.
The original Amped launched to good scores but poor sales, leaving Amped 2 with a huge job: improve on greatness, but get noticed this time. Developer Indie Built succeeded, exceeding almost all expectations at launch, delivering (at the time) amazing graphics and decent controls. It quickly was acclaimed a must-have snowboarding game and spawned fans everywhere. It included local and LIVE multiplayer, massive drop selections and a few innovative features. Bundle up and drop into this weeks Most Wanted with us.
Pinball FX 2: Epic Quest was developed by Zen Studios and published by Microsoft Studios. It was released February 15, 2012 for 240 MSP. A copy was provided for review purposes.
Werewolves, vampires and goblins, oh my! These are just a few of the monsters you’ll encounter in Pinball FX 2‘s new table, Epic Quest. In this new table we take a knight on his journey against evil to rescue his kidnapped princess. What separates this new installment from other tables is the addition of RPG-like elements. The adventure carries on from game to game, giving you the ability to level up your character, pick armor and even your weapon. It this enough to make pinball feel fresh and revitalized, or will this be another one of those things that should have never been?
