Reviews

Jeremy McGrath’s Offroad was developed by 2XL Games and published by D3 Publisher. It was released on June 27, 2012 for 800 MSP. A copy was provided for review purposes.

Off-road racing is a relative newcomer to Xbox Live Arcade. Only two other titles have braved otherwise untouched territory, Sega Rally Online Arcade and the Mad Riders, left us feeling that as good as they were they could have been more. 2XL Games’ Jeremy McGrath’s Offroad is the third competitor in this relatively small market. It pits would-be racers against McGrath and six other racers in varied environments and vehicles. Unfortunately it doesn’t stack up to expectations, and while there’s a solid racer underneath, whether it’s a solid game is another story.

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Bang Bang Racing was developed and published by Digital Reality. It was released June 6, 2012 for 800 MSP. A copy was provided for review purposes

Many racing titles have graced XBLA lately but none have attempted to confuse the player with a dumbfounded title like Bang Bang Racing–the gameplay possibilities with a title like that can begin at generic demolition or race to NSFW hijinks. Joking aside, when you boost into the experience you’ll quickly discover a competent racer with tight controls and a heap of unlockable content but an excluded multiplayer component that places this title in a distant third.

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Magic the Gathering: Duels of the Planeswalkers 2013 was developed by Stainless Games and Wizards of the Coast and published by Microsoft Studios. It retails for 800 MSP and was released on June 20, 2012. A copy was provided for review purposes.

Stainless Games and Wizards of the Coast have brought us our third iteration of the ridiculously named “Magic: the Gathering Duels of the Planeswalkers 201X” series. That means new cards, more missions, new modes, a redesigned interface, and yet the game’s name is still far too long. As such, while discussing the aforementioned inclusions, we will be referring to Magic: the Gathering Duels of the Planeswalkers 2013 as Magic 2013 for the remainder of this review.

For the uninitiated, Magic 2013 pits you against several AI duelists throughout its multiple campaigns. Use cards to generate resources which you spend to summon creatures and cast spells. Learn about the different decks throughout the campaign and unlock them for your own use. Red, white, blue, black and green cards populate each deck and all have different signatures; for instance, green features powerful creatures, where-as black specializes in manipulating the dead. Handy tips and a thorough tutorial do a comprehensive job of teaching newcomers to the franchise, so don’t be afraid to jump right in.

As an up-front for interested veterans, no you still cannot freely create decks or mix and match cards, unfortunately, however Magic 2013 has the most cards in the series to date. If you want the card game in video game form, this is it, but if you want all of the Magic: the Gathering culture, you’d best go down to your local game store and participate there. Since this is the third iteration and many of you are simply curious about what’s new here, Magic 2013’s cards are all from the upcoming Magic 2013 core set. On top of that there are four campaigns including two different sorts of puzzles and the all new game mode Planechase.

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Marvel Pinball: The Avengers Chronicles for Pinball FX 2 was developed by Zen Studios and published by Microsoft Studios. It retails for 800 MSP and was released on June 20, 2012. A copy was provided for review purposes.

Marvel Pinball: The Avengers Chronicles is the latest addition to the ever growing Pinball FX 2 library. This is a four table pack themed around the Avengers.  With so many tables now available this needed to be a special collection to stand out. After playing this set for some time it’s clear that Zen Studios put something really special together. The four tables are based on the the Avengers, Infinity Gauntlet, World War Hulk, and Fear Itself. Each strikes a perfect balance in style, theme, speed, and challenge. Each table is a worthy addition by itself, but as a set they seem all the more cohesive. Deftly mixing new twists with solid gameplay, The Avengers Chronicles does everything right.

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Babel Rising was developed by Mando Productions and published by Ubisoft. It was released June 13, 2012 for 800 MSP. A copy was provided for review purposes.

We’ve all been there. You move into a nice area with a great view and some jumped up Babylonian builds a ruddy big tower…well maybe not. Babel Rising is the latest Kinect centric game released on XBLA. The game aims to give players the “hands of god” to smite tiny Babylonians who persist in building a large tower. Players utilize the elements of fire, water, earth and air to create bolts of lightning and gigantic floods that reign down punishment. The game plays out much like your standard Tower Defense affair, except here we’re trying to halt the creation of a tower rather than the destruction of one. The motion controls are designed to give players a unique sense of power, but does flapping your arms around in your front room yelling “ultimate power” really provide a god-like experience?

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JAM Live Music Arcade was developed by Zivix and published by Reverb Publishing and 505 Games. It was released May16, 2012 for 800 MSP. A copy was provided for review purposes.

It’s been quiet in the world of music games recently, leaving our plastic guitars and drums to collect dust for over a year. JAM set out to deliver a brand new music experience, hoping to gamers a new reason to break out the fake six string. JAM lets players get creative with the game’s 32 tracks, allowing elaborate mixing and recording through the game’s soundboard. It may sound good, but it could have been so much better. There was potential, but it was crushed under the weight of trying to make it a game.

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Joy Ride Turbo was developed by BigPark and published by Microsoft Studios. It was released on May 23, 2012 for 800 MSP. A copy was provided for review purposes.

Mario Kart. Since its introduction in 1992 many other games have tried to dethrone it. None have truly succeeded. Nintendo has held their karting trophy high for 20 years now while characters like Sonic, Crash, and Lightning McQueen stand lower on the podium. Joy Ride Turbo seeks to put a boot in the overall-wearing plumber’s … err … pants by throwing aside the licensed franchise and offering great gameplay at a lower price. Joy Ride tosses aside the Kinect controller of its predecessor in hopes that a gamepad will help the game become the best value in karting games out there.

You know what? It succeeds.

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Mad Riders was developed by Techland and published by Ubisoft. It released May 30, 2012 for 800 MSP. A copy was provided for review purposes.

If you’re a racing fan then you’re already somewhat spoiled for choice on XBLA, with games like Hydro Thunder Hurricane, TNT Racers and Skydrift, and many more are on the horizon. However for all the diversity of those games, XBLA has yet to see an ATV racer. Techland and Ubisoft are changing that with the release of Mad Riders, a mostly fun racer that doesn’t quite have as much personality as its name would imply. Read More

Dragon’s Lair was developed by Digital Leisure and published by Microsoft Studios. It released May 18, 2012 for 800 MSP. A copy was provided for review purposes.

Odds are, you’ve played Dragon’s Lair – or, at least, know the basic style and premise well enough. Since its release in the early 1980s, Don Bluth’s magnum opus has been released and rereleased literally dozens of times on as many platforms. The game puts the player in the shoes of Dirk the Daring, a knight who ventures into the lair of the evil wizard Mordroc to rescue Princess Daphne from the nefarious dragon Singe. Rather than controlling Dirk directly, the player controls his reflexes at periodic intervals as he traverses through the castle – think quick time events – and slow reaction time or choosing the wrong action at the wrong time spells certain doom for the hero.

Until last week, the Xbox 360 was one of the few systems the game hadn’t been ported to. How does Digital Leisure – no stranger to repurposing the game for new platforms – do with the transition? About as well as can be expected…but that may not be a good thing.

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Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode II was developed by Sonic Team and published by Sega. It was released May 16, 2012 for 1200 MSP. A copy was provided for review purposes.

Sonic has had a bit of a hit and miss record lately. Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I wasn’t quite as beloved as Sega hoped, yet Sonic Generations brought back that classic Sonic feeling. Episode II promises fixed physics, the addition of Tails and more Metal Sonic, all promising the potential for a return-to-form. Now it’s finally upon us, Episode II fixes some of the problems of its predecessor but not without introducing some new slogging problems along the way.
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