Relatively new Xbox 360 in tow, I've been diving into XBLA.
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/blog/26257
Director’s Note: In an attempt to deliver you more game-related content in a more personable fashion, staffers will post semi-regular What’cha Been Playin’? posts. Let us know what you think in Talkback.
Two reasons I haven’t been playing my Wii much lately. First, it is half dead but I can’t afford to send it to Nintendo for repairs right now. Oh, it still works—it’s just really finicky: won’t start up properly, freezes on the menu screen, freezes while loading a game, etc. It’s just a matter of time before the thing starts spewing smoke from the GameCube controller ports. The other reason is that my brother sold me his Xbox 360 a few months ago for just $100. I’ve already acquired the one disc-based game I wanted for the system (Dead or Alive Xtreme 2—don’t act surprised) so I’ve been repeatedly gorging myself on XBLA games, which is what I wanted a 360 for in the first place.
First up: Geometry Wars 2. I didn’t have to buy this; it was already on the system when I got it. After about an hour of play, I found myself having unlocked all the game modes. I really like Evolution because it’s really trippy, but Pacifist and Waves are fun, too. I’m not usually a big fan of score attack games, but what makes it oddly compelling is that I can see exactly how far I am from Karl Castaneda on the online scoreboard. I tried and failed to initiate a game club among my local friends with this game but I think they all forgot about it. It would be fun since we’d all be started on the ground floor.
If he doesn't kill you right away, you'll instead be driven completely insane! As though you were at a Justin Bieber concert
Based on Jonny’s RFN recommendation and my established love for all things Lovecraftian, I went ahead and “splurged” on Cthulhu Saves the World, a charming little retro style RPG. Built to look like a late-era NES RPG, the game has our heroic villain rising from the horrible sunken city of Ry’leh to enslave mankind only to have his powers drained by a random wizard. To regain his evil powers, Cthulhu must do heroic deeds. Thus, he goes about the land defeating monsters and saving people’s dogs. The writing is hilarious, the battle system actually has legs (or, if you prefer, tentacles) and the music is catchy. Just to give you some idea of how ridiculous things are, the first new party member you meet is a young girl who is a Cthulhu groupie. She loves all things Cthulhu. Your second new party member is a talking sword named Sharpe. He wears different hilts for armor. The game is filled to the brim with references from not just the Cthulhu Mythos but the Dreamland Cycle, too. I daresay it’s one of the most fun RPG’s I’ve had the pleasure of experiencing.
Whereas a lesser hero, such as Mario, would have abandoned Peach at the mere sight of blood-covered saw blades, Meat Boy ventures forth. Bandage Girl must...make it worth his while
And then, of course, there’s Super Meat Boy. Oh, how I’ve longed to play this game. Listening to countless podcasters trumpet this game’s virtues to the heavens without any way of obtaining it has been torturous, but I’ve finally gotten my eager claws on it and it…is…amazing. In all stone-faced seriousness, Super Meat Boy might be the best 2D platformer I’ve played since Super Mario Bros. 3. While brutally difficult at times, the game is never unfair, and rarely veers from being hard to frustrating (unless you’re going for bandages). The level design is so tight that it’s hard not to stare in awe at this amazing game that two people made. It’s also drop-dead funny at times and features a slew of old-school game parodies. If you think the standard levels are hard, try the Dark World levels, or the Warp Zone levels, or…dare I suggest…the Internetz levels. They are heart-stoppingly difficult. But there’s so damn much content in this game, you’ll never run out. You can unlock new characters from other indie games—including Commander Video—who all have unique powers that may help you through particularly tough levels. But what drops my jaw more than any other aspect of this brilliant game? The music, dear readers, the music. Super Meat Boy has one of the best soundtracks I’ve ever heard. I could listen to it all day and long into the night. And since I bought the soundtrack, I CAN!
"What? Why are you all looking at me like that? Oh. Oh, I farted. Yeah, that's...pretty bad
Finally, as far as games I’ve actually purchased, I just recently bought Beyond Good & Evil HD and have loved every second of it. The game doesn’t necessarily look a whole lot better, just a little sharper (as it should) and the water textures seem better. But it’s otherwise the same game I loved on the GameCube with the occasional graphical hiccup. As one of my favorite games ever, BG&E was a no-brainer, and I’m finding that a surprising amount of it is muscle memory. I’ve already acquired more Pearls and moolah than the game thought I’d have, so it didn’t really know what to do when I left Mamago’s Garage with the triple-shot before the second dungeon. It was funny: there was a DomZ attack but there weren’t triggers for my new item, which is the usual way things go. Anyway, it’s a great game; you should buy it.
Lara Croft: tomb raider, detective, holder of multiple Ph.D.'s, and bikini model
As Newscast listeners know, I bought the Tomb Raider Trilogy but was disappointed to hear that the XBLA content wasn't coming to it. For the curious, this meant a bunch of a Underworld content, including a bunch of a alternate outfits and two levels…one of which came with more alternate outfits. So I found a copy of the 360 version for eight bucks and used some unused Allards to get the first of the two new levels: Beneath the Ashes, a surprisingly short visit to the cavernous basements of Croft Manor. All in all, not really worth 800 Allards, but I've heard that the second level, Lara's Shadow, is significantly different and in many ways better. That'll happen in the future. I also discovered that all the Trophies I earned during my playthrough of Underworld (on its own) are counted toward the Trilogy's Trophy completion rate. That is, it's not considered a different game. So I may as well just play Underworld on the 360 and get some Achievements.
And that's what I've been playin'!
Topic: Whatcha Been Playin'? 360 Edition (Read 2904 times)
