Not a Goodbye

The XBLI project is coming to a close. That doesn't mean those of you who've relied on my recommendations have nowhere to go. Instead, you can simply follow my main blog, RedRingCircus, where I'll showcase the most worthwhile titles via Indie Spotlights.

There's are several reasons I'm doing this:

-I'm one man with a day job. The Trial Rundowns were cutting into other writing activities, and if I ever want to write about games professionally, I have to stay fresh.

-RedRingCircus has a history, and XBLI simply doesn't get a ton of attention. By moving Xbox Indie coverage back there I hope to spread good game recommendations to more people.

-I proved what I wanted to prove with XBLI: that I could almost-singlehandedly provide Xbox Indie coverage with regular article deadlines every Tuesday. It can now stand as a portfolio piece. Mysterious game industry recruiters take note!

-While it was fun, I'm done bashing on bad games. They're not going away any time soon, and it creates a lot more work for me. When I cover a bad game it stirs up a hive of angry developers that ask for justification. In turn I must spend more time on bad games to make damn sure I'm providing thorough insight. The results are often funny, but this wastes everyone's time in the end.

So thanks for reading, and move on over to RedRingCircus, where you'll be seeing the first fruits of this switch shortly.

P.S. Bitmobbers, I'll begin posting the RRC Indie Spotlights over there as well.

XBLI Trial Rundown - 10/6/09

Arkedo Series - 01 JUMP!
JUMP! is not a long game. Its 30 platforming levels can be completed in about an hour or two. But that's not the point - despite its length, JUMP! is everything that's right about Indie games. The polish and charm are both so far beyond most of what's available on XBLI it's staggering. Sure, you could argue it's so refined because there's not a ton of variety in level design or enemies, but that's exactly the kind of thing Indie gamers are going to let slide.

JUMP! is bright and colorful, it offers pitch-perfect controls, plus a ton of retro game references and off-beat jokes. It has style through and through, and it looks and plays like something Capcom, Konami, or even Nintendo would release. Again, maybe it doesn't last as long as a Mario and maybe it doesn't have as much variety as Megaman, but it's a small-time game that costs $3.


This is the way to make small budget games. They shouldn't be overly complex or provide hours of content (unless you can genuinely pull it off), instead developers should polish and perfect a small and simple game. Filling it with charming artwork and little touches doesn't hurt either. If JUMP! isn't enough proof that this method works than look to 'Splosion Man - it's basically the same idea.

Food for thought for XBLI developers aside, JUMP! is awesome - get it! (240pts)




Slingstar
Gameplay twists seem to come in waves on XBLI, and Slingstar's might be the next big thing. The idea is to attack not with your guns, Geometry Wars-style, but with two satellites tethered to your sides. Your movements toss each satellite around like a flail, colliding with a variety of bizarre enemies. It's not the most intuitive form of combat, but it is original and the swinging feels right. Slingstar might not click with you, but if it does you'll be in for a pretty unique title that'll feel like a vacation from the scores of twin-stick shooters on XBLI.
(80pts)

NINJA BROS. 忍者ブラザーズ
NINJA BROS. adds further evidence that the developers of NINJA TRAIN can make some damn fine games, and make them about ninjas. This is a more substantial offering compared to the so-quick-it's-awesome NINJA TRAIN, but it brings it's own unique gameplay flourishes. You control a ninja who can only run left and right, jump, and duck. That would be boring, except you actually play as up to four ninjas at once, each in their own micro-level on the screen. Pressing left and right moves all your ninjas simultaneouly, while each ninja is color-coded to jump at the press of its corresponding button. It's a brain-melting platforming/puzzle game with one of the most unique ideas to come out of XBLI in a while, but some control issues hold it back from the Game of the Week crown.
(80pts)

Fields Reloaded
If you're familiar with the original Fields, released back when XBLI was known as Community Games, two things should spring to mind with Fields Reloaded - one, the hip-hop/gangster premise is an insane departure, and two, this is actually a pretty decent iteration on the original. Fields Reloaded is a scrolling shooter where your main weapon is a bubble that slows time. The game is full of weirdness that suggests an amateur effort, but it still manages to be pretty enjoyable. Third times a charm though, and while Fields Reloaded has some rough edges, Fields Revolutions will probably be goddamn awesome.
(80pts)

Rail Gun Charlie
If Rail Gun Charlie was trying to pay homage to the bizarre visual style of Space Giraffe, it has succeeded brilliantly. The game is a trippy mix of twin-stick shooter and space sim, with your movement confined to a 2D plane while you can shoot in 3D. It's a weird combination, but it allows for brisk movement while at the same time challenging your aiming ability. The idea is to protect friendlies from capture while defeating all the enemies. While the game could probably use some more polish in graphics and controls, the overall package is incredibly odd and charming. (240pts)

XCross
XCross is a competent take on the popular game Picross. It's a little bit Minesweeper, a little bit Sodoku, and pretty damn challenging. I'll admit I was quickly perplexed by the so-called "easy" levels. Despite my confusion, I have to admit that Picross is a pretty beloved game and this version does it justice. It even has avatar support and a soothing soundtrack. (240pts)




Paint Boll (80pts) - Paint Boll is that game Combat for the Atari - you know, the pack-in game from 1977. The only difference is that Paint Boll is actually a lot worse.

Galactic Escape (240pts) - Galactic Escape offers an extreme juxtaposition of polished aesthetics and gameplay that just falls flat. It's one of those jet propulsion games but you play it in a pitch-black maze with a flashlight. Imagine gaming's equivalent of threading a needle.

SpiderEvader (80pts) - There's a cool concept hidden within SpiderEvader - by occasionally blinding you the game forces you to rely on sound to progress. It's too bad the game seems way more focused on superficial scares to sway your purchase decision.

RadRiverRun (240pts) - RadRiverRacing isn't an exciting, out-of-control romp down a raging river. It's just a balloon collecting game with infuriating controls.

Alien Encounters (240pts) - Alien Encounters is a casualty of over-ambitious game design on a small scale. It's impressive in the context of garage game design, but examined as a game that is sold for money through a professional channel it's laughable.

PushCrates (240pts) - Videogames combine several art mediums and an element of interaction. While sometimes one medium will suffer at the expense of another, no game should be so lacking in visual artistry as PushCrates. The look of the game is completely utilitarian, designed with the barest minimum of effort to showcase gameplay that's obvious and uninteresting.

SummerVacation (80pts) - XBLI games always seem to come in pairs, so here's your other crate pushing game for the week. It's too bad that this one from the creator of the excellent GREEN ISLAND is marred by awful controls and visuals.

D-Cypher
D-Cypher could appeal to people who enjoy logic puzzles but it's hard to imagine someone losing an afternoon to endless code-cracking. The game needs another hook to go from competent-but-dull to truly engaging.
(80pts)

Alien Pyramid Challenge! (80pts) - If you feel that games like Johnny Platform's Biscuit Romp or A Fading Melody are more than competent, by-the-book platformers that don't hold a candle to the classics, then by all means give Alien Pyramid Challenge! a shot. These kinds of platformers aren't awful, but their world and controls are far too rigid and static.




Tarot (240pts)
Pumpkin Carver (80pts)
The Visualizer (80pts)

XBLI Trial Rundown - 9/29/09

This was a rough week for Indie Games. A slew of awful releases are complemented by a bit of hope here and there. The end result features a few new and noteworthy additions, but nothing on par with say, last week's Fishing Girl. There's always next week!




Astro Taxi
Astro Taxi is awesome for being both a nostalgic and original game. It adopts Commodore 64-style graphics and uses them to create a 2D version of Crazy Taxi. The goal is to propel your rocket-powered taxi to and from various platforms around the level - all the while you must be careful not to crash or forget to use landing gear. It's not going to blow you away, but it manages to nail a sweet spot where the propulsion-based physics are challenging without being overly frustrating. (240pts)

MoleGame
MoleGame is whack-a-mole, and it's about as short-lived as that simple carnival game. Still, it's slim-pickings this week for XBLI and MoleGame isn't half-bad. It nails its simple controls and feedback in a way that so many Indie games fail to do. The game doesn't last more than a minute, but if you buy it you get a few different modes and it's pretty fun to go for a high score. (80pts)


Junkyard Battle
Junkyard Battle is a physics-based object stacking game. You use a crane to create a tower of junk and reach a specific height threshold. It's a multiplayer game, but the single-player training levels are pretty fun on their own. The only issue is that the feel of the game is a bit off. The physics aren't quite right, and objects tend to slide off of each other in odd ways. Still, it's something different on XBLI, and it sets a solid groundwork for more physics games. (80pts)




Astero Defender (80pts) - While it's kind of fun to see how far you can get within the length of the demo, this 2D shooter has little else to offer. Lazy enemy patterns, awkward collision detection, and poor graphics completely sour the experience.

War Ships (240pts) - War Ships is an unnecessarily confusing take on Battleship that assumes a level of trust among a couch full of players that's just a little too optimistic.

VectorForce (80pts) - VectorForce may be the closest XBLI has come to offering a true "bullet hell" 2D shooter. The problem is that the onslaught of death is repetitive and the feel of the combat is completely dull.

Tartaros (240pts) - Tartaros is an awful example of game design that's so bare bones you can practically understand the math behind it with a passing glance. When Indie games begin to strip away the magic of game design and programming you have to wonder if this is all worth it.

Jake's Room (80pts) - Another example of game design hot out of someone's Direct X textbook, Jake's Room screams Computer Science project. Your teacher may have given you an A, but that doesn't mean you should be selling this.

Cassie's Corner (80pts) - Cassie's Corner is so pathetically pandering that they included the off-beat blond and her boobs but forgot to finish the actual game. Cassie reads quiz questions which involve interesting, Snapple cap-style facts, but you're never given the answers. What the hell?

Picture Slider (80pts) - Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but it doesn't get you any points here. Picture Slider is nearly identical to 15 Puzzle, and that game already nailed sliding puzzle controls and presentation.

Criminals Under Arrest (80pts) - Spelling errors, poor graphics, and sloppy combat spell doom for this 2D brawler. There's a million other brawlers out there and this one isn't worth your time.

Lander Mania (80pts) - You've probably played some form of Lunar Lander before, the game where you propel yourself around and try to make safe landings. Lander Mania is exactly that, only unpolished - it's a bad version of an already boring game.

The Adhara War (240pts) - This is a pretty good idea - mix turn-based strategy with twin-stick shooter battles to decide the outcome. Unfortunately, neither feature is implemented well at all.




Fireworks Screensaver (80pts)
Clownfish Aquarium (80pts)
The Fart Machine II (80pts)

NEWS: New XBLI Peer Review Rules Kill Free Games, Bad Demos

>>NEWS

via: XNA Creators Club News

It looks like titles such as Ninja Train or GREEN ISLAND won't pass the peer review process in the future, thanks to an update of terms that adds stricter rules to XBLI trials.

The newly added text in the Peer Review Guidelines quickly outlines restrictions that seem like a response to some recent releases.

"All games must have a trial mode that showcases the actual game experience. If you fail to do so or use this method to provide your game for free your game will be failed in the Peer Review process. Games are NOT available for free currently on the system. This system is NOT a video hosting service and should not be used as such."

Recent releases that break these guidelines include Ninja Train, which is essentially a free game because you can play it within the span of the trial. Others, like 2GoVids Rachel Star Stunt Show and Fire don't let you get near the actual content during the trial time. Rachel Star's game is a particular offender for being little more than some videos and a menu.

While these guidelines are upsetting for how they limit the impact of bite-sized games on XBLI, the changes should improve the service overall. Still, anyone feel like that quote above comes off like a nagging mother? "And another thing...!"

XBLI Trial Rundown - 9/22/09

Fishing Girl
Fishing Girl captures just about everything you could want in an Indie game. It's cute, artistic, simple, cheap ($1), and addicting. You rarely press more than one button and yet you could easily lose a couple hours to this endearing little fishing game.

Separated from her love, the fishing girl must fish for enough money and upgrades to save her man stranded on a far-off island. You take control, casting the rod with a timed release of the A button, and then lure a variety of fish by reeling them in, again, with the A button. A shop gives you new rods and lures which in turn give you access to bigger, rarer fish and more money.


The game is short thanks to a time limit, but you can extend this time by quickly catching lots of fish. Plus it's backed by some fun achievements - finding all the fish, casting the furthest distance, and saving a lot of money are all rewarded in various ways.

Aesthetically, the graphics are simple and appealing, but the game could definitely use some music or ambient noise. Then again, when was the last time you had an excuse to start up your own soundtrack?

Overall, Fishing Girl isn't just the game of the week, but one of the best Indie games yet. It encapsulates everything that's right about small-time game development and is sure to leave a big smile on your face. (80pts)





Pixel Man
Pixel Man pushes the limits of technically-poor yet classy presentation with four or five colors, simplistic environments, and stiff, single-button controls. It's also kind of an asshole - blind jumps, frustratingly precise jump timing, and dead-ends all impede your progress in ways that are generally considered bad game design. The twist? Infinite lives and thirty brief levels mean the whole thing is over and done with in about half an hour. All the while you'll wonder whether you should be reading into it - the way the levels toy with you certainly suggest a vague message on choice and consequence. (80pts)

PyroManic - Solo
Last week I officially had my fill of Ikaruga-inspired color-matching shooters. Imagine my lack of surprise when yet another one came along. But as much as I want to make fun of PyroManic and toss it in with the rest of the crap, it has enough polish and arcade-y charm to sneak into this week's noteworthy releases. The idea is to stop an ever-increasing downpour of colored objects by shooting them with the corresponding face button on the controller. There's not really much of a twist to it other than a cool beam which turns enemies into gold. What I like most is the really welcoming arcade aesthetic which an announcer that wouldn't be out of place in one of those dingy public game rooms of the past. (240pts)

On A Roll
On A Roll should be immediately familiar to anyone who was around for the 16-bit era - from the unforgettable title cards for levels, to the fast, looping action, this is a Sonic clone through and through. The somewhat sad truth is that this little Indie game seems to understand more about what made Sonic a great series than the guys at Sega these days. Even the music sets the mood perfectly. And while it seems a little more challenging than the typical Sonic game, On A Roll looks to satiate anyone's thirst for a quick, action-packed 2D romp. (240pts)




Sol Survivor (800pts) - Competent tower defense game that needs another coat of polish before it can rise above this crowded genre. Decent, but instantly forgettable.

Hollow Ball (80pts) - Hollow Ball offers a bit more than the typical Pong clone, but not enough to truly differentiate it.

Graviton AI (240pts) - Graviton's developer insists this is a deep and strategic game and then locks out all the features. Anything that might make it more than a bad 2D shooter is missing in the trial.

Dead Meat (80pts) - Dead Meat's slow pace and shambling zombies would be interesting in a well-designed environment, but in a big gray box it's really boring.

Azubi's Pool Of Bethesda (240pts) - Imagine a budding game developer running out of bible studies to go design their religious Minesweeper clone. Then imagine that they thought there was no rhyme or reason to Minesweeper, and that the idea was to blindly place marks until you lost. Now hope that in this imaginary situation they're at least able to make something better than this.

Johnny's Skydiving Lessons (80pts) The premise of Johnny's - chasing your own parachute through the clouds to avoid certain death - is hilarious, and so of course the actual game isn't really any fun. Figures...

Origin (400pts) - Thank you for creating a different take on Breakout. The only problem is that it's exactly as awful as regular Breakout.

War: The Card Game Advanced (80pts) - "...with a twist!" is often a legitimate way to describe something, but in the case of XBLI it's usually a red flag. The twist is either nowhere to be found, or completely undesirable. War is the latter, adding button mashing to one of the worst card games in the history of the world.

Velocity (80pts) - Velocity isn't too terrible - it's like those light and rotating mirror puzzles that are in so many games. The problem is that it's far too difficult and uninviting from the start to keep most people interested.




Hypnotizing (80pts)
2GoVids Rachel Star Stunt Show (80pts)
Fire (80pts)
Chillax HD (80pts)

XBLI Trial Rundown - 9/15/09

GREEN ISLAND
GREEN ISLAND harks back to the days before Gamestop homogenized game stores. It's reminiscent of a time when you could walk in to your local Microplay or Gamezone or whatever and grab some oddball import from Japan. A great mix of bizarre, old school graphics and just enough English to be completely decipherable, GREEN ISLAND is a taste of how exciting and unique XBLI's open, worldwide market can be.

But it's not just that GREEN ISLAND is an oddball release, it's also an excellent puzzle/platformer. The goal of the game is to navigate through 50 levels and collect all of the gems scattered around. Simple enough, but it's complicated by fans, rotating platforms, and maze-like areas that are tackled with nothing but a bubble gun. Yep, in true Japanese gaming tradition, bubbles play a prominent role in GREEN ISLAND - they're climbable and they can be used to make bridges, fill gaps, or hit switches.


The game never really goes out of it's way to test your patience, but grabbing all the extra golden orbs and going for the best time is part of the fun. Plus, the trial let's you play all 50 levels, meaning you can test a whole slew of levels to influence your buying decision.
(80pts)




Filler
I have never played a game like Filler and part of me finds that unbelievable. It's a game that's based on the kind of simple and immediately entertaining concept that's been copied ten times before you even hear of it. So excuse my possible ignorance when I call Filler a unique and cleverly elegant puzzle game. The idea is to inflate balloons as large as possible in order to fill two-thirds of a two-dimensional box. The only problem is an ever increasing army of bouncing balls that are intent of popping your balloons before they're finished.
(240pts)

I Heart Shift
I Heart Shift isn't noteworthy for being a quality game, but rather for being weird as hell. It combines puzzle game color-matching with a twin-stick shooter and tops it all off with some unpleasant sound design. Ultimately, the experience quickly falls flat, but there's a hint of potential here and you can't deny it's something different.
(80pts)

Bailout!
Bailout! looks and plays like an Atari 2600 game, but smartly adds a modern day economy and advancement system. As a rich man in a failing economy, you must run left and right, collecting falling bailout money, avoiding suicidal stock brokers, and kicking away peddlers. Along the way you gain access to better and better skills, allowing you to move more quickly, hold more money, or shield yourself from attacks, to name a few. In our next-gen world, Bailout! may not be much to look at, but it has that addictive sense of achievement and advancement that's the backbone of some of the best modern games.
(80pts)





PebbleDash Lite (80pts) - Learning that the original PebbleDash was a remake of the old school game BoulderDash didn't change my mind. Charging less money helps a bit, but it's at the expense of content.

Duologue (240pts) - With at least one Ikaruga/Geometry Wars-inspired shooter per week releasing on XBLI, the line had to be drawn somewhere. Duologue doesn't offer anything new and it doesn't do it with style either.

Gitigiti (80pts) - It seems that the harder you try to play Gitigiti, the more likely it is to punish you. This "cross-breeding RTS" works best when you mindlessly direct your units toward the enemy. Real-Time Strategy without the strategy? No thanks.

Bust a Wall (80pts) - This week's most generic attempt at Break Out!

Electron Defense (240pts) - A tower defense game that makes no attempt to do something interesting or unique.

The Headsman (80pts) - The Headsman is certainly clever, if not very fun. You'd never imagine XBLI as an avenue for band promotion, but The Headsman prominently features a music video from cheeseball metal act Deathlike Silence. This video:

Crazy Coins (80pts) - Crazy Coins is eerily similar in premise to the afforementioned Bailout! Unfortunately it's not so similar in execution - it's essentially the same game with worse controls, worse aesthetics, and no sense of progression.

Charlie Cat's Hot Air Balloon (80pts) - While cats manning AA guns are always hilarious, Charlie Cat borrows more from flash games than the classic 2D space shooters it's trying to emulate.

Enemy at the Gate 80pts - Imagine Missile Command without the emphasis on carefully placed shots and you'll end up with a game that's painfully dull, or called Enemy at the Gate.




Warfare Soundboard (80pts)
Words Search (240pts)
Pulsar (240pts)

XBLI Trial Rundown - 9/8/09

Halfbrick Rocket Racing
When I started this new format for Trial Rundowns, I didn't expect to have a hard time choosing a game of the week. If anything, the hard decision would come during those weeks when every single game sucked. So imagine my surprise when I had to choose between four great games this week. Halfbrick Rocket Racing, Avatar Drop, Kuchibi, and Avatar Golf are all impressive releases that are worth your time.

Halfbrick Rocket Racing is your game of the week for a few reasons - all of these titles are great fun, but Rocket Racing barely edges out the competition by offering something a little more unique to the Indie Games' library.


Rocket Racing is an overhead, futuristic racing game - think R.C. Pro-Am mixed with Wipeout. Your vehicle of choice is a rocket car with powerful, individually-controlled jet engines. The default control scheme has you throttling the triggers for precise control, but most people will find the beginner layout to be ideal. Once you adjust to the controls, it's all about beating your times on 40 different courses or taking on your friends in local multiplayer.

The twist in Halfbrick Rocket Racing is its edge-of-your-seat wall-hugging mechanic. Crashing into walls will cause a time penalty, but brushing your rockets along them will give you a record-smashing, race-winning boost. Combine this with real online leaderboards, and you have a recipe for a lost afternoon. (240pts)




Avatar Golf
Avatar Golf is a casual take on golf with online play, leaderboards, and a great course creation tool. It also happens to have avatar support, but that's just a gimmick in what is otherwise a fully-featured game. The course editor is a particular standout feature. The toolset is simple to use, and your designs aren't bogged down by too many artificial limits. It's super simple to create a pirate-ship laden moat around the green, surround that with a village, surround that with a forest, and then unleash it on unsuspecting friends. The only thing holding this game back is some atrocious loading that can significantly bog down the experience. (400pts)

Kuchibi
XBLI is overflowing with great puzzle games, and Kuchibi is no different. What sets it apart is a clever mix of Pipe Dream (or the hacking minigame in Bioshock) and a little bit of Hexic. Just as in Pipe Dream, the goal is to connect pipes and create long chains, but you can eliminate a chain at any time. This is where the Hexic bit comes in, as you create elaborate, high-scoring arrangements, you must carefully ensure you don't send the whole thing toppling down too soon. (240pts)

Avatar Drop
Avatar Drop is blazing trails in the realm of avatar violence. Microsoft says you won't be shooting at your avatar, but at least you can drop them the sky and mangle them on floating obstacles. Your goal is to navigate your avatar through the vertical course, popping balloons and diving through rings for points. Aside from that, it's just a lot of fun to toss your avatar around. There's not a lot to Avatar Drop, but it's a hilarious and well-made distraction for only a buck. (80pts)

シャイニング　ブラッド shining blood
Shining blood is an odd treat - it plays somewhat like Virtual On or other mech games, but it looks like Rez played through a filter of crimson. The goal is to navigate your sluggish mech through an arena of odd enemies, figure out how to kill them, and move on to the next arena. It's certainly not a perfect game, but it gets by with an almost avant garde design that will compel enthusiasts to explore its depths. (400pts)

Crystal Spear remake
Question of the week: What is Crystal Spear a remake of? I certainly can't find it anywhere. This game, remake or not, is another one of those bite-sized experiences that's hard to deny. You have your fun within the trial time, navigating in first-person perspective through a hallway of obstacles. You continuously increase in speed as long as you don't crash, and you can slow time to make last second dodges. You may find you've had your fill by the end of the trial, but that's the idea, the developer even encourages it. (80pts)




The Answer to Life (80pts) - Pure evil condensed into 5MB. The Answer to Life is little more than a text-based gimmick. But hey, it comes with yet another version of Get the Ball so it can't be that bad, right?

Sky_Arena (80pts) - While it's nice to see the son of God taking a stab at indie game design (the developer's name is Jesus), this half-baked flight sim doesn't offer the kind of divine perfection you'd expect from our savior.

魔法の国のメロディ ファニーダンシング (240pts) - After stumbling through some Japanese menus you're dumped into a pit of despair (dancing anime girls) with no means of escape.

Mini Golf 360 (80pts) - If this is an approximation of real mini golf then the developer should have calculated a few more decimal places.

Color Break (80pts) - Color Break is Pong mixed with - surprise - Ikaruga. All these color-matching action games aren't necessarily a bad thing, but this one just falls flat.




Dark Skies: Constellations (240pts) - Cool stargazing app, unfortunately priced.

Fireworks Spectacular (80pts)

Wizard's Tower Screen Saver (80pts)

Flash Cards for Kids (240pts)

Stereo3D Gallery (80pts)