  Ten dollars to whoever can find the friendly spaceship in this screenshot.
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Geometry Wars Evolved
The top-selling Xbox Live Arcade game thus far for a reason. The controls (similar to several XBL Arcade games) is painfully simple. Left analog stick moves your spaceship, right analog stick shoots. Throw in a right trigger-controlled bomb and you’re good to go. The game is available in two viewing modes – retro and evolved – and man does evolved look fantastic. The game is challenging as all heck and you’ll sometimes wonder how you would ever get out of a predicament with a million enemies coming at you all at once in every direction without a super bomb, but it keeps you coming back for more, no doubt. Top notch in every way.
WHAM! Rating: |
8 out of 10 |
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Smash TV
A classic from the many years ago, Smash TV is also controlled basically using the two analog sticks. The problem with this game is that you can repeatedly continue over and over and over again, taking away some of the challenge. Sure, you can try for some of the more impossibler achievements such as finishing the game with one continue (it can’t be done I tell ya!!) but most gamers will play this through once and could get very bored of it. Some mindless fun, but it sure seemed a lot better back in the day. Still, you can't beat the bosses - Mutoid Man still kicks some serious butt!
WHAM! Rating: |
6.9 out of 10 |
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Hexic HD
A great, addictive little puzzle game. You’re staring at a screen full of little gems and you have to match up like-coloured gems to get rid of them. The challenge occurs when you start getting bombs that pop up. If you don’t erase them before their counter is up, your game ends. A fantastic game that becomes a lot deeper than it first seems once you start learning some of the advanced techniques. A perfect fit for the Xbox Live Arcade.
WHAM! Rating: |
7.9 out of 10 |
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Bankshot Billiards 2
In terms of controls, this is one of the more ‘advanced’ Arcade games but really, it’s still pretty simple stuff. The game is just like pretty much every pool game ever made – you view the table from a bird’s eye view, choose your power and spin setting, and let physics take care of the rest (and the physics in the game are quite good!). There are plenty of game modes to choose from, from 8-Ball and 9-Ball to 3-Ball and Golf and you can play online or against a decent computer-controlled player. There really isn’t much here that you haven’t seen before in a digital pool game, but that doesn’t mean this isn’t a fun way to spend a few minutes killing time.
WHAM! Rating: |
7.3 out of 10 |
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