If you haven't been able to tell from my previous blog posts, I'm pretty much a huge fan of downloadable games - they're reasonably priced and easily accessible (well, trusting you have an internet connection) so I end up playing them a lot (yes, sometimes even buying on impulse!) Recently I've been playing a lot of titles from Microsoft's "Summer of Arcade", so I thought I'd write about them.

Summer of Arcade is, pretty much, Microsoft's way to get you buying and playing games in the months of summer when you'd otherwise be out playing in the sun, but considering like many others I actually was out playing in the sun, I haven't had a chance to really get down and play them through until now. I suggest that if you haven't either, you buckle down and get yourself involved in an autumn of Arcade too.

Splosion Man (Twisted Pixel) - 800 points - Marketplace link

I've previously described Splosion Man as "a Sonic game where instead of playing a hedgehog trying to save fluffy animals, you play a madman that's on fire and trying to blow up the scientists that invented you" and that's as good a description as any of the frantic and funny trial-and-error gameplay that makes up the title. There's an amazing thrill when you really "nail" a hard section of level, 'sploding from platform to platform, but the flip side of that is if you get stuck it's pretty painful to keep hitting your head against a brick wall (sometimes literally.) The difficulty progression is a little off, there's really no need for bosses and the setting is very samey, but the entire game pays off with probably the most hilarious and unexpected game ending I've ever seen (beats the pants off Portal 's, let me tell you.) As a result I loved this game to bits, even though it can be a bit of a slog at points. 4/5

Shadow Complex (Chair Entertainment) -1200 points - Marketplace link

Whisper it, but I don't really like Super Metroid. Sure, I respect it, but I don't think the genre it spawned really came into its own until the GBA's glorious Metroid: Zero Mission . That may seem beside the point, but as a US-developed "Metroidvania" Shadow Complex would live or die to me based on how sensible its map design was - the original Super Metroid has too many spots where you're required to shoot a block identical to all of its neighbours to find a new section, and other such irritations, that make it somewhat dated now. However, Shadow Complex has a great map and a sensible design that makes playing it absolutely intuitive, even if I never quite got comfortable with shooting "into" the screen (the game has enemies in the background, which you have to shoot, awkwardly). The game may be well designed, though, but for those who like a strong setting and story, Shadow Complex has one of the most uninteresting locations (basically a big grey fortress) to explore, and probably the dumbest story I've ever seen in a game, and that's saying something. Still, very playable! 3.5/5

Trials HD (RedLynx) - 1200 points - Marketplace link

As far as I know, Microsoft set the prices on XBLA, and I've never really understood why they placed prices the way they are. Gosh, I remember complaining about the expense of Pac-Man Championship Edition when it was 800 points, considering it a brilliant but overpriced game, but as of now that's cheap! Trials HD would be an absolute steal at 800 points, maybe at 1000, but there's a psychological barrier at 1200 points that makes me feel like it's just a little pricey. However, if you have the cash, don't let me put you off it, because Trials HD is the kind of trial-and-error gameplay I mentioned in the Splosion Man review above taken to its absolute extreme. The game - a physics based motocross time trial sim - lulls you into a false sense of security with its early, quite easy levels, but once you get to the "hard" levels you'll be ready to chuck your controller against the wall with frustration. The amazing thing is the levels are never unfair, they're just so carefully designed around a mastery of real-world physics that it takes ages to learn but is deeply satisfying when you do (getting out of the habit of accelerating too fast on slopes is terribly difficult.) This game is wonderful, but brutally challenging and most definitely not to everyone's taste. 4/5