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Official Xbox Live Arcade Thread

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S

Shard

XBLAnnoyance
Ah, it looks like Mr, Tipster missed the rest of the package.

Team Xbox Golf: Tee It Up Hands-On Preview

http://previews.teamxbox.com/xbox-360/1977/Golf-Tee-It-Up/p1/

The lack of golf games for the Xbox 360 is a bit perplexing. Sports games in general are immensely popular in video game form, and with golf, you have one of the biggest spectator and casually-played sports on the planet.

Tiger’s dominance and allure adds to golf’s resurgence from the Palmer/Nicklaus frenzy from decades back too. This, by the way, doesn’t hurt EA out at the cash registers either. Competition for the Tiger Woods franchise is essentially nonexistent on the 360; odd, seeing as how PGA is one of the weaker licenses out there in terms of sports video games (playing a baseball games without the Yanks stinks, but playing a sports game without Woody Austin isn’t going to make or break it) and a bit interesting since the sport translates so well into 0’s and 1’s.

A picture perfect follow through...


With no chance of the unflappable Hot Shots making it to the 360, golf gamers look for fixes by any means necessary– yes, even putt-putt simulators. Casual games developer Housemarque (of the Playstation Network’s Super Stardust HD fame) is shooting a bit beyond the miniature golf audience with Golf: Tee it Up which is due out later this year via Xbox Live Arcade. Although not a true golf sim, Golf: Tee it Up should give Xbox 360 owners that unique mixture of comical characters and realistic gameplay that has made the Hot Shots series such a success.

We recently had a chance to play a few rounds of Tee it Up, which is nearly up-to-par even though it won’t be coming out for a bit (there’s not even a street date yet).

Mechanically, Golf: Tee it Up uses the three-button-press swing system that is pretty much de facto for the golf game industry. A meter at the bottom of the screen rests a cursor in the “sweet” spot of ball contact. The first press of the A button moves the cursor towards the end of the meter, with the far right of the gauge acting as full power for the club selected. Another press of A will send the cursor back towards the sweet spot, thus setting the desired power. The last and most critical slap of the A button locks in the accuracy of the shot, with perfection measured by how close the cursor returns to its starting point. Accuracy is a bit forgiving in Golf: Tee it Up, however, as sloppy presses of the A button for the third and final time in the swing cycle will still produce decent shots. We’ll chalk that up to the marvel of modern golf equipment, and the fact that Housemarque still needs to tweak a few things before the game’s late-quarter release.
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Thought it was a bit odd for there to be pictures without a preview, bloody amateurs.
 
S

Shard

XBLAnnoyance
I have more for you, some Vigilante 8 Arcade updates:

v8arcade_reveal_07_dave.jpg


Bio:
Meet Dave - an adventurous hippie who also happens to be enamored with UFOs. In fact, Dave claims to have been recruited by an extraterrestrial to help locate his ship hijacked from Area-51 by the Coyotes. Until the craft is found, peace will have to wait…

Favorite Snack: Strongly Seasoned Soy Beans

Special Weapon: Invasion!

Vehicle Stats:*

STRENGTH: Medium (Mass 4,500 lbs)

ACCELERATION: Low (0-30 mph in 1.9 secs)

TOP SPEED: Medium

RADAR EVASION: Medium

*Vehicle stats may change, subject to final tuning
Click to expand...

Screenshots: Ski Resort
Friday, May 16th, 2008

Here’s our other mash-up arena — the Ski Resort! Featuring authentic ’70s architecture, two lifts, a teleporting lodge, a very slippery ice-skating rink, ski jump tower, and the now legendary avalanches. If you ever hear the rumble above, you better step on it and get out of the way… fast!
Click to expand...

v8arcade_skiresort_01.jpg


v8arcade_skiresort_02.jpg


v8arcade_skiresort_03.jpg


v8arcade_skiresort_04.jpg


v8arcade_skiresort_05.jpg
 
G

Gowans

Member
I need to do some serious XBLA catching up to do, I've lost track of all the big XBLA games coming out within the next few months.

Anyone want to make a catchup post/thread with the big big XBLA games (& rumoured) to save me? ;)

Off the top of my head I've only got Castle Crashers, Braid, Vigilante 8, Samurai Dishwasher erm.... Geo Wars 2 & a bunch of board games, I know I'm missing some greatness.
 
A

Archie

Second-rate Anihawk
Gowans007 said:
I need to do some serious XBLA catching up to do, I've lost track of all the big XBLA games coming out within the next few months.

Anyone want to make a catchup post/thread with the big big XBLA games (& rumoured) to save me? ;)

Off the top of my head I've only got Castle Crashers, Braid, Vigilante 8, Samurai Dishwasher erm.... Geo Wars 2 & a bunch of board games, I know I'm missing some greatness.
Click to expand...
Off the top of my head:

-Vigilante 8
-Castle Crashers
-Golf Tee It Up
-Commando 3
-1942: Joint Strike
-Braid
-Bionic Commando: Rearmed
-Magic: The Gathering
-Lode Runner
-Peggle
-Super Street Fighter II Turbo: HD Remix
 
G

Gowans

Member
I can't believe I forgot Bionic Commando & Peggle especially.

Paging Shard to make one of your XBLA thread screenshots and all, I know theres more. :D
 
S

segarr

Member
I'm looking forward to Braid, Castle Crashers, Bionic Commando, Peggle, Darwinia+, Soul Calibur, Dishwasher and Lode Runner. :)
 
S

Sean

Banned
Frogger 2 achievements.

http://www.360sync.com/2008/05/19/frogger-2-feature

Achievements Gamerscore
Clear Story Mode - Clear all of the stages in Story Mode.
5

King of the Pond - Clear all of the stages (including the bonus stages) of Story Mode.
10

All That Glitters - Get all of the coins in every stage (including the bonus stages) of Story Mode.
15

No Rest for the Frogger - Clear all of the stages in Story Mode without sleeping.
15

Nonstop Focus - Clear Story Mode without using “Continue.”
20

You Only Live Once - Clear Story Mode without losing a life.
30

Balloon Bonanza - Get all of the help balloons in every stage.
25

Top Ranks - Achieve a top rank in every stage of Time Attack.
10

Fastest Frogger - Rank #1 in every stage of Time Attack.
20

Greed is Good - Rack up five wins in ranked Jewel Duel.
10

Frog Like the Wind - Rack up five wins in ranked Race.
10

Hall of Fame - Rack up a total of 100 wins in ranked matches.
30
 
F

FightyF

Banned
segarr said:
I'm looking forward to Braid, Castle Crashers, Bionic Commando, Peggle, Darwinia+, Soul Calibur, Dishwasher and Lode Runner. :)
Click to expand...

I have V8 to add to that...

This year is going to be stellar for XBLA!
 
S

Shard

XBLAnnoyance
New Interview with Xbox Live Arcade's David Edery

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/xbox-live-arcade-s-david-edery


Q: How is the application and integration of Community Games coming along with Xbox Live Arcade? Are you getting toward where you want to be at this point in time?

David Edery: Internally, the executives have locked down how it should work and so and on, and we're preparing for an announcement very shortly. There's not a lot more I can say at this point, but it's just a matter of timing and it's really rolling along.

Q: Do you think with Community Games - titles that have been created using XNA and uploaded for users to rate and play and offer feedback on - do you see that as the key differentiator between Xbox Live Arcade and PSN or WiiWare?

David Edery: To some extent it will certainly help us have more innovative content than either of them, just by definition. With all this random stuff coming from the community, every once in a while there's going to be a real gem in there that you just couldn't have found otherwise, it wouldn't have found its way on to a console. So I certainly think from an innovation perspective it's going to help us leapfrog the competition, effectively until they find a way to duplicate it, assuming they ever do. I've thought of it less in terms of whether it gives us an edge over them, and more in terms of what does this bring to the console that otherwise it would not have seen.

So, can we start serving niche markets that we wouldn't have been able to properly serve before? The example I always like to give is will someone finally make that scuba diving game, where there's really only 15,000 people interested in a hardcore scuba diving simulation, but they really, really want one. And maybe through XNA someone can profitably get one out there. Maybe it's not even a question of profit and they want to get one out there regardless of making money because they're scuba diving fans. Today, there's not really a venue for that. I'm not going to green light a hardcore scuba diving game for Xbox Live Arcade today because there are not enough people who are interested in that. But with XNA it's perfectly possible. So I'm much more interested in it from a perspective of can it be used to satisfy more people, with more diverse content, than anything else.

Q: So it will create niches that you didn't even know were there, that no amount of planning, focus testing and research would ever find?

David Edery: That's it, that's exactly right. One of the other things I hope will happen is that you'll start to see established game developers do new things. With Xbox Live Arcade today, if you wanted to test out a concept before you take it to a retailer you still have to spend x-thousand dollars to get it through certification, it still takes a few guys, six months of their time and so on and so forth. With XNA, who knows, maybe a guy like Will Wright will spin out a game in three weeks, toss it out on XNA and see what happens. Because today, you can't do that, there's no way to reach a console audience like that. This could become a wonderful test bed and you'll start to see super-cool stuff coming from guys who wouldn't really have that opportunity to do that kind of test marketing.

Q: I interviewed a developer recently who said while on holiday he programmed a couple of mobile phone games to help him relax. If he had XNA, we could have seen that on Xbox Live Arcade...

David Edery: That's it, it's just two weeks of his time. Some of the coolest things that happen with XNA are some of the things that no one is talking about right now. People are much too focused on whether the next fl0w will come out of XNA, or the next Geometry Wars. They will, by the way, but a lot of other interesting things will come from there, things that could potentially broaden the games industry and make it more interesting.

Q: Once the community titles start arriving are we going see an increase in the rate of releases on Xbox Live Arcade rather than just one game a week?

David Edery: We have done some weeks with two titles released. It's not clear yet. You will see an increasing number of weeks with more than one game released, there's no question about that. But we're really sensitive to the fact that Xbox Live Arcade developers, even if they are not investing tens of millions of dollars, you have two or three man companies investing hundreds of thousands of dollars and for them it might as well be millions. It's there lives. So we're very sensitive to them being able to make a reasonable return. While Xbox Live Arcade games are incredibly successful by industry standards, there's no question that today it's harder to have a hit than it was two year's ago when XBLA was new. If we don't watch that carefully, indie developers will lose the opportunities they once had on Xbox Live Arcade, and the only people who will be able to take risks on XBLA will be the publishers who can afford to spread their bets around.

Q: And you're upping the size of Xbox Live Arcade games as well to 350 megabytes?

David Edery: Yeah, it's a steady progress. We've been listening to our partners, listening to our customers to try and get a feel for what's right. We don't want the size limit to hit the roof because we think there's some value in promoting small pick and play experiences that don't cost USD 20 million, it's good for the ecosystem.

Q: How about scheduling of titles – how far ahead are games lined-up for release?

David Edery: We have a big backlog but one thing we've found is that precisely because we've been working with a lot of independent developers or those making a console game for the first time, they may target September 2008, but they'll miss it by a year. We have a big pipeline, and I bet you something that we may have announced from small indies in the past three months – you won't see it for the next two years.

Q: There have been some rumblings that developers finish a game and hand it over and it doesn't appear on Live for a number of months...

David Edery: Oh, it's almost never like that. There have been some stories in the press – like Jeff Minter complaining about the certification process – but in general what happens is a developer realises that there's a lot more going on in console development than they first realised. Of the three consoles our tools are by far the best, but even then making a console multiplayer game is still damned hard, making a well-tuned, not broken, Live game. Especially indies who've never made a console game before, they always underestimate how hard it's going to be. And with smaller developers if something is delayed by two months it could be the difference between the company going bankrupt and not going bankrupt. So they take on another project to pay the bills and although the game might have only needed another two months, it now takes another two years. Castle Crashers (from The Behemoth) is a great example. Everyone keeps asking us when it's coming out, and it's going to be great, but I couldn't even tell you what those guys are doing. I'm sure it's going to be great because I've been seeing builds... [laughs]

Q: So when Minter was moaning about the process, that was an isolated incident?

David Edery: Well, it wouldn't be fair to say “Jeff is completely on crack”. Console development is just more difficult. Technical requirements are there for a reason, there's a reason why consumers find it so easy and so enjoyable to play XBLA games. There's consistency. Some of those things can be onerous, but the certification process serves a very important purpose.

Q: Last time we spoke we touched upon episodic gaming over Xbox Live Arcade, and the closest you're getting seems to be the Penny Arcade game, which is out this month. But that's not scheduled in like a TV show is episodic. With TV shows I know CSI is on each week, each day, at a certain time. But episodic for games seems to be something else, and I'm not sure what it is yet, no one seems to be defining episodic gaming. You know, Half-Life episodes aren't episodic in that same sense...

David Edery: I think we are getting closer although Penny Arcade isn't gong to be coming out every week or anything like that. In general we've seen people like TellTale get close with Sam and Max. We've been talking to them and they've been thinking about all kinds of stuff that might come out on a more frequent basis, and there are other developers who have various experiences exploring these options. I've been pitched more things that meet the definition of episodic in the last six months than in the year before that – the rate of pitches is increasing.

Q: Developers are exploring the ideas of episodic gaming and coming to you with more ideas about practicalities and business models?

David Edery: I'll be honest with you, I still think a lot of them are going to flame out, a lot of people are going to learn the hard way that it's not as easy as it looks. There's still a lot of uncertainty too. You and I think it would be cool if there was one hour of gameplay that came out once a week but we don't actually know if that would work. But someone's got to do it. And maybe XNA will lead the way.

David Edery is worldwide games portfolio planner for Xbox Live Arcade. Interview by Matt Martin.
Click to expand...
 
K

Kafel

Banned
Q: So it will create niches that you didn't even know were there, that no amount of planning, focus testing and research would ever find?

David Edery: That's it, that's exactly right. One of the other things I hope will happen is that you'll start to see established game developers do new things. With Xbox Live Arcade today, if you wanted to test out a concept before you take it to a retailer you still have to spend x-thousand dollars to get it through certification, it still takes a few guys, six months of their time and so on and so forth. With XNA, who knows, maybe a guy like Will Wright will spin out a game in three weeks, toss it out on XNA and see what happens. Because today, you can't do that, there's no way to reach a console audience like that. This could become a wonderful test bed and you'll start to see super-cool stuff coming from guys who wouldn't really have that opportunity to do that kind of test marketing.
Click to expand...

That would be very interesting.
 
I

Icarus

Member
That's a great interview. I think XNA is going to result in a ton of unplayable/broken dreck flooding the system (no certification process to act as quality control... if you think some of the XLA games are bad, just you wait). They'd better get user ratings in to help act as a crap filter ASAP.

Oh, and hurray for the size limit getting raised!
 
L

LCfiner

Member
While I'm glad that they're upping the size limit to 350 MB, the language they use bothers me..

"It's a steady progress"

Why do they need to increase the limit in little jumps like this? It sounds like they plan on increasing it further in the future, but they still insist on keeping it smaller than a what a mem card can handle at any given time.

Annoying. I'd like it if they went all out and allowed for bigger games immediately instead of slowly increasing the size like this.
 
S

Shard

XBLAnnoyance
http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/875/875541p1.html

Epic Acquires Undertow Developer
Chair Entertainment Group joins in on the killing spree.
by Jimmy Thang

May 20, 2008 - Epic Games, the company that brought you the Unreal Tournament and Gears of War games, has acquired Utah-based developer Chair Entertainment Group. The young developer gave us the awesome underwater online shooter Undertow on Xbox Live. Undertow used Epic's Unreal Engine 3. Chair will maintain its current moniker while developing new original properties for Epic.

Next up on Chair's slate is Empire: Alpha Complex and Ender's Game: Battle Room. While little is known about either title, they are both action games based on author Orson Scott Card's highly popular sci-fi books.
Click to expand...
 
S

SapientWolf

Trucker Sexologist
ToyMachine228 said:
Quake Arena...Hmmm. Could be one that makes XBLA even bigger. Can't wait to hear more.
Click to expand...
I don't know who would buy this instead of playing the free version that will run from a web browser. Unless you hate m/kb. Or you have a PC from the 90s. Or you hate money. And this is coming from someone who bought Quake 3 for the Dreamcast.
 
S

Shard

XBLAnnoyance
http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=141642

Puzzle Fighter Live leaderboards reset
News by Rob Purchese

Today 09:50

Capcom has wiped clean Xbox Live leaderboards for Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo HD Remix, which is a ridiculous name.

The publisher explained on its US blog that the scoring system had "calcified", with inactive players clogging up the top spots and not being available to accept challenges from would-be champs.

So, you have a fresh chance to win everlasting fame and glory within the Puzzle Fighter community, at least until the boards are reset again. You can also punch and kick the Capcom team members this Friday in its weekly fight the publisher event.

Luckily Puzzle Fighter II is an excellent game, and much more than the Tetris clone it first appears to be.
Click to expand...
 
S

Shard

XBLAnnoyance
Things on Wheels Dev Blog

http://blogs.ign.com/ThingsOnWheels/2008/05/20/90242/

A couple of years ago we were having lunch and talking about gaming memories, of course it didn't take long before someone mentioned ReVolt. We did look at some features of this great 10 year old Acclaim title while making 'Mad Tracks' but we always kept in mind that we’re making a very different game. Still a lot of 'Mad Tracks' players referred to ReVolt, so when we were ready to work on another project inspiration was very easy to find. (Don't get me wrong, we're not trying to copy ReVolt - we have too much respect - we're just paying a tribute.)

We wanted the RC racing game to be “arcadey” and competitive, eye pleasing and fun, solo and multiplayer… To sum it up in one sentence - “A super fun game that fits everyone.”

It would also have to meet the many Xbox 360 requirements, every probable publisher's wishes, (almost) every community comment and still have to pass our respective mother's approval. And you thought making a game was easy?

When Hervé came up with his first sketches of an Art deco house "a la Bioshock" (note: this was nine or ten months before 2K's hit release), all of us were convinced this was it. The odd looking cars with big wheels finished the job, ToW had character and all we had to do is put a game around it.

Remind me to tell you how SouthPeak found us (or how we found each other) - that's a whole ‘nother story!

Until then, have a good one.

-DenisDenis
Click to expand...
 
S

Shard

XBLAnnoyance
ESRB Watch:

Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness, Episode 1 Hothead Games Mature Blood and Gore, Mature Humor,
Strong Language, Violence Macintosh, Windows PC, Xbox 360, Linux

1942: Joint Strike Capcom Everyone 10+ Fantasy Violence Xbox 360, PlayStation 3

Puzzle Arcade Eidos Everyone No Descriptors Windows PC, Xbox 360
 
X

xblarcade

Member
Since PA is supposed to be episodic, I'll be waiting to see if they are going to try hitting us up for $20 each time.

(unless things have changed that is)
 
S

Shard

XBLAnnoyance
IGN XBOX 360 AU Hands-On Preview of Braid

http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/875/875622p1.html

The foundation upon which all the gameplay is built is that you're able to rewind the game world at any time, for any length of time. Nothing too new about that, right? Well, no, not if you're using it to rewind an untimely death or a mistimed jump, but as soon as you factor in the other mechanics it takes on a whole new role. It's not long, for instance, before you're introduced to objects and enemies that are immune to time rewind (they're highlighted with a tingling green glow). Let's say you have a key that's immune to time rewind at the bottom of a pit. You're able to jump down and grab it, then rewind your jump back to the top of the precipice, key in hand. Cool, no? That's only the beginning. Now imagine you have one key and two locked doors, both of which must be opened to snag a jigsaw piece (the game's collectable) on the other side. It's a normal key, but the first door is immune to rewind. Thus, you can unlock the first door - which breaks the key, then rewind to make the key whole again, while the door remains open, allowing you to then unlock the second door. Braid is full of delightful moments of discovery like these; and best of all, it's up to the player to gradually work out all the implications of the mechanics.

And as mentioned there are a number of them. We really don't want to spoil the surprise, however, so we'll just mention one more to give you an idea what to expect. Upon entering one world, you'll rewind an action only to find that when you go back to active gameplay, a shadow version of Tim – the protagonist – acts out the motions you just rewound, leaving you free to control a 'live' version of the avatar at the same time. You can imagine the possibilities. Need to get through a door that opens briefly after flicking a switch at the other end of the area? Simply move from near the door to flick the switch, then rewind time until you're back near the door and leave your shadow-self to flick the switch while you go through the door. It's an awesome concept and truly mind-bending at times as you try to solve the cleverly constructed puzzles.

The structure of the game is simple, but practical. In a homage to classic videogame design, Braid is broken into a number of worlds (complete with 'the princess is in another castle' messages at the end), and each world is broken into a host of self-contained puzzles, each connected by doors. Moving through each world is generally simple enough, and usually only requires basic platforming skills. The challenge comes from collecting all the jigsaw puzzle pieces, of which there can be between one and four or so in any given area.


From the main hub area – the interior of Tim's house - accessing each world is as simple as choosing the relevant room, within which is a door for each puzzle screen, as well as a number of books on lecterns, giving us a window into the protagonist's innermost thoughts (the story component will doubtless leave some cold, but they're entirely skippable). A quick glance at all the doors tells you how many puzzle pieces are left to collect on each, so you can quickly skip to the relevant section. As you complete the jigsaw puzzles for each world you'll lock in sections of the ladder which leads to the house's attic, and the final door.

The structure means that if a puzzle presents too stiff a challenge – and many of them will, as they range from straightforward to downright devious - you can simply move on, returning to it later, hopefully with a better understanding of the logic and possibilities of the world. Even early in the game there will be puzzles that you'll have to return to, and the satisfaction of finally grasping the lateral thinking required for some is hugely rewarding – especially if it means you can complete the jigsaw puzzle for that world.


Another major strength of Braid's design is that the gameplay never stands still. Not only has the game's designer Jonathan Blow really thought through the possibilities of the mechanics, ensuring that each puzzle is different from the last, and that each possibility is explored, the gameplay evolves in significant ways as the game progresses. For instance, the ability to split your avatar is only present in World 5, while there are entirely different mechanics for World 4 and World 6, which prevents the game from becoming too complicated and ensures the gameplay keeps evolving. Indeed, while the ability to rewind as far as you like and the ability for objects and enemies to be immune to rewind persist all the way through the game, the other mechanics operate independently of one another.


Oh, and who wouldn't love a game with so many nods to classic Mario games? We've already mentioned the fruitless striving for the princess through multiple worlds, but Mario fans will also notice the green pipes with chomping plants, the fact that you can headbop enemies (which is integral for many of the movement puzzles), not to mention the influence of the original Donkey Kong on several of the level designs. Hell, there's even a puzzle screen called 'Jumpman' (see screen below) with an array of platforms to traverse and a gorilla and barrel motif at the top, where enemies are being fired into the level. Mind you, Mario isn't the only reference – you receive an item later in the game on a level called 'There and Back Again'. I'm sure you can work out what that item is… but not what it does.
Click to expand...
 
S

Shard

XBLAnnoyance
Well, nothing has been mentioned yet, but it is plausible, though I think I shall wait and see if more evidence shows up this week as well as official confirmation from Capcom before making the official thread.
 
S

Shard

XBLAnnoyance
IGN XBOX 360 goes hands-on with Roogoo

http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/875/875854p1.html

Roogoo Hands-On
Playing with blocks was never so infuriatingly fun.
by Hilary Goldstein

May 21, 2008 - Xbox Live Arcade is the perfect home for puzzle games. Roogoo, developed by Spidermonk, should fit nicely into the XBLA portfolio. This puzzle game is deceptively simple -- different shaped blocks fall from the sky and you rotate a series of platforms to match the holes with the blocks. Don't let that simplicity fool you. As you progress through the 45 levels, Roogoo goes from looking like child's play to becoming a worthy challenge for even the heartiest of puzzle fans.

There is a bit of a story in Roogoo, if you need some context for turning platforms. The evil Meemos are trying to steal shapes to power their city (and evil empire) and only you can stop them. There's probably more to it than that, but this is a puzzle game, so really, who cares about the depth of story? It's all about the depth of gameplay.

Things start simply enough. You have three platforms suspended in the air, one over the other. There are three shapes to worry about and the pacing is fairly slow. Using the bumpers, you rotate the first platform, lining up the proper hole with the proper shape. Once the shape falls through, the camera pans down to the next platform and you repeat. Stack enough blocks on the bottom platform to "close out" that shape.

If things stayed this easy, well, Roogoo would be a bit of a bust. Fortunately, things get crazy tough rather quickly. More shapes are soon added (for a total of five) as are additional platforms. Meemos also begin showing up. They cover holes and need to be whacked off by slamming your blocks on their head with the A button. You'll also encounter clamps, which open and close covering the holes and requiring you to time their descent (using the A button to speed up the fall of your blocks). Add to this ninjas that can slice your shapes in half if you don't avoid their swords and platforms that flip upside down.

Do you Roogoo?
The biggest of surprises are the butterflies. They pick up blocks that are resting at the bottom platform and attempt to fly them back up to the stop. The perspective swings when this happens, showing you the bottom of each of your rotating platforms. You need to once again match the right holes with the shape of the blocks being carried. Eventually the butterflies let the blocks go and it's back to guiding them downwards. Oh, and you may need to slot two different block shapes at the same time, just in case all of this was too easy for you.

Roogoo allows for single-player, two-player competitive and four-player co-op progression through the puzzles. The adversarial multiplayer has both players solving the same puzzle either on split screen or over Xbox Live. As you place blocks, your attack meter grows. Once it's full you can hit Y and send some Meemos or ninjas to cause your opponent trouble. The player who scores the most points with a puzzle wins the match.

Co-op is a little more interesting. Either on a single screen or on Xbox Live, up to four players can attempt to pass the levels together. Players alternate between the platforms they control, with their avatar appearing when it is their turn. It can be a little confusing for the first few seconds, but quickly becomes second nature. You get a sense of when it will be your turn. Though each player is working together, there is still a competitive aspect as all are trying to earn the highest score.

Roogoo is set to arrive on Xbox Live Marketplace on June 4. Though the screens may look like this is a kiddie game, it is not. Roogoo is a fun and addictive puzzler that is also quite challenging.
Click to expand...
 
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