UK account here too and yeah that's weird...something's definitely wrong.
I guess I'll have to do everything via xbox.com as you said, thanks a lot for the reply and the links.
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XBLA (Xbox Live Arcade) News, Announcements, Reviews, and Impressions Thread
- Thread starter Vert boil
- Start date
UK account here too and yeah that's weird...something's definitely wrong.
I guess I'll have to do everything via xbox.com as you said, thanks a lot for the reply and the links.
AlphaTwo00
Member
Is there a way to track how much I'm off by on the last punchcard? This is going to drive me nuts.
Vert boil
Member
The spend 3200msp one?
https://billing.microsoft.com/
That will cover both the £$¥ ones.
There is no way to track the time based one outside of the punchcard on the reward site.
AlphaTwo00
Member
AlphaTwo00
Member
Taking recommendations for a 400 (or less) point game. I do have most of the typical ones, so yeah, random and off-beat suggestions?
Since you have the typical ones, let me ask you (or anyone else who wants to answer), what's the absolute best XBLA game you can get for 400 MSP?
Guardian Heroes and Sega Bass Fishing are 400 now. Also, Rotastic, I believe?
And a lot of the Genesis Games, such as Gunstar Heroes, Shinobi, and Phantasy Star II, as well.
ChosenPredator
Banned
damn its hard waiting for dungeon and dragons shadow over mystaria
AlphaTwo00
Member
Going by the hours I've plugged in:
Chime
3 on 3 NHL Arcade
Trials HD
I would say GeoWars, but GeoWars 2 is so much better, but above the 400 point mark.
Does Dead Rising CZ count? Walking dead is fantastic, other than it's a much bigger investment of just 400 point for the first game.
Wibblewozzer
Member
The Adventures of Shuggy, Chime, or Mercury Hg
As for best game for 400 points? I think most would agree with Trials HD. I'd likely say Dead Rising 2: Case Zero because I love that series.
I have DR: CZ, Trials and Geo Wars 2 so I'm pretty good with those, sorry.
AlphaTwo00
Member
400 points is somewhat slim picking, which is why i had that question. So the ones I'm humming over about right now, so feedback, if any, would be great:
Alien Breed EP3 (Had the first 2, decent, if somewhat clunky, but I figured just for completion sake)
Shuggy
Rotastic
Vigilante 8 Arcade
Commanders: Attack of the Genos (this is an early XBLA game, and reminded me quite a bit of Advance Wars)
Aces of the Galaxy (another early game, not sure how the on rails mechanic still holds up)
Polar Panic
Guardian Heroes
Amy (yeah the demo was janky as hell, but at 400?)
Blade Kitten (visuals and style is a pretty big turnoff, but mechanically it looks decent)
I bought 1600 MSP while I was drunk and bought God Mode impulsively. Now I believe I need to check out one more 800MSP game before I'm good to go or two 400 MSP games.
I was thinking about checking out Rez or Zeno Clash: Ultimate Edition. On the 400 MSP side, I suppose Chime would be nice having played the trial. I have almost every other game save for the first Geometry Wars game but I dunno. I'm out of ideas.
I was thinking about checking out Rez or Zeno Clash: Ultimate Edition. On the 400 MSP side, I suppose Chime would be nice having played the trial. I have almost every other game save for the first Geometry Wars game but I dunno. I'm out of ideas.
Miles Quaritch
Member
I vote Zeno Clash. Sequel is coming soon too, so perfect time to play the first.
Wibblewozzer
Member
I still vote for Shuggy though I enjoyed Rotastic as I recently noted in a post in this thread. Both games are short bursts but fun. Shuggy is one I actually own and have completed every level.
Commanders was super boring from the bit I played. Aces of the Galaxy is extremely mindless. I played my copy the night I bought it, got through a good chunk of the game, and I don't recall ever being close to dying and I stopped just because I was done playing and not because I ran out of lives. It just goes on and on and isn't entirely interesting. I've thought of returning to it since it's been years but I simply don't remember it being all that much fun.
Polar Panic I hear good things about. And I tried to like Guardian Heroes but it's not for me. I simply don't like brawlers and while it's a good one it's not my style.
I think Amy and Blade Kitten are pretty much instant "no"s. Blade Kitten does occasionally have its fans but Amy is widely hated by everyone that's ever touched it.
Alx
Member
I bought Polar Panic out of nostalgia for the old Pengon game I used to play on my old Tandy.
I would say it's good, with more diversity than the old game of my youth (there are bonus to gather, enemies have different attacks, they come out of spawning houses that you can destroy, there are boss fights...). It's hard, too. Each level is scored based on time, elements destroyed and bonus retrieved, and it's very hard to be good on all those fronts. I think I never got a better mark than B on a level.
It may not be a must-have, but like Joust (another game I played as Buzzard Bait on the old TRS80) it's the kind of gameplay that was simple and brilliant, but never really got re-used, until now.
Oh man, I picked up Terraria on a whim and now I've lost my entire weekend to it. My brain honestly thinks it's still saturday... Seriously contemplating calling in sick so I can keep mining for that precious ore and loot! (I'm not going to but, damn, do I want to!)
The worst part is that I've just scratched the surface after all of that time... I've killed two bosses and just broke through to the dungeon a few hours ago. Finally starting to get some really good gear going though! Haven't enjoyed the initial slog of a game like this in a long time; normally I'd rather just fast forward to the bits where I have the best gear and can tear enemies up, but here I rather liked having to struggle at first. I like how my first house is just a little timber log cabin that fits a table and my latest is a glass skyscraper. :lol
Alien Breed EP3: If you could slog through the other two, nothing is especially worse in this one, but nothing is better either.
Shuggy: Great little game that's always fun, but feels a little hollow and easy to forget about. Bonus points for having an entirely separate coop campaign with new puzzles.
Rotastic: Kind of a fun idea that doesn't really translate to a very fun game. It's a little too demanding and doesn't ease you into the gameplay concept very well; you have to be determined to grow to like it.
Vigilante 8 Arcade: Drive cars around and blow shit up. Hasn't aged tremendously but if you want to do just that, this is about the only option on XBLA (that isn't in top-down view).
Commanders: Attack of the Genos: Quite a good little strategy game with a great art deco aesthetic. Might've been surpassed by Military Madness (not sure, I don't have that yet) but definitely worth 400MSP.
Aces of the Galaxy: Wait, I don't have this one...
Polar Panic: Fun little diversion for when every other game bores you, but not compelling enough to your primary focus game. The kind of game that's not bad, but that you end up drifting away from because more interesting stuff pops up.
Guardian Heroes: It's true to the Saturn original, with some bug fixes, tweaks and optional filters for audio and video. If that sounds good to you, jump on it. I never liked the game myself.
Amy: This is seriously the worst game on XBLA. "Some jank" doesn't even begin to cover it! The game is barely playable, definitely not enjoyable. Busted mechanics and controls, terrible story, confusing and terrible level design... You name the flaw, this game has it.
Blade Kitten: Adequate but not good in any way. It's not terrible, but there's just no reason whatsoever to buy this when there's a flood of fantastic platformers on XBLA.
The worst part is that I've just scratched the surface after all of that time... I've killed two bosses and just broke through to the dungeon a few hours ago. Finally starting to get some really good gear going though! Haven't enjoyed the initial slog of a game like this in a long time; normally I'd rather just fast forward to the bits where I have the best gear and can tear enemies up, but here I rather liked having to struggle at first. I like how my first house is just a little timber log cabin that fits a table and my latest is a glass skyscraper. :lol
Since I have almost all of them:
Alien Breed EP3: If you could slog through the other two, nothing is especially worse in this one, but nothing is better either.
Shuggy: Great little game that's always fun, but feels a little hollow and easy to forget about. Bonus points for having an entirely separate coop campaign with new puzzles.
Rotastic: Kind of a fun idea that doesn't really translate to a very fun game. It's a little too demanding and doesn't ease you into the gameplay concept very well; you have to be determined to grow to like it.
Vigilante 8 Arcade: Drive cars around and blow shit up. Hasn't aged tremendously but if you want to do just that, this is about the only option on XBLA (that isn't in top-down view).
Commanders: Attack of the Genos: Quite a good little strategy game with a great art deco aesthetic. Might've been surpassed by Military Madness (not sure, I don't have that yet) but definitely worth 400MSP.
Aces of the Galaxy: Wait, I don't have this one...
Polar Panic: Fun little diversion for when every other game bores you, but not compelling enough to your primary focus game. The kind of game that's not bad, but that you end up drifting away from because more interesting stuff pops up.
Guardian Heroes: It's true to the Saturn original, with some bug fixes, tweaks and optional filters for audio and video. If that sounds good to you, jump on it. I never liked the game myself.
Amy: This is seriously the worst game on XBLA. "Some jank" doesn't even begin to cover it! The game is barely playable, definitely not enjoyable. Busted mechanics and controls, terrible story, confusing and terrible level design... You name the flaw, this game has it.
Blade Kitten: Adequate but not good in any way. It's not terrible, but there's just no reason whatsoever to buy this when there's a flood of fantastic platformers on XBLA.
Stumpokapow
listen to the mad man
Polar Panic and Shuggy are both excellent within their genres. Rotastic and Aces of the Galaxy both seem good for their genres. Amy, Vigilante 8 Arcade, and Blade Kitten are gigantic piles of crap.
AlphaTwo00
Member
Really? It's just a port, isn't it? Like Tony Hawk HD bad?
CrunchinJelly
formerly cjelly
It's worse than Tony Hawk. The physics are really floaty and imprecise. It's probably how the original game was but it's dated horribly.
Shuggy and Guardian Heroes are the best of this list.
ramoisdead
Member
Definitely give Shuggy and Guardian Heroes trials a shot. Both are great games for 400 MS Points each.
thelatestmodel
Junior, please.
It's not, I fired them up side by side to check. The PS1 version feels tight, precise, just the right amount of weight to the handling.
Tony Hawk HD is just a terrible remake that is nothing like the original.
The Maw
Comic Jumper
Trials HD
Trials Evolution
Mark Of The Ninja
Splosion Man
Ms. Splosion Man
Castle Crashers
Alien Hominid
Castlevania Symphony of the Night
Can someone make two lists with the above games for me? One that ranks them from best to worst, and the other that ranks them from easiest to hardest (in terms of achievements)?
Comic Jumper
Trials HD
Trials Evolution
Mark Of The Ninja
Splosion Man
Ms. Splosion Man
Castle Crashers
Alien Hominid
Castlevania Symphony of the Night
Can someone make two lists with the above games for me? One that ranks them from best to worst, and the other that ranks them from easiest to hardest (in terms of achievements)?
LorDjidane
Member
That's hard and extremely subjective. I'll try but I won't comment (don't have a lot of time, Top Chef's final atm on tv ).
Best->Worse
MOTN
SOTN
Splosion Man
Trials EVO
Trials HD
Castle Crashers
Ms. SM
Alien Hominid
The Maw
Comic Jumper
Easy->Hard
The Maw
Comic Jumper
Castle Crashers
MOTN
SOTN
Alien Hominid
Trials EVO
SM
Ms. SM
Trials HD
).Best->Worse
MOTN
SOTN
Splosion Man
Trials EVO
Trials HD
Castle Crashers
Ms. SM
Alien Hominid
The Maw
Comic Jumper
Easy->Hard
The Maw
Comic Jumper
Castle Crashers
MOTN
SOTN
Alien Hominid
Trials EVO
SM
Ms. SM
Trials HD
That's hard and extremely subjective. I'll try but I won't comment (don't have a lot of time, Top Chef's final atm on tv
Best->Worse
Easy->Hard
Excellent thanks a bunch Lordji! I know everyone will have their own opinion and different-looking lists, but it's nice to get a starting point. =) That is my XBLA backlog by the way. I'll play a mix of best and easy to start off with. The order will probably go down like this for me:
Mark Of The Ninja
The Maw
Symphony Of The Night
Comic Jumper
etc... with Trials HD being played last no matter what probably.
Much appreciated sir. =)
as with every list on the internet: his list is wrong!!1!
I would put Castlevania SotN on the top spot. All the other games are not even in the same galaxy as SotN, so they don't qualify for being listed. SotN is all you will ever need.
Wibblewozzer
Member
That's hard and extremely subjective. I'll try but I won't comment (don't have a lot of time, Top Chef's final atm on tv
Best->Worse
MOTN
SOTN
Splosion Man
Trials EVO
Trials HD
Castle Crashers
Ms. SM
Alien Hominid
The Maw
Comic Jumper
Easy->Hard
The Maw
Comic Jumper
Castle Crashers
MOTN
SOTN
Alien Hominid
Trials EVO
SM
Ms. SM
Trials HD
With only minor differences I'd say this is set up just right. SotN probably on top and both Trials games above 'Splosion Man. But those are fairly minor and more just a small matter of taste.
I'd note that SotN's achievements may be considered more difficult than something like Comic Jumper but they're definitely more enjoyable and still not difficult. Comic Jumper is one of those where it's not tough to get them all but it's time consuming and boring. Without looking up the others I can't remember enough to gauge them well. But SotN is the only one I have all 200/200 in that list.
LorDjidane
Member
I can understand that. I would have put SOTN on top but I wanted to promote a new original game with MOTN. Concerning SM, I'm a huge fan (that was my first XBLA game ever), and Trials is too difficult for me, so.
I'm struggling myself to find something cheap to finish my punchcard tonight.
As for your inquiry...
Guardian Heroes is a great buy for 400 pts. Another great one is Doom II. It was a questionable buy at 800 pts when it came out, but now at its perma-reduced 400pts price its a safe buy. The 2 player online/couch coop campaign or 4 person deathmatch, is too fun to pass up for the price.
Dilemma. It's time to decide which games to get and I have 1200 left. I only need 1 more game to fill the card but I could go for one 800 pointer and one 400 pointer, one 1200 pointer, or three 400 pointers just for the laughs. Opinions on the following.
1200:
Battle Block Theater
Alan Wake's American Nightmare
800:
Motocross Madness
Islands of Wakfu
Twisted Pixel Games Bundle
400:
Shuggy
Mercury Hg
Quantum Conundrum
Polar Panic
A couple of things.
For the 1200 pointers, could they go on sale soon?
Does the TP bundle work for this promotion? I own The Maw and Splosion Man but not the higher priced Ms. S and Comic Jumper. I have a passing interest in Wakfu everytime I see it but I'm not sure.
Shuggy I'm interested in because of this thread but it doesn't look special to me and there is a timer, which I dislike. I also didn't like Spelunky and it looks similar in design if not in game play. I heard Mercury Hg gets hard after the demo? Does Polar Panic play like Kickle Cubicle?
I just wish Monaco would've come out so I didn't have to do all this head-scratching...
1200:
Battle Block Theater
Alan Wake's American Nightmare
800:
Motocross Madness
Islands of Wakfu
Twisted Pixel Games Bundle
400:
Shuggy
Mercury Hg
Quantum Conundrum
Polar Panic
A couple of things.
For the 1200 pointers, could they go on sale soon?
Does the TP bundle work for this promotion? I own The Maw and Splosion Man but not the higher priced Ms. S and Comic Jumper. I have a passing interest in Wakfu everytime I see it but I'm not sure.
Shuggy I'm interested in because of this thread but it doesn't look special to me and there is a timer, which I dislike. I also didn't like Spelunky and it looks similar in design if not in game play. I heard Mercury Hg gets hard after the demo? Does Polar Panic play like Kickle Cubicle?
I just wish Monaco would've come out so I didn't have to do all this head-scratching...
bigtroyjon
Member
Pretty much zero chance BBT goes on sale soon. AW has been on sale a few times, seems to be in the rotation so I'd guess a month or two and it will be on sale again.
Stumpokapow
listen to the mad man
Alan Wake has been on sale several times; Battleblock Theater is too new for a sale anytime soon but probably by the end of the year. Motocross Madness seemed okay when I played the demo. Islands of Wakfu seemed slow and terrible. I like all of Twisted Pixel's games, but you've got the best two--Ms. Splosion Man is challenging and filled with content, but visually a bore and doesn't introduce as many new mechanics from Splosion Man as you might have liked, Comic Jumper has pretty run-of-the-mill gameplay (although it improves as you upgrade your character).
Shuggy is a great classic puzzle platformer. It's got low fi visuals, yes, but also tons of content, a wide variety of level types, some great puzzles. Not too hard, and it has a great little co-op campaign. Mercury HG is devious and TOTALLY worth it. To 100% complete it is very difficult, some levels are very hard, but there are more than enough levels and thus "level types" to get your money's worth even if you find the harder levels too hard. Quantum Conundrum is a hot mess, neither as well written nor as compelling puzzles as Portal, and personally I didn't feel like movement was as smooth as I'd have liked it to be. Polar Panic is a sokoban/block pushing game, but it is a great example of the genre. Tons, tons, tons of levels including 50 bonus puzzle levels which require min-maxing. I like the music too.
Personally I'd get Shuggy, Mercury HG, and Polar Panic--or Shuggy and Mercury HG and the Mercury HG DLC packs.
Wibblewozzer
Member
Battleblock will be awhile before it goes on sale if I had to guess. American Nightmare and Alan Wake stuff has gone on sale a number times, hasn't it? That's one I'd expect to see in a weekly sale within the next month or two.
Comic Jumper isn't all that good. Ms. Splosion is pretty much more of the same. And yeah, to my understanding it should count.
Shuggy's time counts up because it's a speed thing for the leaderboards. I don't recall any levels actually having a timer counting down but I haven't played it since the week it came out. It's not like Spelunky at all. It has a number of puzzle types but I'd say it's most like P.B. Winterbottom as it's single-screen puzzles. The mechanics vary quite with a bunch of different puzzle types. Some levels you can only rotate the screen and have Shuggy fall with gravity. Others he makes copies of himself that you can't touch. There's another where you move a rope around to control gears and such. There's a load of individual puzzles, roughly 80-100 I believe, that never should take more than a minute or two when you know what to do. Some might take you awhile longer until you find a good, quick way through them.
Mercury Hg gets pretty damned mean if you're trying to beat a level with all of your goo, or as much of it as you can possibly save. I remember one level I restarted for about an hour because I was so set on beating it without losing any of my goo while also being extremely fast. I should check the leaderboards to see where I stand since I was really high ranked at the time.
george21000
Member
easy easy easy achievement wise. Probably finish both over 2-3 days. Maw has DLC
DTLIONS1013
Member
Not sure if anyone else has had this problem but SotN achievements won't unlock for me
Vert boil
Member
I'll update throughout the day.
DOTW
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night - 320msp (was 800)
D&D Daggerdale - 320msp (was 800)
Joe Danger 2: The Movie - 800msp (was 1200)
NBA JAM: On Fire Edition - 600msp (was 1200)
NFL Blitz - 600msp (was 1200)
Pac Man Championship Edition DX - 400msp (was 800)
Scott Pilgrim vs. The World - 320msp (was 800)
--Knives Chau Add-On - 80msp (was 160)
The Simpsons Arcade - 400msp (was 800)
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater HD - 600msp (was 1200)
X-Men Arcade - 400msp (was 800)
Zombie Driver HD - 400msp (was 800)
-----
Pinball FX 2
--Star Wars Pinball - 400msp (was 800)
Angry Birds Trilogy - 1600msp/20$ (was 3200/40$) US price, check your region
-----
----------
Released today,
Capcom Arcade Cabinet
--1942 - 320msp
--Pirate Ship Higemaru - 320msp
--SonSon - 320msp
(Complete pack will be out May 21st, 2000msp)
DOTW
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night - 320msp (was 800)
D&D Daggerdale - 320msp (was 800)
Joe Danger 2: The Movie - 800msp (was 1200)
NBA JAM: On Fire Edition - 600msp (was 1200)
NFL Blitz - 600msp (was 1200)
Pac Man Championship Edition DX - 400msp (was 800)
Scott Pilgrim vs. The World - 320msp (was 800)
--Knives Chau Add-On - 80msp (was 160)
The Simpsons Arcade - 400msp (was 800)
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater HD - 600msp (was 1200)
X-Men Arcade - 400msp (was 800)
Zombie Driver HD - 400msp (was 800)
-----
Pinball FX 2
--Star Wars Pinball - 400msp (was 800)
Angry Birds Trilogy - 1600msp/20$ (was 3200/40$) US price, check your region
-----
----------
Released today,
Capcom Arcade Cabinet
--1942 - 320msp
--Pirate Ship Higemaru - 320msp
--SonSon - 320msp
(Complete pack will be out May 21st, 2000msp)
CrunchinJelly
formerly cjelly
NFL Blitz is a US-only game, btw.
Sadly not. I bought 3 packs for Pinball FX 2, and they didn't count towards games purchased for 400 points or more, nor towards points spent on arcade games.
megashock5
Member
Very tempted by a couple of those, but Mickey's coming.
Anyone have any guesses on price for Castle of Illusion?
Anyone have any guesses on price for Castle of Illusion?
How is this On Fire Edition of NBA Jam?
I got the first remake the did for the 360, and didn't play it much after the initial 2-3 hours.
I mostly play solo, and I hated the rubberbanding AI.
Is this fixed somehow?
Also, what about Castlevania?
I've only seen a few pictures and I see there's borders in the screen.
Is it a good port?
Does the game hold up?
I got the first remake the did for the 360, and didn't play it much after the initial 2-3 hours.
I mostly play solo, and I hated the rubberbanding AI.
Is this fixed somehow?
Also, what about Castlevania?
I've only seen a few pictures and I see there's borders in the screen.
Is it a good port?
Does the game hold up?
Diablohead
Member
buy SOTN if you do not own it already, best metroidvania which is not super metroid.
thelatestmodel
Junior, please.
The XBLA version of NBA Jam is basically the same game as the retail version, if you didn't like that then I'd probably steer clear. It is a great game though, I really enjoyed it.
Castlevania is a perfect port and is one of the best games of all time. It hasn't aged at all.
UraMallas, don't blind-buy Mercury HG - I'd get the demo first. I'm sure it's a great game, as Stump says, but the genre of the game might be incompatible with your tastes. When it was on sale a few weeks ago, people recommended Mercury HG, and as soon as I tried the demo I said "nope."
You can't go wrong with American Nightmare. It's such a good game. But keep in mind the slight differences it has compared to the original Alan Wake. The original was a very linear game with no backtracking - no problem with that, because I love linear games. American Nightmare consists of three big open-world levels with plenty of backtracking in each level. Both games share the same creepy atmosphere that make the games so special. Also, the story in American Nightmare is better understood if you have played the DLC in the original Alan Wake.