XBLIG new release round-up for April 27-May 3

Holy cow this was a busy week for the Indie Marketplace. While the highlight of the week is undoubtedly the final chapter in the Decay series, there were a few other gems sprinkled in the mix. As always, (and by always, we mean the last two weeks), Dave, Mike and Taylor play each demo until the time runs out and give you the lowdown on what is worth playing, and what will make your eyes bleed.

Game of the Week: Decay – Part 4

Banger of the Week: App Pack

Little Kingdom – Demo - Dave
This grid-based RTS is one of the few on the platform. Sure the graphics don’t jump out at you, but the excellent soundtrack more than makes up for it. It was a bit too complicated for me to grasp in the brief trial time allotted. There is no war, but simply constructing buildings within your territory to expand your influence and win over neighboring territories while gathering resources. There were a large number of selectable levels from the beginning of the game as well. If you’re an RTS fan, I think you’ll find joy in this little gem.

Neon Prime - Demo - Mike
If Space Invaders was given a sequel sometime in the late 80s, it probably would have turned out a lot like Neon Prime. This game borrows the neon look of the original space shooter and updates the style a bit to include scrolling levels, multiple enemies and a few power-ups. It still feels a bit dated and rehashed, but it’s a decent shooter with a good soundtrack.

Decay Part 4 - Demo - Mike
It’s totally awesome. Find out why in the full review

Niji – Demo - Taylor
This is a pretty darn good action/puzzle game. Kind of reminds me of a Pop Cap game of sorts. Definitely check it out.

Balls - Demo - Mike
Despite my hope that this would be a Bobby Singer spin-off game, it turns out Balls is really just a game of Avatar Pool. The physics seemed pretty functional and it offered a lot of different gameplay options. It has online multiplayer which is great since playing against the computer seemed a little dreary.

Laser Cat - Demo – Mike
Laser Cat is as bizarre as its name suggests. Wizzord, the magic space frog has stolen the Laser Cat’s Owlfriend and taken it to his magic space castle. Lacking the demanded 1 million pounds ransom, The Laser Cat takes it upon itself to rescue the owl. It’s kind of like an 8-bit Metroidvania platformer where you’re looking for keys and can warp around the areas via the frequent checkpoints. Strange, but quirky.

Explosive Gas - Demo - Mike
Sadly, or perhaps thankfully this game has more to do with the liquid gas and not the gas of the flatulent variety, but it still doesn’t take itself too seriously. The primary mode is basically an 8-player Bomberman clone, except the action takes place on two grids that are linked together through some of the tiles. It also has a mode that is basically Minesweeper mixed with Bomberman. Not exactly original, but still worth checking out.

Pass it

Cosmic Caverns - Demo - Mike
Cosmic Caverns is basically an indie version of the underwater bubble levels from Earthworm Jim. You have to guide the spaceship through caverns and around obstacles without slamming into the walls and shattering the glass. The controls are ultra touchy, which means you’ll be feathering the acceleration a lot and one bump into the side tends to send the ship flying out of control.

Smouldering Skies – Demo - Dave
You play as a dragon, flying (swimming?) overhead (in the water?) in this bullet-hell scmup.I’m not sure if I’m flying or swimming, because it looks as though the dragon is beneath the water, and the only discernible enemy is a starfish. The rest of the enemies consist of circles that come in a variety of colors and also fire a variety of colors. It does offer a leveling system where the more pick-ups you acquire, the stronger your weapons grow, and you have the ability to swap them on the fly, from the trusty Contra-style spread shot, to the rapid-fire single burst. The game handles pretty smoothly, but there are much better shmups out there, so unless you’ve played the rest the shmups XBLIG has to offer, I’d skip this one.

Avatar Workout - Demo - Mike
You might assume that Avatar Workout would be some kind of fitness game looking to combine everyone’s love of Avatars with the recent popularity of fitness games, but you’d be wrong. Apparently “workout” in this context is equivalent to button memorization, because this game is more like Avatar Simon Says. A drill instructor demonstrates motions like jumping and clapping that are assigned to each face button, and then you have to hit the appropriate button for their choreographed routine. Only recommended if you’re looking to train a monkey.

Modern Hunt - Demo - Dave
Ever play Duck Hunt? Then you’ve played this. In the identical setting consisting of a grassy field with a few tries scattered about, you are a hunter with one mission: shoot everything that crosses your path. This includes goofy looking birds, bovine tied to a single balloon as they float by the stage, or bumble bees as they malevolently scurry toward the top of your screen. Earn enough points by eliminating enough on-screen targets, and advance to the next wave. Very simple and not very fun, but you may get a good laugh at some of the silly things coming your way.

Art of Feedback Circuit – Demo - Taylor
This is not really a game. You control settings that affect video, which is determined by the audio playback. No real instructions made it unnecessarily difficult to actually be able to use it. Much more of an app.

Flap! - Demo – Taylor
Flap! reminded of a basic flash game. Activate abilities to help blanket the country side with destruction. Visuals are so-so, and it felt overly hard; but quarter-gobbling hard, not punch-someone-in-the-mouth hard.

Avatar Rail Panic – Demo - Dave
Control your Avatar as your dash across train rooftops while making your way through a beautiful Midwestern desert. The modeling and environment look great, but the gameplay is as simple as can be. Each face button is mapped to the jump button, and you must press the correct button to make your character hurdle over the barrel as you move up the screen. After the trial was done, I just couldn’t’see myself finding the desire to want to pick this up again at a later date.

Prank Call - Demo - Taylor
Prank Call has an interesting idea, but it isn’t implemented to it’s fullest capacity. You have to get the other person ‘on the line’ to say a specific word, kinda like Taboo, and when they say it you win. The only problem is that there’s no automated way to know if someone wins or loses; it’s on an honor system.

Red Ring of Death - Demo – Taylor
Meh. You’re constantly moving to the right and you have to shoot enemies as you go. You have no control over your ship other than the direction the bullets go, and jumping. The problem is the jumping is too specific and you die a lot, which is un-fun.

App Pack - Demo - Dave

More of a demo than anything else. You can only select the stop watch, clock, and vibrating controller until you purchase the actual app which unlocks things like Snake, and a program to allow your monitor to turn white or black. I could probably find a better way to spend a dollar. Pass.

Ooberidiot – Demo - Taylor
Ooberidiot is pretty much as simple as Avatar Ninja, except throw in intense unwavering frustration. The sound and and UI was well designed but lost on frustrating mess.

By Mike Wall at September 13, 2011.

About Mike Wall

Mike grew up and lives near Philadelphia and has been intrigued with games ever since his parents preached that they rotted his brain. He studied journalism at Penn State and got his master's degree in secondary education before realizing that not even summers off would make that job palatable. He now works in marketing and is trying to find time to continue writing a book about zombies, aliens, vampires, the end of the world, and a talking cat.