Review: Strider (360)

Strider Hiryu was one of the original 8-bit Nintendo Entertainment System-via-Capcom’s badass characters, the super-agent ninja with the cat-like agility and razor-sharp sword – the Cypher – starring in Strider. From that origin in 1989, he remained a popular figure in the Capcom franchise collection, finally making a return in 2000 to the PlayStation in Strider 2 that was a well-received update.

Review: Warlords (XBLA)

Arkanoid and Breakout were the more famous brick-breaker videogames in the '80's, but in the same genre less famously was Atari's Warlords. In its second modern reboot, Warlords brings back brick-breaking – or in this case, castle-wall-bricks-breaking – with a visually appealing and colorful rendition, although the gameplay doesn't have the same level of impressiveness that the eye-candy graphics have.

Review: Charlie Murder (XBLA)

Many a rocker has been accused of bartering his soul to the devil, or some variation of evil entity, for attaining rock stardom. Charlie Murder doesn't sell his soul to become the rock legend he is now, but jealousy has fuelled a rival death metal band, Gore Quaffer, to trade theirs in order to get the power to destroy Charlie and his bandmates. That's the heavy-metal backdrop that drives the brawler hybrid (mostly brawler, a good portion roleplaying game) Charlie Murder for Xbox Live Arcade, the new title from Ska Studios, makers of the excellent Dishwasher brawler series.

While there's a lot to like about Charlie Murder, including good multiplayer and that infusion of RPG character building, it lacks the charisma of both Dishwasher titles and doesn't quite capture the brawler soul either of those two games did.

Review: DuckTales: Remastered (360)

The 8-bit 2D side-scroller genre was defined by Nintendo's Mario Brothers titles, each one a masterpiece of design perfection in the Golden Age of Gaming. But one unlikely title was able to place itself on that lofty mantle right alongside Mario's NES-era plumber-rescuing-the-princess exploits: DuckTales.

Review: Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons (360)

From the very moment the game begins, to the very last second, Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons on Xbox Live Arcade has one of the most unforgettable, emotionally draining and melancholy game narratives ever in a game. Coupled with good puzzle-action gameplay and a superior visual style that will invoke memories of classic titles Ico and LIMBO, Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons is a great game that will haunt the heartstrings of anybody that plays it.

From the opening scene, we see loss in the lives of the brothers – in this case, Little Brother – who lives with the guilt of seeing his mother drown. Too small, too tiny, too frail to do anything but watch her sink into the depths of her watery grave; it is an important moment, because is establishes his fear of the water that will appear whenever water obstacles must be traversed. And then there's his Big Brother, faced with looking after his guilt-ridden little brother while facing a new family dilemma: Father is sick and injured, and only a special medicine can heal him, which will require a long and dangerous journey that the brothers must make to save his life.

Foul Play Quick Impressions (PC, Xbox 360)

Like beat 'em ups?  How about Victorian England?  If so, Foul Play may be of interest to you.  In it you play as 19th century British adventurer Baron Dashworth, as he recounts his exploits in a play before a live audience.  It's a very stylish brawler with some interesting ideas.  Jeff gives some brief impressions of what he's experienced so far in the game in the video below.

Review: Sanctum 2 (XBLA)

With more and more tower defense games around, developers have had to come up with new ways to make their's stand out from the others. Coffee Stain Studios created its own new combination genre, meshing tower defense with first-person shooting for their Sanctum franchise, now in its second installment.

Gameplay is simple in Sanctum 2: the gamer must defend cores from incoming enemies by constructing weaponry towers to protect them. But like a lot of tower defense titles, gamers don't just sit idly by, viewing their towers' success or failure against incoming wave after wave of alien enemies in many bizarre forms (an overwhelming number of them resemble insects and bugs). While the towers are doing their part, gamers can go into first-person mode to jump directly into the war zone and unleash FPS fury.

Review: CastleStorm (XBLA)

Ninjas versus pirates. Birds versus pigs. With CastleStorm on XBLA, add knights versus vikings to the list of enemies that don't like each other very much in tower defense-type games. But this isn't a typical tower defender. CastleStorm relies on a lot more strategic elements, including deploying troops and creatures on enemies and unleashing heroes with classic old-school hack & slash brawling to bring victory and vanquish the opposing castle dwellers.

CastleStorm is more than just an Angry Birds copycat. There is more than one way to win besides knocking down walls, although the best strategy is to pound the enemy's castle and secure a win through destroying theirs first.

Review: Star Wars Pinball (360)

After giving the iconic and classic comics universe a proper pinball treatment with its excellent collection of Marvel pinball tables, Pinball FX 2 applies the same reverence to another iconic classic, the Star Wars universe, with Star Wars Pinball on Xbox Live.

For a movie franchise that loves its trilogies, Star Wars Pinball has three tables included: Clone Wars, one devoted to the badass bounty hunter Boba Fett, and the best of the three, Star Wars Episode IV: The Empire Strikes Back. All three have the expected level of quality that all FX 2 tables have come to be known for in respect to the ball physics and pinball sounds. FX 2 pinball gives gamers such an unbelievably realistic pinball experience, it's hard sometimes to realize you're not actually standing at a table in the arcade or local pizza shop with a few quarters or tokens lined up on the table glass waiting for the next game.

Review: DMC - Devil May Cry: Virgil's Downfall (360 DLC)

Virgil's Downfall puts you in the driver's seat for Virgil's descent into madness. His defeat by his brother has not left him in the greatest of moods, and you can see the progression of how his mind slowly becomes unhinged as revenge starts to overwhelm his mind.

Review: Marvel vs. Capcom Origins (360)

A compilation of Marvel Super Heroes and Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes on Xbox Live Arcade is another stunning example of how far we've come in terms of graphics and twitch-based fighting games. (See our review of Marvel vs. Capcom 3.) But it also reaffirms just how awful I was -- and continue to be -- at both games.

Review: Tony Hawk HD (360)

To say that a significant amount of my downtime in college was spent playing Tony Hawk would be a gross understatement. The pick up and play nature of the game was tailor made for a 3 minute micro-break or the "see if you can beat that" group play with friends.

Early Impressions: Kung-Fu Strike: The Warrior's Rise (PC)

It came out a while ago for XBLA, and has now made it's way to PC.  So, Mr. Nash takes a look at the latest version of this fast action martial arts brawler.

E3 2012: Hybrid XBLA Hands-On

Hybrid is a third person online shooter set in a post apocalyptic world during a war between the Variant and Paladin. There's no walking in the environments, rather you fly from cover to cover. Once behind cover, you can move along it or you can jump over it or fly to another piece of cover. This may sound a little nutty at first, but this mechanic works extremely well.

E3 2012: Rock Band Blitz XBLA Hands-On

I've always been a fan of the Rock Band series. Even to this day, I still download weekly DLC released by Harmonix to keep the experience fresh. Rock Band Blitz is the newest addition to the franchise and ditches all the plastic instruments that have cluttered our living rooms the past several years.