I turned my Xbox 360 on today for the first time in over a month (I think – perhaps longer), and set about downloading demos of all the Xbox Live Arcade additions since I last looked. I then played them:
Alien Hominid HD:
Pretty, Metal Slug-type game with a stupidly hard difficulty setting. It isn’t the mid and end of level bosses that caused me any grief, really – unlike everyone else – since they have simple patterns you can avoid. They do take far too long to kill, though. No, the real difficulty was the fact you can’t see the bullets that baddies shoot at you when the screen gets busy. And you can’t shoot diagonally either, which is a pain. Completed the demo level, but I won’t be buying the full game.
Paperboy:
It’s exactly what you expect it to be – the arcade game emulated. I used to love it in the arcade (and on the Spectrum, and assorted other machines), but I was always rubbish at it. I don’t think I’ve ever done a full week. I completed the demo level, and it was fun, but something is missing. Perhaps the game has just lost its sheen over the years? I might buy it, if I have a dull moment.
Root Beer Tapper:
I’ve NEVER liked this game, in any of its guises. It’s too much like a Game and Watch game, which although isn’t a bad thing, isn’t really good for extended play. I got onto level 3 or something but I have no desire ever to play it again.
Worms:
The Rev posted his comments about Worms up on his blog, and although I don’t have the full game (yet – I suspect I will), I agree with what he says. Basically, it’s cut-down Worms. The main thing that is missing for me is the baseball bat. That was my most-used weapon, and it just doesn’t feel right having it missing. Also absent is one of the jumps – there used to be jump-forwards, jump-up-high-and-forward-a-little, and backflip. The middle one is gone. It’s also annoying that you can’t choose which worm you want to move at the beginning of your turn. I’m sure that isn’t a “pure Worms” option, but it’s how we always played it. Perhaps the full version has it as a configurable setting?
