Star Wars pinball
| Developer: | Zen Studios |
| Publisher: | LucasArts |
| Platforms: | Android/iOS/Xbox 360/PlayStation 3 |
| Price: | £1.32 - £6.99 (800MSP) |
| Demo available: | Yes |
After Far Sight Studio's series of emulated pinball classics, Zen Studio's Zen Pinball/Pinball FX series is best video pinbal game around. While I would never say their designs are quite up to the legends behind the tables in Arcade Pinball, they do make some cracking pin games. Now they've turned their attention to Disney's latest acquisition — Star Wars. There are three tables in the pack, Empire Strikes Back, Clone Wars and everyone's favourite masked bounty hunter, Boba Fett. If you (still) like Star Wars and you like pinball, you probably don't need to know any more than that.
Bit.Trip Runner 2
| Developer: | Gaijin Games |
| Publisher: | Gaijin Games |
| Platforms: | PlayStation 3/Xbox Live Arcade |
| Price: | £10.99 (1200MSP) |
| Demo available: | Yes |
Gaijin's Bit.Trip series are wonderful celebrations of gaming origins and now there's a sequel to the one of the best in the series, Bit.Trup Runner. However, the Atari 2600-looking aesthetic has gone, in favour of something more modern, whilst still hinting at its retro origins. If I'm honest I prefer the original look, but this is still a cracking rhythm puzzle game. Whether it's worth a tenner is a different question entirely.
WRC Powerslide
| Developer: | Milestone |
| Publisher: | Milestone |
| Platforms: | PlayStation 3 PSN/Xbox Live Arcade |
| Price: | £10.99/1200MSP |
| Demo available: | Yes |
Milestone's WRC series may be the offical rally game of the FIA World Rally Championship, but it's always played second fiddle to Codemasters' Colin McRae/Dirt series. However, with this downloadable only spin-off Milestone are channelling Super Sprint, Micro Machines and many other classic top down racers. The game appears to use the same engine as the main series, so it has all the same physics for (unsurprisingly) power sliding and also bashing up the car models. Add a few friends and you've got one rowdy, rip-roaring racer.
Gem Chaser
| Developer: | Electric Wolf |
| Publisher: | Electric Wolf |
| Platforms: | Xbox Live Indie Games |
| Price: | 67p (80 MSP) |
| Demo available: | Yes |
Having worked in the games industry for a few years means I'm friends with a number of bedroom developers, like the family behind Electric Wolf. They've been pretty prolific over the past few months, with each game improving on their last. Gem Chaser is their latest and by far their most challenging. The premise is simple, collect the gems that match the colour of Gem Chaser, which can be altered by jumping through colour changing portals. With strict time limits and devilish level design that means you absolutely must take the optimum path, this is definitely one for the more masochistic. Warning though, addiction will kick in way before frustration.
Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams
| Developer: | Black Forest Games |
| Publisher: | Black Forest Games |
| Platforms: | PC/PlayStaton 3/Xbox Live Arcade |
| Price: | £10.99 |
| Demo available: | Yes/No |
Back in the mid-80s, a group of guys calling themselves Time Warp Productions, produced a platforming game called The Great Giana Sisters. It was a blatant rip-off of Super Mario Bros, right down to level design, and Nintendo were quick to bury it. However, 22 years later they resurrected it for the Nintendo DS and now, another 4 years later Black Forest Games have released this truly gorgeous sequel. This is up there with Trine and Rayman Origins as one of the most beautiful-looking platformers ever. Thankfully the gameplay is pretty nifty too and features a light/dark world mechanic that sees level geometry change as you flip between one world and the other. There's not enough of this sort of game on the PC or Xbox 360, so platforming fans owe it to themselves to check it out.
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