Monday, September 7, 2009

The LoadDown - 09/07/2009

Whoops, with the Labor Day holiday at hand I nearly forgot it was Monday!  Time to check out the week's downloadable releases for the Wii and the XBox 360...

WiiWare -- 2 games this week.  One is Contra ReBirth from Konami -- similar to Gradius Rebirth, it's a brand-new 16-bit-style entry in a venerable Konami series.  I'm up for shooting some aliens, dodging oversized, slow-moving bullets, and dying frequently, so I will probably pick this one up.  We also have ColorZ, an up-to-three-player sci-fi puzzle/shooter with an Ikaruga-style color sensitivity aspect; it's reputedly pretty difficult but easier with multiple (local only) players.

Virtual Console -- No surprise here, it's Super Star Wars: Return of the Jedi from Lucasarts, completing the fun but difficult SNES trilogy announced in early August.

DSiWare -- A collection of card games, Clubhouse Family Express: Family Favorites, including Hearts, Contract Bridge, Dominoes, Dots and Boxes, and Ludo games.  No online support, but a decent collection of classic card games for 500 points.  I think developers are starting to figure out what's right for DSiWare -- there's no margin available for a game like this as a full retail release, but with no manufacturing overhead and a reasonable price tag it may find an audience.

XBLA -- 2 games last week.  Defense Grid: The Awakening, a tower defense game that is definitely on my to-play list, and Yo-Ho Kablammo!, a kids/party multiplayer game with a pirate theme -- there have been a few of these on downloadable console services already, I can't see that this one brings anything new to the table. 

Good news for the adventuring crowd - Telltale's long-delayed Wallace & Gromit Episode 2: The Last Resort is expected this Wednesday, September 9th, on XBLA.  The 4-episode series has already finished its run on the PC, so I'm glad to see the XBLA releases getting back into gear.

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