What X360 Live arcade game are you playing right now

[Buyatari]

I bought backgammon because I never played backgammon before. The achievements seem pretty easy and now I can say I know how to play backgammon.

[GM80]

Worms, mostly, with the new Boom Boom Rocket taking up most of this week.

[8-bitNesMan]

I was addicted to Geometry Wars and partner Uno until Symphony came along... Now that gets all my non Rainbow Six time :)

[Gamereviewgod]

I bought backgammon because I never played backgammon before. The achievements seem pretty easy and now I can say I know how to play backgammon.

Um, Backgammon's not on the Live Arcade?

[Leo_A]

Check again, yes it is.

I mostly just play Tapper.

[Gamereviewgod]

Check again, yes it is.



Oh, the Hardwood Backgammon. Yep, my fault. Forgot about that one. I saw Backgammon and thought it was something I somehow missed.

That said, Boom Boom Rocket is currently my addiction, with Luxor closing in.

[Half Japanese]

I unlocked the inverted castle in Castlevania about a week ago, but I haven't gone back to it since then. Geometry Wars is pretty quick (for me), so I squeeze in a round or two of that in between other games.

How the hell is Boom Boom Rocket getting all this praise? The demo was pretty awful and the music was lame at best (c'mon, a ska song...and not even a catchy one?!?).

[Vinnysdad]

Playing Heavy Weapon and Uno

[p_b]

I played SotN quite often in the last few weeks, but my favourite game is Geometry Wars. Although I´m not really good at it....

[Nebagram]

Boom boom rocket, having finally weaned myself off of Zuma. Haven't played UNO in ages... :-/

[heybtbm]

How the hell is Boom Boom Rocket getting all this praise? The demo was pretty awful and the music was lame at best (c'mon, a ska song...and not even a catchy one?!?).

Exactly what I was thinking...low expectations I guess. Stupid, stupid game.

On topic: I've been playing Assault Heroes. I see it as a beautiful 2007 version of Konami's NES classic, Jackal. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night is starting to get pretty hard with Richter. I've never been able to beat the game with him as the main character...damn last achievement.

[PallarAndersVisa]

boom boom

[Howie6925]

Jewel quest, worms and paperboy are my games of choice right now.

[dbiersdorf]

Alien Hominid.

It's so hard. :(

[GM80]

How the hell is Boom Boom Rocket getting all this praise? The demo was pretty awful and the music was lame at best (c'mon, a ska song...and not even a catchy one?!?).

Different strokes for different folks, I guess. In my busy schedule, I often want a game with no plot and low difficulty that I can relax with. When I had my Dreamcast, that was Rez. I hadn't found a replacement for that until BBR. It's mostly for the psychotropic effect, I suppose. If you were really tense and frustrated when you played games like this the effect would be gone, but it comes naturally to me.

As for the music, the ska song in the demo is the only ska song on the entire track list. The rest are euro-dance remixes of classical tunes. I'm a musician who happens to be fond of electronic styles and I'm totally digging the rest of the tracks ... enough that I tracked down a download of the soundtrack. The one you mentioned is probably the worst of the lot.

I certainly wouldn't rank it very high for gameplay or innovation, which may be what you're saying. I like it for the "experience," I guess, much like an interactive music visualizer. If I really want to "game," I'll fire up something else instead.

[diskoboy]

It's a mix between Castlevania:SotN and Boom Boom Rocket.

Still trying to beat Richter mode. That's the last achievement I need.

I can't even get past the first few seconds on any song, in hard mode, in Boom Boom.

[Darren870]

Umm pretty much everything. I have 98% of the games so I usually stick with the new one of that week and then play it until I can't get any more achievements. Thats usually by the weekend and then I go from A-Z trying to beat the achievements I didn't get.

Im a little behind right now because of recent trips so I am only at like SOTN. Though I paused that to play some Luxor 2.

[PapaStu]

I'm all over Geometry Wars. I'm liking that i'm closing in on 500k games now. Otherwise its a little SOTN or Heavy Weapon.

[X SMF X]

I always find myself going back to geometry wars

[heybtbm]

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night is starting to get pretty hard with Richter. I've never been able to beat the game with him as the main character...damn last achievement.

Done and done. Wasn't so hard after all.

[Buyatari]

I'm all over Geometry Wars. I'm liking that i'm closing in on 500k games now.

I was sooooooooooo freakin close. 496k I think. I'm sure once I break the 500k I'll be right up on a million. Its one of those games where you grow in leaps and then get stuck for months at the same spot.

[CreamSoda]

Worms

I haven't really focused on the achievements(although they do seem fairly easy to unlock). I've just been playing rouns vs the computer teams, having fun and enjoying this version of my favorite 2D Strategy game. Sure it was a little rushed, but it's still WORMS! :)

I plan to get Marbel Madness this week, after playing the demo I decided that I must have it.

[Half Japanese]

Worms

I haven't really focused on the achievements(although they do seem fairly easy to unlock). I've just been playing rouns vs the computer teams, having fun and enjoying this version of my favorite 2D Strategy game. Sure it was a little rushed, but it's still WORMS! :)

I plan to get Marbel Madness this week, after playing the demo I decided that I must have it.

Marble Madness is one of the best original (and I use that term solely to designate non-port, since it's pretty heavily "inspired" by quite a few other titles) games on the XBLA. The only problem I have with it are that the "collect the gems" levels are awful, lazy design, but you don't have to play them if you don't want, and the other levels make up for it.

RE: Boom Boom Rocket, I dunno, I just didn't see much to it other than hitting the designated button when it hits the line, and the songs in the demo didn't seem to designate any sort of rhythm to it at all. I love me some PaRappa, Lammy, etc., but I just didn't see this as a rhythm game so much as a hand-eye coordination exercise.

[PallarAndersVisa]

ranked #14 on Boomboom rocket's William Tell Overload, Endurance-Hard. :)

[Leo_A]

Marble Madness is on XBLA? Since when?

[Darren870]

They mean Marble Blast Ultra

[Leo_A]

lol

Darn, it got my hopes up. I'd like a nice version of Marble Madness with online play, I figured I just missed it. Marble Blast is rather sucky in comparison.

[GM80]

Marble Madness is one of the best original (and I use that term solely to designate non-port, since it's pretty heavily "inspired" by quite a few other titles) games on the XBLA.

Assuming you're talking about Marble Blast, it is in fact a port of a Mac/PC game. It shipped on my old Apple iBook G4 a while back.

[kaedesdisciple]

I kinda fell off on Symphony since I finished it. For me it's been pretty much all TMNT 89 and the fiancee on Lumines. I plan on going back to Uno soon to finish that one up.

[NE146]

Still SOTN.. basically all I'm doing is maxing out my familiars.. 5-10 minutes at a time. Why? Why not? :p

[Buyatari]

I need to check out that Lumines demo. What is it... another Tetris clone?

[Half Japanese]

I need to check out that Lumines demo. What is it... another Tetris clone?

Nah, it's more along the color-matching lines of puzzle games. Match 4 or more up and they disappear, etc. It's okay, but it's way overpriced for a XBLA title, with additional rapings coming in the forms of "new content." The other modes were more entertaining to me than the main game.

[kaedesdisciple]

Nah, it's more along the color-matching lines of puzzle games. Match 4 or more up and they disappear, etc. It's okay, but it's way overpriced for a XBLA title, with additional rapings coming in the forms of "new content." The other modes were more entertaining to me than the main game.

Agreed. They overcharge for a gimped version of the game. Really made me mad. If you really want the game, I suggest picking up the PSP or PS2 versions. Either can be had for about $20, and they're the full game.

[diskoboy]

Just downloaded Gyruss.

Alot of the achievement points in this game are pretty tough.

I've still got enough to buy the 3-D Ultra Mini-golf, but I'm gonna give Gyruss a spin, for a while.

[Oobgarm]

I got into Boom Boom Rocket last night, and I'm hooked.

[Half Japanese]

Just downloaded Gyruss.

Alot of the achievement points in this game are pretty tough.

I've still got enough to buy the 3-D Ultra Mini-golf, but I'm gonna give Gyruss a spin, for a while.

I gave the demos a quick once-over before work this morning and the Mini Golf game ain't so hot. I'm not a fan of the "Xtreme" direction that every type of sports game has felt the need to wallow in, and this one's no exception. By the time I hit the 3rd outer space-themed hole, I knew I'd be deleting the demo from my hard drive in minutes...a process sped up by the loopy gravity gimmick they went with. The Burger King games were better than this, and they were a third of the price and on physical media.

Gyruss is pretty good, I may end up picking it up with the 1600 point card I nabbed free with Guitar Hero II two weeks ago. I'd (*GASP*) never played Gyruss before, but I've played several of its clones and spiritual successors.

[LiquidPolicenaut]

I gave the demos a quick once-over before work this morning and the Mini Golf game ain't so hot. I'm not a fan of the "Xtreme" direction that every type of sports game has felt the need to wallow in, and this one's no exception. By the time I hit the 3rd outer space-themed hole, I knew I'd be deleting the demo from my hard drive in minutes...a process sped up by the loopy gravity gimmick they went with. The Burger King games were better than this, and they were a third of the price and on physical media.


I actually feel the opposite on this one. I actually like the golf game and may actually purchase the full version. I dont think its incredibly over the top, which is a plus. It's basic, but fun-basic :)

[PDorr3]

I have been playing minigolf, which I LOVE online, I havent laughed so much in a long time, but that game is just plain fun when you play with people (who actualy talk). Nothing better than getting the lightning power up and when they are about to get in the hole it zaps them out of bounds!

Gyruss is fun too, its a thumb hurter though (no auto fire), Awsome music, I never played the original but this reminds me alot of tempest (which is a good thing)

[Nesmaster]

Having been heavily addicted to Geometry Wars for the last few weeks and FINALLY unlocking my final achievement (surviving 1 million points) this is by far the best and most addicting game on the arcade right now in my opinion. It's got that easily to learn, lifetime to master gameplay that makes you want to keep playing it again and again. Now that the achievements are finished, I'll probably take a break but damn, what a ride :)

[PapaStu]

Having been heavily addicted to Geometry Wars for the last few weeks and FINALLY unlocking my final achievement (surviving 1 million points) this is by far the best and most addicting game on the arcade right now in my opinion. It's got that easily to learn, lifetime to master gameplay that makes you want to keep playing it again and again. Now that the achievements are finished, I'll probably take a break but damn, what a ride :)

Shit, wanna polish it off for me too? I'm at that stuck at 500k plateau, where i'm running just shy of the 10 mutiplier and can't get those last two needed bombs, and well not hitting anything else because of it.

[Nesmaster]

Shit, wanna polish it off for me too? I'm at that stuck at 500k plateau, where i'm running just shy of the 10 mutiplier and can't get those last two needed bombs, and well not hitting anything else because of it.

I would if I could, but survivng 1 million is about 50/50 luck and skill. It all depends on what enemy patterns the game throws at you. Like if it randomly spawns snakes around you a lot, or a lot of snakes in general, it's pretty tough. Likewise if the game goes magnet crazy or a bad combination of black holes/ those pick spinning boxes. I'd say it took me roughly 10 hours of playing after I was good enough to hit the million, then it was just waiting for the right enemy combo.

Both the bomb and 10x multiplier ones are pretty tough too, needing to score 600k without using a bomb is probably the easiest, but the 10x can come anywhere between 5-800k depending on how many times the game throws blue diamond/ blue jack spawns at you.

But if you're interested, hit me up with a PM either here or on XBL, and I might try a run or two to see what I can do.

[FoxyGamer]

Pac Man Championship edition. Love it.

[MonoTekETeA]

Only arcade game I have and play once in a while is Settlers of Catan. I like it a lot, one of my favorite board games, but I only had to pay $10s instead of $40 for it, and I always have people to play with.

[velvet396]

Tried Geometry wars and I just didn't get what was addicting. It seemed near impossible, and I don't play shooters... so maybe it's just not for me.

On the other hand, I played sonic for an hour or two last night to get the "reach certain levels" and "win the game" achievements. I'll go back and get all the emeralds (only missed two in beating the game, shameful I know) and try my hardest at the Marble Zone Act 1 speed run (under 80 seconds).

I'm not even going to try beating the game without losing a life, although it'd be easy given the save-state feature, it'll take too long (read: I hate scrap brain zone). That and the beat the game in under 40 minutes achievement, is that "set a timer beside you" or does it go off the total time amassed in the levels? If it's just level time, I might be able to do it, once again depending on the save feature in scrap-brain. I can't do that one safely & quickly.

Looking forward to the other Sega Vintage Collection games.

[Nesmaster]

Tried Geometry wars and I just didn't get what was addicting. It seemed near impossible, and I don't play shooters... so maybe it's just not for me.

I didn't like the game when I sucked too. Believe me at one time I couldn't even SCORE 100k, and reading the rest of the achievements discouraged me at that point. So I stopped playing for a while. Then I came back on it heavy and got better and better, and I don't normally play games after I hit 100% achievements unlocked in them, but this is the exception. I love Geometry Wars. I don't like what they're doing with it on the wii and ds. $5 was what made this game great. $40 is too high.