All-Time Highest Rated Games Tagged 'casual, action, Xbox' on The Great Games Experiment All-Time Highest Rated Games Tagged 'casual, action, Xbox' on The Great Games Experiment http://www.greatgamesexperiment.com/css/logo.jpg All-Time Highest Rated Games Tagged 'casual, action, Xbox' on The Great Games Experiment en-us Marble Blast Ultra Marble Blast Ultra is the latest in the classic Marble Blast series. Get ready for an arcade action masterpiece with stay-up-all-night gameplay and an insane level of visual polish.

Suitable for players of any age, Marble Blast Ultra transports you to a futuristic 'astrolab' arena suspended high in the clouds. Compete against each other by navigating your marbles through moving platforms and dangerous hazards, while collecting rare gems and power-up enhancements, in an effort to complete each course in record time. Compete head to head in Xbox Live Arcade multiplayer.

Dale Nardozzi - TeamXbox said,
Marble Blast Ultra is one of the more entertaining Xbox Live Arcade games; it stands alone in its genre.
]]> 26 Sep 2006 04:25:14 Fable: The Lost Chapters Once upon a time...

Scratch that, this is no fairy tale.

Imagine a world where every choice and action determines what you become. Where you evolve in real time based on every little thing you do. Fable is an RPG action adventure unlike any you've ever dreamed of. And now more than ever - with extra quests, additional customization, and extended content - your destiny is yours to choose!

Evolve in Real Time - Your decisions make you a hero, villain, or anything in between. Your actions determine how you look and how others react to you.

Expanded Content - Discover additional regions, storylines, and side quests as well as new optional missions.

Fable is designed to offer pure, concentrated role-playing, with a primary emphasis on open character development and influential interaction with the game world. The game begins as the player's character enters the fantasy land of Albion, a growing, interactive environment that develops and changes with each new event. The character grows and changes as well, beginning the adventure as a youth but slowly aging as he or she lives life in Albion, gaining wrinkled skin, graying hair, and (hopefully) becoming quite elderly by the end of the story.

The game is designed such that every choice and action the character makes can have an effect on his or her development. Physically active characters become more fit, while those who spend their time studying the arcane arts may develop receding hairlines. Characters who spend time working in the hot sun will get a tan and individual wounds heal into distinct, telling scars. Less tangible characteristics mature according to behavior as well. Players are free to commit nearly any conceivable action, but acts of cruelty will lead to vilification by NPC townsfolk, while noble and altruistic deeds may inspire loyalty and adulation from the masses.

It is important to note that instead of focusing on a limited number of scripted "good versus evil" plot points, character development in this game occurs mostly through hundreds of minor day-to-day decisions that gradually come to define and refine the player's place in the game world. In short, !Xbox gamers are offered a virtual lifetime of choices to play through. Fable is developed by Big Blue Box, an affiliate of Lionhead Studios, whose popular Black White shares the theme of free-form, consequential character development over a broad span of time. (http://www.starpulse.com/Video_Games/Fable/Summary/)
]]> 24 Jan 2007 07:52:51 Onimusha - Warlords Onimusha: Warlords is the first game of the Onimusha series.

The game features samurai Samanosuke Akechi, modeled after actor Takeshi Kaneshiro, determined to save Princess Yuki of the Saito clan and defeat Nobunaga, resurrected after signing a pact with demons. The game also features Kaede, an expert female ninja who provides Samanosuke with information. Kaede was originally sent to assassinate Samanosuke by the Iga clan of ninja, but had a change of heart and develops trust and deep feelings of love (as shown in Onimusha Blade Warriors) for the samurai and agrees to join him as his confidant. Samansosuke travels throughout all of Inabayama Castle where he searches for clues of Princess Yuki's whereabouts, finds special weapons, and solves various puzzles.
]]> 24 Jun 2007 06:10:37 Batman Vengeance Batman Vengeance is a video game in the Batman universe developed and published by Ubisoft. It was released over a period of time on all of the major platforms, starting with the PS2 version on October 15, 2001 and ending with the PC version a year later on October 8, 2002. The game is based on the animated series The New Batman Adventures, which in turn is an expansion of Batman: the Animated Series. Spanning 5 episodes, presented in a style intended to emulate that of the animated series, Batman Vengeance takes the Caped Crusader through 19 levels of gameplay up against a series of familiar villains unknowingly involved with one central plot to wreak havoc on Gotham City. Presented in a more stylized golden age comic book appearance that communicates attitude and personality through deceptively Spartan artwork, Batman engages in a variety of different gameplay modes (e.g. traditional third-person platforming and vehicle-based gameplay) in his pursuit to rid Gotham City of its most notorious criminals.

It starred Kevin Conroy as the role of Batman. He reprised it from the successful animated TV show as did Mark Hamill, who voiced the criminally insane Joker.

In Batman Vengeance, the gritty underworld of Gotham ignites as Batman becomes the target of a nerve-rattling conspiracy. After the Joker plummets to his death in an attempt to kill Batman, Gotham's criminals quickly escalate their schemes to gain power. Batman discovers subtle links in these seemingly unrelated crimes, but is forced undercover after being framed for an attack on Commissioner Gordon. Hunted by the police, the Dark Knight must pinpoint the unseen enemy weaving this sinister web before Gotham City falls to a fiery demise.
]]> 02 Mar 2007 04:36:43 Final Fight Final Fight is a classic beat 'em up series from Capcom. It is considered to be Street Fighter's "cousin", and the two series are set in the same universe (characters like Guy, Hugo Andore, Rolento, Cody Travers and Poison have all appeared in later Street Fighter installments). Final Fight was originally released as an arcade game and was ported to several platforms, including the Super NES, Sega Mega-CD, Sharp X68000 and Game Boy Advance. It features former wrestler (as seen in Saturday Night Slam Masters), and mayor of Metro City (Capcom's fictitious city, modeled after New York City), Mike Haggar.

The story of Final Fight involves the abduction of Haggar's daughter, Jessica, because he would not work with Mad Gear to ensure their dominance of the streets. When the Mad Gear thug Damnd contacts Haggar and informs him, Haggar calls up his daughter's boyfriend Cody and his sparring partner Guy, and the three vigilantes head into the streets to bust Mad Gear's skulls, fighting their way through the hordes of goons littering the city (including the Rastafarian thug Damnd, the "Japanophile" Sodom, former Red Beret and militia leader Rolento, corrupt cop Edi. E, and the ill-tempered Abigail), to get to Mad Gear's boss, Belger.

Final Fight, whilst following in the footsteps of Double Dragon, was an innovative and balanced game. Unlike several beat 'em ups before it, Final Fight featured very large and detailed sprites for its day, and the controls were quite fluid and simple. Beginners could take to the game quickly, yet the game was balanced and difficult enough to ensure even experts could always expect a challenge for every new play. The game also began the strength-based, speed-based, and average character variety that countless other beat 'em up and other genres derived, as one controls Haggar (very powerful yet very slow and vulnerable to attack), Guy (very agile and can use hit-and-run, yet has weak offensive power), or Cody (who balances strength and speed, being an excellent choice for beginners). It also featured very long levels and various powerful enemies that could easily crowd the screen and had several fighting tactics against the player. It was not uncommon to hear people talk of how crowds would gather to watch whoever was playing the machine at the time.
]]> 05 Apr 2007 11:59:05 The Thing "The Thing" is a continuation of the story that was told in the original 1982 film of the same name. The game is moulded in the Survival-Horror style with a bent towards action and is viewed in the third-person.

After the events of the film and the apparent destruction of the U.S research base in Antarctica, a military rescue team is sent in to investigate the area and seek out any survivors. Throughout the game the player learns of the fate of the previous inhabitants and of the virus which caused those horrific events.

The player takes on the direct role of Captain Blake. Blake is in charge of a crew and is able to give orders such as follow, stay, attack or perform special functions. Team-mates vary in ability, some being medics while others are geared towards fighting and engineering. Blake is also able to give and retrieve weapons and ammunition from team-mates when needed.

Paranoia plays a major part in gameplay dynamics as well as in the film as potentially anybody could be infected with the strange virus. Team-mates are prone to being spooked when certain events occur and Blake must try to calm them by either giving them weapons and ammo, stimulants or more importantly by testing each other for the virus. A limited amount of testing kits can be found scattered around the place and allow the team to determine whether or not they are infected - leading to trust gained if clean, and lots of blood and death if not...
]]> 01 Mar 2007 12:15:08 Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex is a platform game in the Crash Bandicoot series.

Gameplay is basically the same, but this time Crash has a new move called sneak. This move allowes you to sneak over nitros. Coco is also playable, and for the first time, Coco has her own set of moves. There are many vehicles available including a 4x4, a plane, and a robot suit.

The story begins somewhere outside Earth's orbit, where we see Doctor Neo Cortex's evil space station base. Inside it, Uka Uka has called together a "bad guy convention" and is obviously quite angry with everyone. According to him, their track record for spreading evil is pathetic. They conclude that Crash Bandicoot is to blame. Of course, they wouldn't let anything stand in the way of evil, especially not a "brainless orange marsupial", and decide that Crash must be eliminated. And so, Uka Uka orders Cortex and his cronies to come up with one good plan... or else. Cortex informs everyone that in his scientific endeavors, he has created a genetically-advanced superweapon of unbelievable strength. But the final missing crucial element is a power source. Uka Uka brings up the Elementals, a group of destructive masks with the power over Earth, Fire, Water, and Air. If they unleashed their destructive energy, they'll have enough power to bring Cortex's secret weapon to life. They would have a weapon capable of crushing mountains, demolishing entire cities, and wiping Crash Bandicoot off the face of the Earth forever.
]]> 04 Mar 2007 02:59:22 RoboBlitz Blitz is a young and capable robot working as a technician in the Opera Point Orbital Defense Station and Space Cannon facility. His job description includes: fueling generators, rewiring electrical systems, re-balancing busted conveyors, spinning massive fans, and even molding giant railgun slugs. It's a tough job, but someone's got to do it! Thankfully, Blitz has a trusty sidekick named Karl, who helps out by designing new weapons and tools. We'd tell you more, but then we'd have to EMP you...
]]> 06 Dec 2006 11:37:33 ToeJam & Earl III: Mission to Earth From box description:

Earth: a planet in desperate need of Funkification. Your mission: explore sprawling environments, master the art of Funk-Fu fighting, collect gift-wrapped power-ups, defeat the dreaded Anti-Funk and generally get down with your bad self in an off the wall adventure unlike anything you've evperienced before. Feel the funk, baby!
]]> 08 Feb 2007 06:14:40 Blazing Angels Squadrons of WWII WWII Flight sim where you're the commander f the Blazing Angels. You start as a volunteer in WWII fighting with the british and French, then move on to other campaigns of the war such as Pearl Harbor, Guadalcanal, Normandy (D-Day), North Africa, and even a bombing raid on Tokyo. It's more of an arcade type game, with in air repairs, unlimited ammo, and simple commands, but it's fun and challenging, and there's plenty of unlocks through the campaign and even in arcade mode, and Ace Duels with AI opponents in the same type of aircraft you're flying.

The Mutiplayer is where this game shines with several modes like Co-op, and duels, or simplay to see who can down the most aircraft. It's a fun title, but don't buy it new. Pick up a used copy and enjoy the game, as this title isn't for everyone.
]]> 08 Jan 2007 05:21:18 Crash Twinsanity Crash Twinsanity is the fifth platform game in the Crash Bandicoot series. It was released in 2004 for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox.

Two purple birds called the Wicked Twins form a new threat to Crash's homeworld. Crash has to team up with his arch rival Dr. Neo Cortex to put a stop to this new threat.

Crash Twinsanity is a classic-style Crash platform game, though this time Crash has to work together with Dr. Cortex from time to time. Crash can pick up and throw Dr. Cortex to places he can't reach himself, or use him as a hammer to slap enemies. The consistent conflict between both heroes causes many situations.
]]> 04 Mar 2007 03:08:09