More variety than Madonna's wardrobe!

This sequel to a sequel to a... anyway, it's the most frantic Break Out game I've played. I lost count of the number of pickups, block types, ship variations, trophies, and such-like.

Graphics and sound are your typical Ricochet affair rather...

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More variety than Madonna's wardrobe!

This sequel to a sequel to a... anyway, it's the most frantic Break Out game I've played. I lost count of the number of pickups, block types, ship variations, trophies, and such-like.

Graphics and sound are your typical Ricochet affair rather than outstanding, but this title wins on game play. It's balanced so that all types of players can enjoy it, although you won't find me playing it on the hardest level.

Yes, it's more of the same, but that doesn't mean it's not good. This is the best Ricochet yet, and it'll hook you in like, well, a hooky thing.

I still prefer Fizzball tho! It's just more relaxing :)

The one to beat!

Fizzball is wonderfully cute and extremely playable. If there is only one Break Out game to own, it's this. Don't be put off by the art style, this game works for players aged from 5 to 85. Buy it for yourself AND your kids!

The premiss is...

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The one to beat!

Fizzball is wonderfully cute and extremely playable. If there is only one Break Out game to own, it's this. Don't be put off by the art style, this game works for players aged from 5 to 85. Buy it for yourself AND your kids!

The premiss is simple. You, the professor (familiar to Fizzwizzle fans), must simply capture all the animals on each level. You do this by firing a ball at them. No, not some nasty shiny metal ball, but a friendly bubblegum type one which picks them up.

The ball also breaks through any fences or other items in the way, and collects bonus objects such as fruit that it knocks from the trees.

Almost everything about it is polished to perfection. I can't recommend it highly enough.

Balls of steel

I've always enjoyed a good Break Out clone so I was looking forward to Reaxxion. Although it's pretty good, I prefer the more casual Fizzball and the tougher Breakquest, both of which I own.

In most games you get one ball, but a nice innovation...

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Balls of steel

I've always enjoyed a good Break Out clone so I was looking forward to Reaxxion. Although it's pretty good, I prefer the more casual Fizzball and the tougher Breakquest, both of which I own.

In most games you get one ball, but a nice innovation here allows you up to 10 balls. You paddle lets you collect liquid metal, and you can use that to launch multiple balls, or super-sized ones.

As well as making your life a little more stressful, it also bumps the score multiplier. There tubes to shoot balls at which then give various pickups and bonuses - different from the boringly common randomly dropped ones.

At the end of each stage, you get to face a boss. I like the idea of bosses, but I played past the first boss - a true pong affair - and found it somewhat dull.

The artwork does the job whilst not being amazing, with some nifty special effects from time to time. As for the sound, even though the action is frantic, I found the soundtrack soporific and that worked against Reaxxion.

Overall it's a good effort and a reasonable game, but there's better games out there to try first.

One notable bug - several times it flicked back to my desktop and I thought it had crashed - especially when I pressed a button on the keyboard - but I just needed to select the application in my task bar again. Still, a bug all the same.

Defender-tastic

Firstly I have an admission to make. I'd played Alien Abduction a while back, and I've always been a fan. It's a good Defender clone. Not big, not clever, but very enjoyable.

Alien Abduction has that typical modern glowing artwork we've come to...

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Defender-tastic

Firstly I have an admission to make. I'd played Alien Abduction a while back, and I've always been a fan. It's a good Defender clone. Not big, not clever, but very enjoyable.

Alien Abduction has that typical modern glowing artwork we've come to expect from shooters, and which will doubtless remind people of Geometry Wars on XBLA, although I think this came first.

It's very playable, well polished, and considering the price it's good value.

Explosions Galore

I wasn't quite sure what to expect when I downloaded Jets N Guns Gold. I tend to be disappointed by indie shoot-em-ups, but not so much this time. This game is chock full of weapons, enemies, explosions, and even... erm... cows.

This is really...

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Explosions Galore

I wasn't quite sure what to expect when I downloaded Jets N Guns Gold. I tend to be disappointed by indie shoot-em-ups, but not so much this time. This game is chock full of weapons, enemies, explosions, and even... erm... cows.

This is really a hark back to the days of Silkworm, probably my all time favourite arcade game. Jets N Guns Gold's game play is pretty much shoot everything to pieces, ruminants and trees included, but it does have more than that.

Levels are handled via discrete missions, and you can constantly upgrade your ship with numerous ridiculous add-ons, not just weapons - you'll need to play it to see what I mean.

There's no sense of seriousness which is a good thing - you can even opt to slice and dice a few poor escaping pilots or ground-based troops. I hope they get danger money.

JnGG is not perfect. I was playing on easy mode and still struggled at times - make sure you upgrade your shields! When you colide with enemies or scenery, you die extremely quickly and it isn't obvious when you take damage - whatever happened to flashing your ship white?!

The artwork is a somewhat hit and miss affair, and the levels were overly long. Although there were checkpoints, I'd have preferred to break the action apart a little more.

Nothing original here, but what you get is a pretty darn good arcade game that's well worth getting your joypad out for.

Now, if only it supported two players...

Retro Coloured Insanity

Now this game isn't for everyone, but WOW, I love it!!! if you were a gamer back in the days of the seaside arcade, and you like a bit of fast action, get your chops around this madness!

You race along futuristic twisting and turning tracks,...

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Retro Coloured Insanity

Now this game isn't for everyone, but WOW, I love it!!! if you were a gamer back in the days of the seaside arcade, and you like a bit of fast action, get your chops around this madness!

You race along futuristic twisting and turning tracks, playing your own MP3 soundtrack, and get blown away by the startling visuals. If it's too hard, you even get to slow it down!

There's absolutely tons to do in this game, with several game modes, 2 player mode (when you complete arcade mode stage 1, frustratingly), awards, tests, etc!

Love it love it love it!

Over pegged

The thing about Peggle is that I wanted to like it, and I sort of did. It's Pachinko - a popular Japanese game where you, erm, drop a ball on to a series of pegs on a board.

I guess you either love or hate Pachinko, but I never quite saw the...

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Over pegged

The thing about Peggle is that I wanted to like it, and I sort of did. It's Pachinko - a popular Japanese game where you, erm, drop a ball on to a series of pegs on a board.

I guess you either love or hate Pachinko, but I never quite saw the point.

Like all PopCap games, Peggle is a nicely presented game, full of the usual pretty colours and sound effects. It kept me amused for a little while but I need to do more when I'm gaming.

Not one for me.

Strangely addictive

So Agatha Christie makes computer games now does she? Well anyway, Death on the Nile is one of a series of games where it's mainly about spotting objects and solving cryptic clues. It's amazingly addictive, and I'm speaking as a console gamer. For the...

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Strangely addictive

So Agatha Christie makes computer games now does she? Well anyway, Death on the Nile is one of a series of games where it's mainly about spotting objects and solving cryptic clues. It's amazingly addictive, and I'm speaking as a console gamer. For the casual crowd this one is an absolute winner.

You play the detective, a certain well known Belgian by the name of Hercule Poirot. It's your job to solve the murder, and you do it by solving clues in different rooms on the ship.

Most of these clues are simply find the object, but some are more complex or cryptic. Additionally, you then get the chance to question the suspects, something you'll need to do if you wish to complete the game.

This is a great game - it's almost like one of those puzzle magazines you find in magazine racks all over the world, but the puzzles are prettier.

Whatever sort of games you like, give this a go.