Feed OmNomster - The Hungry Monster is one of the more hyperactive games available in the Windows Phone Store. You are tasked with feeding the OmNomster trash that flies across the screen while avoiding bombs and other dangers that tempt the hungry critter.

Feed OmNomster is available for low memory devices and not a bad time waster of a game. You just need to make sure you have a firm grip on your Windows Phone.

OmNomster hungry, must feed OmNomster

Your main menu for OmNomster isn't very cluttered up with options to access the settings (sound/music), visit the gaming store where you can buy power-ups, view the About screen and jump into game play.

During game play you will earn golden caps that serve as currency in OmNomster's realm and you can spend the caps in the gaming store for power-ups that will deflect the trash bombs, arm OmNomster with plasma balls and a time warp token that slows the trash down.

Game play is spread out across five levels that require you to score a set number of points before advancing to the next stop on the game level map.

The goal of Feed OmNomster is to feed your monster trash that floats across the screen while avoiding the trash bombs that appear at random. Your score is in the upper left corner of the screen and your monster's health/hunger meter is in the upper right. Any power-ups you have available will be displayed at the bottom of the gaming screen.

OmNomster's movement is controlled by shaking the screen. The faster you shake your Windows Phone the more frantic OmNomster's movements become (hence the need for a firm grip). When you stop shaking the screen, OmNomster will settle to center screen to await the next food item.

The problem with shaking your Windows Phone too fast is that you really cannot see anything on the screen and the game becomes more of a game of chance than skill in dodging the bombs. You'll need to find a happy-medium on what's the best shaking speed and use your Windows Phone tilt sensors to dodge the bombs.

The game does give you fair warning when a trash bomb is about to soar across the screen by flashing an exclamation mark in the general area the bomb will enter the screen. However, even with the warning it is hard to avoid these bombs when your bouncing OmNomster all around the screen.

Overall Impression

Feed OmNomster - The Hungry Monster isn't a terrible game but not necessarily one that I can see myself playing day in and day out. It's a Windows Phone game that is nice to have in your gaming library to spend a little time with every now and then.

It will test your eye hand coordination in avoiding the trash bombs and your grip strength to avoid sending your Windows Phone sailing across the room. Graphics are nicely drawn-up and the power-ups do come in handy. I wouldn't mind seeing a few more levels of play and the scoring goals dialed down just a bit to help extend the game life of OmNomster though.

All in all, Feed OmNomster - The Hungry Monster is a nice game to have tucked away and while there are not many reviews, the game does score a 4 Star rating, which isn't too far of a stretch. If you take Feed OmNomster out for a test drive, be sure to rate the game in the store and leave some constructive feedback to help the developer get a feel for things.

• Feed OmNomster-The Hungry Monster - Windows Phone 8 - 23MB - Free - Store Link

Earlier this week, Microsoft announced that today would be the official release date of Minecraft: Xbox One Edition. The game actually ended up launching yesterday evening, perhaps to line up more closely with the debut of the Playstation 4 version on the same day.

Although Minecraft is already available on other platforms like Xbox 360 and PC (but sadly not Windows Phone), the release of the Xbox One version still warrants excitement. For one thing, owners of the 360 game can buy the Xbox One Edition for only $4.99. More importantly, this version brings a ton of improvements over the previous one, such as 1080p support, improved draw distance, and larger worlds.

Still don't get the fuss? Our detailed review with exclusive hands-on video and screenshots will set you straight.

Hop into the tutorial

After launching the game, players can select between playing the Tutorial, creating a new world, or importing an Xbox 360 save. First-time Minecraft players will want to start with the tutorial. It seems to be basically unchanged from the Xbox 360 version, walking players through movement, crafting, and other game mechanics.

As a bonus, the tutorial world contains lots of rare materials in relative abundance. You can stick around and earn lots of Achievements for completing tasks like crafting or cooking specific items.

Learning to survive

Once the tutorial ends, players will have to learn to survive on their own and fend off predators. The daytime in Minecraft is safe, a time for exploration and collecting materials. Your unique game world is truly vast, stretching out in all directions, even up and down. At first you're simply tasked with building a shelter to sleep in and survive the night, but eventually you'll be able to concentrate on building new and better things, including weapons like swords and bows and arrows.

Those weapons will come in handy for hunting animals like cows and pigs, but also monsters. Once the sun goes down in Minecraft, all manner of monsters start to lurk: zombies, spiders, skeleton archers, Creepers, and several more. The stronger ones can end your life quickly if you're not careful, forcing you to respawn without any of the items you previously carried. Don't worry, those items remain where you died, should you wish to return for them.

But the hordes of monsters can certainly prove problematic, which is why staying indoors is usually the safest option. Monsters can still tell you're in a building and try to attack, but the door will hold them off for at least a while. If holing up and trying to survive the night proves too stressful, you can simply choose to sleep in a bed until morning – as long as there aren't any monsters around when you get in bed.

You'll have to manage but your health and hunger if you want to stay alive. The key to both is simply eating good food. You can plant and harvest vegetables like carrots and potatoes. You can also catch fish (just remember to press Left Trigger right when the lure bobs underwater) and kill animals for meat. Then you'll want to cook that meat with the furnace. You can even cook more complex recipes like mushroom stew, pumpkin pie, and cake. Yum!

The Minecraft Store

Minecraft comes to Xbox One with support for (I believe) all previously released DLC from the Xbox 360 version. DLC comes in three categories:

• Skins: Change the appearance of your character! Although the game is normally first-person, you can switch to a third-person view by clicking in the left stick. Also, other players can see you and admire your cool appearance. Minecraft offers packs of original characters and licensed character packs as well. You can choose from a great variety of Marvel skins, for instance, including the Guardians of the Galaxy pack. A Doctor Who skin pack will be released later this month as well.
• Textures: Change your world's appearance with completely different texture sets.
• Mash-ups: These packs include skins, textures, and unique environments to explore. The three packs currently available are based on Halo, Mass Effect, and Skyrim. Unfortunately, you can't earn Achievements while playing in the mash-up worlds. Each mash-up costs $3.99. Players can also sample the worlds from the mash-up packs for free, but progress can't be saved in the trial versions.

The Minecraft Store is built-in to the game and features its own intuitive interface for navigation and purchasing. You can also buy through the traditional Xbox Store, but that's much clunkier.

Performance and improvements

Minecraft is a visually basic game, but in the same deliberate way as Super Time Force. The blocky 3D graphics and simplistic textures evoke feelings of the 32-bit era. Except that 32-bit games never really had the complexity of Minecraft's vast worlds. Nor did they run in the beautiful 1080p resolution offered on Xbox One.

Blocky graphics or not, the art style is a deliberate stylistic choice that makes this game different and unique. In fact, the distinctive appearance has been one of many factors that made Minecraft one of the best-selling downloadable games of all time. You should really get over it.

Besides the increased resolution, the Xbox One version runs at a smoother frame rate than the 360 game. It seems to hit 60 fps (the sweet spot) most of the time, though the frames will dip a bit if things get too hectic. The draw distance is much improved, allowing players to take in just how vast the game world really is. Speaking of which, the worlds can be 36 times larger here than on the 360. That's a lot to explore!

The actual times for generating new worlds and loading save games are still a bit longish, but that's a Minecraft staple. This version saves games much faster than the 360 game, so that's a bonus.

Multiplayer

You might not expect it, but Minecraft offers excellent multiplayer support. Four people can play together in split-screen on one system, and up to eight people can join online. Split-screen players can join online games as well, so populating games should be a snap. Split-screen players can even earn Achievements.

The downside of split-screen is that the UI elements are pretty small compared to single-player. You'll want to sit relatively close to the screen if you hope to deal with crafting and similar tasks.

Still, Minecraft works very well as a cooperative game, with players working together to build complex structures or simply to survive. You can adjust the difficulty to be as easy or challenging as you like, or switch to Creative mode if you don't want to deal with enemies or restrictions on movement. Like Diablo III: Ultimate Evil Edition, this is a great game to relax with while socializing with friends.

Achievements

The Xbox One Edition has 50 Achievements worth 1,000 GamerScore, and of course they stack with the 360 version's 400 GamerScore worth of Achievements. Many are easy to get; I knocked out 15 in less than two hours. But there are some hard ones, such as playing for 100 days, and building a minecart track of over 500m length in a single direction. Those will require some dedication!

Overall Impression

What's the big deal about Minecraft? In a nutshell, it offers a deep and engrossing survival simulation. You can spend a lot of time exploring your uniquely generated world, or even hop online and team up with friends. And you can also play Creative mode, building wild and intricate structures and completing reshaping the game environment.

Survival game play isn't for everyone, nor is creating things. But don't say you "don't get it." That's like saying you don't understand building things with LEGOs, or sculpting, or painting.

Remember, the Xbox One Edition is only $4.99 for owners of the Xbox 360 game! Just try to buy the game and the discounted price should show up, though the discount has been hit-or-miss for owners of the 360 disc version. All DLC purchased from your Gamertag on 360 will show up as free in the Xbox One game as well.

• Minecraft: Xbox One Edition – Xbox One – 553 MB – $19.99 – Xbox.com Link

Puzzle games are a great way to pass the time. There are several quality puzzle games available in the Windows Phone Store and Circuits hopes to join their ranks. The game has over three hundred puzzles that challenge you to complete an array of circuits connecting a power source to lights.

While the concept sounds easy, the puzzles will make you scratch your head. Some puzzles have move limits, some have timers and some take on a more casual pace simply requiring you to turn on all the lights.

Available for low-memory devices, Circuits is an attractive puzzle game that is definitely worth trying.

Three difficulty levels, plenty of gaming

Your main menu for Circuits includes options to access the game's settings (sound/music), check out more games from the developer, check out the high scores, rate the game and access the game's Facebook and Twitter pages. Oh and you also have the option to jump into game play.

Circuits currently has three levels of difficulty to master. They include Easy Going, Challenging and Madness with each difficulty level having 120 levels of game play. The Easy Going difficulty is very easy up until about the 20th level or so, then it kicks in and delivers some fun, head scratching puzzles. Challenging also has a few easy puzzles to begin with and Madness comes out of the gate with puzzles that will make you rub your brow.

While it's tempting to avoid the Easy Going difficulty, the first puzzle in the Easy Going batch of puzzles will have a brief tutorial that outlines general game play. In a nutshell, each puzzle will have at least one light bulb and one power source along with several sections of wiring scattered between the two.

If you tap on a section of wiring, light bulb or power source that object will rotate clockwise. The goal, as you would guess, is to rotate all the pieces to make a connection between the power source(s) and light bulb(s). To make things interesting, each puzzle will have its own challenge that is displayed prior to revealing the game board. The challenges include lighting up all the lights, making the connections within a set number of moves (each tap counts as a move) and making the connection under a time limit.

You do have the option of registering with the game (free) but it is not required. Registration allows you to post your scores to and view the online leaderboard.

Overall Impression

Circuits is a nicely drawn-up Windows Phone puzzle game. The game offers plenty of mind challenging puzzles in a very clean looking package. It even has the high voltage warning stickers on the game screen.

I'm not a big fan of having to register to gain access to the online high scores but then again, the game is enjoyable without the need to post your scores online but your views may differ.

With 360 puzzles to solve the game won't grow old quick and all in all, Circuits is a fun puzzle game to pass the time with.

• Circuits – Windows Phone 8 – 14MB – Free – Store Link

Windows Phone Central Gaming Roundup: Time Waster Games

While our Windows Phones can be tremendous productivity devices, they are also fantastic entertainment devices. From watching movies, listening to your favorite music files or playing games your Windows Phone can help you pass the time.

This week's roundup we'll stray from the top rated lists in the Windows Phone Store and approach things from more of a personal angle by highlighting five current gaming titles on my Windows Phone. Games that I have found to be great time wasters.

These titles are entertaining, challenging, downright fun games to get you through ten maybe fifteen minutes of time. Time we all face while waiting for a table at the restaurant, sitting in carpool line, patiently waiting at the DMV or any other situation where you need a distraction to make time move a little quicker.

As a bonus, most of these games can easily stand up to longer gaming sessions if you prefer.

To avoid a lot of repetitiveness and over use of the 512MB banner, all the gaming titles in this week's roundup are available for low-memory devices.

2048 Plus

Our Sam Sabri got me hooked on this game and while I have achieved the goal of creating a 2048 tile, the game has not grown stale for me yet. 2048 Plus has several gaming modes that follow the same gaming concept - combine matching tiles until the value of one tile equals 2048.

What I like? I like the simple gaming mechanics that are matched with challenging game play that tests your skills at strategy.

You start each game with a few numbered tiles randomly placed on the gaming board. You slide the tiles vertically or horizontally trying to combine matching tiles. Each move will generate a new tile on the board and when combined the value will become the sum of the two tiles. You repeat the process until you A) run out of room on your gaming board or B) create a tile with the value of 2048.

What I don't like? 2048 Plus can be a very addictive Windows Phone game. The game fools you into believing it's a simple game to win but then kicks you in the chins. If you aren't careful, that ten minutes you were hoping to kill will quickly turn into thirty. Not a bad downside for a game to have and luckily 2048 Plus will save your gaming progress should you have to leave the game early.

• 2048 Plus - Windows Phone 8.x - 1MB - Free - Store Link

Rainbow Rapture

This is the oldest title in this week's roundup and it still has staying power. We reviewed Rainbow Rapture back in 2012 and while at times I've let the game sit on the shelf for a while it keeps pulling me back in.

The game is an endless runner styled game that has you playing the role of an angry cloud intent on destroying humanity. You guide the cloud over hill and dale, consuming humans, cars and trucks along the way. The more air time, the more rainbow energy you get and the longer your run will be. If the cloud spends too much time on the ground, he (or she) will burn energy faster and won't go very far before the game ends.

What I like? I like seeing how high you can send your cloud into the sky. The controls are uncomplicated with you tapping/holding the screen to have your cloud dive and release your hold to have your cloud jump. The trick is holding the screen while the cloud dives down a hill and release your hold to let the cloud ride its momentum into the sky.

Rainbow Rapture has 45 challenges for you to conquer (travel a certain distance, gobble up a set number of humans, etc.) and the game also includes a few ringtones and wallpapers.

What I don't like? Much like 2048 Plus, it can be hard to put down Rainbow Rapture. But unlike 2048 Plus, your gaming progress is not saved when you have to exit Rainbow Rapture early. It's not a deal breaker but if you're working on a high score and have to shut things down due to something like work, it can suck.

• Rainbow Rapture - Windows Phone 7.x and 8.x - 17MB - $1.49 - Store Link
• Rainbow Rapture Free - Windows Phone 7.x and 8.x - 17MB - Free - Store Link

Hungry Shark Evolution

Hungry Shark Evolution is a wonderful Windows Phone game that has you trolling the ocean as a shark, eating just about everything in sight. It is an Xbox title and a universal app available for Windows 8 as well as Windows Phone 8.

What I like? I like the simple gaming concept. While there are several quests you can take on, if you are in the mood for mindless game play all you need to do is steer your shark around the depths of the ocean terrorizing swimmers, pelicans, other sharks, scuba divers and more.

As you gobble up more and more goodies, your shark will grow in size and strength, which will eventually unlock larger sharks that can be purchased with the gold you earn during game play.

What I don't like? I hate jellyfish, submarines and floating mines. They are scattered about the ocean, often in the most inconvenient locations, and will definitely ruin your shark's day. Personally, I think a Tiger Shark should be able to gobble up the jellyfish without issue and I don't understand how underwater mines can multiply like rabbits.

While I don't care too much for jellyfish, underwater mines and those annoying torpedo-shooting subs, they do add to the challenge of Hungry Shark Evolution. I can learn to keep my shark clear of these dangers but what I really don't like about Shark Evolution is that game play doesn't carry over from Windows Phone and Windows 8 devices. It really needs that feature to avoid having to manage two versions of this fun game.

• Hungry Shark Evolution - Windows Phone 8 - 71MB - Free - Store Link
• Hungry Shark Evolution - Windows 8 - 159MB - Store Link

Subway Surfers

Subway Surfers has seen success on iOS, Android and Windows Phone platforms. The game is an endless runner where you help the main character, Jake, and his friends dash through train yards. Hot on your tail is the grumpy Inspector who is intent on catching you and sending you to the gallows (or wherever subway surfers go when caught).

What I like? It's the pace of the game that draws me to Subway Surfers. The mechanics are easy to pick up on and consist of a series of screen swipes (swipe left to go left, right to go right, up to jump, etc.) but the pace creates the challenge. Ducking, dodging and jumping through the train yard will keep you on your toes and the bonus items helps keep the game interesting.

The graphics and animations are well drawn-up and with frequent updates changing the venue of the game (currently you are in Beijing) keeps things fresh. You'll collect coins as you make your run that can be used in the gaming store to buy new gear, power-ups and unlock new characters.

What I don't like? There's only one thing that jumps off the screen with Subway Surfers that can be frustrating.

There are times it takes the game forever to load. Not sure what can be done on this front but it can be rather irritating when you only have time for a gaming and most of it is spent waiting on the game to load. I'm also not a fan of the Facebook integration but you don't have to log into Facebook to enjoy the game.

Subway Surfers is a fun game to pass the time with full of side missions, hidden treasures and non-stop action. That is until you get nailed with an oncoming train.

• Subway Surfers – Windows Phone 8 – 32MB – Free – Store Link

Snap Attack

Snap Attack is a challenging, entertaining, thought provoking Windows Phone word game that is from the same developers who brought us another fantastic word game, Wordament.

Snap Attack shares the same online competition that Wordament delivers. You compete against other players online on the same board facing the same clock. The game plays out like a speed round of scrabble with a collection of words already in play on the game board. You are provided seven letters to use and during the 2.5 minute round, you have to create as many words off the existing words with those letters. As with scrabble, you can build off new words for bonus points and duplicate words built off other letters are permissible.

What I like? While the other games in this week's roundup will test your skills of timing, strategy and reflex Snap Attack challenges your brain. You do have the elements of speed but the game tests your knowledge of words (and proper spelling). I also like the 2.5 minute games that are well suited for short gaming spurts and the online competition.

What I don't like? At the conclusion of each game, you are presented with your overall scoring stats, the words you created and the words that could have been created. You then transition to a global leaderboard to show how your score matches up with other players. This transition is automatic and helps pass the time while the game is reset. What I don't like is that you can't stay on any of these pages longer. It would be nice if you want to check on scores or see what words you missed at your own pace. Sure, it may mean you are late to the next game but that would be the price you pay.

By no means is this a deal killer. Snap Attack is a universal Xbox title for Windows, which makes it available for both Windows Phone 8 and Windows 8 devices. It also has the added bonus of carrying over your gaming progress from one device to the other (something Hungry Shark Evolution needs).

The game nails down a 4.5 Star rating in the Windows Phone Store and a 4.2 in the Windows Store. We think the pair of ratings that are spot on.

• Snap Attack – Windows Phone 8 – 11MB – Free – Store Link
• Snap Attack – Windows 8 - 20.1MB – Free – Store Link

Best of the Bunch?

As to which is the best, at the present it's a coin toss in my book between Hungry Shark Evolution and 2048 Plus. Both games are versatile in that they are fun games for short bits of time and strong enough to hold up to longer gaming sessions. There is also a personal quest with Shark Evolution in that I'm trying to earn enough gold to unlock the Great White Shark.

While these two games are at the top of my list, all five titles are quality games that should appeal to just about every Windows Phone user.

Are they guaranteed hits? None of the games is rated below 4 Stars in the Windows Phone Store and there is always the possibility that one of these games isn't your cup of tea. Maybe it is better to say all five Windows Phone titles are must-try games.

So what do you say? I've shared my current crop of favorite time waster games and I'm sure I've missed a few titles that you guys see as fantastic games to pass the time with. Feel free to toss out your recommendation on your favorite time waster games below in the comments.

As promised earlier this week, Xbox One owners who have subscribed to the EA Access service can now play the full version of Electronic Arts 2013's open world racing game Need For Speed Rivals.

The game joins the four previous ones put in the EA Access Vault (Battlefield 4, FIFA 14, Peggle 2, and Madden NFL 25) that Xbox One owners can play for $4.99 a month or $29.99 for a year long subscription. EA has promised that any game put into the Vault will remain available to play forever, or at least until the EA Access program stays active.

If you have signed up for EA Access, how do you like the service so far and are you pleased with the addition of Need for Speed Rivals?

Source: EA blog

If you like table tennis or just a fan of fast paced games, Ping Pong Masters might be a Windows Phone game worth looking into. As you would guess, Ping Pong Masters is a table tennis game for our Windows Phones that offers two gaming modes, over thirty ping pong masters to face and over forty ping pong paddles to collect.

Available for low-memory devices Ping Pong Masters has nice graphics, speedy game play and while the disembodied paddles is a little creepy looking, the game is well done.

The road to destroying your opponent

The main menu for Ping Pong Masters is a little on the busy side with access to the game settings and your player stats running across the top of the screen and various links to the game's social media sites (Facebook, Twitter and Google+) running across the bottom of the screen. You also have access to the two gaming modes.

Settings are limited to turning on or off the game's sound and music. The player stats included (from left to right) your paddle choice, energy levels, ticket count, point count and player level. Energy is used to play the game while tickets and points are used to buy new gear and open up new gaming venues. Energy is replenished automatically with time with tickets and points being earned through game play. Alternatively, you can stock up on all three through in-app purchases.

Ping Pong Masters two gaming modes include a career and quick play mode. The quick play mode is a single match where you can choose among the 30 plus opponents from one of the 6 locations (basement, stadium, bar, etc.). Just keep in mind that all the opponents and locations are available. They progressively become unlocked as you advance within the game.

Career mode is a collection of six tournaments that include over 90 levels of play. You start your career playing games from your basement in the practice tournaments. Here you face opponents that include your grandmother, friends and neighbors. And don't let Grandma fool you. She is a worthy opponent.

Tournaments are progressively unlocked, become more challenging to compete in and culminate with a World Tournament where you face the best of the best from across the globe.

Look Ma' No Hands!

Game play with Ping Pong Master is a little on the strange side but only in appearance.

Across the top of the screen you will find the same player stats and controls that appear on the game's main menu. Down the left side of the screen are three control buttons that activate power-ups that include adding power to your paddle, slowing time and supersizing your paddle. Player scores are displayed on the upper sides of the screen.

The strangeness of the game screen is due to the lack of player bodies. Each player is represented by a floating ping pong paddle. To control the paddle, you tap/hold the screen and slide your finger around. Where your finger is, the paddle will follow.

Game play follows your typical game of table tennis. The first player to score eleven points (winning by at least two points) is the victor and each tournament has at least three opponents to face.

A quick note about your player's energy levels is that it will cost you a certain amount of energy to play in a tournament (per game) but it does not appear that quick play games cost you any energy. Energy is replenished over time (rather quickly I might add) and if you win a game, you will get your energy entry fee back.

While I'm not a fan of the game play tokens (or energy in this case) that can limit your playing time, Ping Pong Masters does give you a nice supply of energy that should get you through a tournament easily (especially if you don't lose).

As you win matches, you will earn experience points and as your experience levels increase more paddle options become available in the game store. You can use the tickets and points earned during game play to buy or collect over forty different paddles that have unique styles and abilities. The downside to buying a new paddle with better abilities, your opponent will also be fitted with the same paddle (I guess it's only fair).

As far as the gaming experience is concerned, it does take a little time to get used to not having a players body to control and your finger will seem to get in the way at times. But the first few games are a little on the easy side to afford you the opportunity to get used to controlling the disembodied paddle. Once you get past your first few opponents, the game has a little zip to it with plenty of lightning fast serves and volleys.

Overall Impression

Ping Pong Masters is one of those games that are easy to play but challenging to master. The graphics and animations are well done (I like how the ping pong balls begin to collect on the floor during a game) and game play is challenging enough to keep things interesting.

The only downside that really stands out with Ping Pong Masters is that if you have to leave a match in mid-stream, you will forfeit all tournament progress. It would be nice if the game saved your progress and allow you to pick things up where you left them.

If you are a fan of table tennis or sports games, there's really not much to complain about with Ping Pong Masters. Even those who aren't into sports games but are looking for an entertaining, fast pace game will find Ping Pong Masters appealing.

Ping Pong Masters scores a 4.5 Star rating in the Windows Phone Store which we see as being spot on.

• Ping Pong Masters – Windows Phone 8 – 11MB – Free – Store Link

All retail Xbox One games enjoy simultaneous downloadable releases, allowing gamers to choose between physical or digital copies of their favorite games. On Xbox 360 though, "Games on Demand" downloadable releases are far from ubiquitous and often arrive several months after the same games launch at retail.

Even less common, sometimes an Xbox 360 game that originated at retail in one territory gets released solely as a Games on Demand title in others. Think Resident Evil Revelations or Deathsmiles II, both exclusively downloadable titles in America. Now we can add another to that list, because Japanese developer G.Rev's Xbox 360 shoot-em-up (shmup) Under Defeat HD has finally made its way to America via Games on Demand for $19.99.

Find out whether Under Defeat HD was worth the wait in our review with exclusive game play video and screenshots!

The road to HD

Under Defeat started life as a Japanese arcade game in 2005 and then made its way to the Sega Dreamcast the next year. When G.Rev decided to resurrect the game for modern consoles, it did so by increasing the graphical resolution, adding a small helping of new content, and renaming the game Under Defeat HD. Japan and Europe got the game in 2012, and now America finally has it as well.

The game takes place in a realistic military setting, with players taking on the role of two female helicopter pilots. The actual story is told through a dull-as-dirt introduction with needlessly tiny text and no music, making it impossible to care about. At least the ending has music.

Between levels, players are treated to quality anime-style drawings of the protagonists. Some of these drawings hint at a romantic relationship between the two. The character art instills a little personality in what would otherwise be a fairly dry game.

Original and remixed versions

Under Defeat offers two main game modes to choose from: New Order and Arcade. The latter faithfully represents the arcade original, which utilized a vertical monitor orientation. The display utilizes a vertical window with attractive borders on the left and right sides of the gameplay area. Things look tiny this way, but you'll still want to play it for Achievements.

New Order mode is where the "HD" in the title comes in. The game play area has been expanded to take advantage of widescreen displays, with no borders to be seen. The actual view is zoomed in as well, making everything larger and easier to see.

Under Defeat is not a beautiful game in New Order mode, though. The 3D graphics are still fairly basic, similar to what you'd see in an early Playstation 2 game. But nobody plays Japanese shoot-em-ups for their looks. We play them for their skill-based game play and screens full of projectiles to dodge.

Both New Order and Arcade also offer an "Extra" version that serves as the equivalent of the second loop (a remixed run through the game) found in many shmups. To unlock either mode's Extra version, just complete that mode once. I don't notice much difference in either Extra run other than different character artwork between levels, but their associated Achievements certainly make them worth playing.

Players can also choose between Easy, Normal, and Hard difficulty, as well as adjust the starting number of lives, on any game type.

Taking it to the skies

Under Defeat HD is a vertically-scrolling shoot-em-up that supports one or two local players. Although games of this genre often play quite similarly to one another, this one actually differs in a few significant ways.

For starters, the players' choppers can fire either straight ahead or at an angle, allowing them to tailor their aim to lateral threats. In the arcade-style control scheme, pressing left or right before firing will lock in your aim at the appropriate angle. Release and you'll return to firing straight up.

The alternate control scheme (available in any game mode) maps the aiming to the right analog stick, much as with twin-stick shooters. But unlike real twin-stick shooters, you can't aim in 360 degrees – just up, up-left, and up-right. It might sound weird, but it's easy to learn.

The player helicopters never gain new or stronger weapons, although they do have screen-clearing bombs. Instead of bigger guns, each player gets a satellite called an "Option." You have to stop firing for a moment to charge up the Option. Resume firing and the satellite will appear and shoot at enemies for a brief time.

The options can actually switch between three modes of fire, depending on the floating power-ups you grab. They add a small degree of technique to the game, but the limited use and recharge mechanic makes them far less useful than similar items in fellow shmups Gradius and R-Type.

The game itself lasts for five stages, each culminating in a gigantic end boss. Some distinctive elements of those stages include tiny little cows running around in the first stage, a battle against a seafaring battleship whose explosive demise causes water to rain down on the screen, and a snowy stage littered with craters. Several stages have great music, particular the first and fourth levels.

Bonus content

The American and European releases of under Defeat HD include a couple of extra helicopters with different main weapons that were released as DLC in the Japanese version. You have to select them from the main menu as opposed to at the start of a game, which is awkward but not a big hassle.

The game also has a large gallery of character and concept art to browse, including the between level pictures. All of the art is conveniently unlocked by default.

Achievements

The Achievements in most Japanese shmups range from nearly impossible to fully impossible, so that only the most dedicated genre fans can ever get them all. Under Defeat bucks that trend by offering 1,000 GamerScore of Achievements that just about anyone can fully complete, including me!

The one catch is that you need to unlock "Free Play" (unlimited credits) in both New Order and Arcade modes first. To do that, players must play each mode for eight hours, which adds up to 16 hours between them. Luckily, you can just pause the game, come back in eight hours, get a game over, and Free Play will unlock.

With Free Play unlocked, two players (or one player with two controllers) can progress through the game at once, continuing at will. If you don't log in a second player, you'll continue from checkpoints instead of where you died. Clear New Order and Arcade mode three times each on different difficulties, and you'll be golden. (The second player does not earn Achievements.)

Overall Impression

Shoot-em-ups are a dying breed on consoles, with few getting made and fewer making the trip from Japan to the western world. That makes Rising Star's decision to publish Under Defeat HD via Games on Demand a great one. Dedicated shmup fans can grab it for $20, far less than what the out-of-print and region-locked Japanese version would cost.

Stylistically, I prefer the fanciful settings of Otomedus Excellent, KOF Sky Stage, and Deathsmiles to shooting tanks and planes. But as a game, Under Defeat has the enjoyable aiming mechanic, catchy music, and unusually fair difficulty and Achievements. Shmup fans should not hesitate to support this release with a purchase.

• Under Defeat HD – Xbox 360 – $19.99/£14.99 – 977 MB – Xbox.com Link

The long awaited sci-fi shooter Destiny has begun its global rollout for the Xbox One, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 with sales beginning in New Zealand, while the game's developer Bungie plans to hold its own launch event at its offices in Bellevue, Washington.

Officially, people will be able to pick up their disc copies of Destiny at 12:01 am Tuesday in their respective time zones. That's also true in the US, but digital download copies won't be made available for the entire US until 12:01 am Pacific time, or 3:01 am Eastern time. However, anyone who has managed to pick up the game can go ahead and play since Bungie has launched the multiplayer servers for Destiny.

Speaking of Bungie. they will be holding their own Destiny launch event today, from noon to five PM, at their offices located at 550 106th Avenue in Bellevue, Washington. The company said:

"The first 300 attendees stand a good chance of touring our studio and stepping into the Crucible for a match of competitive multiplayer action. The first 1,000 people in line won't leave empty-handed. Everyone who attends can enjoy the fun and surprises that we have planned."

That includes an unnamed member of the Destiny development team performing a coordinated skydive with the members of the Red Bull Air Force. Are you excited about the launch of Destiny?

Source: Destiny on Twitter, Bungie.net

There's a new location game called Pinpoint on Windows Phone from the team behind Foundbite. As you know, or at least should know, Foundbite is an exclusive Windows Phone app that allows you to capture the atmosphere of a place, event or experience. It does this by combining images with audio to create some cool clips called Foundbites. This new game uses those Foundbites and their location data to make you guess their whereabouts.

Pinpoint by Foundbite is designed to quiz you on their geographical knowledge. Your job is to guess the location based on sights and sounds. You'll then place a pin on a map and gain points based on how close you were to guessing the correction location. Hit the question mark icon to place your pin on the map.

It's an easy game to pick up and play and tests your eyes and ears. You'll feel like Sherlock Holmes after playing a few rounds. Grab the game and take it for a spin.

Pinpoint by Foundbite is a clever game and a great way to leverage all the data created by Foundbite users. Grab the app and let us, and the developers know what you think! Be sure to hit up the developer James Mundy (@_jamesmundy) with any feedback! The game does work with 512 MB devices, so you folks out there rocking those Lumia 520's and Lumia 630's are good to go!

• Download Pinpoint by Foundbite

Released over a year ago on Android and iOS, the game 'Daddy Was A Thief' is now available for Windows Phone too. Since it is a universal app, you can also play it on your Windows tablet or PC. This is not another endless runner game. It's actually an endless faller. The goal is to keep smashing through floors to escape after a bank robbery. It's a great little time-waster. Watch our gameplay video.

Features:

• Smashable obstacles: walls, furnitures and more! Gain as much destructions as you can! Crash through walls, floors and watch the pieces fly all over!
• Playable thieves and crazy power-ups to unlock
• Different every time you play!
• Just one finger control! (swipe up and down) Quick pick-up-and-play
• Many achievements to earn

Daddy was just recently fired, so he decides to rob a bank to keep his wife and kid happy. After a failed attempt, he jumps unto the rooftop of the building next door to escape.

Daddy automatically moves left and right. He changes direction whenever he hits anything. The game only requires two actions. Swipe up to jump and swipe down to stomp through the floor.

Several things will try to stop Daddy. Avoid getting hit by missiles, gunfire, or lasers. The laser shrinks down Daddy, which makes it harder for him to break down floors. Getting shot by anything else turns Daddy into a skeleton, which ends the game. There are also old ladies on some floors who will kick Daddy back upstairs.

While it may seem repetitive, there are a few elements in the game that keeps things different. For example, some floors are filled with water, so Daddy actually has to swim down. There are also casino floors that turn Daddy into a pinball.

Landing on some things speed things up. For example, landing on a hot tub will crash through several floors. Landing on a fridge puts Daddy in an ice cube that causes bigger damage to floors.

Try to land on people and furniture to earn coins. Collecting coins in the game help you get upgrades and power-ups. You can use the coins to change outfits or utilize rockets and other things to make things easier for Daddy. For example, a rocket that gives Daddy a head start costs 1,000 coins. Some power-ups are only available after a certain amount of experience level.

With this type of game, we expected to see in-app purchases, but they're nowhere to be found. Earn those coins by playing the game, instead of spending real money.

'Daddy Was A Thief' costs $1.99 at the Windows Phone Store. Since it is a universal Windows app, you can also download it from the Windows Store for your tablets or PCs. We're having a lot of fun with it and we think you will too. There's a free trial available so you can check it out before taking out your wallet. Go download it now and let us know what you think in the comments.

Thanks for the tip, Lance_WPCentral!

Smart Games is a collection of challenging Windows Phone puzzle games designed to challenge your logic, memory, sensory and problem solving skills.

While the puzzle collection doesn't have many bells and whistles, it makes up for things by offering challenging, head-scratching puzzles. The game is initially free with plenty of puzzle levels and questions to solve. Once you're done with the free puzzles, additional questions and difficulties are available through in-app purchase.

Available for low-memory devices, while there is some room for improvement, Smart Games is a nice collection of puzzle games to pass the time with.

Main Menu

The main menu for Smart Games has a collection of tiles to launch each of the thirteen puzzle games. If you prefer a list view, there is a toggle button in the upper right corner to switch the tiles to a listing of the games.

Across the bottom of the screen you will find control buttons to view your gaming statistics, awards and your game wallet. Below the three-dot menu you will find options to access the help screen, check any messages from the developer and enter any promo codes.

While the Help Section mentions registering with the gaming community, I could not find any means of registering or logging into the game. I could have completely missed the link to register and it could be a feature under development. While it would be nice to have the community aspect available with Smart Games, luckily you don't have to register to play Smart Games.

Smart Games has a coin system that is used to buy hints, replay levels, unlock advanced levels and other gaming features. You begin play with ten coins in your wallet with additional coins available through in-app purchase.

Game Play

Each game in the Smart Games' collection includes multiple levels or questions and in some cases styles. Each game has the Start difficulty level available with additional difficulty levels available for purchase (with your coins).

The first time you play a puzzle game, Smart Games will present you with a series of instructional windows detailing game play. If you should need to re-visit the instructions, each game will have a pull-up menu (accessible by the colored arrow at the bottom of the screen) that will give you access to the gaming instructions.

While there isn't a collective description of each game in the app, here is how the Windows Phone Store listing describes the twelve games.

• Numbers - Mathematics and logic in an attractive puzzle game for creative problem solvers.
• Flow - A simple yet extremely addictive number sequence completion brain teasing puzzle.
• Remove - This game requires a lot of logic and knowledge to find an element that does not belong to the group.
• Order - Determine the order of tiles and to remember their exact position.
• Solver - A pegged solitaire puzzle game reinvented for mobile to be even more addictive.
• Locate - A puzzle game that tests and improves your short-term spatial memory.
• Memory - Play evergreen Memory Puzzle game with the touch of new technology.
• Glimpse - A colorful puzzle created to become equivalent of popular Simon Says game.
• Mind - A code-breaking game Mastermind made more attractive and fun for your phone.
• Spot - A spot the difference game that includes improvement of your eidetic memory skills.
• Complete – Find the part that is missing by pushing your intellectual skills to the limit.
• Boxes - Patterns when folded will make the box shown

There are two additional games in development, Faces and Shuffles, that should be pushed out soon.

Game mechanics for all the games are simple with many requiring you to type in the solution at the bottom of the screen or simply tapping the correct answer. Regardless of how you choose what you believe is the correct answer, Smart Games affords you the opportunity to confirm your answer. Just in case you have second thoughts.

If you choose the incorrect answer, you will be given the options to view the solution or replay the question (both will cost you coins), play a new game or choose a different level of questions. Solve the puzzle and you earn points that will go towards your player ranking/experience level with the option to advance to the next question.

Overall Impression

There's little doubt that Smart Games has a ton of puzzle games that will challenge your logic, memory and problem solving skills.

What I like? The strength of Smart Games is the variety of challenging puzzle games available. If one style of puzzles doesn't suit your tastes, there are plenty of other puzzle styles to pursue. I also like that several of the puzzle games have a Kids difficulty level that is better suited for those still honing their puzzle solving skills.

What I don't like? I'm not a fan of the coin system. I can understand the need to earn gaming currency to unlock features, buy hints and other items but Smart Games seems to nickel and dime you to death. Want to replay a question you got wrong? That will cost you two coins. Need to see the correct answer? That will cost you a coin. Unlocking additional levels or difficulties will cost you anywhere from ten to a hundred coins.

The coin system wouldn't be so overbearing if you could earn coins through game play to minimize the need for in-app purchase. The game is free but I think the game is strong enough to be a paid app (with a trial version) and reduce the dependency on the coins.

As is though, if you are looking for a strong collection of puzzle games under one roof Smart Games is worth a spin. There are a few comments in the store noting instability with Smart Games. Personally, I did not experience any stability issues running Smart Games on my Lumia 520 or Lumia 925.

• Smart Games - Windows Phone 8.x - 18MB - Free - Store Link

Last month we reviewed a custom Xbox One controller from UK-based service Controller Modz. That service offers a variety of sexy hydro-dipped artwork and chrome designs for Xbox One controllers, but nothing in the way of solid colors. For a controller customized with solid colors, we looked to ColorWare – located in Minnesota and recommended by some of our readers.

ColorWare allows customers to customize an Xbox One controller with one or two solid colors of their choice. The controller will then be painted with your design. In order to test the quality of the ColorWare service, I threw together a design of my own. The result is the world's first Windows Phone Central-colored Xbox One controller! Read on for full impressions of the ColorWare Xbox One controller design process and finished product, with video!

Choose your colors

ColorWare provides custom coloring services for a variety of electronics. Gaming-wise, they offer custom Xbox One and Playstation 4 controllers and systems. The systems cost quite a bit more than controllers to colorize, but you can send in your system to significantly reduce the price. With controllers, you just design the controller and they sell you a brand new one; no sending in your own pad.

Designing your own Xbox One controller is quite easy. First, head to the custom Xbox One controller page on the ColorWare site. Then choose the color for the front side of the controller. ColorWare offers 29 "solid" colors and 29 metallic colors, for a total of 58 color choices. Each of these comes in a gloss or matte finish. Next you'll pick a color for the back of the controller from the same selection. As you choose your colors, the preview image automatically updates to reflect your design.

To match the Windows Phone Central color scheme, I chose Sky blue for the front and Flirt pink for the rear, both with a matte finish. Matte shows less dirt and oil than gloss, you know.

Having finished your design, you can then click the Share button to the top-right of the preview and send a custom link to your friends. Follow this link for our controller design.

If you're ready to order, add the controller to your cart. It comes with a one-year warranty on the paint job, with an extended two-year warranty available for $49. The controller will ship out within 7-10 days, and comes in the original Microsoft packaging.

How do we like it?

The controller I received from ColorWare is everything I hoped for. I can't find a single imperfection – the colors are uniform, smooth, and utterly professional.

The only way you can tell this controller wasn't made in blue and pink is by removing the battery cover from the back. The interiors of the battery cover and compartment are both unpainted, with some telltale pink from the painting process bleeding over. That's fine because people don't normally see the internal stuff.

The customized controller does have one other small detail worth noting. On the bottom of the pad, just above the headset jack, sits the ColorWare name in shiny silver. It's a subtle detail, but cool nonetheless.

You get what you pay for – a beautiful controller

ColorWare custom Xbox One controllers cost $109. In the US, shipping is an additional $13.85 or so, making for a total of $122.85. ColorWare also ships internationally, but they only accept credit cards as payment – not PayPal.

Although buying a controller from ColorWare is slightly cheaper for US customers than Controller Modz, it still amounts to twice the price of a regular Xbox One controller. This is a total luxury item. That's okay. If you can afford it, ColorWare's service is a brilliant way to customize your controller. The dual-color paint job will look elegant and stylish, and yet totally unique. Your wallet might sting, but your eyes will thank you.

How do you like the Windows Phone Central-colored Xbox One controller, awesome readers? Feel free to make and share your own designs in this review's comments.

Back when Xbox games for Windows Phone were more of a thing, Gameloft published a free to play city building game called Ice Age Village. That particular genre is mostly worthless, but many of us suffered through it any way for the Achievements. I do mean suffered, because Ice Age Village is a buggy game and the Windows Phone version was never updated with bug fixes or new content.

One year later, Gameloft brings a sequel called Ice Age Adventures to Windows Phone and Windows 8 and RT. The new game is still technically a free to play city builder, but vastly improved production values (Hello, voice acting!) and several design changes make for a much more enjoyable experience. Will it hold gamers' attentions without Achievements, though? Yeah, if you can tolerate the IAP mechanics, you'll probably have a bit of fun with it.

Saving the herd… again

Ice Age Adventures starts with nearly the same premise as the last game. Something bad happens, and all the animals in the Ice Age entourage get separated. Sid "Suffering Succotash" Sloth is charged with rescuing them. Soon he will recruit Manny "Man, Ray Romano is annoying" Mammoth and Diego "Promise you don't date my daughter Gwen" Saber-toothed Tiger, and the three will work together to find more animals.

Now, I don't care for the Ice Age movies (and I have endured several), but Ice Age Adventures' storytelling is still impressive. Every little exchange between characters is fully voiced-acted by very good sound-alikes of the voice actors from the films. There are way more discussions than you'd expect, too – Gameloft went all-out with the story in order to keep players motivated. The story doesn't go anywhere (of course), but kids will love the many conversations between characters.

Rebuilding the island

Although the goal of saving lots of animals is the same as in Village, the way you go about doing so differs greatly here. Sid and team actually get to visit new locations via ship, adding an element of exploration that you seldom see in games of this type.

When you reach one of these places, you'll find a variety of obstacles to clear, including trees, rocks, ice, enemies, mushrooms, and more. Tap one of these objects and one of your three heroes will clear it out of the way (some take two taps), gaining shells (soft currency) as a reward. Getting rid of stuff consumes berries, which function as energy in Ice Age Adventures. The berry costs get a lot higher as you reach new islands, limiting players' ability to zoom through the game.

Each island also hosts several buildings from which you can earn various prizes, including animals, berries, shells, items, and on rare occasions, acorns (premium currency). Simply tap a building and its roulette wheel will spin and then pop out the item.

You can revisit buildings to try for better prizes, but they take anywhere from ten minutes to several hours to become active again. This gets annoying when the building has an animal or item you need, because some of them have very low and unfair drop rates. It might take quite a few visits to get that item you're looking for, to the point that it delays progress in the game.

Rescuing animals

If the animal-hosting building decides to be kind and award you the creature, you'll still have to play through an endless runner-style mini-game as Sid in order to actually rescue the animal. The mini-game isn't really endless – you'll find the animal halfway through a level that lasts for a couple of minutes, and you win by reaching the end of it. Fail and you'll have to either spend acorns to continue or wait a few minutes-hours for the mini-game to open up again.

Alternately, some animals sit within circular prisons of ice. To free these guys, you'll need to complete a match-3 mini-game within a certain number of moves. The mini-game is usually fair (once you fully learn the mechanics), but sometimes it just doesn't give you enough moves. Failure means you hae to spend acorns for more moves, or wait a few hours to try again.

After rescuing an animal, you'll want to return to your village and build it a home. These cost more and more shells, to the point where you'll eventually have to save up for a while just to build a new home. You can't rescue additional animals until the first creature's home has been built – not unless you spend 50 acorns (~$3.50) for an extra nursery slot. Each animal home produces berries over time.

Minigames

Back in the village, you can play an endless running mini-game using tokens that you dig up from snow piles or receive from friends. Instead of Sid, this version stars Scrat the Masochistic Squirrel. It actually goes on forever or until you die, which is really easy to do. Rescuing certain animals will cause those creatures to randomly spawn as power-ups within the Scrat game. They enable bonuses like a berry magnet, a one-time shield, and the ability to destroy obstacles for a short time.

The Scrat runner mostly pays out in berries, although you can also get a few items needed to unlock new areas if you survive or long enough. I don't care for the mini-game, though. Gameloft uses the same 3D engine in all of its Windows Phone 8 games, and that engine is fairly poor. The game runs at a low frame rate on my Lumia 1520. It's not unplayable, but the hardware can do so much better. Also, scientists tell us that most endless runners are boring as crap. Who am I to argue with science?

Get far enough in the game and you'll unlock a second island. This island allows you to spend your tokens to play the match-3 mini-game. The match-3 mini-game can be an excellent source of shells if you do well.

The mini-game has a few advanced mechanics that you might struggle to figure out on your own. Matching five of the same item creates a meteor, of course. Touching two meteors together will eliminate all of the items on-screen. Touch THREE meteors together and the whole screen will fill with hearts, which is very useful for completing puzzles.

Limp social features

Like most games of this type, Adventures offers Facebook connectivity for cloud saving and social features. The social features are disappointing, though. First, the game replaces some player names (but not all) with random animal names, making it difficult or impossible to tell who those players are.

Second, you can't visit friends' villages or send them truly useful items. All we can do is gift each other mini-game tokens. Tokens max out at five, so I usually can't even accept most of the tokens my friends send. Not very engaging! But if you're looking for a few friends for token sharing, be sure to stop by the Ice Age Adventures thread in our forum.

Overall Impression

Ice Age Adventures suffers from many of the typical free to play trappings. It's far too easy to spend premium currency by mistake, and everything costs too much as well. Sometimes you won't be able to make progress in an area unless you have items that the game never gives you. In these cases, you'll have to spend acorns to unlock the area (as pictured above). I expect you'll have to make at least one in-app purchase in order to reach the second island as a result.

That said, the exploration sequences and mini-games offer some enjoyable diversions from the typical free to play city building monotony. The voice-acted story is pretty good too, probably more so for fans of the awful movies. And hey, it's a universal app!

I think Gameloft is on to something with the mixture of city building with honest-to-goodness game play. People who can tolerate the energy and IAP mechanics will certainly enjoy Adventures, at least for a while.

• Ice Age Adventures – Windows Phone 8 – 89 MB – Free – Store Link
• Ice Age Adventures – Windows 8 and RT – 92 MB – Free – Store Link

Age of Empires: Castle Siege is coming very soon to Windows Phone and Windows 8.1. A few of you eagle-eyed readers have already spotted the private beta in the Windows Phone Store. Age of Empires fans should definitely be on the lookout for this new game.

We're still expecting Age of Empires: Castle Siege to launch sometime this month. Recently we interviewed the developers behind Castle Siege to learn more about this upcoming game.

What can you expect? Tons of fun. In Castle Siege your goal is to build a castle and keep enemies from invading. You also go on the offensive and attack enemy castles. Like in any Age of Empires game, you can directly control your units during an attack. Something that you can't do in similar mobile games like Clash of Clans.

You can't download this game yet, but we'll let you know when you can.

Via: Windows Phone Central Forums

*Thanks for the tips everyone!

LYNE is a simple Windows Phone puzzle game that has been around the Store for some time. We were tipped on the game over the weekend and found LYNE to have a slick look, casual pace and an appealing gaming title.

LYNE has hundreds of puzzles that challenge you to connect the same colored shapes with a single line. Available for low-memory devices LYNE is a smooth puzzle game with only one glaring downside - no trial version.

Minimalistic menu and game play

LYNE takes on a minimal approach with the game's layout as well as game play. The main menu has two option, begin play and mute the sound. Game play is spread out across a number of sets that contain twenty-five puzzles each.

The minimalistic design continues with the puzzle screens. At the very top of the gaming screen, you will find a white triangle that is a drop down menu to pause the game (along with options to mute the sound or return to the puzzle level map.

The puzzle consists of an assortment of colored shapes that you'll need to connect. The puzzle pieces with the white center are your start and end pieces. Just tap one of the pieces with the white center and then drag your fingers across the screen connecting similar shapes, ending at the second piece with the white center.

Eventually you will come across puzzles with multiple colored shapes and creating your connections, your lines cannot cross or share the same path. You will also encounter puzzles with hubs that will let your share an intersection with your lines. To help make things challenging, these hubs will have a required number of crossings (indicated by dots on the hub).

The puzzle levels start out ridiculously easy but around the 18th level they do get somewhat challenging. If you need to redraw a line, you can tap on the puzzle piece you want to back up to or tap your starting puzzle piece to erase your lines.

Overall Impression

LYNE is a unique puzzle game for our Windows Phone. The game has a simple interface, minimalistic and clean design but is not without challenge.

What I like? LYNE does a really good job of delivering hundreds of puzzles that are designed to challenge your puzzle solving skills without a lot of stress. You don't have the pressure of a game clock or setting a high score. If you hit a dead end with connecting your puzzle pieces, you just back things up and try again.

There is an addictive quality to LYNE that keeps you coming back for more and the game isn't a bad time waster.

What I don't like? I found LYNE to be an enjoyable puzzle game and a nice addition to the Windows Phone library. However, without a trial version many will take a pass on the game.

The design of LYNE is perfect for a trial version in that the first set of puzzles could be available in a trial version and then the remaining sets would be available through the full version. The first twenty-five puzzles are strong enough to get you hooked or turned off with LYNE.

Overall, I found LYNE to be a fun and challenging Windows Phone puzzle game. There isn't much to the game but what is there is well done. The game knocks down a 5 Star Rating in the Windows Phone Store and we don't see that being too far from the mark.

• LYNE - Windows Phone 8 - 6MB - $2.49 - Store Link

A new report claims Microsoft is still working on a project to stream high end games made originally for the Xbox 360 to other platforms, about a year after it demoed such an effort during its big company employee meeting.

That demo showed Halo 4 being streamed and played on a Lumia 520 with Windows Phone 8, along with the same game on a low end PC. Now Neowin, citing unnamed sources, claims a team at Microsoft has the full Xbox 360 dashboard running in a web browser and streaming and playing games made for the console in that browser. The team is also working on bringing in Xbox One games with streaming support.

While Microsoft may be working on such a project, today's report does admit that there's no definitive word on when, or even if, it will be released to the general public. One challenge that could delay its launch is not due to technology but licensing, as this kind of service could cut into the revenues of Xbox game publishers.

What do you think about the prospect of playing high end Xbox games on your web browser?

Source: Neowin

When the Xbox One launched last year with the Kinect peripheral included with every console, many gamers resisted the Kinect's inclusion. And why wouldn't they? The new Kinect had launched without what many consider the best Kinect game series on Xbox 360: Dance Central. That hole in the lineup has been filled now that Harmonix (maker of the upcoming Fantasia: Music Evolved) has unleashed Dance Central Spotlight exclusively as a downloadable Xbox One title.

For the low price of ten bucks, Dance Central Spotlight includes ten songs with multiple routines and a fitness mode. A variety of songs are available to purchase as DLC, too, with a few transferring over for free if you own them on Xbox 360. But does Dance Central Spotlight capture the magic of its Xbox 360 predecessors? Read on for the full word, plus our exclusive gameplay video and screenshots.

Dance away your sorrows

The Dance Central games are honest-to-goodness dancing simulators with some video gaming elements thrown on top. Every song has genuine dance moves that players need to learn and perform in order to succeed. The more moves you pull off correctly in a row, the higher your multiplier and score will soar.

Two visual cues indicate which steps to take. First, look at the on-screen dancers themselves. As they perform each move, it's your job to imitate them as closely as possible. If part of the dancer's body glows with a red outline, that part of the player's body is out of alignment. Closely following the dancer will get you better ratings, from Nice to Awesome and even Perfect.

Just following behind the dancer won't win you any awards. You'll also want to watch the dance cards that scroll up the side of the screen. These tell you the next few moves to come along, represented by a drawing and the move name. They can be difficult to rely on entirely because the drawings don't always represent every part of a move, plus they sometimes scroll by too quickly to read easily. You'll want to keep an eye on both the cards and your dancer if you can.

Menus, moves, and routines

Unlike Dance Central 2 and 3, Spotlight doesn't have a story mode to tie things together. Instead, you just select your songs from the main menu and dance to them individually. The menu utilizes a new Modern UI-style interface that's much easier to navigate by motion than before. Like the previous games, all menus support controller navigation as well. You can't beat a controller for choosing songs and settings.

With the story gone, Spotlight brings in a new progression system. The first time you play any song (including DLC), you start out on the Beginner routine for that song. Beginner is intentionally easy and consists of a much reduced move set. Luckily for serious dancers, there are seven more routines (which function like difficulty levels) to unlock for each song.

To get a new routine, you'll first have to master each move from the previous routine. Performing a move perfectly (even once) will cause your dancer to glow gold while "Collected!" appears as the rating. You can tell whether you have previously collected a move by the color of its dance card; the card remains gold once that move has been perfected.

This new system puts pressure on the player to get new moves right. Luckily, you have a useful tool for learning to perfect moves: Practice mode. Instead of being a separate mode as in previous games, players now shout "Hey JD, practice that!" to initiate practice mode. You can then perform any move from the song repeatedly, and even slow it down to get a better idea of how it works. Practice mode certainly helps, but I've perfected a move there only to have the actual song continue registering the move as less than perfect.

Fitness mode

Unlike previous games, Fitness mode is now a completely separate mode. First you set up your profile by adjusting the height and weight stats. Then you choose the type of routine you'd like, with Cardio and Strength joining the main game's selection of routines.

Finally, select the length of time for your workout, with lengths ranging from 10-90 minutes. The game will then create a mix of songs for you, all playing one after another with no need to select anything. The more songs you own, the more variety you'll get from your playlists.

Fitness mode is cool in theory, but it has some major drawbacks. The only way to see and track calories burned is through this mode, whereas past games counted calories everywhere. And perfecting moves in Fitness mode won't unlock those moves outside of Fitness mode, which is awfully annoying. Progress should be shared between modes, otherwise we might as well just stick to the main game.

Two dancers are better than one

Two local players can dance together during any song, and even in Fitness mode. Both players stand side-to-side, so you'll need a fair amount of space to avoid bumping into each other. The two players' combined performance determines their shared star rating at the end of the song.

Co-op dances work the same way as single-player; there aren't any special co-op routines (something Just Dance has over Dance Central). But it's so much more fun to get up and moving with another person. Multiplayer makes Dance Central Spotlight the party game your Xbox One Kinect has longed for. And unlike Just Dance 2014, both players can earn Achievements!

Note that Spotlight does not have the competitive modes, such as Dance Battles, from previous games. This one is all about the co-op.

Song selection

Spotlight comes with these 10 songs:

• "Counting Stars"– OneRepublic
• "Diamonds"– Rihanna
• "Happy"– Pharrell Williams
• "I Wish"– Cher Lloyd
• "Royals"– Lorde
• "Show Me"– Kid Ink ft. Chris Brown
• "Talk Dirty"– Jason Derulo ft. 2 Chainz
• "#thatpower"– will.i.am ft. Justin Bieber
• "Titanium"– David Guetta ft. Sia
• "Wake Me Up"– Avicii

I wouldn't listen to all of those outside of the game, but they really are perfect for dancing.

Dancing to ten songs might get old before too long. Good thing then that Harmonix already offers 50 songs to purchase as DLC. New songs cost $1.99 each, with several 2-packs selling for $3.49. The selection is outstanding, with several of my favorites such as A-ha's "Take on Me" and Fatboy Slim's "Weapon of Choice" joining newer club-style songs.

Achievements

You'll find 35 Achievements worth a total of 1,000 GamerScore in Spotlight. Don't expect to get them all unless you're a great dancer and/or devote a ton of time to perfecting the base game's songs. The game has multiple Achievements for unlocking every routine and perfecting every move, which adds up to over 900 moves. That's going to take some dedication!

Start your own Boy Dance Party

Dance Central Spotlight is the first and only must-have Kinect game for Xbox One. The core dancing game is as great as ever, offering plenty of fun for gamers and non-gamers alike. The core game is a great value, and the ability to pick and choose from such a sizable selection of songs makes it possible for anyone to build their own dream dance library.

On the other hand, the new move collecting system is more challenging and less beginner-friendly than Dance Central 3's excellent leveling system. The new Fitness Mode is kind of a bust – I hope Harmonix updates the game to allow move unlocking within that mode.

Still, those issues prove to be only minor annoyances when weighed against the limitless fun factor, party friendliness, and exercise opportunities within Spotlight. No Xbox One Kinect owner should go without it.

• Dance Central Spotlight – Xbox One – 1.5 GB – $9.99 – Xbox.com Link

Terraria is finally coming to Windows Phone this Friday! This is a popular action-adventure sandbox game from indie developer Re-Logic. You'll already find Terraria on PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, iOS, Android and other platforms. It was announced well over a year for Windows Phone, but looks to finally be coming this Friday. And it'll bring Xbox Live integration!

In Terraria you fight, dig, explore and build for your survival. The block graphics might remind you of Minecraft, but the gameplay is very different. Watch the trailer above for an idea of how the game plays.

Terraria is also coming to Xbox One (and PlayStation 4) sometime in late 2014. But look for the Windows Phone version to drop this Friday with some Xbox Live integration.

Are you looking forward to playing Terraria?

Source: Terraria Facebook

Thanks for the tip Travis and Alan!

Last month, our own John Callaham posted his ten most anticipated Xbox One games for the fall and Holiday seasons. On that list was a little game called Alien: Isolation from SEGA and The Creative Assembly. You might see the name "Alien" and dismiss the game as another uninspired licensed game, but you'd be wrong to do so. Alien: Isolation looks like it will be not only the best-ever adaptation of the Alien universe, but also a standout horror game.

This week Alien: Isolation has gone gold, which means that the game is complete and ready to be pressed to disc. To celebrate, SEGA has released the first in a new series of trailers. Give it a watch and read our full preview to learn just how horrifying Isolation will be when it arrives on Xbox One, Xbox 360, and other platforms next month.

Beware the alien

Alien: Isolation is closely inspired by the original Ridley Scott Alien film – you know, back when Ridley made coherent films with believable characters. I think his later films have been affected by his years long war against Samus Aran, but that's another story. Point is, this game stars only one alien instead of a bunch like all of the sequel films and previous game adaptations.

Players will take on the role of original Alien protagonist Ellen Ripley's daughter Amanda as she investigates the disappearance of her mother. Ripley's daughrer was mentioned in a deleted scene from Aliens, which James Cameron later reintegrated in the film's Director's Cut. Unfortunately for Amanda, the space station she is sent to investigate has already become infested by a deadly alien xenomorph.

Past Alien(s) games have featured the series' signature xenomorphs, but never the original film's tone. Alien: Isolation isn't a run-and-fun shooter. In fact, shooting the alien to death won't be an option. Instead, Amanda will have to avoid it at all costs if she hopes to survive.

The lone, undeterrable alien will hunt the protagonist and her fellow NPCs by sight, sound, and smell. Amanda will have to crouch, hide, and sneak around through the space station. She can even hold her breath when the alien gets too close. If she runs, she'll just make noise for the alien to hear. Likewise, her flashlight and motion tracker can alert the alien, and will have to be used sparingly.

The game will feature more signature Alien touches such as an android crewmate. Just like Ash, the android from the first movie, the android in Isolation will behave a little off and strangely. He won't go dropping black goo in anybody's eye for practically no reason, but he'll still be quirky and possibly dangerous. Who knows, Amanda might even have to deal with the android and alien at the same time.

It will take not only stealth, but also plenty of scavenging for resources, crafting, and improvisation to make it through Alien: Isolation in one piece. You won't be able to just kill the alien with a gun, but you might manage to distract it long enough to escape.

Revisit some old (and mostly departed) friends by preordering

Preorder to receive the bonus "Crew Expendable" mission, which takes place during the original Alien film and reunites the film's cast for the first time – including Sigourney Weaver. If you preorder from GameStop (or GAME in the UK), you'll also get the "Last Survivor" mission which focuses solely on Sigourney's character as she attempts to reach the escape shuttle at the end of the first Alien.

Both bonus missions will be released as paid DLC down the line, but dedicated Alien fans who preorder won't have to wait… or pay extra.

Alien: Isolation looks to be an extremely atmospheric (and scary) game. We'll find out for ourselves soon! The game comes to Xbox One, Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and 4, and PC on Tuesday, October 7.

• Alien: Isolation – Xbox One – $59.99 – Amazon Link
• Alien: Isolation – Xbox 360 – $49.99 – Amazon Link

Itching for some Spidey action? Wait no longer, as Spider-Man Unlimited is now available for Windows Phone. The endless runner is based on the comics, so there are plenty of villains for you to combat. This is the first free Spider-Man game from Gameloft, and the studio has indicated that new characters will be released in a timely fashion.

Here's what you're getting in the game:

• The first Spider-Man web-runner! Swing, run and fight through chaotic Manhattan in over 5 different Marvel environments!
• Go beyond a runner with unique gameplay! Battle dimensional super villains, swing, wall-climb and skydive!
• Play story mode with 5 boss battles and 25 missions per Issue! New daily events with spectacular rewards in Event mode! Or climb up the leaderboards in Unlimited mode!
• A continuing episodic adventure: The Sinister Six are moving from dimension to dimension – and our world is next! But it ends now… with an army of Spider-Men!
• Dive into an extensive Marvel Universe spanning over 50 years of Spider-Man with iconic characters, including multiple variations of each villain, as well as Nick Fury, Mary Jane, and Black Cat!
• Written with an experienced Spider-Man comic writer to ensure a faithful recreation of the Spider-Man Comics!
• Summon, collect and play with tons of Spider-Man cards from the Marvel Universe, including Spider-Man Noir, Cosmic Spider-Man, and Scarlet Spider!
• Collect, fuse, and level up your Spider-Men, each with their own unique in-game benefits, and send them on Spidey Ops missions!

The game itself is free, although there are in-app purchases. Also, if you're on the HTC 8X, you won't be able to install the game. We don't know why this is the case, but we'll let you know once we know more.

Compatibility issues?

As the game has just gone live, some users have not been able to download it yet. Give your phone a few hours or even a day, and hopefully the Store will update to allow the game to be downloaded in your region.

Let us know when you're able to download the game.

• Download Spider-Man Unlimited for Windows Phone

Thanks everyone for sending this in!