In the multiplayer modes, the incentives towards teamwork and planning built into the creative game modes are, in practice, discarded for an everyman-for-himself approach. The simplicity of the core game mechanics combined with the speed and precise control of the ball avatars scuppers the need for real long-view tactics and planning.
The result is Benny Hill-style combat as gun-toting balls race around at high-speed, taking random pot-shots at one another. There's no denying this has its appeal, but the fun's short-lived. There's just not enough depth and nuance here to sustain prolonged play.
Carlos writes "It’s been a while since we last had any new Xbox One backwards compatible titles to cast our nostalgic minds back to once more, and in the few weeks since the last arrivals, releases in general have been a lot quieter than usual. But that all looks set to change with several new games hitting the store all in one go, and today seeing some fresh faces to the backwards compatible library too.
The thing is, are they worth the return or should they simply remain as nothing more than a memory forever more?"
Microsoft has announced the latest additions to the Xbox One's backwards compatibility catalog. Arriving today are four Xbox 360 games: Street Fighter IV, Luxor 2, Madballs in Babo: Invasion, and Poker Smash.
Dealspwn rounds up ten brilliant XBLA games that you probably haven't heard of.
Dealspwn: "The Xbox Live Marketplace has gone from strength to strength over the last few years, becoming nothing less than the Xbox 360's unique selling point. It's the ultimate equaliser and a source of innovation that frequently puts retail releases to shame - but the only flaw is that it's easy for XBLA games to go unnoticed without even making a splash.
So here are ten of the games that fell through the media cracks, that languish near the bottom of the best selling lists yet provide plenty of bang for your buck."