Not even the red ring of death can stop the Week in Arcade, especially when a three-pack of titles are released.
Oh dear. There’s probably a reason Tecmo kept this one under wraps from the media until a week before release. The idea is sound, bringing back a retro style 5-on-5 basketball title with updated visuals and additional flash. It does, in some ways, feel similar to Tecmo’s NBA Basketball back on the NES, Genesis, and SNES. Jump shots are especially familiar.
Unfortunately, the animation makes this nearly unplayable. If these were sprites, it would make sense, but these are polygonal players that literally skip around the court. Turning around literally takes one frame of animation. Following the action or the ball is almost impossible at times, and the rather ugly player models don’t help. The lack of season mode limits the reasons to come back.
What if you took Scene-it and mashed it together with one of the many pointless “brain” games? You apparently end up with this oddly titled although sharp to look at XBLA title. Encelverment is rather slow, lacking the fast pace of Scene-it, or many of the social possibilities. The simple memory games are dull, and the while the variety of games is fair, few of them are engaging.
A pleasant surprise, Beat Drop is a blast, and a wonderfully full Arcade game. The core game is a mix of Puzzle Fighter and the various music-based puzzle games, requiring the player to match pieces but also press the button in tune to the beats to clear them. Co-op is great, and if you don’t have a friend, you can level up your AI partner as the game goes on. A full analyzer lets you use your own music in-game.
A better tutorial may have been beneficial, as the trippy, flashy, and colorful backgrounds are easily distracting while you figure this one out. Once involved, you’re hooked, and this pleasant surprise wins this weeks XBLA battle by a wide margin.
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Wed, Nov 11, 2009
Consoles, Xbox 360