One of the most rapidly changing genres in gaming today is that of Tower Defense. Really only starting a few years ago, the genre has gone from a simple, yet addictive desktop Flash based game to one of the most fun and diverse in gaming. From its basic origins to Defense Grid: The Awakening to the upcoming Orcs Must Die, different companies have come up with new and creative ways to put their own spin on Tower Defense.

In Toy Soliders: Cold War, Players are given a limited supply of funds and locations to deploy various armaments against a soviet assault. In addition, players can hop in to these various turrets and control, aim and fire themselves at the oncoming forces adding a whole new level of depth instead of being solely focused on building and upgrading.

Gameplay:

As stated above, players must create a line of defense against waves of oncoming enemies during Toy Soldiers: Cold War. To do this, they are given a choice between six different kinds of turret, each with its only strengths and weaknesses like the machine gun which can mow down foot troops but doesn’t do much damage to heavily armored vehicles to anti-air artillery which can be used to shoot copters out of the sky but cannot target ground forces.

Each of these has three levels of upgrades which include special alternate firing modes depending on their level. For instance, players can zoom in on a “bullet cam” and steer anti-tank missiles at their intended targets. During this time, players must also monitor the health and repairs of all their other turrets and keep a watchful eye out that no enemies have snuck past them on their way towards the Toy Box (the location players must prevent enemies troops from reaching).

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If you own an iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad, you have most likely tried the already classic casual title Fruit Ninja. In its first three months, it sold over a million units and continues to top the App Store charts. Players are tasked with swiping through a fruit cluttered screen while not letting any fall off the bottom and avoiding the dreaded bombs. It is a fun frantic minigame that uses a mobile smart phone’s touch technology in an intelligent and rewarding way.

Now Halfbrick has teamed up with Microsoft for the Summer of Arcade to bring Fruit Ninja Kinect to the XBox 360. Using the Kinect motion technology, players hands act as ninja swords to slice and dice apples, oranges and strawberries in one of the most accurate uses for the Kinect since its release.

Gameplay:

In Fruit Ninja Kinect, players must use their arms to slide through flying fruit while avoiding contact with bombs or allowing fruit to fall off the screen. From what we can tell, the Kinect sensor has near pinpoint accuracy in the game allowing for control that is as accurate as it comes for motion gaming. Players can slowly move their arms into position but only when a player speeds up will it count as a sword swipe which is very important for avoiding bombs. An acrobatic player can even use their legs to kick through a wayward pear if necessary.

There isn’t much difference between Fruit Ninja for the iPhone and the Kinect in terms of gameplay mechanics save the inclusion of the pomegranate. Everyone’s favorite source of antioxidants can be used to end timed stages where players can hack away for a few seconds and build up ridiculous combos.

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So XBox Live Arcade brings the latest Tomb Raid— Oops. Still getting used to the title change. Let’s try again. During Microsoft’s Summer of Arcade, the XBox received a five week exclusivity deal for Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light.  A completely different take on the traditional gameplay Lara is used to from the Tomb Raider series, this downloadable only title gives an overhead perspective mixed with two stick gunplay and puzzle solving.

Gameplay:

The control scheme of Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light seems simple enough. One analog stick moves, the other aims and the buttons help Lara dodge, jump, set explosives or grab objects. The game also attempts to assist players with certain jumps like leaping from the edge of a platform to one of Lara’s golden spears that can be used as an extra step.

Unfortunately due to the 45 degree angle of the camera and the lack of feedback of hitting those perfect 45 degree angles from the XBox’s controller, some tasks become unnecessarily difficult. They aren’t challenging on purpose but because they are hindered by the game’s control scheme. Sometimes the auto-assist on the jumps sends Lara off in a direction you didn’t intend to take her.

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XBox 360′s Summer of Arcade, despite a few awkward weeks in the middle, kicks back up for a strong finish with its fifth and final game release, Shadow Complex. Shadow Complex could best be compared in gameplay style to the SNES classic Super Metroid. An action platformer, the player traverses through levels deep in an underground bunker, facing off against various poorly trained soldiers who are about as accurate as Cobra in the G.I. Joe cartoon.

Unlike the classic, players have full 360 degrees of motion to which they can aim their gun using the right analog stick. Also different is the inclusion of foreground and background enemies. A player cannot move themselves in to the background plane to combat enemies but they can shoot from their current position at the enemies off in the distance. This can leave players with interesting choices of taking out the immediate threat in front of them in the foreground or to take a few quick shots and aim for the sniper in the background.

In terms of setting, however, the game feels similar to a James Bond movie with high-tech gadgets combined with a little bit of modern realistic sci-fi that could be found in a game like Perfect Dark Zero. There are large mech-like bosses and interesting new weapons like a gun that allows players to create platforms in mid-air that they can use to walk on.

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The Summer of Arcade on XBox Live has hit a small snag. Instead of bringing fresh new games, three of the four out so far have been remakes or re-releases. As enjoyable as Marvel vs. Capcom 2 was, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time Re-Shelled was a disappointment.

Now, the fourth game to be released on the Summer of Arcade is Trials HD, which may be the most awkward naming of an Arcade title yet (like when you download the demo of the game entitled “Trials HD Trial Game”), is also a remake but not of an arcade classic. Instead, Trials HD is simply an upgraded and updated version of a Flash game that has been floating around online for years that can be found here.

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When originally announced, this title had a lot of buzz behind it. After the massive success of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles re-released on the Xbox Live Arcade as a $5.00 download, everyone began asking when Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time would come out.

Hoping it would get the same treatment as the original players were rewarded when they found out it would be getting a “Re-Shelled” treatment with new 3D graphics. But then came the bad news. The game was going to be priced at $15.00.

Immediately, this lead to a massive outcry from fans who did not want to pay $10.00 more than they did for the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles just because it was getting updated graphics. Before the game was released, the price was lowered to the more reasonable 800 Microsoft Points ($10.00) price tag. Part of the love for retro games is keeping the original graphics as games like Gauntlet, Robotron and Smash TV have shown.

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While much of the geek community, The Flickcast team included, was off in San Diego for Comic Con, Microsoft started this year’s Summer of Arcade with the release of TwistedPixel’s follow-up to The Maw, entitled ‘Splosion Man. You can read our interview with TwistedPixel CEO Michael Wilford here.

‘Splosion Man – XBox Live Arcade – 800 Microsoft Points ($10)

Score: 8.5

‘Splosion Man is anything but your typical platform game. The main character, aptly named ‘Sposion Man, is completely bat-crap insane. He runs around his world completely enflamed trying to escape the research laboratory he is held in. All four buttons on the controller do the same thing, ‘splode. ‘Sploding acts as both an offensive, defensive and acrobatic maneuver. As ‘Splosion Man advances through the levels he must leap to higher areas. In most games, this would be achieved by jumping, but not ‘Splosion Man.

No, he blows himself up to launch himself in to the air, not once, not twice but three times to create the most violent looking triple jump in a long time. The best ‘splosions, however, come from when ‘Splosion Man blows himself up near various flammable barrels which send him rocketing across the level. In addition, he can constantly ‘splode as he passes by various scientists, turning them in to piles of meat. As the game progresses, the ‘splosions take a defensive turn as they can be used to deflect and redirect enemy missiles and projectiles.

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At San Diego Comic Con, there were tons of chances to sit down and talk with the creators of tons of new titles coming out for PC, XBox 360 and PlayStation. I was given the opportunity to talk with Michael Wilford, CEO of TwistedPixel, the creators of The Maw and ‘Splosion Man which are both available for XBox Live Arcade. A review of ‘Splosion Man will be coming later this week as well as exclusive video of Michael Wilford playing through the first level of the game with us and giving developer commentary as he progresses through the level.

John Carle: John Carle from the Flickcast standing here with Mike Wilford who is the CEO and Producer on ‘Splosion Man which is one of the XBox Live Summer of Arcade featured titles. If you could just tell us a little bit about the game and the ideas behind it, like where it came from.

Michael Wilford: Yea, you bet. The main premise of the game is we tried to make the most crazy, nonsensical, hilarious, off the wall game you’ve probably ever seen. It’s really simple to play. It’s about a character named ‘Splosion Man. He’s made out of ‘splosion and he just runs around and all you do is ‘splode. Every face button does the same thing. It’s kind of like a jump but it blows up everything around you. You can do a triple jump in the air and bounce off walls. It’s really simple to play but we end up throwing a lot of stuff at you and it gets really challenging later.

JC: What was the inspiration behind the character?

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