Five XBLIG games you should have played, but probably didn't

To those of you wondering why I'm not including retail or even XBLA releases in this post: I'm not including the former because I have just one such game (Deadly Premonition) and I'm not including the latter because pretty much all of the XBLA titles I've purchased thus far are high-profile ones, and I'm trying to focus on under-appreciated releases in this series of posts. (Here's one that focuses on DS games you should have played, but probably didn't, and here's one that focuses on Wii games.)

1. Arkedo Series: 03 Pixel!--Can a more charming platformer be found via the XBLIG service? If so, I've yet to come across it. Even if one were to present itself to me, it wouldn't cause me to change my mind about the fact that Arkedo Series: 03 Pixel! is more charming than it has any right to be. How else would you describe a run-and-jump title that puts you in the, er, paws of a big-headed cat who has to--you guessed it--run and jump his way though a bunch of beautifully rendered (in blue and white) stages while avoiding assorted baddies. Admittedly, Pixel! won't win any awards for uniqueness (although it incorporates occasional mini-games in a rather clever manner), nor will it win any awards for length or difficulty, but who really cares when the overall experience is this tight, simple and fun?

2. Escape Goat--If you're looking to pick up a great puzzler-platformer via XBLIG, Escape Goat is your game. Why? It looks like a Genesis game--a good one, mind you--for starters. (It kind of sounds like one, too, now that I'm thinking of it.) I can't say it plays like one because, well, I don't believe I ever played a puzzler-platformer on Sega's 16-bit system. Regardless, this one is a joy to play. In part that's because controlling the main character--the titular goat--feels great, which makes traversing the game's many obstacles (it is a puzzler, after all) a snap, and in part it's because everything--the gameplay, graphics and music--comes together to produce a most captivating experience.

A somewhat gay review of Platformance: Castle Pain (Xbox Live Indie Games)

I've got to give it to the crew at Magiko Gaming: They came up with the perfect title for their maiden Xbox Live Indie Games release. After all, not only is Platformance: Castle Pain a platformer, but it's also set in and around a castle and is a complete pain in the ass to play.

Granted, the game is supposed to be a pain in the ass to play. You see, it's one of those  "extreme platformers"--like another XBLIG release, Aban Hawkins & the 1000 SPIKES, or like the infamous Sunsoft side-scroller, Atlantis no Nazo.

This is the main view you'll have while playing Platformance: Castle Pain. 

For those of you who have never played, let alone heard of, those games, both of them present players with so many obstacles and traps that it's nearly impossible to complete them without dying numerous times. Platformance: Castle Pain follows in their harrowing footsteps, with countless fireballs, spikes and other such terrors placed between the start and finish of the single-screened title. 

Thankfully, Platformance: Castle Pain eschews "lives" completely. Yes, that means you're free to die as often as you'd like. Even then, though, it's is far from a pixelated walk in the park--due, mainly, to the presence of an ambling ghost that follows the player's path and acts as a timer of sorts. (Basically, the game ends if the ghost catches up to and touches you.)

Hit the 'x' button on your Xbox 360 pad and you'll zoom out a bit.

Mr. Ghost isn't much of a problem as long as you play Platformance: Castle Pain on easy. Play the game on medium or hard, though, and he becomes an ever-present reminder that if you don't keep moving you'll soon find yourself staring at a "game over" screen.

Although that imbues the game's easiest mode with a good amount of tension, it could be argued that it adds a bit too much tension to its more difficult modes--especially when combined with the title's overabundance of obstacles and slightly slippery controls.

Hit 'x' button again and you'll see the entire stage. 

That's about the only complaint I can lodge against this uniquely constructed platformer--which, suitably enough, takes place within the confines of a picture frame. I say suitably because Platformance: Castle Pain, with its 8-bit-esque graphics, is a sight to behold. 

Just as beautiful is the game's soundtrack, which begins rather generically (not to mention regally) before transforming into something that could easily be mistaken for the best game tune you've never heard. Translation: It rocks--just like (most of) the rest of this 80 MSP ($1) game.

See also: 'A somewhat gay review of Lesbian Spider-Queens of Mars'