Support the Radical: Xbox Live Arcade Style

If ever I had a cause for gaming, it is the never-ending quest to support games of pure originality and bold direction (see my original Support the Radical column); games that take the radical approach and damn the consequences of commerciality. Many bemoan the trend of "sequelitis" and yet an examination of their gaming libraries reveals little more than just that.

Wik is slick on all fronts.

It takes a bit of effort and know-how to find the hidden treasures behind the glut of marketing and the prominent shelf space the top-tier titles hold so dear. More recently, with the standard price of games at $60, it's also becoming more expensive to take a chance on the unproven.

Put simply, these titles and those like
them deserve to be endorsed and supported
by the gaming community at large.

Enter Xbox Live® Arcade, where independent developers and publishers have an opportunity to take a chance without bankruptcy looming large. In the months after launch, Xbox Live Arcade has seen a bevy of high-quality titles that belong to no well-known franchises and dare to expand the boundaries of established gameplay.

While I certainly hold no ill-will against lovely fare like Joust, Smash TV, and Robotron: 2084, they simply need no real introduction. Their iconic gameplay and classic status speak for themselves. With that said, I implore you take a chance on the following titles that have proven more than worthy of Support the Radical consideration. Moreover, all Xbox Live Arcade titles offer downloadable demos for free, so there's simply no excuse not to try them out.

Frantic fun with Outpost Kaloki X .

Platforming from a Tongue
Wik: Fable of Souls offers a massive amount of content (120+ levels) and may be the best looking Xbox Live Arcade title to date, but it is its utterly unique take on the platforming mechanic that earns it a place here.

Using the analog stick to line up the trajectory of your jumps and Wik's trusty tongue to snag bugs and swing from trees and other obstacles is simply an experience never before seen. It feels different, it plays different, and best of all, the mechanics are augmented by some truly devious level design that only gets more challenging as time goes on.

Space Station Management
Outpost Kaloki X proves that genre stigmas need not apply on Xbox Live Arcade. Real-time-strategy games are considered hardcore PC titles, but this easily accessible RTS proves the genre is not only easy to pick up, but has plenty of room to grow in new and interesting directions.

Tasked with building, customizing, and managing the various needs of nearly endless space stations (think Sim City on a more focused scale), Outpost Kaloki X offers a challenge you can wrap your mind around, but still struggle to fully cope with. It's also one of the few Xbox Live Arcade titles that continues to expand its already bountiful content library with downloadable challenges.

The addiction never ends.

Frog and Balls
I lost the months of January and February to Zuma, but when I told friends of the joys of a frog slinging like-colored balls in artful combinations they suggested putting the local psychiatric hospital on speed dial. Those very same friends and relatives soon fell under the sway of this frantic puzzle game themselves, however. Here's how it works:

• You play as the stationary frog character in the middle (see above screenshot). Surrounding you in the beginning is an unbroken chain of different colored balls. You need to shoot a ball from the frog's mouth into a like-colored set of balls. If the ball you shoot creates a line of three or more, that set of balls will disappear.
• Your initial goal is to create a Zuma. There's a meter in the right hand corner of the screen, and once it's full, you've achieved a Zuma and a guarantee that no new balls will appear on the screen.
• Once you achieve the Zuma, you need only to clear the board of the remaining balls to win the round and move on to the next stage.
• You lose the match if you let the ball at the end of the chain drop into the hole at the end of the line.

My endorsement of the above games goes without saying, but it's not just the games, it's the drive and originality behind them that matters. Put simply, these titles and those like them deserve to be endorsed and supported by the gaming community at large. If they aren't, we're headed for a creative tailspin in our beloved industry and no one wants that.

Article by Ryan Treit