I have a distinct memory of playing Raiden II when I was younger, and loving the hell out of it.  There’s something immediately fun and nostalgic about playing a classic top down shmup.  This is why that memory of Raiden II stays with me to this very day, and also what led to my interest in Shoot 1UP.

An indie title from developer Mommys Best Games, Shoot 1UP is very much in the vain of the Raiden series, in that it’s full of the top-down goodness that has kept this genre prominent (and more importantly, fun) for so many years.  However, the game adds in a unique, and dare I say brilliant, mechanic that really differentiates it from the multitude of other similarly designed titles. Read more… »

One of the things that’s eternally frustrating about the Xbox LIVE Indie marketplace is the fact that it’s cluttered with terrible thumbstick shooters. They bring nothing new to the genre and most are plagued by worn out gameplay and terrible music that makes your ears bleed. Fortunately, Gnomic Studios seems to have it right with Square Off.

The basic formula for Square Off stays true to the genre, with the two thumbsticks controlling movement and fire, but Square Off departs from the usual in both graphics and gameplay. It’s a great combination that is only marred by the fact that it has no support for Xbox LIVE play, even if the local multiplayer is a complete blast.
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Kaleidoscope is the kind of game you’d expect to find on the Wii. In fact, in many ways its story is similar to De Blob, which was released for Nintendo’s latest console in 2008. However, Kaleidoscope is a platformer that borrows elements from classic platforming games, while adding a touch of its own charm and a great soundtrack that makes it an absolute joy to play.

The story for the game is pretty basic. You play a small black ball of fluff named Tint who must restore color to the world, one stage at a time. The world is divided up into four sections with equally distinct graphics, so much so that it’s reminiscent of platformers like Super Mario 3 in which you journey through different themed worlds to accomplish your objective.
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There are plenty of aptly named Xbox Live Indie titles in the Marketplace: I Made a Game With Zombies In It, You Will Die, etc. However, Impossible Shoota is so far from the truth, it’s rather laughable.

The game is nothing more than a top down shooter similar to Asteroids. You’re shooting increasingly harder monsters in an attempt to kill all 500 that invade your screen at such a slow pace your 80 year old geriatric grandmother could beat it. In fact, there’s nothing impossible about Impossible Shoota at all, unless we’re counting the task of finding fun in the game,

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If anything can be said about Rotor’scope: The Secret of the Endless Energy, it’s that its thorough. At its heart, the game is a simple puzzler with a narrative wrapped around it, but developer Nivel21 has managed to combine the wonders of social networking with a solid game to create a user experience quite unlike anything else you’ll find on the 360 today.

The premise for the game is pretty basic; you start the game in a mansion with rooms which need to be explored using a special device known as the rotor’scope. As you solve the puzzles, you’ll learn more about the device from a mysterious man hidden within the mansion.

Since the puzzles are the main focus of the game the narrative really takes a back seat. It’s not going to win any awards for its story telling, and some of the twists and turns are entirely expected, but the puzzling play is second to none.

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Browsing through Xbox Live’s Indie titles has made me realise two things: there are a staggering number of vibration “games”, and people sure love to put those zombies in their titles. We’re rapidly reaching the point of saturation, where developers need to give gamers something more to entice a purchase out of them.

So what makes Twin Blades, a side scrolling brawler/shooter that is also available for iPhone, any different from all the other zombie tinged offerings out there?

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Soul is a new Xbox LIVE Arcade indie title from Kydos Studio with a deceptively simple story. Your job is to guide the soul of a dead man through numerous pits and perils in order to get him into Heaven. Simple concept, right? Of course. Did I mention the massive gelatinous blobs which are keen on eating you? No? Consider yourself warned.

While the gameplay is just one simple mechanic of using your analog stick to guide your soul through numerous levels of pitfalls and traps, there are some delightfully devious rooms that will have you tossing your controller around in anger, but quickly picking it back up in order to finish the game.

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Guess what happens in this game?   Hint: the title is pretty descriptive.

From the creators of the trippy Pong update Revenge of the Ball comes a 2D-shooter where every level is a boss level.  And you will die.  A lot.  By lasers.

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No, it’s not about crossing the Rio Grande while avoiding patrols.  Border Wars is basically a hand-drawn R-type with a highly customizable ship.  By highly, I mean completely.  As in, the whole game is hand-drawn, and you can completely erase the default ship and drawn your own.  You don’t even have to draw a ship.  You can draw a panda, or a shoe, or a leper.  I didn’t fly around in a doodled penis and shoot green sperm shots at aliens, honest!  That would be immature.

But does my penis ship make this a unique and worthy update of a classic side-scrolling shooter?  Or is it bound to be ignored, just like in real life?

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[Every week, Gamer Limit scours the underbelly of the internet to bring you the finest releases from the indie scene. Check back each week to see what we recommend. Feel free to check out our full schedule right here!]

“Atmosphere” is one of those intangible qualities that every game strives to achieve, yet few manage to convey successfully.  Sometimes, the problem is just that the game attempts too much.

This is where many of the Xbox Live Indie Games derive their strength – simplicity.  Do one thing, and do it well.

Today, we look at Dark, a pure puzzle platformer with atmosphere in spades.

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[Every week, Gamer Limit scours the underbelly of the internet to bring you the finest releases from the indie scene. Check back each week to see what we recommend. Feel free to check out our full schedule right here!]

The Xbox Live Indie Games service is full of clones of more popular titles.  “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery,” so they say.  Sadly, the imitator is rarely as good as the original.

Beat Hazard is, in essence, a Geometry Wars clone.  However, it is one of those rare titles that not only meets the expectations set by its predecessor, but exceeds them.  It is perhaps the single finest Indie Game on the entire service.

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[Every Wednesday Gamer Limit scours the underbelly of the internet to bring you the finest releases from the indie scene, check back each week to see what we recommend. Feel free to check out our full schedule right here!]

Indie games don’t have multi-million dollar budgets.  They don’t have bleeding-edge technology and cutscenes rivaling the processed beauty of Pixar movies.  They don’t try to mash five different genres together in a tired attempt to be innovative just for the sake of innovation.

The best indie games, however, have focus.  They do one thing, and they do it well.  Machiavelli’s Ascent on Xbox Live Indie Games is one such example.

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