Give us this day our daily game (??/10 - Recommended)

Original: http://giveusthisdayourdailygame.blogspot.com/2009/12/pixel-whirled.html

At first load Pixel Whirled appears to be a retro remake of that seminal arcade classic, Space Invaders. But wait there's more! This Xbox Indie Game has a subtle trick up its sleeve. By a simple manipulation of the bumper button, the screen is flipped turned upside down, and the gameplay gets real! Utilizing the weapons of our heroes, be it a ninja star or a simple bullet, you must eradicate the pixel menace from the Pixel World.

The game features fantastic 8 bit sounds and music, but I usually prefer to use my own tunes when playing these games. Unfortunately this is one of those odd duck games that doesn't support custom soundtracks. Luckily, I can plug my iPhone into my stereo and pump out some ambient electronica while I play.

The developer told me that I would receive a special reward if I finished the game twice. Naturally I took up the challenge with gusto! Unfortunately, this game is a bit harder than the screenshots and trailer make it out to be.

I have only made it to Level 7, and I have no idea how many levels are in the game. But difficulty can sometimes be a good thing, a trait of our games that has seen a sharp decline in recent years. Perhaps because developers are afraid of frustrating us into such a state that we throw down our controllers in disgust, or even worse at the screen. Or perhaps we have as a whole become better gamers. Whatever the case may be, once in awhile I still like to be challenged by a game and Pixel Whirled is quite challenging.

If you intend to randomly shoot the invading Pixels and flip the screen at any odd time, I don't think you will make it much farther than I have. But if you time your shots, hitting those invaders in the bottom row and also time your flips, you just might have a chance at saving the princess.

The developer Holmfry has a journal here, excellent choice of blog theme by the way. He is also a huge fan of old school apparently.

While playing Pixel Whirled, I wondered what the game would be like if it was playable by two people? It would probably be pretty trippy. Here's to hoping for an updated and enhanced Pixel Whirled 2!

I quite enjoy this game and it more than makes up forOcean Scenes. Holmfry's other Xbox indie "game".

SFX-360.com (8/10)

Original: http://sfx-360.com/index.php?idReview=358

Considering the fact that I've been playing video games since my childhood years on the Atari 2600, old-school gaming is in my DNA. I just can't get over the nostalgia factor when playing games that are more than 20 years old. Some of those games are still great today while some others have me scratching my head and saying "What was I thinking." No matter what your opinion is on the subject, retro games are here to stay so if you don't like it...too bad.

Moving forward I want to get into the game called Pixel Whirled on Xbox Live Indie Games. Developed by Holmade Games, Pixel Whirled centers around the fantasy world under attack from various enemies. Unfortunately, the Italian plumber and the blazing fast blue hedgehog are a little too busy to handle the situation which means we must call upon someone else to save the day. This leads us to two unlikely heroes: a pirate and a ninja. Who is the deadliest warrior? Actually, they must now work together to save Pixel World.

The gameplay of Pixel Whirled takes the old-school concept of Space Invaders (one of my favorite games back in the day) and adds a really unique twist. The twist centers around the fact that there are two sets of enemy characters moving down the screen. Each set of enemies is on a separate plane. One plane is controlled by the pirate and the other plane is controlled by the ninja. This means that not only are you shooting the enemy characters on one plane, but you must also switch planes to shoot the other characters as well before they reach the bottom of the screen.

One thing to keep in mind is that Pixel Whirled plays by "old-school" rules. This means that you have only three lives to make it through the game. If an enemy character reaches the bottom of the screen, you lose a life. Lose all three lives and the game is over. There are no continues here. Pixel Whirled can be a fun game, but it's also very unforgiving when you get that "Game Over" message knowing you have to start all over again. You just gotta love the old days of gaming.

Everything about Pixel Whirled bleeds old-school. The game features the old-school graphics whick look somewhat like the Super Mario Bros. games. Even the characters are all done in 8-bit graphics which is really cool. Also, the game's audio features those great 8-bit tunes with the repetitive music on each level. The tunes in Pixel Whirled are rather catchy, and are not really annoying like in some 8-bit games. At times between games I've even caught myself humming to the tune to the game's first level.

Pixel Whirled gives that feeling of when I was playing games as a kid. The game is not too easy and not too hard. Basically, Pixel Whirled is a fun game that never gets old, and may even grow on you in terms of hooking you in with it's simplistic gameplay. In the end, you'll find yourself playing the game for hours just to beat your previous high-score. Pixel Whirled is a good start in the 8-Bit Series from Holmade Games.