Arcade Unplugged Volume 1 for Xbox 360

Xbox Live Arcade is a large section of the Marketplace where you can redeem your Microsoft Points for playable full versions of games from independent game developers. There's an entire catalog of games to choose from ranging in price from $5 (400 points) to $20 (1,600 points). XBLA Unplugged Volume 1 takes six best sellers and puts them onto one disc so you do not need to purchase them from the Marketplace. At the time of its release this compilation title was $30 new, which was the price of the six games put together, but now this game can be purchased used for as low as $5-$10 which puts the same six games at an incredible discount.

The games included are Bejeweled 2, Geometry Wars, Wik: Fable Of Souls, Texas Hold'Em, Outpost Kaloki X, and Backgammon.

Graphics 5/10: Spanning the entire collection of games we can see graphics that go from beautiful and detailed to just plain boring. Geometry Wars is a deceptively simple-looking shooter with amazing particle effects and sprite design... but then we come to the table-based Texas Hold'Em and Backgammon which just look boring in comparison. Each game has different graphical qualities so when something vivid is required such as the interesting creature designs of Wik the game delivers, and when you're just sitting around rolling dice and moving tokens around on a board the graphics reflect that as well. Furthermore with other titles there's not a lot to emphasize on like Bejeweled 2 which has colorful and shiny gemstones and that's about it because that's all the game really requires. In summary the graphics round out to about par.

Sound 4/10: For a collection of 6 games there's not a lot of sound shared between them. Bejeweled 2 is toting a decent trance soundtrack but with seemingly the same sound effects the game has had for the last decade almost. Geometry Wars will get you pumping with its fast-paced techno rhythm but after a while it begins to repeat itself and get boring. Wik: Fable of Souls is somewhat of a strange case, because none of the sounds used for this game seem to mesh well at all. Bugs laugh like children, gemstones play the same sound effects as coins do, and the music scores imply that there are pirates somewhere; it's all very confusing.

Gameplay 4/10: Four of these games are spent navigating menus or objects (Bejeweled 2, Backgammon, Outpost Kaloki X, and Texas Hold'Em). These controls are basic and easy to understand; you move around with the thumbsticks and press A when you want to do something. Geometry Wars is a game that requires both thumbsticks, one to move and one to shoot so you can move and shoot analogous of whichever way the other thumbstick is being pressed; basic controls for the most part, it's not very hard to learn. However that leaves us with Wik, which once again proves to be a very bizarre game. Reflexive Arcade is a very... eccentric... developer of games, they like to add in some strange gameplay functionalities with their titles. Some are good, some are bad - Wik's are bad. The object of the game is to collect glowing bugs and put them in the backpack of a slow moving monster at the bottom of the screen. You do this by jumping around, sucking up enemy bugs like a vacuum, shooting bugs at other bugs, and using your frog-like tongue as a bungee cord. It sounds very interesting but the controls just do not mesh well and it's very difficult to effectively get a grip on them. Wik becomes frustrating very quickly.

Replay Value 2/10: Bejeweled is a casual game and the achievements reflect that, however one achievement is to beat literally over 100 levels in Endless Mode which is just absurd. The game is fun, but after a while it becomes kind of bland. Wik is decent at best and encourages you to collect all of the gemstones and secrets in each of its levels, but with tedious controls there is not much incentive to put up with the game anymore than you have to. Texas Hold'Em is just a card game and Backgammon is just a board game. Geometry Wars is a very addicting game but it is also very challenging; its achievements coax you into trying harder and doing better each time. Geometry Wars is a decent game with notable replay value and to an extent so is the spacestation-sim Outpost Kaloki X, which plays more like a lemonade stand game more than anything... and ironically serving lemonade is one of the pieces of the game.

Innovation 3/10: Texas Hold'Em has been around a long time and so has Backgammon; both games don't have any twists to them, they're just the games themselves. While Geometry Wars is arguably the best game on the disc the "move and shoot" format is a little archaic even with the snazzy visuals. Bejeweled has been the same game since it was called Diamond Mine and was only available on the Internet. Outpost Kaloki X is a funny twist on the lemonade stand-sim game but at its heart it's still a lemonade stand game and frankly, those are a little boring. Wik offers some curious gameplay and there are certainly points for originality that are required here, but the game is so clunky it overshadows the charm of the game. All in all the compilation is made up of games that are tried and true, but still feel dated.

Fun 3/10: If you're a fan of Backgammon or card games then you might be a little more keen to playing them, but I personally am not. Each of the games are fun for at least some period of time, but the downfall is that they are unable to keep up this level of entertainment for very long until they begin to drawl.

Overall 3.5/10: Unplugged is a solid value at the price it sells for today but the selection of games is a little lacking. Each of the 6 games will keep you occupied for a while but they each have a distinct flaw that makes them lack in re-playability. Even at this terrible final score the compilation is STILL worth the purchase though, because Geometry Wars, a great game, is $5 on its own so for just a little more you get it plus five other games that you might actually find some enjoyment in.