From conkers to knocking tins off a wall with stones to Angry Birds, it seems we can't get enough of throwing things and destroying stuff. Step forward Wreckateer, one of the latest downloadable Xbox 360 Arcade games which uses the Kinect motion sensor.
First things first - Stewart Downing might be a Liverpool player, but how on earth did he make the England squad?
To really understand StarDrone Extreme is to see it in action rather than read about it on paper, because while it combines things we've all seen before (a touch of pinball, a touch of Breakout and a touch of Spider-Man-style web slinging physics), putting into words how it all comes together doesn't do justice to the unwieldy, but very satisfying way these elements collide.
Tower-defence games have grown so prevalent even the ones that mix in other genres and rewrite the rules of engagement are cropping up at a dangerous rate.
On paper, The Splatters sounds familiar enough.
If it's in the dark, it doesn't exist in Closure, a deviously clever 2D sidescroller that once again proves all the brilliant ideas for rethinking 2D games are not yet taken.
Downloadable Game of the Week Pushmo For: Nintendo 3DS (via Nintendo eShop) From: Intelligent Systems/Nintendo Price: $US7 Billy O'Keefe Though it took its sweet time, a stream of exciting original games is trickling on to Nintendo's new handheld. Elsewhere, and following an even longer wait, Nintendo's downloadable portable games channel is finally finding a groove.
The age-old game design truth remains true: If something you do isn't original, you'll be forgiven as long as you do it well.
Like many contemporary 2-D platformers, Outland takes a page from Metroid's playbook, sprawling its adventure across a large, open-ended landscape dotted with collectable abilities that gradually increase your ability to access the world's most far-reaching corners.
To really understand StarDrone is to see it in action rather than read about it on paper, because while it combines things we've all seen before (a little bit of pinball, a little bit of Breakout and a little bit of Spider-Man-style web-slinging physics), describing exactly how it comes together doesn't do justice to the unwieldy but very satisfying way these elements collide.
Back when downloadable games cost $5, missteps and cut corners similar to those found in Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime were acceptable.
Imagine a re-imagined Lemmings in which you control the Lemmings directly instead of simply guide them, and you have an inkling of an idea about Swarm, a sidescrolling platformer which tasks you with controlling 50 characters at once instead of one.
The "them" in Eat Them! is people, but don't worry: You're a gigantic monster rampaging through a city, and the soldiers and cops trying to hurt you are your only source of health, so your conscience is clear.
We're not going to get a Back to the Future IV, but because the latest BTTF video game adaptation has landed in exactly the right hands, we no longer need it.
As games that blend genres and take advantage of platform strengths go, it rarely gets better than this.
Freeverse has demonstrated a mastery of dangling carrots with its outstanding Skee-Ball and improbably addictive Coin Push Frenzy iOS games.
Attractive price aside, it's unfortunate that Nintendo took the most unique Wii game it's published in nearly a year and effectively hid it where most Wii owners are bound never to find it.
It's only fair that a $10 game be held to a looser standard than its more expensive rivals, but Spare Parts occasionally pushes that generosity threshold to the edge.
Ilomilo didn't need to be charming to an almost illegal degree in order to be a good game, but it certainly doesn't hurt.
To look at a screenshot of Zombie Smash HD might be to presume it's yet another tower defence game in which you must defend your house against yet another onslaught of zombies.
