Flawless revival of a classic

User Rating: 7.8 | Joust X360
By RebornInFlames | Review Date:
I always loved the Joust arcade game. When I was a kid, some family friends had a machine and I would always play over and over trying to beat the high score. I didn't expect this game to show up ob XBLA, but kudos to MS for doing it. If you haven't played it, it is incredibly easy to pick up. You are a knight armed with a lance riding an ostrich. Your goal is to knock your enemy knights off their rides, which are buzzards. The way to do this is to run into them, but at a slightly higher altitude. Once you do so, the rider turns into an egg that must be collected before it spawns another enemy. Controls are exceedingly simple - left stick moves your bird, and A flaps the ostrich's wings to make you fly. The A button must be tapped with precision though, if you want to progress much. There are at least 100 levels or waves to go through, and each features riders of increasing difficulty as well as changes in the wooden blocks that are your only cover and strategic option. The game is very hard, and you will struggle to reach wave 20, and probably won't get the achievement for wave 100 unless you play this day and night. The xbox port is faithful to the original, giving you lots of difficulty options and also slightly updated visuals. The thumbstick and a button aren't quite as good as arcade controls, and the way an arcade button can be slapped is sorely missed during tight flying situations. There is an online versus and coop, but no one plays. Ever.

This one is a must-have in your arcade collection, and is a welcome change from static shooters or standard scrollers.

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