A month ago, I talked about the release of the robot badminton game Blazing Birds. Now that it’s been released how does the game fare?

On paper, Blazing Birds does sound exciting. The thought of robots playing badminton sounds like a cute and quirky idea. But unfortunately, the reality is far from impressive. First of all, graphics wise it pales in comparison with other games released on XBox Live. The reason is that Blazing Birds was developed using XNA tools. It just doesn’t cut the mustard when compared with games like Braid. The badminton based gameplay is also quite shallow so don’t expect a lot of replayability here. On the upside, Blazing Birds is just $5, which will certainly attract gamers with a tight budget.

In the realm of fighting games, 2D fighters are still quite popular. These games — well represented by the seminal Street Fighter — have endured the arrival of the 3D fighter (with its great graphics) and have been able to hold its own because of its great gameplay.

Now, Xbox Live fans will get to play not one but two fighting games this month as two great titles are released. First off is an actual Street Fighter game. Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix is, without a doubt, a great overhauling of a classic game. This new release will have updated redrawn art that takes advantage of 1080P HD clarity. It will also have widescreen support and will feature newly remixed music. It will also support both local and online multiplayer so hone those skills fast! In addition to this there will also be a new Remixed Mode that will see new techniques given to your favorite characters. Of course, old-school purists will enjoy the original Turbo Mode, which is also included. Street Fighter II HD Remix will be sold for 800 Microsoft points, which is actually a 33 percent discount off the original price. But it’s only up to the end of the month so hurry!

Another fighter that has been released is Garou: Mark of The Wolves. This game has roots in another seminal fighting game Fatal Fury. Rock Howard, the son of FF’s Geese Howard, is one of the 12 characters. Garou: Mark of The Wolves is available on Xbox Live Arcade for 800 points.

Sonic The Hedgehog had a great run as Sega’s official mascot (their answer to Nintendo’s Mario) and the games during its heyday in the eighties and part of the nineties were really awesome sidescrolling platformers. Unfortunately, his 3D outing did not create as strong an impact as the sidescrollers and most gamers nowadays only remember Sonic through these hit and miss affairs.

But now there’s a chance for them to experience Sonic again in all his 2D greatness with Sonic The Hedgehog 3. This sidescroller sees Sonic battling his archnemesis Dr. Eggman — Dr. Robotnik — once again. Accompanying Sonic in this adventure is his sidekick Tails. An addition to the cast is the new enemy Knuckles The Echidna.

Sonic The Hedgehog 3 will feature a four game modes and will also have local multiplayer. New Achievements can be earned with this game and top scores will be posted on the leaderboards.

Sonic The Hedgehog will cost 400 MS points.

Any serious gamer who knows his gaming history knows that Wolfenstein occupies a special place in the pantheon of seminal video games, having helped usher the first person shooter genre.

Now you can relive the nostalgia that is Wolfenstein with availability of Wolfenstein 3D in Xbox Live. In Wolfenstein 3D you will play OSA agent BJ Blazkowicz as he battles Nazis in a straightforward shoot em up that really harkens back to the infancy of the FPS genre. All of the memorable characters from the classic game are here from Hans Grosse to Mecha-Hitler (!). The game features all six episodes that cover over 60 levels. The weapons in the game are customizable, the gold you earn will help unlock weapon upgrades.

If there’s a game that can be considered as a must-have, then it’s Wolfenstein 3D. You can get the game for 400 Microsoft Points. An important caveat though, this game will not be available in the following countries — Australia, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Korea, Mexico, New Zealand, Singapore and Taiwan.

The Pong-type gameplay may be the first game mechanic ever programmed and obviously has it has seen gameplay iterations that are just too many to mention. But the game mechanic has maintained its popularity and proof that it is a tried and tested classic are the number of new games that still come out today that still use the same mechanics – albeit in new innovative ways.

A great example is Blazing Birds, a form of robot badminton. The new Xbox Live game will allow players to battle sixty computer-AI controlled opponents through three different difficulty levels. Multiplayer mode will surely extend the life of the game, allowing players to compete in round robin multiplayer contests that can be participated in by up to twenty players. The easy to use and learn controls is, of course, the biggest draw of the game because even casual gamers will immediately get into the game.

Blazing Birds is available at the Xbox Live Arcade for 400 Microsoft Points.

Puzzle Quest: Challenge of The Warlords and Puzzle Quest: Galactrix were two RPG-style puzzle games that gained a lot of followers. In fact, it was quite a popular game in whatever platform it was released in. Now, Infinite Interactive is set to release its new puzzle game, Puzzle Chronicles, which was once known as Death Bringer. The company has finally found a publisher that will help it distribute the game.

Just like the two previous “Puzzle” games, Puzzle Chronicles will be a Puzzle/RPG hybrid. Aside from Xbox Live, the game will also be released for he PC, PSN, DS and PSP. There are still no definite release dates for the game but we will provide more details of the release date as soon as it becomes available.

If you are on the lookout for a zany game for the Xbox 360 then you really should check out Flock. This cute sandbox puzzle game has a premise that is totally out of this world, literally and figuratively. You will basically pilot a UFO around a very colorful landscape. The objective of the game is to herd various animals back to the, uhm, Motherflocker. Flock may sound and look silly but underneath the crazy gameplay is a very robust physics engine that is pivotal in how the gameplay elements are controlled and played in the game.

There are 50 puzzles that you need to solve and the game mechanics is spiritually similar to Lemmings. You have to form bridges, remove obstacles and flatten fields into walkable paths in order to give your herd an easy time in getting to their destination. There is a time crunch element so you have to be quick in solving how best to lead the herd.

Players can actually create their own levels with the easy-to-use level editor. There is also a multiplayer option where you can cooperatively play with a friend. There are also extra cnent in the form of hidden surprises, secret collectibles and upgrades.

Flock is now available at the Xbox live Arcade for 1200 MS points.

With a new Wolfenstein game coming out later this year, now is the best time to revisit the seminal Wolfenstein franchise.

id Software has announced that Wolfenstein 3D Classic will be made available on the iPhone and iPod Touch through the Apple App Store. The new iteration of the classic game will have touch based controls as well as tilt mechanisms to take advantage of the iTouch and iPhone’s unique motion controls. The game will feature all six episodes as well as all of the weapons featured in the original game.

So what’s this got to do with Xbox Live fans? Well, a rating for the game recently came out from the ESRB website. This means that it will be slated for a console release and this means that an Xbox Live Arcade release is definitely in the cards.

A new party game that you should consider getting from Xbox Live Arcade is Uno Rush.

Uno Rush is a four player social party game. Being an Uno game, I think it will be quite easy to learn the rules of the game. All you need to do is to sort the cards dealt to you (you can do this even if it’s not your turn) and you play them sequentially when it is your turn. The first player who disposes all of his cards wins the round. Scores are coutned based on the remaining cards in the opponents’ hands.

Uno Rush is an Xbox Live Arcade exclusive and will have full support for avatars, LIVE party chat, Xbox Live Vision Camera and the Big Button Pad. Uno Rush will cost 800 MS points.

Family games are a great genre to get at the Xbox Live Arcade. These are games that the whole family can enjoy, which makes the cost of actually getting the game worth it.

A family game that you really should seriously consider is the Hasbro Family Game Night. This title features several popular Hasbro games that include Battleship, Connect Four, Yahtzee, Boggle, Sorry!, and Sorry! Sliders. There are also new versions of games that have been especially made for the Xbox Live Arcade. All of the games will be played inside a virtual game room that will include your avatar. Up to four players can play on the Xbox Live Multiplayer and one to four players on your local console. These configurations will not be applicable to all games though.

You should first download the free Hasbro Family Game Night game room before you can download the games. This will include:

Battleship - 800 points

Connect 4 - 800 points

Scrabble - 800 points

Yahtzee - 800 points

More games will be made available soon and we’ll report it as soon as the information is available.