Super Motherload (PSN)

Russian cosmonauts, Dig Dug, Resident Evil, and DOOM are some of the things that come to mind as I play "Super Motherload". As with those games, and subjects there's a lot of gameplay, and plot material included that seems oddly familiar. Whatever your take on this mining strategy game is though there's one thing for certain, and that is the fact that "Super Motherload" is one of the more interesting indie titles you'll experience this year. Xgen Studios, the developers behind this Dig Dug inspired strategy game will have you investing hours upon hours literally trying to get down to the bottom of things. With a chosen character, and a helicopter drilling machine you will be doing the bidding of a shady corporation as you try to strike it rich with the combination of minerals that you gather. The deeper you dig into the martian landscape that the game takes place on the closer you'll get to the bottom of it all, and in more ways than one.

Kickbeat (PSN/PS VITA)

Out of all of Zen Studios video game creations "Kickbeat" could have easily been the game to outsell, and outdo their famous pinball tables. The key phrase in that statement though is "could have been". While the game looks absolutely stunning, and has an awesome music feature that I'm all for I found the gameplay to be flawed to a point that having fun while playing the game was almost an impossibility. Instead of easing the gamers into the gameplay Zen Studios almost immediately has them hammering out button presses to fast paced songs that honestly should have been used in the much harder difficulty settings. It is these combinations of hard hitting songs, and  extreme challenges that have made the review process frustrating for me.

While I could (barely) complete the first two songs on the 'Normal' difficulty setting in the story mode I found trying to repeatedly get past the first boss battle to be the straw that broke the camel's back. Not being able to get past a boss, because the actions onscreen don't seem to be in sync with the button presses makes the seemingly badass boss encounter a trying experience.Very rarely will I choose to not continue playing a game, but this playthrough has been beyond rage inducing for me. I just don't see myself being able to make it any further any time soon. As much as I hate to I'm going to have to go ahead, and post my review with my limited knowledge of the game. I apologize to my readers, and to Mel of Zen Studios, but a full playthrough of this game is just not possible for me.