XBLA Mini-Reviews: Word Puzzle, Switchball

Switchball: Switchball is a physics-based puzzle game where you roll a ball around a level. You can switch your ball into different forms so you have more weight and can push heavy objects, or you weigh less and won't break through cloth just to name a couple puzzles you'll find. The objective is to get from point A to point B as fast as possible, solving puzzles that get in your way. I looks decent, and plays fairly well other than a bad camera, but I'd have to say it is pretty boring. Play the demo to see if it is worth your 800 pts, but I'm just going to stick with Marble Blast Ultra for my XBLA ball rolling.

Word Puzzle: Remember back in grade school when you would get word find puzzles where you circle the hidden words? Well, that is basically what Word Puzzle on the XBLA is, only not as satisfying because we're not ten anymore. And even if you are ten, Word Puzzle holds your hand to such an extent through the "Arcade Mode" by highlighting the first or last letter in a word that it just isn't in the least bit fun or interesting. The objective here is speed over anything else, and while real life word find builds your vocabulary (or whatever they are supposed to do), Word Puzzle on XBLA lacks any educational value whatsoever. Bland. Boring. Bad.