GamePro Arcade

In a break from the traditional shoot'em up fare on Xbox Live Arcade comes the recently released Sea Life Safari. No laser blasts and explosions here, the only thing you'll be shooting are the more than 60 different types of sea creatures you'll see while floating around with your underwater camera. This is too bad, because a rocket launcher or some hand grenades sure would be a nice way to shake up this boring title.

Rez is a fast paced rail shooter set in a futuristic supercomputer just about to gain sentience, while questioning its own existence in the process. Naturally, viruses and other pesky things infest the system as you, an anonymous hacker, attempt to enter the system and restore order. Entering the system leads to a five-area rail shooter experience that has in all honestly some of the best rail shooting sequences seen so far. Each area has several sub-levels, followed at the end by a large boss fight. What sets the game apart is its great style in terms of graphics and sound. There have been few games with as much emphasis on style and fewer still that have actually managed to be successful when doing so.

Pinball FX is just the kind of typical pinball game you'd probably expect. No special frills are really included, just three tables with the full game, along with two downloadable tables (one of which is free). The tables themselves are all fairly good, with some nice variation - you've got a car themed one, a hip-hop themed one, and a secret agent themed one included in the stock game. However, while they are nice enough, they are all fairly cramped, giving you a little less space all around than you might think would be included in a real pinball machine. There's also the fact that they don't include the kind of variety you might expect to see in real pinball machines, rendering them a little blander than might have been hoped for. Thankfully, one of the earlier problems with the game - the lack of tables - has been somewhat resolved with the release of two new tables since Pinball FX came out several months ago, though players will undoubtedly take issue with the rather tardy release of new tables.
- Andrew Dagley

Graphics: 4.25
Sound: 4.00
Controls: 4.0
Fun Factor: 3.75

Back in the day, side-scrollers dominated consoles. If you were an Italian plumber or a blue hedgehog, you could only move to the right - the gaming equivalent of Zoolander. Omega Five has made old school new, taking the side-scroller into breathtaking 3-D. The stunning visuals are on full display from the start, with attacks coming from all sides as the screen slowly moves right. The characters, two to start with and two unlocked later, are also easy on the eyes. There's Ruby, a leggy, blond babe is reminiscent of Seven of Nine, and Tempest, a four-armed freak so confident, he only uses two arms to shoot. It's a visual feast and a sweat inducing challenge, but the fun doesn't last.

In Xbox Live's first trivia game, players compete in a seven round session, guessing at answers to questions and then placing bets on who they think is right. If a gamer feels confident in his answer, he can bet on himself. If not, he can bet on someone else. The goal is to earn as many chips as possible by the end of the last round. Wits and Wagers is reminiscent of Scene It, minus the video, but lacks that titles polish.