Many of us have enjoyed the addictive fun of Tower Bloxx, which launches October 21 on Xbox LIVE.  This is quite a milestone for Digital Chocolate and again proves that great game mechanics and design from a small screen can play even better on a big screen.  The same is true for movies.  A paperback book with a great story can make a great movie, but $100 million in action scenes and special effects are boring without a good story driving them.  With a game it’s important to match up the audiovisuals to the fidelity of the platform, but in the end the key ingredient is the gameplay.

So indeed, Tower Bloxx on the Xbox has amazing graphics including nice touches like the enormous hand that you can use to straighten your tower to make perfect sets.  And the high-altitude 3D views from the airplane rides you can unlock.  But God is in the new details:  avatars in multiplayer modes and that spawn and control stuff like the crane; wacky power-ups like bombs and the Mayor’s Blessing that protects your tower; building a city with a population of 200,000 living in Mega Towers.  My favorite features are the Battle mode where 4 players compete on 2 teams and divide into offensive and defensive roles.  And the handicapping feature whereby the trailing tower gets more value from power-ups, so the trailing team can stay motivated and keep it exciting for everyone.  And of course there are other details like the Friends Ladder and the usual XBLA Dashboard features.  We’re very pleased with our first console game.  Check it out if you have an Xbox or look for the videos on YouTube.